Item 88 - Letter from Hasan Shahid Suhrawardy to R. C. Trevelyan

1 item

28, Rue de la Tourelle, Boulogne-sur-Seine. - Apologises for not writing sooner. Madame G[ermanova] has gone with the Pitoëffs to Holland and Italy so he is alone in the flat with the dog. She, her husband, and their son return for Easter; she has had great success with [Chekhov's] "Three Sisters", Figaro and so on. Asks how Trevelyan's play [his translation of Aeschylus' "Prometheus Bound"] was received at Cambridge; Trevelyan had described his impressions of the dress-rehearsal, but this is often very different to the real performance. Has asked the girl who is typing up his own translation of Sheng Cheng to send Trevelyan the first carbon copy for corrections; does not think it needs to be very literal, but wants to know how it reads in English; it has not yet been accepted by a publisher. He suggested that [Julien?] Luchaire should write to Trevelyan, because of his work as a translator and favourable attitude towards international collaboration; thinks he should reply with names of books which should be translated and others that have not been well translated. It would also be useful to mention why translations were not well done in England, and criticism of the system by which publishers give books to people; he could quote from his 'excellent preface to "Aeschylus". The man in charge of the project is Giuseppe Prezzolini, whom he admires and likes very much. Hopes Trevelyan's play for Masefield is now ready.

6/150: Draft letter of R. C. Trevelyan, 25 Dec 1928, on the subject of translation and perhaps to Luchaire.

Pencil annotation dating the letter to 1929.