WYLIE, I.A.R. [Ida Alexa Ross]. - The Paupers of Portman Square.

London, Cassell [1913]. Octavo publisher's cloth blocked in black. A bit of browning, a rather good copy. ¶ First edition? Published in London and New York in 1913. So how much did Wylie draw on her own childhood for this novel of feckless parenthood? The ever reliable Spectator dismissed it with customary contempt: "Seldom have we met people so amazingly unlike real men and women," but I suspect they would have regarded a biography of Wylie's father equally unlikely. She wrote this of her father: "From the day of his birth to the hour of his death he never had a penny that he could legitimately call his own. If by some strange chance he had earned it, he already owed it several times over, and it was only an additional reason for borrowing more. Quite often he didn’t have a penny of any sort, and there were days in our large absurd house in London when there was no food for anyone except the bailiff occupying our one completely furnished room." (My Life With George). For those who care, I find only one copy of this Melbourne born author's book in any Australian library: Adelaide University.

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