Item 7 - Letter from Alice Walker to R. B. McKerrow

2 single sheets

The White House, Tite Hill, Englefield Green.—Sends, for his approval, notes on the text and apparatus of 1 Henry VI and notes on the Richard III proofs. Is glad to have something to do while housekeeping for Miss Willcock.

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Transcript

at The White House, Tite Hill,
Englefield Green.
22 April 1936.

Dear Dr. McKerrow,

Thank you for your letter and the I Henry VI material which reached me this morning—Introduction, Text, Notes and Collation Notes. Before I really get going on it I should very much like to know exactly what form you would like my checking to take. I havn’t had time, as yet, to do more than glance through what you sent and attempt a very rough checking of the first page of your collation notes. Is the accompanying trial trip more or less what you want? You will see that I have typed your notes out making small alterations which I felt fairly confident were right as I went along and noting all alterations made, together with doubtful points, on a separate sheet. I have made three copies of the notes {1}—(a) which I have left unmarked for you to go over (b) on which I have marked with a red tick the readings etc. which I have verified and (c) which I will keep myself in case anything dire happens to the other two. I hope I shall be able to collect a number of texts to supplement (b); all I have at the moment are the Cambridge and Arden editions. {2} I am returning the first sheet of your collation notes as I don’t suppose my version will be much use without it. The plan I have adopted here seems to me the best way of tackling the job, but if you don’t like it or have any suggestions to make I will, of course, do whatever you consider best.

I have given the Richard III proofs another reading and find there are a number of points I failed to notice when I first went through them. I enclose the notes I made. Most of them concern small points but there are a number of problems which are likely to arise again in connection with Henry VI—I’ve marked these with an asterisk; will you tell me what to do about them some time? The only general problems that still seriously worry me are punctuation and spelling variants. The former have me completely bogged. Perhaps this is because I have so far only done a little desultory dabbling in the quartos, but I have put down some of my problems in the hope that you can solve them. I am afraid you will think me a dreadful nuisance for pestering you in this way—my only excuse is that if I can make myself think as you think, I shall be a great deal more use to you than I am now.

I hope I am not bothering you at an intollerably† busy time. These next few weeks I am likely to have a good deal of time on my hands as I am more or less housekeeping for Miss Willcock while her sister is away and as I can’t get to town much I am very glad to have some useful job to be getting on with. You may be relieved to hear that my spirits havn’t flagged at the sight of your MS.—did you really think they would?

I will register these papers so that you won’t need to acknowledge them if you are busy. As I have a copy of them, I shan’t worry about possible misadventures between here and Wendover!

I hope you enjoyed your holiday.

Yours sincerely,
Alice Walker.

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Typed, except the signature.

{1} ‘three’ is followed by ‘carbon’, struck through. The carbon-copies each comprised two pages (sheets). Cf. MCKW A4/9 and A4/11 (Nos. 3a and 3b).

{2} The third edition of 1902–5 (9 vols.) and the first edition (1909) respectively. Cf. MCKW A4/23 and A4/8.

† Sic.