[No surviving envelope]

T. S.Eliot
EmilyHale
TS
Faber & Faber Ltd
Letter 10.
19 March 1945
Dearest Emily,

I have no news from you to comment upon, and no news of myself worth mention. Having had a short weekend, from Friday night to Tuesday morning, I have been occupied with odds and ends: the letters which my secretary did not have time to take down, aGeorge, Robert Esmonde Gordon ('Robert Sencourt')The Life of Newman;d1 long manuscript which had to be read in a hurry, andHart, Basil Henry ('B. H.') LiddellThe Revolution in Warfare;a3 a book about which I had to write the advertising matter. IRidler, Anne (née Bradby)The Shadow Factory;b9 have also had to read a play by a poet, about which I shall have to think of something to say. The book was about Cardinal Newman, the book which I had to advertise is about military strategy, the play is about a factory.1 This makes an indigestible muddle not favourable to thought and expression. ITrevelyan, Maryreturns to London;a7 am only hoping that I shall not have to stay an extra night in London to see Mary Trevelyan, who is back from Brussels for a few days: soCzecho-Slovak Institute, LondonTSE's address to;a1 that'Cultural Diversity and European Unity';a2 Itravels, trips and plansTSE's May 1945 trip to Paris;f4;a2 can get to work and think out a talk for the Czechs on April 19, which will also do for a lecture to the French on May 9 – and will have to be translated into French for me. Nothing that I prepared for Morocco now seems to me suitable for Paris. And by the time this visit is over, I hope to begin to think of a holiday somewhere, before I return to the work which I am unwillingly interrupting. MeanwhileShamley Wood, Surreyits melodramas;b2 the future of Shamley Wood remains unsettled, with at best the prospect of a series of unsatisfactory maids, or of maids with whom they will not be satisfied: for the house-keeper has not allowed the war, and the fact of the scarcity of domestic help, to relax her standards for inferior servants in the very least. The daughter of the late gardener was considered a paragon; andMirrlees, Emily Lina ('Mappie', née Moncrieff)frustrations with gardener;f1 it might have been wiser of Mrs. M. to have put up with bad gardening for the sake of the gardener’s wife and daughter being useful members of the staff: though it was certainly maddening for Mrs. M., with a large garden, and two men working in it, to have to buy vegetables simply because the crops never got planted at the right time. And all this has made her rather ill, so that the house is rather depressed at present.

So now you are unsettled, and I am feeling unsettled. One doesn’t see any farther ahead than one did in 1940; but when one lived merely from week to week the future did not seem so oppressive.

IEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother)his archaeological endeavours;i9 hear that Henry is home again; there seems to have been a very wintry spell just then. The worry at the moment is whether the University Press will publish the charts on which he has been working so long, and whether the people in the archaeology department are not rather cold-shouldering him. It would have done him so much good to receive a little success and recognition now, and he was always a very poor one for blowing his own horn. I hope there will be a letter from you this week.

Lovingly
Tom.

1.AnneRidler, Anne (née Bradby)The Shadow Factory;b9 Ridler, The Shadow Factory (1946): ‘Mrs Ridler has already written one verse play – Cain – but The Shadow Factory is her first play to be written with a direct view to production, being the third play to appear in Mr Martin Browne’s series of Plays by Poets. Those who admire a poet’s previous verse often fear that if he writes a good play, it will be lacking in the qualities they admire in his poems. The prejudice against “plays by poets”, which is one which Mr Browne’s season should dispel, has been found as much among lovers of poetry as among play-goers. A shadow factory is not the place in which Mrs Ridler’s admirers would expect to find her; but she makes herself quite at home in it and with the human types she finds there; and towards the end she contrives, by a surprise which is also very good theatre, to provide a scene which is one of the kinds of thing that she can do better than anyone else.’

TSE to Ridler, 16 Apr. 1945: ‘I don’t think I have any criticisms to make of The Shadow Factory, except such general ones as may have occurred to you anyway. I think it is a better play than Cain –the extempore performance of the Nativity is a very good notion indeed – and for that very reason is almost inevitably (at this stage) not so good as poetry. It is only, I feel, in that Nativity scene that you get a chance to play the strokes at which you are already skilled: and I am sure you make the most of the opportunity. But the verse elsewhere does tend to fall into one style or another, according to the situation, and there is consequently a lack of poetic unity. All this, as I have suggested, seems to me inevitable at this stage. One simply can’t attend to everything at once, while learning to write plays. It is only, probably, when you begin to feel a little more confidence in the stage métier, that you can get down to working out the problem of a proper stage idiom in verse, which will be everywhere your own, but elastic enough to be adequate for a variety of characters and situations. In the beginning, one has to exploit, as one can, the things that one is good at: which was, I think, the personal reason for my use of choruses.

‘The interesting thing that I seem to myself to have found, is that while, for a play, I have had to learn to write a different kind of verse, and write it in a different way and quite a different mood, it seems to me that the exercise (whether one will ever succeed in writing a good play or not) is one from which one returns to personal poetry with a sense of having more resources at one’s disposal, and a greater assurance that the next poems one writes will be something better than a mere imitation of the previous.’

TSE’sHart, Basil Henry ('B. H.') LiddellThe Revolution in Warfare;a3 blurb for The Revolution in Warfare, by B. H. Liddell Hart (F&F Spring & Summer Catalogue, 1946):

‘In this short book Captain Liddell Hart has concentrated his learning in the history of modern warfare and his reflections upon its tendencies. The result is a book which will challenge contemporary theory and practice, and which has a political as well as a military relevance to our designs for the future.

‘The author divides his subject into two parts. In the first, he describes the development of modern warfare in terms of the tools of war, from the growth of fire-power in the Napoleonic wars to the evolution of the tank. He corrects the impression which was formed in 1940 that the tank gives superiority always to the attack: on the one hand anti-tank technique has been evolving, and on the other hand the tank has proved its usefulness in defence. From mechanized warfare on the ground he turns to consider the value and limitations of air power: the prevailing use of which, in his view, leads to gradual attrition rather than to rapid decisions. Lastly he discusses the effect which the flying bomb and the rocket, as a part of long-range military strategy, may exert upon war in the future.

‘In the second part of the book, Captain Liddell Hart deals with the purposes of modern war. He reviews, with masterly brevity, the history of warfare from the middle ages, and the various restrictions upon warfare acknowledged in feudal times. Unlimited warfare established itself with the wars of the French Revolution: another landmark was the American Civil War, which the author considers to have been in many ways the prototype of the modern “total war”. He shows how these tendencies became accepted in military theory, by the general misinterpretation of the work of Clausewitz, and were reinforced both by mechanical invention and political and social causes. And the “total war” is not only bad in itself, because of its destructiveness, but is bad because it produces the wrong kind of peace. Total war, in the author’s words, is “the combination of an unlimited aim with an unlimited method”. He hopes for a “revival of reason, sufficient to produce self-control in war, if not the abolition of war”.’

TheGeorge, Robert Esmonde Gordon ('Robert Sencourt')The Life of Newman;d1Sencourt, RobertGeorge, Robert Esmonde Gordon ('Robert Sencourt') book about Cardinal Newman was by TSE’s friend Robert Sencourt, to whom he wrote on 28 Mar. 1945: ‘I have read your biography of Newman with great interest and am sorry that Faber has not had the time to read it as well. It seems to me one of the best of your biographical works so far. As you know, my taste in prose always tends to the more sober rather than the more ornate style, and in this book you write with a sobriety which admirably fits its subject, for it seems to me that there should not be too violent a contrast between the style of a biography and the style of a writer like Newman. Your prose in this book fits in admirably well with the quotations from your author.

‘We do not feel, however, that it is a book which absolutely imposes itself on us at a time when we are forced to think rather of every reason against publishing anything than of the arguments in a book’s favour. It is not obviously and essentially a Faber book and I should think has a strong claim on a Catholic audience. Not Burns and Oates obviously, but one of the general firms with a Roman complexion. Somebody will certainly want to publish this book, and I want to see it published, but we could not in any case bring it out in time for your centenary and I reluctantly agree that we can afford to see it appear under some other imprint.’

Sencourt’s The Life of Newman was to be published by Dacre Press in Jan. 1948.

'Cultural Diversity and European Unity', as it was delivered,
Czecho-Slovak Institute, London, TSE's address to,
Eliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother), hears TSE's Dryden broadcast, as potential confidant, sibling most attuned to TSE's needs, witness to the Eliots in 1926, surprises TSE in Boston, his aura of futility, disputes New Yorker profile of TSE, at Eliot family Thanksgiving, attends second Norton lecture, his business in Chicago, hosts TSE in New York, TSE reads his second detective story, his immaturity, accuses TSE of wrath, writes TSE long critical letter, the favourite of TSE's parents, sends New York Murder clippings, writes again about religion, insensitive to European affairs, Peabody Museum employ as research associate, gives TSE pyjamas for Christmas, sends TSE luggage for Christmas, hosts Murder's Boston cast, sends present to Morley children, cables TSE on 50th birthday, given draft of Family Reunion, gives TSE portfolio, champions Kauffer's photograph of TSE, explains operation on ears, sends list of securities, takes pleasure in shouldering Margaret, undergoes serious operation, recovering at home, as curator of Eliotana, as curator of Eliotana, war imperils final reunion with, and TSE's rumoured Vatican audience, corresponds with TSE monthly, offers Tom Faber wartime refuge, nervous about TSE during Blitz, as described by Frank Morley, recalls The Dry Salvages, has appendix out, cautioned as to health, frail, condition worries TSE, as correspondent, friend to J. J. Sweeney, tries TSE's patience, reports on Ada, describes Ada's funeral, beleaguered by Margaret, sent Picture Post F&F photos, likened to Grandfather Stearns, goitre operated on, his archaeological endeavours, back in hospital, imagined in exclusively female company, ill again, as brother, has pneumonia, terminal leukaemia, prospect of his death versus Ada's, anxieties induced by deafness, writes to TSE despite illness, death, memorial service for, on EH's presumption, Michael Roberts's symptoms reminiscent of, his Chicago acquaintance, friends with Robert Lowell's father, invoked against EH, on TSE's love for EH, buried in Garrett family lot, The Rumble Murders,

3.HenryEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother) Ware Eliot (1879–1947), TSE’s older brother: see Biographical Register.

George, Robert Esmonde Gordon ('Robert Sencourt'), in thumbnail, staying with the Eliots, records TSE's argument with Koteliansky, recites chapter from new book, creates harmony between the Eliots, offers to lend TSE fur coat, relays gossip about VHE, stirs up situation, extends invitation to Cairo, and Stead visit Campden, forces himself on TSE, TSE's mixed feelings toward, The Life of Newman,

3.RobertGeorge, Robert Esmonde Gordon ('Robert Sencourt') Esmonde Gordon George – Robert Sencourt (1890–1969) – critic, historian, biographer: see Biographical Register.

Hart, Basil Henry ('B. H.') Liddell, reviews Cooper's Haig spitefully, and the case for appeasement, The Revolution in Warfare,

1.B. H. LiddellHart, Basil Henry ('B. H.') Liddell Hart (1895–1970), soldier, journalist and influential military historian.

Mirrlees, Emily Lina ('Mappie', née Moncrieff), taken round the Tower, invites TSE to Shamley, described for EH, offers to house TSE gratis, her religion, as horticulturalist, concerns TSE, her distress on animals' behalf, not an irritant, secures better gardener for Shamley, circumstances in which she offered TSE refuge, indifferent to enlarging acquaintance, engineers solitude at Shamley, surprises TSE with lobster and cigars, reduces TSE's rent, celebrates 80th birthday, abed and anxious, anxious about North African campaign, going deaf, boosted by son's promotion, receives offer for Shamley, theatrical by nature, TSE prefers being alone with, TSE's sense of responsibility to, spoils TSE on his birthday, aflutter over Christmas turkey, delighted by recording at Shamley, takes in hopeless cases, collector of recipes, pleased by TSE's lawnmowing, hankers after life in Menton, dreams of leaving Shamley, pulls out of selling Shamley, as landlady, frustrations with gardener, her aura, summons TSE to Shamley, during TSE's final Shamley Christmas, dying, still just living, dies following operation, Wishful Cooking,
see also Mirrleeses, the

3.HopeMirrlees, Emily Lina ('Mappie', née Moncrieff) Mirrlees’s mother was Emily Lina Mirrlees, née Moncrieff (1862–1948) – known as ‘Mappie’ or ‘Mappy’ – see Biographical Register.

Ridler, Anne (née Bradby), already favoured for F&F promotion, greatly preferred to O'Donovan, her secretarial duties, impresses TSE, her impending marriage, ill and engaged, invites TSE to be godfather, TSE writes preface for, TSE's blurb for, writes letter of condolence to GCF, presented to Edith Sitwell, 'une âme pure', Little Book of Modern Verse, The Shadow Factory,

3.AnneRidler, Anne (née Bradby) (Bradby) Ridler (30 July 1912–2001), poet, playwright, editor; worked as TSE’s secretary, 1936–40: 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,
travels, trips and plans, EH's 1930 trip to England, EH's proposed 1931 England visit, called off, EH's 1932 summer holidays, the Eliots' Derby Day excursion, related, the Eliots' July 1932 Hindhead visit, the Eliots' August 1932 Eastbourne holiday, described, TSE's 1932–3 year in America, Norton Professorship offered to TSE, and the prospect of reunion with EH, which TSE refuses to see as decisive, which angers EH, who writes and destroys a response, TSE's financial imperatives, TSE's itinerary, and the question of discretion, opportunity for adventurous lecture-tours, TSE speculates on attendant feelings, TSE on the voyage over, TSE reflects on, TSE's return from, the Eliot family's Randolph holiday, TSE's 1933 westward tour to Scripps, proposed to EH, and TSE's need to lecture, possibly via St. Louis, TSE's itinerary, possible stopover in Seattle, a shameful source of happiness, still a happy thought, described by Havens and others, TSE reflects on, TSE's return from, TSE wonders at after-effect on EH, EH urged to reflect honestly on, Ada on, and a conversation about divorce, in EH's recollection, possible EH 1933 summer in England, TSE's 1933 Faber summer holiday, set for mid-August, postponed, rearranged, TSE buys summer outfits for, described, TSE's 1933 tour of Scotland, possible itinerary, Morley's preparations for, described for EH, TSE's 1933 trip to Paris, mooted, described, EH's 1934–5 year in Europe, TSE delighted at the prospect, attempts to coordinate with TSE's 1934 summer plans, the Perkinses due in Chipping Camden, EH's itinerary, TSE's initial weekend at Chipping Campden, TSE books rooms in Lechlade, TSE visits Campden again with family, and again alone, which visit TSE reflects on, TSE's plans to entertain EH en route to Europe, EH's continental itinerary, VHE and propriety inhibit pre-Paris arrangements, L'Escargot lunch, weekend in Sussex for EH's birthday, possible London tea-party, second lunch at L'Escargot, EH and TSE's November excursions, a month which TSE reflects happily on, EH's summer 1935 plans, EH departs England, EH in Florence, arrived in Rome, TSE coordinating with EH's return, TSE recommends Siena, EH returns to Florence, EH sails for Riviera, EH returns from France, L'Escargot lunch on EH's return, EH sails for Guernsey, May 1935, EH's June 1935 London sortie, TSE attends Dr Perkins's birthday, TSE's July 1935 Campden week, TSE offers to fund EH in London, where EH joins Jeanie McPherrin, TSE's Campden birthday weekend, prospect of EH spending month at Blomfield Terrace, Thorp theatre outing, TSE's 6–8 September Campden weekend, EH staying at 19 Rosary Gardens, EH to Campden for 15–17 November, EH sails for Boston, EH and TSE's final farewell, TSE and EH's final weeks in London, their excursion to Finchampstead, TSE reflects on, excursion to Greenwich, EH reflects on the final weeks of, TSE's 1934 Faber summer holiday, described, TSE's dream of Cairo, TSE's invitation to Finland, palmed off on Robert Nichols, TSE's 1935 tour of Scotland, proposed by Blake, attempts to coordinate with EH, TSE's itinerary, TSE's 1935 Faber summer holiday, TSE writes from, described, TSE's 1936 visit to Ireland, TSE's itinerary, recounted, TSE's spring/summer 1936 trip to Paris, first contemplated, date fixed, Morleys invited, TSE's itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1936 Faber summer holiday, TSE writes from, TSE's 1936 American trip, spring arrival dependent on New York Murder, if not spring, then autumn, possible excursions, autumn better for seeing EH, and possible Princeton offer, and possible Smith visit, efforts to coordinate with EH, passage on Alaunia booked, TSE's itinerary, Murder to pay for, coordinating with Eliot Randolph holiday, the moment of parting from EH, TSE's birthday during, TSE reflects on, TSE's 1937 tour of Scotland, itinerary, recounted, the Morley–Eliot 1937 trip to Salzburg, contemplated, itinerary, EH receives postcard from, described, as relayed to OM, EH's 1937 summer in England, and Mrs Seaverns, EH accompanies TSE to Edinburgh, itinerary coordinated with EH, dinner at L'Escargot, TSE's 10–11 July Campden visit, TSE's 17–22 July Campden visit, TSE's 21 August Campden visit, EH travels to Yorkshire, TSE reminisces about, TSE's 1937 Faber summer holiday, TSE reports from, leaves TSE sunburnt, TSE's 1938 trip to Lisbon, outlined to EH, TSE advised on, travel arrangements, the voyage out, described, EH's 1938 summer in England, and whether EH should spend it at Campden, EH's arrival confirmed, TSE's July Campden visit, EH's late-July London stay, TSE's 5–21 August Campden fortnight, TSE's 3–6 September Campden visit, EH's September London stay, TSE reflects on, TSE's 1938 Faber summer holiday, TSE's preparations for, TSE reports from, possible EH England Christmas 1938 visit, possible TSE 1939 visit to America, mooted for spring, complicated by Marion and Dodo's trip, shifted to autumn, threatened by war, made impossible, EH's 1939 England visit, TSE's efforts to coordinate with, threatened by war, complicated by Marion's arrival, EH's itinerary, EH's initial London stay, TSE's 7–20 July Campden visit, TSE's 22–30 August Campden visit, TSE's 2–4 September Campden visit, EH again London, EH and TSE's parting moments, in TSE's memory, memory vitiated by EH's subsequent letter, TSE's 1939 Faber summer holiday, TSE writes from, possible wartime transatlantic crossings, contingencies, in case of EH being ill, TSE's reasons for and against, and TSE's New York proposition, following invasion Denmark and Norway, impossible for TSE unless official, TSE's desire to remain in England, TSE's reasons for and against accepting lectureship, given Ada's impending death, TSE's abortive 1940 Italian mission, possible but confidential, lectures prepared for, and the prospect of seeing EP, might include Paris, itinerary, in jeopardy, final preparations for, cancelled, TSE's 1940 visit to Dublin, approved by Foreign Office, in national interest, itinerary, recounted, involves TSE's first plane-journey, TSE's 1940 Faber summer holiday, TSE reports from, TSE's 1941 Faber summer holiday, Kipling and fishing-rod packed for, TSE reports from, TSE's 1941 Northern tour, proposed by the Christendom group, arranged with Demant, itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1942 British Council mission to Sweden, TSE makes cryptic allusion to, as recounted to EH, as recounted to JDH, return leg in London, as war-work, TSE's 1942 New Forest holiday, described, TSE's 1942 week in Scotland, recounted, TSE's abortive 1942 Iceland mission, TSE's 1943 trip to Edinburgh, recounted, TSE's abortive 1943 Iceland mission, TSE's 1943 New Forest holiday, TSE's 1944 trip to Edinburgh, TSE's abortive 1944 North Africa mission, TSE's May 1945 trip to Paris, described, TSE's June 1945 trip to Paris, recounted, possible post-war American visit, and Henry's impending death, ideally ancillary to work, possibly as F&F's representative, waits on TSE's health and Carlyle Mansions, TSE's 1945 September fortnight in Lee, described, TSE's 1945 Christmas in Lee, described, TSE's 1946 summer in America, date for passage fixed, paperwork for, TSE's itinerary, its aftermath, recounted, TSE's 1947 summer in America, dependent on lecture engagements, TSE seeks to bring forward, Henry's condition brings further forward, set for April, itinerary, EH reflects on, TSE's scheduled December 1947 visit to Marseilles and Rome, itinerary, TSE's preparations for, dreaded, Roman leg described by Roger Hinks, EH's hypothetical March 1948 visit to England, TSE's postponed 1948 trip to Aix, itinerary, recounted, home via Paris, TSE's 1948 trip to America, itinerary, TSE's visit to EH in Andover, disrupted by Nobel Prize, TSE's 1948 Nobel Prize visit to Stockholm, itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1949 family motor-tour of Scotland, described, TSE's October–November 1949 trip to Germany, possible itinerary, preparations for, final itinerary, TSE's account of, the return via Belgium, TSE's January 1950 voyage to South Africa, all but fixed, itinerary, described by TSE, recounted by Faber, EH's 1950 summer in England, TSE books EH's hotel room for, TSE's efforts to coordinate with EH's movements, EH in Campden, TSE reports to Aunt Edith on, TSE's 1950 visit to America, and TSE's possible Chicago post, the Chicago leg, November itinerary, TSE's spring 1951 trip to Spain, itinerary, recounted, TSE's September 1951 Geneva stay, itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1951 British Council mission to Paris, recounted, TSE's second 1951 British Council mission to Paris, recounted, TSE's 1952 visit to Rennes and the Riviera, itinerary, recounted, TSE's 1952 visit to America, itinerary, efforts to coordinate with EH's summer, TSE on meeting with EH, TSE's 1952 rest cure in Switzerland, TSE's 1953 visit to St. Louis and America, set for June, to include fortnight in Cambridge, itinerary, EH's 1953 trip to England, EH's Alnwick plans, TSE books hotel for EH, and EH's ticket to Confidential Clerk, TSE's 1953 visit to Geneva, TSE's 1953–4 trip to South Africa, itinerary, described, arrival described to JDH, GCF on, TSE's 1954 Geneva rest cure, Geneva preferred to Paris, TSE's deferred 1955 visit to Hamburg, prospect inspires reluctance in TSE, proposed for spring 1955, dreaded, TSE now returned from, TSE's 1955 visit to America, and contingent speaking engagements, foreshortened, itinerary, Washington described, TSE's return from, TSE's 1955 Geneva rest cure, TSE's 1956 visit to America, passage fixed for April, itinerary, TSE in the midst of, TSE reflects on, TSE's 1956 Geneva rest cure, itinerary, recounted, illness during, EH's 1957 visit to England, TSE and EVE invited to Campden, TSE reciprocates with London invitation, but EH leaves England abruptly, which TSE consults Eleanor Hinkley over, who duly explains, TSE and EVE's 1958 trip to America, as rumoured to EH, EH's 1959 tour of Scandinavia, funded by bequest from cousin, TSE and EVE's 1959 trip to America, TSE and EVE's 1963 trip to America,
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.