Diccionario Enciclopedico Hispano Americano, Fernanflor, 6 - Madrid - Apartado 847. - Very pleased Trevelyan has send him his Lucretius, and has much enjoyed reading it, especially as he has been reading 'a very competent book which accords modern scientific theories with Genesis'; praises the translation. Apologises for not replying to Trevelyan's letter of 5 June; is coming to the conclusion that he is 'not inordinately egoistic nor singularly selfish, but... a pig'. Since his wife went home he has 'lived off Duran' at the office 'where he is unusually competent', at lunch, and sitting outside for coffee; Alcalá, where they sit, is currently being resurfaced in an inefficient way, which elicits Duran's irritation, he believes communist government will solve such problems. Suspension of "El Sol" newspaper for refusing to either reduce its size or change its cost, as ordered by 'the hopeless Dato', who is premier again. Is surprised at the Spanish people's lack of interest or judgment in political affairs; they should not have allowed [Joaquin] Sánchez de Toca to be driven out of power by 'military intrigues'. Troubles in Barcelona. Goes to see dancing whenever he can, but the best dancer, Amarandina [?] comes on at midnight, so he has only seen her twice. Argentinita and Raquel Meller are in Buenos Aires, everyone else at San Sebastian. Ricardo Baeza is in London writing for "El Sol"; he managed the company which produced "La importancia de llamarse Ernesto" [Wilde's "Importance of Being Earnest". Cancha [?], the 'funny man' of 'El Sol', is also in London. Bagarria [sic: Lluís Bagaria i Bou ?] is in Toledo, 'talking 23 & painting 1 hour of the 24'. Brilleas has been going to the Cantabrian coast for a month, but Echevarría the painter, who was to accompany him, went to see his father for his birthday at the end of July and has not returned. Mrs [Luis] Araquistáin and Mrs Don Julio [Álvarez del Vayo] are in Switzerland; Don Julio is in Warsaw if he has left Berlin. Tells Trevelyan to write 'lots of good poetry quickly': his grandfather's advice to his father was 'mahl gut und schnell'.
Apartado 847, Madrid, Spain. - Hopes that his father has by now 'quite recovered' from his fall, and that Hearn [the butler] is well again; supposes they are at Welcombe by now, so will send this letter there. Will stay at Madrid while he is in Spain, which may be for two or three weeks longer; it is a 'pleasant enough city', and not too cold at present. Usually goes out into the countryside by tram to work, and comes back when it gets dark. Has made some 'interesting friends here through [Oswald] Sickert' with whom he has been staying: 'young journalists and literary men', of whom two or three have 'a great deal of talent'. Can now read a Spanish newspaper 'fairly well', and don Quijote [sic] 'with the help of a translation'; however, he has not yet got used to the pronunciation, which is 'very guttural, and much more difficult than Italian'. The acting he has seen at the theatres 'seems very good, if only I could understand what they say'.
Bessie 'writes cheerfully', and Julian 'seems to be quite happy and in good spirits'. Robert hopes to go for a day to visit Toledo, and perhaps Segovia, before he leaves, but will not try to go south to Malaga or Granada, as 'there seem to be strikes everywhere'. The Spanish are 'going through a major industrial crisis', but Madrid is unlikely to be affected, since it is 'not an industrial city'. Luckily, they have 'a very good and liberal minded premier, Sanchez [de] Toca, who is nominally a conservative, and 'will probably steer them through their difficulties, if he is allowed to remain in power'. This is however 'doubtful, since the military juntas and the reactionaries hate him, and are trying to turn him out'.