Jan. 14, 1938

Professor Bertrand Bronson
Dept. of English
University of California
Berkeley, Calif.

Dear Bud:

This isn't that fine long chatty letter which I have been planning
to write you all fall but which, somehow, never materialized, and never
will materialize. Now, in desperation, I will make a few jottings.
First, business: how does the notion of a piece on eighteenth century
books look to you now? Has anything come out which appeals to you?
And when will you have time for doing such a piece? We are trying to
plan our essays for the year and want to make provision for yours if
there is any prospect of getting it within that period. As I told you,
we probably wouldn't be able to use the biographical, but we have all
enjoyed reading it. You do that sort of thing splendidly. It makes us
wish that we had some space which we could dedicate to that particular
sort of thing. But we are interested in the other type of thing which
you suggested, that is, critical essays of the sort which you are in-
terested in doing. Have you any proposals to make along that line?

Mr. Munn is still with me. The thing has been getting much longer.
I grievously miscalculated the scale of the thing. I still have some
four or five chapters to do, but I am approaching them with some renewed
energy, for yesterday I got a report from Houghton Mifflin on the first
ten. They state their pleasure in terms that raise hopes for a slight
commercial success. And Lord knows that wouldn't hurt my feelings any.
In any case, they seem to be disposed to put their shoulders to the
wheel about promotion. Whether the thing is good on other grounds, I
don't know.

You will find on your desk in the next few days a belated little
present from Ginina and me--a copy of the short story anthology. The
publishers delayed until after Christmas sending me some copies which

Feb. 3, 1938

Mr. Bertrand Bronson
Dept. of English
University of California
Berkeley, Calif.

Dear Bud:

Your fine long letter, which has just come today, has already
given both Cinina and me great pleasure. This isn't a proper answer
to the letter--this is only a reply to the business section of it. We
are indeed glad that you can now do some work for us. Why not plan on
a rather long piece, say about 6,000 words? We are running a similar
essay by Matthiessen on some recent Elizabethan books in our Summer
issue, and so we shan't be able to use yours until Fall. Matthiessen
had promised this to us for our Spring issue, and has recently notified
us that the job is too big to finish by the end of this month. It's
too bad that he has postponed his article, because that means the post-
ponement of yours. Unless, of course, you could finish it within the
next three weeks. But that seems highly improbable. As for the books:
if you will make out a list by title, author, and publisher, we shall
undertake to get review copies for you. Sometimes publishers will
fail us, especially if a book has been on the market for some time,
but ordinarily they are glad enough to cooperate.

I am glad the Addison is done and that the Ritson is on its way.
Now that you are free from those things we hope that you will do a
great deal of work for us.

We have finished our book on poetry, and, I suppose, it is now
going to press. We want to hold you to your promise to read it in
proof--but as a critic, not as a proof reader.