Pensione Palumbo, Ravello, presso Amalfi, Italy. - Glad to hear Uncle Paul is 'so much better', and that the doctor is happy with his progress; hopes that any further necessary treatment will 'not cause any serious pain' and be 'quite final'. When he and Bessie, they will hope to find him well on the way to 'complete health'. Bessie has been well despite the 'dreadful weather' they have had for almost a month. Very glad he saw the house in the Prinsegracht again [before its sale?] for a few hours last October, when dining with the Grandmonts after visiting Leiden: it is there that he and Bessie began their 'Vondel studies', and that he got to know Uncle Paul and Aunt Maria properly. Is getting on well with German, with some help from Bessie: has read all Goethe's "Tasso" and half his "Iphigenie", though he cannot yet speak the language 'at all'. Bessie is also doing well with her Latin: she 'has not yet mastered all the tenses of "amo"' [I love] but 'makes pretty fair guesses' at their meaning. A 'dreadful bore' has recently arrived at the hotel; he and Bessie take it in turns to sit next to him and 'share the burden equally'; thinks Bessie can 'manage him better'. He is a retired English army officer who served in India: 'like so many Indians' he is 'crammed full of information', which is often interesting but these people 'absolutely never cease pouring it out upon you'; however, he is 'by no means a fool'. Robert and Bessie are getting on well with "Robinson Crusoe"; the end of the last part is 'so exciting' that Robert has been taking 'plenty of time over shaving these last few mornings' while Bessie reads it aloud.
Pension Palumbo, Ravello, presso Amalfi. - Filthy weather, as it has generally been since he arrived; has sent off his 'interminable commentary' on [Thomas Sturge Moore's] "Danaë", and has been reading Byron's play "Cain"; finds it 'surprisingly fine', though there are great faults, as in all of Byron; does not agree with Goethe's claim that Byron 'is a child the moment he begins to think'. Always pleased when he finds good things in Byron, as he is much criticised nowadays; people do not really read him, or 'only his inferior early things, e.g. Childe Harold'. Teases Bessie, pretending that 'an unconscionable young lady' keeps 'tormenting him with a stupid school-girl correspondence' and there is no telling where her reading of Plato may lead her. Is sorry that Bessie is having so bad a time with the dentist; best to go through with it in the end. Dined at Mrs Reid's last night, hearing 'local tales about brigands etc' and drinking good wine. They have 'some wonderful cats, the most beautiful [he] has ever seen'; would like to get 'one of the family some day'. Delighted to hear about [the birth of Bessie's niece] Amanda Röntgen; Bessie's aunt told him first, sends thanks for her letter. Copies out poems by Vaughn [sic: Henry Vaughan, "The Retreat"], and Blake ["Infant Joy"]. Will finish this letter and 'per-haps, as Grandmont says' send it by the early post. Is glad to have Bessie's photograph but wants the bigger one when she gets them.
Finishes the letter next day. Bad weather again; is not in good spirits as his host Palumbo is dangerously ill; Palumbo has suffered from the same paralysis before and may recover; he is a 'very good fellow' and Bob will be sorry if he dies; pities his wife and daughter. Has just read the news of the great British losses at Ladysmith; does not know whether this means the town has fallen, but it looks as though Methuen was not strong enough to relieve it; if Redvers Buller does not do better than Methuen, expects Ladysmith will fall in a few weeks and would wish that if it would lead to the reopening of peace negotiations, but this seems unlikely. Says Bessie 'deserve[s] a whipping' for interpreting his jealousy of the lovers in his carriage as a desire to hug his female fellow-travellers. Is very glad she likes the "Symposium" so much; discusses it briefly and suggests other dialogues by Plato she could read. Copies out Blake's "Infant Sorrow" and "Cradle Song". [His brother] Charlie's letter was very nice; is sure she will like him, and he 'evidently means to like [her]'. Reminds her that the new century does not begin until 1901. Glad her practising is going well.
Begins 'So comest thou Fulfilment, fairest daughter of the Great Father, down to me at length' ['So steigst du denn, Erfüllung, schönste Tochter'...].
[Sent from Gower St, London]:- Reports that he has been staying with Cowell for the last week, and is now again in lodgings, writing his essay 'and hunting up spiritualists, but has not been very successful in his enquiries. Refers to the letters from her and Arthur, and declares that he is sorry to hear of Miss [Lucy] Brown's condition [see 101/167]. Announces that he will see Arthur when he passes through. Remarks that Arthur 'seems to be going to fly about after the fashion of schoolmasters'. Hopes that William will be 'quite strong' the following term, and will recover his energy for work. Believes that his career depends upon his doing something outside his professional work.
Reports that he himself is not very well, but thinks that it is only 'a passing indisposition'. Intends to take a holiday as soon as he feels he wants one. Does not think he shall go to Wellington College at the beginning of the holidays, as he wishes to finish his essay before he leaves London. Describes his affection for London, and mentions the pleasures that it offers to him, for example, trips to the British Museum, to the Portrait Gallery, and to the Royal Academy, and also conversations with 'a member of the society of "Divine Spiritualists".' Refers to an enclosed translation of a speech from Goethe's Iphigenia [not included]. Sends his love to Mary and Edward [Benson].
Draft and proof of an article in the North British Review, 1853, three pages of notes comparing translations of "Herman and Dorothea", partial draft of a letter printed in The Athenaeum, 1849 [see item 84 for the published article]; also Latin verses on Rome in an unidentified hand with Whewell's English translation.
Includes articles about hexameters and Philarète Chasles' remarks (with Whewell's reply) in complete issues of The Athenaeum (no. 1121, 21 Apr. 1849, no. 1124, 12 May 1849, part of no. 1125, 19 May 1849), with 5 cuttings from literary papers of poetry, three of them translations of Goethe, with comments and revisions by Whewell in ink, and a proof of an article for The Press 12 Apr. 1862 by J. S. Blackie disagreeing with Whewell and John Gibson Lockhart about the utility of a translation of Homer in English hexameter; a privately printed set of "Dargle Verses" by William Rowan Hamilton in 1854, an offprint of H. A. J. Munro's On a metrical Latin inscription" in 1861, both bearing the author's inscriptions, and an issue of Punch*, no. 559, vol. 22, 27 Mar. 1852 featuring "The Death of the Sea-Serpent" by Publius Jonathan Virgilius Jefferson Smith".
Accompanied by a rhyming introductory poem [by Whewell?] "These verses by Maister Schiller wrote".
Disbound pamphlet, with revisions and printer's marks. With Isaac Todhunter's note 'This is doubtless the copy from which the reprint was made'.
Allerly by Melrose - DB is 'much obliged to you for your account of Goethe's theory of refraction, and I cannot conceive how a man in a sane state of mind could publish such nonsense'. DB will be happy to publish WW's observations on Dr Lardner's [Dionysius Lardner] Mechanics. Pleased to hear George Airy is giving lectures on polarisation. DB is working hard on this subject: 'I have discussed the mathematical law which expresses the quantity of light polarised either by reflexion or refraction of any angle of incidence', and a new phenomena of polarisation he calls 'Elliptical'. DB thinks he has proved that 'pressure is the cause of double refraction in regular crystals'.
Announces that on the following Tuesday he goes to Germany, and states that he hopes that he shall not return until he can speak German fluently. Undertakes not to read any English, apart from her letters and the Times, and to speak it as little as possible. Asks her to tell Edward that he shall be in London from Friday until Tuesday morning, staying with J. J. Cowell in Hyde Park, and that he expects a visit from him. Explains that he wishes to see some friends who are going up for the Eton and Harrow match at Lords. Reports that he heard on Monday from their mother, who 'is with William at Beddgelert without Books', and states that he sent Whewell's Plato to her. Remarks that she seems to be enjoying herself. Regrets that he could not have gone down to visit his aunt Henrietta before he went abroad. Reports that he read through 'the famous Leiden [des jungen] Werthers [by Goethe]' the other day, which, he claims, he could not put down until he finished it. States that he has begun on Jean Paul, but finds him very hard. Undertakes to write from abroad. Sends his love to Edward.
Enquiry of how to dispose of a manuscript of F. Melian Stawell's translation of Goethe's Faust: 66 Cossack Road, Bekhampstead
10 Prinsegracht, the Hague. - Is writing early in the morning because of Alice Jones's early departure; her uncle is taking Alice as far as Gouda to help her into the carriage to Flushing [Vlissingen]. Has generally much enjoyed her visit and talking over old school days; Alice is the only one of her old friends who knows something of Bob through her brother [Herbert] and the Hodgkins. She is 'very sensible about the [Second Boer] war'; though since she is 'very penetrated with English Church Christianity', is much pained by the thought that Bessie and Bob are not to have a church wedding; Bessie has tried to explain that it is 'a matter of custom & individual opinion', Alice tried to find out everything Bob thought and believed, but Bessie did not reveal anything. May have written too strongly in her last letter [about whether Sir Henry Howard and his wife should be invited to the wedding]; Ambro [Hubrecht] was here on Wednesday and her uncle and aunt talked it over when she was out of the room; thinks he may have influenced them in the right way but does not know as her aunt would not discuss it until her uncle was there; they may discuss it when she returns from Amsterdam tonight. If her uncle's view is still not 'satisfactory', they had better wait until Bob comes over. Her last letter was 'very unkind & ungentle'; she remembers saying it was private and hopes he has not acted on it. Discussion of his crossing, which is now very soon; will come to meet him at the station. Asks him to ask Booa [Mary Prestwich] to give him a parcel of clothing she is keeping for Bessie, and to unpack it and put the contents amongst his things to escape notice at customs; he must also bring the gold spectacles for Ambro. Asks if they could deposit some of their belongings somewhere in London instead of taking them all on their honeymoon. Tuttie [Hubrecht] is coming between 20 and 25 of May. The Hodgkins [Lily and Robert] are crossing today, with Alice; is sorry she could not persuade them to come to the Hague as she would have liked very much to see them. Alice has given her a pound to buy some books as a wedding present; asks if Bob has any suggestions, or whether she should get some Dutch books. Asks if he has ordered his trousers. Asks whether [Desmond] McCarthy and [Oswald?] Sickert are staying with Bob, and whether he is enjoying his 'bachelor party & manners for the last time'. Starting for Amsterdam, and her last but one lesson [with Bram Eldering]; will read Goethe's "Faust".
25 Gillespie Road, Colinton, Edinburgh. - Thanks Trevelyan for the Homeric Hymn [in this year's "From the Shiffolds"]. Has no knowledge of Greek, but has always been 'attracted' Greek art and myth; there is a tendency in her family to believe they lived in Greece in a former incarnation. Repeats how much she admires Trevelyan's "Bride of Dionysus" [written with Donald Tovey]; was 'one of the greatest experiences' of her life to study it then see the performances; values above all the 'spiritual significance of Ariadne's translation'. Is currently studying the score of Strauss's "Ariadne auf Naxos", which will be performed at the Edinburgh Festival next year; it seems 'clever and amusing', and there are some 'charming melodies', but it is a great contrast to Trevelyan's version.
Her Christmas greetings are late as her housekeeper's son has been ill; they had an 'anxious time' but he is well now. Encloses a postcard of herself from the time when she '"created" the part of Solveig' in her sister Isabelle Pagan's translation of Ibsen's "Peer Gynt" in 1908. This, in Edinburgh, was the first production of "Peer Gynt" in Britain; it was later produced at the Little Theatre in London with the 'help of professionals'. Thinks the play can be compared with Goethe's "Faust", as it has 'the same "eternal womanly" theme', though Ibsen 'makes the ethical teaching clearer'. There was a performance of "Faust" here in Edinburgh in September, by a German company [Gründgens]; the diction and acting were very good, but the scenery 'disappointing' and the lighting 'far below' what she has seen in Britain; they 'avoided magical moments' with blackouts, which was 'very tantalising'.
25 Gillespie Road, Colinton, Edinburgh. - Much appreciates Trevelyan's 'Christmas greetings' [this year's poetry booklet "From the Shiffolds". In his "To Marjory Allen" he expresses what many think at present; is sure that as he says the 'remedy sorely needed is the union of intellect with charity'; so few people attain the 'perfect balance' of reason and love. Is also familiar with the experience, as in "To Know and Not to Feel", of an 'inner deadness' when one is 'fatigued or not in tune' with the occasion; has felt it at a concert; luckily these are 'only lapses'. Has recently learnt from Schauffler's biography of Beethoven ["The man who freed music"] that sketches of a tenth symphony were found among the composer's papers after his death; it was intended to be a 'piece of programme music where Bacchus was to appear in person'. Wonders if Trevelyan and Sir Donald [Tovey] knew this [given their opera, "The Bride of Dionysus"]. Was 'positivity excited' to read that Bettina Brentano wrote to Goethe that Beethoven had told her that 'music... is the wine which inspires to new acts of creation: and I am Dionysus..'; Schauffler thinks that this is 'Bettina's own thunder' rather than Beethoven's, but she notes the closeness of the metaphor to Trevelyan's words in the last act of the "Bride".
Wishes she could reciprocate with poetry of her own, but she has only written one in her life and will 'spare' him; has not had any of her 'attempts at music' printed, so encloses some lines from a friend who died last year [no longer present].
Ryton, Dymock, Glos. - Thanks Bob for the "Operatic Fable" ["The New Parsifal "]; has read and enjoyed it again, finding it a 'very admirably constructed joke.. with a commendable moral', though he thinks Bob has been a 'trifle unfair to Goethe and Nietzsche'; particularly Goethe, who was a real classicist, unlike Nietzsche who 'only tried hard to be, & could never succeed'. Does not matter much, and the work is a 'good joke in good poetry - which is a rare thing' and much needed. Admires how Bob has kept in the "Mona Lisa"; says in the next edition he should bring in [his own anthology] "New Numbers", and hopes Bob will have this soon. Sorry to read about Bob's father's illness in Saturday's paper ["Condition Of Invalids." Times, 21 Feb. 1914, p. 11]; hopes it is not serious and he recovers soon. Wonders in a postscript what the critics will make of Bob's 'hexameters etc'; finds a 'good few of the rhythms, even when most unexpected... completely successful', but 'did rather boggle at' others.
Thanks him for his 'able and thoughtful criticism' of him in the Academy [1 July 1871]. Remarks that Sidgwick 'can hardly have read as much of the Goethe correspondence as [he has]'. Asks him if he knows the Stein letters. Is surprised to see how many people think he does not 'enter into the [charm] of Goethe's poetry'. Suggests that Sidgwick does not quite understand his meaning in relation to another point in the article, which, he maintains, 'rests on the assumption...that there is real and direct [ ] between God and man, and that the divine suggestion of [meteors] by him to the [ ] is no more a [breach] of [law], than the [ ] suggestion of [meteors]...by [their] most intimate friends.'
Thought Bessie might like to see the enclosures [no longer present]; does not want them back. R. V. W. [Ralph Vaughan Williams] tells him 'he has now heard from her [reference unknown]'. Is going to spend the weekend with the Bells; hopes he [emphasised] gets back. Was very nice seeing her and Bob recently, and the Sturge Moores. Must get the Goethe novel which he [Thomas Sturge Moore?] recommended; Forster had never heard of it. Always 'fall[s] off Wilhelm Meister.
His mother seems fairly well, and 'more worried about the tea & rations than the bombs'. Must go to meet Mr Todd [perhaps J. J. Todd of Dorking, like Forster involved with refugee commitees and The National Council for
Civil Liberties], who is coming to tea.
Whingate, Peaslake. - Likes Bob's style in his "Epistles" 'increasingly, and thinks the form good; it manages to 'introduce argumentation, which is generally... a mistake in poetry'; Bob's [translation of] Lucretius had the 'same tone'. It is 'pleasant to read', though he expects it cost Bob 'toil of craftsmanship perhaps travail of soul'. Sees Bob in the epistles as 'a wise, & mature, elder brother' who sympathises with the reader's 'infirmities' since he 'feels his own'; he does not seek to force agreement on the reader (Buxton quotes Browning, "One Word More"), but is 'gently persuasive' and allows the reader to doubt when he '(perhaps)' doubts himself. Bob is no 'more sceptical' with age, nor 'less sweet and gentle and inclined to reconciliation', which Buxton appreciates as 'a (would-be) Quaker'.
All this applies to a certain extent to the two new poems as well, though they are different to the epistles and have 'vast & terrifying' subjects. Has been discussing the same question, about civilisation and books, with V. [his sister Victoria?], [his wife] Dorothy and [daughter] Eglantyne: he has been claiming that no great harm would be done if historic buildings and old master paintings were 'bombed out of existence', but that ideas must be cultivated and books kept, so the people living in Bob's 'little green settlements would not be civilised men'. Knows that he is taking Bob too seriously. The '"Piers Plowman" vision' poem is a more serious piece; remembers the theme of Bob's earlier poem; thinks he remembers Goethe saying that even the devil 'could be (or did he say would be?) redeemed in the end'; does not know what to think himself, but Bob seems to him to present the theme correctly. Would like to learn why Bob wants to '"deflate" the rhetoric of an earlier handling'; this might illuminate Milton, Goethe and Meredith's practice in their own later years; sympathises with the feeling though does not know why, as he has never succeeded in finding 'any essential difference between "Youth" and "Age", though everyone says there is'.Values Bob's 'assertion that there is [underlined] a sprig of Justice and Lovingkindness among common men, which will somehow assert itself'; doubt about this is 'the most terrible scepticism of all'. Thinks this 'declaration of faith' is the modern equivalent of the creeds of Athanasius and others.
Returns Bob's two poems with thanks [no longer present]; also includes a few chapters of his "Essay" ["Prophets of Heaven & Hell: Virgil, Dante, Milton, Goethe : an introductory essay" ?", with an outline, to show what he 'dream[s] of' writing; Bob should not trouble too much about it, but any comment from him would be 'highly valued', and there is no great rush.
Hotel Bristol, Wien. Glad to hear better news from Trevelyan, and hopes progress will be more rapid now. Should be back by the 5th. The two concerts Casals organised on 17 February and 2 March has rescued him from 'the dumper into which the musical parochialism of that pokey little provincial town London was plunging [him]'. Has also been able to do much work on Ariadne ["The Bride of Dionysus"] during the train journey, and hopes to get to 'the threshold of the finale' on his return journey. Mentions a few small alterations to the text which he would like to make. Is surprised by how much change there has been to the music since his initial stages: even 'Ariadne's despair is very importantly different' and she is not 'perfectly furious'. Hopes Dionysus is good; it makes Tovey 'howl like anything to work at his discourses'.. Saw a goof version of "Meistersinger [von Nurnberg]" here: comments on its length out of 'professional interest' to himself and Trevelyan. Vienna would definitely be the place for Ariadne, and the chorus quite good enough. Also saw a performance of Goethe's Faust Part I yesterday: compares his effectiveness with Gounod and Berlioz, and discusses generally, the ways in which things on stage 'can be infinitely more moving without music'. Talks about Goethe's stagecraft, having just read 'a very jolly book about Shakespeare written with a strong American accent'. Discusses Mozart's "Idomeneo". His belief that 'perfection of form', though desirable and attainable (as by Bach, Palestrina, Beethoven, Mozart and Brahms) is 'never historically or aesthetically prior to rhetorical fitness'.
31 Onslow Square. - Tom Taylor mentioned Milnes' letter about 'Euphorion's Dirge' [Goethe]; encloses own version of the Helena, which was published in Fraser next year; hopes to improve on it in work on the second part of the Faust. Enclosed: 'Goethe's Helena: translated by Theodore Martin' [printed].
Casa Boccaccio, Settignano, Firenze [on headed notepaper for I Tatti, Settignano, though headed address is crossed through]. - Hopes his letter will reach his father 'without too much delay'; they do not know yet 'whether a railway strike has begun [in Britain] but still hope there may be a settlement'. There is also a 'general strike at Pisa, owing to an outrage by the fascisti, which may delay the post. Bessie and Julian seem well; Julian 'has gone to the Georges [ie, to stay with George and Janet Trevelyan]' but is probably home by now. Robert is 'staying with [Goldsworthy Lowes] Dickinson and [Harry] Norton in the Casa Boccaccio, near the Berensons' villa [I Tatti], 'in whose garden and library' Robert spends much time working. The Berensons are not yet here, but return before the end of the month. Generally the weather is good, with a little rain; the 'flowers and leaves are all coming out fast, and the cuckoo is singing', though he has not yet heard the nightingale.
Is 'just going to tea with an old lady, Mrs Forbes Moss [Irene Forbes-Mosse] who is the grand-daughter of Goethe's Bettina', about whom he is 'embarrassed to say' he knows little, except that she 'was one of many Goethe was in love with'; her grand-daugher 'married an Englishman, and is now a widow'. Sends love to his mother; will write to her soon.
Refers favourably to one of Myers' poems. Discusses its form and content; remarks that there is 'nothing of the "tameness" ' in it that he perceived in Myers' last, and that he seems 'to have dropped the grave mature simplicity [which] Symonds etc admired so much in the last'. Refers to Goethe, whom Myers quotes in the work. Claims not to understand 'the last paragraph before the rhapsody', and states that he has 'jotted down a sort of abstract of the poem up to that point' to show Myers how it puzzles him. Announces that he would be happy to go to Eton for a few days after Easter, and that in Passion Week he intends to be vaccinated 'for the sake of mankind.'
Garden Corner, West Road, Cambridge. - Thanks Bessie for the congratulations on her C.H. [Companion of Honour]; also felt 'most honoured' by Bob's letter to George; pleased that her name will not change and she will stay 'plain Mrs G.M.T.'. The family do seem to be 'scooping things up recently, including Humphry's adorable bride', who is due to arrive with him in London tomorrow. They are coming to Cambridge on Tuesday, and Janet is holding a tea party for her: enclosure about it originally enclosed; wishes Bessie could be there. Otherwise the young couple will have to 'make a pilgrimage' to see her at the Shiffolds sometime this year, though she thinks they mean to go to Germany in November: Humphry feels he should spend almost a year living there 'and really soak in Goethe and the language'; she hopes 'Mr Hitler will keep quiet'. Janet much enjoyed their time in the US, even in New York, where she got the Parks Commissioner to send her round 'all the wonderful playgrounds & swimming pools' they have built using 'Roosevelt's Relief money'; made her 'pine for a Roosevelt touch here'. Notes in a postscript that her health was good in the US. with 'no violent heat-waves'; [her eczema] is 'threatening' again now but she is coping.
Refers to their meeting on the previous Wednesday, and their discussion in relation to James Macpherson's The Poems of Ossian. Reports that on returning home he fetched out a duplicate proof of a paper he wrote on the subject a year previously, and now sends to Sidgwick [not included]. Refers to the paper as 'the conclusion arrived at by a man who had read just Macpherson's Ossian and the last apologist for Macpherson and "combined his information".' Reports that when the man he reviewed replied to him, Tovey discovered that he had not studied 'the thing he wrote about'. Discusses the work, and the reaction of Tovey and Sidgwick to it, and to 'the passages reproduced in [Goethe's] Werther'. Suggest that Macpherson 'might have developed into a poet of high rank on his own account'. Confesses that it is very seldom that he has an opportunity of talking to anyone about such things, and that Sidgwick's nephew Arthur Benson is the only friend to whom he has written 'about books etc. for many months.'
Tovey, Duncan Crookes (1842-1912), clergyman, biblical commentator, and literary essayist36 Wilton Crescent, S.W. (on Wallington headed paper). - Is pleased that Lady Trevelyan likes his book ["Atalanta in Calydon"]; it was finished just after Landor's death which he much regrets. Much enjoyed the composition of the poem, which 'was very rapid and pleasant'; thinks it is 'pure Greek, and the first poem of the sort in modern times': feels that Shelley's "Prometheus [Unbound]", though 'magnificent', is 'un-Hellenic', and gathers from Lewes's life of Goethe that his "Iphigenia in Tauris" is also 'impregnated with modern morals and feeling"; also dismisses [Matthew] Arnold's "Merope". Is 'raging in silence' about the delayed publication of [Thomas] Carlyle's volumes: the subject [Frederick the Great] 'was always a hero' of Swinburne's who is impressed by his 'clear cold purity of pluck', which is not inspired by faith. Frederick seems free of 'perverse Puritan Christianity' on the one hand, and 'the knaveries and cutpurse rascalities' of the Buonapartes on the other; Swinburne can almost forgive him his bad poetry. Is very glad to hear good news of Sir Walter and the building projects; wishes she were in London for [Ford] Madox Brown's exhibition, which is 'superb'. Is currently staying at the house his father has taken in London for the winter, and is looking for rooms for himself; his father has completed the purchase of Holm Wood [Holmwood] in Oxfordshire. Feels that Tennyson should have made a better choice of his "Selections": feels that "Boadicea" should have 'served as prelude to the book'; thought Tennyson's 'volume of last summer' ["Enoch Arden"] a 'new triumph'.
Grand Hotel Pupp, Karlsbad. - Apologises for not replying sooner to thank Trevelyan for the 'many kindnesses' he has shown him this summer. Has been with his father, who came from India in August, seeing doctors in Paris, Vienna, and other European cities; they intend to leave 'this magnificent but boring place' at the end of the month, and travelling to England via Berlin, spending seven days in London in October. Is taking a cure for 'rheumatism & obesity'. It is a 'moving sight to witness the enormous crowds (mostly Jews) pacing the collonades [sic]' while taking the waters. Has been reading Eichendorff, and there are statues of Goethe everywhere. Apologises for not replying sooner to Julian, and encloses a note for him. Madame Germanova is alone in Paris 'keeping house for Rex' [their dog]; her husband [Aleksandr Kalitinsky] is in Prague and her son [Andrew] at school in Switzerland. Hopes the Trevelyans are well; asks if the new wing of their house is being built as they wanted. Was happy to hear of the success of Trevelyan's piece at the Masefields' and whether he is now working on his other piece, '?Wilmlowe'.
The Mill House, Westcott, Dorking. - Bessie should not mind her feeling [that a recent musical occasion would not have felt the same with Bob there]; he would not want her to be at [an Apostle's] Society discussion, as she would be 'a little out of her element', and he will likewise never be musically minded' however many concerts he go to; though he will want to 'know and try to sympathise with' her musical friends as she will 'to a far greater extent and more easily' with his friends. She is ''"Apostolic" in... intellect and Nature', though she cannot become a brother, whereas he could never be thought of as an 'Embryo' in music, however much trouble she took with him. However, does enjoy music, such as the Isaye [sic: Ysaÿe] concert last Monday, who played Schubert and Beethoven, and the song recital by [Blanche] Marchesi on Tuesday; she sang some melancholy songs by [Adolf] Jensen, and part of César Franck's "Ruth". Has been reading Heine's songs with a translation, and likes them, but not as much as those by Goethe, which seem as great, and in the same sort of way' as those by Shakespeare and Sappho. Mrs [Helen] Fry is still not well; has lent her 'lots of novels, which she reads very fast'; she sends Bessie her love. Still thinks the Lakes will be best for their honeymoon; asks advice on the trousers he should get for the wedding day. Lists some books he owns; Sophie [Wicksteed] is giving them a complete Carlyle; Bessie should keep any book that has meaning for her. The Insleys told him the correct spelling of his address was 'Westcot', but supposes he should follow modern fashion. Has read some more of the new poems [Thomas Sturge] Moore lent to Binyon; one 'about the dead Don Juan' is very original. Has not done much work recently; hopes to get the first two acts finished before going abroad. Is going to stay with the Holman Hunts before going to Cornwall; Hunt's 'painting is now no good' but he is charming and 'full of reminiscences of Rossetti, Millais and the rest'. Asks if she knows of the Dutch poet Piet Paaltjens. Read a poem of Heine in which he compared his wife to 'Schlangen' [snakes] and himself to Laocoon; wishes Bessie 'would come swimming over the sea, like the snakes in Virgil'. Fears he cannot get her [magic] carpet at 'Cardinal and Harvards; it is too oriental even for them'.
Hopes Julian has reached Taormina by now and is enjoying Sicily, though fears the almond blossom may be over. Has just heard from Nicky [Mariano] that she and B.B. [Bernard Berenson] may go to Zürich at the end of March to see the Lombard exhibition, but will definitely be back by 15 April. Sure they would like to see Julian, and would probably ask him to stay at I Tatti if he wrote to Nicky. All well here: Bessie likes Mrs Alexieff and gets on quite well with her secretary. He himself is 'fairly all right, though sometimes a little out of sorts'. Hopes Julian will like Sicily as much as Goethe did; he was afraid to go to Greece because of brigands, so went to Sicily and 'made up his mind' it must be just like Greece. Tells Julian to ask his friend [Daphne Phelps] whether she is related to his own old friend T[homas] T[ettrell] Phelps, whom he has not seen for years. Expects Julian has been to the Isola Bella, which used to belong to Mrs Cacciola [Florence Trevelyan]; he used to go and bathe there with Roger and Helen Fry. Roger painted a picture of Mount Etna seen through the Greek theatre, which Goldie [Lowes Dickinson] had in his rooms. Hopes Julian's car is 'behaving itself'. Bessie will write soon.