RICHARD ALDINGTON: A BIOGRAPHY Also by Charles Doyle JAMES K. BAXTER WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS: THE CRITICAL HERITAGE (editor) *WILLIAM CARLOS WILLIAMS AND THE AMERICAN POEM WALLACE STEVENS: THE CRITICAL HERITAGE (editor) *Also published by PalgraveMacmillan Richard Aldington: A Biography CHARLES DOYLE M MACMILLAN ©CharlesDoyle1989 Softcoverreprintofthehardcover 1stedition 1989 All rights reserved.No reproduction, copyortransmission of this publicationmay be madewithoutwritten permission. No paragraphof this publicationmay be reproduced,copied or transmittedsave with written permissionor in accordance with theprovisionsof the CopyrightAct 1956(as amended), or under the terns of anylicense permittinglimitedcopying issued by the CopyrightLicensing Agency,33-4Alfred Place, London WC1E 7DP. Anyperson who does any unauthorisedact in relation to this publication may be liable to criminalprosecution and civil claims for damages. Firstpublished in 1989 Published by THE MACMILLAN PRESSLTD Houndmills,Basingstoke, HampshireRG212XS and London Companiesand representatives throughout the world British LibraryCataloguing in Publication Data Doyle, Charles, 1928- Richard Aldington:a biography. 1.Englishliterature.Aldington, Richard, 1892-1962 I. Title 828'.91209 ISI3N978-1-349-10226-6 ISBN 978-1-349-10224-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-10224-2 To Alister Kershaw Contents ListofIllustrations ix Acknowledgements Xl Introduction xiii 1 Chrysalis,1892-1911 1 2 PoundandH.D.,1912-13 13 3 Egoists,1914 26 4 Images,LostandFound,1915-16 38 5 War, 1916-18 54 6 Aftermaths,1919-20 68 7 Malthouse Cottage: Working at the Writer's Trade, 1921-25 77 8 MalthouseCottage:Eliot,1919-27 90 9 MalthouseCottage:TheLate1920s,1926-28 106 10 Port-CrosandAfter,1928-29 119 11 ACareerasaNovelist,1929-31 138 12 1931-33 151 13 1933--36 164 14 1937-38 177 15 FarewelltoEurope,1939-40 191 16 1941-42 206 17 1943--46 215 18 1946-50 230 19 1950-54 245 20 TheT.E.LawrenceAffair,1950-55 261 21 1954-57 275 vii viii Contents 22 MaisonSalle,1957-59 289 23 1959-61 300 24 1962 313 Notes 326 Bibliography 355 Index 370 • List of Illustrations 1. Richard Aldington in 1905. (Estate ofMargeryLyon Gilbert.) 2. Richard Aldington aged 19, 1911. (Morris Library, Southern Illinois University.) 3. Hilda Doolittle (H.D.) in 1913. (Beinecke Library, Yale University.) 4. A group of fellow-poets visit Wilfred Scawen Blunt, January 1914. (Courtesy of the Rt. Hon. Earl of Lytton, aBE.) 5. AmultiplephotographofDorothy(Arabella)Yorke. (Estateof Professor Alfred Satterthwaite.) 6. Richard Aldington as an army officer, 1918. (Beinecke Library.) 7. D. H. Lawrence's portrait painting of Dorothy Yorke. (Beinecke Library.) 8. BrigitPatmore as ayoung woman. (Estate ofProfessorAlfred Satterthwaite.) 9. Osbert Sitwell and Richard Aldington in the gardens at Montegufoni. (Morris Library.) 10. Richard Aldington, by Man Ray, late 1920s. (Beinecke Library.) 11. Richard Aldington, photograph takenfor aHarrod's window displayin thelate 1920s.(VaughanandFreemanphoto. Estate of Margery Lyon Gilbert.) 12. Richard Aldington (photograph by Madam Yevonde). According to Brigit Patmore, this was taken shortly after publication of Deathof aHeroin 1929. 13. Aldington and Brigit Patmore in the South of France, early 1930s. (From Brigit Patmore's My Friends When Young.) 14. Richard and Netta Aldington in the late 1930s. (Courtesy of Catherine Aldington Guillaume.) 15. Richard and Netta Aldington in the early 1940s. (Beinecke Library.) 16. Henry Williamson and Alister Kershaw, 1949. (Courtesy of Alister Kershaw.) 17. Aldington in Montpellier, 1955. (Courtesy of F.-J. Temple.) 18. H.D. in 1956. (Beinecke Library.) 19. Richard Aldington, Lawrence Durrell, Henry Miller and Jacques Temple. (Courtesy of F.-J. Temple.) ix x 20. AldingtonwithhisdaughterCatherineinLeningrad,lateJune 1962. (Courtesy of Catherine Aldington Guillaume.) 21. AldingtonandCatherineinthegardensofPetrodvorets,1962. (Courtesy of Catherine Aldington Guillaume.) 22. Aldington broadcastingin Russia, 1962.(Courtesyof Cather ine Aldington Guillaume.) 23. At Valentin Kataev's dacha, at Peredelkino near Moscow. Kataev is on the left, Aldington next to him, Catherine in the centre. (Courtesy of Catherine Aldington Guillaume.) 24. Aldingtonwithagroupofhis MaisonSalle neighbours,1962. (Courtesy of Catherine Aldington Guillaume.)