Pièce 153 - Letter from Guglielmo degli Alberti to R. C. Trevelyan

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Il Palazzo Villa Alberti, Gerbido Torinese. - A postcard from Morra informs Alberti that Trevelyan has asked after him. Has had trouble with a 'sort of essay on Baudelaire' which has had a long time to finish; will send it when it is printed. Now is thinking of writing a few short stories. Asks if Trevelyan has been working a lot, or travelling, and whether he will soon return to Italy. Spent July in Bavaria, where he 'discovered' Mozart's "Magic Flute" in Munich and was 'absolutely charmed by it'. Asks if there are good translations of Goethe in English, since his German is not good enough to read "Dichtung und Wahrheit" in the original and he does not think French translations are very reliable. Asks whether he should read Lowes Dickinson's interpretation of Faust. Found [Emil?] Ludwig's book 'very disappointing and disagreeable' and will not finish it. Asks what Trevelyan thought of [Richard Hughes'] "A High Wind in Jamaica", published in "Life and Letters", which he rather enjoyed. Has also read recently "Sons and Lovers", his first D. H. Lawrence book, as well as Lawrence's short story "Jimmy and the Desperate Woman", and discusses them at length, and [Arnold Bennett's] "Old Wives Tale". Asks if Trevelyan has head [G. B. Shaw's] "The Apple Cart"; has read Desmond McCarthy's criticism in the "New Statesman" and was sorry to hear an English audience, at this point in time, had applauded Shaw's 'anti-democratic tomfoolery'. Recognises that polemics is Shaw's 'job', but people in Italy take him seriously. Asks for recommendations of new books, and whether Mary Webb is worth reading. In a postscript. asks for a recommendation of a mythological reference book which collects references to the stories of Tantalus, Pelops and others.