Lot 141

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Description:

William Randolph Hearst Pays Tribute, In Verse To The town in Spain That Gave Him the Inspiration for his Landmark Mansion at San Simeon. 

A collection of Autograph Manuscripts, 7 pages, 5.5" x 6" to 5.5" x 8.5", accomplished in ink and pencil, [Ronda, Spain, c. 1925-1934]. Together with 3 pages of typescript poems, 7.25" x 10.25" to 8.5" x 11" of the same three-stanza poem by Hearst. Folds, some marginal losses to the larger typescript sheet, else very good to fine condition.

The first poem, accomplished in pencil on yellow paper, reads, in part: "…Have you ever had breakfast / at Ronda / In the fonda / De Cadiz / Did you ever have coffee / more creamy / Hot and steamy / Than that is / You're a practiced and / persistent eater / Did you ever taste ham / that was sweeter / Or bread that is whiter / Or rolls that are lighter / Than those that they serve / you at Ronda / At the fonda / De Cadiz / We all of us hate to leave Ronda / And the fonda / De Cadiz / We know that we never will / Get a / Place better / than that is / The boys would have got away quicker / But they hated to leave the good liquor / That they get at the fonda de Cadiz / And you know how particular dad is / He likes [to] sample aqua caliente / But with lots of sprits frumente / He's quite fond of coffee and / cognac no doubt / But he likes it much better / with coffee left out / And he is fond of / The fonda / At Ronda / Dog gone da / He loves the - Cafe de - Cadiz"  Hearst adds another short (and extremely silly) piece, entitled "A Spanish Song" on the same yellow stationery he used for his ode to Ronda.

Although he was in part responsible for fanning the flames of popular opinion in favor of war with Spain in 1898, Hearst loved to visit the country. He was especially enamored at the town of Ronda, and in 1919, he commissioned architect Julia Morgan to replicate the twin church towers in his new mansion at San Simeon, California. 

The second poem, accomplished on Hotel Victoria letterhead, is a similar piece of doggerel paying dubious tribute to the tastes and smells of Tangiers:

"Will you walk into my parlor / Said the poppie to the kids / It's a place to rest your bodies / And place to hang your lids / You can drink a whiskey cocktail /  Or enjoy the cup that cheers / And there are no smaller and noses / To remind you of Tangiers / Said the children to the poppie / We accept your invitation / We will drink whiskey cocktail / Without any hesitation / We will even have another / If you press us very much / But we wouldn[']t dare to ask for it / For fear we'd get in dutch / We'll walk into your parlor / And enjoy the cup that cheers / But we don[']t want hop or hasheesh / To remind us of Tangiers / We're tired of hearing Jackasses / We're tired of smelling goats / We're tired of seeing dirty dames / In bath gown overcoats / We're tired of the all the Arab noise / One usually hears / And we we want no Arab odors / To remind us of Tangiers."  (The accompanying typescript pages are a transcription of this poem).

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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