Now that the term has ended (not for the students: they have a reading-period coming up) and a blessed post-Christmas leisure has descended, I can pay attention to some important things, not just the routine matters. AndThorp, Willardbut shifts responsibility to Dix;e1 none more important than this strange impasse with your letters to T.S.E. His silence, after your careful (and gentle) letter of last September, is incredible, unless, as you suggest, he may not be well. As you know, under the law, the letters belong to him and he can dispose of them as he wishes. But the right to quote from them or to publish any or all of them belongs to you and your legal heirs – forever, so far as we know. One would think, therefore, that he would like to know what your wishes are in the matter. But – well, here we just move into speculation.
NowDix, William Shepherd;b9 that Bill Dix and I are on the ground for a while, I shall, of course, find out what he has to suggest. If a letter is to be written from here, he should be the one to write. I’ll certainly talk with him before the week is out.
[…]
WithThorp, Willardmakes transcript of EH's 'recording';e2 Margaret’s help, I have finished putting the transcript of the tape in order, trying not to change your meaning in any respect. As soon as it is typed up again, I’ll send along a copy for your comment.
It will be a sober year ahead, but we must have some joy from it.
P.S. A few queries about the manuscript & the transcription.
p. 10. What is the name of the village in Gloucestershire where Tom was confirmed? I read your writing as “Finlock”.
p. 13. Didn’tGeorge, Robert Esmonde Gordon ('Robert Sencourt');c9 you meet Robert Sencourt (not Selincourt) at the Eliot party? (We met him at the apartment once.)
p. 22. IWoolfs, the;f1Woolf, Leonard
p. 24. WhoSeaverns, Helen;e7 is the friend of the Perkins who married an Englishman Mrs Joel Seaverns?
ShouldRoberts, Janet;b8 Adam-Smith (Janet) be hyphenated?
1.Cited in Gordon, Imperfect Life, 421
1.WilliamDix, William Shepherd Shepherd Dix (1910–78): Librarian, Princeton University, 1953–75. Having gained first degrees (BA and MA) at the University of Virginia, he earned a doctorate in American literature at the University of Chicago. After working first as a teacher and English instructor, he became Associate Professor of English and Librarian of Rice Institute, Houston, Texas (now Rice University), 1947–53. Resolutely opposed to censorship and intellectual constraint, he served as chair of the Intellectual Freedom Committee of the American Library Association (ALA), 1951–3; chair of the International Relations Committee, 1955–60; and President of the ALA, 1969–70. In addition, he was Executive Secretary, 1957–9, and President, 1962–3, of the Association of Research Libraries. Recognised as one of the topmost figures in librarianship, he was honoured by the American Library Association with the Dewey Medal, 1969, and the Lippincott Award, 1971.
3.RobertGeorge, Robert Esmonde Gordon ('Robert Sencourt') Esmonde Gordon George – Robert Sencourt (1890–1969) – critic, historian, biographer: see Biographical Register.
3.HelenSeaverns, Helen Seaverns, widow of the American-born businessman and Liberal MP, Joel Herbert Seaverns: see Biographical Register.
1.Margaret Thorp, née Farrand (1891–1970), contemporary and close friend of EH; noted author and biographer. WillardThorp, Willard Thorp (1899–1990) was a Professor of English at Princeton University. See Biographical Register. See further Lyndall Gordon, Hyacinth Girl, 126–8, 158–9.