Correspondence of Beryl Graves

Correspondence between Graves and his second wife takes place, naturally, during periods of separation. These include: the months in 1939 before Beryl Graves's return to England from the US; the time of the birth of their son, Juan, in 1944; the hospitalisation of their son, William, in hospital in Barcelona in 1947; when Beryl Graves took their children, Lucia and Juan, to school in Geneva in 1957; during Graves's lecture tours to the US in 1957, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1966 and 1967; when Graves was in hospital in London in 1959 and 1966; when Graves visited Greece with Lucia in 1961; when Beryl Graves visited Russia in 1965 and 1968; when Graves visited Mexico, with Aemilia Laraçuen in 1965, and again in 1968 to attend the Olympics; and when Graves visited Australia in 1967. Correspondence from Graves to Beryl Graves dates from 1939 to 1975. Correspondence from Beryl Graves to Graves dates from 1944 to 1969. Undated letter from "Drayton Great Park", marked in another hand "[1970?]" uses verso of fragment of draft of poem beginning "Constant pain keeps love at a proud distance [...]".

Material arrived sorted by correspondent, and grouped into broad date bands; the broad date bands have been consolidated into single chronological series for each correspondent. The chronological arrangement is approximate in parts.

Canelluñ Collection number: CC0424

This refers to the arrangement of the papers in Robert Graves’ study before they were transferred to the College.

A postcard bearing a photograph of William Graves as a baby [1941], apparently written to John Aldridge, was originally found in this material but moved to Graves RG/J/Aldridge. Postcard from Graves and Catherine Dalton (2 May 1970) originally filed with material from Hungary (WG ref CC0445); placed here during cataloguing.