Jonkers Books of Henley-on-Thames have issued a 70-page illustrated catalogue exclusively devoted to books and writings by Evelyn Waugh and his friends. Here’s a link to the online edition which is limited to books or other writings by Waugh or to which he contributed. What is probably the most interesting item in the internet list (not included in the printed catalogue) has already been sold. This is Fitzroy Maclean’s copy of the Brideshead Revisited pre-publication edition limited to 50 copies. As explained in the book’s description, when Waugh served under Maclean in WWII Yugoslavia, the two men took an instant dislike to each other :
…it would appear, however, that they found a means of tolerating one another and even developed a reserved respect for each other’s very different talents. Maclean allowed Waugh to publish his anti-Partisan (and thus anti-government policy) report on Catholicism in Croatia, Church and State in Liberated Croatia…Waugh, having completed the initial draft of Brideshead a month before leaving for Yugoslavia spent his spare hours correcting the proofs and was allowed by Maclean (and his friendship with Randolph Churchill) to use the diplomatic channels to return the corrected proofs to London for publication … This particular copy will have been presented in person, shortly before being demobilised in September 1945, doubtless as a mark of thanks for the part Maclean played in its publication.
In view of its having been sold, the asking price is now unavailable.
There remain some interesting association copies of books inscribed, for example, to Graham Greene and Anthony Powell as well as a copy of Unconditional Surrender inscribed to Bill Deakin (“For Bill/Souvenir of Bari/from Evelyn/October 1961”). The entry for the book describes Waugh’s relationship with both Deakin and Maclean:
Bill Deakin was parachuted in to Yugoslavia in 1943 to make contact with Tito and his Partisans. The mission was soon taken over by Fitzroy Maclean, who set up a military air base on the Italian coastal town of Bari. It was in Bari that Waugh, along with Randolph Churchill, was stationed and where Waugh first met Deakin. Waugh seems to have taken an instant liking to Deakin, in the same way that he took an instant dislike to Maclean, and regarded Deakin as one of the unsung heroes of the Yugoslavian operation for which Maclean took much of the credit. Their friendship continued in peace time when Deakin became the first warden of St Antony’s College, Oxford and was knighted in 1975.
The asking prices for the remaining offers vary from £30.00 to £26,500.00.
UPDATE (2 March 2017): The Jonkers catalogue entitled Evelyn Waugh and his Friends can now be viewed online in a PDF file. It may also be purchased directly from the bookseller. These items are available via this link.
