Long Typed Letter Signed ('Mabel Esther Allan') by the children's writer Mabel Esther Allan ['Jean Estoril'] to 'Miss Gilbert', responding in detail to her questions regarding her writing.

4to, 5 pp. Text clear and complete. Good, on aged and folded paper. An highly interesting and significant letter, responding thoughtfully and in detail to questions posed by Gilbert (author, according to Allan, of the 'special study, "Children and Reading"'). Begins by responding to the question 'Why do I write for children?' Considers that children's books 'are at least a minor form of art [...] I am a professional author. I have published more than eighty books, all but one for young people. But every book I have written has been written because I wanted to write it, for myself. [...] The deepest driving force is that I have always fallen passionately in love with places.' Ends by expressing irritation at the 'present day idea amongs earnest reviewers and teachers that "reality" begins and ends in the back streets of industrial towns'. Seven-line autograph postscript.