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Autograph manuscript signed (at end, 'Arthur Firbank'), 'Ideas and Fancies', Paris, 1904
Details
FIRBANK, Ronald (1886-1926)
Autograph manuscript signed (at end, 'Arthur Firbank'), 'Ideas and Fancies', Paris, 1904
A handmade booklet, 'written and decorated' by Firbank, comprising decorated upper cover, 10 leaves (some recto only) with 10 watercolour drawings, two prose fragments, interleaved gold gauze page dividers decorated with 'petals' of rose-coloured silk, gathered with multicoloured ribbons hung with bells; pink leather box lettered in silver. Provenance: Firbank's mother, Harriette Jane Firbank née Garrett (1851–1924: inscribed to her on inside upper cover, 'For Baba / from Artie', Christmas 1904); Sotheby's, 12 December 1961, lot 8; Barry Humphries (1934-2023).
A whimsical gift for his mother from the 18-year old Firbank, including the brief prose work 'Harmony', published in Les Essais, February 1905. Firbank's first published book, which contained two stories, 'Odette d'Antrevernes' and 'A Study in Temperament', also dates from 1905.
The contents comprise the following watercolour drawings: f.1 'Simplicity'; f.2 'A window in Italy'; f.3 'The moon and a candle'; f.4 'Scene II, "The Mauve Tower"' (with a fragment of dialogue); f.5 'Nobody knew quite, who she was', prose fragment illustrated with a depiction of a women in evening dress; ff.5v-f.6 'Original design for a flower' (signed 'A.R.R. Firbank'); f.7 'old silk (original design)'; f.9 'Offrande pour Marie'; f.9v 'Magda', a religious scene; lower cover, women in a red bonnet. The two prose sections are on ff.7v-f.8, 'Harmony', in multicoloured ink and ff.10-inside lower cover 'The Lieutenant, & the Irise's [sic] Wife / A parable'.
Autograph manuscript signed (at end, 'Arthur Firbank'), 'Ideas and Fancies', Paris, 1904
A handmade booklet, 'written and decorated' by Firbank, comprising decorated upper cover, 10 leaves (some recto only) with 10 watercolour drawings, two prose fragments, interleaved gold gauze page dividers decorated with 'petals' of rose-coloured silk, gathered with multicoloured ribbons hung with bells; pink leather box lettered in silver. Provenance: Firbank's mother, Harriette Jane Firbank née Garrett (1851–1924: inscribed to her on inside upper cover, 'For Baba / from Artie', Christmas 1904); Sotheby's, 12 December 1961, lot 8; Barry Humphries (1934-2023).
A whimsical gift for his mother from the 18-year old Firbank, including the brief prose work 'Harmony', published in Les Essais, February 1905. Firbank's first published book, which contained two stories, 'Odette d'Antrevernes' and 'A Study in Temperament', also dates from 1905.
The contents comprise the following watercolour drawings: f.1 'Simplicity'; f.2 'A window in Italy'; f.3 'The moon and a candle'; f.4 'Scene II, "The Mauve Tower"' (with a fragment of dialogue); f.5 'Nobody knew quite, who she was', prose fragment illustrated with a depiction of a women in evening dress; ff.5v-f.6 'Original design for a flower' (signed 'A.R.R. Firbank'); f.7 'old silk (original design)'; f.9 'Offrande pour Marie'; f.9v 'Magda', a religious scene; lower cover, women in a red bonnet. The two prose sections are on ff.7v-f.8, 'Harmony', in multicoloured ink and ff.10-inside lower cover 'The Lieutenant, & the Irise's [sic] Wife / A parable'.