Ten Letters by Julian Symons to Samuel French Morse

A collection of 10 Typed Letters Signed by Julian Symons, English crime novelist, to American poet Samuel French Morse concerning the publication of the literary magazine *Twentieth Century Verse*, totaling 20 pages. All are Typed Letters Signed (with initials) on magazine letterhead and dated between January and November 1938, some with additional handwritten notes in ink, and all but one with their original envelopes. Overall all near fine with typical creasing to the letters from being fold and hint of edgewear; some of the envelopes roughly opened. Symons became known for his crime and mystery novels, but was originally aspired to be a poet. He founded poetry magazine *Twentieth Century Verse* in 1937, eventually producing 18 issues over two years. Samuel French Morse was brought on as the American editor with issue nine, while still in graduate school at the time. In the letters here, Symons spends some time address an upcoming Welsh-centric issue ("The Welsh number seems almost impossible"), but largely focuses on the difficulty of finding and contacting suitable contributors for a forthcoming issue dedicated to American poets, which he believes Morse can help him secure. For example, in a February letter, Symons lists the contributors so far, those he is still pursuing ("Eliot has written to me that he has written no poems . Laura Riding hasn’t answered my letters . Pound can be relied on for something dotty."), and along the way expressing his thoughts on various poets. He also talks about money issue ("no one has been paid for poems in TCV since No. 9"), broken promises and various new works of poetry being issued. Morse continued as a poet and academic following the end of *Twentieth Century Verse*, but Symons would eventually leave poetry behind after finding success as a crime and mystery writer with the publication of his 1945 novel, *The Immaterial Murder Case*. An interesting collection of letters showing the effort and difficulty of publishing a poetry magazine, even during the relative fertile pre-war period.