[Letter] Mar.15,1891.Smith College [to F.H. Giddings]

Mar. 15, 1891, Smith College.

Dear Friend,
       I am in for it!
Van Buren Denslow has
just challenged me to prove
that, as I said in 1888,
his book has "too many
erroneous statements of
fact" - for a scientific
work. I think the thing
can be done. I read the
book hastily and gathered
the general impression
that its statistics, history etc.
were loose; but I made
no permanent notes. To
prove the things specifically
I must go through the
thing with immense labor
and compare all questionable
statements with good
authorities. What else can a
fellow do? Denslow wants
the citations for a new
edition about to appear in
two volumes. Would it be
safe, in your judgment, to
get from a clipping dealer
like Henry Rornicke a lot of
notices of the book as they
appeared after its publication?
It would save labor in
searching for errors. I can only recall three
or four specific things, and these not quite
definitely. My fear is that if I apply to the
Rornicke agency I shall be in danger of
being in some way betrayed to Denslow
through their intervention. Their files may have
already been searched and clipped in Denslow's
interest. What do you think? I have replied to
Denslow that I will try to comply with his request
after my tour in the South.

         Yours Very Truly,
               J. B. Clark