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[Illustration: (signature of author) From a drawing by W. Rothenstein.]
THE ADVENTURE OF LIVING
A Subjective Autobiography (1860-1922)
By John St. Loe Strachey Editor of The Spectator
"We carry with us the wonders we seek without us; there is all Africa and her prodigies in us; we are that bold and adventurous piece of Nature, which he that studies wisely learns in a compendium what others labour at in a divided piece and endless volume." SIR THOMAS BROWNE
TO MY WIFE
You who know something of the irony of life in general, and still more of it in the present particular, will not be surprised that, having made two strict rules for my guidance in the writing of this book, I break them both in the first page! Indeed, I can hear you say, though without any touch of the satirical, that it was only natural that I should do so.
The first of my two rules, heartily approved by you, let me add, is that
I should not mention you in my autobiography.—We both deem it foolish
as well as unseemly to violate in print the freemasonry of marriage.—
The second, not unlike the first, is not to write about living people.
And here am I hard at it in both cases!