[No surviving envelope]

T. S.Eliot
EmilyHale
TS
Faber & Faber Ltd
Letter 23.
9 September 1945
My dearest Emily,

I had your letter of August 23 a few days ago, the first since I last wrote. I should be interested to know why Princeton Mass. (I don’t remember that there was a Princeton in Massachusetts) was so exciting: but your visit there seems to have been another short one, I am sorry you have had to be so much on the move. IHinkleys, the;e9 was interested in what you told me of the Hinkleys: AuntHinkley, Susan Heywood (TSE's aunt, née Stearns);d2 Susie is certainly remarkable for her age, and perhaps the very narrow limitation of her interests makes for longevity. IHinkley, Eleanor Holmes (TSE's first cousin)and life after Aunt Susie;d4 should be glad to think that Eleanour [sic] is developing a practical talent, for she will soon have to prepare for a life alone, I suppose; unless she has some friend with whom she might share a habitation. As for the photograph of me, I imagine that was one taken for Harper’s Bazaar: aBrandt, Bill;a1 photographer came to the Russell Square flat. I have never seen the photograph: I ran in, the other day, to the young man who represented the paper, and who came with the photographer (photographers seem to be always Central Europeans nowadays) and he said that they sent the negatives to New York, and they only sent her one file copy; but she promised to let me see it.1 I trust that you are attaching too much importance to one portrait, which may not even be a good likeness. I do not remember when it was taken, but perhaps towards the end of the rocket time, when everyone was rather exhausted. But I shall have all the more curiosity to see the picture, to judge whether I can find in it what you see: I hope that my experiences of the last years have not made me ‘withdraw from life’. I have not felt very well just lately, I believe because of that tooth I had out, but I think I am just as interested in life, and in human beings, as ever. Yet if that sort of thing had happened to one, it is probably just the sort of thing one might observe in oneself: so your remarks are rather disturbing!

Itravels, trips and plansTSE's 1945 September fortnight in Lee;f7;a5 goEnglandDevon ('Devonshire');e5;a3 on Saturday to North Devon for the fortnight – a part of the world which I dare say you know but I do not. ButEnglandCotswolds;e3sacred in TSE's memory;a1 that is an advantage: IEnglandAdlestrop, Gloucestershire;c5visited by EH and TSE;a1 shouldEnglandCharlbury, Oxfordshire;d7visited by EH and TSE;a1 notEnglandGloucester, Gloucestershire;f5;a2 care to take a holiday in the Cotswolds again, unless you were there: and how much of it we drove, or walked, or trained over, between Adlestrop and Charlbury on one side, and Gloucester itself on the other. (INason, Margaret ('Meg') Geraldine;a9 have a letter from Meg, which I will send you, I left it by oversight at the office). Nothing19 Carlyle Mansions, Londonbuilding works on;a5 new about the flat: I am still waiting to hear whether the estimate for repairs is approved by the authorities. OnNicholson, NormanThe Old Man of the Mountains;a2 ThursdayBrowne, Elliott MartinNew Plays by Poets series;d7 night is theNicholson, Normanin New Plays by Poets series;a1 opening performance of ‘The Old Man of the Mountains’ by a young poet Norman Nicholson,2 inMercury Theatre, Londonhosts New Plays by Poets;c7 Martin’s series at the Mercury Theatre. IDuncan, RonaldThis Way to the Tomb;a5 am not sure that it is the best of his plays to open with – IDuncan, Ronaldpart of New Plays by Poets series;a1 think ‘This Way to the Tomb’ by Ronald Duncan,3 is likely to be more of a success;4 butSpeaight, Robertas Elijah in Nicholson's debut;e3 he has Robert Speaight in the rôle of Elijah (the biblical theme is enacted in Cumberland with local variations, and the other important part is the Raven). WeRidler, Anne (née Bradby)The Shadow Factory;b9 are publishing these three plays (the third is a Christmas play by Anne Ridler)5 as soon as we can, and I will send them to you to judge for yourself. Anyway, I have promised to be present; andMurder in the Cathedral1945 Théâtre du Vieux Colombier production;g2compared to Martin Browne's;a4 I very much hope Martin will make a success of it; butFranceFrench theatre;b5;a2 my experience of the French ‘Murder’ makes me see his weaknesses more clearly – though it may be partly the greater efficiency of the French in the theatre. IEliot, Henry Ware, Jr. (TSE's brother)as curator of Eliotana;e9 haveMurder in the Cathedral1945 Théâtre du Vieux Colombier production;g2reviewed;a9 finally received the newspapers containing the notices, and have sent them to Henry, who will no doubt treasure them and paste them up neatly for the collection (which threatens to become the most embarrassingly complete collection that any man of letters ever had made about him!) but you might like to look at some of them when you next visit them. They are on the whole amazingly favourable; and I am particularly pleased by the unanimous approval of the production and acting; especiallyVilar, Jeanacclaimed with Prix du Théâtre;a2 because it seems to have founded the fortunes of the young producer Jean Vilar (who also took the leading part). He has been acclaimed, and has been awarded a ‘Prix du Théâtre’. I am involved in some correspondence by the difficulty of getting my royalties – not the fault of the theatre, but due to the restrictions by the official controls on both sides of the channel.

ByHinkley, Barbara (TSE's first cousin)left by husband;b7 the way, IWelch, Edward Sohiermarries again;a2 was shocked to hear of your Barbara and her husband. I presume, if he has married again, that the blame is chiefly on his side: but I hardly know them. (I always suspected that if Barbara senior had been less self-centred she might not have lost Sohier, though I am not excusing him). But for a couple to separate after having had three or four children, seems to me very difficult to condone even on the most liberal point of view, which is of course not mine.

ISecond World Waratomic bomb;f9 do not envy any political leaders who have to guide the course of either Britain or America in the next five years. And a note in the paper to-day stating that the scientists in America are now perfecting a bomb nearly 1,000 times as powerful as the Nagasaki bomb is very depressing.6 I fear we are really moving into a very dark age indeed.

I shall write from Lee, but I shall not take a typewriter, so you must expect only a short scrawl. WhenMrs Millington (the blind masseuse);b2 I get back Mrs. Millington must work on my hand again. She will not massage one for several weeks after a tooth extraction, because of the loose poison she says; then she was taking her holiday, and Now I am to be away myself.

Lovingly
Tom

P.S. I see I was wrong: you say that Princeton is ‘exacting’, not ‘exciting’. It sounds like a colony of some kind.

1.BillBrandt, Bill Brandt’s expressive full-page photograph of TSE, pictured in tired, lined concentration against his dirty office window, with the trees of Gordon Square behind him, appeared in a feature article about Brandt’s work, entitled ‘Above the Crowd’, Harper’s Bazaar (New York), 79: 2803 (July 1945), [34–7] 34. Brandt (1904–83) spent his early years in Germany, where his British father was interned for some time during WW1 (his mother was German). Moving to London in 1933, he won a high reputation as photographer and photojournalist. His works include The English at Home (1936); A Night in London (1938); Literary Britain (1951); Perspective of Nudes (1961). See Paul Delany, Bill Brandt: A Life (Stanford, 2004).

2.NormanNicholson, Norman Nicholson (1914–87): English poet, playwright, novelist and critic, who held fast to his small home town of Millom in Cumberland (Cumbria), on the western edge of the English Lake District. TSE published his work with Faber & Faber: poetry including Five Rivers (1944), Rock Face (1948) and The Pot Geranium (1954); and verse plays including The Old Man of the Mountains (1945). Recipient of the Queen’s Award for Poetry 1977, he was made OBE in 1981. See further Kathleen Jones, Norman Nicholson: The Whispering Poet (2013).

The Old Man of the Mountains was to be the first production in a season of New Plays by Poets performed by Browne’s Pilgrim Players.

3.RonaldDuncan, Ronald Duncan (1914–82): British poet, playwright, librettist, autobiographer: see Biographical Register.

4.This Way to the Tomb, by Ronald Duncan (1914–82), produced by Martin Browne in the same season, was to be published by Faber & Faber in 1946.

5.The Shadow Factory (1946).

6.The Times (10 Sept. 1945, 3) carried a graphic eyewitness account, full of shock and awe, by the American scientific writer William L. Laurence, of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.

A further report, ‘Atom Bomb a “Man-Made Meteor”: U.S. Account’, appeared on the front page of the Sunday Times, 9 Sept. 1945. It was followed by a story filed from Knoxville, Tennessee: ‘Forecast of New Bomb: 100 Times The Power’: ‘An atom bomb nearly 100 times as powerful as those dropped on Japan was forecast to-day by Prof. Hilton Smith, of the University of Tennessee. He said that science was preparing a material far more concentrated for manufacture of the atomic bomb.

‘Engineers at the Hanford factory in Washington were working on plutonium, the new source of atomic energy. While uranium 235 was like a gold nugget that was only one per cent pure, uranium 238, which is used to produce plutonium, was like a nugget 99 per cent pure.’

The bomb dropped on Nagasaki had in fact been a plutonium-based weapon.

19 Carlyle Mansions, London, TSE's tour of no. 14, its Chelsea environs, TSE on settling down at, its post-war condition, refurbishments to, described, almost habitable, TSE installed at, joined by JDH, TSE's first home for years, servant problems, redecorated, TSE's possessions remain at, no longer TSE's address,
Brandt, Bill,

1.BillBrandt, Bill Brandt’s expressive full-page photograph of TSE, pictured in tired, lined concentration against his dirty office window, with the trees of Gordon Square behind him, appeared in a feature article about Brandt’s work, entitled ‘Above the Crowd’, Harper’s Bazaar (New York), 79: 2803 (July 1945), [34–7] 34. Brandt (1904–83) spent his early years in Germany, where his British father was interned for some time during WW1 (his mother was German). Moving to London in 1933, he won a high reputation as photographer and photojournalist. His works include The English at Home (1936); A Night in London (1938); Literary Britain (1951); Perspective of Nudes (1961). See Paul Delany, Bill Brandt: A Life (Stanford, 2004).

Browne, Elliott Martin, meets TSE at Chichester, production of The Rock, meets TSE over possible collaboration, talks over outline of play, meets TSE with Martin Shaw, delighted with Rock choruses, discusses unwritten pageant scenes with TSE, predicament as The Rock's director, well connected in amateur circles, revising into the night with TSE, argues with Shaw at dress-rehearsal, presented to Prince Arthur, honoured by Rock cast-supper, producing Gordon Bottomley's play, speaks at Londonderry House with TSE, 1935 Canterbury Murder in the Cathedral, approached by TSE to 'produce', consulted throughout composition, goes silent, lunches with TSE and Speaight, directs and acts despite illness, pursues London Murder revival, 1935–6 Mercury Theatre Murder revival, engaged as producer by Dukes, keen that EH attend rehearsals, simultaneously part of BBC production, agrees about Speaight's decline, preferred as producer for TSE's next play, and Charles Williams's Cranmer, in which he plays 'the Skeleton', and TSE attend Tenebrae, taken to Cambridge after-feast, producing York Nativity Play, which TSE thinks Giottoesque, at Savile Club Murder dinner, producing Shakespeare's Dream, and Ascent of F6, and Tewkesbury Festival Murder confusion, 1939 production of The Family Reunion, due to be sent script, weighing TSE's proposal that he produce, enthused by script, suggests TSE see Mourning Becomes Electra, against Family Reunion as title, pleased with draft, quizzed on fire-safety, typescript prepared for, new draft submitted to, rewrite waits on, receives new draft, criticisms thereof, reports John Gielgud interest, mediates between Gielgud and TSE, TSE throws over Gielgud for, secures Westminster Theatre production, steps into company breach, then into still-greater breach, and the play's weaknesses, direction of Family Reunion, receives TSE's Shakespeare lectures, 1938 American Murder tour, re-rehearsing actors for, suffers fit of pre-tour gloom, yet to report from Boston, and Tewkesbury pageant, accompanies TSE to La Mandragola, on Family Reunion's future prospects, and possible Orson Welles interest, war leaves at loose end, advises TSE over next play, war work with Pilgrim Players, unavailable for modern-dress Murder, compared to tempter/knight successor, requests Pilgrim Players' play from TSE, New Plays by Poets series, as director, and This Way to the Tomb, and Family Reunion revival, urges TSE to concentrate on theatre, 1946 Mercury Family Reunion revival, in rehearsal, possible revue for Mercury Theatre, and The Lady's Not for Burning, Chairman of the Drama League, 1949 Edinburgh Cocktail Party, to produce, TSE's intended first reader for, receives beginning, approves first act, receives TSE's revisions, communciates Alec Guinness's enthusiasm, arranges reading, surpasses himself with production, in Florence, EH suggests moving on from, and the Poets' Theatre Guild, 1950 Cocktail Party New York transfer, compares Rex Harrison and Alec Guinness, TSE debates whether to continue collaboration with, suggests three-play TSE repertory, 1953 Edinburgh Confidential Clerk, receives first two acts, designing sets, 1953 Lyric Theatre Confidential Clerk, attends with TSE, 1954 American Confidential Clerk, 1954 touring Confidential Clerk, TSE and Martin Browne catch in Golders Green, seeks Family Reunion MS from EH,
see also Brownes, the Martin

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.

Duncan, Ronald, part of New Plays by Poets series, introduces TSE to Britten, on TSE's meeting with Britten, The Rape of Lucretia, This Way to the Tomb,

3.RonaldDuncan, Ronald Duncan (1914–82): British poet, playwright, librettist, autobiographer: see Biographical Register.

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.

England, TSE as transatlantic cultural conduit for, discomforts of its larger houses, and Henry James, at times unreal, TSE's patriotic homesickness for, which is not a repudiation of America, TSE's want of relations in, encourages superiority in Americans familiar with, reposeful, natural ally of France, compared to Wales, much more intimate with Europe than America, TSE on his 'exile' in, undone by 'Dividend morality', in wartime, war binds TSE to, post-war, post-war privations, the English, initially strange to TSE, contortions of upward mobility, comparatively rooted as a people, TSE more comfortable distinguishing, the two kinds of duke, TSE's vision of wealthy provincials, its Tories, more blunt than Americans, as congregants, considered racially superior, a relief from the Scottish, don't talk in poetry, compared to the Irish, English countryside, around Hindhead, distinguished, the West Country, compared to New England's, fen country, in primrose season, the English weather, cursed by Joyce, suits mistiness, preferred to America's, distinguished for America's by repose, relaxes TSE, not rainy enough, English traditions, Derby Day, Order of Merit, shooting, Varsity Cricket Match, TSE's dislike of talking cricket, rugby match enthralls, the death of George V, knighthood, the English language, Adlestrop, Gloucestershire, visited by EH and TSE, Amberley, West Sussex, ruined castle at, Arundel, West Sussex, TSE's guide to, Bath, Somerset, TSE 'ravished' by, EH visits, Bemerton, Wiltshire, visited on Herbert pilgrimage, Blockley, Gloucestershire, tea at the Crown, Bosham, West Sussex, EH introduced to, Bridport, Dorset, Tandys settled near, Burford, Oxfordshire, EH staying in, too hallowed to revisit, Burnt Norton, Gloucestershire, TSE remembers visiting, and the Cotswolds, its imagined fate, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, less oppressive than Oxford, TSE's vision of life in, possible refuge during Blitz, Charlbury, Oxfordshire, visited by EH and TSE, Chester, Cheshire, TSE's plans in, TSE on, Chichester, West Sussex, the Perkinses encouraged to visit, EH celebrates birthday in, TSE's guide to, 'The Church and the Artist', TSE gives EH ring in, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, Perkinses take house at, shockingly remote, TSE's first weekend at, likened to Florence, TSE jealous of memories associated with, its Arts & Crafts associations, its attractions to Dr Perkins, forever associated with TSE and EH, sound of the Angelus, without EH, treasured in TSE's memory, excursions from, EH on 'our' garden at, Stamford House passes into new hands, EH's fleeting return to, Cornwall, TSE's visit to, compared to North Devon, Cotswolds, sacred in TSE's memory, Derbyshire, as seen from Swanwick, Devon ('Devonshire'), likened to American South, the Eliots pre-Somerset home, its scenery, Dorset, highly civilised, TSE feels at home in, TSE's Tandy weekend in, Durham, TSE's visit to, East Anglia, its churches, TSE now feels at home in, East Coker, Somerset, visited by Uncle Chris and Abby, TSE conceives desire to visit, reasons for visiting, described, visited again, and the Shamley Cokers, now within Father Underhill's diocese, photographs of, Finchampstead, Berkshire, visited by TSE and EH, specifically the Queen's Head, Framlingham, Suffolk, visited, Garsington, Oxfordshire, recalled, Glastonbury, Somerset, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire, highly civilised, its beautiful edge, its countryside associated with EH, TSE at home in, its domestic architecture, Hadsleigh, Suffolk, visited, Hampshire, journey through, TSE's New Forest holiday, Hereford, highly civilised, Hull, Yorkshire, and 'Literature and the Modern World', Ilfracombe, Devon, and the Field Marshal, hideous, Knole Park, Kent, Lavenham, Suffolk, visited, Leeds, Yorkshire, TSE lectures in, touring Murder opens in, the Dobrées visited in, home to EVE's family, Lincoln, Lincolnshire, TSE's visit to, especially the Bishop's Palace, Lincolnshire, arouses TSE's curiosity, unknown to EH, Lingfield, Surrey, Little Gidding, Cambridgeshire, TSE's long-intended expedition to, London, in TSE's experience, TSE's isolation within, affords solitude and anonymity, contrasted to country life, its fogs, socially freer than Boston and Paris, eternally misty, its lionhunters, rain preferable in, more 'home' to TSE than America, socially more legible than Boston, its society compared to Boston's, TSE's desire to live among cockneys, South Kensington too respectable, Clerkenwell, Camberwell, Blackheath, Greenwich scouted for lodging, its comparatively vigorous religious life, Camberwell lodging sought, Clerkenwell lodging sought, and music-hall nostalgia, abandoned by society in August, the varieties of cockney, TSE's East End sojourn, South Kensington grows on TSE, prepares for Silver Jubilee, South Kensington street names, Dulwich hallowed in memory, so too Greenwich, during 1937 Coronation, preparing for war, Dulwich revisited with family, in wartime, TSE as air-raid warden in, Long Melford, Suffolk, Lowestoft, Suffolk, Lyme Regis, Dorset, with the Morleys, Marlborough, Wiltshire, scene of a happy drink, Needham Market, Suffolk, Newcastle, Northumberland, TSE's visit to, Norfolk, appeals to TSE, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, dreary, Nottinghamshire, described for EH, Oxford, Oxfordshire, as recollected by TSE, past and present, EH takes lodgings in, haunted for TSE, in July, compared to Cambridge, Peacehaven, Sussex, amazing sermon preached in, Penrith, TSE's visit to, Rochester, as Dickens described, Salisbury, Wiltshire, in the Richmonds' company, Shamley Green, Surrey, TSE's ARP work in, its post office, Pilgrim Players due at, Somerset, highly civilised, TSE at home in, Southwold, Suffolk, TSE visits with family, Stanton, Gloucestershire, on TSE and EH's walk, Stanway, Gloucestershire, on EH and TSE's walk, Suffolk, TSE visits with family, Surrey, Morley finds TSE lodging in, evening bitter at the Royal Oak, TSE misses, as it must have been, Sussex, commended to EH, TSE walking Stane Street and downs, EH remembers, Walberswick, Suffolk, Wells, Somerset, TSE on visiting, Whipsnade, Bedfordshire, EH and TSE visit, Whitchurch Canonicorum, Dorset, delightful name, Wiltshire, highly civilised, TSE at home in, Winchelsea, East Sussex, visited, Winchester, TSE on, Wisbech, Lincolnshire, TSE on visiting, Worcestershire, TSE feels at home in, Yeovil, Somerset, visited en route to East Coker, York, TSE's glimpse of, Yorkshire,
see also British General Election
France, TSE's Francophilia shared by Whibley, TSE dreams of travelling in, synonymous, for TSE, with civilisation, the Franco-Italian entente, over Portugal, TSE awarded Légion d’honneur, subsequently elevated from chevalier to officier, TSE describes a typical French reception, Switzerland now favoured over, French cuisine, French culture, Exhibition of French Art 1200–1900, French painting, compared to English culture, French language, tires TSE to speak, TSE hears himself speaking, TSE dreads speaking in public, and TSE's false teeth, French politics, French street protest, England's natural ally, post-Versailles, post-war Anglo-French relations, French theatre, the French, more blunt than Americans, as compared to various other races, Paris, TSE's 1910–11 year in, EH pictured in, its society larger than Boston's, TSE's guide to, Anglo-French society, strikes, TSE dreads visiting, post-war, the Riviera, TSE's guide to, the South, fond 1919 memories of walking in, Limoges in 1910, Bordeaux,
Hinkley, Barbara (TSE's first cousin), TSE's antipathy to, not an intimate, Hinkleys celebrate her second marriage, her irreligion, speculations on her failed marriage, TSE on, reports on Dear Jane, hosts grand dinner, TSE revises criticism of, distinguished from husband, handicaps Eleanor, left by husband,
see also Hinkleys, the, Wolcotts, the

6.BarbaraHinkley, Barbara (TSE's first cousin) Hinkley (1889–1958) was married in July 1928 to Roger Wolcott (1877–1965), an attorney; they lived at 125 Beacon Hill, Boston, and at 1733 Canton Avenue, Milton, Mass.

Hinkley, Eleanor Holmes (TSE's first cousin), announces presence in London, TSE regrets speaking lightly of, un-deracinated, compared to TSE, TSE shares EH's frustrations with, less perceptive than her mother, gives party for Eva Le Gallienne, unworldly, theatrical success might improve, takes TSE to football match, dances with TSE, at second Norton lecture, as EH's friend, unflattering photograph of, and EH attend American Murder, suspected of writing by the book, to Aunt Susie as Hope Mirrlees to Mappie, pursues adult education, prejudices TSE against George Baker, cossetted, TSE feels remote from, explodes two Stearns family myths, reportedly writing novel, and life after Aunt Susie, turned carer, passes up EH's invitation, recollected as girl, TSE attempts to lure to England, her impersonality, invites TSE to stay in Boston, reports on Margaret's funeral, TSE's improved relations with, as 1956 hostess, reports on EH, informs EH of TSE's health, engineers correspondence between EVE and EH, adaptation of Emma, central to TSE falling for EH, Charlotte Brontë play, TSE presents to London Play Company, TSE's verdict on, compared to Dear Jane, Dear Jane, to be produced in New York, consumes her, TSE happy to dodge premiere, but hopes to catch over Christmas, well reviewed in certain quarters, White Violets,
see also Hinkleys, the

5.EleanorHinkley, Eleanor Holmes (TSE's first cousin) Holmes Hinkley (1891–1971), playwright; TSE’s first cousin; daughter of Susan Heywood Stearns – TSE’s maternal aunt – and Holmes Hinkley: see Biographical Register.

Hinkley, Susan Heywood (TSE's aunt, née Stearns), reports on I. A. Richards, writes to TSE about Hugh Walpole, delighted at Dear Jane's acceptance, retails TSE with ex-son-in-law's adulteries, possibly more perceptive than Eleanor, Eleanor's success might improve, at the second Norton lecture, TSE's occasional poem for, sympathises with TSE over separation, shares family drama with TSE, as correspondent, impediment to intimacy with Eleanor, eventually repelled Ada, reports daughter's reaction to Murder, writes innocently boastful letter, indifferent to war, writes in daughter's stead, in Ada's memory, overbearing mother, 'wambling', dependent on Eleanor,
see also Hinkleys, the
Hinkleys, the, during TSE's student days, in London, cheerful but somehow stunted, take to Evelyn Underhill and Harriet Weaver, taken on Bloomsbury tour, OM on, TSE reflects on their departure, have never asked after EH's mother, not in TSE's confidence as to EH, at odds with TSE's view of marriage, EH yet to confide in, more conventional than moral, bemuse TSE, their company makes TSE feel wary, outside Ada's confidence, TSE repents of criticising, more intolerant even than TSE, apprised of TSE's separation, ignorant of TSE's feelings for EH, EH explains relationship with TSE to, family drama of Dane babies, supported Landon over FDR, their insularity, their family sclerosis, TSE imagines EH's evening with,
Mercury Theatre, London, Yeats proposes season at, from the outside, possible Murder premiere at, season in financial straits, stage too small for Doone, to stage Murder revival, rehearsal at, Murder coming off at, hard to imagine Murder beyond, Dukes proposes new Mercury Theatre, Martin Browne's York Nativity Play, presents The Ascent of F6, Murder in re-rehearsal at, possible venue for Family Reunion, Dukes's La Mandragola, new Murder revival at, attempts season of miniature operas, 'initimate opera' at, its French equivalent, hosts New Plays by Poets, and 1946 Family Reunion revival, Martin Browne's proposal to stage revue at, presents Saroyan play, graced with royal visit, staging Playboy of the Western World, possible destination for Cocktail Party,
Mrs Millington (the blind masseuse), works on TSE's writers' cramp, traces TSE's cramp to Harvard, pounding TSE's neck, communicates message from William Blake, attributes condition to teeth, dies of stroke,
Murder in the Cathedral, idea for initially suggested by Laurence Irving, offered to Martin Browne, St. Thomas as TSE's muse, TSE on writing, tentatively, 'The Archbishop Murder Case', uncertainties over title, currently 'Fear in the Way', which proves unpopular, TSE on rewriting, title settled on, final revisions for printer, tentatively critiqued by EH, and EH on TSE as dramatist, chorus copied for EH, Virginia Woolf's aspersions on, the form of its choruses, defended from obscurity, did not test TSE's plotting, book-sales to-date, $1,000 offered for American rights, pays for 1936 American trip, Italian and Hungarian rights sold, and Whiggery, Savile Club dinner to celebrate, compared to next play, discrepancies of Canterbury Text, Martin Browne's initial response to, TSE recognised as author of, TSE on its cheerful title, EH on, abandoned Mercury Theatre premiere, suggested by Yeats and Doone, in the offing, and Doone's response to first draft, EH requested at, imperilled, text copied for Yeats, 1935 Canterbury Festival production, in rehearsal, opening night, reception, final performance, and EH's response, 1935–6 Mercury Theatre revival, Martin Browne pushing for, in rehearsal, which EH attends, compared to Canterbury original, at the box-office, its 100th performance, still running, proposed tour to end, 1936 BBC radio version, BBC bid to produce, broadcast fixed, BBC memo on, in rehearsal, TSE on, abortive 1936 New York transfer, Dukes visits America to arrange, blighted by Brace's actions, quashed by Federal Theatre production, its usurper founders, deferred to autumn, unsolicited 1936 New York production, licensed by Brace, to be directed by Rice, seemingly withdrawn, Rice resigns from, delights EH and Eleanor Hinkley, TSE sent press-cuttings for, EH reports on, TSE speculates as to textual discrepancies, attended by Eleanor Roosevelt, extended and potentially expanded, TSE to the Transcript on, may predispose immigration authorities favourably in future, royalties from, 1936 University College, Dublin student production, described by TSE, rumoured Australian and American productions, 1936 Gate Theatre touring production, TSE's long-held wish, scheduled, 1936 touring production, due at the Arts Theatre, Cambridge, as it was played in Cambridge, 1936 America pirate production, 1937 Duchess Theatre West End transfer, date fixed for, announced in Times, dress-rehearsal attended, reception, reviewed, royalties, still playing, ticket sales pick up, coming to an end, receives royal visit, 1937 touring production, scheduled post-Duchess, beginning in Leeds, then Manchester, going strong, 1937 Harvard University production, 1937 Amherst College production, singled out for praise, 1937 Old Vic production, touring production arrived at, in rehearsal, 1937 Tewkesbury Drama Festival production, 1938 American tour, projected for January 1937, said date seconded by Dukes, deferred to September 1937, confirmed again by Dukes, pre-tour dates in Golders Green, then Liverpool, opening in Boston in January, over which EH is consulted, tour itinerary, Family Reunion keeps TSE from, preparatory re-rehearsal for, pre-crossing Liverpool dates, EH's judgement desired, EH reports on first night, reviewed in The Times, EH sends New York cuttings, prematurely transferred to New York, Dukes reports on, Westminster Cathedral Hall charity performance, 1940 Latham Mercury revival, revival suggested in rep with Family Reunion, wartime modern-dress production suggested, ambushes TSE, in rehearsal, first night, reviewed, Browne's wartime Pilgrim Players' adaptation, Hoellering film, Hoellering's initial approach made, Hoellering's vision for, TSE adapting for screen, reconnoitre of Canterbury for, casting Becket, recording made for, development process described to NYT, non-actor found for Becket, screenings of Groser, set-dressing, screening, approaching release, still in the edit, final screening, and Venice Film Festival, seeking distribution, soon to premiere, opens, initial reception, circulating in shortened version, 1945 Théâtre du Vieux Colombier production, compared to Martin Browne's, royalties, apparently a hit, reviewed, reaches 150 performances, Fluchère's involvement, 1946 German production, 1947 Edinburgh Festival production, 1948 Milton Academy production, 1949 broadcast, 1949 Berlin production, politically resonant, 1952 University of Rennes, Grand Théâtre abridgment, 1952 Théatre National Populaire production, 1953 Old Vic revival, waiting on Donat, TSE on, 1954 Harvard production,
Nason, Margaret ('Meg') Geraldine, sends TSE birthday letter, sends TSE birthday cake, sends TSE box of toffee, apparently forgets TSE's birthday, but remembers, ill, expecting operation, among the saved, a 'Cosy Pet', and sister to lunch, given small iron wheelbarrow, her health,

1.MargaretNason, Margaret ('Meg') Geraldine (Meg) Geraldine Nason (1900–86), proprietor of the Bindery tea rooms, Broadway, Worcestershire, whom TSE and EH befriended on visits to Chipping Campden.

Nicholson, Norman, in New Plays by Poets series, The Old Man of the Mountains,

2.NormanNicholson, Norman Nicholson (1914–87): English poet, playwright, novelist and critic, who held fast to his small home town of Millom in Cumberland (Cumbria), on the western edge of the English Lake District. TSE published his work with Faber & Faber: poetry including Five Rivers (1944), Rock Face (1948) and The Pot Geranium (1954); and verse plays including The Old Man of the Mountains (1945). Recipient of the Queen’s Award for Poetry 1977, he was made OBE in 1981. See further Kathleen Jones, Norman Nicholson: The Whispering Poet (2013).

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.

Second World War, the prospect of, F&F plans in the event of, Britain's preparations for, prognostications as to its outbreak, and The Family Reunion, and the policy of appeasement, and transatlantic tourism, evacuation imminent, TSE discusses its outbreak with Dutchman, TSE refrains from commenting on, TSE's thoughts on, its effect on TSE, the 'Winter War', the 'Phoney War', Molotov–Ribbentrop pact, rationing, evacuation, seems continuous with First World War, invasion of Poland, invasion of Denmark and Norway, Chamberlain's resignation, Italy's declaration of war, Dunkirk, The Blitz, Battle of Cape Matapan, Operation Barbarossa, Greece enters war, Pearl Harbor, the Pacific War, Libyan campaign, North African campaign, and TSE's decision to remain in England, in relation to the First, prospect of its end unsettles, and returning to London, bombing of German cities, its effect on TSE's work, prognostications as to its end, the Little Blitz, Operation Overlord, V-1 Cruise Missile strikes, Operation Market Garden, and continental privations, and post-war European prospects, The Battle of the Bulge, possibility of post-war pandemic, V-2 Bombs, concentration camps, Germany's surrender, VE Day, and post-war Anglo-American relations, VJ Day, atomic bomb, its long-term economic consequences,
Speaight, Robert, singled out as Malvolio, chats to TSE at OM's, talked through part of Becket by TSE, excited at TSE's dramatic ambitions, never happier on stage, committed to Mercury Murder revival, unimprovable as Becket, in Mercury Theatre production, issues TSE with Irish introductions, his performance agreed to be going stale, at 100th performance of Murder, cast in Williams's Cranmer, his Becket critiqued by Tandy, as Becket, records Becket's sermon, which TSE is against, at post-performance feast in Cambridge, better as Cranmer than Becket, sermon reblocked for Duchess Theatre, at Savile Club Murder dinner, and the royal visit, becoming conceited, performance pruned in re-rehearsal, problems with his performance persist, in EH's report, compared to Robert Sansom, broadcasts East Coker, gives small dinner at Garrick, swoops on Shamley to record TSE, discounted from film of Murder, complains and is disingenuously soothed, as Elijah in Nicholson's debut, attends Family Reunion with TSE, still playing Becket, misrepresents TSE's views, in Belgium, ruined by Becket, in The Confidential Clerk,

2.RobertSpeaight, Robert Speaight (1904–77), actor, producer and author, was to create the role of Becket in Murder in the Cathedral in 1935: see Biographical Register.

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,
Vilar, Jean, as Becket in Meurtre, acclaimed with Prix du Théâtre, revives Meurtre,

3.JeanMurder in the Cathedral1945 Théâtre du Vieux Colombier production;g2 Vilar’s production of Murder in the Cathedral opened at the Vieux-Colombier Theatre on 18 June 1945. VilarVilar, Jean (1912–71), actor-producer and administrator, who founded his acting company in 1943, was awarded in 1945 the Prix du Théâtre for his outstanding work on Murder and on Strindberg’s Dance of Death. In 1947 he founded the Avignon Festival, the first drama festival in France; and he was appointed director of the prestigious state-owned Théâtre National Populaire, 1947–63. His acting roles included Macbeth, Don Juan and the gangster in Brecht’s Arturo Ui; and his productions extended from French plays to Aristophanes, Shakespeare, Beckett and Robert Bolt.

Welch, Edward Sohier, Barbara Hinkley justified in leaving, marries again, dies suddenly,

3.EdwardWelch, Edward Sohier Sohier Welch (1888–1948), lawyer, had married TSE’s cousin Barbara Hinkley in 1909. TheyPearmain, Margaret were divorced in 1926, and he married Margaret Pearmain later the same year. See Elizabeth F. Fideler, Margaret Pearmain Welch (1893–1984): proper Bostonian, activist, pacifist, reformer, preservationist (Eugene, Oregon, 2017).