Monday March 16

To Palma. Met Gelat at Alhambra where he tricked us into thinking his cousins Don Pedro and Donna Catalina who came with him to avoid troubles in Madrid were mannerless[RG] strangers. Had been to see Governor of Madrid, Azaña, Portela, the Mallorquin deputies & Minister of War: the latter reassured him x[RG]about road. Franco, in prison, is said to have been, with March,1 the person intriguing against foreigners in Mallorca. Ques asking parliament to rescind 5 kilo [kilometer] decree.
Saw Str & Schw.; who had gone on writing his anecdotes.
Bought silver scarf pin with blue enamel for 4 pes. [pesetas] gold brooch with emerald matrix & pearls for 45 pes. [pesetas], topaz earrings for 6pts.
Laura made Mrs Wyatt cry: she came to coffee & again to beer. Sent Julian things by her.
Tried to get suit made[RG]: but tailor refused to copy; so lost job.
The charlatan had made long report & taken snaps of us: described garden wall as a fortification 1 metre thick. Gelat also a spy.

Editorial Notes

1See March 15th. eds

Hands Referenced

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

Places Mentioned

  • Palma

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

  • Alhambra

    Palma, Majorca, Sp
    One of the best Palma hotels. WG

  • 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

People Mentioned

  • 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.)

  • 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

  • Tio/Don Pedro & Tia/Doña Catalina

    Pedro or Catalina
    Cousins of Gelat from Madrid; RG refers to them interchangeably as Don or Doña and Tio/a, meaning uncle or aunt eds.

  • Franco

    Franco, General
    Spanish General; led the Nationalist forces against the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War; Spanish Head of State from 1939-1969.

  • Ques.

    Castro y Quesada, Américo
    (1885-1972); Spanish philologist and cultural historian; Spanish ambassador to Berlin 1931-36 eds.

  • Mrs. Wyatt

    Wyatt, Ann
    Honour Wyatt's mother. eds.

  • Julian

    Glover, Julian
    Honor & Gordon's baby. WG

Bibliography

    • Title: Anecdotes of Art Dealing
    • Author: Schwarz, Georg
    • Editor: Graves, Robert
    • Date: 1936-03