Possessions and works of the great Mississippi author, William Faulkner, were auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York this past Tuesday, June 11, with unusual results.
According to Agence France Presse, the response to the auction was underwhelming. Several of the most important pieces, including the family letters and a new-found short story, had no buyers. Only 24 of 39 auction lots were sold during the Faulkner auction.
The auction was expected to make an estimated $2 million, with the proceeds going to Faulkner’s family, and there is a second event planned for London.
The Mississippi author wrote famed novels such as “The Sound and the Fury” and “As I Lay Dying.” His contributions to the world of literature have helped to make Oxford famous.
Faulkner was a member of the Oxford community. His childhood and adult years were spent in Oxford and his home, Rowan Oak, is a favorite spot for both natives and tourists. Faulkner studied for a time at The University of Mississippi and after his death in 1962, Faulkner was buried in St. Peter’s Cemetery near the campus. It is rumored that Faulkner’s fictional town of “Jefferson,” featured in several of his works, is modeled after Oxford, the Southern small town.
Because of Faulkner’s connection to Oxford and Ole Miss, the university has been able to protect some of his treasures. Two of the items in the auction were Faulkner’s Nobel Prize for Literature and the Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur, and their certificates, which have been housed at the university, in the Special Collections of the J.D. Williams Library, for around 60 years. Faulkner’s descendants, the Summers, requested that the awards be returned for the New York auction.
“I feel privileged to have been able to work around the awards for so many years, and am very grateful to the Summers family for their allowing our university the opportunity,” said Jennifer Ford, head of Archives and Special Collections and associate professor at Ole Miss.
The Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Faulkner in 1949, after the success of his fictional works concerning the history and lifestyle of the South, including “Absalom, Absalom!” and “Intruder in the Dust.” Both of these books discussed the moral issues of racism and equality. The Ordre National de la Legion d’Honneur was awarded to Faulkner by the French consul of New Orleans in 1951.
The university has hopes that the next owner of the awards will renew the loan to the J.D. Williams Library in order to continue the decades-long legacy of Faulkner and Ole Miss.
The auction also included several of Faulkner’s original letters and manuscripts, both new and old. Some of these letters are correspondence from Faulkner to his mother during his time in France and include drawings done by Faulkner himself.
Faulkner and his works are still loved in Oxford. Oxford residents and educators will forever see Faulkner as a treasured and beloved figure of the community.
“We are proud of the Faulkner collections we do have in Special Collections, and Faulkner is as important to the university now as he has always been,” Ford said. “We have scholars from all over the world come to visit our Faulkner collections.”
