Swedish cousin has died in Paris. Spent a few days in Washington with her cousin's husband after he returned bringing the body. Is settling back into the apartment. Did about 28,000 words on new novel while in Pittsburgh. Has she seen the article about singers in the December McClure's? Fremstad likes it. Has been invited to Boston to visit Mrs. Fields, but can't go until after Christmas. Wishes she [ Sergeant ] were there to go to the ballet tonight. P.S.: Mrs. Fields's primness about a nude figure on the magazine cover is funny. W. S. C. [Stout #270]
Please send a statement of royalties paid in 1929. Will leave for California soon and needs to do income tax early. P.S.: Likes Laughing Boy [ LaFarge ] a great deal. Willa Cather [Stout #1002]
Please send royalty check. Appreciates his sending Chief Justice Holmes's letter about My Ántonia. Enjoyed summer in France, but always prefers to spend fall in New England. P.S.: Please send copy of Laughing Boy to Jan Hambourg. W. S. C. Willa Cather [Stout #1021]
Sending address of Deidrich Navall. Knopf sending Greenslet a copy of Archbishop, which she hopes he will send to Justice Holmes. Willa Cather [Stout #1039]
Accepts invitation to Friends of the Princeton Library dinner on May 4.[Others who accepted were Wilbur Cross, Robert Frost, Mr. and Mrs. Ira Gershwin, Ellen Glasgow, and Mr. and Mrs. Oliver LaFarge.] Willa Cather [Stout #1156]
Too tired of answering questions from men writing books on creative writing to answer his. Silly to try to teach it anyway. People should be taught to write clear, correct English and let creative writing take care of itself. Willa Cather [Stout #1243]
Cherry H. Cather of Malta and Edith Cather of Vancouver, British Columbia, have written that they are working on the Cather family genealogy. Does he know the name of his great grandfather and other ancestors? These women have shared many interesting details about the Cathers in Ireland and Scotland. There was a county of Catherlough during King John's reign, and two brothers, Edmund and Bertram Cather, were granted the County of Tyrone in 1660 for resisting Cromwell. Is at least pleased they were Stewarts [sic]. Hopes he will share whatever he knows. Willa
Has taken a good while to reply to Elsie. Many friends have been dying, and has been dictating sympathy letters to exhaustion. Must take satisfaction from the nice words of the late Justice Holmes in the morning's New York Times [Henry Steele Commager, in "Justice Holmes in his Letters" (a review of The Holmes-Pollock Letters, ed. Mark DeWolfe Howe, New York Times, March 23, 1941, p. BR1, BR30), writes "Willa Cather moved him, 'unexpectedly and deeply.'"] Needs such kind comments now more than she did before. Was glad to hear about the house Elsie built in Lincoln. Agrees with Edith that it was a very intelligent decision. Also pleased that Elsie did not solicit her advice for the choice, as she understands little about the current conditions in Red Cloud and Lincoln. Willard Crowell persists in writing letters saying everything will work out and even persuaded her to let Witwer put a well in the Jewell County, Kansas, land after the creek ran dry. Ran a deficit because of it. Crowell seems to think she would be unfaithful if she did not pay the taxes on the land. This is all to illustrate how little she understands how things are in Webster County. . . . [pages 2 and 3 missing] PS: Sorry that she was so noncommittal about coming to Red Cloud for Christmas. Her hand has worsened rather than improved, and traveling is a real burden. Since she cannot commit to coming to Red Cloud soon, Elsie should do what she wants with the house. The orthopedist from Boston, who only comes to New York a couple of times a month, is the only one who has been heartening. Enjoy your new house. Willie
[included with letter are: 1) newspaper clipping announcing that Jervis Bay in New Brunswick has been chosen as the location for a memorial to Capt. Fogarty Fegen, 2) typed copy of Oliver Wendell Holmes's July 25, 1930, letter to Ferris Greenslet about Cather's work, 3) typed copy of Oliver Wendell Holmes's March 24, 1931, letter to Willa Cather] Is sending a review of the Holmes-Pollock letters from the New York Times [Henry Steele Commager, "Justice Holmes in his Letters," New York Times, March 23, 1941, p. BR1, BR30], and suggests Roseboro' read them. Is reading the volumes herself, and is enjoying the exchange between the two towering figures. Was thankful to be mentioned in the letters, and will send her a facsimile of the letter written to Ferris Greenslet regarding the book Roseboro' heroically supported. Is also including the text of the note he sent to Cather when he was ninety years old, though it cannot represent the beauty of his penmanship. Justice Holmes's secretary was the cousin of a San Francisco friend [May Willard?], and told the friend he read Shadows on the Rock to Holmes. Wants to tell her about the terrific joy she has gotten out of delighting old men who thrilled her years ago, like Thomas Hardy and James M. Barrie. Thinks Roseboro', someone who helped her when she was a foolish young person, would appreciate these fruits of her labor. P.S.: Hand is still useless. W.S.C.
Has been in Boston since January and is now, after a couple of weeks with Mrs. Deland, back in the comfortable, old-fashioned Parker House. Has been seeing many remarkable people, including Winthrop Ames, an arts patron interested in Ibsen who has an air of ennui and the grandson of Otis [actually, Oliver] Ames. Listening to him talk, one thinks of that rocky monument to the Ames brothers on the mountain [near Laramie, Wyoming], and knows that they were not bothered with ennui. Oh, well, it is difficult being one of the first generation of sophisticates—think of the talk they heard about the Troll Garden. Is sailing for Naples with Isabelle on either April 8 on the Carpathia or on April 11 on the Freiderich der Grosse. Itinerary includes Naples, Capri, and Pompeii, Rome, a 300-mile walk along the Mediterranean from Monte Carlo to Marseilles, Arles, Avignon, and finally Paris. Seems odd to go to Rome after its long life in her imagination and education. One could say that Rome, London, and Paris were the three main cities in Nebraska. May or may not stop at London; has letters of introduction to Kipling, Maurice Hewlett, Barrie, and Conan Doyle, among others, but is more interested in places and ancient ruins than people right now. By comparison with Roman civilization, our own looks pretty shabby. The Roman civilization is still preserved in southern France, where people still live as in Virgil's Georgics. Has bought Roscoe several excellent pictures in Boston: Van Dyck's self-portrait, The Windmill (old Dutch), The Song of the Lark by Jules Breton, Wyeth's Calling the Moose and Indian Hunter, "The Dinkey Bird is Singing in the Amfalulu Tree" by Maxfield Parrish, and Remington's Caught in the Circle, all for $16.23, which Roscoe now owes her. Hopes he and Meta like them. If he doesn't appreciate the Van Dyck, she will be angry, as she has one and loves it. It was Jessie who thought he would like The Song of the Lark. Would have preferred to send older French and Dutch images herself, but thought he might prefer these moderns. Does he like The Queen's Quaire? Willie
