Looking through all the photos I’ve compiled from two Lab Days, I came across this absolute gem of a critique from an unnamed person, perhaps from Ezra Pound or Jane Heap (both worked as editors of the magazine) to Margaret Anderson. The writer of this letter seems to be commenting mainly on the contributors of a past magazine and on specific pieces. They begin by praising Anderson’s translation of “Mary” and noticing improvement in their comments before speaking about the contributors. Tzara had their approval but Bob McAlmon (his poems are rather demeaning) and Hart Crane certainly did not. “Hart Crane should be killed, perhaps, but certainly not printed.” I wonder what writing of his was included in a past magazine that prompted this comment. Maybe he was too advant-garde, even for The Little Review which excelled in that category.
The letter writer highly valued the piece titled “Notes: During Illness” from an unnamed female writer and asked Anderson to include more of her works in future magazines. The writer even asks if James Joyce had seen the piece. The Little Review published the first thirteen chapters of his book Ulysses from 1918 to 1920 before it was fully printed. This shows that Anderson and others were still in contact with him, even after publishing his work.
The writer expresses extreme anger that Anderson had not written to them but then immediately describes their travel experiences and how they had received some mail from her. I think that this letter might have been written over several days, given how parts seem to be missing and there are weird breaks in it. The articles from Anderson seemed to be sent to the writer for potential future magazines but the writer comments that it is “not large enough or interesting enough,” only being a nice thought experiment, adding that the article writer should have used techniques that imitated Mary G (I’m not sure who this is).
The letter writer then asks Anderson for news and some books from Tzara. They ask if Anderson had heard of The Transatlantic Review, established around the time this specific magazine would have been published (1924). The writer comments on the sexism still present in their society, and the frustration they feel about it, and takes a dig at Hemingway. I’m unsure who Brancusi is, but apparently, a picture of him was included in a past magazine.
Great detective work!