John, manuscript autobiography and related papers, 1950s

JOHN, AUGUSTUS

Autograph manuscript draft memoirs and related papers, comprising:

(i) Autograph manuscript drafts, c.30 headed sections ("Sean O'Casey", "Actors & Actresses", "Back to Paris", "A Visit from the King of Spain", etc.), corrections and revisions throughout, various paper stocks, c.115 pages, early 1950s; (ii) typescript drafts, mostly fair-copy carbons but seven sections with autograph revisions ("A Fair Do at Gay Paree", "The Greatest Repartee in History", "Fitzroy Street", "A Dublin Affair", "Early Indiscretions", "Isadora Duncan", "Portraits of Prime Ministers"), various fragmentary paginations, some sections in duplicate, c.220 pages, 4to; (iii) two successive sets of corrected page proofs for the memoir published as Chiaroscuro, the first with two typescript inserts (in total 8 pages), c.1950-51; (iv) editorial correspondence, 5 items, 1952-55

Extensive working manuscripts for Augustus John's lively and entertaining memoirs. John recalled his life like a raconteur, parcelling his memories into short, amusing anecdotes ranging from an encounter with a naked hermaphrodite ("the nearest living approach to the Greek ideal") to lunch with Winston Churchill, as well as his thoughts on artists from Goya to Wyndham Lewis. The unstructured nature of the work caused his publishers some difficulties. Chiaroscuro was published in 1954, but most of these drafts relate to his second volume of memoirs, which was published posthumously in 1966 under the title Finishing Touches. A set of related typescripts for the earlier volume were previously sold in these rooms (13 December 2016, lot 186).

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