Item 5 - Letter from Roger Fry to R. C. Trevelyan

1 item

Bob's sonnet is 'delightful'. Suggests an alteration to the last line which makes it 'as topical, sublime, mysterious, & has the egoism proper to a great poet'; but seriously he 'must do something big' since this shows so 'complete a mastery of technique'. He and Helen will be at [a concert given by Charles?] Lamoureux on Friday and says they must meet up afterwards and dine at Gambrinus [Ye Olde Gambrinus, a restaurant/beer hall on Regent St] or something'. His wedding [to Helen Coombe] is on 3 December at 2 pm. Invites Bob to come and sit for his portrait and stay a night or two, not for long as 'everything is topsy turvy' and Mrs Smith [the housekeeper] getting progressively more worried; on second thoughts Bob had better not come as she has to 'clear all the things out and send them to Howard [?]'. The "Daphnis & Chloe" [a copy of the work by Longus?] has come and is 'splendid'; asks Robert to 'write a little epithalamium' and put it at the beginning; they are both very grateful.

Appears, abridged, in Fry, R., & Sutton, D. (1972), Letters of Roger Fry / edited with an introduction by Denys Sutton. London: Chatto and Windus, Vol 1 p 165

Pencil annotations dating the letter to 'Nov 1896', and numbering it '7A'.