Autograph letter signed : Woodford, to Arthur Moore, [1889 Mar. 5].

ArchivalResource

Dowson, Ernest Christopher, 1867-1900. Autograph letter signed : Woodford, to Arthur Moore, [1889 Mar. 5].

Autograph letter signed : Woodford, to Arthur Moore, [1889 Mar. 5].

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/505217299

Referencing their collaborative work, noting his frequent changes of heart and stating that "if any of my voluminous correspondence with you survives, you endorse the relics with a scathing allusion of consistent inconsistency." Discussing at length a barmaid whom Dowson calls "Lena," who is "a literary girl by the way ... she reads Dickens etc, quotes Tennyson, says that when you have read one of R. Haggard's novels you have read them all." Noting that she is very young and "innocent -- as innocence goes after the earliest teens," and stating that "if the experiment is to be made, this girl is the right one." Encouraging Moore to start an experiment of his own "i.e., a spiritual mistress taken from one of the classes outside Society." Stating that he is not yet in love with "Lena," though he may "with a very slight effort" become so, and emphasizing that "Her greatest charm is her youth: also (a little) her blue apron." Apologizing for boring Moore with this topic, mentioning that he could not broach the topic with Plarr and Image. Noting that the affair is not likely to last longer than a month, and stating that it will not interfere with his work on their collaborative work, "The Passion of Dr. Ludovicus." Interspersing his discussion of "Lena" with a brief discourse on modernity, stating that "this is a hyper-critical age & we who are so intensely modern are not of it with impunity."

1 item (6 p.) ; 17.7 cm.

Pierpont Morgan Library.