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CALIFORNIA PALACE OF THE LEGION OF HONOR
Lincoln Park
San Francisco, California

OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR

December 21, 1938


Dear Bob:

Your letter of December 14th reached me only today. This delay was doubtless due to the congestion of Christmas mail.

I am glad to know that you can spare Professor Neumeyer something for his exhibition of drawings - particularly the beautiful Ingres of which I saw the photograph when you were here. If Neumyer got the idea that the drawing belonged to you personally he misunderstood what I told him. As a matter of fact, I said that I was not even sure whether your firm still had the drawing. I assure you that I shall make an effort to secure it a permanent home on the West Coast.

The gentleman about whom you inquired, Mr. Roy Vernon Sowers, is a dealer in "rare books" who has, from time to time, both drawings and prints for sale. While I do not wish to minimize his importance, I do not believe that he has ever had very great success in these several fields. It is my impression that he came here from the southern part of the State.

Now, regarding Mrs. Esther Fiske Hammond, this is going to be a little involved so you will have to follow carefully what I have to say about her. Unless I am very much mistaken, she is the mother of Mrs. Catlin (born Esther Hammond) who now lives in Brookline, Massachusetts. Her address there is 23 Prescott Street and her telephone number is Longwood 2414. Unfortunately, I do not recall Mr. Catlin's first name but with the address and telephone number you should be able to find that without difficulty. You may wonder how I happen to know this much about Mrs. Catlin without knowing her husband's name. It so happens that she was first married to a man named Harry Webb in Santa Barbara. Harry Webb is dead but his father is an old friend and client of my father-in-law and when the Deerings were East this summer they saw quite a lot of the Catlins in Boston. I am giving you all these extraneous bits of information because the Hammond family is a peculiar one. If you will recall the mad Sycamores in "You Can't Take It With You" you will have a rough idea of the peculiarities of the Hammond family, except that the Hammonds are "mad" in an odd and opulent Boston - Santa Barbara way, so I think it would be better to make any inquiries which you have in mind, regarding the Degas belonging