Showing 22 results

23 Leckford Road, Oxford.—Apologises for the interval in their correspondence. Smith’s entry into the [Catholic] Church made him feel awkward about writing, owing to the divergence in their views. Hopes Smith will not be in Venezuela for too long. Remains optimistic about the course of the war. Foligno’s departure has increased his duties, and they are working hard in the garden and digging trenches. They are expecting a daughter next month, so he cannot go away, and it will be too late for Smith to be able to visit them. Asks for his new address and assures him that, ‘incomprehension notwithstanding, my silence was not forgetfulness’.

23 Leckford Road, Oxford.—Refers to the interruption in their correspondence. He and his wife spent August working on their new house and garden, and at the same time he was trying to finish his work on Petrarch before war broke out. When war came, however, he had to prepare to take on most of Foligno’s work, as it was uncertain that Foligno would be able to return from Italy. In the event Foligno was a fortnight late and Whitfield had to spend the rest of the term catching up on his own work. Is increasingly hopeful that the war will end, but hopes that it has not upset Smith’s foothold at Cambridge. His wife has been teaching splint-making and painting W’s on wardens’ helmets, while he has translated the place-names of the British Empire into Italian and found the text of the leaflet D’Annunzio dropped on Vienna. Is trying to prevent Woolworths from destroying the Clarendon Hotel.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Their finances are tight, and as he has to go to Birmingham at Easter their short trip to Vézelay will probably be his only other excursion. Is sorry Smith can’t come, but they may possibly take a cottage in the summer. Is glad to hear that Smith may ‘insert’ himself in Oxford, though he doesn’t think that the men he names are of sufficient authority to get him work. ‘On the banks of the Cam you likened me to Mr. [H. G.] Wells, because neither of us placed a God in the heavens. On consideration I repudiate the likeness as a merely negative one; it is the filling of the void that is more important.’ Likewise he rejects Smith’s likening of Petrarch to Lawrence or Mussolini, and insists that there must be something wrong in an argument which allows him to couple such disparate names. Agrees with his dispraise of Erasmus.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Is unconvinced by [C. H.] Haskins’s notion of a twelfth-century Renaissance. Disparages medieval philosophy, and observes that Petrarch seems to mark an innovation in his concern with conduct rather than speculation. But he does not think that he has yet ‘exhausted the sources of information or covered the field’. Invites Smith and his aunt to use their flat if they go to Vézelay in April. Has been to Manchester to address the Philosophical Society, and saw Knights there. Suggests that Smith should also lecture to the Society. Discusses the latest number of Scrutiny. Alludes to Smith’s article on Mallarmé, and recounts an anecdote about Mallarmé and Degas related by Paul Valéry.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Thanks him for advising him of Parker’s views [on humanism]. Olgiati’s observations on the relationship between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance seem ingenuous, while, contrary to what Smith says, it is necessary to juxtapose St Thomas and Jacopone if one is to talk intelligibly about medieval Christianity. Is glad he liked the Correggio [print]; has continued to be impressed by his works. The vice-chancellor [G. S. Gordon] praised his note on the Dürer drawing in Old Master Drawings. They visited Blenheim yesterday.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Commends his review [in Scrutiny] of Chase’s [The Tyranny of] Words and thanks him for his suggestions on humanism. Criticises Brémond’s views on the Renaissance and refers to the work of Zabughin, Toffanin, Olgiati, Tonelli, Gentile, Voigt, and Burdach. Is pleased to see how close Voltaire’s views in La Poésie épique are to Gibbon’s. The baby has a cold.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Thanks him for the return of his scripts. Acknowledges the force of his criticisms regarding Thomas [Aquinas], but is puzzled why Aquinas had so little influence on Petrarch and humanism. Will continue his lectures on humanism next term. This term’s lectures, now completed, have brought the subject down to Valla, whom he has enjoyed reading. Credits Smith with improving his conception of civilisation while they were at Sheffield, and commends his style. He admired Smith’s handling of Baudelaire [in Scrutiny], despite a personal detachment from the subject, but felt that the parts relating to Butler were more interesting.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Sends the text of his first two lectures. Has come to the view that Petrarch’s Latin works are his most important, and that he should prepare a short study of the subject. Is glad that Leavis is being helpful and hopes that Smith has been able to get some students from Wilson. Refers to his own tutorials. Thanks him for the confidential news of Bottrall. ‘I imagined that Goad was strongly entrenched in a policy of dolce far niente, but they did hope that Bottrall would push him out, instead of vice versa.’ His discovery of the Dürer has improved his position at the university. Agrees with the point about ‘opportunity’: ‘there was no enthusiasm in Italy to fight for Hitler, and the fear of the Brenner frontier and the Balkan drive may well send Italy into the Allied camp again’.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—If he thought The Guardian would print his (anonymous) article [see 1/121] he would fear detection, but he is glad that it has at least had an underground circulation, though in view of the European situation it is merely an academic comment. The Times neglected to report Litvinof’s criticisms of Chamberlain but has nevertheless attacked ‘the indecency of German haste’, and ‘official Britain’ seems at last to have realised that Chamberlain is not to be trusted. His reading of Petrarch for this term’s set of lectures has led him to think of writing ‘a vindication of the Renascence’ in the form of articles for Scrutiny. Draws attention to Petrarch’s great merit as a humanist and the general lack of understanding of his position. Will send Smith the first lecture as soon as he has delivered it. Suggests that Smith should reprint his contributions to Scrutiny as a book. Cites evidence that Petrarch never read Homer and gives some advice about [Tasso’s] Aminta.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Thanks him for the steps he has taken in connection his article [on Fanshawe?] and acknowledges his criticisms. It may be as well that it was rejected by Scrutiny, since Foligno might have disapproved of its ferocity. Refers to Fanshawe’s sonnets [his translations of sonnets by Camões] and some references he needs to look up. Discusses a point in the Inferno. Has discovered a Dürer drawing while researching Le Pautre in the Bodleian, and his article on it is to be printed in Old Master Drawings.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—His reading of Cicero’s Tusculanarum Quaestiones prompted him to write the enclosed parallel. Asks Smith to help him publish it in a newspaper anonymously. If he submitted it himself he thinks it would be probably be lost or rejected, like his recent letter to The Times about the demolition of buildings in Beaumont Street [Oxford].

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—The enclosed letter from Deighton Bell may explain why Smith has not received a copy of Scrutiny. Thanks him for his notes on [Enea] Vico, and refers to Vico’s Vetustissima Tabula. Is thinking of coming over towards the end of the vacation. Is sick of reading books he hasn’t read before, like De Nolhac’s Pétrarque et l'Humanisme. Cites a quotation to encourage Smith in his gardening.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—He enjoyed his stay [in Cambridge]. Has asked Deighton Bell to renew his subscription [to Scrutiny].

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Is glad that things are going well, if slowly, at Cambridge. Will come over after the end of term. When he was there last year Vincent [not identified] showed him the new [university] library and he briefly met Leavis. Discusses paintings he saw in Italy, by Correggio and others. Criticises The Times’s interpretation of recent by-election results.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Has been settling down to the new term since returning from Italy. At Florence he met Bottrall, whose appointment to the British Institute is apparently part of a plot to get rid of Goad. ‘They are building the façade of grandeur in Italy (see the press accounts of Hitler’s visit), but there’s not much but aeroplanes behind it.’ Parma shows signs of poverty, while Florence relies on the sale of bric-à-brac. Many in the Basilicata are said to have returned from Abyssinia with admiration for the valour of the blacks, and many others from the same parts are [fighting] in Spain. Sends a snap of Rodo [his son]. Plans to come to Cambridge when terms ends to look for Enea Vico prints in the Fitzwilliam.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Is concerned that the cheque [for Smith’s work on the Hypnerotomachia] may have been inadequate. Discusses some points of vocabulary. Is glad Smith has found a house in Cambridge. Must work hard at his lectures on religious poetry in order to be able to go to Italy at the end of the week. Does not expect that any of his work [on the Hypnerotomachia] will be printed except perhaps an essay on the vocabulary; OUP have refused and the initial response from Methuens was not encouraging. Is sickened by the international situation; his real motive for suggesting the Daily Worker and Reynold’s [see 1/112] was that he hoped that Smith might be able to use his pen ‘in the interests of truth’. ‘I find the dishonesty of the Times appalling.’

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Sends a cheque for Smith's work on the translation and transcription [of the Hypnerotomachia], which he hopes to post to Round on Monday. Discusses two points of detail in the text.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Asks whether the vocabulary-sheets arrived safely and responds to his comments on the translation. ‘As for the Ciceronians, I feel like translating Jovius’ whole folio for a change from Colonna.’ Gives the address of the editor of English, because when Smith is ready to publish on Wordsworth, say, it may be useful to have access to a journal that pays in cash rather than in offprints like the Modern Language Review.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Sends further sheets [of his translation] and a section on vocabulary. Has occasionally cited Popelin’s French translation but it is unreliable. He wishes that Colonna’s style were as simple as the engravings in the original edition. Asks to have the translation-sheets back this week. Refers to the point he made about Boccaccio in the Modern Language Review and wonders whether his article on Fanshawe will take just as long to be published.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Discusses the section of his translation of the «Hypnerotomachia» which he sent to Smith. Wishes he had told him of the job at the British Institute in Florence which Bottrall got. Is glad that Leavis is being helpful; ‘there is much to be said for the Cambridge throw’. Asks whether Smith has thought of writing for the Daily Worker or Reynold’s News. He now has to turn his mind to religious poetry [in preparation for next term’s lectures], in order to have time to go to Parma and Florence to research Enea Vico.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Sympathises with his comments on the 'inhumanity' of the [English Faculty] Board [at Cambridge]. He (Whitfield) is not yet a person of much weight at Oxford, and even Foligno was unable to persuade the Press to reprint Fanshawe’s translation of the Pastor Fido. Asks for help with a translation of Colonna’s Hypnerotomachia Poliphili he is making for a timber-merchant of Tipton [Mr Round; see 1/115]. Will post the material for him to look at. Offers him and his aunt the use of their flat at Easter.

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Hopes that Smith will be able to come to Oxford, though he himself finds it incongenial; there is little opportunity for walks and he and Joan find North Oxford society ‘sham’. Describes disparagingly a visit by Mrs Moore and [J. K.] Bostock’s conversation at a party given by Mrs Foligno. Has been reading Manzoni and Croce and intends to write something on the autobiographical element in Boccaccio’s Teseide.