[Archive]: A Collection of Wartime Letters from E.M. Forster to English Author Robert Goodyear, 1940-45

A small cache of eight autograph letters and cards written by the acclaimed author E.M. Forster, best known for *A Room with a View*, *Howards End*, and *A Passage to India*. The collection consists of five letters and three cards written to Robert Goodyear (1877-1948), an English author of popular fiction for boys, and of the novel *Mrs. Loveday* (1944). Written from Forster’s house "West Hackhurst" to Goodyear in London (Russell Court), the letters feature good, varied content, in which Forster discusses several artworks by the American painter Paul Cadmus, and refers to various trips to London to broadcast for the BBC (and meet-up with Goodyear). For example, in a letter from 23 November, 1940 (transcribed only in part, as Forster’s handwriting is difficult to read): Forster reflects on Cadmus and the blitz: "Thank you for your very nice letter, and for remembering about the [Paul] Cadmuses. I like their attractive grossness (that of Bruegel is [out to repel?], I think): particularly ‘Horse Play’! … and a looking glass version of ‘Fleet’s In’ … Yesterday I went to London to broadcast, first evacuating my household, which, with the whole village, was ordered off because of a land mine … I am glad you like my novel and hope you will do something yourself. What I did isn’t bad, but inevitably it dates, and is in the ethical and economic framework of its age … / It is wretched having no[where?] of one’s own to live in, if often occurs to me how little I have had to endure so far – not even one night in a shelter. I’m glad your flat’s not … absolutely down and out, but it’s a terribly dangerous district. If you are near the Imperial Institute some time, do look at the show of Indian Photographs which the Warburg Institute has staged. It’s awfully intelligent and exciting – I was broadcasting to India on it … Yours, E.M. Forster." Forster also comments on Goodyear’s novel Mrs. Loveday in a letter from 18 May 1942: "I have much enjoyed your serious and amusing novel. It all ran so naturally, and contrary to my internal prophesies, I kept my sympathy for Clare. I think it is a real triumph, not to have allowed her to say or do anything vulgar. Kate is of course adorable, and generally speaking the social presentation in the book is excellent. I do hope it gets published …" (Forster reviewed the novel when it was published in 1944). A few letters are lightly toned, near fine. A thoughtful and revealing cache of letters deserving further research. A list of all eight letters and cards follows: 1. Post Card, Signed. West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking. 23 May 1940. "It will be very nice to meet before you go off. I am coming up on Sunday night for a short time and hope something can be arranged, though evenings look a little difficult. I am lunching in your direction Tuesday, I think. / I will ring you, and see what can be done. My other phone no. will be Chiswick 2407. E.M. Forster." 2. ALS. Small quarto (7" x 9"). 2pp. West Hackhurst, Abinger Hammer, Dorking. 23 November 1940. "Thank you for your very nice letter, and for remembering about the [Paul] Cadmuses. I like their attractive grossness (that of Bruegel is [out to repel?], I think): particularly ‘Horse Play’! … and a looking glass version of ‘Fleet’s In’ … / I have had a fairly good time lately … Yesterday I went to London to broadcast, first evacuating my household, which, with the whole village, was ordered off because of a land mine. Now we are all as we were, with landmines too, I think. I am worried about them at Four [?], and still more about M. Wilson’s business. I am glad you like my novel and hope you will do something yourself. What I did isn’t bad, but inevitably it dates, and is in the ethical and economic framework of its age … / It is wretched having no[where?] of one’s own to live in, if often occurs to me how little I have had to endure so far – not even one night in a shelter. I’m glad your flat’s not … absolutely down and out, but it’s a terribly dangero. …