Category Archives: Letters

Waugh and Mitford: Grave Problems

Posted on January 14, 2020 by Jeffrey Manley

Waugh’s friend Nancy Mitford is in the news relating to the publication in the USA of her biography by Laura Thompson, Life in a Cold Climate. See previous posts. The Wall Street Journal (10 January 2020) has a favorable review by … Continue reading →

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Waugh’s Christmas in Yugoslavia: 1944

Posted on December 25, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

Waugh spent Christmas in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia, where he was sent after Belgrade fell to the Russians and Partisans. This is the 75th anniversary of that holiday celebration. He had to travel via Bari in Italy and arrived a few days … Continue reading →

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Auctions Update

Posted on December 12, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

Southeby’s has announced the sale of the collection of letters from Evelyn Waugh to Richard Plunket Greene. See previous post. This was Lot 140 in the auction conducted 3-10 December. It sold for £15,000 which was the low end of … Continue reading →

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Clive James (1939-2019) R. I. P.

Posted on November 27, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

The critic and poet Clive James has died at the age of 80, after a long fight with cancer. He was born in Australia and moved to England in the early 1960s where he finished his education at Cambridge University. … Continue reading →

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Waugh Letters to Richard Plunket Greene on Offer

Posted on November 15, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

Southeby’s has announced the auction of 10 letters from Evelyn Waugh, written while he was teaching at Arnold House School in North Wales. Here’s the description: 10 AUTOGRAPH LETTERS SIGNED, EIGHT TO RICHARD PLUNKET GREENE, ONE TO HIS MOTHER GWEN … Continue reading →

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John Heygate Archives on Offer

Posted on November 1, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

The auction house Bonhams, in Knightsbridge, London, will hold an auction on 4 December that will include archived letters to John Heygate.  Several of these contain information that relates to Evelyn Waugh. Heygate was a friend of Waugh and his … Continue reading →

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Waugh, Nabokov and a Booker Nominee

Posted on September 20, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

In today’s Times newspaper, critic and novelist D J Taylor reviews a long-shot Booker prize nominee entitled Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann. This is a 1000 page novel written in the form of a single sentence. The review opens with … Continue reading →

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Waugh Letter for Sale

Posted on September 11, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

A 4 December 1959 letter from Evelyn Waugh to a reader in Columbus, Ohio is for sale. The letter is offered on the internet by Charles Agvent Rare Books and Autographs of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania. The letter is addressed to Jane … Continue reading →

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Basil Seal Rides Yet Again

Posted on August 28, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

The Daily Telegraph has a review of a book entitled Master of Deception: The Wartime Adventures of Peter Fleming by Alan Ogden. This is about something called D Division (or “deception organization”) in the Inter-Services Liaison Department. Peter Fleming, Ian’s older … Continue reading →

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Late July Roundup

Posted on July 24, 2019 by Jeffrey Manley

–The latest issue of The Oldie has an article by David Horspool comparing the WWII novels of Lev Grossman (Stalingrad), recently published for the first time in a complete English translation, and Joseph Heller (Catch 22), recently adapted into a … Continue reading →

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