The Selected Letters of D. H. Lawrence

Lawrence's renowned creativity is conspicuous in his letters. Here in over 330 of them - many first published in the acclaimed seven-volume Cambridge Edition - are exemplified the remarkable variety and inventiveness he could command. He corresponded with the elite - aristocrats, fellow authors, painters, publishers and others from the intelligentsia; but not with these only. With equal concern he wrote to his sisters, a childhood friend suffering from tuberculosis, a Post Office clerk or an Italian servant-girl. Lawrence revelled in the act of communication, using a direct, unvarnished but invariably vivid style appropriate to each correspondent. His letters are notable for expressive and imaginative energy, wit and comedy, the tender and the tempestuous, combined with an extraordinary sensitivity to the natural world as well as to the human condition - and much besides. Few English letter-writers offer a comparable range of interest. In his introductory essay James Boulton provides a rare critical assessment of Lawrence's epistolary achievement. In addition to the annotated texts of the letters, also included are a biographical list of Lawrence's correspondents; brief chronological and descriptive introductions to each section; and a full general index.

An authoritative selection of letters by one of the great English letter-writers, first published in 1997, is also available in paperback.

Introduction; Biographical list of correspondents; Letters: 1. The formative years, 1885–1913; 2. The Rainbow and Women in Love, 1913–16; 3. Cornwall and Italy, 1916–21; 4. Eastwards to the new world, 1921–4; 5. New Mexico, Mexico and Italy, 1924–7; 6. Europe and Lady Chatterley's Lover, 1927–8; 7. Decline and death, 1928–30.

'The Selected Letters succeeds admirably in representing Lawrence's quirky brilliance, his always surprising common sense, and above all else the sheer beauty of his writing.' English Literature in Transition, 1880-1920