AUTOGRAPH

On 7 x 10.5 piece of orange paper, removed from an autograph album. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Expansive signature, with surname underlined and dots to i's like dashes. Reads: 'Good luck to you! | Benno Moiseiwitsch | Decr. 1946'. Autographs on reverse, dated to 21 July 1946, of composer 'Charles Hambourg' and pianist 'Irene Kohler' (1909-1996).

Both items scarce, with no copies showing up on OCLC WorldCat. ONE: 'Weathers | Poetry and Watercolors by Charles E. Wadsworth'. [4] + 41 + [1]pp, 4to. With seven full-page reproductions of watercolours. Ring-bound in cream covers, with title printed on front cover in brown. Text printed on rectos only. In good condition, bumped at head of spine, with a little marking to covers. Inscribed on fly-leaf: 'For Christopher to enjoy | from | Waddy and Jeannie | Cranberry Isles | Maine, U.S.A.' Colophon gives short biography of Wadsworth, with an even shorter one of his brother Geoffrey C.

Title-page: 'The Friars in England. | An Essay | by | Elizabeth E. Smith, B.A. | Birmingham – 1908.' Duplicated typescript, printed on versos only. [1] + x + [1] + 209pp, 4to. With hand-drawn plans on two leaves at rear (the first, 'Site of the Blackfriars of Leicester'; the second, 'Carmelite Friary at Hulne' and 'Dominican Friary at Norwich'. In half binding of black leather spine and corners, with purple cloth boards, title in gilt on front cover, floral printed endpapers. Tightly copy, in good condition, on lightly aged paper, in lightly worn binding with slight discoloration to cloth.

A marvellous slice of unexplored Edwardian social history, raising questions of morality, censorship, art and pornography, from the papers of William J. Taylor, Secretary of the London Female Preventive and Reformatory Institution. The 'Living Statuary' controversy arose over 'the propriety of the living statuary exhibitions in music-halls' (Daily Chronicle, 30 April 1907), and in particular the performances of the Australian artiste Pansy Montague (b.

Seven items. The collection in good condition, lightly aged. The three letters and card all in autograph, and all signed 'D'Arcy Power'. ONE: ACS. 4 December 1931. Letterhead of the Royal College of Surgeons, London. Addressed to Chappell's Blackheath address. He jokes: 'My best thanks for Pepys & “Will's” which I have really marked & inwardly digested. It reminds me a little of the Athanasian Creed that one Will's should become Three.' TWO: ALS. 16 October 1933. On letterhead of 10A Chandos Street, Cavendish Square.

Rogerson was employed at the Royal Observatory between 1822 and 1845. The long entry on Rogerson on the Royal Observatory website (which states that he 'brought both honour and shameful publicity to the Observatory'), gives full details of the circumstances surrounding his dismissal, and his trial for the murder of his son Theodore Horatio Richardson, one of three or four children had by his daughter Ann Maria. 3pp, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with slight traces of glue from mount to blank reverse of second leaf. One fold. Fifty-three lines, closely written.

On 8 x 11 cm piece of card. In fair condition, lightly aged, with traces of glue from mount on reverse. A good bold signature, clearly in response to a request for an autograph. Reads: 'Yours Truly | Willie Smith | 1 – 2 – 24'. Smith has made a short line under the date, but the signature is not underlined.

Possibly the author's first book (see below), from the Christopher Fry papers (despite the ownership inscription). 54pp, 12mo. Stapled into green printed wraps (title and words '(ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)'). Tiny ownership signature in initials ('R. G.') in top right-hand corner of title-page. No details of publication or date, other than the printers' slug at bottom left of title-page.

From the Christopher Fry papers. PLAY: [1] + 47pp, 12mo. Stapled into buff wraps printed in red, including the statement that it is the 'Friends of Canterbury Cathedral Edition'. In fair condition, lightly aged, in worn wraps, with a trace of rust to staples. This edition of the play (the first?) is uncommon: the only copies on OCLC WorldCat at the British Library and University of British Columbia. COPY LETTER: 4pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Written out in two hands, Recipient not named. With salutation 'Dear Sir,' and valediction 'I am | Yrs truly,'.

2pp, 16mo. Bifolium with mourning border. Heavily aged, worn and creased, with traces of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. There is no salutation. The letter begins: 'It is impossible to make the best selection, out of 11 vols which I gave Quaritch, £8. for, from the Bindon Blood Collection, and 3 thick vols, collected by the very well known Collector Chas. Kirkpatrick Sharpe of Edinbro'. I bought from Upham & Beet for £4. nett so many curious amongst the above vols.' He hopes some of these volumes will be useful to the recipient, 'now, and already before sent'.

4pp, 16mo. Bifolium. Forty-two lines of text. Letterhead of family crest in gold and red. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of white paper mount adhering to last page. Three fold lines. The editor's 'obliging Note' affords her 'sincere pleasure to have the opportunity of expressing her gratitude to him in person', and she asks him not to call some day the following week (she is 'going out of Town' the week after), but not in the morning, as she has 'much business, of a disagreeable and imperative nature to transact now'.

On 5 x 9 cm card. In fair condition, lightly aged, with traces of glue from mount on reverse. The only writing on the card is the good firm signature 'E. Patsy. Hendren.', which is underlined twice with two short lines. At bottom right, in pencil, in a tiny hand: '1920'.

103pp, 8vo. Revises of the text of the play (and not the prelims) in unbound signatures. In fair condition, lightly aged. Red ink stamp at foot of pp.1 and 40: '15 APR 1954 | REVISE'. Numerous autograph emendations, nearly all minor and relating to accidentals, but with five verbal changes, of which the following two are the most significant. Printed on p.9: 'KASSEL. Well, Bella, does she seem to be in trouble? | BELLA. She says the only trouble is us who trouble ourselves.' amended in autograph to 'KASSEL. Well, Bella, where has she been/ | BELLA.

The six letters in good condition, lightly aged. The author of these letters, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Friederici (1908-1992), was the son of Elsa Ruffo-Sasso [Elisabetta Fabrizievna Ruffo (1886-1940), Grand Duchess of Russia, and her first husband Major General Alexander Alexandrovitch Friederici. The Grand Duchess's second husband, Friederici's step-father Prince Andrei Alexandrovich (1897-1981), was the eldest nephew of the last Czar Nicholas II, and Friederici's half-brother Prince Andrew Andreevich (b. 1923) is the current head of the Romanov family.

Seven items from the Christopher Fry papers, relating to the film 'A Queen Is Crowned', which was a British box office hit in coronation year, and was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. At the time of writing Fry was at the height of his popularity: around this time he had four plays running in the West End at once. 'A Queen Is Born' - billed as 'The only full-length feature of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II' - was made in Technicolour, produced by Castleton Knight for the Rank Organisation, with music by Guy Warrack, and with Fry's script narrated by Laurence Olivier.

[16]pp, 16mo (11.5 x 7.5 cm). Stitched unpaginated pamphlet, tastefully printed with decorative headpiece to title, and the Press's celebrated device to the colophon. A frail survival, aged, worn and spotted, with one corner of last leaf dogeared. At foot of title-page: 'Any volume will be sent on receipt of Postal Order in advance.' Following the title-page are two pages with a history of 'The Chiswick Press. | Founded 1789.' Then a full-page advertisement for 'A Practical Treatise on the Art of Typography', with a full page containing 'Some Press Opinions'.

The signature 'Oliver Lodge' is firmly written in the bottom of three rectangular panels printed in red, with no other writing on the page, on one side of a 12mo leaf removed from 'The Meredith Birthday Book', the other side featuring quotations from the novelist for 13 to 15 June. In good condition, lightly aged.

Neatly written out by Peel on a 7 x 11.5 cm rectangle, cut from the front panel of an envelope. Laid down on a piece of paper cut from an album. All in Peel's hand, and reading: 'Private & Confidential | To | The Right Honble. | The Earl Talbot | Ingestrie | Stafford'. Peel's signature 'Robert Peel' (he would inherit the baronetcy the following month) is between two lines in the customary position at bottom left, with the stamp in red ink at top right. Laid down to the left of this item is a 3 x 2 cm piece of paper carrying the engraved crest, with the word 'Peel' printed below it.

Lord Salisbury's great strength lay in foreign affairs. During his third ministry, 1895-1902, he chose to serve as both Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary. The foreign policy he pursued was vigorous and decisive (he was being sarcastic when he used the phrase 'Splendid Isolation') and his main aim was for Britain to prevail in the Scramble for Africa. The present collection provides an intimate insider's view of the workings of Salisbury's Foreign Office at a crucial period of expansion in the history of the British Empire.

1p, landscape 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with 'diamond' folding. Reads: 'If it suits Miss Sharpe to fulfill her kind intentions by drinking tea with Mr Barbauld this afternoon, Mrs B – will feel herself, as she always does when she gives her her company, much obliged to her -'. Addressed on reverse to 'Miss Sharpe'. The recipient is presumably Mary Sharpe, friend and travelling companion of Mrs Elizabeth Carter (1707-1806).

1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with stub of mount adhering to one edge and several neat fold lines. The six lines of the document are pressed up at the top of one page, and the hand is difficult to modern eyes. It appears to read: 'Je vous recommande de tout mon coeur les interets du Sr de filene et reprends [?] cette occasion de vous assurer de la passion que [?] de vous servir.' The handwriting accords with other examples, and the words of the signature are not entirely clear, appearing to read: 'J [F?] Cardinal de Rets. [sic]'

1p, 12mo. Written lengthwise on a single leaf. In good condition, lightly aged, with strips of thick paper from mount adhering to the reverse, which carries Spurzheim's address to 'Mr Sowler | St Anns Square [Manchester]'. The recipient is Thomas Sowler the second, proprietor of the Manchester Courier, and father of Sir Thomas Sowler (1818-1891). The text reads: 'Dr.

Evocative artefacts of the interesting connection between Powys and the man who supplied him with the books for his translation of Rabelais. On 24 September 1940, in 'Letters to Sea-Eagle', Powys gives a lengthy account of 'Our Jew Book-Pedlar' and the bombing by the Germans of his Russell Street address.

Three typescripts from the papers of Lillah McCarthy (Lady Keeble). The first two – both apparently unpublished – are full of interest: they gives personal reminiscences of her work with William Poel, the 'pioneer of modern Shakespeare production', whom she considered the greatest influence on her career. She describes Poel's working methods, his lecture style, rehearsals, use of make up, modern influence (with reminiscences about Wolfit and Olivier), and even his death, at which she was present.

Parts of the text of a lecture – apparently unpublished – by the actress and theatre manager Lillah McCarthy, wife and female lead of the innovative director Harley Granville-Barker, regarding late-Victorian practice in Shakespearian production, and the enormous positive influence of the Shakespearian director William Poel. In her autobiography McCarthy claims that it is to Poel, the 'pioneer of modern Shakespeare production', that she owes 'more than to all the many others who have taught me'.

The present item gives a vivid description of the activities of a temperance society in the north of Ireland at the close of the nineteenth century. As a result of the efforts in Leeds of Rev. Jabez Tunnicliff, the Band of Hope was founded in 1855 to teach children the principles of sobriety and teetotalism. By 1887 – two years before the start of the present volume – it had a membership of one and a half million young people in the United Kingdom, out of a total of eight million of eligible age.

Carbon typescript. 4pp, 4to. Paginated 1-4. In fair condition, aged and worn, with chipping to edges. The text concerns George Moore and Bernard Shaw, but the introduction suggests that this is the start of a longer piece: 'I will give Mr. Mead, who has done such fine work and who has been so energetic in developing the work of the Associacion de Cultura Inglesa, the full particulars of the E. V. S. A., [i.e. English Verse Speaking Association] and I hope that you will all become Members.' | Mr.

Lady Keeble and Masefield were, as she states in the speech, 'close friends and comrades in work', as well as neighbours on Boars Hill, Oxfordshire. ONE: Unpublished speech. 12pp, 12mo. On twelve leaves torn from an accounts book. Written in a hurried untidy hand, with several emendations. The start in particular is much reworked, with an abandoned version on the facing page. The speech itself is 11pp, paginated 1-11. The recto of the first leaf carries the following, in another hand: 'Speech made by Lady Keeble at Hereford – at Luncheon given by the Mayor. Mrs Luard.

ONE: Letter. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He begins, with reference to the play for which Item Two is the handbill: 'Dear Lady Keeble, | Will you accept this little book – my latest poem – as a souvenir of last Thursday and as a token of gratitude for your beautiful speaking of my lines?' He hopes she is 'better', and thinks that 'it is sad to think that you are missing your engagements'. Postscript: 'The shirt arrived safe. Thanks so much.' The 'little book' referred to by Binyon is presumably 'The Sirens: an Ode', published in 1924 in Chelsfield by the Stanton Press.

Two years after arriving in England from Australia in 1913, Franklin White entered the Slade School. His studies were interrupted by the First World War, during which he worked as a draughtsman at the Admiralty. In 1919 he re-entered the Slade, and was soon invited by Tonks to join the teaching staff. On his retirement in 1957, he devoted his full energies to the Samuel Palmer School of Art, which he had run from his home in Shoreham since 1924, when he first held summer classes in landscape painting for his Slade students.