September 2014 Auction Ends Thursday, September 25th, 5pm Pacific
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 9/25/2014
George Bernard Shaw spade and unpublished poem inspired by it, written by Ray Bradbury and titled, ''G.B.S. & The Spade''. Bradbury credits Shaw, a Nobel Prize winner and humanitarian, as his most important influence in literature, and even extends his admiration as far as calling Shaw an influence on his life. He named Shaw as the one person he wished he could have met during his life. Here, Bradbury expresses his delight with receiving Shaw's spade as a Christmas gift and imagines the spade as a conduit for a dialogue between himself and his idol. Typed poem reads in part (about half of it is transcribed here), ''...Hit and run, smash and grab. / I hold the dear spade in my hands, / Its vibrant lightnings strike and move along my arms, / The ghost of Shaw climbs up through me / I feel a fiery brambling of chin / I feel my spine / Stand straight as if a lightning bolt had struck / His old voice whispers in my ear, dear boy / Find Troy, go on, dig deep, find Troy, find Troy! / But where, I cry, but where, but where? / But there, good lad, there there, ah there. / Electric goes his fingers. I quake, start. / The old man's ghost is pointing at my heart. / Can that be true. how deep, how long the digging, can that be true. / Good grief, shut up, says Shaw, grab hold, fall to! / He steps back in the dust, down in the shade, / and I stand, Christmas morn, with ancient spade / Great Shaw the First is gone, is dead? / His son stands here, Excalibured? / And crowned my head...'' Actual spade used by Shaw features a metal plaque on the handle that reads, ''With this spade Bernard Shaw planted a mulberry tree in the public garden in Great Malvern on his 80th birthday, the 26 July 1936. He then presented it to Harry Batchelor Higgs, his gardener and faithful friend for 34 years.'' Spade features a square metal blade and wooden handle. Measures 38.25'' in height and 6'' across. Tarnishing and some felt tip notations to the plaque, else near fine. Poem runs 2pp. on 2 sheets. Measures 8.5'' x 11''. Housed in a blue file folder labeled with the title and initials ''R.B.'' in Bradbury's hand. One page contains a few lines of type apparently from an unrelated note by Bradbury, reading, ''The Kilimanjaro Machine / Opening scenes plus an outline of the teleplay by Ray Bradbury based on his own short story''. Stain to first page and creasing to corners, else near fine. With a COA from the Ray Bradbury estate.
Spade Used by George Bernard Shaw to Plant a Mulberry Tree -- Then Owned by Ray Bradbury Who Writes an Original, Unpublished & Lengthy Poem as He Imagined the Scene -- Very Rare
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