FRANK R. STOCKTON
Claymont, Nov. 3, 1901.
Transcribed by E. W. Tuttle.
A title-page, also in Mr. Stockton’s handwriting, read:
The | Lost Dryad | By | Frank R. Stockton | Only Copy. | Claymont | Charles Town, W. Va. | 1901
The book consisted of twenty pages written by Mr. Stockton’s sister-in-law from his dictation.
Ten years have passed. Mr. Stockton died in April, 1902. None of his immediate family remain. The friend for whom he dictated this quaint little tale has regretted that her pleasure in it was not being shared by others. Her interest in the Eastern Branch of The United Workers of Greenwich, Connecticut, has prompted her now to give the story to them for publication. The magazine rights were sold to the Curtis Publishing Company. The money thus obtained has been expended in producing this edition of one thousand copies—the first edition of one of the last tales of America’s well-loved story-teller.
The proceeds from the sale of this book will go into the construction of a children’s club-house and playground in a very poor little village, where some of the little ones wander through childhood almost as forlornly as the Lost Dryad bereft of her oak-tree. To prolong the youth and bring joy to the lives of these children is the purpose of this publication of the troubles and adventures of The Lost Dryad.
COS COB, CONNECTICUT,
Thanksgiving day, 1911.
