Third copy

Component identifier:

Item 85(c)

Content Summary:

With full-page drawing in colour by Hal Gye on end-paper with his note: 'Here is the home of C.J. Dennis as I first saw it in 1914, just an old shack, with some land, and 'Den' acquired the lot for £7, so he once told me. Looking at the fine garden of shrubs and flowers surrounding it today, Dennis fans of those days would never dream that the 'joint' ever looked like this, May 1942, Hal Gye'.

The frontispiece was repeated on the dust-jacket with which the book was issued. This splendid picture shows the garden in all its beauty, as it used to be. Credit for the garden must go to Mrs Dennis. She built it up from the bare soil, designed the flower beds, and planted the shrubs, tending it all with loving care. It was her hobby and her joy. The new part of the house was built on to the end of Dennis's old shack. He was a very good carpenter, and a capable plumber, and helped with the building. After his death the house was sold for seven hundred pounds by his widow.

The book was dedicated to Hugh Adam and his wife Lysbeth, friends of Mr and Mrs Dennis. The book contains some decorations, they are unsigned but may have been made by Pixie O'Harris, who designed the end-papers.

Immediate source of acquisition:

The collection was purchased from Harry Chaplin in 1981.

Names:

Chaplin, Harry F.

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