Lot 21
Brittain, Vera (1893-1970)
Testament of Youth
Auction: 16 June 2026 from 10:00 BST
Description
An Autobiographical Study of the Years 1900-1925. London: Victor Gollancz Ltd, 1933. First edition, first impression, presentation copy from Vera Brittain to her literary agent, inscribed by Brittain ‘To Nancy Pearn, in gratitude, from Vera Brittain, July 11th, 1933' on the front free endpaper, 8vo, original cloth, spine sunned, paperclip indentation to top of front free endpaper
Footnote
Nancy Pearn (1892-1950) rose to prominence as a literary agent while at Curtis Brown, where she worked from 1923 to 1935, when she and her colleagues David Higham and Laurence Pollinger broke away to establish their own firm, Pearn, Higham & Pollinger. Specialising in placing her clients' work in magazines and newspapers, Pearn ‘acted for some of the biggest names in early 20th century literature including Winston Churchill, Dylan Thomas, Graham Greene, Virginia Woolf, Stella Gibbons, A. A. Milne, H. G. Wells and Dorothy L. Sayers, championing their writing and negotiating lucrative deals on their behalf’ (Lizzie Broadbent, ‘Nancy Pearn 1892-1950’, Women Who Meant Business (2020), online).