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Robert Graves collection
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Correspondence

The accrual consists of a copy of a letter from Robert Graves to UBC chemist Lionel Harrison with sample pages from the poetry book it refers to.

Correspondence, Gr-19-1 to Gr-19-20, Enclosures 01-09, To his brother Charles, 12 Autograph Letters, signed. Approx. October 1968 - November 1970. 2 pages f'cap, 9 pages 4to, 9 pages 8vo. The letters are largely devoted to discussion of the activities - and temperaments - including some interesting remarks on the failure of his first marriage, to Nancy Nicholson ("...she & I each willing to shoulder the whole blame"). An especially illuminating passage tells of a William Nicholson portrait of Graves, which was destroyed by Ben Nicholson - "jealousy of his dad". Graves recalls, too, an early illness, throwing light on his working method: "What kept me going was that I had to get a poem right - The Troll's Nosegay - and it was already in its 29th Draft. It reached 35 and I was well by then". He has enjoyed his visit to Mexico for the Olympiad" when I alone of the 11 invited 'world' poets turned up", and points out that at Paris in 1924 he had won the Bronze Medal for a poem on sport, Oliver Gogarty taking the S

Correspondence, Gr-19-21 to Gr-19-28, Enclosures 10-11, To his sister-in-law Vivienne, 4 Autograph Letters, signed. February-June 1967, and April 1971. "You performed a miracle, you did, in reconciling Charles and me after a quarrel that had lasted since 1926 - for which you deserve a crown of gold". Excellent and wide-ranging letters, with some emphasis on mythology and religion: "Today's problem is why Homer & Pythagoras were both supposed to have had peacock preincarnations"; "...one can't be a Christian & not believe in Metempsychosis (I don't and am not)". Graves also writes of his work on the Rubaiyat, which "will cause a bit of a stir for reasons which will appear in due course", describes a major operation on his nose; dubs himself "the most unlecherous man in the Balearics". 8 pages 4to.

Correspondence, Gr-19-29 to Gr-19-50, Enclosures 12-17, To his niece Diana, 14 Autograph letters, signed. 1958-1974. 15 pages 4to, 2 pages 8vo. An affectionate, if sporadic, series in which Graves shows especial concern for Diana's health and for her anxieties about her son, Simon Gough, attempting to cheer her with diverting news. His own capacity for ingenuous diversion is well illustrated: "Have just seen Jupiter through a telescope. It had three suns of its own - I didn't know about that". Later he wonders "Why am I the one man in the worlds who [sic], according to an interview with Ken Tynan, Orson Welles wants to meet?. As usual Graves writes of his work and his method, lamenting his inability to dictate except from manuscript and foreseeing that he may "work the vein out" of his poetic inspiration. Several years later he is proud that "...today I wrote a poem which will last a long time". In the final letter he describes a visit to Eastern Europe: "I shook hands with a village carpenter who was also th

Correspondence, Gr-19-51 to Gr-19-63, To his half-brother Richard, 8 Autograph Letters, signed. c.1949-1960. 4 pages f'cap, 9 pages 4to. Graves addresses Richard with particular warmth, apparently more fond of him than of his full brothers, and perhaps still grateful for "Harlech in 1911 when I showed you my first poems & you were very tactful & decent about them". He is especially interesting in describing his motives in writing The Nazarene Gospel Restored and is disappointed that "I couldn't persuade them to print my expose of Paul of Tarsus: a dirty little Levantine called Solon, who turned his coat three times and was agent-provocateur in a murder case". In another context he discusses the inflated reputation of Virgil. Of current projects he writes of "translating a Spanish novel for Unesco - one of the 100 best books. It's awful by the way" and of the prospects for a musical about Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. A visit to America is not without its discomforts: "...but, God!, excuse the oath, it is st

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