Sir, - Once again (December 5th) it seems to be implied in your letters columns that, before writing my books (and, as a matter of chronology, my doctoral thesis) on Roger Casement, I had had no first-hand acquaintance with the manuscript of the "White" Putumayo diary.
It is rather disappointing that my word is not sufficient for some. However, if easily-accessible proof is needed, it is to be found where I quote from that document in Casement: the Flawed Hero. The research for this was carried out during 1966.
As the difficulty appears to arise from one digit in a citation ("7"), I checked my own references with those of Professor Reid in his The Lives of Roger Casement. They are the same. (When Reid cites MS 13087 the document tends to have been written, not in 1910, but later.)
When I was working in the National Library of Ireland, my task was greatly eased by the publication of an incredibly helpful catalogue. It was, I believe, the brainchild of Dr R. J. Hayes, then the NLI's director. With the help of Dr Hayes's new volumes, and his encouragement, I was able to work meticulously through a vast amount of material either by, or relating to, my subject. The MS "White" diary was part of it.
While we were bound by the same contract, both my co-editor and I did indeed use the typescript "White" diary. It was the version which had its author's blessing. Moreover, bearing in mind the forgery issue, it was interesting to compare the work of Special Branch typists with that of those authorised by Casement to produce his "White" (some might say "sanitised") diary. Both parties had to struggle with the author's handwriting. - Yours, etc.,
Darts Lane, Bembridge, Isle of Wight.