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Correspondence from N. J. N. Foreman to Aleister Crowley
142, Fletching Road. Clapton. London E.5.
14/11/27
My dearest Beast,
Many thanks for your letter.
I arrived home quite safely and must express my gratitude for the good time you gave me.
I had hoped to get an earlier meeting with Mrs. Walker and Bayley [James Gilbert Bayley] but B. not being available, could not carry the point. We met last night and went over the ground carefully. It is our unanimous opinion that nothing further can be done until you authorise your Solicitor, or Pyke, to push the matter on. Once you have done that, said solicitor(s) can consult Bayley or get full details. At present we have no standing in the matter. Your authorization could of course, be given either direct or through Mrs. Walker, or Bayley. I have come into the business too late to be able to instruct Lawyers myself.
I hear that you have talked of getting Counsel's opinion. Frankly, in this case, it would not be worth while. The only thing you can do is to employ a tactful solicitor (this is important) to formulate a definite claim, with authority to settle on best possible terms. Compromise is inevitable—the business will never get to Court.
With regard to your trouble with your Landlord, the following is I imagine a fair statement of the case, couched for the sake of clarity, in the first person.
I am the Owner of a number of rare and valuable books, which have been stored in a repository in London.
It so happened that last summer, a large number of these books were destroyed by water, owing, I contend, to negligence on the part of the Party to whose care they were entrusted. The damage was very heavy, resulting in a loss of over [illegible] 345,000.00 and I therefore quite naturally instructed my Representative to take the necessary steps to obtain satisfaction.
My representative wrote me a most important letter on the matter which was delivered on 19th October, and refused by the Concierge on the inadequate ground that as it was insufficiently franked, a small charge ([illegible]) was asked.
This letter did not reach me until 1st November, and it can readily be seen that its non-receipt, and the consequent misunderstanding, jeopardised my efforts to obtain redress for my loss. The result being that, up to the present, my claim has not been met.
Yours ever,
Neville Foreman
P.S. I transmitted your message to Mrs. Walker, anent her lady companion.
Should you require it, Pikes' address is:
A. Pike 24 Lincoln Inn Fields.
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