J O N K E R S R A R E B O O K S
P R E S E N T A T I O N C O P I E S & M A N U S C R I P T S
“The dear boy went back to Oxford this term so full of new plans and interests, with “Mods” safely behind him, and liberty to follow a wider range of thought and reading. From all one can glean, his last days were specially happy ones. He was laid to rest in Oxford on his 20th birthday.” He also mentions Alastair’s enjoyment of a Curtis Brown party, he attended, “You may like to know, that his little visit to you was a matter of constant pleasant recollection. Owing to the war, he had led so secluded a life, socially speaking that this was a real “event”, and the memory of it was cherished by him.” Tipped onto black pa- per at the upper corners and light creases from the original folding, excellent condition. [40265] £3,500 An extraordinarily resonant letter, one of very few in which Grahame talks about the great trag- edy of his life - the death of his son. Alastair, affectionately known as ‘Mouse’ to his parents, had been indulged by his mother whilst Grahame, who had built himself a picture of his son’s capa- bilities entirely at odds with reality, encouraged him to achieve the academic success that he had failed to do. Alastair was awkward in the company of his peers and bullied at school (Rugby, and later at Eton) and by mid teens was almost totally blind in one eye. He was thoroughly depressed at Oxford and it is thought that one fateful evening he walked out from Christ Church, up to Port Meadow where he lay down on the railway line to await the next train. Kenneth Grahame never accepted this version of events and this letter and talk of his happy last days points to this state of denial. Albert Curtis Brown, an American journalist living in London, set up his literary agency in 1899 and his handling of Grahame’s Wind in the Willows was one of his first great successes. Although Grahame produced no significant body of work after 1908, Curtis Brown remained his agent and friend. In 1918 in a well meaning attempt to cheer up Alastair, Curtis Brown invited him to his daughter’s coming out dance. “She found him reserved and sardonic, and still suffering badly from acne. He made no attempt to dance, but spent all the time talking ‘interminable dullness’ to her father” - Peter Green (Kenneth Grahame A Biography) It is to this visit that Grahame refers in the final paragraph of his letter. Grahame’s letters appear infrequently in commerce and those with content of substance are rare indeed.
GIDE TO JOSEPH CONRAD 26. GIDE, Andre ISABELLE Edition de la Nouvelle Revue Francaise, 1911.
First published edition. Contemporary black limp morocco with triple ruled device to covers, original blue printed wrappers bound in. Author’s presentation copy to Joseph Conrad, inscribed on the half title, “a Joseph Conrad avec l’amical souvenir Andre Gide. Juillet 11”. A fine copy, with just a touch of browning to the page edges. [40018] £7,500 A monumental association, linking two of the most influential writers of the turn of the century. This copy marks their first meeting, when Gide visited Conrad at his home in Kent having been in - troduced by Agnes Tobin. It was the start of a friendship which lasted until Conrad’s death some thirteen years later. Gide returned to Kent the following year and thereafter the pair corresponded prolifically about their lives and their work, with Gide overseeing the translation of much of Con - rad’s work into French. “Gide was one of the most distinguished and artistically remarkable of all Conrad’s literary friends. They wrote regularly to each other and exchanged editions of their works, shared domestic and literary news. Conrad referred to Gide as ‘Master and Friend’ in correspondence - the only other correspondent whom he addressed in a similar style was Henry James...” -Jessie Conrad (1935) ON HIS SON’S DEATH 27. GRAHAME, Kenneth TYPED LETTER, SIGNED To Grahame’s literary agent, Al- bert Curtis Brown, concerning the death of his son. 26 May 1920. A single page of letter paper, headed “Boham’s”, dated 26 May 1920, thanking Curtis Brown for his “kind words of sympathy with us in our overwhelming sorrow.” follow- ing the death of Grahame’s son, Alastair. He touches upon Alastair’s last days,
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