Thursday Sept 19th

To Palma: L. [Laura] C [Carl] & I, also Medora & Francisquito: & Isabel.
Doctor said, no tuberculosis only old sclerosis due to some pneumonia or something in past.1
Gelat met us: paid him 25002 on account, & 1000pts as deposit on purchase of Ca'n Gelat - price to be fixed later. Esc.3 says all well. Laura's throat also not so bad, he says. Bought olive wood cigarette case & Laura got me eau de Cologne & powder. Schw. [Schwarz] went off to Madrid (yesterday he offered to pay expenses of his book). Gelat bought a lot of tables & chairs cheap for Sala at Molinar.
Thelin gave us German introduction to St Paul book. Told us of Nazi burglaries of their flat, & tearing up anti-Nazi papers.
On return letter from Mother4: respectful to Laura. John about David. H.S. [Harrison Smith] about O.S.S. [Old Soldier Sahib] (not yet read, but O.S.N.D. [Old Soldiers Never Die] very much admired). C. the G. [Claudius the God] sales less than I had reckoned, but 12,100 sold up to date & 20,000 of I.C. [I, Claudius] & 2000 at 2 dollars.
Bought glass grease-stops for candles.
Letters for Honor as though coming here.

Editorial Notes

1A check-up for the maid Isabel. See Diary entry Sept.15th. eds.
2pesetas. RG indicates this currency in various ways, and sometimes not at all. The correct abbreviation according to KG is "pts." eds.
3Specialist. KG

Hands Referenced

Places Mentioned

  • Palma

    Palma, Majorca, Sp
    Capital and largest centre of Majorca.

  • Concordia

    Deyá, Majorca, Sp
    Salón Concordia. Gelat's café. Variously refered to as the Sala or the Salón. The village youths had shares in it. It was later called the Salón Deportivo. WG

  • Can Gelat

    Deyá, Majorca, Sp
    One of a group of houses behind the Fábrica called the Viña Vieja. WG

  • Molinar

    Palma, Majorca, Sp
    Suburb of Palma. WG

People Mentioned

  • 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

  • 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.

  • Laura

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

  • 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.)

  • Isabella

    Isabel
    Live-in maid from Murcia. Her mother (Carmen) then came over with Josefa who also came to work later. WG

  • John

    Graves, John
    R.G.'s brother. Visited R.G. & L.R. in 1934 with R.G.'s mother. WG

  • David

    Graves, David
    R.G.'s second child [by Nancy Nicholson]. W.G. In RAF; killed in the war. The only one of Graves' children who might have become a poet had he lived. K.G., eds.

  • 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).

  • Madora

    Marroig Más, Madora
    Gelat's wife. W.G. R.G. often spells her first name "Medora," and precedes it with "the." eds.

  • Franciscito

    Vives, Franciscito
    Gelat's grandson W.G. Son of Anita, Gelat's daughter in Rennes. KG

  • A.G. (A.E.S.G)

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

  • Thelin, Frau

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

Organizations Mentioned

  • Harrison Smith and Robert Haas

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

Bibliography

    • 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: Old Soldiers Never Die
    • Author: Richards, Frank
    • Editor: Graves, Robert
    • PubPlace: London
    • Publisher: Faber & Faber
    • Idno: A41
    • Date: 1933
    • Title: Claudius the God
    • Author: Graves, Robert
    • PubPlace: London
    • Publisher: Arthur Barker
    • Idno: A43
    • Date: 1934
    • Title: I, Claudius [novel]
    • Author: Graves, Robert
    • PubPlace: London
    • Publisher: Arthur Barker
    • Idno: A42
    • Date: 1934