Letter from David Hannay, London, to W. E. Henley, 1890 November 3 : autograph manuscript signed.

Commenting on "Beau Austin;" saying "The piece has gone off very well partly because it is literature and you had an exceptional audience partly because Tree has served you better than I thought he could...I may tell you that I do not like the play - It would be beyond me to give you the why at length now. There is too much Stevenson too much novelist too much which needs explaining, [illegible] talk, must tell by talk and not by action - which seeing that it is a play means that too much remains unexplained...When you want to write a play again collaborate with me. You shall do the play while I sit in an armchair and say - Why? please explain. What went before? Would A do this and B the other? Then a great play will be written and I will take 2% of the gross receipts and build a sailing boat therewith and call it the Anna Howe and you shall take the other thirteen. I have seen Mrs. Henley who has promised to come to lunch on Wednesday."