Vidal, Gore. (1925–2012) [Silverman, Kenneth. (1936–2017)]
Autograph Letter
Autograph letter from the important American author and intellectual to writer Kenneth Silverman, thanking him for sending a copy of his biography of Cotton Mather. 2 pp., n.d., with original envelope postmarked September 9, 1985. Vidal writes: "Dear Mr. Silverman, I cannot thank you enough for your Cotton Mather, a book known to me but unread — Now I begin — I've always thought the deepest of our roots — & by no means all malign — is that Puritan one which shapes us still— Best wishes, Gore Vidal." Folding creases; overall fine. 6 x 8 inches (14.9 x 20.7 cm).As a political commentator and essayist, Vidal's principal subject was the history of the United States and its society, especially how the militaristic foreign policy reduced the country to a decadent empire. His political and cultural essays were published in The Nation, the New Statesman, the New York Review of Books, and Esquire magazines. As a novelist Vidal explored the nature of corruption in public and private life. His polished and erudite style of narration readily evoked the time and place of his stories, and perceptively delineated the psychology of his characters.
Kenneth Eugene Silverman was an American biographer and educator. He won a Pulitzer Prize and a Bancroft Prize for his 1984 biography of Cotton Mather, The Life and Times of Cotton Mather. Silverman, who specialized In Colonial American literature, was a professor of English at New York University until his retirement in 2001. (16274)
Autograph Letter Literature