History In Ink®  Historical Autographs


1334001

Laura Ingalls Wilder

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The renowned children's author sends her autograph for inclusion in a book

but says that, because of her health, she no longer signs books

Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder, 1867-1957.  American author.  Autographed Note Signed, Laura Ingalls Wilder, two pages, 5" x 4", on a printed and die-cut note card, with integral leaf attached, Mansfield, Missouri, June 6, 1955.  With original envelope.

In this cordial note, which has never been offered on the autograph market before, the 88-year-old author of the Little House books sends an autograph (not present) to a teenage girl for inclusion in one of her books but asks her not to send the book to be signed.  She writes, in full:  “Don't send me a book to autograph.  It is too much trouble to rewrap and mail.  /  I enclose an autograph you can paste in your book.  /  I am not well and do not answer letters any more nor autograph books.  /  Sincerely . . ."

We are separately offering the copy of  Little House In the Big Woods into which the girl tipped the autograph.  She kept both until she died, and these items come from her estate.  Click here to see the listing for that book.

Wilder wrote this note from the 10-room farmhouse at Rocky Ridge Farm at Mansfield, Missouri, where she wrote the Little House books.  She lived there until she died on February 10, 1957, three days after her 90th birthday.   

The Little House books are timeless and enduring.  They tell of late 19th Century pioneer life in Wisconsin, Kansas, Minnesota, and South Dakota. Altogether there were nine books:  Little House in the Big Woods (1932); Farmer Boy (1933); Little House on the Prairie (1935); On the Banks of Plum Creek (1937); By the Shores of Silver Lake (1939); The Long Winter (1940); Little Town on the Prairie (1941); These Happy Golden Years (1943); and, published posthumously, The First Four Years (1971).  The series is as popular today as it was three generations ago.  The books have remained in continuous publication since the appearance of Little House in the Big Woods and have been translated into more than 40 languages.  Most of the sites that Wilder described in the books are now museums that annually draw thousands of visitors.

The autograph material of Wilder, one of America's most popular children's authors, is scarce in any form—we have found only a few examples that have sold at auction in some 38 years.  None of the Wilder material that we have handled has ever been offered for sale before.  Currently we are also offering a set of Little House books, six of which Wilder has signed, that belonged to the neighbors who bought the Rocky Ridge Farm from Laura and Almanzo Wilder.  We are also offering two copies of Little Town on the Prairie with individualized handwritten, signed poems from Wilder tipped in.  Click here to see the listings for those items.  

This is an absolutely pristine note.  Wilder has penned it in blue-gray fountain pen and has signed it with a huge 4" full signature.  Wilder has addressed the accompanying envelope in her own hand.  The envelope has been carefully opened without damaging it.  It has some age toning, a small stain at the top of the back, and a small hole at the bottom of the front.  It bears a purple 3¢ Liberty stamp and is postmarked June 8, 1955, at Mansfield, Missouri.  The envelope is in very good condition, and Wilderʼs note is extra fine.

Unframed.

This item has been removed from the market.

Please click here to contact us to see whether it may still be available.

 

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