today i found a typewritten letter from elmer keith, written to a man in tyler tx.... the letter is on keith's personal letterhead backed by the american rifleman... dated 25th march 1
1952... it offers advice on reloading .300 h&h and .375 h&h with barnes bullets.... its signed by keith in pencil... i'd like to get the letter appraised....and authenticated.... its in very good condition, having been sealed in a book for 40 plus yrs.... thanks, jim

During his lifetime, I received several "Dope Bag" replies from Mr. Keith. I also corresponded with him regarding purchasing a couple of rifles. I am a manuscript editor-book designer. And years ago I was a copy editor for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat. What impressed me most with our correspondence was how poorly he communicated. What you read, that has been published, was edited via the "Maxwell Perkins school of manuscript editing." The most obvious markers persuasive of authenticity would be near illiteracy, incoherence, and a bazillion typographical errors via manual typewriter.

Please note my comments have zero to do with the information he furnished. It was painful to extract it.

Naphtal---have several type written and signed letters and notes from Elmer and I know what you are talking about.

the letter i have has seversl mispelled words and was typed on a manual typewriter.... i'm sure that there was no spell-check available in 1952...i've seen a book on ebay that is a compilation of correspondence with a "gun writer".... just wondering what the collectibilty of this letter is and its value...

Market value of an item depends upon its market -- that is, how many people are willing to [compete to] own the item, ubiquity of documents by the person in question. How many personal letters and other correspondence of Mr. Keith's survive?

Antiquarian book dealers and document sellers can furnish accurate appraisal. I suspect the letter is worth little on the open market, that its sentimental value is its worth.

Hope this helps.