MITZ: THE MARMOSET OF BLOOMSBURY.
[New York: Harper, 1998]. First edition. Octavo. Black cloth, teal boards, gilt spine. 116 pp. First edition. Clean and bright, remainder mark on upper edge, else near fine in likewise, unclipped, delightfully pictorial dust jacket.
Mitz: The Marmoset of Bloomsbury tells the story of a sickly marmoset who came into the care of Leonard Woolf in 1934. After nursing her back to health, Leonard was rarely seen without Mitz on his shoulder. Mitz became a ubiquitous presence in Bloomsbury society, moving with the Woolfs between their homes in London and Sussex. She developed special relationships with the family’s cocker spaniels and various members of the Woolfs’ circle, including T. S. Eliot and Vita Sackville-West. Mitz even played a vital role in helping the Woolfs escape a close call with Nazis in Germany just before World War II.
The novel blends letters, diaries, and memoirs to reconstruct Mitz’s life against the backdrop of Bloomsbury in its twilight years, offering a tender, affectionate, and humorous look at lives overshadowed by war, death, and mental breakdown, as well as the happiness and creativity of one very important literary couple.
. Item #450
Price: $25.00