Lot #6070

Hans Christian Andersen Autograph Manuscript Signed for 'The Last Pearl'

Description

Andsersen's autograph manuscript for 'The Last Pearl,' a classic fairy tale

Beloved Danish author (1805–1875) best known for such classic fairy tales as The Ugly Duckling, The Red Shoes, and The Emperor’s New Clothes. AMS in Danish, signed "H. C. Andersen," three pages on two adjoining sheets, 8.25 x 10.75, no date but circa 1854. Andersen's handwritten manuscript for "Den Sidste Perle [The Last Pearl]," a short, lesser-known tale of a fairy's gift of a radiant 'Pearl of Sorrow' to a newborn child. A note on the reverse by Arthur Abrahams stating that Andersen gave the manuscript to his father, Danish author and literary scholar Nicolai Christian Levin Abrahams, in the 1850s.

The story begins, in part (translated, as published in English): "We are in a rich, happy house, where the master, the servants, the friends of the family are full of joy and felicity. For on this day a son and heir has been born, and mother and child are doing well. The lamp in the bed-chamber had been partly shaded, and the windows were covered with heavy curtains of some costly silken material. The carpet was thick and soft, like a covering of moss. Everything invited to slumber, everything had a charming look of repose; and so the nurse had discovered, for she slept; and well she might sleep, while everything around her told of happiness and blessing. The guardian angel of the house leaned against the head of the bed; while over the child was spread, as it were, a net of shining stars, and each star was a pearl of happiness. All the good stars of life had brought their gifts to the newly born; here sparkled health, wealth, fortune, and love; in short, there seemed to be everything for which man could wish on earth." In fine condition, with expert repairs to two tears at the top.

Auction Info

• Auction Title: Art, Literature, and Classical Music
• Dates: May 22, 2024 - June 20, 2024

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