Waugh Item Included in Vivien Leigh Sale

The Guardian has reported the sale of several items (including many books) from the estate of actress Vivien Leigh. The sale at Sotheby’s London on 26 September is occasioned by the recent death of her daughter, Suzanne Farrington. Leigh herself died in 1967. Lot 215 consists of one of the 50 large print copies of The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold (1957) signed: “For Vivien, this sad little chapter from my life, from Evelyn.” Although the Guardian explains that she died of tuberculosis (from which she suffered chronically), she also suffered from bipolar disorder (referred to in her time as manic-depression). Whether Waugh was aware of this when he sent her this particular book is not mentioned. Estimated sale price is £2000-3000. No other books by Waugh are listed.

The collection also includes several volumes of plays by Tennessee Williams (which are not apparently signed), including A Streetcar Named Desire. Leigh played Blanche DuBois in both stage and screen productions of that play. There is also a signed copy of Gone With the Wind, including a poem by author Margaret Mitchell dedicated to Leigh, as well as a script from the 1939 film in which she played Scarlet O’Hara. Also listed in the sale are three signed biographies by Christopher Sykes. Not among these is his biography of Waugh which was published in 1975 after her death.

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