I. WAVENEY GIRVAN - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 05/04/1931 - HFSID 73475
Price: $120.00
I. WAVENEY GIRVAN
The bibliographer of Henry Williamson reminisces about the places he lived
and what he remember about them.
Typed letter signed "I. Waveney Girvan", 2 pages, 8x10¼ letterhead.
With 5¼x4¼ envelope with canceled red three-halfpence stamp affixed.
Waterloo, Nr. Liverpool. Typed addressed on envelope: "Mr. H.
Spafford Moore,/c/o Messrs,. Graham, Parsons & Co.,/1422 Walnut Street,/
Philadelphia,/U.S.A.". Ink note unknown hand at upper left. In full:
"Dear Sir, I have now returned from my holiday, which ended up in
Belgium, and I write to thank you for your letter. You raise interesting points
and you will find the answer to the Tarka problem in the bibliography. The
correct first edition of Tarka the Otter is one of 1,100 copies, 100 of 100
copies which were specially printed and bound in vellum. These were sold by Mr.
Williamson as a bookseller. The 7/6 edition is in my opinion (and in Mr.
Williamson's) valueless from a collector's viewpoint though some prefer it to
the 1,000 copies at £1:1:-. I hope the bibliography will correct this. Devon
certainly is a glorious country and were I to give a visitor the best impression
of these islands I should take him to Devon. I am a Scotch man (or should it be
Scotsman) and I can be pardoned for boasting about it. I think it is the variety
and richness of its scenery that places it above all others. It has wild
highlands in Dartmoor and Exmoor. In Dartmoor the land rises to 2,000 feet above
sea-level 'which is not bad for a temperate isle' as Mr. Arnold Bennett once
said. Exmoor sweeps down to the sea in heather-covered slopes and bare
precipices. In the south are the attractive red-colored cliffs and pleasant,
well wooded with the good red earth. Her rivers the Dart, Teign, Tamar, Plym and
many others are noted for their beauty. But the mind as well as the eye is
attracted for Devon is also famed for her men and associations. And she can
boast of a literature that is growing in importance. It is wealthy in
superstitions, folk-lore and old survivals. Perhaps you can forgive my eulogies.
I spent the happiest years of my life in Devon and Cornwall and regard myself as
an exile. I have noted Jefferies' influence on Williamson in my critical
introduction though I have avoided, in spite of certain likenesses, comparing
him with Hudson as I wanted to stress Williamson's individuality. I note the The
Dream of Fair Women is announced as read. Therefore, the little book should be
ready in a month or two unless I am met with any unforeseen delays. My only fear
is that it is full of mistakes. I have heard that this fear is shared by all
bibliographers and is generally well founded! Yours very sincerely, P.S. You ask
for autograph letters etc. It may interest you to know that he rarely signs his
letter or post-cards and I who have corresponded with him often have only one
letter signed by him. I jokingly asked him to sign his letters to me so that I
could die wealthy. His next letters bore passable forged signature if Thomas
Hardy, Siegfried Sasson, Ethel M. Dell, H. M. Tomlinson and other immortals. But
I will remember that you are interested. I.W.G." Little is known about
Girvan. However, he did publish a bibliography of British author Henry
Williamson (1895-1977) in 1931 entitled A Bibliography and a Critical Survey
of the Works of Henry Williamson: Together with Authentic Bibliographical
Annotations by Another Hand, then moved to London to become an
accounting tutor. Williamson was the author of over 70 books and a friend
of T.E. Lawrence (the British soldier upon whom Lawrence of Arabia was
based). Williamson is best known for his award-winning 1927 book Tarka the
Otter, which was adapted into a 1979 movie narrated by Peter Ustinov.
This letter was written the year that Girvan's bibliography was published,
four years after Williamson's Tarka the Otter and seven years after
The Dream of Fair Women, the last book as part of a tetralogy entitled
The Flax of Dreams. Lightly creased along edges. Letter has been folded
into quarters and unfolded. Envelope is cut open on top. ½-inch tear to lower
left. Otherwise in fine condition. Two
items.
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