Two Original Breen Letters

Breen, Walter. LETTERS WRITTEN TO REV. FRANK J. MACENTEE, SJ. Two letters: 1) dated May 21, 1990, one page, typewritten, signed in ink; 2) dated June 8, 1992, two pages, handwritten, signed in ink. Both folded for mailing and accompanied by the original mailing envelopes. Some light staining to second letter; second envelope stained. Very good. Two letters written to a Catholic priest, and generally concerning non-numismatic subjects including Breen’s family, spirituality (“Your prayers and masses are appreciated, believe me”), the writings of Marion Zimmer Bradley, Breen’s depression, and much else. In the second letter, written from prison, Breen discusses the writing projects he hoped to complete, most of which were never published: “Cynic’s Dictionary; Darkover Concordance [the first edition was published in 1979]; Ignore Previous Fortunes: The Slings & Arrows of Outrageous Fortune Cookies; Tolkien & Wagner: Two Rings of Power; Let’s Hear that Again! (my collected essays on classical music); a revised edition of the Fractional Calif. Gold book [a second edition was published in 2003]; and a rewritten version of my 1988 Encyclopedia.” This letter was written while Breen was in prison, and includes five poems: “Paradox,” “Cancer,” “Diet,” “Nine Too Many” and “A Silver Dollar’s Story.”