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Jacqueline Bouvier [Kennedy]: Fourteen-Page ALS from Hammersmith Farm to Best Friend....
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Description
A Teenage Jackie on Love, Friendship, and Newport Society.
Jacqueline Bouvier [Kennedy]: Fourteen-Page ALS from Hammersmith
Farm to Best Friend. 14-pages, 7" x 10 1/2" each. This
remarkable fourteen-page autograph letter written to her best
friend Woodley and signed "Jackie" offers a rare, intimate glimpse
into Jacqueline Bouvier's life as a spirited young woman before she
became First Lady. Written from Hammersmith Farm, her summer
retreat in Newport, the letter bubbles with accounts of cocktail
parties, moonlit dances, beach outings, and flirtations with
friends like Buddy, John, and Navy officers. Jackie vividly
describes Newport society at play-sailing excursions, impromptu
piano sing-alongs, and marshmallow roasts-capturing the carefree
glamour of her circle. Torn between Buddy's sweetness and John's
intellect, she confides with youthful candor about romance,
jealousy, and the thrill of attention. What makes this letter
extraordinary is not only its unusual length and detail but its
tone: playful, breathless, and intensely personal, written with the
exuberance of an eighteen-year-old on the edge of adulthood. An
early portrait of Jackie's wit, charm, and keen
observations-already the hallmarks of a woman destined for history.
(Please see online extended description for entire letter
translation).Condition: Blue ink on white letterhead from Hammersmith Farm, Newport, Rhode Island. Lightly toned, mostly at creases, but overall an outstanding quite legible letter with great content. Comes with LOA from PSA/DNA.
More Information: I'm back in school now and this is the first chance I've had to answer your letter. I've been dying to—for it will make me think of summer all over again, and I miss it so. At John Sterling's cocktail party the other day I talked to Nicky King about you—he said Bayard had gotten a letter from you, that you were fine but wanted to start from scratch, and it was just like living in wartime England. You never tell me things like that, Woodley—you are the most uncomplaining person I've ever known. I hope it isn't too awful. I'll send you anything you want. That's the most exciting thing I've heard in ages. I loved giving you that watch, and then you must let me ask if he likes you much—not just to spend hundreds of dollars on you! You know he likes you that much, and I want to hear if you really have a devout follower in Henry Ripley. He said to me at the beach one day...
I talked to Tanya a little—Bayard and I and Bob Christ and Danny sometimes went around together. Bunny and Sylvia liked you—that was sweet of Bunny to give you those sweaters. He said Newport wasn't the same without you, and how he saw you off on the bus. I just loved to read your letter over and over. It made me think of everything I've seen Woodley—you're so artistic—I feel rather like an engagement ring. You must come back next summer. Do you think something will happen? I know a few years Bayard will want to settle down. The reason those boys don't marry now is because they know they couldn't support a wife, but they have a chance to make a lot in the world—in business. It's always surer to last if they sow their wild oats first! But Bayard are so perfect together. He's just the kind of man I've always thought you would marry, and you both have so much in common. I know it would work so—if you just stay in there pitching. He expects you to be bridesmaid. You also have Yusha as an admirer. He told me he had long talks with you before you left, and how interesting you were, and that you were the only girl in Newport that he really felt he could have a wonderful time with. I know he wrote you a letter. Do write him back—though he probably won't be able to answer so soon as he's laden with work at Groton. If you come back next summer he'll be waiting with open arms, as I think Tanya is a thing of the moment. He likes to analyze her and see what makes her tick—but she doesn't mean much to him. You're the one he wants to tell you what he meant in that letter. At the end of the summer—after you left—I got back from Hot Springs and saw him the next day at a dance. I couldn't think of much to say to him though. Then a week or so later I went to the movies with him and John. Buddy started talking—but it was fun as he and John were a sort of stooges' act. Then in the middle we laughed the whole time. Then at all the girls went away and the last Thursday before the beach dances some people decided to have the last minute—Buddy and John took me, and first it was supper, then back for cocktails. The other girls got there—Betty Corbin, Diana Lanier, Nancy Andrews, and scads of Navy. I wasn't very scared!!! In the middle Mrs. Corbin came flying in and said, "Jackie you shouldn't be here with all these drunks." Everyone came home. But Buddy wouldn't let me go, and he and John were very attentive, and it was fun. Then dinner at the M.K., Betty and Diana's dinner. Then the dance—it was bliss. Buddy danced with me every second, and John quite a lot. Buddy and I had a heavenly long talk outside, but just about New York and nightclubs and people there, which I've decided is as serious as he can get. John gave me his Brooks ring, but it was when Buddy and I were sitting outside, and he came over and sort of put his arm around me and started talking quietly and gave it to me. So it wasn't very serious.
They drove me home, and I think Buddy was a little tipsy, for he had his arm around me and leaned awfully close and sort of talked, and if I'd turned around to look at him we would have been practically kissing each other. But damn! Whenever something exciting like that happens John is always there—and when it happens with John, Buddy's there. We went to the movies a couple more times, the three of us, and sometimes Steven Spencer, who's really awfully sweet. Once the three of us went sailing, and it was heavenly. Then later we went to Marie Hill's picnic, where we ate sprawled all over her house, and people played the piano and sang old songs, and we toasted marshmallows over matches. It was the most fun I've had all summer. John brought Edie. She told Buddy I'd go with him, but she wanted to go home early and John didn't, so she left with a Navy guy. They were both sweet. It was really good, clean fun for Newport. People vaguely roughhoused and they carried me around on their shoulders, and Julie Dirks stood on her head, and Danny Andrews did acrobatics—oh boy.
The next day Alison Kelsey came down for the weekend to stay with Buddy. Damn! She couldn't be sweeter. I don't know how deep she is, but she seemed to have a lot of sense and was so nice to me. I couldn't like her more. She and Bev and John and I and Steven went to the movies. Then John and Buddy had to go back to Harvard Sunday, but they came back, and I went out with them Monday and Tuesday nights. But nothing much happened. Buddy said he'd take me out at Christmas, and once John said something about a Harvard dance, but I'm sure he's forgotten. I don't think they'll write me, but that doesn't keep me from hoping like mad.
I don't like Buddy as much as I did—he's pretty shallow but has a lot of sweetness. I love to talk to John—he's a wonderful person, but there's no physical attraction. So I'm in love with the one which is much more comfortable! I must go now—this was all at the expense of U.S. History—but to hell with that. Write back soon, Woodley. It's the queerest feeling having you miles away across an ocean and not just at Dana Hall. But I won't let myself be morbid about it, as I know and hope and pray that you'll be at Newport next summer. You know what a wonderful friend I think you are and always will. I'll miss you terribly all winter.
All my love,
Jackie
Auction Info
2025 October 24 - 25 Americana & Political Signature® Auction #6324 (go to Auction Home page)
Auction Dates
October, 2025
24th-25th
Friday-Saturday
Bids + Registered Phone Bidders: 4
Lot Tracking Activity: N/A
Page Views: 146
Buyer's Premium per Lot:
25% of the successful bid per lot.
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