[Archibald] Wavell 'must have been thinking of Procopius's history of the Gothic wars in Italy'; Belisarius 'his hero, was a great general' who 'like Wavell [drove] the Vandals out of Africa and Carthage'. Has never read Procopius, who was a friend of Belisarius, but believes he was 'a very good historian'; the phrase Julian quotes may be there. There is 'an account of it all in Gibbon ["Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire"] and in [Thomas] Hodgkin's history ["Italy and her Invaders"]. Also hears that [Robert] Graves, the poet, has written 'a very good historical novel about Belisarius', which he expects Wavell has read. Might get the 1886 translation of Procopius by A[ubrey] Stewart, listed in the London Library catalogue, and try to find the phrase, or send the book to Julian if he 'would take care of it'; meanwhile, he will look in Gibbon and Hodgkin. Bessie has gone to London today and will see Ursula.
Most sent on by Durrant's Press Cuttings, St Andrew's House, 32-34 Holborn Viaduct, E.C.1.
1) from the "Times Literary Supplement", 28 Mar 1942, "A Jovial Sage: Mr R. C. Trevelyan's Faith'; illustrated with the caricature of Trevelyan by Max Beerbohm.
2) from the "Manchester Guardian", 13 May 1942.
3) Discussion of "Aftermath" in "Tradition and Modernism in Recent Verse", in the May-June 1942 issue of the "Poetry Review", pp 155-158. Also discussion of Stephen Spender's "Ruins and Visions" and the Hogarth Press's third "Poets of Tomorrow", as well as an [incomplete?] review of Mary Winter Were's "To-morrow".
4) from "Time and Tide", 1 Aug 1942, Naomi Royde Smith "The Constant Muse"; also deals with "Lyra: a book of new lyric"; "Work in Hand" by Robert Graves, Norman Cameron and Alan Hodge, "Invitation and Warning" by Henry Treece, and "Dispersal Point" by John Pudney.
5) from the "National Review", Sept 1942. Also includes discussion of Walter de la Mare's "Collected Poems".
6) from "John O'London's Weekly", 11 Sept 1942, V. H. Friedlander, "Poetry, Youth and War"; also includes discussion of the third "Poets of Tomorrow", Work in Hand", and Dr David Ockman's "Time, Medicine and Deity".
7) from "Adelphi", Dec 1942, by A[ubrey] de Selincourt
8) another review of "Aftermath", not sent by Durrant's so lacking source and date.
The White Gates. - Would do a great deal for his friendship with Bessy, and to 'help that poor lady [unidentified]', but fears 'her verses are impossible - they are not even bad in the right kind of way [underlined]'. She would only get a guinea for them even if a publisher accepted them, as A. P. Graves got for "Father O'Flynn", which 'sold in thousands (see Robert Graves autobiography ["Goodbye to All That"])'.
Newspaper cuttings with reviews, most sent to Trevelyan by Durrant's Press Cuttings Agency from: the Daily Herald; Birmingham Post; Scotsman; Observer [by J. C. Squire, also reviewing a book on poetry by Lascelles Abercrombie]; Glasgow Herald; Daily Express; North Eastern Daily Gazette; Daily Telegraph; Cambria Daily Leader; Nation and Athenaeum [by Vita Sackville-West]; Daily News; Saturday Review; Nottingham Guardian; Spectator [also reviewing Trevelyan's translations of Theocritus and Sophocles' Antigone and mentioning a republication of works on poetry by Samuel Daniel and Thomas Campion; see 26/12/1-2 for correspondence about this review]; Manchester Guardian; Times Literary Supplement [also discussion of works by Daniel, Campion and Sonnenschein]; Poetry Review [by Arthur Hood]; Outlook; Calendar; Adelphi; Clarion [by Thomas Moult]; Western Daily Press; Christian Science Monitor; Nation; Time and Tide [by Thomas Moult]; Nature; New Statesman [also discussing essays on poetry by Edith Sitwell and Robert Graves, by 'Affable Hawk' - Desmond MacCarthy, as is noted in an annotation]; Saturday Review of Literature; New Leader [by C. Henry Warren, also discussing works by Sitwell, Graves, and Abercrombie]; Fortnightly Review [by Robert Graves, on The Future of English Poetry]; Women's Leader & Common Cause; Glasgow Herald [re Graves' 'interesting reply to Mr Robert Trevelyan...']; Nottingham Guardian [also on the debate between Graves and Trevelyan]; New Age; and Richmond and Twickenham Times.
Newspaper cuttings with reviews, most sent to Trevelyan by Durrant's Press Cuttings Agency' from: the "New Statesman" [a brief laudatory mention in the "Spring List" by 'D. M.' - Desmond MacCarthy]; "Times Literary Supplement" [also reviewing a translation of Ferenc Békássy's poems]; "Nation and Athenaeum" [by Robert Graves; date not present but 2 May 1905; also reviewing works by Békássy, H. H. Abbott, Maurice Baring, Lord Gorell, Nancy Cunard, Emily Dickinson, and Edwin Muir]; "Observer" [also reviewing works by Cunard, Muir, and Norman Gale]; "Manchester Guardian"; "Daily News". Also a cutting from the "Daily Herald", 5 June 1923, in which a reader notes the common theme between Trevelyan's "Oaks and Caterpillars", printed in the paper three days earlier, and works by John Gay.