Background
Although published after his death, Michael De-la-Noy, in his introduction to the 1984 edition, states that the "journals" title was the author's own, [1] as Welch had never intended merely to keep a daily diary. [2] As such, the notebooks include undated fragments, a substantial entry for an uncompleted novel, as well as poetry and longer prose passages (all of which were published separately). De-la-Noy observes that several of the entries seem intended as a recollection write-up for use elsewhere, potentially prompted by an anniversary or other memory-triggering event. [3] As if to emphasise their non-linear nature, the manuscripts themselves are not physically diaries but "nineteen thin, paper-covered 'school' exercise-books." [4] James Methuen-Campbell has noted that the journals (now in the Denton Welch Archive at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin) appear to have been written "with a definite eye on posterity". [5] Having been left the invalided victim of a near-fatal collision between his bicycle and a motor car in 1935, Welch was acutely aware of his mortality, and it seems to have been rarely far from his thoughts. As he confided in a letter to his partner Eric Oliver, "I think I'm going to have a very sticky death". [6]
As might be expected from personal papers, the journals are an unvarnished depiction of the author's frailties. Welch's first biographer Robert Phillips states that they portray him,
"at his most thoroughly unprofessional, disclosing the life of a high-strung, complex, temperamental young man who, in spite of obvious gifts, is visited with... spitefulness, childishness, vanity, gloryseeking, and materialism" [7]
not to mention snobbery and callousness. In the view of Michael De-la-Noy, these undoubted shortcomings are counterbalanced by "a consistent honesty about himself" which, given the hugely challenging physical circumstances he faced, display "a perfectly justified self-indulgence". [8]
The first publication of the Journals, under the editorship of Jocelyn Brooke, came out in 1952, and was the third publication sanctioned by Welch's literary executors (after A Voice Through a Cloud (1950) and A Last Sheaf (1951)). This version was of necessity heavily edited, ultimately losing of half the overall content, because, as Brooke noted in his introduction: "... a number of the omitted passages, though not legally actionable, might well cause offence or embarrassment to the persons concerned..." [9] As Phillips adds, "[t]his is the risk one runs... in publishing the diary of a man just dead." [10] Of what is included, almost all the names of people not in Welch's immediate circle are redacted; Edith Sitwell is a notable exception. [11] [12]
Phillips' comments were made in the light of the second edition of the Journals, published in 1973 and after its editor's death, which did not augment the original edition in any way. Phillips implies that some of the entries remain absent as they are "frankly homosexual" in nature. [13]
The third edition of 1984 was prompted by the discovery of additional material by the actor Benjamin Whitrow. [14] Whitrow had been corresponding with one of Welch's friends, Francis Streeten. After Streeten's death, Whitrow found amongst his belongings Brooke's typescript working copy of the journals, [15] and these he used to uncover (in some cases decipher) the material Brooke had excised. [16] This new edition completely revised the content, replacing all the redacted names, and expanding Brooke's edition by some 75,000 words [17] but not including the longer prose passages and some of the poetry (published in A Last Sheaf), and novel fragment (published as I Left My Grandfather's House in 1958). [18] However, reviewing [19] this edition, the writer Alan Hollinghurst expressed reservations about its veracity: finding errors in the extracts De-la-Noy quoted from the Journals in his biography, Hollinghurst wondered which ones were the misprints. [20] [21] In his notes to his 2002 biography, James Methuen-Campbell identifies several other misprints or misreadings present in the 1984 edition. [22]
George Pachymeres was a Byzantine Greek historian, philosopher, music theorist and miscellaneous writer.
Manuel Kamytzes Komnenos Doukas Angelos was a Byzantine general who was active in the late 12th century, and led an unsuccessful rebellion in 1201–02, against his cousin, Emperor Alexios III Angelos.
Bernard Jocelyn Brooke was an English writer and naturalist. He wrote several unique, semi-autobiographical novels, as well as some poetry. His most famous works include the Orchid Trilogy—The Military Orchid (1948), A Mine of Serpents (1949), and The Goose Cathedral (1950)—and The Image of a Drawn Sword (1950).
Isaac Komnenos or Comnenus, was the third son of Byzantine Emperor John II Komnenos by Irene of Hungary. He was bypassed by his father in favour of his younger brother Manuel I Komnenos for the succession, leading to a tense relationship between the two brothers after. He participated in the campaigns of his father and brother in Asia Minor, and was a fervent adherent of Patriarch Cosmas II of Constantinople, but little else is known about his life.
Manuel Komnenos was the eldest son of Byzantine emperor Andronikos I Komnenos, and the progenitor of the Grand Komnenos dynasty of the Empire of Trebizond. He served his uncle, Manuel I Komnenos, as a diplomatic envoy to the Russian principalities and the Kingdom of Jerusalem, but also helped his father escape imprisonment in Constantinople. His opposition to the regency of Empress-dowager Maria of Antioch and the protosebastos Alexios Komnenos landed him in prison, but he was released in April 1182, when his father stood poised to take power in the Byzantine capital.
Herne is a village in South East England, divided by the Thanet Way from the seaside resort of Herne Bay. Administratively it is in the civil parish of Herne and Broomfield in Kent. Between Herne and Broomfield is the former hamlet of Hunters Forstal. Herne Common lies to the south on the A291 road.
Benjamin John Whitrow was a British actor. He was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor for his role as Mr Bennet in the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, and voiced the role of Fowler in the 2000 animated film Chicken Run. His other film appearances include Quadrophenia (1979), Personal Services (1987) and Bomber (2009).
Andronikos Komnenos Kontostephanos, Latinized Andronicus Contostephanus, was a major figure in the Byzantine Empire during the reign of his uncle Manuel I Komnenos as a general, admiral, politician and a leading aristocrat.
Maurice Denton Welch was a British writer and painter, admired for his vivid prose and precise descriptions.
Michael De-la-Noy was a British journalist and author. He wrote more than 20 books, the most successful being The Queen Behind the Throne. De-la-Noy was also noted for being fired in 1970 as press secretary to Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey after writing an article in support of a bisexual and transvestite colonel, which was seen as too liberal for the Church of England.
The Théâtre de l'Athénée is a theatre at 7 rue Boudreau, in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Renovated in 1996 and classified a historical monument, the Athénée inherits an artistic tradition marked by the figure of Louis Jouvet who directed the theatre from 1934 to 1951. During the period when he was director, it became known as the Athenée Théâtre Louis-Jouvet.
A Voice Through a Cloud is an autobiographical novel by Denton Welch, who became a writer after a serious accident which had long-term effects on his health. The book describes his bicycle accident when he was an art student, and subsequent experiences in hospital wards and a nursing home. The book was almost complete when the writer died in December 1948 aged 33.
Noël Gilford Adeney was a British artist, known for her landscape and still life paintings and a member of The London Group.
Maiden Voyage is an autobiographical novel by the English writer and artist Denton Welch, who became a writer after a serious accident which had long-term effects on his health. The novel describes a period during the 1930s: his last term at school, and the following weeks living in Shanghai, China, where his father had a business.
I Left My Grandfather's House is an uncompleted autobiographical novel by the English author and painter Denton Welch.
A Last Sheaf is the title given to the second posthumous publication of works by the writer and painter Denton Welch. Published in 1951 by John Lehmann, it followed A Voice Through a Cloud, issued by Lehmann the previous year.
Brave and Cruel and Other Stories is the third book by the English author and painter Denton Welch. A collection of short stories, it was the last publication he worked on.
In Youth is Pleasure is the second published novel by the English writer and painter Denton Welch. It was first published in February 1945 by Routledge. It was also the last novel to be issued in his lifetime.
Dumb Instrument is the title given to the posthumous 1976 anthology of poetry by the English writer and artist Denton Welch. It derives from the fifth line of a sestet which appears on the title page of the anthology only.
Stephen Cade Hetherington is an Australian analytic philosopher specialising in epistemology and, to a lesser extent, metaphysics. He is an emeritus professor in the School of Humanities and Languages at the University of New South Wales, a prolific author, and served as editor-in-chief of the Australasian Journal of Philosophy from December 2013 to March 2022.
