BRITTAIN, Vera.

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Testament of Youth. First edition, pre-publication presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper, "To Nancy Pearn - in gratitude. From Vera Brittain. July 11th, 1933". Publication was on 28 August. Pearn was a literary agent who was dubbed "queen of the magazines and newspapers". She later collaborated with Brittain for a report on the Second World War.Brittain submitted an article to Pearn for the Daily Herald on 10 March 1941. It was printed eight days later under the title "The War's Good Deed", outlining how the war had fostered a sense of camaraderie between British civilians, and arguing that there will be a lasting peace once similar co-operation exists between peoples internationally. Pearn (1892-1950) worked at Curtis Brown before forming her own firm, Pearn, Higham & Pollinger. Specializing in placing authors in the papers, she represented Brittain as well as Winston Churchill, Dorothy L. Sayers, Virginia Woolf, D. H. Lawrence, H. G. Wells, Dylan Thomas, and A. A. Milne. Dealings with Pearn became so lucrative that the Winnie-the-Pooh author penned the verse: "O Nancy Pearn, O Nancy Pearn / I often wish I had to burn / The money you would have me earn".Brittain's classic feminist memoir Testament of Youth was an instant bestseller, selling out the first impression of 5,000 copies within a week. Considered "one of the most important pieces of literature to emerge from the war", (Lengel) it led to Brittain's recognition as a leading figure in t

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