[Criticizes correspondent's book; recommends that he cut and condense his work; advises him to read La Rochefoucald and House of a Hundred Lights by T. R. Tourence ; discusses Prince Hagen , which was written 2 years ago but rejected 35 times; describes King Midas as book of joy and very boyish, which had not sold 1500 copies; wonders if correspondent is also poor; asks for reply. TN states that the name of work of correspondent have been cut out of the letter to protect his identity.]

[Sends autographed copy of The Jungle ; expresses interest in White's reaction; says he found White's The Blazed Trail especially interesting; hopes to write a series of essays "upon the economic interpretation of literature."]

[Believes Hancock can find a complete account of Sinclair's "free-lance adventures" in the files of the Independent , and an article in Cosmopolitan . ]

[Says he is surprised that she remembers him; agrees that he has had an adventurous career; discusses a new novel of about 350,000 words which he working on, that she might like to read.]

[Suggests that Macmillian Co. combine King Coal and its sequels into one volume and publish it in September 1917; hopes the combined volume will make a larger impression and sell better; asks if Brown has sent a manuscript to Bernard Shaw . ]

[Hopes to combine Sylvia , Sylvia's Marriage and an unwritten third novel into one play; says he is willing to give a first-rate playwright half the proceeds; makes suggestions for the construction of the play and gives advice; sends "Author's final revision" of King Coal ; believes Macmillian Co. is not in favor of combining King Coal with the sequel; asks him to retrieve manuscript of preface because John Galsworthy cannot write it and to try to get Bernard Shaw to read it; sends manuscript of untitled play; wonders if there is anything he can do with it because of Granville Barker 's enthusiasm for it.]

[Encloses AN to Mr. Daher by Laurie "which explains itself"; asks for advice in the matter; says he is willing to pay a reasonable charge for research on the opposition of the Anglican Church to the abolition of the liquor trade and its support of the government position on the Chinese opium trade and the Boer war; wishes to have copies of several of John Trevor 's writings.]

[Expresses satisfaction with contract; inquires if publication of The Jungle , Metropolis , Money Changers , and Sylvia is possible.]

[Asks if Hutchinson's has sent King Coal to socialists and labor papers; discusses book rights to King Coal in Sweden , Norway , and Denmark . ]

[Asks to see him.]

[Asks him to send a manuscript to Curtis Brown in London . ]

[Asks to see him upon his return; encloses manuscript which Harris promised to read.]

[Says he sent manuscript yesterday; wishes it to be forwarded to Curtis Brown in London . ]

[Offers criticism of [ Oscar Wilde: His Life and Times ]; gives book an overall good review; gives his opinion of Oscar Wilde in a socialist context and wishes Harris had done so; dislikes The Importance of Being Ernest and Wilde's work in general; disagrees with Harris' assertion that Wilde died as a result of incarceration; wants to believes that Wilde's essay "The soul of man under socialism" reveals the true man; gives his opinion of Harris' work and talents.]

[Thanks him for dealing with the "insufferable" George Moore ; congratulates him on [ Pearson's Magazine ]; calls him the most interesting writer in the country.]

[Gives permission for quotations from his comments on Harris' work; considers Martin Eden Jack London 's best work.]

[Requests a dozen copies of an article from the April issue; remarks that Harris is making many friends in California through his work.]

[Mentions receipt of many letters after publication of article; encloses a letter by Tom Masson as well as his answer; asks him to either get Masson's permission to print the letter or to omit his name.]

[Believes that Mark Twain is "one of the world's half dozen greatest humorists" and three of his books are classics; gives critical appraisal of personalities of Jack London , [Ralph Waldo] Emerson , [Edgar Allan] Poe , and [Henry David] Thoreau ; compares his views on marriage and sex to Bernard Shaw 's ; says he cannot separate theory and practice like Shaw; hopes to write a book on the subject; disagrees with Harris' assessment of World War I; believes the German aristocracy is much more of a threat than the British; hopes the war results in the overthrow of the German leadership; discusses a speech by Robert Minor advocating violence; refers to Tom Mooney and explosion in San Francisco that killed 9 people during Preparedness Parade, July 22, 1916.]

[Refers to earlier letter on sex and marriage; elaborates on his views; sees problem with both abstinence from sex until marriage and the "promiscuous experimenting among radicals"; says he does not believe in "marriage plus prostitution, early marriage, or divorce"; advocates monogamy because of spread of venereal disease; supports "very early marriage" with no children until the couple is declared a good match as well as community care of children; in AN on verso, feels that only the wealthy can have children at the present time.]

[Informs him that publication of King Coal was postponed because of war; criticizes the new form of Pearson's Magazine ; mentions letters he received in regard to the April article.]

[Asks him to publish [article] with "W's" reply; says Mason is nervous about use of his name.]

[Discusses threat Germany poses to the United States if Great Britain is defeated; supports German Social Democratic Party 's prewar program; mentions [William English] Walling and A. M. Simons in connection with the idea of internationalizing territories rich in coal and iron; refers to his earlier letter to Harris in regard to sex; explains his own brand of religion; explains how The Jungle was written; mentions Manassas ; asks Harris if he would be interested in publishing the sequel to King Coal in Pearson's Magazine . ]

[Recounts his educational background, especially the study of literature and languages; encloses autographed copy of Manassas ; recommends reading The Journal of Arthur Sterling ; says he is buying his out of print books in the hope that someone will read them someday.]

[Asks him to print enclosed article; hopes he will continue to publish despite government interference; needs a socialist paper to publish his writings; discusses his unhappy first marriage.]

[Promises to read Harris' 2 books and to write him about them; says he has already read about Miracle of the Stigmata in a magazine; recommends his own book The Fasting Cure ; says that he gave up his Christian belief when he was 17.]

[Expresses interest in Harris' reaction to Coal War ; says he has not yet finished reading Harris' 2 books because he has been busy doing carpentry work on his new house; encloses article about 2 Socialist poets; in autograph postscript, asks if he is interested in the enclosed article.]

[Discusses characters in Coal War ; regrets that Harris is not able to use it serially; says that a third volume will follow; hopes the war ends with the "liberalization of Germany "; promises to give his opinion on Harris' books soon.]

[Gives warm review of Contemporary Portraits ; likes the portraits of Davidson and Burton; gives low opinion of [Thomas] Carlyle ; responds to request to judge Harris' mind or limitations by wondering if it is a limitation to be too catholic of too sophisticated; attacks the work and character of Swinburne and [James MacNeill] Whistler ; considers The Gentle Art of Making Enemies "one of the most vicious books in the world"; gives ideas on greatness in an artist; believes he has a strange double nature because he can "pray with Jesus and dine with Oscar Wilde , and do both convincingly"; gives mixed review of Unpath'd Waters ; sends first pages of manuscript Dead Hand ; predicts it will not sell because the public is preoccupied with he war; expresses interest in Harris' opinion.]

[Includes autograph corrections; expresses interest in seeing himself in [ Contemporary Portraits ]; attempts to answer questions; recounts his adoption of Socialism and its connection to Christianity; discusses his particular Socialist beliefs, his personality, his early life and marriage, his writing style, poor health, religion, and sex; advises him to consult "What Life Means to Me" in Cosmopolitan of 1906 and the files of the Independent for answers to some questions; discusses the people who have influenced him and who he admires; in AN on verso, discusses his early life and education.]

[Discusses Harris' disagreement with Sinclair's ideas in Mammouart ; gives his opinion on the themes in The Bomb . ]

[Calls volume one of [ My Life and Loves ] "the vilest book I have ever laid eyes on"; disapproves of behavior depicted in book; regrets that he has written this book; says he will give his opinion publicly.]

[Sends magazine and autograph.]

[Encloses article by Upton Sinclair ; says he and Sinclair felt that Doyle should make statements for the American people in regard in this matter because he has many admirers in America . ]

[Includes typed manuscript; calls Sinclair a fanatic who unwittingly helped Germany in World War I damaging Allied solidarity; refers to Sinclair's prewar statements on the size of the British fleet, etc.; defends Lord Edward Grey 's character from Sinclair's attacks; refuses to read Sinclair's paper; says he had no idea that Sinclair attacked him in his publication; claims that the future of the world depends on the solidarity of the English speaking races; considers all the Hearsts and Sinclairs traitors to the racial destiny.]

[Believes the Triple Entente became an alliance when war broke out; describes signature of secret treaties as "conspiracy"; applauds publication of the treaties by Bolsheviks; refers to Edward Grey 's denial of their existence; disagrees with Doyle's statement that the future of the world depends of a new sort of alliance, Anglo-British, or other, but rather on the will of the people to resist the ruling classes; defends Upton Sinclair whom he does not know personally.]

[Includes typed transcript; rejects Upton Sinclair 's statement on Lord Edward Grey ; states that not even Lord Grey's worst political enemies would doubt his honor; refuses to pursue correspondence further.]

[Quotes from Doyle's preceding letter; asks sarcastically for permission to develop one of his statements and publish it in America ; writes a "confession" for Doyle regarding secret treaties; suggests that honest confession is good for the soul.]

[Suggests that Browne go to see a doctor because he does not appear to be in normal health; refuses to open any more of Browne's letters.]

[Informs him that Mobland will be out next October and The Book of Life will be published shortly; says he will send a copy of the letter; encloses his autograph and does not have one of Eugene Debs . ]

[Believes Socialist are "much greater poets" than Single Taxers; claims Socialists have the facts and truth on their side.]

[Thanks him for clipping; informs him that his book orders have been sent.]

[Explains why he wrote Oil . ]

[Describes his poverty with a wife, child and an invalid mother to support; says he has no hope for change; reminds him of Springtime and Harvest which he sent him a year ago, replenished under the name King Midas ; says he has little hope for its success because it has not been reviewed in important papers; discusses his artistic purposes, his religious beliefs, etc.; asks him to review the book in an important paper; says he heard from [Tourence] that Markham admired King Midas ; says that he will not be able to bear his situation much larger.]

[Hopes to amuse him with an excerpt of Prince Hagen ; appreciates Markham's interest in his work.]

[Thanks him for his kindness; mentions Caradrion . ]

[Requests his signature for a political document; feels a few eminent citizens outside of California ought to sign it.]

[Sends another document he would like signed; asks him to sends a night message, collect, if he intends to sign.]

[Includes newspaper clipping, "The Dime Novels" of Upton Sinclair ; gives autobiographical information on early work; says he is no longer interested in old works; discusses writings for "The Starry Flag Library" and "True Blue Library"; advises him to contact Henry Harrison Lewis . ]

[Encloses letter which explains his financial situation; says he had it printed to be sent to the many refugees who ask for help; regrets not being able to do more.]

[Says he is unable to name his "best" book; believes that world opinion regards The Jungle as his best book.]

[Says he is willing to send 50 copies of " The Evening Had It Too " for a large discount.]