WODEHOUSE, P. G.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Performing Flea. A Self-Portrait in Letters. First edition, presentation copy, inscribed by the author to his biographer and bibliographer Jasen, "To David from Plum, P. G. Wodehouse". Loosely inserted are two typed letters signed "Plum" by Wodehouse to Jasen, providing the researcher with recent life updates and information about his earlier years; they are accompanied by the original envelopes and a handwritten list of queries by Jasen.The first letter, dated 21 November 1961, provides a list of answers to Jasen's nine queries. One of Wodehouse's responses reads, "I lived for quite a while in a room over the stables at the school, and then rented various houses in the village. I don't know if you have read a very early book of mine called The Little Nugget, but the scene of that was Emsworth House". In the second letter, dated 7 March 1964, Wodehouse discusses the health of his wife Ethel and observes "I am in my usual state of despair after finishing a book... What I want is some scene or some central idea that I can sit and mull over. I have hundreds of pages of ideas for books, but they are all for the start [and] present the same problem - viz. where do I go from here?".David A. Jasen (1937-2022) was the dedicatee of Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (1963). A ragtime scholar and performer, he shared a passion for music with Wodehouse, a famed musical lyricist. The published collection of correspondence Performing Flea is titled after Seán O'Casey's jibe against Wodehouse: "If En

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