Rare autograph manuscript poem by AMY LEVY Jewish studies lesbian interest

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Rare autograph manuscript poem by AMY LEVY Jewish studies lesbian interest :
$6500.00

LEVY, AMY. Autograph manuscript signed of one of Levy\'s most anthologized poems, \"New Love, New Life\", titled here by Levy \"New Love, new Life. (fr. the German.)\" at the top, and signed by her at the bottom. One page, measuring approximately 6 1/2\" x 9\", n.p., n.d. The poem consists of two parts, each comprising two quatrains, for a total of 16 lines. The text contains one revision by the author: the word \"joy\" in the seventh line of the poem has been crossed through and replaced with \"love\" which has also been crossed through (it does appear as \"joy\" in the final published version). The opening stanza reads: \"She who so long has lain / Stone-still with folded wings, / Within my heart again / The brown bird wakes & sings. . . . \" Folds; lightly soiled and worn; with a few stray ink marks, otherwise in very good state.
Amy Judith Levy (1861-1889); English writer and poet. Levy\'s biographer, Linda Hunt Beckman identifies the subject of this poem as Vernon Lee (Violet Paget), with whom Levy was said to be in love (which was unrequited, although the two women were friends) [see Beckman, Linda Hunt. \"Amy Levy.\" Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia]. This poem appeared (without the words \"fr. the German\", which seem to have been eventually omitted by the poet in subsequent drafts, as we have been unable to locate them in any printed version of the poem) as the first poem in the \"Love, Dreams, and Death\" section of A London Plane-Tree & Other Verses, Levy\'s final volume of verse, the galleys of which were in preparation by her at the time of her suicide. It was also anthologized in The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse, edited by Arthur Quiller-Couch, and A Book of Women\'s Verse, edited by J.C. Squire. Another of Levy\'s manuscript poems was recently sold at Bonhams, London, where the sale catalogue states: \"MANUSCRIPT MATERIAL BY AMY LEVY IS VERY RARE; her archive was sold to one buyer and only one single poem has appeared at sale. . . . She was among the first English poets to show the influence of French symbolism. A poet, novelist and story writer, Amy Levy was the second Jewish woman to attend Cambridge, the first at Newnham and the first Jewish woman in England to be cremated. She was noted for her feminist views, free-thinking and engagement with homosexual romance. . . . She committed suicide and Oscar Wilde, who admired her talents and published her, wrote her obituary and called her \'a girl of genius\'.\" Bonhams Catalogue, The Roy Davids Collection Part III, 8 May 2013, lot 283. (See also entry for Amy Levi Linda Hunt Beckman in ODNB). Additional information or images provided upon request. Authenticity guaranteed. Seller is a member of PADA (Professional Autograph Dealers Association), ABAA (Antiquarian Booksellers\' Association of America Inc.) and ILAB (International League of Antiquarian Booksellers). New York residents will be charged sales tax. (#26666/tpy)