Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Letter from James Ivory, New York, New York, to Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Delhi, India, [1966 September 31] : typescript signed.

BIB_ID
449493
Accession number
MA 23840.315
Creator
Ivory, James, sender.
Display Date
New York, New York, [1966 September 31]
Credit line
Gift of James Ivory, [date].
Description
1 item (2 pages) ; 28 x 21.5 cm + envelope
Notes
Date approximated from enclosures and postmark.
Envelope inscribed by James Ivory: "NO DATE. Probably early Fall 1966-- account of the dinner party with Jason Robards & Lauren Bacall in 12G, and the grapes. Two sarcastic N. Yorker stories on Hollywood by Roger Angell, Ruth's editor."
Envelope addressed to Mrs. R. Prawer Jhabvala, 1-A Flagstaff Road, Delhi 6, India, postmark largely illegible (day "31")
Provenance
James Ivory.
Summary
Acknowledging obliquely that he misses her ("I'm still not used to seeing the sofa empty"); describing the two recent dinner parties he and Merchant threw in their apartment on subsequent days-- the first featuring Lee Sabinson and his wife, Jan Aaron, and Madhur-- the second including Lauren Bacall and Jason Robards, Betty Comden, Nazrul and Dominique Rahman, and Madhur again; describing the meals Merchant cooked, and his system of guest ratings, corresponding to the quality of the napkins used ("You will recall, I trust, that you, Ved, and Wally Shawn got linen"); saying he will begin work with Lillian in a week; asking her to "tell Jhab I am completely redoing the accounts" for "Shakespeare Wallah" for them and Shashi, as he is unhappy with the way the accountant did them; asking if she has read "Nerve."