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 |
Thank you for your letter. I should be very glad to undertake some articles for you after the first of December, should you have anything in mind then. I have taken a house up here for several months and want to be in the country until the really cold weather comes on.
I shall be sending you a short story3 within a few days. It is rather "yellow"4, but it deals with an aspect of New York5 that has not been written about much.
Very Sincerely yours Willa Sibert CatherInformation about this letter:
- Source File:
- cat.let0206.xml
- Letter identifier
- 0206
- Contents
- Document is one leaf, handwritten on recto only.
- Person to whom letter was written
- Robert U. Johnson1
- Date letter was written
- October 22, 1911
- Place letter was written
- Cherry Valley, New York, United States2
- Location of original letter
- Century Company records, 1870-1924 (MssCol 504), New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division, New York, NY
Individual Annotations
The story presents two sensational tragedies concerning the fictional Mont Blanc Hotel: the death of a construction worker during its construction, and the death of wealthy and prominent people in it when it goes up in flames. The Century did not accept the story.
Person Annotations
Johnson, Robert Underwood (1853-1937). American editor, poet, and
diplomat. Born in Washington, DC, and educated at Earlham
College, Johnson began his career in publishing as a clerk at Scribner
Educational Books and was soon promoted to the editorial staff at Scribner’s Monthly, which evolved into the Century Magazine. He was promoted to editor in chief
of the Century in 1909 and resigned in 1913. At the
Century he accepted Cather’s “The Joy of Nellie
Dean” (1911) and rejected “Behind the Singer Tower” (1912). Johnson also was
a respected poet, an advocate of international copyright and environmental
conservation, the secretary of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and
briefly (1920-1921) U.S. Ambassador to Italy.
Place Annotations
Work Annotations
"Behind the Singer Tower," Collier's (May 18, 1912) by Willa Sibert Cather
