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 |
35 FIFTH AVENUE
New York2 January 14, 1931. Dear
Excuse delay in replying to your letter. I have been travelling. I think I can enlighten your perplexity. Myra Henshaw4 before her death came to consider Oswald as her "mortal enemy";- she came to believe that anything loved selfishly and fiercely and extravagantly became the enemy of one's soul's peace. Please tell your ladies that that simple fact is the subject of the story.
Very cordially yours, Willa CatherInformation about this letter:
- Source File:
- cat.let1840.xml
- Letter identifier
- 1840
- Contents
- Document is one leaf, typewritten on recto only. Includes one typewritten envelope.
- Person to whom letter was written
- Mrs. Frank Grippen 1
- Date letter was written
- January 14, 1931
- Place letter was written
- New York, New York, United States2
- Location of original letter
- Willa Cather Collection (Caspersen 53), Drew University Library, Special Collections and Archives, Madison, NJ
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.
Person Annotations
Grippen, Lenora Frances (1862-1954) (“Frank”). American businesswoman; Clubwoman. Born in Downieville, CA, Lenora Frances Grippen lived in Spokane, WA, from the 1890s until the time of her death and worked as an insurance adjuster. She was a life-long member of the Spokane Business and Professional Woman’s Club, which frequently hosted book discussions, including a review of My Ántonia (1918) in 1923. She also served on the board of the Spokane Public Library. Grippen wrote to Cather in 1931 seeking information about My Mortal Enemy (1926), presumably to lead a discussion with a women's club.
Place Annotations
Work Annotations
My Mortal Enemy (1926) by Willa Cather
