1886-01-30 to Augusta Holmès

Autograph letter signed, Bibliothèque Nationale, 625 words

[Edited for paragraph breaks, capitalization, spelling and punctuation.]

3 Danes Inn, Wych Street, Strand

Saturday [30 January 1886]

My dear Miss Holmes

I did not write to you before because [I] could not find time — I have been very busy lately. I am glad you liked my article; I assure you it was a great pleasure to me to write it. Let us hope it will do you some material good. If I had the score of one of your works I could show it to people who might be of use to you.

You ask me for news of myself. From what I send you will see that A Drama in Muslin is in course of publication and that it has already attracted a good deal of attention. Charpentier was in London the other day and he tells me that he is most anxious to publish my books. He has received the MSS of AMW and will publish it in April with a preface by Zola, but I do not believe in the success of the book because I do not believe in the translation.

Now I have something to propose to you but I do not know how to word my phrase so as to force you to understand that I do not want you to accept my proposal unless you see your way to making some money by doing so. Now this is my sole object in proposing that you should translate my next book — nothing would annoy me more than to find in the end that you had wasted your time over my work. What I am anxious to do is to put you in the way of making some money and in a way that would interfere as little as possible with your own work.

Pray do not let us misunderstand each other. The matter stands thus: Charpentier will do anything I ask him; and I have already spoken to him of you. Now if I had a translation of this first chapter and could say I was satisfied with it ca sera une affaire faite.

If you care to translate what I send you I promise to tell you exactly what I think of it; and if I am satisfied Charpentier will be satisfied.

The first chapter of A Drama in Muslin is the best thing I have done. I have never written anything so harmonious or so luminous. It seems to me to be an excellent entre en matière; just the thing that a newspaper would like to print — c’est seduisant.

Now I do not know if you have the ear of the press, but I think it would be quite possible with this first chapter translated to persuade an editor into accepting A Drama in Muslin as a feuilleton. You are known, I am known — nous avons toutes les chances. What do you think of my proposal?

AMW is more than ever the talk of London and it sells as well as ever. It is especially appreciated in Holland — one of the newspapers there is publishing it as a feuilleton; two articles have appeared in De Gids, the principal Dutch review, declaring that AMW is as good as Balzac. The result is a large sale in Holland.

Now about the song you sent — What can I do with a set of words — you impractical person — send me the music and I will see what can be done. But I cannot hold out much hope that I will be able to do

anything with it —- I know nothing of the musical world.

Write to me when you have read my first chapter.

Yours very truly

George Moore