Comprises: 1-page autograph letter signed by W.B. Yeats to Morton McMichael, 1 July 1935. "Of course you may do my bibliography, but I am afraid that Symons had all the information that either I or my sister possess. I understand that his bibliography is complete as regards 1st editions, up to the date of its publication. However, I send you my good wishes. Yours, WB Yeats". In original envelope. * ½-page typed letter signed by W.B. Yeats to Morton McMichael, 7 August [1935]. In which Yeats declines to acknowledge his authorship of the pamphlet "Is the Order of RR and AO to Remain a Secret Order?" and in which he declines to explicate his ownership inscriptions in McMichael's bibliography (McMichael having made reference to the interesting inscription in his copy of Mosada). In original envelope. * Carbon copy of the intervening letter dated 24 July from McMichael to Yeats. * 4-page autograph letter signed by Elizabeth C. Yeats to McMichael, dated 15 November 1934, on Cuala Press stationery. Concerning the sale of a set of 50 Cuala Press books, most signed by Yeats. In original envelope. * 6-page autograph letter signed by Elizabeth C. Yeats to McMichael, dated 20 November 1934, on Cuala Press stationery. In which she touches on the financial strains at Cuala Press, Dublin gossip, and the pregnancy of Mrs. McMichael. In original envelope and with printed advertisement for a broadside laid in. * 6-page autograph letter signed by Elizabeth C. Yeats to McMichael, dated 21 February 1935, on Cuala Press stationery, in which she discusses the house she has rented in Dundrum for 30 years, McMichael’s idea to sell records at his bookshop, bobbed hair, and the sale of a volume of broadsides. * 4-page autograph letter signed by Elizabeth C. Yeats to McMichael, dated 24 July 1935, on Cuala Press stationery. Congratulating McMichael on the birth of his son, W.B. Yeats’s recent illness owing to “the shock and sorrow of A.E.’s death and the strain of the funeral”. She discusses A.E.’s funeral (related newspaper clippings are included), commenting that “many say my brother should have spoken ‘The Nation’ at the graveside, but Mr. Yeats has just now told me that he was too overcome—he could not have done it—it took him some time to recover…he and AE were life long friends. We knew him from when he was a mere youth.” E.C. Yeats also congratulates McMichael on his recent purchase of Mosada (for 37 pounds). In original envelope. * Autograph receipt and note by Elizabeth C. Yeats on Cuala stationery dated 1935. * Folder of about 30 items of ephemera from Cuala Press (and a few Dun Emer Press), including receipts, advertisements, postcards, etc. * Collection of letters from various booksellers including three typed letters signed by Percy Muir; typed letter signed by AJA Symons, typed letter signed by James Drake (regarding the sale of Mosada by Drake to McMichael); plus numerous receipts from Elkin Mathews, Hodges Figgis, Maggs, et al. Mostly from the 1930’s.
An altogether fascinating archive of correspondence and ephemera collected by Dr. Morton McMichael of the Centaur Bookshop in Philadelphia from his Irish and British suppliers of fine literature. McMichael’s interest in first editions began in 1934 when he visited the Yeats family in Ireland. He became good friends of W.B. Yeats’s sister Elizabeth and he briefly undertook a bibliography of Yeats but decided later to collaborate with A.J.A. Symons. Includes the two signed letters by W.B. Yeats and the four letters of Elizabeth, discussing literary and theatrical matters.