Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

I brought a letter that I inherited from my great-aunt Martha, and it is a letter that J.D. Salinger gave to her when they had a relationship. They met on a cruise to Cuba in the late '40s. And they fell in love. They were engaged. They did not, ultimately, marry because of his faith and her faith. He was Jewish, and she was not. And her family-- my family did not accept that at the time. And it's actually a letter that he wrote from his dog to her dog.

APPRAISER

So his dog's name was...

GUEST

Herman.

APPRAISER

...Herman. And her dog's name was?

GUEST

Jigger.

APPRAISER

Jigger. In the third line down, he's saying-- the dog, Herman, is saying, "I can type. I can type it better than he and could write better stories, if I felt like it. The trouble is, I ain't got the time." It just shows a very charming side of him. J.D. Salinger was an incredibly private man, and he didn't correspond to too many people, so we do not see many of his letters at auction. This letter is entirely typed. On the reverse, there are a few pencil notes, and they kind of reflect the same play with letters that is on the opposite side. I think a conservative estimate at auction for the letter would be about $600 to $800. It would be more interesting if it actually had the signature or something that J.D. Salinger put on there himself. And the way this is written, I would really need to verify whether or not it is Salinger's writing.

GUEST

It is a beautiful letter, and I will cherish it forever.