BLAKE

[Edward Garrard Marsh, poet and clergyman.] Autograph Letter Signed regarding communications to the Maidstone Clerical Society.

Author: 
Edward Garrard Marsh (1783-1862), English poet and Anglican clergyman, son of the composer John Marsh, and associate of William Blake and William Hayley [Maidstone Clerical Society]
Publication details: 
9 February 1853; Aylesford.
£75.00

See his father’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 2p, 12mo. Neatly written over 26 lines. With mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Signed ‘E. G. Marsh’. Recipient not named (‘My dear Sir’). He explains that, having happened on the previous day to be in the chair ‘at the monthly meeting of our clerical society in Maidstone’, he was present when the recipient’s ‘two letters to Dr. Maitland’ were presented, and is requested to convey the meeting’s gratitude, not only for the letters, but for his history of Rome, ‘received by them on a former occasion’.

[Martin Hardie, artist, engraver, art historian, and a Victoria & Albert Museum Keeper.] Autograph Card Signed to C. H. Whitby, regarding an engraving by the disciple of William Blake, Samuel Palmer.

Author: 
Martin Hardie (1875-1952), artist, engraver, art historian and Keeper of Painting, Engraving, Illustration, and Design at the Victoria and Albert Musem, London [Samuel Palmer; William Blake]
Publication details: 
4 June 1925; with London postmark of the same date.
£35.00

See Hardie's entry in the Oxford DNB. 11.5 x 9 cm card. Printed with penny stamp in red; no illustration. In fair condition, discoloured and a little worn. Addressed by Hardie to 'C. H. Whitby | 82, Crofton Park | Yeovil.' (Whitby is the author of a handful of books of reglious poetry.) Whitby would appear to be offering for sale, or at least asking for advice about, an impression of Palmer's celebrated engraving 'The Bellman'.

[ Charles Clay, House of Lords Librarian] Autograph Letter Signed Charles Clay to T. Edwards Jones, about Lord Crewe's collection of William Blake material.

Author: 
Charles Clay [ Sir Charles Travis Clay (1885 – 1978), librarian and antiquarian who was the librarian of the House of Lords Library from 1922–56.]
Publication details: 
[Headed with insignia] India Office, 8 Oct. 1912
£45.00

One page, 8vo, bifolium, edges dusted ow good. Lord Crewe (his superior in the India Office) has asked him to respond to T. Edwards Jones's question about Crewe's father's Blake collection. He would have been pleased to be of assistance to you in regard to your lecture on William Blake, but he fears that his father's collection of Blake drawings was disposed of some years ago & that the few Blake possessions which he still has are not of significant interest to make it worth your while to see them for the object which you have in view.

[George IV as Prince Regent, and former Prime Minister Lord Sidmouth as Home Secretary.] Warrant, signed 'George P R' and 'Sidmouth', appointing 'George Philips Esqr. Captain in the York Chasseurs', with signatures of Robert Lukin and Thomas Butts.

Author: 
George IV as Prince Regent; Lord Sidmouth [Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth] (1757-1844), Prime Minister; Thomas Butts (1757-1845), patron of William Blake; Robert Lukin; York Chasseurs
Publication details: 
'Given at Our Court at Carlton House the Sixteenth Day of March 1815 In the Fifty fifth Year of Our Reign.'
£400.00

On one side of a 29 x 39 cm piece of vellum. In fair condition, with the usual discoloration found in vellum. A printed document, completed in manuscript, with a good example of George IV's signature as Prince Regent ('George P R') at top left. The royal seal has been removed from the space beneath the Prince Regent's signature. The signature of the Home Secretary ('Sidmouth') is at bottom right, somewhat faded. The document is a warrant appointing 'George Philips Esqr. Captain in the York Chasseurs', 'Commanded by Our Trusty and Welbeloved Major General Hugh Mackay Gordon'.

[Letter from William Hayley ('Blake's Hayley') to Miss Harriet Poole of Chichester, franked by the Earl of Egremont.] Unsigned Autograph letter from Hayley to 'Miss Poole' regarding 'the Sheffield Travellers'. Franked 'Egremont'.

Author: 
William Hayley (1745-1820), English author, friend of William Cowper and William Blake; George Wyndham (1751-1837), 3rd Earl of Egremont [Miss Harriet Poole of Chichester]
Publication details: 
London. 3 February 1795.
£60.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged. Franked on the other side, with broken seal in red wax and postmark: 'London Feby: the 3 1795 | Miss Poole | Chichester | Egremont'. Unsigned, and in Hayley's untidy hand. Reads: 'Tuesday | 5 oclock | I have not been able to call on the Sheffield Travellers today but having caught a Frank from my noble Friend of Petworth I will dispatch my Servant without losing another post | adio'. Hayley later introduced his friend Miss Harriet Poole (‘the Lady of Lavant’) to William Blake, who would join him on visits to her villa in Lavant.

[Kathleen Teresa Blake Butler, Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge.] Autograph Card Signed ('K. T. B.') to Eric Dingwall, regarding the reception of Richardson's 'Pamela' in late eighteenth-century Italy.

Author: 
Kathleen Teresa Blake Butler (1883-1950), Italian scholar and Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge, 1942-1949 [Eric Dingwall ('Dirty Ding') (1890-1986), bibliographer and anthropologist]
Publication details: 
On letterhead: 'From The Mistress, Girton College, Cambridge.' 17 September 1948.
£45.00

In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to 'Eric Dingwall Esq | 19 Grange Court | Grange Rd | Cambridge'. Written in a neat close hand. She gives details of a 1744 Italian translation of Richardson's Pamela she has found of a Parisian catalogue of 1774: 'Translator's name not given'. She adds: 'Pamela was v. popular in Italy in the second half of the 18th. century. It inspired two of Goldoni's comedies Pamela Fanciulla and Pamela Maritata'. In a postscript she explains that she brought the present postcard 'into the U[niversity]. L[ibrary].

[ George Richmond, portrait painter, one of William Blake's 'Ancients'. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Geo Richmond'), offering to begin a drawing after Christmas, as he regards 'all holy days as very sacred things'.

Author: 
George Richmond (1809-1896), portrait painter, in his youth one of the 'Ancients' who attached themselves to William Blake
Publication details: 
10 York Street, Portman Square [ London ]. 3 December 1851.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He begins: 'Any time after Jany 7th will suit me perfectly for making the drawing, before Xmas day I am afraid I could not begin it.' He has 'too great fellowship with those who labor, not to respect all holy days as very sacred things'.

[ John Harraden of the Post Office. ] Autograph Letter Signed to the Earl of Chesterfield, complaining of the 'hardships' of his case, and requesting his intervention, with reference to William Hayley of Earlham, John Palmer, George White Thomas.

Author: 
John Harraden of the Post Office [ Philip Stanhope, 5th Earl of Chesterfield (1755-1815), Postmaster General; William Hayley (1745-1820); George White Thomas (c.1750-1821); John Palmer (1742-1818) ]
Publication details: 
No. 26 Compton Street, Soho. 10 November 1808.
£220.00

The recipient of the letter, the 5th Earl of Chesterfield, was Postmaster General between 1790 and 1798. The 'Mr. Palmer' mentioned in the text is John Palmer (1742-1818), MP for Bath, who was Comptroller General of the Post Office between 1786 and 1792. Harraden appears to have been regarded by his superiors as a whistle-blower and trouble-maker.

[ Victorian Gypsies. ] Four Victorian photographs, including three of John Sampson of the Gypsy Lore Society and children (Gypsies?) in bohemian dress.

Author: 
John Sampson [ 'The Rai' ] (1862-1931), Irish linguist, Blake scholar, and authority on Gypsies [ Romani culture; Romany ]
Sampson
Publication details: 
Undated Victorian photographs.
£250.00
Sampson

The Gypsy Lore Society was founded in 1888, and one of its prime movers was John Sampson, friend of Augustus John (for many years President of the Gypsy Lore Society) and the subject of the book 'The Scholar Gypsy' (1997), written by his grandson Anthony Sampson. According to a review in The Times, 17 May 1997, Sampson was 'a Victorian autodidact and philologist, who spent most of his life running the Liverpool University Library.

[ William Guy, Williakm Hayley and William Collins. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('W. Guy') from the Chichester surgeon William Guy to the poet William Hayley, giving the account for John Flaxman's memorial to William Collins in Chichester Cathedral.

Author: 
William Guy, Chichester surgeon [ William Hayley, poet and patron of William Blake; William Collins (1721-1759), poet; John Flaxman, sculptor ]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [ Chichester, circa 1795. ]
£220.00

1p., 12mo. Bifolium. Aged and worn. Addressed on second leaf to 'Wm. Hayley Esqr | Eartham, which also carries calculations, presumably in Hayley's hand. Guy gives a breakdown of '[t]he whole sum subscribed for Collins's Monument', £94 13s 8d, giving the amount spent 'for advertising &c.', 'conveying it to Chichester' and 'Mr West's Bill'. 'When these sums have been paid the balance in Mr.

[ Printed item. ] Pedigree of the Family of Biscoe.

Author: 
John Challenor Covington Smith [ Pedigree of the Family of Biscoe of Little Missenden; Randall; Blake; New England ]
Publication details: 
London: Mitchell and Hughes, 140 Wardour Street, W. 1887. ['London: Mitchell and Hughes, Genealogical Printers, 140 Wardour Street, W.' ]
£120.00

25pp., 4to. Stitched. In fair condition, in buff printed wraps, with central vertical fold. Eighteen pages of pedigrees, printed lengthwise, comprising: a twelve-page 'Pedigree of Biscoe of Little Missenden', followed by two pedigrees (A and B) over three pages, and 'Appendix I., To shew the connection of the Randall and Biscoe families', and 'Appendix II., to shew the connection between the Blake and Biscoe families'. Also includes a two-page introduction by 'J. C. C.

[ Presentation copy, with related manuscript pedigree and transcription. ] Pedigree of the Family of Biscoe.

Author: 
John Challenor Covington Smith [ Pedigree of the Family of Biscoe of Little Missenden; Randall; Blake; New England ]
Publication details: 
London: Mitchell and Hughes, 140 Wardour Street, W. 1887. ['London: Mitchell and Hughes, Genealogical Printers, 140 Wardour Street, W.' ] [ Manuscript pedigree dated 1867. ]
£120.00

The printed pedigree is 25pp., 4to. Stitched. Worn and aged, in heavily-worn buff printed wraps. Inscribed on front cover to 'Churton. | From the Author | 11 October 1887.' Eighteen pages of pedigrees, printed lengthwise, comprising: a twelve-page 'Pedigree of Biscoe of Little Missenden', followed by two pedigrees (A and B) over three pages, and 'Appendix I., To shew the connection of the Randall and Biscoe families', and 'Appendix II., to shew the connection between the Blake and Biscoe families'. The printed pedigree also contains a two-page introduction by 'J. C. C.

[ Sir Edward Marshall Hall, 'The Great Defender'. ] Small collection of family papers, including ten portrait photographs (by Carl Vandyk, Bertram Park, Kohler and Blake), two calling cards, funeral service, racing diary.

Author: 
Sir Edward Marshall Hall (1858-1927, 'The Great Defender'), distinguished advocate [ Carl Vandyk (1851-1931), Bertram Park (1883-1972), Kohler and Sons, and Jack Myer Blake, London photographers ]
Publication details: 
[ London. Early twentieth century. ]
£400.00

For more information on Marshall Hall's illustrious career, see his entry in the Oxford DNB. Fifteen items, the collection in fair overall condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: Ten original photographic portraits of Hall, ranging in size from 14 x 9 cm. (carte-de-visite by 'The Biograph Studio | 107 Regent St, W.') to 29 x 21 cm (on mount stamped '185 Piccadilly W1', the studio of Kohler & Sons). Eight of the ten are mounted on paper or card, with printed photographers' details, and three of these are signed (two photographs by Carl Vandyk, both signed in pencil by 'C.

Autograph notebook by the biographer and antiquary Thomas Wright of Olney, containing rough drafts of an apparently-unpublished story or novel ('My Little Lady. A Story without a Moral'), and of a lecture on Daniel Defoe and Stoke Newington.

Author: 
Thomas Wright ['Wright of Olney'] (1859-1936) of Olney, Buckinghamshire, biographer, editor and antiquary, founder of the Cowper, John Payne and Blake Societies
Publication details: 
[Edwardian. Olney, Buckinghamshire.]
£300.00

12mo, 134 pp each on one side of a ring-punched loose leaf, with the leaves attached by green thread within an original worn buckram binder with discoloured endpapers. The leaves themselves in good condition on lightly-aged paper; with those of the draft story ruled in red, and sometimes utilizing scrap paper (for example the blank reverses of prospectuses for Wright's books and scrap pages from Blake Society material).

[ Slade School, University College London. ] Black and white school photograph titled 'University College, London, Slade School | June, 1947'. With names of 45 of the subjects on reverse in the autograph of student Beatrix Blake.

Author: 
[ Slade School, University College London, 1947; Beatrix Blake ] [ Randolph Schwabe; Alfred Gerrard; Aelred Bartlett; Allan Gwynne-Jones; George Charlton; Peter Alfred Brooker; Richard Beer ]
Publication details: 
[ Slade School, University College London. June 1947. ] Print by Panora Ltd, London, WC1.
£200.00

Black and white photographic print on 20 x 82 cm piece of paper, with image size 14.5 x 78 cm. In good condition, with light signs of age and wear, tightly rolled. Printed caption below image, and photographers' details at bottom right. The year's intake and the tutors are placed in five rows on the grass in front of the main building.

[ C. B. Cochran, theatre impressario. ] Typed Letter Signed ('Chas B. Cochran') to 'dear Popey' [ theatre historian Macqueen-Pope ]

Author: 
C. B. Cochran [ Sir Charles Blake Cochran ] (1872-1951), English theatre impressario [ Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian; Edward John Henley (1864-1921), actor ]
Publication details: 
On his Old Bond Street letterhead. 30 November 1949.
£56.00

1p., 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged. He begins by thanking Macqueen-Pope for a 'kindly reference' to him in his 'admirable book about The Gaiety'. He has noted a reference to 'Henly' in the index, and identifies this figure as Edward John Henley, brother of William Ernest Henley, whose poem 'Ballade of Dead Actors' he transcribes. He explains that Henley stayed some time in America after going there with a production of 'Deacon Brodie', a play by his brother and R. L. Stevenson, 'and, in 1897, I made my first production, "John Gabriel Borkman," in New York, with E. J.

[ Thomas Wright of Olney, biographer. ] Autograph Card Signed ('Thomas Wright') to Miss Alice A. Leith

Author: 
Thomas Wright (1859-1936), schoolmaster at the Cowper School, Olney, Buckinghamshire, writer and biographer of William Cowper and William Blake [ Alice A. Leith, editor ]
Publication details: 
Post card with his letterhead: 'from Thomas Wright | Cowper School . Oney . Bucks'. 8 July 1933.
£45.00

Neatly written out on one side of a stamped, postmarked postcard, the other side addressed by Wright to 'Miss Alice A. Leith | 10 C<?> Gardens | London | N.W 3'. He is 'very pressed with work', and refers her to his 'Life of Blake', which 'gives all I know respecting Blake's attitude to Bacon - or Coban (altering the letters) as he sometimes calls Bacon'.

[book, inscribed by an authority on Blake] Catalogue of Loan Exhibition of Works by William Blake. October to December, 1913. [Second Edition.]

Author: 
[Archibald Russell; The National Gallery, British Art; William Blake]
Publication details: 
[The National Gallery, British Art.] London: Printed under the Authority of His Majesty's Stationery Office, 1913.
£38.00

4to, 75 pp. On aged paper, in original purple printed wraps, which are repaired at spine with tape. Inscribed at head of the front wrap to 'Mr. Tregaskis with Mr. Archibald Russell's compliments'. Russell was an authority on Blake's works, the recipient, Tregaskis, a distiguished bookseller.

[George Richmond, English portrait painter, disciple of William Blake.] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'Geo Richmond') to 'Lilian', in the first speaking of a 'bond between us', and in the second discussing a 'print & frame'.

Author: 
George Richmond (1809-1896), English portrait painter, in his youth a disciple of William Blake, and one of the 'Shoreham Ancients'
Publication details: 
Both on letterhead of 20 York Street, Portman Square [London]. 2 November1882 and 7 July 1885.
£180.00

Both in good condition, on lightly-aged paper, and both with a mourning border (the first thick and the second thin). ONE: 3pp., 16mo. He apologises for 'having neglected to answer' her 'too kind and pretty note'. 'And really such neglect does great injusticce to my feeling, for your note brought back to me in vivid recollection, a visit to when we were both in great sorrow, which I am sure was a bond between us, though we had our games of Whist in the Evening with your Aunt Laura & Mrs. Buchanan!' TWO: 2pp., 16mo. He is glad she likes 'both print & frame'.

[Printed pamphlet.] The Man who saw Heaven and Hell, foretold the Date of his own Death, lived in both Worlds at the same Time for twenty-seven Years. Reprinted from The Sunday Dispatch. "What Shall Man Believe?" No. 4. March 4, 1934.

Author: 
Ian Coster [Emmanuel Swedenborg; The Campfield Press, St Albans]
Publication details: 
Printed in Great Britain by The Campfield Press, St. Albans. [1934? 1937?]
£120.00

32pp., 12mo. Full-page portrait of Swedenborg, from painting, on p.3. In brown printed wraps. In good condition, on aged paper, with corner of first leaf folded down, and slight spotting to front cover. Scarce: only three copies on COPAC, at the British Library, Oxford and the National Library of Wales; the first dated to 1934, and the other two to 1937.

Manuscript Fair Copy, in an eighteenth-century hand, transcribing two poems: 'Prize Monody on the Death of David Garrick Esqr. ffor the Vase at Bath-Easton, By Miss [Anna] Seward.' and 'To Miss Seward | Impromptu' by 'W[illiam] H[ayley].'

Author: 
Anna Seward (1742-1809), poet known as 'The Swan of Lichfield'; William Hayley (1745-1820), poet and patron of William Blake [David Garrick (1717-1779); Bath Easton, villa of Sir John Riggs Miller]
Publication details: 
Seward's poem dated 'Bath-Easton (the Villa of Sir John Miller,) near Bath | ffeb. 11. 1779.' Hayley's poem without place or date.
£220.00

Totalling 5pp., 4to, with Seward's poem on the first 3pp., and Hayley's on the following 2pp. Disbound from a notebook. In good condition, on lightly-aged and worn paper which has been cropped at the foot, resulting in the loss of two lines of text from Hayley's poem, and with the strip with the trimmed line from the foot of the first page of Seward's poem laid down at the head of the second page.

Autograph Letter Signed ('John Linnell Sen.') from the English portrait painter John Linnell to the Glasgow picture dealer Thomas Lawrie, regarding the verification of a picture ['The Woodcutters'] and describing work he will have for sale.

Author: 
John Linnell (1792-1882), English landscape and portrait painter, an associate of William Blake, Samuel Palmer and the Ancients [Thomas Lawrie, Glasgow picture dealer]
Publication details: 
Red Hill [Redhill, Surrey]. 15 December 1870.
£250.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. 28 lines of text. In fair condition: aged and a little ruckled. Docketed 'The Woodcutters' (a theme around which Linnell produced several paintings). Linnell writes that he has just received Lawrie's 'half note for £5 - and will not fail to attend to your wishes about The Verification'. He explains that he usually requires, in addition to the fee, 'an assurance that I shall not be called upon personally to give evidence respecting the work said to be mine.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Boaden') from the playwright and biographer James Boaden to William Hayley, regarding an edition of Randolph's works 'honour'd by the handwriting of Pope'.

Author: 
James Boaden (1762-1839), biographer and playwright [William Hayley (1745-1820), poet and biographer, friend of William Cowper and patron of William Blake; Alexander Pope; Thomas Randolph]
Publication details: 
Warren Street, London; 30 April 1804.
£180.00

1 p, 4to. Bifolium. Sixteen lines, neatly written. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'W. Hayley Esqre.' He begins by thanking him for 'the kind memorial' (a volume of music?); the gift expresses Hayley's 'sense of common civility' and acquaints Boaden 'with a composer of great merit'. 'I tried the effect of his divine art yesterday, Sunday, and could not but wish to hear it from the organ at Chichester'. The rest of the letter concerns 'the subject of Randolph, and the copy of his works honour'd by the hand-writing of Pope'.

Christmas illustration by Quentin Blake, for his own personal use, with an autograph inscription signed by him ('Q').

Author: 
Quentin Blake (born 1932), English children's book illustrator [Montague Shaw, Faber and Penguin]
Quentin Blake (born 1932), English children's book illustrator
Publication details: 
Undated [1970s?]; sent from his address 23 Gledhow Gardens, London SW5.
£250.00
Quentin Blake (born 1932), English children's book illustrator

Reproduction of black and white drawing in Blake's inimitable style. 4to (34 x 29.5 cm). Good, with a little light creasing. Reproduction of black and white drawing in Blake's inimitable style. Depicts anthropomorphic bear, pig, chicken, squirrel and hedgehog in a line from largest to smallest, all with party hats, smiles on their faces and forepaws and other front limbs aloft. Blake's address, as part of printed piece, written upwards along left-hand margin.

Christmas illustration by Quentin Blake, for his own personal use, with an autograph inscription signed by him ('Q').

Author: 
Quentin Blake (born 1932), English children's book illustrator [Montague Shaw, Faber and Penguin]
Publication details: 
Undated [1970s?]; sent from his address 23 Gledhow Gardens, London SW5.
£250.00

Reproduction of black and white drawing in Blake's inimitable style. 4to (34 x 29.5 cm). Good, with a little light creasing. Reproduction of black and white drawing in Blake's inimitable style. Depicts anthropomorphic bear, pig, chicken, squirrel and hedgehog in a line from largest to smallest, all with party hats, smiles on their faces and forepaws and other front limbs aloft. Blake's address, as part of printed piece, written upwards along left-hand margin. Genuine autograph inscription by Blake, in blue ink, at right of drawing, reading 'With best wishes for Christmas & love from Q'.

Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr Disspain'.

Author: 
John Cowper Powys (1872-1963), Anglo-Welsh writer [William Blake; Denis Saurat]
Publication details: 
8 November 1958. 1 Waterloo, Blaenau-FFestiniog, Merionethshire, North Wales.
£180.00

8vo, 4 pp. Bifolium. Very good on lightly aged paper. Written in Powys's distinctive, sprawling hand. Concerns William Blake and the monograph on him (1954) by Denis Saurat, who 'must indeed be a wonder considering the scope of his interests.' 'Yes I was brought up by my mother on the Poems of Blake; so I am always interested by any reference to them or any reproduction of them. Indeed and indeed I can fully understand your being so hypnotized by the pictures of Blake that you find yourself going to see them when you had decided to go somewhere else'. Powys is 'in excellent health'.

Typed Note Signed ('Chas B Cochran') to Mrs G. M. Place, Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd., Parker Street, Kingsway, W.C.2.'

Author: 
C. B. Cochran [Sir Charles B. Cochran; Sir Charles Blake Cochran] (1872-1951), English theatre impresario
Publication details: 
9 November 1940; on letterhead of 'Charles B. Cochran | 49, OLD BOND STREET, | LONDON, W.1.' ['Telegrams: "Cockranus, Piccy, London."]
£28.00

Landscape 12mo: 1 p. Headed 'Stage and Film Decor.' He thanks her for her letter of 4 November. 'I eagerly await book. If you could spare me more than one [last three words underlined] I should be appreciative.'

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