Diary and papers relating to D.C. [Dora Carrington] 1925-1926 : typescript copy with autograph manuscript revisions

1932 or 1933

Gerald Brenan (Edward Fitz-Gerald Brenan, 1894-1987) was a British writer and hispanist whose notable works include The Spanish Labyrinth and South from Granada. This item, Diary and papers relating to D.C. [Dora Carrington] 1925-1926 (Brenan's title), in typescript carbon copy with his autograph manuscript revisions, is the first part of Brenan's account of the end of his love affair with Bloomsbury artist Dora Carrington (1893-1932), whom he first met in 1919. Carrington married his friend Ralph (Reginald S.) Partridge (1894-1960) in 1921; Partridge lived with her and Lytton Strachey (1880-1932) at Ham Spray House. After Carrington died by suicide in 1932, Brenan compiled selections from his diaries and correspondence about their relationship, with added reflections. The first part of the work tells of their breakup in 1925, although sporadic contact continued. The second part, not found for this copy, covers the years 1927-1932; it tells of a final estrangement, his life with Gamel Woolsey, and the deaths of Strachey and Carrington. Brenan's diary entries, written chiefly in England, date from August 1925 until his departure for France in May 1926. Topics also include his social circle and Bloomsbury friends; his encounters with other women; his health, dreams, and finances; family visits and travels; and the progress of various writing projects. A few sentences or phrases are written in Spanish. Entries are followed by "Some papers relating to D.C.," spanning 1923-1926. These comprise diary entries and letters from Brenan to others, including Carrington and her friend Helen Anrep. Most of the letters were left unsent. The typescript sheets, with text on rectos only, are numbered by hand. The sheets are loose in a cardboard wrapper inscribed by Gerald Brenan, and placed in a springboard binder