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H.D. (on the right), with her daughter Perdita, and Bryher (Annie Winifred Ellerman), circa 1921.
Credit: H.D. Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University and New Directions Publishing
H.D. was ill and her marriage in ruins when Annie Winifred Ellerman came to her rescue, soon after the birth of her daughter Perdida in 1919. A young American heiress who became her life-long friend, lover and creative collaborator, Bryher—as Ellerman was known- spent her adult life in Europe. A writer who also worked in publishing and film, Bryher, with and apart from H.D., mingled with many of the great artists and writers of Europe between the two world wars.