Sept 30th Friday.

Sudeten1 agreement signed – shameful.
Despairing letters written on Wed. [Wednesday] [RG] arriving from England – Jane has fled to Scotland, everyone in a gas mask or[RG] digging trenches. One can see that in the relief in the 'solution' and Hitler's relaxation of terms everyone has forgotten that even[RG] his first terms were thought monstrous. Our reputation is high in the village: we alone prophesied there would be no war... Margaret has been given notice by Catherine.
Dictionary in morning: all afternoon reading & checking Laura's Aristotle2. In evening Swiss Ghost.
Did not go out.
We hear that Deyá carabineros3 went to defend Pollensa 'against the Catalans' i.e. French.

Editorial Notes

1Sudeten-land, Czechoslovakia eds.
3coast guards KG

Hands Referenced

    • Annotation: ink correction
    • Character: regular
    • Ink: black

Places Mentioned

  • Deyá

    Deyá, Majorca, Sp
    Town located on the northwest coast of Majorca, on the hillside between the Teix Mountains and the sea: this was RG's home with Laura Riding from 1929 to 1936. He returned there with his family after WW II. Eds.

  • Pollensa

    Pollensa, Majorca, Sp
    Town at the north end of Majorca. WG R.G. sometimes spells it "Pollenza." eds.

People Mentioned

  • Laura

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

  • Margaret

    Russell, Margaret
    House-keeper L.R. & R.G. had had in London. WG

  • Catherine Vandervelde

    Vandervelde, Catherine
    one of Korda's scriptwriters; friend of RG and LR, met at Denham studios; contributor to World and Ourselves; married Norman Cameron in September, 1938. eds. Diary, and Friedmann 302

  • Jane

    Lye, Jane
    Married to New Zealand artist/ film-maker Len Lye; son Bix Lye. Friends with R.G. and L.R. Visited Graves and Riding in Majorca (1930), where Jane provided secretarial assistance. eds (RPG 138).

  • Hitler

    Hitler, Adolf
    (1889-1945)

Bibliography

    • Title: Dictionary [projected project; unfinished]
    • Author: Riding, Laura
    • Date: 1935
    • Title: Lives of Wives [prose]
    • Author: Riding, Laura
    • PubPlace: London, Toronto, Melbourne & Sydney
    • Publisher: Cassell and Co. Ltd.
    • Idno: A39
    • Date: 1939
    • Title: The Swiss Ghost [formerly The Kind Ghost] [novel]
    • Author: Graves, Robert/ Riding, Laura
    • Date: 1937-04-22