Showing 14 results

5 rue Denfort Rochereau, Boulogne s[ur]/Seine. - Wonderful that there is peace for Christmas. Was in a 'Uni-Prix' shop, a 'sort of "Woolworth"' in Boulogne yesterday; there were many children there and it was very touching to see their 'joy and admiration of "père Noel"'. A[ndré: her son] and B[ev: his wife] are not coming to stay, but will be ski-ing at Grindelwald; her sister is in Germany, so they are 'alone with old Rex [the dog]'. They will not feel lonely since she is now working in the Russian theatre; it is a joy to help the other actors and be useful; [her husband] Alexandre Petrovitch helps her and is interested to see the public who come to performances: the older ones 'weep very much' and the younger ones laugh a great deal'; 'joy is needed nowadays'. Is working on a new play, and the theatre is also putting on "Uncle Vanya" again: Chekhov's plays are 'always so liked'. Has seen fragments of his letters to his wife, and it is strange 'how unlike him they are. They are not simple, natural' and cannot be compared with the letters of Pushkin and Tolstoy, and are as if he is 'all the time playing, hiding himself'; a friend who knew him suggested this was his wife's influence; she always felt uneasy leaving him in the Crimea to act in Moscow'. Is not happy about playing "Uncle Vanya" again, as she feels too old for the part of Helena; asks Bessie if she could possibly send any old dresses she does not need for her costume. Bob sent her a very nice letter and she is working well since he told her not to 'hurry so much': will send two more chapters to Rudker [John Rodker?] tomorrow, and has handwritten four more; now one more remains to be written about America. Her days are very full with rehearsals and writing; thanks God that her 'heart is so clever'; thinks work is the best medicine for it. Asks Bessie if she hasread any of the translation of her book, as she is anxious to know what she thinks.

Welcombe, Stratford on Avon. - Glad to have Elizabeth's letter, though sorry not to see her and Julian, even more so for Caroline's sake. Understands how tired she must have been by her first visit to the Netherlands in so long, and looks forward to seeing her at Wallington when she is 'really well' and able to come; travelling is very difficult at the moment. Sends back the two volumes of 'Tchekof's stories': "Three Years" tells as much about 'that strange people, and that loosely constituted semi oriental society' as anything he has read, even more than Turgenev and Tolstoy, though Tchekoff is 'not a genius of their calibre'.

The Shiffolds, Holmbury St Mary, Dorking. - Julian and Bessie start for the Netherlands on Friday; Robert had hoped to travel with them, then on to Italy as the Berensons have invited him to stay for a few weeks, but it would be 'very difficult' to get from the Netherlands to Italy at the moment, so he is 'going direct through Paris'.

Is just finishing correcting his proofs of his Lucretius; has translated 'rather more than a third [of De Rerum Natura]' and doubts he will 'ever do much more of it'. After reading two volumes of [Richardson's] Charles Grandison, he and Bessie have 'laid him aside for a time, and are reading some of Tchehov's short stories. A more absolute contrast could not be imagined'. At his best Chekhov seems 'quite perfect', though he has 'a certain proportion [of] pot-boilers, that don't amount to much' but are 'always brilliantly told'. They like Sir Charles Grandison, the book rather than the character, and 'find even the parts that ought to be dull, amusing in their way'; however, it seems to Robert inferior in most respects to Clarissa*'.

c/o B[ernard] Berenson Esq., I Tatti, Settignano, Florence. - Thanks his father for his letter, with his mother's, which reached him quickly; thinks 'the posts are working better'. Hears 'quite regularly from Bessie and Julian' who seem to be greatly enjoying themselves in the Netherlands; Julian seems to have 'made great friends with his young cousins', who are a little older.

Has had 'very bad weather' since he came, except for a few days, but 'Italy is delightful in all weathers' if, as now, it is not too cold. Heard a cuckoo this morning for the 'first time [this spring]', and expects he would have heard nightingales by now were it not for the rain. Is glad his father finds 'the Tchekof stories interesting [see 12/317]'; has six other volumes he could lend him when he returns home. Chekhov is 'certainly not at his best in those short sordid stories, though he tells them skilfully enough'; he needed to 'write to make money for his family, and so did quite a good many pot-boilers'. Likes him best when he 'gets hold of a character that really interests him, and gives himself room to develop it a little'. Has a volume of Chekhov, 'all stories about peasants and country priests, which are perhaps more moving than any others of his' he knows, which he could lend to his father; also suggests that if his father wants 'another good Russian book' he should 'get Aksakof's memoirs, in three volumes, perfectly translated by Duff the classical Trinity don'. The London Library has them, but they are 'often out'.

The Berensons send their 'kindest remembrances'; Robert sends his love to his mother, to whom he will write soon. The Uffizi 'has all been rearranged, and the best pictures, such as the Primavera of Botticelli, have been brought from the Ac[c]ademia'; this is 'on the whole... an improvement'.

The Shiffolds, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking. - Here they are 'still suffering from the drought', and he expects his parents are too; it is though 'not oppressively hot'. [Goldsworthy Lowes] Dickinson is visiting for a few days. They are reading 'Tchehov's last book of stories in the evening, most of them rather gloomy, but vivid and well-written'. He and Bessie sometimes read plays together: they have read [Jonson's] Volpone, which Robert 'admire[s] greatly, though the end never satisfies [him]', and Timon of Athens, which seems to him 'all genuine Shakespeare, though some of it is careless. He cannot have taken much trouble about it, but it is full of fine things'.

Hopes that 'peace for Ireland is really coming this time. It seems not impossible'. Bessie is well, and 'looking forward to Julian's return [from school]'.

The Shiffolds. - Reached home last Saturday evening and found Bessie 'very well and cheerful after a happy time in Holland with Julian'. Robert had 'five very full days in Paris, with a Cambridge friend, [Gordon] Luce', now on his way back to 'Burmah after a year's leave in England'; did not have time to see all his 'old Paris friends', though saw several of them. Had a 'very pleasant time in Italy, and did a good deal of work, in spite of he weather and the mumps'. Spent the last week at the Berensons' villa [I Tatti]; they had just returned from Egypt, and were 'very full of all they had seen, both the ancient Egyptian things, and the mediaeval mosques at Cairo'.

Bessie has just written to his mother suggesting that she should visit her at Welcombe next Tuesday; hopes she 'will find Mama quite recovered by then'. They have had a 'cheerful letter from Julian', and another from Miss Fry 'saying he has begun the term quite satisfactorily'. [Goldsworthy Lowes] Dickinson is here for a few days; Bessie reads them 'Tchekof's stories in the evening'. They have now got to the 12th volume, 'which must be nearly the last. Some of them are rather slight, and evidently written as pot-boilers to keep the family going. But even these are effective and lively; and the ones he took trouble over are often first-rate'.

Has not had time to read much lately, but is 'now translating the Antigone [of Sophocles], a few lines every day. Supposes his father still has 'several more Euripides plays to look forward to'. Sends love to his mother.

Welcombe, Stratford on Avon. - Hopes that the 'gales will favour' Robert and his family. Has written to Drummond's instructing him to pay the usual fifty pounds into Robert's account. Asks to be remembered to [Bernard] Berenson, and for Robert to send any volume of Chekhov containing something he would recommend reading. Notes that Robert has been reading [Richardson's The History of Sir Charles] Grandison [see 46/257]; Clarissa is a 'thing in itself' but he has scarcely got himself into the right mood to read it twice in his life; feels the same about Rousseau's Confessions. Is reading through Bergk [his edition of the Greek lyric poets].

Welcombe, Stratford on Avon. - Robert's letter has brought 'a breath of Italy'; wishes he could be there; asks to be remembered kindly to Robert's hosts and wishes he could see Berenson's library. Books now his 'medium for everything': foreign countries, past times, 'vanished friends and opponents'. Has now read the elegiac and iambic fragments in Bergk, and will go on to read the '"Melic poets" as one reads Keats and Shelley'. Has also finished Plautus's "Casina"; a great coincidence 'utterly unimportant in itself' like all great coincidences, that the last time he did so, in 1916, Morton and Kate Philips came to stay as they are doing tonight for the first time since then. Is reading Robert's Tchernov [sic: Chekhov] and thinks the stories may give even 'more vivid and real' a picture of Russian life than Turgenev and Tolstoy, while being 'far less repulsive' than Dostoevsky; though he does not approve of the 'sordid little pictures of conjugal infidelity', which is better done in many French novels and he is 'many years too old for it in any language'.

Welcombe, Stratford on Avon. - Has sent back the Chekhov; "Three Years" gives a better picture of the Russia 'of a semi-barbarous state' than anything else he has read: Dostoevesky does too much of this, and 'no nation of such a people as he draws them could have got on even as they did', while Tolstoy remains the aristocrat and Turgenev 'a sweet-natured gentleman'. Is sending a 'short correspondence' and cutting from the London "Guardian" telling of a pleasant thing which will has happened to him; younger people cannot understand 'what an Oriel [College, Oxford] fellowship used to mean'.

Apartado 847. - Has seen Pedredo [?] and told him Trevelyan does not want "España" any more. As for Trevelyan's offer to send books, and comments on 'what [he] should, or ought, to do and think of them', the suggestion of Tchekoff's letters was a good one, as Sickert got them for Durán for Christmas. He found them in the German bookshop. Durán will not know 'how unsympathetic her [Constance Garnett's?] translations are', or she may have improved; Sickert did not like her Turgenev, who he thinks the best Russian novelist. Don Julio [Álvarez del Vayo] and Luisa have returned to Berlin; he is back with "El Sol". Has finished his sale of the Diccionario and is trying to get on with a prospectus of 'a Geography in 20 volumes' but is feeling too lazy; this letter 'has been going on for days and days'. Saw Benavente's 'chef d'oeuvre', "Los Intereses Creados", which was 'very strange'; discusses the theatre and mime, including on the Japanese stage, at length. New parliament just assembling, so there is a 'pack of motor cars' outside the office; 'curious that it occurs to no Spanish politician to make bids for popularity'.

28, Rue de la Tourelle, Boulogne-sur-Seine. - Apologises for not writing sooner. Madame G[ermanova] has gone with the Pitoëffs to Holland and Italy so he is alone in the flat with the dog. She, her husband, and their son return for Easter; she has had great success with [Chekhov's] "Three Sisters", Figaro and so on. Asks how Trevelyan's play [his translation of Aeschylus' "Prometheus Bound"] was received at Cambridge; Trevelyan had described his impressions of the dress-rehearsal, but this is often very different to the real performance. Has asked the girl who is typing up his own translation of Sheng Cheng to send Trevelyan the first carbon copy for corrections; does not think it needs to be very literal, but wants to know how it reads in English; it has not yet been accepted by a publisher. He suggested that [Julien?] Luchaire should write to Trevelyan, because of his work as a translator and favourable attitude towards international collaboration; thinks he should reply with names of books which should be translated and others that have not been well translated. It would also be useful to mention why translations were not well done in England, and criticism of the system by which publishers give books to people; he could quote from his 'excellent preface to "Aeschylus". The man in charge of the project is Giuseppe Prezzolini, whom he admires and likes very much. Hopes Trevelyan's play for Masefield is now ready.

Boulogne s/ Seine. - Does not know whether he can come to Italy yet as his quarterly allowance from Hyderabad is late - '[p]eople in the Nation States are so slack and unmindful' - and he has debts to pay off; in addition, Professor Kalitinsky is trying to defer a recall to Prague so that he can look after the dog. If Trevelyan has to leave at the beginning of February, as he wrote from Berlin, Suhrawardy had better wait for him in Paris. Julian has been for lunch and met Kalitinsky, his son Andrei, and Reksusha [the dog]; Suhrawardy then saw him again with two Cambridge friends in a café in town. Has had great news from Madame Germanova whose performance at her theatre as Masha, in [Chekhov's] "Three Sisters" in English, went very well. Was looking forward to hearing the new version of [Trevelyan's] Sulla. Trevelyan is the kindest of his friends; very much hopes to get to Italy to see him. A postscript on a separate sheet describes a meeting with a friend of Cheng Sheng, Lung Wo; he looks very young but is apparently an admiral of the Chinese fleet and is travelling with his wife and children on behalf of the Nankin government. He is anxious to meet people sympathetic to the Chinese nationalists, and Suhrawardy wonders if Trevelyan could see him and introduce him to meet Waley and Lowes Dickinson, or perhaps a Labour Party member who likes China. He talks English better than Cheng Sheng, though he has a very soft voice; seems a nice, kind man, though who knows what he might have done during the revolution.