April 27, 1956

Mr. Ralph Ellison
c/o American Academy in Rome
Via Angelo Masina, 5
Rome 28, Italy

Dear Mr. Ellison:

Mrs. Porter has been laid up for the past few
days, and rather than wait for her return, I
hasten to send along word that A COUPLE OF RED
INDIANS is yours to do with as you please. It
was copyrighted in your name, which gives you
all rights to it.

We'd certainly appreciate a slight blurb to
the effect that the story was originally published
in New WORLD WRITING #9, April, 1956--but of
course this is up to Fischer Verlag.

I'll give your letter to Mrs. Porter just as
soon as she gets back.

pfb

RALPH ELLISON

A COUPLA
SCALPED
INDIANS

Author of the distinguished first novel, INVISIBLE MAN, Ralph Ellison is currently at the American Academy in Rome, on an Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, where he is working on his second novel. Born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Mr. Ellison studied at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He has lectured at Harvard, Tuskegee, Princeton, and elsewhere. He has published fiction and criticism in the United States and in England. This story is an offshoot of his novel-in-progress.

(Copyright 1955, by Ralph Ellison)

RALPH ELLISON

A COUPLA
SCALPED
INDIANS

American Academy
Via Angelo Masina 5
Rome 28, Italy
February 3, 1956

Miss Patricia F. Brown
Editorial Department
The New American Library
501 Madison Avenue
New York 22, New York

Dear Miss Brown:

We received your letter with the second set of uncorrected galley
proofs this morning.

We were thoroughly surprised and distressed to know that Mrs. Porter
had not received the corrected galley proofs which we sent to her with a
note on either the 7th or 8th of January via airmail. We are herewith
enclosing the second set as corrected.

We have reason to feel that you may yet receive the original set
of corrected proofs mailed to you earlier. Will you kindly do this for
us: **Return to us the outside envelope.** This is important because we gave
that letter, together with money for postage, to a messenger for prompt
mailing. Such a thing has happened before at the Academy, that important
mail reached its destination too late because adequate postage had been
withheld and the money pocketed.

By all means, save the outside envelope and return it to us!

During the month we will try to send you names for complimentary
copies of NEW WORLD WRITING # 9.

Thank you for writing and accept our apologies for this unforeseen
mishap.

P.S. May we call your attention to the fact that there are additional
corrections on the enclosed galley proofs which do not appear on the 1st set.

cc/ Mrs. Porter

Dear Miss Brown:

We have reason to feel that you may yet receive the original set
of corrected proofs mailed to you earlier. Will you kindly do this for
us: Return to us the outside envelope. This is important because we gave
that letter, together with money for postage, to a messenger for prompt
mailing. Such a thing has happened before at the Academy, that important
mail reached its destination too late because adequate postage had been
withheld and the money pocketed.

cc/ Mrs. Porter

The New American Library
OF WORLD LITERATURE, INC.

501 MADISON AVENUE

NEW YORK 22, NEW YORK

★ MURRAY HILL 8-3470

July 29, 1955

Dear Mr. Ellison:

This will confirm the following agreement between us regarding publication of the work consisting of *your story*,

*A COUPLA SCALPED INDIANS*

in NEW WORLD WRITING, a periodical published in the English language throughout the world.

You hereby grant to us a license for such publication as hereinafter provided, and you agree to
supply to us, on request, written permissions covering any material contained in the work
which is extracted from any other work protected by statutory or common-law copyright.

You warrant that you have full power to enter into this agreement, that *you are*

authorized to receive all payments due hereunder and to act in all other matters connected here-
with, that the work has not been published in any medium whatsoever prior to the date
hereof, and that, hereafter until expiration of six (6) months after release of the issue containing
the work, you will not permit publication elsewhere without our written consent.

In consideration thereof, we agree to publish the work in NEW WORLD WRITING and to pay
the sum of *one hundred twenty-five dollars ($125.)* to you

due on the signing of this agreement,

which will be full payment for the first 100,000 (or less) copies
printed of the issue in which the work is published; and in the event that additional
copies are printed, we will make additional payment in the proportion which the number of
additional copies bears to 100,000.

We further agree to apply for copyright protection for the work in the United States and
Canada, and elsewhere at our option, in our name, or in such other appropriate name as you
may supply to us in writing no later than three (3) months before the issue containing the work
goes to press; and after publication, if copyright is registered in our name, we will assign copy-
right in the work to whomsoever you designate in writing.

Please signify your approval and acceptance of the foregoing agreement by signing and returning
the enclosed carbon copy for our files.

Mr. Ralph Ellison
730 Riverside Drive
New York, N.Y.

Very truly yours,

THE NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY
OF WORLD LITERATURE, INC.

By

APPROVED and ACCEPTED:

Ralph Ellison

Date

This will certify that

I am

a citizen of

(Country)

permanently residing at

(Address, including country)

NAL FORM 44 APOLLO 4-55

April 29, 1955

Mr. Ralph Ellison
730 Riverside Drive
New York, New York

Dear Ralph:

Here is your own carbon and here are the Paris Re-
View proofs. I'm sure we can agree either on the
folklore theme, or on the "filtering down (?) of
ideas." When you can, do write that brief letter.

Let's not count on having your essay for the Octo-
ber issue (for we have to close, at the latest, by
May 6th) but if we could have a finished piece by
or before September we would be happy, and naturally
would pay on acceptance.

AJP:pb

Enc.

July 16, 1954

Mr. Leslie Hannon
Maclean's
481 University Ave.
Toronto 2, Ontario

Dear Mr. Hannon:

I would appreciate it very much if
you could return the manuscript of Ralph Ellison's
story, "Did You Ever Dream Lucky?"

Mr. Ellison is going to place the
story in a German publication, and has asked
us to return all copies to him.

AJP/te

P.S. In a few days, I'll send you galleys of
some things from New WORLD WRITING #6
that you might be interested in.