To E. B. White September 12, 1945.
Dear Mr. White,
I enclose a letter from a Mr. Stuart Little of 16 East 48th Street. At first I thought it was a joke. I thought some low character had had a special letterhead printed. But he really exists. I telephoned the number given, asked guardedly for Stuart Little, and was connected with him. We had quite a pleasant talk. I promised him a copy of the book and he said all he asked was one signed copy for him. You won't mind doing that, will you?
Mr. Aswell* tells me you have offered your barn for the storage of unsold copies of Stuart Little. Thanks a lot, but we won't need any space for your book. The advance sale has increased the past few days and we think we'll have to increase the order from 50,000 to 60,000. We're not absolutely sure, but it looks probable.
Yours Sincerely,
*Edward C. Aswell, editor in Harper's Trade department.
-from Dear Genius: the Collected Letters of Ursula Nordstrom collected and edited by Leonard S. Marcus. (New York: Harper Collins, 1998) p. 10.
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