BIB_ID
292488
Accession number
MA 1625.72
Creator
Dowson, Ernest Christopher, 1867-1900.
Display Date
1889 Nov. 26.
Credit line
Gift of the Fellows with the special assistance of H. Bradley Martin, 1954.
Description
1 item (4 p.) ; 17.6 cm
Notes
Dowson and Moore collaborated on "The Passion of Dr. Ludovicus" in 1889; it was sent to many publishers but accepted by none. Their collaborative novel "Felix Martyr" was never completed. The Critic survived for another year, when it merged with the Society (19 June 1890).
Part of a large collection letters from Ernest Dowson to his close friend Arthur Moore, the English solicitor and writer, with whom Dowson wrote four collaborative novels. Items are cataloged individually; see related collection record (MA 1625) for more information.
The "new act" referenced is the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885, which raised the age of consent from thirteen to sixteen (Bertha is nearly 16; see MA 1625.70). Until 1875 it has been twelve.
Written from Bridge D[oc]k. Addressed to Mon cher. Signed ED.
Part of a large collection letters from Ernest Dowson to his close friend Arthur Moore, the English solicitor and writer, with whom Dowson wrote four collaborative novels. Items are cataloged individually; see related collection record (MA 1625) for more information.
The "new act" referenced is the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885, which raised the age of consent from thirteen to sixteen (Bertha is nearly 16; see MA 1625.70). Until 1875 it has been twelve.
Written from Bridge D[oc]k. Addressed to Mon cher. Signed ED.
Provenance
Sale (Sotheby's, 20 December 1954, lot 205); gift of the Fellows with the special assistance of H. Bradley Martin in 1954.
Summary
Describing an outing to the theater with his mother, noting that they were unimpressed by the child actress Dorothy Harwood. Mentioning that his affair with Bertha Van Raalte "has begun to pall." Describing a "somewhat monotonous evening" when after sitting on the sofa with her for two hours (also with Lefroy and his young woman), he and Lefroy "agreed that in view of the new act le jeu ne valait etc." Mentioning that he and Lefroy broke appointments with Bertha and the other young woman without writing to explain and supposing that their affairs are finished. Discussing their work on "R.O." (i.e., the collaborative novel "Felix Martyr"), noting that The Critic is not yet dead, and with a postscript mentioning that their collaborative work "The Passion of Dr. Ludovicus" has been sent to Chatto & Windus.
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