Wichita eagle., 1888-12-01


ioubt 16 years of age on the LIST day Of last
April
HuIAnoI.Dr MINI Aug u feS3-DEAR SR-Wn
you pleas to tell what would be the price for q
good sised book not to largo nor not very small
| now this is Just one that have commenced TO
write myself and think 1t is going to be- q very
| good one Pleas to tell me where could get Il
| printed and also all you know about it as am
very proud Of this pleas be SO kind as TO not
mension this in closed find stamp for nanswer
| pleas to obledge / am Yours truly Pleas to
address it to me at st Vincent in care of Mr.
| Tho'S Brown as l am here now Yours Should
write it both sides of the paper it being so you
can tear it out and turn it over P. s. The name Of
tits The Folly of Blackeyed Nell
The Second Daughter
The Brenett FIirt.
Replying to this long neglected letter, l
would say briefly, yet succinctly and even
tersely, that much would depend upon the
size of the book. There is a tremendous call
this season for an eight ounce book, with
small fecks of foam on If.
Can you write such book. Can you
write book full of implied and expressed
passionl Can you churn up the great depths
Of human nature and shorten the longing
which one may have for another heart
and still go on with your primary studies at
HumboldtG Can you prepare such q work
and still get your spelling lessons every daya
do not know why you should have re-
ferred the matter to me, however / would
rather refrain from giving advice in matters
of literature as a general thing, for am not
regular litterateur. | could not write a
book about The Brenett F1irt" to save my
life. Writing passionate things in red ink,
on both sides, regard as gift l cannot
do it.
l once published q work in two volumes
which sold well and is still meeting with an
excellent sale both in this country and in
Europe. 1t was also well received by the
critics; at least nobody said anything dis
paraging Of it, and it has helped many a one
to pass a pleasant evening, as know 1t
consisted of two large volumes of history,
being history Of the war, in two volumr !.
Struck with the wonderful paucity of war his
tory, prepared these two volumes in neat
black and gold muslin and beveled boards
When closed the work was ornamental, and
when opened it became backgammon board
Where others had been in the habit Of put
ting word painting, and October haze, and
the odor of crushed watermelon, and the lull
of being miles and miles away from the par
ents of one you deeply love and who is with
you in the heart Of the forest and all that,
did not put anything at all Where mod
eru author might have written things which
might have caused the rather questionable
career of Don Juan, by contrast to read like
the loves of a snow man, just left the reader
to insert his own wicked thoughts as he went
along. In this way, and by reinforcing the
corners by means of zinc shanks on the in
side, l knew that when the critics jumped on
it they would not hurt it.
To this | attribute what little literary sue
cess l may have attained, and that is the rea-
son l speak Of it to you. But times are
changing and you must keep up with the
times See, for instance, how the smut has
been eradicated from comedy and humor,
and how it has been gently but firmly re-
tanned by romance. Even the bright but
doubtful jokes Of war times, twenty years
ago, could no5 find place in print or on the
stage now, and further back than that we
find many, many little bon mots which could
only be found now in a congressional COM
mittee room or late novel.
I congratulate comedy, Jennie, and am
sorry for you literary people. But you
can do just as you think best. If you
are writing a book for the market, you
have got good subject. 1t conveys the idea
of Just enough wickedness so that, if properly
handled, the book will be very much talked
about and therefore sold in great quantities
l sincerely hope that your name will soon be
a household word and that your book will
not only be great success here in New York,
but that every farmer in Minnesota will be
using it on his potato bugs next summer
Bill Nye in New York World.