Letter from J.W.T. Ley, Newport, Monmouthshire, to Edward Wagenknecht, 1930 March 4 : typescript with manuscript corrections signed.

Mentioning reviews of two books Wagenknecht had sent him in which his name had been mentioned; expressing interest in Wagenkneckt's article on Charles Fechter and mentioning belief that "Fechter was something of an obsession with Dickens"; noting that "I think you are a little hyper-sensitive to the "American portrait" stuff" and that Walter Dexter expressed the same in his review of Wagenknecht's book; expressing surprise at Wagenknecht's age and expecting "you will bring off something big when you are a little older"; discussing the merits and demerits of "knocking a clay idol off its pedestal" in the context of an unfavorable biography of Dickens by a "Mr. Bradford" [likely Gamaliel Bradford]; discussing a "gloriously Victorian" copy of an appeal sent to Ley by Wagenknecht; asking why he did not mention W. Walter Crotch in his work; explaining Henry Fielding Dickens' lack of comment on Wagenknecht's book; dismissing "McCarthy" and recommending he give his next book to J.C. Squire; asserting that the opinions of a certain "Hex and J.B. Priestley" matter most in Britain.