13 SB had ordered
Immanuel
Kants Werke, ed.
Samuel Beckett
With the Leons & the Giorgios!
And no doubt the Jolases if they were not going away.
Helen has bad news of her father & will be leaving soon for the States.
She nearly left yesterday.
She wants G.
[iorgio] to go & he doesn't
574
22 December 1937, McGreevy
want. I think c;:a marche assez mal.
7
I have done nothing more
with the NRF article and feel like dropping it. Certainly there
will be no question of prolegomena or epilegomena when the
work comes out in book form. And if that means a break, then
let there be a break. At least this time it wont be about their
daughter, who by the way as far as I can learn gets deeper &
8
No more news from George. I sent back the contract with
out having signed it (a pure omission & no doubt very signifi
9
through it after buying it & fear you will not find much in it to
10
ALS; 2 leaves. 4 sides; TCD. MS 10402/148. Dating: two types ofpaper were used for this letter: leaf 1 r/v is on stationery; leaf2 r/v on graphed paper, torn from a notebook (side 3 ragged left margin, side 4 ragged right margin). Content continues from side 2 to side 3 ["your being / involved in the role"], hence a single letter can be assumed, the date for which is given on side 1 by SB.
1 SB had asked McGreevy to send him his Paris map book, Plan de Paris (10 December 1937).
2 SBwasseekinganapartmentinParis.
3 SB'sbreakwithhismotherisdiscussedbyKnowlsoninDamnedtoFame,253-254.
4 Armand-Max-JeanBerard(1904-1998),aNormalien. hadbeenChefdecabinetdu Sous-secretaire d'Etat aux Affaires etrangeres from June 1936, then Chef-adjoint du cabinet du Ministre in July 1937 (Annuaire diplomatique et consulaire de la Republique Fran�aise, nouvelle serie 49 [Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1938] 223).
5 Laugier'sposition:SBtoThomasMcGreevy,3November1937[for3December 1937], n. 3.
deeper into the misery & less & less likely ever to emerge.
cant) which probably annoyed him.
You will have seen Brian. I gave him a book for you. I glanced
interest you. Charles wrote with delight about Murphy.
even less about its being taken than I did when it was rejected.
God love thee, & Hester & Raven. "carry on".
Ever Sam
11
I feel Write very soon & say
McGreevy's position with The Studio: [after 10 December 1937], n. 6.
575
22 December 1937, McGreevy
No one by the name of Heywood was working at the Louvre in 1937 (Mme. Besson, Bibliotheque des Musees Nationaux Palais du Louvre, 14 March 1995).
"D'accord" (agreed}; "demarche" (move); "tres riche" (very rich}.
6 UnderthepatronageofKingGeorgeVI,thePresidentoftheFrenchRepublicand the French National Museums Council, an exhibition of British painting, La Peinture anglaise: XVIIIe & X! Xe siecles, was opened at the Louvre on 4 March 1938 and was extended to 22July 1938 to allow King George to visit it ("Art et curiosite: commiss aires-priseurs," Le Temps 22July 1938: 5).
7 Paul Leon and his wife Elisabeth Lucie Leon (pseud. Lucie Noel, 1900-1972), Giorgio, Helen, and StephenJoyce (b. 1932}, Eugene and MariaJolas.
Helen Joyce's father was American businessman Adolf Kastor (1856-1947). "<;:a marche assez ma! " (Things are not going all that well).
8 TheproposedNRFarticleaboutJoyce'sFinnegansWake:[after10December1937), n. 10.
9 GeorgeReavey.
10 The book sent via Brian Coffey for McGreevy has not been identified. Charles Prentice's letter of congratulations has not been found.
11 HesterDowden,ThomasHolmesRavenhill.
576
1938 By5January
6January
9January 17January 22January 25January
31January 2 February
By 11 February
14 February 28 February 7 March
8 March
April
By 3 April By 14 April
SBseesPeggyGuggenheim,LazAaronson, Adrienne Bethell, Brian Coffey, and Gwynedd Reavey. Meets Hemingway.
Stabbed on the Avenue d'Orleans. Hospitalized at the H6pital Broussais.
May, Frank, and Jean Beckett arrive in Paris.
SB receives proofs of Murphy.
Released from hospital.
Returns proofs of Murphy. Writes the poem "they come. "
Responds to McGreevy's essay onJack B. Yeats.
AttendsJoyce's birthday party with Peggy Guggenheim.
Sends "they come" to Ireland To-day. Jack Kahane proposes that SB translate Sade's Les 120 joumees de Sodome.
SB attends arraignment of his assailant, Prudent.
Attends trial of Prudent.
Publication of Murphy.
Accepts Kahane's offer for Sade translation, but Kahane postpones for several months.
Peron's French translation of "Alba" published in
Soutes.
SB writes first of several poems in French.
Moves to apartment, 6 Rue des Favorites, Paris 15.
577
CHRONOLOGY 1938
Chronology 1938
May 3May
12May
By 15June
15June By 20June
28-30June
19July 30-31 July
10August
By 19August Late August
29 September
c. 24 October or later
9-10 November December
"Ooftish" and SB's review "Denis Devlin" of Devlin's Intercessions published in transition.
In London for the opening of Geer van Velde's exhibition at GuggenheimJeune, private view 5May.
In Paris.
His books arrive from Dublin. Attends an exhibition of Otto Freundlich's work.
Sends French poems to McGreevy.
Travels to Chartres with Geer and Lisi van Velde and Peggy Guggenheim.
Drives with Peggy Guggenheim to take Geer and Lisi van Velde to Cagnes-sur-Mer; SB and Guggenheim stop in Dijon on return trip to Paris.
In London for some days en route to Dublin.
Weekend with Frank and Jean Beckett in South Donegal.
Attends premiere ofW. B. Yeats's play Purgatory at the Abbey Theatre.
Longman Green in New York reject Murphy.
SB and Suzanne Deschevaux-Dumesnil visit Arland
Ussher in Normandy and Peron in Brittany.
The Munich Agreement is signed.
Writes ten poems in French and half-finishes a French version of "Love and Lethe. " Writes "Les Deux Besoins" which he gives to Freundlich.
Kristallnacht.
SB in Dublin for Christmas; writes from Greystones where his mother temporarily resides.
578
THOMAS McGREEVY LONDON
5/1/38
Dear Tom
Hotel Liberia [Paris]
Epitre a Ronsard
Ton esprit est, Ronsard, plus gaillard que le mien; Mais mon corps est plusjeune et plus fort que le tien; Par ainsi je conclus qu'en savoir tu me passes D'autant que man printemps tes cheveux gris efface.
L'art de faire des vers, dut-on s'en indigner,
Doit etre a plus haut prix que celui de regner. Taus deux egalement nous portons des couronnes: Mais, roi, je les rec;:us; poete, tu les donnes.
Ton esprit enflamme d'une celeste ardeur
Eclate par soi-meme, et moi par ma grandeur.
Si du cote des dieuxje cherche l'avantage, Ronsard est leur mignon, et je suis leur image.
Ta lyre, qui ravit par de si doux accords,
Te soumet les esprits, dont je n'ai que les corps. Elle t'en rend le maitre[,] et te fait introduire
Ou le plus fier tyran n'ajamais eu d'empire. 1
Forgive the delay. I have been completely affole for the past fortnight, with people going and people coming. There has been
579
5 January 1938, McGreevy
even more than the usual drama with the Joyces, mostly about Helen and Giorgio suddenly deciding to go to New York, where her father is very ill. I was the buffer. They departed this morning. Norah [for Nora] was in a frightful state, would not go out at all New Year's Eve, after I had sat listening for 2 hours to Shem trying to persuade her, with result that he would not go out either and I spent the last hour of the old year alone with Helen & Giorgio. I hope to get the parents out to see Modem Times this evening. 2
I am delighted that you are willing to accept the Laugier
thing en principe. As soon as you want me to write the letter, let
me know, though obviously it might come better from someone
3
of her. She is starting a gallery in Cork Street, opens on 22nd
inst. with Cocteau drawings and furniture. Then there will be
Kandinsky, Arp, Brancusi, Benno, etc. , and in May a Geer van
4
Aaronson was here too. I like him more and more. Also a
Mrs Bethell from Dublin whom I know quite well. Brian got
back Monday. 5 Letters from Harry but no money. 6 Haven't
done a tap of work or looked for a room. Arranged with Shem
7
[for Routledge]. George says they should be along any day. I thought Gwynedd was looking frightful, about 75. She was
9
better known and of more standing in Paris.
Peggy Guggenheim has been here and I have seen quite a lot
Velde one man. George will have told you about it. I gave Guggenheim your address and she is anxious to get in touch with you at earliest op. She returns to London probably to-morrow. I hope something may come out of it for you.
to write the homage in NRF without mentioning his name. The idea seemed to please him. No proofs yet from Routladge
8
quite sick leaving. I hope it didn't develop into anything serious. The Beach introduced me to Hemingway in her shop. Exactly like Alan's Packard. McAlmon is staggering about also. 10
580
5 January 1938, McGreevy
A very affectionate letter from mother. A tie that came anon.
was from her and she was toasting me in champagne Xmas night
before my letter came. It is a relief. I shall not go back to Ireland
but we can meet in London. George wants me to go over when
Murphy comes out and I shall certainly be there in May for the
van Velde exhibition. He wants me to go to Holland with him and
his wife in the spring. Qui sait. 11 I see coming also, when WIP is
finished, an invitation to go to Zurich. He offered me 100 fr if I
12
The entire works of Kant arrived from Munich. I had to go
away beyond the Gare de l'Est to collect them. I haven't had time
to open them, two immense parcels that I could hardly carry
13
seen nothing at all ofA. & B. , nor L. R. I am glad Dolly's visit was a success. 14
I look forward to seeing the full text of the JBY. Everyone's
15
TLS; 2 leaves. 2 sides; TCD, MS 10402/150.
1 McGreevy had requested the text of this poem written by King Charles IX (1550-1574); he quotes two lines from the poem in his study of Jack B. Yeats: "Ta lyre, qui ravit par de si doux accords, /Te soumet Jes esprits, dont je n'ai que Jes corps" (Your lyre, which delights by such sweet chords, makes subjects ofmen's minds; I have only their bodies) (Jack B. Yeats, 32). The text recorded in the letter varies slightly from the published text, and lacks the final two lines of the poem as published in Pamasse Royal: Poemes choisis des monarques fran�ois et autres personnages royaux, ed. Gauthier
581
guessed the title.
the utmost conviction his lack of talent. I don't feel the danger of the association any more. He is just a very lovable human being.
He was sublime last night, deprecating with
from customs to taxi.
The pound wasn't a mistake.
Hester's card was charming and I shall write to her. I have
delighted with his Morning. God love thee.
Ever s/Sam
5 January 1938, McGreevy
Ferrieres (Paris: Chez Sansot, Llbraire, 1909) 105-106: "Elle amollit Jes coeurs et
soumet Ia beaute: / Je puis donner Ia mort, toi l'immortalite. "
2 "Affole" (driven mad). The film Modem Times (1936) by Charlie Chaplin (ne Charles Spencer Chaplin, 1889-1977) was released in France as Les Temps modemes in spring 1936; it played in Paris at the Delambre-Cinema, 11 Rue Delambre, from 29 December 1937 to 5 January 1938 (Cinemonde 479 [29 December 1937 - 5 January 19381).
3 The subvention suggested by Henri Laugier: 3 November 1937 [for 3 December 1937], n. 3, and 22 December 1937.
4 HeiressandAmericanartcollectorMargueriteGuggenheim'(knownasPeggy, 1898-1979) opened a gallery at 30 Cork Street, London, on 22 January 1938.
Guggenheim Jeune's first exhibition; it ran from 24 January to 12 February 1938. Following were exhibitions of the work of Kandinsky (18 February to 12 March) and "Contemporary Sculpture" (8 April to 2 May) which included work by Romanian-born sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) and German-born artist Hans Arp (1887-1966). Arp's work was also included in the "Collages" exhibition (3 November to 26 November 1938). The paintings of American artist Benjamin Benno (1901-1980) and Danish artist Rita Kernn-Larsen (1904-1998) were exhi bited from 31 May to 18 June. Geer van Velde's exhibition was held from 5 May to 26 May.
George Reavey.
5 English poet Lazarus Aaronson (1894-1965), a friend of Con Leventhal, taught Economics at the City of London College.
AdrienneJames Bethell (nee Hope, n. d. ; m. John Lionel Bethell, 1933) stayed in Paris in late 1937; later, as owner ofan antique shop in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, she indicated that she had corresponded with SB (see "Beckett, 1937," Evening Press 10 November 1969: n. p. ). SB mentions her Paris visit in 1937-1938 in his letter to Harry Sinclair: "I saw something ofAdrienne when she was over and brought her one evening to dine with the
Joyces" (2 February 1938, NNC, RBML, Sighle Kennedy Papers).
Brian Coffey had returned to Paris from holidays with his family in Dublin.
6 HarrySinclair,theplaintiffintheGogartytrial,wasawardeddamages,buthad not yet reimbursed SB for the expenses he had incurred in returning to Ireland to testify (see SB to Thomas McGreevy, 10 December 1937, n. 7).
7 The Nouvelle Revue Fran(aise essay to introduce Joyce's Finnegans Wake: SB to Thomas McGreevy, 10 December 1937, n. 4; SB to Mary Manning Howe [after 10 December 1937]; and SB to Thomas McGreevy, 22 December 1937, n. 9.
8 RoutledgewaspreparingtopublishMurphy;thetextwassenttotheprinteron 17 December 1937, and a specimen page was sent to Routledge for approval on 23 December 1937 (UoR, Routledge).
9 GwyneddReaveywassufferingfrompleurisy.
10 Sylvia Beach's bookshop Shakespeare & Company was a gathering place for authors. SB compares Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) to Alan Duncan's large American car, a Packard. The American writer and publisher Robert Menzies McAlmon (1896-1956) was a friend of Brian Coffey.
582
12January 1938, McGreevy
11 According to a letter from George Reavey to Virginia Dorazio, 15 April 1975: "Both of us and especially Sam persuaded Peggy to show [Geer van Velde's[ work in London" (TxU, Reavey collection).
12 JamesJoyceencouragedpeopletoguesswhatwouldbethetitleforhis"Workin Progress" when it was finally published; Eugene Jolas guessed correctly (Ellmann,
JamesJoyce, 543, 708).
13 SB had ordered Immanuel Kants Werke, ed. Ernst Cassirer, Hermann Cohen,
Arthur Buchenau, et al. (Berlin: Bruno Cassirer, 1921-1923), in eleven volumes.
14 HesterDowden'scardtoSBhasnotbeenfound.
Alan and Belinda Duncan.
Lennox Robinson was in Paris, while his wife Dolly Robinson visited her mother
Hester Dowden in London.
15 SBreferstothepaintingheownedbyJackB. Yeats:AMorning.
THOMAS McGREEVY LONDON
12/1/38 Hopital Broussais Rue Didot
Paris 14 me
Dear Tom
I shall be all right, as far as I can see. The pleura were
wounded but apparently not the lung. First I was in a ward, then Joyce had me moved into a private room. Everyone has been incredibly kind. Mother Frank & Jean came. From the very beginning I begged everyone to stop them. But it seems to have been all over Dublin at once & horribly exaggerated. Mother looks poorly, Frank can't give the time & of course doesn't want to leave her here alone. She says she will stay until I am quite well again. Entin - -1
2
I have to stay on my back to breathe & the nights are pretty bad, i. e. from 9 pm - 5 am - For the rest, �a va.
583
"Qui sait" (who knows).
I hope the Charles was what you wanted.
12 January 1938, McGreevy
Nancy Cunard bounced in the other evening from Spain. I was very glad to see her. 3
Poor Alan & Belinda have had a frightful time, dealing with police & keeping reporters away. I suppose you saw they got the
4
decided.
Write soon & give me your news. Love to George &
Gwynned. Thanks for telegram & letter. Ask him has he found the Apes. Shall try & think of some names for Routledge. 5
Love Sam
ALS; 1 leaf. 1 side; TCD, MS 10402/151.
1 Onthenightof6January,SBwasstabbedwhilewalkingwithAlanandBelinda Duncan from the Cafe Zeyer, 234 Avenue du Maine at Avenue d'Orleans (now Avenue du General Leclerc). to their apartment on the Villa Coeur de Vey. A man, later identified as Robert-Jules Prudent (n. d. ), importuned SB, and SB reacted: "I pushed him. He had a knife" (Samuel Beckett, July 1989). When SB and the Duncans realized the seriousness of the wound, SB was taken to the H6pital Broussais (see also Knowlson, Damned to Fame, 259-262).
The following day The Irish Times reported this version of the event: "Mr. Beckett received a wound near the heart and was taken to the hospital in serious condition. " It continued: "Mr. Beckett was seeing some friends home when he was pestered by a tramp. Told to go away the tramp is alleged to have kicked Mr. Beckett and there was a scuffle. When Mr. Beckett entered his friend's flat, he opened his overcoat and found blood flowing from a wound. " The article announced that, although the results of an examination would not be known until later, SB's condition was "reassuring"; it closed with a summary of SB's writing career ("Dublin Writer Stabbed: Paris Street Scene," 8 January 1938: 10).
Brian Coffey's letter to George Reavey on 9 January 1938 offers more particulars:
The latest news of Sam, yesterday afternoon was that he was safe, if no complications set in[. . . ] The facts are as follows. Sam was returning about 8:30 from Cafe Zeyer-Av D'Orleans with Alan & Belinda, when an individual came from behind some fair booths, & tried to talk to Alan, who was walking behind. Alan took no notice so the man became more insistent and started insulting first Alan, then Belinda. Alan gave him a light shove, & then Sam & the man got into a tangle, there was kicking & a blow. Then the man ran away. After some seconds Sam said he was hurt. A & B found blood on his hand. (TxU)
584
chap M. Prudent.
I wonder did you hear from Laugier, & if anything has been
13January 1938, Reavey
Reports on the time of the incident vary widely.
May, Frank, and Jean Beckett arrived on 9 January 1938 by airplane, according to
Joyce's report in his letter to Giorgio and Helen Joyce on 12 January 1938 Uoyce, Letters ofjames Joyce, lll, 411). Frank Beckett wrote to McGreevy on Wednesday [12 January 1938]: "Each day I have seen him he seems better & unless any unseen complications occur should be out ofthe wood very soon. I am waiting here ti! I know definitely he is out of danger and then will be speeding back to Ireland, perhaps during next week end" (TCD, MS 10402/152).
"Entin" (Oh well).
2 SB refers to the poem McGreevy had requested: 5 January 1938, n. 1.
3 "<;:ava"(Thingsareallright).
Nancy Cunard had just returned to Paris following three months in Spain (Chisholm, Nancy Cunard: A Biography, 242).
4 As witnesses, Alan and Belinda Duncan had to file police reports; the assailant, Robert-Jules Prudent, was apprehended in a hotel at 155 Avenue du Maine under the name of Germain Prudent ("Robert Prudent agresseur de l'ecrivain irlandais Beckett
est arrete," L'Humanite 11 January 1938: 8).
5 GeorgeandGwyneddReavey.
For SB's wish to reprint the image of apes playing chess in Murphy: 13 November 1936, n. 5.
Reavey had asked SB for names of possible reviewers.
GEORGE REAVEY LONDON
13/1/38 H6pital Broussais Rue Didot, 14me
[Paris)
dear George & Gwynedd
Many thanks for wire & letters. The boet Peckett gave me
great pleasure.
It was a new kind of 12! ! ! Night certainly.
You will have heard about it from Brian so wont go over it
1
taken till I can get up & down to X Ray room. They never vouch safe a confidence to me, just drift in, together & singly, shake
585
again.
It appears I shall be all right, tho' no proper X Ray can be
13 January 1938, Reavey
hands, look at the chart, ask for 33, give a few disgusted taps like a
connoisseur asked to examine fake Meissen & drift out. So I don't
know when I'll be let up. The medecin chef nearly assaulted me
2
special introduction.
Hope Gwynedd well over pleurisy thing, And that both of
you are beginning to feel benefit of excesses - Love
Sam What about apes? 4
ALS; 1 leaf. 2 sides; pencil; TxU.
1 Reavey's wire and letters have not been found. He did send cuttings from the column "Items from Abroad," Daily Telegraph (8 January 1938: n. p. , and 11 January 1938: n. p. ), both of which correctly spell SB's name. In London newspapers reporting the stabbing incident there is no evidence of an article that refers to the "boet Peckett"; in both L'Humanite and Le Figaro, however, SB is referred to as M. Samuel Peckett ("En quelques lignes," Le Figaro 8 January 1938: 4; "Drame nocturne: Un ecrivain irlandais poignarde par un inconnu," L'Humanite 8 January 1938: 7A).
2 "Medecin chef' (senior consultant).
3 At the time, SB was staying at the Hotel Liberia. Coffey's residence: 3 November 1937 [for 3 December 1937J, n. 1.
Reavey had proposed to show Murphy to Viking. Joyce's New York publisher of A Portrait ofthe Artist as a Young Man, Benjamin W. Huebsch (1876-1964), had merged his firm with Viking in 1925; Viking published Finnegans Wake in 1939.
586
to-day because I had the window opened. What a system.
You know the kind of people to send the book to. I shall make out a list later. I shall of course want to go over the proofs myself. If they are sent to the hotel they then can always be collected. Or they could be sent to Brian at the C. Universitaire. By all means let the Viking see the book. I much prefer that to giving any of the others the chance to change their mind. But I would not ask Joyce to move in the matter. 3 And I would be very sorry if anyone else did. The reasons are obvious enough. It will be taken in USA now all right, sooner or later, without any
dear George
Proofs safely received. Hope to let you have them back
towards end of week. The checking of the chess is what will
1
I trust the blurb is not going to be part of the book, i. e. will
not appear actually between the boards of the book. That is
an arrangement that I quite definitely would not consent to.
I suppose I can't stop them putting it on wrapper. If I could
2
disappointed. Why the rush anyway?
How are Gwynedd & yourself? Any pourparlers with P. G. ?
And have you had a look at her premises? 4
Had an XRay this morning. Can't extract from them when
I am likely to get away. Have not been up yet. Love to you both
Sam
ALS; 1 leaf, 1 side; pencil; TxU. Dating: SB in Broussais following stabbing on 8 January 1938.
1 SBreferstothegameofchessbetweenMurphyandMr. Endon(Murphy,242-245); he wished to verify its moves by playing this game with Geer van Velde.
587
17 ljanuary 1938}, Reavey
Routledge began sending advance copies to potential reviewers and book dealers on 15 January 1938 (UoR: Routledge).
4 The "apes at chess": 13 November 1936, n. 5.
GEORGE REAVEY LONDON
17! h Uanuary 1938]
Hopital Broussais [Paris]
delay me -- Shall have to get Geer up with his board to help me.
I would. But I won't have it tacked on to my text.
I suppose also my apes have faded out as a possibility. 3 I am
17 Uanuary 1938}, Reavey
2 The blurb for Murphy appeared preceding the title page in the proof copy
(InU):
Description. -A definition has been "defined" as the "enclosing ofthe wilder ness of an idea within the wall of words". To define some things is to kill them; no less this novel. If it has a meaning, it is implicit and symbolic, never concrete. Murphy is a character for whom the unseen is the real and the seen a necessary obstacle to reality. To get beyond that obstacle is his aim in life, and he neglects or despises the criteria of the substantial world. Hence he lives in the lowest strata of society; he lives intermit tently with a prostitute and her persuasions cannot move him to better his material prospects. He pretends to look for a job, but so long as he can devote some time each day to exploring the inner life of the mind, that is all he worries about. Ultimately he gets a job in an asylum, where he feels a certain kinship with the inmates.
But if the theme of the book defies description, not so the writing. The portrayal of the scenes is masterly. There is a diversity of simile which could only proceed from a mind well stocked with many seem ingly antagonistic branches of knowledge, and words and phrases reveal an acquaintance with our language and a natural distinction in their use which a Johnson might admire. The style is leavened with a Celtic way wardness which is as attractive as it is elusive and leaves the reader uncertain of the source of his enjoyment.
The blurb appears with substantial revisions and omission of plot summary on the order form for the book (RUL, Routledge), and still more briefly on the inside dust jacket of the novel.
A portion of the blurb appeared in Routledge's announcement of their spring list (T. M. Ragg to George Reavey, 11 January 1938, TxU). On the same day, Reavey wrote to Ragg to ask him to hold the prospectuses for Murphy because he wished to consider another idea for them; on 12 January 1938, Ragg confirmed to Reavey that he had done so; and on 26 January 1938, Ragg reminded Reavey of this and asked for his assistance in generating ideas for sales of the book (UoR, RKP, 103/6).
3 Regardingthe"apesatchess. "
4 "Pourparlers" (talks. negotiations). SB refers to Peggy Guggenheim and her London art gallery Guggenheim Jeune (see 5 January 1938, n. 4).
THOMAS McGREEVY LONDON
21/1/38 Broussais [Paris]
588
dear Tom
Your notes & messages and concern were a great help. Your
1
It has gone pretty well, though it still hurts me to breathe.
I was up for 1st time avant[-)hier, for a few hours in afternoon.
Fontaine came same day & said she thought I could leave
to-morrow. I hope she confirms that when she comes to-day.
I shall go straight back to Liberia, where apparently they
are bringing me down to 1il floor. I know it will take time
to get back to average, & I am told I will be the proud pos
sessor of a pleural barometer for years to come. But all things
considered, & with my fingers on the pencil, I am well out
2
yesterday before the juge d'instruction & were confronted with the wretch, who seems more cretinous than malicious. 3
Hope you met Mother & Frank in London. 4 He was relieved to be getting back, and she sorry. I felt great gusts of affection & esteem & compassion for her when she was over. What a relationship!
All kinds of people came to see me that I've either forgotten (e. g. Evrard and his wife) or never known (the Cremins, pals of Denis at Irish legation here, she very pretty, he very earnest). The
Joyces have been extraordinarily kind, bringing me round every thing from a heating lamp to a custard pudding. 5
Proofs nearly corrected. I changed more than I intended, chiefly for want of something to do. It strikes me now as a very dull work, painstaking, creditable & dull. Alfie Peron wants to translate it for NRF. When I send it back to Reavey I shall ask him to give it to you for a quick run over, for printer['Js errors
589
wirealsowithG&G&thenyesterdaywithDenis. Isheonhis way over?
21 January 1938, McGreevy
of it.
Poor Alan & Belinda have been angelic. They had to appear
21 January 1938, McGreevy
that I may have missed, or anything else flagrantly incorrect.
I know you won't mind. The blurb, printed on the flypage,
infuriated me so much that I wrote to Reavey refusing per
mission to have it appear between the boards of the book &
regretting that I could not keep it off the wrapper also. Then
afterwards I realized it was probably written by himself or
Gwynedd or both! Try & find out for me - And of course my
original idea for apes on cover just fades out - How short it
6
else you have. I should think there will be a job going with P. Guggenheim eventually, as Mrs Henderson will hardly be a
8
At least it is more of an act than Nijinsky9 [.
574
22 December 1937, McGreevy
want. I think c;:a marche assez mal.
7
I have done nothing more
with the NRF article and feel like dropping it. Certainly there
will be no question of prolegomena or epilegomena when the
work comes out in book form. And if that means a break, then
let there be a break. At least this time it wont be about their
daughter, who by the way as far as I can learn gets deeper &
8
No more news from George. I sent back the contract with
out having signed it (a pure omission & no doubt very signifi
9
through it after buying it & fear you will not find much in it to
10
ALS; 2 leaves. 4 sides; TCD. MS 10402/148. Dating: two types ofpaper were used for this letter: leaf 1 r/v is on stationery; leaf2 r/v on graphed paper, torn from a notebook (side 3 ragged left margin, side 4 ragged right margin). Content continues from side 2 to side 3 ["your being / involved in the role"], hence a single letter can be assumed, the date for which is given on side 1 by SB.
1 SB had asked McGreevy to send him his Paris map book, Plan de Paris (10 December 1937).
2 SBwasseekinganapartmentinParis.
3 SB'sbreakwithhismotherisdiscussedbyKnowlsoninDamnedtoFame,253-254.
4 Armand-Max-JeanBerard(1904-1998),aNormalien. hadbeenChefdecabinetdu Sous-secretaire d'Etat aux Affaires etrangeres from June 1936, then Chef-adjoint du cabinet du Ministre in July 1937 (Annuaire diplomatique et consulaire de la Republique Fran�aise, nouvelle serie 49 [Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1938] 223).
5 Laugier'sposition:SBtoThomasMcGreevy,3November1937[for3December 1937], n. 3.
deeper into the misery & less & less likely ever to emerge.
cant) which probably annoyed him.
You will have seen Brian. I gave him a book for you. I glanced
interest you. Charles wrote with delight about Murphy.
even less about its being taken than I did when it was rejected.
God love thee, & Hester & Raven. "carry on".
Ever Sam
11
I feel Write very soon & say
McGreevy's position with The Studio: [after 10 December 1937], n. 6.
575
22 December 1937, McGreevy
No one by the name of Heywood was working at the Louvre in 1937 (Mme. Besson, Bibliotheque des Musees Nationaux Palais du Louvre, 14 March 1995).
"D'accord" (agreed}; "demarche" (move); "tres riche" (very rich}.
6 UnderthepatronageofKingGeorgeVI,thePresidentoftheFrenchRepublicand the French National Museums Council, an exhibition of British painting, La Peinture anglaise: XVIIIe & X! Xe siecles, was opened at the Louvre on 4 March 1938 and was extended to 22July 1938 to allow King George to visit it ("Art et curiosite: commiss aires-priseurs," Le Temps 22July 1938: 5).
7 Paul Leon and his wife Elisabeth Lucie Leon (pseud. Lucie Noel, 1900-1972), Giorgio, Helen, and StephenJoyce (b. 1932}, Eugene and MariaJolas.
Helen Joyce's father was American businessman Adolf Kastor (1856-1947). "<;:a marche assez ma! " (Things are not going all that well).
8 TheproposedNRFarticleaboutJoyce'sFinnegansWake:[after10December1937), n. 10.
9 GeorgeReavey.
10 The book sent via Brian Coffey for McGreevy has not been identified. Charles Prentice's letter of congratulations has not been found.
11 HesterDowden,ThomasHolmesRavenhill.
576
1938 By5January
6January
9January 17January 22January 25January
31January 2 February
By 11 February
14 February 28 February 7 March
8 March
April
By 3 April By 14 April
SBseesPeggyGuggenheim,LazAaronson, Adrienne Bethell, Brian Coffey, and Gwynedd Reavey. Meets Hemingway.
Stabbed on the Avenue d'Orleans. Hospitalized at the H6pital Broussais.
May, Frank, and Jean Beckett arrive in Paris.
SB receives proofs of Murphy.
Released from hospital.
Returns proofs of Murphy. Writes the poem "they come. "
Responds to McGreevy's essay onJack B. Yeats.
AttendsJoyce's birthday party with Peggy Guggenheim.
Sends "they come" to Ireland To-day. Jack Kahane proposes that SB translate Sade's Les 120 joumees de Sodome.
SB attends arraignment of his assailant, Prudent.
Attends trial of Prudent.
Publication of Murphy.
Accepts Kahane's offer for Sade translation, but Kahane postpones for several months.
Peron's French translation of "Alba" published in
Soutes.
SB writes first of several poems in French.
Moves to apartment, 6 Rue des Favorites, Paris 15.
577
CHRONOLOGY 1938
Chronology 1938
May 3May
12May
By 15June
15June By 20June
28-30June
19July 30-31 July
10August
By 19August Late August
29 September
c. 24 October or later
9-10 November December
"Ooftish" and SB's review "Denis Devlin" of Devlin's Intercessions published in transition.
In London for the opening of Geer van Velde's exhibition at GuggenheimJeune, private view 5May.
In Paris.
His books arrive from Dublin. Attends an exhibition of Otto Freundlich's work.
Sends French poems to McGreevy.
Travels to Chartres with Geer and Lisi van Velde and Peggy Guggenheim.
Drives with Peggy Guggenheim to take Geer and Lisi van Velde to Cagnes-sur-Mer; SB and Guggenheim stop in Dijon on return trip to Paris.
In London for some days en route to Dublin.
Weekend with Frank and Jean Beckett in South Donegal.
Attends premiere ofW. B. Yeats's play Purgatory at the Abbey Theatre.
Longman Green in New York reject Murphy.
SB and Suzanne Deschevaux-Dumesnil visit Arland
Ussher in Normandy and Peron in Brittany.
The Munich Agreement is signed.
Writes ten poems in French and half-finishes a French version of "Love and Lethe. " Writes "Les Deux Besoins" which he gives to Freundlich.
Kristallnacht.
SB in Dublin for Christmas; writes from Greystones where his mother temporarily resides.
578
THOMAS McGREEVY LONDON
5/1/38
Dear Tom
Hotel Liberia [Paris]
Epitre a Ronsard
Ton esprit est, Ronsard, plus gaillard que le mien; Mais mon corps est plusjeune et plus fort que le tien; Par ainsi je conclus qu'en savoir tu me passes D'autant que man printemps tes cheveux gris efface.
L'art de faire des vers, dut-on s'en indigner,
Doit etre a plus haut prix que celui de regner. Taus deux egalement nous portons des couronnes: Mais, roi, je les rec;:us; poete, tu les donnes.
Ton esprit enflamme d'une celeste ardeur
Eclate par soi-meme, et moi par ma grandeur.
Si du cote des dieuxje cherche l'avantage, Ronsard est leur mignon, et je suis leur image.
Ta lyre, qui ravit par de si doux accords,
Te soumet les esprits, dont je n'ai que les corps. Elle t'en rend le maitre[,] et te fait introduire
Ou le plus fier tyran n'ajamais eu d'empire. 1
Forgive the delay. I have been completely affole for the past fortnight, with people going and people coming. There has been
579
5 January 1938, McGreevy
even more than the usual drama with the Joyces, mostly about Helen and Giorgio suddenly deciding to go to New York, where her father is very ill. I was the buffer. They departed this morning. Norah [for Nora] was in a frightful state, would not go out at all New Year's Eve, after I had sat listening for 2 hours to Shem trying to persuade her, with result that he would not go out either and I spent the last hour of the old year alone with Helen & Giorgio. I hope to get the parents out to see Modem Times this evening. 2
I am delighted that you are willing to accept the Laugier
thing en principe. As soon as you want me to write the letter, let
me know, though obviously it might come better from someone
3
of her. She is starting a gallery in Cork Street, opens on 22nd
inst. with Cocteau drawings and furniture. Then there will be
Kandinsky, Arp, Brancusi, Benno, etc. , and in May a Geer van
4
Aaronson was here too. I like him more and more. Also a
Mrs Bethell from Dublin whom I know quite well. Brian got
back Monday. 5 Letters from Harry but no money. 6 Haven't
done a tap of work or looked for a room. Arranged with Shem
7
[for Routledge]. George says they should be along any day. I thought Gwynedd was looking frightful, about 75. She was
9
better known and of more standing in Paris.
Peggy Guggenheim has been here and I have seen quite a lot
Velde one man. George will have told you about it. I gave Guggenheim your address and she is anxious to get in touch with you at earliest op. She returns to London probably to-morrow. I hope something may come out of it for you.
to write the homage in NRF without mentioning his name. The idea seemed to please him. No proofs yet from Routladge
8
quite sick leaving. I hope it didn't develop into anything serious. The Beach introduced me to Hemingway in her shop. Exactly like Alan's Packard. McAlmon is staggering about also. 10
580
5 January 1938, McGreevy
A very affectionate letter from mother. A tie that came anon.
was from her and she was toasting me in champagne Xmas night
before my letter came. It is a relief. I shall not go back to Ireland
but we can meet in London. George wants me to go over when
Murphy comes out and I shall certainly be there in May for the
van Velde exhibition. He wants me to go to Holland with him and
his wife in the spring. Qui sait. 11 I see coming also, when WIP is
finished, an invitation to go to Zurich. He offered me 100 fr if I
12
The entire works of Kant arrived from Munich. I had to go
away beyond the Gare de l'Est to collect them. I haven't had time
to open them, two immense parcels that I could hardly carry
13
seen nothing at all ofA. & B. , nor L. R. I am glad Dolly's visit was a success. 14
I look forward to seeing the full text of the JBY. Everyone's
15
TLS; 2 leaves. 2 sides; TCD, MS 10402/150.
1 McGreevy had requested the text of this poem written by King Charles IX (1550-1574); he quotes two lines from the poem in his study of Jack B. Yeats: "Ta lyre, qui ravit par de si doux accords, /Te soumet Jes esprits, dont je n'ai que Jes corps" (Your lyre, which delights by such sweet chords, makes subjects ofmen's minds; I have only their bodies) (Jack B. Yeats, 32). The text recorded in the letter varies slightly from the published text, and lacks the final two lines of the poem as published in Pamasse Royal: Poemes choisis des monarques fran�ois et autres personnages royaux, ed. Gauthier
581
guessed the title.
the utmost conviction his lack of talent. I don't feel the danger of the association any more. He is just a very lovable human being.
He was sublime last night, deprecating with
from customs to taxi.
The pound wasn't a mistake.
Hester's card was charming and I shall write to her. I have
delighted with his Morning. God love thee.
Ever s/Sam
5 January 1938, McGreevy
Ferrieres (Paris: Chez Sansot, Llbraire, 1909) 105-106: "Elle amollit Jes coeurs et
soumet Ia beaute: / Je puis donner Ia mort, toi l'immortalite. "
2 "Affole" (driven mad). The film Modem Times (1936) by Charlie Chaplin (ne Charles Spencer Chaplin, 1889-1977) was released in France as Les Temps modemes in spring 1936; it played in Paris at the Delambre-Cinema, 11 Rue Delambre, from 29 December 1937 to 5 January 1938 (Cinemonde 479 [29 December 1937 - 5 January 19381).
3 The subvention suggested by Henri Laugier: 3 November 1937 [for 3 December 1937], n. 3, and 22 December 1937.
4 HeiressandAmericanartcollectorMargueriteGuggenheim'(knownasPeggy, 1898-1979) opened a gallery at 30 Cork Street, London, on 22 January 1938.
Guggenheim Jeune's first exhibition; it ran from 24 January to 12 February 1938. Following were exhibitions of the work of Kandinsky (18 February to 12 March) and "Contemporary Sculpture" (8 April to 2 May) which included work by Romanian-born sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957) and German-born artist Hans Arp (1887-1966). Arp's work was also included in the "Collages" exhibition (3 November to 26 November 1938). The paintings of American artist Benjamin Benno (1901-1980) and Danish artist Rita Kernn-Larsen (1904-1998) were exhi bited from 31 May to 18 June. Geer van Velde's exhibition was held from 5 May to 26 May.
George Reavey.
5 English poet Lazarus Aaronson (1894-1965), a friend of Con Leventhal, taught Economics at the City of London College.
AdrienneJames Bethell (nee Hope, n. d. ; m. John Lionel Bethell, 1933) stayed in Paris in late 1937; later, as owner ofan antique shop in Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, she indicated that she had corresponded with SB (see "Beckett, 1937," Evening Press 10 November 1969: n. p. ). SB mentions her Paris visit in 1937-1938 in his letter to Harry Sinclair: "I saw something ofAdrienne when she was over and brought her one evening to dine with the
Joyces" (2 February 1938, NNC, RBML, Sighle Kennedy Papers).
Brian Coffey had returned to Paris from holidays with his family in Dublin.
6 HarrySinclair,theplaintiffintheGogartytrial,wasawardeddamages,buthad not yet reimbursed SB for the expenses he had incurred in returning to Ireland to testify (see SB to Thomas McGreevy, 10 December 1937, n. 7).
7 The Nouvelle Revue Fran(aise essay to introduce Joyce's Finnegans Wake: SB to Thomas McGreevy, 10 December 1937, n. 4; SB to Mary Manning Howe [after 10 December 1937]; and SB to Thomas McGreevy, 22 December 1937, n. 9.
8 RoutledgewaspreparingtopublishMurphy;thetextwassenttotheprinteron 17 December 1937, and a specimen page was sent to Routledge for approval on 23 December 1937 (UoR, Routledge).
9 GwyneddReaveywassufferingfrompleurisy.
10 Sylvia Beach's bookshop Shakespeare & Company was a gathering place for authors. SB compares Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) to Alan Duncan's large American car, a Packard. The American writer and publisher Robert Menzies McAlmon (1896-1956) was a friend of Brian Coffey.
582
12January 1938, McGreevy
11 According to a letter from George Reavey to Virginia Dorazio, 15 April 1975: "Both of us and especially Sam persuaded Peggy to show [Geer van Velde's[ work in London" (TxU, Reavey collection).
12 JamesJoyceencouragedpeopletoguesswhatwouldbethetitleforhis"Workin Progress" when it was finally published; Eugene Jolas guessed correctly (Ellmann,
JamesJoyce, 543, 708).
13 SB had ordered Immanuel Kants Werke, ed. Ernst Cassirer, Hermann Cohen,
Arthur Buchenau, et al. (Berlin: Bruno Cassirer, 1921-1923), in eleven volumes.
14 HesterDowden'scardtoSBhasnotbeenfound.
Alan and Belinda Duncan.
Lennox Robinson was in Paris, while his wife Dolly Robinson visited her mother
Hester Dowden in London.
15 SBreferstothepaintingheownedbyJackB. Yeats:AMorning.
THOMAS McGREEVY LONDON
12/1/38 Hopital Broussais Rue Didot
Paris 14 me
Dear Tom
I shall be all right, as far as I can see. The pleura were
wounded but apparently not the lung. First I was in a ward, then Joyce had me moved into a private room. Everyone has been incredibly kind. Mother Frank & Jean came. From the very beginning I begged everyone to stop them. But it seems to have been all over Dublin at once & horribly exaggerated. Mother looks poorly, Frank can't give the time & of course doesn't want to leave her here alone. She says she will stay until I am quite well again. Entin - -1
2
I have to stay on my back to breathe & the nights are pretty bad, i. e. from 9 pm - 5 am - For the rest, �a va.
583
"Qui sait" (who knows).
I hope the Charles was what you wanted.
12 January 1938, McGreevy
Nancy Cunard bounced in the other evening from Spain. I was very glad to see her. 3
Poor Alan & Belinda have had a frightful time, dealing with police & keeping reporters away. I suppose you saw they got the
4
decided.
Write soon & give me your news. Love to George &
Gwynned. Thanks for telegram & letter. Ask him has he found the Apes. Shall try & think of some names for Routledge. 5
Love Sam
ALS; 1 leaf. 1 side; TCD, MS 10402/151.
1 Onthenightof6January,SBwasstabbedwhilewalkingwithAlanandBelinda Duncan from the Cafe Zeyer, 234 Avenue du Maine at Avenue d'Orleans (now Avenue du General Leclerc). to their apartment on the Villa Coeur de Vey. A man, later identified as Robert-Jules Prudent (n. d. ), importuned SB, and SB reacted: "I pushed him. He had a knife" (Samuel Beckett, July 1989). When SB and the Duncans realized the seriousness of the wound, SB was taken to the H6pital Broussais (see also Knowlson, Damned to Fame, 259-262).
The following day The Irish Times reported this version of the event: "Mr. Beckett received a wound near the heart and was taken to the hospital in serious condition. " It continued: "Mr. Beckett was seeing some friends home when he was pestered by a tramp. Told to go away the tramp is alleged to have kicked Mr. Beckett and there was a scuffle. When Mr. Beckett entered his friend's flat, he opened his overcoat and found blood flowing from a wound. " The article announced that, although the results of an examination would not be known until later, SB's condition was "reassuring"; it closed with a summary of SB's writing career ("Dublin Writer Stabbed: Paris Street Scene," 8 January 1938: 10).
Brian Coffey's letter to George Reavey on 9 January 1938 offers more particulars:
The latest news of Sam, yesterday afternoon was that he was safe, if no complications set in[. . . ] The facts are as follows. Sam was returning about 8:30 from Cafe Zeyer-Av D'Orleans with Alan & Belinda, when an individual came from behind some fair booths, & tried to talk to Alan, who was walking behind. Alan took no notice so the man became more insistent and started insulting first Alan, then Belinda. Alan gave him a light shove, & then Sam & the man got into a tangle, there was kicking & a blow. Then the man ran away. After some seconds Sam said he was hurt. A & B found blood on his hand. (TxU)
584
chap M. Prudent.
I wonder did you hear from Laugier, & if anything has been
13January 1938, Reavey
Reports on the time of the incident vary widely.
May, Frank, and Jean Beckett arrived on 9 January 1938 by airplane, according to
Joyce's report in his letter to Giorgio and Helen Joyce on 12 January 1938 Uoyce, Letters ofjames Joyce, lll, 411). Frank Beckett wrote to McGreevy on Wednesday [12 January 1938]: "Each day I have seen him he seems better & unless any unseen complications occur should be out ofthe wood very soon. I am waiting here ti! I know definitely he is out of danger and then will be speeding back to Ireland, perhaps during next week end" (TCD, MS 10402/152).
"Entin" (Oh well).
2 SB refers to the poem McGreevy had requested: 5 January 1938, n. 1.
3 "<;:ava"(Thingsareallright).
Nancy Cunard had just returned to Paris following three months in Spain (Chisholm, Nancy Cunard: A Biography, 242).
4 As witnesses, Alan and Belinda Duncan had to file police reports; the assailant, Robert-Jules Prudent, was apprehended in a hotel at 155 Avenue du Maine under the name of Germain Prudent ("Robert Prudent agresseur de l'ecrivain irlandais Beckett
est arrete," L'Humanite 11 January 1938: 8).
5 GeorgeandGwyneddReavey.
For SB's wish to reprint the image of apes playing chess in Murphy: 13 November 1936, n. 5.
Reavey had asked SB for names of possible reviewers.
GEORGE REAVEY LONDON
13/1/38 H6pital Broussais Rue Didot, 14me
[Paris)
dear George & Gwynedd
Many thanks for wire & letters. The boet Peckett gave me
great pleasure.
It was a new kind of 12! ! ! Night certainly.
You will have heard about it from Brian so wont go over it
1
taken till I can get up & down to X Ray room. They never vouch safe a confidence to me, just drift in, together & singly, shake
585
again.
It appears I shall be all right, tho' no proper X Ray can be
13 January 1938, Reavey
hands, look at the chart, ask for 33, give a few disgusted taps like a
connoisseur asked to examine fake Meissen & drift out. So I don't
know when I'll be let up. The medecin chef nearly assaulted me
2
special introduction.
Hope Gwynedd well over pleurisy thing, And that both of
you are beginning to feel benefit of excesses - Love
Sam What about apes? 4
ALS; 1 leaf. 2 sides; pencil; TxU.
1 Reavey's wire and letters have not been found. He did send cuttings from the column "Items from Abroad," Daily Telegraph (8 January 1938: n. p. , and 11 January 1938: n. p. ), both of which correctly spell SB's name. In London newspapers reporting the stabbing incident there is no evidence of an article that refers to the "boet Peckett"; in both L'Humanite and Le Figaro, however, SB is referred to as M. Samuel Peckett ("En quelques lignes," Le Figaro 8 January 1938: 4; "Drame nocturne: Un ecrivain irlandais poignarde par un inconnu," L'Humanite 8 January 1938: 7A).
2 "Medecin chef' (senior consultant).
3 At the time, SB was staying at the Hotel Liberia. Coffey's residence: 3 November 1937 [for 3 December 1937J, n. 1.
Reavey had proposed to show Murphy to Viking. Joyce's New York publisher of A Portrait ofthe Artist as a Young Man, Benjamin W. Huebsch (1876-1964), had merged his firm with Viking in 1925; Viking published Finnegans Wake in 1939.
586
to-day because I had the window opened. What a system.
You know the kind of people to send the book to. I shall make out a list later. I shall of course want to go over the proofs myself. If they are sent to the hotel they then can always be collected. Or they could be sent to Brian at the C. Universitaire. By all means let the Viking see the book. I much prefer that to giving any of the others the chance to change their mind. But I would not ask Joyce to move in the matter. 3 And I would be very sorry if anyone else did. The reasons are obvious enough. It will be taken in USA now all right, sooner or later, without any
dear George
Proofs safely received. Hope to let you have them back
towards end of week. The checking of the chess is what will
1
I trust the blurb is not going to be part of the book, i. e. will
not appear actually between the boards of the book. That is
an arrangement that I quite definitely would not consent to.
I suppose I can't stop them putting it on wrapper. If I could
2
disappointed. Why the rush anyway?
How are Gwynedd & yourself? Any pourparlers with P. G. ?
And have you had a look at her premises? 4
Had an XRay this morning. Can't extract from them when
I am likely to get away. Have not been up yet. Love to you both
Sam
ALS; 1 leaf, 1 side; pencil; TxU. Dating: SB in Broussais following stabbing on 8 January 1938.
1 SBreferstothegameofchessbetweenMurphyandMr. Endon(Murphy,242-245); he wished to verify its moves by playing this game with Geer van Velde.
587
17 ljanuary 1938}, Reavey
Routledge began sending advance copies to potential reviewers and book dealers on 15 January 1938 (UoR: Routledge).
4 The "apes at chess": 13 November 1936, n. 5.
GEORGE REAVEY LONDON
17! h Uanuary 1938]
Hopital Broussais [Paris]
delay me -- Shall have to get Geer up with his board to help me.
I would. But I won't have it tacked on to my text.
I suppose also my apes have faded out as a possibility. 3 I am
17 Uanuary 1938}, Reavey
2 The blurb for Murphy appeared preceding the title page in the proof copy
(InU):
Description. -A definition has been "defined" as the "enclosing ofthe wilder ness of an idea within the wall of words". To define some things is to kill them; no less this novel. If it has a meaning, it is implicit and symbolic, never concrete. Murphy is a character for whom the unseen is the real and the seen a necessary obstacle to reality. To get beyond that obstacle is his aim in life, and he neglects or despises the criteria of the substantial world. Hence he lives in the lowest strata of society; he lives intermit tently with a prostitute and her persuasions cannot move him to better his material prospects. He pretends to look for a job, but so long as he can devote some time each day to exploring the inner life of the mind, that is all he worries about. Ultimately he gets a job in an asylum, where he feels a certain kinship with the inmates.
But if the theme of the book defies description, not so the writing. The portrayal of the scenes is masterly. There is a diversity of simile which could only proceed from a mind well stocked with many seem ingly antagonistic branches of knowledge, and words and phrases reveal an acquaintance with our language and a natural distinction in their use which a Johnson might admire. The style is leavened with a Celtic way wardness which is as attractive as it is elusive and leaves the reader uncertain of the source of his enjoyment.
The blurb appears with substantial revisions and omission of plot summary on the order form for the book (RUL, Routledge), and still more briefly on the inside dust jacket of the novel.
A portion of the blurb appeared in Routledge's announcement of their spring list (T. M. Ragg to George Reavey, 11 January 1938, TxU). On the same day, Reavey wrote to Ragg to ask him to hold the prospectuses for Murphy because he wished to consider another idea for them; on 12 January 1938, Ragg confirmed to Reavey that he had done so; and on 26 January 1938, Ragg reminded Reavey of this and asked for his assistance in generating ideas for sales of the book (UoR, RKP, 103/6).
3 Regardingthe"apesatchess. "
4 "Pourparlers" (talks. negotiations). SB refers to Peggy Guggenheim and her London art gallery Guggenheim Jeune (see 5 January 1938, n. 4).
THOMAS McGREEVY LONDON
21/1/38 Broussais [Paris]
588
dear Tom
Your notes & messages and concern were a great help. Your
1
It has gone pretty well, though it still hurts me to breathe.
I was up for 1st time avant[-)hier, for a few hours in afternoon.
Fontaine came same day & said she thought I could leave
to-morrow. I hope she confirms that when she comes to-day.
I shall go straight back to Liberia, where apparently they
are bringing me down to 1il floor. I know it will take time
to get back to average, & I am told I will be the proud pos
sessor of a pleural barometer for years to come. But all things
considered, & with my fingers on the pencil, I am well out
2
yesterday before the juge d'instruction & were confronted with the wretch, who seems more cretinous than malicious. 3
Hope you met Mother & Frank in London. 4 He was relieved to be getting back, and she sorry. I felt great gusts of affection & esteem & compassion for her when she was over. What a relationship!
All kinds of people came to see me that I've either forgotten (e. g. Evrard and his wife) or never known (the Cremins, pals of Denis at Irish legation here, she very pretty, he very earnest). The
Joyces have been extraordinarily kind, bringing me round every thing from a heating lamp to a custard pudding. 5
Proofs nearly corrected. I changed more than I intended, chiefly for want of something to do. It strikes me now as a very dull work, painstaking, creditable & dull. Alfie Peron wants to translate it for NRF. When I send it back to Reavey I shall ask him to give it to you for a quick run over, for printer['Js errors
589
wirealsowithG&G&thenyesterdaywithDenis. Isheonhis way over?
21 January 1938, McGreevy
of it.
Poor Alan & Belinda have been angelic. They had to appear
21 January 1938, McGreevy
that I may have missed, or anything else flagrantly incorrect.
I know you won't mind. The blurb, printed on the flypage,
infuriated me so much that I wrote to Reavey refusing per
mission to have it appear between the boards of the book &
regretting that I could not keep it off the wrapper also. Then
afterwards I realized it was probably written by himself or
Gwynedd or both! Try & find out for me - And of course my
original idea for apes on cover just fades out - How short it
6
else you have. I should think there will be a job going with P. Guggenheim eventually, as Mrs Henderson will hardly be a
8
At least it is more of an act than Nijinsky9 [.
