Carl Sandburg and Langston Hughes archives to be sold at auction

Carl Sandberg Archive

We have recently had the opportunity to handle significant manuscript archives from two of the most influential authors of the 20th century, Carl Sandburg and Langston Hughes. Hughes always acknowledged the influence Sandburg's free verse had on his poems. With strong Midwest roots, both men played an important role in shaping American identity in the twentieth century.

The Carl Sandburg archive was originally compiled by a Ms. Madge Mathe, who was hired by Sandburg early in his career to make typed copies for literary submissions. The archive mainly consists of typed poems, many of which would appear later in Sandburg's career in the celebrated Chicago Poems and some of which have never been published. There are, however, also a number of handwritten copies of Sandburg's poems and a number of edits to typed poems in Sandburg's hand. Some of the most interesting items in the archive are a number of rejection letters received by Sandburg from some of the most notable publisher's of the day. An autographed manuscript of Sandburg's poem "The Fog" sold in 2008 for $1,500. We estimate this unparalleled archive of Sandburg poems to sell between $8,000-12,000 at auction in November.

Langston Hughes Archive

The Langston Hughes archive was similarly compiled by a young woman close to the literary giant. Thyra J. Edwards (1997-1953) was considered in 1944 as one of the most outstanding women in the world. A very accomplished social worker living in Chicago, Miss Edwards first met Langston Hughes when both were boarding at the Abraham Lincoln Centre, a settlement house still functioning on the city's south side. Quite a few letters from Thyra Edwards have been cited among Hughes's archives. His letters to her, however, have only now resurfaced.  

The archive consists of typed and handwritten personal letters between Hughes and Miss Edwards, typed poems and prose with Hughes's commentary either handwritten or typed at the bottom and a typed article "What the Negro Wants." Hughes sent Edwards the poems and essays to read on air, writing his own commentary and recommendations for background music along the side such as "with satirically sentimental music," for the poem "Silhouette," "to a sylvan air with an under-current of fear and death," for "Flight," and "to a childish blast of trumpets full of empty wonder and life not dead at all," for "Lynching Song."

It is the most complete archive of Langston Hughes materials to have ever been offered at auction. Estimating its value is difficult since so much of its (value) will lie in the contents of his letters and commentary, not necessarily in the value of his autograph, which is approximately $400-600. Typescript reviews signed by Hughes have in the past sold for between $800-1,200 and handwritten poems, although only a few have ever been offered to the public, have sold for between $2,000 - $6,000. Given the wide range of prices realized, we placed a conservative estimate on the archive of $3,000-5,000.