Letters (4) : various places, to Edward Wagenknecht, with related items (8), [1926?]-1939.

ArchivalResource

Cather, Willa, 1873-1947. Letters (4) : various places, to Edward Wagenknecht, with related items (8), [1926?]-1939.

Letters (4) : various places, to Edward Wagenknecht, with related items (8), [1926?]-1939.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/270867770

(1) autograph letter signed, Jaffrey, N.H., 15 October [dated 1926 in another hand], saying that "The Bohemian Girl" was never published in book form and calling it immature work, and saying that she has no copy of "The Troll Garden" except the copy that belonged to Sarah Orne Jewett, which she cannot lend (1 p.); (2) autograph letter signed, Grand Manan, New Brunswick, Canada, (on stationery of Alfred A. Knopf), [postmark 23 July 1931], refusing permission for her name to be used in a prospectus (1 p., with env.); (3) typed letter signed, [n.p.], 31 December 1938, responding to Wagenknecht's list of her unreprinted stories, crossing out the first six because they were either spurious or not wholly her own ("On The Divide," for example, was a college theme considerably revised by her professor), saying that the first published story that was entirely her own was "A Death in the Desert" in Scribner's, noting that she renews copyright on her stories to ensure that her immature work remains out of print, and explaining at length her desire that her early work not be resurrected (3 p., with a copy of Wagenknect's list and a page of his notes); (4) copy of Wagenknecht's reply, Seattle, 9 January 1939, disagreeing with Cather's desire to suppress her early work but agreeing to respect it, and disputing other points of Cather's letter (2 p.); (5) typed letter signed, [n.p.], 23 January 1939, explaining that one reason she wishes to repudiate her early work is to discourage correspondence about it (3 p.), (6-7) typed letters signed (2) from Sarah J. Bloom, Cather's secretary, [n.p.], 20 and 21 October 1944, explaining how Cather wrote McClure's biography, saying Cather's work on Georgine Milmine's "The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy" was "strictly editorial," noting that Cather moved to Nebraska at age eight, saying that Rene Rapin's book on Cather is full of inaccuracies, and recommending articles on Cather (3 p.); (8-11) typed letters signed (4) from Mildred R. Bennett, Red Cloud, Nebraska, 19 March and 11 September 1951, 4 February 1957, and 19 September 1963, discussing Cather's contribution to Ellen Terry's autobiography, Cather's claims about her early work (5 p.).; (12) copy of a typed letter signed from the Newton High School Collection, [n.p.], 22 November 1934, from Cather to an unidentified recipient, concerning Sarah Orne Jewett (1 p.), and a copy of a letter from one of Wagenknecht's students forwarding the letter.

12 items (8 p.) + with 1 envelope (Cather letters only)

Pierpont Morgan Library.