Several items that should be of particular interest to students and
admirers of Stephen Crane's work have recently turned up in Jacksonville,
Florida. In Cora Crane's personal copy of Wounds in the
Rain,
preserved with the library from Brede Place which she ultimately
transferred to her sporting-house in Jacksonville, now comes to light an
acknowledgment letter from Moreton Frewen to Cora, a similar letter from
Rudyard Kipling, and an explanatory note, in Crane's hand, about the title
page of the book itself.[1]
Cora's copy of Wounds in the Rain, from the English
edition by Methuen in September, 1900, is in good condition. Inscribed on
the inside
of the front cover and partially obscured by a crayon mark are these words
in Cora's hand: "This book belongs to / Mrs. Stephen Crane / 6 Milborne
Grove / The Boltons / South Kinsington [
sic]." The address
represents the last in a series of London residences Cora occupied before
returning to America in April, 1901.
In addition to the three communications described below, Cora's copy
of the book contains a commercial photograph of Crane (captioned "From
'The Bookman.' Courtesy of Dodd, Mead & Co.") and a small,
heavily
addressed envelope which originally contained the Kipling letter. The
envelope bears four postmarks (September 14, 15, 17, 18) and four
addresses, each of which has been cancelled out: "Mrs. Crane / c/o
Methuen Co. / 36 Essex St / Strand / London W.C."; "Mr. Alfred Plant,
Esq. / 18 Bedford Row / Greys Inn"; "47 Gower St. W.C."; "47 Gower
Street."[2] Cora had by this time
moved into the house at 6 Milborne Grove in South Kensington, and the
letter somehow reached her there.
Crane had projected the eleven Cuban war stories and sketches that
make up Wounds in the Rain in the latter part of 1898, while
he was in the United States conferring with his publisher, Frederick A.
Stokes. He resumed work on them at Brede Place in February, 1899, and
completed them sometime in August or September of the same year.
Methuen and Stokes published the book in England and America
simultaneously, the following September, three months after Crane's death.
Cora then sent copies to several important people, including Hamlin
Garland, Rudyard Kipling, and Moreton Frewen, the Cranes' landlord at
Brede Place.
Crane had dedicated Wounds in the Rain to Moreton
Frewen as a "small token of things well remembered by his friend," and
Frewen wrote thanks to Cora from Ireland. His letter, dated September 28,
1900, from County Cork, is here given for the first time:
My dear Mrs. Crane
I have been reading these delightful and sad stories — sad
perhaps
chiefly because oneself is sad for the reading. Thank you for the book
which I shall always value, & its dedication.
I hope to be over before the month is out & shall come &
see
you.
Sincerely I am
Moreton Frewen[3]
As Crane lay dying at Badenweiler, the pressing question arose as to
who would finish The O'Ruddy, and Crane declared from his
deathbed that only two people could do so: Kipling and Robert Barr. He
wanted Barr to finish the book and Kipling to go over the manuscript before
it went to press. But despite appeals from Cora, Barr was unwilling for the
time being. Frewen, in the meantime, went ahead and sought Kipling's
aid.
To Frewen's action Cora eagerly gave consent. On June 3 she asked
him to see "if Kipling will do this for the book. Kipling is a friend of
Robert Barr's." Continuing, she noted that "if Robert Barr
and
Mr. Kipling say they will finish it it ought to bring a £1000 —
for
the American and English serial rights alone. Mr. Crane
expected £600 — for American serial rights."[4]
Kipling thought differently. On June 15, ten days after Crane's death
and on the eve of Cora's departure for the United States, he replied to
Frewen: "My own opinion is — and I hold it very strongly —
that a
man's work is personal to him, and should remain as he made it or left it.
I should have been glad to have done him a kindness, but this is not a thing
a man feeling as I do can undertake."[5]
Kipling's "No" of June 15 was final and The O'Ruddy,
after many delays, was at last completed in July, 1903, by Robert Barr.
Despite this turndown, Cora sent Kipling a copy of Wounds in the
Rain when it came off the press. His acknowledgment, appearing
here for the first time, is dated September, 1900, from the Elms,
Rottingdean, Sussex.
Dear Mrs Crane:
I have to acknowledge with many thanks your kindness in sending me
a copy of Stephen Crane's last book which I have read with
admiration.
Very sincerely
Rudyard Kipling.[6]
In the teeth of Kipling's refusal to associate himself with The
O'Ruddy, why did Cora once more pursue him with a copy of
Wounds in the Rain? Perhaps Miss Gilkes, her biographer,
has
the right answer: "Her motive? Crane admired Kipling more than any other
living writer, with the possible exception of Conrad; especially his war
stories. This was a book of war tales. The shade of her beloved Stephen,
lost to her, would be gratified in turn by Kipling's admiration. But
undoubtedly, as in the case of Garland, she hoped he would review the
book, so lending his own great name to enhancement of Crane's literary
immortality."[7]
The third item in Cora's copy of Wounds in the Rain
—
the note in Crane's hand — is, of course, of considerably greater
literary
interest and
importance than the other two. The note, bearing no date, is written neatly
on lined paper and reads as follows:
Wounds in the Rain.
A collection of stories relating to the Spanish-American war of 1898
By Stephen Crane.
____________________________
Note: The intermediate descriptive phrase should certainly appear on
the cover of the book as well as on the title page. Otherwise,
rain rhymes atrociously with Crane and ruins
the
entire effect of the singular and sinister brutality of the title. The
intermediate sentence should also be made to appear in any
advertisement.
S. C.[8]
Whether Crane gave this directive to James Pinker, his literary agent,
cannot be determined, but the note itself must be considered in the light of
two letters exchanged by Pinker and Crane in early February, 1900.
Pinker had written that Dominick, London representative for Stokes,
"thinks so long a title as the one you have chosen would seriously affect the
sale of the volume, and he tells me that in view of the glut of books on the
Cuban war which has appeared in America he thinks it unwise to proclaim
in your title that your book deals with the same subject."[9] Crane replied promptly that he had
spent
two months trying to find an effective title for the book of war stories. He
had decided on "Wounds in the Rain," which seemed to him "very
effective." Dominick's views he held to be worthless; he was surprised that
Methuen found occasion to agree with Dominick on any point. Crane
continued: "The sub-title — the books on the Cuban War have for
more
than a year terrified the Stokes firm and they have not the slightest idea that
they are now in possession of the only fairly decent book on the Cuban War
which has yet been written — the sub-title, I say,
can be dispenced [sic] with for America and become this: 'A
collection of War Stories.' As for Methuen, he can adopt the same sub-title
if he likes."
The upshot of this argument was that Crane's explicit wishes as set
forth in the heretofore unpublished note were but partially honored after his
death. The American edition of Wounds in the Rain carried
as
a subtitle on the title page simply "War Tales"; the English edition, the full
phrase "A Collection of Stories Relating to the Spanish-American War of
1898." And the cover of the book reads exactly the way Crane did
not wish it to read: "Wounds in the Rain / By
Stephen Crane."