signed 31 autograph and typescript letters, postcards, and notes, with 14 associated photographs and several clippings. 8vo and smaller
2001 · The Chantry, Somerset, UK
by Powell, Anthony, and Lady Violet Powell
The Chantry, Somerset, UK, 2001. 31 autograph and typescript letters, postcards, and notes, with 14 associated photographs and several clippings. 8vo and smaller. Mounted in an album. Condition generally fine (some toning of album mounts). 31 autograph and typescript letters, postcards, and notes, with 14 associated photographs and several clippings. 8vo and smaller. A series of letters, postcards, and notes sent from Anthony Powell (1905-2000) and his wife, Lady Violet (1934-2002), to the noted cartoonist Arnold Roth and his wife, Caroline. Roth contributed regularly to Punch among many other outlets; Powell had been literary editor of the magazine in the 1950s. Ranging from typed letters signed on blue Air Mail stationery to pictorial autograph postcards and notes on Chantry letterhead, the correspondence closely tracks the two couples' friendship from its very beginning in 1965 through Anthony's death 25 years later, with several later letters written by Violet in 2000 and 2001. Augmented by personal photographs of Powell and his family during a visit by the Roths to the Chantry, the Powells' estate in Somerset, as well as one taken by Violet on "one of Tony's last trips down the drive." A letter written by her to the Roths shortly after Powell's death makes clear the warmth and close nature of their mutual bond: "I only wish Tony could have read your letter. He did value your cards & valentines so much. The latter are preserved under glass topped shelves & are intensely decorative." Also included are clippings and photocopies of articles by and about Powell, Lady Violet's 2002 Times of London obituary, and the printed proceedings of the Anthony Powell Society's second biennial conference in 2003.
(Inventory #: 367636)