ADELPHI

[Victorian London Theatres: Adelphi, Drury Lane, Gaiety, Her Majesty’s, Lyceum, Princess’s, St James’s.] Seven large printed handbill notices, with illustration giving seating plan, details of proprietors and prices, ticket agents, advertisements.

Author: 
[Victorian London Theatres: Adelphi, Drury Lane, Gaiety, Her Majesty’s, Lyceum,Princess’s, St James’s.] [Benjamin Webster; Samuel Hayes; Keith, Prowse, and Co.; James Bromwich, florist]
Publication details: 
Circa 1878? Publication details not given.
£350.00

Each of the seven plans is on a 27 x 35.5 cm piece of paper.The source has not been established, and each carries the pencil date 1878 in a modern hand. They are uniform in layout, each with heading of the name of the theatre followed by a plan in the form of a 22 x 15 cm lithographic illustration of the respective theatre, as viewed from the stage, with the seating numbered. Beneath each plan are names of proprietors, lessees and managers, prices of admission, and in every case the details of the two ticket agents ‘Mr.

[Ben Webster [Benjamin Nottingham Webster], actor-manager who built the Adelphi.] Autograph Letter Signed, thanking Henry Spicer on behalf of the Dramatic College, Covent Garden, for a financial ‘Godsend’.

Author: 
Ben Webster [Benjamin Nottingham Webster] (1797-1882), actor-manager who built the Adelphi Theatre, London [Henry Spicer]
Publication details: 
‘New Theatre Royal Adelphi / Jany 19th 1860’.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. On a bifolium the blank second leaf of which is laid down on part of a leaf from an album. Folded twice for postage. The recipient is ‘Henry Spicer Esq’, presumably a relation of the artist of the same name (d.1804; see ODNB), several of whose theatrical portraits are in the Garrick Club collection.

[William Leman Rede, playwright.] Original holograph unpublished jeux d'esprit, addressed to and concerning Mrs Keeley. Signed 'Leman Rede/'.

Author: 
William Leman Rede (1802-1847), playwright who wrote farces and melodramas for the Olympic, Strand and Adelphi theatres in London [Mrs. Keeley]
Publication details: 
Signed and dated 'Leman Rede/ | 31. May 1841'.
£45.00

1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Thin strip of paper from mount adhering to edge on blank reverse. Folded three times. Signed and dated at foot: 'Leman Rede/ | 31. May 1841'. Addressed at bottom left: 'To | Mrs.

[Frederick Yates, actor-manager of the Adelphi Theatre.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Fred. H. Yates.'), accusing actor Thomas Cooke of breaking his word by mounting a production of Fitzball's 'Red Rover', whose copyright he owns, outside Edinburgh.

Author: 
Frederick Yates [Frederick Henry Yates] (1797-1842), actor and proprietor with Charles Mathews of the Adelphi Theatre, London, husband of Elizabeth Brunton [Thomas Potter Cooke (1786-1864), actor]
Publication details: 
18 January 1830. 'Theatre Royal | Adelphi' [London].
£120.00

3pp, 4to. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn, with closed tears and thin vertical strip of paper on reverse of second leaf, which carries a seal in black wax and Yates's address to 'T. P. Cooke Esqre. | 28 Manchester Street | Manchester Square'. An interesting letter regarding a Victorian stage dispute. In an understated style, Yates makes a serious accusation: Cooke has broken his word over the manuscript of Fitzball's play 'The Red Rover' (Yates had produced the piece with himself in the title role in 1828, and would do so again in 1831).

[Charles James Mathews, London actor-manager.] Autograph Letter Signed ('C J Mathews.'), declining to 'risk' an association with Ben Webster, who 'never reads the pieces at all' and whom he is 'unable to controul'.

Author: 
Charles James Mathews (1803-1878), actor, manager of the Olympic, Lyceum and Covent Garden theatres in London [Benjamin Nottingham Webster (1797-1882), actor-manager who built the Adelphi]
Publication details: 
25 Pelham Crescent [London], 23 July 1869.
£45.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. The recipient is not named. An interesting letter, indicating the relationship between two major theatrical figures in Victorian London. The main body of the letter reads: 'Dear Sir, | You really must excuse my incurring any such responsibility as that you would impose upon me. I am unable to controul Mr.

[William Leman Rede, playwright.] Original holograph unpublished jeux d'esprit, addressed to and concerning Mrs Keeley. Signed 'Leman Rede/'.

Author: 
William Leman Rede (1802-1847), playwright who wrote farces and melodramas for the Olympic, Strand and Adelphi theatres in London [Mrs. Keeley]
Publication details: 
Signed and dated 'Leman Rede/ | 31. May 1841'.
£45.00

1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Thin strip of paper from mount adhering to edge on blank reverse. Folded three times. Signed and dated at foot: 'Leman Rede/ | 31. May 1841'. Addressed at bottom left: 'To | Mrs.

[John Baldwin Buckstone, comedic actor and playwright.] Five Autograph Letters Signed (all 'Jno B Buckstone') to M. H. Simpson, lessee of the Theatre Royal, Birmingham, regarding arrangements, benefits, and Mrs Fitzwilliam.

Author: 
John Baldwin Buckstone (1802-1879), dramatist and actor-manager of Haymarket Theatre, London [Mercer Hampson Simpson (1801-1877), actor-manager, Theatre Royal, Birmingham; Mrs Fitzwilliam (1801-1854)]
Publication details: 
From the Adelphi and Haymarket in London, and the Theatre Royal in Liverpool. 20 August August 1839, [November 1839], 29 April [1840], 29 November 1842, and undated.
£320.00

See the appreciative entry on Buckstone by Donald Roy in the Dictionary of National Biography. Interesting and informative letters, shedding vivid light on the day-to-day workings of early-Victorian theatre, written by a leading London actor-manager and dramatist and sent to a provincial actor-manager, regarding the arrangement of engagements, benefits, and plays. Of particular interest is the fourth letter, which refers to Mrs Fitzwilliam [Fanny [Frances Elizabeth] Fitzwilliam, née Copeland] (1801-1854), with whom Buckstone toured New Orleans and the South, c. 1840-1841. Five items.

[John Coakley Lettsom, physician, founder of the Medical Society of London, friend of Benjamin Franklin.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. C. Lettsom') to 'Dr. Taylor' [Charles Taylor], regarding his nomination as member of the Society.

Author: 
John Coakley Lettsom (1744-1815), physician, philanthropist, abolitionist, founder in 1773 of the Medical Society of London, friend of Benjamin Franklin [Dr Charles Taylor, Secretary, Society of Arts]
Publication details: 
['Sambrook Co [Sambrook Court, Basinghall Street, London] | Nov. 25. 1805.'
£450.00

The recipient is Charles Taylor (d.1816), physician, originally a Manchester calico printer and dyer, who later became Secretary of the Society of Arts, London. 1p, 8vo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to reverse of second leaf, which is addressed, with postmarks to 'Dr. Taylor | Principal Secretary | to the Society of Arts &c | Adelphi'. Folded four times. Reads: 'Dear Doctor | I have this day proposed your name to the Medical Society of London.

[ Katharine Ada Esdaile, art historian. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Katharine A. Esdaile') to Sir Henry Trueman Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, requesting access to James Barry's paintings in the Adelphi and explaining the nature of the work.

Author: 
Katharine Ada Esdaile [ née McDowall ] (1881-1950), art historian, wife of Arundell Esdaile (1880-1956), Secretary of the British Museum [ Sir Henry Trueman Wood, Royal Society of Arts; James Barry ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Keynes, Austenway, Gerrard's Cross. 22 January 1913.
£180.00

5pp., 12mo. On two bifoliums. With the Society's oval Adelphi date stamp. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with slight rust-staining from paperclip. She begins by asking if 'there would be any difficulty in my examining Barry's paintings at the Adelphi, & taking a few notes on them. | My old friend & my husband's colleague at the British Museum, Mr.

[ Charles Fechter, Anglo-English actor. ] Autograph Signature ('Ch. Fechter') and authorisation of admission to '2 boxes' at the Adelphi Theatre, London.

Author: 
Charles Fechter [ Charles Albert Fechter ] (1824-1879), Anglo-French actor
Publication details: 
Adelphi Theatre, London. 23 December [ no year ].
£20.00

On one side of a 7 x 9 cm piece of laid paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn; apparently cut down. Reads: 'Adelphi | Admit 2 boxes | Wed. Dec 23 | Ch. Fechter'. Good bold signature.

[ Peter le Neve Foster, Secretary to the Society of Arts. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('P. le Neve Foster') to W. H. Teulon, expressing great distress at the news of the death of an old friend.

Author: 
Peter le Neve Foster (1809-1879), Secretary to the Society of Arts [ William Hensman Teulon (1809-1899), London hop merchant ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Society of Arts, Adelphi, London. 11 December 1876.
£45.00

3pp., 8vo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. He is 'shocked as well as surprised' at the sad news of the death of his 'old friend', who had told Foster's assistant the previous Tuesday that he had had 'a fainting fit which he understood came from any of the heart'. Foster is 'truly grieved at the loss', 'a more excellent worthy character it was not my lot to have met with and my experience has now run over many years. He was truly a friend and at my time of life there is little chance of my being able to fill the vacancy his death creates'.

[ John Baldwin Buckstone, actor-manager and playwright. ] Autograph Signature ('Jno. B Buckstone').

Author: 
John Baldwin Buckstone (1802-1879), English actor-manager and playwright, associated with the London theatres the Adelphi and Haymarket
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£20.00

On 4 x 9.5 strip of paper. In good condition, with light signs of age. Reads 'Truly Yours | Jno. B Buckstone | T. Q. H'. Presumably cut from a letter in response to a request for an autograph.

[ Thomas Longdon Greenwood, lessee of Sadler's Wells Theatre? ] Manuscript of the opening of a Victorian pantomime, lacking title (featuring 'Hans' and 'Gretchen'), with note stating that it is 'in Greenwoods Hand Writing of Sadlers Wells'.

Author: 
[ Thomas Longdon Greenwood (1806-1879), lessee of Sadler's Wells Theatre, London? ]
Publication details: 
Without place or date, but with 'Adelphi' (i.e. the Adelphi Theatre, London) written inside the front cover.
£200.00

16pp. (of which 12pp. in 8vo and 4pp. in 4to). In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Neatly written out, with underlinings in red ink. Loosely inserted in the marbled wraps of an exercise book, with 'Adelphi' in pencil on the inside of the front cover. The first scene is written out complete on ten leaves from the exercise book (now loose), with the main text on ten pages, and additions on two versos. In addition to this is a grey paper bifolium, carrying over 4pp., 4to, additional matter to be inserted at the beginning of the second scene.

[ Sir William Martins, Gentleman Usher. ] Autograph Letter in the third person to actor-manager Benjamin Webster, asking him to arrange a performance of a farce at the Adelphi Theatre 'at the rather earnest wish of a former Lord Chamberlain'.

Author: 
Sir William Martins (c.1787-1874), Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State [ Benjamin Webster [ Benjamin Nottingham Webster ] (1797-1882), actor-manager; Adelphi Theatre, London ]
Publication details: 
St James's Palace [ London ]. 16 February [ no year, but on paper watermarked 1844 ].
£45.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condiion, on aged and worn paper. Marked 'Private', and written with an urgency suggesting the involvement of royalty behind the request. The letter begins: 'Sir William Martins presents his Compliments to Mr Webster and at theh rather earnest wish of a former Lord Chamberlain entreats Mr Webster, if it be practicable to allow the Farce of "Powder & Ball" to be played at the Adelphi one evening this Week either Wednesday Thursday or Friday'. He will 'explain further' and writes 'in case he should not be fortunate enough to meet Mr Webster at the Theatre'.

[ Edward Fitzball, writer of melodramas. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Fitzball') to an unnamed recipient, regarding changes to the last scene of his play 'The Haunted Hulk'.

Author: 
Edward Fitzball (1792-1873), English playwright specialising in melodrama [ Benjamin Nottingham Webster (1797-1882), actor-manager ]
Publication details: 
'Monday Evng.' [ London?, 1831. ]
£56.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. He has had a conversation with 'Tomkins', and as a consequence has 'made a few alterations in the last scene of the "Hulk"'. He asks him to read the last scene and 'manage, if possible, to get the Prompter's Copy set right before the reading of the Piece'. He feels his changes make the play 'more original, and more likely to render the Piece effective'. With postscript. 'The Haunted Hulk', a Nautical Drama in two Acts was performed at the Adelphi in 1831.

[ Thomas Fisher Unwin, London publisher. ] Typed Letter Signed ('T. Fisher Unwin') to G. K. Menzies, regarding London plaques by the Royal Society of Arts. With a long press release for four books, including Thomas Wright's life of John Payne.

Author: 
Thomas Fisher Unwin (1848-1935), London publisher, as T. Fisher Unwin Ltd., 1 Adelphi Terrace [ G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts; Thomas Wright of Olney; John Payne ]
Publication details: 
Letter: on letterhead of T. Fisher Unwin Ltd., 1 Adelphi Terrace, London, WC2. 6 February 1920. Press release: on firm's letterhead. 20 November 1919.
£56.00

Both items in good condition, lightly aged and worn. Letter: 1p., 4to. With RSA stamp and manuscript note. He would like 'a list of the plaques you have placed in London', and would like to hear from Menzies, if he has 'anything to say on the subject, or have any article in your Journal'. Press release. 2pp., 8vo. Headed 'Literary Notes', it deals with E. T. Raymond's 'All and Sundry', Thomas Wright's 'The John Payne Society', Arthur Hayden's 'Bye-Paths in Curio Collecting' and H. C. Dowdall's 'Local Development Law'. Of the second book Unwin writes: 'Mr.

[Printed pamphlet by the Women's Protective & Provident League.] The Fourth Annual Report presented to the General Meeting. Held June 25th, 1878, in the Hall of the Society of Arts, John Street, Adelphi.

Author: 
[Women's Protective & Provident League, for the Formation of Protective and Benefit Societies Among Women earning their own Livelihood] [Society of Arts, London; female suffrage]
Publication details: 
[Women's Protective & Provident League, London.] To be obtained at the Office of the League, 31, Little Queen Street, Holborn. ['London | Printed by the Women's Printing Society, Limited, | 21b, Great College Street, S.W'.] [1878.]
£200.00

16pp., 8vo. In good condition, lightly-aged, no wraps, disbound. Includes sections on 'Progress of the London Women's Unions', 'Trades Union Congress and Important Conference held in Leicester', 'Women's Halfpenny Bank', 'Trade Information and Registration', 'Seaside House', 'Seats for Shop Assistants', 'Factory and Workshops' Acts Consolidation Bill' and 'Social Meetings. Piano Fund', as well as accounts and a page and a half of 'Subscriptions and Donations For 1877-8.' The only copy traced part of a run at the BL. No other copy currently on the market.

[Printed pamphlet by the Women's Protective & Provident League.] The Third Annual Report presented to the General Meeting. Held June 19th, 1877, in the Hall of the Society of Arts, John Street Adelphi.

Author: 
[Women's Protective & Provident League, for the Formation of Protective and Benefit Societies Among Women earning their own Livelihood]
Publication details: 
[Women's Protective & Provident League, London.] To be obtained at the Office of the League, 31, Little Queen Street, Holborn. ['London | Printed by the Women's Printing Society, Limited | 38, Castle Street, E.C.'] [1877.]
£200.00

15 + [1]pp., 8vo. In good condition, lightly-aged, no wraps, disbound. Includes sections on: 'Society of Women employed in Bookbinding and the Society of Upholsteresses', 'New Unions', 'Brighton Laundresses', 'Leicestershire Seamers and Stitchers Unions', as well as accounts and a page of 'Subscriptions and Donations For 1876-7'. The only copy traced part of a run at the BL.

Autograph synopsis and notes by the dramatist and editor of 'Punch' Tom Taylor of part of Act III of his 1866 play 'A Sister's Penance', written with Augustus W. Dubourg.

Author: 
Tom Taylor (1817-1880), playwright and comic writer, author of 'The Ticket of Leave Man' (1863) and editor of 'Punch [Augustus W. Dubourg]
Publication details: 
On government letterhead; undated [c.1866].
£750.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The first page headed 'Act III', and the whole tightly-written and filled with deletions, interpolations and marginal notes, providing a valuable insight into the creative process of one of Victorian England's most successful dramatists. The last page breaks off: 'Handeside confesses his own desperate attachment. Markham <...>'. 'A Sister's Penance' was a great success, with 83 performances at the Adelphi between 26 November 1866 and 2 March 1867.

Scrapbook containing a hundred tickets from twenty-seven London theatres of the 1920s, with illustrations of actors.

Author: 
R. J. Olive [London theatres of the 1920s; theatrical ephemera]
Publication details: 
London: for performances dating from between 1922 and 1927.
£95.00

On fifty-seven pages, in a notebook of forty leaves (eighty pages). Dimensions: 20 x 16 cm. In red card covers with 'THEATRES' in manuscript on front. Pages aged and ruckled, with a little damp staining at rear (not affecting any of the ephemera) and a small amount of loss to a corner of the rear cover, but in fair condition overall. The first page, signed 'R. J. Olive', with title 'London Theatres'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Gladstone.

Author: 
Edward Hull (1829-1917), Anglo-Irish geologist [John Hall Gladstone (1827-1902), English physical chemist]
Publication details: 
19 May 1902; on letterhead of the Victoria Institute, 8 Adelphi Terrace, London W.C.
£45.00

12mo, 3 pp. Very good on lightly aged paper. Asking whether Gladstone would consent to the placing of his name on the list of the Institute's Council, 'to fill one of the vacancies'. 'You would be of great service to us in so doing - and the calls on your time would not be numerous - about a dozen times a year'. Six lines in shorthand (by Gladstone?) on the reverse of the second leaf of the bifolium.

Autograph Note Signed.

Author: 
Charles Warner (Charles John Lickfold, 1846-1909), English actor
Publication details: 
1902; date not stated.
£10.00

One page, roughly four and a half inches by seven wide. Grubby, and with one inch closed tear at foot, caused by removal from mount, traces of which, and of another autograph adhere to reverse. Reads ' "How good it is to live, even at the worst" | "Christ in Hades" by Stephen Phillips | [signed] Charles Warner | 1902'. Small neat green circle containing number in bottom right-hand corner.

Collection of around twenty-seven Typed Letters Signed and seventeen Autograph Letters Signed, to K. W. Luckhurst, Secretary, and other officers of the Royal Society of Arts, together with some drafts and copies of responses.

Author: 
Oswald Partridge Milne (1881-1968), English architect [The Royal Society of Arts]
Publication details: 
1936-65; Wigmore Street and Hampstead, London.
£250.00

The collection is in good condition, with very occasional minor creasing, staining and loss. Majority of items quarto. Milne was a leading Fellow of the Society, a Chairman of Council in 1959-61 and Vice-President. The collection provides a valuable insight into the day-to-day workings of the Society, from the first letter discussing the R.I.B.A., and whether the Society might set up 'a somewhat similar organisation with similar prestige could be built up for industrial artists', to the last letter commending G. C. H.

Five Typed Notes Signed (all 'Fabian G Trollope') to G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Fabian George Trollope (1872-1960) of Trollope & Sons, 'Artists in Decoration since A.D. 1778. Branch of Trollope & Colls Ltd.' [London Architecture]
Publication details: 
20 March 1923, 4 November and 14 December 1927, and two of 18 June 1931; letter 1 on letterhead of Trollope & Colls, Ltd., letters 2 to 5 on letterhead of Trollope & Sons'.
£100.00

All items one page, quarto, and all very good. Two docketed and one bearing the Society's stamp. Letter 1: He will be pleased to attend a committee meeting. Letter 2: He has 'a long-standing engagement' and will be unable to attend 'the Architectural Decoration Committee'. Along with Godfrey Giles he has 'had a long discussion' with Mr. Grigsby 'with reference to the conditions of the Lewis Berger Scholarship'. Letter 3: He knows 'Professor Richardson very well, and this is just the information which I am requiring. I will send my man on to see the secretary as you suggest'.

a letter addressed to her signed on behalf of the solicitors Maggison & <Preught>,

Author: 
Elizabeth Brunton,
Publication details: 
18 April 1843, <?> Road, Bedford Row.
£35.00

Lessee of the Adelphi Theatre. English actress (1799-1860), wife of the actor Frederick Henry Yates (1795-1842). 2 pp, 12mo. An interesting letter to "Mrs. Yates" shedding light on the theatre mores of the period. "Mr. Beckett & Mr.

Typed Letter Signed to Sir Philip Magnus [of the Royal Society of Arts], Tangley Hill, Chilworth, Surrey.

Author: 
Sir Arthur Isaac Durrant [Royal Society of Arts]
Publication details: 
27 September 1918; on letterhead of the War Cabinet Committee on Accommodation.
£36.00

English civil servant (1864-1939). The recipient was an educationalist and authority on Edmund Burke. One page, quarto. Very good on slightly discoloured paper. Docketed and bearing the Society's stamp. 'On behalf of Sir Alfred Mond [Committee Chairman], I hasten to assure you and the Committee at the Royal Society of Arts that there is at present no intention on the part of H.M.

Four Typed Letters Signed to G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
John Hudson Elder-Duncan
Publication details: 
5 Feb 1927; 4 and 28 Feb and 8 March 1930; all four on letterhead of 'THE ARCHITECTURE CLUB | "THE LONDON MERCURY" OFFICE, | 229, STRAND, LONDON, | W.C.2.'
£105.00

English politician (1877-1938), MInister of Agriculture and Fisheries, and Secretary of the Architecture Club. All four items one page, quarto, and in very good condition. Last item with one inch closed horizontal tear (not affecting text). Three items stamped and two bearing the Society's stamp. All four signed 'J. H. Elder-Duncan'. ITEM ONE: At a recent meeting of the Architecture Club committee Arthur J. Davis 'raised the question of our helping in some way to give wider publicity to your prizes for design'.

Autograph Letter Signed to unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
Sir Ernest George
Publication details: 
January 1881; on letterhead 'CROWN HILL, | NORWOOD. S.E.'
£40.00

Architect and engraver (1839-1922). One page, 12mo. With mourning border. In good condition, but with evidence of previous mounting on brown paper on reverse. Addressed to 'Dear Doctor'. He thanks him for his 'kind care of us' ('your crippled patient gave you much trouble') and asks him to accept a copy of his 'Belgium' ('Etchings in Belgium. With descriptive letterpress', 1878), which he is sending through the '' and 'will probably arrive someday'. Signed 'Ernest George'. Docketed in ink on reverse.

Autograph letter signed to unnamed male correspondent,

Author: 
Frederick Henry Yates
Publication details: 
December 20 (no year), <?> or Adelphi Theatre.
£50.00

English comic actor (1795-1842) and manager of the Adelphi Theatre. 2 pp, 4to. Eccentric handwriting, of uncertain decipherment. "We must trouble you by return of Post to send us up the last tune but one & the finale to the Pantomime / Make Puck if you please come out of the Fairy Mounds tell Harlequin & Columbine the Chace is done. Then loves rewards and change to the last tune the Fairy Temple - Then dance & a short finale - one verse <?> & Chorus - / [...] / I hope all goes well with you. We are all alive - Let us have it by return of post".

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