The Girls of Radcliff Hall
[London] Printed for the Author for Private Circulation Only: [1934]. 100pp.
Item #8977
Lord Berners wrote this spoof in the style of a girl's boarding school drama, a swipe at Radcliffe Hall's Well of Loneliness, which had appeared in 1928 to great public consternation. In The Girls of Radcliff Hall, the characters were in fact his circle of gay friends- Cecil Beaton (Cecily Seymour), Peter Watson (Lizzie Johnson), Tchelitchew (Madame Yoshiwara), David Herbert (Daisy Montgomery) and Oliver Messel (Olive Mason), among others. The incidents portrayed are drawn from various intrigues at Berners' home, Faringdon- here portrayed as Radcliff Hall. This, the first edition, was reputedly destroyed by one or more of those unflatteringly portrayed and is one of the rarest of modern books. An unusually nice copy in the original drab brown wrappers, very lightly sunned at spine, corners crisp, modern clamshell box by Sangorski & Sutcliffe.
This copy is inscribed by the author to Clive Bell ("Clive Bell with due esteem from the Author/October 1931)." Barry Humphries' copy with his bookplate on front wrapper. Laid in is a 2pp ALS from the bookseller regarding the book. Quite rare.
Price: $7,500.00