Wide Sargasso Sea, First paperback edition (+) SIGNED LETTER

RHYS, Jean: Wide Sargasso Sea

London: Penguin, 1968. 11 x 18 cm. [156]pp 

First paperback edition, with signed letter. 

This is a lovely copy, used and loved, but holding well and with no extensive damage. Spine tight, pages clean, with slight decoloration due to paper quality. A copy from the personal library of Felicity Ashbee, with envelope attached at the front of the book which contains a letter from Jean Rhys, boldly signed by the author in her 85th year, enclosed with a copy of Ashbee's original letter to Rhys.

Rhys letters are very uncommon. This one, in fine condition, has been sent from Rhys's own address in Devon at the time, typed at the top of the letter.

If Rhys's letters and ephemera are scarce, this item is extra special, as Felicity Ashbee is considered "probably the last close link with the inner circle of extraordinary creative talents fostered or inspired by William Morris" (The Independent). Daughter of Janet Ashbee and C.R. Ashbee, the prominent Arts & Crafts artist, designer, architect and publisher, Felicity trained as a painter at the Byam Shaw School of Art in London, and was a textile designer and art teacher. She joined the Communist Party and designed posters in support of famine relief during the Spanish civil war. She also worked at the codebreaking centre at Bletchley Park, but could not progress within the Intelligence Corps due to her Communist Party membership.

The exchange refers to an article that Rhys had written for The Times about art teaching, which Ashbee intends to xerox and send to her friends, to which Rhys replies: "I wish I could always say 'And who cares about Royalties?' but in this case I mean it".

A friendly, intimate letter.

£250