{"value"=>"<p>Incoming letters</p> <p>The incoming letters contain material relating not only to Johnson's professional efforts, but also represent to a great degree his private friendships and his varied personal interests and avocations. In general, earlier correspondence tends to focus on matters surrounding <span class=\"title\">The Century Magazine</span> and the American Copyright League, while letters received after 1917 tend toward more global issues and political topics, as reflects Johnson's departure from the publishing industry and entry into the diplomatic arena, as well as his efforts on behalf of the Italian Relief Fund of America, and the American Poets Ambulance.</p> <p>Significant portions of Johnson's incoming letters are from his <span class=\"title\">Century Magazine</span> associates, most notably Josiah Gilbert Holland, Richard Watson Gilder, and artist Timothy Cole. Letters from Cole begin in 1881, the year Johnson was named associate editor of <span class=\"title\">The Century</span>, and end in 1928, three years before Cole's death. They include a biographical sketch and discussions of the development of his engraving technique, as well as Cole's frequent instructions for the improvement and maintenance of Johnson's health. The Gilder letters begin in 1877, when Johnson was still a junior member of the <span class=\"title\">Century</span> staff, and continue until Gilder's death in 1909. The letters mainly relate to <span class=\"title\">Century Magazine</span> and Century Company business, such as editorial decisions and subscription issues, but also touch on Gilder and Johnson's work with the American Copyright League and on personal matters. Many of Johnson's replies are included with Gilder's letters. A small quantity of office correspondence relating to <span class=\"title\">The Century</span>'s War Series has been included here, including a lengthy 1885 letter to General Joseph E. Johnston from Clarence Clough Buel.</p> <p>Next to Gilder, the relationship most thoroughly documented in correspondence is Johnson's friendship with fellow writer and diplomat Maurice Francis Egan. Letters from Egan begin in 1881, while Egan was an editor of <span class=\"title\">The Freeman's Journal</span>, and continue until 1923, the year before his death. Egan often critiqued Johnson's poetry and freely discussed his own successes and frustrations with writing. After Egan takes a professorship at Notre Dame, the letters take on a more somber tone, and he candidly describes his health problems, mental exhaustion, and his grief over the loss of his parents. In 1907, Egan became the American Ambassador to Denmark. Letters penned during his diplomatic service provide exceptionally detailed descriptions of state functions; for example, in a 1907 letter (actually addressed to Richard Watson Gilder, and specifically stating that it was written with <span class=\"title\">The Century</span> in mind), he describes a state dinner hosted by the King and Queen of Denmark, guests of which included King George of Greece and Queen Consort Alexandra of England. Everything from the protocol of introduction and the dinner menu to the fashions of the ladies and notable topics of conversation are recounted. Egan actively promoted the works of Johnson's son Owen while abroad, and the Egan letters also include letters to Johnson's wife, Katharine.</p> <p>Harrison S. Morris of <span class=\"title\">Lippincott's Magazine</span> and <span class=\"title\">Ladies Home Journal</span> was also a regular correspondent of Johnson's from 1901 until Johnson's death in 1937. Morris' letters cover a variety of personal and professional topics, but are memorable for his notes of vigorous support after Johnson was recalled from diplomatic service in Italy in 1921.</p> <p>Johnson had considerable contact with statesmen and military figures, most of whom he had developed relationships with during and subsequent to his appointment as American Ambassador to Italy. Correspondents in this arena include Camille Eugène Pierre Barrère; James Bryce (with Johnson's replies), Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff, Gilania Cattani, Jean Jules Jusserand, Keneko Kentaro, and Eleftherios Venizelos.</p> <p>Although Johnson's efforts on behalf of the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association are more evident in his outgoing correspondence, letters from H. Nelson Gay, Harold Boulton, Harrison Morris, and Rennell Rodd also cover this topic. Little of the incoming correspondence references his conservation activities; that topic is also much more extensively covered in his outgoing correspondence.</p> <p>Johnson's friendship with Nikola Tesla is well documented elsewhere; however there are no letters to or from Tesla contained in the collection.</p>"}