Letter to Angus & Robertson

Miles Franklin’s own hand inscribed this note

I Didn’t Do It

Nothing great has been attempted, merely a few pictures of Australian life with a little of that mythical commodity love, thrown in for the benefit of young readers (always keeping in mind should there be readers of any age).

The eighteen-year-old Miles Franklin sent her manuscript of My brilliant career to the leading Australian publisher, Angus & Robertson. She obscured her sex by signing it S.M.S. Miles Franklin, hoping a male identity would enhance its chances of success, but the manuscript was rejected. It was eventually published by Blackwood in Edinburgh in 1901. George Robertson, the proprietor of Angus & Robertson, later annotated the letter indicating that the decision had been made when he was absent!

 

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