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Correspondence from Robert Lund to Philip Kaplan
8503 Hartwell Street, Detroit 28, Michigan
Mr. Philip Kaplan 47-17 39th Avenue, Long Island City 4, New York
April 7, 1958
Dear Mr. Kaplan:
This will confirm our telephone conversation of this evening. All the books and manuscripts on the list I sent you will become your property on payment to me of $1,750.
After you have had an opportunity to examine the material, if you feel I have misrepresented it or misled you in any way, I will refund your money if full. In this event, your only obligation to me will be to package and return the books to me in the same condition in which you receive them. I also ask you to agree to insure the books for $2,000, should you return them to me.
As soon as you receive the books, please take a complete inventory of them. You will find all of the titles described on my list. Should you decide against keeping the books and return them to me, I ask that you assume full responsibility for the safe return of all of the titles on my list. That is, if there is any shortage, you will reimburse me for the price of any and all items missing.
I wish to stress one more point. You are privileged to return the books to me for a full refund of your money if you find them lacking in any respect. However, I will not accept part of the books back and refund part of your money. I will accept all of the book back and refund all of your money, but I will not accept any portion of the collection back for a partial refund.
I would appreciate it if you would kindly let me have your check for $500 as a down payment on the deal. As a New York reference, I give you the name of Edward Ford, editor of Motor Magazine, 250 West 55th St. Mr. Ford can be reached at PLaza 7-5020. I am employed by Mr. Ford and he can give you any references you may require.
I have just phoned American Express and Railway Express here and there is no way I can guarantee delivery of the books to you before my arrival in New York next Sunday. The earliest I can pack the books will be Wednesday evening, which means they will not be shipped before Thursday morning. The books would then arrive in New York by Friday or Saturday, but it would be two or three days—or so I am advised by the express companies—before they would reach Long Island City.
May I make this suggestion? I will undertake to bring with me when I come to New York next Sunday any ten or twelve of the books that you may select from the list. You may select the titles at random and then compare them against the descriptions I gave you, thereby assuring yourself that I have not misrepresented them in any particular. After you have examined the books I will bring, if they are not satisfactory, we will consider the deal off. If, on the other hand, the books are satisfactory in every respect, you will then pay me by certified check the balance of $1,250.
If you will let me know by telephone upon arrival of this letter which ten or twelve titles you want me to hold out, I will put them aside and begin packing the other books. These should then reach you early next week.
If you want, I can inquire about shipping the collection via air express, in which case the material would probably reach you before next Sunday. However, if shipment is made by air, I will have to ask you to pay the charges, as I understand this method of shipping is quite expensive. Please phone me your wished in this matter.
I can now disclose to you that the Detroit dealer who was negotiating to purchase the books for the University of Indiana is Charles S. Boesen, of 433 Woodward Avenue, Detroit. Mr. Boesen's customer was David Randall, curator of rare books at Indiana.
I have had a great deal of correspondence from various people the past few weeks concerning the Crowley collection. With your permission, I will hereafter inform all correspondents that the material now belongs to you. One of the individuals greatly interested in the material is Gerald Yorke, who did the bibliography for John Symonds The Great Beast. Mr. Yorke is keenly interested in obtaining a copy of Alexandra, of which there is only one known copy in the world aside from the several copies (printer's proofs) in the material I am selling you. If you can oblige Mr. Yorke, I would deem it a great favor.
As a final favor, I would ask that you not reveal to others the price you paid me for the material. I cannot hold you to that, of course, should you want to discuss it with anyone, but I would prefer that the price remain a confidential matter between us.
I think the price you are paying me is a very fair price and it is my wish that you be fully satisfied. To that end I am prepared to give you any assistance I can.
Very truly yours,
Robert Lund
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