Gayer-Anderson

"Gayer-Anderson is a fascinating figure, his name commemorated today in the form of the ancient Egyptian cat sculpture that he gave to the British Museum—the Gayer-Anderson cat. So it is good to have an exhaustive biography at last of this remarkable man."—Penelope Lively//endoftext//endoftext

“A delightful portrait of ‘John’ Gayer-Anderson, which offers both insights into a fascinating man famed for his collecting of antiquities—now spread across the world’s museums—and a mirror to the rapidly changing world of the first half of the 20th century. . . . Gayer-Anderson witnessed the fading of the British Empire alongside shifting attitudes to religion and sexuality. His unpublished memoirs, poetry, and drawings underpin this profile that is intimate, amusing, and sometimes gruesome.”—Neal Spencer, British Museum//endoftext//endoftext

“This is a fascinating study. Foxcroft is perceptive, accurate and knowledgeable. She writes well and with proper detachment, not least about Pum’s psychic theories, supposed paranormal capacities and claims to have seen ghosts and witches. In fact she sees him plain, setting him vividly in the context of his age. Stephen Spender described Pum as a ‘rare and lovable personality’. On the evidence of this book he was an absolute horror.”—Piers Brendon, Literary Review