In preparation for a speech about the Victorian author Anthony Trollope I have been searching high and low, through every source I can think of (books, articles and the internet) for a quotation. Asked how he liked to relax, Harold Macmillan is reputed to have replied to the effect that “I take a good Trollope to bed with me”. It is probably apocryphal, but he is known to have been a devoted reader of the Trollope novels, and also capable of wry wit. I have secured all sorts of other informative connections between Trollope and Macmillan, but the exact quote – and its reliability – is eluding me. Can any of our erudite readers help ?
After a fair bit of researching, the closest I could come is this:
Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who worked with Macmillan, gave a lecture at the British library in 2005 where he said the quote was “Whenever I feel bored, I like to go to bed with a Trollope.” Its on page 4 (end of the first whole paragraph) of the lecture, found here: http://www.bl.uk/eccles/pdf/dwbryant/2005dwb.pdf
I couldn’t find anywhere that cites Macmillan directly – ie, gives a speech date or somesuch where the comment was made; in this case its all still second hand, but at least the source is somewhat reliable (as well as I can tell, anyway).
Hope that helps at least a little.. that’s the best I could manage. There are plenty of versions and mentions of it around the tubes, but none are very authoritative or say more than “famously said”. Sorry.
No so erudite but how about this link?
Peter Caterall’s pdf contains a quote from HMD on page 17
Ref: Link: The Prime Minister and His Trollope
http://tobedwithatrollope.wordpress.com/page/17/
Apart from the information in the above-mentioned link posted in my blog, I can’t provide other first-hand information, but in the footnotes to The Prime Minister: The Office and Its Holders Since 1945, Peter Hennessy mentions that Macmillan’s grandson Alexander also personally confirmed the ‘go to bed with a Trollope’ quip in conversation with him in 1997 (p. 603, footnote 168).
I found the same link as Senex. The quote is in many a political biography I checked but none that gave a clear citation and date. tobedwithatrollope’s is closest to the horse’s mouth and a great find. 🙂
Very many thanks to all readers for their kind assistance.
I had come across the very full article by Peter Caterall in my own internet search, but not the more specific – and authoritative – reference from Malcolm Rifkind. I think I will go with his version.
Incidentally, I sought the help of the usually faultless House of Lords Library at the smae time as I asked for yours …. they were somewhat slower and less comprehensive in their reply.
Meanwhile, I strongly recommend a bed-time Trollope for any of you suffering from insomnia !