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 |
I found the paper you sent awaiting me here when I got back from Boston5 three days ago. I was sad to hear the news6 it brought, and so, so sorry to think how hard this must be for you and your mother7 and sister8. The worst thing about growing older is that one begins to lose people. I wish your loss had not come yet.
I cant help feeling very sad about it, because we used to be together so much, and this seems, somehow, to have come near me. There isn’t anything I can say—but my dear Louise, if there were, I’d say it, or do it, with my whole heart. You’ll believe that, won’t you? And please let me hear from you some time again, when you are not worried or too busy. Just drop me a line and say hello, and I’ll appreciate it, truly.
Always affectionately Willa S. C. Miss Louise Pound1 1632 L. Street Lincoln3 Nebraska MADISON SQ, STA.N.Y.2 JUN 6 1911 130 PMInformation about this letter:
- Source File:
- cat.let0196.xml
- Letter identifier
- 0196
- Contents
- Document is one leaf, handwritten on recto and verso. Includes one handwritten envelope.
- Person to whom letter was written
- Louise Pound 1
- Date letter was written
- June 6, 1911
- Place letter was written
- New York, New York, United States2
- Location of original letter
- Willa Cather Papers, 1899-1949, in the Clifton Waller Barrett Library (#6494-6494-i), University of Virginia, Special Collections, Charlottesville, VA
Individual Annotations
82 Washington Place (New York City): Cather's second apartment in New York City and the first one she shared with Edith Lewis, located in Greenwich Village in the Manhattan borough. Cather and Lewis lived here from 1908 to 1911.
Louise Pound's father, Stephen Bosworth Pound, died on 14 May 1911.
Person Annotations
Pound, Louise (1872-1958). American folklorist and university
professor. Pound and Cather met when both were students at the
University of Nebraska in Lincoln, where Cather also knew Louise’s brother
Roscoe and sister Olivia. Cather was deeply infatuated with Louise, who was
both an outstanding student and an accomplished multi-sport athlete. Pound
visited Cather in Red Cloud, NE, several times, but she apparently did not
reciprocate Cather’s intense affection, and Cather’s lampoon of Roscoe Pound
in “Pastels in Prose” (1894) caused a rift between the two women. Pound
earned a BA from Nebraska in 1892, an MA in 1895, and a PhD from the
University of Heidelberg in 1900. She was a professor in the English
department at the University of Nebraska, where she taught Cather's sister
Elsie, until 1945. From 1954-55 she served as the first female president of
the Modern Language Association.
Pound, Laura Biddlecombe (1841-1928). Clubwoman; Louise Pound's mother. Born in New York to a family dating to colonial days in America, Laura attended Lombard College in Galesburg, IL. She married Stephen B. Pound in 1869, coming to live with him in Lincoln, NE. They had three children, Roscoe, Louise, and Olivia. She educated her children at home, preparing them for early entrance to the University of Nebraska, and took classes there herself. She was a charter member of the Hayden Art Club and the local chapter of the D.A.R. When Cather satirized Roscoe Pound in a university student publication in 1894, Mrs. Pound was deeply offended and no longer welcomed her in their house.
Pound, Olivia (1874-1961) (“Tude”). Nebraska teacher; Cather’s
university classmate. Born in Lincoln, NE, the younger sister of
Roscoe and Louise Pound, Olivia Pound was educated at home before entering
the preparatory school of the University of Nebraska in 1890. She graduated
from the university with Cather in 1895 and taught at Lincoln High School
from 1897 until her retirement in 1943, serving as assistant principal from
1918 on. Active in community and educational affairs, Olivia wrote textbooks
and twice served as president of the American Association of University
Women. Cather was acquainted with Olivia Pound, but they were not close
friends.
Place Annotations
