Guntersville, Ala.

Cornsilk Farm,

Aug. 5, 1935.

Dear Cleanth:-

Your note has just come in. Send the Lee on. I'll do my best to get it in. Let me know the last dead-line, when you yourself know it. I'll aim for the last of the first week in September. Unfortunately, I have not had the chance to read it; but even so, barring bad luck, I'll get it in. I'm working like a machine, from eight to five every day, trying to finish a novel in time for spring publication. As soon as I strike a stale period, I can relieve it with Freeman.

The Review is a swell piece of get-up. I've heard many people compliment the make-up and the solid issue. It looks very neat, too. I'm reading it along - so far Catharine Anne's story, one of her best; Wade's which is fine, and Ford's - all good. You gentlemen must place the right hand across the belly and bow to one another. Tell Albert I got the check, and as soon as I find any let up from work I'll write. If I get the novel done in any decent time, I'm going to try to reach your parts sometime in the winter, before digging in on the Calhoun. The Tates are here with me, and Bill Clark comes for a short stay with his wife. Caroline has found Cornsilk a good place to work. Before we took off to Louisville to see the Agars, she was doing from four to eight pages a day.

Has Red come back?

I will certainly be pleased to get the language study. It's the best thing I've heard of in sometime. I shall keep it by me for a prompt copy in idiom. Extend my best wishes to your lady and see that Albert works. I understand he is a new man, full of energy and zeal.

Monteagle, Tenn.

Log Cabin

Oct. 25, 1935.

Dear Red:-

I've been trying to find time to write you, but I lack your capacity to do a great many different things in the same day. Getting settled and trying to make speed at writing have left me so exhausted by first dark that I've had nothing more than the energy to get to bed. But it's mighty fine in these mountains. The dry year has given the leaves more brilliant color, and I brought my horse up to give me a little exercise. I don't get much time to ride him, though. Polly is here to cook and keep house generally. A youth who admires her has been drafted into service. They do right well, but somehow we can manage to put only two meals on the table. I find I can work well on such short rations; so unless we are invited out to dinner at See wanee, we go dry to bed.

Besides the horse there is a pet turky hen and a cat. We are thinking of buying a pig to eat the slop. All in all the menage has sufficient diversity to keep us occupied. Send that book on and I'll do what I can with it. I won't be able to tackle anything, though until this novel is done. It's due in the first of December, but as I go along the technical difficulties increase. I've got so far some sixty thousand words, but that's only two thirds done. How I can write thirty thousand more in the next month or six weeks I don't know. I didn't realize that first draft of the Lee was so bad until I reread it. I cannot work in a hurry. I hope the other one is a little more decent. It's a good book, but in spite of the excellent handling of the battles a perfidious one. It's going to crystallize that liberal idea of Lee and make it much harder for him ever to be set forth in a just frame. Of course Lee lends himself to that liberal treatment and makes it much easier for them to turn him to their bad ends. Here is this complex mind and noble character ruined by a middle class standard of conduct. This is not entirely true, but it's the fly that spiles the ointment.

It looks like the T.V.A. is going to build a dam below Guntersville and cover our farm. In that case we have a chance at an equity in it, but after a very melodramatic scene, we've been put off and had the crop taken away. The case has been appealed; and if the government makes up its mind in time enough, we've got a good chance of redeeming it. This is indirectly by the way of saying, when it comes handy, I could use what stipend the review is going to send fairly soon.

There is some talk of meeting up here over the Christmas time, or at Benfolly. So you and Miss Emma must make your plans toward that end. If it's too cold, we'll have to go to Benfolly, but here are a plenty of beds here. My love to you both.

Romar Beach,
near Foley, Ala.

Dear Cleanth:-

Thanks for your letter. Of course, you have permission to print the Jericho story. Red toad me a little about the anthology, and it sounds mighty good. I want to see what it's like when it comes out. That hectic time in Nashville is no time for pleasant society. And so I'm going to come to Louisiana some way to enjoy the company of all of you, God willing, sometime this winter.

I came here for a rest, and it is a pleasant place to rest in: six houses only, pleasant companions, the gulf only two minutes away and white sand and plenty of sun all around. The water is the right temperature and delightful. There are a few sharks who come to near the beach for it to be absolutely comfortable. The boys caught one the other day, and I felt his teeth. They are sharp as needles. They are not man-eaters, but 688 they can take a hung out if they were minded. They move through the water like dark shadows. That's all you see, and it certainly causes you think of the ways of God to man. The proofs to the book have been coming in, and in driblets; so that I can't do much 688 pleasure. I hope they are through with me, but I've had a little trouble with the ending of the book; and I don't know whether I've got it right or not. I hope your anticipations, and you were very able to put them so, turn out at least to give me enough to live on for a year. I don't dare think of more.

Hastily, before the morning 68688 in-
ertia settles down.

My regards to Miss Tinkum. Red
and Cinina, I take it, are gone to the country by
now.

Monteagge, Teen.

Dear Red:-

I revised that fragment into a short story, or whatever
it is. Here it is if you can use it. I'm not satisfied with it,
and if you've got any suggestions I'd be proud to hear them.
I took the time off to try to clean it up, as I had to do some
reading for the next section of my novel. Lord, Lord, will I
ever git done.

My love to you and Miss Emma and Albert.

Murfreesboro, Tenn.
325 East Main St.

Dear Red:-

Polly wants to send two orders for the Southern Review. Will you take the order and charge them to me and let me work them out?

They are to be sent to Miss Cornelia Murfree, Murfreesboro, Tenn and to Mr. James Darwin, Huntsville, Ala.

Are you and Miss Emma coming up this way for Christmas?
And did you get my Old Lady piece?

In great haste, Love

Memphis, Tenn.

1531 Forrest Ave.,

April 1, 1936.

Dear Red:--

I see there is a book out of Breckinridge, by a Miss Lucille
Stillwell. The Caxton Printers, Ltd., Caldwell, Ohio. If you haven't
given it out, I'd like to review it. It might, very possibly, work
in with the Calhoun review, although I doubt it. Ever since I've been
teaching American history here, it looks like I can't get them out
of the Civil War. I never thought I'd ever teach anyway, and what did
I find but Cooper using Beard's rise of A.C. for textbook. There aint
any way to use that as a text book. So I abandoned and am lecturing.
I wish my conscience warnt so tender, for it's working me considerable
It interfered with my trip South, too; but I reckon the money, what
little it is, comes in handy. The president gave me the board of
director's room to work in, and it's so fine, I don't feellike my-
self. I took my shoes off the other day and just couldn't be comfort-
able bare-footed inno sich place.

At last I'm about to finish the first draft of the novel. It runs about 80,000 words; but I've got a lot to do, revision etcetera, part of the etcetera being a title and the solution of a very major technical difficulty. But it's going to be a much better book for the extra time.

I read the reply you and Cleanth made to that hasty wom-
am, and it war a beautiful, sweet, clean, and honest one. I didn't know her be-
fore, but I'm sure I wouldn't know her now, for as far as I can tell
she's completely demolished.

Give my love to you and Miss Emma. What is Albert doing?

Murfreesboro,

Dear Red:-

Will you bring my watch with you when you come
up to the dinner?

Things seem to be going well here, and it looks
like the fight will be won. I talked to Martin of Sewanee,
and he says Nickerbocker is taking the attitude that we
can't, after all, do without him. That's unfortunate, and
now that the Virginia Quarterly has come through, if he
tries to press his advantage, I would let him quietly out.

In great haste as I'm on my way to Nashville.
If you can possibly think to remember - bring the watch.

Love to you all

1

JUL 21

1030 PM

1937

TENN.

<table><tr><td>THIS SIDE OF CARD IS FOR ADDRESS</td></tr></table>

it not be better to cover yourself on this point so that a picayunish
critic could not isolate your statement and attack it? But perhaps
we are too wary on this point. It is a nuisance to put this on you
at the last minute, but it has been put on us at the last minute, and
we will be enormously grateful if you will get this stuff back to us
at the earliest possible moment. Meanwhile, we are setting up the
rest of it.

How is your father getting along? Please let us know. And come
down to see us when you can. Albert and Cleanth send their best.
And so does Cinina.

As ever,

Monteagle, Tenn.

Nov. 22, 1939.

Dear Cleanth:

I've been a long time meaning to write you about your book, but I was a long time getting it back from Sewanee where I lent it for to read. And I read it very slowly, but even so I've been done some time. I have a habit of reading hard matter before I write. It sort of tones up and stiffens me for the fray, and that's what I've been doing with your essays. It's obviously a fine book, but it seems to me to be of peculiar importance. It has drawn to a focus, a critical focus, the entire English 3888 tradition of poetry and gives coherence and the proper degree of blood relationship between the different schools. No longer will it be possible to consider the modern metaphysicals as a sport. You have probably been told that the essay on Elliot is the best piece of criticism on that gentlemen; so I won't repeat that. But I also believe that the Yeats piece is the most elucidating and thoroughly satisfying thing that has been done on him. The Notes for a Revised history seemed to me to be the only unsatisfactory part. The defect of the notes is that it is notes. Of course you state this, and when it seems to fall somewhat short of the others, it is by comparison with them, they being complete and full-bodied criticisms having the strength of their limits. But I am perhaps cavilling.

This book will certainly consolidate your reputation, and anybody expecting to deal with the tradition must refer to it. I am powerful glad to have it. By the way, the things said about Red's 3888 stuff seem to me very sound.

Where is he? I've heard that he has landed in New York and I've heard he intends to stay in Italy, where it is so interesting. If he is there, will you drop me a card giving address.

Since you were here, we have bought three hundred acres of land in Robertson County, that 1,500, we have a foothold there. The Insurance company naturally has the first claim to ownership. I bought too hurriedly, but the war had me skeered. I began to see food going up and the produce of my farm going down. The curious war makes me doubt if I was wise, buying now; but it's done and when warm weather comes, we will move to the country for good, I hope. It has a nice, ugly pioneer type house, with ell and good entrance, and we hope to have some pleasure there and some security. There's a little old school house on the place which will make a fine study. When the book is done, we hope to have a warming and you all must come. It seems that I will never get done with de Soto. The fatigue is progressive, and it is nip and tuck which of us will survive. I am completely unhuman and will remain so until it is over.

Sewanee, Tenn.

Oct. 29, 1941.

Dear Red:

This is a part of the novel which I took out: the
conquest of Peru. I think it has unity enough to stand alone.
It's a little long but perhaps you might like to print it.
Allen is using it in this anthology for South American con-
sumption and I'd like to get it printed before it appears, or
at least printed, as Sewanee is much more expensive than
Monteagle.

I'm giving enough lectures here to pay for the house
rent. The lectures are an excuse to have an author on the
campus. Whether anything comes out of it or not I can't say;
I don't even know that I want anything to come out of it, as
the farm looks promising. AT THE MOON'S INN, the title of the
de Soto novel, comes out the seventeenth of November, a little
late but I hope not too late. I didn't get it done until Sep-
tember. It runs four hundred pages and the advance copy Cahmb-
ers sent me looks well. I like the jacket and the book itself.
The print is easy on the eye; the binding seems solid, and the
cover respectable enough. And now just as we have been trying
to rest, here comes Edna on the point of delivering her baby
within two or three weeks. She's in bed with a bad cold. We
are trying to throw it off; so she can get in shape for her
lying in.

No more now. I wish you would read the mss. as
soon as it is convenient. If you all don't want to fool with
it, I'd like to try one or two other places.

Our best to all of you.

Bill Clark has had a long and bad attack of pleurisy. He may
be retired from active duty and put on a kind of half time
job during the trouble. Who would have thought he would have
had this kind of luck? It may pass, but from his last letter
things didn't look so good.