Autograph letter signed : London, to Mr. Young, 1904 August 6.

Informing him that, although he has "no capacity for friendship", he will accept his, adding that "friendship, except in fiction and poetry, is always one-sided"; responding to an article about Davidson that Young had sent him: "The author knows nothing about my writings and knows nothing at all about poetry and prose ... how can a man who writes about 38 living poets know anything about me? There have not been 38 poets since the world began"; apologising for his hostile reception of a woman "who called on your behalf with my books", explaining that he dislikes people visiting him and finds it "disagreeable to inscribe books", as "There should be as little of the author's personality about a book as possible ... I hate personality and the grubbers after it", and noting, by way of illustration, that his appreciation for Shakespeare's work was ruined when he was compelled to acquaint himself with his personality; taking issue with Young's claim that Davidson had "said anything derogatory" about himself in his last letter, as "it is not like me to do so: if I remeber I indicated that the world had failed me, not that I had failed."