| Admin/Biog History | In 1968, Nicolson was working as editor of the Burlington - a post he had held for over twenty years. He was living alone in London, having divorced from Luisa Vertova in 1962. His daughter, Vanessa (born in 1956), was at boarding school. He had fallen in love with Simon Kenrick. |
| Description | This journal is somewhat different from others in the series: it appears that Nicolson was prompted to resume writing by his affection for Simon Kenrick. Nicolson repeatedly records that he is in love, but the relationship appears to be platonic with Kenrick having various girlfriends. Entries are made sporadically, rather than daily, and the first part of the journal - 2 December 1968-9 October 1969 - is almost exclusively concerned with the relationship.
Entries from 17th October 1969 onwards also include details about his wider life, including in particular, reminiscences and anecdotes about friends. He regulaly writes about socialising with Anne Wolheim, Jocelyn Baines, Julia Strachey, Sally & Philip Toynbee and Ginette and Robin Darwin.
Perhaps owing to Nicolson's age, the journal is more reflective and personal than other volumes: recording his thoughts about the nature of relationships; his and others sexuality; his own shortcomings and happiness.
Of particular note:
1968
December
-2nd & 3rd: writes about the intensity of his feelings for Simon [Kenrick]
1969
January
-4th: declares his love for Simon [Kenrick], but records that it is not reciprocated; describes how he has assisted Simon [Kenrick] in his career; writes about the physical aspect of their relationship
-21st: Simon [Kenrick] rows with his father and leaves his family home realising that he had 'frittered away a year making excuses for not working'. Contemplates how this might change the nature of their relationship declaring 'My role is obvious now: to keep him up to the mark with hard work he had been too self-indulgent. He is too angelic to resent this, blaming idleness & himself alone. But this does not mean that my role is less clearly marked out'
February
-5th: writes that he plans to show Simon [Kenrick] 'this diary of our relationship'; about the 'slow unravelling of truth' in the relationship and that Simon [Kenrick] has agreed to live with him
-7th: writes about Simon's [Kenrick] search for a flat and lack of money; realises that Simon [Kenrick] 'did not like taking money from me...... I hit on the perfect solution, that of employing him. He will do research for me on the Foundling Hospital'
March
-23rd: Simon [Kenrick] reveals he in on the verge of falling in love with a girl called Jackie
May
-13th: writes that Simon's [Kenrick] relationship with Jackie is 'not at all satisfactory' and that he is begin to distance himself from Nicolson
-29th: spends two evenings with Simon's [Kenrick] brother, Roger. Roger talks about his relationship with his brother & also how Simon's relationship with Nicolson has changed Simon
June
-1st: Simon [Kenrick] agrees to spend two weekends away with Nicolson (in Oxford with the Haskell's & at Sissginhurst); writes about how Jackie receives this news & the implications for their relationship
July
-16th: writes that Simon [Kenrick] now stays at his flat all the time and that they are due to visit Sissinghurst together in August. Puts the new closeness down to the fact that Simon [Kenrick] has realised 'the physical side of things is not so important' for Nicolson. 'The result is that we are easier together now. We are totally and invariably in harmony'
August
-12th: writes about a weekend spent at Sissinghurst with Simon [Kenrick]
September
-8th: reports that Jackie loves someone else
-18th: writes that he is happier that he has ever been. 'had he [Simon Kenrick] been queer, the whole episode would have been over months ago. Since he is normal, one does not see the end of it'
October:
-9th: writes about the potential consequences to their relationship if he made a pass at Simon [Kenrick]
-17th: writes that he has the idea that ' I might make this record into a proper diary, instead of just about S and me'. Writes about an evening with Maud Russell. Concludes by listing the people, besides Simon [Kenrick], who he loves most: '1. Philip, of course. 2. Sally 3. Anne 4. Richard, 5. there must be a fifth - of course, Francis. And a sixth - Jocelyn. Vanessa is out of this competition'
-21st: has dinner with Olga Davenport
-23rd: is asked by a man from the Ministry of Defence what he could 'remember of a visit with Stuart Hampshire to Paris in the mid 1930s when we saw somthing of Anthony Blunt and Guy Burgess and a revolutionary Marxist called Klugman'; contemplates the thought of Anthony Blunt being arrested as a Soviet spy; visits the lunch club and has a long conversation with William Coldstream [A digital copy of this entry can be found below]
-28th: spends the weekend with Philip and Sally Toynbee; Anne Wollheim and 'Decca'; arranges to write a book on La Tour with Christopher Wright
November
-4th: dines with 'Decca' and Bob and discusses the concept 'the middle-class'; Stuart Hampshire writes from Princeton, with reference to Anthony Blunt, that there is 'nothing sinister about giving information about Communists in the 1930s to the Ministry of Defence'
-10th: writes about difficulties in his brother's (Nigel Nicolson) marriage, comparing the difficulties experienced in his own marriage to Luisa Vertova
-24th: writes that he is 'very happy at the moment, not only on account of S..... but because I have started writing my book on the Foundling Hospital'
-25th: lunches with Raymond Mortimer and interrogates him about his 'early aethestic blossoming'. Also discusses Clive [Bell] and Roger [Fry], in particular Bell's pursuit and aptitude for critical theory
December
-1st: spends the weekend with Ginette and Robin Darwin; spends the weekend in Manchester with Simon [Kenrick] & Keith Roberts
-5th: recounts an anecdote about Michael Kitson
-9th: discusses with Pat Trevor-Roper his relationship with Simon [Kenrick]
-12th: considers, following a discussion with Giles Robertson, the possibility of Anthony Blunt being a Soviet Spy
-17th: dines with Freddy Ayers and discusses Mary Sinclair [Lady Mary St.-Clair Erskine]
-18th: reports that his brother (Nigel Nicolson) has divorced
-21st: reports that Simon's [Kenrick] mother has died
-29th: spends Christmas with Philip and Sally Toynbee
1970
January
-12th: writes that 'Nigel's romance with Diana is over'; writes that he is proud of how his daughter, Vanessa, is growing up
-14th: attends a preview of the BBC programme concerning Virginia Woolf: 'Omnibus: A Night's Darkness, A Day's Sail'
-16th: lunches with Simon [Kenrick] and his family; recounts an anecdote told by Philip Toynbee about an incident that may have led to Anne and Richard Wollheim's marriage
-21st: writes about the reception of the BBC Omnibus programme on Virginia Woolf
February
-4th: dines at Ginette and Robin Darwin's house
-8th: spends the evening with Sonia Brownell who gossips about Douglas Cooper, John Robertson, Julia and Lawrence Gowing
-9th: discusses the 'problem of parentage' with Penelope Gilbert
-22nd: completes his book on the Foundling Hospital
-24th: spends an evening with Jocelyn [Baines], reflects on their friendship and relationships
-26th: reports that Simon [Kenrick] has been sacked from 'the Mellon' and prepares to lobby his friends about a job for Simon at the Arts Council; spends an evening with Jocelyn [Baines] and Sonia Brownell
March
-10th: spends an evening at the Beefsteak club and the 'homosexual pub in the Piccadilly underground'; considers how the Sexual Offences Act of 1967 has altered the experience of picking up a person for sex; reports that Julia [Strachey?] is preparing for death without a complaint
-15th: reports that Simon [Kenrick] has a new girlfriend called Mary
-19th: muses about a comment made by Henry Moore at a party that Nicolson is getting more distguished the older he becomes
-31st: spends Easter with Philip and Sally Toynbee, writes about Toynbee's relationship with his children and the affect his drunkenness has on them
April
-5th: writes that his retirement plan, scheduled for 1982, is to travel around the world with the Toynbee's
-10th; writes about a visit to see Julia [Gowing] in hospital
-27th: writes about an encounter with James Joll; has a conversation with Anthony Blunt about 'regrets about one's past life'
May
-6th: writes about Simon's [Kenrick] search for employment, new job 'town planning in Islington' and relationship with his parents
-26th: spends 'not at all a happy evening' with Julia [Strachey] who has become obsessed with Lawrence Gowing and is writing a history about him; writes about his own relationships and happiness
-27th: records that Adam Ridley is to be married to Katharine Asquith; writes about their respective characters
-31st: writes about an encounter with John Pope-Hennessy and Robert Birley
June
-10th: gives a talk about Marcel Duchamp; writes about nearly picking up 'a boy' and considers the changes in picking up a person for sex since the Sexual Offences Act of 1967
-23rd: recounts various anecdotes about Angela Culme-Seymour Spencer-Churchill; Mehmet Ali Bulent Rauf and Augustus John; comments on the conservatism of Bloomsbury
July
-14th & 16th: reflects on an anecdote told by Alan Pryce-Jones & what this reveals about him (Pryce-Jones) and the social atmosphere of the 1920s with the 1930s; dines with Nathalie and Humphrey Brooke; muses about the nature of married life; writes about a sexual encounter with a 'sweet boy called George'
-22nd: writes that Francis [Haskell] has been asked to review his Foundling book and considers the difficulty of objectively critiquing the work of a friend; dines with Diana Crawford and considers her sexuality; muses about the problems inherent in marriage between partners of different sexual orientation
September
-1st: muses about what to record in his diary considering whether 'in 200 years, this diary were worth publishing'; writes that he has fallen out of love with Simon [Kenrick]; records that he has a pain in his chest, is concerned about his health & is due to be examined 'top to toe' by a doctor
-19th: spends an evening with Julia [Strachey]; writes about Julia's relationship with Frances Partridge, with Dora Carrington and with him; writes about her sexuality. Also writes about his relationship with his mother (Vita Sackville-West) [A digital copy of this entry can be found below]
-23rd: writes about his feelings for Simon [Kenrick]
December
-17th: writes about his feelings for Simon [Kenrick]
|
| Image Caption | Journal entry for 23 October 1969 concerning Blunt and a visit from the Ministry of Defence, 1969 (2pp) |
| Journal entry for 2-3 December 1969 concerning Nicolson's feelings for Simon Kenrick, 1969 |
| Journal entry for 19 September 1970, concerning Julia Strachey and Nicolson's feelings for his mother, Vita Sackville-West, 1970 |