Letter from William Empson, Sheffield, to John Davenport, 1957 February 20 : autograph manuscript signed.

Concerning a lecture Empson has agreed to give at Manchester and on Davenport's application for a position there; saying "I have just written to Manchester agreeing to give a lecture to the combined Science and Arts societies about Donne the Space-Man, arguing that he imagined the lovers in his love-poems as safe from persecution because [they lived] on other planets, and really believed that other planets were inhabited. It is a controversial topic, and I have the approval of Charles Singer, a very old but very impressive historian of science, on a crucial detail; so that I can reasonably ask the scientists to be interested. This fussy arrangement, my dear John, was one I agreed to (or rather only agreed to if made grand) to (having of course already written the piece and got it accepted by the Kenyon Review to my great relief) because in my innocent heart I thought a visit by Empson to Manchester might be part of rooting (ROOTING) for Davenport. If you happened to be visiting Manchester then I think it would be a nice time. However as no one will mention the subject your presence would in a way be pointless; but then again, if the subject were being mooted secretly, I see a faint point in having us come to Manchester together. In fact I hope you can arrange to come to my show, which ought to be a lovely one."