BIOGRAPHICAL

[J. Passmore Edwards, philanthropist, and ‘The Biographical Magazine’.] Autograph Letter Signed from ‘William Stevens. / Ed. of Biog. Mag.’ to ‘J M Lamb’, discussing his suggestion and the parlous state of the magazine.

Author: 
[J. Passmore Edwards (1823-1911), publisher and philanthropist] William Stevens, biographer, editor of ‘The Biographical Magazine’
Publication details: 
13 June 1854; 67 Arlington Street, Mornington Crescent, London.
£120.00

An interesting item, casting light on Victorian London publishing of periodical literature. For Passmore Edwards, to whom London is indebted for innumerable public libraries (many now closed), see his entry in the Oxford DNB. ‘The Biographical Magazine’ was founded in 1852, and the first two volumes were published by ‘J. Passmore Edwards, 2, Horse-shoe Court, Ludgate Hill’.

[ Margaret Forster responds to 'The New Historical Fiction'. ] Autograph Draft of Forster's New York Times review of Frances Sherwood's 'Vindication', with photocopy of the fair copy, page of autograph notes, uncorrected proof, press release, slip.

Author: 
Margaret Forster (1938-2016), English novelist and biographer [ Frances Sherwood (b.1940), American author, Professor of English at Indiana University; 'The New Historical Fiction'; New York Times ]
Publication details: 
[ London and New York. ] 1993.
£750.00

The present collection provides an interesting view of the response of a traditional novelist and biographer to the work of a proponent of 'The New Historical Fiction'. Margaret Forster was a noted British author, in addition to her many novels she published a number of biographies, including ones of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1988) and Daphne du Maurier (1993). On its publication in 1993 Sherwood's first novel 'Vindication' was both successful and controversial.

[ Proof of the suppressed version of Ian Hamilton's biography, with fullest quotations from Salinger's letters. ] J. D. Salinger: A Writing Life.

Author: 
Ian Hamilton [ J. D. Salinger; William Heinemann Ltd, London publishers; Random House ]
Publication details: 
Suppressed proof. [ London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1986 ]
£1,850.00

The present item is a product of one of the most celebrated publishing controversies of the twentieth century. In 1982 the English critic and poet Ian Hamilton set out to write a biography of the legendarily-reclusive Salinger. The attempt, as The Times explained in Hamilton's obituary, 31 December 2001, 'went horribly wrong': 'Salinger succeeded in blocking publication in the courts', because the book, to be titled 'J. D.

[Compiler of Dictionary] Autograph Note, third person, to "Mr Cowper", re. autograph collecting.

Author: 
L.B. Phillips [Lawrence B. Phillips], compiler of "The Dictionary of Biographical Reference" (1871).
Publication details: 
[Printed heading] 12 Queen Square, Bloomsbury, 27 May 1871.
£35.00

One page, 12mo, minor staining, complete and clear. "L>B> Phillips persents his Compts. to Mr. Cowper and desires to inform him that not being a collector of Autographs her cannot assist in the exchange proposed. Mr P. has a large assortment of Fac-Similes".

[Agricol-Hippolyte de Lapierre de Châteauneuf ['Citoyen Châteauneuf '], French author.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Châteauneuf'), in French, to an unnamed individual

Author: 
Agricol-Hippolyte de Lapierre de Châteauneuf ['Citoyen Châteauneuf '] (1766-1842), French author
Publication details: 
Without date or place. [Paris, circa 1815.]
£180.00

1p., 8vo. In fair condition, on aged paper, with a thin strip torn away at head, and the bottom right-hand corner detached from the rest of the letter, and repaired with archival tape, the tear running through the signature. The letter begins: 'Parmi Les grands hommes qui ont servi l'Etat, nos anciennes Croniques et L'histoire nomment vos encêtres.' He wishes to include the most celebrated of these 'dans mon histoire des Grands Capitaines de La france depuis Le Connétable du Guesclin jusqu'au maréchal de Saxe, ou dans mon Dictionnaire historique des hommes illustres de La france'.

[Printed pamphlet in the series of 'Haughton's Popular Illustrated Biographies'.] The Life of Thomas Carlyle. [With steel engraved portrait.]

Author: 
[Haughton & Co., 10, Paternoster Row; 'Haughton's Popular Illustrated Biographies'; Thomas Carlyle]
Publication details: 
['Haughton's Popular Illustrated Biographies.'] London: Haughton & Co., 10, Paternoster Row. [1881.]
£38.00

16pp., 8vo. Disbound. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Steel engraved portrait of Carlyle on title-page. Clearly produced immediately following Carlyle's death, as the commencement indicates: 'On a cold wintry Monday morning in February the Times announced that Thomas Carlyle was seriously ill.

[Prospectus of the Biographia Britannica Literaria WITH] An Essay on the State of Literature and Learning under the Anglo-Saxons; Introductory to the First Section of the Biographia Britanica Literaria of the Royal Society of Literature

Author: 
Thomas Wright
Prospectus of the Biographia Britannica Literaria
Publication details: 
London, 1839
£180.00
Prospectus of the Biographia Britannica Literaria

4; [iv],112pp., 8vo, plain brown wraps (original?), worn and nearly detached, contents good. Inscribed on half-title: Presented to the Rt Honble the Lord Brougham & Vaux by his obedt Servt Wm. Tooke | Russell Square 6 Augt 1839. Tooke was the major promoter of the Biographia Britannica Literaria.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. F. Monypenny') to Charles J. Trevor.

Author: 
William Flavelle Monypenny (1866-1912), British journalist and historian, best known for his biography (with G. E. Buckle) of Benjamin Disraeli
Publication details: 
29 May 1907; on letterhead 2 Queen Anne's Gate, S.W.
£35.00

Two pages, 12mo. Good, on spotted paper. Folded twice.He is obliged to his correspondent for 'sending me a copy of the Disraeli letter in your possession'. He will not trouble his correspondent for a loan of the original 'as the contents are rather of private than of public interest'.

Autograph Note Signed to R. S. McMinn.

Author: 
Edward Verrall Lucas
Publication details: 
41 Sloane St; no date, but postmarked 21 Sept 1920.
£25.00

English essayist and biographer (1868-1938). Plain postcard, dimensions roughly 4 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches. Grubby and smudged, with central vertical crease. Deleted printed letterhead '176, VICTORIA STREET, | (CORNER OF BUCKINGHAM PALACE ROAD.) | S.W.1.' Reads '41 Sloane St | Many thanks | E. V. Lucas'. Addressed by Lucas to 'R. S. McMinn Esq | 35 Birdhurst Rd | S. Croydon'.

Signed uncashed bank cheque payable to J. H. Thorpe.

Author: 
Edward Verrall Lucas
Publication details: 
Barclays Bank Limited | 366, STRAND, W.C.2.'; 12 July 1927.
£30.00

English essayist and biographer (1868-1938). Attractive printed cheque in black and blue ink on light blue paper: dimensions roughly 7 1/2 inches by 3 1/2 inches. The cheque is for sixpence, and a pencil note (presumably by Thorpe) on the reverse explains how it results from a lost wager: 'Bet | Whether Geo A Birmingham wrote a Gen[era]l knowledge book. | He did.'

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