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I. WAVENEY GIRVAN - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 05/04/1931 - HFSID 73475

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.

Price: $120.00

Condition: Lightly creased, otherwise fine condition Add to watchlist:
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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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