67
the editor of the Sunday Express , James Douglas, who vilified Hall’s work as pornographic “moral poison”. Government officials pressured Jonathan Cape into withdrawing the novel and when Cape slyly leased the rights to a Parisian press, who smuggled copies into Britain, those too were seized by the police and the publisher was prosecuted at trial. The Well of Loneliness “was subsequently banned in England . . . This led to the order of the chief magistrate, Sir Chartres Biron, that all copies be destroyed, and that literary merit presented no grounds for defence. Despite protests from literary figures such as Virginia Woolf, Leonard Woolf, and John Buchan, Biron’s judgement was upheld by a Court of Appeal” ( ODNB ). It was not republished until 1949 and has since became “a lesbian ‘classic’ which has never been out of print and which has been translated into over a dozen languages” (Aldrich & Wotherspoon, p. 199). Octavo. Original black cloth, spine lettered in gilt, publisher’s device blind-stamped on rear cover, top edge black, fore edge untrimmed. With dust jacket. Bookplate of French philanthropist Pierre Bergé (1930–2017) on front free endpaper verso. Minor rubbing to extremities, sporadic light foxing. A near-fine copy in like dust jacket, not price- clipped, foxing on spine, stain on rear flap fold, edges a little nicked with couple of shallow chips, scarce and notably well- preserved. ¶ Robert Aldrich & Garry Wotherspoon, Who’s Who in Gay and Lesbian History: From Antiquity to World War II , 2001; James Douglas, “A Book that Must be Suppressed”, Sunday Express , 19 August 1928. £5,000 [158160]
66
are the coloured illustrations thoroughly Oriental and decorative by Warwick Goble”. A reviewer for the Manchester Guardian stated that “we hope many more children will make acquaintance with the Rakshasas and the demons, water-sprites, snakes, and elephants, and learn that their Indian cousins are very much like themselves”. Goble exhibited 100 original watercolours for sale at the Dudley Galleries in London during January 1914. A copy of the priced catalogue accompanies this watercolour and reveals that pieces were originally priced between 8 and 16 guineas. This piece was one of the highlights and offered at the price of 15 guineas. Original drawing (338 × 235 mm) on paper, ink and watercolour, signed (“Warwick Goble”) lower right, mounted, framed, and glazed (605 × 495 mm). A fine watercolour. Offered with a copy of the exhibition catalogue, disbound. ¶ The Times of India , 27 November 1912, p. 9;
Manchester Guardian , 28 November 1912, p. 7. Exhibited: Dudley Galleries, London, January 1914, item 96. £5,750 [156217] 67 HALL, Radclyffe. The Well of Loneliness. London: Jonathan Cape, 1928 a classic work of lesbian literature in the scarce dust jacket First edition, first impression (with “whip” rather than “whips” on page 50, line 13), in the distinctly uncommon dust jacket. This famous and highly controversial lesbian novel went through only two small printings in Britain due to its contentious themes. It was the focus of vicious criticism from
35
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter maker