Literature

[Eliza Conder, poet and abolitionist] Holograph Poem with quotation from St Mark's Gospel.

Author: 
Eliza Conder, poet and abolitionist, wife of Josiah Conder, editor, abolitionist, well-connected to Romantic authors of his day
Conder
Publication details: 
Watermark 1827.
£180.00
Conder

One page, folio, signs of extraction from album (left margin has residue of separation), good condition, in her calligraphic writing, good condition. She begins by quoting St Mark's Gospel, Verily I say unto you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this also that she hath done shall be spoken of, for a memorial fo her.

[Domhnall MacEacharn; Gaelic Poet] Autograph Lines in Gaelic signed 'Domhnall MacEacharn'.

Author: 
Domhnall MacEacharn [Donald MacKechnie]
Gaelic
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£56.00
Gaelic

Paper, 11 x 7cm, probably from an album (another signature on reverse (Florence Steel)), laid down on larger piece of paper, on the dingy side but text clear and apparently complete. Docketed Donald MacKechnie | Gaelic Poet.

[Israel Gollancz; Scholar] Bold Autograph Signature Only, Israel Gollancz. See image.

Author: 
Israel Gollancz [Sir Israel Gollancz (1863 – 1930), scholar of early English literature and of Shakespeare].
Israel
Publication details: 
Docketed in pencil 24.12.26.
£28.00
Israel

Card, 9 x 6cm. very good condition.

[Henry Mackenzie, Scottish Novelist] Autograph Signature Henry Mackenzie 1824 only. With the relevant page (Mackenzie entry) from a Biographical dictionary

Author: 
Henry Mackenzie (1745 – 1831), Scottish lawyer, novelist and writer.
Mackenzie
Publication details: 
[1824]
£150.00
Mackenzie

Two 12mo pages, extracted from Public Characters of All Nations: Consisting of Biographical accounts of nearly three thousand eminent contemporaries, alphabetically arranged (1823), later published as A New Biographical Dictionary, of 3000 contemporary public characters, British and foreign, of all ranks and professions (1825).LEAF THE FIRST: endpaper, foxed, edges chipped, with the clear signature Henry Mackenzie | 1824 | on recto; LEAF THE SECOND: printed potted biography of Henry Mackenzie (pp.671-2 of book), with MS additions and corrections (for example, correction of his date of birt

[P.C. Wren] Autograph Inscription

Author: 
P.C. Wren [Percival Christopher Wren (1875 – 1941), writer, mostly of adventure fiction.]
Publication details: 
July 1926.
£80.00

Autograph Inscription on glossy page (perhaps from the prelims of a book), 12mo, with image of Wren. head & shoulders, two small closed tears, sl. grubby, good condition. Inscription as follows: [Image] || To | A.J. Richardson, Esq | with the Author's thanks | & best wishes. | PC Wren || Jy.'26. See image.

[E.M. Almedingen, writer] A Substantial Collection of Manuscript and Typed Material from her Papers

Author: 
E. M. Almedingen (born Marta Aleksandrovna Almedingen, also known as Martha Edith Almedingen or von Almedingen; 1898 – 1971), British novelist, biographer, children's author, poet, of Russian origin.
Publication details: 
C.1943-1972
£1,500.00

1. Untitled Typescript. Author Unknown. An unpublished biography of E.M. Almedingen, 123pp., sm. folio, in black lever arch file, very good condition, a scattering of MS. corrections and additions.2. Seven mainly bulging Notebooks and Scrapbooks, (All my own), the Notebooks numbered I, II & III, 1943 and 1953, and the Scrapbooks numbered I, II, IV & V. (1949 and 1952 (2)).

[Geraldine Hodgson; James Elroy Flecker] Substantial Autograph Letter Signed G.E.H. [Geraldine E. Hodgson] to Edith [not identified], exclusively about James Elroy Flecker, anticipating her biography of Flecker, published the following year.

Author: 
G.E.H. [Geraldine E. Hodgson] (OxfordDNB)
Publication details: 
17 Sion Hill, Clifton, Bristol, 17 May 1924.
£450.00

Twelve (12) pages, 12mo (3 x bifoliums), good condition. She starts by saying that perpetual illness and being tired of Bristol first drives her to write to her. From then on she concentrates on Elroy Flecker to a correspondent who must be equally an enthusiast and with whom she shares private information. Yes, I wish I had known in time that you & I could have gone to Hassan [underlined]. I would not have missed it with you. I am half afraid I cannot elucidate the West Gate.

[ Sarah Grand, Irish Novelist; New Woman ] Autograph Letter Signed Sarah Grand to Miss Carpenter about a forthcomiong concert and her inability to attend it.

Author: 
Sarah Grand [Sarah Grand (1854–1943), Irish feminist writer active from 1873 to 1922. Her work revolved around the New Woman ideal.]
Publication details: 
[Headed] The Royal Hotel, Weston-super-Mare, 9 June 1934.
£56.00

Two pages, 12mo, corner chipped with loss, evidence of its being tipped onto something, not affecting the text, mainly good condition. Text: Many thanks for letting me know of the forthcoming concert. Being here I should probably not otherwise have heard of it. I do hope your lovely music will be properly appreciated and the concert altogether a great success.. I cannot - alas! attend it myself. I am here on the Sick List more or less, and not yet [...?] to anything much in the way of exertion[...]

[ Julius Beerbohm, traveller and poet, half-brother of Max Beerbohm ] Manuscript Poem Signed J Beerbohm (calligraphically). See image.

Author: 
Julius Beerbohm [ Julius Beerbohm (1854 – 1906), Victorian travel-writer, engineer, explorer and poet.]
beerbohm
Publication details: 
No place, but dated by him 9 Sept. 90.
£220.00
beerbohm

32 line poem, cr.8vo, in a frame of an album page (detached), 4to, one ragged edge, celebrating summer, commencing: Is it not well, when the long day is over, | That brimmed with fulness of the summer time-| - Joy of wild bees that roam the the scented clover; [....] See image for full text. Verso: Sentiment by obscure German.

[ Bayard Taylor, Poet ] Autograph Note Signed Bayard Taylor to an unnamed correspondent about My subject [...]

Author: 
Bayard Taylor (1825–1878), American poet, literary critic, translator, travel author, and diplomat.
Publication details: 
Kennett Square, Peoria, 20 Oct. 186[4?].
£80.00

Piece of paper from lined exercise book, 11 x 13cm, good condition. Text: My subject will be 'Ourselves and Our Relations' [all underlined]. OURSELVES AND OUR RELATIONS.; Lecture by Mr.

[C. L. Graves and Punch editor E. V. Knox.] Autograph Letter Signed from 'C L. G.' to 'Evoe', discussing in detail questions relating to his planned history of Punch, with long autograph 'Notes on your Memorandum'.

Author: 
C. L. Graves [Charles Larcom Graves (1856-1944), assistant-editor of Punch and the Spectator, uncle of poet Robert Graves [E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox] (1881-1971, 'Evoe'), editor of Punch]
Publication details: 
Letter on letterhead of Kent Lodge, Westgate-on-Sea, Thanet. 30 May 1938. Memorandum undated.
£250.00

For information on Graves see the generous obituary of him in The Times, 18 April 1944. Both items in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with minor staining from paperclip to first leaf of letter. The work was not published, and although Graves states in Item One that the greater part of the text is 'in the hands of my typist', there is no record of its survival, or of the thousand related documents he states were sent to him by M. H. Spielmann. ONE: ALS from 'C L. G.' to 'Dear Evoe'. 4pp., landscape 8vo.

[ Llewelyn Powys ] Autograph Note Signed Llewelyn Powys to Mr[s?] Venn [?], a bookseller.

Author: 
Llewelyn Powys [Llewelyn Powys (1884–1939), essayist, novelist and younger brother of John Cowper Powys and T. F. Powys.]
Publication details: 
[Headed] Chydyok, Chaldon Herring, Dorchester, Dorset, no date.
£56.00

One page, 8vo, fold mark, good condition, difficult to read (some guesswork involved). This is to introduce Miss [?] and Mr [Mrs?] Brown - Mr Brown is a visitor to this country from Baltimore where he is a librarian. He is a man of cukture and discrimination and I know it would be a privilege and pleasure for him to meet you and to see your bookshop. I wonder whether Taylor is with you - I am [?] but still must keep to my bed for a Time and a Time and Half a time.~56~AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT POWYS SOCIETY JOHN COWPER POWYS YEOVIL~ ~0~SF41~ ~ ~ ~ ~

[ Mrs Gore; 'silver fork' novels ] One leaf of the holograph manuscript of Sketches of English Character, with authorial corrections and additions.

Author: 
Mrs Gore [ Catherine Grace Frances Gore (née Moody, 1798–1861), 'silver fork' novelist and dramatist ]
Publication details: 
Book first published, 1846 in two volumes.
£300.00

Substantial part of pp. 226-7, in the section The Optimist and the Pessimist (vol.II, 1846). Two pages, 4to (19 x 20cm), crumpled, trimmed untidily, with several tears, many repaired as best they could.

[ Oscar Wilde; Typescript ] The Stringed Lute. A Play Based on the life of OSCAR WILDE [Playwright's own copy]. WITH Typed Letter Signed P. Macqueen discussing play with W. MacQueen-Pope, theatre historian, revealing pseudonym

Author: 
John Furnell [pseud. Phyllis Macqueen], playwright [Oscar Wilde]
Publication details: 
n.d., (before published version, 1955); Typed Letter Signed dated 23 Jan. 1956.
£480.00

[170]pp., 4to, title label, brown wraps, stabbed, sl. wrinkled edges, sl. aged, typed ownership sticker back cover, John Furnell, 'Woodend', 24 Chessel Avenue, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Hants. Final page (additional , p.[170]) includes a list of Author's suggestions for settings. With a sprinkling of corrections and additions.Opposite p.38 (beginning of Act II set in the Foyer of the St James's Theatre, an illustration from a Max Beerbohm book (Some Persons of the Nineties), with names from Wilde to Mallarme, 10 names presumably in Furnell's hand.

[ Arthur Murphy, Irish writer ] Autograph Instruction Signed to Cadell Esq [publishers].

Author: 
Arthur Murphy, Barrister and Author [(1727–1805), Irish writer.
Murphy
Publication details: 
Lincoln's Inn, 21 July 1788.
£500.00
Murphy

Paper, 15 x 9cm, trimmed with minimal loss of text, some staining, text clear and legible. Pay to Lady Montfort's Bearer the sum of Eighy seven Shillings & charge the same to | Your Humble Servt. | Arthur Murphy. A bold and impressive signature. Note: A, He studied at Jesuit run Saint-Omer, France, and was a gifted student of the Latin and Greek classics. He worked as an actor in the theatre, became a barrister, a journalist and finally a (not very original) playwright. He edited Gray's Inn Journal between 1752 and 1754.

[Dodie Smith, author of 'The Hundred and One Dalmatians'.] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'Dodie.') to 'Popie' [W. J. MacQueen-Pope], discussing her dalmatian dogs, failed musical, his latest book and offer of collaboration, petrol rationing.

Author: 
Dodie Smith [Dorothy Gladys Smith] (1896-1990), children's writer and playwright, author of 'The Hundred and One Dalmatians' (1956) and 'I Capture the Castle' (1948) [W. J. MacQueen-Pope (1888-1960)]
Publication details: 
23 and 28 January 1957. Each on letterhead of The Barretts, Finchingfield, Essex.
£120.00

See both their entries in the Oxford DNB. Two long letters. Both 2pp, 4to. Both letters on aged paper, creasing at the head. Each folded twice. Written in a close, elegant hand. ONE: 23 January 1957. Writing on behalf of herself and her 'friend' and business manager Alec Macbeth Beesley she begins: 'Our dear, dear Popie, | It really is fantastic. This morning I wrote you a tiny fan letter, combined with thanks for your radio mentions of me. I then carried it to the little pillar-box at the crossroads near here, in time to catch the 3.40 post.

[ Ondra Lysohorsky, 'a great poet of humanity', Censored cold-war Lach (Czech/Silesian) poet and his English translators Christopher Fry, David Gill and Alan N. Phillips ] An Archive

Author: 
Ondra Lysohorsky, poet
Publication details: 
[1928]-1988.
£25,000.00

'Ondra Lysohorsky' is the pen-name of the Lach poet Ervin Goj [Erwin Goy] (1905-1989), who, as a Silesian, was largely responsible for the creation of Lach as a literary language. (Born into the Austro-Hungarian Empire, he repudiated the Czechoslovakian citizenship he inherited.) Having fled the Nazis, Lysohorsky was feted in the Moscow literary circles of the 1940s, with Boris Pasternak among his translators. Feeling that academic promotion was being denied him, he appealed directly to Stalin, but following his return to Czechoslovakia after the war, his situation worsened.

[ James Kirkup in Japan ] Printed Business Card with Autograph Note Signed "James Kirkup" to unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
James Kirkup [1918–2009), born James Harold Kirkup, poet, translator and travel writer
Kirkup
Publication details: 
[Nagoya, Japan] 26 Feb. 1970.
£60.00
Kirkup

Busieness Card, 9 x 6cm, rounded corners, sl. battered but text clear. Printed detail includes name, James Kirkup, and celebrate his membership of the RSL, his professorship at the UNiversity of Nagoya, and Visiting Professorship at the Japan Women's University. The text (see image) is as follows: Many thanks for the books and your beautiful bill | James Kirkup". "AB [?], the recipient presumably has written the date 3 Dec. 1970 with these initial. The verso of the card has Kirkup's printed details (presumably) in Japanese.

['Mark Twain' (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), great American writer.] Envelope addressed to 'S. L. Clement, Esqr. | "Mark Twain"', at 'Buckenham Hall', and forwarded to 88 Brook Street, with annotations and eight postmarks.

Author: 
'Mark Twain', pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), great American writer, creator of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, described by William Faulkner as 'the father of American literature'
Twain
Publication details: 
Sent from Belfast to Brandon in Norfolk, and then on to London. November 1887.
£90.00
Twain

8.5 x 14 envelope. In fair condition, aged and creased. Torn open, with slight loss to flap. A nice Mark Twain artefact, and something of a puzzle, as he does not appear to have been in England at the time. There does not appear to be any connection between Twain and William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst (1835-1909), 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney, whose London address was 88 Brook Street, Grosvenor Square.

[George Canning, Prime Minister; John Richardson of Oxford University.] Manuscript copies of poems which won Chancellor's Medal for Latin verse: Canning's 'Iter ad Meccam [Journey to Mecca]'; Richardson's 'Maria Scotorum Regina [Mary Queen of Scots]'

Author: 
George Canning, British Prime Minister; John Richardson, Student of the University of Oxford [Chancellor's Medal for Latin verse]
Publication details: 
[University of Oxford, post 1789 and 1792.]
£450.00

Manuscripts in a contemporary hand of two poems which won the University of Oxford Chancellor's Prize for Latin Verse, neither of them published. In 1789, Canning, as a Christ Church undergraduate, won the prize for the second of the two, 'Iter ad Meccam Religionis causa susceptum'; and in 1792 John Richardson, 'Scholar of University', won it for the first of the two, 'Maria Scotorum Regina'. The manuscript of the two poems totals 29pp, 8vo. The pages are written lengthwise on fifteen of the twenty leaves of a stitched booklet of laid paper with Britannia watermark.

[Thomas Hughes, author of 'Tom Brown's School Days'.] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'Tho. Hughes') to 'Mr. Kynnersley', discussing: meeting Rugby schoolfellow 'Blandford', educating an abandoned boy, his co-operative beliefs, Joseph Chamberlain.

Author: 
Thomas Hughes (1822-1896), politician and judge, author of 'Tom Brown's School Days'
Publication details: 
ONE: 3 March 1884; 52 Promenade, Southport, Lancashire, on letterhead of the County Courts, Circuit No. 9, Chester. TWO: 30 November 1885. On letterhead of Uffington House, Chester.
£250.00

Both items in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: 3 March 1884. 1p, 12mo. Addressed to 'Dear Mr. Kynnersley'. Having received Kynnersley's undated letter he writes: 'I shall meet Blandford as you propose on the 11th. with very great pleasure. He was one of the heroes on whom I used to look with awe as a 3rd. form boy in 1834 in which year I joined & he I think left Rugby.' He is sitting at Congleton on the day of the meeting, and 'there is just a chance that some perverse suitor may be in full blast at my train time in which case (as I never leave a cause part heard) I may be late'.

[Harriet Martineau, 'the first female sociologist'.] Unpublished Signed Autograph humorous poem beginning 'What terrible confusion | Ladies make on points Malthusian', with note to Lady Cullum joking that it will be dedicated 'to the Lord Chancellor'

Author: 
Harriet Martineau (1802-1876), writer and journalist, Whig social theorist and campaigner for women's rights, considered 'the first female sociologist' [Lady Ann Cullum (1807-1875) of Hardwick House]
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£350.00

An amusing unpublished jeux d'esprit by Martineau, revealing a lighthearted aspect of her character. 1p, 16mo. Bifolium, addressed by Martineau on reverse of second leaf 'To | Lady Cullum.' In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once.

[Barry Pain, Punch humorist and author of novels, poems and ghost stories.] Autograph Manuscript of long poem titled 'The Dream of Fine Editors | (after the dinner to J. N. Dunn. April 23rd. 1897)'.

Author: 
Barry Pain [Barry Eric Odell Pain] (1864-1928), author, journalist, Punch humorist, author of ghost stories [Fleet Street; James Nicol Dunn; Charles Norris Williamson; Oswald Crawfurd]
Publication details: 
[London. 1897.]
£280.00

4pp, 12mo. On four loose leaves. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with minor traces of grey paper mount along edges on blank reverses. The poem is titled 'The Dream of Fine Editors | (after the dinner to J. N. Dunn. April 23rd. 1897)'. (At the time of the dinner the Scottish journalist James Nicol Dunn (1856-1919) was on the verge of being appointed editor of the Morning Post, a position he would hold from May 1897 to January 1905.) There is no record of the poem having been published, and it is likely to have been written for after-dinner recitation only.

[ Mrs Robert Southey] Autograph Letter in the third person, "Mrs Southey is [...]", to a Miss Robson ordering two "girls packs" (clothing).

Author: 
Mrs Robert Southey
Publication details: 
Greta Hall, 2 April [no year given].
£180.00

One page, 12mo, bifolium, good condition.

[ Percy Shelley, son of [...]] Autograph Note third person "Sir Percy Shelley [...] to Messrs Sewell & Co., asking for his purchases to be delivered.

Author: 
Sir Percy Florence Shelley, 3rd Baronet (1819–1889) was the son of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley,
Shelley
Publication details: 
24 Chester Square, 10 Dec. 1847.
£220.00
Shelley

One page, 16mo (9 x 11.5cm), trimmed, staining (recto and verso, from being laid down in an album presumably) but text clear and complete: "Sir Percy Shelley would be obliged to Messrs Sewell & Co. to send home the articles he purchased today - before two o'clock tomorrow, as Sit Percy is going into the country and wishes to take the parcel with him." Note: a. Sewell & Co. were perhaps the silk mercers and drapers of Compton St., London; b. Image on website.

[Louisa May Alcott, American author.] Front panel of envelope, bearing the address, in her autograph, of 'Mrs Peter Taylor', i.e. the abolitionist Clementia Taylor.

Author: 
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), American author of the novels 'Little Women', 'Little Men' and 'Jo's Boys' [Clementia Taylor[née Doughty] (1810-1898), abolitionist and supporter of women's suffrage]
Publication details: 
Boston postmark, 2 November [1880]. Endorsed 14 November 1880.
£220.00

Front panel of envelope, 7.5 x 10.5 cm. On thin paper. Aged, worn and creased, with fraying and loss to edges. Two circular Boston postmarks in black ink at top right. Endorsed at top left 'Nov. 14. 80.' In contemporary hand [Clementia Taylor?] at bottom left: 'May Allcott [sic]'. The address, in Alcott's autograph, one word of which is cropped, reads: 'Mrs Peter Taylor. | 22 Marine Par[ade] | Brighton | England'. Clementia Taylor [née Doughty] (1810-1898) was an abolitionist and supporter of women's suffrage.

[W.L. George, novelist ] Autograph Letter Signed "W L George" to "[Mr?] Clifford", mentioning 'shirkers' and discussing the Battle of Verdun and possible consequences,.

Author: 
W.L. George [Walter Lionel George (1882, Paris, France–1926) chiefly known for his popular fiction, which included feminist, pacifist, and pro-labour themes]
Publication details: 
[Printed heading] Ministry of Munitions of War, Whitehill Place, SW, 4 June 1916.
£180.00

One page, 4to, good condition. "Two little acts of Justice: one yto John Palmer who I am told has twice tried to enlist and was turned down for eyes, but the other 'shirkers' stand; one to one: I thought and thought about my fatal phrase, which did not sound quite right on the phone, and yet was familiar: : what I said was 'I'd rather be cut than shot for a cause I don't believe in',- " He imagines how good it would be when the fighting is over ("dividon and pain").

[Rolando Pieraccini, Italian sculptor, author and publisher ('Eurographica').] 43 Typed Letters Signed to playwright Christopher Fry, regarding the publication of signed limited editions of his works.

Author: 
Rolando Pieraccini [Roland Pieraccini], Italian sculptor and publisher ('Eurographica'), settled in Finland [Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright]
Publication details: 
Earlier letters on letterheads of his Helsinki publishing house Eurographica; later letters on his personal Helsinki letterhead. Between 1984 and 1996.
£800.00

43 letters in 8vo and 12mo, making a total of 44 pp. Signed 'Rolando Pieraccini' and (latterly) 'Rolando'. Thirteen of the letters (1984-1986; all 8vo) on 'Eurographica' letterhead, the others (1986-1996; 27 in 12mo and 3 in 8vo) on Pieraccini's personal letterhead. Also present is a carbon copy of a two-page letter from Pieraccini to Penny Eckley of Oxford University Press, regarding copyright matters. The collection in good condition, lightly-aged.

[Anthony Grey, novelist and journalist.] Five Signed Letters, three in Autograph and two Typed, to playwright Christopher Fry, with material relating to his organisation Hostage Action Worldwide.

Author: 
Anthony Grey (born 1938), novelist, journalist and author, imprisoned by the Chinese government for 27 months from 1967 to 1969 [Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright]
Publication details: 
The five letters between 1989 and 1991. Three of the letters on letterhead of The Old Granary, Charlton, West Sussex. Hostage Action Worldwide material all c/o The Charlton Foundation, 28 Nottingham Place, London.
£320.00

Nine items, all in good condition. All of the letters are signed 'Anthony', and four of them (two autograph and two typed) are each 1p, 8vo. The other letter, in autograph, is 1p, 16mo. With four items of material relating to Hostage Action Worldwide. The first letter (11 May 1989) accompanies 'our first reply to our first 350 donors – we're hoping to build rapidly now'. He reports that 'The Archbishop of Canterbury has this week responded positively to us and appointed a man, John Lyttle to our Advisory Council.

[Alfred, Lord Tennyson, great Victorian poet and Poet Laureate.] Autograph Note in the third person, 'For Coals and the School' (the Blue Coat School at Aldworth?).

Author: 
Alfred, Lord Tennyson [Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson] (1809-1892), great Victorian poet and Poet Laureate
Tennyson
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Aldworth, Haslemere, Surrey; 1 May 1885.
£180.00
Tennyson

On one side of square of paper cut from a 12mo leaf. In fair condition, aged and lightly creased. Folded twice. Reads: 'For Coals and the School | With Lord Tennyson's | Compliments and best Wishes | May 1 / 85'. Presumably 'the School' is the Blue Coat School at Aldworth, and it seems that Tennyson was sending a cheque for the purchase of 'Coals', possibly as part of a tradition.

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