LABOUR

[Janet Beverdige, wife of Sir William Beveridge, ‘Architect of the Welfare State’.] Typed Letter Signed to V. H. Collins, regarding her sister’s death, her book on the Beveridge Plan, Sir William’s punctiliousness and ‘the kilt’.

Author: 
Janet Beveridge [born Janet Thomson Philip, later Janet Mair] (1876-1959), second cousin and wife of Sir William Beveridge (1879-1963), ‘Architect of the Welfare State’ [Vere Henry Collins, author]
Publication details: 
20 September 1954; on letterhead of Staverton House, 104 Woodstock Road, Oxford.
£120.00

See Sir William Beveridge’s entry in the Oxford DNB: 'An overbearing and temperamental Scotswoman, Mrs Mair had come to the school [the LSE] with Beveridge in 1919 (having been his secretary and aide during the war) and was highly unpopular with many of the school's professors. Throughout the 1930s there were complaints about the ‘Beveridge–Mair dictatorship’ and a general sense of relief when Beveridge decided to leave the school to accept the mastership of University College, Oxford, in 1937.' 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with one dog-eared corner. Folded twice for postage.

[Ernest Bevin, Labour Party politician, Minister of Labour in Churchill’s wartime coalition.] Typed Letter Signed to Sir David Ross

Author: 
Ernest Bevin (1881-1961), Labour Party politician, Minister of Labour in Churchill’s wartime coalition [Sir David Ross [W. D. Ross] (1877-1971), Scottish philosopher, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford]
Publication details: 
17 May 1940. On embossed letterhead of the Ministry of Labour and National Service, Montagu House, Whitehall S.W.1 [London]
£56.00

See the entries for Bevin and Ross in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘Sir David Ross, K.B.E., LL.D.’ and signed ‘Ernest Bevin’. Begins: ‘Dear Sir David, / In connection with my general plans I wish as soon as possible to make definite proposals concerning the Fair Wages Clause.’ He understands that ‘discussions between the T.U.C.

[Lord Haldane [Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane], Lord Chancellor.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr Hurd' (i.e. the future Sir Archibald Hurd), regarding his essay on defence against German invasion, and Sir Arthur Wilson.

Author: 
Lord Haldane [Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane] (1856-1928), Scottish Liberal and Labour politician, philosopher, and Lord Chancellor [Sir Archibald Hurd (1869-1959), naval strategist]
Publication details: 
9 January 1911. On letterhead of Cloan, Auchterarder, N. B. [North Brition, i.e. Scotland]
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with the blank second leaf carrying some traces of pink paper mount. Written a couple of months before Haldane’s acceptance of a peerage, so that he could become leader of the Liberals in the House of Lords, and in response to Hurd’s essay ‘The New Policy of Imperial and Home Defence’, published in the January 1911 number of ‘The Nineteenth Century and After’.

[J. H. Thomas, Welsh trade unionist and Labour politician.] Typed Note Signed, as General Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen, to the future Sir W. D. Ross, written on the eve of the 1919 national rail strike.

Author: 
J. H. Thomas [James Henry Thomas] (1874-1949), Welsh trade unionist and Labour politician, General Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen during the 1919 nation rail strike [Sir W. D. Ross]
J. H. Thomas,
Publication details: 
22 September 1919. On ornate letterhead of The National Union of Railwaymen, Unity House, Euston Road, London, N.W.1.
£56.00
J. H. Thomas,

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In good condition, on lightly aged and creased cartridge paper. Folded three times. The letterhead is quite an impressive affair, with an engraving of ‘Unity House’ and lettering in a variety of styles. The letter is addressed to ‘W. D. Ross, Esq., / Oriel College, / Oxford.’ The ink on the ribbon appears to have been running out, as the latter part of the note is faded.

[Herbert Morrison, Labour politician.] Three Typed Letters Signed to Sir David Ross, the first regarding the release of Harold Butler from work for his department, and the last two regarding personal arrangements for a debate at the Oxford Union.

Author: 
Herbert Morrison [Herbert Stanley Morrison; Lord Morrison of Lambeth] (1888-1965), Labour politician, leader of London County Council, Home Secretary in war under Churchill [W. D. Ross] (1877-1971)]
Publication details: 
ONE: 25 November 1941; on letterhead of the Ministry of Home Security, Whitehall, S.W.1. TWO: 19 January 1944; on Home Secretary letterhead. THREE: 24 January 1944; on Whitehall letterhead of Home Secretary.
£100.00

See the entries for Morrison and Ross in the Oxford DNB. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. The second item has a punch hole centred at the head of the leaf. All three 1p, 12mo, and each with Morrison’s sprawling signature ‘Yrs sincerely / Herbert Morrison /’, the first in green ink. ONE (25 November 1941): Addressed by Morrison in green ink to ‘Dear Sir David’. Thanking him for a note ‘in which you assure me of the appreciation of the Nuffield College Committee at my action in agreeing to release Mr.

[Ernest Bevin, Labour Party politician, Minister of Labour in Churchill’s wartime coalition.] Typed Letter Signed to [Sir David Ross,] the Vice Chancellor of Oxford University, regarding ‘the visit of the Greek Regent to this country’.

Author: 
Ernest Bevin (1881-1961), Labour Party politician, Minister of Labour in Churchill’s wartime coalition [Sir David Ross [W. D. Ross] (1877-1971), Scottish philosopher, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford]
Ernest Bevin
Publication details: 
1 September 1945; on letterhead of the Foreign Office, S.W.1. [Whitehall, London]
£80.00
Ernest Bevin

See the entries for Bevin and Ross in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed to ‘The Vice Chancellor, / Oxford University’. The two lines of Bevin’s autograph valediction ascending and converging at the same time: ‘Yours sincerely / Ernest Bevin’. He was glad to receive Ross’s letter ‘about the visit of the Greek Regent to this country’. He feels sure that ‘the Regent will wish to accept an invitation to visit Oxford’. He gives tentative dates for his stay, undertaking to ‘have a day at least set aside for this purpose’.

[‘Nothing but death or the gout’: Lord Haldane [Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane], Lord Chancellor.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to ‘Mrs Sturgis’ [George Meredith’s daughter], about plans for visits, one preceding dinner with the king.

Author: 
Lord Haldane [Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane] (1856-1928), Scottish Liberal and Labour politician, philosopher, and Lord Chancellor
Publication details: 
ONE: 27 January [1901?]; 3 Whitehall Court [London]. TWO: 16 February [1904?]; on letterhead of 10 Old Square, Lincolns Inn, W.C. [London]
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both letters are in good condition, lightly aged, and both folded once. Both addressed to ‘Mrs Sturgis’, and both signed ‘R B Haldane’. The year in both cases is in the first decade of the twentieth century, but the last digit is hard to decipher. ONE: 27 January [1901?]. 2pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. He fears that he will not reach Leatherhead (where the Sturgis had a country house) before ‘the late train after dinner on Sat. the 21st.’ He plans to ‘send down a servant ahead’, and himself ‘come at bedtime’.

[Lord Balogh, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s economic advisor.] 36 items of correspondence to Philip Dosse of Hanson Books, in connection with reviews by him for ‘Books and Bookmen’.

Author: 
Lord Balogh [Thomas Balogh, Baron Balogh, born Balog Tamás] (1905-1985), British economist of Hungarian Jewish descent, advisor of Labour prime minister Harold Wilson [Philip Dosse (1925-1980)]
Publication details: 
Between 1973 and 1978. Letterheads: 10 of the letters from the House of Lords; 15 from the British National Oil Corporation, London; 5 from Queen Elizabeth House, 21 St Giles, Oxford.
£1,200.00

Balogh’s entry in the Oxford DNB notes his ‘flamboyant mind and considerable moral courage’. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Films and Filming. 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 collection is in good condition, lightly aged and worn.

[Lord Sankey [John Sankey, 1st Viscount Sankey], judge, Labour politician whose committee drew up the 1940 Sankey Declaration of the Rights of Man.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘[A.G.L.] Rogers’, regarding a 'hostel' and the Bishop of St David's.

Author: 
Lord Sankey [John Sankey, 1st Viscount Sankey (1866-1948)], High Court judge, Labour politician who chaired the committee that drew up the 1940 Sankey Declaration of the Rights of Man [A.G.L. Rogers]
Publication details: 
1 January 1926. On embossed letterhead of the Royal Courts of Justice.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son and editor of the economist Thorold Rogers [James Edwin Thorold Rogers] (1823-1890), for information regarding whom see his entry in the Oxford DNB. A little grubby, but in fair condition, folded once. Good clear signature. Reads: ‘The 1st. of January 1926. / My dear Rogers, / Many thanks for your letter and information re the hostel. I have already brought it before The Bishop of St. David’s and hope that something may result. / With kind regards and best wishes.

[‘100% Socialist but disrespectful to Marx’: Sir Richard Acland, Labour politician and a founder of CND.] Typed Letter Signed to Philip Dosse, publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’, describing his self-published book ‘The Next Step’.

Author: 
Sir Richard Acland [Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet] (1906-1990), Common Wealth Party and Labour politician, a founder of CND [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher ‘Books and Bookmen’]
Publication details: 
8 February 1974; Sprydon, Broadclyst, Exeter.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 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. This item is 2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with the two leaves attached by a slightly rusty staple. Folded twice for postage. Large sprawling signature ‘Richard Acland’ above typed name ‘Sir Richard Acland’.

[Marion Phillips; Labour; Printed Periodical] The Labour Woman. A Monthly Journal for Working Women

Author: 
Ed. Dr Marion Phillips
Women
Publication details: 
Published by the Labour Party (London) and printed by the London Caledonian Press , May 1926.
£80.00
Women

One issue only. Vol. XIV, No. 5, pp.[65]-[79], unbound, some damage and aging not affecting text. It commences with A Parliamentary Chronicle by Ellen Wilkinson. See image

[Oxford University Labour Club: appeasers, trades unions and the Spanish Civil War, 1938.] Eight numbers of 'Oxford Forward', with articles by Raymond Postgate, Naomi Mitchison; John Strachey, Derek Tasker, Christopher Thornycroft, Philip Toynbee.

Author: 
'Oxford Forward', journal of Oxford University Labour Club [Naomi Mitchison; Raymond Postgate; Michael Sheldon; Nigel Harvey; John Strachey; Derek Tasker; Christopher Thornycroft; Philip Toynbee]
Publication details: 
New Series 1-8. 'Published by The Editorial Board of Oxford Forward, St. Michael's Hall, Oxford, and printed by The Alden Press (Oxford) Ltd., Oxford.' Eight issues. 23 April 1938 to 11 June 1938. New Series, Nos. 1, 2, 21, 4, 22, 6, 7, 8.
£400.00

'Oxford Forward' was the journal of the Labour Club in Oxford, which had 730 members in 1937. Eight sequential issues, with nos. 21 and 22 misnumbered for 3 and 5. [12 + 8 + 16 + 8 + 12 + 8 + 8 + 8 =] totalling 80pp., 4to. With illustrations and cartoons. In good condition, lightly aged, in green cloth binding lightly spotted with paint. Each number with the masthead in red, three issues also including the words 'Edition of University' in small print in the title. The front page of number 21 (7 May 1938) has 'ARMS FOR SPAIN' in large red letters at the foot.

[Oxford University Labour Club: appeasers, trades unions and the Spanish Civil War, 1938.] Eight numbers of 'Oxford Forward', with articles by Raymond Postgate, Naomi Mitchison; John Strachey, Derek Tasker, Christopher Thornycroft, Philip Toynbee.

Author: 
'Oxford Forward', journal of Oxford University Labour Club [Naomi Mitchison; Raymond Postgate; Michael Sheldon; Nigel Harvey; John Strachey; Derek Tasker; Christopher Thornycroft; Philip Toynbee]
Publication details: 
New Series 1-8. 'Published by The Editorial Board of Oxford Forward, St. Michael's Hall, Oxford, and printed by The Alden Press (Oxford) Ltd., Oxford.' Eight issues. 23 April 1938 to 11 June 1938. New Series, Nos. 1, 2, 21, 4, 22, 6, 7, 8.
£400.00

'Oxford Forward' was the journal of the Labour Club in Oxford, which had 730 members in 1937. Eight sequential issues, with nos. 21 and 22 misnumbered for 3 and 5. [12 + 8 + 16 + 8 + 12 + 8 + 8 + 8 =] totalling 80pp., 4to. With illustrations and cartoons. In good condition, lightly aged, in green cloth binding lightly spotted with paint. Each number with the masthead in red, three issues also including the words 'Edition of University' in small print in the title. The front page of number 21 (7 May 1938) has 'ARMS FOR SPAIN' in large red letters at the foot.

[Isobel Cripps [Lady Cripps], overseas aid organizer.] Two duplicated Second World War handbills, in the form of facsimiles of Autograph Letters Signed, regarding the British United Aid to China Fund.

Author: 
Isobel Cripps [Lady Cripps; née Swithinbank] (1891-1979), overseas aid organizer, wife of Labour politician Sir Stafford Cripps [British United Aid to China Fund]
Publication details: 
Neither printed handbill dated, but both dating from the Second World War. Both on London letterheads: one for 13 Regent Street, SW1; the other for 57 New Bond Street, W1.
£50.00

Two scarce pieces of wartime ephemera. See her entry, and that of her husband, in the Oxford DNB. The former explains how, during the Second World War, Lady Cripps was president of the British United Aid to China Fund, and that in 1946 ‘she undertook an extensive and arduous tour of China’, being entertained by both Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong. The journey was ‘one of 30,000 miles which included travel by air, sea, road, rail, and truck. Most of the great cities of China were visited and to see co-operative work in rural areas the Gansu Desert was crossed by lorry.

[Ethel Snowden, Fabian socialist and suffragist.] Seven Typed Letters Signed and one Autograph Letter Signed, to Rev. A. H. Sayers, regarding a talk by her to the League of Nations Union, Monmouth; with one after her husband’s death.

Author: 
Ethel Snowden, Viscountess Snowden [née Ethel Annakin] (1881-1951), Fabian socialist, suffragist, temperance and peace campaigner, wife of first Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Snowden
Publication details: 
The ALS and six of the TLsS from 1934, one TLS from 1937 and another undated (but from November 1934), All eight items from Eden Lodge, Tilford, with four on letterheads.
£280.00

She her entry, and that of her husband, in the Oxford DNB. Throughout her life she inspired a range of responses. The ‘Labour Leader’ described her as a ‘second Annie Besant’, while Manny Shinwell dismissed her as ‘the would-be Sarah Bernhardt of the party’; to Lord Reith, during her time as a BBC governor, she was ‘the Scarlet Woman’. The present eight items are in good condition, lightly aged, and all folded for postage. A total of eleven typed pages (4to, 12mo and 16mo) and one page in 4to autograph. All signed ‘Ethel Snowden’.

[Louis Bondy, London antiquarian bookseller.] Printed handbill, with biography and photograph, endorsing ‘Louis W. Bondy’ in the 1953 Holborn Borough By-Election, ‘South Bloomsbury Ward - E’. With Autograph Note Signed to Andrew Block.

Author: 
Louis Bondy [Louis Wolfgang Bondy] (1910-1993), London antiquarian bookseller and local politician, Labour Party councillor for Holborn in the Greater London Council [Andrew Block]
Publication details: 
Thursday 25 June 1953; ‘Printed by J. Stafford Thomas, Ltd., (T.U.), 177 Bermondsey Street, S.E.1 and Published by John Peel, 78 Witley Court, W.C.1.’
£65.00

See Nicolas Barker’s obituary of Bondy in the Independent, 27 June 1993. 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. An evocative piece of booktrade and London local government ephemera. 2pp, 8vo. Printed on a leaf of shiny art paper. Worn and creased; folded twice. On one side ‘L. W.

[‘The time is not one that favours such an enterprise’: Lord Haldane, Lord Chancellor and philosopher.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Miss Black’, giving his considered opinion of the prospects for ‘a new weekly paper’.

Author: 
Lord Haldane [Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane] (1856-1928), Scottish Liberal and Labour politician, philosopher, and Lord Chancellor
Publication details: 
9 March 1920; on letterhead of 28 Queen Anne’s Gate, Westminster.
£65.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged with a crease. Folded once. Signed ‘Haldane’. He begins ‘With all good wishes for any cause you are engaged in’, but ‘no hope of success for a new weekly paper’.

[‘Why don’t you ask me to do it for you?’: Sidney Webb, Fabian theorist.] Three Autograph Letters Signed to A. G. L. Rogers, one criticising a pamphlet he has a hand in, another declining to put himself forward for the Liberal candidacy in Stepney.

Author: 
Sidney Webb [Sidney JamesWebb, Baron Passfield] (1859-1947), Fabian Society theorist and socialist politician, literary collaborator with his wife Beatrice Webb (1858-1943) [A. G. L. Rogers]
Publication details: 
ONE: 22 September 1891; on letterhead of 4 Park Village East, N.W. TWO: 6 February 1892; 4 Park Village East, N.W. THREE: 8 June 1893; on letterhead of the London County Council, Spring Gardens, S.W.
£150.00

See Sidney Webb's entry in the Oxford DNB, now unaccountably placed within that of his wife. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son and editor of the economist Thorold Rogers [James Edwin Thorold Rogers] (1823-1890), for information regarding whom see his entry in the Oxford DNB. The three items in good condition, lightly aged. Each folded once. All three signed ‘Sidney Webb’; the first to ‘Sir’, the second to ‘My dear Rogers’, and the third to ‘Dear Rogers’. ONE: 22 September 1891. 4pp, 12mo.

[Lord Pethick-Lawrence, Labour politician and campaigner for women’s suffrage, husband of Emmeline Pethick.] Autograph Note Signed (‘F W Pethick-Lawrence’) thanking Thomas Lloyd Humberstone for his ‘booklet on the Public Schools’.

Author: 
Lord Pethwick-Lawrence [Frederick William Pethick-Lawrence, born Frederick William Lawrence] (1871-1961), Labour politician and campaigner for women's suffrage, husband of Emmeline Pethick
Publication details: 
13 October 1944; on letterhead of 11 Old Square, Lincoln’s Inn, W.C.2. [London]
£35.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Thomas Lloyd Humberstone (1876-1957) was an educationalist and prominent member of the Convocation of the University of London. The booklet referred to is his ‘The Public School Question’, which he printed himself in 1943. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads. ‘Dear Humberstone / Thanks for your booklet on the Public Schools which I have read with interest / Yours truly / F W Pethick Lawrence’.

[Lord Thomson, Minister for Air in Ramsay MacDonald’s Labour Government.] Typed Letter Signed (‘Thomson’) to Sir Reginald Hart, praising his ‘advanced views on politics’.

Author: 
Lord Thomson [Christopher Birdwood Thomson] (1875-1930), army officer and Minister for Air in Ramsay MacDonald Labour Government, killed in R101 airship disaster [Sir Reginald Clare Hart (1848-1931)]
Publication details: 
2 April 1924; on letterhead of 12 St James’s Court, Buckingham Gate, S.W.1 [London]
£38.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ‘Dear Sir Reginald’. After sympathizing with him on his indisposition he writes: ‘I always felt that you really had more advanced views on politics than most of the Generals in the British Army, and what you say in your letter does not surprise me therefore in the least.’ He ends with regards to Lady Hart and the Harts’ daughter. Autograph postscript: ‘Ps. Ps. forgive type written letter.’

[Barbara Castle, Labour politician.] Autograph Note Signed to ‘Pip’, accompanying signed press photograph to him, the other side of the note carrying an Autograph Note from deaf Labour politician Jack Ashley.

Author: 
Barbara Castle [Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, née Betts] (1910-2002), Labour politician [Jack Ashley [John Ashley, Baron Ashley of Stoke] (1922-2012)]
Publication details: 
Barbara Castle’s note dated 11 July 1973; no place. The ‘British Official Photograph’ dated on accompanying leaf to 1974.
£76.00

See their entries in the Oxford DNB. Castle was a pioneer for woman in British politics and a champion of the welfare state; and Ashley, said to have been the first totally deaf democratic representative in the world, was a campaigner for the rights of the disabled.. Both items in good condition. The ANS is on a 16mo leaf of pink paper. On one side: ‘To Pip / who has lightened our load and brightened our lives for so many years. / Bless you! / Barbara Castle / 11. 7. 73.’ On the other: ‘To PIP THE POPular / With every good wish / Jack Ashley / P.S. And lots and lots of fun. / JA’.

[Hugh Dalton, Clement Attlee’s Chancellor of the Exchequer: ‘This is a proud honour’.] Two Typed Letters Signed to educationalist T. Lloyd Humberstone, noting that he is the first University of London Chancellor, criticizing ‘Harrovian Chancellors’.

Author: 
Hugh Dalton (1887-1962), economist, Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1945-7, one of ‘big five’ in Clement Attlee Labour Party postwar government [T. Lloyd Humberstone, educationist; University of London]
Publication details: 
21 September 1945 and 11 March 1946. Both from Treasury Chambers, the first from Whitehall and the second from Great George Street.
£75.00

See entry in Oxford DNB on Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton, Baron Dalton (1887-1962). Thomas Lloyd Humberstone (1876-1957) was a prominent member of the Convocation of the University of London. Both signed ‘Hugh Dalton’. Both in good condition and lightly aged. ONE (21 September 1945): 1p, 4to. Folded twice. He has found Humberstone’s letter ‘most interesting’, and sends delayed thanks for his congratulations (on Dalton’s appointment as Chancellor). He will also be ‘requiring a cheque in due course’, and notes the ‘suggestion of a tax rebate’.

[Hugh Gaitskell, Labour politician] Typed Note Signed boldly Hugh Gaitskell to M.B. Bradshaw, Director, Art Exhibitions Bureau [...] permitting the exhibition of the Road to Tarbet, presumably a picture in Gaitskell's private collection.

Author: 
Hugh Gaitskell (1906-1963), sometime leader of the Labour Party.
Publication details: 
[House of Commons stamp] 23 June 1955.
£45.00

One page, 12mo, very good condition. He gives permission for 'Road to Tarbet' to be exhibited at Scarborough and Hull, on the understanding that you will take full responsibility for returning it to me in London when the Hull Exhibition ends.

[3rd Earl Grey; Guiana] Substantial Autograph Letter Signed Grey to Thomas Baring who has requested advice on the latter's eventual petition (3 July 1857) of the immigration of free labour [as opposed to slaves as in the USA) into Guiana.

Author: 
Henry George Grey, 3rd Earl Grey (1802 – 1894), statesman, sometime Under-Secretary of State for War and the Colonies and later Colonial Secretary.
Publication details: 
Howick, 25 June 1857
£250.00

Six pages, 12mo, good condition. He finds it difficult to give advice because of his being so imperfectly informed as to the present state of the question of immigration into Guiana.

[Harold Wilson, Labour prime minister.] Christmas card, signed by Wilson, his wife Mary and son Giles, together with his foreign secretary George Brown and his wife Sophie, who writes a message in German.

Author: 
Harold Wilson (1916-1995), Labour prime minister; his wife Mary Wilson (1916-2018); his son Giles Wilson; George Brown (1914-1985), Labour politician; his wife Sophie Brown [Sophia Levene] (1911-1990)
Publication details: 
1966. Christmas card by Lum & Feher Press, Honolulu.
£100.00

In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Christmas card with unusual image of the three wise men (in Roman helmets) seen from behind, following the guiding star as it leads them across a Hawaian beach to the hut in which the birth of the messiah is occurring. Printed message in card in Hawaian and English. The reverse of the second leaf has nothing printed on it other than the publisher's slug, and at the head the prime minister has written 'Happy Christmas'. Beneath this, one above the other, are the five signatures: 'Harold Wilson | Mary Wilson. | Giles Wilson.

[Edith Summerskill, physician, feminist and Labour politician.] Autograph Note Signed ('Edith Summerskill.') to 'Sir Thomas', thanking him [for the Christmas present of a diary].

Author: 
Edith Clara Summerskill (1901-1980), Baroness Summerskill (1901-1980), physician, feminist, Labour politician and writer, Minister of Insurance, 1950-1951; mother of Shirley Summerskill
Publication details: 
22 December 1947. On letterhead of the Ministry of Food (to which she was Parliamentary Secretary), Montagu House, Whitehall, London, S.W.1.
£40.00

2pp, 18mo. On aged paper, with short closed tear to one edge. He has evidently sent her a present of a diary, and she write that it was 'very sweet' of him to remember her over Christmas, adding: 'I shall use your diary every day during the coming year.' She ends with her best wishes of the season and coming year.

[Michael Davitt, Irish republican politician.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Michael Davitt.') to W. M. Knox, regarding his 'direction' of the forthcoming newspaper 'Labour World'.

Author: 
Michael Davitt (1846-1906), Irish republican and agrarian campaigner, founder of the Irish National Land League, Member of the British Parliament [Irish Republican Brotherhood; Home Rule; Fenians]
Publication details: 
On letterhead (with full-page illustration) of the Arundel Hotel, Victoria Embankment, Strand, W.C., London; 23 March 1890.
£200.00

The present letter relates to the founding by Davitt – who inspired Mahatma Gandhi – of the newspaper 'Labour World', in which he was an early promoter of the British Labour Party. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded once. The reverse of the second leaf carries a full-page engraving of the 'Arundel Hotel, | Victoria Embankment, Strand, W.C.' He begins by informing Knox that 'Mr Stead' has handed him his 'favour to him of the 12th. inst.' He continues: 'The paper alluded to in the Review of Reviews is not to be started in Ireland.

[Lord Strabolgi, Labour Chief Whip in the House of Lords.] Typed reference, signed 'Strabolgi", for 'Mr. T. Avery Radford', his private secretary when 'Member for Hull'.

Author: 
Lord Strabolgi [Joseph Montague Kenworthy, 10th Baron Strabolgi] (7 March 1886 – 8 October 1953), Scottish peer and Liberal and later Labour politician [T. Avery Radford]
Publication details: 
On House of Lords letterhehad. 16 August 1935.
£35.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. At top of page: 'From: Lord Strabolgi.' Headed beneath the letterhead: 'TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.' Reads: 'This is to certify that Mr. T. Avery Radford worked for me as my Private Secretary when I was Member for Hull, from 1919 to 1921. He performed his duties most efficiently, was entirely reliable and trustworthy, an a great help to me in my political work.

[Hugh Gaitskell, Leader of the Labour Party.] Typed Letter Signed to 'Rowe', sending Christmas greetings.

Author: 
Hugh Gaitskell [Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell] (1906-1963), Leader of the Labour Party
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Treasury Chambers, Great George Street, S.W.1. [London] 10 January 1951.
£56.00

1p., 4to. The salutation 'My dear Rowe,' and the valediction 'Yours sincerely | Hugh Gaitskell' are in Gaitskell's autograph, written in red ink; the rest of the letter is typed. Aged and worn, with discoloration and a small insect crushed onto a blank part. Reads: 'Many thanks for your kind Christmas note and good wishes.

[Oxford University Labour Club: appeasers, trades unions and the Spanish Civil War, 1938.] Eight numbers of 'Oxford Forward', with articles by Raymond Postgate, Naomi Mitchison; John Strachey, Derek Tasker, Christopher Thornycroft, Philip Toynbee.

Author: 
'Oxford Forward', journal of Oxford University Labour Club [Naomi Mitchison; Raymond Postgate; Michael Sheldon; Nigel Harvey; John Strachey; Derek Tasker; Christopher Thornycroft; Philip Toynbee]
Publication details: 
New Series 1-8. 'Published by The Editorial Board of Oxford Forward, St. Michael's Hall, Oxford, and printed by The Alden Press (Oxford) Ltd., Oxford.' Eight issues. 23 April 1938 to 11 June 1938. New Series, Nos. 1, 2, 21, 4, 22, 6, 7, 8.
£400.00

'Oxford Forward' was the journal of the Labour Club in Oxford, which had 730 members in 1937. Eight sequential issues, with nos. 21 and 22 misnumbered for 3 and 5. [12 + 8 + 16 + 8 + 12 + 8 + 8 + 8 =] totalling 80pp., 4to. With illustrations and cartoons. In good condition, lightly aged, in green cloth binding lightly spotted with paint. Each number with the masthead in red, three issues also including the words 'Edition of University' in small print in the title. The front page of number 21 (7 May 1938) has 'ARMS FOR SPAIN' in large red letters at the foot.

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