TLS, two pages, 6 x 9.25, Hotel Albert, New York letterhead, October 26, 1930. Letter to architectural critic Lewis Mumford. In part: “I am told by Slater Brown that you have been engaged for some time on a life of John A. Roebling, or at any rate on the life of his son, Washington, involving a good deal of Roebling family data.
It so happens that FORTUNE (that business magazine par Spenglerian prophecy) has assigned me the subject of wire cable suspension bridges, a complicated summary of engineering feats and figures, historical research as well as current progress. And, as the Roeblings have played the central role in this entire matter a considerable amount of Roebling biographical material is to be included in the article.
I had already written to Mr. John A. Roebling (at Bernardsville) last week, asking for an appointment. But the subsequent news of the death of his wife would seem to preclude any hopes of immeadiate [sic] attention from that quarter. Only a few months ago I had received a most appreciative letter from Mrs. Roebling in acknowledgment of a copy of 'The Bridge' which I had sent to the family; so I had entertained a reasonable expectation of contact with them, which, of course, is hardly conceivable in the immeadiate [sic] future.
In view of these restrictions I am wondering if you would not be willing to discuss with me some of the biographical details of the Roebling family which you have assembled for your book. It would be pleasant to have you with me for lunch some day—this week, if possible, as there is some urgency about getting the article under way.
I am to go through the Trenton works sometime this week. And as Mr. Anderson has not yet specified the exact day I hope that I can hear from you in time to obviate any overlapping of engagements. I hope I am not imposing on your kindness in suggesting your co-operation to this extent.” In fine condition.
Crane used the Brooklyn Bridge as a central metaphor and organizing structure for his most important book of poetry, The Bridge, a modernist epic in which he desired to create 'a mystical synthesis of America.' The bridge itself was designed in the mid-19th century by John A. Roebling and completed by his son, Washington Roebling, in 1883—the apotheosis of man's mastery over technology in the industrial age and an inspiration to poets from Whitman to Kerouac. Crane spent six years working on The Bridge, at one point living at 110 Columbia Heights in Brooklyn, where he had an excellent view of it; only after it was complete did he learn that Washington Roebling had once lived at the same address. Despite the appreciation of The Bridge by the Roebling family, it was released to harsh reviews in sharp contrast to Crane's expectations, who believed it would be received as a great and soaring spiritual affirmation of American life. He soon became crushed by a sense of personal failure—likely a contributing factor to his suicide two years later. Only posthumously has The Bridge become recognized as a cornerstone of modern verse, considered by some on the level of T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land—the very poem that had inspired the epic style of The Bridge. Crane is a literary autograph of the utmost rarity and this is an especially fine example in content and condition.
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