Beschreibung:

WALEY, Arthur (1889-1966). Series of approximately 127 autograph letters signed (4 incomplete) and 32 autograph postcards signed to Beryl de Zoete (superscribed and signed with a variety of pet names and Chinese characters), the majority London (50 Gordon Square, Bradford Hotel etc), also Zagreb, Norway, the Engadin and elsewhere, virtually all incompletely dated [1918-1961]; with 17 autograph letters and postcards signed by Beryl de Zoete to Waley, the majority n.p., n.d. [c.1918-1949], including 5 from Ceylon in 1949; also 59 letters, cards (mostly) and notes signed by Waley to Alison Robinson [Waley], various places, [1943-1955], and a collection of autograph and typescript drafts of her letters to Waley, or related notes.
WALEY, Arthur (1889-1966). Series of approximately 127 autograph letters signed (4 incomplete) and 32 autograph postcards signed to Beryl de Zoete (superscribed and signed with a variety of pet names and Chinese characters), the majority London (50 Gordon Square, Bradford Hotel etc), also Zagreb, Norway, the Engadin and elsewhere, virtually all incompletely dated [1918-1961]; with 17 autograph letters and postcards signed by Beryl de Zoete to Waley, the majority n.p., n.d. [c.1918-1949], including 5 from Ceylon in 1949; also 59 letters, cards (mostly) and notes signed by Waley to Alison Robinson [Waley], various places, [1943-1955], and a collection of autograph and typescript drafts of her letters to Waley, or related notes. Inevitably Waley's letters to his long-term partner are concentrated at the very outset of their relationship, and on periods of separation, notably during the Blitz when he remained in Bloomsbury and during de Zoete's expedition to Ceylon in 1949. The early letters are markedly hesitant about detaching de Zoete from a previous relationship, suggesting with infinite caution in a letter postmarked 9 August 1918 that 'It seems to me that you might work towards ultimately reaching a point when you could be perfectly frank about me with Mr Mathews ... No doubt in the beginning I was a joke to you, just as the first time I dined with you, you were a joke to me. But you have long since ceased to be a joke to me'; an undated letter of a similar date discusses marriage in a similar tone, 'You said you did not feel prepared to say now whether you would marry me in April. I never asked this. I suggested you might make up your mind by April whether you wanted to marry me at all'. An extensive series of letters written during the Blitz give a vivid picture of life in Bloomsbury at that time, between Gordon Square and the Ministry of Information (in Senate House): 'a tornado of time-bombs last night ... The removal squads are quite inadequate in numbers, & the risk of removal enormous'; 'The raids are worse again. I little thought to find our house this morning'; 'On leaving the Ministry I found a rope across Malet St & was told there was a time bomb in the courtyard of the Gordon Square church ... Bicycling is very tricky, owing to all the roads being powdered with broken glass'; 'Sept 23 ... A glorious morning, but not so glorious a night. The Ministry was hit twice ... There were also bombs on the B.M., Southampton Row, next door to the newsagents in Torrington Place ... & time-bombs galore'. The remaining letters touch on a rich variety of subjects, from his writing and research to his relations with Ezra Pound, Sir Kenneth Clark and other friends in the Bloomsbury world. Waley's correspondence with his future wife, Alison Grant Robinson, chiefly comprises the briefest notes, suggesting an elusive and apologetic relationship: 'I shall be delighted to see you, on condition you don't say nasty things about Beryl'; 'I hate to cause you pain & disappointment'; 'Will you obey me or not?'.