The Complete Works of W. N. P. Barbellion

From Table Talk: The National Food Magazine, March 1920:

Hayden Church tells in the New York Sun of an interview with Cummings’ brother after the death of the author a short time ago: “‘Barbellion’ was merely a fine sounding name that appealed to my brother,” he said. “It is, I believe, the name of a grocer or some thing like that, and the prompting to use it was typical of his humor. When I questioned him as to the W. N. P., he explained that one had to balance such a name and that the initials could stand for ‘Wilhelm Nero Pilate.’”