IMPORTANT SARAH GERTUDE MILLIN COLLECTION

On offer is a large and unique (but not complete) collection of the early works (1920’s to 1940’s) of this important South African author and some items from her own library, inscribed to her by the authors. The collection comprises thirteen volumes of her own works, first editions, many inscribed, including notably a copy of Adam’s Rest inscribed to Katherine Mansfield, one of her Second World War diaries inscribed to General Jan Smuts and several titles, including Rhodes inscribed to the novelist Dennis Wheatley. Several of the early works are housed in their very scarce dustwrappers, some in fine condition. Also in the collection are twenty seven books from her own library, inscribed to her by the likes of E.M. Forster, Noel Coward, Menachem Begin, Theodore Dreiser, Michael Sadleir, Julia Peterkin, John Middleton Murry, Vera Brittain, Stuart Cloete, Nicholas Monsarrat, Louis Golding and others. NB:  In view of the importance of this library from a Heritage perspective, I firmly believe it should remain in South Africa and hence am only offering this lot to potential buyers located in South Africa. Here is a complete list of the collection:

Middle Class. 1921. Collins. 1st. edition of the author’s scarce second book signed Sarah Gertrude Millin, Johannesburg on the title page and with an additional signed inscription laid down on the front free endpaper “To William Watts friend, Sarah Gertrude Millin, Johannesburg”. With Dennis Wheatley’s ex-libris designed by Frank C. Pape on the front pastedown. About very good – lacking the dustwrapper.

Adam’s Rest. 1922. Collins. 1st. edition of the author’s third book. With a most important inscription on the half-title “To Katherine Mansfied – from afar, Sarah Gertrude Millin, 28.5.22”. Millin had a most significant correspondence with Mansfield, the noted New Zealand short story writer. An about very good copy lacking the dustwrapper.

Mary Glenn. 1925. Constable. 1st. edition. Slight lean ow. a fine unmarked copy in a near fine unclipped dw. which has light edge wear. Scarce thus.

The South-Africans. 1926. Constable. Advance Proof Copy of the 1st. edition in the original brown printed wraps. With the ex libris of eminent bibliophile and bookplate collector, Percival J. Bishop, on the front pastedown. A very good copy and scarce thus.

The South-Africans. 1926. Constable. 1st. edition. About very good in the original brown cloth. Lacking the dustwrapper. Inscribed presentation copy on the title page, to her brother Joe Liebson, ‘To Joe, Sarah Gertrude Millin, Johannesburg 24.9. 26.’ With the inscribee’s signature in pencil on the front free endpaper.

An Artist in The Family. 1928. Constable. 1st. edition. Fine copy in fine unclipped dw. Signed Sarah Gertrude Millin on the title page. With a slip of paper also signed by Millin loosely inserted. Ex-libris Dennis Wheatley with his bookplate on the front pastedown. Exceedingly scarce in this condition.

An Artist in The Family. 1928. Constable. 1st. edition in the original blue cloth inscribed “To Viola Sauter, London, 9.6.28”. A very good copy lacking the dustwrapper. Viola was the wife of the artist Rudolf Sauter, who was the grandson of John Galsworthy.

The Coming of The Lord.1928. Constable. 1st. edition. Slight spotting of the fore edge but still a fine copy in fine unclipped dw. Inscribed to Dennis Wheatley on the title page and with Wheatley’s ex-libris on the front pastedown and a second slip of paper with Millin’s signature loosely inserted. Very scarce in this condition and inscribed.

The Fiddler. 1929. Constable. 1st. edition. Bottom of spine bumped and slight spotting of the fore edge, otherwise a fine clean copy signed Sarah Gertrude Millin, Johannesburg on the title page. In a very good minus unclipped dw. which has some tears internally repaired with tape which has browned and bled through to the top of the front panel and spine. However a very fragile dustwrapper and scarce in any state. With Dennis Wheatley’s ex-libris on the front pastedown.

Rhodes. 1933. Chatto & Windus. 1st. edition. A near fine copy in a like slightly creased but complete unclipped dustwrapper. Inscribed on the half-title “For Dennis Wheatley, in Johannesburg, on March 21st. 1934”.

General Smuts. 1936. Faber & Faber. 2 Vols. 1st. edition. A just about fine set of this important work in the original dustwrappers which are unclipped and complete. Volume One has the original Book Society recommendation wrap around band (slightly frayed and with one tear). Scarce in this condition.

What Hath a Man? 1938. Harper. 1st. US edition. Millin’s own copy with her ex-libris designed by artist Lippy Lipschitz on the front pastedown.  In the original blue cloth lacking the dustwrapper. A very good copy.

The Reeling Earth. 1945. Faber & Faber. 1st. edition. The second volume of Millin’s remarkable 6 volume War Diaries. Some spotting of the endpapers, otherwise a very good plus copy in a near fine complete unclipped dustwrapper. These war diaries are all scarce, particularly in nice dustwrappers. What makes this volume exceptional is that it is a presentation copy from Millin to General Smuts, inscribed by her on the verso of the front free endpaper thus ‘To Jan Christian Smuts, Sarah Gerturde Millin, 1945’. Given that – i) Smuts’ major role in the Second World War, ii) the fact that there are multiple references to Smuts in the text of this volume and iii)that Millin was Smuts’s biographer, this is an association copy of the utmost importance.

And from the library of Sarah Gertrude Millin

Menachem Begin. White Nights. The Story of A Prisoner in Russia. Macdonald. 1957. 1st. edition in English. Inscribed by Begin to Millin on the title page in 1957 ‘with gratitude and admiration’.

Edgar Bernstein. My Judaism, My Jews. 1965. Exclusive Books. No. 7 of 350 signed copies. A very good copy in the original blue cloth lacking a dustwrapper. Additionally inscribed by the author to Milliin on the front free endpaper ‘whose friendship and encouragement have been a light to me across the years.’

Hector Bolitho – Editor. The New Countries. 1929. Cape. 1st. edition of this scarce collection of stories by Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and South African Writers. A very good copy in a like unclipped dustwrapper. Millin features along with Plomer and Pauline Smith in the South African section and Katherine Mansfield in the New Zealand section. (see the copy of Adam’s Rest listed above). Millin’s own copy with her Lippy Lipschitz designed ex-libris on the front pastedown.

A.P. Cartwright. Valley of Gold. 1961. Timmins. A very good plus copy lacking the dustwrapper. Inscribed by Cartwright to Millin ‘from the very grateful author’.

A.P. Cartwright. The Gold Miners. 1962. Purnell. 1st. edition. A very good copy lacking the dustwrapper. Inscribed by Cartwright to Millin ‘whose encouragement has helped, from the grateful author’.

Stuart Cloete. Watch For the Dawn. 1939. Collins. 1st. edition of Cloete’s second book. A very good minus copy in the original blue cloth lacking the dustwrapper. With a 9 line inscription from Cloete to Millin ‘with best wishes from her friend and admirer, Stuart Cloete’.

Noel Coward. Present Laughter. 1943. Heinemann. 1st. edition. In the original blue cloth lacking the dustwrapper. Spine sunned otherwise a very good copy. Inscribed by Coward on the title page ‘For Sarah Gertrude Millin, With my profound admiration and affection, Noel Coward’. The front pastedown also bears another name and address.

Noel Coward. This Happy Breed. 1943. Heinemann. 1st. edition. In the orginal blue cloth lacking the dustwrapper. Spine sunned otherwise very good. Inscribed on the half title to Millin’s husband ‘For Phillip Millin, With the nicest memory of South Africa, Noel Coward’.

Theodore Dreiser. A Book About Myself. 1929. Constable. 1st. UK edition. Very good minus in the original green cloth lacking the dustwrapper. With a long inscription from Dreiser to Millin on the front free endpaper ‘…. In memory of Wolf Solent, John Cowper Powys …………..- and a sense of real enduring friendship, from Theodore Dreiser N.Y. Nov. 27 – 1929’. With Millin’s Lippy Lipschitz designed ex-libris on the front pastedown. Dreiser was an American novelist and journalist, best known for Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy.

Theodore Dreiser. Twelve Men. 1925. Boni & Liveright. 7th. Printing. A very good copy In the original maroon cloth lacking the dustwrapper. Signed by Dreiser on the front free endpaper and dated N.Y. 1926.

Theodore Dreiser. Dawn – A History of Myself. (1931). Liveright. Probable first edition in the black cloth backed red buckram boards titled in gilt. A very good minus copy lacking the dustwrapper. Inscribed by Dreiser ‘For Sarah Gertrude Millin, with my love. Theodore Dreiser, N.Y. May 1931’.

E.M. Forster. Pharos and Pharillon. 1923. Hogarth Press. 2nd. Edition. In the original blue printed wraps. 100pp. On the blank spine is inscribed in black ink ‘From E.M. Forster – Xmas 1929’, probably in Forster’s hand. Some staining of the fore edge of the rear wrapper but still about very good. Inscribed by Forster on the front free endpaper ‘Mrs S.G. Millin, with best wishes, E.M. Forster. Christmas 1929’ and with a 1pp. autograph letter from the author to Millin loosely laid in.

Louis Golding. In The Steps of Moses The Lawgiver. 1937. Rich and Cowan. 1st. edition. In the original black cloth lacking the dustwrapper. A good only copy. Inscribed by Golding to Millin on the front free endpaper in 1938 ‘ for Sarah Gertrude Millin, who knows about the road to Sinai’.

Holtby, Winifred. The Frozen Earth & Other Poems. 1935. Collins. Small ? fat stains at the lower corners of the pages of this 27pp. booklet and some foxing., otherwise a very good minus copy. Importantly inscribed by Vera Brittain to Millin on the half title. Winifred Holtby was a passionately committed feminist, socialist and pacifist and, famously, friend of Vera Brittain who recorded their relationship in her book, Testament of Friendship. Brittain edited and published Holtby’s most important work, South Riding, and was probably instrumental in the publication of this book.

Nicholas Monsaratt. Depends What You Mean By Love. 1947. Cassell. 1st. edition. A very good copy in the original orange cloth lacking the dustwrapper. Inscribed by the author on the front free endpaper ‘For Sarah Gertude Millin/from a minor fellow-writer/Nicholas Monsaratt/Johannesburg, March 1948’. Scarce inscribed.

John Middleton Murry. The Life of Jesus. 1926. Cape. 1st. edition. Light spotting of endpapers otherwise a near fine copy in a very good plus unclipped dustwrapper. Inscribed on the front free endpaper ‘To Sarah Gertrude Millin, affectionately, John Middleton Murry, Nov 8 1926’. Middleton Murry was the husband of Katherine Mansfield, and in view of Millin’s friendship with Mansfield, an important association copy. Inscribed copies of Middleton Murry’s books are uncommon.

Harry Oppenheimer. The Conditions for Progress in Africa. University of Cape Town. 1962. A 14pp. pamphlet being the T.B. Davie Memorial Lecture delivered by Oppenheimer in the University of Cape Town on 6 September, 1962. A very good minus copy in the original printed blue wraps. Signed ‘Best Wishes, Harry’ on the front wrapper. Fairly scarce, especially signed.

Julia Peterkin. Scarlet Sister Mary. 1928. Bobbs-Merrill. Later printing without First Edition stated on the Copyright page. The author’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel. In the original black cloth – a very good copy. Inscribed on a blank fly leaf ‘For Sarah Gerturde Millin, of whom I think with pleasure. Julia Peterkin, Nov. 29th. 1929’. An important title and scarce inscribed.

Bernard Sachs. South African Personalities & Places. 1959. Kayor, Johannesburg. Introduction by Millin and with a 9pp. piece about her. Inscribed by Sachs to her ‘With all my gratitude’. Very good in the original blue cloth lacking the dustwrapper.

Joseph Sachs. The Jewish Genius. 1939. Edward Goldston. 1st. edition. A scarce title with some South African content including reference to Millin’s biography of Smuts. In the original tan cloth. Apart from an area of damp staining on the fore edge of the front board, a very good copy lacking the dust wrapper. Inscribed by the author to Mr and Mrs Millin on the front free endpaper with an ink reference to Page 27 where some comments about Sarah Gertrude Millin are underlined in the text.

Michael Sadleir. The Noblest Frailty. Constable. 1925. 1st. edition. A very good plus unmarked copy in the original blue cloth lacking the dustwrapper. Inscribed by the author to Millin on the half-title.

Michael Sadleir. Forlorn Sunset. Constable. 1947. 1st. edition. A good copy lacking the dustwrapper. With a typed letter signed by Sadleir to Millin laid down on the front free endpaper. The letter refers to Millin’s request for Sadleir to write the foreword to Millin’s Gods Step-Children and to the ‘colour problem in Africa’.

Francis Carey Slater. Dark Folk and Other Poems. 1935. Blackwood. A very good copy in the original red cloth in a like dustwrapper. Inscribed by the author to Millin ‘with gratitude and admiration’ on a page laid down on the verso of the front free endpaper.

Lewis Sowden. Family Crowder – A South African Story. 1952. Robert Hale. About very good in the original maroon cloth lacking the dustwrapper. Inscribed to Millin by the author on the front free endpaper.

Lewis Sowden. The Crooked Bluegum. 1955. The Bodley Head. Very good in dustwrapper inscribed on the front free endpaper to Millin by Sowden.

Lewis Sowden. Poems From The Bible. 1960. Robert Hale. Very good in dustwrapper inscribed by Sowden to Millin on the front free endpaper.

Mary Morison Webster. A Village Scandal. 1965. Afrikaanse Pers. Very good in dustwrapper inscribed by the author to Millin on the front free endpaper.

Sarah Gertrude Millin was born in Lithuania but moved to South Africa as a baby, where her upbringing in an impoverished region influenced her later literary work. At twenty-two, she married, moved to Johannesburg, and wrote her first novel. Her fourth novel God's Step-children, was the first that reflected her racial prejudice as a central theme. She published a plethora of novels pertaining primarily to South Africa's people. Although Millin was an ardent Zionist, few of her publications reflected her profound interest in Jewish history. Her final works reflected her increasingly right-wing views supporting apartheid politics, tainting her literary reputation. Prior to this and for more than thirty years, Sarah Gertrude Millin was South Africa's leading literary figure. In a prolific writing career that began in 1919 with the publication of her first novel, The Dark River, she produced sixteen more novels, two major biographies, two autobiographies, six war diaries, a volume of short stories, a collection of essays and a sociological account of South Africa. Her reading public spanned continents. In particular, her 1924 novel God's Step-children, with its central theme of the 'sin of miscegenation', brought her to the attention of the reading public in the United States. Two more novels were published in 1928, one of which, The Coming of the Lord, is the only one of her novels that touches on her Jewishness. Set in the small town of Gibeon, the book explores the nature of the society and its minority groups including Indians and Jews. The year 1930 was marked by a highly successful trip to the United States of America where she was lionized as a literary celebrity. Through her friendship with the South African politician General Jan Smuts, Millin was received by President Hoover and was also the house-guest of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt. Her biography of Cecil Rhodes (1933) was extremely well received and was filmed under the title of Rhodes of Africa in 1936. Her friendship with Smuts (Prime Minister of South Africa from 1919 - 1924 and 1939 - 1948) and her access to the Smuts family papers, resulted in the publication of the Biography of General Smuts in 1936. In 1952 the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Literature on Sarah Gertrude Millin. The citation described her as Par excellence the interpreter of South Africa to the English speaking world. However, the racism of that view and her conservative political attitudes in general have detrimentally affected her status in South African literary history and present a challenge to a genuine critical assessment of her work. (From: The Shalvi/Hyman Encyclopedia of Jewish Women - Milton Shain and Miriam Pimstone).

An extremely important and unique archive of this important South African writer.