I read with interest and chagrin Ian Thomson’s review of Peter Levi: Oxford romantic (Books, 4 October) and winced at his description of “a saturnine presence” at Oxford. As one who is familiar with Levi’s archive and papers, I can say that, contrary to that description, he was a person of a more sanguine nature. It was my privilege to spend Michaelmas term at Campion Hall several years ago as an academic visitor/scholar, and his name evoked a salutary response. Indeed,