[No surviving envelope]

T. S.Eliot
EmilyHale
TS
Faber & Faber Ltd
19 August 1943
Dearest Emily,

I am writing this at Russell Square in the evening, on a large typewriter, which I cannot manage very well, in the secretaries’ room. I spent so much time basking in the sun, over the weekend, that I found myself on Monday with a number of things to do that I should have done on Sunday, such'Approach to James Joyce, The'written for Indian audience;a1 asJoyce, JamesIndian audience addressed on;d9 writingBritish Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)Joyce talk;d3 out a broadcast talk to India about James Joyce:1 and this week I happen to have two solitary evenings at Russell Square. MrCrawley, W. J.working late next door;a2. Crawley the sales manager, whose name you see above, is working by himself quietly in the adjoining room, as is his wont, and will catch the last train back to Arnos Grove at midlight [sc. midnight]; theFaber and Faber (F&F)on war footing;e2 fire-watchers for the evening (probably representatives of the Packing Department[)], are listening to the wireless in their room above: otherwise, the place is very quiet. ExceptDukes, Ashleyand Murder film rights;g6 for lunch with Ashley Dukes, toHoellering, George M.;a6 discuss the film contract which Hoellering offers, dinnerMairet, Philipand 'Culture Class';b8 last night with Mairet toSt. Anne's Church House, Soho'Culture Class';a4 discuss the series of talks on Culture to be given at St. Anne’s House, lunchBritish–Norwegian Instituteand proposals for Anglo-Norwegian dinner;a3 to-day with the head of the Norwegian Institute, to discuss a possible Anglo-Norwegian dinner, andEvery, George;b7 lunch tomorrow (otherwise I might have been able to return this afternoon) with Bro. George Every S.S.M., I have had my time to myself. OhBooks Across the Sea;a3 yes, IStreet, Alicia;a2 called at Books Across the Sea, to discuss my Presidential Address for next Tuesday’s general meeting, with the Chairman, Mrs. Street. By comparison, last week was tiring, especiallyMostyn Red Cross ClubTSE meets American soldiers at;a2 going to the Red Cross Hostel to talk to some American soldiers. I think it was a success: the woman who had organised the meeting, aSassoon, Lady Sybil, Marchioness of Cholmondeley;a1 Lady George Cholmondeley2 whom I had never heard of before (I now refer to her doughboys3 as Chumbley’s Jumblies) had kept it down to twenty, as I had asked, and by luck or astuteness chosen a good lot, who asked intelligent questions. When I say I think it was a success, I mean that I have had letters of thanks from the lady and from the Head of the Hostel (a colonel); and this evening a letter from some of the men was delivered by hand, saying that they would like very much to come here one evening and continue the discussion. It had to be (for some reason) from seven to about 8.20, which made it impossible to get supper anywhere: fortunately I had two eggs to boil for myself here, intended for breakfast – but I got Auntie Pye to give me breakfast from the small store of powdered egg. IEliot, Thomas HopkinsonTSE on;a4 had another evening entertaining Tom Eliot – theEliot, Revd Samuel Atkins, II (TSE's cousin);a3 son of the Revd. Sam Atkins, who is, I understand, quite an important person in the Embassy: heEliot, Revd Frederick May (TSE's first cousin);b1 is a nice fellow, I thought – neither a poet nor a philosopher, but a practical sort of Eliot, an executive sort of mind like Frederick,4 but I think rather more sense of humour. Somehow that was tiring too. My23 Russell Square, London;a6 evenings at Russell Square (where I am alone till the end of the month, as Faber is taking his holiday) are mostly spent reading manuscripts – this morning I had a good go at writing letters rejecting poetry, and that is tiring too, because it is painful: IPhilipps, Elizabeth, Viscountess St. Davids;a1 had to write to a certain Lady St. Davids, whoThompson, Roberthis poetry beyond help;a1 had brought in some poems by a friend of hers5 (sheFaber, Geoffrey;j3 had asked for Faber, but when he heard that she had poetry he put her on to me – when I apologised for not being Faber, because he was otherwise engaged, she said cheerfully ‘Oh, that’s allright: one asks for the head man, and works down’) to intimate that the poems were so bad that there was nothing I could say to the author, so I must return them to her.6 I listen to the wireless news, drinkalcoholbottle of beer with wireless;c5 a bottle of beer (when there is any) and go to bed. In the morning, Auntie Pye arrives at 8 and brings a pot of tea, which I sip while waiting for the bath water to heat. I'Kipling – The People’s Poet';a1 am also trying to think of somethingKipling, RudyardTSE contributes to Russian periodical on;a7 new to say about Kipling, to appear in a periodical in Moscow; andJohnson, Dr Samuelimbibed for lecture;a5 atUniversity College of North Walesbut subsequently prepares lectures on Dr Johnson;a2 intervals I refresh myself with the works of that great and good man, Samuel Johnson, about whom I am to lecture at Bangor in March.7

Iappearance (TSE's)figure;b8altered by war;a5 am, I believe (and am told that I look) very well; but I don’t get back any of the weight I lost during the first year of the war: I don’t think I have as much energy as I had in 1939. At times I feel about twenty years older, though not wiser (I don’t suppose one ever feels wiser, but a good many other people come to seem sillier).

No letter from you (as you may have inferred by this time) since I last wrote. I am [sc. In a] few days time you will have left Grand Manan: I wish you could be SETTLED. I am tackling the task of re-reading letters, a few at a time: that is not very settling.

Lovingly
Tom

ISeaverns, Helen;e1 have had a nostalgic letter from Mrs. Seaverns, in Buxton, which I answered at once, this time.

1.GeorgeOrwell, George;a1n Orwell invited TSE (17 June 1943) to give a talk on Joyce in the ‘Modern Men of Letters’ series. See ‘The Approach to James Joyce’ – broadcast on the Eastern Service, India Programme, 26 Sept. 1943; published in the Listener 30 (14 Oct. 1943), 446–7: CProse 6, 427–31.

2.SybilSassoon, Lady Sybil, Marchioness of Cholmondeley Sassoon (1894–1989) – scion of the Sassoon banking family – married (1913) George Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley (1883–1968), of Houghton Hall, Norfolk.

3.Doughboy: nickname for an American soldier.

4.Frederick May Eliot (4th cousin), President of the American Unitarian Association, 1937–58.

5.ElizabethPhilipps, Elizabeth, Viscountess St. Davids Philipps, Viscountess St Davids (1884–1974). (She was to take her seat in the House of Lords in Nov. 1963.) The friend was one Robert Thompson.

6.See TSE to the Viscountess St Davids, 19 Aug. 1943: ‘While it is true that you gave me Mr. Robert Thompson’s address and suggested that I should write to him direct about his poems, I think it is better that I should return them to you, as I do not know quite what to say to him. If he were a very young writer I should find less difficulty in telling him what I thought but I am afraid my impression is that he has not mastered his craft and that the majority of the poems have not really been written. I should not like to write merely to suggest that he should begin again at the beginning and I therefore return the poems to you with thanks for letting me see them.’

7.‘Johnson as Critic and Poet’: lecture given at University College of North Wales, March 1944; On Poetry and Poets: CProse 8, 185–224.

23 Russell Square, London, TSE thinks of moving to, unready for occupation, TSE and Fabers move into, too cramped for permanent residence, temperature of, home to Cat Morgan, following explosion,
alcohol, as pleasure, as temptation, as weakness, whisky as necessity, whisky as suppressant, as aid to sleep, and American Prohibition, the 'bedtime Guinness', too much sherry, whisky as medicine, at The Swan, Commercial Road, GCF's pillaged whisky, and buying cheap delicious wine, 'whisky' vs 'whiskey', erroneous belief about brandy, Guinness before Mass, asperity on port, at JDH and TSE's dinner, Château Latour 1874, Château Leoville-Poyferré 1915, fine wines at JDH's, wartime whisky, bottle of beer with wireless, 'dry sherry' and rationing,
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,
'Approach to James Joyce, The', written for Indian audience, admired by EH,
Books Across the Sea, TSE unwillingly president of, AGM, letter to The Times for, exhibition, reception for Beatrice Warde, The Times reports on, TSE trumpets in TES, 'Bridgebuilders', TLS reports on, and South Audley Street library, absorbed into English Speaking Union, final meeting of,
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,
British–Norwegian Institute, and 'The Social Function of Poetry', and proposals for Anglo-Norwegian dinner,
Crawley, W. J., on Cats' sales, working late next door,
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.

Eliot, Revd Frederick May (TSE's first cousin), invites TSE to lecture in St. Paul, qua preacher, as TSE's St. Paul host, unChristian, compared to Martha, versus Dr Perkins's Unitarianism, less observant than older generation, conspicuously absent from church manifestoes, compared to Uncle Christopher, and Margaret's death,

2.RevdEliot, Revd Frederick May (TSE's first cousin) Frederick May Eliot (1889–1958) – first cousin – Unitarian clergyman and author: see Biographical Register.

Eliot, Revd Samuel Atkins, II (TSE's cousin),
Eliot, Thomas Hopkinson, at Lady Colefax's, TSE on,

1.ThomasEliot, Thomas Hopkinson H. Eliot (1907–91), son of Samuel Atkins Eliot (1862–1950); lawyer, politician, academic and author. Educated at Harvard, Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and the Harvard Law School, he practised as a lawyer from 1933 (also lecturing on Government at Harvard, 1937–8). He was a Democratic member of Congress, 1941–Jan. 1943. In 1943 he became Director of the British Division, Office of War Information in London (where he was also a special assistant to the U.S. Ambassador); and in 1944 he did further war service with the Office of Strategic Services. For five years after the war, he was in practice as a lawyer in Boston, before taking up an appointment as Professor of Political Science at Washington University, St Louis. After a period as Professor of Constitutional Law, 1958–61, he became Chancellor of Washington University, 1962–71; and he served on various government bodies.

Every, George, TSE's affection for, invites TSE to Kelham, consulted on TSE's BBC talk, surprises TSE in London, possible reader of Boutwood Lectures, at Kelham,

4.GeorgeEvery, George Every, SSM (1909–2003), historian and poet: see Biographical Register.

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, Geoffrey, made TSE's literary executor, described for EH, as friend, overawed by Joyce, recounts the Eliots' dinner-party, discusses international situation with TSE, his annual effort to diet, introduced to TSE by Whibley, favours TSE taking Norton Professorship, suggests garden-party for TSE, mislays key to Hale correspondence, writes to TSE about separation, which he helps TSE over, blesses Scotland tour with whisky, victim of Holmesian prank, favours 'The Archbishop Murder Case', Times articles on Newman, Russell Square proclaims his gentlemanly standards, forgives TSE and Morley's prank, as tennis-player, champion of Haig biography, social insecurities, and the Faber family fortune, advertises 'Pollicle Dogs and Jellicle Cats', at lavish lunch for Dukes, relieved that 'Work in Progress' progresses, and JDH, needs persuading over Nightwood, on Edward VIII's abdication, Old Buffer's Dinner for, wins at Monopoly, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, thrilled by complimentary tickets, The Family Reunion described to, in line to read Family Reunion, has mumps, composes Alcaics from sickbed, at TSE and JDH's dinner, shares EH's Family Reunion criticism, on TSE's dinner-party bearing, discusses F&F's wartime plans, on meeting Ralph Hodgson, asks TSE to stay on during war, takes TSE to Oxford, argues with Major-General Swinton, and Purchase Tax exertions, and Literary Society membership, TSE's wartime intimacy with, drops teeth on beach, offers criticisms of 'Rudyard Kipling', falsely promised Literary Society membership, but eventually elected, helps revise TSE's Classical Association address, reports to Conversative Education Committee, deputed to America on publishing business, returned from America, Ada too ill to see, discusses National Service on BBC, depended on for breakfast, as fire-watching companion, and TSE rearrange attic at 23 Russell Square, recommends blind masseuse to TSE, in nursing home, and the Spender–Campbell spat, on TSE's Order of Merit, approached for essay on TSE, seeks to protect TSE's serenity, as Captain Kidd, wins fancy-dress prize, TSE's trip to Spain with, and National Book League, receives knighthood, on TSE's paroxysmal tachycardia, dies, his death,
see also Fabers, the

11.GeoffreyFaber, Geoffrey Faber (1889–1961), publisher and poet: see Biographical Register.

Hoellering, George M., pitches for Murder film rights, TSE's fondness for, accompanies TSE on Canterbury recce, persists with TSE, encourages TSE over adaptation, sitting on TSE's scenario, commissioned to film Archbishop's enthronement, incommunicado, publicising Murder, on collaborating with TSE, tries to cast TSE as Becket, discovers Father Groser of Stepney, dressing set in disused church, peddling his Murder, and Murder's reception, Message from Canterbury,

3.GeorgeHoellering, George M. M. Hoellering (1898–1980), Austrian-born filmmaker and cinema manager: see Biographical Register.

Johnson, Dr Samuel, his cats, TSE reads aloud from the Rambler, TSE's fellow lie-abed, TSE joins club founded by, imbibed for lecture, TSE's projected Lives of the Poets essay, TSE's projected Lives of the Poets book, subject of TSE's Princeton lectures, The Vanity of Human Wishes,
Joyce, James, appears suddenly in London, admired and esteemed by TSE, takes flat in Kensington, lunches with TSE at fish shop, gets on with Osbert Sitwell, GCF on, consumes TSE's morning, dines in company chez Eliot, obstinately unbusinesslike, bank-draft ordered for, indebted to Harriet Weaver, writes to TSE about daughter, his place in history, evening with Lewis, Vanderpyl and, TSE appreciates loneliness of, TSE's excuse for visiting Paris, insists on lavish Parisian dinner, on the phone to the F&F receptionist, TSE's hairdresser asks after, defended by TSE at UCD, for which TSE is attacked, qua poet, his Miltonic ear, requires two F&F directors' attention, anecdotalised by Jane Heap, part of TSE's Paris itinerary, in Paris, strolls with TSE, and David Jones, and EP's gift of shoes, his death lamented, insufficiently commemorated, esteemed by Hugh Walpole, TSE's prose selection of, Indian audience addressed on, TSE opens exhibition dedicated to, TSE on the Joyce corpus, TSE on his letters to, Anna Livia Plurabelle, Joyce's recording of, Dubliners, taught in English 26, Ulysses, modern literature undiscussable without, Harold Monro's funeral calls to mind, its true perversity, likened to Gulliver's Travels, F&F negotiating for, 'Work in Progress' (afterwards Finnegans Wake), negotiations over, conveyed to London by Jolas, 'very troublesome', new MS delivered by Madame Léon,
see also Joyces, the

1.JamesJoyce, James Joyce (1882–1941), Irish novelist, playwright, poet; author of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), Ulysses (1922), Finnegans Wake (1939).

Kipling, Rudyard, friend of Charles Whibley's, set next to David Jones, as war poet, as poet, TSE contributes to Russian periodical on, beloved of General Wavell, his portrait at Magdalene, parodied by TSE,
'Kipling – The People’s Poet',
Mairet, Philip, approaches TSE over NEW, at Chandos Group, at heavy Criterion gathering, consulted on BBC talk, approves TSE's NEW note, takes Criterion closure symbolically, anointed reader of Boutwood Lectures, on Oldham's new wartime committee, often editorially opposed to TSE, especially missed during war, and 'Culture Class', and Notes towards the Definition of Culture,

8.PhilipMairet, Philip Mairet (1886–1975): designer; journalist; editor of the New English Weekly: see Biographical Register.

Mostyn Red Cross Club, TSE meets American soldiers at, some of whom visit him, some of whom visit him, TSE's second visit to,
Orwell, George,
Philipps, Elizabeth, Viscountess St. Davids,

5.ElizabethPhilipps, Elizabeth, Viscountess St. Davids Philipps, Viscountess St Davids (1884–1974). (She was to take her seat in the House of Lords in Nov. 1963.) The friend was one Robert Thompson.

St. Anne's Church House, Soho, initial meeting at, TSE's connection with, TSE chairs talk at, 'Culture Class', final 'Culture Class', lunch-hour Lenten talk for,
Sassoon, Lady Sybil, Marchioness of Cholmondeley,

2.SybilSassoon, Lady Sybil, Marchioness of Cholmondeley Sassoon (1894–1989) – scion of the Sassoon banking family – married (1913) George Cholmondeley, 5th Marquess of Cholmondeley (1883–1968), of Houghton Hall, Norfolk.

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.

Street, Alicia,

2.AliciaStreet, Alicia Street, author and lecturer.

Thompson, Robert, his poetry beyond help,
University College of North Wales, TSE considers lecturing 'Development of Shakespeare's Verse' for, but subsequently prepares lectures on Dr Johnson, lectures drafted for, itinerary for visit to, final preparations for trip to, TSE's adventure to, photograph of TSE's visit,