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- 7 July 1936 (Creation)
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1 single sheet
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2 Bankfield Lane, Southport.—Asks for the collation notes to 2 Henry VI. Is hoping to finish 3 Henry VI by the weekend. Is sorry he was unable to send the first volume to the press as intended, and offers to try to finish Richard III before she goes to Denmark in August. Hopes his holiday will relieve his anxiety.
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Transcript
2 Bankfield Lane, Southport.
7 July 1936.
Dear Dr. McKerrow,
Thank you for your letter of the 5th which I didn’t get until late last night as I was away all day visiting my father & mother who are on holiday in N. Wales. If you will send me the corrected collation notes to 2 Henry VI I will bring the copy I have up-to-date. It would be a great help to me to know what has been done and (as you say) it might be as well to have a second copy of the latest version in case of mishap. I don’t think I need to have the text again.
I hope to finish Act V of 3 Henry VI by this week-end {1}. I am glad, in a way, that you havn’t been kept chafing for me to catch up to you (? do you chafe). I was afraid I might be holding you up by being so slow, but I am sorry you havn’t managed to get the first volume off to press—if you had set your heart on it! What would you like me to do with Richard III? I am going to Denmark for three weeks or a month somewhere about August 19th or 20th. Between now and then I shall be away a good deal but I could probably get most (if not all) of Richard III done before I go abroad. If it doesn’t mean too much trouble for you, would you like to send me this?
Also, I still have your introduction to 1 Henry VI, Richard III & Romeo & Juliet. Would you like me to return these or to keep them for the time being?
I hope your multitudinous worries won’t pursue you while you are away. Is there anything I can do to lessen them?—or am I one of them? You can’t think how it grieves me to know you are so reluctant to take a holiday! There is nothing I find so stimulating or desirable as a good holiday about every two months! How did your new maid turn out? I hope she solved the domestic situation.
Yours sincerely,
Alice Walker.
P.S. If it isn’t too much trouble to send the query slips, may I have them for reference? If I know what questions I have asked & what you have decided about them, it will probably prevent my raising the same kind of point again.
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{1} 11th and 12th. In the event Act V was returned on the 10th. See MCKW A4/49–50.