[240 Crescent St., Northampton, Mass.]
I am writing this morning, before starting WORK (and work in capitals spells VERSE) so as to catch the Queen Mary on her return. She has brought your letter of the 23d this morning, with enclosures. I have to dine with the Camerons tonight, andLiterary Society, TheTSE's reasons for joining;a1 last night went for the first time to a monthly dining club which I have joined, called ‘The Literary Society’ 1 – which I joined because I like to be able to meet people outside of my own world, and the members of this are Old Buffers with no nonsense about literature. Besides, they are mostly older than I, which makes me feel young and sprightly. (ThisLucas, Edward Verrall ('E. V.')at The Literary Society;a1 wasDawson, Geoffreyat The Literary Society;a2 aDarwin, Bernardat The Literary Society;a1 smallMalcolm, Dougal;a1 meetingMaclagan, Ericat The Literary Society;a8: the Chairman of Methuen & Co. (Mr. E. V. Lucas); the Editor of The Times (Geoffrey Dawson); the Golf Expert of the Times (Bernard Darwin, who says he is related to the Sedgwicks of Stockbridge); the Chairman of the South Africa Company (Dougal Malcolm); and the Head of the Victoria & Albert Museum (Eric Maclagan). TheDawson, Bertrand, 1st Viscount Dawson of Penn;a1 other New Member, Lord Dawson of Penn, was unable to come. I had the satisfaction of blackballing a well-known man of letters, in favour of a man I had never heard of before, but who sounded the right sort. I again had a day and a half in bed with a cold, over the weekend, and had the doctor this time. Evidently the inoculations hold good, with me, for about three months, after which I need another: so I am to go for an injection next Monday. What I am really afraid of at present is Mumps! Our Sales Manager has it, andO'Donovan, Brigid;c2 now I hear Miss O’Donovan has it, fortunately it is over a month since she left us for the BBC; andRidler, Anne (née Bradby);a4 I am glad to say that Miss Bradby has had it at some earlier period of life, so I shan’t catch it from her. WhileFamily Reunion, Thebegun;b2 at home – after I had got up on Sunday afternoon, I managed to type about four pages of an opening scene. I think it is more likely that I shall have to scrap them sooner or later, and it will not surprise me if, after I have got a certain way, I scrap the whole scenario too and try to think of a new one: but anyway it is a START. And that’s the main thing. I am afflicted at the beginning with exactly the same feeling of complete inability that I have had on beginning every large piece of work, and probably always will. But I think that feeling helps to force one to something NEW. IMurder in the Cathedralcompared to next play;c9 knowFamily Reunion, Thecompared to Murder;b3 that there are all sorts of dramatic problems with which I was not faced in ‘Murder’; andAuden, Wystan Hugh ('W. H.')as verse dramatist;b6 furthermore I have got to work out a rather different kind of versification, as a plausible medium for contemporary people, in which they can make commonplace remarks without its sounding like parody and can rise to sublimity without sounding as if they were reciting a poetry piece. ThatAuden, Wystan Hugh ('W. H.')The Ascent of F6 (with Isherwood);d3 is where I am dissatisfied with Auden’s work. I sent you a copy of ‘The Ascent of F6’ did I not? In any case I will send you a copy of the second edition as soon as it is ready, as there are considerable alterations. IFabers, theand TSE attend opening of Ascent of F6;d7 wentMercury Theatre, Londonpresents The Ascent of F6;b6 onDoone, Rupertproducing The Ascent of F6;b9 FridayDukes, Ashley;c6 toBrowne, Elliott Martinand Ascent of F6;b8 the first night at the Mercury (taking the Fabers out to dinner beforehand) where it is being produced by little Rupert Doone under the auspices of Ashley Dukes and Martin Browne. (MrsMann, Erika;a1. Auden was there, and I liked her, but had no opportunity of any private conversation:2 WystanAuden, Wystan Hugh ('W. H.')away in Aragon for premiere;b7 is said to have gone to the Aragon Front).3 The production was quite good, especially some of the minor characters. Michael Devlin (who made his name in King Lear and Per [sic] Gynt at the Old Vic) was I thought rather heavy as the hero: you know my general feeling that Irish actors are incapable of much subtlety – except the kind of subtlety that there is in Irish plays). ButIsherwood, Christopherresponsible for the best of F6;a1 what worries me about the play is that, except for some lines which are good poetry, the best part of the play – and what makes it dramatic – is the prose part done by Christopher Isherwood. AudenYeats, William Butler ('W. B.')in TSE's view, yet to master dramatic verse;b9 hasnt, any more than Yeats, solved the problem of making people talk dramatically in verse; and the verse passages consequently are merely jam for poetry lovers – and in what may be called the big moments, are Shakespeare recitals, as I mentioned above. The playAuden, Wystan Hugh ('W. H.')The Dog Beneath the Skin (with Isherwood);d5 is much more dramatic than ‘The Dog Beneath the Skin’, butIsherwood, Christophershould pursue prose plays alone;a2 IAuden, Wystan Hugh ('W. H.')collaborative efforts lamented by TSE;b1 feel that it would be more satisfactory for Isherwood to produce a prose play by himself, and Auden to try to do a verse play by himself. Thecommunismas inspiration for Auden and Isherwood's collaboration;b3 merits of collaboration (when it comes to any work of literary art[)] are much overrated: I am afraid that the addiction to it is the result of a kind of communist theory as to how art ought to be produced, and I think it is a wrong theory.
I'Mr Reckitt, Mr Tomlin, and the Crisis';a2 enclose my Note on the Crisis (unsatisfactory essentially, because one cannot make any use of the various rumours and reports of a personal nature which one has heard), andEvans, Edith'Acting Shakespeare' sent to EH;a6 also a BBC piece by Edith Evans (which I haven’t had time to read myself) on acting Shakespeare.4
ISmith Collegereappoints EH;b6 wasHale, Emilyas teacher;w1reappointed with pay-rise;c4 very glad to get your letter of 23d (the previous were those of the 15th and 19th) and the welcome news that you had been re-appointed with even a slight rise. (ByHale, Emilyfinances;w5;a8 the way, I had been under the impression that your salary was $3000 not $2000; I must have misread your figures at the time). To be REappointed is a great deal more of an honour that to be appointed in the first place; and should stand you as the very best of references if you should make a change next year. And it is good to hope that you may be able next year to do some acting, if not directing. (DoEliot, Samuel Atkins, Jr. (TSE's cousin)apparently disliked;a2 you ever see Sam Eliot? I seem to have heard that he is not a very agreeable person). And I am glad that you are gradually getting more social life, though it seems to be largely feminine. (Don’t ever go to a college where there are only, or almost only, women teachers, like Wellesley). ThankYale Universityexhibits first editions of TSE;a7 you for all your news about the Yale exhibition. WhatGallup, Donaldobject of pity;a1 chiefly strikes me is the pathos of Mr. Gallup: a poor young man who ought not to be spending his money on first editions and letters etc. of mine or of anybody else; or for that matter wasting his time on such trivialities as exhibitions of odds and ends of a living author (I almost think he would like any old pipes, old shirts, odd buttons etc). He has sent me some catalogues – amazingly thorough.
NothingEgoist, The;a2 seems to be lacking except someTimes Literary Supplement, The;a5 unsigned contributions to The Egoist and The Times Literary Supplement: and I can’t supply those. I didn’t in the least mind your contributing some items! By the way, it was kind, but indiscreet of Gallup to suggest warning me about a certain person – I shall destroy his letter for that reason instead of returning it to you – if such a letter went astray it would be libellous. As a matter of fact, I have no illusions about that person because (1) I have met him and didn’t take to him (2) he played rather fast and loose with us and another London firm over a book. (But he does write well). I was also interested by the letter from Miss Lay, which I shall keep.5 I have not had any official news of the Pasadena production. MeanwhileMurder in the Cathedral1937 touring production;e9beginning in Leeds, then Manchester;a2 theEnglandLeeds, Yorkshire;g5touring Murder opens in;a3 London company has been doing very well at a large theatre in Leeds, and is now moving on to Manchester.
I was glad to know of the Memorial to Betty Lou Snider.
When I am in bed with a cold I always miss you especially! I was so glad to have that little illness – only about fifteen months ago – to have you come in to see me twice a day. In nursing and in being nursed one can express a tenderness that can be expressed in no other way. OneHale, Emilyhealth, physical and mental;w6TSE's desire to nurse;a3 mustn’t wish for even a slight illness – but all the same it would be pleasant to come down with a slight chill for a day or two at Campden next summer! But I long still more to be able to look after you.
Now I must stop and do some WORK before lunch.
1.TheLiterary Society, The;a2n Literary Society, which held monthly meetings at the Orleans Club, King Street, St James’s, London, was a select body: members included Sir Bruce Richmond, Walter de la Mare, The Rt. Hon Viscount Halifax, Sir James Barrie, A. A. Milne, The Most Hon. The Marquess of Lansdowne, The Rt Hon. Stanley Baldwin, Desmond MacCarthy, Sir Robert Vansittart, Prof. Henry Tonks, Sir Maurice Gwyer, Aldous Huxley, Kenneth Clark, Julian Huxley, Lord David Cecil. On a printed list of members handed by TSE to Hayward, TSE typed this comment: ‘What I like about This is: that there’s No Damn Nonsense about Literature.’
2.Geoffrey Faber’s Diary: ‘26 Feb. E & I dined with T.S.E. & went to first night of Ascent of F6. Met Mrs Auden.’
3.Auden was in Republican Spain, 13 Jan. to 2 Mar. 1937. See Nicholas Jenkins, Appendix to ‘Eleven Letters from Auden to Stephen Spender’, in W. H. Auden: ‘The Map of All My Youth’: Early Works, Friends and Influence, ed. Katherine Bucknell and Nicholas Jenkins (Oxford, 1990), 89–93.
4.Edith Evans, ‘Acting Shakespeare’, The Listener 17 (10 Feb. 1937), 261–3.
5.Not found.
10.W. H. AudenAuden, Wystan Hugh ('W. H.') (1907–73), poet, playwright, librettist, translator, essayist, editor: see Biographical Register.
4.E. MartinBrowne, Elliott Martin Browne (1900–80), English director and producer, was to direct the first production of Murder in the Cathedral: see Biographical Register.
9.GeoffreyDawson, Geoffrey Dawson (1874–1944), editor of The Times, 1912–19, 1922–41.
2.RupertDoone, Rupert Doone (1903–66), dancer, choreographer and producer, founded the Group Theatre, London, in 1932: 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.
2.SamuelEliot, Samuel Atkins, Jr. (TSE's cousin) Atkins Eliot, Jr. (1893–1984), author, translator of works by Frank Wedekind, Professor at Smith College, Northampton; son of the Unitarian clergyman Samuel Atkins Eliot (1862–1950) and grandson of Charles W. Eliot, President of Harvard. Works include Little Theatre Classics (3 vols, 1918–21); Erdgeist, by Wedekind (trans., 1914); and Tragedies of Sex, by Wedekind (trans., 1923).
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.DonaldGallup, Donald Gallup (1913–2000), curator, bibliographer and editor: see Biographical Register.
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.
3.BrigidO'Donovan, Brigid O’Donovan, TSE’s secretary from Jan. 1935 to Dec. 1936: see Biographical Register.
3.AnneRidler, Anne (née Bradby) (Bradby) Ridler (30 July 1912–2001), poet, playwright, editor; worked as TSE’s secretary, 1936–40: see Biographical Register.
4.W. B. YeatsYeats, William Butler ('W. B.') (1865–1939), Irish poet and playwright: see Biographical Register.