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 |
OCT 15 1934 AM October 11th My Dear Alfred1;
I'm awfully sorry you've been bothered about this broadcasting business3. Ten days ago I wrote to Paul White4 from whom the original telegram came, definitely declining.
I refused chiefly because I am working very enthusiastically on a new story (began it since I got here2) and I don’t want to interrupt it with any engagements this autumn or winter. Radio engagements are the most tyrannical of all! You have to keep them, sick or well. Besides, the moment I agree to give a “lecture” or write an “article,” goodbye to any narrative. My mind begins to scold the public, and to argue with it, and the story fades into thin air as if it were offended.
I have a beautiful little writing room up here5, on the top floor, looking over the woods and directly at the mountains, with only my bath between it and my bed room. I did not write at all this summer, but now I am having a run for my money.
My best love to you both6—if you’ve not heard from me it’s because I’ve been working so hard.
Yours always Willa CatherPlease ask Mr. Lesser7 if he got my letter.8
Information about this letter:
- Source File:
- cat.let2677.xml
- Letter identifier
- 2677
- Contents
- Document is one leaf, handwritten on recto and verso.
- Person to whom letter was written
- Alfred A. Knopf1
- Date letter was written
- October 11 [1934]
- Place letter was written
- Jaffrey, New Hampshire, United States2
- Location of original letter
- Cather-Knopf Correspondence, The Dobkin Family Collection of Feminism, New York, NY
Individual Annotations
See #2676.
Shattuck Inn (Jaffrey, NH): Hotel built in 1910 in Jaffrey, N,H owned and operated by E. C. Shattuck until his death in February 1933, when operation was taken over by his daughter, Eleanor Shattuck Austermann, and her husband George Austermann. Cather stayed at the Shattuck Inn many times, often with Edith Lewis, finding it a useful place to work. In 1947, Cather wrote of the Shattuck Inn: “I have never found any place where I could work in such peace and happiness as in the little rooms up in the top of the Shattuck Inn” (#1748).
See #2666 and #2667.
Person Annotations
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.
White, Paul W. (1902-1955). American journalist, news director, author, and educator. Born in Pittsburg, KS, Paul White worked for newspapers in that town and Kansas City before attending Columbia University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in literature and a master’s degree in journalism. In New York City, White was a correspondent for the wire service United Press, and later editor of United Features Syndicate. In 1930 he was hired as the news editor of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) and was promoted to vice president and general manager of the news division three years later. In 1934 Willa Cather declined his offer to give a broadcast lecture on CBS (#2677). White wrote a textbook, News on the Air (1947), and taught journalism at Columbia University from 1939 to 1946. He died at his home in San Diego after a long illness.
Knopf, Blanche Wolf (1894-1966). Vice President of New York
publisher Alfred Knopf, Inc. Blanche Wolf founded Alfred Knopf,
Inc., in 1915 with her future husband Alfred Knopf. They married in 1916 and
their son Alfred “Pat” Knopf was born in 1918. Active in the business
throughout her life, Blanche Knopf recruited a number of prominent European
and Latin American writers to the Knopf list (in translation) by traveling
to meet them. In recognition of her work with writers such as Jean-Paul
Sartre and Albert Camus, she was inducted into the French Legion of Honor in
1949. She became president of Alfred Knopf, Inc., in 1957 when her husband
became chairman. Through her work in the publishing house she also promoted
writers of the Harlem Renaissance such as Langston Hughes. Cather’s letters
to Knopf focus primarily on business but the two also became friends.
Lesser, Joseph (1901-1989). Treasurer of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. Born in Poland, Joseph Lesser immigrated to the U.S. with his family in 1906, and he became a naturalized American citizen. He and his wife, Eva, and their children lived in Brooklyn, NY. He served for many years as treasurer of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. His office prepared Cather’s tax returns for her, and in her will Cather named him as a potential successor to Edith Lewis as her literary executor. Lesser died in Hallandale, FL.
Place Annotations
