The Athenæum - Congratulates Frazer.
Roundhurst, Haslemere, Surrey. - Apologises for not writing sooner: has taken him a while to gather his thoughts on English books for her to read. Has not read Browning's letters to his wife, but her father tells him they are quite amusing; if they are as good as the one she read out to him, they should certainly be worth reading. There is also Mackail's life of William Morris, which he intends to read as Mackail knew Morris well and is a 'competent writer'; saw an excerpt which looked fun, as it should as 'Morris was a magnificent joke himself as well as a splendid person'. Has not yet read Henry James's "The Awkward Age", which is said to surpass all his earlier ones in difficulty, but recommends "In The Cage", or "Daisy Miller". Next week T[homas Sturge] Moore's book, "The Vinedresser and Other Poems" comes out, but he is sending a copy to the Grandmonts; is not sure whether they will like it, as it has 'great faults, which people with classical tastes are almost sure to dislike', but believes many of the poems are 'nearly perfect in their own queer way'. Recommends his father's book, "The American Revolution Pt I" which is 'at least readable and amusing"; his brother George's "The Age of Wycliffe" has already gone into a second edition. The middle part of the letter can be found as 13/85.
Ends by telling Bessie to get the third volume of Yeats' edition of Blake, 'read all the poetry that is not mad' and "The Book [Marriage] of Heaven and Hell", and look at the pictures. Hopes Miss [Emma?] Dahlerup is well; expects she will be going to Capri or nearby soon. Asks to be remembered to the Grandmonts.
Concerning a draft copy of Last Poems
Letter, 2 Nov. 1904, from J. W. Mackail to Henry Babington Smith enclosing: letters from John White to J. W. Mackail and to Henry Babington Smith, 1 Nov. 1904.
Wallington, Cambo, Morpeth. - Caroline says she has sent Robert [John?] Mackail's address; Sir George has written to ask Mackail about something he mentioned in his "Address"; told him that he 'used to write "Shakespeare" because Macauley did', but was mistaken; had never considered that the epitaph to Mrs Hall [daughter of Shakespeare] could refer to her husband rather than to God., and Robert will see Mackail is 'shaken'.
The Shiffolds. - Thanks her for her letter, with the Mackail pamphlet on Shakespeare [Shakespeare after Three Hundred Years?]; will send it back to his father, with Mackail's letter, in a few days. Everyone is well here. The hay-making is now over, and it is 'quite chilly' today. He and Bessie met Mrs Tovey in London, and 'liked her a great deal. She is very Scotch and sensible, and probably is just the right sort of person to look after [Donald]'. The Toveys will probably come to the Shiffolds to visit in about a fortnight. They have had a 'very difficult time with Mrs Weisse, who has of course behaved outrageously', but Mrs Tovey 'wants to avoid a quarrel if possible.
The day they met Mrs Tovey, they also had tea at the House of Commons with Charles, who seems well. Will be 'very pleasant for Julian to see something of his cousins when he is at Wallington'. Bessie sends love; she says she will write soon, but has been 'very busy'.
The Pembroke Nursing Home and Private Hospital, Clifton, Bristol - It was a pleasure to have met him at the A. Club, she had originally noticed him as having evidently been ill; tells him about her brother George Wyndham, a poet who admired his works, and who 'nearly broke his heart in Ireland', and was spared the agony of losing his son in the War by dying in 1913; describes Stanway House; mentions her friendship with Jack Mackail; her grandson Lord Elcho is at Cambridge; his father died in 1916 in the Sinai Desert.
Concerning a draft copy of Last Poems
6, Pembroke Gardens, Kensington W.8. - Thanks her for the volume; the 'une honneur' is a very funny incident; thinks the book should have been called 'Essais Littéraires'; will take the opportunity to see the [Bourdelle?] bust at the Tate.
Chilswell, nr Oxford. - Sends the first corrected draft of the hexameters [work which became "Ibant Obscuri, An experiment in the classical hexameter"?], done while Bridges was in Switzerland 'skating every day'. Pity that [John William?] Mackail called when Trevelyan was there: they might have discussed things further. Thinks the experiment is promising. Asks Trevelyan not to circulate the rough manuscript.
6 Pembroke Gardens, Kensington, W. Dated 7 Feb. 1915 - Thanks him for the 'Essays of Joseph Addison'.
6 Pembroke Gardens, Kensington, W. Dated 23 June, 1912 - Thanks him for Cowper's Letters, and comments on Hurd [James Hurdis?], and the fact that he would have given a lecture at Oxford about him but never got around to it.
6 Pembroke Gardens, Kensington, W.8. - Thanks him for the book [S. G. Owen's 'Greece and Rome: a selection from the works of Sir James George Frazer'?], muses on the fact that it is just under sixty years since they met.
Welcombe, Stratford on Avon. - Glad to get Elizabeth's card and find she was out again; she must take care of herself; glad the weather has improved. Herbert Paul, Theodore [Llewelyn Davies], and Mr [J. W.] Mackail are staying with them; Mrs Paul and Mrs Mackail are ill. They make an 'amusing trio, & the talk is very good'. Hopes the Booths will reach Ravello soon; Theodore has seen some of the family and thinks Charles plays to stay at Ravello with Meg for a while; he will be good company, but they 'must not let him convert [them] to Protection[ism]!'. Very pleased by the North Dorset [by-]election; thinks the country is 'heartily sick of the Tories' but that they will keep hold of office for 'some time longer'. Sir George does not know Mr [Thomas Stewart] Omond, but he seems to have written many things as well as his book on [poetic] metres. She and Booa [Mary Prestwich] are pleased the shoes fit Elizabeth. Planning to go to London on 16 February.
10 Prinsegracht, The Hague. - They have not yet retired to their 'Retraite Edéniencee [ie, at Ede]', as her cousin calls it; does not think they will go before early June. The Grandmonts are still where she left them at Rocca Bella [Taormina, Sicily] at the end of April; they are travelling back with an English friend, stopping only briefly at Florence and Bâle. Was sorry to leave Italy 'like that' but it could not be helped; made her all the more anxious to return another time. Wrote to her cousin [Bramine Hubrecht] and sent her Trevelyan's messages, but does not know whether she will go to England this summer; he does not seem anxious to go and she supposes 'the husband's opinion has great weight in these matters!'. She herself will not be able to; is currently here alone at home with her uncle and aunt [Paul François Hubrecht and his wife Maria] and would not like to leave them when she would have to go 'to fit in with Senior's week at St. Andrews'. Thanks Trevelyan for his letter and the trouble he took with the list of books, though she has not yet got all those he suggested, in part because the library is currently closed. Fortunately the director is a friend of the family and can be persuaded to break the rule forbidding books to be taken or sent into the country, so they sometimes get a good selection sent to Ede; however spring-cleaning is 'a holy business' in this country so she must wait. Asks if Trevelyan could possibly send some of the books he listed: something by Henry James; his father's book; [Robert] Browning's letters; she will get [William?] Morris's "Life" [by J. W. MacKail and his brother's book from the library. Has been reading [Elizabeth Barrett Browning's] "Aurora Leigh" for the first time; asks whether Trevelyan likes it. Will be curious to see Trevelyan's friend [Thomas Sturge Moore]'s poems which he sent to her cousin; wonders whether they will appreciate it; does not think Mrs Grandmont has 'specially classical tastes'. Would be very nice if Trevelyan could come to Ede this summer; unsure still of when exactly would be the best time as she knows nothing of the Grandmonts' plans; thinks probably late August or early September. Is longing to get to fresh air in the country; town seems oppressive after Taormina.
They all feel 'greatly honoured... with all these noble peace delegates' being at the Hague; the Congress was opened yesterday; one of the Dutch members told them 'what a feeble old president Baron de Staal seemed to be' and that 'the first meeting did not promise much'. Is sending some Taormina photographs; the one with Mrs C [Florence Cacciola Trevelyan?] is 'funny but too indistinct'; [Giuseppe] Bruno took the same view which better shows Mrs C. 'like some curious prehistoric Juliet on her balcony'; she has it and will show it to you, or Trevelyan could write to Bruno and ask to see the several pictures he took in her garden of her 'constructions'. Glad Trevelyan has heard some good music in London; she feels out of practice and is looking forward to playing with her sister [Abrahamina Röntgen] again. Knows her aunt is giving her the biography of Joachim by Moser for her birthday. Will also have to 'make special Vondel studies this summer'; feels she knows very little about him.