Letter from Bruce Chatwin, Le Grand Banc, Oppedette, France, to James Ivory, London, England, 1971 July 12 : typescript signed.

Telling Ivory he has "just intercepted your letter" and that he will be at a different location from the 18th, care of one Jean-Claude Roche, "a great expert on birdsong" who travels to Patagonia and the Galapagos periodically-- "Very unusual for a Frenchman to have an enthusiasm"; noting that his host's father is Henri-Pierre Roche, "a famous art collector who knew Picasso ... and wrote Jules et Jim"; allowing that a "snag" has arisen in the form of "Mrs. C" [Chatwin's wife Elizabeth] wants to come visit, and while he has told her not to come until the 25th, Ivory should come to visit after the 19th; speculating as to other travel possibilities but rejecting them as he needs to work on his book and "I am a bum and I do not believe in work of any kind"; describing a money matter he needs to resolve concerning "a check of Edith's for something I sold Cary; insisting that "I do badly want to see you-- for lots of reasons. Apart from the obvious one, I want to ask your advice" about a story he has conceived that "doesn't really work as a novel"; outlining the story and wondering if "there might something in it for you?"; asking Ivory to cable him at both of Chatwin's French rental locations when he gets this letter so they can arrange for a phone call.