[240 Crescent St., Northampton, Mass.]
IChekhov, AntonUncle Vanya;a7 amWestminster Theatre, The, Londonpresents Uncle Vanya;a3 writingBelgion, Montgomeryaccompanies TSE to Uncle Vanya;b8 to you on Friday morning to catch the ‘Europa’, as I have arranged with Belgion to go with him to see ‘Uncle Vanya’ (which I have never seen) at the Westminster Theatre tonight.1 I am feeling a bit freer. My'Church's Message to the World, The'broadcast;a7 broadcast was done on Tuesday evening, and I am told, went off quite well: anyway, I enclose the pages from ‘The Listener’ which printed it in full. AtOldham, Josephsent TSE's Revelation contribution;b7 the same time, I have sent off to Oldham my essay for his book; andBaillie, Very Revd Johninspects Revelation contribution;a4 if they (he and John Baillie) don’t like it, there will be nothing to do but leave it out, as there isn’t time, I am glad to say, for me to write another. AndBritish Red Cross SocietyTSE to address;a1 my next public engagement is on March 10th, when I have to do a turn at Londonderry House on behalf of the Red Cross League – I dislike doing this, but Enid Faber, who is very keen on this work, asked me, so what could I do?2 I'Paul Elmer More'pleases More himself;a3 alsoPrinceton UniversityAlumni Weekly print TSE's More tribute;b1 enclose my note about More from the Princeton Alumni Weekly: I don’t know whether it is at all good or not, but (as you know) More liked it and that was the main thing.
YesGallup, Donaldobject of pity;a1, IManwaring, Elizabethcurates TSE exhibition;a4 haveYale Universityexhibits first editions of TSE;a7 heard about the Yale exhibition from both Miss Manwaring and Donald C. Gallup, who is the moving spirit.3 This Gallup is a rather pathetic young man, because he has no money and must have squandered what is for him a very tidy sum on buying first editions of my books, old magazines, andBennett, ArnoldGallup buys TSE's correspondence with;a2 even a brief correspondence of some years ago between me and Arnold Bennett. It seems very strange to me that an intelligent youth should take so much trouble and expense over fetishes. It is allright for Miss Manwaring, who is just a little hoarder and collector anyway and has I think very little interest in literature for its own sake.4 Did they accept the items you offered to lend?
ISeaverns, Helencharms TSE;b3 agree that Mrs. Seaverns is sensitive and perceptive, and I enjoy seeing her.
TheHale, Emilyphotographs of;w7in Jane Austen fashion;d2 photograph – it is a small cabinet of which I should like to know the date – head and neck only – in an evening dress of a sort of Jane Austin [sic] cut, with curls down the neck. Right profile. My criticism of it is that though it [is] an excellent pose the photographer has rather sentimentalised it, and used that detestable trick (especially unappreciative for a profile of beautiful lines) blurring the outline and making it fuzzywuzzy. ThatRay, Manhis aesthetic;a4 arty affectation has now gone out, and photographers like Man Ray now overdo themselves to make lines brutally hard and sharp. But I am glad to have the photograph.
You are perfectly right about my duty to avoid engagements; and you need not put such criticism so diffidently! Speak out bold & clear, as you have the right to do. I know that talking is not my business – nobody ought to be expected to do both talking and writing anyway. Thewritingletters of rejection;c3 requests increase – and I refuse a larger proportion than ever – inRidler, Anne (née Bradby)her secretarial duties;a3 fact I grudge the time I have to give even to dictating letters of refusal, though for ordinary ones my secretary now knows what to say without my dictating them all separately. A large number I know to reject without hesitation as unsuitable: I wish I had kept count of the number of requests I had to give Lenten addresses! I don’t want to set up as a lay preacher. When the invitations come from people I know (e.g. the Principal of Pusey House who are having a Jubilee in June) I have to compose a fresh letter each time: when they are from strangers my secretary can do it. There are also letters from strangers asking for information about my work or what I think about this or that – I have had to stop answering these, because many of the questions would take thousands of words to answer properly; requests to sign manifestoes – which sometimes involve a letter of explanation of why I object to signing them; people who want poetry criticised – I don’t do this any more, unless there is some personal claim.
Iwritingrequires periods of fruitful latency;c4 admit I do need a period to fertilise my mind – fill up the reservoir – and let ideas germinate without forcing them.
IUnderhill, Evelynquizzed on divinity textbooks;b6 dined last night with the Stuart Moores – it was really on business, and I wanted to discuss this question of divinity books with her – it is a queer wildgoose chase – everyone agrees that good books for teaching divinity in schools are very much needed, but I have not yet found anybody to edit such a series. She has now set me on to the Headmaster of Marlborough and the Archdeacon of Auckland. I am sorry that you did not meet her.
INeilson, William Allanable to extend EH's contract;a4 very much hope that Neilson will want you to stay on for another year; and I believe that you will be, in retrospect and when you can see things in proportion, very much less dissatisfied with your work than you are still.
There9 Grenville Place, Londonlikely to be sold;b8 is a prospect of our selling Grenville Place before the summer (I say we, because it is in the names of the vicar and wardens). I think it would be a very good thing, and the vicar would be glad to be relieved of running such a houseful. The house is old, and dilapidations at the end of the lease will be expensive, and it is not an ideal situation. It is possible that the curates may go to 22 Bina Gardens (Hayward’s house) andCheetham, Revd Ericpossible flatmate;c6 in that case I should probably share a flat with the vicar. He understand[s] that I should want two good rooms, and my meals to myself. He would take Elizabeth (I should be less anxious to stay with him without Elizabeth); and of course it would have to be pretty near by. OtherwiseHayward, Johnpossible housemate;g5, I had thought of sharing something with John. At least, I feel that he ought to have at least one of his friends fairly near by.
I kiss you and pray for you, my Emily.
1.Uncle Vanya, trans. Constance Garrett, dir. Michael MacOwen, starred Harcourt Williams.
2.TheBritish Red Cross Societywhich he does at Enid Faber's instance;a2n fund-raising entertainment on behalf of the British Red Cross Society – a discussion called ‘Authors’ Night’ – hosted by Lord and Lady Londonderry at Londonderry House on 10 Mar. (preceded by a sherry party on 3 Mar.) was to feature addresses of 10–15 mins. each by speakers including C. Day Lewis, Canon H. R. L. ‘Dick’ Sheppard, and Humbert Wolfe. Lord Esher was to take the chair, and Lord Balniel (chair of the Ex-Committee) to propose thanks. (The Society supplied books and magazines to over 2,000 hospitals and other institutions.)
Mrs Roberts reported on 11 Feb. that a special meeting of the Book Trade Advisory Committee had decided upon an order for the six speakers, and that TSE was to be last of all.
3.DonaldGallup, Donald Gallup (1913–2000), curator, bibliographer and editor: see Biographical Register.
Gallup had met TSE, with the Sheffields, and Henry and Theresa Eliot, on a visit to Wellesley College – ‘one of my happiest experiences’, he said. See Donald C. Gallup, A Catalogue of English and American First Editions of Writings by T. S. Eliot Exhibited in the Yale University Library 22 February to 20 March, 1937 (1937).
4.Elizabeth Manwaring delivered a lecture, ‘Some uses of the poetry of T. S. Eliot …’ on Fri. 2 Feb. 1937.
3.VeryBaillie, Very Revd John Revd John Baillie (1886–1960), distinguished Scottish theologian; minister of the Church of Scotland; Roosevelt Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Seminary, New York, 1930–4; and was Professor of Divinity at Edinburgh University, 1934–59. In 1919 he married Florence Jewel Fowler (1893–1969), whom he met in service in France during WW1. Author of What is Christian Civilization? (lectures, 1945). See Keith Clements, ‘John Baillie and “the Moot”’, in Christ, Church and Society: Essays on John Baillie and Donald Baillie, ed. D. Fergusson (Edinburgh, 1993); Clements, ‘Oldham and Baillie: A Creative Relationship’, in God’s Will in a Time of Crisis: A Colloquium Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Baillie Commission, ed. A. R. Morton (Edinburgh, 1994).
4.MontgomeryBelgion, Montgomery (‘Monty’) Belgion (1892–1973), author and journalist: see Biographical Register.
4.RevdCheetham, Revd Eric Eric Cheetham (1892–1957): vicar of St Stephen’s Church, Gloucester Road, London, 1929–56 – ‘a fine ecclesiastical showman’, as E. W. F. Tomlin dubbed him. TSE’s landlord and friend at presbytery-houses in S. Kensington, 1934–9. See Letters 7, 34–8.
3.DonaldGallup, Donald Gallup (1913–2000), curator, bibliographer and editor: see Biographical Register.
11.JohnHayward, John Davy Hayward (1905–65), editor and critic: see Biographical Register.
3.ElizabethManwaring, Elizabeth Manwaring (1879–1959), a Professor of English at Wellesley College, was author of a pioneering study, Italian Landscape in Eighteenth Century England: a study chiefly of the influence of Claude Lorrain and Salvator Rosa on English Taste, 1700–1800 (New York, 1925). Good friend of TSE’s sister Marian.
8.WilliamNeilson, William Allan Allan Neilson (1869–1946), Scottish-American scholar, educator, lexicographer, author (works include studies of Shakespeare and Robert Burns; editions of Shakespeare): President of Smith College, 1917–39. See Margaret Farrand Thorp, Neilson of Smith (1956).
8.JosephOldham, Joseph (‘Joe’) Houldsworth Oldham (1874–1969), missionary, adviser, organiser: see Biographical Register.
1.ManRay, Man Ray (1890–1976), pioneering photographer and artist; born Emmanuel Rodnitsky, the son of a Russian-Jewish tailor who had settled in Philadelphia. He grew up in New York, where even as a teenager he adopted his redolent pseudonym, and fell under the influence of Alfred Stieglitz’s Gallery 291 on Fifth Avenue. He became one of the leaders of Dadaism and Surrealism. For most of his adult life he lived in Paris, where he built his reputation as an experimental photographer; he also made notable contributions to film.
3.AnneRidler, Anne (née Bradby) (Bradby) Ridler (30 July 1912–2001), poet, playwright, editor; worked as TSE’s secretary, 1936–40: see Biographical Register.
3.HelenSeaverns, Helen Seaverns, widow of the American-born businessman and Liberal MP, Joel Herbert Seaverns: see Biographical Register.
1.EvelynUnderhill, Evelyn Underhill (1875–1941), spiritual director and writer on mysticism and the spiritual life: see Biographical Register.