Lot 357
Williams, Tennessee. Typed Manuscript for a short story, "The Pink Bedroom," signed in type, "T.L. Williams, College of Arts & Science (Soph.)," 5 pages, n.d. Williams submitted this story to a student writing contest in 1931 while attending the University of Missouri. A handwritten note at the top of the first page says, 'Something by Tolstoy' received honorable mention." "T.L. Williams" is printed in pencil under the title. There are a few penciled corrections; pages are toned, with some light soiling and a few creases in the upper corners.
This short story became a one-act play in 1943 about a man and his mistress in the bedroom which had been the scene of their affair, contemplating and blaming each other for the breakdown of their relationship. This story, however, is poignant, about a mistress who decorates the bedroom in which she and her boss have their trysts in the manner in which she thinks he wants: frilly and pink. When he tires of her and the pink bedroom, in favor of a more intellectual woman, she commits suicide. It is only when he is called to the scene after her death that he finds her true bedroom, "subdued in color and stringent in furnishings as the chamber of a nun….he passed a small black table; upon its top were a number of books which he had discussed recently with his new secretary." His dead mistress "was someone whom he had not known and now could never know….a small, neatly folded note…was addressed to him….Dear Henry, the pink bedroom was just for you."
Estimated Value $1,000 - 1,500.
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| Realized $1,416 |
