Correspondence with and relating to G[han Shyam] Singh, translator and professor of Italian at The Queen's University of Belfast. This principally relates to the preparation and publication of Eugenio Montale's Selected essays, introduced and translated from the Italian by Singh (Carcanet, 1978). Includes correspondence with Singh himself, publishers Arnoldo Mondadori who held Italian copyright in the essays, Italian publishers Il Saggiatore, and Rupa and Co., publishers based in Calcutta, India. Reference is made to: Singh's initial approach to Schmidt in January 1977 suggesting a volume of essays by Montale on Italian, English, American, French and Russian writers; plans to publish some of the essays in PN Review; Singh's process of translating, selecting and compiling the volume; copyright permission; contractual issues; and the possibility of Rupa and Co. reprinting the book for the Indian market. Also includes one copy letter from Schmidt to Montale himself.
The file also contains material relating to Ezra Pound: in addition to two letters relating to Singh's thoughts on Schmidt's 1976 radio broadcast on Pound (/11 and /13), there are two copy letters from Schmidt to Olga Rudge relating to: Rudge's hopes of reissuing Ezra Pound's If this be treason; Schmidt's interest in issuing it in Britain; and the possibility of Carcanet publishing a selection of Rudge's letters to Pound. Includes one postcard from Rudge (/4).
Singh's letters were sent from Belfast, [County Antrim], Northern Ireland, and Sweden. They are in both holograph and typescript formats.