Letter from August Derleth, Sauk City, Wisconsin, to Edward Wagenknecht, 1952 December 9 : typescript signed.

Beginning with advice about Wagenknecht's introduction for the collection of de la Mare tales; assuring that the time table is flexible, as he does not anticipate to have the book into production until much later in 1953; mentioning that his book "Bright Journey" is going back into production because the Wisconsin State Historical Society requested it; writing that the de la Mare collection, "Collective Poems" by H.P. Lovecraft, and a new collection of Solar Pons stories are also forthcoming; explaining that any perceived rudeness, like anything else, is deeply conceptual and contextual; narrating a story about how he met rude behavior with equally rude behavior at his gentleman's club, but that typically he never views rudeness as a goal in and of itself; writing that he expects loyalty from his friends, but only insofar as that loyalty does not force them to compromise their personal integrity; continuing to write that he "always operates on the principle that there is good in the worst of us and bad in the best"; making the point that he values Wagenknecht's friendship because he admires his sense of integrity and his scholarly output; expanding that these reasons are exactly why he agrees they should tread lightly when discussing any matters of controversy, especially because he is "not given to bridling myself particularly when I am unaware that I am giving offense, assuming that my friends do as I do--assume that the intent to offend is absence and that, therefore, there is no offense"; elaborating that deviating from this understanding of interpersonal conflict would be a narrow way to approach life; illustrating this point with another hypothetical involving the local gossips in his small town (maybe a reference to his recent engagement to the then-teenaged Sandra Winters); closing with a reaffirmation of this "Christian ideal" and wishing Wagenknecht the best.