Letter by Reginald T. Townsend to Nancy C. Russell; discusses a $6,000 claim for a Charles M. Russell painting which was damaged during shipment to New York. Typed on two pages.

-1- September 16th, 1926. Dear Mrs. Russell: You may recall that we pub- lished in the August issue of Country Life some paintings of Mr. Russell’s wonderful western subjects. No doubt you are also familiar with the fact that in the handling of these paintings one of Mr. MacKay’s convases [sic] was slightly damaged. We have had this repaired and rebacked so that the canvas is as good or almost better than it was when we got the painting. But Mr. MacKay is far from satisfied and insists that we send him a check for $6,000, which he notifies us is the price that Mr. Russell is charging him for making a new painting of the subject “Jerked Down”. Quite naturally we are fully prepared to pay Mr. MacKay this amount and regret exceedingly that he should have been inconvenienced; but at the same time I am wondering if, in view of the fact that this is a copy and that we are going to publish Mr. Russell’s book shortly, it would not be possible for him to make Mr. MacKay a spec- ial price on this canvas. Frankly, if Mr. Russell could see his way clear to doing this for less than $6,000 it would be a great help to us for the margin of profit on a magazine (next) -2- such as ours is not very large and $6,000 makes all the difference in the world. I know you will understanding my writing you and will forgive my bothering you. I was so delighted to hear that Mr. Russell came through his operation well, and we are looking forward to seeing both him and you this winter in New York. Sincerely yours, [signed] Reginald T. Townsend Mrs. Charles M. Russell, Great Falls, Montana.

[Transcribed by Lauren B. Gerfen, 2011-11-02]

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