Volume I of the Letters, edited by James T. Boulton, gives the first 580 letters in the series, covering the period September 1901 to May 1913. This is the time of Lawrence's youth in Eastwood, his first year out of England - in Italy with Frieda - to the publication of Sons and Lovers. There are letters to his early loves, Jessie Chambers, Louie Burrows and Helen Corke. He writes The White Peacock, The Trespasser, Sons and Lovers, the early stories and poems. He is welcomed into the literary world by editors such as Ford and Garnett; he meets Pound and other writers; he reads widely. His...

This volume contains 848 letters from the period June 1921 to March 1924. Lawrence decides to leave the old world - 'my heart - and my soul are broken in Europe' - to live in Taos, New Mexico. This period is characterised by the travelling he and Frieda do, from Australia to New York, via Mexico, back to England and finally to New York again. Lawrence's writings of the period reflect his restlessness. The action of Aaron's Rod shifts from a coal-mining town in England to Florence and Kangaroo conveys Lawrence's perceptions of Australia. By 1924, Lawrence is returning to Taos to write his...

Volume V covers the three years from March 1924 to March 1927. It comprises over 890 letters, of which about 350 are previously unpublished, and the others are printed in full for the first time. As in earlier volumes of this model edition of Lawrence's correspondence, texts have been established from the originals and are fully annotated to identify persons and illuminate allusions. Also included are a biographical introduction, two maps of Oaxaca (Mexico), illustrations, chronology and an index. In 1924 Lawrence is in the United States to check on the failing business of his American...

This volume contains Lawrence's letters written between March 1927 and November 1928: almost 770 letters in just a year and nine months. The letters cover the period of Lawrence's Etruscan tour in the spring of 1927 as preparation for the writing of Sketches of Etruscan Places; the performance of his play, David, in London in May, and - above all - the writing, typing, private publication, promotion and immediate consequences of Lady Chatterley's Lover. He makes new acquaintances with writers and publishers in Europe (Max Mohr, Hans Carossa, Harry and Caresse Crosby); renews friendships which...