Montepulciano (Prov. di Siena). - Thanks Trevelyan for his gift of [Woolf's] "Waves". Is here till tomorrow and saw Iris Origo last night; appreciates her all the more as he comes to know her; hopes to take Walker to stay with them for a few days. Heard 'the pathetic voice of Lloyd George' [on the radio?] a few days ago; did not think what he said 'first-rate' or 'accurate'. Asks where Julian is; was expecting to see him in October. Nicky [Mariano] said there is no water at I Tatti, but expects it will be better now due to recent heavy rain. Was amazed that Clifford A[llen] supported MacDonald [over the National Government]; asks for Trevelyan's opinion. Was in Arezzo recently for a commemoration of Petrarch; the foreigners he met there were 'all very gloomy'. Asks if Trevelyan has received the Baudelaire which Alberti says he has sent him.
Will be happy to meet Trevelyan's friend Sir Augustus Daniel, and will make sure he is at home whenever he chooses to come. If Trevelyan knows which hotel Daniel is staying at in Siena, will write to him there in case it suits him to stay on his way from Siena to Perugia. The Clarks are spending Easter with Morra, though Kenneth has caught flu in Naples. Will not see Desmond [MacCarthy], which he regrets. Hopes Trevelyan will come down with the [Clifford] Allens in summer or in autumn: better to visit the Isola Maggiore in that season as the landlords are there. Describes the island's vegetation. His [article on George] Moore 'falls flat' because the journal Pègaso is 'breaking down'. Trevelyan should not bother about the Salvatorelli. Is very distressed about the news from Germany. Alberti and Moravia are here and send love; Alberti is 'free of his job'.
Turin. - Thanks Trevelyan for sending him his translation of Aeschylus: is looking forward to reading it when he gets to the country. Has been back from Rome for a few days; Turin could be delightful despite or perhaps because of its 'quiet and easy dullness', but he has all sorts of 'tyrannical' social obligations. Was very nice to see Trevelyan in Rome and talk with him. Is afraid he is getting tired of literature, but then 'everybody is, and goes on all the same'. Encourages Trevelyan to write a novel. Hopes he has received the Michelangelo, and asks him to let him know if he translates any.
Postmarked Torino; addressed to Trevelyan c/o Morra di Lavriano, Settignano, Arezzo, and forwarded on to I Tatti, Settignano, Firenze. - Hopes to see Trevelyan on Jan 12-13 in Ference [?: Firenze / Florence] Sends love to Morra, and best wishes for a happy 1929. Morra di Lavriano writes on the front or picture side, when sending on the postcard, that Trevelyan must bear in mind that the train timetable changes on 15 Jan, as he wrote to Nicky [Mariano] yesterday; sends love, also to Julian and everyone at I Tatti.
Il Palazzo Villa Alberti, Gerbido Torinese. - A postcard from Morra informs Alberti that Trevelyan has asked after him. Has had trouble with a 'sort of essay on Baudelaire' which has had a long time to finish; will send it when it is printed. Now is thinking of writing a few short stories. Asks if Trevelyan has been working a lot, or travelling, and whether he will soon return to Italy. Spent July in Bavaria, where he 'discovered' Mozart's "Magic Flute" in Munich and was 'absolutely charmed by it'. Asks if there are good translations of Goethe in English, since his German is not good enough to read "Dichtung und Wahrheit" in the original and he does not think French translations are very reliable. Asks whether he should read Lowes Dickinson's interpretation of Faust. Found [Emil?] Ludwig's book 'very disappointing and disagreeable' and will not finish it. Asks what Trevelyan thought of [Richard Hughes'] "A High Wind in Jamaica", published in "Life and Letters", which he rather enjoyed. Has also read recently "Sons and Lovers", his first D. H. Lawrence book, as well as Lawrence's short story "Jimmy and the Desperate Woman", and discusses them at length, and [Arnold Bennett's] "Old Wives Tale". Asks if Trevelyan has head [G. B. Shaw's] "The Apple Cart"; has read Desmond McCarthy's criticism in the "New Statesman" and was sorry to hear an English audience, at this point in time, had applauded Shaw's 'anti-democratic tomfoolery'. Recognises that polemics is Shaw's 'job', but people in Italy take him seriously. Asks for recommendations of new books, and whether Mary Webb is worth reading. In a postscript. asks for a recommendation of a mythological reference book which collects references to the stories of Tantalus, Pelops and others.
Thanks Trevelyan for the long letter and the Goethe and Apollonius, which he hopes to be able to return in person when Trevelyan comes to Italy. Is soon going to stay with the Papafavas near Padua. Morra seems quite pleased with his journey in Spain. Does not know when the B.B.s [Berensons] plan to return to I Tatti. s read [?] Crendly's notes in "Life and Letters" and found them good but 'somehow rather childish'. His Baudelaire article is finished; does not know when it will be published.
Cortona (Arezzo). - Expects Trevelyan has just arrived in Italy, and is looking forward to him coming; hopes the weather will be better than the mist and rain today. Has just had a visit from the 'disciple', K. [Kenneth] Clark, who is charming. Would like Trevelyan to come on the 21st to meet his friend [Guglielmo degli?] Alberti, who has to return to his home at Turin for Christmas. He travelled over with Mr and Mrs Waterfield, so Trevelyan can ask for their impressions of him. Clark gave him good news of the I Tatti household, including 'Miss Nicky' [Mariano]; B.B. [Bernard Berenson] is in high spirits despite finding 'on the center of his roof a tower with a clock'.
I Tatti, Ponte A Mensola (sotto Setignano). - Arrived today: there were only three at the meal, as Mary [Berenson] and Barbara [Sessions?] are in Siena; the rest of the household are well. Will certainly see Trevelyan when he comes to Italy, either at home or in Rome. Alberti stopped with him on his way to Rome, where he will stay all winter; he has not received the postcard from Trevelyan. Has nearly finished "To The Lighthouse": thinks it quite good and may write an article on Virginia Woolf.
Rome. - His arrangements for the winter, including going to I Tatti to see Berenson around 15 December; would be glad to welcome Trevelyan at Cortona around 3 or 4 January. Moravia 'astonished by the beauty' of the edition of "Don Quixote" Trevelyan sent him; Alberti 'deep in film-making'.
c/o [Bernard] Berenson, Poggio allo Spino, Consuma (Prov. di Firenze). - Glad Julian is having a good time at Aulla, and would have liked to join him but cannot manage it. Will start for home around the beginning of September, and may stop at Paris for a few nights. Julian unlikely to have time to stop here on the way to Venice or Ravenna, but there may be room, or he could stop at the hotel at Consuma; Nicky [Mariano] will have written about that to Lina [Waterfield]. The countryside here is in some ways the finest he has seen in Italy, hard to be beaten 'even by Aulla'; Julian should see it some day, perhaps next year. Went to Laverna [sic: La Verna], where St Francis received his stigmata, on Monday by car. [Umberto] Morra has left, but [Alberto] Moravia is still staying at the hotel and comes to the house every day; the Anreps [Alma and Egbert] are here most of the time. His hotel in Rome was the Albergo Elyseé; if Julian stays there he should ask whether he can get a room looking over the Borghese gardens; his own looked the wrong way, but he used to go to [Guglielmo degli] Alberti's. Sends love to A[ubrey], Lina, Kinta and J[ohn], and to Adelina and 'the Fortezza itself'. Morra almost certain to be at Cortona and glad to see Julian.
Cortona. - Has been recently at I Tatti, where Alberti joined him for a couple of days; found Mary in good spirits though her health was no better, while B.B., though his American investments are not out of trouble, does not seem too anxious. "Pègaso" [the literary journal] has been succeeded by "Pan"; Ojetti has asked him to contribute but has not given him a topic. Would be pleased to accept recommendations, otherwise, asks if Trevelyan could send him the cheaper edition of Virginia Woolf's new story ["Flush"?] and two books by Faulkner, "Sartoris" and "The Soldier's Pay [sic]" (he can get the rest of Faulkner's books at I Tatti). Hopes Trevelyan's plans are including his usual visit to Italy; his own are not yet clear. The Bracci family will leave Montepulciano tomorrow for Rome; the joinery factory is promising, but there are some financial worries. Sees the Labour party doing well in British elections; asks whether this is anything more than 'the usual pendulum of power'. Says that 'we are always more obsessed by the ill-treatment of jews [sic] in Germany; many students are coming to our universities. Sends love to Julian and asks where he is, asks to be remembered to Trevelyan's wife.
I Tatti, Settignano, Florence. - It is very kind of Trevelyan to say he will send Morra Virginia [Woolf's] new book ["The Years"]; he has promised to review it by the middle of May. Met Trevelyan's brother George here recently and was amused by the resemblances and differences between them. George's wife [Janet] seemed 'very pleasant', and B.B. is revising his first thoughts about her. Alberti is here. Mary's health is up and down but she does not 'look at all badly'. Will return home when B.B. and Nicky [Mariano] start for the Aegean.
Metelliano. - Asks Trevelyan to explain to Mrs [Margaret?] Lloyd why he has not been able to reply to her letter. Further discussion of the Braccis' plans for their son Braccio to spend a month in England (see 5/84): it seems that they would like him to stay with the Spring-Rices' but do not want to commit to having Miss Lloyd as a paying guest. Will see Alberti at Montepulciano, returning from a journey to North and South America. Everyone is very grateful for Mrs Lloyd's kindness. Has received Virginia [Woolf]'s book ["Three Guineas"?], and sent a spare copy of his article "Silenzio di Don Giovanni", in "La Cultura", to Trevelyan, and will send another he has written on [Giosuè ?] Carducci. Very interested in Trevelyan's translations of Leopardi, and hopes to see some soon. Has not yet heard anything about [the Berensons'] 'new Consuma' at Vallombrosa. Is sad about Mary's state of health.