Charles W. Chesnutt to Alfred A. Knopf, 20 December 1921
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December 20, 1921.
Alfred A. Knopf. Esq.,
220 West 42nd Street,
New York City.
Dear Sir:
I have written a short novel of life in old New Orleans which I submit to you herewith for publication, if you find it available. I am quite aware that it deals with a somewhat remote epoch in our national life and with conditions which have in large part disappeared, but it was a very interesting period, and enough of the old conditions still prevail to make it of interest to thoughtful readers.1
I thought of calling it "The Honor of the Family," but Balzac wrote a story of that name.2 Perhaps "The Family Honor" would be a better title than the one I have given it.
I have thought that the story might close more dramatically with the interview between Paul and his cousins which ends at the bottom of the page 177.3
If you can see your way to publish this manuscript, I shall consider it an honor and a privilege to have it on your list.
If you do not find it available, I enclose postage for its return.4
Sincerely yours, CWC/FLCorrespondent: The New York based publishing firm of Alfred A. Knopf was founded by a White Jewish couple, Alfred A. Knopf Sr. (1892–1984) and his wife Blanche Wolf Knopf (1894–1966) in 1915. Alfred Knopf had studied at Columbia University under Joel Spingarn (1875—1939) and previously worked for Doubleday, Page, and Company. The publishing house specialized in high-brow literature, including European (especially Russian) works in translation as well as books by Black writers associated with the Harlem Renaissance.
1. Chesnutt's manuscript for his novel Paul Marchand, F. M. C. was rejected by three major publishing companies: Houghton Mifflin Company; Harcourt, Brace and Company; and Alfred A. Knopf. It was never published during his lifetime. The novel is set in antebellum New Orleans and its eponymous protagonist is a mixed-race "free man of color" (F. M. C.). [back]
2. The 1842 novel by the French novelist Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850), La Rabouilleuse (English title The Black Sheep or The Two Brothers) was adapted for the stage by French playwright Émile Fabre (1869–1955) in 1903. The English version of that play was titled The Honor of the Family and first performed on Broadway in 1908. It was also made into a (lost) silent movie by the Rex Motion Picture company in 1913. [back]
3. The change that Chesnutt suggests would entail omitting the final two pages of the 179-page manuscript, before the coda that describes the fate of the protagonist and his cousins during and after the Civil War (see Paul Marchand, F. M. C. [Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1998], 142-143). [back]
4. Paul Marchand, F. M. C. was not accepted for publication by Alfred A. Knopf, but the publisher's reply has not been located. [back]
