[Julie Steiner]

https://www.theguardian.com/books/20...after-60-years

Oh, the drama!

TS Eliot’s intimate letters to confidante unveiled after 60 years
Collection of 1,131 letters may shed light on poet’s relationship with Emily Hale

Snippets from the article:

The 1,131 letters, which date from between 1930 and 1956, were donated by Hale to Princeton University Library more than 60 years ago with her stipulation they remain sealed until 50 years after either Eliot’s death, or her own, whichever occurred last. He died in 1965, and she in 1969.

[...]

The 12 boxes, which include photographs, ephemera and clippings, were unsealed by Princeton University Library staff in October to be scanned for digital viewing at the library from 2 January.

Susan Stewart, a professor of English at Princeton, who was present at the unsealing, said two senior librarians “stood behind a table full of wooden crates wielding dual pairs of tin snips.

“They proceeded in tandem to snap the copper bands holding the crates and the wooden slats clattered to the table.”

She added that what little was known about the correspondence indicated “Eliot wrote to Hale freely about his predilections, his fellow poets, and above all, his opinions as a reader”.

Daniel Linke, the interim head of special collections at the library, said there was minimal, if any reading, during the unsealing. He expected that scholars from around the world would be travelling to Princeton in the first few days.

“It will be the special collections equivalent of a stampede at a rock concert,” he told the Associated Press.

[Rob Wright]

Four-piece suite required for admission?

[John Riley]

Thank you for this link.

[R. S. Gwynn]

"I believe that I came to persuade myself . . ." Eliot on his marriage and his feelings for Emily Hale.

https://tseliot.com/foundation/state...oE2YWaJAeTlk-I

[Julie Steiner]

Ooooo, that's pretty important. Thanks, Sam.

Most of us will be more interested in his thoughts on poetry than in the soap opera stuff, anyway, but it's good to have that context.

[R. S. Gwynn]

I wonder what he said about poetry to a woman who (he says) didn't like it in general and didn't care for his in particular. Eliot makes it clear that he did not wish his letters to EH suppressed.