Social history

[Spike Milligan, influential British comedian, originator of 'The Goon Show'.] Good bold Autograph Signature, on a leaf from an album.

Author: 
Spike Milligan [Terence Alan Milligan] (1918-2002), British comedian, originator of the BBC radio series 'The Goon Show', in which he performed with Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine
Spike Milligan
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£35.00
Spike Milligan

See his entry, and those of Sellers, Secombe and Bentine, in the Oxford DNB. On 11.5 x 10 cm leaf of light-blue paper, extracted from an album. In good condition, lightly aged, with short crease to one corner. Nothing else is written on either side of the leaf, apart from the large spidery signature 'Spike Milligan'. See Image.

[Newcastle and Berwick Railway, 1846.] Manuscript 'Minutes on projected Railways in the Manor of Tynemouth' by 'Thorp & Dickson', Alnwick attorneys, 'Read to Mr. Hudson' (i.e. George Hudson, 'the Railway King').

Author: 
Newcastle and Berwick Railway, 1846: Thorp and Dickson, Alnwick attorneys [George Hudson (1800-1871), 'he Railway King'; Duke of Northumberland; Manor of Tynemouth]
Publication details: 
?Alnwick October 23 - 1846?. ?Thorp & Dickson?.
£220.00

See Hudsons's entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, foolscap 8vo, on three leaves, with fourth covering leaf ('23rd Oct. 1846. / Copy / Railway Minutes / Thorp & Dickson / &c &c'). Attached at one corner with red ribbon. Headed: 'Alnwick October 23 - 1846 / Minutes on projected Railways / in the Manor of Tynemouth - / Read to Mr. Hudson, of which he requested a copy.' There are five minutes, the last covering two pages. The first three read: '1.

[Jimmy Hill and Graham Leggat at Fulham F.C.] Autograph Signatures of the two men, on photograph of Jimmy Hill, later the presenter of 'Match of the Day'.

Author: 
Jimmy Hill [James William Thomas Hill] (1928-2015), footballer with Fulham F.C., Chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association and TV pundit; Graham Leggat (1934-2015), Scottish footballer
Jimmy Hill
Publication details: 
No date but between 1958 and 1961, the period when the two men?s careers overlapped at Fulham.
£35.00
Jimmy Hill

See Hill's entry in the Oxford DNB. Signed 'Jimmy Hill' across Hill's chest on a 10 x 14 cm black and white photograph of him in football shirt with stands behind. Captioned: 'Jimmy HIll / Fulham F.C. - Inside Right / With the Compliments of W. H. Smith & Son / Booksellers Newsagents Stationers'. On a 12.5 x 19 cm piece of shiny paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and ruckled, with traces of pink paper mount and glue adhering to the blank reverse. The signature of 'Graham Leggat' is written up the right margin. See Image.

[Bruce Bairnsfather [Captain Charles Bruce Bairnsfather], cartoonist who created the First World War Fragments from France characters Old Bill, Bert and Alf.] Autograph Signature, with that of the baritone Kennerley Rumford (Clara Butt's husband).

Author: 
Bruce Bairnsfather [Captain Charles Bruce Bairnsfather] (1887-1959), cartoonist who created the First World War Fragments from France characters Old Bill, Bert and Alf, published in 'The Bystander'
Bruce Bairnsfather
Publication details: 
Without date or place [circa 1920].
£45.00
Bruce Bairnsfather

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. A bold, untidy and yet stylish signature, in exactly the state one would hope to find Bairnfather moniker. It gives the impression of having been sent post-haste from the trenches, scrawled in pencil on a piece of vertically-ruled paper torn out of a notebook, ruckled and grubby, and laid down on an unruckled and clean 15.5 x 9.5 cm leaf with rounded edges, torn from an autograph album. The signature ‘Bruce / Bairnsfather’ is across the head of the landscape page, with a jagged line (intended for the flourish?) by Bairnsfather across the foot.

[‘Rod the Mod’: Rod Stewart [Sir Roderick David Stewart], popular singer.] Good bold Autograph Signature.

Author: 
‘Rod the Mod’: Rod Stewart [Sir Roderick David Stewart] (b.1945), popular singer, born in London of Scottish extraction, who gained fame with his band The Faces, having previously sung with Jeff Beck
‘Rod the Mod’
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£28.00
‘Rod the Mod’

On 9.5 x 8.5 piece of vertically ruled paper, laid down on slightly larger leaf from an autograph album. A good strong signature, taking up most of the paper. No other writing, apart from a small ‘ROD STEWART’ in another hand at bottom right. In good condition, but with squares of discolouration at the corners showing through from the adhesive mounts on the reverse. See Image.

[H. H. Asquith, Liberal Prime Minister.] Autograph Signature to Printed Circular regarding 'the University Settlements' [in London's East End and elsewhere] as a solution for 'social problems'.

Author: 
H. H. Asquith [Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith] (1852-1928), Liberal Prime Minister [University Settlements; Toynbee Hall, Whitechapel; Oxford House, Bethnal Green]
H. H. Asquith
Publication details: 
Printed Circular dated 'October, 1911.' No place.
£65.00
H. H. Asquith

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The ‘settlement’ movement was the result of growing unease among the educated classes regarding the condition of the poor. The two most celebrated settlements, both still active, are Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel and Oxford House in Bethnal Green. From the papers of Sir William David Ross (1877-1971), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford. The present printed circular is 1p, 12mo. Printed on wove watermarked paper. In good condition, lightly aged and folded once. Asquith’s signature is genuine. Reads: ‘October, 1911.

[Sir Cliff Richard, popular British singer and film actor.] Autograph Signature to black and white print of publicity photograph of him in swimming trunks, seated on a beach between two girls in bikinis.

Author: 
Sir Cliff Richard (born 1940 as Harry Rodger Webb), popular British singer and film actor, the top-selling artist in the English singles chart, behind the Beatles and Elvis Presley
Cliff Richard
Publication details: 
No date or place. [Early 1960s.]
£90.00
Cliff Richard

Lightly-written signature (?Cliff Richard?) in blue ink at bottom left of 21 x 16 cm photographic print on glossy paper of black and white publicity photograph of a tanned Richard sitting in swimming trunks with his hands on his knees, looking at the viewer between two rather plain brunettes in bikinis. The print is somewhat creased and worn, with minor discoloration to white border at the top edge. See Image.

[John Strongitharm, London commercial engraver. Engraver to the Prince of Wales.] Coloured Proof Engraving of the royal arms (lion and unicorn), beneath the words ‘LORD CHAMBERLAIN’S OFFICE’. With pencil instructions on the reverse.

Author: 
John Strongitharm (c.1758-c.1839), London commercial engraver, Engraver to the Prince of Wales [The Lord Chamberlain’s Office]
Strongitharm
Publication details: 
No date or place. [Early nineteenth century. John Strongitharm, 1 Waterloo Place, London.]
£320.00
Strongitharm

Strongitharm’s entry on the British Museum website is the main source of information about him. In 1841 ‘John Strongitharm’ is listed in the Royal Calendar among the ‘Queen’s Tradesmen’, ‘In the Department of the Lord Chamberlain’, as ‘Seal Engraver’. The present item is an well-executed and carefully hand-coloured steel engraving of the royal arms (lion and unicorn), topped by a banner with ‘LORD CHAMBERLAIN’S OFFICE’. Engraved in small letters beneath the image: ‘Strongitharm, Waterloo Place’. Printed on a somewhat-aged and lightly worn piece of thickish laid paper, 11.5 x 6.5.

[St Thomas Lunatic Asylum near Exeter, founded in 1795.] Printed bill, filled out in manuscript, for sum due by ‘Mr. Penny’ for ‘Board and Maintenance’, with Signed Autograph Note of receipt by treasurer John Mackintosh, and note on annual accounts.

Author: 
St Thomas Lunatic Asylum, near Exeter, founded in 1795 [John Mackintosh, Treasurer; James Penny, Exeter bookseller; William Seacombe]
Asylum
Publication details: 
‘Lunatic Asylum, near Exeter.’ Made out for the period between 6 May and 1 July 1811. Slug: ‘Trewmans, Printers, Exeter.’
£80.00
Asylum

An interesting piece of Exeter ephemera. See ‘Besley’s Exeter Directory for 1835’: ‘LUNATIC ASYLUM, St. Thomas. Founded in 1795. The expenses are defrayed by the board of patients whose friends can afford to pay for their maintenance, and by benefactions, legacies, &c.’ (In the entry ‘John Mackintosh’ is still listed as treasurer.) 1p, landscape 12mo. Addressed by Mackintosh on reverse to ‘Mr. James Penny / Bookseller / Fore St. / Exeter’. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-creased paper, with slight staining and damage from breaking open wafer.

[John Buckworth, Charles Duncombe, James Hoare; Royal Mint; counterfeit coins] Coppye Letter Signed by Buckworth, Duncombe and Hoare, as Commissioners for the Mint, to Lords of the Treasury[?], about a report of counterfeit gineys.

Author: 
J. Buckworth, Ch. Duncombe, Ja. Hoare, Commissioners for the [Royal] Mint
Guineas
Publication details: 
[Royal Mint], 19 Nov. [16]81.
£580.00
Guineas

One page, sm. folio, bifolium, closed tears repaired, fold marks, aging, and sl. foxing, BUT text clear and complete, if obscure at times, and semi-literate. SEE IMAGE. Text: May it please yr Lo[rdshi]ps | In obedience To your Lordships [referr...?] of ye 7th Instant, Re [?] to the offer of Mr Rog[e]r Haws[k]head.

[‘There’s a charm about W. B. Corsets’: Edwardian corsetry.] Trade catalogue for ‘Davey Brothers, Corset Specialists, The Drapery Emporium, Faversham [Kent]’, with numerous illustrations of ‘W. B. Nuform’ corsets.

Author: 
Edwardian corsetry [W. B. Corsets; ‘Davey Brothers, Corset Specialists, The Drapery Emporium, Faversham [Kent]’; trade catalogues]
Corsets
Corsets2
Publication details: 
No date [Edwardian or Georgian]. 'Davey Brothers, Corset Specialists, The Drapery Emporium, Faversham [Kent]’
£180.00
Corsets
Corsets2

A nice piece of Edwardian trade ephemera. It would appear that W. B. Corsets were running a franchise scheme, providing suppliers with their catalogue and printing the franchisee's name on the back cover: little is to be discovered about either firm. No other copy traced. Hard to date: the corsets have an Edwardian feel, but some features of the illustrations may suggest a slightly later date. A 12mo stapled pamphlet, consisting of 20 pages on ten leaves of shiny paper: unnumbered front and back leaves, and pages on central eight leaves numbered 1-16.

[Gisele Bündchen, Brazilian supermodel, and Michel Comte, Swiss fashion photographer.] Autograph Note Signed from Bündchen to Comte, accompanying sixty-three of his photographs of her, in groups of three or four similar images, from various shoots.

Author: 
Gisele Bündchen (b.1980), Brazilian supermodel, and Michel Comte (b.1954), Swiss fashion photographer, artist and filmaker
Supermodel
Supermodel2
Publication details: 
Note dated 16 May 1999. Some of the photographs taken in 'France, May [1999]' for Italian Vogue.
£800.00
Supermodel
Supermodel2

Bündchen’s career began in London in 1998. Since 2001, she has been one of the highest-paid fashion models in the world. In 2007, Forbes listed her as the sixteenth-richest woman in the entertainment industry. In 2019 Claudia Schiffer described her as the last of the supermodels. Comte’s fashion and portrait photography have appeared in a wide range of publications, primarily Italian Vogue. In 2000 he was named Photographer of the year by PHOTO magazine.

[?Bazaar of Nations?, Ealing Town Hall, London, 1920.] Printed ?Book of the Bazaar?, ?Complete Guide to Bazaar, containing a Detailed Account of the Stalls, Entertainments, Side Shows, also Names of Stall Holders, Helpers, &c.?

Author: 
?Bazaar of Nations?, Ealing Town Hall, London, 1920
Ealing
Publication details: 
Town Hall Ealing, 8, 9 and 10 June 1920. Francis A. Percy, Printer, West Ealing.
£90.00
Ealing

A nice piece of Ealing ephemera, and scarce: no other copy traced, either on WorldCat or JISC. 48pp, 12mo. Stapled into grey wraps, with heavily-inked cover illustration by Joan Murrell, depicting six figures from various nations (Japanese geisha in the middle), beneath bunting of five flags with Union Flag in centre, and with 'BAZAAR OF NATIONS' at head. Title page reads: ?Book of the Bazaar / held at the / Ealing Town Hall, / Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, / June 8th, 9th, 10th / 1920.

[Kenneth Horne, much-loved comedian whose BBC radio series included 'Round the Horne'.] Autograph Note Signed, cut from a letter, regarding Frank Muir, pronunciation and a taxi to the Savoy.

Author: 
Kenneth Horne (1907-1969), much-loved comedian with three BBC radio series ‘Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh’ (1944–54), ‘Beyond Our Ken’ (1958–64) and ‘Round the Horne’ (1965–68) [Frank Muir (1920-1998)]
Horne
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£35.00
Horne

See Horne and Muir's entries in the Oxford DNB. On one side of 8.5 x 20.5 piece of paper cut from the conclusion of a letter. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. With fold from postage. Good firm signature. Reads: 'Re above from Frank Muir, I pronounced the name to my taxi-driver and had no difficulty. After he had taken me to the Savoy I came back here and had a marvellous meal / Kenneth Horne'. See image.

[Thomas Cook, travel agent.] Autograph Note Signed to lithographic illustration of his ?Leicester Temperance Hall and Hotel / Designed by J. Medland Esq., Gloucester?.

Author: 
Thomas Cook (1808-1892), travel agent; Leicester Temperance Hall and Hotel, designed by James Medland (1808-1894), County Surveyor for Gloucestershire
Cook
Publication details: 
Without date or place, but docketed in another hand on the reverse, including years 1866 and 1867.
£50.00
Cook

See Cook?s entry in the Oxford DNB. His temperance hall and hotel illustrated here, were built in 1853. The hall was demolished in the 1960s, to be replaced by a building typical of those that blight Leicester in 2011; the council gave permission for the hotel to be demolished to make way for another monstrosity. Sepia lithograph printed in landscape on 20 x 13 cm leaf of laid paper, extracted from a book or pamphlet. Attractive illustration of an imposing structure, with those that flank it, and people and coaches in the foreground.

[Arthur H. Bell, publisher; British Society of Dowsers] Two Typed Letters Signed A.H. Bell, one with a very substantial discussion, to G.K. Menzies of the Royal Society of Arts, concerning the British Society of Dowsers (just established).

Author: 
Arthur H. Bell, publisher [British Society of Dowsers]
Publication details: 
G. Bell & Sons, Ltd, Publishers, York House, Portugal Street, London, WC2, 8th and 16th February 1934
£250.00

[8 Feb.1924] Three pages, 4to, good condition, with Royal Society of Arts stamp. He acknowledges a kind reply to his request to hire your lecture theatre for the [first] Congress of the British Society of Dowsers. A 'friend' Colonel Crosthwaite, suggested that I should tell you something about the nature of the Society, the existence of which is unknown to many people. And ignored by most people of scientific reputation.

[Royal General Annuity Society, London, S. J. Aldrich, Secretary.] Printed ‘Lady’s Ticket’ to the ‘Anniversary Festival’ with impressions of ten wax seals of eminent Victorians, with names and dates in contemporary manuscript, laid down on reverse.

Author: 
Royal General Annuity Society, London, S. J. Aldrich, Secretary; Sir Denis Le Marchant; Sir Edward Crofton; Sir Stratford Canning; Sir John Cunningham; Sir Edward Kerrision; Sir James Graham
Seals
Seals2
Publication details: 
Ticket to ‘Anniversary Festival’ of the Royal General Annuity Society, at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate Street (‘George Hudson, Esq., M.P. in the Chair’) dated 16 February 1848. Seals variously dated to 1847, 1848 and 1850.
£120.00
Seals
Seals2

Not only an interesting item of sigillography, but also a nice item relating to Victorian philanthropy. Eight red wax seals and two black, of varying sizes. Laid down in three rows on reverse of 15 x 11 cm card, tastefully printed in blue, red and gold, with facsimile of the signature of the Secretary, S. J. Aldrich. Originally ten seals were present, those that remain in good condition, most with good impressions of crests.

[Gretna Green and ‘runaway marriages’.] Autograph Signature of ‘R B Mackinnon. / Last Blacksmith / “Priest” / Gretna Green’.

Author: 
Gretna Green and ‘runaway marriages’; R. B. Mackinnon (fl. 1941), blacksmith, last of the ‘anvil priests’
Gretna
Publication details: 
2 September 1941. Gretna Green [Scotland].
£56.00
Gretna

The author of the present item is the last in a line that stretched for around two hundred years. After the passing in 1754 of Lord Hardwicke’s Marriage Act, which prevented minors from marrying without their parents’ consent, English couples would take advantage of laxer Scottish laws. As one of the nearest parishes to England, Gretna Green became the destination of choice, and the marriage was usually conducted before two witnesses by a village blacksmith, who became known as an ‘anvil priest’.

[Legal Settlement in Sevenoaks, Kent; 1709/10] Certificate of legal settlement in the Parish of Sevenoaks, Kent. for Edward Kirkin and his wife, Constant.

Author: 
[William Lambard (presumably descendant of the Antiquary); John Amherst (father of the General); Church Wardens; Overseers.
Settlement
Publication details: 
[Sevenoaks, 1709/10]. Printed for R. Vincent, in Clifford's-Inn-Lane, Fleet Street.
£380.00
Settlement

Apparently a rare survival but I'd welcome information. One page, folio, fold marks, foxing, some rough edges, but text clear and complete. Headed by Royal Coat-of-Arms (Dieu et Mon Droit). Signed by Church Wardens and Overseers of the Poor of Sevenoaks (signatures of Thomas Reeeve, John Summers, Rich Phillips), attested by [signatures follow] R. Spilsted and Tho. Richardson. Concluding with the signatures of J[effrey] Amherst (father of the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army to be) AND W[illiam] Lambard (presumably descendant of the Antiquary). SEE IMAGE for details.

[Comte d'Orsay; French Benevolent Society] Autograph Letter Signed Ct d'Orsay to M. le Chevalier, in French, thanks his correspondent for le charmante Poème, discussing the state and progress of the French Benevolent Society just founded.

Author: 
Count d'Orsay [Alfred Guillaume Gabriel Grimod d'Orsay, comte d'Orsay (1801 – 1852), French amateur artist, dandy, and man of fashion].
d'Orsay
Publication details: 
Gore House, Kensington Gore, 5 Dec. 1842. See image.
£180.00
d'Orsay

Four pages, 16mo, bifolium, in narrow frame of stiffer paper, good condition.

[Mrs Alec Tweedie [Ethel Brilliana Tweedie, née Harley], travel writer, author and society figure.] Three substantial volumes of newspaper cuttings, collected by her, relating to her life, work and travels in Iceland and Mexico.

Author: 
Mrs Alec Tweedie [Ethel Brilliana Tweedie, née Harley] (1862–1940), travel writer, author and society figure
Tweedie
Publication details: 
1887-1909. England, Iceland, Mexico, USA. Vol.1: January 1887 to July 1899. Vol. 2: February 1900 to January 1909. Vol. 3: July 1906 to January 1909.
£950.00
Tweedie

See her entry in the Oxford DNB, which carries a quotation pointing out her ‘unerring sense of admiration for herself’. What the present collection of well over a thousand cuttings assembled by her from newspapers and magazines appears to indicate is that the admiration was to a certain extent also felt by the general public; and taken as a whole the collection serves as a memorial to a once-celebrated English public figure, a woman making her mark on society in the age of suffrage. The first volume (1887-1899) is 117pp, folio: firm and tight in brown leather half binding.

[The first English travelling chess set, invented by Peter Mark Roget; TWO from Family archive] The Roget family copies of ‘The Economic Chess-Board, Being a Chess-Board provided with a complete set of Chess-Men,’

Author: 
[The first English travelling chess set.] P. M. Roget, M.D. [Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869), doctor, scientist, inventor and lexicographer, compiler of the celebrated ‘Thesaurus’]
Chess
Publication details: 
Invented by P. M. Roget, M.D. And Registered according to Act of Parliament, November 10th 1845.
£1,500.00
Chess

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, and the biography by Joshua Kendall, ‘The Man Who Made Lists’ (2008). Roget’s travelling chess set was first marketed in April 1846 by De La Rue. Roget had parted company with the firm by October of the same year, moving to Longmans, while De La Rue continued to market their own rival version. Rarely found complete and undamaged.

[Anne Chamberlain, wife of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.] Autograph Note Signed on her Downing Street calling card, thanking the recipient and ‘Major Cripps’ for ‘lovely carnations’.

Author: 
Neville Chamberlain’s wife Ann Chamberlain [Anne de Vere Chamberlain (née Cole), 1883-1967); Arthur Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister (1869-1940), widely condemned as an appeaser of Hitler]
Chamberlain
Publication details: 
No date, but calling card with printed address ‘Downing Street, / S.W.1.’ and so during her husband’s premiership, 1937 to 1940.
£80.00
Chamberlain

On 11.5 x 7.5 cm calling card. In good condition, lightly aged. The calling card is printed in copperplate font, with the name ‘Mrs. Neville Chamberlain.’ centred, and the address ‘10, Downing Street, / S.W.1.’ at bottom left. Two lines of the inscription are written above the name and the rest beneath. Reads: ‘Thank you so [sic] & Major Cripps so much for those more lovely carnations which I appreciated so much. / Anne Chamberlain’. See image.

[Royal Military College, Sandburst.] Printed handbill poem titled ‘The Staff College Drag Hunt Song. / By Major M. Churchill, 2/Northampton Regiment, / Master, S.C.D.H., 1885-86’.

Author: 
Major M. Churchill, 2nd Northampton Regiment, Master of the Staff College Drag Hunt, established 1869 [Royal Military College, Sandhurst; fox hunting; field sports]
Drag
Publication details: 
No date or place. [Royal Military College, Sandhurst; late 1880s.]
£180.00
Drag

The present item is excessively scarce: there is no record of it on either OCLC WorldCat or JISC. The Staff College Drag Hunt at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, was established in 1869 as a private pack which drag-hunted twice a week in the area surrounding Camberley, and after more than a hundred and fifty years, the hunt still rides. 1p, 12mo. Text enclosed in rules with decorative corners. In fair condition, lightly worn and spotted, with traces of stub and mounting on blank reverse. Titled: ‘The Staff College Drag Hunt Song. / By Major M.

[Henry Lytton Bulwer; Lady Blessington Circle] Autograph Note Signed Hy LB to Lady Blessington [Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (née Power;1789 – 1849), Irish novelist, journalist, and literary hostess], accepting an invitation.

Author: 
Henry Lytton Bulwer [(William) Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer, 1st Baron Dalling and Bulwer (1801 – 1872), Liberal politician, diplomat and writer.]
Publication details: 
No place or date. Address panel gives just The Countess of Blessington, so perhaps delivered by hand. See image
£45.00

One page, bifiloium crdudely repaired at margin, fold marks, wear and tear at edges, but text clear: My dear Lady Blessington | I shall have great pleasure in accepting your very kind invitation.

[Jack Rosenthal, playwright and television dramatist (including eight years on ‘Coronation Street’.] Two photographs of Rosenthal while teaching the residential writer course at Fen Farm, Suffolk, each with signed caption by organizer Sally Worboyes

Author: 
Jack Rosenthal [Jack Morris Rosenthal] (1931-2004), playwright and television dramatist (including eight years on ‘Coronation Street’), husband of actress Maureen Lipman [Sally Worboyes, Fen Farm]
Rosenthal
Publication details: 
1992. Fen Farm, Suffolk.
£75.00
Rosenthal

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The two items are from the papers of Sally Worboyes, organiser of the residential arts courses at her home, Fen Farm in Suffolk, who has provided a signed caption on the reverse of both of the prints. Both colour prints. ONE: 23 x 16 cm photograph, in Landscape. Slightly creased at corners. A relaxed Rosenthal, in plaid shirt, jeans and trainers, seated on the steps of a farm outhouse, with five students and Warboyes grouped around him. On the reverse: ‘Jack Rosenthal / with his students / Sally Worboyes’.

[Alan Plater, playwright and television dramatist (Z-Cars and the Beiderbecke series).] Three photographs of Plater with students at the residential writing course at Fen Farm in Suffolk, each with signed caption by organizer Sally Warboyes.

Author: 
Alan Plater [Alan Frederick Plater] (1935-2010), playwright and television dramatist (Z-Cars and the Beiderbecke series) [Sally Worboyes, Fen Farm, Suffolk]
Alan Plater
Publication details: 
No date (1990s). Fen Farm, Suffolk.
£75.00
Alan Plater

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The three items are from the papers of Sally Worboyes, organiser of the residential arts courses at her home, Fen Farm in Suffolk, who has provided a signed caption on the reverse of each of the prints. All three in good condition. ONE and TWO: Black and white photographs, both 12 x 17 cm. ONE is in portrait, and shows Plater seated at a country table, in shirtsleeves, jeans and trainers, looking over with concentration and expressively spread hands. On back: ‘Alan Plater at my home. / Sally Worboyes’. TWO is in landscape.

[Sir Stanley Rous, association football referee and 6th President of FIFA.] Typed Note Signed (‘Stanley Rous’) to the BBC sports commentator Max Robertson.

Author: 
Stanley Rous [Sir Stanley Ford Rous] (1895-1986), Secretary of the Football Association, 6th President of FIFA, referee [Max Robertson [William Maxwell Robertson] (1915-2009), BBC sports commentator]
Rous
Publication details: 
26 May 1955; on letterhead of the Football Association, 22 Lancaster Gate, London W2.
£35.00
Rous

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight creasing to one corner. Folded once. In addition to the signature ‘Stanley Rous’, the salutation ‘Dear Max’ is written in Rous’s autograph. (Robertson’s full Wandsworth address is typed out at the head.) The note reads: ‘The enclosed translation of an article which appeared in a Continental newspaper has just been handed to me. I sent it on at once, in case it is of help to you.’ See image

[‘God save the Quin’: Frederic Quin, homeopathic physician and society figure.] Joking Autograph Letter, inviting ‘Jesse’ to a dinner at ‘Vun Undred and Vunety Vun Mount Street [...] No Dogs admitted’.

Author: 
Frederic Quin [Frederic Hervey Foster Quin] (1799-1878), the first homeopathic physician in England, figure of high society, friend of Dickens and Thackeray
Quin
Publication details: 
111 Mount Street [London]. ‘Friday evening’ [no date].
£80.00
Quin

The present item gives an indication of the high spirits, though hardly the ‘brilliant wit’, which, according to Quin’s entry in the Oxford DNB, afforded him a welcome to high society. 3pp, 16mo. Bifolium, with second leaf slightly damaged at foot by removal from mount. The body of the letter reads: ‘Dear Jesse / Don’t you or your fair friends forget Supper at Vun Undred and Vunety Vun Mount Street tomorrow Saturday night at 11 oclock or as soon after it as you can come. / N.B.

[Sir Philip Sassoon of Port Lympne: described by Noel Coward as ‘a phenomenon that would never recur’.] Autograph Signature (‘Philip Sassoon.) and autograph compliments slip.

Author: 
Sir Philip Sassoon [Sir Philip Albert Gustave David Sassoon] (1888-1939), politician, art collector and socialite at Port Lympne and Trent Park, cousin of Siegfried Sassoon, friend of Noel Coward
Sassoon
Publication details: 
No date [dated by recipient 12 June 1928]. Laid down on letterhead of 25 Park Lane, W. [London.], which carries the autograph compliments.
£50.00
Sassoon

Considered by his friend Noël Coward as ‘a phenomenon that would never recur’. See his entry by Osbert Sitwell in the Oxford DNB and the biography by Damian Collins, ‘Charmed Life: The Phenomenal World of Philip Sassoon’ (2016). Clearly sent in response to a request for an autograph. The signature is on a plain 9 x 6 cm card, and reads simply ‘Philip Sassoon.’ The card is laid down at the foot of a 12mo letterhead, on which is written by Sassoon, above a flourish: ‘With Sir Philip Sassoon’s Compliments’. Both items in good condition, lightly aged.

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