Officiële naam: Kennedy, Richard Pitt
Geboortedatum: 1910-04-09
Overlijdensdatum: 1989-02-11
Geslacht: male
Nationaliteit: UK
Geboorteplaats: Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England, UK
Woonplaatsen: Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, UK
Bexhill, Sussex, England, UK
Opleiding: Marlborough College (Wiltshire, England, UK)
University College London
Beroepen: publisher
editor
artist
illustrator
Korte biografie: Richard Kennedy's father was killed in WW1 and he was brought up by "two uneducated women" - his mother and his nurse. His grandmother wangled a scholarship to Marlborough but he was no scholar and left at 16 to take up an apprenticeship at the Hogarth Press under Leonard Woolf. He later had a distinguished artistic career.

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A Boy at the Hogarth Press & A Parcel of Time… door Richard Kennedy

These are 2 small memoirs by Kennedy; the first of his 3 years or so (from 16) working with the Hogarth Press, run by Leonard and Virginia Woolf, at the height of the Bloomsbury set.

Kennedy had little going for him other than some relatives who could pull some strings; an ability to come back from failure and a desire to become an artist (drawer; painter etc)...in time he became (apparently) a well known and successful childrens' books illustrator in particular.

The time at Hogarth Press involved interacting with many well know names (most of whom I knew of, though I ma not overly familiar with their works and hence many of the anecdotes probably made less impression on me than someone more familiar.

Sue Gee, the writer of the preface, is quoted in the advertising blurb as describing one episode involving the collapse of a shelf erected by Kennedy some weeks previously as 'a small work of comic writing", as to which I agree as to the 'small' and the 'comic' but have trouble with the 'masterpiece'. That those immediately impacted by the deluge of papers resulting from the collapse of the shelf were Leonard Woolf and Lord [Laurence] Olivier, who reportedly simply moved out of the way, without comment or reaction as to the avalanche of papers, may have been extremely amusing in real life, but it left a little on the page for me.

The second memoir in this volume is earlier in time and addresses Kennedy's early years growing up in the times before, during and immediately after WW1, with the havoc that that brought to his immediate and wider family. At one time a young Kennedy made known to strangers that his father and 3 uncles had been lost in the (then still current) war, leaving those strangers puzzled as to how to respond, and the young Kennedy querulous as to why they did not respond more enthusiastically as to this show of

But both small memoirs should not be dismissed. They provide an insight into particular experiences at a place and time with which so many of us have no direct experience. One wonders what what will be written by Kennedy's equivalents facing the attainment of employment in the uncertain times of today or of his Ukrainian avatars given what is currently happening there.

Published by the impressive Slightly Foxed.

Big Ship

25 April 2022… (meer)

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bigship | 2 andere besprekingen | Apr 25, 2022 |

A Boy at the Hogarth Press & A Parcel of Time… door Richard Kennedy

These two slight autobiographical fragments are charmingly illustrated by the author; the first recalling the author’s time at the Hogarth Press, with name dropping of characters from the Bloomsbury set, and the second recalling the author’s earlier life and schooling.

I read the Slightly Foxed Plain edition, which added considerably to my reading enjoyment, as the books are delightfully tactile and well produced.

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CarltonC | 2 andere besprekingen | Dec 28, 2019 |

A boy at the Hogarth Press door Richard Kennedy

I enjoyed this book very much. It gave an amusing view of the Woolfs and their circle. One example: Duncan Grant had a charming smile, and Clive Bell smelled.

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PatsyMurray | 4 andere besprekingen | Mar 16, 2018 |

A Boy at the Hogarth Press. Introduction by Bevis… door Bevis Hillier

Bevis Hillier was hired as general help. He was there to see Virginia Wolfe and her husband Leonard, and all the Bloomsbury greats. It's a competent memoir.

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DinadansFriend | 4 andere besprekingen | May 11, 2014 |

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