DRIBERG

[Sir Claude Aurelius Elliott, headmaster of Eton.] Autograph Letter Signed ('C A Elliott') to J. J. S. Driberg, discussing his son J. H. Driberg's 'Poems', inserted in a copy of the book, inscribed by the author to his mother.

Author: 
Sir Claude Aurelius Elliott (1888-1973), headmaster of Eton; Jack Herbert Driberg (1888-1946), Lecturer in Anthropology, Cambridge University, 1934-42 and brother of Labour MP Tom Driberg (1905-1976)
Publication details: 
Elliott's letter on letterhead of Fernwood, Wimbledon Park, London SW; 17 September [no year]. Driberg's book: London: Frank H. Morland, 16 Park Mansions, Fulham, S.W. 1908.
£220.00

ONE (Elliott's letter): 3pp., 12mo. 34 lines. Bifolium. In good condition, on aged paper, loosely attached to the title-leaf of the book by a small piece of gummed paper. The letter begins: 'My dear Driberg | I ought to have acknowledged your letter sooner, but I only received it on my return from abroad, and since then I have been busy struggling with the arears which always accrue during absence.' He thanks him for sending his 'son's little volume', which he has read 'with much interest & congratulate him on the neat & modest appearance he has made in print'.

Unsigned Typed Letter, with manuscript corrections, [from the ethnologist Brenda Zara Seligman] to J. H. Driberg, concerning his 'Didinga notes', and with references to 'Sligs' [her husband C. G. Seligman] and 'Edward' [E. E. Evans-Pritchard].

Author: 
Brenda Zara Seligman (1883–1965) ethnologist and wife of Charles Gabriel Seligman (1873-1940)] [Jack Herbert Driberg (1888-1946); Sir Edward Evan Evans-Pritchard (1902-1973), social anthropologist]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. 16 October 1925.
£280.00

6pp., 4to. Paginated 1-7, with page 6 missing, and a strip at the bottom of page 5 torn away, resulting in the loss of five lines of text. The letter ends 'Our garden is coming along too slowly. | All best salaams,'. It lacks a signature, but comes from the Driberg papers, and it is presumably Driberg who removed what was probably part of the text which dealt with personal matters.

Typed account, signed 'Anyanga' [J. H. Driberg], of a liaison with a Frenchwoman named Yvonne Beaubouchais in Marseille in 1915, titled 'L'Entente Cordiale'.

Author: 
'Anyanga'; J. H. Driberg [Jack Herbert Driberg (1888-1946), social anthropologist and brother of flamboyant Labour MP Tom Driberg (1905-1976), Baron Bradwell]
Publication details: 
'From J. H. Driberg, 19, Dryden Chambers, W.1.' Undated [1920s?].
£180.00

8pp., 4to. On eight leaves pinned together. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with rust staining from pin. Apparently unpublished. Typed at head of first page: 'From J. H. Driberg, 19, Dryden Chambers, W.1.', above which, in manuscript: 'NL. N. 10 pt Miscellany'. Driberg is clearly the author: 'Anyanga' is a surname common in the area of Kenya in which he was based as a colonial offical. The first paragraph gives an indication of the tone of the piece: 'The War left me with one fragrant memory. Her name was Yvonne Beaubouchais, and the date was 1915.

The flamboyant Labour Member of Parliament Tom Driberg's own collection of photographic portraits of himself; nine large prints, by Maurice Beck (4, signed), Blechman (2, signed), Lenare (2) and Converse Studios (1); and a small one by Alex Dellow.

Author: 
Tom Driberg [Thomas Edward Neil Driberg] (1905-1976), Baron Bradwell, Labour Member of Parliament and the Daily Express's 'William Hickey' ; Maurice Beck; Blechman; Lenare; Converse Studios, New York
Publication details: 
[London and New York.] In stamped photographic album of Lenare, Portraiture, 28, George Street, Hanover Square, London, W.1. None of the ten prints is date [1930s to 1970s].
£500.00

The nine large prints are in good condition, lightly-aged with slight wear to corners. The smaller print is lightly-creased. In worn blue faux-leather album, with large facsimile signature of 'Lenare' on cover in gilt, with the address 'Portraiture | 28, GEORGE STREET | HANOVER SQUARE | LONDON, W.1.' ONE to FOUR. A series of four head-and-shoulders portraits of Driberg, each signed in pencil by Maurice Beck, and with the stamp on the reverse: 'Photograph by | Maurice Beck | F.R.P.S.' Each on a piece of 37 x 29.5 cm.

Black and white portrait by Converse Studios Inc., New York, of the Labour Member of Parliament Tom Driberg [Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, later Baron Bradwell], the 'William Hickey' of the Daily Express.

Author: 
Tom Driberg [Thomas Edward Neil Driberg] (1905-1976), Baron Bradwell, Labour Member of Parliament and the Daily Express's 'William Hickey' [Converse Studios Inc., New York, photographers]
Publication details: 
Converse Studios Inc., New York. [1930s.]
£56.00

Black and white portrait of Driberg from the waist up, by Converse Studios Inc., New York. In good condition, in lightly-worn printed card folder, 35 x 25.5 cm. The image is mounted behind a 23.5 x 18 cm windowpane. Driberg, in his early thirties, in a double-breasted pin-striped suit, white shirt, and tie, faces the camera with hands in pockets. From Driberg's own papers.

Typed insurance valuation by auctioneers Christie, Manson & Woods of the art collection and library of the Labour Party politician Tom Driberg [Baron Bradwell]. With typed and manuscript material relating to bequests to a number of celebrated friends

Author: 
Tom Driberg [Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, Baron Bradwell] (1905-1976), journalist and Labour Party politician [Sir John Betjeman; Michael Foot; Joan Littlewood; Stanley Orme; Lord Paget of Northampton]
Publication details: 
Valuation: Christie, Manson & Woods, 8 King Street, St James's, London. 1973.
£350.00

Valuation: 29pp., 4to, in a brown folder bound with green ribbon. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. With a few manuscript additions. The title reads: 'T. DRIBERG, ESQ., 601 MOUNTJOY HOUSE, BARBICAN, LONDON, E.C.2. | VALUATIONS FOR INSURANCE | CHRISTIE, MANSON & WOODS.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Vera Meynell') from Lady Vera Meynell, wife of the typographer Sir Francis Meynell, to 'Dear Jack' [the anthropologist J. H. Driberg], asking him to 'let bygones be bygones' and visit her at Toppesfield, 'Hitler permitting'.

Author: 
Lady Vera Meynell [née Vera Rosalind Wynn Mendel] (1895-1947), wife of Sir Francis Meynell (1891-1975), publisher and typographer, founder of the Nonesuch Press [Jack Herbert Driberg (1888-1946)]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 39 Woburn Square, WC1 [London]. 5 July [no year, but during the Second World War].
£65.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The letter begins: 'Dear Jack | It is a long time since we met - but perhaps that is my fault. If so, will you let bygones be bygones - and come over to Toppesfield some time?' She suggests a date, 'Or any Sunday lunch in the immediate future', stating that 'after July, all plans are "Hitler permitting"!' Driberg has noted his acceptance of the invitation up one margin. [Driberg was a Lecturer in Anthropology at Cambridge University from 1934 to 1942. His brother was the colourful Labour MP Tom Driberg.

Typed Letter Signed ('Raglan') from Fitzroy Richard Somerset, 4th Baron Raglan [Lord Raglan] to fellow anthropologist J. H. Driberg, regarding a proposed stay at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Author: 
FitzRoy Richard Somerset (1885-1964), 4th Baron Raglan [Lord Raglan], President, Royal Anthropological Society [Jack Herbert Driberg (1888-1946), Lecturer in Anthropology, Cambridge University,1934-42
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Cefntilla Court, Usk, Monmouthshire. 11 October 1938.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Having been 'very comfortable' at Trinity College, Cambridge, as a guest of Bernard Thomas, Raglan thinks it will be 'very pleasant' to stay there again. He gives details of his proposed itinerary, makes suggestions regarding his motor-car, and accepts an invitation to 'dine in Hall'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('E J Lindgren') from Dr Ethel John Lindgren to fellow-anthropologist J. H. Driberg, concerning a book by another author, accepted for publication by the Council of the University of Cambridge in 1904, and returned in 1928.

Author: 
Dr Ethel John Lindgren (1905-1988), anthropologist [Jack Herbert Driberg (1888-1946), Lecturer in Anthropology, Cambridge University, 1934-42; brother of Labour MP Tom Driberg (1905-76)]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 34 Causewayside, Fen Causeway, Cambridge. 8 November 1939.
£35.00

2pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. She asks him if he can 'shed any light' on a book or paper (not named), 'or indicate what amount of interest it is likely to have': 'The author wrote it in 1904, added to it in 1907. Council [of the University of Cambridge] accepted it for publication in 1916. It was returned to the author, at his request, in 1928!' She could send it to Driberg, 'to look through, if you like (or rather if you are willing!)' A postscript regarding Sir E. E. Evans-Pritchard, emphatically underlined, reads: 'Is it true that E-P is married???'

Autograph Letter Signed ('Basil A. Yeaxlee') from the English educational pioneer Basil Yeaxlee [Basil Alfred Yeaxlee] to the anthropologist J. H. Driberg, regarding his difficulty in acquiring a copy of 'Island India goes to School' by E. R. Embree.

Author: 
Basil Yeaxlee [Basil Alfred Yeaxlee] (1883-1967), English pioneer in the field of adult education [Jack Herbert Driberg (1888-1946), anthropologist, brother of colourful Labour politician Tom Driberg]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 109 Woodstock Road, Oxford. 9 May 1939.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He begins: 'My bookseller has sent me tonight "Island India at School" - Chicago University Press $2 [in fact 'Island India at School', E. R. Embree et al, 1934], and therefore, presumably, C.U.P. in this country.' He apologises for troubling Driberg unnecessarily: 'But yesterday they told me that they couldn't even trace it in Publishers' Catalogues.' Postscript reads: 'I hope I'm not robbing you of your proper style & title. I feel that it might be "Dr."

Autograph Journal, by Amy Mary Irving Driberg, mother of the Labour Party politician Tom Driberg [Baron Bradwell], titled 'Tom - School' and containing entries on his schooldays.

Author: 
Amy Mary Irving Driberg [née Bell] (d.1939), of Uckfield Lodge, Crowborough, mother of Tom Driberg [Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, Baron Bradwell] (1905-76), journalist and Labour Party politician
Publication details: 
Entries dating from 27 September 1910 to 30 July 1918.
£180.00

14pp., 12mo. In ruled notebook bound in black cloth. Titled 'Tom - School' at head of first page, with small section cut away from the front cover to make this visible. In fair condition on lightly-aged paper, with one slightly dogeared corner and light staining to blank leaves at the rear. Written while Driberg was between the ages of five and thirteen, and with the handwriting more untidy towards the end.

Field notebook compiled by J. H. Driberg, later Lecturer in Anthropology, Cambridge University, compiled while a British colonial official, and dealing with local, linguistic and other matters.

Author: 
Jack Herbert Driberg (1888-1946), Lecturer in Anthropology, Cambridge University, 1934-42; and brother of the Labour MP and gossip columnist 'William Hickey' Tom Driberg (1905-1976); Uganda; Africa]
Publication details: 
The earliest dated entry from Longarim, Uganda, 27 March 1923; and the latest from Loriya HIll, 15 January 1925.
£450.00

A significant item, written, as his biographer Roy Abrahams explains, by a man who was 'almost single-handedly responsible for keeping academic social anthropology, and one might add the place of African research within it, alive in the small Archaeology and Anthropology Department in Cambridge in those otherwise rather barren days of the 1930s'. 45pp., 12mo. In a ruled, stitched notebook without cover. Written in pencil on stained and aged paper. Some of the text is faded.

Autograph Letter Signed from the poet Robin Skelton to the British Labour MP Tom Driberg, with an inscribed copy of Skelton's book 'Begging the Dialect', and a covering Typed Letter Signed from John Dekker, President, University of Manchester Union.

Author: 
Robin Skelton (1925-1997), Anglo-Canadian poet, academic and practitioner of the Wiccan religion [Tom Driberg [Thomas Edward Neil Driberg] (1905-1976), Baron Bradwell, journalist and Labour MP]
Publication details: 
Skelton's Letter: On lettheread of the University of Manchester, 18 May 1960. Book: London: Oxford University Press, 1960, with inscription dated May 1960. Dekker's Letter: On letterhead of University of Manchester Union. 19 May 1960.
£90.00

Book: [xii] + 95 pp., 8vo. In fair condition, in original green cloth and worn yellow dustwrapper. Inscribed on front free endpaper: 'For Tom Driberg | With Good Wishes | Robin Skelton | May 1960'. With review slip, on the reverse of which Driberg has written: 'Blake | Graves | Frost | Plomer'. Skelton's Letter: 2pp., 12mo. 20 lines. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Regarding the book he writes that he has 'added a note to the preface to the 2 Ballads of the Muse', which he hopes 'doesn't too much spoil the layout'. He thanks Driberg for his interest in his work.

Beekeeping Diary of Amy Mary Driberg of Uckfield Lodge, Crowborough, mother of Labour politician Tom Driberg, containing dated and initialled autograph entries, and detailed accounts of honey taken, sold and given away, with a few ephemeral items.

Author: 
Amy Mary Irving Driberg (d.1939) [née Bell], of Uckfield Lodge, Crowborough, wife of J.J.S. Driberg, and mother of Labour politician Tom Driberg (Baron Bradwell) (1905-76) [beekeeping; apiculture]
Publication details: 
[Uckfield Lodge, Crowborough, Sussex.] Dated between 1 July 1932 and 4 July 1938.
£450.00

142pp., 4to. In a ruled notebook, bound in black cloth, with marbled endpapers. In fair condition, on aged paper, in worn binding with loss to a corner of a board. Starting at one end of the notebook is the diary of autograph entries, each dated and initialled by Mrs Driberg. In 1932 Mrs Driberg, a formidable Scottish widow in the last years of her life, has five hives (numbered 1 to 4, with a fifth observation hive), with a sixth hive (No. 5) added by 1934.

Typed Letter Signed from John Papworth to Mrs Ena Driberg, wife of the Labour MP Tom Driberg

Author: 
John Papworth (b.1921), English economist and activist, personal adviser to the President of Zambia Kenneth Kaunda [Ena Mary Binfield, née Lyttelton, wife of Tom Driberg of Bradwell Lodge, Essex]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the British Asian and Overseas Socialist Fellowship (London Branch). 15 November 1957.
£36.00

1p., 4to. Fair, on aged paper, with one small burn-hole to margin. Addressed to 'Mrs. T. Driberg, | Bradwell Lodge, | Bradwell juxta Mare, | nr. Southminster, | Essex.' He thanks her for receiving 'an African boy from Northern Rhodesia and some members of my family', and 'showing us the details of your charming house so unhesitatingly'. He discusses the 'astonishing contrast the house is to the landscape around it.

Autograph Letter Signed from the bookseller and publisher Herbert van Thal to the gossip columnist 'William Hickey' [Tom Driberg], regretting his sacking from the Daily Express

Author: 
Herbert van Thal [Bertie Maurice van Thal] (1904-1983), bookseller and publisher [Tom Driberg [Thomas Edward Neil Driberg] (1905-1976), Baron Bradwell, the 'William Hickey' of the Daily Express]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the White House, Regents Park, NW1. 5 July 1943.
£56.00

1p., 8vo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Van Thal was 'most distressed to read in the Daily Express this morning that you were no longer connected with that paper.' He thanks him 'for the pleasure that you have given me over a number of years of reading a first class column'. He hopes it will be 'discoverable as to where you are going to continue to write - or have politics put an end to a chapter?' In a postscript he states that he is at least 'able to console myself with Hansard!'

18 items relating to the National Union of Agricultural Workers, from the papers of Labour MP Tom Driberg, including speeches, reports, newspaper cuttings, a letter from the NUAW Secretary, on such subjects as tied cottages, German workers, Bradwell.

Author: 
[National Union of Agricultural Workers, Alfred C. Dann (1893-1953), General Secretary] [Tom Driberg [Thomas Edward Neil Driberg] (1905-1976), Baron Bradwell]
Publication details: 
Most items dating from the period of the National Union of Agricultural Workers conference, 1948.
£225.00

Having been expelled from the Communist Party in 1941, Driberg joined the Labour Party in 1945; he would be elected to the National Executive throughout 1949-72 and was chairman of the party in 1957-8. The collection is in fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with occasional minor rust staining from paperclips. ONE: Autograph Notes by Driberg of 'Bradwell local information'. 12pp., 12mo, on a total of eight leaves of House of Commons notepaper.

Autograph Letter Signed ('L. Homburger'), in English, from the French linguist Lilias Homburger to the Cambridge anthropologist J. H. Driberg, discussing the difficulties arising from mixing anthropology and linguistics, with reference to Africa.

Author: 
Lilias Homburger (1880-1969), French linguist, authority on African languages [Jack Herbert Driberg (1888-1946), social anthropologist]
Publication details: 
Written from 'London Tuesday [no date]', giving the French address as '98 rue de la Tour | Paris | 16e'.
£135.00

2pp., 12mo. 28 lines. In fair condition, on aged high-acidity paper. Homburger begins by thanking Driberg for his 'papers' and expressing pleasure at their meeting. He encloses 'a list [not present] of feila words (just a few typical) and a draft of my paper not complete nor absolutely definite but which will shew you that I have pretty sound basis for my ideas as to the sénégalais nilotique.' 'Great difficulties', he considers, 'have arisen [...] from mixing anthropologie [sic] & linguistics.

Five Typed Letters Signed and one Autograph Note Signed ('Gerald', 'Gérard', 'G. H.') from the arms dealer and fraudster Gerald Hamilton (model for Christopher Isherwood's 'Mr Norris') to Yvon Davis [pseudonym of Tom Driberg?] of Bradwell Lodge.

Author: 
Gerald Hamilton (c.1888-1970), arms dealer, traitor and fraudster, the original of Christopher Isherwood's 'Mr. Norris' [Yvon Davis; Tom Driberg; Bradwell Lodge]
Publication details: 
The first two letters on letterheads of 91 Kinnerton Street, Belgrave Square, SW1; the fourth from London, and the others without place. The first letter dated 22 December 1939 and the last 21 January 1940; the note undated.
£280.00

All in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The letters are dated 22, 24 and 25 December 1939 and 20 and 21 January 1940; the note is undated. The letters total 6pp., 4to, with an additional 1p., 4to, carrying a translation from Spanish; the note is on the back of a scrap of Asbach Uralt packaging. The first two letters are in English, the other letters and the note in French. One envelope is present, addressed to: 'M. Yvon Davis, Bradwell Lodge, Bradwell-on-Sea, nr.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Christopher Sykes') from the author and aesthete Christopher Hugh Sykes to the social anthropologist J. H. Driberg, arranging a meeting in Cambridge.

Author: 
Christopher Sykes [Christopher Hugh Sykes] (1907-86), English author, biographer of Evelyn Waugh, and traveller with Robert Byron across Central Asia [Jack Herbert Driberg (1888-1946), anthropologist]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Badlingham Manor, Chippenham, Ely, Cambridgeshire. Undated [late 1930s].
£95.00

2pp., 12mo. Very good on blue paper, with letterhead printed in red. He begins: 'I must write to tell you how very much indeed I enjoyed the course at Cambridge and particularly your lectures.

Autograph Letter Signed ('A. Powell-Cotton') from Antoinette Powell-Cotton, discussing the 'specimens from Angola' in her father Major P. H. G. Powell-Cotton's collection (the Quex Museum at Birchington) with the anthropologist J. H. Driberg.

Author: 
Antoinette Powell-Cotton (1913-1997), daughter of Major P. H. G. Powell-Cotton (1866-1940), founder of the Quex Museum, Birchington, Kent [Jack Herbert Driberg (1888-1946), social anthropologist]
Publication details: 
25 Craven Road, London, W2. 29 January [1930s].
£65.00

Antoinette (Tony) Powell-Cotton was the daughter of Major Percy Horace Gordon Powell-Cotton (1866-1940), explorer, naturalist, founder in 1896 of the Quex Museum (the Powell-Cotton collection), at Birchington, Kent. 3pp., 12mo. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with a couple of minor damp stains to the first leaf of two. She writes that her family have just spoken to Professor Herskovits [the American anthropologist Melville Jean Herskovits (1895-1963)], 'and he gave us a message that you would like to see our specimens from Angola'.

Two Autograph Drafts of reviews and one Autograph Letter Signed to Philip Dossé of Hansom Books, Artillery Mansions, 75 Victoria Street, London SW1.

Author: 
Tom Driberg [Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, Baron Bradwell of Bradwell-juxta-Mare] (1905-1976) [crossword puzzled]
Publication details: 
Both reviews undated [both c. 1974]. Letter of 14 March 1974; 601 Mountjoy House, Barbican, London, on cancelled House of Commons letterhead.
£100.00

All three items lightly aged but good. Driberg has written 'TOM DRIBERG' at the head of the first page of both reviews. First Review (8vo, 7 pp) with slight wear at head (not affecting text) of first four leaves; last three leaves on House of Commons letterheads. With corrections. The subject is Daphne Fielding's 'The Rainbow Picnic' (1974). Second Review (8vo, 7 pp, on House of Commons letterheads) of four books about crossword puzzles, including Roger Millington's 'The Strange World of the Crossword' (1974). With corrections.

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