Dear Gleb Petrovich,

As promised, a week later, I am sending you the proofs, not only the galleys but the whole layout: all the same, I had to do it anyway. As you can see, it has amounted to 24 pages – exactly three-quarters of the printed sheet. We will leave the first and the second, as well as the sixth pages (at the back of the portrait) blank. In my opinion, it is better this way than leaving it at the end (in front – for the inscriptions).

It is better to make the headings bright (for individual poems, when there is a heading), boldface would be too sharp. But I still propose moving the dates and the place under the verses further to the left: the lines are different and you will get variegation if you put them at the end.

As you can see, there are only two or three errors, and theoretically we could already go ahead with the layout and send it to printer, given that there may be a delay with the binding. But still, we will have to wait for the portrait and the cover. The booklet will turn out well: we will make the cover, as well as the paper, thicker; the first page of the cover can be double-plied – it will even come out “solid,” thickness-wise. As for the price in the U.S., it can very well be fixed at 1.5 dollars.

Regarding the portrait: we could ask Annenkov, he has a very good one – true, it is colored, but still very good; and one in two colors (not the well-known, stylized one, but another, which is hanging in his apartment). But there is trouble with him: before he is ready to answer, all the deadlines will have passed; I have some experience working with him. Perhaps it is not worth the delay.

I am awaiting the portrait from you, and your proofs. All the best, <…>