HANDWRITTEN TWO PAGE LETTER by BOOTH TARKINGTON to SILBERMAN (Elkan or Abris of E. & A. Silberman Galleries). The brothers Elkan and Abris Silberman ran a major New York Gallery and were greatly responsible for building and caring for Booth Tarkington's art collection. Tarkington's letter references a number of artworks that are in need of repair. The letter is written in a friendly and jocular tone, reminiscent of much of Tarkington's writing.

The letter is long, written on both sides of a 9x15.5 inch piece of heavy stock paper. The letter has several folds where it was likely folded to fit into an envelope (no envelope is present). It is dated May 12, 1939. The letter comes with a two page typed transcript on onion skin paper. I don't know who made this early transcript, perhaps Silberman or another previous owner of the book and letter.

The letter is laid-into a special SIGNED, LIMITED, FIRST EDITION of "SOME OLD PORTRAITS", by BOOTH TARKINGTON. The limitation/signature page states this is copy #34 of 247 copies. Published by Doubleday, Doran & Co., New York, 1939. Hardcovers, 7.5x10 inches, xx +249 pages, Illustrated with portraiture plates.

Interesting that Tarkington's letter to his art dealer friend was written in the same year as his non-fiction book about art was published.

Condition: NEAR FINE book, sharp, tight, bright, clean and unmarked, one of the nicest copies I have seen. The letter is in GOOD solid condition, folds and signs of handling but still solid with handwriting that is bright and clear. The typed transcript of the letter has tears, creases and areas of the blank margin are torn away, but it is still textually complete and fully legible.

Booth Tarkington was a collector of art and was quite knowledgeable about the subject. He served for many years as a trustee of the John Herron Art Museum. The New York art dealers Elkan and Abris Silberman (E. & A. Silberman Galleries) helped build his collection and became his friend. Tarkington and the Silbermans corresponded for many years. He even used the brothers as the basis for nis 1934 romantic novel "Rumbin Galleries". In 2016 the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields held an Exhibition of works from Tarkington's collection, titled: "A Gentleman Collector from Indiana: Portraits from the Collection of Booth Tarkington".

About E. & A. SILBERMAN GALLERIES (from Wikipedia):

******E. & A. Galleries was founded in 1938 by brothers Elkan Silberman, d.1952, and Abris Silberman, d.1968, from Austria. In the 1920s, the Silberman brothers owned the E. & A. Silberman art dealership in Vienna. After the 1938 Anschluss their company was expropriated. Fearing persecution the Silbermans left for the United States where they founded a new art dealership in New York under the name E. & A. Silberman Galleries, Inc. They built a reputation as the art dealership "that had helped form museum collections", as well as the collections of G. H. A. Clowes, Dan Fellows Platt, Booth Tarkington, and L. M. Rabinowitz.******