Abstract for August 1937 Abstracts of Robert Graves Diary 1935-39 Shoichet, Jillian compiled by L.R. Roberts University of Victoria Libraries
P.O.. Box 1800, STN CSC Victoria B.C., VH3 2W5 Canada
July, 2006 UVic Text Analysis Portal for Research URL: http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/tapor/tapor.htm UVic Humanities Computing and Media Centre URL: http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/tapor/tapor.htm University of Victoria, Victoria B.C., Canada

Copyright of diary available by permission of the Robert Graves Trust

Copyright of introduction to diary available by permission of Elizabeth Grove-White

Copyright of diary markup, editorial notes and abstract by permission of the University of Victoria Libraries

Copyright of notes marked WG by permission of William Graves

Copyright of notes marked KG, Robert Graves Trust

 University of Victoria Humanities Computing and Media Centre and University of Victoria Libraries

held in the University of Victoria Libraries, Special Collections, Robert Graves Collection
P.O.. Box 1800, STN CSC Victoria B.C., VH3 2W5 Canada
acquired by the Libraries from Robert Graves in 1971 through the offices of Bertram Rota SC050GR01 Diary of Robert Graves 1935-39 and ancillary material Graves, Robert (1895-1985) University of Victoria Libraries
P.O.. Box 1800, STN CSC Victoria B.C., VH3 2W5 Canada
July, 2006 UVic Text Analysis Portal for Research URL: http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/tapor/tapor.htm UVic Humanities Computing and Media Centre URL: http://web.uvic.ca/hrd/tapor/tapor.htm University of Victoria, Victoria B.C., Canada

Copyright of diary available by permission of the Robert Graves Trust

Copyright of introduction to diary available by permission of Elizabeth Grove-White

Copyright of diary markup, editorial notes and abstract by permission of the University of Victoria Libraries

Copyright of notes marked WG by permission of William Graves

Copyright of notes marked KG, Robert Graves Trust

 University of Victoria Humanities Computing and Media Centre and University of Victoria Libraries

held in the University of Victoria Libraries, Special Collections, Robert Graves Collection
P.O.. Box 1800, STN CSC Victoria B.C., VH3 2W5 Canada
acquired by the Libraries from Robert Graves in 1971 through the offices of Bertram Rota SC050GR01 Victoria, BC, Canada University of Victoria Libraries Special Collections OHC0005681 PR6013.R35

Graves' diary manuscript includes 1546 pages including 117 enclosures: letters, clippings, photographs post cards, notes, games, etc.

Private URIs to the ref prefix are pointers to entities in references.xml, which contains all people, places, organizations, and other entities referred to throughout the project.

Pointers to the repository of facsimile images of the Graves diary.

Private URIs to the ref prefix are pointers to entities in references.xml, which contains all people, places, organizations, and other entities referred to throughout the project.

Pointers to the repository of facsimile images of the Graves diary.

 Primary hand. Secondary hand. Secondary hand. Primary hand.
AUGUST 1937

August sees Graves spending a good deal of time with his children. All four visit the house at Ewhurst, and three of them - David, Sam and Catherine - stay for several days, camping in the back field. Graves practises archery with the boys, takes long walks with Catherine, and talks with David about his education plans. While he is clearly exasperated by Jenny's poor money-management skills, Graves helps her work out an anti-debt plan and agrees to make her a yearly allowance of £50. Throughout the month, the diary reflects what is clearly Graves' delight in his deepening relationship with his children.

The weather is hot, and afternoons are spent in the garden with family and friends. The lazy calm of summer is only slightly marred by news of conflict abroad. The first few weeks of August are quiet in Spain, but Graves writes briefly of the war in China and of the bombardment of Shanghai.

Work on Belisarius continues throughout the month. Graves also begins drafting the poem Red Dog. While Riding finishes Part I of the Letter Book (The World and Ourselves), Graves reads and comments on the introduction. When Graves complains of eye strain, Alan Hodge makes him a gift of a magnifying glass.

Riding finishes the preface to her poetry collection, which is now ready for publication. Harry Kemp, Graves and Riding write a letter to the Daily Telegraph on Mussolini and Augustus. Towards the end of the month, Graves and Riding begin collaborating on The Smuggler (a screenplay commissioned by Korda). The month is busy enough that Random House's demand that Graves return the $1000 advance for the Claudius film version warrants only passing commentary in the diary.

Riding's kitten, Solace (previously "Celia"), has become a household mascot. With some pride, Graves notes her first hunting success. When she disappears for a night, Graves and Riding spend much of the next day looking for her, even offering a reward for her return. To everyone's relief, she is found late that night, hungry and confused, but safe.

Graves continues to practise archery, and the rabbits are duly afraid; the poet writes that he must now stalk them in neighbouring fields. Alice Mace (the maid) proves unreliable, and Riding and Graves engage another maid, Marie. August includes a visit from John Aldridge and and Lucie Brown, and a family outing to the McCormacks' house. They give Graves another bow (this one from New Zealand) and Riding a necklace that had once belonged to Violet's mother. Later, a trip to Chichester with Norman Cameron and David, Sam and Catherine turns into a day at the beach at Bognor, with Alix and Harry joining the group. Writes Graves: Health, good looks, backless bathing dresses, remarkably garage accents.

But the month ends on a sad note, as Alix receives word that her father is dying. She leaves for Germany to be with him.

There are five enclosures this month:

1. A letter to Graves from Jenny 2. A cutting from the Daily Telegraph: History's Parallels by H. V. Kemp 3. A note to Graves from Sam 4. Graves' handwritten Lost Cat notice 5. Part of a letter to Graves from son David
Ewhurst Ewhurst Surrey England Highcroft, the house RG and LR rented with Harry and Alix Kemp between July and November 1937, was located there. eds. Chichester Sussex England Graves Robert Robert Graves, Robert [1st person]. (1895-1985). Poet, novelist, essayist, critic, and author of his diary. eds. Graves David 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. Graves Samuel Sam Graves, Samuel R.G.'s youngest child by Nancy Nicholson. C.P.& WG Nicholson Catherine Catherine Nicholson, Catherine Catherine Nicholson: (1922- ) third of four children of Robert Graves and Nancy Nicholson. eds. Riding Laura Laura Riding, Laura (1901-91) American poet. Laura Riding (née Reichenthal; then Laura Gottschalk). Hodge Alan Alan Hodge, Alan Oxford history graduate. Became close friends with LR & RG. First husband of Beryl Graves. CP & WG Harry Kemp Kemp, Harry Poet. Met Graves and Riding through James Reeves in August 1936, just after their arrival in England. In their previous correspondence, Riding had been intrigued by his falling-out with Communism. He became associated with their circle, collaborating on various projects. (RPG 248-49) Korda Alexander Korda Korda, Alexander Director of the film version of I Claudius. Marie Goldschmidt, Marie Karl Goldschmidt's first wife. RPG 280-81. The couple met when Marie was employed as domestic help at Ewhurst (summer 1937). eds. Aldridge John Arthur Malcolm Aldridge Aldridge, John (1905-1983), painter and close friend and collaborator. WG m. to Lucie Brown 1940 eds. Brown (Cecilia) Lucie (Leeds) Lucie Brown, Lucie Married artist John Aldridge. eds. McCormack Walter; Violet; Betty; Jennifer McCormacks McCormack, Walter & Violet Tenants of Ca'n Torrent. Had two daughters: Jennifer, a dancer, & Betty. Continued their friendship with Robert and Laura in England. eds. Cameron Norman Norman Cameron Cameron, Norman Poet. Built Can Torrent in 1932-1933. W.G.; m. to Elfriede, then to Catherine Vandervelde; friend and contributor to LR and RG's work eds. Alix Kemp Kemp, Alix Married to poet Harry Kemp. The couple shared a house with Graves and Riding in Ewhurst, Surrey (1937). eds (RPG 277); also referred to as Frau Eierman by RG eds. see Diary August 30, 1936 Nicholson Jenny Jenny Nicholson, Jenny Jenny Nicholson: oldest daughter of Robert by Nancy Nicholson. Graves Robert Graves, Robert Author of the diary. Graves Beryl A. Graves, Beryl A. Second wife of Robert Graves. Transcribed the diary entries and register of letters written (hereafter, logs) from a photocopy of the manuscript, and these 53 monthly MS Dos, ASCII files, dated 01/01/83 were sent to Chris Petter by The Robert Graves Trust on floppy disc in 1996. Goldschmidt 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. Shoichet Jillian Shoichet, Jillian Abstracts: responsible for researching and writing the abstracts for the whole diary Graves William 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. Random House Random House American publishers (New York) eds. Editors Editors of the Graves Diary Project. Count Belisarius [1938] Graves, Robert London Cassell A47 1937-07-21 Red Dog [poem] [Not traced. Apparently not published. DW] Graves, Robert 1937-08-22 Letter Book [became The World and Ourselves] Riding, Laura The World and Ourselves [former title: Letter Book] Riding, Laura [contributor; with Sally Graves, Sir Edward Marsh et al] Riding, Laura London Chatto & Windus 1938-11 Daily Telegraph London 1856-1936 Smuggler Scenario [projected screenplay for a Korda film RPG] Graves, Robert/ Riding, Laura 1937-08-26 Claudius Film Version [The Fool of Rome] [a condensed novel based on I, Claudius] Graves, Robert