An unpublished autograph letter signed 'E. Waugh', dated 22 January 1958 and addressed to Sir Ralph Furse, in relation to research for his biography of Monsignor Ronald Knox
Small quarto (203 × 152 mm), 2 pages on the letterhead of 'Combe Florey House, Combe Florey, nr Taunton' (printed in red on blue paper).
Creases where folded into quarter for posting; two pencil annotations (a tick and '23/1') to the first page; in excellent condition.
The letter reads in full: '22nd January 1958 | Dear Sir Ralph | It was extraordinarily kind of you to go to such trouble in answering my questions about the Old Parsonage. You have given me just what I needed. Thanks awfully. And thank you for lending me memoir of D.R. Brandt, which I will return to you shortly. It is very kind of you to offer to lend me "Signa Severa"and the "Outsider". Laura Lovat must have misunderstood me. I have Ronnie's own copies. I am very sorry you shall have been put to the trouble of borrowing them. Neville Bland has been most helpful as (at one remove) has been M. Marsden, in reconstructing Ronald's Eton career. All his old friends have been astonishingly kind. One small point: I notice that in your introduction to "D.R. Brandt" you write "Annu" [?]. That is how it was spelt in the mid '20s. But Ronald's contemporaries all write "Anna". Which shall I do? Have you any strong views about a memorial to Ronald? Roman Catholics will, I think, wish to raise money for a specifically populist foundation connected, perhaps, with the Oxford chaplaincy. But some of us think that his non-Catholic friends would like some other memorial nearer their sympathies. It has been suggested that something should be done at Trinity - a visible memorial and a scholarship or prize of some kind, according to the amount subsidised. This seems to be an excellent plan. I am sure that in later years his sentiment was at Trinity rather than Balliol. I would be very interested to learn what you think. Yours sincerely | E. Waugh'. Sir Ralph Dolignon Furse (1887-1973) was twice mentioned in dispatches and awarded the DSO with bar during the First World War; he later had a distinguished career in the Colonial Office. This correspondence relates to Waugh's 'The Life of the Right Reverend Ronald Knox' (1959), a biography of the Catholic theologian and author of detective fiction who was at Eton with Furse and later shared lodgings with him at Oxford. Furse has written 'Please return to R.D.F.' in red ink at the top left-hand corner of the first page. The 'Anna' referred to is The Annandale Society, a dining club for old Etonians at Balliol College, Oxford.
Item #137576
Price (AUD):
$1,800.00