[No surviving envelope]

T. S.Eliot
EmilyHale
TS
The Criterion
30 May 1936
My darling,

For the first time, I think, I missed writing to you by a fast boat simply because I was too tired last night to write letters: as I did not write last night, I missed the Europa, and now there is nothing more till the Aquitania on Wednesday. What is most tiring is a succession of interviews with little or no interval, and having to keep oneself interested in other people’s affairs and troubles one after the other – IHowson, Revd Vincentsubmits novel;a6 had four yesterday: the Revd. Vincent Howson (Bert) with his novel, DrIovetz-Tereshchenko, N. M.his financial woes;a2 N. M. Iovetz-Tereshchenko with his financial straits, EdouardRoditi, Edouardappeals to TSE for direction;a2 Roditi with his aimlessness of the cosmopolitan Spanish Jew-Greek-Turkish-Roumanian-Flemish ancestry, andCulpin, Johanna ('Aunt Johanna', née Staengel);b9 finally to call on Jan Culpin before dinner who is just recovering from bronchitis. Onflowers and florasweet peas;c9cheer TSE up;a7 my way home I bought myself two bunches of sweet peas to cheer myself up. Sotravels, trips and plansTSE's spring/summer 1936 trip to Paris;c2TSE's itinerary;a5, as it seems that I shall have a pretty full four days in Paris next week – whatBeach, SylviaTSE's 'lecture de poésies' for;a1 withMassis, Henriand TSE's 1936 visit to Paris;a4 SylviaJoyce, Jamespart of TSE's Paris itinerary;c9 Beach and her Amis de Shakespeare & Co., LouisGillet, Louis;a2 Gillet, Henri Massis, StuartGilbert, Stuartport of call in Paris;a3 Gilbert and James Joyce; andTrouncer, Margaret;a9 IBarnes, Djunacalls on TSE;a2 haveHotsons, the;a4 Mrs. Trouncer and an hour later Djuna Barnes1 coming to see me on Tuesday, I felt justified in wiring to the Hotsons to say that I could not come down to Chalfont st. Giles (‘Jordans’) to lunch with them to-day. I’d rather entertain them to lunch later; becauseHotson, Lesliea kind of bore;a2 theyHotson, Marya kind of bore;a3 really are two particular bores, Leslie with his clodhopping scholarship and pomposity and Mary with her elephantine gaity.2 IBarnes, DjunaNightwood prepared for press;a3 have had a quiet day writing letters, and going through Djuna Barnes’s book3 to make it possible for press, and slumbering at the club after lunch.

WhatSheffields, the;b9 I particularly want to know as soon as possible, and I fear I did not stress it enough in my last letter, is when you have to be at Northampton. I want to have a week with Ada and Sheff in the mountains, and Wellesley takes on off on the 17th September; so it would appear that in any case I ought to arrive at the beginning of September. Nowtravels, trips and plansTSE's 1936 American trip;c4efforts to coordinate with EH;a8, where will you be? and where can I see you? I don’t hope for anything as easy and natural as when you were at Rosary Gardens with the Perkins’s and we could have the evenings and make excursions in the daytime: partly because when I come to America I must divide my attention and see my family – and here there is no one with such a claim upon me, and we can see my friends, and yours, or be alone – but in America I must plan out every moment carefully. I should like to have weeks and weeks and weeks, with nothing to do but to be in your company – but if not that, I had rather have a few days of perfect company than a longer time mostly among other people with you. (If I could hope that you could come to England every other year, and I come to America every other year, that would make it easier to put up with the vexation of not-very-satisfactory meetings in New England.

My new suit has come, and I hope you will like it – a very simple quiet grey.

I have thought of your journey to Windsor.

Thank you, my dearest Assistant Professor, for your sweet letter of the 19th. And now please answer the question of this letter to

Your devoted & adoring
Tom
to his Emilie.

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.Mary Hotson (b. 1896), wife of the Canadian Shakespeare scholar and controversialist Leslie Hotson. TSE to John Sheppard, 1 Nov. 1953: ‘Mary May Hotson is a cousin of some cousins of mine in Boston … [She is] a member of the well-known and very numerous Boston family of Peabody, and is herself a person of great activity.’

3.Nightwood.

Barnes, Djuna, GCF against publishing Nightwood, calls on TSE, Nightwood prepared for press, surprises TSE at OM's, TSE's exhausting lunch with, introduced to JDH, sends TSE ribs of beef,

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.

Beach, Sylvia, TSE's 'lecture de poésies' for, dinner in Paris with Gide and, thanks TSE,

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.

Culpin, Johanna ('Aunt Johanna', née Staengel), described, TSE's South Kensington neighbour, weekly chess opponent, 'tiring', reports Nazi horrors, her German refugees, whom TSE helps, quarrels with VHE, leaving for Germany, departure toasted with champagne, returned from Germany, taken to Murder, and TSE watch Show Boat, returns again to Germany, taken to the movies, and company taken to Escargot,
flowers and flora, aconite, at Shamley, imagined in Cambridge, azaleas, summon memories of EH, bamboo, imagined by TSE in California, bluebells, in Shamley Wood, bourgainvillea, imagined by TSE in California, cactus, imagined by TSE in California, carnations, from Chipping Campden, catkins, at Shamley, celandine, spotted at Shamley, chrysanthemums, TSE prefers to roses, cowslips, at Shamley, crocuses, at Shamley, imagined in Cambridge, gladioli, sent to EH in TSE's name, hawthorn ('may'), summons memories of EH, heliotrope, enclosed in letter from Christine Galitzi, hibiscus, imagined by TSE in California, laburnum, summons memories of EH, lilacs, in Russell and Woburn Squares, summon memories of EH, lilies-of-the-valley, delivered to EH on the Samaria, Michaelmas daisies, around Pike's Farm, palms, imagined by TSE in California, primroses, and the English spring, at Shamley, pussy-willow, at Shamley, rhododendrons, summon memories of EH, roses, in autumn, sent to EH on birthday, from Chipping Campden, left by EH in TSE's Grenville rooms, their emotionally disturbing scent, given to TSE as EH's parting gift, for EH's birthday, snowdrops, at Shamley, sweet peas, and EH's performance in Hay Fever, effect of their scent on TSE, no longer painful to TSE, delivered to EH, TSE buys himself at Gloucester Road, cheer TSE up, the essence of summer, sent to Aunt Edith, violets, EH gives TSE as buttonhole, emotionally disturbing, left by departing EH, wisteria, summons memories of EH, Wood anemone, at Shamley, yew, sprig picked for TSE by EH, zinnias, TSE prefers over roses,
Gilbert, Stuart, port of call in Paris, in Paris,

4.StuartGilbert, Stuart Gilbert (1883–1969), English literary scholar and translator, was educated at Hertford College, Oxford (1st class in Classics), and worked in the Indian Civil Service; and then, following military service, as a judge on the Court of Assizes in Burma. It was only after his retirement in 1925 that he undertook work on Joyce, having admired Ulysses while in Burma. After befriending Joyce and others in his Paris circle (including Sylvia Beach and Valery Larbaud), he wrote James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’: A Study (F&F, 1930). He helped Joyce with the French translation of Ulysses; and in 1957 edited Letters of James Joyce (with advice from TSE). In addition, he translated works by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Roger Martin du Gard, Paul Valéry, André Malraux, Jean Cocteau, Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre and Georges Simenon.

Gillet, Louis,

1.LouisGillet, Louis Gillet (1876–1943), art and literary historian; curator of the Abbaye de Chaalis; member of the Académie Française.

Hotson, Leslie, a kind of bore,
see also Hotsons, the

6.TSEHotson, Leslie stayed with Leslie andHotson, Mary Mary Hotson at Haverford College, where he lectured on ‘The Development of Shakespearean Criticism’ in Roberts Hall on 24 Mar.

Hotson, Mary, ridiculed, not quite an Eliot, a kind of bore,
see also Hotsons, the

6.TSEHotson, Leslie stayed with Leslie andHotson, Mary Mary Hotson at Haverford College, where he lectured on ‘The Development of Shakespearean Criticism’ in Roberts Hall on 24 Mar.

Hotsons, the, compared to Paul More as hosts, described for EH, their heartiness, looking after Georgina Dobrée,
Howson, Revd Vincent, revises TSE's cockney dialogue, takes TSE on East End pub-crawl, as Bert, TSE's Stepney sojourn with, hosts TSE in Limehouse, submits novel, lures TSE into speaking engagement,

1.RevdHowson, Revd Vincent Vincent Howson (d. 1957), St James’ Vicarage, Ratcliff, London, was ‘Bert’ in The Rock. Founder and producer of the East End Amateurs, he had been a member of Sir Frank Benson’s Shakespearian Company. His final post was as rector of St Paul’s, Covent Garden.

Iovetz-Tereshchenko, N. M., his financial woes, his woes, Master of Balliol petitioned on behalf of, in hospital,

2.N. M. Iovetz-TereshchenkoIovetz-Tereshchenko, N. M. (1895–1954), B.Litt. (Oxon), PhD (London): Russian exile; Orthodox Catholic Christian; university lecturer in psychology: see Biographical Register.

Joyce, James, appears suddenly in London, admired and esteemed by TSE, takes flat in Kensington, lunches with TSE at fish shop, gets on with Osbert Sitwell, GCF on, consumes TSE's morning, dines in company chez Eliot, obstinately unbusinesslike, bank-draft ordered for, indebted to Harriet Weaver, writes to TSE about daughter, his place in history, evening with Lewis, Vanderpyl and, TSE appreciates loneliness of, TSE's excuse for visiting Paris, insists on lavish Parisian dinner, on the phone to the F&F receptionist, TSE's hairdresser asks after, defended by TSE at UCD, for which TSE is attacked, qua poet, his Miltonic ear, requires two F&F directors' attention, anecdotalised by Jane Heap, part of TSE's Paris itinerary, in Paris, strolls with TSE, and David Jones, and EP's gift of shoes, his death lamented, insufficiently commemorated, esteemed by Hugh Walpole, TSE's prose selection of, Indian audience addressed on, TSE opens exhibition dedicated to, TSE on the Joyce corpus, TSE on his letters to, Anna Livia Plurabelle, Joyce's recording of, Dubliners, taught in English 26, Ulysses, modern literature undiscussable without, Harold Monro's funeral calls to mind, its true perversity, likened to Gulliver's Travels, F&F negotiating for, 'Work in Progress' (afterwards Finnegans Wake), negotiations over, conveyed to London by Jolas, 'very troublesome', new MS delivered by Madame Léon,
see also Joyces, the

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).

Massis, Henri, associated with Maritain, welcomes TSE in Paris, submits Criterion article, and TSE's 1936 visit to Paris, solicits Maurras tribute,

5.Henri MassisMassis, Henri (1886–1970), right-wing Roman Catholic critic; contributor to L’ Action Française; co-founder and editor of La Revue Universelle: see Biographical Register.

Roditi, Edouard, appeals to TSE for direction,

2.EdouardRoditi, Edouard Roditi (1910–92), poet, critic, biographer, translator: see Biographical Register.

Sheffields, the, TSE feels able to confide in, save TSE from homesickness, discuss marriage to VHE with TSE, Radcliffe Club paper rehearsed with, Norton Lectures practised on, source of TSE's happiness in Cambridge, Mass., too polite, and the Eliot family Randolph holiday, compared to Marion as confidants, their marriage analysed, on second Randolph family holiday, and TSE's view of FDR, sound on American politics, to receive TSE's South India pamphlet,
travels, trips and plans, EH's 1930 trip to England, EH's proposed 1931 England visit, called off, EH's 1932 summer holidays, the Eliots' Derby Day excursion, related, the Eliots' July 1932 Hindhead visit, the Eliots' August 1932 Eastbourne holiday, described, TSE's 1932–3 year in America, Norton Professorship offered to TSE, and the prospect of reunion with EH, which TSE refuses to see as decisive, which angers EH, who writes and destroys a response, TSE's financial imperatives, TSE's itinerary, and the question of discretion, opportunity for adventurous lecture-tours, TSE speculates on attendant feelings, TSE on the voyage over, TSE reflects on, TSE's return from, the Eliot family's Randolph holiday, TSE's 1933 westward tour to Scripps, proposed to EH, and TSE's need to lecture, possibly via St. Louis, TSE's itinerary, possible stopover in Seattle, a shameful source of happiness, still a happy thought, described by Havens and others, TSE reflects on, TSE's return from, TSE wonders at after-effect on EH, EH urged to reflect honestly on, Ada on, and a conversation about divorce, in EH's recollection, possible EH 1933 summer in England, TSE's 1933 Faber summer holiday, set for mid-August, postponed, rearranged, TSE buys summer outfits for, described, TSE's 1933 tour of Scotland, possible itinerary, Morley's preparations for, described for EH, TSE's 1933 trip to Paris, mooted, described, EH's 1934–5 year in Europe, TSE delighted at the prospect, attempts to coordinate with TSE's 1934 summer plans, the Perkinses due in Chipping Camden, EH's itinerary, TSE's initial weekend at Chipping Campden, TSE books rooms in Lechlade, TSE visits Campden again with family, and again alone, which visit TSE reflects on, TSE's plans to entertain EH en route to Europe, EH's continental itinerary, VHE and propriety inhibit pre-Paris arrangements, L'Escargot lunch, weekend in Sussex for EH's birthday, possible London tea-party, second lunch at L'Escargot, EH and TSE's November excursions, a month which TSE reflects happily on, EH's summer 1935 plans, EH departs England, EH in Florence, arrived in Rome, TSE coordinating with EH's return, TSE recommends Siena, EH returns to Florence, EH sails for Riviera, EH returns from France, L'Escargot lunch on EH's return, EH sails for Guernsey, May 1935, EH's June 1935 London sortie, TSE attends Dr Perkins's birthday, TSE's July 1935 Campden week, TSE offers to fund EH in London, where EH joins Jeanie McPherrin, TSE's Campden birthday weekend, prospect of EH spending month at Blomfield Terrace, Thorp theatre outing, TSE's 6–8 September Campden weekend, EH staying at 19 Rosary Gardens, EH to Campden for 15–17 November, EH sails for Boston, EH and TSE's final farewell, TSE and EH's final weeks in London, their excursion to Finchampstead, TSE reflects on, excursion to Greenwich, EH reflects on the final weeks of, TSE's 1934 Faber summer holiday, described, TSE's dream of Cairo, TSE's invitation to Finland, palmed off on Robert Nichols, TSE's 1935 tour of Scotland, proposed by Blake, attempts to coordinate with EH, TSE's itinerary, TSE's 1935 Faber summer holiday, TSE writes from, described, TSE's 1936 visit to Ireland, TSE's itinerary, recounted, TSE's spring/summer 1936 trip to Paris, first contemplated, date fixed, Morleys invited, TSE's itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1936 Faber summer holiday, TSE writes from, TSE's 1936 American trip, spring arrival dependent on New York Murder, if not spring, then autumn, possible excursions, autumn better for seeing EH, and possible Princeton offer, and possible Smith visit, efforts to coordinate with EH, passage on Alaunia booked, TSE's itinerary, Murder to pay for, coordinating with Eliot Randolph holiday, the moment of parting from EH, TSE's birthday during, TSE reflects on, TSE's 1937 tour of Scotland, itinerary, recounted, the Morley–Eliot 1937 trip to Salzburg, contemplated, itinerary, EH receives postcard from, described, as relayed to OM, EH's 1937 summer in England, and Mrs Seaverns, EH accompanies TSE to Edinburgh, itinerary coordinated with EH, dinner at L'Escargot, TSE's 10–11 July Campden visit, TSE's 17–22 July Campden visit, TSE's 21 August Campden visit, EH travels to Yorkshire, TSE reminisces about, TSE's 1937 Faber summer holiday, TSE reports from, leaves TSE sunburnt, TSE's 1938 trip to Lisbon, outlined to EH, TSE advised on, travel arrangements, the voyage out, described, EH's 1938 summer in England, and whether EH should spend it at Campden, EH's arrival confirmed, TSE's July Campden visit, EH's late-July London stay, TSE's 5–21 August Campden fortnight, TSE's 3–6 September Campden visit, EH's September London stay, TSE reflects on, TSE's 1938 Faber summer holiday, TSE's preparations for, TSE reports from, possible EH England Christmas 1938 visit, possible TSE 1939 visit to America, mooted for spring, complicated by Marion and Dodo's trip, shifted to autumn, threatened by war, made impossible, EH's 1939 England visit, TSE's efforts to coordinate with, threatened by war, complicated by Marion's arrival, EH's itinerary, EH's initial London stay, TSE's 7–20 July Campden visit, TSE's 22–30 August Campden visit, TSE's 2–4 September Campden visit, EH again London, EH and TSE's parting moments, in TSE's memory, memory vitiated by EH's subsequent letter, TSE's 1939 Faber summer holiday, TSE writes from, possible wartime transatlantic crossings, contingencies, in case of EH being ill, TSE's reasons for and against, and TSE's New York proposition, following invasion Denmark and Norway, impossible for TSE unless official, TSE's desire to remain in England, TSE's reasons for and against accepting lectureship, given Ada's impending death, TSE's abortive 1940 Italian mission, possible but confidential, lectures prepared for, and the prospect of seeing EP, might include Paris, itinerary, in jeopardy, final preparations for, cancelled, TSE's 1940 visit to Dublin, approved by Foreign Office, in national interest, itinerary, recounted, involves TSE's first plane-journey, TSE's 1940 Faber summer holiday, TSE reports from, TSE's 1941 Faber summer holiday, Kipling and fishing-rod packed for, TSE reports from, TSE's 1941 Northern tour, proposed by the Christendom group, arranged with Demant, itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1942 British Council mission to Sweden, TSE makes cryptic allusion to, as recounted to EH, as recounted to JDH, return leg in London, as war-work, TSE's 1942 New Forest holiday, described, TSE's 1942 week in Scotland, recounted, TSE's abortive 1942 Iceland mission, TSE's 1943 trip to Edinburgh, recounted, TSE's abortive 1943 Iceland mission, TSE's 1943 New Forest holiday, TSE's 1944 trip to Edinburgh, TSE's abortive 1944 North Africa mission, TSE's May 1945 trip to Paris, described, TSE's June 1945 trip to Paris, recounted, possible post-war American visit, and Henry's impending death, ideally ancillary to work, possibly as F&F's representative, waits on TSE's health and Carlyle Mansions, TSE's 1945 September fortnight in Lee, described, TSE's 1945 Christmas in Lee, described, TSE's 1946 summer in America, date for passage fixed, paperwork for, TSE's itinerary, its aftermath, recounted, TSE's 1947 summer in America, dependent on lecture engagements, TSE seeks to bring forward, Henry's condition brings further forward, set for April, itinerary, EH reflects on, TSE's scheduled December 1947 visit to Marseilles and Rome, itinerary, TSE's preparations for, dreaded, Roman leg described by Roger Hinks, EH's hypothetical March 1948 visit to England, TSE's postponed 1948 trip to Aix, itinerary, recounted, home via Paris, TSE's 1948 trip to America, itinerary, TSE's visit to EH in Andover, disrupted by Nobel Prize, TSE's 1948 Nobel Prize visit to Stockholm, itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1949 family motor-tour of Scotland, described, TSE's October–November 1949 trip to Germany, possible itinerary, preparations for, final itinerary, TSE's account of, the return via Belgium, TSE's January 1950 voyage to South Africa, all but fixed, itinerary, described by TSE, recounted by Faber, EH's 1950 summer in England, TSE books EH's hotel room for, TSE's efforts to coordinate with EH's movements, EH in Campden, TSE reports to Aunt Edith on, TSE's 1950 visit to America, and TSE's possible Chicago post, the Chicago leg, November itinerary, TSE's spring 1951 trip to Spain, itinerary, recounted, TSE's September 1951 Geneva stay, itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1951 British Council mission to Paris, recounted, TSE's second 1951 British Council mission to Paris, recounted, TSE's 1952 visit to Rennes and the Riviera, itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1952 visit to America, itinerary, efforts to coordinate with EH's summer, TSE on meeting with EH, TSE's 1952 rest cure in Switzerland, TSE's 1953 visit to St. Louis and America, set for June, to include fortnight in Cambridge, itinerary, EH's 1953 trip to England, EH's Alnwick plans, TSE books hotel for EH, and EH's ticket to Confidential Clerk, TSE's 1953 visit to Geneva, TSE's 1953–4 trip to South Africa, itinerary, described, arrival described to JDH, GCF on, TSE's 1954 Geneva rest cure, Geneva preferred to Paris, TSE's deferred 1955 visit to Hamburg, prospect inspires reluctance in TSE, proposed for spring 1955, dreaded, TSE now returned from, TSE's 1955 visit to America, and contingent speaking engagements, foreshortened, itinerary, Washington described, TSE's return from, TSE's 1955 Geneva rest cure, TSE's 1956 visit to America, passage fixed for April, itinerary, TSE in the midst of, TSE reflects on, TSE's 1956 Geneva rest cure, itinerary, recounted, illness during, EH's 1957 visit to England, TSE and EVE invited to Campden, TSE reciprocates with London invitation, but EH leaves England abruptly, which TSE consults Eleanor Hinkley over, who duly explains, TSE and EVE's 1958 trip to America, as rumoured to EH, EH's 1959 tour of Scandinavia, funded by bequest from cousin, TSE and EVE's 1959 trip to America, TSE and EVE's 1963 trip to America,
Trouncer, Margaret, introduced to TSE by EH, presses manuscript on TSE, which JDH's friend reads, loses baby, on warpath with second book, which TSE is keen on, on to her third book, produces novel, A Courtesan of Paradise,

2.MargaretTrouncer, Margaret Trouncer (1903–82), author of A Courtesan of Paradise: The Romantic Story of Louise de la Vallière, Mistress of Louis XIV (F&F, 1936). See http://archive.thetablet.co.uk/article/18th-december-1982/23/obituary-margaret-trouncer