She
discovered
that one of the tenants was tubercular.
Samuel Beckett
I fear you will be on the strain with Hester & bored with all the driving.
It is a great relief to me that you liked the poem. I had an
afternoon with Brian yesterday. & he liked it too. All I knew was
that it did not violate my gout as it went down. Of course I can't
7
8
ALS; 1 leaf, 2 sides; TCD, MS 10402/106. Dating: Thomas McGreevy went with Hester Dowden to Vienna: Charles Prentice to McGreevy, 24 August 1937 (TCD, MS 8092/110), and Prentice to McGreevy, 3 September 1937, addressed to Brussels acknowledging McGreevy's letter from Vienna and the news that Hester made the journey without tiring (TCD, MS 8092/111).
1 The configuration of museums in Munich: SB to Thomas McGreevy, 7 March 1937, n. 2.
ThecollectionthatSBdescribesintheLibraryoftheDeutschesMuseumonMuseum Island was a temporary display since the Deutsches Museum primarily held exhibits of science and technology (see 25 March 1937, n. 7 and n. 8).
2 SB'susageherevaries,sometimesshowingapainter'spictureswithanapostro phe (Leibl's), sometimes without (Cezannes).
Of paintings in the Neue Staatsgalerie by Swiss-German painter Arnold Bocklin (1827-1901), Hans von Man�es. Wilhelm Leib! . German painter Wilhelm Triibner (1851-1917). and Viennese painter Carl Schuch (1846-1903), SB specifically mentions Schuch's Still Life with Apples, Wine Glass, and PewterJug (8563), Peonies (8599), and Still Life with Asparagus (8907).
3 SB'snotesonthepaintingsthatinterestedhimintheLibraryoftheDeutsches Museum (at that time provisionally hung on the second floor) are in his travel diary (BIF, UoR, GD 5/f. 93, 95).
The Cezannes, particularly The Railway Cutting, as well as Van Gogh's self-portrait and his other paintings in the collection: 25 March 1937, n. 7.
Of the paintings by French artists Renoir, Jean-Desire-Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), and Henri Matisse (1869-1954) in the collection, SB specifically mentions Matisse's Still Life with Geranium (8669) (BIF, UoR, GD 5/f. 93).
In his diary, SB mentions Youth (B. 53), Flora (B. 154), Bust ofMadame Maurice Denis (B. 54), and Auguste Renoir (B. 59) by Aristide Maillol, and Portrait of Georges de Villechenon (8667) and In the Loge (8666) by Toulouse-Lautrec (BIF, UoR, GD 5/f. 95).
544
ventilate it anywhere, except perhaps in Transition. No more now. Shall write you again to Vienna.
Gute Reise & Viel Vergniigen. Love to Hester. Ever
Sam
30 August 1937, Manning Howe
4 Inhisdiary,SBmentionsMunch'sPeasantwithHorse(9037,removedas"entartet" in 1937; now, private collection) and Young Woman on the Veranda (9267; now in private collection); he notes Marc's Deer in the Reeds (9598) and Red Deer II (8923, removed as "entartet" in 1937; returned to the collection in 1940 and "ordered to be kept under 'lock and key"') (Annegret Hoberg and Isabelle Jansen, Franz Marc: The Complete Works, I, The Oil Paintings [London: Philip Wilson, 2004] 213; BIF, UoR, GD 5/f. 93).
Paintings by Kokoschka mentioned by SB in his diary were Venice (9328) and Landscape in the Dolomites (8985; now Leopold Museum, Vienna, no. 624). SB mentions two sculptures by Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881-1919): Female Torso (B 87) and Large Kneeling Woman (on loan from Frau Lehmbruck) (Barron, ed. , "Degenerate Art": The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany, 114, 292).
In his diary, SB refers to an unidentified sculpture of a shepherd, one of many by Ernst Barlach, and Barlach's sculpture The Death (B 155) (BIF, UoR, GD 5/f. 93; Carl Dietrich Carls, Ernst Barlach [New York; Frederick A. Praeger, 1969] 81. 212).
Of paintings by Ferdinand Hodler (1853-1918), SB writes in his diary particularly about Die Lebensmiiden (9446) which he compares to Diirer's Apostles (see 25 March 1937, n. 9).
5 "Au<liable"(milesout).
6 ArlandUssher,whowasinBudapest,sentSBacardofAnOldCouple(nowPeasants with a Pitcher, Galerie Alter Meister, Budapest, 559); it was originally thought to be by Pieter Bruegel (here called not "the elder," but "the Peasant" to distinguish him from his sons), whose name is inscribed on the painting ("Petrvs Brvegel F. "), but it is now attributed to "a Flemish or German Master, second half of the 16th century" (Ildik6 Ember, Zsuzsa Urbach, and Annamaria Gosztola, Old Masters' Gallery: Summary Catalogue, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, II, Early Nether! andish, Dutch and Flemish Paintings [Budapest: Szepmiiveszeti Muzeum, 2000] 69).
7 SBshowedBrianCoffeythepoemthencalled"Whiting. " "Gout" (taste).
8 "GuteReise&vie! Vergniigen"(Haveagoodtripandmuchfun).
MARY MANNING HOWE BUFFALO, NEW YORK
30! ! ! Aug. 1937
Dear Mary
Cooldrinagh, Foxrock,
Co. Dublin
500 thanks for your note. And photographs. You look petil
lante. And Susan beyond good & evil.
1
545
30 August 1937, Manning Howe
No I have heard nothing from Doubledeal Doran. Reavey has been treacle mooning all over the Mediterranean with his new Welsch vase. 2 Supremely happy. They are all supremely happy. Can it be the free coition, do you think?
It gave me great pleasure to hear that I had a German girl. Do you think you could get me her name & address? Their conduct of the fore-period is unique.
I have no news at all likely to interest you. Percy is in
Vienna. McGreevy in Buda Pest. The Sinclairs on their way to
South Africa. Leventhal not seen (by me) for months. (He has
been made editor of Hermathena! ). Jack Yeats do [for ditto]. 3 I do
nothing, with as little shame as satisfaction. It is the state that
suits me best. I write the odd poem when it is there, that is the
only thing worth doing. There is an ecstasy of accidia - willless
4
in a grey tumult of idees obscures. There is an end to the temptation of light, its polite searchings & consolations. It is good for children & insects. There is an end of making up one['Js mind, like a pound of tea, an end of patting the butter of con sciousness into opinions. The real consciousness is the chaos, a grey commotion of mind, with no premises or conclusions or problems or solutions or cases or judgments. I lie for days on the floor, or in the woods, accompanied & unaccompanied, in a coenaesthesia of mind, a fullness of mental self-aesthesia that is entirely useless. The monad without the conflict, lightless & darkless. I used to pretend to work, I do so no longer. I used to dig about in the mental sand for the lugworms of likes & dislikes, I do so no longer. The lugworms of understanding.
Do not envy me, do not pity me.
I saw the Gilmores twice. Was at a party there one night. Arrived with Sean O'Sullivan, full of whiskey. All the usual, general bathe in pool towards morning. Then went one
546
afternoon alone and drove them into town. The Reddins were invited to the party but Kenneth wouldn't go & wouldn't let Norahgo. 5
The Gilmores are on the right track. After a bit one wouldn't mind the filth & discomfort. One would want less & less. That is the right direction.
Had a couple of mildly amusing evenings with Sean & 2 American women from N. Y. City, foreskin hats, cellophane slick
6
I applied for the job at Cape Town & won't hear I suppose till late Autumn. I hear your Buffalo Bill has been & gone. 7
Many pains are better than one. Love
Sam
ALS; 2 leaves, 3 sides; letterhead; TxU.
1 MaryManningHoweandherinfantdaughterSusan. "Petillante"(sparkling).
2 SB refers to New York publishers Doubleday Doran, who had been considering the manuscript of Murphy.
George and Gwynedd Reavey were on their honeymoon.
3 A. J. Leventhal was not appointed Assistant Editor of the Trinity College Dublin review Hennathena: A Series of Papers on Literature, Science and Philosophy by Members of Trinity College, Dublin until 1957; in June 1937, William Alexander Goligher was named Editor of Hennathena (Eileen Kelly, TCD, 17 August 2005).
4 "Accidia"(It. ,torpor,sloth). "ldeesobscures"(obscureideas).
5 CharlieGilmoreandLilianDonaghylivedtogetherinthecottageofJoeCampbell in Co. Wicklow (see 7 July 1936, n. 9). SB described the evening in a letter to Thomas McGreevy, 23 August 1937: "I borrow & go on the blind. The last was last Saturday at a party in the Glencree valley. The Gilmores - Charlie & Lilian once Donaghy. I lost my lovely hat, my watch & half a bottle ! of] J. J. And cut my head bathing in [4]0 foot at 2 a. m. " (TCD, MS 10402/133; left side of page torn).
Kenneth Reddin (see 7 August 1936, n. 8, and 13 April 1937, n. 1) and Norah Reddin (nee Ringwood, n. d. ).
6 SeanO'Sullivan;thetwowomenfromNewYorkhavenotbeenidentified.
547
30 August 1937, Manning Howe
ers&hardheads. Nothinghadevenbeenthere. Americangirls are irresistible, the charm of the inorganic.
30 August 1937, Manning Howe
7 InhislettertoThomasMcGreevy,25August1937,SBhadwritten:"Ihadabrief& formal acknowledgement of application from Cape Town. How I dread getting that job" (TCD, MS 10402/134).
SB's allusion to the showman of the Wild West, William F. Cody (known as Buffalo Bill, 1846-1917). probably points to the Chairman of theEnglish department of the University of Buffalo: SB to Thomas McGreevy, 4 August 1937, n. 8.
THOMAS M cGREEVY LONDON
Sep. 21� [1937] Cooldrinagh [Foxrock, Co. Dublin]
Dear Tom
Thanks for your letter. I was laid up for about 10 days with
gastric flu (so called) and it is only in these last few days that I feel up to even my poor normal level of energy again. The first day I went out in the car I collided with a lorry. My car is finished but I myself was not hurt. As I have only the compulsory mini mum 3rd party insurance my only chance of compensation is to claim off the other people, where I think my chance of succeed ing is very small. I was tired of the car anyway & meant to give it up & buy a bike.
Frank & wife got back from honeymoon last week. He
seems to have stood the course very well. At present they are
living at Cooldrinagh, as the house in Killiney will not be
evacuated till Oct. 1st. I was glad to hear he had sent you a card
1
to-be-spoken, but if it only depends on him it will work out. He
has plenty of practice in the matter of humouring the woman.
2
fromScotland. Thereissomethingruefulabouthimandanever
I ran into Raven yesterday in Leinster Street. I had not known he was over. We had a quick cup of coffee. I wanted him to lunch with me to-day but he rang up this morning to
548
say he couldn't manage it. He was very nice and I think sorry that we had not a little more time together. Someone had told him I was away or inaccessible . . .
Denis's poems came. There are lovely fragments, like the
last stanza of the Statue & Perturbed Burghers, & here & there
in the Eiffel Tower one, but I feel them adventitious and am on
the whole rather disappointed. The few lines that I quoted in
the Bookman article remain I think as good as anything in the
book. The Bacchanal I find very very bad, the worst kind of
Whitman-Kipling-aling pietinement sur place. As for the
images, they seem to be not so much uncontrolled as cut adrift
from the imaged altogether, doing a kind of Gymkana [for
Gymkhana] all on their own. If it was deliberate it wouldn't
matter. But the process is obviously one of working up the
perceived, when it is not a screen for the failure to perceive,
according to the usual mechanism. Because it seems an alto
gether perceptive, sensuous, instinctive & immediate talent,
not at all conceptive or even meditative. When he gets meta
physical it is awful. Brian says he can't observe accurately &
perhaps he can't. I don't think it matters. Perception is one
thing & observation another. The stanza I mention is material
exquisitely perceived, and I think the only image is in the first
line, & it a mild one. I got the book for review from S. O'S. and
shall not bother very much about the aspects of it that I can't
commend. But I would rather not have to write about it at all.
When I last saw Sheehy it was understood that you were doing
3
evidence for St. J. G. on commission. I have not yet seen the verbatim report but by all accounts it was sublime, the high point being reached when he described the verses complained
549
21 September {1937}, McGreevy
it for Ireland ToDay.
Higgins, because he is going to USA with the Abbey, gave his
21 September {1937), McGreevy
of and others not yet complained of as Folklore! Pokornography! The hearing proper is not expected to come on before
4
Italy, and could if necessary give my evidence for Harry on commission also. But I hope it will not come to this. Bad witness & all as no doubt I am, I think I could be of more use to him in the box.
Brian is in Sligo with father & sister, returns on Thursday for
a day or two, & then goes to Antrim with his sister. I had a long
letter from him yesterday, with all the pros & cons for Denis
alphaed betaed gammaed & deltaed. To-day a letter from
5
When I was ill I found the only thing I could read was
6
Mother's plan of letting Cooldrinagh for a long period is temporarily off.
She discovered that one of the tenants was tubercular. But I think we shall persuade her simply to go away for a holiday, perhaps to friends in London. I would prob ably remain on in Cooldrinagh with the cook & the dog.
No news from Cissie Sinclair since the P. C. from Cape Town. No sign from Reavey either. I was pleased that Denis & Brian
550
November. IfIgetthejobinCapeTown,&havinggotitaccept it, two conditions unlikely to be satisfied, I shall go straight to
Charles,sayingyourtriphaddoneyougood. Hekeepsremark ably cheerful.
Schopenhauer. EverythingelseItriedonlyconfirmedthefeeling of sickness. It was very curious. Like suddenly a window opened on a fug. I always knew he was one ofthe ones that mattered most to me, and it is a pleasure more real than any pleasure for a long time to begin to understand now why it is so. And it is a pleasure also to find a philosopher that can be read like a poet, with an entire indifference to the apriori forms of verification. Although it is a fact that judged by them his generalisation shows fewer cracks than most generalisations.
liked Murphy. 7 I think it was perfectly genuine in each case. I still feel absurdly easy in my mind about its being pub lished sooner or later, and to my surprise still anxious that it should be.
God love thee. Write soon again. Ever
Sam
ALS; 2 leaves, 8 sides; TCD, MS 10402/136. Dating: A "37" is added in AH; Frank Beckett back from his honeymoon; F. R. Higgins's "verbatim" taken on 13 and 14 September 1937.
1 FrankandJeanBecketthadboughtahouseinKilliney.
2 ThomasHolmesRavenhill.
3 InhisreviewofDenisDevlin'sIntercessions,SBmakesparticularreferencetothe final stanza of "The Statue & Perturbed Burghers," "Communication from the Eiffel Tower," and "Bacchanal" (Intercessions, 13-14, 32-47, 26).
Walt Whitman (1819-1892) and Rudyard Kipling.
"Pietinement sur place" (marking time).
Brian Coffey.
SB had quoted the third stanza of Devlin's poem "Est Prodest" (lines 51-57) in his
essay "Recent Irish Poetry," 236; its first line is "Phrases twisted through other" (Devlin, Intercessions, 52).
Edward Sheehy was on the staff of Ireland To-Day (see 26 April 1937, n. 12).
4 F. R. Higgins,DirectoroftheAbbeyTheatre,gavehistestimonyintheSinclairvs. Gogarty and Cowan Rich suit on commission of Henry J. Moloney at the offices of Arthur Cox, Solicitor, 42 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, on 13 and 14 September 1937. Portions ofthis testimony were presented at the trial, including reference to the verses that Higgins regarded "simply as folklore" ("£900 Damages Awarded in Libel Action," The Irish Times 24 November 1937: 5).
5 CharlesPrentice.
6 Itisnotknownwhatwork(s)byArthurSchopenhauerSBreadatthistime.
7 SBhadreceivedapostcardfromCissieSinclairfromCapeTown.
The last communication from Reavey was before 4 September 1937; SB wrote to McGreevy on 4 September 1937, that "Doubledeal Doran had turned down the book . . 'the long metaphysical disquisitions, plainly oftheJoycean school, hardly well enough done to justify the obvious objections, etc. etc. ' whatever that means! The book is now with Faber" (TCD, MS 10402/135).
Brian Coffey and SB had had "lunch the day before he left [for Sligo]. I had given him Murphy to read and he was I think quite genuinely enthusiastic" (SB to McGreevy, 4 September 1937 (TCD, MS 10402/135). SB had also given the book to Denis Devlin.
551
21 September {1937}, McGreevy
6 October 1937, McGreevy THOMAS McGREEVY
LONDON
Oct. 6th 1937 Cooldrinagh
Dear Tom
Thanks for your letter this morning. Frank will have his
to-day also.
I have been sleeping here since Mother left. I do not know
where she is or how long she will be away and Frank either has no definite news either or instructions to keep it to himself. I have been going through my papers & trying to get my books into some kind of order. At first I had intended to move every thing to neutral territory but have now the kind permission to lock my study door & give Frank the key. So I am saved a lot of trouble.
Instead of creeping about with the agenbite, as I suppose I
ought, I am marvelling at the pleasantness ofCooldrinagh with
out her. And I could not wish her anything better than to feel the
same when I am away. But I don't wish her anything at all,
neither good nor ill. I am what her savage loving has made me,
and it is good that one of us should accept that finally. As it has
been all this time, she wanting me to behave in a way agreeable
to her in her October of analphabetic gentility, or to her friends
ditto, or to the business code of father idealised - dehumanised -
("When ever in doubt what [to] do, ask yourself what would
darling Bill have done") - the grotesque can go no further. It is
like after a long forenoon of the thumb screws being com
manded by the bourreau to play his favourite song without
1
I simply don't want to see her or write to her or hear from her. And as for the peace in the heart and all the
552
words with feeling.
6 October 1937, McGreevy
other milk puddings that the sun is said to set on so much better, they will never be there anyway, least ofall as the fruit offormal reconciliation. There are the grey hairs that will go down in sorrow, that want to go down in sorrow, as they came up in sorrow, because they are that kind. And ifa telegram came now to say she was dead, I would not do the Furies the favour of regarding myselfeven as indirectly responsible.
Which I suppose all boils down to saying what a bad son I am. Then Amen. It is a title for me ofas little honour as infamy. Like describing a tree as a bad shadow.
Ifshe does not return home before, I shall leave for London
probably next Monday. I cannot make up my mind what to do
about a room. G. R. has written inviting me to stay for a few days
with him until I find somewhere. I might do that & go on then to
Paris. Money will be very knapp. No more charity ofsupereroga
tion. God knows I don't want to stay with anyone. Least ofall with
2
very pleased with what you quoted. I had the last son banging
the door marked myself. I should think Denis wont be too
delighted with the Fioretti, but haven't seen him to hear
what he says. Brian was indignant that you weren't given more
3
I spent most oflast Monday at Shankhill Courthouse, waiting for my case to come on. I defended myself, to Mr D-J Reddin, and was fined £1 and 5/- costs, which makes it almost certain that I won't get any compensation from the other insurance company. Reddin delivered a homily to the assembly ofGuards and felons in much the following terms: "Mr B. is one ofthe most distinguished of Irish writers. It would be a pity if his services were ended
553
the Welchess.
I like your review in Ireland Today very much, and was
space. Sheehyisclamouringforsomething,soIshallsendhim Whiting! 4
6 October 1937, McGreevy
prematurely. Hum. Literature has also its comers. These he has
tamed so far with - er - finesse. Of his driving I am not so sure.
Etc. "5 Brian came down & stayed with me throughout, with a
Raymond Roussel under his meter. We are walking over the
mountains this afternoon. I suppose you saw about the appoint
6
me to dine last Monday. He is researching in the Library for a novel about 18th century Ireland. He is a dull man. Goes about with Lady Glenavy, in the room of the Swedish Consul Erickssen [for Eriksson], now departed. 7
The Gogarty thing cant come on before November, & I shall have to come back for that. I hear he is negotiating with the R. H. A. who want to buy his house & garden for their new prem ises. Harry is in difficulties. 8
I had a letter from Cissie from S. A. , telling me nothing of what I wanted to hear, i. e. how she was & how Sonny was. 9 Her description of Cape Town, with the University up in the hills surrounded by woods, was more encouraging than not.
I hear Leventhal has got some newly created job in TCD as "General Secretary" and has left Mary Street & is a new man. I
10
ment ofhis father to the Censorship Committee.
Francis Stewart [for Stuart], staying at the Dolphin, invited
have not had the good fortune to see him for some months.
I shall let you know when I arrive in good time if I can. Though it may turn out to be a sudden last minute departure, in which case I would ring you up at Harrington Road on arrival. I am not sure ifl have a note ofyour number. Would you drop me
a card and let me have it? 11 A bientot.
Sam
ALS; 2 leaves, 4 sides; AN AH: top margin ofleaf2, side 3: <third, fourth & fifth coats, 5 3/4 lbs white lead@ Sd. >; TCD, MS 10402/139.
554
6 October 1937, McGreevy
1 "Bourreau"(torturer).
2 The following Monday was 11 October. The "Welchess" is Gwynedd, wife of George Reavey.
"Knapp" (tight, short).
3 InhisreviewofDenisDevlin'sIntercessions,McGreevyquotedfromDevlin'spoem, "Communication from the Eiffel Tower": ". . . uncertain/ Like a mother covering her ears/ When the last son slams the door and she cowers from its echoes/ I am made to speak " (Intercessions, 47).
McGreevy compared Devlin's poetry to Fioretti di San Francesco d'Assisi, (Little Flowers of St. Francis Assisi), a popular collection of legends regarding the life of St. Francis of Assisi, gathered anonymously before the end of the fourteenth century (Thomas McGreevy, "New Dublin Poetry," Ireland To-Day 2. 10 [October 1937] 81-82).
4 ItisnotknownifSBdidindeedsubmit"Whiting"toEdwardSheehyforIrelandTo Day; it was not published there.
5 DistrictJusticeKennethReddin. SBwrotetoMcGreevyon28September1937:
I am being persecuted by the Civic Guards for dangerous driving, in con nection with the accident last Saturday week [18 September], & in my opinion so unjustifiably that I intend to go to the court next Monday [4 October] and fight them every inch of the way. I know this will mean my being fined twice as much as I would be if I went down on my knees & apologised. Tant pis. There is no animal I loathe more profoundly than a Civic Guard, a symbol of Ireland with his official Gaelic loutish compla cency & pot-walloping Schreinlichkeit, & if I can insert even a fraction of this feeling into the gloved skull of Mr D. -J. Reddin before leaving this whoreless kip of a country I shall gladly pay an extra pound for the pleas ure. If it were not for this next Monday I should probably be in London before the end of the week. (TCD, MS 10402/137)
"Tant pis" (too bad).
"Schreinlichkeit" (a neologism based on Ger. , chest-ishness).
6 BrianCoffeywascarryingabookbyFrenchwriterRaymondRoussel(1877-1933). His father Dr. Denis J. Coffey was appointed to the Censorship of Publications Board at the end of September 1937 ("University Notes, Dr. Coffey's New Appointment, New Medical Societies Association," The Irish Times 4 October 1937: 4).
7 FrancisStuartwasdoingresearchforhisnovelTheGreatSquire(1939).
Beatrice Campbell (Mrs. Gordon). Lady Glenavy (nee Elvery, 1881-1970). Harry Eriksson (1892-1957), Swedish Consul in Dublin from 1930 to 1 July 1937; his rooms were at 17 Fitzwilliam Square (Goren Rydebert, Head of Archives of the Foreign Ministry, Stockholm).
8 The trial regarding libel charges against Oliver St. John Gogarty's As I Was Going Down Sackville Street did not take place until the end ofNovember.
In 1939 the Royal Hibernian Association purchased Gogarty's house, 15 Ely Place, and what was once George Moore's garden.
Harry Sinclair, plaintiff in the proceedings pending against Gogarty.
9 CissieSinclairwasvisitinghersonMorris,whowastutoringfortheWatermeyer family in Graaff Reinet, South Africa.
555
6 October 1937, McGreevy
10 A. J. LeventhalhadleftAtlasFurnishingCompanyat56-58MaryStreet,Dublin, a firm owned by his father-in-law, Joseph Zlotover (also known as Goldman, c. 1858-1938), and taken up an appointment as Secretary to the Registrar and Secretary to the Appointments Committee at Trinity College Dublin.
11 "ThomasMcGreevywaslivingat49HarringtonRd. ,LondonSW7. THOMAS McGREEVY
LONDON
Wednesday evg. [27 October 1937]
Chez Sarrazin
12 Rue de la Gde.
Chaumiere Paris Vlme
[no greeting]
A room at 16 francs here seems the best I can do. I don't see myself lasting a week at the prices. Just had entrec6te & cheese & 1/2 carafe rose at the Ste. Cecile - 19. 75! 1
Excellent journey, very few travelling & brilliant sunshine soon after leaving the drizzle at Newhaven. No sign of Brian at the train. 2 Perhaps he is not here at all. Shall ring up his hotel to morrow.
God love thee Sam.
APCS; 1 leaf, 1 side; to ThomasMcGreevy Esq, 49 Harrington Road, London S. W. 7; pm 27-10-37, Paris; TCD, MS 10402/141. Dating: from pm; 27 October 1937 fell on Wednesday.
1 SBhadtraveledfromDublinonSaturdaynightof16OctoberarrivinginLondon mid-day on 17 October (SB toMcGreevy, [14 October 1937], TCD,MS 10402/140). SB wrote from Paris on 27 October 1937 to Reavey: "I tried Raspail, de la Paix & Liberia, and then collapsed into a 16 francs cabinet de malaisance here" (TxU). The Sarrazin was across the street from the Liberia, 9 Rue de la Grande Chaumiere.
"Cabinet de malaisance" (conflation of a French term for lavatory, "cabinet d'aisance" [ease] with "malaise" [un-ease]).
The cafe or restaurant Ste. Cecile has not been identified.
556
THOMAS McGREEVY DUBLIN
(? 3 November 1937]
Chez Sarrazin
12 Rue de la Gde. Chaumiere Paris Vlme
{? 3 November 1937}, McGreevy
2 BrianCoffey.
SB took the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe, France, then traveled by train to Paris.
It is a great relief to me that you liked the poem. I had an
afternoon with Brian yesterday. & he liked it too. All I knew was
that it did not violate my gout as it went down. Of course I can't
7
8
ALS; 1 leaf, 2 sides; TCD, MS 10402/106. Dating: Thomas McGreevy went with Hester Dowden to Vienna: Charles Prentice to McGreevy, 24 August 1937 (TCD, MS 8092/110), and Prentice to McGreevy, 3 September 1937, addressed to Brussels acknowledging McGreevy's letter from Vienna and the news that Hester made the journey without tiring (TCD, MS 8092/111).
1 The configuration of museums in Munich: SB to Thomas McGreevy, 7 March 1937, n. 2.
ThecollectionthatSBdescribesintheLibraryoftheDeutschesMuseumonMuseum Island was a temporary display since the Deutsches Museum primarily held exhibits of science and technology (see 25 March 1937, n. 7 and n. 8).
2 SB'susageherevaries,sometimesshowingapainter'spictureswithanapostro phe (Leibl's), sometimes without (Cezannes).
Of paintings in the Neue Staatsgalerie by Swiss-German painter Arnold Bocklin (1827-1901), Hans von Man�es. Wilhelm Leib! . German painter Wilhelm Triibner (1851-1917). and Viennese painter Carl Schuch (1846-1903), SB specifically mentions Schuch's Still Life with Apples, Wine Glass, and PewterJug (8563), Peonies (8599), and Still Life with Asparagus (8907).
3 SB'snotesonthepaintingsthatinterestedhimintheLibraryoftheDeutsches Museum (at that time provisionally hung on the second floor) are in his travel diary (BIF, UoR, GD 5/f. 93, 95).
The Cezannes, particularly The Railway Cutting, as well as Van Gogh's self-portrait and his other paintings in the collection: 25 March 1937, n. 7.
Of the paintings by French artists Renoir, Jean-Desire-Gustave Courbet (1819-1877), and Henri Matisse (1869-1954) in the collection, SB specifically mentions Matisse's Still Life with Geranium (8669) (BIF, UoR, GD 5/f. 93).
In his diary, SB mentions Youth (B. 53), Flora (B. 154), Bust ofMadame Maurice Denis (B. 54), and Auguste Renoir (B. 59) by Aristide Maillol, and Portrait of Georges de Villechenon (8667) and In the Loge (8666) by Toulouse-Lautrec (BIF, UoR, GD 5/f. 95).
544
ventilate it anywhere, except perhaps in Transition. No more now. Shall write you again to Vienna.
Gute Reise & Viel Vergniigen. Love to Hester. Ever
Sam
30 August 1937, Manning Howe
4 Inhisdiary,SBmentionsMunch'sPeasantwithHorse(9037,removedas"entartet" in 1937; now, private collection) and Young Woman on the Veranda (9267; now in private collection); he notes Marc's Deer in the Reeds (9598) and Red Deer II (8923, removed as "entartet" in 1937; returned to the collection in 1940 and "ordered to be kept under 'lock and key"') (Annegret Hoberg and Isabelle Jansen, Franz Marc: The Complete Works, I, The Oil Paintings [London: Philip Wilson, 2004] 213; BIF, UoR, GD 5/f. 93).
Paintings by Kokoschka mentioned by SB in his diary were Venice (9328) and Landscape in the Dolomites (8985; now Leopold Museum, Vienna, no. 624). SB mentions two sculptures by Wilhelm Lehmbruck (1881-1919): Female Torso (B 87) and Large Kneeling Woman (on loan from Frau Lehmbruck) (Barron, ed. , "Degenerate Art": The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany, 114, 292).
In his diary, SB refers to an unidentified sculpture of a shepherd, one of many by Ernst Barlach, and Barlach's sculpture The Death (B 155) (BIF, UoR, GD 5/f. 93; Carl Dietrich Carls, Ernst Barlach [New York; Frederick A. Praeger, 1969] 81. 212).
Of paintings by Ferdinand Hodler (1853-1918), SB writes in his diary particularly about Die Lebensmiiden (9446) which he compares to Diirer's Apostles (see 25 March 1937, n. 9).
5 "Au<liable"(milesout).
6 ArlandUssher,whowasinBudapest,sentSBacardofAnOldCouple(nowPeasants with a Pitcher, Galerie Alter Meister, Budapest, 559); it was originally thought to be by Pieter Bruegel (here called not "the elder," but "the Peasant" to distinguish him from his sons), whose name is inscribed on the painting ("Petrvs Brvegel F. "), but it is now attributed to "a Flemish or German Master, second half of the 16th century" (Ildik6 Ember, Zsuzsa Urbach, and Annamaria Gosztola, Old Masters' Gallery: Summary Catalogue, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, II, Early Nether! andish, Dutch and Flemish Paintings [Budapest: Szepmiiveszeti Muzeum, 2000] 69).
7 SBshowedBrianCoffeythepoemthencalled"Whiting. " "Gout" (taste).
8 "GuteReise&vie! Vergniigen"(Haveagoodtripandmuchfun).
MARY MANNING HOWE BUFFALO, NEW YORK
30! ! ! Aug. 1937
Dear Mary
Cooldrinagh, Foxrock,
Co. Dublin
500 thanks for your note. And photographs. You look petil
lante. And Susan beyond good & evil.
1
545
30 August 1937, Manning Howe
No I have heard nothing from Doubledeal Doran. Reavey has been treacle mooning all over the Mediterranean with his new Welsch vase. 2 Supremely happy. They are all supremely happy. Can it be the free coition, do you think?
It gave me great pleasure to hear that I had a German girl. Do you think you could get me her name & address? Their conduct of the fore-period is unique.
I have no news at all likely to interest you. Percy is in
Vienna. McGreevy in Buda Pest. The Sinclairs on their way to
South Africa. Leventhal not seen (by me) for months. (He has
been made editor of Hermathena! ). Jack Yeats do [for ditto]. 3 I do
nothing, with as little shame as satisfaction. It is the state that
suits me best. I write the odd poem when it is there, that is the
only thing worth doing. There is an ecstasy of accidia - willless
4
in a grey tumult of idees obscures. There is an end to the temptation of light, its polite searchings & consolations. It is good for children & insects. There is an end of making up one['Js mind, like a pound of tea, an end of patting the butter of con sciousness into opinions. The real consciousness is the chaos, a grey commotion of mind, with no premises or conclusions or problems or solutions or cases or judgments. I lie for days on the floor, or in the woods, accompanied & unaccompanied, in a coenaesthesia of mind, a fullness of mental self-aesthesia that is entirely useless. The monad without the conflict, lightless & darkless. I used to pretend to work, I do so no longer. I used to dig about in the mental sand for the lugworms of likes & dislikes, I do so no longer. The lugworms of understanding.
Do not envy me, do not pity me.
I saw the Gilmores twice. Was at a party there one night. Arrived with Sean O'Sullivan, full of whiskey. All the usual, general bathe in pool towards morning. Then went one
546
afternoon alone and drove them into town. The Reddins were invited to the party but Kenneth wouldn't go & wouldn't let Norahgo. 5
The Gilmores are on the right track. After a bit one wouldn't mind the filth & discomfort. One would want less & less. That is the right direction.
Had a couple of mildly amusing evenings with Sean & 2 American women from N. Y. City, foreskin hats, cellophane slick
6
I applied for the job at Cape Town & won't hear I suppose till late Autumn. I hear your Buffalo Bill has been & gone. 7
Many pains are better than one. Love
Sam
ALS; 2 leaves, 3 sides; letterhead; TxU.
1 MaryManningHoweandherinfantdaughterSusan. "Petillante"(sparkling).
2 SB refers to New York publishers Doubleday Doran, who had been considering the manuscript of Murphy.
George and Gwynedd Reavey were on their honeymoon.
3 A. J. Leventhal was not appointed Assistant Editor of the Trinity College Dublin review Hennathena: A Series of Papers on Literature, Science and Philosophy by Members of Trinity College, Dublin until 1957; in June 1937, William Alexander Goligher was named Editor of Hennathena (Eileen Kelly, TCD, 17 August 2005).
4 "Accidia"(It. ,torpor,sloth). "ldeesobscures"(obscureideas).
5 CharlieGilmoreandLilianDonaghylivedtogetherinthecottageofJoeCampbell in Co. Wicklow (see 7 July 1936, n. 9). SB described the evening in a letter to Thomas McGreevy, 23 August 1937: "I borrow & go on the blind. The last was last Saturday at a party in the Glencree valley. The Gilmores - Charlie & Lilian once Donaghy. I lost my lovely hat, my watch & half a bottle ! of] J. J. And cut my head bathing in [4]0 foot at 2 a. m. " (TCD, MS 10402/133; left side of page torn).
Kenneth Reddin (see 7 August 1936, n. 8, and 13 April 1937, n. 1) and Norah Reddin (nee Ringwood, n. d. ).
6 SeanO'Sullivan;thetwowomenfromNewYorkhavenotbeenidentified.
547
30 August 1937, Manning Howe
ers&hardheads. Nothinghadevenbeenthere. Americangirls are irresistible, the charm of the inorganic.
30 August 1937, Manning Howe
7 InhislettertoThomasMcGreevy,25August1937,SBhadwritten:"Ihadabrief& formal acknowledgement of application from Cape Town. How I dread getting that job" (TCD, MS 10402/134).
SB's allusion to the showman of the Wild West, William F. Cody (known as Buffalo Bill, 1846-1917). probably points to the Chairman of theEnglish department of the University of Buffalo: SB to Thomas McGreevy, 4 August 1937, n. 8.
THOMAS M cGREEVY LONDON
Sep. 21� [1937] Cooldrinagh [Foxrock, Co. Dublin]
Dear Tom
Thanks for your letter. I was laid up for about 10 days with
gastric flu (so called) and it is only in these last few days that I feel up to even my poor normal level of energy again. The first day I went out in the car I collided with a lorry. My car is finished but I myself was not hurt. As I have only the compulsory mini mum 3rd party insurance my only chance of compensation is to claim off the other people, where I think my chance of succeed ing is very small. I was tired of the car anyway & meant to give it up & buy a bike.
Frank & wife got back from honeymoon last week. He
seems to have stood the course very well. At present they are
living at Cooldrinagh, as the house in Killiney will not be
evacuated till Oct. 1st. I was glad to hear he had sent you a card
1
to-be-spoken, but if it only depends on him it will work out. He
has plenty of practice in the matter of humouring the woman.
2
fromScotland. Thereissomethingruefulabouthimandanever
I ran into Raven yesterday in Leinster Street. I had not known he was over. We had a quick cup of coffee. I wanted him to lunch with me to-day but he rang up this morning to
548
say he couldn't manage it. He was very nice and I think sorry that we had not a little more time together. Someone had told him I was away or inaccessible . . .
Denis's poems came. There are lovely fragments, like the
last stanza of the Statue & Perturbed Burghers, & here & there
in the Eiffel Tower one, but I feel them adventitious and am on
the whole rather disappointed. The few lines that I quoted in
the Bookman article remain I think as good as anything in the
book. The Bacchanal I find very very bad, the worst kind of
Whitman-Kipling-aling pietinement sur place. As for the
images, they seem to be not so much uncontrolled as cut adrift
from the imaged altogether, doing a kind of Gymkana [for
Gymkhana] all on their own. If it was deliberate it wouldn't
matter. But the process is obviously one of working up the
perceived, when it is not a screen for the failure to perceive,
according to the usual mechanism. Because it seems an alto
gether perceptive, sensuous, instinctive & immediate talent,
not at all conceptive or even meditative. When he gets meta
physical it is awful. Brian says he can't observe accurately &
perhaps he can't. I don't think it matters. Perception is one
thing & observation another. The stanza I mention is material
exquisitely perceived, and I think the only image is in the first
line, & it a mild one. I got the book for review from S. O'S. and
shall not bother very much about the aspects of it that I can't
commend. But I would rather not have to write about it at all.
When I last saw Sheehy it was understood that you were doing
3
evidence for St. J. G. on commission. I have not yet seen the verbatim report but by all accounts it was sublime, the high point being reached when he described the verses complained
549
21 September {1937}, McGreevy
it for Ireland ToDay.
Higgins, because he is going to USA with the Abbey, gave his
21 September {1937), McGreevy
of and others not yet complained of as Folklore! Pokornography! The hearing proper is not expected to come on before
4
Italy, and could if necessary give my evidence for Harry on commission also. But I hope it will not come to this. Bad witness & all as no doubt I am, I think I could be of more use to him in the box.
Brian is in Sligo with father & sister, returns on Thursday for
a day or two, & then goes to Antrim with his sister. I had a long
letter from him yesterday, with all the pros & cons for Denis
alphaed betaed gammaed & deltaed. To-day a letter from
5
When I was ill I found the only thing I could read was
6
Mother's plan of letting Cooldrinagh for a long period is temporarily off.
She discovered that one of the tenants was tubercular. But I think we shall persuade her simply to go away for a holiday, perhaps to friends in London. I would prob ably remain on in Cooldrinagh with the cook & the dog.
No news from Cissie Sinclair since the P. C. from Cape Town. No sign from Reavey either. I was pleased that Denis & Brian
550
November. IfIgetthejobinCapeTown,&havinggotitaccept it, two conditions unlikely to be satisfied, I shall go straight to
Charles,sayingyourtriphaddoneyougood. Hekeepsremark ably cheerful.
Schopenhauer. EverythingelseItriedonlyconfirmedthefeeling of sickness. It was very curious. Like suddenly a window opened on a fug. I always knew he was one ofthe ones that mattered most to me, and it is a pleasure more real than any pleasure for a long time to begin to understand now why it is so. And it is a pleasure also to find a philosopher that can be read like a poet, with an entire indifference to the apriori forms of verification. Although it is a fact that judged by them his generalisation shows fewer cracks than most generalisations.
liked Murphy. 7 I think it was perfectly genuine in each case. I still feel absurdly easy in my mind about its being pub lished sooner or later, and to my surprise still anxious that it should be.
God love thee. Write soon again. Ever
Sam
ALS; 2 leaves, 8 sides; TCD, MS 10402/136. Dating: A "37" is added in AH; Frank Beckett back from his honeymoon; F. R. Higgins's "verbatim" taken on 13 and 14 September 1937.
1 FrankandJeanBecketthadboughtahouseinKilliney.
2 ThomasHolmesRavenhill.
3 InhisreviewofDenisDevlin'sIntercessions,SBmakesparticularreferencetothe final stanza of "The Statue & Perturbed Burghers," "Communication from the Eiffel Tower," and "Bacchanal" (Intercessions, 13-14, 32-47, 26).
Walt Whitman (1819-1892) and Rudyard Kipling.
"Pietinement sur place" (marking time).
Brian Coffey.
SB had quoted the third stanza of Devlin's poem "Est Prodest" (lines 51-57) in his
essay "Recent Irish Poetry," 236; its first line is "Phrases twisted through other" (Devlin, Intercessions, 52).
Edward Sheehy was on the staff of Ireland To-Day (see 26 April 1937, n. 12).
4 F. R. Higgins,DirectoroftheAbbeyTheatre,gavehistestimonyintheSinclairvs. Gogarty and Cowan Rich suit on commission of Henry J. Moloney at the offices of Arthur Cox, Solicitor, 42 St. Stephen's Green, Dublin, on 13 and 14 September 1937. Portions ofthis testimony were presented at the trial, including reference to the verses that Higgins regarded "simply as folklore" ("£900 Damages Awarded in Libel Action," The Irish Times 24 November 1937: 5).
5 CharlesPrentice.
6 Itisnotknownwhatwork(s)byArthurSchopenhauerSBreadatthistime.
7 SBhadreceivedapostcardfromCissieSinclairfromCapeTown.
The last communication from Reavey was before 4 September 1937; SB wrote to McGreevy on 4 September 1937, that "Doubledeal Doran had turned down the book . . 'the long metaphysical disquisitions, plainly oftheJoycean school, hardly well enough done to justify the obvious objections, etc. etc. ' whatever that means! The book is now with Faber" (TCD, MS 10402/135).
Brian Coffey and SB had had "lunch the day before he left [for Sligo]. I had given him Murphy to read and he was I think quite genuinely enthusiastic" (SB to McGreevy, 4 September 1937 (TCD, MS 10402/135). SB had also given the book to Denis Devlin.
551
21 September {1937}, McGreevy
6 October 1937, McGreevy THOMAS McGREEVY
LONDON
Oct. 6th 1937 Cooldrinagh
Dear Tom
Thanks for your letter this morning. Frank will have his
to-day also.
I have been sleeping here since Mother left. I do not know
where she is or how long she will be away and Frank either has no definite news either or instructions to keep it to himself. I have been going through my papers & trying to get my books into some kind of order. At first I had intended to move every thing to neutral territory but have now the kind permission to lock my study door & give Frank the key. So I am saved a lot of trouble.
Instead of creeping about with the agenbite, as I suppose I
ought, I am marvelling at the pleasantness ofCooldrinagh with
out her. And I could not wish her anything better than to feel the
same when I am away. But I don't wish her anything at all,
neither good nor ill. I am what her savage loving has made me,
and it is good that one of us should accept that finally. As it has
been all this time, she wanting me to behave in a way agreeable
to her in her October of analphabetic gentility, or to her friends
ditto, or to the business code of father idealised - dehumanised -
("When ever in doubt what [to] do, ask yourself what would
darling Bill have done") - the grotesque can go no further. It is
like after a long forenoon of the thumb screws being com
manded by the bourreau to play his favourite song without
1
I simply don't want to see her or write to her or hear from her. And as for the peace in the heart and all the
552
words with feeling.
6 October 1937, McGreevy
other milk puddings that the sun is said to set on so much better, they will never be there anyway, least ofall as the fruit offormal reconciliation. There are the grey hairs that will go down in sorrow, that want to go down in sorrow, as they came up in sorrow, because they are that kind. And ifa telegram came now to say she was dead, I would not do the Furies the favour of regarding myselfeven as indirectly responsible.
Which I suppose all boils down to saying what a bad son I am. Then Amen. It is a title for me ofas little honour as infamy. Like describing a tree as a bad shadow.
Ifshe does not return home before, I shall leave for London
probably next Monday. I cannot make up my mind what to do
about a room. G. R. has written inviting me to stay for a few days
with him until I find somewhere. I might do that & go on then to
Paris. Money will be very knapp. No more charity ofsupereroga
tion. God knows I don't want to stay with anyone. Least ofall with
2
very pleased with what you quoted. I had the last son banging
the door marked myself. I should think Denis wont be too
delighted with the Fioretti, but haven't seen him to hear
what he says. Brian was indignant that you weren't given more
3
I spent most oflast Monday at Shankhill Courthouse, waiting for my case to come on. I defended myself, to Mr D-J Reddin, and was fined £1 and 5/- costs, which makes it almost certain that I won't get any compensation from the other insurance company. Reddin delivered a homily to the assembly ofGuards and felons in much the following terms: "Mr B. is one ofthe most distinguished of Irish writers. It would be a pity if his services were ended
553
the Welchess.
I like your review in Ireland Today very much, and was
space. Sheehyisclamouringforsomething,soIshallsendhim Whiting! 4
6 October 1937, McGreevy
prematurely. Hum. Literature has also its comers. These he has
tamed so far with - er - finesse. Of his driving I am not so sure.
Etc. "5 Brian came down & stayed with me throughout, with a
Raymond Roussel under his meter. We are walking over the
mountains this afternoon. I suppose you saw about the appoint
6
me to dine last Monday. He is researching in the Library for a novel about 18th century Ireland. He is a dull man. Goes about with Lady Glenavy, in the room of the Swedish Consul Erickssen [for Eriksson], now departed. 7
The Gogarty thing cant come on before November, & I shall have to come back for that. I hear he is negotiating with the R. H. A. who want to buy his house & garden for their new prem ises. Harry is in difficulties. 8
I had a letter from Cissie from S. A. , telling me nothing of what I wanted to hear, i. e. how she was & how Sonny was. 9 Her description of Cape Town, with the University up in the hills surrounded by woods, was more encouraging than not.
I hear Leventhal has got some newly created job in TCD as "General Secretary" and has left Mary Street & is a new man. I
10
ment ofhis father to the Censorship Committee.
Francis Stewart [for Stuart], staying at the Dolphin, invited
have not had the good fortune to see him for some months.
I shall let you know when I arrive in good time if I can. Though it may turn out to be a sudden last minute departure, in which case I would ring you up at Harrington Road on arrival. I am not sure ifl have a note ofyour number. Would you drop me
a card and let me have it? 11 A bientot.
Sam
ALS; 2 leaves, 4 sides; AN AH: top margin ofleaf2, side 3: <third, fourth & fifth coats, 5 3/4 lbs white lead@ Sd. >; TCD, MS 10402/139.
554
6 October 1937, McGreevy
1 "Bourreau"(torturer).
2 The following Monday was 11 October. The "Welchess" is Gwynedd, wife of George Reavey.
"Knapp" (tight, short).
3 InhisreviewofDenisDevlin'sIntercessions,McGreevyquotedfromDevlin'spoem, "Communication from the Eiffel Tower": ". . . uncertain/ Like a mother covering her ears/ When the last son slams the door and she cowers from its echoes/ I am made to speak " (Intercessions, 47).
McGreevy compared Devlin's poetry to Fioretti di San Francesco d'Assisi, (Little Flowers of St. Francis Assisi), a popular collection of legends regarding the life of St. Francis of Assisi, gathered anonymously before the end of the fourteenth century (Thomas McGreevy, "New Dublin Poetry," Ireland To-Day 2. 10 [October 1937] 81-82).
4 ItisnotknownifSBdidindeedsubmit"Whiting"toEdwardSheehyforIrelandTo Day; it was not published there.
5 DistrictJusticeKennethReddin. SBwrotetoMcGreevyon28September1937:
I am being persecuted by the Civic Guards for dangerous driving, in con nection with the accident last Saturday week [18 September], & in my opinion so unjustifiably that I intend to go to the court next Monday [4 October] and fight them every inch of the way. I know this will mean my being fined twice as much as I would be if I went down on my knees & apologised. Tant pis. There is no animal I loathe more profoundly than a Civic Guard, a symbol of Ireland with his official Gaelic loutish compla cency & pot-walloping Schreinlichkeit, & if I can insert even a fraction of this feeling into the gloved skull of Mr D. -J. Reddin before leaving this whoreless kip of a country I shall gladly pay an extra pound for the pleas ure. If it were not for this next Monday I should probably be in London before the end of the week. (TCD, MS 10402/137)
"Tant pis" (too bad).
"Schreinlichkeit" (a neologism based on Ger. , chest-ishness).
6 BrianCoffeywascarryingabookbyFrenchwriterRaymondRoussel(1877-1933). His father Dr. Denis J. Coffey was appointed to the Censorship of Publications Board at the end of September 1937 ("University Notes, Dr. Coffey's New Appointment, New Medical Societies Association," The Irish Times 4 October 1937: 4).
7 FrancisStuartwasdoingresearchforhisnovelTheGreatSquire(1939).
Beatrice Campbell (Mrs. Gordon). Lady Glenavy (nee Elvery, 1881-1970). Harry Eriksson (1892-1957), Swedish Consul in Dublin from 1930 to 1 July 1937; his rooms were at 17 Fitzwilliam Square (Goren Rydebert, Head of Archives of the Foreign Ministry, Stockholm).
8 The trial regarding libel charges against Oliver St. John Gogarty's As I Was Going Down Sackville Street did not take place until the end ofNovember.
In 1939 the Royal Hibernian Association purchased Gogarty's house, 15 Ely Place, and what was once George Moore's garden.
Harry Sinclair, plaintiff in the proceedings pending against Gogarty.
9 CissieSinclairwasvisitinghersonMorris,whowastutoringfortheWatermeyer family in Graaff Reinet, South Africa.
555
6 October 1937, McGreevy
10 A. J. LeventhalhadleftAtlasFurnishingCompanyat56-58MaryStreet,Dublin, a firm owned by his father-in-law, Joseph Zlotover (also known as Goldman, c. 1858-1938), and taken up an appointment as Secretary to the Registrar and Secretary to the Appointments Committee at Trinity College Dublin.
11 "ThomasMcGreevywaslivingat49HarringtonRd. ,LondonSW7. THOMAS McGREEVY
LONDON
Wednesday evg. [27 October 1937]
Chez Sarrazin
12 Rue de la Gde.
Chaumiere Paris Vlme
[no greeting]
A room at 16 francs here seems the best I can do. I don't see myself lasting a week at the prices. Just had entrec6te & cheese & 1/2 carafe rose at the Ste. Cecile - 19. 75! 1
Excellent journey, very few travelling & brilliant sunshine soon after leaving the drizzle at Newhaven. No sign of Brian at the train. 2 Perhaps he is not here at all. Shall ring up his hotel to morrow.
God love thee Sam.
APCS; 1 leaf, 1 side; to ThomasMcGreevy Esq, 49 Harrington Road, London S. W. 7; pm 27-10-37, Paris; TCD, MS 10402/141. Dating: from pm; 27 October 1937 fell on Wednesday.
1 SBhadtraveledfromDublinonSaturdaynightof16OctoberarrivinginLondon mid-day on 17 October (SB toMcGreevy, [14 October 1937], TCD,MS 10402/140). SB wrote from Paris on 27 October 1937 to Reavey: "I tried Raspail, de la Paix & Liberia, and then collapsed into a 16 francs cabinet de malaisance here" (TxU). The Sarrazin was across the street from the Liberia, 9 Rue de la Grande Chaumiere.
"Cabinet de malaisance" (conflation of a French term for lavatory, "cabinet d'aisance" [ease] with "malaise" [un-ease]).
The cafe or restaurant Ste. Cecile has not been identified.
556
THOMAS McGREEVY DUBLIN
(? 3 November 1937]
Chez Sarrazin
12 Rue de la Gde. Chaumiere Paris Vlme
{? 3 November 1937}, McGreevy
2 BrianCoffey.
SB took the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe, France, then traveled by train to Paris.
