[ilds] Book Release | From the Elephant's Back

[James Gifford]

Hi Bruce,

You make me blush, but this project didn't start on my desk -- while 
it's not quite as complicated as the recent "3 parent" baby legislation 
in the UK, Peter Baldwin planted the seed in Durrell's works and it only 
came to me once it was sprouted.  I trimmed and grafted some branches, 
and hopefully added some helpful annotations and comments.

A real difficulty for publishing letters is finding a market and 
publisher willing to invest the cash.  If there's little chance of 
commercial success, then it's in the very competitive academic market 
place, in which the monograph is the gold standard...  As you note, 
Durrell's correspondences are spread around the world.  Getting them all 
together would be a gargantuan project, and even the Durrell-Miller 
letters were only excerpts (in both editions) not exhaustive.  I've 
tried my best to look at the smaller correspondences in out of the way 
locations since that's where I've seen the most surprising contents (as 
a general rule, not just for Durrell).  The letters to and from Seferis 
can surprise, as do those to Patrick Reilly or Mary & Dudley Honor.  A 
grand book series of the letters would be ideal!

(FWIW, one of my great experiences was two years in Victoria, where they 
have for instance Herbert Read's incoming mail tray or John Betjeman's. 
  Going through the inbox of other folks is where the interesting 
materials hide, or so I fancy...)

I've wanted for quite some time now to publish the unexpurgated version 
of /Art & Outrage/.  I can at least say Durrell, Miller, and Perlès 
revised their correspondence heavily, but that's also 3 literary estates 
to deal with, two of which like to see some profit!

All best,
James

On 2015-03-13 10:40 AM, Bruce Redwine wrote:
> James, I’ve ordered my copy and look forward to getting it.  You’re doing great work in making portions of Durrell’s work available in standard editions.  I’d hope you or someone else would anthologize Durrell’s letters not in print.  I specifically refer to the Durrell-Gould letters held at Southern Illinois U, Carbondale.  There are probably many more unpublished letters scattered around the world.
>
> Best,
>
> Bruce