The Last Word
A Record of the Auxiliary
Library at Tor House
compiled by Maureen Girard
Introduction
During the summer of 1937, the Robinson Jeffers
family, on a visit to Ireland, toured the burned-out remains of Moore Hall, the
ancestral estate of the late poet George Moore. Una Jeffers wrote an account of
that visit in her journal, and she later sent a copy to Moore's biographer,
Joseph Hone. In his 1939 book, The Moores of Moore
Hall, Hone quotes in its entirety Una's account; indeed, it is Una,
not Hone, who writes the final pages of Hone's book. A passionate admirer of
George Moore's work, Una must have been more than a little pleased to discover
that she had had the last word in Hone's chronicle of this remarkable Irish
family.
In 1992-1993, Jean
O'Brien, a Monterey bookseller, volunteered to catalog and evaluate the Jeffers'
personal library, which had lain almost entirely untouched at Tor House since
Robinson Jeffers' death in 1962. It didn't take long for Jean to discover that
many of the Jeffers' books contain much more than what is promised by the
covers; perhaps as many as half of the volumes in the Jeffers' library are
augmented with clippings and marginalia which serve to embellish, elaborate, and
at times, emend the published text. Here, too, Una Jeffers appears to have had
the last word.
These additions to
the Jeffers' library are the work almost solely of Una Jeffers. As such, they
are evidence that, to her, a book is a living document which continues to grow
and change long after its publication. Searching literary publications, begging
relevant clippings from friends, and even subscribing to a British clipping
service, Una provided a chronicle of the evolution, during her lifetime, of the
works of which she considered herself steward: within their covers, she pasted
reviews, biographies, pictures, letters, and essays; she often edited
inaccuracies and supplied additional information in the margins; and many times
she checked or underlined passages that, when examined, may lead to an expanded
understanding of the literary influences on Robinson Jeffers. Robinson and Una
Jeffers' personal library provides a fascinating record of the books that seem
to have drawn their continued and active interest; more important, it contains
tantalizing clues—a few left by the poet himself—to which books may have
provided Robinson Jeffers with inspiration and ideas as his poetry evolved and
matured.
Recognizing the
importance of her discovery, Jean O'Brien approached me and suggested that I
take a sabbatical leave from Monterey Peninsula College in order to make a
record of the Jeffers' contributions to the now-rare and fragile volumes at Tor
House. It seemed a pleasant enough way to spend a semester, and I readily fell
in with Jean's plan.
[...]
My purpose at Tor
House has been to provide a written record of everything that any Jeffers added
to a volume now sitting on the shelves, and I have done so with one exception:
some books, which have been removed to the attic because of their especially
poor condition, will have to be examined after they have been repaired. I should
also note here that not every book in the Jeffers' personal library is included
in the following pages. Only those books changed in some way by a Jeffers are
recorded.
[...]
For the most part,
I have attempted to record every word and every mark that seemed remotely
useful. Since I cannot know which researcher may wish to study in depth the
genealogy of the Jeffers' bulldogs (impressive), or the extent to which Una was
interested in the burial of hearts (considerable), or the kind of detail
invested by the Jeffers into planning a trip abroad (minute), I have simply
elected to supply it all. [...] It is my hope that Jeffers scholars and
researchers will find the contents of this very special "extra" library as
interesting—and as full of clues—as I believe they will.
[...]
The Last Word is published by the Robinson
Jeffers Tor House Foundation and is available for sale. See details on the
Publications & Merchandise page. It is also available on-line
here. Loading the publication takes some
time if you have a slow Internet connection.
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