Book illustrations and jacket designs by Duncan Grant
by charlestonattic
As Charleston looks forward to a weekend of Centenary celebrations, ‘The Attic’ is being specially prepared to open its doors for visitors this Sunday 16 October. Rarely on show to the public, the space, accessed by narrow, steep stairs at the top of the farmhouse was once Vanessa Bells’ studio and now stores Charleston’s extensive archive collection and works of art.
My first blog post as Charleston’s ‘Attic intern’ showcases some of Duncan Grant’s book illustrations and book jacket designs from the 1960s. Newly catalogued from the Angelica Garnett Gift is a collection of Duncan Grant’s correspondence regarding his illustrations for a previously undiscovered short story by Virginia Woolf featuring ‘Nurse Lugton’ and a book jacket design for a novel by Margaret Lane called A smell of burning.
Nurse Lugton’s Curtain.
A letter dated 18 May 1865 written to Duncan Grant by John Willett of The Times Literary Supplement [TLS] discussed available space in the supplement for the ‘story and illustrations’:
CHA/E/253, ‘Letter to Duncan Grant from John Willett deputy editor of The Times Literary Supplement’, 18 May 1965. © The Estate of Duncan Grant. Photograph © The Charleston Trust.
Further research has revealed that ‘the story’ referred to in the letter was a children’s tale written by Virginia Woolf featuring a character named ‘Nurse Lugton’. It had been newly discovered in 1965 by children’s fiction author, Wallace Hildick (1925-2001). According to an article written by Hildick published in TLS of the 17 June 1965, this story had been found in the second volume of the Mrs Dalloway manuscript acquired by the British Museum in 1963. Hildick edited the story and it was framed with illustrations drawn by Duncan Grant and published alongside the newspaper article. [1]
‘Children’s Books, The ….. by Virginia Woolf’, The Times Literary Supplement, Thursday, June 17, 1965; pg. 496; Issue 3303. © News International Associated Services Limited Gale Document Number: EX1200337421.
Also in the archives from the Angelica Garnett Gift are two manila envelopes which refer to Virginia Woolf’s story; item CHA/E/252 once contained an illustration and item CHA/E/251 is inscribed by Duncan Grant with a handwritten list of illustrations, such as ‘1. Nurse Lugton asleep’ which probably refers to the illustration of Nurse Lugton in the Times article.
CHA/E/252, verso, manila envelope, © The Estate of Duncan Grant: Photograph © The Charleston Trust.
CHA/E/251, verso, manila envelope with inscription, © The Estate of Duncan Grant: Photograph © The Charleston Trust.
The Virginia Woolf Collection at the E.J. Pratt Library at the Victoria University in the University of Toronto holds a Duncan Grant drawing entitled Nurse Lugton was asleep with handwritten notes by Duncan Grant of the opening passage of the story, first published in 1965 in a collection as Nurse Lugton’s Curtain. In this version of the drawing Nurse Lugton looks somewhat different to her Times Literary Supplement counterpart.
Duncan Grant (1885-1978), Nurse Lugton was asleep, study for a page of Nurse Lugton’s Curtain by Virginia Woolf PR6045.O72 N8 1991 VUWO. Photograph: Victoria University in the University of Toronto.
A smell of burning
A letter from Roger Machell of Hamish Hamilton to Duncan Grant dated 10 August 1965 refers to Grants interest in designing a jacket for a novel by Margaret Lane (1907-1994) called A smell of burning.
Margaret Lane, A smell of burning, 1965, Hardcover, 1st Edition. Published 1965 by Hamish Hamilton. Image: Goodreads.com. Cover design by Duncan Grant.
The letter contains two sketches, one by Margaret Lane’s husband, Lord Huntingdon and the other by Margaret Lane herself ‘showing the kind of window that might make a suitable basis for a design’.[2]
CHA/P/ 3122, Lord Huntingdon, Drawing (1), ideas for jacket design for A smell of burning, 1965. © The Estate of Duncan Grant. Photograph © The Charleston Trust.
CHA/P/ 3121, Margaret Lane, Drawing (2), ideas for jacket design for A smell of burning, 1965. © The Estate of Duncan Grant. Photograph © The Charleston Trust.
Author and critic Margaret Lane was the former wife of Brian Wallace, son of writer, Edgar Wallace. She was the second wife of Lord Huntington whom she married in 1944. The couple lived at Black Bridge House in Beaulieu where her artistic talents were expressed ‘Bloomsbury’ style: according to Elizabeth Jenkins writing Margaret’s obituary for the Independent, her ‘creative faculty found expression in decorating surfaces [….] and in her later life the hobby of covering screens, pasted with a collage of scraps, wonderfully collected, each of them a work of art’.[3]
Godfrey Argent, Margaret Lane (Lady Huntingdon), bromide print, 28 July 1969, Photographs Collection National Portrait Gallery x165942. © National Portrait Gallery, London.
[1] Wallace Hildick, ‘Virginia Woolf for Children?’, The Times Literary Supplement (London, England), Thursday, June 17, 1965; pg. 496; Issue 3303.
[2] CHA/E/255, ‘designing a jacket for A smell of burning’, Letter from Roger Machell (editorial director) of Hamish Hamilton (publishers) to Duncan Grant, 10 August 1965, The Charleston Trust Archives.
[3] Elizabeth Jenkins, ‘Obituary Margaret Lane’, Independent, Thursday 17 February 1994, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-margaret-lane-1394635.html
The Charleston Attic 
Greetings,
I am writing to share a piece of artwork that came into my possession from my late grandmother’s estate. My grandmother was an avid Bloomsbury fan, and had several pieces of artwork by both Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell, as well as a large collection of Virginia Woolf first editions. The artwork in question is yet another illustration for Nurse Lugton. I apologize in advance for my over-enthusaism on the topic, but i have been researching this piece for several months, so was thrilled to find your most recent post in my inbox this morning.
The aforementioned illustration bears much in common with the Grant study that is at the University of Toronto. The framing of the sleeping nurse with the story’s words, the handwriting, and the cross-hatching in the quilt are qualities shared by both illustrations. But the shape of Nurse Lugton’s face, as well as the monogram “VB” in the lower corner, point to my version being penned by Vanessa Bell.
The timing of the “discovery” of the story in the Mrs. Dalloway manuscript was troubling to me. It was found by an editor in 1965, but Vanessa passed away in 1961. Which would have made it impossible for Vanessa to have been familiar with the story. Then I learned that a typed manuscript, with handwritten corrections by Virginia, had been found within the “Charleston Papers,” now housed at King’s College, Cambridge. An author who has been researching Virginia’s short stories, and who has viewed the typed version, has confirmed to me that the wording in my illustration matches the typed version, which differs from the handwritten version inside the manuscript. The existence of the typed version increases the possibility that the story was circulated between the sisters while they were both alive.
All of this is quite exciting to me, but leaves me with several questions. To start – when was the Duncan Grant illustration from the University of Toronto created? What were the circumstances between the creation of his version and Vanessa’s that allow them to share so many compositional similarities? Whose handwriting frames Nurse Lugton? Were the two illustrations created at the same time – at some point in the 1920’s when the story was first written by Virginia? Or was Duncan’s drawn many decades later after the rediscovery of the story?
My sister and I will be traveling to England in the Spring, with the express purpose of attending the Vanessa Bell show at Dulwich Galleries, and visiting Charleston Farm House. Whether or not I can discern any additional background on the Lugton illustration, I feel fortunate to have been introduced to the literature and artwork of Bloomsbury through my grandmother’s bequest. I will share one additional piece that I find charming, a portrait of Julia Stephen by Vanessa.
Warm Regards, Lisa San Francisco, CA
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Dear Lisa,
So glad you enjoyed the latest blog.
Many thanks for your comments and additional information about the ‘Nurse Lugton’ illustrations. I am afraid that the University of Toronto does not precisely date their Nurse Lugton illustration other than give an approximation (196?).
However, inspired by your comments, further research has revealed that ‘Nurse Lugton’s Curtain’ with illustrations by Duncan Grant was initially published by Hogarth Press in 1966 as ‘Nurse Lugton’s Golden Thimble’. It was actually re-issued in 1991 as Nurse Lugton’s Curtain with illustrations by Australian artist, Julie Vivas.
We will endeavour to answer your other questions after a little more research, thank you so much for your interest and for sharing your wonderful images. We look forward to seeing you at Charleston when you visit next Spring.
Best wishes
The Charleston Attic Team.
The Toronto page is definitely by Vanessa Bell – it is her handwriting.
She may have copied out the story from a VW typescript with a view either to a one-off version or possible publication. The story was almost certainly written for the young Angelica.
When Grant’s illustrations to the story were published by Chatto/Hogarth in a single volume, he was upset by the mauve paper and purple binding and cursed the publisher in a letter to me. Certainly the coloured paper diminishes the impact of the black and white drawings.
Richard Shone
17 May 2017
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