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Elizabeth McCausland 50 COMMERCE STREET, NEW YORK 14, N.Y. December 31, 1957 Miss Tay Hohoff Editor, New York Office J. B. Lippincott Company 521 Fifth Avenue New York 17, N.Y. Dear Tay: Your letter of the 26th came as a surprise. I don't need to tell you that mutilations or defacements, if they exist, were not made at my instance. Nothing is more abhorrent to the conscience of the scholar than to interfere with truth, whether in the physical corpus of documents or in the use of them by quotation, direct or indirect. Usually, unfortunately, when source materials like the Henri papers have been bowdlerized, it has been at the hands of the family or friends, from well-meaning if misguided motives. The markings which you inform me Violet Organ described in her letter to you were not noticeable when I used the papers. However, with Violet's prior knowledge and consent, I did edit and annotate the typescript which she originally submitted to Lippincott. Could the reference be to this? As for missing leaves from the diary, I have searched my files very thoroughly and have nothing in them of concern with the Henri book except some notes of my own and correspondence. In a few cases, when it was possible to ascribe dates, I put them in lightly in soft pencil, in square brackets [ ] - as is standard bibliographical practice. I am at a loss to understand how anything could have happened to the materials; but I assure you that if it did happen, it is none of my doing. With best wishes for 1958 and affectionate regards, as always, Faithfully yours [[stamped]] McCAUSLAND ARCHIVES OF AMERICAN ART [[/stamped]] Watkins 4-3122
Transcription Notes:
bowdlerized - (of a text or account) having had material considered improper or offensive removed: