BRACERS Record Detail for 19926
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"New Year's Day. 1968 Dearest Colette I hope you are still able to echo my love and good wishes towards you."
There are three versions of this letter written for Malleson for New Year's Day 1969. The first, a brief draft, is dated New Year's day (document .111274ao). The second is dated 16 Dec. 1968 (document .111274an, record 19931). In both of them Russell expresses the hope that his letter may reach her on New Year's Day. This is the third version, which appears to be the one that was sent. It has an envelope pmk. 16 December 1968. Although it is dated New Year's Day (incorrect year), it is more likely that it too was written on 16 Dec. and posted then.
BR TO CONSTANCE MALLESON, [16 DEC. 1968]
BRACERS 19926. ALS. McMaster
Edited by S. Turcon. Reviewed by K. Blackwell
Dearest Colett
I hope you are still able to echo my love and good wishes towards you. If there is anything I can do to make your days happier, please tell me what it is. I have wracked my brains in vain. I hate to feel that for you “the bright day is on and we are for the night”.4
With love as is always,
Ever yours
B
- 1
[document] Document200930.
- 2
[envelope] Lady Constance Malleson | Ponder’s Cottage | Lavenham | Sussex [lined out and replaced with Suffolk in another hand]. Pmk: PENRHYNDEUDRAETH | 5 45 PM | 16 DE | 68 | MERIONETH
- 3
[date] Colette changed BR’s date of “New Year’s Day, 1968” to “16 December 1968”, which matches the pmk. on the envelope. BR obviously meant it for New Year’s 1969.
- 4
“the bright day is on and we are for the night” The correct wording is “the bright day is done, And we are for the dark” (Antony and Cleopatra, V.ii. 227–8. BR had used this quotation once before in their correspondence (16 July 1947, BRACERS 19839).
