J M Barrie to Arthur Llewelyn Davies - 1898

Description

Letter from Barrie to Arthur, 24 May 1898, inviting him - and Sylvia - to a cricket match at Broadway hosted by Mary Anderson Navarro.

Transcription

133, Gloucester Road, S.W.
24 May '98.
My dear Davies,

Mrs de Navarro has issued her challenge for the match at Broadway for Saturday, June 11, and wants us to go down on the previous day, for which she is arranging sports of an undignified character. She also invites us to supper and a ball. I hope you will contrive to make this suit you and that Mrs Davies will come too as she is particularly wanted and is said to be good at managing boys.
Let me know as rooms have to be booked.
Return on Sunday.
Yours ever,
J. M. Barrie.

Peter's comments:

For an account of J.M.B's "Allahakbarrie" cricketing activities, see Denis [Mackail's "The Story of J.M.B."] and also "The Greenwood Hat". Mrs de Navarro, Mary Anderson, the famous and beautiful actress, regularly challenged the team at Broadway in Worcestershire, for some years.

Did Mr. and Mrs. Davies go to Broadway on this occasion? History ls silent on the point, but it is a fair comment that the occasion would not have been A's cup of tea. (See also J.M.B's next letter to S.) Denis's masterly summing up of A's attitude towards the impact of this strange new personality makes it quite unnecessary for me to enlarge on ‘all that’ here.