Autograph letter signed : London, to George Bernard Shaw, "Sunday" [1902?].

Replying to a letter from Shaw in which he declines an invitation to lecture extended by the Playgoers' Club; saying "To have received and to possess your letter is better than to have secured your promise to lecture to the Playgoers' - As a plain blunt Anglo-Dutch-German, I have interpreted that letter as a refusal to lecture - Am I wrong? Anyway, I have told the committee that I have heard from you, and that though you were very much flattered by the invitation, and though nothing in the world would have given you so much pleasure as to come and lecture, extreme pressure of work, combined with modesty, forced you to refuse f̲o̲r̲ t̲h̲e̲ p̲r̲e̲s̲e̲n̲t̲ - Meanwhile, do please, when you are next in London, come and lunch with me, here or at the premises of the Playgoers' - Clement's Inn, Strand W.C. or elsewhere - I myself am a vegetarian in all but name, and the material side of the entertainment would be not at all disgusting to you - Will you let me know your movements, so that I could fix a date!?"