HALL

[Lord Bryce (James Bryce), Liberal politician, jurist and British Ambassador to United States.] Autograph Letter Signed to William Sheowring declining to address tye South Place Ethical Society.

Author: 
Lord Bryce [James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce] (1838-1922), Ulster-born Liberal politician, jurist, British Ambassador to United States [The South Place Ethical Society, London; Conway Hall]
Publication details: 
9 August 1898. On embossed letterhead of the House of Commons.
£40.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Signed ‘James Bryce’. Addressed to ‘W. S[?]ing Esq.’, presumably the secretary of the South Place Ethical Society. His ‘time is already so fully occupied with public & private work & engagements of many kinds’ that he ‘cannot hope to comply’ with the recipient’s request that he ‘should give an address for the South Place Ethical Society’.

[‘the greatest theatrical comic of his age’: Ken Dodd, Liverpool comedian and singer.] Typed Letter Signed with biographical details, and signed publicity postcard with photographic portrait.

Author: 
Ken Dodd [Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd] (1927-2018), Liverpool comedian and singer, ‘the greatest theatrical comic of his age’
Ken Dodd
Publication details: 
Letter dated ‘C/o B.B.C. Manchester. / October 9th 1957.’
£100.00
Ken Dodd

Dodd’s entry in the Oxford DNB by Michael Billington concludes with the assessment that he was ‘the greatest theatrical comic of his age and the last link with the hallowed days of music hall’. The two items are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: TLS, 9 October 1957. 1p, 4to. Good large signature ‘Ken Dodd’. The male recipient is not named. He apologises for the late reply to the recipient’s letter. ‘May I also thank you for the compliments paid to my performance on Television. / I am a Liverpudlian, residing in Knotty Ash Liverpool.

[Isaiah Berlin's secretary Patricia Utrechin.] Two Typed Letters Signed to Philip Dosse, conveying Berlin's unwillingness to review Golda Meir's autobiography ('no reviewing for at least two years').

Author: 
Isaiah Berlin's secretary Patricia Utechin [Isaiah Berlin (1907-1997), historian of ideas; Philip Dosse (1925-80); 'Books and Bookmen']
Publication details: 
16 October and 4 November 1975. Each on letterhead of Headington House, Old High Street, Headington, Oxford.
£150.00

See Berlin's entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Philip Dosse (often addressed, as in this letter, as ‘Dossé’) 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. Both items 1p, landscape 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged.

[Author of the first million-seller: Hall Caine, the most popular novelist of his day.] Autograph List of Corrections ‘With Sir Hall Caine’s Compts’, to [Daily Telegraph propaganda?] articles entitled ‘Downfall of a Nation’ (revolutionary Russia).

Author: 
Hall Caine [Sir Hall Caine; Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine] (1853-1931), the most popular novelist of his day, author of ‘The Eternal City’, the first million-seller, with strong Isle of Man connections
Hall Caine
Publication details: 
No date or place. (Circa 1917)
£320.00
Hall Caine

See the description of Caine’s political views in his entry in the Oxford DNB. He began as a communist, but became a Christian Socialist, and a supporter of the Liberal Party on the mainland of Britain (he was a member of the Isle of Man House of Keys from 1901 to 1908) and a follower of the Church of England. The present item would appear to relate to the ‘impassioned propaganda’ that Caine published in the Daily Telegraph from September 1914 (ODNB). It is 1p, 4to.

[H. H. Asquith, Liberal Prime Minister.] Autograph Signature to Printed Circular regarding 'the University Settlements' [in London's East End and elsewhere] as a solution for 'social problems'.

Author: 
H. H. Asquith [Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith] (1852-1928), Liberal Prime Minister [University Settlements; Toynbee Hall, Whitechapel; Oxford House, Bethnal Green]
H. H. Asquith
Publication details: 
Printed Circular dated 'October, 1911.' No place.
£65.00
H. H. Asquith

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The ‘settlement’ movement was the result of growing unease among the educated classes regarding the condition of the poor. The two most celebrated settlements, both still active, are Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel and Oxford House in Bethnal Green. From the papers of Sir William David Ross (1877-1971), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford. The present printed circular is 1p, 12mo. Printed on wove watermarked paper. In good condition, lightly aged and folded once. Asquith’s signature is genuine. Reads: ‘October, 1911.

[Lord Milner [Alfred, Viscount Milner], Liberal politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr Ross' [the future Sir W. D. Ross], regarding the future of the philanthropic 'settlement' Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel.

Author: 
Lord Milner [Alfred Milner (1854-1925), 1st Viscount Milner], Liberal politician, Governor of the Cape Colony and first Governor of the Transvaal [Sir W. D. Ross (1877-1971), Oxford Vice-Chancellor]
Publication details: 
14 October 1913. 47 Duke Street, S.W. [London]
£56.00

See the entries for Milner and Ross in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed to 'Dear Mr Ross' and with good bold signature 'Milner'. The subject of the letter is the philanthropic ‘settlement’ Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel, founded in 1884 by Canon Barnett and Henrietta (DBE), his wife.

[Victor de Cottens, French dramatist and director, associated with the Folies Bergère in Paris.] Two Autograph Letters Signed and an Autograph Note Signed, in French, one from London to ‘Monsieur Clarkson’, and the other two to the same recipient.

Author: 
Victor de Cottens (1862-1956), French dramatist, librettist and director, associated with the Folies Bergère, Olympia music hall and Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris
Publication details: 
ONE (ANS to 'Monsieur Clarkson): 14 May [no year]. On illustrated letterhead of the Queen's Hotel, Leicester Square, London. TWO: ALS, 26 [March? 1910?]; on letterhead of the Olympia, 8 Rue Caumartin, Paris. THREE: ALS, 22 Mai [no year or place].
£50.00

The material is in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Items Two and Three are addressed to ‘Cher ami’. De Cottens’ handwriting is somewhat opaque. ONE: ANS, 14 May [no year]. The letterhead includes an engraved illustration of the Queen’s Hotel in Leicester Square. 1p, 12mo. ‘Cher Monsieur Clarkson / tous mes bien vifs remerciements pour votre aimable envoi de tickets. / Bien votre / Victor de Cottens.’ TWO: ALS, 26 [March? 1910?]. 1p, 12mo. He wonders whether the recipient might put his ‘experience à la disposition’ of a named colleague from Brussels. THREE: ALS, 1p, 16mo.

[Hall Caine, Victorian author.] Signed Autograph Inscription, 'With much admiration', to fellow-novelist George Meredith.

Author: 
Hall Caine [Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine] (1853-1931), hugely-popular Victorian author from the Isle of Man [George Meredith, distinguished man of letters]
Caine
Publication details: 
23 September 1891; on letterhead fo Hawthorns, near Keswick.
£120.00
Caine

A nice item linking one of late Victorian England’s most popular novelists with its most critically admired. See the entries for Caine and Meredith in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Laid down on part of a leaf from the autograph album of Meredith’s daughter Marie Eveleen (Mariette; 1871-1933), wife of Henry Parkman Sturgis (1847-1929), American-born banker and Liberal politician. Reads: ‘To / George Meredith / With much admiration / Hall Caine / 23/Sept/91.’ See image.

[?Bazaar of Nations?, Ealing Town Hall, London, 1920.] Printed ?Book of the Bazaar?, ?Complete Guide to Bazaar, containing a Detailed Account of the Stalls, Entertainments, Side Shows, also Names of Stall Holders, Helpers, &c.?

Author: 
?Bazaar of Nations?, Ealing Town Hall, London, 1920
Ealing
Publication details: 
Town Hall Ealing, 8, 9 and 10 June 1920. Francis A. Percy, Printer, West Ealing.
£90.00
Ealing

A nice piece of Ealing ephemera, and scarce: no other copy traced, either on WorldCat or JISC. 48pp, 12mo. Stapled into grey wraps, with heavily-inked cover illustration by Joan Murrell, depicting six figures from various nations (Japanese geisha in the middle), beneath bunting of five flags with Union Flag in centre, and with 'BAZAAR OF NATIONS' at head. Title page reads: ?Book of the Bazaar / held at the / Ealing Town Hall, / Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, / June 8th, 9th, 10th / 1920.

[B. H. Draper, Baptist hymn writer.] Autograph Letter Signed proposing to the nonconformist bookseller Josiah Conder an edition of Philip Henry’s sermons, from manuscripts, with reference to Sir John Bickerton Williams and John William Cunningham.

Author: 
B. H. Draper [Bourne Hall Draper] (1775-1843), hymn writer and Baptist minister [Josiah Conder (1789-1855), nonconformist bookseller; John Bickerton Williams; John William Cunningham; Philip Henry]
Publication details: 
‘Coseley, nr Bilstone, Staffordshire. / Dec. 20. 1815.’
£70.00

See his entry in the Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology, and Conder’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 4to. On the first leaf of a bifolium, the second addressed on the reverse, with postmark, to ‘Mr. Josh. Conder, / Bookseller, / Bucklersbury, / London.’ In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, spiked, folded for postage, and with damage and slight loss to the second leaf from the breaking of the wafer. Begins: ‘Learning lately from my friend Mr. Williams of Shrewsbury, [the future Sir John Bickerton Williams (1792-1855)] that you had engaged with him for his MS.

[Thomas Cook, travel agent.] Autograph Note Signed to lithographic illustration of his ?Leicester Temperance Hall and Hotel / Designed by J. Medland Esq., Gloucester?.

Author: 
Thomas Cook (1808-1892), travel agent; Leicester Temperance Hall and Hotel, designed by James Medland (1808-1894), County Surveyor for Gloucestershire
Cook
Publication details: 
Without date or place, but docketed in another hand on the reverse, including years 1866 and 1867.
£50.00
Cook

See Cook?s entry in the Oxford DNB. His temperance hall and hotel illustrated here, were built in 1853. The hall was demolished in the 1960s, to be replaced by a building typical of those that blight Leicester in 2011; the council gave permission for the hotel to be demolished to make way for another monstrosity. Sepia lithograph printed in landscape on 20 x 13 cm leaf of laid paper, extracted from a book or pamphlet. Attractive illustration of an imposing structure, with those that flank it, and people and coaches in the foreground.

[A Lancashire slaver and his coach.] Two itemised manuscript receipts for work on a coach from the London coachmaker Thomas Thorpe to the Lancashire slave trader William Atherton of Prescot Hall, one signed by Thorpe.

Author: 
Thomas Thorpe, London coachmaker [William Atherton (1742-1803) of Prescot Hall, St Helens, Lancashire, slave trader and owner of plantations in Jamaica]
Publication details: 
1799 and 1801. [Thorpe & Co., Coachmakers, 210 Holborn, London.]
£280.00

An indication of how slavers spent the fruits of their slaves’ labours. With the advent of slavery studies William Atherton has been the subject of a deal of interest, reflected on his Wikipedia page. Thorpe and Lee are listed as coachmakers at 210 Holborn in 1791; in 1803 the firm is named as Thorpe and Co at the same address. The two items are written out in a secretarial hand, each on a long strip made by cutting a folio leaf in half vertically. Both in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Each with slight damage from the breaking open of the wafer.

[Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley, England cricket captain in the first Ashes series against Australia.] 15 manuscript items of banking correspondence between Darnley (8 signed items), his attorneys Wadeson & Malleson (6) and bankers Coutts & Co (1).

Author: 
Ivo Bligh (1859-1927), 8th Earl of Darnley, England cricket captain in the first ever Ashes series against Australia, 1882-3; his attorneys Wadeson & Malleson, London; his bankers Coutts & Co, London
Publication details: 
All items from 1901. The Earl of Darnley, Cobham Hall, Gravesend, Kent; Coutts & Co, 59 Strand, London, WC; Malleson & Co, 7 Devonshire Square, Bishopsgate Without, London, EC.
£420.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The correspondence dates from the year 1901, Bligh having acceded to the earldom on the death of his elder brother Edward on 31 October 1900, and the material consists of what is probably the first set of banking instructions, mainly relating to his ‘accession account’, with recipients of payments ranging from the Dowager Countess to Rochester Golf Club. 10pp, foolscap 8vo; 2pp, 4to; 10pp, 12mo. The fifteen items range in size from foolscap 8vo to 12mo. Four items (letters to Coutts from Wadeson & Malleson) are typed and the rest are in manuscript.

[Samuel Carter Hall, editor of the Art Journal.] Autograph Letters Signed and Autograph Note Signed to ‘Crofton’, i.e. Thomas Crofton Croker, the letter regarding ‘the Palatines’ and the note a ‘certificate’ at ‘the Antiquaries’.

Author: 
Samuel Carter Hall (1800-1889), Anglo-Irish journalist and author, editor of the Art Journal [Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854), Anglo-Irish antiquary, folklorist; George Godwin (1813-88), architect]
Publication details: 
The letter undated [circa 1843?] and the note 27 February [no year]. Neither with place.
£75.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. Each item 1p, 12mo, on a bifolium. Both in fair condition, lightly aged, and both folded twice for postage. Both addressed to ‘My dear Crofton’. LETTER: Signed ‘S C H’. Presumably while working on ‘A Week at Killarney’, the book he and his wife published in London in 1843, Hall asks for ‘one or two morsels about the Palatines’ (see ‘Killarney’, pp. 78-79, a peculiar race of strangers): ‘Why were they planted in Ireland? - when precisely? by whom precisely’. NOTE. Signed ‘S. C. Hall’. ‘Godwin tells me the certificate is not “up” at the Antiquaries.

[Royal Festival Hall.] Printed brochure: ‘London County Council / Laying of the Foundation Stone of the Concert Hall, Ceremony to be performed by The Right Hon. C. R. Atlee, C.H., M.P., Prime Minister’. [With press release and manuscript notes.]

Author: 
[Royal Festival Hall; Festival of Britain, 1949; London County Council; Clement Atlee, Labour Prime Minister; Howard Roberts, Clerk of the Council; Felix Aprahamian]
Publication details: 
[Ceremony performed on 12 October 1949. Building commissioned by the London County Council.]
£150.00

The present item is rare, and its interest is heightened by the fact that it is accompanied by a press release and has the covers covered in what are clearly notes on how to film the ceremony by a press cameraman. Only three copies on COPAC: at the British Library, Sheffield Hallam and the Bishopsgate Institute. An 8vo stitched pamphlet of twenty unpaginated pages in printed card wraps. Internally very good.

[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.

[‘Suzette Tarri’, music hall comedienne.] Typed Letter Signed to P. W. Kerby and Typed Letter (signed on her behalf by her husband David Jenkins) to ‘Mr. Horsfield’, regarding bookings, with Autograph Letter Signed to W. Macqueen-Pope from Jenkins.

Author: 
Suzette Tarri [stage name of Ada Barbara Harriett Tarry (1881-1955), music hall and 'radio comedienne'; her husband and accompanist David Edmund Jenkins [W. Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian]
Publication details: 
ONE (ST to Kerby): 23 January 1944; her Southgate letterhead. TWO (ST to Horsfield): 29 March [no year]. THREE (Jenkins to Macqueen-Pope): 23 June 1950; different Southgate letterhead.
£100.00

From the papers of theatre historian Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960). (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) The three items are in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Her two letters are pinned together. The letter to Kerby has the large and firm signature ‘Suzette Tarri’; the letter to Horsfield is evidently signed ‘Suzette Terri’ on her behalf by her husband. ONE (ST to P. W. Kerby): 23 January 1944. Letterhead of ‘“Suda” / 25 Manor Drive, Southgate, N. 14’ (‘SUZETTE TARRI / RADIO COMEDIENNE / WITH / DAVID JENKINS / THE POPULAR PIANIST-VOCALIST’). 1p, 4to.

[Will Fyffe, Scottish comedian and music hall entertainer.] Two drafts of Typed Obituary of Fyffe [by theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope].

Author: 
[Will Fyffe (1885-1947), Scottish comedian and music hall entertainer] W. Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian
Publication details: 
No date or place. [1947. London.]
£90.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. MP is not named as the author, but there is no doubt that he is. Item one has corrections in his hand. Both versions are simply titled ‘Will Fyffe’. The two versions exhibit a number of differences from one another. It is not clear where the obituary was published, but it was probably the London magazine ‘Everybody’s’, for which MP contributed a weekly column. ONE: 4pp, 4to, double-spaced, on four leaves.

[Hannen Swaffer, Fleet Street journalist and spiritualist.] Typed Letter Signed to theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope, with carbon of the reply, regarding the music hall artiste Belle Bilton, who became Lady Dunlo.

Author: 
Hannen Swaffer [Frederic Charles Hannen Swaffer] (1879-1962), Fleet Street journalist and spiritualist [Walter James Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian; Belle Bilton, music hall artiste [Lady Dunlo]]
Publication details: 
Swaffer’s letter: 9 May 1951; 8 St Martin’s Place, Trafalgar Square, WC2 [London]. Carbon of Macqueen-Pope’s letter: 11 May 1951; 359 Strand, WC2 [London].
£45.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. From the Macqueen-Pope papers. Each item in good condition, lightly aged, with creasing and rust staining to one corner from a paperclip. ONE: Swaffer to MP. TLS, signed ‘Swaff’. 1p, 4to. ‘Dear Popey, / Do you know anything about this woman? [From the context he is sending MP an enquiry he has received from ‘Mr. Le Poer Trench’] I presume she was a legitimate actress.

[Fred Lewis, ‘The Well-known Character Impressionist and Entertainer’.] Autograph Letter Signed to theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope, on striking illustrated letterhead, with copy of his publicity leaflet, with photographic portrait.

Author: 
Fred Lewis, ‘The Well-known Character Impressionist and Entertainer’ [W. Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
Letter: 30 June 1957; 44 Montagu Street, Kettering, Northants. Leaflet without date or place.
£56.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) Letter: 1p, 4to. On cream paper. In good condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded twice for postage. The letterhead, headed ‘”The Meaning of Versatility” / Fred Lewis / Creating a good impression.’, has an illustration of a series of footprints up the left margin, some with faces in them, and such slogans as ‘Mirthful Medleys’ and ‘Brilliant Burlesque’. The feet creating these ‘impressions’ are disappearing at the head of the page.

[‘Ralom and Rosa’, English clown routine.] Typed Letter Signed from ‘Rosa’ to theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope, singing the praises of their act, and threatening to leave for the continent if they cannot find ‘the right recognition’ in England.

Author: 
‘Ralom and Rosa’, English clowns (‘International Comedy Musicans with Concertinas & Piano’) [Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
16 December 1956; on letterhead of ‘International Comedy Musicans with Concertinas & Piano / Clown / Ralom and Rosa’, 29 Hibbert Road, Leyton, London E17.
£120.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) 1p, 4to. On light-blue paper, with letterhead in dark-blue and red. Signed ‘Ralom’, with ‘RALOM & ROSA’ typed beneath. In good condition, lightly aged. Writing to MP at the Evening News, London. ‘There has [sic] been quite a few remarks passed by critics of the “paucity” of Acts in the Variety profession.

[‘Can anyone beat my record’: Nat Travers, ‘The Pearly King Cockney Singing Comedian’.] Autograph Letter Signed to theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope, boasting of sixty years in the theatre and asking for help getting radio and television work.

Author: 
Nat Travers, music hall artiste (b. c. 1875), ‘The Pearly King Cockney Singing Comedian’ [Walter James Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian]
Publication details: 
14 November 1957. ‘Guest Turn, Royal Oak, Dagenham’. On letterhead of ‘The Grand Old Timer Nat Travers / “The Pearly King Cockney Singing Comedian” / Radio & Television Star’, 265 Bancroft Road, Mile End, E1 [London].
£80.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) 1p, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Begins: ‘Dear Mac, Im going great and I dont use THE MIKE. I enclose Bill of Last Week / I first Worked 60 Years ago. Mac I want to get. to Broadcast. THIS. IS. Your. LIFE / I Started when I was 9 Year Old. Im now 82. Can anyone beat my Record.’ He gives details of booking at the ‘Metropoliton [sic] Music Hall Edgware Rd. I was first there. 1901. NOVEMBER 4 Weeks / Of cours [sic] I was There many Times. Mac you ought to try and get me on Television. or. Radio.

[Finlay Dunn, one of the first of the ‘stand-up comedians’.] Autograph Original Rhymed Poem about himself [sent to theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope], with reproduction of photographic portrait of him affixed.

Author: 
Finlay Dunn (fl. 1917), British entertainer, manager and stage director, one of the first ‘stand-up comedians’ [Walter James Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian]
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£100.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers, and evidently received by him. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) Of Dunn an online source states: ‘On the 10th of November 1917, the Stage Gossip feature in the Yorkshire Evening Post recounted the career of Finlay Dunn, a stage actor. According to the report, Dunn performed as what he refers to as a stand-up comedian.

[Greville Poke, arts administrator with the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre.] Two Typed Letters, one Signed, as editor of ‘Everybody’s’ magazine, to W. Macqueen-Pope, one discussing an article on music hall, with carbons of 3 replies

Author: 
Greville Poke [Greville John Poke] (1912-2000), editor of ‘Everybody’s’ magazine, arts administrator with the English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre, London [Walter James Macqueen-Pope]
Publication details: 
Poke’s two letters: 12 March and 27 May 1951; both on letterhead of ‘Everybody’s’ magazine, 114 Fleet Street, London. Carbons of the three letters to Poke from Maqueen-Pope: 27 March and 16 and 23 May 1951.
£120.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. Poke’s two letters are in good condition, lightly aged, the second with slight rust spotting from paperclip; the carbons of MP’s letters to Poke on aged, worn and discoloured cartridge paper. ONE: Poke to MP, 12 March 1951. 3pp, small 4to.

[‘Kate Carney’, stage name of music hall artiste Catherine Mary Shea, ‘The Coster Comedienne’.] Autograph Letter Signed, thanking theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope for the ‘nice write up’, and asking for help in finding an editor for her memoirs.

Author: 
‘Kate Carney’ [stage name of Catherine Mary Shea, née Pattinson] (1869-1950), English music hall artiste, known as ‘The Cockney Queen’ and ‘Coster Comedienne' [W. J. Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian]
Publication details: 
14 March 1949; 60 Christchurch Road, Streatham Hill, SW2 [London].
£56.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers (see his entry in the Oxford DNB). 2pp, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, and folded three times for postage. She asks him to send ‘3 or 4 more copies’ of his ‘nice write up in the “Sunday Chronicle” March 13th.’, as she would like to send ‘a copy to Australia, Canada & America, as there is some talk about my going to America in the near future’. She has ‘tried all over Streatham and Brixton and it seems impossible to get a copy anywhere’, and will be happy to pay the cost.

[‘The best private Collection in the Kingdom’: William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale.] Autograph Letter Signed regarding excavations at Moresby Hall, Cumbria, and his ‘collection of Statues in Roman & Greek antiquities’.

Author: 
William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale (1787-1872), styled Viscount Lowther, 1807-1844, Tory politician [Moresby Hall, Cumbria]
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Signed ‘Lonsdale’. Recipient (‘Dear Sir’) not named. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin neat strip of windowpane mount at edges. Folded twice for postage. He has received the recipient’s letter, and is ‘sorry on different accounts the excavations have not arrived at a better success.

[‘Pray destroy this letter.’ Hall Caine, English novelist, regarding his war work for the B.ritish Government.] Long ‘Strictly Private’ Autograph Letter Signed to Douglas Sladen, also assessing the position of the man of letters in his England.

Author: 
Hall Caine [Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine] (1853-1931), hugely-popular Victorian and Edwardian Isle of Man author [Douglas Sladen [Douglas Brooke Wheelton Sladen] (1856-1947), author and academic]
Publication details: 
10 April 1917; on letterhead of Heath Brow, Hampstead Heath.
£220.00

An excellent letter, in which Caine evaluates his wartime activities, criticises those of others, and gives his opinion of the the standing of the man of letters in the England of his time. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. A long letter: forty-two lines in Caine’s distinctive close hand, with the first two pages on the rectos of the leaves, and the third page written lengthwise on the verso of the first leaf. Signed ‘Hall Caine’ and addressed to ‘My dear Sladen’.

[Canon Barnett [Samuel Augustus Barnett], clergyman and social reformer who founded Toynbee Hall.] Autograph Letter Signed, asking ‘Maud’ to send violet leaves three times a week to William Tourell, who is dying of cancer.

Author: 
Canon Barnett [Samuel Augustus Barnett] (1844-1913), Church of England cleric and social reformer who founded the East End university settlement Toynbee Hall [East London Shoeblack Brigade]
Publication details: 
8 June 1902; on letterhead of St. Jude’s Cottage, Spaniard’s Road, Hampstead Heath, N.W. [London]
£56.00

Barnett’s entry in the Oxford DNB accepts his ‘greatness’ and discusses its nature. 1p, 16mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The subject of this letter is William Tourell, Superintendent of the East London Shoeblack Brigade, a charity of which Barnett was treasurer. The letter begins: ‘Dear Maud. / My Friend Towrell [sic] is dying of cancer. He is taking violet leaves & somehow the disease seems arrested. The doctor says he had better go on taking these leaves as they may be doing good’.

[Marshall Hall Higginbottom, Nottingham surgeon, nephew of eminent neurophysiologist Marshall Hall.] Autograph Letter Signed [to Rev. Samuel Walker], recommending the ear-surgeon Joseph Toynbee.

Author: 
Marshall Hall Higginbottom (1822-1895), Nottingham surgeon, nephew of Marshall Hall, eminent physician and neurophysiologist, vivisectionist and abolitionist [Rev. Samuel Walker; Joseph Toynbee]
Publication details: 
7 April 1856. Nottingham.
£45.00

A nice item, casting light on the practice of the provincial medical profession in Victorian England. See Higginbottom’s obituary in the British Medical Journal, 16 March 1895. There are a number of references to Higginbottom in the memoir of 1861 memoir of Marshall Hall (1790-1857) by his widow. For information about Hall, who died the following year, see his entry in the Oxford DNB, together with that of the otologist Joseph Toynbee (1815-1866). The item is from the papers of Rev. Samuel Walker, successively of Nottingham and Liverpool.

[Lieut-Col. John Stuart Bligh, 6th Earl Darnley, amateur cricketer.] Autograph Note Signed, giving ‘Mr. F. York’ permission to ‘take some photographic views’ of Cobham Hall, Gravesend. With stamped envelope, addressed in Autograph.

Author: 
Lieut-Col. John Stuart Bligh, 6th Earl of Darnley [formerly Lord Clifton] (1827-1896), amateur cricketer, father of the England captain Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley [F. York, London photographer]
Publication details: 
5 September 1868. On embossed letterhead of Cobham Hall, Gravesend.
£50.00

See his son Ivo Bligh’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: ‘Sir: / You are welcome to take some photographic views of this place: - you will please to ask to see the Houseeeper when you come. / I remain / Yours faithy / Darnley’. In worn envelope, self-stamped with pink penny stamp and two postmarks, one from Gravesend. Addressed in Autograph by Darnley to ‘Mr. F. York / Alfred Villa / Lancaster Road / Notting Hill London W.’

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