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120 THIS DIFFICULT INDIVIDUAL
part played by Mr. Pound—and by 'The Egoist' magazine with
which he was so closely and dynamically associated—in bringing
Joyce's work to the notice of the more literate public . . . In a
letter dated Aug. 13, 1913, Mr. Pound informed Miss Harriet
Monroe that he had taken charge of the literary department of
the magazine. In December of the same year he mentioned in a
letter to Mr. William Carlos Williams that the 'New Freewoman'
was now to go as 'The Egoist.' The 'official' change of title took
place Jan. 1, 1914. In the course of the year Miss Marsden asked
Miss Weaver to take charge of the editing of the magazine, on
the practical and business side, and thanks not a little to Miss
Weaver's energy and enthusiasm, 'The Egoist' made literary history
in that eventful period 1914-19. Many years later, in a letter
to Mr. John Drummond, May 30, 1934, Mr. Pound emphasized
the importance of the part played by Miss Weaver in the literary
activities of the magazine. He wrote, 'HW deserves well of the
nation and never turned away anything good. Also the few articles
she wrote were full of good sense. She amply deserves Eliot's
dedication of whatever book it was (Selected Essays 1917-32).' " 2
Learning that Joyce was hard-pressed for money, Pound decided
to obtain for him a grant from England's Royal Literary Fund. The
officials of such organizations seem to grant money to writers only
on two conditions—first, that the supplicant does not need it, and
second, that he will never write anything worthwhile. Not only did
the case of Joyce violate both of these precepts, but Pound was
already persona non grata at that agency.
Pound's strategy in this instance was to deploy himself behind
three of England's leading literary personalities, approaching the
unsuspecting victim in the sheep's clothing of respectability. He
chose as his agents William Butler Yeats, Edmund Gosse, and
George Moore. His awareness of the fine points of military action,
those little details that so often decide the day, is illustrated by the
manner in which he handled this sally. Realizing that a single
appeal, signed by three men, however eminent, might not carry
the day for Joyce, he approached each of them separately. The
secretary of the Royal Literary Fund soon received, not one, but
three individual appeals from important writers for the relief of
James Joyce. The cleverness of this approach obtained for a largely