Richard Kennedy (1)Recensioni

These are 2 small memoirs by Kennedy; the first of his 3 years or so (from 16) working with the Hogarth Press, run by Leonard and Virginia Woolf, at the height of the Bloomsbury set.

Kennedy had little going for him other than some relatives who could pull some strings; an ability to come back from failure and a desire to become an artist (drawer; painter etc)...in time he became (apparently) a well known and successful childrens' books illustrator in particular.

The time at Hogarth Press involved interacting with many well know names (most of whom I knew of, though I ma not overly familiar with their works and hence many of the anecdotes probably made less impression on me than someone more familiar.

Sue Gee, the writer of the preface, is quoted in the advertising blurb as describing one episode involving the collapse of a shelf erected by Kennedy some weeks previously as 'a small work of comic writing", as to which I agree as to the 'small' and the 'comic' but have trouble with the 'masterpiece'. That those immediately impacted by the deluge of papers resulting from the collapse of the shelf were Leonard Woolf and Lord [Laurence] Olivier, who reportedly simply moved out of the way, without comment or reaction as to the avalanche of papers, may have been extremely amusing in real life, but it left a little on the page for me.

The second memoir in this volume is earlier in time and addresses Kennedy's early years growing up in the times before, during and immediately after WW1, with the havoc that that brought to his immediate and wider family. At one time a young Kennedy made known to strangers that his father and 3 uncles had been lost in the (then still current) war, leaving those strangers puzzled as to how to respond, and the young Kennedy querulous as to why they did not respond more enthusiastically as to this show of

But both small memoirs should not be dismissed. They provide an insight into particular experiences at a place and time with which so many of us have no direct experience. One wonders what what will be written by Kennedy's equivalents facing the attainment of employment in the uncertain times of today or of his Ukrainian avatars given what is currently happening there.

Published by the impressive Slightly Foxed.

Big Ship

25 April 2022

These two slight autobiographical fragments are charmingly illustrated by the author; the first recalling the author’s time at the Hogarth Press, with name dropping of characters from the Bloomsbury set, and the second recalling the author’s earlier life and schooling.

I read the Slightly Foxed Plain edition, which added considerably to my reading enjoyment, as the books are delightfully tactile and well produced.

I enjoyed this book very much. It gave an amusing view of the Woolfs and their circle. One example: Duncan Grant had a charming smile, and Clive Bell smelled.½

Bevis Hillier was hired as general help. He was there to see Virginia Wolfe and her husband Leonard, and all the Bloomsbury greats. It's a competent memoir.½

A delightfully honest look at working life on the Hogarth Press premises in 1928. Interesting illustrations, great floor plan.

There have been many memoirs of life among the Bloomsberries, but none more wickedly frank or funny than Richard Kennedy’s A Boy at the Hogarth Press. In 1926, at the age of 16, Richard Kennedy left school without a single qualification and went to work at Leonard and Virginia Woolf’s Hogarth Press. Though home from home for London’s intellectual élite, the Press’s damp basement at Tavistock Square was anything but elegant, with the legendarily mean LW keeping a close check on everything, including the toilet paper, and frequently exploding when confronted with RK’s latest idiocy. The Woolfs clearly developed a fondness for their apprentice, but when he left several years later LW pronounced him ‘the most frightful idiot he [had] ever had the privilege of meeting in a long career of suffering fools’. Kennedy, who became a successful artist and children’s book illustrator, was taking everything in, and 50 years later he produced a minor classic in A Boy at the Hogarth Press, accompanied by his own wonderfully alive illustrations. Later still, he published his touching childhood memoir, A Parcel of Time. Now brought together for the first time in this Slightly Foxed Edition, the two are a sheer delight.

If you're at all interested in the Bloomsbury Set, this book will amuse you. Richard Kennedy worked for The Woolfs at the Hogarth Press for more than a year and this diary of short excerpts with his wonderful line drawings is a colorful glimpse into his coming of age and his naive and scathing observations on the Woolfs and their circle. It's a quick and enjoyable read. Since I've always had trouble getting through ANY Virginia Woolf book, his views of her and her works are a salve to my conscious. If I ever get a dog, I will name it Pinker, in honor of Leonard Woolf's dog of the same name.½

NA