The Life of D. H. Lawrence

475 Pages·2016·5.481 MB·English

by  Andrew Harrison

The Life of D. H. Lawrence
BLACkWELL CRiTiCAL BioGRAPHiES
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The Life of
D. H. Lawrence
A Critical Biography
Andrew Harrison
This edition first published 2016
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Library of Congress Cataloging‐in‐Publication Data
Names: Harrison, Andrew, 1973– author.
Title: The life of D. H. Lawrence / Andrew Harrison.
Description: 1 | Chichester, Sussex : Wiley-Blackwell, 2016. | Series: Wiley blackwell critical
biographies | includes index. | includes bibliographical references and index.
identifiers: LCCN 2015044565 (print) | LCCN 2016001782 (ebook) | iSBN 9780470654781
(hardback) | iSBN 9781119072683 (ePub) | iSBN 9781119101291 (Adobe PDF)
Subjects: LCSH: Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert), 1885-1930. | Authors, English–20th
century–Biography. | BiSAC: LiTERARY CRiTiCiSM / European / English, irish, Scottish, Welsh.
Classification: LCC PR6023.A93 Z63125 2016 (print) | LCC PR6023.A93 (ebook) |
DDC 823/.912–dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015044565
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover image: D. H. Lawrence in the cloisters of the cathedral at Cuernavaca, Mexico, c.5 April 1923.
(Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham, La WB 1/13.)
Set in 10/12pt Bembo by SPi Global, Pondicherry, india
1 2016
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations xi
Preface xvi
Part I Literary Formation, 1885–1912 1
1 Early Voices, September 1885–October 1908 3
2 Literary London, October 1908–April 1910 31
3 ‘A Small but Individual Name’, April 1910–May 1912 49
Part II UnEnglished, 1912–1914 79
4 ‘Coming Out Wholesome and Myself’, May 1912–May 1913 81
5 Forging a Career, June 1913–August 1914 106
Part III The Bitterness of the War and
its Aftermath, 1914–1919 125
6 ‘The Real Fighting Line’, August 1914–December 1915 127
7 Outlaw, December 1915–April 1918 150
8 ‘Laid Up’, May 1918–November 1919 177
Part IV Europe Again, 1919–1922 197
9 Italy and Sicily, November 1919–December 1920 199
10 End of the Line, January 1921–February 1922 218
v
Contents
Part V New Worlds and Old Worlds, 1922–1925 235
11 Ceylon and Australia, February–August 1922 237
12 On to America, August 1922–November 1923 247
13 Broken Bonds, December 1923–July 1924 270
14 Writing for the Race, August 1924 –September 1925 283
Part VI Returning, 1925–1927 303
15 Understanding, September 1925–April 1926 305
16 Writing and Painting, April 1926–March 1927 319
Part VII ‘Unfailing Courage’, 1927–1930 339
17 Friendship and Isolation, March 1927 –May 1928 341
18 ‘Dropping a Little Bomb in the World’s Crinoline
of Hypocrisy’, May 1928–August 1929 363
19 ‘Living on his Spirit’, August 1929 –March 1930 394
Afterword 406
Bibliography 411
Index 420
vi
List of Illustrations
1 The Lawrence family, c.1895. Back row: Emily, George, Ernest. Front row:
Ada, Lydia, Bert (D. H. Lawrence), Arthur. (Manuscripts and Special
Collections, The University of Nottingham, La R 8.) 6
2 The Chambers family outside Haggs Farm, c.1899: May, Bernard, Mollie,
Edmund, Ann, David, Jessie, Hubert, Alan. (Manuscripts and Special
Collections, The University of Nottingham, La Ch 60.) 9
3 D. H. Lawrence, March 1905. Photograph by George Holderness.
(Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham,
La R 8.) 14
4 The copy of Maurice Greiffenhagen’s painting ‘An Idyll’ made by
Lawrence for his sister Ada and begun on the day of his mother’s
death, 9 December 1910. (Manuscripts and Special Collections,
The University of Nottingham, La Pc 2/7.) 55
5 Frieda Weekley with two of her children, Monty and Barbara,
Nottingham, c.1905. (Manuscripts and Special Collections,
The University of Nottingham, La We 6/2.) 73
6 Frieda Weekley and D. H. Lawrence, Bavaria, late April or May 1913.
(Photography Collection, D. H. Lawrence Literary File P–59,
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.) 103
7 D. H. Lawrence, London, late summer 1915. (© National Portrait
Gallery, London.) 141
8 D. H. Lawrence and his nephew, Jack Clarke, Mountain Cottage,
Middleton‐by‐Wirksworth, Derbyshire, c.18–20 May 1918. (Manuscripts
and Special Collections, The University of Nottingham, La Z 8/1/1/7.) 178
9 D. H. Lawrence and Kai Gøtzsche working at the Del Monte Ranch,
New Mexico, December 1922. (Courtesy of Steffen Lange.) 253
10 Pencil drawing by Kai Gøtzsche of D. H. Lawrence, Knud Merrild and
Gøtzsche on horseback in New Mexico, c.January 1923.
vii
List of Illustrations
(The D. H. Lawrence Papers, Collection No. 1976.013. Department of
Special Collections and University Archives, McFarlin Library,
The University of Tulsa. Tulsa, Oklahoma.) 254
11 D. H. Lawrence in the cloisters of the cathedral at Cuernavaca, Mexico,
c.5 April 1923. (Manuscripts and Special Collections, The University of
Nottingham, La WB 1/13.) 258
12 D. H. Lawrence milking Susan, his cow. (Photography Collection,
D. H. Lawrence Literary File P‐292N, Harry Ransom Center,
The University of Texas at Austin.) 296
13 Back row: Harwood Brewster, Earl Brewster. Front row: Dorothy Brett,
Achsah Brewster and D. H. Lawrence. Capri, 27 February–c.10 March
1926. (Press Photograph. Source – Eve: The Lady’s Pictorial,
31 March 1926, p. 625.) 313
14 Lawrence and Frieda posing by the well at the Villa Mirenda, San Polo
Mosciano, Florence. (Manuscripts and Special Collections,
The University of Nottingham, La Phot 1/27.) 321
15 A family photograph taken outside St Peter’s Church, Markby,
Lincolnshire, week of 22–26 August 1926. Back row: D. H. Lawrence,
Emily King, Maude Beardsall, Ada Clarke, Gertie Cooper. Front
row: Joan King, Jack Clarke, Bert Clarke. (Manuscripts and Special
Collections, The University of Nottingham, La Pc 2/8/26.) 325
16 D. H. Lawrence, self‐portrait in red crayon, June 1929. First published
as the frontispiece to the unexpurgated edition of Pansies. 385
17 Lawrence’s paintings hanging in the Warren Gallery, London.
(Photography Collection, D. H. Lawrence Literary File P‐591,
Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin.) 386
viii