S. S. McClure has reread "The Valley of the Mills" and hopes to see more work from him. Please send his address so she won't have to write through Reynolds. Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #118]
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]
Poem is beautiful but too long for McClure's. A terrible summer in New York. Leaving at the end of September for a six-month vacation to set herself straight. Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #202]
Verses he sent are too intellectual for McClure's. Poetry they use must be more pictorial or narrative or emotional. Eager to leave, but hopes to see him before she goes. Willa Sibert Cather [Stout #203]
Is pleased to have the Adams book [prob. Henry Adams, Mont-Saint-Michel and Chartres, 1904; reissued by Houghton Mifflin in 1913]. Tell Nancy Moore her serial will get a quick reading by Mackenzie [at McClure's]. Willa Cather [Stout #273]
Thanks for the cheery letter. Is free of bandages now. Went to Atlantic City for a few days and got sidetracked from her [Cather's] story, but is back on it now. Writing a lot about the mechanics and politics of opera. Is getting acquainted with the Hoyts. Wishes events in Mexico would settle down so she could go see the cities there. Going to Pittsburgh soon. W. [Stout #280]
She is a sport to go fishing with Greenslet. Henry James's latest book, "Brothers and Son" [Notes of a Son and Brother, 1914], is too mannered, with too little substance, to be worth reading. Tortured with afterthoughts and retraction. Hears from Greenslet that Elsie is not going to marry a cubist after all—he seems to have taken the joke seriously. Glad to be away from New York. Will probably go visit Fremstad in Maine some time in June. Is not pushing herself. Enjoying the weather and resting a lot. W. [Stout #282]
Will go to New York about mid-January by way of Washington. Working well here. Won't get to Boston before late winter. The new book great fun but awfully long! Please return The Idiot [ Dostoevsky ], if it was she to whom she lent it. Is reading The Awkward Age [ James ] with Isabelle. W. S. C. [Stout #290]
Has just read her essay on Provence in Century. Is busy with proofs. Jack is off in Maine. A musical critic is reading galleys and is enthusiastic, especially about the singing lessons. Would have felt bad if those hadn't been right! Has she seen Henry James's article about Mrs. Fields in the June Atlantic? Isn't she disappointed in Owen Wister's novel? [Pentecost of Calamity, 1915] P.S.: Loves her khaki outfit for the cliff dwellings— reminds her of Kurt's outfit in Fidelio [ Beethoven ]. Willa [Stout #310]
Likes the jacket, but the copy is wrong—Moonstone, Colorado, not Arizona. Also, Thea and Fred go to Mexico, not New Mexico. Wishes it could say something about her artistic growth in the cliff dweller ruins. Actually, not so very happy with the cover. Couldn't it be more like British edition of Pioneers? Henry James seems patronizing in his essay on the Fieldses. Willa Cather [Stout #311]
