[41 Brimmer St., Boston]
Your dear letter of April 4th arrived yesterday, and gave me great pleasure – except the end of it. I'Modern Dilemma, The'approved by EH;a6 am very proud of your liking my B.B.C. talks, both because I prize your opinion, and also because I only heard from people who had listened; it is gratifying to find that there seems to be something in them still when read. Where [sc. Whether] they are dense enough for reprinting I still doubt – and of course I await your opinion of the third and fourth – I have a mass of letters from listeners, which I must go through again; and I should want to add an appendix covering such of the objections as are valid: a few, a very few, of the writers are people of shrewd brains; and some find me (as they did my predecessor Macmurray) evasively vague in my ‘programme’.
Another thing that especially pleased me was to find that the same idea had come to us almost at once, as you will see from my letter of last Friday: I like to think that there is a little telepathy sometimes. As for the notion of putting myself in the hands of an agent, I had considered and discussed that. There were two objections (1) that it would be undignified for the occupant of a pretty well paid chair at Harvard to make such an extensive tour of lecture clubs etc. as that seemed to involve, and (2) I must take things as easy as possible and get rest while I can. FurthermoreMaclagan, Eric;a7, MaclaganRichards, Ivor Armstrong ('I. A.');a5 and Richards both said that I should get plenty to choose from when I arrived. Buttravels, trips and plansTSE's 1932–3 year in America;a7opportunity for adventurous lecture-tours;b1 IAmericaSouth, the;h3 do want to get engagements, a small number, which will take me about to interesting parts of the country which I might otherwise never again have the opportunity to visit. I should like a few in the Middle West, in the South, and in the Far West. If I could go, for instance, from Baltimore to one or two places in the real South with [which] I have never seen (it would be jolly to get to New Orleans and so up the river to St. Louis) I should like that. IAmericaSt. Paul, Minnesota;h5;a1 shall if I can visit St. Paul at Frederick’s invitation; and I want to cross the continent to see the Pacific, and its society which must in some ways be different from either the East or the middle West.
Thetravels, trips and plansTSE's 1933 westward tour to Scripps;a8and TSE's need to lecture;a2 difficulty which I apprehend about the Christmas holidays is that the colleges and universities will be in vacation, and will not want lectures. I wish you would advise me in more detail. If IScripps College, ClaremontTSE hopes to visit EH at;b1 saw you at Scripps, where is the nearest place at which I might get an engagement (1) if in term-time (2) if in vacation?? What are the dates of the Scripps’ holidays? IAmericaSeattle, Washington State;h1;a5 know a professor at the University of Washington, which I suppose is near Seattle. Wouldtravels, trips and plansTSE's 1933 westward tour to Scripps;a8possible stopover in Seattle;a5 it be easier to get a good engagement – one which would help with my expenses – in or near Seattle while you could be with the Krauss’s? If in Seattle I might go to Portland to see my cousins there. You make both Seattle and Claremont seem very near to St. Louis – two nights is nothing. It makes no difference to me, that I can see, whether it was Southern California or Washington State that I went to: I should like to see what is to be your environment for two years, but I should also like to meet your great friends. If I knew of the right colleges etc. to lecture at, I could probably, I should think, work the invitation through people at Harvard, or otherwise. So please give me your advice and views and preferences.
ISelected Essaysbeing proofed;a1 have much else to write about, but am very much in arrears with day to day work: andHarcourt, Brace & Co.and Selected Essays;a1 I have to correct in a hurry the proofs of my book of essays – which turns out a pretty long one, to get them off to Harcourt Brace by Friday’s mail. ThereShakespeare, WilliamTwelfth Night;d3 was Saturday’s performance of Twelfth Night1 – a painful play for me to see, but it was beautifully done – EdithEvans, Edithas Viola in Twelfth Night;a1 Evans, one of our best actresses,2 first rate as Viola; a fine Malvolio; Olivia indifferent and colourless. I do think I understand the feeling you express at the end of your letter: and the contrast between the life you lead, and the place you ought to occupy in the world, is always painfully present to me. Mais vogue la galère … Je t’écris le jeudi prochain, quand j’aurai repris haleine3 …
1.Twelfth Night was directed by Harcourt Williams at the Old Vic and Sadler’s Wells, with Edith Evans as Viola, Robert Speaight as Malvolio, and Ralph Richardson as Sir Toby Belch.
2.EdithEvans, Edith Evans (1888–1976), versatile stage and screen actor; enduringly celebrated for her appearance as Lady Bracknell in the film of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest (1952). Evans won her reputation during her long association (from 1925) with the Old Vic, London: her other notable roles included Judith Bliss in Noel Coward’s Hay Fever on the stage and the movie Tom Jones (1963). DBE, 1946.
3.‘But come what may … I will write to you next Thursday, when I have recovered my breath.’
2.EdithEvans, Edith Evans (1888–1976), versatile stage and screen actor; enduringly celebrated for her appearance as Lady Bracknell in the film of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest (1952). Evans won her reputation during her long association (from 1925) with the Old Vic, London: her other notable roles included Judith Bliss in Noel Coward’s Hay Fever on the stage and the movie Tom Jones (1963). DBE, 1946.
3.EricMaclagan, Eric Maclagan (1879–1951), Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1924–45, had been Charles Eliot Norton Lecturer at Harvard, 1927–8. Distinguished as scholar and lecturer, and an expert on early Christian and Italian Renaissance art, his works include Catalogue of Italian Sculpture (with Margaret Longhurst, 1932) and The Bayeux Tapestry (1943), translations from poets including Rimbaud and Valéry, and editions of the works of William Blake. His offices included Vice-President of the Society of Antiquaries, 1932–6; President of the Museums Association, 1935–6. A devout Anglo-Catholic, he served too on the Cathedrals Advisory Council and the Central Council for the Care of Churches, and as a member of the Church Assembly. Knighted in 1933, he was appointed KCVO in 1945. In 1913 he married Helen Elizabeth Lascelles.
4.I. A. RichardsRichards, Ivor Armstrong ('I. A.') (1893–1979), theorist of literature, education and communication studies: see Biographical Register.