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Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library© 1997 By the Rector and Visitors of the University of Virginia. All rights reserved.
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Thomas Wolfe Collection, Accession 6348-e, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library
Deposit [ 1963 Dec 17 ] 1966 Jul 8
Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
[Departs for Paris soon; longs for light, sounds, food, pretty legs, and faces without hostility of Paris ; comments on Cocke's life in Oxford ; mentions Cocke's intelligence and adaptability; thanks him for the good time he had in Oxford ; hopes Cocke will write him in Paris ; hopes the Oxford sun will eventually get out.]
[Says he will return to London the following day; comments on the great, vulgar Flemish paintings in the local museum.]
[Lives temporarily in a flat in Pall Mall ; uses a doctor's telephone outside of office hours, which are 2-5 p. m.; says that Herbert's letter was forwarded from Paris ; states that he is hard at work and does not go out, but would like to meet with Herbert; refers to Jean.]
[Appreciates letter in praise of [ Look Homeward, Angel ]; says he received the letter after a delay as he has stopped teaching at [ New York University ].]
[Responds to note; describes hotel gardens, mountains, casino; says he needs solitude, but hates it; states he has begun a book which he feels will be fine if he can write it the way he has it inside him; mentions business with Scribner's and an English publisher.]
[Thanks her for a letter and poem; says it is only the second time anyone has written a poem for him and he will always treasure it.] (on Harvard Club stationary)
[Discusses her work with the deaf; mentions Maxwell Perkins ' interest in her work; suggests she put her ideas on paper; recalls her story about a deaf boy; feels it would make a wonderful piece; suggests sending it to Alfred Dashiell of Scribner's Magazine . ]
[Promises to speak about her story about deaf people with Alfred Dashiell , which is all he can do in the way of helping to get it published; thinks the piece would be suitable for the series "Life in the United States" which has been featured in Scribner's Magazine ; says Maxwell Perkins would be interested because of his own son's progressing deafness; asks her discreetness about this fact should she ever meet Perkins.]
[Addresses envelope to Miss Helen Trafford Brown ; acknowledges her comments about his work; hopes to see her sister and friend, Rose Hildebrand Brown , both from Asheville , when they visit New York ; says that the manuscript of [ Of Time and the River ] is with Maxwell Perkins , who is shortening it, adding to it, editing, and rewriting it.]
[Thanks her for cartoon clipping picturing him, which proves his celebrity; reports on progress; says his stories will appear in Scribner's Magazine and American Mercury , that he has received a contract and advance from England and royalties from Germany , that The Modern Library has secured Look Homeward, Angel for its Giant's edition, and that he signed agreement for dramatization of Look Homeward, Angel ; complains about workload; urges her to read piece in American Mercury ; plans trip to Vermont with Robert Raynolds . ]
[Complains about New York 's summer weather; is trying to finish [ Of Time and the River ] after 4 years hard work; works with Maxwell Perkins every night; remarks that he could not wait to get to the city and now dreams of a simple life in a tree-shaded cabin with a good strong girl to do the chores; wonders why one is productive one day yet accomplishes nothing on another; comments on her visit to his mother and sister and her compliments on his last story; hopes to vacation in October.]
[Says he was absent for 4 months; acknowledges her letters and her belief in his work; says that he is happy about the success of his book and wants the next one to be better, if only to prove that he deserves all the good things she and others have said about him.]
["Please give Mr. Murdock Dooher , the bearer, the three manuscript items which are included with the typed manuscript in your keeping."]
[Refers to Linscott's letter to him which was written while Wolfe was in Boston ; says he could not find him in the phone book and there was no use trying the offices of Houghton Mifflin late on a Saturday afternoon; needs someone to talk to; describes his break with Scribner's ; mentions affection for Maxwell Perkins ; hints that he is in the market for another publisher; says he can be reached through his agent, Elizabeth Nowell . ]
[Points out how hard it was to make "the decision"; regrets disappointing [ Maxwell Perkins ] whom he admires so much; appreciates Linscott's interest in his work; feels he has gained a friend, if not a publisher.]
[Regards a hearing in Wolfe's suit against [Murdock] Dooher ; discusses Ruder's willingness to testify and Ruder's records regarding purchases, which have been examined by Ralph Lum , Wolfe's lawyer; says Belinda Jelliffe and Maxwell Perkins are available to testify.]
[Turns down a proposal concerning contribution to Living Philosophies , to be published by Simon and Schuster ; says his workload is too heavy.]
[Says he does not have much news, he is hard work on [ The Web and the Rock ], but plans a vacation after visiting Purdue University on May 19; gives her Elizabeth Nowell 's address, as she knows his whereabouts; says he is happy to have a friend who believes in his work.]
[Reminisces about their "night club orgy" in Harlem ; longs to go back with him to do the rhumba at La Conga; says he is hard at work with the book and will "deliver a talk" at Purdue ; feels he is not doing well on such occasions, but that $300 will motivate him to do his best; says he is delivering carloads of manuscripts for storage at Harper's until his return from the West; plans to see Colorado , Wyoming , or Yellowstone ; talks about some business he has with Ruder regarding Modern First Editions.]
[Writes on postcard of a grizzly bear at Yosemite : "Who's afraid? Regards, T. W."]
[Identifies herself as Thomas Wolfe 's agent from 1933 to his death; says she is under contract with Wolfe's estate and Scribner's to collect and edit his letters; gives several sources to prove her statements, including John Hall Wheelock , editor, Charles Scribner's Sons ; asks permission to copy any letters Wolfe wrote her for possible inclusion in a book; mentions 10 letters from Moore to Wolfe; explains legal matters; asks for information about Moore, to be used in the acknowledgment.]
[Four copies, one inscribed by Mabel Wolfe Wheaton . ]
[Inscribed to Helen Trafford Moore from Mabel Wolfe Wheaton . ]
[Features sketches from Of Time and the River ; 16 p., 13 p., 17p., 14 p., 13 p., 13 p., and 14 p.]
[Identifying characters from Look Homeward, Angel . ]
[Picturing Thomas Wolfe in front of his mother's house [Old Kentucky Home] in Asheville, North Carolina . ]