TLS, to Orville S. Poland, 12 December 1947: ". . . One of the curious attributes of the 'Party of One' is that it can never be added to, even by so much as one person--that's its essential charm, I suppose.
"The whole business has kicked up quite a stir in the Herald Tribune and I seem to have been maneuvered into the position of being the personification of the independent liberal in society. I still fell like the same old fellow. . . ."
TLS, to "Dear Mr. Poland," 20 February 1963: ". . . I am envious of anybody who is in Maine today, where chill blustery weather blends with the scenery. Down here on Fiddler Bayou it just seems out of place and uncomfortable. All the cocoanut palms bit the dust last December in the great freeze, and many other trees were hard hit. . . . Yesterday a tornado missed us by some forty miles. It lifted a motor car off the approach to the so-called Sunshine Skyway and dropped it and its two occupants into Tampa Bay."
TLS, to Jon Carroll, 18 September 1964: ". . . Sometimes a writer, when he creates a character, draws on people he knows. Sometimes it is pure invention. Usually, if a real person serves as the basis for a fictional character, the writer alters him somewhat, to suit his scheme and so that the likeness is not too strong."
TLS, to "Dear Mr. Bauhan," 18 June 1967: ". . . My . . . diary stands 8 inches high when laid flat, and I hope soon to get at it. The pages are musty, however, and I get acute sinusitis whenever I open them."
TLS, to "Dear Dick," 1 July 1976: ". . . When you get out the dictionary and look up a word, you are not cheating, you are doing a sensible thing. That's what dictionaries are for, and you should consult the dictionary whenever you are in doubt about a word. . . ."
TLS, to "Dear Mr. Bond," 8 July 1977: ". . . The chances of my publishing any more of my letters are so dim as to be negligible. Once is enough. But I'm glad you enjoyed the ones that managed to get into print, somewhat against my wishes. . . ."
TLS, to "Dear Mr. Lambie," 31 December 1977: "I was . . . delighted to receive a rhymed salute from a near neighbor. I would return the compliment if I could think of a rhyme for Lambie. The only one I came up with was 'namby pamby', and that doesn't seem to work. . . ."
TLS, to "Dear Josephine Jones," 27 July 1982: ". . . If John William Waterhouse were to take a good long look at his masterpiece, he might be in for a great surprise. Somehow or other, the lower garments, drooping to right and to left, convey the impression that the Lady's legs, widespread, are draped over the gunwale of the boat, in an attitude that can only be described as dissolute. . . ."
With--Three items, unsigned: Golden Arches. Pastel drawing attributed to E.B. White showing trees in fall. 6 1/2x8 1/2 inches. Nd • Complete The New Yorker magazine featuring reproduction of watercolor by E.B. White on cover. 4to, wrappers, staple binding. New York, 23 April 1932 • Printed poem by E.B. White entitled "Natural History" on page opposite reproduction of photograph by Jill Krementz. Small 4to, folded sheet. Circa 1985.