|
Date: |
|
Description: | An important collection of 51 superb ms letters and 6 ms postcards (85pp) written by Siegfried Sassoon to his friend and former fellow officer in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Vivian de Sola Pinto, January 1919 - December 1966, reflecting both men's professional interest in English poetry and literature while containing many references to their shared experiences during the First World War. The letters include some particularly good references to Sassoon's visit to the United States on a lecture tour in the spring of 1920, his views on Socialism at that time, his friendships with Edmund Blunden, Wilfred Owen, Dr W H R Rivers and T E Lawrence, his involvement in an ultimately un-produced film version of Lawrence's 'The Seven Pillars of Wisdom', and the changes which the Second World War brought to his life, which included the conversion of part of his home at Heytesbury House into accommodation for refugees, the military presence on nearby Salisbury Plain, and a visit from Major (later Lieutenant) General Sir Oliver Leese. Held alongside the letters are a cutting (1p, February 1920) from an American newspaper in which 'poet soldier Sassoon declares that women are responsible for war', a photograph of his son George as a toddler (September 1939) and another photograph depicting George alongside his father (1946). Together with two ms essays (10pp dated 1967, and 6pp undated) written by Pinto concerning his friendship with Sassoon, in which he recalls his first meeting with the poet in June 1918 while serving on the Western Front, Sassoon's views on the war, and his admiration of Sassoon's writing and poetry; and Pinto's certificate os commission into the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (May 1915) complete with ts covering letter (1p, October 1916).
Cataloguer APR
Catalogue date 2003-11-29 | Publisher: | http://www.iwm.org.uk | Source: | Imperial War Museum | Creator: | Pinto, Vivian de Sola | Identifier: | http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/o... | Go to resource |
|
|