Proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Institute of Arts and Letters: Second Series, Number Twenty
Price: $800.00
Original Wraps. New York: Printed at the Spiral Press, 1970. First Edition. Near Fine.
First edition, first printing. Signed and inscribed by Tennessee Williams on p. 28 beneath the transcription of his Gold Award for Drama (1969) acceptance speech: "a memento of / "the stoned age" / Tennessee Williams". Publisher's blue wrappers, with a red horizontal line printed across the spine and front wrapper, lettered in black. Near fine, with some toning to spine and wrapper edges, a touch of wear to head of spine, and some staining to spine. Overall, an attractive, clean copy. This book is a record of the meetings of the Academy of Arts and Letters and the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1969. Part One transcribes the joint ceremonial of the two honor societies, with opening remarks, inductions of new members (Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Stephen Spender, Louise Bogan, Kenneth Rexroth, Wallace Stegner, etc.), and awards (Vladimir Nabokov, Leopold Stokowsi, Tennessee Williams, etc.). Part Two includes poetry by William Meredith and John Hall Wheelock, and Eudora Welty's short story, "The Demonstrators." Parts Three and Four feature commemorative tributes, like John Hershey on John Steinbeck, Louise Bogan on Rolfe Humphries, and Virgil Thomson on Douglas Moore. In Lillian Hellman's presentation speech to Tennessee Williams for the American Academy of Arts and Letters Gold Award for Drama (1969), she says, "I think it is safe to guess that Williams' influence on the theatre will be there a hundred years from now because the mirror he held in his hand announced a new time, almost a new people, and the mirror will remain clean and clear" (p. 27). For Williams' acceptance speech, he gives a funny but fairly off-topic anecdote, likely explaining his inscription: "a memento of the stoned age." After Williams' romantic partner Frank Merlo passed away in 1963, Williams struggled with depression and substance abuse, leading to a mental breakdown in 1969 and a 3-month stint in a mental hospital. One of the major playwrights from the 20th century, Tennessee Williams wrote emotionally devastating works like The Glass Menagerie (1945), A Streetcar Named Desire (1947), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1955). Item #TW075b
