Guide to Reading Letter Transcriptions
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| Textual Feature | Appearance |
|---|---|
| passage deleted with a strikethrough mark | |
| passage deleted by overwritten added letters | |
| passage added above the line | passage with added text above |
| passage added on the line | passage with added text inline |
| passage added in the margin | passage with text added in margin |
| handwritten addition to a typewritten letter | typed passage with added handwritten text |
| missing or unreadable text | missing text noted with "[illegible]" |
| uncertain transcriptions | word[?] |
| notes written by someone other than Willa Cather | Note in another's hand |
| printed letterhead text | printed text |
| text printed on postcards, envelopes, etc. | printed text |
| text of date and place stamps | stamped text |
| passage written by Cather on separate enclosure. | written text |
44-60 EAST TWENTY-THIRD STREET,
NEW YORK2 April twenty-seventh 1910. Dear Professor Munsterberg1:
I have told Mr. Mackenzie3 about my talk with you4 and have consulted him about the possibility of the plan we outlined. He is delighted with it and wishes me to make even more definite arrangements. I wish that, before you sail, we could tie the matter up just a little more on both sides. We would agree to use a four article serial, dealing with what seemed to you important aspects of German education and civilization; one of these being on technical and industrial education in Germany5, one on the Municipal Government and the generally efficient management of German cities, and the other two articles to be upon such topics as you feel are particularly important.
We would like to run these articles in four successive numbers, probably under the general title "When I Came Home" with a sub-title indicating the particular features of the article. I think it would be a good plan if the first article began with a sort of introduction, telling about your return to Germany, etc.
I understand that you do not wish to bind yourself to any date upon which you can
let
us have copy. The point is that I want to make an arrangement with you which will preclude the possibility of
articles by you coming out in other popular magazines at the same time, or before,
we run this series. In other words, we want to be the magazine6 medium which reports your impressions and adventures upon your
return to Germany, and we want to run our series before any articles having to do
with Germany appear from your pen in other magazines. On our side, we would promise
to begin publication just as soon as possible after you get the articles to us, and we would have no objection to an
article such as that you mentioned on "The
Theatre" appearing in a literary publication
like the Atlantic7.
It comes down to this — although you cannot tell us at what date you can let us have the copy, we would like to ask you to agree that until we have published the four articles serially, you will not publish articles having to do with your return to Germany in any other illustrated magazine. I hope you are willing to make such an arrangement with us.
Very cordially yours, Willa Sibert Cather Prof. Hugo Munsterberg, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.8
