Wallington, Cambo, Morpeth. - Expecting Elizabeth with pleasure on the 9th. Julian is very well. Hopes Elizabeth has a good time at Cambridge; it will be interesting to stay in the College [Newnham?]; asks to be remembered to Miss [Mary?] Fletcher, whose post [Librarian] must be 'delightful. Elizabeth must not worry about Caroline's [Belgian] refugees: George thinks there might be a delay in sending them [to Snitterfield: see 11/10] as the Central Committee is 'so overwhelmed'. It is George's birthday; Mary planned that he should plant a tree, but it is pouring with rain. Elizabeth will be glad when her guest [Catherine Abercrombie] is 'sent off home': she should be very grateful to Elizabeth. Thinks Miss Evans 'manages Julian very well'; he is not always obedient and 'wants a strong hand'.
Did not thank Julian enough when he rang last week for helping him and 'all the trouble' he took: was a great disappointment not to go to Florence, but Dr Holloway strongly advised him against it; perhaps it was a mistake not to go, and to miss seeing B.B. [Bernard Berenson] again, but he did not 'really feel up to the journey'. Feels Gordon [Bottomley]'s death 'very much': he had been a 'perfect friend', and apart from Desmond [MacCarthy] and Berenson was the last of his 'old literary friends'. Though Julian had not seen him much lately, he always spoke of him 'with real affection'. His death came 'very suddenly and I think painlessly' while he was on a short visit to Mary Fletcher's at Oare. Thinks Bessie will be in London on Thursday and will ring Julian up.
24, Great Cumberland Place. - Sends congratulations to Bobbie [on his engagement] from his 'cousins here including the "Muggins" household"; hopes they will get to know his future wife one day, and that the Gracedieu visit is only delayed until he can bring her with him [see 13/58, where Robert tells his mother he has let the Booths know about his engagement since he had arranged to visit them at Gracedieu on New Years Day]. The Fletchers, who knew Elizabeth at St Andrews, have been saying 'how much they & everyone liked her in those days'.
The Shiffolds, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking. - Sends thanks for his parents' letters. Bessie is on a two night visit to the Fletchers [Dorothy and Mary, her fellow students at St Andrews, and family?] near Petworth so he is alone except for Paul, who is well. Has not heard anything new 'about Sicilian matters' [the will of Florence Cacciola Trevelyan], and has not seen Withers or Crompton [Llewelyn Davies] for 'some time'.
Went to the English language performance of Wagner's Ring last week [conducted by Hans Richter]; the 'English singers came through the ordeal very creditably, considering that few of them had any operatic experience'. Hopes this will be a 'good omen' for the performance of Ariadne [The Bride of Dionysus], for which Tovey 'seems to be getting on with the music', though it will take some time. Gives dates of Tovey's concerts at the Chelsea Town Hall in Feb-Apr, in case his mother can go to any. Went to Charles and Molly's 'at home' last week, which 'was very pleasant'; saw George there, who seems well.
Paul is well, except for a little trouble with his teeth which are taking a long time to come through. He 'can stand up alone now, at least when he does not think of it, though the moment he does, he falls down'. Hopes his parents are well.
The Shiffolds. - Is alone here until Wednesday, since Bessie is in Cambridge; she hopes to see Caroline in London during her return, and seems well, apart from a cold. The weather is 'beautiful again today, and the woods are full of bluebells'; this is the best time of the year here, before the trees are fully in leaf.
They are currently 'very anxious about H[enry] Fletcher's wife', whom they hear from Mary Fletcher to be dangerously ill: if she can 'get through this crisis' she may 'get fairly well again'. Sturge Moore, the poet, and his wife are coming to the Shiffolds for two days on Wednesday; then Moore's brother [George], the philosopher, comes till Monday. On Saturday night, Denman is bringing Tovey over in his motor-car, and Arthur Dakyns will also be here. So on Sunday they will be 'quite filled up', with four guests, but he thinks they can manage.
Expects to be in town one day next week. Will try to see Pelléas et Mélisande if they perform it a second time. Hopes his father is well. Wonders how she thinks Henry James was looking when he came to lunch: does 'not think he looked at all well at Eastbourne'.
18, Southwick Street, Hyde Park, W. - Very glad about Bobbie's engagement; knows he is going to be 'very happy'. Very interested to find that their 'beloved cousins, the Fletchers, knew Miss Van der Hoeven at St. Andrews'. Wishes Bobbie and his fiancée were both coming to stay with the Booths at Gracedieu for Christmas.
Congratulates Trevy [on his engagement] and wishes him 'all happiness'; on hearing about it beforehand from [Charles] Holmes and [Laurence] Binyon, who had heard through [Sydney] Cockerell and Trevy's cousins the Fletchers, he had 'refused to believe it' due to what Trevy had told him about 'Mrs Costello[e] having tried to put about such stories'. However, when his sister heard the same from Miss [Bonté?] Amos, who said she had got the news from Trevy's mother, he 'had to allow it might be true'. Thinks Trevy will 'make a good husband', but that he will 'spoil all [his] children with indulgence' and thinks he should start being 'very stern' with himself so that he is able to look 'cross' enough at them; knows he is talking 'as if the little Homers and Aeschylluses [sic] and a Sappho or two were bound to turn up' and hopes they will. Keen to meet Trevy's fiancé; hopes she is not 'too like George' and suggests that the only indication which Trevy has given as to what she is like ''is very misleading and puts one deeper into darkness than total ignorance'. Asks how long Trevy has know her, and if she is 'connected with the admirers of the Dutch Milton [Vondel?]' whom he met at Taormina. Is to get a hundred pounds for editing Shakespeare [for the Vale Press] and fears it will take up a lot of time, so cannot promise to write an epithalamium. [Roger] Fry is 'of course quite wrong about Bellini', whom Moore admires as much as Fry does, but denies that he is 'characterised by passion by pathos or by Virgillian [sic] melancholy'; Bellini is a 'far greater master than Altdorfer' though Fry seemed to think he was comparing them. Sorry that Trevy is troubling to copy out Moore's "Danaë"; he could easily have got two copies made; hopes he will 'suggest how the hard sentences can be made easy, & the crooked straight, at the same time as pointing out their deficiency'. Hopes Trevy's fiancée 'will prove a Muse... though she is not going to enter the lists as a rival'.
The Hague. - Hopes this letter will 'be in time to say goodbye' and wish Bob good luck in his travels; calls him a 'lucky man, to get out of this wind' to places where the 'sun can warm as well as light the world'. They [he and his wife] look forward to 'seeing the East from at least three new points of view when you three articulate-speaking mortals [Bob, G. Lowes Dickinson and E. M. Forster] come back'.
Wonders if Bob has had the chance to look at the book by Loti [Un Pèlerin d'Angkor?] (this returned safely, Bob should tell Elizabeth); Angkor has had the 'same fascination' for Fletcher as Loti felt, 'ever since I first read about it in Ferguson [James Fergusson?]'. Bob should go there if he has the chance, though Fletcher imagines it is 'pretty inaccessible'; and 'if the Buddhist priests have advanced to the sale of picture post-cards', he should send Fletcher as many as he can.
Has come to the Hague for a few days before 'the autumn session' begins, and finds the town 'nearly as fascinating' as he remembers it from the tour he and [his sister] Mary made eighteen years ago, though the 'perpetual buffeting of the icy east wind, mixed with dust & dead leaves' does not make 'strolling & sketching' very enjoyable. Good to be in a large town where 'you can walk at your ease down the middle of the streets without having to jump away from the engine-bonnets of a thousand cards. It reminds one how blessed existence was... in the pre-petrol days'; suppose Bob will 'recapture' that in Canton. Objects, however, to the 'plate-glass casements' replacing the 'original sash-windows divided with bars into many panes' everywhere; calls the change 'perfectly disastrous to scale & texture & cheerfulness', and adds a sketch of the two window types. His hotel is 'built of bells. They ring all the time in every direction'.
Sends his love to Elizabeth, and asks Bob to 'tell her to come to us whenever she can & will during your absence'. Adds postscript about how much he was 'carried away by The Bride [of Dionysus], calls it 'the best libretto' he has ever read.
86 Chesterton Road, Cambridge. - Is going to stay with Desmond [MacCarthy] at Garrick's Villa this weekend; asks if it would suit Bessie for him to come straight on to them on Monday. Dorothy thanks Bessie for the invitation, but she cannot get away since their American friends may be arriving at any time. Tim has finished his three years at Trinity and is now a Bachelor of Music and Master of Arts; he will be living in London next year to attend the Royal College of Music. His teacher Patrick Hadley, Mary Fletcher's friend, is now Professor of Music at Cambridge, in succession to Dent.
86 Chesterton Road, Cambridge. - Will suit him well to come on the 28th and stay till the 2nd July; hopes he will overlap with Mary Fletcher. He and Dorothy are both very well and enjoyed the heat.
86 Chesterton Road, Cambridge. - Arrived home safely and feels very well today; thanks Bessie again for the good time he had with the Trevelyans. She should tell Mary [Fletcher] that the trains to Cambridge are altered this month. Forgot to say goodbye to Miss Dyson, and asks Bessie to apologise to her for him.
National Liberal Club; addressed to Julian at the Shiffolds. - Has seen B., who says Mary F[letcher?] cannot have Julian until Wednesday 18 September; Julian could probably therefore see Mrs [Penelope] Wheeler [about a forthcoming production of Bob's play "Meleager", for which Julian painted the scenery?] if Bob could arrange for a meeting at her house on Wednesday morning.
1917 Club, 4 Gerrard Street, W.1. - Has just arrived from Welcombe, and is waiting for Bob. They will have two 'most momentous meetings' this afternoon at [Sir John] Withers': first, with Kenneth Cross present, deciding on the 'future of the Shiffolds'; then with Mr Whitlock, Mr Place, and Mr Watson to sign the sale contract of Welcombe, and also if possible to settle details of 'preferential treatment to tenants etc etc'. Hopes all goes well; had quite a time in Welcombe on Wednesday going through the inventory with Whitlock, and deciding what to keep; whenever she goes there she finds something new, this time some 'really fine old pewter plates' which she did not however reserve. As soon as Whitlock left Engelbert and Helen [Röntgen] arrived, and 'had to be shown round & everything explained. Engelbert had 'the greatest difficulty in grasping the situation' and thought the Trevelyans were 'mad to sell such beauty!'. She then had to go and 'sooth anxious minds' of Tinson, Hall [?], Florence and everyone else [staff at Welcombe?] who are of course all worrying about what will happen; it is 'very sad for the Tinsons', and she almost feels most for them. Expects Julian had a good time at Oare yesterday [visiting Mary Fletcher], since the weather 'suddenly cleared'; hopes he got onto the Downs. Asks him to let her know how he is getting on, and his address at Bath; tells him to 'look out for [Jane Austen's] Anne Elliot & her relations'.
86 Chesterton Road, Cambridge. - Thanks for sending the two letters by [his brother Bertie] to Bob; had forgotten that the Trevelyans went to visit Bertie in his studio at Rome and found his father there nursing Bertie over typhoid. His father was not a great talker, though he used to have disputes with Tom at meal-times. His remembrance of conversations is the same as Bessie's: he remembers the tone well, but not usually what was actually said. Will send on the letters to Bertie: he, Hettie and Moore are now the only survivors of their family of eight. Some childhood reminiscences; has no idea why Bertie became the name his brother was known by. Mary Fletcher had mentioned that Bessie would remain at the Shiffolds at least for this winter; will be on the look out for anyone who might come as paying guest. Good to hear that Bob had inscribed his last poem, "This is love", to Bessie; asks if it has been published anywhere, as he has only seen it quoted by Desmond [MacCarthy] in his obituary of Bob. Also glad to hear Desmond has been much better recently. His own health is still improving. Apologises if he did not thank her for sending him his letters to Bob: found it very interesting to look through them.
Garrick's Villa, Hampton, Middlesex. - Wishes he could be sure that Cambridge would give Bob [Trevelyan] the honour he deserves; it is nearly a year since she and he discussed this, and MacCarthy approached Shepherd [sic: J. T. Sheppard?] and Roberts. The answer then was reassuring, but when he saw Roberts recently in the Athenaeum it seemed more doubtful. Has not heard from Trevelyan for a long time; gathers he has been up to Northumberland, and that he is suffering from eczema as well as his usual troubles; is glad the 'dear and wise Mrs Abercromby' [sic: Catherine Abercrombie?] stays with him. Has himself been unwell for a few weeks; is going to London for some special treatment. Went to the South of France in March; enjoyed the warmth and sun but did not get well. Thinks often of going to the Shiffolds or to see Ralph Wedgwood in order to see Trevelyan, but has not felt well enough to go for a short visit. Moore has written inviting him to Cambridge in May, though he doubts he will be able to come.
86 Chesterton Road, Cambridge. - Is sorry that he did not see Desmond [MacCarthy] at all when he came to receive his honorary degree: George Trevy [Trevelyan], with whom Desmond was staying, let him know that he needed to rest after the ceremony and then he was too ill to visit Moore. He and Dorothy went to Desmond's funeral in Cambridge, in George Trevy's car. Is hoping he will be well enough to come to Leith Hill Place this summer, and to see Bessie then. Was glad to hear from Mary Fletcher that Bessie has a satisfactory couple as gardener and cook.
Addressed to Mary Fletcher at Godwin's House, Berwick St. James, Salisbury. - Thanks her for telling him she is glad he is to be knighted; as he has just discovered, 'the pleasure of being publicly honoured' lies in the pleasure it gives to friends, 'if they were not pleased, how could one hope that others would think it deserved?'.
86 Chesterton Road, Cambridge. - Apologises for not replying sooner 'time does seem to go so quickly now!'. Glad to hear the news about [Bob Trevelyan's] library, and that she has found the librarian so amiable. Also good to hear about [George?] Birkbeck, of whom he knew nothing. Bad luck that both of her readers had laryngitis; does not know how he would get on if he could not read a great deal. Also sorry that Mary Fletcher could not come to visit because of her brother's illness. He is keeping well, though he cannot do many things he once could he is still 'as capable as ever of having good talks on philosophy'. Dorothy is also keeping well, though says she is starting to feel old. Encloses a letter from Bob to Desmond [MacCarthy], which Molly sent in a 'sheaf' of his letters to Desmond.
86 Chesterton Road, Cambridge. - He and Dorothy were very sorry to hear of Molly MacCarthy's death: they had found her charming when she stayed with them for two days in July. She wrote to them that she was very ill and did not really wish to live, but they did not hear the news until Michael MacCarthy came to tell them about the funeral as they take the "Manchester Guardian", which did not report it, not the "Times". She made the decisions about Desmond's grave when she came, and composed the inscription; the Moores saw the tomb when it was finished and wrote to tell Molly it was just as she wished. Molly's hearing seemed much better on her visit: Moore supposes she had a better hearing aid. Michael brought his wife and daughter: the little girl seemed very attractive; he and Dorothy were struck by how like his father Michael was. Mary Fletcher had written to let him know she was relieved she did not need to have any operations or other hospital treatment; was glad to hear from Bessie that she was a little better now. Is sorry that he forgot the date of her birthday so was unable to reciprocate for the eightieth birthday telegram she sent him. Has read Virginia Woolf's diary: does not quite agree that she was more affected by bad reviews that she should have been, in fact had rather the opposite impression. Never saw much of her but 'always admired her greatly' and the diary left him 'admiring her as much as ever'. Neither he and Dorothy were able to make much of "To the Lighthouse" and "The Waves", but the library made him think he should try again. Enjoyed the "Common Reader" very much.
Martinscote, Oare, Marlborough. - Finds Bob's poem 'very lovely in every way... naturally it means something special to Goldie [Lowes Dickinson]'s friends'. Looks forward to seeing it again in the "Collected Works", and thanks Bob for letting her 'take it away'. Asks Bob to 'thank "Dolly", or ask Bessie to' for sending on a pair of stockings Mary left behind. Mary has had to have a new boiler put in: the 'price of modern improvements!'.
4 Weller Court, 66 Ladbroke Road, W.11. - Has read the "Homeric Hymn" [to Demeter, in this year's "From the Shiffolds"] and likes it very much: it seems 'specially welcome to have just one continuous poem, among so much that is scrappy (my own mind, I fear!) - nasty, brutish, & short'. Sends best wishes for 1950: never finds anything as good to 'even the balance' for the poems, but perhaps she will one day. The bookshop where she bought Bob's "Translations from Latin Poetry" for Harry [her brother?] said they had had quite a demand for it.
Comment on a paper she has read: Oare
A. M. McIver on ethics: [Martinscote, Oare]
Lodgers: Martinscote, Oare
Congratulations on Teresa Rothschild's marriage and Robert John Grote Mayor's MBE, conference at Manchester, knowledge of other minds: [Martinscote, Oare]
Proud that he wanted her to help see his book through the press if he did not recover, visit of G. E. Moore and R. C. Trevelyan: Martinscote, Oare
Unable to do philosophy due to stranger lady, discussion of Whiteley's arguments: [Martinscote, Oare]
Comment on F J Ayer's [radio broadcast]: Berwick St James, Salisbury
Bbecoming a "simple-lifer": Martinscote, Oare
The Saracen's Head, Bath. - Has been in bed ill today but hope to be up tomorrow and go on to Torquay; the Fletchers will stay in Bath and rejoin them on their return journey. There have been air raid warnings every night, but the bombs fell at least thirty miles to the west. Riette's scenery was excellent, 'but of course made out of nothing'; the play was better than he expected though too close to the book; the heroine Anne was played by a 'young Canadian actress' with great 'beauty and dignity'; the author is very career-minded. Marie is working too hard, his indisposition makes things more difficult for her. Encloses a letter to be sent to the Oliver Lodges: does not know their Toronto address. All the trains over-full: a porter told Marie that 'People rush about more than ever'. Could not go to Mrs Lambert's yesterday but Marie did and was 'delighted with everything she saw there'. Love to the Trevelyans, and 'friendliest greetings to Miss Simpkins'