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465

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March 10/98.

My dear Williams:

After the chat you and I had concerning Howard de Forest I gave considerable thought as to which of the various art establishments in New York would be the most adventageous to a new beginner, and finally decided infavor of Boussed, Valadin & co., and knowing the managing partner, Mr. Glaenzer, very well, I called upon him and told him about out young friend.
Glaenzer said that of course in thier business it was absolutely necessary to have about them only such employees as could be implicitly trusted -- men of refinement and men who really cared for pictures-- and that such men were extremely rare and hard to get. He talked so earnestly and fairly that I could resist the temptation to urge him a little to have an interview with de Forest. He very quickly consented and after having seen the young man he called upon me at my hotel and said he was much indeed obliged to me for having spoken of de Forest, that he considered hima very promising young man and quite the type he would be happy to have about him. He further said that it would be necessary for de Forest to understand double entry book keeping and to have a considerable knowledge of French; and I have letter from de Forest stating that Mr. Glaenzer said the same thing to him and that he intends to prepare himself to meet Mr. Glaenzer's requirements. Of this I am very glad, for if the young man expects to go into business for himself, a knowledge of book keeping is one of the first requisites, and surely a dealer in the Fine Arts should have a fair understanding of the French Language. I trust a satisfactory ending will come out of this preliminary work, and am very glad indeed to have been the means of bringing about the introduction.
I would have written you earlier concerning the matter but for