Item 128 - Letter from J. H. Whitfield to James Smith

110 Banbury Road, Oxford.—Is unconvinced by [C. H.] Haskins’s notion of a twelfth-century Renaissance. Disparages medieval philosophy, and observes that Petrarch seems to mark an innovation in his concern with conduct rather than speculation. But he does not think that he has yet ‘exhausted the sources of information or covered the field’. Invites Smith and his aunt to use their flat if they go to Vézelay in April. Has been to Manchester to address the Philosophical Society, and saw Knights there. Suggests that Smith should also lecture to the Society. Discusses the latest number of Scrutiny. Alludes to Smith’s article on Mallarmé, and recounts an anecdote about Mallarmé and Degas related by Paul Valéry.