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 |
When I received your second letter, dated December 10th, Alfred Knopf3 was in the West. Years ago I
had to make it a rule to hand over to him all requests for serial
publication and reprint. About twelve years ago, when Mr. Knopf was in
Europe4, the Modern Library
people came to one of the employees5
in the office and urged her to give them the right to republish one of my books6 three years from that date. She telephone me to get my consent. I was living at the Grosvenor Hotel7: I was writing another book8, and three years seemed a long way
ahead. I gave the young woman my
consent9 and hung up the telephone. The result was that I lost a
good deal of money, since the Modern Library pays a royalty of only six
cents a copy.
aAnd I quite deserved to be the loser for my
short sightedness. But Alfred
Knopf, also, lost a good deal of money: which was clearly unfair, as I had no right to
give such permission to another publishing company without his consent. He
was very nice about the matter and realized that I had not been aware of the
extent of my presumption. Since that time I have handed all requests for
serial publication over to Mr. Knopf, and have abided by his decision.
After I received your first
second letter I awaited his return
from the West and telephoned him that I was perfectly willing that you
should publish the two chapters10
you named, if he saw no objection. What his decision has been I do not yet
know, as I was out of town2 for two
weeks at Christmas time. After all, I realize that no matter
⬩W⬩S⬩C⬩ what you and your assistants
do, this anthology11, when it actually appears
in book form, will be the result of business arrangements between publishing
houses.
Probably long before this the Viking Press12 and Mr. Knopf have made their arrangements. I write this letter only to let you know that whatever the publishers decided, I had no personal objection to your using the material you asked for. But from sad experience I have learned that I have no qualifications, and really no right to interfere in decisions which mainly concern my publisher.
With all my heart I wish you, dear friend, a good New Year. None of us, I am afraid, can have a very happy one. I begin to wonder why this little planet was not left empty of life, like the rest of the solar system and all the great heavenly bodies.
Faithfully and affectionately yours, Willa CatherInformation about this letter:
- Source File:
- cat.let1609.xml
- Letter identifier
- 1609
- Contents
- Document is two leaves, typewritten on recto of each leaf only.
- Person to whom letter was written
- Alexander Woollcott1
- Date letter was written
- [January] 4, 1943
- Explanation of conjectured date
-
Sarah Bloom likely mistyped the month for this letter. Cather first responded to an inquiry from Woollcott about an anthology for soldiers in #1598 and #1600, dated December 1 [1942] and December 5, 1942, and Woollcott evidently responded to her letter of December 5 on December 10, 1942, meaning this letter was likely written on January 4, 1943, not December 4, 1943.
- Place letter was written
- New York, New York, United States2
- Location of original letter
- Alexander Woollcott correspondence, ca. 1856-1943 (MS AM 1449), Harvard University, Houghton Library, Cambridge, MA
Individual Annotations
Grosvenor Hotel (New York City): When Cather and Edith Lewis lost their 5 Bank Street apartment in 1927, they moved into the Grosvenor Hotel, where they continued to live until 1932. The hotel was located at 35 Fifth Avenue in the Manhattan borough of New York City.
On 21 November 1929, Cather signed and returned to Manley Aaron at Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., a letter of agreement for publication of Death Comes for the Archbishop in the Modern Library. She agreed to an early fall 1931 release of not fewer than 35,000 copies, for which she was to be paid six cents per copy.
"Missionary Journeys," Book II of Death Comes for the Archbishop, which consists of two chapters, was included in Woollcott's anthology.
Publisher of Woollcott's anthology.
Person Annotations
Woollcott, Alexander (1887-1943). American critic and radio
personality. Born in Phalanx, NJ, Alexander Woollcott graduated
from Hamilton College in 1909. Joining the New York
Times as a cub reporter after graduation, he became drama critic in
1914. After serving in the U.S. Army as a reporter for the Stars and Stripes (1917-1918), he returned to the Times and subsequently worked for the New York Herald, the New York
World, and the New Yorker and was associated
with the Algonquin Round Table group in the 1920s and 30s. Throughout his
career Woollcott was known for his flamboyance and acerbic wit. He became
host of “The Town Crier” radio program in 1929. He retired to an estate in
Vermont in the 1930s, but he returned to New York City in 1940 to play
Sheridan Whiteside, the title character of George Kaufman and Moss Hart’s
play The Man Who Came to Dinner, an annoying New York
critic and radio celebrity modeled on himself. It is not clear when Cather
met Woollcott, but she called him “one of my best friends” (#1633) and was
pleased when he “serenaded” her on his radio program and responded
positively to his request that her Death Comes for the
Archbishop (1927) be put into an Armed Services Edition. However,
she declined to allow him to anthologize her work or have it read over the
air.
Knopf, Alfred A. (1892-1984). President of New York
publisher Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Knopf received his BA from
Columbia University in New York City in 1912 and founded Alfred Knopf, Inc.,
in 1915 with his future wife Blanche Wolf. They married in 1916, and their
son Alfred “Pat” Knopf was born in 1918. Cather chose him as her publisher
beginning with Youth and the Bright Medusa (1920) and
One of Ours (1922), partly because she was
dissatisfied with the promotion of her books by Houghton Mifflin but also
because she recognized the high quality of Knopf's books, as well as what
she regarded as his intelligent advertising. Knopf was noted for publishing
the work of leading European and South American writers in translation, as
well as original works. Knopf and Cather’s extensive correspondence
testifies to their mutual professional respect and to what also became an
important personal friendship.
Aaron, M. Manley. Alfred Knopf’s secretary. As secretary to the president of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., Willa Cather’s publisher, Manley Aaron was responsible for clerical matters, such as tracking Cather’s address as she traveled or mailing her supplies. However, Alfred Knopf also delegated to Aaron the task of negotiating with magazines for the publication of Cather’s short stories collected in Obscure Destinies (1932), and she took direct responsibility for other matters for Cather and other authors as well.
Place Annotations
Work Annotations
Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927) by Willa Cather
Shadows on the Rock (1931) by Willa Cather
As You Were: A Portable Library of American Prose and Poetry Assembled for Members of the Armed Forces and the Merchant Marine (1943) ; edited by Alexander Woolcott
