Lot 48
Forster, E. M. (1879-1970)
Group of autograph letters signed to F. L. Lucas
Auction: 16 June 2026 from 10:00 BST
Description
all addressed to F. L. Lucas (as ‘Peter’) and signed ‘Morgan’, each 1 page only, comprising: 1) Letter on lined paper (possibly removed from an exercise book as a wartime economy measure), 23 x 17.7cm, 21st November 1939, discussing the Dorset poet William Barnes, Arthur Quiller-Couch, and an encounter with ‘Sir Hugh’ (possibly Sir Hugh Walpole) at a concert; 2) Letter on King's College Cambridge stationery, undated, 17.8 x 11.5cm, ‘[…] I suppose - it is most unlikely - you did not take my spectacles off my nose while you were calling? […]'; 3) Postcard written from France, 1963, 10.5 x 15cm, ‘All well here. Charles has been awarded his Sorbonne degree ‘avec joie’ […]’, apparently a reference to Charles Mauron (1899-1963), Forster's close friend and noted English-French literary translator;
together with 2 further autograph notes from Forster, both on King's College Cambridge stationery, 9 x 11.5cm, one dated 1964, ‘Thank you so much for the excellent photographs. Charles shall have his, and I will post hers to Marie […]’, signed Morgan, addressed on verso to Mrs F. L. Lucas, Cambridge, franked for posting, the other a social invitation, undated, signed ‘EMForster’, addressed on envelope either to Lucas or his wife (the initials unclear) (5)
Provenance
By direct descent from F. L. Lucas.
Footnote
E. M. Forster was the dedicatee of Lucas's 1929 volume of poems, Time and Memory, published by the Hogarth Press.