Session: 123456789101112131415161718192021         Page 157158159160161162163164165166167168169170171172173174175176177178179180181182183184185186187188189190191192193194195196197198199200201202203204205 of 1029

Did you do it on a consignment basis?

No, in those days it wasn't consignment. We'd check our own stock. We'd go into a bookstore and take the time to check to see what titles were missing. Then we began adding books that Horace had not been able to get.

How did you get these?

Well, Horace they didn't like, they didn't trust. They felt the minute they'd give him a good author, Horace would establish contact with this author and steal him for himself. But we were not competition in those days. We were just the Modern Library, and we were a couple of kids and they didn't know us. And they gave us books they would never have dreamed of giving Liveright. And we began getting books for the Modern Library that made great additions to our series.

Is there any story that you could tell which would give an example of how you did get one of these editions?

I told you about our first meeting with Mr. Knopf. He gave us some books immediately: The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann and Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather and The Counterfeiters by Andre Gide.

Did you make the decision that you wanted to have these put in Modern Library, or did he say, “What about this?”