Happiness

Happiness is the only sanction of life; where happiness fails, existence remains a mad and lamentable experiment. (George Santayana (1863–1952)

In 1953, while living in Germany, my mother began creating a remarkable book.

She called it Happiness. It is a deeply personal, carefully assembled collection of poems, biblical passages, prayers, prose and pictures through which she explored love, faith, beauty, belonging and the life she hoped to lead.

The album was created in Germany in 1953–54, when the Poesiealbum – a decorated book containing poems, quotations, pictures and words of wisdom – remained an important tradition among girls and young women. Although Happiness was overwhelmingly my mother’s own creation, rather than a collection of contributions from friends, it belongs naturally to that cultural world: part poetry album, part spiritual scrapbook and part portrait of a young woman discovering who she might become.

Happiness has remained an intimate family treasure for more than seventy years. Now, as my mother has turned 90, we have transcribed and prepared it for publication – and it’s now available for you to enjoy!

We hope to preserve it not only for the generations of her family who will follow, but also for readers interested in women’s lives, personal archives, poetry, faith; and the quiet ways in which people create meaning from the words and images they love.

“Beautiful… gorgeous… stunning… fascinating… delightful.” Many early readers have responded to Happiness with extraordinary warmth and have particularly valued the retention of the original handwriting, which gives the book an unusual intimacy and authenticity. Readers describe feeling privileged to encounter the material and see Happiness as a book to explore slowly – something to dip into, return to and discover over time.

Thank you also to those who are already generously supporting the project by granting permission of the inclusion of the following texts:

“Aftermath” and “Everyone Sang”: copyright Siegfried Sassoon by kind permission of the Estate of George Sassoon.

We appreciate and acknowledge The Society of Authors as the Literary Representative of the Estate of John Masefield and of the Estate of Walter de la Mare.

We appreciate and acknowledge Joël Thompson and the Thompson family as the Literary Representatives of the Estate of Dunstan Thompson.

Illustrations by Margaret W. Tarrant © The Medici Society/Mary Evans Picture Library.

Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of the vintage illustrations and photographs reproduced in this book. We particularly thank: Bild-Kunst, Bildarchiv Foto Marburg, BildrechtGmbH, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Ephemera Society,  Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis, PICSEL,  Rosenstiels,  Salzburger Kunstverein, Slant Books, STADT:SALZBURG,  Stadtarchiv und Statistik, The Association of Illustrators, The Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society, The British Library, The Huntingdon Library, The National Art Library at the Victoria and Albert Museum and The Royal Academy for their support in helping us contact the relevant authorities.

If any omission or error is brought to the publisher’s attention, we will gladly include the appropriate credit or remedy the acknowledgment in subsequent editions. Reproduction of an item in Veronica’s original album does not itself establish that the underlying literary or artistic work is free of copyright.

ISBN 9798187836451