Mr. Baxter (October 24, 1938) | Willa Cather Archive

#1421: Sarah J. Bloom on behalf of Willa Cather to Mr. Baxter, October 24, 1938

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passage written by Cather on separate enclosure.	written text

October 24, 1938. Dear Mr. Baxter¹:

Miss Cather is at present in Europe³, and in her absence⁴ I am taking care of her correspondence.

She used sometimes to autograph books for strangers, but during the last few years the requests have become so numerous she has had to stop doing so. She now only autographs books for her personal friends. However, I am sending you one of the signatures she left with me before she sailed, thinking you might be able to insert it in your book.

Very truly yours, Sarah J. Bloom⁵ Secretary

Information about this letter:

Source File:: cat.let1421.xml
Letter identifier: 1421
Contents: Document is one leaf, typewritten on recto only.
Person to whom letter was written: Mr. Baxter¹
Date letter was written: October 24, 1938
Place letter was written: New York, New York, United States²
Location of original letter: LA Letters, University of Texas, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, Austin, TX

Individual Annotations

Cather was in New York City in 1938, having abandoned a planned trip to Italy when news of Isabelle McClung Hambourg's death arrived (see #1422).

Person Annotations

0276

Baxter, Mr. No further information is available about this person.

0102

Bloom, Sarah J. (1889-1961). Cather's personal secretary. Born in New York in 1889 to Russian immigrants Solomon and Bertha Bloom, Sarah J. Bloom worked for Cather from some time in the 1920s until Cather's death and continued to work for Edith Lewis on matters pertaining to Cather's literary estate thereafter. Bloom typed Cather's literary manuscripts and managed Cather's correspondence, typing dictated letters and sometimes responding for Cather when she was traveling. Bloom’s work for Cather supplemented full-time office employment in New York City (for many years she worked for the New York State Public Service Commission). She thus came to Cather and Lewis's apartment on weekends to take dictation, pick up and deliver typescripts, and deliver typed letters for signature. She died in New York city in 1961.

Place Annotations

New York, New York, United States

Europe