The Free Library of Philadelphia

 

Jan 5 1915

 

Mr. Luther W. Hopkins,

            Baltimore, Md.

 

My dear Mr. Hopkins;-

                                    I contragulate you on your third edition and the delightful fact that you are alive and full of life and spirit to make it an event of interest.

 

                                    Of course I want that autograph copy you have promised me and wish I had some definite ideas as to means in which you might reach a wider public.

 

                                    In looking over your reviews I am convinced that you have already done a great deal in this direction and there is something about the book which is so personal and intimate that I can easily see why the results are better when you canvass for it personally.

 

                                    I have already said, you know, that it is a soldier's book and that the real reader who will introduce it to others is the G.A.R. man or the man or woman who knows the south. I know it will be read in the Library because our copies are worn out and must be replaced, but I do not believe the books will be read in many school rooms in the east as a supplementary reader because there is so much else that must / be used that there is no room or space for it. A wise and thoughtful teacher could use it to great advantage for reading aloud to a history class.

 

                                    Can you reach conferences of teachers in the middle west? "Institutes" I think they are called. The west is "wide open" and more likely to feel the appeal of a human narrative.

 

                                    I believe this book will be very well known to the coming generation because it tells the simple story of the outlook of a good part of the American people during the years of the civil war.

 

                                    All your reviews are valuable, they cover such a wide field of experience and feeling. If I can add a line about the popularity of the book in the Library I will be glad to do so. I am going to enclose a short list of addresses to which a copy of the new edition might be mailed with advantage if a letter and some clippings accompany it. Our dealer will write directly to you for the copies we need here.

 

                                    I had a very nice letter from your son asking me about publishers and would gladly have written to him but for the great pressure of important work here. I think most of his questions are answered / now and, believe me, I am greatly interested in the book and its success. I have loaned it to so many men who have enjoyed its charm and narrative style.

 

                                    You are interested in work for young people so I am mailing you a copy of a little annual review that will tell you something about our Library League Clubs of boys and girls who have left school to work in mills and shops. These clubs are doing good work under the direction of library leaders. The boys themselves get out the little Review and you will be interested to see what they are doing for self-improvement.

 

                                    Regretting my inability to offer an valuable suggestions but assuring you of my hearty good will and faith in the book,

                        I am,

 

                                    Most cordially yours,

 

                                    Anna Robinson Angle—

 

[note]

 

I will send her the book and answer her letter tonight. You can do the rest

This is a nice letter and as for a testimonial I dont think she could give us a stronger one than the one I have marked on 1^st Page

 

[Section "marked" shown in bold here, with margin note "A good one"]

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