Please tell this person she can't print My Mortal Enemy in a collection of short stories. Copies have arrived. Printing is good. Rest of Archbishop manuscript will be there about October 29. Please send Virginia Woolf 's The Voyage Out. W. S. C. [Stout #847]
Sorry to have been unable to contribute to the collection of letters, but didn't receive request until return from Jaffrey. Willa Cather [Stout #866]
Anne Douglas Sedgwick has sent a note written by him praising My Mortal Enemy. Appreciates his favor. Most of her books made out of old memories from which the extraneous has dropped away. Now reading proofs of a book that gave her joy to write, Death Comes for the Archbishop. Willa Cather [Stout #883]
Not fair of him to have used her praise of Laughing Boy in an ad. Has steadfastly refused to give commendations of books even by old friends, and now he has publicized what she said in private without authorization. Please send a copy of new edition of Ántonia so she can mark some corrections for the English edition. Since she will be leaving about the 20th, could he send March royalty check early? Willa Cather [Stout #1003]
Brought her letter along to California, where mother has been in sanitarium almost three years. Has been with her a lot of the time and has lost track of friends. Book just finished helped her hold together. Zoë has been a good friend. Please send a collection of selected poems. New poets don't let emotion blossom in their poems. Willa Cather [Stout #1052]
Please convey greetings to Bishop and Mrs. George Beecher on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of his consecration as bishop. Wishes she could be there on November 30. He has affected the lives of many people. [Stout #1277]
Sorry not to have replied to his letter in the summer, but received it only recently. Doesn't understand his reference to a "pilgrimage" to see A. E. Housman. Why would he presume to describe an incident he knew nothing about? Has never given out information about the occasion except to private friends. Hopes he won't put anything about it into his biography of Housman. Considers his request for information rude. Willa Cather [Stout #1336]
The debate over Joseph Conrad is endless. Prefers a more direct, unadorned sentence style. Few writers can give themselves up to baroque emotionalism and succeed. Turgenev could. Conrad becomes artificial or decadent. Listened to the king's abdication speech on the radio [Edward VIII abdicated on December 11, 1936] and found it plausible and distinguished. An example of rhetorical control. What does he think of the people close to the king? [letter breaks off] [Stout #1350]
Is not writing many letters but devoting time to work. At tea time, often thinks of Lascar [his book-in-progress]. Looks forward to reading a book about that place [ Marseilles ]. Conrad gives a glimpse of it in The Arrow of Gold before the book goes off in other directions. How is he? and where is he? P.S.: Will probably leave for the Canadian Rockies about July 15. W. S. C. [Stout #1367]
Sent him a letter at Aix-les-Bains, but he may not receive it, so sending this to his home address. Please send an advance copy of his book and she will take it up with Knopf. Hand is better. Is enjoying the weather. Geologists tell her the rock that makes up their island is thirty-six million years old but has not been above water all that time. Lovely spruce trees keep it cool and shady. W. S. C. [Stout #1372]