Collection of Typed Letters, signed (“Henry Wenning”, then “Henry”), to cartoonist Claude Smith, Jr., April 1959 to April 1967
- 32 letters or notes: 27 typed on letterhead of Henry Wenning Rare Books, 3 autograph, 3 postcards, and one picture notecard post
- New Haven , 1967
New Haven, 1967. 32 letters or notes: 27 typed on letterhead of Henry Wenning Rare Books, 3 autograph, 3 postcards, and one picture notecard postmarked Vienna, April 1967. 4to. Fine. Most with mailing envelope. 32 letters or notes: 27 typed on letterhead of Henry Wenning Rare Books, 3 autograph, 3 postcards, and one picture notecard postmarked Vienna, April 1967. 4to. Claude Smith, Jr. (1913-2003), cartoonist in Playboy and the New Yorker and elsewhere as “Claude”, was a serious book collector, of modern literature, D.H. Lawrence, and Samuel Beckett in particular. He preserved this group of letters from New Haven bookseller Henry Wenning (1910-1987), with a note: “Some Henry Wenning Letters. The best book dealer & one of the nicest guys I have ever known but then something went amiss one Sunday, at dinner in Bridgewater . . . He was a touchy man — & so am I.”
The correspondence begins about the time of Wenning’s first catalogue and charts almost the entire arc of the first part of his career, chiefly documenting Claude’s persistent interest in D.H. Lawrence. He bought The Rainbow at this time (noted by Dickinson as priced $35) with Wenning promptly offering his Lawrence stock, and thereafter quoting notable rarities. Only once does Smith decline a book (a later note on an envelope regrets that mistake). By 1960, the bookseller addresses his letters to Smitty, and signs them Henry. In addition to offerings and book talk, news of catalogues in preparation, quick notes during visits to San Francisco, and scouting trips, there are invitations to visit New Haven and some social interchanges, mentions of Wenning’s wife Adele, and greetings to Claude’s wife Lois.
In a letter dated 2 November 1965, Wenning writes, “Don’t give me that ‘little country amateur from Bridgewater’ business. I feel I should really visit Clapp & Tuttle once a motnh because after looking around, I was certain that you have been picking off all the sleepers, though I did find four or five other books there.”
Wenning corresponded with Samuel Beckett for more than a decade and bought more than 200 manuscripts from him, selling most of these to Washington University, St. Louis. Dickinson notes that in 1966 “Wenning sold his entire stock to a Canadian University” and prepared to move into library collection development, but then “changed his mind and joined forces with Robert J. Barry and his son … in an informal arrangement”. Between 1966 and 1971 Wenning issued four catalogues with C.A. Stonehill. “Wenning’s rise to fame in the book business was as rapid as his departure.” Many booksellers and collectors have testified to the importance of Wenning in the trade in modern literature.
AN INTERESTING GLIMPSE INTO THE CAREER OF HENRY WENNING. Dickinson, Dictionary of American Antiquarian Boookdealers, pp. 228-9
The correspondence begins about the time of Wenning’s first catalogue and charts almost the entire arc of the first part of his career, chiefly documenting Claude’s persistent interest in D.H. Lawrence. He bought The Rainbow at this time (noted by Dickinson as priced $35) with Wenning promptly offering his Lawrence stock, and thereafter quoting notable rarities. Only once does Smith decline a book (a later note on an envelope regrets that mistake). By 1960, the bookseller addresses his letters to Smitty, and signs them Henry. In addition to offerings and book talk, news of catalogues in preparation, quick notes during visits to San Francisco, and scouting trips, there are invitations to visit New Haven and some social interchanges, mentions of Wenning’s wife Adele, and greetings to Claude’s wife Lois.
In a letter dated 2 November 1965, Wenning writes, “Don’t give me that ‘little country amateur from Bridgewater’ business. I feel I should really visit Clapp & Tuttle once a motnh because after looking around, I was certain that you have been picking off all the sleepers, though I did find four or five other books there.”
Wenning corresponded with Samuel Beckett for more than a decade and bought more than 200 manuscripts from him, selling most of these to Washington University, St. Louis. Dickinson notes that in 1966 “Wenning sold his entire stock to a Canadian University” and prepared to move into library collection development, but then “changed his mind and joined forces with Robert J. Barry and his son … in an informal arrangement”. Between 1966 and 1971 Wenning issued four catalogues with C.A. Stonehill. “Wenning’s rise to fame in the book business was as rapid as his departure.” Many booksellers and collectors have testified to the importance of Wenning in the trade in modern literature.
AN INTERESTING GLIMPSE INTO THE CAREER OF HENRY WENNING. Dickinson, Dictionary of American Antiquarian Boookdealers, pp. 228-9