[Manuscript; illustrated] The Children's Stories of Sylvia Lynd (unpublished), post nove;list and Irish Nationalist.

Note: Sylvia Lynd, née Dryhurst, poet, novelist, reviewer, significant member of the Book Society, Irish nationalist, daughter of anarchist and suffragette, Nannie Dryhurst (1888-1952). Her papers include, typescripts, manuscripts, unpublished illustrated children's 'books', correspondence, a remarkable diary reflecting her personal, social and literary life (and the cross she had to bear in the alcoholic, Robert Lynd), and substantial autobiographical fragments."Their home in Hampstead was the resort of those in literary circles", including James Joyce (whose wedding reception was held there), W.B. Yeats, Max Beerbohm, H.G. Wells, Rebecca West, etc, etc. More political (nationalist) friends included Roger Casement. The first stanza of a poem addressed to her daughters ('To my Children S & BJ'):'Belovèds, when you smile at meIt is the birthday of my soul,It is the day of blossoming,The day of welcome to the sun,When lambs do play & birds do sing,When flowers blow and glad streams run,Belovèds, when you smile at meThen am I healèd & made whole,It is the day of blossomingIt is the birthday of my soul.'Sylvia Lynd's Children's "Books" (MSS,)One (1900). Two booklets of poems loosely inserted into a 9 x 8 cm blue cloth folder, made by SL with illustrated cover bearing the word 'Poetry'. One booklet untitled, and beginning with the poem 'The Song of the Birds', and the other titled 'Portrait of a Cat'. Laid down inside the front cover of the folder is a coloured illustration by SL, with the words 'To Mother from Sylvia. 17th of June. 1900.' Written inside the back cover, by Nannie Dryhurst: 'By Sylvia, aged 12 years.' Each of the booklets is 8.5 x 6.5 cm, and crudely stitched with brown thread, and the second has two illustrations. The poems in the first booklet are:One: 'The Song of the Birds' ('The days are long | In the Summer-time').Two: 'The Cat and the Mouse' ('O, there was a little mouse so gay, Oh!').Three: 'A Blue Butterfly' ('When at noon the sun is high').Four: 'Over the garden Wall' ('Dolly, dolly do you know').The poems in 'Portrait of a Cat' are:One: 'Timothy Brown' ('Timothy Brown was a greedy boy,').Two: 'The Mixture' ('In all the homes in England,').Three: 'What the Stars Love' ('I wonder if 'tis true,').Two (1902). 'The Lost Ring' 11pp., 16mo. Short story in 14 x 10.5 cm booklet, attached with orange ribbon. With five illustrations, four in colour. Apparently unfinished. Dated to 1902 by Nannie Dryhurst on back cover. The story begins: 'There was no doubt about it, the ring was gone.'Three (circa 1902). Exercise book containing short stories titled 'The Goblin School. By Sylvia Dryhurst author of Bunchnose, the Monkey Men &&' (6pp., 4to) and 'Sandy & Fern go Fishing. By Sylvia Dryhurst author of the Ruby Water, what Judy found &.&.' (4pp., 4to). Also an unfinished story: 'Sandy & Fern go to the Circus. By Sylvia Dryhurst Author of The Monkey Men &.&.&.' (1p.,4to). Loosely inserted is 'Sandy and Fern's Circus. BY ARTICHOKE' (2pp., 4to). With two illustrations tipped in, and three others loosely inserted. Also contains a crude pencil drawing (1p., 12mo), with note by Nannie Dryhurst: 'Found in Sylvia's sketch book June 1900. A reminiscence probably of some stories told at supper May 18th. or repeated by me to her. | "Now Miss Stamp out you go!" | E. G. C.'s new way with old intruders.'Four (circa 1902). Collection of poems titled 'The Poppy.' 7 pp., 16mo. The poems are on seven leaves crudely sewn together with red thread, attached to decorative covers with red ribbon to make a 10 x 7 cm booklet. With three illustrations in watercolours. The poems are:One: 'Susan Brown' ('Miss Susan Brown had tiny feet,').Two: 'Taking Medicine' ('Daisy and Betsy were two little girls').Three: 'The Goodgirl [sic]' ('Dear little Polly | Was given a dolly').Five (circa 1902). Untitled short story, beginning 'Once upon a time there lived three sisters, Arabella, Henrietta and Josephine.' 9pp., 12mo. Six bifoliums, loosely gathered to make a 15 x 9.5 cm booklet. Two uncoloured illustrations. Unfinished.Six (1903). 'The Fiend of the Moor and the Girl of the Town. Written and Illustrated by Sylvia Dryhurst at Bury 1903.' 20pp., 12mo. On five bifoliums, in decorative paper covers with title and vignette, loosely gathered to make a 15 x 10 cm booklet. The text of the short story covers ten pages, and nine illustrations in watercolours on 11 x 7 cm paper have been laid down on full pages, and captioned. Inside front cover: 'To Mother from Sylvia September 1903'. The story begins: 'Long ago, in a little country town, there lived a rich merchant who had one beautiful daughter.'Seven (1903). Collection of poems with decorative title: 'To Mother from Sylvia, wishing her very many happy returns of her birthday, June 17th 1903'. 8pp., 12mo. Loosely gathered to make a 15 x 10 cm booklet. The three poems are:One: 'In April' ('The round red buds on the Apple spray,').Two: 'Storm in May' ('There was a storm rose up in May:')Three: 'The West Country' ('A Knight came riding out of the West.')Eight (circa 1903). 'Two Fairy Stories for Joan and Ursula by Sylvia Dryhurst. Contents The Round Dragon The Little Prince With Seven Illustrations by the Author. Best love to Tommy, Jemima, and all the other naughty children in moral tales.' 17pp., 12mo. On nine bifoliums gathered with pink ribbon to make a 15 x 10 cm booklet. Decorative cover and seven illustrations, one in colour. 'The Round Dragon' begins: 'Once upon a time there lived a King who had one daughter as beautiful as dawn.' 'The Little Prince' begins: 'Once upon a time there lived a little Prince. He had seven names'.Nine (circa 1903). 'The Two Princesses. A Fairy Tale from Sylvia to Joan [and] Ursula'. 20pp., 16mo. On tne bifoliums sewn into a 10.5 x 9 cm booklet. With decorative cover, two vignettes and six illustrations, one in colour. The story begins: 'Once upon a time there lived a King who had two daughters; one was a pretty girl and her name was Cornelia; but the other was perfectly hideous, and her name was Magnolia.Ten (1910). 'Songs out of Season. To Mother from Sylvia. Christmas 1910'. 14pp., 12mo. The twelve leaves laid down over four loosely-gathered bifoliums of grey card, to make a 22 x 15 cm booklet. Ten poems, each written out by SL, and illustrated by her in watercolours, with illustrated title and two vignettes. The poems are:One: 'In April' ('A cherry bough and a pale Spring sky'). Dated 1903.Two: 'Child Song' ('All the way to Faery Town primroses are yellow'). Dated 1909.Three: 'An Eastern Fable' ('"Not to build a house on a bridge" quo' she,'). Undated.Four: Untitled ('While the maids as they sew will chatter and sing'). Dated 1910.Five: 'Kinsale' ('Dear do you remember'). Dated 1910.Six: 'The Daisy Field' ('A field of daisies white and green'). Dated 1910.Seven: 'Storm in May' ('There was a storm rose up in May'). Dated 1903.Eight: 'The Birds' ('As I went over the open hill'). Dated '1908-10'.Nine: 'A Lonely House' ('Across the open mountain across the bracken brown'). Dated 1907.Ten: 'To M.M.R.' ('There stands a willow by a stream'). Undated.Eleven (1912). 'To Mother from Sylvia. Christmas 1912'. 8pp., 8vo. On the rectos of eight leaves, made into four bifoliums with grey card strips, and loosely inserted in grey card wraps, on which the title and a vignette are laid down, to make a 25 x 17 cm booklet. Seven poems, each written out by SL, and illustrated by her in watercolours. The poems (none of which are dated) are:One: 'Bethlehem' ('Long ago and long ago,').Two: 'A Young Farmer to an Old Tune' ('The bearded barley it grows so high').Three: 'Hélas' ('Ah, little tree that shone in May,').Four: 'A Freed Spirit' ('Upwards I sprang!').Five: 'A Sussex Child' ('A little wood of Beech trees made').Six: 'Quiet' ('Under the Alder trees').Seven: 'A Fancy' ('My room is high among the trees,').Twelve (circa 1915). 'The Milk-Pudding Story'. 4pp., 12mo. Short story for her daughters, with nine illustrations in watercolour. The four panels have been laid down side by side on a 52 x 21 cm piece of grey card, folded to make a 13 x 21 cm booklet. The story begins: 'There was once a lot of little white woolly Bahs playing in a green flowery field'.Thirteen (circa 1916). 'The Grump'. 6pp., 12mo. Short story for her daughters, with eight illustrations in watercolour. The six panels have been laid down side by side on a 73 x 20 cm piece of grey card, concertina-folded into a 12 x 20 cm booklet. The story begins: 'One morning Mammy woke up and called out: "Darling, are you ready to get up now?" and from Sheila's little bed there came a voice that said: "Nyang, nyang, nyang, nyang, nyang."'Fourteen (1917). 'The Hatcross Family'. 7pp., 12mo. Short story for her daughters, with around a dozen illustrations in watercolours. The seven panels placed side by side on a piece of 18.5 x 88 cm grey paper, concertina-folded to make an 18.5 x 12 cm booklet. On cover: 'To B. J. from Mammy Christmas 1917'. The story begins: 'There were once four little girls called Hatcross: Jemima Hatcross and Emilia Hatcross and Joanna Hatcross and Louisa Hatcross: and they all lived in a little house with a pointed roof and a bay window and a tall flight of steps up to the door.'Fifteen (1918). 'To Mother from Sylvia. 17.6.'18.' 20pp., 12mo. The twenty leaves laid down on five bifoliums of grey card, stitched with red thread into a 16 x 12 cm booklet. The front and back covers carry cut outs of illustrations of country buildings, the one on the front captioned 'The Stone House, Steyning.' Seven poems, each written out by SL, and illustrated by her in watercolours. The poems (none of which are dated) are:One: 'The Flight of the Goldfinches' ('Fly not away, sweet goldfinches,').Two: 'Idealists' ('The wild geese flew by high overhead,').Three: 'To my Children S & BJ' ('Belovèds, when you smile at me | It is the birthday of my soul,'). (The title of the poem flanked by simple portraits of the two girls.)Four: 'The Barber's Fist Brother' ('Know, O Prince of the Faithful').Five: 'Miss Daly's' ('There was a room I used to know').Six: 'Hunting Song' ('The hunt is up, the hunt is up,').Seven: 'Sweet Earth' ('Sweet earth, when in your arms I lie,'). SEE alos related material, sku #s 16322, 16323, 16324, 16325, 16327