JEWELLERY, DECORATIVE & FINE ARTS AUCTION Tuesday, 21 October 2025 / 10:00 am start

Lot 0008 « Prev Lot View All Lots Next Lot »

An important collection of letters between the acclaimed French writer Colette (Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle)(1873-1954) - Radclyffe Hall (1883-1943); author of the 1928 ground-breaking novel ‘The Well of Loneliness; and Lady Una Troubridge (1887-1963) - English sculptor and translator of the works of Colette into English,

Realised: $7,500 plus premium

Lot Details

dating from 1928 to 1940. These include letters from Colette to Una and ‘John’ (Hall), some concerning ‘The Well of Loneliness’, as well as a French publisher asking Hall to write about Colette from an English perspective for a book being about her works. In a later letter to Troubridge, she called the book by Claude Chauvière, ‘un outrage aux yeux et à la politesse’. One letter from George Bernard Shaw concerns the upcoming trial in England surrounding the publication of ‘The Well of Loneliness’, he writes, ‘I have sketched the line of defence more fully...but the danger is that counsel will refuse to adopt it.’ Also, a letter from John Gielgud concerning a possible adaption of her novel. Additionally included are: photos, cheques signed by Hall, her passport, tickets and a programme for the opening night of ‘Le Procès d'Oscar Wilde’ (‘The Trial of Oscar Wilde’) at Theatre de L’Oeuvre and many other items. Note: Radclyffe Hall (Marguerite Radclyffe-Hall) was an English writer best known for the groundbreaking lesbian work ‘The Well of Loneliness’ (1928) which was banned in 1928 in Britain as ‘obscene libel’ and not published for 20 years. Lady Una Troubridge (Margot Elena Gertrude Taylor) was an English sculptor and translator – best known for her translation into English, of the works of Colette, who was one of France’s leading writers in the first half of the 20thC. Provenance: [Lady Una Troubridge by bequest to friends Nicola Rossi-Lemeni and his wife Operatic Soprano, Virginia Zeani, 1963, thence by bequest to the vendors in the 1990s. Full inventory of contents available at enquiries@cordys.co.nz

  • *Please note: this collection has been assessed by the NZ Ministry of Culture & Heritage as not requiring permission to be exported from New Zealand.