WILKIE

[Bryan Waller Procter (the poet 'Barry Cornwall'), as Commissioner in Lunacy.] Autograph Letter Signed ('B. W. Procter'), asking a colleague (Harris?] for information about the 'Conduct' of 'some patients', 'particularly about Miss Anne [Lealer?].

Author: 
Bryan Waller Procter (1787-1874), poet under pseudonym 'Barry Cornwall' and Commissioner in Lunacy, 1832-1861, member of London Magazine circle, friend of Charles Lamb, Thackeray and Wilkie Collins
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Office of Commissioners in Lunacy, 19 New Street, Spring Gardens [London]. 12 August 1847.
£120.00

Proctor was a much loved individual in literary circles, from the days of the London Magazine to the mid-Victorian period, in which he was the dedicatee of both Thackeray's 'Vanity Fair' and Wilkie Collins's 'Woman in White'. His reputation as a poet was international: he was thought highly of by Pushkin. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse. The letter reads: 'Dear [Harris?] | Pray tell me where [?] I can have some conversation with you about some patients of the name of [Lealer? Lester?], whom you know.

[ Allan Wilkie, Shakespearian actor-manager in Australia. ] 24 Autograph Letters Signed to the theatre historian Allan Duncan, discussing his life and career in England and Australia, with copies of 18 of Duncan's replies, and nine other items,.

Author: 
Allan Wilkie (1878-1970), Anglo-Scottish Shakespearian actor-manager in England and Australia; Barry Duncan Duncan [ Horace Alexander Barry Duncan ] (1909-1985), theatre historian and bookseller
Publication details: 
The first five from 42 Mount Edward Road, Rothesay, Bute, Scotland; 17 of the others (including 7 on his letterhead) from Montford House, Rothesay; the other one from Edinburgh. Between 11 January 1965 and 15 October 1969.
£1,750.00

It is safe to say that no Shakespearian actor travelled as widely as Allan Wilkie, and few can surely match the number of his performances. Although born in Liverpool, Wilkie considered himself Scottish ('a young Scots boy'). Inspired by Osmond Tearle, he took to the stage, learning his craft with Ben Greet's company. The Times obituary of 'Mr. Allan Wilkie | Shakespearian actor-manager', 8 January 1970, describes how, after six years as a touring actor-manager in England, Wilkie took his troupe to India, China and Japan, 1911-1913.

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