T. S. Eliot (Saint Louis, 1888 - 1965, London)
Letter to Isabella Stewart Gardner from 3 Compayne Gardens, London N.W., 7 November 1915
Ink on paper, 17.75 x 22.5 cm (7 x 8 7/8 in.)
Blue Room
Commentary
In this letter to Isabella Stewart Gardner, the renowned Modernist poet T. S. Eliot seeks news of their mutual friend Matthew Stewart Prichard, a former administrator at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, who was imprisoned by the German government during World War I. The letter describes his desire to “express myself through literary channels” instead of through teaching, which he found to be “deadening.” Eliot received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1948.