Letter from Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, to James Ivory and Ismail Merchant, New York, New York, 1963 June 26 : autograph manuscript signed.

Noting that "the time lag between my writing a letter and you getting it, and vice-versa, is so long that, by the time one gets an answer, the conditions no longer apply," and that she has lost her "scruples about the [published] screenplay" of "The Householder" and has a team of typists at work on the manuscript now; asking how they would prefer the title page to read; noting that Ismail's last letter sounded "despondent," and hoping that is no longer the case; advising him to put aside his concerns about other people and what they're doing and comparing himself and his circumstances to theirs; expressing happiness that they've managed to edit "The Householder" to their satisfaction; telling Ivory she has gotten a copy of "The Resignation" [probably Jainendra Kumar's "Tyagpatra" (1937)] for him from the publisher of their screenplay; describing how both her American and U.K. publishers are balking at using Ivory's photograph for the cover of her next book.