Ann Fonsweer

  In Ann's Diary it is called Doycroft Hospita l (by Ann) and Doycroft Daft House (by Mrs. Busyness). Its official name was Doycroft Asylum. It was located just outside of Norwich. Doycroft Asylum, 1937 The Summer Diary of a Lady Artist is available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com .   (An aside: At the same time as Ann's Summer Diary (1935) there was a terrible case of an eleven year old child, Mary Marston. She murdered all her family in their beds with dress making scissors, then burnt the house down. Mary was not considered of sane mind, and was not convicted of murder. She was sent to Doycroft Asylum, and ended her days there.)

 This photo was probably taken in the 1930s. The Post Office is first mentioned in Ann's diary on Friday the 5th of July 1935: Today I went again to the post office, there is still no cheque for me. The Post Mistress, Mrs. Busyness I call her, plump and active, looked at me with concern. She knows I am waiting for money. She cashes my cheques. Mr. Busyness died a few years ago and has never been replaced, neither in her affections nor as a postman. There are so few people in Apple Limeway who receive letters.   Long ago, before my fall, I overheard someone say that I was not the usual sort of woman. I took it as a compliment.   The Summer Diary of a Lady Artist is available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com .

 Some young UK readers and non UK readers have been puzzled by these symbols on the first page: They are pronounced LSD but stand for Pounds Shillings and Pence. Like English spelling the language was corrupted by Latin scholars, and £sd actually stands for Librae, Solidi, and Denarii.  When Ann was around this monetary system was used with 20 shillings in the pound, 12 pence in a shilling. When she mentions the money owing to her from her brother she uses the £sd symbols. And here is what she would have handled:            LSD the hallucinogenic drug was discovered in 1938 by Hofman, 3 years after the events in the diary, so though the drawings of Fonsweer seem to suggest hallucination, artificial stimulants were not used it seems...         A reprint of The Summer Diary of a Lady Artist is available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com , ISBN 978-1-4466-7410-9. Contact: ckfonsweer@gmail.com

Another way of looking at The Summer Diary of a Lady Artist ... ...is an illustrated account of revenge, violent protection of the innocent and cougar love. Available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com .

 Ann Fonsweer, the artist who became posthumously famous after the publication of her illustrated diary, had a strange signature. Most of the examples we have come from the diary itself, the images which follow are scanned from the reprinted edition of that diary. She seems to have adopted the "name" or "identity" of Alpha Eff. (The Greek letter "α" and an English language letter "f". Clearly referring to Ann Fonsweer.    These examples of her signature show that they are easily copy-able, so if someone offers you a "genuine Fonsweer" ask for provenance and don't rely on the signature!  A reprint of The Summer Diary of a Lady Artist is available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com , ISBN 978-1-4466-7410-9. Contact: ckfonsweer@gmail.com      

 A friend recently said that she'd seen a condescending reference to Ann Fonsweer in the book Marshal Edwards Patron of the Arts by H Christopher. I asked for more detail, and she had meant to take some notes and then had forgot, she was in a rush to catch a train! They were both living in Cambridge in 1935, but he was at the University, Trinity College, and she was living in Apple Limeway. A reprint of The Summer Diary of a Lady Artist is available from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com , ISBN 978-1-4466-7410-9. Contact: ckfonsweer@gmail.com

 Ann Fonsweer gave every diary page a title. We don't know if this title was added before she wrote the entry or after. For example on the 11th of August 1935 she used the title "Closing Time" Here are all the dates and titles of that Summer diary, for the academics among you: Wednesday 3rd July 1935   Where is my money? Thursday 4th July 1935   Cambridge, Long Lost Love as a Ghost. Friday 5th July 1935   Teaching Latin? Saturday 6th July 1935   Boy fishing. Sunday 7th July 1935   Thief Monday 8th July 1935   Anglia Tuesday 9th July 1935   My Cheque Appears, My Key Disappears Wednesday 10th July 1935   The First Lesson Thursday 11th July 1935   Gardening. Friday 12th July 1935   Things unfold, perceptions change. Saturday 13th July 1935   Smoother, Deeper Sunday 14th July 1935   “Corrupter.” Monday 15th July 1935   Keep Your Powder Dry. Tuesday 16th July...