Abstract
When last I wrote about Sybille Bedford, for Jack I. Biles’ British Novelists Since 1900 (New York, AMS Press, 1987), I began with a quotation from a strange prayer by Aldous Huxley: ‘Faith is not believing in something which our intelligence denies. It is the choice of the nobler hypothesis. Faith is the resolve to place the highest meaning on the facts which we observe.’1 It still seems to me a sure stepping-stone, for while the writing of the two novelists — close friends for many years — is immeasurably different, both are dedicated to exalted themes, to that higher purpose Huxley called ‘the nobler hypothesis’.
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A Bibliography of Writings by Sybille Bedford
Novels
A Legacy (London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 1956. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1957; Penguin, 1964; Ecco Press, 1976).
A Favourite of the Gods (London: Collins, 1963. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1984).
A Compass Error (London: Collins, 1968. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1985).
Jigsaw: An Unsentimental Education: A Biographical Novel (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1989. New York: Knopf, 1989).
Stories
‘Une Vie De Chateau’, The New Yorker (20 February 1989): 38–48.
Books
The Sudden View: A Mexican Journey (London: Gollancz, 1953. Later published as A Visit to Don Otavio: A Traveller’s Tale from Mexico. London: Collins, 1960. New York: Atheneum, 1963).
The Best We Can Do: An Account of the Trial of John Bodkin Adams (London: Collins, 1958. American edition: The Trial of Dr Adams. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1959).
The Faces of Justice: A Traveller’s Report (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1959. London: Collins, 1961).
Aldous Huxley: A Biography. Volume 1:1894–1939 (London: Chatto and Windus, 1973).
Aldous Huxley: A Biography. Volume II: 1939–1963 (London: Chatto and Windus, 1974).
Aldous Huxley: A Biography [Volumes I and II] (New York: Harper and Row, 1974).
Articles
‘Lake Constance’, Holiday (January 1960): 74–7.
‘Black Forest’, Mademoiselle (March 1961): 131+.
‘Last Trial of Lady Chatterley’, Esquire (April 1961): 132–6+.
‘Truth and Consequences of French Justice’, Esquire (June 1961): 73–4+.
‘Way Home’, Reporter (14 September 1961): 50+.
‘Generations on the Gallows’, The Nation (7 December 1963): 394–5.
‘Ruby Trial: A Chance to Redeem a Tragedy’, Life (28 February 1964): 36–6B.
‘Violence, Froth, Sob Stuff: Was Justice Done?’ Life (27 March 1964): 32–4B+.
‘Lost Art of Civilized Touring’, Esquire (November 1964): 126–31+.
‘House of Lords’, Horizon (Autumn 1965): 4–13+.
‘This Blessed Plot, This Earth, This Realm, This Denmark’, Esquire (December 1965): 212+.
‘Her Majesty’s Incorruptible, Imperturbable, Incomparable Judges’, Esquire (October 1965): 78–82+.
‘Worst That Ever Happened’, Saturday Evening Post (22 October 1966): 29–33+.
‘Authors and Editors’, Publishers Weekly (7 April 1969): 18.
A Bibliography of Writings about Sybille Bedford Articles and Reviews
Annan, Gabriele, ‘High Romance’ [Jigsaw], The New York Review of Books (27 April 1989): 22–3.
Bailey, Paul, ‘A Legacy of Summer Nights’ [Jigsaw], Sunday Times (7 May 1989): G14.
Benenson, Peter, ‘Seen To Be Done’ [The Faces of Justice], The Spectator (26 May 1961): 769.
Bicker, Alexander, ‘A Cook’s Tour of the Law Courts’ [The Faces of Justice], The New Republic (26 June 1961): 26–7.
Colvin, Clare, ‘Journeys in a Vanished World’ [A Favourite of the Gods and A Compass Error], The Times (17 February 1984): 11.
Craft, Robert, ‘Huxley at Home’ [Aldous Huxley: A Biography], The New York Reviewer of Books (23 January 1975): 9–12.
Dinnage, Rosemary, ‘Between Two Worlds’ [Aldous Huxley: A Biography: Volume II], Times Literary Supplement (TLS) (20 September 1974): 1017.
Duguid, Lindsay, ‘Outlandish Legacies’ [Jigsaw], TLS (12–18 May 1989): 519.
Dyer, Richard, ‘Bedford Puzzles Out a Vivid Life’ [Jigsaw], The Boston Globe (10 May 1989): 52.
Evans, Robert O., ‘Sybille Bedford: Most Reticent, Most Modest, Best’, Studies in the Literary Imagination 11, ii (1978): 67–78. Reprinted in British Novelists Since 1900, ed. Jack I. Biles (New York: AMS Press, 1987): 207–20.
Jones, Richard, ‘Kensington Ghosts’ [A Compass Error]. The Listener (7 November 1968): 618.
King, Francis, ‘Women, War and Crime’ [A Favourite of the Gods and A Compass Error], The Spectator (18 February 1984): 21.
Leavitt, David, ‘Living Large: Sybille Bedford at Home and Abroad’, The Village Voice Literary Supplement (June 1990): 9–10.
Lindley, Robert, ‘Best Way To Do It’ [The Best We Can Do], The Spectator (14 November 1958): 655.
Murphy, Dervla, ‘Global Warning’ [As It Was: Pleasures, Landscapes and Justice], TLS (26 October-1 November 1990): 1144.
Nott, Kathleen, ‘Novels’ [A Favourite of the Gods]. Encounter (March 1963): 88–91.
Olney, James, ‘Most Extraordinary: Sybille Bedford and Aldous Huxley’, South Atlantic Quarterly 74 (1975): 376–86.
Partridge, Frances, ‘Loving Mother and Mother’s Lover’ [Jigsaw: An Unsentimental Education: A Biographical Novel], The Spectator (20 May 1989): 36.
Plante, David, ‘Once and Future Addictions’ [Jigsaw], The New York Times Book Review (28 May 1989): 13.
Pritchett, V. S., ‘The Vision From Limbo’ [Aldous Huxley: A Biography: Volume I], New Statesman (20 September 1974): 384–6.
Raven, Simon, ‘A Summer’s Tale’ [A Compass Error], The Spectator (25 October 1968): 593–4.
Sale, Roger, ‘Huxley and Bennett, Bedford and Drabble’ [Aldous Huxley], Hudson Review 28, 2 (Summer, 1975): 285–93.
Schott, Webster, ‘Flirting With History’ [A Favourite of the Gods], The Nation (4 May 1963): 377–8.
Steiner, George, ‘The Last Victorian’ [Aldous Huxley], The New Yorker (17 February 1975): 103–6.
Wain, John, ‘Women’s Work’ [A Compass Error], The New York Review of Books (26 April 1969): 38–40.
Waugh, Evelyn, ‘A Remarkable Historical Novel’ [A Legacy], The Spectator (13 April 1956): 498.
Wilmers, Mary-Kay, ‘Nonchalance’ [Jigsaw], London Review of Books (27 July 1989): 12–13.
Interviews
Baker, J. F., TW Interviews Sybille Bedford’, Publishers Weekly (16 December 1974): 6–7.
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Copyright information
© 1993 Robert E. Hosmer Jr.
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Evans, R.O. (1993). Sybille Bedford: A Paradise of Dainty Devices. In: Hosmer, R.E. (eds) Contemporary British Women Writers. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22565-1_1
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