MIRROR

[Dame Ruth Railton, musical director and conductor.] Autograph Card Signed to Philip Dosse of Hansom Books, regarding matters including his mother’s cancer treatment and a book by her husband Cecil Harmsworth King.

Author: 
Dame Ruth Railton (1915-2001), conductor, founder of the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, wife of press baron Cecil Harmsworth King [Philip Dosse (1925-1980)]
Publication details: 
Irish postmark of 2 April 1975; on letterhead of The Pavilion, Greenfield Park, Dublin.
£56.00

See her entry, and her husband’s, 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’. Postcard of 14 x 9 cm, with letterhead and no illustration. Monogram signature ‘RK’. In good condition, lightly aged, with slight smudging to a couple of words in one corner. Addressed to ‘Mr Philip Dossé. [sic] / Hansom Books. / Artillery Mansions. / 75, Victoria Street. / LONDON.

[Cecil King, Fleet Street press baron.] 47 Autograph Cards Signed to the publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’ Philip Dosse, on various topics including the reviews he is writing for him.

Author: 
Cecil King [Cecil Harmsworth King] (1901-1987), Fleet Street press baron (Daily Mirror, Sunday Pictorial, IPC), nephew of Viscounts Northcliffe and Rothermere [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher]
Publication details: 
35 of the 47 cards with postmarks from between 1971 and 1977; the other 14 postmarks illegible. 29 of the cards from England (ten with his letterhead, The Pavilion, Hampton Court, Surrey); 17 from the Republic of Ireland [Eire]; one from Iran.
£1,200.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, together with those of his uncles and other members of the newspaper dynasty of which he was a member. The recipient Philip Dosse was the proprietor of the London publishers Hansom Books. Beginning in 1950 with ‘Dance and Dancers’, Dosse built up a stable of seven monthly arts magazines, produced from offices in Artillery Mansions, London, the most influential of which were ‘Books and Bookmen’, ‘Plays and Players’ and ‘Films and Filming’. An elusive figure, Dosse certainly merits a full-length study.

[Hugh Cudlipp, Lord Cudlipp, as Managing Editor of the Sunday Express.] Typed Letter Signed to theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope, regarding the changes to be made to an article, ‘with the usual skill of the Sunday Express’.

Author: 
Hugh Cudlipp [Hubert Kinsman Cudlipp; Lord Cudlipp] (1913-1998), Welsh journalist, influential editor of Fleet Street title the Daily Mirror [Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
16 November 1951; on letterhead of the 'Sunday Express', Fleet Street, London.
£35.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. 1p, 12mo. Signed (as Managing Editor of the Sunday Express) ‘Hugh’ and addressed to ‘Dear Popie’. The article will start, as he explained on the telephone, ‘with the death scene. / Here is the galley proof - uncorrected, so do not worry about literals. / We may also have to reduce the length a little, but it will be done with the usual skill of the Sunday Express’.

[Horace Smith, poet and friend of Shelley, author with his brother Joseph of the 'Rejected Addresses'.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Horatio Smith'), playfully thanking Joseph Blunt for making him 'a present of a pair of horns'.

Author: 
Horace Smith [Horatio Smith] (1779-1849), poet, author his brother Joseph Smith of the 'Rejected Addresses' (1812), friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley [Joseph Blunt]
Publication details: 
3 November 1831. Brighton.
£80.00

2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. Twenty lines of text. In fair condition, aged and worn, with chipping and short closed tears to extremities. Folded twice. Addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'Joseph Blunt Esqre.' Signature underlined with a flourish.

[Theatre Royal, Williamson Square, Liverpool: details of benefits.] Autograph Letter from 'Edwd. Murray' to Vernor & Hood, proprietors of ''The Monthly Mirror', giving a 'correct Statement of Benefits at the Liverpool Theatre (this season)'.

Author: 
Theatre Royal, Williamson Square, Liverpool [Edward Murray; Vernor & Hood, London publishers]
Publication details: 
[Theatre Royal, Williamson Square] Liverpool. 20 September 1800.
£120.00

1p, 4to. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, and folded several times. The main text reads: 'Gentn | By inserting the following correct [last word underlined] Statement of Benefits at the Liverpool Theatre (this season) in your next Mirror you'll particularly oblige your most obt. Servt. | Edwd. Murray'. Beneath this is a list of the names of 15 individuals, with the amount of money made by each one's benefit, coming to a total of £2665. The list begins with 'Miss Murray £263' and ends with 'Mr Simmons 101'. The penultimate entry is for 'Mr Wild (Prompter) 103'.

[ Hamilton Fyfe, newspaper editor and author. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Hamilton Fyfe') to 'Mrs. Magraw' [ children's author B. I. Magraw ], responding to the news that she was 'en- and not dis-couraged' by his editing of the Daily Herald.

Author: 
Hamilton Fyfe [ Henry Hamilton Fyfe ] (1869-1951), editor the Daily Mirror and the Daily Herald, and writer [ Beatrice Irene Magraw [ B. I. Magraw, born Beatrice Irene May ] (c.1888-1970), author ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Savage Club, 1 Carlton House Terrace, London, S.W.1. 9 February 1940.
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He begins by granting her permission to quote from his 'little Keir Hardie book'. He is glad she is 'going to make him better known'. He continues: 'What you tell me about the encouragement I gave you when I was editing the Daily Herald has made me feel happy. Looking back, I find that what gives me most satisfaction is to have been able now & then to give a helping hand. I am so glad you were en- and not dis-couraged.'

[Cecil Harmsworth King, newspaper proprietor.] 103 Autograph Letters Signed and 22 Autograph Cards Signed to Philip Dossé, editor of 'Books and Bookmen', regarding his reviewing and other subjects. With a batch of letters from King's wife Ruth King.

Author: 
Cecil King [Cecil Harmsworth King] (1901-1987), chairman of Daily Mirror Newspapers and International Publishing Corporation; Dame Ruth Railton (1915–2001) [Philip Dossé, editor of Books and Bookmen]
Publication details: 
All but one of the 115 letters either from The Pavilion, Hampton Court, East Molesey, Surrey, or The Pavilion, Greenfield Park, Dublin. A few of the letters dated from between 1971 and 1979; the others from the same period.
£1,500.00

King's letters total 135pp., 12mo; 10pp., 4to. The earlier letters (mainly from East Molesey) all addressed to 'Mr Dossé'; 37 of the later letters (all from Dublin) addressed to 'Dear Philip'. The collection also contains the holograph of King's review of Graham Cleverley's 1976 book 'The Fleet Street Disaster' (6pp, foolscap 8vo), and 11 Autograph Letters Signed and three Autograph Cards Signed to Dossé from King's wife Ruth (neé Railton), dating from between 1971 and 1979. These are written in a chatty style, the letters totalling 25pp., 12mo; 2pp., 4to.

[ Lord Harmsworth, press baron. ] Autograph Note Signed ('Alfred Harmsworth') to 'Mr. Fisher', explaining that he cannot attend a meeting as he has to 'attend to my newspapers all day long'.

Author: 
Lord Northcliffe [ Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (1865-1922) ], press baron, owner of the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Daily Mail, Temple, E.C. [ London ] 29 November 1898.
£56.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Reads: 'Dear Mr. Fisher | I am so sorry I cannot attend the meeting. Unfortunately, I am absolutely obliged to attend to my newspapers all day long. | Yours faithfully | Alfred Harmsworth'. The Daily Mail was little more than two years old at the time of this note.

[ John Rutherford Gordon, editor of the 'Sunday Express'. ] 'Rough draft' of typed article, with autograph emendations, on Lord Northcliffe, 'the incomparable journalist of the age', written from personal knowledge.

Author: 
John Rutherford Gordon (1890-1974), editor of London 'Sunday Express' [ Lord Northcliffe [ Alfred Charles William Harmsworth (1865-1922), 1st Viscount Northcliffe ], press baron, owner of Daily Mail ]
Publication details: 
Dated 25 April 1952, and with autograph note stating that it was 'Partly used in Sunday Express [ London ] 27/4/52'.
£350.00

21pp., fourteen of them in 4to, and the other seven pages cut down. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Stapled together, with the first leaf detached. The article is complete but untitled. It is unattributed, but comes from the J. R. Gordon papers. A well-written and incisive piece, written from an insider's point of view. Gordon lays out his stall at the very start: 'Few people of our generation have influenced the life of it so profoundly as Lord Northcliffe. He was the incomparable journalist of our age.

[Printed item relating to the Wilfredian League of Gugnuncs children's club, an offshoot of the Pip, Squeak and Wilfred comic strip in the Daily Mirror and Sunday Pictorial.] Third Gugnunc Sing-Song. Souvenir Programme 1929.

Author: 
'Uncle Dick' [Bertram Lamb (1889-1938), author of the Pip, Squeak & Wilfred comic in the Daily Mirror, and patron of the Wilfredian League of Gugnuncs [Austin Bowen Payne (1876-1956), illustrator]
Publication details: 
Event at the Royal Albert Hall, London. 11 May 1929. 'Organised by "The Daily Mirror." Rolls Buildings, Fetter Lane, London, E.C.4.'
£56.00

8pp., 12mo. Stapled. Printed in blue on shiny art paper, in cream card wraps, also printed in blue, and tied with blue and white ribbon. On aged and worn paper. With illustrations in text, including a half-page image of the 'Pip, Squeak & Wilfred Jig-Saw Puzzle'. The first page carries a message to 'My Dear Boys and Girls' from 'Uncle Bill', including: 'To-day's Gugnunc Party - our third - is particularly interesting as it is also a birthday party.

Typed Letter Signed ('Hugh') from Hugh Cudlipp, as Managing Editor of the Sunday Express, to 'My dear Popie', the theatre critic W. Macqueen-Pope.

Author: 
Hugh Cudlipp [Hubert Kinsman Cudlipp] (1913-1998), editor of the Daily Mirror, 1952-1973 [Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre manager and historian]
Typed Letter Signed ('Hugh') from Hugh Cudlipp
Publication details: 
2 January 1952; on Fleet Street letterhead of the Sunday Express.
£38.00
Typed Letter Signed ('Hugh') from Hugh Cudlipp

12mo, 1 p. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He had meant to write to him 'at the end of the series' (of articles by Macqueen-Pope?): 'We took a great deal of trouble in putting the series over well, and I am glad you liked the results.' The 'nonsense at the beginning' was caused by 'a series of misunderstandings'. Ends: 'No doubt we will knock into each other shortly.'

Autograph Letter in the third person from Sir Robert Inglis to 'Mr Barrow' [J. H. Barrow, editor of the 'Mirror of Parliament'], regarding a recent speech by him in the House of Commons.

Author: 
Sir Robert Inglis
Autograph Letter in the third person from Sir Robert Inglis
Publication details: 
12 August 1831; Manchester Buildings, Westminster.
£66.00
Autograph Letter in the third person from Sir Robert Inglis

12mo, 2 pp. 24 lines. Text clear and complete. He finds, 'upon reconsideration', that the conversation he referred to that afternoon took place two days later, and regrets that he gave Barrow 'the unnecessary trouble of sending for papers in error; & possibly attributing an inattention to the Gentleman employed at the time as a Reporter'.

2 Typed Letters Signed and one Typed Letter Unsigned to Mary Delane, and a collection related material.

Author: 
Robert Maxwell
Publication details: 
1962 to 1964; Oxford and London.
£200.00

Politician, publisher and one of the greatest crooks of the twentieth century (1923-91). The recipient, Mary Delane, is described as 'sometime woman's editor for The Times'. A collection of drafts and letters mainly relating to negotiations for the publication by Maxwell's Pergamon Press of a series of cookery books. A fine example of his Maxwell's questionable business practices. Mainly consisting of typed correspondence and draft replies, mostly in 8vo, some creased and torn but generally in good condition.

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