Nine items: five TLSs, each measuring approximately 8.5 x 11, all dated from 1909 through 1918, and all on personal Maxim Park, New Jersey letterhead. Addressed to Henry S. Chapman of the Youth’s Companion, Boston, Mass, and Mr. Rideing, also of Boston, Maxim writes regarding article topics he is interested in pursuing, including, “Curiosities of Law,” “The Infinitely Great and the Infinitely Little,” “A Return Trip Through the Geologic Periods,” “The Vineyard of the Memory,” “Freaks of Invention,” “Curiosities of Explosions,” and “Why We Like Music,” amongst others. Maxim references his books, Defenseless America and Leading Opinions Both For and Against National Defense, and goes on to argue his point that, despite the criticism of an editor, “I am strongly of the opinion that I am right about the cause of the great Ice Age.” Finally, in his last letter, Maxim agrees to “write the article Curiosities in Guns,” a work he states “will be one which will be equally as timely when the war is over as it is now; but I hope you will print it before the war is over, as I would like to see it while I am still alive, and I am now sixty-five”; and four typed proofs, each measuring 8.5 x 11, featuring several incomplete snippets from articles that Maxim has signed off on as approved, with one particular proof featuring the lines, “A watcher of the skies, looking through his telescope from a planet circling some far-off sun, will see a new star burst into view, and he will be amazed, and wonder what inconceivable energy can cause the new star to expand a hundred thousand miles a second, half the speed of light, until it becomes a far-flung, nebulous fog.” The individual items range from very good to fine, with intersecting folds, light handling wear, pencil smudges and soiling to article pages, and three of the “article” signatures struck out in pencil. A fantastic working literary collection, providing a physical map of Maxim’s editorial expertise. RRAuction COA.
