Nicholas Griffin - The Selected Letters of Bertrand Russell, Volume 1: The Private Years 1884-1914

With the appearance of the The Selected Letters of Bertrand Russell , the non-specialist reader is given the run of that extraordinary headpiece as it applied itself to more accessible topics like sex, love and marriage.
Stefan Collini , Times Literary Supplement

full of interest, both human and philosophical
Evening Standard

most enjoyable introduction to a man whose exceptional brain lit almost a century with philosophical ideas
The Spectator

By turns impassioned, acutely analystical, witty and peevish, these candid letters provide an unparalleled intimate glimpse of British philosopher Russell's private life.
Publishers Weekly

The combination of Russell's letters and Griffin's editing provides an enthralling introduction to one of the most remarkable and bizarre figures of the 20th century.
Philip Ziegler, Weekend Telegraph

This first volume of Russell's letters demonstrates that a principle which makes for good philosophy may raise hell with one's human relationships.
Samuel Hynes , The Independent

This fascinating selection has been admirably put together.
New Statesman

In its revelation of a uniquely active and various mind, and the responses of such a mind to the extremes of private intimacy and public engagement, this book prepares us for the mature Russell, who faced the outbreak of mass unreason in 1914 having already inquired deeply and profitably and painfully into the human condition.
Christopher Hitchens , Newsday

an informative, entertaining and often moving novelistic chronicle of Russell's passage from the earnestness of young adulthood through the muddles of early middle age.
USA Today

these letters offer rich pickings one of the clearest pictures yet of a man who sat with greatness
Oxford Times

An astonishing collection of intensely revealing, self-scrutinizing, profoundly personal letters, which coupled with Griffin's fine notes and lively commentary unfold a life story with all the psychological drama and detail of a Russian novel.
Christian Science Monitor

With the appearance of the The Selected Letters of Bertrand Russell , the non-specialist reader is given the run of that extraordinary headpiece as it applied itself to more accessible topics like sex, love and marriage.
Stefan Collini , Times Literary Supplement

full of interest, both human and philosophical
Evening Standard

most enjoyable introduction to a man whose exceptional brain lit almost a century with philosophical ideas
The Spectator

By turns impassioned, acutely analystical, witty and peevish, these candid letters provide an unparalleled intimate glimpse of British philosopher Russell's private life.
Publishers Weekly

The combination of Russell's letters and Griffin's editing provides an enthralling introduction to one of the most remarkable and bizarre figures of the 20th century.
Philip Ziegler, Weekend Telegraph

This first volume of Russell's letters demonstrates that a principle which makes for good philosophy may raise hell with one's human relationships.
Samuel Hynes , The Independent

This fascinating selection has been admirably put together.
New Statesman

In its revelation of a uniquely active and various mind, and the responses of such a mind to the extremes of private intimacy and public engagement, this book prepares us for the mature Russell, who faced the outbreak of mass unreason in 1914 having already inquired deeply and profitably and painfully into the human condition.
Christopher Hitchens , Newsday

an informative, entertaining and often moving novelistic chronicle of Russell's passage from the earnestness of young adulthood through the muddles of early middle age.
USA Today

these letters offer rich pickings one of the clearest pictures yet of a man who sat with greatness
Oxford Times

An astonishing collection of intensely revealing, self-scrutinizing, profoundly personal letters, which coupled with Griffin's fine notes and lively commentary unfold a life story with all the psychological drama and detail of a Russian novel.
Christian Science Monitor

THE SELECTED LETTERS OF

BERTRAND
RUSSELL

THE PRIVATE YEARS 18841914

EDITED BY NICHOLAS GRIFFIN

First published 1992
by the Penguin Group

This edition first published 2002
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE

Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group

2002 The Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation Ltd by agreement with McMaster University; Nicholas Griffin for selection and editorial matter

Typeset in Bembo by
Graphicratt Limited, Hong Kong
Printed and bound in Great Britain by
TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested

ISBN 0-415-26014-0

CONTENTS

ILLUSTRATIONS

Bertrand Russell's parents ( Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation )

Pembroke Lodge, Richmond Park, Bertrand Russell's childhood home

Lady Agatha Russell with the young Bertrand ( McMaster University )

Lady Russell, Bertrand Russell's grandmother ( The Principal and Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge )

Rollo Russell ( The Principal and Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge )

Frank Russell ( The Principal and Fellows of Newnham College, Cambridge )

Lady Stanley, Bertrand Russell's maternal grandmother ( McMaster University )

Maude Stanley ( McMaster University )

Lyulph Stanley ( McMaster University )

Trinity College, Cambridge ( Edwin Smith )

A group of Russell's friends at Trinity College, showing Crompton and Theodore Llewelyn Davies ( The Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge )

The Pearsall Smith family at Friday's Hill House, 1894. Robert Pearsall Smith, Alys, Karin Costelloe, Hannah Whitall Smith, Logan, Ray Costelloe, Mary ( Mrs Halpern )

Hannah, Robert, Alys and Logan Pearsall Smith at Friday's Hill House, 1894 ( Mrs Halpern )

Alys Russell on her honeymoon, 1895 ( McMaster University )

Bertrand and Alys, 1895 ( Mrs Halpern )

Mary Costelloe, c . 1885 ( Mrs Halpern )

Frank Costelloe, 1896 ( Mrs Halpern )

Ray Costelloe, 1909 ( Mrs Halpern )

Karin Costelloe, c . 1911 ( Mrs Halpern )

Mary with her second husband, Bernard Berenson, at Fernhurst, 1891 ( Mrs Halpern )

Alys Russell outside Millhanger, 1895 ( Mrs Halpern )

Election photograph of Bertrand and Alys Russell, 1907 ( Mrs Halpern )

G.E. Moore ( The Master and Fellows of Trinity College, Cambridge )

A.N. Whitehead ( Hulton Picture Company )