Lot 259
Barrie. J.M.
Printed Books, Maps and Manuscripts
Auction: 11 July 2006 at 12:00 BST
Description
Autograph letter signed to "Messrs Hodder & Stoughton" "It is unfortunate about The Scotsman - you see what they did. I wd suggest that you advertise specially there & subjoin some extracts I have selected. Ever yours, J.M. Barrie. The Daily Chronicle, which devotes a leading article to the book says - "The readers of Margaret Ogilvy will close the volume with the conviction that neither in history nor in literature has the mother of a man of genius ever been made so real so tender & beautiful as this..." The Speaker. "One of the most exquisite books that English letters has produced in our time. Margaret Ogilvy takes her place among the treasures of literature". British Weekly. "It stands unmatched in literature as an idyll of the divinest of human feelings - a mother's love". Daily News. "This beautiful book". Independent. "A delicate, pathetic & heartfelt tribute of filial love", 3 pages on one folded leaf, Garrick Club headed paper, dated 8 Dec. 96, some dust-soiling
Footnote
Note: J.M. Barrie's mother, Margaret Ogilvy, had ten children, J.M. being the ninth. When his brother David, his mother's favourite, died his mother fell into depression and Barrie tried to win her affection by dressing up in his dead brother's clothes. The obsessive relationship that grew between mother and son was to mark the whole of his life. After her death Barrie published in 1896 an adoring biography of his mother entitled simply "Margaret Ogilvy". In this poignant letter to his British publishers, Barrie quotes no doubt with quiet satisfaction from the enthusiastic reviews the book had received.