T.S. El
iot's letters: The first volume (which I have) covered his birth (1898) to 1922 and was published in 1988. I'm just beginning to read it now (and it's a massive tome). It's delightful--showing off TSE's light side, and there are even sketches in the letters (my favorite!). Here's an excerpt for your enjoyment, written when he was staying in Germany for a summer:"The country about is really quite charming, hilly and wooded, with nice walks, not too wild; a woody farming country, such as I like--I don't care for 'sublime' scenery, do you? Only one cannot walk far, or one would miss a meal;--for we have five a day. One is either just recovering from a meal or just preparing for one. As I was going out to swim the other day the Frau Superintendent suggested that I had better eat some bread and sausage to fortify myself."
The second volume (which was evidently ready for publication when the first volume was published) was curiously not published until 2009, nineteen years after the first volume. It covers 1923 to 1925. Goodness gracious--just imagine how many letters there are left to edit! (Eliot died in 1965.) For whatever crazy reason, you can't find the second volume for cheaper than $45 dollars online. PLUS, Valerie Eliot (TSE's second wife and literary executor) published a revised edition of the first volume of letters.
It seems that Mrs. Eliot is just very particular about her work, but goodness, it's proceeding slowly! I mean, we owe to her the fact that any of these collections exist (Eliot himself wanted to burn his letters, but she convinced him to let them be published; it was his condition that she be the one to edit them). On the other hand, I'm still mad at Eliot for jilting Emily Hale. Plus, Mrs. Eliot was doing some hardcore stalking in order to get TSE--she even moved closer to him and joined his church.
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