[22 Paradise Rd., Northampton, Mass.]
Neither your letter of the 25th nor that of the 30th gives any hint of how you spent Thanksgiving Day – whether you went to Cambridge or not. However, it is already time to think of where you will be at Christmas. I note that you will be in Northampton till the 18th, so you may get one more letter after this; and that you will probably be at the Lincolnshire with the Perkins’s.1 YouJanes, W. L.his Christmas dinners with TSE;a3 will imagine me dining at 1.30 Greenwich time with Janes and Mrs. Webster. (AtBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)Christmas Day 'Cats' broadcast;b2 2.45Tandy, Geoffreyand the original 'Cats' broadcast;c1 on Christmas Day, by the way, there is a reading of several Practical Cats on the National B.B.C. Programme by Tandy. I rather dissociate myself from this, though I shall be interested to learn whether there is any enthusiasm among listeners, and have asked them to pay my permission fee to Tandy). Well, the extraction of a tooth went off very well, though it took a long time to dig it out, and I am now learning to chew again. My dentist promises to give me a plate to fill up the gaps in my back teeth (now considerable) in six months time. And that done, I went and purchased some Christmas cards – 120 anyway, I shall probably think of more people later – and propose to address them in odd moments; and am collecting suggestions for presents for my godchildren and their brothers and sisters, and intend to do all my purchasing next week – andSwan, Ethel;a7 aHayward, Johngiven wine for Christmas;f9 gift for Miss Swan our telephone girl and a bottle of wine for John Hayward: all this forwardness induced by impatience at interruptions of my writing: but I shall have had four mornings this week on it. AshleyDukes, AshleyAmerican Murder tour;d3 Dukes came in to see me yesterday; he is leaving for New York on the 26th, and will be in Boston when the troupe arrived [sic]. TheyMurder in the Cathedral1938 American tour;f6tour itinerary;a8 will start performing in Boston on the 31st January, for two weeks, andBrownes, the Martin;b4 I hope you will see them there and will see the Brownes; then they go to Philadelphia, and thence to Pittsburg [sc. Pittsburgh], Washington and Baltimore, and them [sc. then] to New York for as long as the receipts equal expenses, and then to Toronto, Montreal and Quebec, and return to England. If they were really prospering, they think they might run out to Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco but I think that unlikely.
Miss'Development of Shakespeare's Verse, The'Granville-Barker, Wilson and Martin Browne sent;a6 Evans'Development of Shakespeare's Verse, The'sent to EH;a7 (Morley’s secretary) has just finished typing out copies of my Edinburgh lectures, and I am having them sent off at once to you, to Browne, Granville-Barker, and Dover Wilson. For favour of comment at your leisure – because I shan’t go to Copenhagen, to deliver a revised version, until next October or November.
IfMurder in the Cathedral1938 American tour;f6Family Reunion keeps TSE from;a9 IFamily Reunion, TheTSE on writing;b4 had not determined to stop in London until the F.R. is finished, I might be tempted to come over to New York if the Murder is being a success. But it is much better that I should not think about it; and I expect to see you in June here anyway.
At present, wrestling with the situation between Harry and Agatha, with about four more pages to go.
Thank you for your encouragement in the Bassiano episode.
IUnderhill, Revd Francis, Bishop of Bath and Wellsconfession with;a4 shan’t go down to Wells before Christmas – for which I am glad: I shall see Underhill here on the 21st.
ISeaverns, Helenhosts TSE and the Perkinses;b6 dinedPerkinses, the;h1 with Mrs. Seaverns and the Perkins’s (we went together) on Saturday – the other guests were Jim, whom I do not mind, andBrown, Beatrix Curtis;a1 Bee (Beatrice Curtis Browne) whom as you know I regard with a mild malevolence. But all went well, I think, andAdams, Fr Walter Frederick, SSJE;a1 I had Sunday ALL to myself, except for seeing in the evening Father Adams of Cowley,2 who was staying here, as he had preached, and as the vicar had gone away to retreat – andCamerons, thefirst television-watching experience with;a6 thenMacaulay, Rosewatches television with TSE;a2 lastHayward, Johnwatches television with TSE;h7 night dined quietly with the Camerons (Elizabeth Bowen) and Rose Macauley [sc. Macaulay] and John, andBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC);b3 after dinner weCameron, Alanowns television set;a2 looked at the television set which the B.B.C. had given Alan Cameron – a truly remarkable toy – otherwise the pictures were hardly worth looking at, as they consisted of a ‘cabaret show’. I have never been to a cabaret show, and I don’t think I want to: there was a young woman who crooned and then danced, a man and a woman who did some rather remarkable acrobatics (standing on each other’s heads on one foot and playing a fiddle etc.) and a comedian who did imitations of other comedians etc. It confirmed my opinion that the ability of the human mind for inventing machines exceeds the ability of the human mind to think of anything useful to do with the machines when invented. All that scientific knowledge and ingenuity employed just to let a few people sit in a drawing room and look at a show that they would have despised themselves for going to see!
I shall write once more to Northampton. ProbablyO'Neill, EugeneMourning Becomes Electra;a6 twiceMacNeice, LouisOut of the Picture;b3: because I shall have to report on ‘Mourning Becomes Electra’ and on ‘Out of the Picture’ (by Louis MacNeice)3 and I want to talk about more serious things than either of these.
I like your new thin paper.
IBaylis, LilianTSE's valediction on;a5 mustOld Vic, The;b3 find out what is to become of the Old Vic without Lilian Baylis.4 She annoyed me very much, but I have a great admiration and respect for her, and she was a Christian too.
1.Hotel Lincolnshire, Charles Street, Boston.
2.FatherAdams, Fr Walter Frederick, SSJE Walter Frederick Adams, SSJE (1871–1952), of the Cowley Fathers, was for twelve years the confessor and spiritual director of C. S. Lewis.
3.ProducedMacNeice, LouisOut of the Picture;b3 by Rupert Doone at the Group Theatre, with music by Benjamin Britten, sets and costumes by Robert Medley. The blurb for Out of the Picture, F&F New Books July–Dec. 1937, was almost certainly written by TSE: ‘This is the verse play on which Mr MacNeice has been at work for a considerable time. Mr MacNeice is already an established younger poet; with the Agamemnon he proved that Greek Tragedy can be accurately translated into vigorously dramatic verse in contemporary metre and idiom. We predict that his first original play – which is to be produced in the autumn – will take its place in the repertory of the new poetic theatre.’
4.Lilian Baylis had died on 25 Nov.
2.FatherAdams, Fr Walter Frederick, SSJE Walter Frederick Adams, SSJE (1871–1952), of the Cowley Fathers, was for twelve years the confessor and spiritual director of C. S. Lewis.
2.LilianBaylis, Lilian Baylis (1874–1937), English theatre producer; manager of the Old Vic and Sadler’s Wells theatres; an opera company (subsequently English National Opera) and a ballet company that was to become the Royal Ballet. She fostered the careers of numerous stars including John Gielgud, Laurence Olivier, Sybil Thorndike and Michael Redgrave.
4.AshleyDukes, Ashley Dukes (1885–1959), theatre manager, playwright, critic, translator, adapter, author; from 1933, owner of the Mercury Theatre, London: see Biographical Register.
11.JohnHayward, John Davy Hayward (1905–65), editor and critic: see Biographical Register.
4.W. L. JanesJanes, W. L. (1854–1939), ex-policeman who worked as handyman for the Eliots. Having been superannuated from the police force early in the century, he worked for a period (until about 1921) as a plain-clothes detective in the General Post Office. TSE reminisced to Mary Trevelyan on 2 Apr. 1951: ‘If I ever write my reminiscences, which I shan’t, Janes would have a great part in them’ (‘The Pope of Russell Square’). TSE to Adam Roberts (b. 1940; godson of TSE), 12 Dec. 1955: ‘I … knew a retired police officer, who at one period had to snoop in plain clothes in the General Post Office in Newgate Street – he caught several culprits, he said’ (Adam Roberts). HisJanes, Ada wife was Ada Janes (d. 1935).
1.RoseMacaulay, Rose Macaulay (1881–1958), novelist, biographer, travel writer. Her fictions include Dangerous Ages (1921); Told by an Idiot (1923); Keeping Up Appearances (1928); The Towers of Trebizond (1956). Created DBE, 1957. (TSE’s secretary Brigid O’Donovan was Macaulay’s goddaughter.)
7.LouisMacNeice, Louis MacNeice (1907–63), poet, radio producer and playwright: see Biographical Register.
2.EugeneO'Neill, Eugene O’Neill (1888–1953), American playwright; author of works including Anna Christie (1920); The Emperor Jones (1920); The Hairy Ape (1922); All God’s Chillun Got Wings (1924); Desire Under the Elms (1924); Mourning Becomes Electra (1931); The Iceman Cometh (1940); Long Day’s Journey into Night (1941, 1956). Nobel Prize, 1936.
3.HelenSeaverns, Helen Seaverns, widow of the American-born businessman and Liberal MP, Joel Herbert Seaverns: see Biographical Register.
2.EthelSwan, Ethel Swan, a Faber & Gwyer ‘pioneer’, joined the firm on 12 Oct. 1925, as telephonist and receptionist, retiring in 1972 after 47 years. PeterSwan, EthelPeter du Sautoy's tribute to;a2n du Sautoy reported in 1971: ‘These duties she still performs with admirable skill and charm … SheJoyce, Jameson the phone to the F&F receptionist;c1n has an amazing memory for voices and it is certain that if James Joyce were to return to earth to telephone a complaint (he called us “Feebler and Fumbler”) she would say “Good morning, Mr Joyce” before he could introduce himself, as if he had previously been telephoning only yesterday. Many a visiting author or publisher from overseas has felt more kindly towards Faber & Faber as a result of Miss Swan’s friendly recognition’ (‘Farewell, Russell Square’, The Bookseller no. 3410 [1 May 1971], 2040).
2.GeoffreyTandy, Geoffrey Tandy (1900–69), marine biologist; Assistant Keeper of Botany at the Natural History Museum, London, 1926–47; did broadcast readings for the BBC (including the first reading of TSE’s Practical Cats on Christmas Day 1937): see Biographical Register.
2.Revd Francis UnderhillUnderhill, Revd Francis, Bishop of Bath and Wells, DD (1878–1943), TSE’s spiritual counsellor: see Biographical Register.