The Morgan Library will display nine letters written by J.D. Salinger to Marjorie Sheard, from between 1941 and 1943. This is the first time the correspondence will be available to the public. The show goes on view Sept. 10.
Sheard, an aspiring Canadian writer, first reached out to Salinger in 1941, when the author was 22 years old, after reading his early short stories in Esquire and Collier’s. Included in the exhibition is a letter by Salinger from November, 1941 referencing a story that had just been purchased by The New Yorker starring one Holden Caulfield. The magazine had requested a series featuring the character.
Sheard died earlier this year. She had stored the letters in a shoebox in her closet. The Morgan, which has been periodically rolling out shows of Salinger’s correspondence, acquired them in April of this year.
