The Tony Arthur Library
Friday, 7 - Wednesday, 26 November 2025
James K Baxter - An Interesting Group Of 5 Hand Written Letters To Thelma Clairmont (Circa early 1970s)
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Lot Details
Some signed Hemi, some James K Baxter, the 2 page letter with the second page pasted down in a simple little album with associated newspaper cutting and photo to the cover, also 2 small envelopes. A rare personal and moving collection of NZ correspondence from the man who "pricked the conscience of his country" Provenance: In the late 1980s, Thelma Clairmont lived just down the road from the vendor and his family in the Whanganui suburb of Drury Hill. She was lively company and quite the storyteller, their wide-ranging conversations would often turn to her renowned artist son, Philip. Thelma's stories featured colourful characters including nuns, rogues, racehorse owners, curators, and well know artists such as Toss Woollaston and James K Baxter. In the early 1970s, when Thelma was living in Kaikoura, Philip stayed in the Jerusalem commune for a while. Thelma wrote to Baxter about her worries and fears for her son, she would forward his replies into their conversations, and it was as if Baxter were in the room consoling her. The vendor says he was struck by how Thelma's recollections of their letters reflected the poems in Baxter's "Autumn Testament", their natural settings, their empathy for young people, and their concerns for social issues, the dark night of the soul.
