BRACERS Record Detail for 120055
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This typed copy of BR's presumed holograph letter was made by White and Williams and enclosed with White's letter of 11 July 1946, record 120054.
BR outlines his plan of dealing with Barnes with regard to the boxes in Farr's possession. The boxes contain private letters, including those of other people "given into our charge to avoid the war-time censorship of two governments."
BR TO WHITE AND WILLIAMS / T.R. WHITE, 8 JULY 1946
BRACERS 120055. ALS(TC). Caroline Farr
Proofread by K. Blackwell
Trinity College,
Cambridge,
July 8, 1946.
Dear Mr. White:
I am sorry Dr. Barnes is showing his usual form. As he is so obstructive there is no point in my being conciliatory.
1. I cannot consent to the boxes in Mr. Farr’s custody being opened. They contain private letters not only my wife’s and mine, but those <of other> people’s, given into our charge to avoid the war-time censorship of two governments.
2. I had been willing, for the sake of peace, not to contest Dr. Barnes’s assertion that the books were a loan. In fact, however, this assertion is untrue. I am prepared to state ona oath that the books were a gift.
3. Since, nevertheless, I should still prefer to avoid a Court action, I suggest that Dr. Barnes should be asked to agree to one or more of the two following courses:
(a) that I should supply him with other copies of the same books (if obtainable);
(b) that he should allow the boxes to be returned to England with a guarantee from me that I will return his books to him if they are in the boxes.
I should be glad to know whether he had a legal right to object to (a). If I had borrowed a penny he would not have a right to insist upon my returning the same penny.
Would you be so kind as to let Mr. Farr know the gist of this letter?
Yours sincerely,
Bertrand Russell
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