Autograph Letter Signed “Dash” from Dashiell Hammett
December 21, 1943 · Aleutians
by HAMMETT, DASHIELL
Aleutians: 2 pages, quarto, December 21, 1943. Written while a soldier in World War II to Prudence Whitfield, wife of fellow Black Mask writer Raoul Whitfield, and Hammett’s mistress. Written in pencil on two sheets on lined paper, this is rare fully autograph letter as most of his letters are typed. “Errol Flynn and Martha O’Driscoll were up here earlier in the month for a few days of personal appearances. I saw them, but not their show, never having been a great goer in for neighborhood theater stuff....I had a letter from Raoul [Whitfield] when he returned from his Hollywood visit and he seemed fairly cheerful...I’ve been more or less in retirement for the world - no, not in the guardhouse - for a for a few weeks, which why I have written before this, Just at the moment I’m half-smothered under details connected with a new job...Winter is very much among ups and it’s nice have snow and ice underfoot instead of mud, and snow, and even sleet, in the air is in many ways better than rain....Love, Dash.” (Inventory #: 13187J)