Clemence Housman
British, 1861-1955
The latest (5th) edition of The Oxford Companion to English
Literature makes no mention of the novelist, short story writer, artist, and
suffragist Clemence Housman, not even in the articles about her two
brothers, Laurence (1865-1959), also a novelist, poet, and artist,
and A. E. (1859-1936), who wrote some of the most famous and best
loved poems in the language, including A Shropshire Lad.
Leonard Baskin's notes for his portrait of Clemence state that
her wood engravings, which illustrated most of Laurence's books,
are "special and entrancing." The noteworthy pair on
view in this exhibition is her Were-Wolf with his illustrations,
and his
Blue Moon with hers.
The Were-Wolf, by Clemence Housman; with six illustrations
by Laurence Housman.
London: John Lane at the Bodley Head; Chicago: Way and Williams,
1896.
Rare Books Division
The Blue Moon, by Laurence Housman, engraved by Clemence
Housman. London : John Murray, 1904.
Firestone Library
Portrait of Clemence Housman, by Leonard Baskin
Color etching, 1988
Graphic Arts Division
Copyright Estate of Leonard Baskin
