February 1, 1978
O Mark!
This will be to make note of certain things I have in accumulation to speak of to you. 1) Have you received the copy of the autumn issue of the Toronto Quarterly that I sent you a while ago (by air mail)? 2) What is happening as to the tape-recording? -- anything? 3) In the absence of responding word to my repeated query as to whether or not you know who Sally ‘is’ I record that she is a niece of Robert Graves (actually, a half-niece – her father of the children of a first wife, R.G. being of the children of the second wife, of A.P. Graves). She is Mrs E.M. Chilver, Principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. She is a friend of very long duration, and of purest fidelity to me. 4) I have thought that, besides that there might be matter in Chelsea 35 of useful reference for your Selected Poems review, that there might be useful reference material, on other things, in my writing on Plath, Hughes, etc., in the Univ. of Toronto Quarterly issue sent you. I mention this just for possible information.
5) What of the book on Jonathan Cape and that letter? Give me some sign as to this. If you cannot attain access to the book, I can make some effort from here. Such things I want to slap down into their place to the possiblest – what an invention, what an idea!
6) Do you have a copy of the commentary of I wrote on the Wexler dissertation. The material ought to be very useful to you. I am not clear whether Alan has a carbon of it, or a Xerox copy of it all.
7) Do you have any material sent to you by me from my correspondence with Terence Diggory? Also, as to his doctoral dissertation, of which there must be a copy at Oxford (Yeats in America, i.e., influence of Yeats in developments related to Yeats, in U.S.A.) It should be read by anyone interested in my work: Xeroxes taken (if allowed!) of passages treating me, my work, in the text proper, and in the notes!
8) I think now and then of you and the book on language. I can’t think of any immediate possibility of your having access to the entire text. There may be call on Alan before long for presenting the text to someone (a publisher) in England for consideration. I keep this matter in mind.
9) Finally: will you please ask George whether or not I have sent him a copy of Jim’s letter on the Washington Star review of the Matthews book. I am not clear from my notes whether I have done so, or not. If I have not, will you, please, send him a copy, made from your copy?
I am sending for a review of the Matthews book and a copy of what I have done as to it.
Please, ensure that Alan sees this, the review: send it to him for return to you if you cannot get a clear Xerox of it. And ask him, please, to provide a copy to Sally. Copies of my letters on it should be clearly xeroxable. But if needed send it all in his copy for himself and for Sally for return to you. I ask this of you because I am laden with tasks.
I know you are in correspondence with Jim. I am glad of this!
Laura
See over, please.
11) What is the status of Japanese article [Bias]? What is the prime reason of the prolonged suspension of action regarding it? I ask this not from my wish to press for action, but to know why the matter has got so prolonged, bogged down. If it is just that you are under, have for some time been under, serious work and personal strains, I will have an ease of understanding as to it (not, ease about you being under strains!). If there is another cause, additional to problems of yours, or a cause which exclusively attributes to the suspension, I’d care to know of it.