FRANK

['Death has taken a heavy toll': Sir Frank Dicksee, Victorian artist, President of the Royal Academy.] Autograph Letter Signed to the widow of fellow-Royal Academician John Macallan Swan, accepting on behalf of the RA committee the gift of a bust.

Author: 
Frank Dicksee [Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee] (1853-1928), Victorian artist, President of the Royal Academy [Mary Anne Swan (née Rankin), wife of John Macallan Swan (1847-1910), RA, painter and sculptor
Publication details: 
10 May 1926; on letterhead of Greville House, 3 Greville Place, Maida Vale, NW6 [London].
£60.00

See his entry, and Swan's, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Seventeen stylish lines with bold signature. On first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed to 'Dear Mrs Swan' and signed 'Frank Dicksee'. Her letter gave him great pleasure and he has just had the opportunity of placing her 'very kind offer before the Council [of the Royal Academy]'. 'I need hardly tell you they are delighted to accept this valuable gift.

[Frank Spenlove-Spenlove [John Francis Spenlove-Spenlove], Scottish landscape and figure painter.] Autograph Letter Signed, as principal of ‘ “The Yellow Door” school of modern art’, to ‘Miss Lalonde’, regarding a post card of one of his paintings.

Author: 
Frank Spenlove-Spenlove [John Francis Spenlove-Spenlove] (1864-1933), Scottish landscape and figure painter, founder and principal of ‘The Yellow Door’ school of art in Beckenham, Kent
Frank Spenlove-Spenlove
Publication details: 
‘The Corner House / 69. Addison Rd. W. / 14.12.10’ [14 December 1910], on his letterhead as principal of ‘ “The Yellow Door” School of Modern Art, Beckenham.
£60.00
Frank Spenlove-Spenlove

He styles himslef on the letterhead as ‘Principal - Mr. Frank Spenlove-Spenlove / R.I. R.O.I. R.B.A. R.C.A. R.B.C. F.R.C.S. M.J.S. F.R.S.A.’ Large bold stylized signature. 1p, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: ‘Dear Miss Lalonde / It gives me pleasure to know you appreciate the picture, & I have put my name to your post card as you desire. I only wish the reproduction was more satisfactory! / Yours Sincerely. / Frank . Spenlove . Spenlove’. See Image.

[Sir Frank Dicksee, Victorian artist, President of the Royal Academy.] Autograph Letter Signed to Lady Orchardson, regarding a meeting by the committee for the Royal Academy summer exhibition, with reference to Onslow Ford.

Author: 
Frank Dicksee [Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee] (1853-1928), Victorian artist, President of the Royal Academy [Lady Orchardson [Ellen Orchardson, née Moxon] , wife of Sir William Quiller Orchardson, RA]
Publication details: 
14 December [no year, but before 1901]. On letterhead of Greville House, 3 Greville Place, St John's Wood, N.W. [London]
£65.00

See the entries for Dicksee and Lady Orchardson’s husband Sir William Quiller Orchardson (1832-1910), RA, in the Oxford DNB. Lady Orchardson (1853-1917) was the daughter of the London publisher Charles Moxon. The Orchardsons married in 1873. Among their four children was the painter Charles Moxon Quiller Orchardson (1873-1917), who studied in the Royal Academy Schools and was killed in action during World War One. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘Frank Dicksee’.

[Frank Dicksee, R.A. [Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee, artist and illustrator.]] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mrs Sturgis’ (George Meredith’s daughter), commiserating with her over her illness, and accepting an invitation.

Author: 
Frank Dicksee, R.A. [Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee (1853-1928), artist and illustrator] [George Meredith and his daughter Marie Eveleen 'Mariette' Sturgis]
Publication details: 
5 April [no year]. On letterhead of Greville House, 3 Greville Place, St John’s Wood, N.W. [London]
£65.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On bifolium with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged, and folded once for postage. The recipient is the novelist George Meredith's daughter Marie Eveleen (Mariette; 1871-1933), wife of Henry Parkman Sturgis (1847-1929), American-born banker and Liberal politician. Addressed to ‘Mrs Sturgis’ and signed ‘Frank Dicksee’. He is sorry to hear of her illness, but ‘fortunately the summer is coming & long before it is here I trust you will be yourself again’.

[Sir John Gielgud, distinguished English actor.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mrs. Doubleday', wife of the publisher.

Author: 
Sir John Gielgud [Arthur John Gielgud] (1904-2000), distinguished English actor [Florence Van Wyck Doubleday, wife of New York publisher Frank Nelson Doubleday]
Publication details: 
27 October [1936]. 59 East 56th Street, New York City.
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded once for postage. The year is given in pencil, and a note in the same hand identifies the recipient as ‘Mrs Florence Doubleday (wife of publisher) in Oyster Bay’. Ten lines of text, in a close hand, with larger, firm signature ‘John Gielgud.’ A somewhat pompous missive. He thanks her for giving him ‘so delightful an opportunity of meeting you, and to ask me to stay in your charming house and meet your friends, who were all so nice to me’.

[Frank Holl, RA, painter and illustrator.] Autograph Letter Signed, to ?Mrs. Calkin?, regarding the borrowing of her son George's rifle, bayonet and sheath for a painting, and the health of his father the engraver Francis Holl.

Author: 
Frank Holl [Francis Montague Holl], (1845-1888), RA, painter and illustrator [his father Francis Holl, engraver]
Publication details: 
17 November 1879. 4 Camden Square, N.W. [London]
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The letter is addressed from the house of Frederick Goodall (also see ODNB), which at other times was occupied by Laurence Alma Tadema and James Murray. 2pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ?My dear Mrs. Calkin? and signed ?Frank Holl?. Twenty-six lines of text in a hurried hand. He thanks her for her ?kind trouble - & for the rifle which my model called for and brought with him this morning?. He is sorry that her son George has been injured.

[National Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, London.] Printed pamphlet by NCADP Secretary Frank Dawtry: ‘Bulletin No. 26 / Public Opinion and the Death Penalty’.

Author: 
National Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, London; Frank Dawtry [Frank Dalmeny Dawtry] (1902-1968), General Secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers
Publication details: 
March 1948. National Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, 14 Victoria Street, London, SW1. ‘Printed for Edgar G. Dunstan & Co., Draycot House, Gordon Street, W.C.1, by The Hereford Times Ltd., London and Hereford.
£80.00

See Dawtry’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is scarce: no copies traced on JISC or WorldCat. 4pp, 4to. Bifolium printed in small type. In fair condition, lightly aged, with creasing and nicking to both leaves at bottom outer edge.

[Frank Norman.] Three Typed Letters Signed and one Autograph Card Signed to Philip Dosse of Hanson Books, complaining about his treatment over the reviews he has contributed to ‘Books and Bookmen’.

Author: 
Frank Norman [John Norman] (1930-1980), working-class writer on London low-life, best-known for the memoir Bang to Rights (1958) and musical Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be (1960) [Philip Dosse]
Publication details: 
All from 1975. The three letters from 5 Seaford Court, 222 Great Portland Street, W1 [London].
£220.00

Norman is puzzlingly absent from the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. See ‘Death of a Bookman’ by the novelist Sally Emerson (editor of ‘Books and Bookmen’ at the time of Dosse’s suicide), in Standpoint magazine, October 2018. The four items are in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. They are all signed ‘Frank Norman’, and the letters are each 1p, 4to. ONE: TLS, 17 February 1975.

[Kenneth Horne, much-loved comedian whose BBC radio series included 'Round the Horne'.] Autograph Note Signed, cut from a letter, regarding Frank Muir, pronunciation and a taxi to the Savoy.

Author: 
Kenneth Horne (1907-1969), much-loved comedian with three BBC radio series ‘Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh’ (1944–54), ‘Beyond Our Ken’ (1958–64) and ‘Round the Horne’ (1965–68) [Frank Muir (1920-1998)]
Horne
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£35.00
Horne

See Horne and Muir's entries in the Oxford DNB. On one side of 8.5 x 20.5 piece of paper cut from the conclusion of a letter. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. With fold from postage. Good firm signature. Reads: 'Re above from Frank Muir, I pronounced the name to my taxi-driver and had no difficulty. After he had taken me to the Savoy I came back here and had a marvellous meal / Kenneth Horne'. See image.

[Sir Frank Stockdale: agriculture in Britain's African colonies, 1929-37.] Four official Autograph Journals by Colonial Office Agricultural Advisor Sir Frank Stockdale, describing in detail tours in Crown Colonies in East and West Africa and Cyprus.

Author: 
Sir Frank Stockdale [Sir Frank Arthur Stockdale] (1883-1949), distinguished agronomist and mycologist, Colonial Office Agricultural Advisor
Publication details: 
Written between 1929 and 1937. Entries relating to England, East and West Africa, Cyprus, Sudan and Egypt. [Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika, Zanzibar, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Ghana, Gambia.]
£3,000.00

Stockdale’s entry in the Oxford DNB provides an excellent commentary on the present four items: ‘An assumption that colonial economies should continue to be dominated by the export of cash crops, and a faith in Western scientific agriculture led in 1929 to the establishment of the colonial agricultural service with a colonial advisory council of agriculture and animal health, and a full-time agricultural adviser, a position to which Stockdale was appointed.

[Sir Frank Stockdale, distinguished agronomist and colonial civil servant.] Family photograph album, with a few items of ephemera including his funeral service.

Author: 
Sir Frank Stockdale [Sir Frank Arthur Stockdale] (1883-1949), distinguished agronomist and mycologist, Colonial Office Agricultural Advisor
Publication details: 
Containing material from the 1920s to the 1940s. Most of the photographs and other material from England.
£500.00

Stockdale was for decades the leading figure in his field within the British Empire and later the Commonwealth, and his work undoubtedly saved countless lives, and increased the welfare of many thousands. See his appreciative entry in the Oxford DNB, in which he is described as 'in many respects ahead of his time'. The present collection comprises a family photograph album with 86 photographs inserted and loose, with a copy of his funeral service, and few other items. All the material is in good condition, with only light signs of age and wear.

[Sir Walter Gibbons, theatre impressario who built the London Palladium.] Auction catalogue of his effects, with a bookseller’s bids in pencil: ‘A Catalogue of the Contents of Kensington House, Bayswater, W.2’

Author: 
Sir Walter Gibbons (1871-1933), theatre impressario, founder of the London Palladium and owner of around forty music halls [Kensington House, Bayswater; Knight, Frank & Rutley; auction catalogue]
Publication details: 
10 to 13 March 1931. Knight, Frank & Rutley, 20 Hanover Square, London, W.1. Printed by J. Davy & Sos, Ltd., 8-9 Frith Street, London.
£180.00

As the Great Depression hit Gibbons found himself over-extended, and was forced into bankruptcy. The present item is scarce. The only copy on JISC is at the Paul Mellon Centre Library. 68pp, 8vo. In grey printed wraps, and with purchase slip tipped in. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. At head of title-page: ‘By Direction of Lieut.-Col. SIR WALTER GIBBONS, K.B.E., D.L. Following the Sale of the Freehold, and the proposed conversion of the Property into high-class Residential Flats.’ ‘Conditions of Sale’ on reverse of title. 974 lots.

[Sir Gerald du Maurier, actor-manager.] Typed Note Signed, as President of the Actors’ Orphanage, thanking the actor Frank Arlton for his ‘splendid efforts at the Garden party’.

Author: 
Sir Gerald du Maurier [Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier] (1873-1934), English actor-manager [Frank Arlton (1863-1948), stage and screen actor; The Actors’ Orphanage, Langley, Bucks]
Publication details: 
15 June 1933. On letterhead of The Actors’ Orphanage, Langley Hall, Langley, Bucks.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. Signed (‘With reiterated thanks’) ‘Gerald du Maurier’, with ‘President’ typed beneath. The letterhead is printed in black and green, with details of officers and committee members. On aged and creased paper, with closed tears and nicks to edges. Folded three times for postage. He asks him to accept his ‘most grateful thanks for your splendid efforts at the Garden Party’. He understands the ‘new show’ which Arlton ‘put in this year’ has proved ‘very popular’.

[Sir Emile Littler, theatrical impressario.] Two Typed Letters Signed, asking theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope whether he did more London pantomimes than Julian Wylie. With carbon of reply.

Author: 
Sir Emile Littler [born Emile Richeux] (1903-1985), theatrical impresario based at the Palace Theatre, London, producer of over two hundred British pantomimes [W. J. Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian;]
Publication details: 
15 and 19 November 1957. Both on his letterhead. Carbon of Macqueen-Pope’s reply, 18 November 1957, from Coventry House, 5/6 Coventry Street, W.1.
£90.00

For information on Littler see the entry in the Oxford DNB of his brother Prince Frank Littler (1901-1973), who did not share Emile’s ‘affection for plays or players individually’. Also see Macqueen-Pope’s entry in the same work. The three items in fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Both signed ‘Emile’. ONE: TLS of 15 November 1957. 1p, 4to. Reads: ‘My dear Popie, / You know about everything in the Theatre, and I am wondering if you could tell me how many London pantomimes Julian Wylie did, either by himself or as the Wylie-Tate organisation.

[‘You’ll note how catholic my wants are’: Frank Pettingell, actor and collector of theatre material.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Andy [the bookseller Andrew Block]’, listing some of his ‘great wants’.

Author: 
Frank Pettingell [Frank Edmund George Pettingell] (1891-1966), actor who amassed a notable collection of theatre material and Victorian penny dreadfuls [Andrew Block, London bookseller]t
Publication details: 
23 February 1961. On letterhead of Highfield Lodge, Wise Lane, London, NW7.
£45.00

The obituary of the recipient Andrew Block (1892-1987) in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business was established in 1911. 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. Signed ‘Frank’. He is sending his list: ‘you’ll note how catholic my wants are’. He has been sent ‘5 guineas worth of book tokens. Do you accept these? They were issued by Collets, Hampstead.’ His ‘great wants’ are ‘the Comic Home Journals - the novel with ghost on the cover - the certain Ludgate and Boys Own Xmas Number’.

[Sir Frank Short, President of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Gosselin’, describing changes to his ‘old Studio’.

Author: 
Sir Frank Short [Sir Francis Job Short] (1857-1945), RA, printmaker and teacher of printmaking, President of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, 1910-1938
Publication details: 
2 April 1892. On letterhead of Wentworth Studios, Manresa Road, Kings Road, S.W.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Signed ‘Frank Short’. The salutation is unclear: it appears to be to ‘Dear Mist Gosselin’, but it could be ‘Mirst’ or ‘Urist’ Gosselin. He thanks him for his kind note, ‘but it wasn’t really of any importance about that bell. Don’t trouble any more about it as far as I am concered.

[Prince Littler, extensive theatre propietor.] Four Typed Letters Signed and one Typed Note Signed to theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope, on topics including productions of ?Oaklahoma?, ?The King and I? and ?Plain and Fancy?.

Author: 
Prince Littler [born Jules Richeux] (1901-1973), extensive theatre proprietor, Managing Director of the Stoll, Associated and Moss Theatre groups [W. J. Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
The five items between 1950 and 1956. On letterheads of Stoll Theatres Corporation Limited, Stoll Offices, London Coliseum, WC2, and Cranbourn Mansions, Cranbourn Street, London WC2.
£180.00

For more information on writer (one of West End theatre?s ?most dominant and successful landlords?) and recipient (the foremost British theatre historian of the twentieth century), see their entries in the Oxford DNB. The five items (the TNS is Item Three, the others are ALsS) are in good condition, lightly aged; Item Five with slight paperclip damage to a margin. Each folded once. All five signed ?Prince Littler? and addressed to ?Popie?, two at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, one at 9 Oakdale, London N14, and one at Coventry House, Coventry St, W1.

[Admiral George Anson Byron, 7th Baron Byron of Rochdale, cousin and successor of the poet Lord Byron.] Autograph Signature ('Byron') on frank of letter to the Hon. Mrs Collingwood.

Author: 
George Anson Byron (1789-1868), 7th Baron Byron of Rochdale, Royal Navy admiral, and cousin of the poet Lord Byron, whom he succeeded to the title [Admiral Collingwood; Collingwood House, Kent]
Publication details: 
'Portsmouth December Seventh 1826', with frank of 8 December 1826.
£28.00

Frank on 7 x 13 cm panel cut from front of envelope. In good condition, lightly aged, laid down on part of leaf from album, with the reverse carrying part of the frank to a letter from another unidentified individual, with free postmark from 1826. Byron's frank has the customary red-ink postmark at top right ('FREE | 8 DE 8 | 1826'), and is laid out by him in the customary fashion: 'Portsmouth December Seven | 1826 | The Honble. Mrs. Collingwood | Hawkhurst | Kent'. Byron's signature 'Byron.', at bottom left, is only underlined, and not enclosed within the two parallel lines as required.

[Frank Benson [Sir Francis Robert Benson; F. R. Benson], actor-manager who specialised in Shakespeare productions.] Autograph Note in third person, stating that 'his departure for South Africa' prevents him from attending a Literary Society banquet.

Author: 
Frank Benson [Sir Francis Robert Benson; F. R. Benson] (1858-1939), actor-manager who specialised in Shakespeare productions [Royal Literary Society, London]
Publication details: 
4 July 1921. No place.
£35.00

1p, 4to. In fair condition, on lightly aged and creased paper, folded twice. Reads: 'Sir Frank Benson regrets that his departure for South Africa will prevent his having the pleasure of availing himself of the Literary Society's kind invitation to assist at the banquet, on Wednesday, July 16th. -'

[Angus Wilson, novelist, as British Museum librarian.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Angus Wilson.') to 'Rylands', regarding his letter to 'Noel', which he has asked 'Mr Greene' to show him.

Author: 
Angus Wilson [Sir Angus Frank Johnstone-Wilson] (1913-1991), novelist [British Museum, Department of Printed Books]
Publication details: 
12 October 1950; on letterhead of the Reading Room, British Museum, London, W.C.1.
£30.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, on lightly aged paper. Folded twice, resulting in offset ink smudging. Reads: 'Dear Rylands, | I am writing to you in case Noel is away. I have asked Mr Greene to show you my letter to Noel, if this is should [sic] be so. Anything you could do to help, would be kind and good, I think.

[Bloomsbury, London.] Auction catalogue: 'Particulars, Plans and Conditions of Sale of the Freehold Foundling Estate, Bloomsbury, W.C.1 […] all embracing an area of about 11 acres in Central London'.

Author: 
Foundling Estate, Bloomsbury, London [Dominion Students' Hall Trust; Knight, Frank & Rutley, auctioneers and estate agents]
Publication details: 
By Direction of Dominion Students' Hall Trust. Auction by Knight, Frank & Rutley at the Royal Hotel, Woburn Place, W.C.1. [London] 26 and 27 November 1958.
£500.00

Full title: 'By Direction of Dominion Student's [sic] Hall Trust. | Particulars, Plans and Conditions of Sale of | The Freehold Foundling Estate Bloomsbury, W.C.1 | producing a Gross Income of about £112,000 per ann. increasing in the near future to about £118000 per ann. and comprising Ground Rents, Rack Rents and Tenancies secured on Shops, offices, private hotels, flats, institutional hostels and other residential properties. Cleared building sites. Vacant possession of Lot 118, viz.

[Searcy, Tansley & Co. London caterers, and the 'artistic design' for a cake by 'Miss Harmsworth'.] Typed Letter Signed ('F. S. Physick') from director Frank Savill Physick to Cecil Harmsworth, regarding their catering of an event for his family..

Author: 
Searcy, Tansley & Co., London caterers (Frank Savill Physick (1882-1983), Director) [Cecil Harmsworth (1869-1948), 1st Baron Harmsworth]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Searcy, Tansley & Co. (1918) Ltd., 19 Sloane Street, London, S.W.1. 21 March 1928.
£56.00

2pp., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with the two leaves pinned together. Referring to his wife Emilie, Harmsworth has written in red pencil at the head of the letter 'Em to see'. Physick begins by thanking Harmsworth and his wife for their 'most generous appreciation of our efforts'.

['Coke of Norfolk': Thomas William Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester, politician and agricultural reformer.] Autograph Signature ('T W Coke') as frank on letter to William Barth of Yarmouth.

Author: 
'Coke of Norfolk': Thomas William Coke (1754-1842), 1st Earl of Leicester, also known as Coke of Holkham, British politician and agricultural reformer
Publication details: 
'Holkham. Aug. Twenty Third | 1830 -'.
£25.00

On 14 x 12 cm section cut from front panel of envelope. In fair condition, lightly aged. Cropped postmark at head. Laid out in the customary fashioni, and reading: 'Holkham. Augt. Twenty Third | 1830 - | Willm. Barth Esq | Yarmouth | Norfolk | T W Coke'. Manuscript note at foot in another nineteenth-century hand: 'Mr. Coke, M.P. of Holkham Norfolk - afterwards 1st. Earl of Leicester'.

[ Lady Margaret Sackville, poet and children's author, mistress of Ramsay MacDonald. ] Nine Autograph Letters Signed and two Autograph Card Signed (all 'Margaret Sackville') to her agent C. F. Cazenove, regarding manuscripts of fairy tales and poems.

Author: 
Lady Margaret Sackville (1881-1963), poet and children’s author, daughter of Earl De La Warr, second-cousin of Vita Sackville-West, mistress of Ramsay MacDonald [ C. F. Cazenove, literary agent ]
Publication details: 
One from Lupton, Churston, Devon. The other ten on letterheads: Inchmery, Exbury, Southampton (6); 2 Magdala Place, Edinburgh (2); Old Lodge, Ashdown Forest, Nutley, Sussex; Copthorne, Fawley, Southampton. Between 1905 and 1907.
£500.00

Written (perhaps appropriately) in a somewhat childish hand.

[ Augustine Birrell, author and politician. ] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Frank T. Marzials, giving an assessment of the character of Victor Hugo on reading Marzials's biography.

Author: 
Augustine Birrell (1850-1933), author and Liberal Party politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland, 1907-1916 [ Sir Frank Thomas Marzials (1840-1912); Victor Hugo ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 3 New Square, Lincoln's Inn. 12 September [1888].
£45.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium on grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. He writes that Marzials is 'some days too late' with his 'kind offer', as both Birrell and his wife have read 'with great pleasure' Marzials's book on Victor Hugo. 'It was a difficult task. (I mean the Life, not the reading of it) I am no judge on such a subject – being a very stay at home sort of fellow, but anyhow you succeeded in pleasing me. What a sensible, <?>, shrewd sort of fellow he was in what way may be called ordinary things.

[ Sir Frank Watson Dyson (1868-1939), Astronomer Royal. ] Autograph Note Signed ('F. W. Dyson') to 'Prof. Adams'

Author: 
Sir Frank Watson Dyson (1868-1939), Astronomer Royal who introduced Greenwich time signals ('pips') and helped prove Einstein's theory of general relativity
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Royal Greenwich Observatory. 1 July 1919.
£200.00

1p., 16mo. In good condition. Reads: 'Dear Prof. Adams, | Will you give us the pleasure of your company at lunch at the Royal Observatory on July 8 at 1 o'clock?'

[ F. T. Prince, poet and critic. ] Small miscellaneous autograph notebook, including an entry on his 'conversion', and an early draft of a 'would-be Byronic' poem. With signed note by Prince calling it 'typical of notebooks I carried about for years'

Author: 
F. T. Prince [ Frank Templeton Prince ] (1912-2003), poet and critic
Publication details: 
No place. References to 1974 and 1983, and with note dated 1998.
£750.00

According to his obituary in the Guardian, 2003, after a long period of neglect, Prince was rediscovered b the New York School, and by the end of his life had 'come to be regarded by writers as diverse as Geoffrey Hill and the American innovator John Ashbery as one of the most significant poets of the 20th century'. 40pp. of closely-written text in a small (13.5 x 9 cm) 'Lion Brand' notebook. Stapled, in card covers. In fair condition, aged and worn.

[ Frank Eyton, lyricist. ] Autograph Note Signed ('Frank Eyton') accompanying his typed original humorous poem about road works 'A Finchley Road Cameo'; together with a Typed Letter Signed ('Frank') of reminiscences and family news.

Author: 
Frank Eyton (1894-1962), English popular music lyricist [ Herman Finck [ Hermann Van Der Vinck ] (1872-1939), Anglo-Dutch composer ]
Publication details: 
Typed Letter Signed on letterhead of The Montecito, Hollywood, California, 20 September 1937. Autograph Note with Typed Poem on his letterhead, 12 Lowther Mansions, Barnes, S.W.13 [ London ]. 24 December 1937.
£120.00

Both items in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: Typed Poem followed by Autograph Note Signed. 24 December 1937. 2pp., 8vo. The poem consists of eleven four-line stanzas, with the title typed in red. An apparently unpublished humorous poem, quite charming and well worthy of publication. Begins: 'For months we've had electric road-drills | Right outside our door, | And two gentlemen who play them | Called in yesterday at four.

[ Herbert Sutcliffe, Frank Woolley, Fred Root and William Astill, England cricketers. ] Autograph Signatures ('H Sutcliffe', 'F E Woolley', 'Fred Foot', 'W. E. Astill'), with the signature of 'B W Bullock'.

Author: 
Herbert Sutcliffe (1894-1978); Frank Woolley [ Frank Edward Woolley ] (1887-1978); Fred Root [ Charles Frederick Root ] (1890-1954); William Ewart Astill (1888-1948); B. W. Bullock
Publication details: 
Given at the Yorkshire v. Rest of England match, the Oval [ London ], September 1923.
£60.00

The signatures of Sutcliffe and Woolley are on a 16 x 18 cm. piece of grey paper, cut from an album, those of the other three men are crowded onto an L-shaped piece of paper, laid down on the same leaf. At head of page: 'Yorkshire v. Rest of England, The Oval, Sept. 1923.' The odd man out is B. W. Bullock [ Burnett Wedlake Bullock ] (1896-1954), who did not take part in the match. He played for Surrey, and was presumably around when his more illustrious colleagues were giving autographs. According to the report in The Times, the match ended in a draw.

[ Frank E. Tours, Hollywood composer and musical director. ] Typed Letter Signed ('Frank Tours') to the theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope, containing reminiscences of his London theatre days (George Dance, Marie Lloyd, Stanley Logan).

Author: 
Frank E. Tours [ Frank Tours; Frank Edward Tours ] (1877-1963), English-born Hollywood composer and musical director (Marx Brothers; Citizen Kane; The Emperor Jones) [ W. J. Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960)]
Publication details: 
South Laguna. 20 January 1951.
£200.00

3pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with slight staining to one corner from paper clip. A good letter, filled with detail. Apart from brief opening and closing paragraphs the whole of the letter is devoted to reminiscences of his life before leaving England for America. At one point he comments: 'it is only when one is thinking back, as I am now, that one realizes the speed with which time fugits; it is now 21 years since I have been home, and 30 years since Bob and I were in "Irene" at the Empire.' The reminiscences begin: 'Barring a trip to U. S. and Australia with G. P.

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