University of Virginia Library

The survival of the manuscripts

Finally, why have certain portions of Stages II and III survived—in particular, the Fragments and the section of chapter IX—and no more? At the fourth and final stage, Lawrence wrote 437 pages out afresh onto new paper: is it plausible that he kept the first 58 pages that he had rejected from the old draft, and the twenty-three pages of chapter IX, and no others?

The survival of Stage II seems to have happened as follows: The opening 71 pages of Stage II are lost probably because, having rewritten them before falling ill in Croydon in November 1911, Lawrence left them there or threw them away at his departure. The rest of Stage II survives because he rewrote it in Eastwood and left it with his sister Ada when he went abroad. It lacked its end because he had transferred the latter pages into his third draft: and this is why he called it "the first part of Paul Morel" when he wrote home to Ada from Waldbröl on 23 May explaining for the benefit of his elder sister Emily what it was (no. 453): "Thank Emily for her letter—tell her the first part of Paul Morel is the first writing—I did it again, and have the whole here. . ."

The survival of a section of chapter IX must be related to the survival of the 'Miriam Papers'. For Lawrence had probably already rewritten chapter IX before leaving England, during the period 1-11 April when he tidied up his Stage IIIa manuscript after recovering it from Jessie Chambers with her comments written on it, and on some accompanying sheets. Then, when he

took the Stage IIIa manuscript abroad with him in May 1912, he probably also took the 'Miriam Papers' so that he could refer to them as he produced the Stage IIIb revision. He must have kept those discarded pages of chapter IX for the same reason, so that he could consult the comments Jessie had written on them.

Even so, how did the 'Miriam Papers' survive after Lawrence had finished with them? Unfortunately, Harry T. Moore, who must have seen them in private hands in or before 1964, was no more specific about their provenance than to say, referring to the section of chapter IX: ". . .it is probably a variant, for Lawrence doubtless rewrote this chapter and placed the revised version in the complete manuscript of Paul Morel B, retaining the part under discussion and putting it away with the other Miriam Papers, among which they [sic] were found after his death" (Moore 375-376; Tedlock 52). Mr. Theodore S. Bober, at the Sotheby-Parke Bernet sale of whose manuscripts in November 1980 H.R.C. bought the section of chapter IX, acquired it himself (via a Chicago dealer) from the collection of a Mr Wells, who had purchased many manuscripts direct from Frieda Lawrence.

Lawrence, then, had preserved the 'Miriam Papers' for use when writing Stage IIIb, and they were still among his papers when he died. It is possible that there were yet others, but only six items, which Frieda sold to collectors after Lawrence's death, have subsequently come to light.

But why did he preserve the first 58 pages of Stage IIIb that he rejected as he rewrote the novel, and no others?

Between finishing Stage IIIb in Icking near Munich and writing the fourth and final draft, Lawrence travelled with Frieda, largely on foot, from Icking to Lake Garda in northern Italy. As Frieda described in her memoir:[35] "We packed up our few possessions, three trunks went ahead of us to the Lago di Garda. We set off on foot, with a rucksack each. . ." The trunks went by train to Riva, at the northern end of the lake,[36] and Lawrence and Frieda, having started their trek on 5 August 1912, arrived in Riva on 5 September. On 7 September, Lawrence wrote to Garnett from Riva (no. 495): "I am glad to be settling down, to get at that novel. I am rather keen on it. I shall re-cast the first part altogether." What exactly had he unpacked from his trunk in Riva?

Back in Icking on Monday 22 July, when Lawrence received from Garnett his Stage IIIb manuscript, he wrote (no. 472): "I got Paul Morel this morning, and the list of notes from Duckworth. The latter are awfully nice and detailed. What a Trojan of energy and conscientiousness you are! I'm going to slave like a Turk at the novel—see if I won't do you credit. I begin in earnest

tomorrow—having spent the day in thought (?)". This was two weeks before he and Frieda set off on their trek on Monday 5 August.

It is probable that Lawrence did start revising his novel in those two weeks, both because of the strong desire to do so expressed in this letter, and the decision already expressed in his letter of 8 July to Garnett to "squash the first part together". I therefore propose the following hypothesis: first he read through the opening chapters and began by deleting a number of lines (see Fragment 2, pages 32-33; Fragment 5, pages 81-82, Fragment 6, pages 84-85); then he decided to rewrite some pages onto new paper, using quires of P and Q paper. He rewrote pages 1-8 on the first ten-leaf quire of P, and then he accepted pages 9-25 of Stage III and slipped them into the quire between the eighth and ninth leaves; then he carried on copying with modifications Stage III pages 26-37 onto pages 26-34 of P paper, so that when he decided to incorporate some more of Stage III pages, he had to renumber them downwards. He proceded in this fashion, revising and incorporating; and the last page of Stage III paper he drew into the new draft was page 67, renumbered 69 in the Final manuscript. I propose that he had reached Stage III page 85, the last of the Fragments, when he set off for Italy. On this page, Mrs Morel demands of the three-year-old Paul: "What are you crying for?" This scene was copied with modifications onto page 76 of the Final manuscript—and at the end of it there is a discernible change of handwriting.[37]

Lawrence apparently wrote no letter to Garnett after that of 22 July, until 4 August, the day before he left Icking, when he said (no. 476): "I am going to write Paul Morel over again—it'll take me 3 months." I suggest that this was the conclusion he had come to as a result of the labours I have described. The hypothesis is simply that he left the discarded pages (that is, the Fragments) behind—perhaps in a trunk of other possessions, probably with Frieda's sister, Else, who lived at Wolfratshausen near Icking, and whose address Lawrence still used as a forwarding address after he had left for Italy.[38] Then, in Riva, he unpacked: pages 86 to the end of Stage III together with pages 1-76 of the Final manuscript and a few blank quires of P paper. Frieda's footnote to the letter that he wrote immediately to Garnett (quoted above) suggests he may have done more reading and discussing than rewriting at first (no. 495): "I think L. quite missed the point in 'Paul Morel' . . .—he is writing P.M. again, reads bits to me and we fight like blazes over it." At any rate, he did not write any letters on P paper until 17 September, the day before they left Riva to settle for six and a half months in Gargnano, on the lakeside further south. No Q paper appears in the letters after this date: and in the

Final manuscript Q paper was used for pages 52-60 and 70, that is, during the Stage IV writing that I suggest Lawrence did in Icking.

Thus the available evidence neither proves nor disproves my hypothesis—nor does it suggest a better one. The alternative that suggests itself is that many more pages of manuscript survived, but have not yet come to light.[39]

Table 1: The Paper

• Paper A Measurements: height 209.5, width 177, thickness .011. Colour: creamy-white. Lines: 21, front and back, printed twice, at different angles, but front and back measurements are the same: space apart 9, top margin 19.5, bottom margin 14, left margin 29.5 but varying from 28 at top to 30 at bottom. Character of lines: pale blue, widish, even, but very faint. See-through features: transparency: very dense; watermarks none. Finishing features: very slight shine; flexible and strong; calendering: chain-and-wire-lines. Format: top-perforated pad, serrated top edge. Letters: nos. 256: 24 April 1911; 259: 28 April 1911; 261: 1 May 1911; 263: 7 May 1911; 264: 9 May 1911; 265: 11 May 1911; 268: 14 May 1911.
• Paper B Measurements: height 257, width 201, thickness .007. Colour: grey. Lines: 27, front only: space apart 8.5, top margin 27, bottom margin 7.5, no side margins. Character of lines: faint, fine, grey, well printed. See-through features: transparency: very transparent, shows next 2 pages; no watermark. Finishing features: matt, rather like grease-proof paper; very brittle; vertical lines on surface giving very faint crepe effect. Format: top-line pad. Letters: no. 273: 1 June 1911.
• Paper C Measurements: height 202, width across whole sheet 325, to fold 162.5, thickness .011. Colour: creamy-white. Lines: 21 front and back, one printing. Space apart varying 8-8.5, top margin sloping up from left to right 26-25, bottom margin ditto 11-13, no side margins. Character of lines, pale blue, firm, wide, well printed. See-through features, very dense, no watermark. Finishing features, slight shine; supple; calendering: chain-and-wire-lines. Format: quires of 11, 12, 12 sheets: 1: pp. 255-276, 2: pp. 277-300, 3: pp. 301-324.
• Paper D Measurements: height 250, width 203, thickness .008. Colour: grey-white. Lines: 25 front only: space apart 8.75, top margin sloping down from left to right 30.5-31.5. bottom margin ditto 11-10, no side margins. Character of lines: thick, firm even, grey-blue. See-through features, fairly transparent but not very, shows next page slightly; no watermark. Finishing features: matt; quite strong, a little brittle; mottled effect on surface. Format: top-line pad. Also used for Love Poems (Roberts E213): 'Cruelty and Love' (pp. 7, 8 out of pp. 6-8), 'Long day in Autumn', 'The Appeal', 'Repulsed', 'Dream-confused', 'Renascence', 'Dog Tired'. The dates of these poems are not known in detail; the ms. is at H.R.C.[40] Letters: nos. 281: 7 July 1911; 285: 13 July 1911; 286: [15 July 1911]; 287: [16 July 1911]; 290: 21 July 1911; 292: 24 July 1911; 303: 29 Aug. 1911; 307: 11 Sept. 1911; 313: 2 Oct. 1911; 314: 2 Oct. 1911; 315: 6 Oct. 1911; 316: 10 Oct. 1911; 317: 11 Oct. 1911; 318: 11 Oct. 1911; 321: 16 Oct. 1911; 323: 20 Oct. 1911.
• Paper e Measurements: height 250.75, width 201, thickness .007. Colour: grey-white. Lines: 24 back only: space apart 9, top margin sloping up from left to right 35-32, bottom margin ditto, 8-11, no side margins. Character of lines: grey, fine, fairly even—some

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  blobs, no breaks. See-through features: very transparent, shows next page; no watermark. Finishing features: matt; moderately brittle, high crackle; speckled on surface, forming verticle woven lines very faintly. Format: top-line pad. Also used for Love Poems: 'Cruelty and Love' (p. 6 of pp. 6-8), 'Lilies in the Fire', 'Coldness in Love', 'Reminder', 'Bei Hennef', 'Corot', 'Morning work', 'Transformations'. Letters: nos. 328: 26 Oct 1911; 329: 30 Oct 1911; 330: 3 Nov. 1911.
• Paper f Measurements: height 259, width 201, thickness .012. Colour: cream-white. Lines: 27 front only: space apart varying from 8.5-10, top margin varying from 23-25, bottom margin varying from 8-10, no side margins. See-through features: dense; watermark: Court Royal plus device: shamrock, rose, thistle spray. Finishing features: matt; supple, strong; calendering: chain-and-wire-lines. Format: top-line pad. Letters: nos. 338: 15 Nov 1911; 339: 21 Nov 1911; 341: 2 Dec 1911; 342: ?4 Dec 1911; 343: 4 Dec 1911; 345: 7 Dec 1911; 356: 9 Dec 1911; 348: 13 Dec 1911; 349: 13 Dec 1911.
• Paper g Measurements: height 251-2, width 202, thickness .007. Colour: cream-white. Lines: 24 back only: space apart 10, top margin sloping down from left to right 34-36, bottom margin ditto 10-8; no side margins. Character of lines: grey, quite even and continuous but with some blobs, though no breaks. See-through features: very transparent, shows next page; no watermark. Finishing features: matt; moderately brittle, high crackle; speckled surface. Format: top-line pad.
• Paper h Measurements: height 251.25-251.5; width 201; thickness .007. Colour: grey-white. Lines: 26 front only: space apart 9, top margin sloping up from left to right and varying 25-24, 26-25, 27-26; bottom margin ditto 10-10, 7-8, 8-9; no side margins. Character of lines: light grey, fine but unbroken, not very blobbed. See-through features: very transparent, shows next page; no watermark. Finishing features: matt; moderately brittle, high crackle; wrinkled crêpe effect from faint fine lines running length of paper. Format: probably top-line pad.
• Paper j Measurements: height 251.75-252, width 202, thickness .007. Colour: cream-white. Lines: 26 front only: space apart 9, top margin sloping down from left to right 24-26, bottom margin ditto 11-9, no side margins. Character of lines: grey, fairly firm but fine. See-through features: very transparent, shows next page; no watermark. Finishing features: matt; moderately brittle, high crackle; slightly mottled. Format: probably top-line pad. Letters: nos. 396: 1 March 1912; 397: 4 March 1912; ?412: 5 April 1912; ?415: 11 April 1912; ?418: 19 April 1912.
• Paper k Measurements: height 250, width 203.75-204, thickness .007 Colour: creamywhite. Lines: 24 front only: space apart 9, top margin sloping up from left to right 32.25-29.75, bottom margin ditto 11-12.75, no side margins. Character of lines: grey, fairly firm, but fine. See-through features: very transparent, shows next page; no watermark. Finishing features: matt; moderately brittle, high crackle; very light mottled effect. Format: possibly sheets, not much evidence. Letters: nos. 399: 6 March 1912; 400: 8 March 1912.
• Paper l Measurements: height 251.5 at left, 252 at right, width 203-4, thickness .007. Colour: grey-white. Lines: 26 front only: space apart 8.5, top margin sloping down from left to right 23.5-26, bottom margin ditto 10-8.5, no side margins. Character of lines: fine, grey, marginally more uneven than other lined papers: g, h, j, k. See-through features: very transparent, shows next page; no watermark. Finishing features: matt; moderately brittle, high crackle; faint mottled effect. Format: top-line pad. Letters: no. ?407: 27 March 1912.
• Paper m Measurements: height 270, width 212, thickness .009. Colour: pale blue. Lines: 24 front, 27 back. Space apart: front and back 9, top margin front sloping up from left to right 51.5-50, back ditto 24.5-23, bottom margin ditto front and back 11.5-13, no side margins. Character of lines: grey, fine firm both sides. See-through features: dense, not transparent; no watermark. Finishing features: slight shine, smooth; strong, good quality, quite supple; marked vertical grain, light horizontal grain. Format: probably sheets. Letters: nos. 445: 16 May 1912; 446: 16 May 1912; 447: 17 May 1912; 452: 21 May 1912.

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• Paper n Measurements: height 284, width 226, thickness .006. Colour: grey-white. Lines: none. See-through features: extremely transparent, shows next two pages; no watermark. Finishing features: like grease-proof paper; very high crackle, buckled and creased for an inch on each side. Format: sheets. Also used for Once (Roberts E296), written in Icking sometime between 2 and 29 June 1912; 13 pages. Letters: nos. 463: 29 June 1912; 464: 3 July 1912; 467: [8] July 1912; 471: 18 July 1912. The letters and the pages of IIIb both written in brown ink; the Ms. revised in blue-black.
• Paper P Measurements: height 287 at left and 288 at right, width 221, thickness .00725. Colour: cream. Lines: none. See-through features: slightly transparent, dimly shows next page; no watermark. Finishing features: shiny, highly glazed; crisp but not brittle nor limp, moderately high crackle; very strong 'linen' lines—lines vertical and horizontal. Format: quires of up to five sheets; torn by printer. Letters: nos. 500: [17 Sept. 1912]; 503: 3 Oct 1912; 505: 5 Oct 1912.
• Paper Q Measurements: height 289.5 at left, 290 at right; width varying to tear (torn sheets) 223-225; thickness .008. Colour: creamy but not as yellow as P. Lines: none. See-through features: very slightly transparent, faintly shows that there is writing on the next page; no watermark. Finishing features: slight shine; supple, not brittle; moderately high crackle; calendering: marked chain-and-wire-lines, with chain lines 25 apart, and wire lines 1.5 apart. Format: one quire of five sheets, ten leaves; torn by printer.
• Paper R Measurements: height 339.5, width to tear (torn sheets) 211, thickness .0075. Colour: cream-white. Lines: none. See-through features: fairly transparent, shows next page; no watermark. Finishing features: matt; not brittle, flexible and some pages quite flimsy; dotted effect over surface. Format: quires of very variable sizes; torn by printer.
• Paper S Measurements: height 340, width varying to tear (torn sheets) 210-211, thickness almost .008. Colour: orangey-white: orange hairs or fluff or flecks on surface. Lines: none. See-through features: fairly dense; no watermark. Finishing features: shiny, highly glazed; firm but not stiff, flexible but strong, moderate crackle; very faint dotted diagonal marks on surface. Where torn the paper frays badly. Format: quire, one gathering of 8 sheets, 16 leaves: pp. 294, 305-319. Also used for Christs in the Tirol (Roberts E81.5). Letters: nos. 489: 30 Aug 1912; 493: 2 Sept 1912; 495: 7 Sept 1912; 496: 11 Sept 1912; 498: 16 Sept 1912; 560: 22 March 1913; 564: 5 April 1913.
• Paper T Measurements: height 297, width 228, thickness .007. Colour: grey. Lines: none. See-through features: moderately transparent, shows next page; no watermark. Finishing features: slight shine; quite stiff, high-pitched crackle; surface has strong vertical lines, making mottled-ribbed effect at a slope. Format: twelve quires of four to six sheets. Letters: nos. 507: 15 Oct 1912; 509: 29 Oct 1912; 511: 7 Nov 1912; 516: 19 Nov 1912.
• Paper U These are mixed quires of two slightly different papers: U(i) and U(ii). Measurements: height 310, width to tear (torn sheets) varying 208-211, thickness varies from page to page between .0075 and .009 but mostly .008 and .0085. Colour: U(i) browny cream, very flecked, seems dirty; U(ii) creamy, unflecked, seems cleaner. Lines: 25 front and back, one printing. Variations in margin measurements arise from the fact of torn folio sheets: space apart 10, top margin front 34 back 34.5, bottom margin 36, left margin front 28 back 48, right margin front 47 back 28.5. Character of lines: U(i) very fine and faint, grey, not printed right to outer edge; U(ii) grey, fine, but clear and printed to edge. Character of margins same as that of lines. See-through features: very dense; no watermark. Finishing features: U(i) moderately shiny and smooth, U(ii) more shiny and smooth; U(i) fairly firm but rather supple without being flimsy, U(ii) similar but firmer. All pages torn at left and very frayed. Format: five quires of 5 or 6 sheets and some odd leaves. Also used for The Fight for Barbara (Roberts E130). Letters: nos. 510: 30 Oct 1912; 513: 14 Nov 1912.

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Table 2: The Mss

• The locations given in this appendix are as follows:
• Paul Morel Ms. H.R.C., Austin (Roberts E373.d).
• Fragments Bancroft Library, Berkeley (Roberts E373.a).
• Final Ms. Bancroft Library, Berkeley (Roberts E373.e).
• Section of Ch. IX H.R.C., Austin (Roberts E373.b).

Stage II Written 13 March to July or October 1911

• pp. 72-165 A paper, used in letters 24 April to 14 May 1911. Now located: Paul Morel Ms.
• p. 166 Lost
• pp. 167-254 B paper, used in letters 1 June 1911. Paul Morel Ms.
• pp. 255-324 C paper, not found in letters. Paul Morel Ms.
• pp. 325-353 D paper, used in letters 7 July to 20 Oct 1911. Now located: pp. 325-335, 353 Paul Morel Ms. pp. 337-8, 341-351 (347-9 in error written as 247-9) Final Ms. pp. 372-3, 377-387

Stage III Written (IIIa) 3 to 19 Nov 1911, between 9 and 23 Feb to c.25 March 1912; corrected 1-11 April 1912; revised (IIIb) 16 May to between 2 and 9 June 1912. A reconstruction of the surviving segments in the chronological order of the main paper-use; many pages are now lost.

• False start: pp. [1-7] unnumbered and unfinished, on e paper, used in letters 26 Oct to 3 Nov 1911. Now located: Paul Morel Ms.

IIIA

• pp. 1-74 f paper, used in letters 15 Nov to 13 Dec 1911. Now located: pp. 1-8, 26-36, 44, 46-58, 68-74. Fragments. pp. 9-25, 37-43 (renumbered IV 35-41), 59-61 (IV 61-3), 63-67 (IV 65-69) Final Ms.
• pp. 75-85, 190-192 g paper, not found in letters. Now located: pp. 75-85 Fragments. pp. 190-2 (renumbered IV 202-4) Final Ms. The displacement of these three g pages in the paper sequence in Stage III must be because they became separated from the batch of g paper, and Lawrence decided to use them up after he had already begun using h.
• pp. 182-189, 204-226 h paper, not found in letters. Now located: pp. 182-9 (renumbered IV 194-201) Final Ms. pp. 204-226 Section of Ch. IX
• pp. 272-281 j paper, used in letters 1,4 March and possibly 5-19 April 1912. Now located: Final Ms. pp. 295-304
• pp. 309-318 k paper, used in letters 6-8 March 1912. Now located: Final Ms: Separated into two parts and reversed: pp. 317-318 (renumbered IV 345-346) and pp. 309-315 [misnumbered 309-312, 314-315 by Lawrence] (renumbered IV 350-355). This caused Lawrence at first to mis-number the three T pages in between 347-349, IV according to the Stage III numbering,
• pp. 328-331 l paper, perhaps used in letters 27 March 1912. Now located: Final Ms. pp. 368-371
• pp. 332-333, 337-347 D paper brought in from Stage II and renumbered. (Original numbering in Stage II: 337-8, 341-351) Now located: Final Ms. pp. 372-3, 377-387

IIIB

• pp. 353-5, 358-362, 370-373 m paper, used in letters 16-21 May 1912. Now located: Final Ms. pp. 397-9, 402-6, 414-7
• pp. 45, 46a-49a, 62 n paper, used in letters 29 June to 18 July 1912. Also used for Once, written between 2 & 29 June. Now located: pp. 45-49a Fragments pp. 62 Final Ms. p. 64

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  Also in Fragments on n paper two unfinished and therefore probably immediately rejected pages, numbered 68, 69, bearing an alternative end to Chapter II.

Stage IV Written [?23 July to ?4 August and] 7 September to 19 November 1912

• pp. 1-88 P and Q paper (Sequence 71-97 misnumbered by Lawrence, p. 88 renumbered 91 by Garnett.) P and Q paper are similar: both are in quires, and Lawrence alternated the quires:
• pp. 1-51 P Paper, used in letters 17 Sept to 5 Oct 1912. Three quires interspersed with Stage III pages (in IV numbering): f 9-25, 35-41
• pp. 52-70 Q paper, not found in letters. One quire pp. 52-60, 70, interspersed with Stage III pages (in IV numbering): f 61-63, n 64, f 65-69.
• pp. 71-88 (Garnett's 91) P paper, as above. Two quires and some miscellaneous leaves.
• pp. 89-293 R paper, not found in letters. Odd-sized quires, varying from 4 to 20 leaves, interrupted by only one sequence of Stage III pages (in IV numbering): h 194-201, g 202-4.
• pp. 294-319 S paper used variously: 1. Letters, 30 August to 2 September 1912; 2. Christs in the Tirol 2-6 September 1912 (1 six-leaf quire); 3. Letters, 7-16 September 1912; 4. Sons and Lovers sometime between 5 and 15 October 1912 (1 sixteen-leaf quire); 5. Letters, 22 March and 5 April 1913. Interspersed with Stage III pages (in IV numbering): j 295-304.
• pp. 320-477 T paper, used in letters 15 Oct to 19 Nov 1912. Twelve quires of 8, 10, and 12 leaves, interspersed with Stage III pages (in IV numbering): k 345-6, 350-355, l 368-371, D 372-3, 377-387, m 397-9, 402-6, 414-7, 419-420.
• pp. 478-540 U paper, used in letters 30 Oct, 14 Nov 1912. Also used for The Fight for Barbara, written 27, 28, 29 October 1912: 55 pages in 6, 8 and 10-leaf quires and separate leaves. Used in Sons and Lovers in six quires of miscellaneous sizes, uninterrupted to the end of the novel: finished 19 November 1912.