George Bernard Shaw | A collection, including letters and an inscribed book

George Bernard Shaw

A collection, comprising:

i-iv) Four letters (two autograph and two typed) signed, to Ernest Hieatt of St Albans District Council, complaining repeatedly and in extravagant and witty terms about the smells emanating from a rubbish dump near his home in rural Hertfordshire ("...I was very strongly reminded of the dump by the fumes of the island volcano Stromboli, which is believed by the islanders to communicate directly with hell..."), 7 pages, various sizes, Ayot St Lawrence, Herts., and Whitehall Court, London, 24 October 1927–7 July 1931

"...I returned in May and found the Dump in full blast. This time, however, a much more dangerous nuisance that the smell, horrible as that is, has developed. To explain its gravity is beyond my literary powers; therefore I will ask the District Council to allow me to quote the eighth chapter of the book of Exodus, verses 21 and 24 .

Behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee [etc]. [...]

Now this may have served Pharaoh right; but what have we in Herts done to deserve this plague?..."

This amusing series of letters chronicles Shaw's long-running battle against a refuse dump in Wheathampstead, about a mile from the beautiful village of Ayot St Lawrence, where Shaw had his home, which was used to dump waste from the London Borough of Islington.

v) Autograph manuscript note in reply to a letter by H. Robinson Shepherd of Boston University, declining to provide to Shepherd a requested comment on "the joys and struggles of the effort to use the language skilfully and well", explaining that "As soon as I have an idea I have the words to express it, and my only conscious effort is for accuracy of expression...", Shaw's response subscribed under Shepherd's original letter, 1 page, folio, 31 December 1924

vi) The Doctor's Dilemma, Getting Married, & The Shewing-up of Blanco Posnet. London: Constable, 1911. 8vo, inscribed by the author to Sir Almroth Wright on the half-title ("to Sir Almroth Wright in whose laboratory the Doctor's Dilemma was incubated, and in whose brain it was made possible, from G. Bernard Shaw. 23rd February 1911"), publisher's green cloth, binding bumped, and stained, spine discoloured

The immunologist Almroth Wright (1861–1947) was the basis for Sir Colenso Ridgeon in The Doctor's Dilemma.

PROVENANCE:

i-iv) Sale in these rooms, 21 July 1988, lot 224