PEARS

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. The material is in good condition, lightly aged, except that the envelopes of the first two items are somewhat worn and grubby. ONE: TLS to Douglas C. Dorrington. 1p, 12mo. The address to ‘Dear Mr. Dorrington’ and signature ‘Peter Pears’ are in autograph; the rest is typed. Written while Britten is dying. Reads: ‘Benjamin Britten wishes me to thank you for your kind message.

See his entry, together with that of Benjamin Britten, in the Oxford DNB, the latter explaining the context of the last letter, which is an attack on Britten and Peter Pears for not returning from the United States to wartime England. From the Scott papers. Each letter 2pp, 12mo, on a single leaf (a total of 8pp, 12mo). In good condition, lightly aged. Each letter folded for postage. All four letters addressed to ‘Miss Scott’, and each signed ‘Gordon Jacob’. ONE (1 April 1929): He will be ‘most delighted’ to give her ‘any information you may require about my work’.

See his entry, together with that of Benjamin Britten, in the Oxford DNB, the latter explaining the context of the last letter, which is an attack on Britten and Peter Pears for not returning from the United States to wartime England. From the Scott papers. Each letter 2pp, 12mo, on a single leaf (a total of 8pp, 12mo). In good condition, lightly aged. Each letter folded for postage. All four letters addressed to ‘Miss Scott’, and each signed ‘Gordon Jacob’. ONE (1 April 1929): He will be ‘most delighted’ to give her ‘any information you may require about my work’.

On one side of an 11.5 x 17.5 cm page removed from an album, dated 2 March 1934 and headed 'THE NEW ENGLISH SINGERS'. In good condition, lightly aged. To the right of the page are the signatures of 'Dorothy Silk' and 'Nellie Carson' (sopranos), and 'Martin ' and 'Mary Morris'; to the left are those of 'Vernon and 'Cuthbert Kelly' (bass). According to Chapter One of 'The Travel Diaries of Peter Pears, 1936-1978' (1999), titled 'American Tour with the New English Singers (1936)', the ensemble was 'a vocal sextet specializing in Elizabethan madrigals and English folksongs.

On a fragment, roughly 11 x 16 cm, of a page of laid paper from a diary. Good, on lightly aged paper. Two signatures, under the heading 'July 22': 'Spencer <?> | Steuart Wilson.' Lightly docketed in pencil.