JD Salinger in 1941
"I think one of these days you'll figure out what you want . And then you will have to apply to it immediately. You won't be able to waste a single minute." These are just some of the lines he outlined JD Salinger in the renowned novel published in 1951 The Catcher in the Rye .
From that moment everything changed for him. american author : 10 million copies were sold and Salinger, over time, became a emblematic figure of modern literature of the 20th century.
Today, nine years after his death and in homage to the centenary of his birth -January 1, 1919-, the New York Public Library next to his son Matt Salinger, his widow, Colleen Salinger; and in partnership with Declan Kiely, director of special collections and exhibitions at the Library, have launched a unprecedented exhibition About the Author.
Manuscripts, books, letters, photographs and personal effects have been retrieved directly from the novelist's archive and will be available for three months on Fifth Avenue.
JD Salinger in Cornish, New Hampshire, 1993
Can you imagine reading the letters that Salinger wrote to Ernest Hemingway or vice versa? It is the first time that objects of such relevance will be shared with the public, a real heirloom for author enthusiasts and devotees of literary works.
Nothing but secrecy has revolved around his life, although it is public knowledge that he was born and raised in New York in the bosom of a wealthy family, even when the long years of the Great Depression covered the sky of Manhattan. Jerome David aspired to join The New York Times, but World War II came to dethrone their dreams and see him quickly join the ranks of the Allies.
After returning from the battlefield and after the success of the novel The Catcher in the Rye, Salinger decides to seclude himself in Cornish, New Hampshire and give life to the following titles of his: Nine Tales (1953), Franny and Zooey (1961), and Raise Up, Carpenters, the Main Beam and Seymour: An Introduction (1963). He took refuge, walked away, did not want to be on the front page of any article or be interviewed by journalists. Finally, he decided to stop publishing although it is said that he did not stop writing a single day of his life.
Since October 18, the city that saw him grow up and the people closest to him, they pay him a tribute never seen before , one that we thought we would not be able to see, -when he died in 2010, it was mentioned that nothing about his private life would be revealed-, at least for a few more years.
Together to the 200 objects from the life and work of J.D. Salinger , there will be an original description, obtained from a 1982 document and written by the author himself, a glimpse of how Salinger saw himself.
Part of that description states: "I am a professional writer of short stories and a novelist. I write fiction and only fiction . For over thirty years, I have lived and worked in rural New Hampshire. I was married here and both of my children were raised here… I have been writing fiction passionately, focused, perhaps insatiably, since I was fifteen or so. I safely imagine that, sooner or later, the final product safely goes to the ideal private reader. , alive or dead or yet unborn, male or female or possibly neither.
Likewise, attendees will be able to enjoy one of the author's typewriters , his film projector and his library with the personal collection that he used to have in his room. Personal objects such as a pipe, glasses, his watch, objects from his childhood and even correspondence with his friends, soldiers, authors, publishers, among the most prominent Ernest Hemingway, William Maxwell and William Shawn.
One of the author's typewriters
Family photographs, from childhood, youth of him or during his years of service in the War and his time as director of entertainment on the cruise ship MS Kungsholm in 1941. The original manuscript of some of Salinger's short stories , including Franny and Zooey as well as the iconic guardian.
The novel that made him world famous, Holden Caufield , the character created in his most relevant fiction, with whom thousands of young people have plunged into the streets of New York and every aspect of the life and work of J.D. Salinger becomes relevant in this exhibition unpublished about the author.
The exhibition is free and is available until January 19, 2020 at the New York Public Library, Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.
The exhibition will be at the New York Public Library.