.ODE.MTkwMA

Frank Merriwell's Raucho, Yucaipa, Calif., Mar. 28, 1941.

Hilda McLeod Jacob, Sec. Maine State Library, Augusta, Maine.

Dear Miss Jacob:

I trust you will pardon my delay in answering your letter dated Feb. 20, and I wish to assure you that I will forward an autographed copy of "Mr. Frank Merriwell," which will be published the first day of April, when I pass through New York some time in May on my way back to "Freedom's Shore," my home in Camden, Maine.

And it may be that I have one or two other copies of my cloth- bound books at my house that I can contribute to the Maine State Library. I do not possess, myself, a complete list of the paper- bound Merriwell stories, which are now very difficult to obtain and may be bought only at a premium. I was told, two or three years ago, that an original copy of my first Merriwell story, bearing my auto- graph, had been sold for $500.oo, a ridiculous price if the report was true. However, I do know that dealers demand a premium on all the first editions of the Merriwell yarns and are asking $2,600 and upward for a complete collection of all titles. Not even the Library of Congress has a complete file, many copies having been stolen.

I shall keep your letter with me to remind me to fulfill my promise concerning "Mr. Frank Merriwell."

Thank you.

Sincerely yours,

[signature]

Gilbert Patten.