AUGUST 1935

The garden harvest includes aubergines, pimentos and tomatoes. Graves makes blackberry and apple jam and green-tomato pickle in the kitchen, plants dahlias with Sebastian and enjoys the first melons of the season. Much of the month is very hot - 36 degrees in the shade, writes Graves - and the dispute about water rights drags on.
But the hot weather does not deter summer revels: Graves enjoys watching Riding dress up for the bullfights - "Laura in yellow, with net gloves & amethyst ring" - and the two enjoy evenings with Schwarz and Strenge, "drinking and spreading alegria."1 There is some tension beneath the surface, however: Riding is drinking whiskey due to her "difficulty with work," and when Kilham Roberts wires to say he wants to use only the end part of "Letter from Majorca," Graves and Riding refuse to compromise on its length. The poem is published in Focus IV instead.
Maisie Somerville writes with a photo of her friend John Ewen and an account of his accidental death. Honor also writes: Gordon has apparently returned to his Canadian mistress, Molly. Graves exchanges letters with Hogarth Press about a profit-sharing scheme, and with Constable about business names for Seizin Press. (Tax collectors come to demand a yearly amount from the Press - Graves is convinced that it is the doctor who alerted the authorities.)
Graves continues his work on Richards' Old Soldier Sahib, finishes the introduction, and sends a sample to Harrison Smith. The publisher tentatively agrees to publish the book if the remainder is up to the same standard. Graves has Riding read over his recent poetry: "It was agreed to scrap "Address to Myself" & I am to write two more." He also drafts a new poem, but deems it of "no use I think." Frau Thelin has taken over the translation of Schwartz's Almost Forgotten Times (later Almost Forgotten Germany). She completes the work, and Graves begins to go over the piece, editing and rewriting where necessary. He is also doing work on Poets for Riding's Subjects of Knowledge series.
Together, Graves and Riding check the proofs of Reeves' A Natural Need, but the number of printer errors makes the task frustrating. They are also busy with the Epilogue proofs and Riding's A Trojan Ending (Riding sends off two chapters to Constable). Riding also begins a new poem: "We Are the Resurrection."
Near the end of the month, Graves writes Liddell-Hart with the suggestion that they co-author a book on T. E. Lawrence.
The political situation in Europe moves a few steps closer to Deyá: a German is arrested at Soller with a wireless transmitter. Graves begins spending evenings in the village - often with Karl - listening to a radio that receives English stations.

Editorial Notes

1joy,merriment eds.

Hands Referenced

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.

  • Soller

    Soller, Majorca, Sp
    Town of some 10,000 inhabitants ten kilometers from Deyá. WG

People Mentioned

  • Robert

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

  • Sebastian

    Sebastian
    Gardener getting on for 80. KG

  • Laura

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

  • Swartz

    Schwarz, Georg
    German Jew. Deyá neighbour. Antique dealer. Lived with Frau Emmy Strenge, his house keeper, in Can Caballo some hundred yards from Canellun. RG and LR translated his "Almost Forgotten Germany." WG

  • Strenge

    Strenge, Frau Emmi
    Schwarz's house keeper and ? mistress. WG

  • Kilham

    Roberts, Denys Kilham
    An editor of "The Years Poetry 1934." The anthology included a poem by Graves and Riding entitled "Midsummer Duet" which replaced "Majorcan Letter" because they refused to shorten the latter. See Wexler 51. eds.

  • Maisie

    Sommerville, Maisie
    Head of BBC Education broadcasting department. Friend of R.G. and L.R. Arranged accomodation for them when they returned to London as exiles. W.G., eds.

  • John Ewen

    Ewen, John
    Died July 1935. Gave Laura a dress. WG

  • 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).

  • Gordon

    Glover, Gordon
    Married to Honor Wyatt. WG

  • Molly

    Hare, Molly
    Canadian. Third person in Gordon Glover-Honor Wyatt triangle; co-author of "A Mistake Somewhere". WG

  • Richards

    Richards, Frank
    Author of Old Soldiers Never Die and Old Soldier Sahib which R.G. rewrote for him. Was in The Royal Welch Fusiliers, R.G.'s regiment. eds.; Birth name is Francis Phillip Woodruff eds. see Diary September 27, 1936

  • Thelin, Frau

    Thelin, Frau
    German lady who translated Schwarz's "Almost Forgotten Gemany "after Karl had decided he could not do it. WG

  • James

    Reeves, James
    Schoolmaster, writer and Poet. Friend of Jacob Bronowski. W.G./ K.G.; m. to Mary Phillips; daughter Stella born June 14, 1938 eds.

  • Liddell Hart

    Liddell Hart, Capt. Basil
    War-fare expert and friend of T.E. Lawrence. Collaborated with RG on a book of T.E.L'.s letters, published in 1938. See RPG p.231. WG & Eds.

  • T.E.

    Lawrence, T. E.
    'Lawrence of Arabia.' Met Robert in Oxford in the early twenties. Made Robert his biographer and had him write "Lawrence and the Arabs." WG

  • Karl/Carl

    Goldschmidt, Karl
    Karl Goldschmidt, later Kenneth Gay: Graphic artist, friend and secretary of Robert Graves and Laura Riding since 1934. R. G. spells both as Carl and Karl.
  • Goldschmidt, Karl
    Karl Goldschmidt, d.1995, who later changed his name to Kenneth Gay, was Robert Graves' and Laura Riding's personal secretary during the period when the diary was written. He later annotated another printout of the diary produced from the B.A. Graves transcript, which is at the Graves Trust Archives in St. John's Oxford. Notes by Karl Goldschmidt are denoted as KG.
  • 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

  • Hogarth Press

    Hogarth Press
    Press of Virginia and Leonard Woolf. R.G. had several early essays published by them. C.P. &`W.G.

  • Constable & Co., Ltd.

    Constable
    Constable Publishers. Arranged with them to print and distribute Seizin Press Epilogue and books. WG

  • Seizin Press

    Founded when Robert Graves and Laura Riding began their partnership in London. R.G. and L.R. continued to operate their own press in Deyá, but stopped printing in 1935. Seizin Press published a number of literary works in conjunction with Constable in London, including the Epilogue series, and other works by Laura Riding and their literary associates. eds

  • Harrison Smith and Robert Haas

    R.G.'s American publisher for I, Claudius and Claudius the God. eds.

  • Editors

    Editors of the Graves Diary Project.

Bibliography

    • Title: Majorcan Letter [poem: was called "Letter from Majorca"]
    • Title: Focus
    • Author: Riding, Laura/ Graves, Robert
    • PubPlace: Deyá
    • Publisher: Seizin
    • BiblScope: IV. December, pp.1-9
    • Idno: C291.2
    • Date: 1935
    • Title: Focus I, II, III, IV [newsletter]
    • Editor: Riding, Laura
    • PubPlace: Deyá
    • Publisher: Seizin
    • Date: 1935
    • Title: Old Soldier Sahib
    • Author: Richards, Frank
    • Editor: Graves, Robert
    • PubPlace: London, New York
    • Publisher: Faber & Faber; Harrison Smith & Robert Haas
    • Idno: A44
    • Date: 1936
    • Title: Address to Myself [poem: scrapped Aug. 11, 1935 R.G.; became Address to Self, published posthumously]
    • Title: Robert Graves: Complete Poems Vol. III
    • Author: Graves, Robert
    • Editor: Beryl Graves and Dunstan Ward
    • PubPlace: Manchester
    • Publisher: Carcanet Press
    • BiblScope: p. 555 (note)
    • Date: 1995-1999
    • 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: Poets [prose]
    • Author: Graves, Robert/ Riding Laura
    • Editor: Riding, Laura
    • Title: Subjects of Knowledge [unpublished]
    • Author: Riding, Laura, Graves, Robert, et al
    • Editor: Riding, Laura
    • Date: 1935
    • Title: A Natural Need [James' Poems?]
    • Author: Reeves, James
    • PubPlace: Deyá & London
    • Publisher: Seizin & Constable
    • Date: 1935
    • Title: Epilogue I: A Critical Summary
    • Editor: Riding. Laura/ Graves, Robert
    • PubPlace: Deyá & London
    • Publisher: Seizin & Constable
    • Idno: B22
    • Date: 1935
    • Title: Trojan Ending, A [novel]
    • Author: Riding, Laura
    • PubPlace: Deyá & London
    • Publisher: Seizin & Constable
    • Date: 1937
    • Title: We are the Resurrection [poem]
    • Title: Collected Poems
    • Author: Riding, Laura
    • PubPlace: London
    • Publisher: Cassell
    • Date: 1938