Loose material from John Heath-Stubbs, The triumph of the muse: and other poems (London: Oxford University Press, 1958), comprising three letters to Nicholson from Heath-Stubbs, as follows:
- /1 Letter principally relating to Nicholson's introduction to Wordsworth [Wordsworth: an introduction and a selection (1949)], which Heath-Stubbs has been shown by George Every. He is particularly interested in Nicholson's emphasis on the 'sacramental' attitude of Wordsworth to nature. He notes Nicholson's reference to Heath-Stubbs's article on Charles Williams, and clarifies various points relating to Williams's ideas about the five forms which constitute the 'Romantic Experience'. Heath-Stubbs also thanks Nicholson for his review of Heath-Stubbs's Leopardi selection (12 April 1948). Dated at London NW3; holograph. 3 sheets.
- /2 Letter written in response to Nicholson's reply to /1, in which Heath-Stubbs discusses: the 'picturesque' in relation to nature, which Nicholson condemns; the parallel 'sentimental' response in relation to the image of the Woman; the difference between Dante and Petrarch; Romantic responses to the city (referring to sentimental 'futuristic' or 'archaistic' Utopianism, and the sentimental Republicanism of some of the French revolutionaries); and the question of how far reaction to nature is conditioned by art. He also refers to: Nicholson's forthcoming book on Cowper, and his own thoughts on the Evangelicals; his inability to complete the book he has started on Poe; and a forthcoming review he has written of Nicholson's book Rock face (11 May 1948). Dated at London NW6; holograph. 5 sheets.
- /3 Letter in which Heath-Stubbs refers to a recent reading of Nicholson's he attended, and to Nicholson's regionalism that night, which has inspired him to write a poem about Hampshire, where he grew up. He also refers to the fact that both he and Nicholson were in the New Forest when they were boys, although they never met. He encloses a typescript version of the Hampshire poem, 'Bevis of Hampton', which he has dedicated to Nicholson, whilst acknowledging that it may not be Nicholson's kind of poem (4 October 1976). Dated at London W2; typescript with autograph. 3 sheets and envelope.
All three pieces inserted inside front cover.