Early TLS, one page, 8 x 10, The Criterion letterhead, July 8, 1938. Letter to renowned theater critic Joshua Ossia Trilling (1913-1994) of the Incorporated Stage Society, responding to their selection of him as a member, in part: “On mature reflectionâ€Â¦I must decline the proposed honour. I have already as many public associations as I can adequately cope with and I gave a strong objection to being a merely nominal member." In fine condition. Eliot founded and edited the influential literary journal The Criterion, which provided a forum for many prominent contemporary writers. The journal did not attain financial stability until 1928 when it was steadily issued until 1939.