Sven BERLIN (1911-1999) 'Spectre' Two unpublished manuscript...

Hammer

£60

Sven BERLIN (1911-1999) 'Spectre' Two unpublished manuscripts and a folder of correspondences with Berlin's publisher Anthony Dent of Gallery Press LTD, dated 1961. 'Spectre' is one of Berlin's many semi-autobiographical texts. Here he speaks of his mother and father's life prior to his birth, and of his early life in London. He recalls the financial hardships his family faced and his first encounters with the practice of drawing; inspired by a visit to the National Gallery. Similar to that of his other texts, Berlin uses pseudonyms in replacement of his family members' names. First Draft signed and dated January 1972. Final Manuscript signed and dated January 1973, whilst Berlin was living on the Isle of Wight with his third wife Julia. 'Spectre' although unpublished, is part of Berlin's collection of semi-autobiographical texts named 'The Dome of Glass'. With five texts included in this collection, (Spectre, Pride of the Peacock, I Am Lazarus, The Dark Monarch and Cold Eye), each text represents a chapter of Berlin's life that is characterised by different 'quests'. They exist individually as notable works, yet when together form a significant and complete image of Berlin. He writes - 'This work is conceived as a dome in which the pieces of experience - the coloured glass - are fitted, giving in the end an experience larger than itself. If one thinks of a whole personality as a tree growing under the dome of glass with roots deep in the universal mind the force is at once given as a growing organism reacting toward eternity.' Each book is a singular root of experience, which collectively form the tree (Berlin). 'Spectre' is said to be part one of the six 'roots', and is characterised by his 'Quest Through Innocence'.