James Elroy Flecker 1884-1915, poet, playwright and novelist.
After university he joined the Diplomatic Service, spending time in Constantinople (now Istanbul) and Beirut. In 1911 he married Hellé Skiadaressi, a Greek poet. In 1913 he went to Switzerland to seek a cure for his tuberculosis but died there two years later.
The letters, 1909 to end 1914, not only give more than a glimpse of the author’s poignant efforts to produce a masterpiece before his death, they give an epigrammatic insight of Flecker’s reading preferences and moods during the last years of his life. His play ‘Hassan, The Golden Journey to Samarkand’, set to music by Delius, was posthumouly staged in 1923 and was an immediate success.
Frank Savery (1888-1965), British Foreign Office official and art collector.
Claudia Freedman (1904-1981) Her striking binding design for Fleckers’ letters to Savery epitomizes the author connexion with the Orient and his death in the prime of life: a broken almond tree in full flower within borders calling up islamic art.
Born Beatrice Claudia Guercio studied at Liverpool School of Art and the Royal College of Art. She became one of the pioneers of colour autolithography in England.