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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
EVELYN WAUGH, AGED 7 1/4 72. WAUGH, Evelyn THE CURSE OF THE HORSE RACE Printed for Cobden Sanderson, [1932]. The author’s own proof sheets of his contribution to the 1932 work, “Little Innocents”. Four sheets, printed on one side, unbound. Inscribed by Waugh to Diana Cooper on the reverse of the final leaf, “the Lady Diana Cooper 202”, with the author’s further anno - tation adding his age of 7¼ to the first page. Folds to pages, otherwise fine. Housed in chemise and quarter morocco box. [35444] £6,000 A very rare, if not unique, individual issue of Waugh’s first piece of fiction, written at about the age of seven. The manuscript of this piece of juvenilia is held (along with most of Waugh’s papers) at the Ransom Center in Austin, Texas, where it is listed as item A1 in their catalogue. It was first published in Little Innocents (1932) and then collected in Tactical Exercise (1954). The first page of the manuscript is reproduced in Waugh’s autobiography, A Little Learning. It was given by Waugh to Diana Cooper at the beginning of their long friendship when Waugh was sufficiently enamoured of her to follow her round the country during a provincial tour of The Miracle, in which Cooper starred. It seems likely that the ‘202’ in Waugh’s inscription refers to Cooper’s hotel room.
WAUGH TO THE TALBOT RICES 73. WAUGH, Evelyn VILE BODIES Chapman & Hall, 1930.
First edition. Original marbled cloth with gilt titles to the spine. Author’s presentation copy, inscribed on the front endpaper, “For David & Tamara with love from Evelyn (published Jan. 14th 1930).” Striking orange and black pictorial title page designed by the author. A very good copy indeed with slight wear to spine ends and bottom cor- ners. Page edges browned and a little foxing throughout, with a few small red stains along the bottom edge of the preliminaries. [35631] £6,500 David Talbot Rice met Waugh at Oxford, where they, along with Brian Howard, Anthony Powell and Harold Acton were part of a set known as the Hypocrites Club, which was an influence on Waugh’s depiction of the louche undergraduate behaviour in Brideshead Revisited. Tamara was also an undergraduate at the same time and became a close friend of Waugh’s before being romantically pursued by Talbot Rice. They married in 1927 and both pursued successful careers in Byzantine and Islamic art. They remained on friendly terms with Waugh, Tamara being particularly supportive on the break up of his first marriage. Vile Bodies is the author’s successful second novel, lampooning the rise of the ‘Bright Young Things’. It is uncommon in an inscribed state.
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