Item 87 - Letter from E. M. Forster to Elizabeth Trevelyan

1 sheet

King's Coll. Cambridge [headed notepaper, 'as from' added by hand]. -Sends a draft of his Skelton paper [no longer present], which she said she would like to read. The 'final script was rather longer, and started differently'; the paper [given at the Aldeburgh Festival 'went quite well and the people laughed - they had not been given the opportunity before'. The Festival was a 'great success'; he saw Julian, also meeting his wife [Julian Trevelyan and Mary Fedden did not in fact marry until 1951], and they had 'some pleasant talk'

Forster's health is 'much better after a month of sea air, sunshine, and easy living'. Returns to Cambridge tomorrow, and from there if all goes well to London. Can 'now walk about three miles without getting tired, a great improvement'.

Asks if Bob could lend him the issue of the Abinger Chronicle containing 'a piece of fun by me entitled Luncheon in Pretoria'; wants to have it typed out, as he is 'collecting together various pamphlets, articles, etc, to see whether they look like a book'. Will return it quickly. Sends love to both.

Dated only 'Thursday', but Forster gave his paper on Skelton at the Aldeburgh Festival, which ran in 1950 from the 17-23 Jun; TRER/ADD/88, in which Forster thanks the Trevelyans for sending the reqested Abinger Chronicle 'so promptly', and is dated 10 Jul, suggests that this letter was written on 6 July 1950.

Luncheon in Pretoria was indeed included in Forster's collection of essays, Two Cheers for Democracy, published in 1951.