[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—May I correct one
small error in Dame Edith Lyttefton's interesting article entitled "Influenced Books" (Spectator, May 13th)? The mistake may have occurred through my not having made myself quite clear as to the method by which " influenced " writing is produced in my case.
In the article it is stated with reference to my book, The Childhood of Jesus, that "there is a kind of double dictation, Miss Cummins being dictated to by someone or something while she dictates in turn to her friend." But the method by
which this book was produced is as follows : I cover my eyes with my left hand. In a little while, when
I have become passive and drowsy, my right hand rapidly writes down the narrative which comes to me word by word,
and I have no sense of what the next episode or sentence is to be. My friend Miss Gibbes removes the sheet of foolscap as soon as it is filled, then places my hand at the top of the next page, and so the writing proceeds without a pause for an hour or an hour and a half at a time. As such writing is only obtained when I am absolutely passive and very drowsy it is necessary for Miss Gibbes to take charge as my hand would otherwise go on writing on the table.—Yours faithfully, 25 Jubilee Place, Chelsea, S.W.3.
GERALDINE CUMMINS.
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