BIB_ID
430338
Accession number
MA 1617.15
Creator
Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew), 1860-1937.
Display Date
Kirriemuir, Scotland, 1894 January 30.
Credit line
Purchased as the gift of Edwin J. Beinecke, 1955.
Description
1 item (3 pages) ; 17.7 x 11.2 cm
Notes
This letter is one of 45 letters from J. M. Barrie to W. E. Henley (MA 1617.11-55) and part of large collection of manuscripts and letters written by and to William Ernest Henley.
The year of writing from a penciled notation in the upper left corner of the first page.
Barrie based the character of Wendy in "Peter Pan" on Margaret Henley. Margaret died February 11, 1894.
The year of writing from a penciled notation in the upper left corner of the first page.
Barrie based the character of Wendy in "Peter Pan" on Margaret Henley. Margaret died February 11, 1894.
Provenance
Purchased as the gift of Edwin J. Beinecke, 1955.
Summary
Offering his thoughts on the Henley's five-year-old daughter, Margaret, who is dying; saying "It has taken away my breath and cut in to the heart. Any day I wd have given my arm for that little life. God help you and your wife with this staring you in the faces. She was so much more than any other child I ever knew that I have at times felt a dread about her, and with it came the picture of you two without her. They will say that it is not for her we shd grieve. But it is a lie. You have the right to sorrow for the future that cannot be, a right given by God. I had thought to see her grow in beauty year by year, a gladness to man's eyes. And still to see her, the pitifulness of it - Your wife that is a jewel [illegible] to you. A rare and precious one we all know well. Only you can help her in her anguish. If our dear child understood her last words wd be to you to help one another. The wretched little I can do is on this paper. I have sent Whibley something and as much more to follow as he likes."
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