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4 January 1929
Vienna, IX. Berggasse 19
Dear Jones,
Our letters crossed each other very nicely! I must now quickly answer your inquiry.
The reply will not be easy for me, however. I will not get beyond a pro and contra; fortunately the decision does not rest with me.
Basically, the whole matter is quite distasteful to me as being typically American. You may rest assured that once such a “source-book”1 is available, no American will ever consult a primary source. But perhaps he will not do that anyway, but continue to draw his knowledge from the murkiest popular sources. So that is in its favor. On the other hand, if you undertake it, it will be a wearisome, laborious task and one not quite worthy of you. After fifty, you should be entitled to direct your energies to more original work. As your friend, I can only dissuade you from it.
The counterargument is that the publisher will certainly not be restrained by your refusal, if he imagines to have found something profitable for himself. He will give the job to someone else, and God knows what he will do with it. Quite certainly he will not do it as well as you.