ERNEST A. BOYD - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 06/30/1925 - HFSID 190151

ERNEST BOYD
The author signs this typed letter to an aspiring writer
Typed letter signed: "Ernest Boyd" in black ink. 7¼x10½, on personal letterhead, New York City, June 30, 1925. Addressed to "My dear Mr. Bradley" In part: "You ask me three questions which are very difficult to answer. I do not know what are the five best literary magazines, as I consider all the literary magazines to be pretty poor. The American Mercury, The Independent and The Nation are three which I find it possible to read regularly. I do not believe that any books can teach one to write. The only preparation that I know of is to read widely and intelligently. Then, if one has ideas or creative ability, the field will present itself. Most people rush in to write before they are sufficiently educated to read properly. The best recent novel, in my opinion, is "The Apple of the Eye", by Glenway Wescott, published by The Dial Publishing Company. Thomas Beer's "Stephen Crane" (Knopf) is the most interesting and original biography. For the rest, most of the books issued in the last few years may well be omitted from your programme. Sherwood Anderson's "Storyteller's Story" (Huebsch) is very sentimental, but in the circumstances, you will find it the most useful autobiography for you to read just now. In it you may find answers to the questions which trouble you. With kind regards, Yours sincerely". Ernest Boyd Critic (1887-1946) was a writer, and translator born in Dublin, Ireland. While serving in Baltimore with the British consular service, Boyd formed a friendship with critic H. L. Mencken, editor of the American Mercury. In 1920, after posts in several other countries, Boyd left the consular service and moved to New York to devote himself to his critical career. Known for his "caustic wit," he wrote articles and reviews for the American Mercury, the New York Evening Post, the Saturday Review of Literature, and in the 1930s served as an editor at the American Spectator alongside James Branch Cabell, Eugene O'Neill, and Theodore Dreiser. Boyd published over twenty books, including volumes on the Irish Literary Renaissance, biographies of H. L. Mencken (1925) and Guy de Maupassant (1926), and collections of his essays and criticism. He caused a stir among Villagers, and literary circles in general, with his article "Aesthete: Model 1924." Published in the American Mercury, the piece satirized those associated with little magazines. Toned. Top edge and bottom right corner creased. Normal mailing folds. Otherwise, fine condition.