CLASSICS

[William Warde Fowler, historian and ornithologist, tutor at Lincoln College, Oxford.] Typed Letter Signed to ‘Bridge’, discussing 'the diminution of corn-growing' and an ornithological excursion.

Author: 
William Warde Fowler (1827-1941), classical historian and ornithologist, tutor at Lincoln Colege, Oxford
Publication details: 
‘Kingham, April 13 1913’.
£80.00

Fowler’s entry in the DNB states that he resigned his tutorship in 1910, when he ‘retired to Kingham, where, since 1873, he had enjoyed a country home and entertained his pupils. From 1899 he lived there with his sister Alice’. On both sides of what was an 8vo leaf, the lower part of which has been torn away, leaving a piece roughly 20 cm square, with 26 typed lines and the autograph valediction, in a large bold hand, ‘Yours sincerely / W. Warde Fowler’. Aged and worn, but with the remaining text clear. A nice letter, combining Fowler’s main interests.

[‘The Ultimate All-Rounder’: C. B. Fry, one of the greatest of English cricketers.] Autograph Signature from Typed Letter written as Honorary Director of the training ship Mercury..

Author: 
C. B. Fry [Charles Burgess Fry] (1872-1956), one of the greatest of English cricketers, sportsman, scholar, journalist
Fry
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£35.00
Fry

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that he has ‘strong claims to be regarded as the greatest sporting all-rounder of his or any era since’. (Neville Cardus counted him ‘among the most fully developed and representative Englishmen of his period’.) It also seems that in 1920 he was offered the chance of becoming king of Albania. His grave at Repton is inscribed: ‘Cricketer, scholar, athlete, Author – The Ultimate All-rounder’.

[ Rev. Dr Bulkeley Bandinel, Bodley's Librarian. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('B Bandinel | Bodleys Librarian') [ to Major R. G. Macgregor ], regarding a presentation to the Bodleian of two copies of 'Translations from the Greek Anthology'. ]

Author: 
Bulkeley Bandinel (1781-1861), Bodley's Librarian [ The Bodleian Library, Oxford; Major Robert Guthrie Macgregor (1805-1869) ]
Publication details: 
Bodleian Library, Oxford. 30 July 1857.
£120.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with faint stain to first page. The letter is of interest for Bandinel's reference to his education, with the recipient, under Richard Valpy (1754-1836) at Reading School.) The recipient is not named, but the letter is addressed to Major Robert Guthrie Macgregor (1805-1869), and concerns his 'Translations from the Greek Anthology', which was published without date in London by Nissen and Parker.

[ Robert Scott, Master of Balliol, co-compiler of the 'Liddell and Scott' Greek-English lexicon. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Robert Scott | Master of Balliol') to Major R. G. MacGregor, on the gift of his 'Translations from the Greek Anthology'.

Author: 
Robert Scott (1811-1887), Master of Balliol College, Oxford, and co-compiler of the 'Liddell and Scott' Greek-English lexicon [ Major Robert Guthrie Macgregor (1805-1869) ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Balliol College, Oxford. 24 October 1864.
£65.00

1p.,12mo. In good condition. Scott writes that he has 'just received, through Messrs. Parker, the volume of your Translations from the Greek Anthology which you have kindly requested me to place in the Library of Balliol College'. He thanks him on behalf of the College, and assures him that the book will be so placed, 'according to your desire'. MacGregor's tranlsation was published in London without a date by Nissen and Parker. Scott's co-compiler Henry Liddell was the father of 'Alice in Wonderland'.

[ John Carter's copy, with his ownership signature. ] The Early Printed Editions of the Greek Testament by Cuthbert Hamilton Turner, M.A.

Author: 
[ John Carter [ John Waynflete Carter ] (1905-1975), English author, diplomat and bibliophile ] Cuthbert Hamilton Turner
Publication details: 
Oxford, at the Clarendon Press. 1924. [ Printed in England at the Oxford University Press. ]
£30.00

28pp., 8vo. Stitched into grey printed wraps. Aged and worn, with the firm ownership signature 'John Carter' in ink in the top-left corner of the front cover. A few passages are highlighted in pencil. Now scarce.

[ Mitchell S. Buck, American classicist. ] Typescript of his novelette 'Rose of Corinth', inscribed to its illustrator Franz Felix, with covering Autograph Letter Signed ('M S B') from Buck to Felix, regarding arrangements for illustrating the book.

Author: 
Mitchell S. Buck [Mitchell Starrett Buck] (1887-1959), American poet, translator and classical scholar, praised by H. L. Menken [ Franz Felix (1892-1967), American artist of Austrian extraction ]
Publication details: 
Typescript without place or date. Letter on letterhead of Vapor Engineering Company, Philadelphia. 10 September 1928.
£320.00

Both letter and typescript in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. In envelope with three postmarks between 9 and 11 September 1928, addressed 'For: Franz Felix, Esq. | Apt. 3-c | 790 Riverside Drive, | New York City.' LETTER: 1p., 4to. He explains that he is sending the 'MS' [sic] that day by registered mail, and asks Felix to keep it 'strictly confidential for the present', adding that he has 'not even told Mr. Brown [his publisher] what it is about'. If Felix has time to 'make up a sketch' Buck will collect it and take it to Brown.

[Printed advertisement.] Prospectus of Bohn's Standard Library: A Series of the best English and foreign Authors, Printed in a new and elegant Form, Equally adapted to the Library and the Fireside, At the extremely low Price of 3s. 6d. per Volume.

Author: 
[Bohn's Standard Library; H. G. Bohn; Henry George Bohn (1796-1884), London bookseller and publisher]
Publication details: 
York Street, Covent Garden. [1848.]
£160.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In very good condition, on lightly-aged paper. An interesting piece of ephemera relating to a ground-breaking series in the nineteenth-century extension of the market for serious literature. An initial 27-line prospectus in small print is followed by a list of the details of the 35 'Volumes already Published' and of 20 works 'in progress'. The final page carries details of items 'Uniform with his STANDARD LIBRARY, price 3s. 6d.', under the headings 'Bohn's Extra Volume', 'Bohn's Scientific Library, Vol. 1', 'Bohn's Antiquarian Library' and 'Bohn's Classical Library'.

[Dr Samuel Parr, 'the Whig Doctor Johnson'.] Autograph Letter Signed ('S Parr') to the tea merchant Richard Twining, Senior.

Author: 
Dr Samuel Parr (1747-1825), schoolmaster and classical scholar [Richard Twining (1749-1824), Senior, tea and coffee merchant; his son Richard Twining (1772-1857), Junior]
Publication details: 
27 May [1807].
£56.00

1p., 12mo. 24 lines of text. In fair condition, on aged paper, with minor traces of mount adhering to reverse, which is addressed by Parr to 'R Twining, Senior, Esqre | Devereux Court | the Strand', and docketted 'Dr. Parr May 27th. 1807'.

[Theodor Mommsen] Autograph Card Signed "Mommsen" to unknown female correspondent.

Author: 
Theodor Mommsen, German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist and writer generally regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th century
Publication details: 
[Stamped] Theodor Mommsen | Charlottenburg \ March-Strasse 8, [handwritten] 9/9 1901
£220.00

Card, 11 x 9", stuck on to piece of blank paper with stamp hinges, carefully put together after having been torn into pieces, joints showing but text readable: "Dear Madam, | This letter of your late husband has turned up after my first answer to your request. so I send it in pursuance of your wish."

Autograph manuscript of Thomas Charles Baring's 'The Lyrics of Horace. Done into English Rhyme'. Neatly written out by him, and in original stamped binding, with his bookplate.

Author: 
Thomas Charles Baring, banker, Chairman of Baring Brothers Ltd, Conservative Member of Parliament for South Essex, 1874-1885, and for the City of London, 1887-1891; Fellow of Brasenose College, Oxford
Publication details: 
[London: circa 1870.]
£400.00

4to, 179pp. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. In lightly-worn original binding in blue cloth, all edges gilt, with 'THE LYRICS | OF HORACE | IN | ENGLISH RHYME.' stamped in gilt on front board, and 'THE | LYRICS | OF | HORACE' on the spine. A fair copy by Baring of his complete translation, paginated by him 5-183, without title or preliminaries (these were presumably intended to be written out on the two blank leaves which precede the translation).

Two Autograph drafts of a long poem by Arthur Benoni Evans (later Professor of Classics and History at Sandhurst), titled 'Lines [Verses] on the Death of the Princess Charlotte'. Both with corrections and emendations, and one signed 'A. B. Evans'.

Author: 
Arthur Benoni Evans (1781-1854), Professor of Classics and History in the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and headmaster of the free grammar school at Market Bosworth, Leicestershire
Publication details: 
Neither with date and place [one draft on paper watermarked 1816, and the other on paper watermarked 1818].
£200.00

Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of the Prince Regent, died in 1817 at the age of 21. Many poems of mourning were published, but whether Evans's was among them is uncertain. Both drafts are in good condition, on aged paper; the first with short closed tears to the spine. DRAFT ONE (the earlier?): Title: 'Verse on the Death of the Princess Charlotte', altered from 'Threnodia Augustalis, Odes on the Death of the Princess Charlotte'.

[Pickering's Diamond Classics.] Quintus Horatius Flaccus.

Author: 
The Pickering Horace' [Quintus Horatius Flaccus; William Pickering, London publisher; Charles Corrall, printer; Pickering's Diamond Classics; miniature books]
Publication details: 
Londini: Typis C. Corrall; Impensis Gul. Pickering, 31, Lincoln's Inn Fields. MDCCCXX.' [London: William Pickering, 1820. Printed by Charles Corrall.]
£450.00

A bibliographical landmark: the first issue of the first volume in Pickering's series of 'Diamond Classics' 32mo: [ii] + 185 + [i] + [i]. Engraved frontispiece portrait of 'Horace' by R. Grave, facing engraved titlepage, which precedes the letterpress titlepage. On the reverse of the leaf with p.185 on its recto is a portrait of Sir Francis Bacon, captioned 'Advancement of Learning.' On the page facing this are the 'Corrigenda.' Tight copy, on aged paper, with a few dogeared pages, in contemporary black russia binding with boards and spine ornamented in gilt and title 'HORATIUS'.

"Two Thunder-Clouds, closing in conflict": the meeting of Madvig and Cobet at the tercentenary of Leyden University and its historical background. Authorised translation by H. J. Rose.

Author: 
B. A. Van Proosdij [H. J. Rose, translator; Johan Nicolai Madvig (1804-1886); Carel Gabriel Cobet (1813-1889); Leiden University]
Publication details: 
Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1954.
£50.00

8vo, 47 pp. In original grey printed wraps. With frontispiece portrait of Madvig and one plate. Good, in dusty wraps. Presentation copy, with card 'With the compliments of Dr B. A. Van Proosdij, Scientific Advisor to Messrs. Brill' loosely inserted. Divided into four parts: 'The Intellectual Background', 'Preparations and the Eve of the Day', 'The Dies Natalis' and 'Epilogue', with six appendices of passages from original sources, and a postscript of 'Four Letters from Madvig to Geel, Bake, and Cobet'.

Five & Forty Examples of The Epigram Sepulchral turned out of Greek into English Verse by the Reverend G. R. Woodward, M.A.

Author: 
George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848-1934) ['Rev. G. R. Woodward, Mus. Doc. (Sometime Vicar of Walsingham)'] [private printing; Highgate Village; Walsingham]
Publication details: 
Privately Printed at 48 West Hill, Highgate Village, 1931.
£15.00

12mo (dimensions of leaf 12.5 x 9.5 cm): 20 pp. Stitched. In original brown printed card wraps (dimensions of wrap 13.5 x 10.5 cm). Edition limited to 120 copies, of which this is No. 103. Good, in slightly bumped wraps.

Gleanings from Ancient Olive-yards Greek & Roman by the Rev. G. R. Woodward, Mus. Doc. (Sometime Vicar of Walsingham).

Author: 
George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848-1934) ['Rev. G. R. Woodward, Mus. Doc. (Sometime Vicar of Walsingham)'] [private printing; Highgate Village; Walsingham]
Publication details: 
London: 'Privately Printed at 48 West Hill, Highgate Village, 1928'.
£15.00

12mo (dimensions of leaf 17.5 x 10.5 cm): Stitched. In original brown printed card wraps (dimensions of wrap 19 x 11.5 cm). Edition limited to 136 copies, of which this is No. 100. Good, in lightly worn and bumped wraps.

Greek Witticisms told in English Verse by the Rev. G. R. Woodward.

Author: 
George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848-1934) ['Rev. G. R. Woodward, Mus. Doc. (Sometime Vicar of Walsingham)'] [private printing; Highgate Village; Walsingham]
Publication details: 
Printed at 48 West Hill, Highate, MCMXXIX [1929].
£15.00

12mo (dimensions of leaf 12.5 x 9.5 cm): 22 pp. Stitched. In original brown printed card wraps (dimensions of wrap 14 x 11 cm). Edition limited to 120 copies, of which this is No. 14. Good, with light crease to front wrap.

Tales of Sea-Sorrow from The Greek Anthology Englished by the Reverend G. R. Woodward, M.A.

Author: 
George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848-1934) ['Rev. G. R. Woodward, Mus. Doc. (Sometime Vicar of Walsingham)'] [private printing; Highgate Village; Walsingham]
Publication details: 
Privately Printed at 48 West Hill, Highgate Village, 1931.
£15.00

12mo (dimensions of leaf 12.5 x 9.5 cm): 19 pp. Stitched. In original brown printed card wraps (dimensions of wrap 13 x 10 cm). Edition limited to 136 copies, of which this is No. 97. Good.

Epigrams on Sappho and other famous Greek Lyric Poetesses Englished by G. R. Woodward, M.A. (sometime Scholar of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge).

Author: 
George Ratcliffe Woodward (1848-1934) ['Rev. G. R. Woodward, Mus. Doc. (Sometime Vicar of Walsingham)'] [private printing; Highgate Village; Walsingham]
Publication details: 
Privately Printed at 48 West Hill, Highgate Village, 1931.
£15.00

12mo (dimensions of leaf 12.5 x 9.5 cm): 10 pp. Stitched. In original brown printed card wraps (dimensions of wrap 13.5 x 10 cm). Edition limited to 120 copies, of which this is No. 23. Good.

Lectures on the Heathen Gods. Adapted to the School Room. By the author of "Insect History."

Author: 
[Hatchard; Hamilton, Adams & Co.; Seacome; Chester, Cheshire; provincial printing; nineteenth-century children's books; Victorian education]
Publication details: 
London: J. Hatchard and Son, 107, Piccadilly; Hamilton, Adams, and Co. Paternoster Row: and J. Seacome, Chester. 1840. [T. Thomas, Printer, Eastgate Street, Chester.]
£100.00

12mo: viii + 412 pp. Errata slip tipped in at rear. In original brown cloth boards with title in gilt on green leather label on spine. A tight copy, with occasional light foxing, in worn boards. Inscribed on the ffep to 'The Rev G. B. Blomfield With the authors Respects'. Only three copies on COPAC (Glasgow, Liverpool and Nottingham).

Autograph Signature on letterhead.

Author: 
Gilbert Murray (1866-1957), British (Australian-born) classical scholar and advocate of the League of Nations
Publication details: 
6 August 1930; on letterhead 'YATSCOMBE, BOAR'S HILL, OXFORD.'
£10.00

Paper dimensions: five inches by eight inches wide. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper. Good clear signature reads 'Yours sincerely | Gilbert Murray. | August 6. 1930.'

Autograph Note Signed ('Ernest Myers') to autograph collector 'Mr. Soulsby'.

Author: 
Ernest James Myers (1844-1921), English classicist, translator and poet
Publication details: 
10 January 1884; place not stated.
£40.00

One page, 12mo. Very good. 'I have much pleasure in sending you my signature, as I am told you wd. care to have it.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. Rhys Roberts') to Sir Frederick George Kenyon (1863-1952), Director of the British Museum.

Author: 
William Rhys Roberts (1858-1929), Professor of Classics at Leeds University, and associate of J. R. R. Tolkien
Publication details: 
28 January 1918; on letterhead of the University, Leeds.
£35.00

Three pages, octavo. Very good on lightly aged paper. Kenyon's paper was 'much enjoyed' when read on Saturday, and there was 'a good attendance'. '[T]he pleasantries were not missed': '1. the confusion of the inexhaustible emender; 2. the thrift of the canny Odysseus in his role of wooer; 3. Burne Jones's Law.' 'At the end some interesting questiosn were asked', for example, 'why second-rate Greek annalists shd. seemingly have been preferred to Herodotus & Thucydides'.

The pillar of the cloud: "lead, kindly light": Cardinal Newman, 1833. A translation into Latin elegiacs.

Author: 
Richard Horton Smith [Cardinal John Henry Newman]
Publication details: 
A reprint from 'Notes and Queries,' ninth series, vol. x. p. 425.; November 1902.
£65.00

Horton Smith is described on the title as 'K.C., M.A., late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge'. Attractively printed 12mo bifoliate on good quality paper, but with the blank verso of the second leaf still adhering to piece of the paper on which it was mounted. Newman's poem of 1833 and Smith's translation of 1902 facing.

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