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Lot #521
Willa Cather

“If I have to be scalped I’d rather the Apaches did it in New Mexico, not a surgeon in New York”

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Description

“If I have to be scalped I’d rather the Apaches did it in New Mexico, not a surgeon in New York”

ALS, one page, 5.5 x 8.5, The Roosevelt Hospital letterhead, no date but circa 1914. Letter to a friend. In part: “What a nice girl you were to send me those lovely…roses! They were the very first flowers I got…Wasn’t it a nasty bit of luck? There never was any affliction of the human frame that hurt so. Then if I have to be scalped I’d rather the Apaches did it in New Mexico, not a surgeon in New York.” In fine condition. In February 1914, Cather accidentally pricked the back of her head with a hat pin, and the scratch became infected. In what truly was a nasty bit of luck, the infection led to blood poisoning, and Cather needed to have an operation on her scalp, spending three weeks in Roosevelt Hospital. An intriguing and humorous letter, especially interesting given Cather’s notoriously dry, serious work. Pre-certified PSA/DNA and RR Auction COA.

Auction Info

  • Auction Title: Rare Manuscript, Document & Autograph
  • Dates: #441 - Ended November 12, 2014





This item is Pre-Certified by PSA/DNA
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