BR TO CONSTANCE MALLESON, 12 JAN. 1946
BRACERS 19826. ALS. McMaster
Edited by S. Turcon. Reviewed by K. Blackwell

Grosvenor Lodge, Babraham Rd.,
Cambridge1
12.1.46.

Dearest Colette

I have two letters of yours to answer,2 and I will begin with plans. I quite understand your wanting to wait till after about Feb. 10, so let us take that as settled. I shall have to be in London3 very often about then, as I have a weekly lecture at University College4 in addition to B.B.C.5 and occasional House of Lords,6 so perhaps it might be pleasanter if we met first in London, where we could have more undisturbed talk. There have been so many years of separate and important experience since we last met that it will take some time to catch up with each other. Here we should be continually interrupted by Conrad, telephone, etc. Will you have any place in London where we can conveniently meet? I am engaged every Thursday and on Feb. 11 and 12; otherwise, I could fit in with what suits you.

On the face of it, I don’t think you would be right to decide to stay in Finland. But let us discuss it when we meet. I feel the Russians will make it impossible to do any good in Finland.

I forget whether I told you that I found it was illegal for my Swedish publishers to pay you money due to me.

I should like immensely to see your No. 1 book;7 better when I come to see you than here, where other work would prevent me from giving all my mind to it.

Now for your 2nd letter. I am glad you enjoy my book.8 Sorry about Heraclitus; when I came to look into him closely I found he was a fascist and anti-scientific, so, though I still like him,9 I felt I mustn’t praise him.

Rostovtseff10 is a Russian historian who deals with ancient history; he is good, but I know nothing about him.

“Thales” is pronounced “Thaleze”.

Kapitza11 worked at Cambridge, but went to Russia every Longa Vacation. At last the Russians kidnapped him, gave him a fine lab, and ordered him to work for them. (The atomic bomb was already in prospect.) The Royal Society made a tremendous fuss, in vain. No English person has, since, been allowed to see him tête-à-tête, but his friends here believe he is very unhappy.

I don’t know which next-door neighbour you mean. Conrad is universally beloved. His eyelashes are of incredible length, his eyes blue and lustrous, his legs a perfect shape; he is intelligent, eager, and humane.

Goodbye dearest Colette, with much love.

Ever your
B.

• 1

  [document] Document 200832.

• 2

  two letters of yours to answer Neither letter is extant.

• 3

  have to be in London BR is not that revealing about his plans in this letter. On 15 December 1945 he had sold Grosvenor Lodge, although the Russells had possession until the following 31 July, and were planning to get a pied-à-terre in London. On 12 February he was to lunch with George Orwell.

• 4

  a weekly lecture at University College It is not known what he lectured on or for how long. For another reference to the lecture see BRACERS 56416.

• 5

  B.B.C. BR was appearing regularly on the popular Brains Trust radio panel. Transcripts of the programmes will appear in Papers 24.

• 6

  occasional House of Lords BR spoke at the House of Lords on “The International Situation” (B&R C45.26) on 28 November and on “The Situation in Central Europe” (B&R C45.28) on 5 December 1945. The two speeches are 66 and 54, respectively, in Papers 24, forthcoming.

• 7

  No. 1 book Without her letter, it is not possible to know what book BR means. He may be referring to her In the North, which was published by Gollancz later in 1946.

• 8

  my book  A History of Western Philosophy (B&R A79).

• 9

  still like him BR had a favourable opinion of Heraclitus when he was in Brixton Prison.

• 10

  Rostovtseff Michael I. Rostovtzeff (1870–1952), archaeologist and classical historian. He fled Russia in 1918. In 1920 he became Professor of Ancient History at the University of Wisconsin before joining the faculty at Yale, where he remained until 1944.

• 11

  Kapitza Peter Kapitza (1894–1984), physicist. Kapitza, F.R.S., was a Fellow of Trinity College and Director of the Royal Society Mond Laboratory at Cambridge, working with Lord Rutherford. He had been at Cambridge since 1923, although he always returned to Russia during the Long Vacation. In 1934, he was prevented from returning to Britain and was ordered to stay in the Soviet Union to conduct his research. He did not return to Britain until 1961, and then only for a visit.

Textual Notes

• a

  Long editorially corrected from Lord