COPYRIGHT

[Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd, author, judge and Radical politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘T Davis Esq’ regarding the acting of Henry Thomas Betty, son of 'the young Roscius'.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd (1795-1854), author, judge and Radical politician, friend of Charles Dickens and framer of modern British copyright law
Talfourd
Publication details: 
‘Serjeants’ Inn [London], 20 May, 1841’.
£180.00
Talfourd

Talfourd’s entry in the Oxford DNB notes that he was ‘particularly loved’ by Dickens, and that he ‘provided the archetype of the idealistic Tommy Traddles in David Copperfield; his children Frank and Kate gave their names to two youngsters in Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby.’ The subject of the letter is the actor Henry Thomas Betty (1819-1897), son of ‘the young Roscius’ Henry Betty (1791-1874), whose entry in the ODNB also see. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, and with slight traces of mount on reverse. Folded for postage. Begins: ‘My dear Sir, / Mr.

[Anthony Hope Hawkins; Charles Dana Gibson, illustrator; Gibson Girls] Autograph Note Signed to Mr Arrowsmith [J.W. Arrowsmith, original publisher of The Prisoner of Zenda (1894) and Rupert of Hentzau (1898)].

Author: 
Anthony Hope Hawkins [Charles Dana Gibson, illustrator]
Publication details: 
[Printed] Savoy Mansions, Savoy Street, [London] W.C.
£150.00

Card, 11.5 x 9cm, rounded corners, good condition. Dear Mr Arrowsmith, | I have answered enclosed saying I have no power to give [permission?]. The copyright [for illustrations] is Gibson's [underlined} subject to your right to use the pictures with the story [phrase underlined][...].

[Humphrey Joel, commercial photographer (Humphrey and Vera Joel).] Autograph Letter Signed to theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope, threatening, since his last three letters have been ignored, to make new prints of photographs he is withholding.

Author: 
Humphrey Joel (fl. 1914), commercial photographer,‘Special Photographer to Fry's Magazine’ [Humphrey and Vera Joel, Photographers; Walter James Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian]
Publication details: 
7 December 1951; on letterhead of ‘Humphrey and Vera Joel / Photographers / Dryden Cottage, Radlett / Hertfordshire’.
£90.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) For several decades Humphrey Joel was a leading British commercial photographer, providing the London magazines with scenic and architectural views. In 1914 he was described as the ‘Special Photographer to Fry's Magazine’. 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. The letterhead incorporates a reproduction of a drawing of Dryden Cottage. Signed ‘Humphrey Joel’.

[ John Camden Hotten, London bookseller. ] Signed Autograph inscription ('Jno Camden Hotten') to Charles Welford., on hf title of his 'Literary Copyright'.

Author: 
John Camden Hotten (1832-1873), London bookseller [ Charles Welford ]
Hotten
Publication details: 
No place. 24 October 1871.
£65.00
Hotten

On the half-title of his self-published anonymous 'Literary copyright: seven Letters addressed by Permission to the Right Hon. the Earl Stanhope' (1871), now a loose leaf in 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Printed in the centre of the page are the words 'Literary Copyright.' Above this Hotten has written, in his stylised hand: 'To Charles Welford | with the respects of | Jno Camden Hotten | 24 Oct. 1871.'

[ The Charles Dickens Testimonial. ] One penny royalty stamp for Dickens's descendants, with copy of article from the Strand Magazine explaining the scheme, titled 'The Charles Dickens Testimonial. Look Out for the Dickens Stamp!'

Author: 
The Charles Dickens Testimonial, penny royalty stamp [ The Strand Magazine, London; royalties; copyright ]
Publication details: 
[ The stamp issued in 1912 by The Charles Dickens Testimonial, 17-21 Tavistock Street, London WC. ] The article published by the Strand Magazine, London. 1910 or 1911.
£56.00

On 7 January 1911 Beckles Willson, Honorary Secretary of the Charles Dickens Testimonial, explained the scheme to the readers of the Spectator. Three members of Dickens's family were, Willson explained, 'drawing a niggardly pension of £25 per annum from the British Government', and that 'no volume recently published of Dickens has returned any copyright fee, save those which bear the Dickens copyright stamp'. The stamp was 'on sale for one penny each-in sheets of twelve-at every bookseller's in the land, and at all Messrs. W. H. Smith's and Wyman's news-stalls.

Autograph Letter Signed ('L Raven HIll') from the illustrator and Punch cartoonist Leonard Raven-Hill to J. P. Brodhurst [J. Penderel Brodhurst], regarding 'the entire copyright of all my drawings that appeared in the Pall Mall Budget'.

Author: 
Leonard Raven-Hill (1867-1942), English painter, illustrator, printmaker and Punch cartoonist [Pall Mall Budget; J. Penderel Brodhurst]
Publication details: 
20 North Side, Clapham Common, SW [London]. 19 December 1898.
£56.00

2pp., 16mo. Bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper, with small hole through both leaves at top inner corner. Beneath the signature the faint stamp of the St. James's Budget, 15 Dorset Street, EC. Raven-Hill points out that the Pall Mall Budget had only the right to use his drawings 'in that paper', and that he holds 'the entire copyright of all my drawings that appeared' in that magazine. 'If you want any of mine you could of course get the blocks from them & we could come to some arrangement about using them'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('F. H Townsend') from the Art Editor of Punch F. H. Townsend [Frederick Henry Townsend] to J. Penderel Brodhurst, regarding 'the Copyright of my late drawings in the Pall Mall Budget'.

Author: 
F. H. Townsend [Frederick Henry Townsend] (1868-1920), artist, illustrator and cartoonist, the first Art Editor of Punch [Pall Mall Budget; J. Penderel Brodhurst]
Publication details: 
61 Glebe Place, Chelsea, SW, on cancelled letterhead of the Chelsea Arts Club, 181 Kings Road, SW [London]. 28 December 1895.
£56.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper, with small hole through both leaves at top inner corner. The letter begins: 'As far as I can remember I keep the Copyright of my late drawings in the Pall Mall Budget'. He refers Brodhurst to the magazine's editors, and apologises for his alte response.

Manuscript Memorandum and Manuscript Receipt, both signed ('Mortimer Collins') by the poet and novelist Edward James Mortimer Collins, assigning copyrights of his works to the London publishers Henry S. King & Co.

Author: 
Mortimer Collins [Edward James Mortimer Collins] (1827-1876), English poet and novelist [Henry S. King & Co., 65 Cornhill, London publishers]
Publication details: 
Both dated from Knowl Hill, Twyford, Berks. 19 March 1872 and 14 December 1872.
£95.00

ONE (memorandum): Headed: 'Memorandum of an Agreement between Messrs: Henry S. King & Co: of 65 Cornhill London of the one part and Mortimer Collins Esqre. of Knowl Hill, Twyford, Berks of the other part.' 19 March 1872. 1p., folio. In fair condition, on lightly-aged and worn paper. Pencil annotations. Five stamps at head (four embossed and one ink).

[Printed pamphlet.] Facts for Inventors and Manufacturers. By W. P. Thompson & Co. (F.C.S., M.I.M.E., M. Council S.C.I., &c.)

Author: 
[W. P. Thompson & Co., Liverpool and Manchester patent offices]
Publication details: 
Printed at the Patent Offices, 6, Lord Street, Liverpool. 6, Bank Street, Manchester. 1887. Entered at Stationers' Hall.
£85.00

16pp., 16mo. Stapled. In fair condition, on aged paper, with slight staining to last leaf. Printed in red on the title-page: 'NOTE. - After perusal, please file this Pamphlet for reference, or to lend to others interested in Patents.' An introductory note by the firm sets out the aims of the work: 'To Patentees and Manufacturers. | This Pamphlet, describing the Law and Practice relating to Patents, is designed as a useful guide to Patentees.

Manuscript Memorandum of Agreement between J. Hain Friswell and the London publisher Henry S. King, setting out the terms of publication of Friswell's 'The Better Self'. Signed 'J. Hain Friswell'.

Author: 
James Hain Friswell (1825-1878), English essayist and novelist [Henry S. King & Co., publishers, 65 Cornhill, London]
Publication details: 
22 October 1874.
£56.00

1p., foolscap 8vo. On laid paper, with red embossed tax stamp in top left-hand corner. In fair condition, lightly-aged. The memorandum is seventeen lines long, and begins: 'Memorandum of an Agreement made this twenty second day of October One thousand eight hundred and seventy four. Between Mr J. Hain Friswell of Fair House, Bexley Heath, Kent, of the one part and Messrs. Henry S. King & Co. of 65 Cornhill London publishers of the other part. | The said Mr J. Hain Friswell has written a Work entitled "The better self" which he herby assigns to Messrs. Henry S.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Jn B Buckstone') from the actor John Baldwin Buckstone [to the playwright Thomas John Dibdin] regarding a meeting 'of all the dramatic authors' to make arrangements following 'the new act' [Bulwer Lytton's copyright reforms.

Author: 
John Baldwin Buckstone (1802-1879), actor, playwright, and manager of the Haymarket Theatre [Thomas John Dibdin (1771-1841), playwright and actor]
Publication details: 
29 Walcot Place, Kennington; 14 June 1833.
£320.00

1p., 4to. 15 lines. On aged and worn paper. The letter reads 'Dear Sir/ | A general meeting of all the Dramatic Authors will take place at the Garricks head in Bow Street on Monday nexxt at One o'Clock.

Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'Rodney Bennett') from the librettist Harry Rodney Bennett to Leslie Arthur Boosey of the music publishers Boosey & Hawkes, including a discussion of royalties

Author: 
Harry Rodney Bennett (1890-1948), librettist and author, father of composer Sir Richard Rodney Bennett (b.1936) [Leslie Arthur Boosey (1887-1979), president of the music publishers Boosey & Hawkes]
Harry Rodney Bennett
Publication details: 
Letter One: 20 Woodstock Road, Bedford Park, Chiswick; 1 May 1926. Letter Two: The George Hotel, South Molton, North Devonshire; 22 September 1941.
£95.00
Harry Rodney Bennett

Letter One: 2 pp, 12mo. 23 lines. Good. Docketed '3.5.26 | copd.' He thanks him for his letters, and has 'sent the verses to Sanderson'. The copies of the 'Quilter publications' that Bennett needed for the writing of an article in the 'Music Teacher' have not arrived. Asks for information on a 'volume of songs by Sibelius'. 'If they are available could they be included in the Quilter parcel'. He is 'writing about Sibelius for publication in July, & want to be as complete as possible'. Letter Two: 2 pp, 4to. 23 lines. Good, with staple holes to one corner.

Typed Letter Signed by Nicolas Bentley to the actor C. Kenneth Benda, concerning the rights to his book 'Trent's Last Case', and a proposal by Benda for a stage adaptation.

Author: 
Nicolas Bentley [Nicolas Clerihew Bentley (1907-1978)], British author and illustrator [C. Kenneth Benda (1902-1978), British actor]
Typed Letter Signed by Nicolas Bentley
Publication details: 
10 June 1966; on Bentley's letterhead, 7 Hobury Street, Chelsea.
£75.00
Typed Letter Signed by Nicolas Bentley

4to, 1 p. 19 lines. Text clear and complete. On aged and lightly creased paper, with strip of sunning to left-hand margin. Neat signature: 'Nicolas Bentley'. The film and television rights to the book were all 'bought some years ago by Herbert Wilcox, who, as I understand it, still owns them'. Bentley has reports the opinion of 'Messrs A. P. Watt, my late father's agent', on the question of the radio rights. 'I control the stage rights', Bentley states, giving the conditions on which he would agree to a stage adaptation.

Speech of Sergeant Talfourd on Literary Property delivered in the House of Commons, on the 18th of May, 1837.

Author: 
Sergeant Talfourd [Thomas Noon Talfourd] (1795-1854), English judge and writer [Copyright Bill, 1837]
Speech of Sergeant Talfourd on Literary Property
Publication details: 
[1837.] London: Published by Sherwood and Co., Paternoster-row. [Bradford , Red lion-ct. Fleet-st.]
£185.00
Speech of Sergeant Talfourd on Literary Property

8vo, 16 pp Disbound. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with the final page a little discoloured. Ownership inscriptions of 'Charles Hall Hemphill' and 'James | May 1837'. A significant work: a milestone in the history of copyright law. According to the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, this speech introducing Talfourd's Copyright Bill 'was considered the most telling made in the House during that session'. No copy listed on COPAC, and WorldCat lists three copies (all foreign).

[38 & 39 Vict.] Canada Copyright. [Ch. 53.] An Act to give effect to an Act of the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada respecting Copyright. [2d August 1875.]

Author: 
Canada Copyright Act, 1875 [British Act of Parliament, 1875, respecting Canadian copyright]
Publication details: 
London: Printed by George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty. 1875.
£75.00

8vo, 9 pp. Disbound. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Headed with the royal crest. The last seven pages carry the 'Schedule'. The British legislature had refused to ratify the 1872 Dominion of Canada bill that enshrined a fixed-royalty principle for Canadian publishers to re-print British copyrighted works. This act only allowed Canadian republishing of books that had gone out of print.

Autograph Letter Signed ('H. O. Coxe') to <Innes?>.

Author: 
Henry Octavious Coxe [H. O. Coxe] (1811-1881), Bodley's Librarian, 1860-1881 [The Bodleian Library, Oxford]
Publication details: 
16 January 1879; Bodleian Library.
£65.00

16mo, 3 pp. Bifolium. Thirteen lines of text. Clear and complete. On aged paper with heavy staining to outer pages. Clarifying the position regarding 'new editions with additions'. The Bodleian is entitled to copies of these, 'unless the additions are separate - then we can only claim the new matter'. Explains that the Library's 'agent in London', Eccles of Great Russell Street, 'receives for us, or collects, as it may be the of the Publishers'. Docketed in pencil in a contemporary hand on the blank reverse of the second leaf.

Autograph Letter Signed ('R. Brimley Johnson') [to Swan Sonnenschein], proposing a work for publication, and outlining his literary achievements.

Author: 
R. Brimley Johnson [Reginald Brimley Johnson] (1867-1932), English author and editor [Swan Sonnenschein, London publishers]
Publication details: 
19 February 1893; on embossed letterhead of Llandaff House, Cambridge.
£65.00

12mo, 4 pp. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He was introduced to the recipient 'by Mr. Philip Malleson of Croydon, when I wanted to send an Essay to The Albemarle'. Asks if he 'might be disposed to let me write a volume on Jane Austen or Leigh Hunt for your Dilettante Library', Austen being 'specially before the public just now'. He has edited Austen's novels and two 'well received' volumes of selections from Hunt for 'Mr. Dent's Temple Library'. 'If you do not care to arrange for either of these authors I would suggest Miss Burney[,] Hazlitt or T. L. Peacock.

Autograph Note Signed ('Henry Newbolt') to Routledge.

Author: 
Sir Henry Newbolt (1862-1938), English poet [George Routledge & Sons, publishers]
Publication details: 
13 October 1906; on letterhead of 23, Earl's Terrace, Kensington, W.
£28.00

12mo, 1 p. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Thanking them for the cheque, and returning the 'form of permission to reprint the four poems, signed' (not present).

Autograph Letter Signed ('T. N. Talfourd.') to an unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd (1795-1854), English writer, judge and politician
Publication details: 
19 May 1834; 2 Elm Court, Temple.
£56.00

12mo, 2 pp. Good, on lightly aged paper, with traces of a paper stub neatly adhering to the blank bottom right-hand corner of the verso. Apologising for his 'long neglect of the subject of your last notice - the Mill Hill Medal. The truth is I am scarcely able to find strength and spirits for the work I have to do, and so am constantly involved in difficulties as to time like those to which extravagant people fall into as to money'. He hopes 'to be able to enjoy the pleasures of our anniversary dinner', although he does not feel he deserves them.

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