Beschreibung:

A Series of five autograph letters signed to Harwood Picard Brewster.
variously addressed from Kärnten, Austria; Florence, Italy; Baden Baden, Germany and Bandol, France, dated 15 May, 1927; 12 August 1927; [n.d. but ?December 1927]; 15 August 1929; 27 September 1929. 8vo. and 4to. (11 x 8 3/4inches; 280 x 214mm. and smaller). 14pp. in total, variously signed. Condition: old folds, clean tear to the final letter. a charming series, beautifully written, full of news and affectionate in tone. Harwood Picard (b.1912) was the daughter of American artists Earl Henry Brewster (1878-1957) and his wife Achsah. The Brewsters met the Lawrences on Capri in 1921 and became good friends. Harwood was encouraged to call the Lawrences "Uncle David" and "Aunt Frieda". The letters span the final three years of Lawrence's life. There are a number of comments about his ill-health "At present I feel as weak as a kitten, and not a nice fluffy bouncy little kitten, but a poor weak-legged miauling brat, that ought to fall down a well", or "Well my dear, so now you're going to be a doctor, so hurry up and cure my asthma", but in general the letters are more up-beat: offering advice (on moving schools to Dartington Hall in Devon, England) "I do hope you get a footing in the world among other people, and independent of your father and mother. Thank goodness it is not too late. Then you can come back to Earl and Achsah with a new outlook, and new energy, and give them a share in a new Harwood"; describing the Lawrence's life "We are sitting tight for Christmas and making a Christmas tree for the Contadini. As their name is legion, with a few babies over, it's a job, and my spirit is rather faint. I'm afraid I get less altruistic (nice word) as I get older. Still, the tress isn't stolen yet from the pineta, and the toys are still to buy from the Quarant' Otto - a famous bazaar place here."