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The Rufus Hathaway Collection of Canadian literature
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Appin
April 3rd 1920.
Dear Hathaway:
Would that you were
with me today! I am having a
regular
Carman debauch. I am going through
my
New York papers picking out
Carman's
letters. Have unearthed the correspondence
about “The Spring Song” “The Juggler”, “Louis
Rae” and others. Also formed a complete file
of The Chapbook. Is it listed among the
things that collectors want? Also found “The
Green Book of the Bards.” And scores of
personal letters.
I have written to
Kennerleyasking
what he thinks of selling the business letters
that deal with the poems, The Chapbook and
things that are not personal — for Carman's
Benefit.
I'll read your paper on
Carman as
soon as this debauch is over and write
you about it.
faithfully
Peter McArthur
By mistake, this letter was not posted and
I can add a line. My desk yielded 47 letters
from
Carman, a file of The Chapbook
containing the “Lyrics of Joy” which I do not
remember seeing in his collected work. Also
“A Sea Mark”, “Michaelmas,” “The Green
Book of the Bards,” “The Girl in the Poster”
and the manuscript of “Gaspereau”.
Mrs. McA
tells me that there is a box of papers upstairs
and in it a tied up bundle of
Carman
letters. I have picked out 11 letters that deal
with poems — impersonal otherwise — that
might be sold for
Carman's Benefit.
Many of the others are too personal for
public consumption. Also there are two
unpublished personal poems addressed
to me.
I also found
Carman's letters to
me at the time of the Bankruptcy
proceedings — which I had forgotten
absolutely until
Stringer's poem was
printed. It appears that
Hall and I
came to his rescue and later letters
refer to checks enclosed on account
"82 West 12
27 Dec. 1904
My Dear Mac:
I have just come from the
phone, and want to say over again
how much I appreciate your solicitude.
Damned if I wouldn't like to be haled
into court once a week, if it would
bring such assurances of solid friendship.
With you and
Hall at my back, I
feel in the mood to tell the business
world to go plumb to perdition with
all its methods.
Yours a whole lot
Carman."
And the rough road of life had jolted
all this out of my memory! Such a letter
makes me feel that I haven't lived in vain.
You must come here for a week- end
sometime to see my Carmaniana.
PMA.