In these monthly videos we are locating D.H. Lawrence 100 years ago via his letters. After a brief stint in England he heads to Paris. But the weather is rubbish…
On the 1 January 1924 Lawrence is in his hometown of Nottingham and planning a trip to Pontesbury to meet Frederick Carter. ‘Don’t bother meeting me’ he nonchalantly advises ‘unless you have something else to go to Shrewsbury for,’ and if he does meet him, ‘you will know me by my red beard.[i]’ This will result in Carter’s essay, ‘The Ancient Science of Astrology,’ being published in the April issue of The Adelphi.
Not for the first time in his life, one of Lawrence’s books – this time, Kangaroo – is dismissed as ‘a book no one should read[ii]’ but this is counterbalanced by a review in The TLS that there has ‘never been more of an artist in vision and word.[iii]’
No matter what our feelings on the content of Lawrence’s work, nobody can dispute his commitment to fellow writers, be that through reading manuscripts or equity in collaborations. He informs Mollie Skinner that he will cover ‘the preliminary expenses[iv]’ of typing out The Boy in the Bush and then splitting the royalties 50/50.
But an intermediary is required with Thomas Seltzer who he feels is ‘so frightfully busy, I can’t bear to worry you anymore.[v]’ Curtis Brown is given the task. Seltzer’s career was full of controversy, from his early editorship of the socialist monthly The Masses (1911 – 17) with its publication of radical politics to the two successive obscenity trials defending publication of Women in Love. Quite rightly, then, Lawrence reassures Seltzer that Curtis Brown will ‘comply’ with his demands.
England is as disappointing as he had imagined. ‘Still disliking it here[vi]’ he informs Willard Johnson who had sent him a copy of the December 1923 issue of The Laughing Horse which included Lawrence’s essay ‘Au Revoir, U.S.A.’ – another place he disliked but was planning to return to.
This time, strict rules of engagement are negotiated with Mabel Dodge Luhan to ensure there is no repeat of the ‘vileness of 1923.’ ‘You must learn not to care, not to think, and simply to laugh (…) I am sure seriousness is a disease, today (…) One has to put a new ripple in the ether.[vii]’ The plan is to bring John Middleton Murry and Dorothy Brett with him, though only the latter would make the trip across the pond.
He arrives in Paris towards the end of the month and writes a series of unconvincing letters on the 24th claiming that ‘Paris really is nicer than London[viii]’ then that it is ‘better[ix]’ and a day later it is ‘very like London. There really isn’t much point coming here. It’s the same thing with a small difference,’ he acknowledges that it ‘has great beauty’ but is ‘like a museum.[x]’
The reason for his discontent is the weather. ‘We had one sunny day,’ he laments ‘now it’s dark like London.[xi]’
To see previous video essays from 1923 see our playlist here. To read from the original source, see The Cambridge Edition of The Letters of D.H. Lawrence, Vol IV 1921 – 24 edited by Warren Roberts, James T. Boulton and Elizabeth Mansfield.
References
[i] Letter to Frederick Carter, 1 Jan 1924 (L2998)
[ii] 11 November 1923 Perth Sunday Times.
[iii] 20 September 1923, TLS
[iv] Letter to Mollie Skinner, 13 January 1924 (L3003)
[v] Letter to Thomas Seltzer, 22 January 1924 (L3005)
[vi] Letter to Willard Johnson, 9 January 1924 (L3000)
[vii] Letter to Mabel Dodge Luhan, 9 January 1924 (L3001)
[viii] Letter to Baroness Anna von Richthofen, 24 January 1924 (L3009)
[ix] Letter to Knud Merrild, 24 January 1924 (L3012)
[x] Letter to Catherine Carswell, 25 January 1924 (L3017)
[xi] Letter to Catherine Carswell, 29 January 1924 (L3019)
D.H. Lawrence: A Digital Pilgrimage 