Pleasure of Ruins, first edition 1953, by Rose Macaulay. With interesting ephemera including her autograph correspondence to Roger Senhouse, Publisher, with 2 manuscript pages by him, & William St Clair provenance

Pleasure in Ruins by Rose Macaulay, first published in 1953, is a highly personal work of nonfiction that blends travel writing, cultural history, and reflection on time, destruction, and memory. Drawing on a lifelong fascination with ruins, Macaulay ranges across classical antiquity, medieval abbeys dissolved under Henry VIII, and the bomb-damaged churches and cities of post-war Britain and Europe. She treats ruins not as picturesque curiosities but as historical records of belief, ambition, violence, and neglect.

Written in the aftermath of the Second World War – and shaped by the destruction of her own London home during the Blitz – the book is marked by a strong awareness of recent loss, yet avoids nostalgia or sentimentality. Its distinctive tone combines wit, erudition, irony, and personal observation, reflecting Macaulay’s classical and ecclesiastical learning as well as her modern sensibility. Often regarded as one of her finest late works, Pleasure in Ruins stands close in spirit to The Towers of Trebizond (1956) and is widely considered a major contribution to mid-twentieth-century English nonfiction, remaining influential and rewarding for readers interested in ruins, cultural memory, and post-war Europe.

Here we have an uncommon first edition of this work (with scarce dustjacket), alongside some very interesting ephemera...

Correspondence from Rose Macaulay to Roger Senhouse, translator and Publisher who was on the fringes of the Bloomsbury set. With Freddie Warburg, he became co-owner of Seckjer & Warburg publishers in 1935,. The firm published major works of the period including George Orwell's Animal Farm:

1. Postcard to him from Rose Macaulay dated 9 March, 1954, from 20 Hinde House, transcribed approximately as;

"Very many thanks for the card. I very rarely (?) go to see the pictures - I couldn't remember what gallery they were in. Thanks for your sympathy re burglars - The Glasgow Repairman (?) who came to mend my fridge & to whom I told the story, said, with contempt, “Och! no one knocks me down& gets away with it” - so I felt small & contemptible. I see that two burglars have now murdered a hotel porter (& must have been the same, I fear) - I hope you are well again. Everyone but me seems to have been in high fervor (?) at the Reform (?) that evening - Rose."

The card is postmarked 9 March 1954, and Macaulay’s reference to burglars who had “now murdered a hotel porter” almost certainly alludes to the widely reported killing of George Frederick Smart, the night porter at the Aban Court Hotel in Kensington, which occurred in the early hours of 9 March 1954 and was prominently covered in the press that day. The precise alignment of the postmark with the date of the murder strongly suggests that Macaulay was reacting to contemporary newspaper reports of the crime.

2. Invitation card to Roger Stenhouse from Rose Macaulay to meet for cocktails at the Lansdowne Club in Berkely Square.

3. A one page, mounted, overpainted engraving of 'Piazza Colona' with a note on the back stating "Christmas Greetings & Love from Rose".

Related Newspaper Clippings;

4. 4 vintage newspaper clippings, mainly related to Rose Macaulay.

Autograph pages in the book by Roger Senhouse;

5. Two detailed autograph pages in Roger Senhouse's hand to the final endpaper spread at the back of the book. Written in pencil, they appear to be personal notes, rather than comments relating to the book. He mentions E. M. Forster as 'my best living novelist'. Although not signed with his name, the handwriting is a clear match with known examples. Dated to 20 July, 1958.

William St Clair Provenance;

6. From the library of the late William St Clair (1937 - 2021), British historian, academic and author. His signature to first blank free endpaper. Clearly he acquired the book at some stage after Roger Senhouse. Please see our other listings for related works.

The book itself was published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London. 1953 first edition.

A very good green cloth hardback with red and gilt titles to spine. Covers with light wear. The original dustjacket is not price clipped but has chips and nibbled losses to extremities and some age toning. The jacket is now housed in clear, removable, protective plastic.

Text is generally very good - some offsetting to free endpapers, and some spots to title, but nice and clean and all soundly bound.

With the significant accompanying extras to this book, a fascinating slice of English literary history.

Text in English.

xvii + 466pp + Plates (carrying 71 images, plus 4 illustrations in the text).

Dimensions: approx 224mm high x 150mm wide x 42mm deep.

Weight: approximately 792g (unpacked).