[Edgar Jepson, popular novelist; .] Autograph Letter Signed ('Edgar Jepson'), replying to a fan letter from 'Miss Gowing' [novelist Barbara Kaye] by suggesting that they meet to prevent him from injuring his constitution by 'industrious excess'

2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Folded once. In what is a quite unusual and somewhat flirtatious response to a fan letter, he thanks her for her 'kind letter about my books', adding: 'it is pleasing to know that they cheer you when things go wrong; and I trust that the next time you get lost you will have one with you to cheer your solitary way.' He continues: 'It is evident that if they have this agreeable effect on you that, though there may be some difference in our ages, there can be very little in our spirits; & I should be charmed if, next time you are in London, you would come to see me – in the morning.' He explains that he writes in the morning, and is 'always grateful to any one who interrupts me and prevents me from injuring my constitution by industrious excess' For the recipient Barbara Kaye [Barbara Kenrick Gowing] (1908-1998), writer, bookseller and wife of Percy Muir, see her obituary by Nicolas Barker in the Independent, 12 March 1998.