Letters : to George Smillie, 1894 June 11-1921 Jan. 11 | WorldCat.org (original) (raw)

Summary:Collection of letters from Iles to his close friend in Washington, D.C., American engraver George Smillie, written from New York, his main residence, and from Montréal, his summer residence. During this period, Iles edited List of books for girls and women and their clubs (1895), and published Flame, electricity, and the camera (1900), Little masterpieces of science (1902), Leading American inventors (1912), Canadian stories (1918), Great writers unschooled (1919), and other books. Throughout the letters he discusses his original conceptions of many of his projects, his progress on them, and how the books were received by the public, sometimes sending Smillie typed copies of letters of praise from fellow writers. Iles' letters are very detailed and he makes special effort to include information about New York society, the New York publishing and printing world, shared interests, famous people he has met, and current events. Iles regularly discusses Montréal life and business, the Hackley School (where he was a trustee), book collecting and bibliomania, photography, the American Library Association, the Authors Club, and the Cosmos Club. The letters during the period of World War I are especially interesting as they detail the effects of the war on politics, publishing, and the economy in both the U.S. and Canada. Also of note is Iles' visit to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis in 1904. The letters also illuminate aspects of Smillie's life and career. The collection is arranged in four series: Letters to George Smillie, Miscellaneous correspondence, Newspaper clippings, and Photographs. Miscellaneous correspondence includes a letter from Walt McDougall to Fred Smillie and a letter to George Smillie from George Watson Cole. With a detailed, item-level descriptive inventory