[22 Paradise Rd., Northampton, Mass.]

T. S.Eliot
EmilyHale
TS
Shamley
Letter 101.
19 November 1941
Dearest,

As I have not gone up to town this week, I delayed writing in the hope that there would be something from you: but there has been nothing since 107 written just a month ago. I hope that this does not mean illness, either your own or anyone’s else, andOldham, Josephconvenes education group meeting;d8 I hope that something will arrive before I go to Oxford on Saturday. That will be a small weekend meeting at Oldham’s: beforeFaber, Enid Eleanor;b5 I go I must read some County Council syllabuses of Religious Education in country schools that Enid has sent me at my request. This'Duchess of Malfy, The';a3 week IBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)broadcasts Webster talk;c7 have polished my talk on The Duchess of Malfy, and shall run it through on the microphone for length on Tuesday before the broadcast; ITrevelyan, Maryand Student Movement House;a2 have also written out my notes for my Student Mission House talk on Cultural Values after the War on Saturday week, andStewart, Hugh FraserThe Secret of Pascal;a3 finally'Great Layman, The';a1 written a note on Hugh Stewart’s book on Pascal which I promised to the Cambridge Review eight months ago.1 I'Notes Towards a Definition of Culture'outline for;a2 alsoReckitt, Maurice;a8 drafted an outline of my essay for Reckitt’s volume, on much the same lines as my talk, and have written a considerable number of letters. (BySeaverns, Helengives TSE her news;d7 the way, I had a letter from Mrs. Seaverns, who was evidently pleased by hearing from me, giving me favourable news of Parrott, Willum and Roy; and apparently Jim is all right). So the week has not been altogether idled away. ThisShamley Wood, Surreyits melodramas;b2 household is in its usual state of excitement over one thing or another: yesterday the electric light went wrong, the day before the hot water boiler proved to be using too much coke, and so on. MrsBehrens, Margaret Elizabeth (née Davidson)tends to Shamley hens;a2. Behrens looks after the hens, andBlumenfield, Olga;a1 occasionally runs up to town to see her daughter, a young woman named Madame Blumenfeld (having married a French nephew of the noted Chaim Weizmann,2 but the Behrens’s, being related to the Montefiores, the Cohens, the Beddingtons and the Rothschilds seem to look down on the Blumenfeld) a young woman, as I said (the daughter) who is popularly known, and referred to by her mother, as ‘Brutal Behrens’. The daughter, for some reason, is sharing a flat in Edgware with her old nurse, her husband being still in France. MonsignorHallett, Monsignor Philip;a2 Hallett came to tea. NextHealey, Robert C.;a3 weekDukes, Ashley;g5, I have Ashley Dukes to lunch on Monday to meet a young American, an attaché at the Embassy, who is interested in Contemporary Drama; andDobrées, the;b5Dobrée, BonamyDobrées, theDobrée, GeorginaDobrées, theDobrée, ValentineDobrées, theBrooke-Pechell, Sir Augustus AlexanderDobrées, the theFabers, the;g3 Dobrées come to dinner at the Fabers. TuesdayRead, Herbertand Bukhari to lunch with TSE;c3 lunchBukhari, Zulfiqar Ali;a5 with Mr. Bokhari and Herbert Read, ThursdaySword of the Spirit, Thecommittee meetings of;a1 a meeting of the Sword of the Spirit Committee,3 and Saturday the blackchat [sic] to the Gold Coast students. I propose to return to Shamley on Sunday; and the following week shall only spend two nights in town, asNew English Weekly;b8 the New English Weekly is to have an all day conference at Reckitts’ in Guildford.

Theautumnat Shamley;a6 month is distinctly November; but the leaves have been late in turning this year, and are now particularly beautiful: the different shades of yellow and brown of Spanish chestnut, birch, beech, oak and bracken are very lovely. In a fortnight’s time, I dare say, the trees will be leafless. GwendaHawkes, Gwenda (née Glubb);a1 Glubb (the sister of Glubb Pasha of Irak, of whom you may have heard[)],4 has found me a cigarette lighter, very useful in these days when one must economise matches. TheFaber and Faber (F&F)wartime bookbinding issues;e7 problem confronting publishers at the moment is whether the binders will be allowed enough labour to bind the books. The ignorant say ‘bind in paper’, but that requires different machinery, which the printers are not well provided with. I am taking Bemax with my breakfast, for vitamines [sic]. Theappearance (TSE's)teeth;c2false upper plate;a8 teeth are now very comfortable: I still forget to put them in, but I have also got to the point at which I forget to take them out, and I can now whistle much more piercingly: but I must wait in patience for the lower set (which should really improve my chewing) until my gums have got into shape. IFabers, thetake TSE to International Squadron;g4 went to another film last week with the Fabers, called ‘International Squadron’, about an American who joins the R.A.F.:5 I think it should be very interesting for Americans, if it [is] shown there, but we did not feel that our money had been well expended in seeing a picture of an air raid in London, and vowed that on the next occasion we would try to find a cowboy film.

IEliots, the Henryinvited to EH's birthday;b4 have not yet had the report of your birthday party. I do hope that Henry and Theresa were able to come. You see that I have no particular news myself, except to send

my fondest love
Tom

1.TSE on The Secret of Pascal: Cambridge Review, 29 Nov. 1941: CProse 6, 192–5.

2.OlgaBlumenfield, Olga Blumenfeld, married to Chaim Weizmann’s nephew Serge Blumenfeld.

3.See ‘Foundational Statement of the Joint Standing Committee of Religion and Life and the Sword of the Spirit’, The Living Church 104 (7 June 1942), 9: CProse 6, 800–2; and editorial notation, p. 802: ‘The Sword of the Spirit was an antitotalitarian organization intended to unify Roman Catholic support of the British war effort and to promote Christian social values in the conduct of the war and the subsequent peace. Religion and Life was founded in 1941 as a sister organization for Anglicans and Free-Church members after the Roman Catholic hierarchy overruled the Sword’s ecumenical intentions.

‘TSE took part in the meetings, beginning late in 1941, at which this joint statement was forged. […] The resulting Joint Standing Committee met monthly thereafter to coordinate the activities of the two groups.’

4.GwendaHawkes, Gwenda (née Glubb) Hawkes, née Glubb (1894–1990), motor-racing legend. As an ambulance driver during WW1, serving on the Russian and the Romanian Fronts, she showed such great courage that she was awarded both the Cross of St George and the Cross of St Stanislaus and was mentioned in despatches. From the 1920s she competed in motor-cycle and motor-car races at Brooklands and at the Autodrome de Montlhéry near Paris, breaking or establishing a number of world speed records, and in 1935 she became the fastest woman ever at the Brooklands circuit. Her brother was John Bagot Glubb (1897–1966) – ‘Glubb Pasha,’ as he became known – accomplished professional soldier, who founded the Arab Patrol in 1931, and was later to serve as commanding general of the Arab Legion in Transjordan, 1939–56.

5.International Squadron (1941), an American film directed by Lewis Seiler and Lothar Mendes, starred Ronald Reagan as the flying ace Jimmy Grant.

appearance (TSE's), 'pudding-faced', TSE remembers wearing make-up, of a third-rate actor, likened to a crook, of a Chicago magnate, of a dissipated movie actor, of a debauched British statesman, hair-style, lobster-skinned, of a brutal Roman emperor, of a superior comic actor, of Maurice Evans, proud of his legs, wart on scalp, baldness, 'in spots', unlikely treatment for, 'as a bat', worsened by travel, due to worry, may require wig, in retreat, reasserts itself, confines TSE to single barber, eyes, dark, damaged by teeth-poisoning, figure, 'obese', altered by war, hernia, described, deferred operation for, recovery from, nose, the Eliot nostril, a Norman nose, too thin for pince-nez, teeth, 'nothing but chalk', EH severe on the state of, 'stumps', blamed for hair-loss, liable to be removed, blamed for rheumatism, false upper plate, plate reconstructed, state of, new false teeth, keystone tooth removed, remaining upper teeth removed, new plate,
autumn, quickens, disturbs, irritates, at Pike's Farm, in Kensington versus Massachusetts, at Shamley,
Behrens, Margaret Elizabeth (née Davidson), comes to lodge at Shamley, tends to Shamley hens, mainstay of Shamley sanity, does not spoil her dog, takes refuge from Shamley's dogs, reports on poultry-feeding manuscript, sequesters dogs for TSE's recording, makes vatic pronouncements on Operation Overlord, cheers up Shamley, jeremiad on Shamley, introduces Violet Powell to TSE, in Ilfracombe, settled in Lee, during Christmas 1945, departing for Menton, visited in Menton,

4.MargaretBehrens, Margaret Elizabeth (née Davidson) Elizabeth Behrens, née Davidson (1885–1968), author of novels including In Masquerade (1930); Puck in Petticoats (1931); Miss Mackay (1932); Half a Loaf (1933).

Blumenfield, Olga,

2.OlgaBlumenfield, Olga Blumenfeld, married to Chaim Weizmann’s nephew Serge Blumenfeld.

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), TSE's committee service for, its future discussed, TSE working on autumn programme for, TSE on educational broadcasting in general, Barbara Burnham production of Murder, lobbies TSE for next play, 'The Need for Poetic Drama', Metaphyical poet broadcasts for, 'The Church's Message to the World', Christmas Day 'Cats' broadcast, dramatic Waste Land adaptation, which is censored for broadcast, repeats 'Cats', plays Parsifal on Good Friday, broadcasts Hawkins interview with TSE, 'Towards a Christian Britain', 1941 production of Murder, Eastern Service broadcasts East Coker, broadcasts Webster talk, Tennyson talk, Dry Salvages, Poe talk, Dryden talk, Joyce talk, European Service broadcasts TSE's talk, TSE declines Christmas broadcast for, wants to record 'Milton II', broadcasts TSE's personal poetry selection, broadcasts Gielgud's Family Reunion, marks TSE's 60th birthday, Gielgud Family Reunion repeated, solicits TSE post-Nobel Prize, TSE's EP broadcast for, records TSE reading Ash-Wednesday, floats Reith Lectures suggestion, approaches Marilyn Monroe to star in Fitts's Lysistrata,
Bukhari, Zulfiqar Ali, presents TSE with ornate umbrella, embarrasses him with second, his umbrellas, commissions 'Duchess of Malfy' broadcast, commissions Tennyson broadcast,

1.ZulfiqarBukhari, Zulfiqar Ali Ali Bokhari/Bukhari (1904–75), born in Peshawar, was Director of the Delhi Broadcasting Station of All India Radio before removing to London in July 1937. Director of the Indian Section of the BBC Eastern Service, 1940–5; instrumental in recruiting George Orwell. In 1945 he returned to India as Director of All India Radio Station, Calcutta; later to Karachi to work as Controller in Broadcasting for Radio Pakistan. See Talking to India, ed. Orwell (1943); Ruvani Ranasinha, South Asian Writers in Twentieth Century Britain: Culture in Translation (Oxford, 2007); W. J. West, Orwell: The War Broadcasts (1985).

Dobrées, the, accompany TSE to Mae West film, pleasant weekend with, second Norfolk weekend with, engaged for the ballet with EH, TSE's final visit to Mendham, on their uppers, visited in Leeds, return to London, their new residence,
'Duchess of Malfy, The',
Dukes, Ashley, described by Yeats to TSE, approaches Doone over Mercury Theatre season, lines up Mercury Murder revival, with which he is pleased, his ambitions for Murder, which Brace upsets, instructed as to Murder New York negotiations, hustling in New York, from where he reports, agrees about Speaight's decline, explains miscarriage of 1936 American production, at 100th performance of Murder, latest plans for Murder, revised plans for New York, dares to call TSE in morning, TSE's royalty arrangement with, policing pirate productions of Murder, discusses Murder's America rights, full of grand desgins, takes Browne into partnership, on Murder's Abdication Crisis resonance, among Family Reunion's first readers, plans for Murder, American Murder tour, against Family Reunion as title, pleased with Family Reunion fragment, sent full Family Reunion draft, lets EH down, consulted over Gielgud contract, on Gielgud and Family Reunion, negotiating with Saint-Denis, less persuaded by Family Reunion, optimistic on Family Reunion transfer, instructed on Family Reunion licensing, fields Orson Welles enquiry, suggests wartime Murder revival, which he mounts without consulting TSE, attempting season of miniature operas, submits theatrical reminiscences to TSE, and Murder film rights, book launch for memoirs, reports on TSE's continental productions, gives Garrick Club dinner for TSE, takes full control of Mercury, accompanies TSE to Germany, La Mandragola, The Scene is Changed, Too Many Twins,
see also Dukes, the

4.AshleyDukes, Ashley Dukes (1885–1959), theatre manager, playwright, critic, translator, adapter, author; from 1933, owner of the Mercury Theatre, London: see Biographical Register.

Eliots, the Henry, attend TSE's Yale lecture, get on TSE's nerves, move to Cambridge, Mass., join Randolph holiday, TSE enjoys birthday dinner chez, as potential parents, EH urged to see, invited to EH's birthday, their dynamic,
Faber and Faber (F&F), TSE's office in, the garrulousness of publishing, refuge from home, in financial straits, future feared for, tranquil Saturday mornings at, TSE disenchanted with, hosts summer garden-party, as part of Bloomsbury, TSE considers 'home', VHE intrusion dreaded at, robbed, increases TSE's workload, TSE's editorial beat at, negotiate over Murder in the Cathedral, pay advance for Murder, VHE's appearances at, and Duff Cooper's Haig, 'blurbs' for, commission new letterhead from Eric Gill, give Ivy lunch for Dukes, TSE as talent-spotter and talent-counsellor, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, mark TSE's 50th birthday, and the prospect of war, and closing The Criterion, lose Morley to America, on war footing, war ties TSE to, fire-watching duties at, wartime bookbinding issues, advertisements to write for, Picture Post photographs boardroom, offices damaged by V-1, consider moving to Grosvenor Place, lunch at Wednesday board-meetings, Christmas staff party,
Faber, Enid Eleanor, TSE mistakes her parentage, and the Eliots' separation, and the Irish waiter, as tennis-player, suggests Murder tickets for F&F employees, presses TSE into public speaking, and sons at zoo, cousin of Rab Butler, and Ann share TSE's box, congratulates TSE on opening night, TSE dependent on for food, at VHE's funeral, on VHE's death and funeral, home-hunting for TSE in Sussex, now Lady Faber,
see also Fabers, the

1.TSE was mistaken here. EnidFaber, Enid Eleanor Eleanor Faber (1901–95) was the daughter of Sir Henry Erle Richards (1861–1922), Fellow of All Souls College and Chichele Professor of International Law and Diplomacy at Oxford University, and Mary Isabel Butler (1868–1945).

Fabers, the, model of happiness and respectability, their domestic situation, Faber children to tea chez Eliot, visit TSE at Pike's Farm, compared to the Morleys, closer to TSE than to VHE, 1933 summer holiday with, Ty Glyn Aeron described, request TSE to write play, too absorbed in their children, at the Morleys' party, give anti-Nazi party for author, host poker party, 1934 summer holiday with, take TSE to lunch in Oxford, 1935 summer holiday with, for which the children are bought tent, give party, 1936 summer holiday with, at Morleys' Thanksgiving Day party, sail model boats with TSE, and TSE's foggy adventure, cinema-going with TSE, take TSE to Witch of Edmonton, and Morleys take TSE to pantomime, and TSE attend opening of Ascent of F6, 1937 summer holiday with, and the Bradfield Greek play, School for Scandal with, take TSE to pantomime again, 1938 summer holiday with, 1939 summer holiday with, offer possible wartime refuge, 1940 summer holiday with, host TSE in Hampstead during war, TSE makes bread sauce for, brought vegetables from Shamley, move to Minsted, and TSE attend musical revue, 1941 summer holiday with, Minsted as substitute for nursing-home, trying to sell Welsh home, take TSE to International Squadron, invite TSE to Wales for Christmas, host TSE at Minsted, away fishing in Scotland, mourn TSE's post-war independence, 1947 Minsted summer stay, 1948 Minsted summer stay, host TSE for weekend, on 1950 South Africa trip, on TSE's 1951 Spain trip, 1951 Minsted summer stay, 1952 Minsted summer stay, 1953 Minsted summer stay, on 1953–4 South Africa trip, 35th wedding anniversary weekend,
'Great Layman, The',
Hallett, Monsignor Philip, plays chess with TSE, asks TSE to reprise Johnson lectures,

3.MonsignorHallett, Monsignor Philip Philip Hallett: rector (since 1924) of St John’s Seminary, Wonersh, Surrey.

Hawkes, Gwenda (née Glubb),

4.GwendaHawkes, Gwenda (née Glubb) Hawkes, née Glubb (1894–1990), motor-racing legend. As an ambulance driver during WW1, serving on the Russian and the Romanian Fronts, she showed such great courage that she was awarded both the Cross of St George and the Cross of St Stanislaus and was mentioned in despatches. From the 1920s she competed in motor-cycle and motor-car races at Brooklands and at the Autodrome de Montlhéry near Paris, breaking or establishing a number of world speed records, and in 1935 she became the fastest woman ever at the Brooklands circuit. Her brother was John Bagot Glubb (1897–1966) – ‘Glubb Pasha,’ as he became known – accomplished professional soldier, who founded the Arab Patrol in 1931, and was later to serve as commanding general of the Arab Legion in Transjordan, 1939–56.

Healey, Robert C.,

1.RobertHealey, Robert C. C. Healey, Office of the Military Attaché, American Embassy, London – but ‘normally a student of English Literature and Drama,’ as TSE told Hayward (10 Apr. 1942). TSE to the Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, c/o Naval Intelligence, London, 22 Mar. 1942: ‘I am writing to recommend Mr. Robert C. Healey who is, I understand, applying for a Naval commission. I have known him since his arrival in England … He is evidently extremely intelligent, and well educated, and possess[es] as well considerable social charm, which ought to be helpful in any work of a diplomatic nature. He ought to be able to hold his own in any company, and made the best of impressions upon friends to whom I have introduced him.’

New English Weekly, TSE joins editorial committee of, discussed with Mairet, TSE writing 'Views and Reviews' for, and Edward VIII, TSE's natural post-Criterion home, two contributions to, TSE attacks H. G. Wells in, prints East Coker, commission TSE on Keynes,
'Notes Towards a Definition of Culture', commissioned by Reckitt, outline for, drafted,
Oldham, Joseph, lunches with TSE, convenes discussion of contemporary Christianity, at the Unemployment Conference, éminence grise in Council for Life and Work, hearing improved, spearheading anti-Nazi Church movement, puts TSE up to BBC talk, sent TSE's Revelation contribution, which he prizes, organises Lambeth Council, initiates 'Moot', and the Moot, first Moot meeting, bewails mankind, anointed reader of Boutwood Lectures, founds new wartime committee, which meets, sent drafts for CNL, as editor of CNL, views diverge from those of TSE, pleased with TSE's education supplement, needs holiday, convenes education group meeting, propagates yet another religious body, his style, to meet Michael Roberts, Church, Community and State,
see also Oldhams, the

8.JosephOldham, Joseph (‘Joe’) Houldsworth Oldham (1874–1969), missionary, adviser, organiser: see Biographical Register.

Read, Herbert, indebted to Hulme, on Wilfred Owen, part of Criterion inner circle, his divorce, on TSE and children, TSE formulates his dislike for, hosts TSE in Hampstead, his dismal birthday-party, and his old ladies object of TSE and JDH's practical jokes, at Dobrée's farewell lunch, begrudged contribution to Milton volume, clashes with TSE in Criterion, discusses Anglo-French relations with TSE and Saurat, TSE spends weekend with, hosts TSE in Bucks, and Bukhari to lunch with TSE, his political persuasions, wheeled out at Norwegian dinner, on Canterbury excursion,
see also Reads, the

3.Herbert ReadRead, Herbert (1893–1968), English poet and literary critic: see Biographical Register.

Reckitt, Maurice, drinks and smokes in godly company, at 'Pro Fide' bookshop meeting, reviews Christian Society, against TSE's elite Christian Society, and 'Notes Towards a Definition of Culture',

2.MauriceReckitt, Maurice Reckitt (1888–1980), Anglo-Catholic and Christian socialist writer; editor of Christendom: A Quarterly Journal of Christian Sociology: see Biographical Register.

Seaverns, Helen, finally dines with TSE, teaches TSE card games, bearer of EH's Christmas present, charms TSE, hosts TSE and the Perkinses, entertained by TSE, TSE hesitates to confide in, and Perkinses dine with TSE, to tea with TSE, seeks advice from TSE on transatlantic tourism, her comforts equivalent to Mappie's, houses EH on 1939 arrival, an old spoiled child, disburdens herself over tea, laments life in Hove, removed from grandchildren,

3.HelenSeaverns, Helen Seaverns, widow of the American-born businessman and Liberal MP, Joel Herbert Seaverns: see Biographical Register.

Shamley Wood, Surrey, TSE issued standing invitation to, his situation as paying guest, daily and weekly life at, dramatis personae, Christmas at, ideal situation for illness, overheated, depressingly female, TSE leads fire practice at, TSE takes week's rest from, its melodramas, TSE quarantined from, its lack of music, and Reay's homecoming, TSE distributes food parcels at, TSE's gradual removal from, TSE's post-war week's holiday at, post-hernia convalescence at,
Stewart, Hugh Fraser, and TSE's long-intended Little Gidding expedition, The Secret of Pascal,

6.HughStewart, Hugh Fraser Fraser Stewart, DD (1863–1948), Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, since 1918. An authority on Pascal, his works include a posthumous bilingual edition of the Pensées.

Sword of the Spirit, The, committee meetings of,
Trevelyan, Mary, recalling TSE's foggy adventure, and Student Movement House, describes situation in liberated Europe, reports from liberated Belgium, returns to London, smuggles TSE's whisky into hospital, significance of VHE's death explained to, TSE describes relationship with EH to, a 'kindly thorn',

2.MaryTrevelyan, Mary Trevelyan (1897–1983), Warden of Student Movement House, worked devotedly to support the needs of overseas students in London (her institution was based at 32 Russell Square, close to the offices of F&F; later at 103 Gower Street); founder and first governor of International Students House, London. Trevelyan left an unpublished memoir of her friendship with TSE – ‘The Pope of Russell Square’ – whom she long desired to marry. See further Biographical Register.