In very good condition. Seven typed and signed letters and 2 hand written postcards sent during the 1970s from writer and broadcaster Arthur Marshall to Scottish writer and journalist Iain Finlayson. Full of good humour and encouragement, the amicable correspondence reveals the developing friendship between the two men, exposes the writer’s frustrations with the New Statesman, then edited by Martin Amis and uncovers thoughts on life and work. Included are:
Letter 1: Dated 1st July 1976. 2pp. Thanking IF for ‘the splendid invitation to Butlin’s’... ‘I’m off to Italy on the 15th, and have landed myself with far too much work to do.... and the New Statesman is a constant worry’. Concludes with a four line hand written postscript again thanking IF for his kindness.
Letter 2: Dated 5th October 1976. 2pp. AM mentions his Thames TV interview with Mavis Nicholson and his 2 month annual stay ‘in a very agreeable flat on Millbank’. ‘I hardly know how long I can keep on with the NS articles. The subjects get harder and harder to find’. Written to the top of p1 in most probably IF’s hand ‘Edie - you must meet Arthur Marshall - he’s a lovely old man, about 60 ish and one of my favourite people’.
Letter 3: Dated 28th January 1977. 2pp. ‘ I do hope that you get some reviewing work - you would be so very much better than some of those we have to read week after week’. Discussion of work commitments. ‘Booouuuuutlin’s seems far away and long ago... I did enjoy myself! That chalet was a home from home. I meant to ask the chef for some of his recipes but forgot’.
Letter 4: Dated June 5th 1977. 2pp. Discusses the publication of AM’s book, ‘I Say’ and Martin Amis’s role at the New Statesman, ‘how over worked he is’. The Bath Festival opening ceremony is described as ‘squalor personified’.
Letter 5: Dated 26th January 1978. 2pp. Compliments IF’s review of Richard Adams ‘a pretty ghastly and rather clever child’.
Letter 6: Dated 4th November 1978. 2pp. Discusses recommending IF to the NS. ‘I repeat myself more and more - most of it was boring in the first place!’
Letter 7: Dated 28th February 1979. Reports that Martin Amis is leaving and AM will display IF’s reviews to the new chap while bemoaning the increasing ‘unreadability of the front half’.
Two postcards dated 1979: ‘To Hell with the NS and hooray for Good Housekeeping.... The NS becomes increasingly (if possible) unreadable.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Very good, clean and unmarked throughout. Each letter typed with hand written post scripts on paper headed Proud Cottage, Christow, Exeter.
