[S.K. Ratcliffe] Two Typed Letters Signed to Robert Lynd, author.

2 TLsS, 4pp., 8vo, good condition. First, on letterhead of Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire; 12 January 1923. He 'ran into Plunkett and Karl Walter' in Washington a few days before, and he is 'delighted to hear that the funds are available [for the relaunch of the Irish Statesman], and still more that they have been able to secure you. My fear was lest they would not be in a position to make you an adequate offer; and I'm all the more pleased because it seems to me the right thing for you to be released from the drag of daily journalism - a release which ought to have come ten years ago!' Second, on letterhead of Whiteleaf, Princes Risboro'; 21 May 1949. He has often wondered about 'the reason' and 'technique' of writing. 'A man is not under oath when he is writing an essay, any more than when he is writing an epitaph; yet I suppose you don't exaggerate much in speaking of your repugnance to the act of writing and the tool. I am at the opposite pole. I shrink from almost any writing job, and sometimes put off one that is not at all difficult for some days. But writing itself is never anything but a pleasure; I have enjoyed few things more than letter-writing all through my long and illspent life.'