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 |
Your letter is so interesting, and you present to me the life and character of Father Catala3 in such an interesting way that, if I were better in health, I would certainly pursue you in person and talk to you about this Spanish missionary. Your interest has awakened mine.
You say you are not very clear as to the method by which an author chooses subject matter for a book "or decides which material would be successful either with the public or from an artistic standpoint." Dear Captain Hazlewood, if a writer thinks at all about either his success with the public or his "artistic" success, he isn't worth much consideration - neither will his book be. I think an honest writer does not so much choose his subject matter as he is chosen by it. For some reason, a writer finds himself, or herself, very much interested in a place or person; that is, a place or person wakens a spark of life in him, and the mere contemplation of the theme is a source of personal pleasure. If this goes on year after year, a book is very likely to come out of it. I was very much interested in the missions in the Southwest4 long before I ever thought of writing about Archbishop Lamy5. I am enclosing a truthful account6, which I once wrote for The Commonweal7, of how I came to write "Death Comes for the Archbishop"8. When I next go to California9, I shall certainly go to the University of Santa Clara and listen to the legend of Father Catala. The story would be worth the trip to me as a personal pleasure.
Since your letter was dated November, by this time you must be back from your long absence abroad, and I hope that all is well with you.
Again I have to thank you for your sincere and interesting letter. I get a great many stupid letters, of course, but yours I have read many times with great pleasure.
Very cordially yours, Willa Cather
