The Letters of D. H. Lawrence

by D. H. Lawrence, Warren Roberts, James T. Boulton, Elizabeth Mansfield

Overview

This volume contains 848 letters from the period June 1921 to March 1924. Lawrence decides to leave the old world - 'my heart - and my soul are broken in Europe' - to live in Taos, New Mexico. This period is characterised by the travelling he and Frieda do, from Australia to New York, via Mexico, back to England and finally to New York again. Lawrence's writings of the period reflect his restlessness. The action of Aaron's Rod shifts from a coal-mining town in England to Florence and Kangaroo conveys Lawrence's perceptions of Australia. By 1924, Lawrence is returning to Taos to write his Mexican novel, 'Quetzacoatl', published as The Plumed Serpent. His difficulties with agents and publishers continue to appear in the letters. New correspondences are started with Australians, including Mollie Skinner, the co-author of The Boy in the Bush, and Americans, such as Mabel Luhan, Idella Purnell and Witter Bynner.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521006958
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	06/06/2002
Series:	The Cambridge Edition of the Letters of D. H. Lawrence , #4
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	672
Product dimensions:	5.55(w) x 8.54(h) x 1.69(d)

About the Author

D.H. Lawrence (1885-1930), English novelist, storywriter, critic, poet and painter, one of the greatest figures in 20th-century English literature. Among his works, Sons and Lovers appeared in 1913, The Rainbow in 1915, Women In Love in 1920, and many others.

Date of Birth:

September 11, 1885

Date of Death:

March 2, 1930

Place of Birth:

Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, England

Place of Death:

Vence, France

Education:

Nottingham University College, teacher training certificate, 1908

Table of Contents

List of illustrations; Acknowledgments; Note on the text; Lawrence: a chronology,1921–1924; Maps; Introduction; Letters 2243–3090; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'The splendid Cambridge Edition of the Letters of D. H. Lawrence is most welcome. It has all the virtues of a good modern scholarly edition of a writer's letters. Though one has already been familiar with many aspects of Lawrence's personality in his other writings, this comprehensive edition of his letters projects a cohesive self-portriat of the living artist.' English Studies: A Journal of English Language and Literature

From the Publisher

Lawrence wrote the 763 letters in this volume in the last 15 months of his life. Most of the letters are previously unpublished; many more are available only in incomplete texts. A large number concern ``business,'' and Lawrence's poor health noticeably saps his energy. The letters are also shadowed by Lawrence's growing awareness that he would die before reaching his 45th birthday. Still, the characteristic Lawrentian spirit is here in abundance. The letters are masterfully but unobtrusively edited by Sagar and Boulton, two English academics. It's fair to say that they know more about Lawrence's life than he knew himself. Volume 8 will mainly provide a comprehensive index to the over 5500 letters of the first seven volumes. This edition of Lawrence's letters will stand as a monument of modern literary scholarship; all research collections should own it.-- Keith Cushman, Univ. of North Carolina, Greensboro

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