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Start Over Collection Molly Elliot Seawell Papers Date range 1892 Level File

Photocopies of Correspondence Between M. E. Seawell and Editors/Publishers Box 1, Folder 10

These numerous letters cover topics such as offers to publish her books and stories, negotiations over compensation, editors' mistakes, and deliberations behind her authorial decisions, like how to write stories that appeal to specific groups of people. The bulk consists of letters addressed Mr. [Robert Underwood] Johnson, editor at the Century Magazine, in New York. Of particular interest is a July 2, 1895 letter from Molly to Johnson accompanied by copies of two letters between Molly's acquaintance U.S. Navy Engineer Harrie Webster to Admiral Ito in preparation of an article on the 1894 Battle of the Yalu River during the First Sino-Japanese War. Additionally, there is a November 30, 1898 letter accompanied by a seven-page autobiographical sketch that describes Molly's family's history, the family plantation, her education, the inspiration for some of her stories, her experiences traveling abroad (also recounted in her personal diaries), and the decision to move from Virginia to Washington D.C. Photocopies of originals housed at the New York Public Library and Columbia University Library. (Photocopies formerly Mss. Acc. 2010.398)

  1. College of William and Mary
  2. Molly Elliot Seawell Papers
  3. Series 3: Professional Records

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