Jack London bookplate, 3 vintage photos, and related correspondence [5 items]

Item Details

San Francisco/Sacramento, n.p., 1923

Fine

Jack London bookplate, 3 vintage photos, and related correspondence [5 items]

1. Three photographs taken at the dedication of the Jack London Memorial Library, Glen Ellen CA, in 1923. 3.5”x4-1/4”, with hand annotations on the versos as below.  a) Eliza Sheppard, sister of Jack London with his son and niece on the steps of the Jack London Memorial Library Glen Ellen [CA] July 2 1923. “His son has Jack London’s suit & hat on.” [ The Jack London Memorial Library in Glen Ellen, CA, was established in 1923 by the Glen Ellen Women's Club.  The library was largely organized under the direction of Eliza Shepard, London's stepdaughter, It was located in what is now Jack London State Historic Park, but building was condemned in 1944 and demolished shortly thereafter. b) Jack London Grave Glen Ellen Calif. (After cremation in Oakland and a brief memorial service at his ranch, London’s ashes were laid to on a small knoll overlooking Sonoma County’s “Valley of the Moon”. The knoll is also the gravesite of the pioneer Greenlaw children, David (who died in 1876) and Lillie (who died in 1877).London once remarked to his wife and his sister Eliza, “I wouldn’t mind if you laid my ashes on the knoll where the Greenlaw children are buried. And roll over me a red boulder from the ruins of the Big House.” On November 26, 1916, in a silent ceremony, Charmian London placed her husband’s ashes on the chosen knoll under a large rock from the Wolf House. After she passed away in 1955, Charmian’s ashes were laid under the same rock, next to Jack. c) London’s niece Eliza in native American costume
2. Original Jack London bookplate 3”x4”
3. Manuscript Letter referring to the photos from San Francisco photographer Harry Lawton to Sacramento bookseller Edward Crussell 5.25”x8.75”, with envelope.

“My dear Crussell

Your kind letter of July 6 received. Would have answered before but was out of town. I thank you kindly indeed for your remembrance and I shall not forget your invitation to call on you when I am in “Sacto” which will be in a few days. Hold your negatives until I come & maybe I can help you to get some good prints off them.

Sincere good wishes to you and yours

/s Harry Lawton"

CONDITION: Fine

Provenance: from the estate of Sacramento bookseller Edward Crussell (1874-1944); his private collections included Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, and Jack London. His friend Harry Lawton was a San Francisco professional photographer.  His son Harry W. Lawton would later write several noted books on Native Americans, including Willie Boy: A Desert Manhunt that would later be made into the 1969 film Tell Them Willie Boy Was Here. Lawton also owned the Haunted Bookstore in Berkeley CA which specialized in rare Western Americana.