LETTERS: Correspondence with John Woodburn.
Eudora Welty Letters
1939-1946
A seven year correspondence detailing the working relationship between Eudora Welty and her editors and agents, as she was inducted into the world of published authors. This archive includes 11 typed letters signed, and one autograph letter signed by Welty; typed letters signed and typed letter carbon copies, several with holograph notes, by John M. McK. Woodburn, Welty’s friend and editor; typed letters signed by Diarmuid Russell, Welty’s agent, of Russell Volkening, Inc.; typed letter carbon copies by Ken McCormick and Donald Elder, both of Doubleday; several later brief contacts between various Doubleday executives, after Welty left the House, and Harcourt Brace editors. The presence of the carbons as well as the signed notes and letters allows us to witness the dialogue among figures central to the critical and popular development of this significant author.
This extensive archive traces the professional relationships of Welty’s early career, from her introduction to the Doubleday family by her editor and friend, John M. McK. Woodburn, through her transfer with him to Harcourt Brace. In a collection containing carbon copies of much of Woodburn’s and McCormick’s own correspondence, as well as replies from other publishers, Welty’s agent, and Welty herself, we see the emergent friendships forged through mutual admiration and trust, as well as a clear illustration of the roles played on all sides of the publishing concern.
A year passed between our first letter linking Welty to Doubleday -- a personal correspondence from Woodburn -- and evidence that the House wished to court her. In judging Welty’s early work Elder said that
Katherine Anne Porter and Carolyn Gordon both began with work like this, and I think it would be a mistake to let this woman slip out of our hands...because not all of her early stories are entirely successful. She certainly demonstrates in this ms. that she has a fine imagination and a mature style, and in her range of subjects there is certainly material of wide appeal and salability.
Elder was equally supportive of her longer tale, The Robber Bridegroom, seeing in Welty’s talent the promise which Woodburn had already identified. He had described her as “a brilliant young writer” whose early work, he wrote, “is merely an indication of what I am convinced is an authentic talent -- and an author we should keep our hands on.”
Throughout the following years Welty’s agent began to play a prominent role in the scene, promoting her to Doubleday and managing her contracts. Of special interest is a note from Woodburn to McCormick in response to Russell’s suggested package for Welty. In a brief typed memo Woodburn discussed the possibilities of “a meeting of minds” between agent and publisher, and concluded, “I am only concerned with publishing EW, whom I consider really first-rate, in the most profitable way possible.” Below the message are holograph pencil notes regarding advances and percentages, with the note: “option next novel.”
It is clear that the individuals involved with Welty at Doubleday felt they had a personal as well as professional investment in her success, and the tension between sincere wishes of good will and a legal sense of entitlement emerged as they tried to sway her loyalties in their direction. Welty did decide to cancel Doubleday’s option on her next novel in order to follow Woodburn to Harcourt, but McCormick continued to keep in contact with her, offering potential outlets for her talent as well as criticism of later work. His send off reads rather comically:
I am heartbroken that you want to leave us, although I quite understand your wanting to go with John. I do hope that there is a chance that you will reconsider and give us the pleasure of publishing more of your books.
I hope that you are having fun with your phonograph. I have a new one too, and it keeps me off the streets and out of the poolrooms(12/11/42).
Don Elder wrote more briefly: “I am sorry you have decided to leave us but I know that you will be very happy with Harcourt Brace, the lucky guys.”
This archive illustrates the paradoxical familial atmosphere into which the author was adopted, and the sense of professional etiquette with which Doubleday attempted to bind her. Welty’s young talent was a risk for Doubleday, because of both her relative anonymity and her penchant for short fiction, rather than novels; their letters are warm and encouraging. After their publication and promotion of her first two works, McCormick tried to sway Welty from her decision to follow Woodburn to Harcourt, on professional grounds:
I wonder whether it would be wise to eliminate the personalities for the moment and consider your publishing future aside from either John or me...John brought you to Doubleday, but it is the house that published you, and the house continues its great interest in you. We consider you the most promising young writer added to the Doubleday list in a long time. A lot of that promise has already been fulfilled and lots more is going to be. We feel that having successfully presented your first two books that we are entitled to the privilege of doing the book on which an option exists...please reconsider that request to cancel the option.
The heart of this remarkable archive is the personal relationship established between Welty and Woodburn, the tightening of the bond which would make a fledgling author leave her first publishing house to continue with her editor. This relationship was clearly extant to some degree before Welty joined the Doubleday ranks and flourished with her career. Woodburn first drew her into the Doubleday clan, and in a letter informing Welty of Doublesay’s contract offer, he wrote,
I just want you to know that I am very pleased about this and that I should have had a part in it. The House thinks that we have something very special in you, and I know it. I kave known it for a long time. I knew it when I ate your mother’s waffles.
Welty expressed her supreme “delight that [Woodburn], Diarmuid, and I all three are involved in the way it turned out”(1/29/41). And in responding to McCormick’s plea for professionalism, Welty reveals that the personal association grew closer as time wore on:
I know my reasons are personal, but in this case it seems to me the personal reasons are the relevant ones, and the others irrelevant. Or rather, that some personal reasons are relevant and the others
irrelevant, for all are personal here (12/11/42).
Woodburn had discovered Welty and encouraged her to develop her talents even before proposing her work to Doubleday. Once there she became in her own words, “John’s author,” and he saw her work through all stages, from editing text and suggesting titles to overseeing jacket design. Her gratitude for his friendship and support is clear as she bids farewell to McCormick:
I would like to say, ‘Thanks for all,’ and if I add, ‘Please release me from the option,’ it doesn’t change the thanks, it’s only that I feel very loyal to John, as is only reasonable and owing to him, and I do want to stay with him.
A rich archive detailing the early career of an important author.
Typed Letters signed, “Eudora.” Eleven, three of which contain autograph postscripts; one autograph letter signed:
1. To Woodburn, January 29, 1941; expressing delight with her Doubleday contract.
2. To Doubleday, January 19, 1942; thanking the Book League for a bonus check.
3. Autograph letter signed, “Eudora,” to Don [Elders], of no date, on Hotel Bristol, New York letterhead; thanking him for books.
4. To Woodburn, June 17, 1942; regarding sketches for the dustjacket of Curtain of Green.
5. To Woodburn, July 26, [1942]; regarding dust jacket changes.
6. To “Donny, Donny”, November 15, 1942; thanking him for remuneration, and “about John’s fate in the Army”; requesting news of Katherine Anne Porter; with holograph postscript expressing thanks for a recently arrived book.
7. To McCormick, December 1, 1942; requesting option release.
8. To McCormick, December 11, 1942; explaining her reasons for following Woodburn to Harcourt Brace.
9. To Elders, December 22, 1942; responding to his offer to introduce her to a friend who would like her to write a libretto for his opera; with holograph postscript regarding the arrival of proofs, and a request for information about her missing photo portfolio.
10. To McCormick, December 22, 1942; thanking him for the option canceller and his “no hard feelings” note, wishes for a happy holiday.
11. To McCormick, January 24, 1943; thanking him for a clipping he sent; with holograph postscript mentioning Albert Erskine of Doubleday.
12. To McCormick, April 8, 1946; thanking him for feedback on her latest novel.
Additionally present are documents relating to the publication of Welty’s first two works:
1. Typed reports by Elder on Welty’s The Robber Bridegroom and collected stories, entitled in their final form A Curtain of Green .
2. Typed report on The Robber Bridegroom from Woodburn.
3. Holograph report form by McCormick on The Robber Bridegroom: under “comment” he has written, “I know this girl from Breadloaf and I’m convinced she has something. I think JW should pursue in the vein DBE suggests.”
4. Proof of title page and page opposite, as well as Katherine Anne Porter’s introduction to A Curtain of Green: A Book of Stories by Eudora Welty.
5. Proofs to press release for The Robber Bridegroom.
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