[22 Paradise Rd., Northampton, Mass.]
Your letter of the 3d arrived this morning by the Normandie; it seems to have been a long time coming; and Edinburgh seems to me so long ago, that it is strange to hear from you that you are still waiting to hear about it. I did write on my return to give an account! There was no boat out during the latter part of last week. ItHayward, Johnand TSE give another party;h5 wasFaber, Geoffreyat TSE and JDH's dinner;f9 aMacCarthy, Desmondwhich he thanks them for;a3 busy week, as I had told you in advance. The dinner that John and I gave to Geoffrey and Desmond Mac Carthy was very successful: both the guests have written to him to express their enjoyment – which is natural for Geoffrey, but very unusual for Desmond. Thealcoholfine wines at JDH's;c3 Corton Charlemagne, the Richebourg ’23, and the Biscuit Dubouché ’84 were appreciated, as well as my Partagas Panetelas [sic]. ThursdayAshbee, C. R.courted by TSE over memoirs;a1 I have to take off to go down to Sevenoaks to see C. R. Ashbee, who wants us to do his memoirs, and made me come down to him to spend an afternoon reading them – as they make at least seven volumes it is rather difficult, and he is to try to get some American Trust to subsidise them.1 AshbeeEnglandChipping Campden, Gloucestershire;e1its Arts & Crafts associations;a6 was one of the founders of the Arts & Crafts Guild Movement in Campden! andMiller, Alec;a1 was in at the beginning with Alec Miller (heMiller, Alastair W. R.;a3 was very anxious to hear about the family, and Alistair [sc. Alastair],2 and Janey and her husband whom the Ashbees had not taken to any more than I did) and Hart, etc. Since those days he has done a number of things (he is an architect) and was most interesting in talking about Palestine, where he spent some years after the war – he was sent by the government to plan towns – and knows Sir Arthur Wauchope etc.3 I was interested to find that he is, in the Palestine embroglio, anti-Jewish – all the more interesting because I suspect from his physiognomy and from certain remarks in his memoirs, that he has Hamburg Jewish blood himself – and his appearance bears it out – and what he said about that hopeless mess was certainly most persuasive. WeEnglandKnole Park, Kent;g3;a1 walked through Knole Park in the afternoon: I have never seen Knole before, and was surprised to find it such a jumble of accretions of every period – I had always supposed that it was a complete Elizabethan structure. We did not go very close to it. Whom else have I seen? ILewis, Wyndham;b1 have had an evening with Wyndham Lewis, and haveLewis, WyndhamThe Lion and the Fox;c6 been writing a note on one of his books for a Lewis number of ‘Twentieth Century Verse’ – not that I have any obligation to that periodical, but because I feel that I ought to support Lewis, who is certainly our greatest prose writer, as well as our best artist.4 AndHutchinson, Maryto I Have Been Here Before;c2 onPriestley, J. B.I Have Been Here Before;a9 Saturday evening I went with Mary Hutchinson to see Priestley’s second ‘time’ play; ‘I have been here before’ it is called.5 Not nearly so good as the one we saw. The philosophy is just as feeble, and a good deal more of it; and the character study less interesting. Only one scene throughout – which I now think, on the contemporary stage, is a mistake: anyway a play ought to be exceedingly absorbing to stand the monotony of one scene throughout – especially when it is a Yorkshire inn. Also, it seemed to me that the play was very slow (which was rather encouraging, because I know that is my weakness) and a great deal of time wasted by people coming in and out. AndBrownes, the MartinTSE reads Family Reunion to;b3 onFamily Reunion, Thedraft read to Martin Brownes;c1 Sunday night I supped with the Martin Brownes and read my play to them (at their request) – all of that that I have written. I didn’t get home till nearly half past twelve. I left the text with Martin to mull over. IBrowne, Elliott Martin1939 production of The Family Reunion;c1enthused by script;a3 was much encouraged to find that they were really excited by it, and that Martin thought that the versification really had got what I was trying to get. And he did not seem to be worried by the slowness of movement of the first act. He said that it would be very difficult to find the actors who could speak that verse properly, because it would be so easy to ruin all by speaking it as prose; thought that the casting should be very careful, and that a great deal of rehearsing would be needed. SoFamily Reunion, Theprojected autumn 1938 production;c2 we shall probably agree, against Ashley’s impetuosity, to postpone production until the autumn; especially asMurder in the Cathedral1938 American tour;f6opening in Boston in January;a6 Martin has got to go to America with the Murder troupe in January, for at least six weeks. I shall see Martin again about Christmas, when I shall have written more and when he will have had time to consider what I have given him. In short, I feel much encouraged! nevertheless, the part that I have still to write is the most difficult, and must move swiftly and surprisingly. I begin tomorrow!
LastPerkinses, the;g6 night I dined with the Perkins [sic], very happily, at Aban Court, and after dinner went up with them to their flat, and think they are very pleasantly situated. They have a self-contained suite of two nice bedrooms, a boxroom, and a bathroom, with an entrance hall. ISunderland-Taylor, Alice Maud Mary;a1 hope to dine with them again on Monday week to meet Miss Sunderland-Taylor.6 I do want to entertain them in some way, but so far have not thought of anything interesting.
TomorrowChandos Group;a5 I may dine with the Chandos Group, orBelgion, Montgomeryto Richard III;c1 notShakespeare, WilliamRichard III;c7 – Thursday I go with Belgion to Richard III, of which I will write later. To-dayPickthorn, Kenneth;a6 had Pickthorn to lunch: the place full of ecclesiastics, as the Church Assembly is in session. PeterWinckworth, Peter;a2 WinckworthCecil, Lord Hugh;a1 (a member)7 with whom I lunched on Monday at Windham’s, tells me that Lord Hugh Cecil8 is to make an important speech perhaps on Friday. OnSociety of the Sacred Mission, Kelham Hall, NottinghamshireTSE's November 1938 weekend at;b6 SaturdayEvery, George;a5 IHerbert, Fr Gabriel;a3 go to Kelham to see George Every and Father Gabriel. NextMorleys, thetheir Thanksgiving parties;b2 week is the Morleys’ Thanksgiving Party and weekend: afterFamily Reunion, TheTSE on writing;b4 that I hope not to leave London or the Family Reunion for a long time.
So much just an information letter to catch up. Morley’s'Development of Shakespeare's Verse, The'Morley comments on;a5 comments'Development of Shakespeare's Verse, The'Granville-Barker, Wilson and Martin Browne sent;a6 were not on the cat poem but on my Shakespeare lectures, whichGranville-Barker, Harleyrecipient of TSE's Shakespeare lectures;a1 areWilson, John Doverreceives TSE's Shakespeare lectures;a4 notBrowne, Elliott Martinreceives TSE's Shakespeare lectures;c3 [sc. now] being typed out again, so that I may send copies to you, to Granville-Barker, to Dover Wilson and to Martin Browne. Then perhaps next summer I shall re-write them (collating all the criticisms I expect from you all) and deliver them again in the autumn in Copenhagen. Now you say: sort out the books I find most helpful to me! I can’t do that all at once. And some of them are I know helpful to me that couldn’t possibly be in the same [way] helpful to anybody else. But as a first shot
EnglishPascal, BlaisePensées;a4 | ShakespeareShakespeare, Williamspiritually 'helpful';a5 | FrenchPascal, Blaisespiritually helpful;a3 | Pascal’s Pensées |
The Bible | St. Francoisde Sales, St. FrançoisL'Amour de Dieu;a1 de Sales | ||
Italian | DanteDante Alighierispiritually 'helpful';a4 | (L’amour de dieu) |
that’s a large order. Some of the little books that one reverts to may be more suggestive. I will return to this. I am glad you make a real breakfast. Now I shall write again, by the next boat in three days, and shall not have to be informative.
1.C. R. AshbeeAshbee, C. R. (1863–1942), architect and designer; charismatic leader of the Arts and Crafts movement that took inspiration from the works of John Ruskin and the socialism of William Morris. The ‘Ashbee Memoirs’ (which were too enormous for F&F to contemplate publishing at this time) are now housed in the Library of King’s College, Cambridge.
2.AlecMiller, Alec Miller (1879–1961), accomplished Scottish carver and sculptor – associate of Ashbee – lived in Chipping Campden (where the Perkinses, Hale and TSE made his acquaintance); in 1939 he emigrated to California. Alastair was his elder child. See Jane Wilgress, Alec Miller: Guildsman and Sculptor in Chipping Campden (Chipping Campden: CADHAS, 1998).
3.General Sir Arthur Wauchope (1874–1947), soldier and colonial administrator; High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief for Palestine and Trans-Jordan, 1931–8.
4.TSE, ‘The Lion and the Fox’, Twentieth-Century Verse 6/7 (Nov./Dec. 1937), 6–9: CProse 5, 573–8.
5.J. B. Priestley’s I Have Been Here Before, produced by Lewis Casson at the Royalty Theatre, London, opened on 22 Sept. 1937.
6.AliceSunderland-Taylor, Alice Maud Mary Maud Mary Sunderland-Taylor (1872–1942), owner of Stamford House, Chipping Campden, which the Perkinses were renting for the season. (Sunderland-Taylor, a spinster and retired schoolteacher from Stamford, Lincolnshire, liked to spend her summers in Yugoslavia.) Edith Perkins wrote from Aban Court Hotel, Harrington Gardens, South Kensington, London, to invite TSE to meet Sunderland-Taylor at dinner on Mon. 29 Nov.
7.Peter Winckworth was author of Sensible Christians (1935); Does Religion Cause War? (1934); The Way of War: Verses (1939); A Simple Approach to Canon Law (1951); The Seal of the Confessional and the Law of Evidence (1952); A Verification of the Faculty Jurisdiction (1953); and A History of the Gresham Lectures (1966).
8.LordCecil, Lord Hugh Hugh Cecil (1869–1956), Conservative party politician; Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford, 1891–1936; MP for Greenwich, 1895–1906, then for Oxford University, 1910–35; raised to the peerage as Baron Quickswood, 1941.
1.C. R. AshbeeAshbee, C. R. (1863–1942), architect and designer; charismatic leader of the Arts and Crafts movement that took inspiration from the works of John Ruskin and the socialism of William Morris. The ‘Ashbee Memoirs’ (which were too enormous for F&F to contemplate publishing at this time) are now housed in the Library of King’s College, Cambridge.
4.MontgomeryBelgion, Montgomery (‘Monty’) Belgion (1892–1973), author and journalist: 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.
8.LordCecil, Lord Hugh Hugh Cecil (1869–1956), Conservative party politician; Fellow of Hertford College, Oxford, 1891–1936; MP for Greenwich, 1895–1906, then for Oxford University, 1910–35; raised to the peerage as Baron Quickswood, 1941.
4.GeorgeEvery, George Every, SSM (1909–2003), historian and poet: see Biographical Register.
11.GeoffreyFaber, Geoffrey Faber (1889–1961), publisher and poet: see Biographical Register.
1.HarleyGranville-Barker, Harley Granville-Barker (1877–1946), English actor, director, playwright and critic.
11.JohnHayward, John Davy Hayward (1905–65), editor and critic: see Biographical Register.
5.Fr ArthurHerbert, Fr Gabriel Gabriel Hebert, SSM.
3.MaryHutchinson, Mary Hutchinson (1889–1977), literary hostess and author: see Biographical Register.
7.WyndhamLewis, Wyndham Lewis (1882–1957), painter, novelist, philosopher, critic: see Biographical Register.
1.DesmondMacCarthy, Desmond MacCarthy (1877–1952), literary and dramatic critic, was intimately associated with the Bloomsbury Group. Literary editor of the New Statesman, 1920–7; editor of Life and Letters, 1928–33; he moved in 1928 to the Sunday Times, where he was the chief reviewer for many years. See Desmond MacCarthy: The Man and His Writings (1984); Hugh and Mirabel Cecil, Clever Hearts: Desmond and Molly MacCarthy: A Biography (1990).
5.AlastairMiller, Alastair W. R. W. R. Miller, a resident of Chipping Campden.
2.AlecMiller, Alec Miller (1879–1961), accomplished Scottish carver and sculptor – associate of Ashbee – lived in Chipping Campden (where the Perkinses, Hale and TSE made his acquaintance); in 1939 he emigrated to California. Alastair was his elder child. See Jane Wilgress, Alec Miller: Guildsman and Sculptor in Chipping Campden (Chipping Campden: CADHAS, 1998).
8.KennethPickthorn, Kenneth Pickthorn (1892–1975), historian and politician; Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge: see Biographical Register.
1.J. B. PriestleyPriestley, J. B. (1894–1984), novelist, playwright, social commentator, broadcaster; author of bestselling novels including The Good Companions (1929) and Angel Pavement (1930); and plays including Time and the Conways (1937) and An Inspector Calls (1945).
6.AliceSunderland-Taylor, Alice Maud Mary Maud Mary Sunderland-Taylor (1872–1942), owner of Stamford House, Chipping Campden, which the Perkinses were renting for the season. (Sunderland-Taylor, a spinster and retired schoolteacher from Stamford, Lincolnshire, liked to spend her summers in Yugoslavia.) Edith Perkins wrote from Aban Court Hotel, Harrington Gardens, South Kensington, London, to invite TSE to meet Sunderland-Taylor at dinner on Mon. 29 Nov.
4.JohnWilson, John Dover Dover Wilson (1881–1969), literary and textual scholar; Regius Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature, Edinburgh, 1935–45. Renowned as editor of the New Cambridge Shakespeare, 1921–66. His writings include The Essential Shakespeare (1932); The Fortunes of Falstaff (1943); and Shakespeare’s Happy Comedies (1962).
2.PeterWinckworth, Peter Winckworth was author of Sensible Christians (1935); Does Religion Cause War? (1934); The Way of War: Verses (1939); A Simple Approach to Canon Law (1951); The Seal of the Confessional and the Law of Evidence (1952); A Verification of the Faculty Jurisdiction (1953); A History of the Gresham Lectures (1966); Beware of the Archdeacon: A Commentary on the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure, 1963 (Oxford, 1972).