Christopher Isherwood Diaries, Signed by Don Bachardy
[Signed by Don Bachardy] Bucknell, Katherine (ed.). Christopher Isherwood Diaries, Volume One, 1939-1960. First Edition. 1996. Book and dust jacket are both in very good condition. Book is signed by Bachardy, Isherwood’s longtime partner and literary executor, “To Eric, from an artist who wouldn’t have been one without Christopher, Don Bachardy, 10 February 1997.”
In a press interview to promote the recently opened Don Bachardy retrospective of the Huntington, Bachardy elaborated on the sentiment he expressed in his inscription to this book, explaining, “I was an artist who worked all day most days. Because Chris was my example. He made me know what a real artist was.” This first volume of Christopher Isherwood’s journals involve converging worlds (Los Angeles, London, New York, etc.), but most to the point here, they cover the early years of Christopher Isherwood and Don Bachardy’s May/December romance when Christopher, like all older partners in such circumstances, had a decision to make: whether to permit the younger partner the independence by which he might have the power to eventually move on. Isherwood chose the high road, encouraging Bachardy to pursue his own career, creating short-term anguish (on occasion) but being rewarded with a fully realized, lifelong partner, the result of which is currently on display at the Huntington.
“I do now firmly believe in the psychological possibility of [Don’s] becoming a really good artist. I mean, he has the right attitude toward the object. He is genuinely, passionately interested. That’s all. But he really and truly cares—and you couldn’t have said that three years ago.”
--Christopher Isherwood, June 17, 1960