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Correspondence from Karl Germer to Louis Wilkinson
K.J. GERMER 260 West 72nd Street New York 23 N.Y. Endicott 2-6799
February 27, 1950.
Dear Mr. Wilkinson,
Thank you for your letter, I'll answer point by point.
A.C. Account: I'm sorry to have to disappoint you, if it should be the case. The item of £2.14.7 was a mistake on my part; I should not have put it in at all. When looking over the correspondence I found the cause: It was your letter of May 6, 1948 from which I took it. But, as I have since put in all detailed items, they are the correct balance. This then is now, as you state, £28.9.10. (To make it clearer, all the separate items listed in yours of May 6th, have been also listed in the statement I sent you as well as the £100 I sent you against that.)
On the other hand I'd hate to think that you are out of pocket for expenses you actually incurred, and while I do not think that we are able in view of the general situation to, pay executor's fee, my view is that you are entitled to reimburse yourself for the £8.7.4 which you say you had for typing the Commentary. Please do so, so that then the final balance will be £20.2.6, which would be available towards the next A.A. [Aleister Ataturk] fees. I shall count on this, and will send you the remaining £30 in May or early June to complete the sum of £50.
Oscar Wilde and The Black Douglas arrived. Thank you for your trouble! Commentary: thanks for sending the relevant copies of letters to you. I'll hold them for a week. I want to check whether I have the same, but must wait until I'm next at H.Q. where this material is.
Receipts: For A.A. School Fees.—I have Receipts, or cancelled checks except for May 1949, Sept. 1949, Jan 1950. And finally the £10 you sent her in Jan. 1950. This covers a total of £160 for which I'd like to have the receipted invoices from the school or a total receipt. Would you mind writing to her to that effect. After May 1950 I propose to send the transfer from New York direct to Mrs. MacAlpine [Patricia MacAlpine] to avoid any further trouble for you. (No stamp for receipt necessary; not needed here.)
Commentary: Sorry, I was, as
usual, too trusting and too optimistic. Jack Parsons [Jack Parsons]
visited me, acted shifty; seem to have concocted a scheme
with Smith [Wilfred Talbot Smith]
to snatch the Copyright for the abridged Commentary by hook
or by crook. I see no way of preventing this just now. The
'Law' in this country is too crooked and will not protect a
rightful owner. I suppose you know the practice in U.S.A. of
simply copying a foreign book, give it a new title, and
copyrighting it in the U.S. (A.C.'s
Goetia has been printed here, word for word, same as
The Sacred Magic of Abramelin the Mage, and the thief
has his name as the author! Indignant at the spurious
foreign productions (though published 20 or 40 years
earlier; but nobody knows this fact here)! I'll return your letter—copies next week.—I think this is all now.
Kindest regards, sincerely,
Karl Germer
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