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KATHERINE MAYO - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 07/26/1931 - HFSID 3762

Revealing letter by the controversial author, forced to leave an ivy plant with a roadside woman, and consoled that "she was named Scott, and not Schwizinski or Blumenbaum, and I think she knew about the Mayflower".

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KATHERINE MAYO
Revealing letter by the controversial author, forced to leave an ivy plant with a roadside woman, and consoled that "she was named Scott, and not Schwizinski or Blumenbaum, and I think she knew about the Mayflower".
Autograph Letter signed: "Katherine Mayo", 2 pages (front and verso), 9x5¼. Maiikenshof, Bedford Hills, New York, 1931 July 26. On personal letterhead to "Dear Mrs. Parke", in full: "I have bad news to tell: A week ago today Miss Newell and I set out hence to drive to Morris, returning via Pennsylvania. As we were to pass through Esopus on the long-planned trip, I had kept your ivy plant to deliver by hand, for greater speed and safety. But alas! A few miles below Esopus we were stopped by a quarantine, who forbade the little ivy passage! So, with keen regret, we had to leave it there by the road. At least it found a friend in the wife of the keeper of a little wayside shop, by the quarantine. She was called 'Scott', not Schwizinski or Blumenbaum, and I think she knew about the Mayflower, if not about William Brewster - which was some consolation! But now, we two are wondering (having found it only about an hour & a half to Esopus), whether we can persuade you to drive over and lunch with us on the 12th or 13th of August. If by happy chance you will come, you shall have full route directions. And perhaps by these you could take home an ivy. Yours very sincerely". Accompanied by original mailing envelope addressed in her hand to Mrs. Alton B. Parker, Esopus, New York.American journalist and author Katherine Mayo (1867-1940) is best known for her book, Mother India, her views on the country's treatment of its women. The book, written after a three-month visit to the country in the winter of 1925, created considerable controversy after its publication in 1927. More than 50 books and pamphlets were published in response to it, and Mohandas Gandhi likened the book to a "gutter inspector's report. In addition to expressing her anti-Hindu views in Mother India, Mayo's other controversial works include Isles of Fear, a similar book on the Philippines, and Soldiers, What Next?, a criticism of the veterans' pension system. As this letter suggests, Mayo also held very strong views against American citizens not part of the ethnic stock who arrived on the Mayflower. The "Miss Newell" of this letter was M. Moyca Newell, Mayo's lifelong friend and a wealthy heiress who funded many of Mayo's writing projects. Mrs. Alton B. Parker was the former Amelia Day Campbell, second wife of former 1904 Democratic Presidential nominee Alton B. Parker. Normal mailing folds. Toned. Light stain in top margin. Paper clip indent in top margin. Corners rounded. Bottom right corner creased. Fine condition.

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