Author: David Spiech Page 206 of 283

To Otto Kyllmann
Hotel Savoy Cortina d’Ampezzo
Italy, June 26, 1935

Dear Mr. Kyllmann,

I am not surprised at all that the people at the Thakeray Hotel might conceivably take umbrage at the passage you refer to: and I am not sure that the two King’s Arms inns, at Oxford and Sandford might not raise some objection—although if anything we are advertising them and rendering them more interesting.

It would be easy to drop the name Thackeray, and say something even more appropriate to Miss Letitia Lamb, such as Ruskin Hotel, or Pickwick Hotel, or (if these are perhaps real places in London) the Hotel Cimabue. But as I say in the Epilogue, I have a weakness for real names of places, and should like to keep the reference to the Thakeray Hotel if possible; but we might turn the passage into a compliment, that couldn’t but be taken in good part, if we said, “that inexpensive hotel for geniuses near Phidias and the British Museum? It might be crowded.”

What do you think?

Yours sincerely,
G Santayana

From The Letters of George Santayana:  Book Five, 1933-1936.  Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003.
Location of manuscript: Temple University Libraries, Philadelphia PA

To Daniel MacGhie Cory
Le Balze
Fiesole, Italy. June 25, ’34

So far existence here has been quite tolerable, the heat is not (as yet) oppressive, and I have managed, with some slight difficulty, to establish a sufficient independence of movement. But I am devoured by mosquitoes, and it seems hardly practicable to go down to Florence on foot or in the tram, except on favourable occasions. I shall have to go down with S. at 6 p.m.: but I have already knocked off tea, so as not to be interrupted in the afternoon, and have established the habit of being dropped in passing through the town, so that I have an hour to myself for walking about a bit, shopping, and having an apéritif before, at 7.20, we meet for dinner. The food is simple but suits me admirably, and S. encourages me to drink!

From The Letters of George Santayana:  Book Five, 1933-1936.  Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2003.
Location of manuscript: Butler Library, Columbia University, New York NY

To Robert Traill Spence Lowell Jr.
Via Santo Stefano Rotondo, 6
Rome. June 24, 1948.

Dear Lowell,

Today, to honour la festa della Natività di San Giovanni Battista, your generous box of food has arrived. I am at this moment munching the chocolate, but feel that on the whole you are taking at Washington too tragic and charitable a view of the state of things in Italy, at least in establishments like this of the “Blue Sisters”. We have everything we need to eat, not always (the bread, for instance) of the best quality, but no scarcity of the stock things like butter and sugar. It is true that at my age I don’t ask for much in the way of meat, which is not of good quality always; so that I feel the shortage less than would a normal person. What I feel is the disorder of international policy and the absence of competent leaders in all the nations. But I won’t go into this because my information is not good and I don’t want to antagonize anybody. Let them boil in their own broth.

Is your engagement at Washington coming to an end? What are your plans? And when shall we see more poems? Don’t send me any more boxes but come yourself if you can and want a change of air.

Yours sincerely,
G Santayana

From The Letters of George Santayana:  Book Eight, 1948-1952.  Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2008.
Location of manuscript: The Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge MA

To Charles William Eliot
Grenoble, France. June 23, 1906

Dear Mr Eliot,

The series of lectures which I have been giving in France, ended here yesterday. The year has been a delightful one for me personally,—except that my health has not been quite so good as usual; together with the previous twelvemonth of travel, it has given me a very refreshing change of scenes and of companionships. Even in respect to my philosophic interests, I have found a great deal that is new to me, and interesting, in the movement of French speculation, which is very active at present and is carried on in a most critical and open-minded spirit, as well as with a solid foundation in scholarship.

My impressions about the value of the Hyde lectureship are rather too complex to be expressed in a letter; I have accordingly written the accompanying memorandum. It represents my sincere opinion upon this undertaking, when reflected on in cold blood. It might give a wrong impression, however, of my personal satisfaction at the reception I have met with both from officials and from the public. The post I have held is a delightful one; the question is whether the general advantages of maintaining such a lectureship are not largely factitious.

Mr Hyde has seen this memorandum and, I believe, has kept a copy of it.

With sincere regards Yours very truly,
G Santayana

From The Letters of George Santayana:  Book One, [1868]-1909.  Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2001.
Location of manuscript: Harvard Archives, Harvard University, Cambridge MA

To Daniel MacGhie Cory
Hotel Savoia
Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Friday, June 22, 1939

It is very nice of you to be concerned about my misadventures.1 The first day was really trying, as I will tell you more in detail later; but I rested one day in Milan rather confortably and one night–last night–in Venice. Here it is cool and most peaceful not to say death-like. I am the only person in the hotel! But my old room is engaged for later to another person, and they have given me a better one, a south-east corner with windows on both sides and a bathroom with a third window, so that I shall have the sun all day, from the moment when–not very early–it gets up over the mountains. Do come here, if you feel like it. For me it will be a return to youth and nature; but I am afraid you will find it dreary. Foreigners have abandoned Italy, except cheap Germans in troupes, and the Italian season is short, from the last week in July to the last in August. Except at that time Cortina is very quiet indeed.

1. Santayana never reached Lugano, and plans to move to Switzerland were abandoned.
Visas generally were not required for crossing the Swiss frontier; however, a
considerable number of destitute Spaniards had been entering the country after the
end of the Spanish civil war and new regulations had been passed. At Chiasso,
Santayana was refused permission to enter Switzerland. He traveled back to Milan and
went to the Swiss consulate, where he was told that he would be granted a temporary
(two-week) visa. Santayana was offended by the attitude of the Swiss consular officials
and refused to answer questions regarding his recent movements or his political affiliations.
“He told the consulate quite bluntly that if Spaniards were not welcome in
Switzerland, he had no desire to go there–and that was that” (Years, 216.17).

From The Letters of George Santayana:  Book Six, 1937-1940.  Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2004.
Location of manuscript: Butler Library, Columbia University, New York NY