A sophisticated and superb craftsman, Porter enjoyed a successful career in both theater and film. Known as one of America’s leading songwriters, his elegant fusion of “graceful melody and rhyming ingenuity with a mixture of sexual innuendoes, offbeat humor, colloquialisms, and topicality” won him the esteem of admirers the world over, (DAB). In March 1929, the musical revue Wake Up and Dream, for which Porter wrote the lyrics, opened in London. The most popular number of the show was “What Is This Thing Called Love?” which became a popular jazz standard. Despite a mediocre critical reception, the show ran for 263 performances at the London Pavilion before being reprised on Broadway in late December 1929, where it ran for only 136 performances due to the stock market crash, which began on October 24 with nervous investors liquidating their stock and culminated with “Black Tuesday,” October 29, the day the stock market crashed and the day Porter penned our letter. Perhaps Porter’s own financial losses precipitated his desire to get out of paying out any additional funds!
Curtis Brown is a London literary and talent agency, founded in 1899 specializing in representing talent on both sides of the Atlantic. Among its esteemed list of clients were Ian Fleming, John Steinbeck, William Faulkner, A.A. Milne, Samuel Beckett, Isaiah Berlin, Vita Sackville-West, Winston Churchill, and D.H. Lawrence. Accompanied by a letter to Harvey Cole from Harms itemizing payments to Porter in the spring of 1929. Normal folding, otherwise in very fine condition. Rare in ALS!
