CARRINGTON, Dora.

£9,750 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Unpublished autograph letter signed, to John Maynard Keynes. An unpublished invitation to a party at Asheham House, beautifully illustrated with a sketch of the location. Carrington promises "much drinking & merrymaking, a pond to slide on, & a big [moon] to light the way". Asheham was the country residence of Virginia and Leonard Woolf, who lent the house to Carrington, Barbara Hiles, and Saxon Sydney-Turner in early 1917.Carrington's exuberance suffuse her letter. She playfully replaces the word "moon" with part of her illustration of Asheham and informs Keynes that "We are very happy here". He accepted her invitation for the party, which ultimately took place on Friday 2 February 1917. The other guests were Vanessa Bell, Duncan Grant, and David Garnett, and the "Feast" consisted of "Soups, Beef sausages and Leeks, Plum Pudding, Lemon Jellies, and Punches afterwards!!!" (Carrington, p. 56). Keynes stayed overnight, and the following day he, Carrington, and Hiles walked to Charleston, stopping en route for the promised slide on the presumably frozen pond.Carrington first met the Woolfs in 1916 through Lytton Strachey. One early trip to Asheham was not a success: Carrington, Hiles, and Garnett broke into the closed country house in October 1916 when stranded without accommodation, to the Woolfs' initial dismay. However, the younger trio were soon forgiven, and mere months later the Woolfs encouraged Carrington, Hiles and Sydney-Turner to stay at Asheham unaccompanied for seve

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