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Tuesday, Sep 13, 2011 7:14 PM UTC

Asking price for single Salinger sentence: $50,000

The famously private writer's short, polite note to his maid is available (for a considerable fee) on eBay

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Topics: J.D. Salinger, Writers and Writing, Books,

Asking price for single Salinger sentence: $50,000FILE - In this Jan. 28, 2010 file photo, copies of J.D. Salinger's classic novel "The Catcher in the Rye" as well as his volume of short stories called "Nine Stories" are seen at the Orange Public Library in Orange Village, Ohio. Salinger, died Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2010, in Cornish, N.H., at the age of 91. At left is a 1951 photo of the author. (AP Photo/Amy Sancetta, File)(Credit: Amy Sancetta)

Reuters reports today that a polite but laconic one-sentence letter from J.D. Salinger to his maid is currently listed on eBay with a $50,000 price tag. As the New York Times’ Dave Itzkoff wryly notes, that’s “about $2,083.33 a word” — no small sum for a glorified kitchen-counter memo (albeit one left behind by an iconic literary hermit).

Other historical items listed on eBay by the same dealer are are even more expensive. Among them is a note ostensibly sent by Herman Melville to his publisher, George P. Putnam, which reads only, “Dear Sir: Re-enclosed is the proof. Very truly yours, H Melville.” It can be yours for $95,000 — plus $19 shipping and handling.

If your tastes run more to the political, a document described as bearing George Washington’s signature can be obtained for $150,000; a telegram “signed and annotated” by Lenin in 1921 is available for the slightly lower fee of $110,000.

By these standards, seller History for Sale’s less expensive items — such as this autographed note from Wolf Blitzer, advertised at $69 — are downright affordable.

Emma Mustich is a Salon contributor. Follow her on Twitter: @emustich. More Emma Mustich.

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