July 25 Sunday

Everyone exhausted by yesterday & no Alice: got up & got 4 breakfasts. Then with Alix cooked lunch for 7 – Alix, Harry, Mary Lucy, James, Mary, Laura, me.
Rested in early[RG] afternoon & finished going over Belisarius.
Ros came with her three ×××× [indecipherable] boys & Jim & a German nurse & a Baronin Elfrida[RG]1 von something in Wartemburg. Sticky & Roz talked nonsense in a[RG] conversationaly polite way. Her eldest boy sneaked a golf-ball.
Retired to bed with toothache after supper & goodbye to James & Mary.[RG]
Laura talking with M.L. most of the day.
I gave Alan instructions as to what to look up for Ch. [Chapter] 2 of Belisarius.
Biggest battle of War : at Brunete, which has been retaken by Franco.

Editorial Notes

1Elfride KG

Hands Referenced

    • Annotation: ink correction
    • Character: regular
    • Ink: black

Places Mentioned

  • Brunete

    Brunete, New Castile, Spain
    City outside of Madrid eds.

People Mentioned

  • Laura

    Riding, Laura
    (1901-91) American poet. Laura Riding (née Reichenthal; then Laura Gottschalk).

  • Alix Kemp

    Kemp, Alix
    Married to poet Harry Kemp. The couple shared a house with Graves and Riding in Ewhurst, Surrey (1937). eds (RPG 277); also referred to as Frau Eierman by RG eds. see Diary August 30, 1936

  • Alan

    Hodge, Alan
    Oxford history graduate. Became close friends with LR & RG. First husband of Beryl Graves. CP & WG

  • Harry Kemp

    Kemp, Harry
    Poet. Met Graves and Riding through James Reeves in August 1936, just after their arrival in England. In their previous correspondence, Riding had been intrigued by his falling-out with Communism. He became associated with their circle, collaborating on various projects. (RPG 248-49)

  • Alice Mace

    Mace, Alice
    maid at Ewhurst, 1937 eds.

  • James

    Reeves, James
    Schoolmaster, writer and Poet. Friend of Jacob Bronowski. W.G./ K.G.; m. to Mary Phillips; daughter Stella born June 14, 1938 eds.

  • Mary

    Reeves, Mary
    wife of James Reeves; daughter Stella born 14 June, 1938 eds.

  • Mary Lucy

    Lucy, Mary
    Visited R.G. and L.R. at Ewhurst. An admirer of both Graves and Riding, but her marital problems brought tensions to their household. See diary entry January 2, 1938 (and K.G. note).

  • Ros

    Cooper, Rosaleen Dr.
    Dr. Rosaleen Cooper, R.G.'s sister. W.G.; husband Jim, sons Dan, Roger & Paul RPG.

  • Jim

    Cooper, Jim
    RG's brother-in-law, married to Ros, son Roger eds.

  • Franco

    Franco, General
    Spanish General; led the Nationalist forces against the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War; Spanish Head of State from 1939-1969.

Bibliography

    • Title: Count Belisarius [1938]
    • Author: Graves, Robert
    • PubPlace: London
    • Publisher: Cassell
    • Idno: A47
    • Date: 1937-07-21