OLIVIA by Olivia.
Pp. 110(last colophon); demy 8vo; mauve cloth, lettered and decorated in gilt, boards a trifle canted, spine gilt slightly dulled; top edges pink; dust wrapper (designed by Duncan Grant), worn and slightly soiled, edges creased and torn, with pieces missing from top edge of both panels, the back panel detached, lacking the lower third of the backstrip, the remaining portion of which is rubbed and browned; book label of David Levine, Sydney, on upper pastedown, outer leaves and edges lightly foxed; The Hogarth Press, London, 1949. First edition. *Published anonymously, the author was Dorothy Bussy, sister of Lytton Strachey, and wife of French painter Simon Bussy. Loosely inserted are four holograph letters (in envelopes), to John McClelland, an American academic who had deduced the identity of the novelist and wrote to Pernel Strachey to confirm it. (A fifth envelope addressed to McClelland is from P. A. Spalding, and is empty). One letter (9th July 1951), is from Dorothy Bussy; the others are from her sisters: two from J. P. [Pernel] Strachey (June 10 and August 5, 1951) and one from Philippa Strachey (5 May, 1952, informing McClelland of Pernel Strachey's death). Both Dorothy Bussy and Pernel Strachey refer to the novel, including references to Eleanor Roosevelt, who was the basis for one of the characters in the book. Item #165188
Price: $1,200.00