A FINE T.S. ELIOT ARCHIVE -- IN HIS CAPACITY AS A DIRECTOR OF FABER & FABER OFFERING UP HIS VIEWS ON THE PUBLICATION OF A BOOK ABOUT THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, A BOOK ON MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE WITHIN THE CHURCH, PROPOSED BOOKS BY HUGH CECIL,-- AND THE GENERAL RUNNINGS OF THE FIRM WITH A HEAVY EMPHESIS ON ELIOT'S OWN RELIGIOUS CONSTRUCTS AND HIS PLACE WITHIN THE CHURCH

T.S. ELIOT [Thomas Stearns Eliot]

About this Item

ELIOT, T.S. (1888-1965). American-born writer and poet. Archive of 13 Typed Letters Signed, T.S. Eliot , on the wonderful red imprinted Faber & Faber Ltd. letterhead and The Criterion letterhead. TWENTY-EIGHT TOTAL PAGES OF ELIOT S WRITING, QUARTO. 24 Russell Square, London, W.C.1 , April 9, 1935 to April 22, 1936. Paperclip marks in some blank margins, else very fine condition. To The Revd. Prebendary Harris, D.D., Rosemary , Eynsham, Oxford . With 2 letters from HUGH CECIL (1869-1965) British politician and Sir Winston Churchill s best man; also accompanied by another 10+ letters and financials and outlines, from various individuals affiliated with the endeavor. Due to space limitations, we offer up a heavily edited version of some of the letters. For a complete description, contact us. Eliot writes: [April 9, 1935] My dear Harris, I did not want to put you to any trouble, and I am extremely sorry that this conflict of dates has occurred. Please convey my apologies to the Committee for being unable to attend its first meeting….He may be able to write a good book, and again he may not. It may be that I have not clearly grasped the nature of the book that Lowther Clarke has in mind, but I should think that the writer ought to have a pretty considerable knowledge of moral theology, greater than a layman may be expected to possess. I should feel happier at least if such a book were prepared by a suitable layman in collaboration with a first-rate theologian. It is possible that I may be free to come in at the end of your meeting, and if so I will telephone beforehand, as one cannot tell in advance how long the meeting will take. With all best wishes, Yours ever, T.S. Eliot . [May 3, 1935] Dear Harris, Thank you for your letter of May the 2nd with the enclosures, which I return herewith. I have been very busy until now, but expect to have rather more leasure [sic] from next week. Otherwise I would have written to you some days ago to convey the following confidential piece of information. I had the opportunity of speaking to one of the editors of The Times about Roger Fulford. He spoke very pleasantly and indeed quite highly of Fulford and mentioned him as a real authority on the history of the Regency period. I should say that Fulford has a very promising future on The Times if he stays there. I did not of course explain to my informant exactly why I was asking, but did mention that it was a question of Fulford being asked, not by Faber and Faber, to undertake a book on practical ethics….I don t know how old Fulford is, but I suppose in his early thirties. I can t see the point of paragraph 4 of Clarke s letter to Fulford. I see no point in appealing to what Clarke calls the average Clubman . If he means the sort of stock-size jaded man-of-the-world it only reminds me of La Rochefoucauld s maxim, which I can t quote exactly: Quand nos vices nous quittent, nous croyons que c est nous qui les avons quittes . I don t believe that such people are likely to want to read this kind of book anyway. As for the more serious quite young men, they are extremely moral in their own way, and unlimited self-indulgence hardly applies. It is only that their morality is apt to be based on the wrong religion. In short, I am far from convinced that Lowther Clarke has clearly envisaged the audience for such a book. Furthermore, if the theological point of view is to be so comprehensive, will there be anything specifically Catholic about it, and if not, why should the C.L.A. sponsor the book, rather than a general publisher….Whether the subject matter could be divided in such a way as to make it suitable to sell the volumes separately remains to be discovered later. I think one should also keep in mind the possibility that it might be desirable to sell them only as a set at a guinea. Is this an undertaking which could safely be confided to any one man, except under some kind of formal supervision? Cross is, I know, a very able man indeed, and of course. Seller Inventory # 221509

Bibliographic Details

Title: A FINE T.S. ELIOT ARCHIVE -- IN HIS CAPACITY...

Binding: No Binding

Condition: Near Fine