[Vwoolf] VW's (standing) desk

[Stuart N. Clarke]

I can now answer the question, “How did Franklin get it?”  He bought it: "Charleston" (lots 200-328) in "Tennyson" (auction catalogue), Sotheby’s, 21-22 Jul 1980, p. 180, lot 327 (b&w photo and detailed description).  He paid £2800 + 10% premium.  That’s quite an expensive present to give to the Baskins.

Since much of the cat. is about Tennyson, I draw your attention to E6, p. 637:

“Money and Love”, E3.191n2: the source of the quotation is Tennyson’s ‘The Lord of Burleigh’ (1842): ‘But a trouble weigh’d upon her, / And perplex’d her night and morn, / With the burthen of an honour / Unto which she was not born.’

See also Samuel Butler’s “Notebooks”: “some people in future ages may wish to draw between the character of Lord Burleigh’s steps in Tennyson’s poem, according as he was walking up or pacing down. Wherefrom also the critic will argue that the scene of Lord Burleigh’s weeping *must* have been on an inclined plane:

Weeping, weeping late and early,
Walking up and pacing down,
Deeply mourned the Lord of Burleigh,
Burleigh-house by Stamford-town.”

Stuart
(Day 281)

From: Stuart N. Clarke via Vwoolf 
Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2020 11:10 AM
To: vwoolf at lists.osu.edu 
Subject: [Vwoolf] VW's (standing) desk

In the past (on this list?), there was huge discussion about the desk: what happened to it? who cut it down? who painted it? why did VW use it? to be like her sister, a painter?  Above all, for how long did she use it?

Nice pic here (if it were in focus):
https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://today.duke.edu/2015/04/baskinrelease__;!!KGKeukY!ngI2KJst-jKkBiCoxUY85eEJr-I9WjruuCA5ucoO5qhkQ62rtPWhWdMwc-zevul5YPA$ 

My brief summary:
In 1929 VW gave it QB, who painted it; Anne Olivier Bell cut it down by 6".  Also see correspondence between Colin Franklin and Leonard Baskin; the former promised the desk to Leonard Baskin.  Lisa said Franklin gave the desk to *her*; see: https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://exhibits.library.duke.edu/exhibits/show/baskin/essays/insatiable-lust__;!!KGKeukY!ngI2KJst-jKkBiCoxUY85eEJr-I9WjruuCA5ucoO5qhkQ62rtPWhWdMwc-zeJQa4Kd8$ 

How did Franklin get it?

Stuart



From: Jeremy Hawthorn via Vwoolf 
Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2020 10:49 AM
To: vwoolf at lists.osu.edu 
Subject: Re: [Vwoolf] E pluribus unum

Nice one Stuart!


Out of curiosity I Googled <Virginia Woolf + lectern>. Didn't get any eagles apart from the ones listed by Stuart, but I did get this.

https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/woolfdesk__;!!KGKeukY!ngI2KJst-jKkBiCoxUY85eEJr-I9WjruuCA5ucoO5qhkQ62rtPWhWdMwc-zeVohpPZU$ 

Never knew that Woolf wrote while standing up. Now I do.

Jeremy H



On 27.10.2020 11:25, Stuart N. Clarke via Vwoolf wrote:

  “the subservient eagle bears up for inspection the great white book” (JR)

  the ‘brass eagle carrying the Bible on its back’ (VO)

  ‘a Bible spread on the back of the brass eagle’ (W)

  Cf. 
  ‘a large brass fowl, of pious expression, supported a huge Bible’
  (Osbert Sitwell, “Before the Bombardment” (Duckworth, 1926, p. 183)
  [Tessa lifts out a small framed painting and holds it up.] …

  McCorquodale: It was my intention to represent – in a symbolic fashion – the Christian church.

  Tessa:  A bird of prey carrying an olive branch.  You’ve put the matter in a nutshell.

  (‘Funeral Games’ (1968) by Joe Orton)


  Stuart
  (Day 224)




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