[No surviving envelope]
I sent you an Easter cable – reply paid so that you could use the reply form whenever you wished, but I think there is a time limit – butHale, Emilyphotographs of;w7as child with big ears;c9 your photograph arrived on Monday (I had had your little Easter note several days before, so that I had a surprise to look forward to) and I was so happy with it that I could not forbear sending another brief cable of thanks. Will9 Grenville Place, Londonadorned with photos of EH;b6 you please tell me exactly how old you were at the time? It is very lovely, and precisely like you now, except that at that age your ears seem to have grown faster than your head, for they are certainly larger in proportion than they are now! but perhaps that is the usual thing (only I am unluckier). The glass was unbroken, so the frame could be set up instantly – on my mantel. If I had room for a larger bed-side table I would have it there, but things put on that little stand squeezed in behind the door are always getting knocked off; so it is on the mantel by itself. I won’t say that any photograph of you is a substitute for any other – certainly no portrait at one age can replace one at another age – and if you wish me to suppress the two you dislike (and which I agree are inadequate) you will have to have a very nice new one taken: but I am always greedy for more portraits of you, and I only regret that the oil painting has disappeared and I cannot buy it.
YourBrace, Donaldreports on 1936 New York Murder;a9 letterEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother)sends New York Murder clippings;c7 of AprilMurder in the Cathedralunsolicited 1936 New York production;e2TSE sent press-cuttings for;a6 6th arrived this morning, with the enclosures which I return, as Brace and Henry have sent me copies. I am of course very pleased with such good notices. I am happy if words of mine are ever of help and support to you (but you must not keep harping on your ‘immaturity’). One is always glad to be told; because one’s own words always seem so poor and one’s ideas so badly expressed, to oneself! But you must know what a strong support and help your own can be to me – the best support is reciprocal. DidSeaverns, Helen;a6 I tell you that Mrs. Seaverns is in Kent until May? but I hope to see her then, as I asked her to let me know of her return. I shall write if I do not hear. HereO'Donovan, Brigid;b1 IDukes, Ashleydares to call TSE in morning;b7 was interrupted by Miss O’Donovan ringing up to say that Ashley Dukes wanted to speak to me; I told her that if I made business calls in the morning I should never get anything done, and he would have to wait till this afternoon. ApparentlyMurder in the Cathedralunsolicited 1936 New York production;e2extended and potentially expanded;b1 the theatre in New York wants to run the play for another two weeks and has doubled the fee, and they want to put it on, I gather, in Chicago and Los Angeles too. (IfAmericaHollywood;e8TSE trusts Murder will be safe from;a4 I am not careful they will be filming it at Hollywood – I must warn him about that).
Holy Week passed off very well, though even the weekend was not quite free from business, as I had to interview my Portuguese official, Senhor Ferro of the Segretariado de Propaganda Nacional, on Saturday morning, andBarnes, DjunaGCF against publishing Nightwood;a1 haveFaber, Geoffreyneeds persuading over Nightwood;e5 hadMorley, Frank Vigorbacks publication of Nightwood;f4 to compose a long letter to Geoffrey (in Wales) about a book that Morley and I want to publish and he does not (all such business chatter is confidential however).1 EasterCulpin, Johanna ('Aunt Johanna', née Staengel);b8 evening I had to sup with Jan Culpin, who had a young German relative with her – andHayward, Johndines with TSE and Camerons;e7 BankCamerons, theat JDH's;a3 Holiday night I dined with John Hayward who had the Camerons in. TheseShakespear, Olivia;a6 two duties done, I still have Mrs. Shakespear, andLloyds Bank;a4 an old acquaintance in Lloyds Bank, on my conscience. MrPierce, Ross E.his return funded by TSE;a4. Pierce, my odd young epic poet from Buffalo, has I hope finally returned on a cargo steamer; I had to defray a portion of the expense, but it was well worth it: he was quite the most fatiguing eccentric of all the queer folk who climb up to see me.
IMurder in the Cathedralbook-sales to-date;c2 knowDukes, AshleyTSE's royalty arrangement with;b8 that my royalty from Dukes is a low one, but as a publisher I am able to see his point of view. The play would never have been put on but for his enterprise; and its notoriety has no doubt very much helped the sale of the book – about 7000 copies in this country so far. When we publish a novel by an unknown author we expect to give low royalties: because we are taking a risk, and it is more likely to fail than to succeed. I should of course expect better terms for a new play, or on renewing this contract which is for two years. NoEssays Ancient and Modernreception;a5 more reviews of my poems yet, but my essays have just had a favourable notice in ‘Punch’ of all places, and I believe that ‘Punch’ reviews do sell books.2
IMorleys, the;g9 shall ask the Morleys about the peppermints. I expect to see them this afternoon, astravels, trips and plansTSE's spring/summer 1936 trip to Paris;c2Morleys invited;a3 I want to settle whether they will come to Paris with me for three or four days. They can’t come until after the 11th May in any case, as Donald is at home for his Easter holidays until then, butBeach, SylviaTSE's 'lecture de poésies' for;a1 May would suit Sylvia Beach just as well. AndMorley, Frank Vigorhelps deal with Joyce;f5 MorleyJoyce, Jamesrequires two F&F directors' attention;c7 canLéon, Paulon TSE's Paris itinerary;a1 share the burden of dealing with Joyce and his legal adviser M. Leon.3 PossiblyMaritain, Jacquesand TSE's Paris itinerary;b7 Maritain will be back by then. The idea of going abroad alone no longer appeals to me, I have to have somebody to go with to stir me out of my sedentary habits. ThoughItalyTSE objects to visiting;a7, if I again establish contact with Paris, I may be more likely to keep it up again by myself. EzraPound, Ezrarecommended to NEW editorial committee;b7 wants me to come on and visit him in Rapallo, and get some sea bathing, but I don’t much fancy going to Italy, and anyway I want to keep my travel-money for America.
NoScripps College, Claremontunder Jaqua;f1, oneJaqua, Ernest J.;a4 can’t blame people for staying on at Scripps, in these times when it is not so easy to get other positions; and I am sorry for those who have to work under Jaqua. I doubt if you could have felt settled or happy there, so long as he is at the head of things. ItMcPherrin, JeanetteEH job-seeking for;d7 wouldAmericaFarmington, Connecticut;e5;a3 be good if you get Jeanie a job at Farmington.
WhenSheffield, Ada Eliot (TSE's sister);f8 I last heard from Ada she said that she wanted to get you to a meal, but that you seemed to have been very busy lately. That is good if you do not exhaust yourself; and I am happy to hear that you are getting a little fatter. INoyes, Penelope BarkerEH's Cataumet summer holiday with;d3 amAmericaCataumet, Massachusetts;d7EH holidays in;a1 pleased by the thought of your having the summer with Penelope at Cataumet, which ought to be healthy. My Love, my Dear, I hold you in my arms for a moment before saying – not good-[bye] and not good night, for it is the morning, but until a day or two ago again.
Often you are with me too, arm in arm, as I walk about this neighbourhood, and sometimes I pass Rosary Gardens and look up, but I have never seen a light, and I am glad because I do not like to think of anyone else in that drawing room.
IPerkins, Edith (EH's aunt);c4 shall try to write to Mrs. Perkins this week.
1.Djuna Barnes, Nightwood. See Letters 8.
2.‘Old Lamps and New’ (by ‘Our Booking-Office, By Mr Punch’s Staff of Learned Clerks’), Punch (8 Apr. 1936), 420: ‘Having expressed but a qualified delight in Mr T. S. Eliot’s For Lancelot Andrewes, I hasten to welcome a volume incorporating half the old book with incontestably more valuable additions. Essays Ancient and Modern (Faber and Faber, 6/-) contains “Lancelot Andrewes”, “John Bramhall”, “Bradley”, “Baudelaire”, and “Babbitt”. The new material is of equal length, wider in scope, of greater topical interest and more persuasively handled. “Religion and Literature” urges that the standards of Faith should make themselves felt in general letters, and wisely deplores the “limited awareness” of devotional genius. “Catholicism and International Order” – with excellent points – is a little vitiated by the writer’s intolerance of the League, whilst some may ask whether there is truly a narrower gulf between Anglo- and Roman Catholics than between Anglo-Catholics and Protestants. A pleasant study treats Pascal as the most worldly of ascetics and the most ascetic of worldlings, while “Modern Education and the Classics” shrewdly urges a higher type of education rather than an ill-considered extension. Those who like the reviewer have a high opinion of Mr Nicolson’s Tennyson will find “In Memoriam” a sensitive and illuminating footnote, as it were, to that particularly sound biography.’
3.Paul LéonLéon, Paul, né Léopoldovich (1893–1942?): Jewish émigré from the Bolshevik revolution who settled in Paris; he met Joyce in 1928, when Joyce was forty-seven and Léon thirty-five. He became Joyce’s unpaid assistant and amanuensis from 1930, and protected his papers after the Nazis took over Paris. Léon was eventually seized by the German authorities and despatched to a camp where he died in unknown circumstances. See The James Joyce–Paul Léon Papers in the National Gallery of Ireland: A Catalogue, by Catherine Fahy (1992); John Naughton, ‘Arm in arm with a literary legend’ (interview with Alexis Léon), Observer, 13 Jan. 1991.
1.DjunaBarnes, Djuna Barnes (1892–1982): American novelist, journalist, poet, playwright; author of Ryder (1928); Nightwood (her masterpiece, 1936); Antiphon (play, 1958). See ‘A Rational Exchange’, New Yorker, 24 June and 1 July 1996, 107–9; Nightwood: The Original Version and Related Drafts, ed. Cheryl J. Plumb (1995); Miriam Fuchs, ‘Djuna Barnes and T. S. Eliot: Authority, Resistance, and Acquiescence’, Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 12: 2 (Fall 1993), 289–313. Andrew Field, Djuna: The Formidable Miss Barnes (1983, 1985), 218: ‘Willa Muir was struck by the difference that came over Eliot when he was with Barnes. She thought that the way Barnes had of treating him with an easy affectionate camaraderie caused him to respond with an equally easy gaiety that she had never seen in Eliot before.’ See Letters 8 for correspondence relating to TSE’s friendship with Barnes, and with her friend, the sassy, irresistible Emily Holmes Coleman, and the brilliant editing of Nightwood.
2.SylviaBeach, Sylvia Beach (1887–1962), American expatriate; proprietor (with Adrienne Monnier) of Shakespeare & Company, Paris, a bookshop and lending library. Her customers included James Joyce (she published Ulysses), André Gide and Ezra Pound: see Biographical Register.
6.DonaldBrace, Donald Brace (1881–1955), publisher; co-founder of Harcourt, Brace: see Biographical Register.
4.AshleyDukes, Ashley Dukes (1885–1959), theatre manager, playwright, critic, translator, adapter, author; from 1933, owner of the Mercury Theatre, London: see Biographical Register.
3.HenryEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother) Ware Eliot (1879–1947), TSE’s older brother: see Biographical Register.
11.GeoffreyFaber, Geoffrey Faber (1889–1961), publisher and poet: see Biographical Register.
11.JohnHayward, John Davy Hayward (1905–65), editor and critic: see Biographical Register.
40.DrJaqua, Ernest J. Ernest J. Jaqua (1882–1974), first President of Scripps College, 1927–42.
1.JamesJoyce, James Joyce (1882–1941), Irish novelist, playwright, poet; author of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), Ulysses (1922), Finnegans Wake (1939).
3.Paul LéonLéon, Paul, né Léopoldovich (1893–1942?): Jewish émigré from the Bolshevik revolution who settled in Paris; he met Joyce in 1928, when Joyce was forty-seven and Léon thirty-five. He became Joyce’s unpaid assistant and amanuensis from 1930, and protected his papers after the Nazis took over Paris. Léon was eventually seized by the German authorities and despatched to a camp where he died in unknown circumstances. See The James Joyce–Paul Léon Papers in the National Gallery of Ireland: A Catalogue, by Catherine Fahy (1992); John Naughton, ‘Arm in arm with a literary legend’ (interview with Alexis Léon), Observer, 13 Jan. 1991.
2.JeanetteMcPherrin, Jeanette McPherrin (1911–92), postgraduate student at Scripps College; friend of EH: see Biographical Register.
5.JacquesMaritain, Jacques Maritain (1882–1973), philosopher and littérateur, was at first a disciple of Bergson, but revoked that allegiance (L’Evolutionnisme de M. Bergson, 1911; La Philosophie bergsonienne, 1914) and became a Roman Catholic and foremost exponent of Neo-Thomism. For a while in the 1920s he was associated with Action Française, but the connection ended in 1926. Works include Art et scolastique (1920); Saint Thomas d’Aquin apôtre des temps modernes (1923); Réflexions sur l’intelligence (1924); Trois Réformateurs (1925); Primauté du spirituel (1927), Humanisme intégral (1936), Scholasticism and Politics (1940), Creative Intuition in Art and Poetry (1953). TSE told Ranjee Shahani (John O’London’s Weekly, 19 Aug. 1949, 497–8) that Maritain ‘filled an important role in our generation by uniting philosophy and theology, and also by enlarging the circle of readers who regard Christian philosophy seriously’. See Walter Raubicheck, ‘Jacques Maritain, T. S. Eliot, and the Romantics’, Renascence 46:1 (Fall 1993), 71–9; Shun’ichi Takayanagi, ‘T. S. Eliot, Jacques Maritain, and Neo-Thomism’, The Modern Schoolman 73: 1 (Nov. 1995), 71–90; Jason Harding, ‘“The Just Impartiality of a Christian Philosopher”: Jacques Maritain and T. S. Eliot’, in The Maritain Factor: Taking Religion into Interwar Modernism, ed. J. Heynickx and J. De Maeyer (Leuven, 2010), 180–91; James Matthew Wilson, ‘“I bought and praised but did not read Aquinas”: T. S. Eliot, Jacques Maritain, and the Ontology of the Sign’, Yeats Eliot Review 27: 1–2 (Spring–Summer 2010), 21; and Carter Wood, This Is Your Hour: Christian Intellectuals in Britain and the Crisis of Europe, 1937–40 (Manchester, 2019), 69–72.
4.FrankMorley, Frank Vigor Vigor Morley (1899–1980), American publisher and author; a founding editor of F&F, 1929–39: see Biographical Register.
12.PenelopeNoyes, Penelope Barker Barker Noyes (1891–1977), who was descended from settlers of the Plymouth Colony, lived in a historic colonial house (built in 1894 for her father James Atkins Noyes) at 1 Highland Street, Cambridge, MA. Unitarian. She was a close friend of EH.
3.BrigidO'Donovan, Brigid O’Donovan, TSE’s secretary from Jan. 1935 to Dec. 1936: see Biographical Register.
3.Ezra PoundPound, Ezra (1885–1972), American poet and critic: see Biographical Register.
3.HelenSeaverns, Helen Seaverns, widow of the American-born businessman and Liberal MP, Joel Herbert Seaverns: see Biographical Register.
6.OliviaShakespear, Olivia Shakespear (1863–1938), novelist and playwright; mother of Dorothy Pound, made an unhappy marriage in 1885 with Henry Hope Shakespear (1849–1923), a solicitor. She published novels including Love on a Mortal Lease (1894) and The Devotees (1904). Through a cousin, the poet Lionel Johnson (1867–1902), she arranged a meeting with W. B. Yeats, which resulted in a brief affair and a lifetime’s friendship. Yeats wrote at least two poems for her, and she was the ‘Diana Vernon’ of his Memoirs (ed. Denis Donoghue, 1972). See Ezra Pound and Dorothy Shakespear: Their Letters 1909–1914, ed. Omar S. Pound and A. Walton Litz (1984), 356–7.
2.AdaSheffield, Ada Eliot (TSE's sister) Eliot Sheffield (1869–1943), eldest of the seven Eliot children; author of The Social Case History: Its Construction and Content (1920) and Social Insight in Case Situations (1937): see Biographical Register.