Add MS 74259

Lawrence Durrell: proof copy Cities, Plains and People, a collection of poems by Lawrence George Durrell (b.1912, d.1990); followed by letters from Durrell to Gwyn Williams (b.1904, d.1990), translator, poet and critic; 1945-1982, n.d. Mostly printed and typewritten. See also Add. 73092-73162, the Lawrence Durrell Collection bequeathed by Alan Thomas, especially Add. 73121 and 73146 which contain correspondence of Durrell and Thomas with Gwyn Williams. Purchased at Phillips; 13 Nov. 1998.

Paper; ff. i + 95. British Library arrangement.

1. ff. 1-33. Revise proofs of Durrell's second major collection of poems Cities, Plains and People (1946) annotated by Durrell and T. S. Eliot; 1945. In pale green wrappers stamped with an Olympian head. The cover bears the autograph inscription 'To good Master Williams of Alexandria authority on Shakespeare ― and Dark Ladies ― Larry Durrell' and below 'Gwyn I thought you might like to have this for Christmas. ― It contains everything except '8 aspects of Melissa' some little poems for Eve [Cohen] which are being added before the book goes to press in January'. The half title is inscribed by Eliot in pencil 'Revise, please complete'.

The poems are: 'This Unimportant Morning': ― 'Pilot': ―'For a Nursery Mirror': ― 'Pearls': ― 'Levant': ― 'Alexandria': ― 'Water Music': ― 'Possible Worlds': ― 'Coptic Poem': ― 'Mythology': ― 'In Europe': ― 'For Gipsy Cohen': ―'Six Landscape Painters of Greece': ― 'Byron': ― 'La Rochefoucauld': ― 'On the First Looking into Loeb's Horace': ― 'Heloise and Abelard': ― 'Fabre': ― 'Poggio': ― 'Delos': ― 'Conon in Alexandria': ― 'Mareotis': ― 'Two Poems in Basic English': ― 'Cities, Plains and People'. The proofs are marked throughout with corrections by Durrell. On f. 25 is a note in Eliot's hand: 'Take in 2 new poems after this', the poems as indicated on the contents page being 'Greek Church: Alexandria' and 'Pressmarked Urgent'.

2. ff. 34-37. Poems, 'Manoli': ― 'Mark': ―'In Carpathos': ― 'Robert Liddell at the Sphinx': ― 'An Poet to his Poem' [sic]: ― ['Rodini'], beg. 'Windless planes above Rodini…': ― 'Dimitri'; (1944-1946). Typewritten with autograph annotations in pencil.

3. ff. 38-82v. Letters from Durrell to Williams; March 1946 - 2 Jan. 1982; n.d. Partly typewritten. The early letters (ff. 38-45), written from Rhodes where he served as Public Information Officer attached to the British Embassy, These letters refer to his divorce from Nancy Isobel Myers (1912-1983), his first wife in 1946. Also mentions 'E', Yvette (Eve) Cohen who would go on to become his second wife in 1947. They divorced in 1956. Durrell married his third wife Claude-Marie Forde (c.1926-1967), in 1961 and her name features in the later letters. There are a number of references to his work including a book about Alexandria (f. 74), a new novel with a chapter about Cairo (f. 57); this is a possible reference to The Alexandrian Quarter (1957-1960). Also references to him writing a new novel in 1973 (ff. 68, 70). Durrell also wrote a number of plays and he mentions finishing his third verse plays (f. 48). One of these was An Irish Faustus and it was produced in 1963 (f. 51), Durrell sent a flyer as a postcard to Williams (f. 50). Some letters relate to his poetry including Bitter Lemons (1957), the product of a three year stay in Cyprus (f. 59). Also mentions finishing off a collection of poems for Faber in 1966, possibly The Ikons and Other Poems' (f. 61). The letter reveal the range of projects he undertook throughout his life, including a film script and commission for 'Holiday' magazine (f. 48), he lectured about himself at the Centre Pompidou, Paris (f. 76) and prepared a recit for Sophia Loren but she disliked the first draft (f. 77) The letters also highlight the problems that Durrell had with money. In his later letters he becomes more aware of what he has done with his life and even mentions writing his autobiography at aged fifty three (f. 53). During his lifetime he employed Ian MacNiven to write his biography (ff. 72, 76).

4. ff. 83-90. Memoirs of Lawrence Durrell supplied by Williams to Ian MacNiven. Copy of 'Durrell in Egypt' and two poems by Durrell: 'Against Cairo: An Ode': ― [Untitled], beg. 'It was notte mere causality'. Also includes the copy of a letter from Williams to MacNiven; 28 April 1987.

5. ff. 91-92. Miscellaneous photographs. Photograph of Williams, Durrell and Eve [Cohen] on the beach; n.d. Photograph of men dressed in uniform surrounding an elderly man, annotated 'The only inhabitant of Syrina. He thought war had broken out again'. Verso ' from Larry 1945'.

6. f. 93. Durrell's bookplate, removed from a bottle of olive oil; n.d.

7. f. 94. Durrell's printed Dodecanese Islands visiting card inscribed 'Gwyn! Copies for you, Harold, Robert, Bryn and [Panagrot opines]'; n.d.

8. f. 95. Copy of Gwyn Williams's obituary published in The Independent; 21 Jan. 1991.