4 manuscript letters, 11pp. in all, to 'My dear Frank,' from John Butler Yeats, in New York;
one with an attractive pen and ink sketch of a schoolmaster and frightened boys
spanning the dates 11 June to December 1920
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| Format: | Manuscript |
| Language: | English |
| Citation: | National Library of Ireland. Department of Manuscripts. |
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| Notes: | John Butler Yeats reminiscences about the Yeats family and their traits. 'Let me tell you some ... facts about the genus Yeats - my father used to say that they were of slow growth - he meant mentally - .. and that is because we are an artistic race - during our school days we were so busy observing things... that our school lessons got a divided attention - I gave a lecture before an art school in which I said that the better artists were stupid schoolboys, but the really good artists .. did not stay stupid .. the second rate artist stays stupid so that not for any consideration would I be a member of an artists' club - the slowness of the Yeats schoolboy is merely the fact that his mind is already so busily occupied that he finds it very hard to learn his school grammar - I myself was not a particularly stupid schoolboy - but that was because I had a Scottish schoolmaster who flogged us all day long - especially did he flog us at lessons' . Refers to Sir William Wilde (father of Oscar), '... said to me, "Fancy Tom Yeats buried in Sligo" - poor Uncle Thomas because of his good heart & conscience took up practical life - .. in order to keep and take care of some poor relations .. he ought to have been a Doctor and a man of science...'. Physical description: 4 letters more |
| Call Number | View In | Collection |
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MS 48,398 (1-4) |
Manuscripts Reading Room |
Manuscripts |
Reproduction rights owned by the National Library of Ireland.
