SHAW, George Bernard (1856-1950). Playwright.
Very early Autograph Letter Signed ('G. Bernard Shaw'), to Edmund Gosse (1849-1928, later Sir Edmund) ('Dear Sir'), on a postcard, 29 Fitzroy Square, 9 November 1891. Thanking him for a letter and telling him of a complimentary letter that he had received.

'I am drowning in arrears of correspondence, and have only time to acknowledge your very kind letter. You will perhaps be surprised to hear that I have had a highly complimentary letter from the wooden head [a note in pencil at the foot, probably by Gosse, identifies him as Clement Scott]. He professes himself delighted with the book, and declares that he will rush into print on the subject & join battle with us once for all.'

The Quintessence of Ibsenism had been published the previous month, and Shaw's surprise at receiving a letter from Clement Scott (assuming that it was indeed Scott) is understandable, given Scott's well-known detestation of Ibsen. In a letter to Charles Charrington earlier in 1891 Shaw had remarked that 'Miss Robins [The actress, Elizabeth Robins], calling on Clement Scott, found him much agitated because he had just learnt that a man named Bernard Shaw had got up in the Playgoers' Club and thanked his almighty God that Ibsen would be the end of Scott and all his works'. (Bernard Shaw, Collected Letters, ed. Dan H. Laurence, 4 vols, 1965-1988, vol. 1, p. 288.)

This letter is not found in the Collected Letters. No letters from Shaw to Gosse appear to be otherwise known.
[No: 25907]