As a result of Dorothy's having written to her [Cather's] mother, has had the first letter from her that she could bear to read in two years. They may yet make peace. Isabelle and Edith away on a fishing trip to West Virginia. Sarah Harris has written denouncing the "animalism" of April Twilights—must be crazy. Is tired from parties and work. Is Mrs. Canfield painting? Has she read "The Better Sort" [volume of short stories by Henry James, pub. 1903]? Very complex and obscure. Willie [Stout #85]
Thanks for sharing what Miss Roseboro' said about the stories. Roseboro's own are a sentimental muddle. Best wishes for Dorothy's doctoral exam in May. Hopes to get to Vermont this summer. Will mainly be in New York near or with Edith Lewis. Hopes to finish novel there. Might take an English course at Columbia, if there is one in the summer. Isabelle still droopy from bad throat. Parents [Cather's] have just moved into a new, roomier house and want her to come help select furnishings, but she needs to finish the novel for McClure. Willie [Stout #97]
Sorry not to have been more sensitive about the doctoral exam, but doesn't understand Ph.D.s. Now realizes it was an ordeal. Expects to be in New York about June 28 and hopes she can come down. Hasn't decided whether the novel is worth rewriting. Hopes to go abroad with Isabelle again next year. May yet go to Red Cloud this summer. Has had two nice visits with the Willards. Exams to begin soon at school, so will be busy. Willie [Stout #98]
Sorry not to get home for Christmas, especially when he is ill, but can't desert McClure in this difficulty. Must get the March article out [on Mary Baker Eddy]. Did not work on the January one, began with February. Hopes to be home by New Year's. Willie [Stout #120]
Envies his being in Italy. Is working on the material about Eddy, after three men failed with it. It drives out every trace of an imaginative idea. Why doesn't he like [Pierre] Loti—afraid of real imagination? He covers up his own with slang and imitations of Kipling. Or maybe he fears being sentimental. McClure has paid $500 for illustrations for "The Valley of the Mills." Was in Pittsburgh a couple of months ago and saw the Willards. Only music saves her in New York. Please ask Mr. Reynolds to send her his work personally. Willa S. Cather [Stout #125]
Will need to treat the current litigation in the last chapter of the History of Christian Science. Wants to approach it by way of Eddy's relationship with her son, George Glover. Is going to Nebraska in late July, would like to see Mr. Glover while in the West. He could edit the article to safeguard Glover's interests in the suit. Would he like to borrow her copy of the 1881 edition of Science and Health? Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #129]
Found his September 13 letter when she returned. Hopes to see him about the Eddy matter. Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #131]
Is it true he has a diary kept by Dr. E. J. Foster that quotes many of Mrs. Eddy's sayings? May she have access to it? Would quote only with his approval. Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #132]
Enjoyed seeing Mrs. Gardener's [Isabella Stewart Gardner?] house last week, with daffodils in bloom. Has returned library books and asked them to keep her card in case she comes back. Came to Boston in pursuit of Mrs. Eddy and likes the city better and better. In New York, feels under siege. Wishes Mr. McClure had come and introduced her last year, but is glad they finally met. Her friendship and Jewett's make the year's work worthwhile. Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #136]
What a beautiful place! Camellias and roses in bloom all around. Room overlooks the Gulf of Salerno, as blue as the water in a [Pierre] Puvis de Chavannes painting. Yesterday a festival celebrating the arrival of the skull of St. Andrew in Amalfi seven hundred years ago, but enjoyment interrupted by the arrival of some people she used to know in Nebraska. [Alice] Meynell's essays about Italy in the book Jewett gave her are very fine, especially the essay "The Lesson of Landscape," but A. E. Housman writes with equal truthfulness, and she includes a transcription of his "The Olive," a poem he gave her that she has never seen in print. The "White Heron" and the Dunnet ladies [references to copies of books by Jewett] are always with her. Willa Cather [Stout #138]