Significant ALS signed “M. K. Gandhi,” one page both sides, 4.75 x 7.75, December 23, 1936. Letter to writer and poet Ronald Duncan, concerning his pamphlet The Complete Pacifist. In full: "I thank you for your pamphlet. The argument appeared to me to be sound so far as it went. Perhaps there is not sufficient emphasis on personal individual conduct irrespective of what society does or does not do. Non-violent action does not depend upon another's co-operation. Violent action is ineffective without the cooperation of others. Here both the forces are conceived in terms of the ultimate good of society." In very good to fine condition, with several pin-sized holes to the letter.
Ronald Duncan, a writer, poet, and playwright, now best remembered for preparing the libretto for Benjamin Britten's opera The Rape of Lucretia, became a pacifist in the 1930s and in this capacity released his first work—The Complete Pacifist, a pamphlet published by the Peace Pledge Union in January 1937. The work carried endorsements by Dick Sheppard, Gerald Heard, and Sylvia Townsend Warner. Duncan would befriend Gandhi, visiting him in India later that year, and later edited a collection of Gandhi's writings. This remarkable letter, carrying a profound reflection on Gandhi's non-violent teachings, is a spectacular example written as the drive for Indian independence reached its zenith.
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