[Lord Annan and Virginia Woolf's cousin Dorothea Jane Stephen.] Three Autograph Letters Signed from 'N. G. Annan' to 'Miss Stephen', on his biography of her uncle Sir Leslie Stephen. With autograph notes by her, including a childhood reminiscence.

Author: 
Noel Gilroy Annan (1916-2000), Baron Annan [Lord Annan] [Dorothea Jane Stephen (1871-1965), daughter of James Fitzjames Stephen, niece of Sir Leslie Stephen and cousin of Virginia Woolf]
Publication details: 
All three on letterhead of King's College, Cambridge. The three dated by the recipient to 'Spt. or Oct. 1951', '2/10. [2 October] 1951' and '29/2/52' [29 February 1952].
£320.00
SKU: 15992

The three letters in very good condition; the first two attached to one another in one corner by a stud. Also included is Dorothea Stephen's copy of Annan's biography ('Leslie Stephen: His Thought and Character in Relation to his Time', 1951), worn and without dustwrapper, with her ownership signature ('D J. Stephen'), and a page of autograph notes critical of the book at the rear. Regarding the death in 1875 of Sir Leslie Stephen's first wife Harriet Marian Stephen (her 'Aunt Minny') she writes: 'I remember a day or two of excitement & anxiety, & my mother going to & fro to hear how Aunt Minny was & then the news of her death coming to the nursery. And I have been told by my mother about the doctor not coming. So I do not recognise this accident.' (Annan had written that Minny Stephen 'without warning [...] fell dead'. Letter One: 'Spt. or Oct. 1951'. 3pp., 12mo. Sending a copy of his book with 'deep-felt gratitude'. 'You will see that the drawing which you so kindly lent me has been printed at the beginning of the book.' Her 'charming gift to the College of J. K. S. [her brother James Kenneth Stephen (1859-1892)] is now hanging in the Audit Room', having been 'for months in the hands of the picture experts. They have had it thoroughly cleaned, have cut it down in size & have re-framed it: so it now looks most handsome, a touching memory of undergraduate friendship & for us a reminder of one of the most dashing, gay & attractive of all the Fellows of King's'. Letter Two: '2/10. 1951.' 2pp., 12mo. He is 'sorry that any part of the book should have given you pain, & I hope that no discussion will arise of the kind you foresee: 'I'm almost sure it won't.' He explains that he was 'trying to cut down the biographical part to reasonable length', and 'did not discuss J. K. S.'s illness as fully' as he should have done. 'Moreover, I took Sir Leslie's word about the incidents at the club as true; & as you point out he was mistaken. Perhaps Mr. Roach will be able to correct this false impression in his book on your father.' Letter Three: '29/2/52'. 1p., 8vo. He 'has already made the amendment about your brother in the American edition of the book & when there is a second edition in this country, I will also do it here.' He thanks her again for her 'kindness to me (& to the College)'.