BR TO W.W. NORTON & COMPANY, INC. / WARDER NORTON, 16 MAY 1931
BRACERS 85192. TLS. Norton papers, Columbia U.
Proofread by A. Duncan

<letterhead>
Beacon Hill School
Harting,
Petersfield,1
16th May 1931

Dear Norton,

Your letter of May 4th reached me last night, and raises several points.

In the first place, the school is not closing, so the payments can go on being made to the school as heretofore.

In the second place, I find some difficulty in accepting your view as to when the $2,000, payable on receipt of the manuscript, is due. Allen & Unwin, whose contract with me was similar to yours, paid me what was owing on receipt of the manuscript on May 1st. The typescript which you have is the book in its final form (I do not propose to make any alteration in the chapter on religion unless you very strongly urge me to do so), and I should have had a perfect right to insist upon your printing from the typescript which you have. I agreed for your convenience to the suggestion in your letter of March 30th, that you should set up the book from Allen & Unwin’s proofs, but I hardly see why I should be penalized on that account. As a matter of fact, the question is not very important, as I shall get Unwin’s proofs in a few days and shall forward them to you as soon as I have made necessary typographical corrections.

I see on referring to my letter of April 13th that I undertook to work at any revision you might desire until near the end of June, and I suppose this affords a case for your interpretation, and therefore perhaps what I have said above is not wholly just. The fact is that when I had finished the book I did not feel as if I should be inclined to make any but minor corrections. The chapter on religion especially seems to me better with the tone it has than it would be in the ironical manner that I at one time suggested as a possibility.

We very seriously considered closing down the school because, owing to the termination of the lease of our second house, continuation involves a good deal of capital expenditure. It was partly the expectation of your $2,000 which made me feel that I could face this expenditure. I do not wish, however, to put you out in any way, as I can get on at a pinch by selling capital, so if it is any convenience to you, I am quite willing to let the $2,000 stand over for the present.

I do not want to seem tiresome, but the fact is that the decision to continue the school has only been arrived at after a long period of hesitation, and is entailing a considerable amount of worry.

Yours sincerely,
Bertrand Russell.

• 1

  [document] Proofread against a microfilm printout of the original.