MARCH 1936

Almost Forgotten Germany is finally finished and sent off to the publisher, as is Riding's Convalescent Conversations. Graves writes out a list of questions for lawyer William Fuller, who has agreed to advise on issues of legal procedure in Antigua, Penny, Puce. Korda writes to tell Graves that he will be coming to Majorca in April instead of March. Honor Wyatt's novel draft continues to please Riding and Graves, and Graves is pleasantly surprised by "unexpectedly good reviews of Tom's novel."1
Riding is working on an editorial for Epilogue, as well as "Suicide" and "Private Conversation."2 She is also reading over Hodge's contribution on philosophy.3 It seems there is more than enough material for the second issue. Graves drafts two poems this month - one about a murder mystery and one entitled "No One Can Guess."4
Riding dismisses the new maid Isabel, and is not particularly happy with Catalina, the other woman hired to help. But the garden still provides a welcome distraction: Graves plants plum and cherry trees at C'an Torrent, and is delighted with Gelat's "triumph with the pomegranate. It is showing signs of life at last, when all other pomegranates are in full leaf. Gelat threatened it only yesterday that if it died he'd plant it again."
Contact with family and friends this month is frequent and pleasant. Graves' daughter Jenny writes about her life as a dancer, and Graves' mother tells him that she is writing her "memoirs." Graves himself writes to Catherine and to Mary Phillips, and Riding writes to Honor Wyatt, encouraging her to visit, even if only for a month. The McCormacks visit regularly, and Graves and Riding also enjoy the company of Kitty and Tony West and Joyce Ford over lunch.
Gelat is becoming more involved in local politics; this month he has an audience with the Governor of Madrid, various Majorquin deputies, and the Minister of War in an attempt to gain support for the building of the sea road. At one point, after a few drinks, Gelat "joked that he was more than a socialist, he was a communist."5
There is one enclosure this month: a list of words (facing the 6th of March).

Editorial Notes

2"Suicide" and "Private Conversation" could be works by RG, or collaboration. Not found in published works, although "Private Conversation" might be a precursor to "From a Private Correspondence on Reality" by Riding and Graves, which appeared in Epilogue III. eds.
4Are these two the same poem? It is not clear in the diary. eds.
5In May, Gelat will win the local elections and become mayor of Deyá

Hands Referenced

Places Mentioned

  • Majorca/ Mallorca

    Majorca, Sp
    Largest of the Balearic Islands, located in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of Spain. R.G. and L.R. lived there, in Deyá, from 1929-1936. eds

  • Can Torrent

    Deyá, Majorca, Sp
    House next to Canellun also belonging to LR & RG. Built by Norman Cameron. WG

People Mentioned

  • Laura

    Riding, Laura
    (1901-91) American poet. Laura Riding (née Reichenthal; then Laura Gottschalk).

  • Robert

    Graves, Robert
    [1st person]. (1895-1985). Poet, novelist, essayist, critic, and author of his diary. eds.

  • Bill Fuller

    Fuller, William
    lawyer and researcher for Antigua Penny Puce KG; m. to Mary Fuller eds.

  • Korda

    Korda, Alexander
    Director of the film version of I Claudius.

  • Honor

    Wyatt, Honor
    Journalist. Arrived in Deyá fortuitously. Married to Gordon Glover...Son Julian. W.G. First acquainted with R.G. and L.R. early in 1934; returned to visit in 1935; continued friendship in England. eds (RPG 211).

  • Tom

    Matthews, T.S.(Tom)
    American journalist. Took sabbatical from TIME and arrived in Deyá in 1930. Involved from then on with L.R. and R.G. WG

  • Alan

    Hodge, Alan
    Oxford history graduate. Became close friends with LR & RG. First husband of Beryl Graves. CP & WG

  • Catalina

    Catalina
    Cook from Palma employed by RG and LR; worked with Margarita, the chambermaid. W.G., eds.

  • Gelat

    Más, Juan Marroig
    Juan Marroig Mas, called Gelat: Landowner on Deyá and friend of Robert Graves and Laura Riding (L.R. & R.G.'s factotum. W.G.)

  • A.G. (A.E.S.G)

    Graves, Amy
    Amy Graves, RG's Mother. WG

  • Catherine

    Nicholson, Catherine
    Catherine Nicholson: (1922- ) third of four children of Robert Graves and Nancy Nicholson. eds.

  • Mary

    Phillips, Mary
    Visitor. Typed most of I, Claudius. Later married James Reeves. WG

  • Kitty West

    West, Katherine
    wife of English journalist, [Douglas West eds.]; lived in Regent Park [at 32 York Terrace eds.] where RG and LR stayed on exile from Mallorca (1936) R.P.G.; dedicatee of LR's A Trojan Ending eds.

  • Tony West

    West, Tony
    (1914-1987) author and critic; son of Rebecca West and H.G. Wells eds.

  • Joyce Ford(e)

    Ford(e), Joyce
    friend of RG and LR; husband Professor Forde? eds.
  • Graves, William
    Son of Robert and Beryl Graves. Helped to identify names, places and titles in Deya (1935-1936) and with translations and other references in three ways. He left an annotated printout of the first six months of the diary in the Graves Trust Room at St. John's College, Oxford. He also sent Chris Petter an Excel file with a list identifying names and places, principally in the Majorcan sections of the diary, and a glossary of Spanish terms. Finally he has sent the editors answers in response to reference questions. Notes by William Graves are identified with the initials WG.

Organizations Mentioned

  • Editors

    Editors of the Graves Diary Project.

Bibliography

    • Title: Almost Forgotten Germany [Almost Forgotten Times]
    • Author: Schwarz, Georg
    • Editor: Trans. Graves, Robert/ Riding, Laura
    • PubPlace: Deyá & London
    • Publisher: Seizin & Constable
    • Idno: A45
    • Date: 1936
    • Title: Convalescent Conversations [fiction]
    • Author: Madeleine Vara [Laura Riding]
    • PubPlace: Deyá & London
    • Publisher: Seizin & Constable
    • Date: 1936
    • Title: Antigua Penny Puce
    • Author: Graves, Robert
    • PubPlace: Deyá & London
    • Publisher: Seizin & Constable
    • Idno: A46
    • Date: 1936
    • Title: Moon's No Fool, The
    • Author: Matthews, Tom
    • Editor: Riding, Laura
    • PubPlace: Deyá & London
    • Publisher: Seizin & Constable
    • Date: 1936-02-13
    • Title: Epilogue II
    • Editor: Riding, Laura & Graves, Robert
    • PubPlace: Deyá & London
    • Publisher: Seizin & Constable
    • Idno: B24
    • Date: 1936
    • Title: Epilogue III
    • Editor: Riding, Laura/ Graves, Robert
    • PubPlace: Deyá & London
    • Publisher: Seizin & Constable
    • Date: 1937
    • Title: Philosophy and Poetry
    • Title: Epilogue II
    • Author: Hodge, Alan and Riding, Laura
    • Editor: Riding, Laura
    • PubPlace: Deyá & London
    • Publisher: Seizin & Constable
    • Date: 1936
    • Title: No One Can Guess [poem: "scrapped": diary Apr. 3, 1936; but later became "X" (in Collected Poems 1938): see note. DW, eds.]
    • Title: Robert Graves: Complete Poems, Vol. II
    • Author: Graves, Robert
    • Editor: Beryl Graves and Dunstan Ward
    • PubPlace: Manchester
    • Publisher: Carcanet Press
    • BiblScope: pp. 92-93
    • Date: 1995-1999