History

Writers, Lovers, Soldiers, Spies: A History of the Authors’ Club of London, 1891–2016 (Authors’ Club, 2016)

‘Twinkling and captivating’ Roger Lewis, Daily Mail

‘Packed with anecdotes… reads like a roll call of the greatest British literati’ – Danuta Kean, The Guardian

‘The personal shenanigans of the club’s members… bring this deft little history alive’ – Kathryn Hughes, The Mail on Sunday

‘This exotic history, doubtless something the restless Besant would be pleased with, is a monument to his rich life’ Ham & High

Where did Oscar Wilde indignantly denounce the censorship of his play Salomé? Where did Arthur Conan Doyle and Jerome K. Jerome read from their unpublished manuscripts? Where did Ford Madox Ford’s lover Violet Hunt leave his clothes after he left her for another woman? Where did Graham Greene drink with Kim Philby and Malcolm Muggeridge?

Founded by Sir Walter Besant in 1891 to provide a place where writers could socialise, the Authors’ Club was a home from home to many of the leading figures of English letters in the late 19^th and 20^th centuries. Its Presidents have included George Meredith, Thomas Hardy, J.M. Barrie and Compton Mackenzie, while Emile Zola, Mark Twain, Frances Hodgson Burnett and T.S. Eliot spoke at its dinners.

Rarely has such an array of writers gathered under one roof, yet the eventful history of the Authors’ Club has never been written… until now. To commemorate the 125^th anniversary of the Authors’ Club, its former chairman has delved into its unpublished archives. Along with memoirs, diaries and newspapers, they provide the basis for a lively, entertaining and candid account of the Club’s often turbulent history.

This absorbing narrative sheds new light on the lives and opinions of many celebrated authors through scandals, financial crises and two world wars. It tells how Arnold Bennett worked on his novels in the club library while Conan Doyle won the billiard handicap four times; how Lloyd George assembled his ‘kitchen cabinet’ here during the First World War; and how the MI5 spymaster Maxwell Knight recruited agents during the Second. Passionate disagreements among club members over great events such as the General Strike and the Spanish Civil War have also reflected changing social attitudes and views on literature and art.

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My Dear Mr Rose: Letters to the Honorary Secretary of the Authors’ Club, 1908–34 (Authors’ Club, May 2023)

In 2022, a member of the public kindly donated a collection of letters they had inherited to the Authors’ Club. Addressed to Algernon Rose, the Club’s Secretary from 1908 to 1934, they were written by some of the most notable authors of the day, including Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, J. M. Barrie, Arthur Conan Doyle, Rider Haggard, John Galsworthy, Arnold Bennett and H. G. Wells. Often candid and informal, they offer a fascinating glimpse of the personal and professional connections among writers in early 20th-century London.

Many of the letters are illustrated in this 80-page limited edition hardback, which includes a full catalogue and a narrative text relating the extraordinary life and career of Algernon Rose, musician, author, journalist, world traveller and consummate networker. The Foreword is by the literary journalist and Authors’ Club President John Walsh.

My Dear Mr Rose is available from Foyles, Hatchards, or the Authors’ Club.