Theodore Sturgeon TLS and INSCRIBED Venus plus X

Typed Letter SIGNED “Ted” dated Dec. 15, 1960 and written to one John R. Pierce, an inventor and engineer and director of electronics research at AT&T’s Bell Laboratories who, along with Arthur C. Clarke, is considered a “father of the communications satellite.” Pierce (also known by his pseudonym J.J. Coupling), may be best known for having coined the word “transistor” and for his work on NASA’s Echo I project in 1960 which led to the Telstar satellite project. Pierce published 14 nonfiction works—including Theory and Design of Electron Beams (1949)—and wrote articles for Astounding Science Fiction while also publishing science fiction stories, including “Relics of the Earth” in Hugo Gernsback’s Science Wonder Stories and “Invariant” in Astounding Science-Fiction.
 
Hugo and Nebula Award winner Sturgeon writes to Pierce complimenting him on the success of the Echo satellite, thanking him for his assistance in devising names used in Venus plus X, and mentioning that he is also thanked on page 160 of the book.
 
Included is a VG+ paperback first edition of Venus plus X (New York: Pyramid Books, 1960) INSCRIBED by Sturgeon to John Pierce on inside front cover: “For John Pierce with warm thanks Theodore Sturgeon Dec. 60.” 
 
The TLS has a horizontal and vertical crease and at the top edge has a tape mark that corresponds to a tape ghost on ffep of the book where it had apparently been attached.
 
An intriguing association. Item #756

Price: $550.00