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Monday 1 July 2013

Inexcusably late

Friday, July 1st., Cadogan Square, London.

Appointment for 6 o'clock with Edward Newton, the American bibliophile, apropos of a suggested introduction by him to the reproduced MS. of "The Old Wives' Tale". I was 25 minutes late. A shameful position and inexcusable. Newton and I agreed that a preface by him seemed neither practical nor useful, and we gave up the idea, especially as I had already written an introduction myself and the sheets were already printed and signed by me.

Alfred Edward Newton (1864—1940) was an American author, publisher, and avid book collector. He is best known for his book "Amenities of Book Collecting" (1918) which sold over 25,000 copies. At the time of his death, it was estimated that he had approximately 10,000 books in his collection, focusing on English and American literary works, the major part of which were auctioned by Parke-Bernet Galleries, New York in April, May, and October 1941. Highlights of the sale included the autograph manuscripts of Thomas Hardy's novel "Far From the Madding Crowd" and Charles Lamb's essay "Dream Children".

Dined at home with Dorothy and we went to Playroom Six, 6 New Compton Street, to see d'Annunzio's "The Honeysuckle". The play had form, interest, and power in a voluptuous way, but the performance was simply terrible. The theatre only holds about 100 people. It has a nice atmosphere, and the bar, etc., is sympathique, especially the gas ring lodged on a chair.

The Players'Theatre was a London theatre club that opened in 1927 as Playroom Six at No. 6, New Compton Street, with the aim of presenting a wide range of entertainment.However, in 1936 it moved into the former Evans's Supper Room (also known as Evans's (late Joy's)) in Covent Garden and soon began to concentrate on recreating the type of music hall entertainment originally seen on these premises.

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