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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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Frank Harris Collection, Accession 7453-b, Special Collections Department, University of Virginia Library
Deposit, 1964 Nov 5
Funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities
[Thanks him for review of stories; asks if he would like to review any books at present.]
[Relishes her sympathetic letter; discusses his articles on Shakespeare ; warns that future articles will show the unpleasant, "dark shadows" of Shakespeare 's life; wishes for more frequent correspondence.]
[Will now accept previously rejected terms offered by [Charles] Frohman for a production of "Mr. and Mrs. Daventry"; suggests concluding the arrangement through Addison Bright . ] [w/ec]
[Offers for publication his first long novel, "an implicit defence of the rebels against society."]
[Responds to request for his portrait by enclosing a photograph; believes reviewers misread The Bomb ; mentions several books and plays that lack an audience; hopes a daring publisher will produce them someday.]
[Two books The Veils of Isis and a novel to be titled either Morning or Love in Youth will be published in the U.S. soon; wishes to sell the English rights; copies are available from Normaford Burnett ; outlines possible improvements. Solicits opinion of Great Days ; mentions economic hardships and comments on the surprising quiet of " Paris in siege time."]
[Sends galley proofs of improved short stories included in a collection entitled either The Veils of Isis or The Yellow Ticket ; discusses financial concerns resulting from the war; mentions Memorial Edition of Shakespeare to be published by Hearst; predicts that a short war with social revolution in Berlin might end the Hohenzollern dynasty.]
[Claims articles in the Daily Sketch misrepresented him; discusses stories to be included in The Yellow Ticket ; describes The Memorial Edition of Shakespeare which he hopes Hearst will publish in 1916; this edition will include proof that two plays were written by Shakespeare ; mentions work on Great Days ; hopes to leave France for New York ; says Normaford Burnett has a corrected copy of "The Ugly Duckling."]
[Sold rights to publish The Yellow Ticket in Great Britain , the colonies, and India ; hopes to leave Paris for the front; notes that life in Paris is in "suspended animation"; agrees The Yellow Room is best title; will amend story and terms of agreement if necessary; inquires about publication date and possibility of book on the war; mentions Davidson piece in Contemporary Portraits . ]
[Thanks him for payment; agrees to contract changes; suggests possibility of doing Memorial Edition of Shakespeare in 1916; believes that "small men" such as Deschanel, Clemenceau, Millerand, Joffre, Pall, Kitchener, and Churchill are without a touch of greatness; will observe Joffre "at work"; mentions new story for The Yellow Ticket ; expects that war will be a long one, barring a revolution in Germany ; requests help getting position as correspondent for English or American newspaper.]
[Sends corrected proofs and changed order of stories; needs to work on The Veils of Isis ; hopes to do so on ship to New York ; mentions lack of communication about money.]
[Will send proofs; cannot write story on ship because of seasickness; will try in New York ; will send power of attorney someday.] (RMS Olympic stationery)
[Sends corrected The Yellow Ticket ; discusses unsuccessful attempts to publish war articles in New York , and a successful lecture at the Arts Club ; believes the Ponds Agency will offer him further opportunities to lecture; mentions financial situation, article on "American Opinion," and British failures of statesmanship.]
[Regrets early publication of The Yellow Ticket ; will visit Douglas Doty , but feels American editors prefer bad work over good; requests twelve copies of The Yellow Ticket be sent in care of Temple Scott and one to John F. Harris , head of Cambridge Review ; writing book on the war with an anti-British theme.] (initialed by WGD)
[Complains of errors in the [British] edition of The Yellow Ticket ; doubts Richards has "pluck" to publish his controversial, pro-German book on the war; admits that moderating comments on Justice Horridge in the book might be reasonable.]
[Sends England or Germany , hoping he will publish it with the usual commission; asks his opinion of the book; declares book is not libelous, but Judge Horridge's name may be omitted; complains about Arnold Benett 's criticism of his Sun articles; mentions lecture tour, publication of Contemporary Portraits by Methuen. Declares success of lecture tour in the West; says wife will travel to England ; hopes his American nationality will be publicized by Richards in order to deflect criticism in Truth and The Globe that he is a traitor; predicts German victory.]
[Hopes letter reaches Frank Palmer ; mentions copyrights on The Man Shakespeare , Shakespeare and His Loves , and his plan to publish a complete edition of his own works; requests copy of George Morris ' book on Jesus ; mentions sales of The Yellow Ticket and Contemporary Portraits and forthcoming works Oscar Wilde: His Life and Confessions and Love in Youth ; rejoices that he is feeling creative again; hopes their friendship will not be affected by differences of opinion.]
[Discusses Wilde book and shares views on his life; welcomes a visit when he is in New York when they can talk about his Mirbeau translation.]
[Requests books which he has seen in The Nation and The Outlook . ]
[Wishes he were in Bernkastel, Germany ; sends six copies of Pearson's and his first book of short stories; questions states of destitution in Northern France and Germany ; requests a long letter.]
[Indicates he may publish part of Weber's letter; requests an account of his experiences which might be used as an article; hopes to meet him on his return; urges him to promote Pearson's among his comrades.]
[Comments on the state of Europe , the transfer of territories including the Saar valley and Metz , political greed, and his despair for the future; in AN at bottom, requests a detailed account of the correspondent's experiences, specifically about conditions in Germany . ]
[Introduces [Claude] McKay whose poems he admires; suggests they are more likely to be published in book form in England as he is Jamaican; has sent a letter to [George Bernard] Shaw ; would like McKay to meet either Siegfried Sassoon or the Sitwells or Robert Nichols . ]
[Describes his own reaction to My Life and Loves ; extols its honesty; outlines second volume of autobiography to be published soon which includes "sex stories" of his contemporaries; expects it will be confiscated; discusses price of first volume; will have one sent by friends; mentions financial difficulties because of resentment of his pacifism in the U.S.A. ; expects to "triumph" eventually.]
[Describes the year's literary production, the fourth volume of Contemporary Portraits and Undreamed of Shores published by Grant Richards ; solicits her opinion of them; inquires about the copies of The Life and Confessions of Oscar Wilde he had sent and whether they contained Bernard Shaw 's "Memoirs of Oscar Wilde"; describes the second volume of My Life [and Loves] and the people portrayed in it; believes its honesty is a return to Ben Jonson and William Shakespeare . ]
[Inquires if the copy of The Life and Confessions of Oscar Wilde ordered before the war was received because he discovered a subscriber who had not received his; mentions Bernard Shaw 's praise for the book and the inclusion of his "Memoirs of Oscar Wilde" in later editions.]
[Gives wholesale and retail prices of volumes one and two of My Life and Loves ; describes volume two as his best book; hopes to avoid "US smut-hounds" by binding it in plain paper; uncertain that Ulysses will get through customs, but gives the name and address of its publisher.]
[Sends enclosure at Frank Harris 's request; forwards packet to him in U.S.; will deliver agreement made with Palmer for the Shakespeare . ]
[Praises her love of truth but disagrees with her opinion about the "Marconi speculations"; describes the corruption of Lloyd George and Rufus Isaacs ; refers her to piece in The National Review on the matter; criticizes his own writing style used in an article on Theodore Dreiser in The Academy ; feels he should have rewritten it; requests visit to read corrected version of Love in Youth ; will then begin work on Oscar Wilde: His Life and Confessions . ]