Olivia Dorothy Bussy (14 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Good. Later Printing. some soiling on the dj.

Condition: Bon. Pas de jaquette. Sixth impression.

In-16° massimo, leg. editoriale in mezza tela e cartonato illustrato, pp. 161(3). Prima edizione italiana di questo racconto, pubblicato anonimo nel 1949, ma probabilmente dovuto alla nota esponente del Gruppo di Bloomsbury, Dorothy Strachey Bussy (1865-1960), sorella di Lytton Strachey. Traduzione di Carlo Fruttero. Il libro narra con estrema finezza di stile e di psicologia la giovanile infatuazione della protagonista per una sua insegnante. Ottimo esemplare, solo un leggero aloncino di polvere al piatto posteriore.…

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. 1949, Second impression (May). Octavo. 14cm x 21cm approx. pp 109, [1]. Publisher's plum-coloured cloth with gilt lettering and decoration to front and spine. Spine slightly faded. Binding square and firm. In the dust-jacket designed by Duncan Grant, not price-clipped. Spine of jacket discoloured, with small tape repairs on the reverse at the head and tail. General minor edge wear and rubbing to jacket. Price intact (7s. 6d. net). Top edge of text-block stained plum, as published. Clean within. A 'Very Good' copy. Mid-20th century lesbian literature. Although initially published anonymously, the novel was later identified as being the work of Dorothy Bussy, sister of Lytton Strachey, a member of the Bloomsbury group. The story is dedicated to the memory of Virginia Woolf. The plot explores the intense affection of a young English student for her French teacher.…

Editions Stock. 1949. In-8° broché. 188 pages. E.O. 1/600 sur vélin du Marais, seul grand papier. Bon état.

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Fair. 1st Edition. original cloth, no markings, back of jacket has some losses.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Included. 1st Edition. Second impression (May), one month after the first printing. 8vo. pp 109, [1] With the dust-jacket designed by Duncan Grant, not price-clipped. Publisher's plum-coloured cloth with gilt lettering and decoration to front and spine, faded at spine. Jacket in excellent condition, slightly soiled with light rubbing at extremities. Top edge stained plum, as published. A significant piece of mid-20th century lesbian literature, initially published anonymously, the novel was later identified as being by Dorothy Bussy, sister of James and Lytton Strachey, a member of the Bloomsbury group. Considered scandalous at the time of its release, the story is set in a French finishing school and believed to be more than party based on the author's time at the Marie Souvestre school. The plot explores the intense affection of a young English student for her French teacher. The printed dedication is to Bussy's close friend "VW", ie. Virginia Woolf. Book. …

Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good-. 1st Edition. A Very Good Book in a Very Good or a Bit Worse Dust Jacket, Unclipped ( 7s. 6d. net.). Book has shelf wear and a touch of sunning to edges with faint offsetting to paste downs and free end papers. Text block toned. Spine cocked slightly to rear. Pictorial Lavender and Black Duncan Grant designed dust jacket is generally toned with wear to extremities as well as partial splits to joints and turn ins owing to the fragility and age of the paper. Jacket now protected in archival mylar. Hardcover. Octavo. [8], 9-109pp. A landmark work of lesbian fiction which explores the titular Olivia's first love --the alluring Mlle. Julie, her headmistress at finishing school. The work is unique in that it is both explicitly sapphic and tender in its explicitness. It shows lesbian love blossoming, both in Olivia unrequited longing and in Olivia's observations of the relationship Mlle Julie has with Mlle Cara. The novel is equal parts tender and steeped in scandalous lore of the time. A fabulous work of queer fiction and considered classic for a reason! Publisher's Rose Colored Cloth Boards with Gilt Stamping to Front Board and Spine First Edition, First Printing [later printings had impression statements].…

Condition: Very good. dj. First edition, first impression. Plum colored cloth, gilt title and decoration. 109 pp. Sunned at spine, ownership inscription of Elizabeth Plunket Greene on front free endpaper, else very good, in the scarce Duncan Grant designed jacket, unclipped, with an internal reinforcement at the crown of the spine. First edition, first impression. Dedicated by the author "To the Beloved Memory of V. W.," and published under the pseudonym "Olivia," it was later revealed to be the only novel of Dorothy Bussy (nee Strachey), a member of the Bloomsbury group and the sister of the writer and critic Lytton Strachey. Viewed as scandalous upon initial publication, and set in the late 19th century at a finishing school in France to obscure autobiographical connections to Bussy, it is considered by some to be an important lesbian novel of the last mid-century. The neat pencil ownership signature of "Elizabeth Plunket Greene | 1953" was that of Elizabeth Frances Russell (1899-1978). She was married to Richard Plunket Greene on 21 December 1926, with Evelyn Waugh serving as the best man; they were divorced in 1943. Russell was part of the Bright Young Things immortalized by Evelyn Waugh in "Vile Bodies" (mostly inspired by the Plunket Greenes). Elizabeth co-wrote two detective novels with her husband: "Where Ignorance is Bliss" (1932) and "Eleven-Thirty Till Twelve" (1934), both of which received critical acclaim for their originality. A fan of motor racing, she won a grand prix race in Belgium during the 1930s. The Plunket Greenes had one son, Alexander Plunket Greene (1932-1990), who married fashion designer Mary Quant.…

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. First American edition. Decorated cloth. Fine in very near fine dust jacket with a touch of rubbing. Novel of a teenage girl who falls in love with the headmistress of her school written by the sister of Lytton Strachey.

FIRST EDITION, FIRST IMPRESSION 8vo. purple cloth hardback with gilt titles to spine and gilt decoration to upper board, in original dust jacket designed by Duncan Grant. Top edge pinky red. 109pp. Inscribed in pencil to ffep, 'V from V June 1949' (From a collection of books given by Vita Sackville-West to her friend Violet Warrender (Mrs. Alexander Pym of Charing, Kent), mostly inscribed 'V from V'). Top and base of cloth spine slightly faded due to corresponding loss to dust jacket spine. There are also quite a few small chips and closed tears to dust jacket edges and light soiling to front cover (please see photos). A VERY GOOD COPY in Fair Dust Jacket. (Shelf 2) PLEASE NOTE: Buyer is responsible for any additional duties, taxes, or fees required by recipient's country.** Pictures available upon request.** Visit our homepage for our shop opening hours. Over 20,000 books in stock - come and browse. PayPal, credit and most debit cards welcome. Books posted worldwide. For any queries please contact us direct.…

Cloth. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First edition. The first edition of this important work of mid twentieth century lesbian literature, here in the scarce original dustwrapper. The first edition, first impression of this work. In the original price clipped dust wrapper illustrated by Duncan Grant.Published anonymously, this has since been revealed as the only novel of Dorothy Bussy, a member of the Bloomsbury group and sister of writer and critic Lytton Strachey. Viewed as scandalous upon initial publication, and set in the late 19th century at a finishing school in France, the plot dramatizes the passion of a young English boarding student for one of her female French teachers.The work is dedicated to Bussy's friend, Virginia Woolf.With a 'Foyle's' label to the font pastedown, and contemporary inscription from 'Leonhard', dated 21st May 1949, to the front free endpaper. In the publisher's original cloth binding with price clipped dust wrapper. Externally, very bright and smart. Minor shelf wear to spine tail. Chipping to head of dust wrapper back strip. Small closed tear to tail of front wrap. Bookseller's label to front pastedown. Contemporary inscription to front free endpaper. Internally, firmly bound. Pages bright and clean. Near Fine. None (illustrator). book.…

FIRST BOOK CLUB EDITION, pp. 107, crown 8vo, original black cloth, decoration in pink to upper board, the backstrip lettered in gilt now faded, top edge pink, a few spots to endpapers, good. With the ownership inscription of Barbara Bagenal (née Hiles) to the flyleaf, mentioninng that she bought this copy in Hastings in 1966, but referring to her own copy of the first edition, 'signed by Dorothy' but now 'lost or borrowed'. Bagenal was an artist, friend of Carrington from the Slade, and on the fringes of the Bloomsbury Group - including as the sometime-partner of David Garnett, Clive Bell, Saxon Sydney Turner, and J.M Keynes. Bussy (née Strachey, and the sister of Lytton, James, et al.) made two major contributions to the field of gay fiction: as the English translator of Gide, and as the author of this novel - published under the pseudonym 'Olivia' to create some distance between the narrative, and the events of her own life upon which it was closely based. The story is dedicated to the memory of Virginia Woolf, and carries an attractive dustjacket by Duncan Grant - it concerns the awakening of sexual consciousness at an all-girls boarding school in France, where the narrator becomes infatuated with one of her headmistresses. Bussy had herself attended such an institution in the 1880s - at the Les Ruches school run by Marie Souvestre, who also taught Natalie Clifford Barney and Eleanor Roosevelt.…

dj. Olivia [Bussy, Dorothy]. Olivia (1949) is a foundational work of lesbian fiction presenting same-sex desire between women in a mid-20th century literary context where such themes were rarely depicted with narrative centrality. The novel supports research into LGBTQ literary history, women's writing, and queer modernist networks, particularly through its connection to the Bloomsbury circle. Published anonymously at the time, the work offers a sustained portrayal of female homoerotic experience within an educational institution, contributing early narrative space for lesbian subjectivity in Anglo-American literature. Olivia [Bussy, Dorothy]. Olivia. New York: William Sloane Associates, 1949. First edition, second printing. The narrative follows a teenage English student at a French girls' boarding school who develops an intense emotional and romantic attachment to her headmistress, Mlle. Julie. Scenes unfold within classrooms, dormitories, and private encounters, emphasizing interpersonal dynamics between students and faculty, as well as the charged atmosphere of institutional life. The text adopts a memoir-like structure, presenting the protagonist's experiences with attention to emotional development and interpersonal intimacy rather than moral condemnation. Unlike many contemporaneous treatments of same-sex desire, the relationship is depicted without imposed punishment, instead maintaining a tone of seriousness and interior reflection. The novel's anonymity at publication and later attribution to Dorothy Bussy situate it within a network of literary and personal associations, including connections to figures within the Bloomsbury Group. One volume; 120 pages; small octavo; original patterned paper-covered boards with green cloth spine and gilt-stamped spine panel; lacking dust jacket. Issued simultaneously in Paris and New York, the book entered circulation during a period when lesbian themes remained largely excluded from mainstream publishing, preceding wider visibility in postwar American culture. Its later recognition has positioned it alongside other early works addressing female same-sex desire, contributing to reassessment of mid-century queer literature. Light rubbing to board edges and spine ends with minor nicking at spine foot; corners gently bumped; interior clean with sound binding; very good overall. An early American printing of a key text in lesbian literary history documenting same-sex relationships within a controlled institutional setting.…