EPHEMERA

Coloured lithographic dioramic print, captioned 'Morgan's Improved Transformations. The Royal Magic Pear. This Print upon holding before the Light will undergo an entire change and will present [...] the Portraits of the Royal Bride and Bridegroom.'

Author: 
William Morgan, printseller [the Marriage of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, 1840; diorama; dioramic print]
Publication details: 
London. Published by Wm Morgan, 68, Upper Harrison St. Grays Inn Rd. 15th. Feby. 1840.'
£300.00

Dimensions of print roughly 13 x 17.5 cm. On original grey paper windowpane mount (22 x 28.5 cm). Engraved label (3 x 12.5 cm) beneath the print, with small remarque-style Dimensions of print roughly 20 x 14.5 cm. On original grey paper windowpane mount (34 x 24 cm). Engraved label (5 x 19 cm) beneath the print. Worn and discoloured. An usual and attractive item, with a simple picture of a pear which transforms into a portrait of the royal couple, under drapes, when held up to the light.

Coloured lithographic dioramic print, captioned 'Dawson's Diorama No. 4. The British Queen, a first rate Steem [sic] Ship, which on holding it up to the light changes to her Magesty [sic] Queen Victoria, attired in her Robes of State.'

Author: 
T. Dawson, London printseller [Queen Victoria; SS British Queen; diorama; dioramic print; optical illusion; naval and maritime]
Publication details: 
Undated, but between 1839 and 1844. 'London: Published by T. Dawson, 29, Bedeord [sic, for 'Bedford'] St. Covent Garden.'
£300.00

Dimensions of print roughly 13 x 17.5 cm. On original grey paper windowpane mount (22 x 28.5 cm). Engraved label (3 x 12.5 cm) beneath the print, with small remarque-style illustrations of the ship and the queen. The print itself is good, although aged and a little worn and spotted; the spotting and aging to the margins and mount is a little heavier. Attractive and unusual item, the image changing when held up to the light. The ship is depicted sailing on choppy seas, and the young queen seated with drapery around her on a verandah with stone balustrades and a landscape behind. Scarce.

Coloured lithographic dioramic print, captioned 'Dawson's Diorama No. 1. The Emperor Napoleon in Captivity at Elba, changing to his reception by the Army whom he walked up to with these words "If there be among you a Soldier [...] Here I am!'

Author: 
T. Dawson, London printseller [Napoleon Bonaparte; diorama; dioramic print]
Publication details: 
Undated [circa 1838]. 'London: Published by T. Dawson, 29, Bedford St. Covent Garden.'
£300.00

The caption ends '[...] a Soldier who desires to kill his General let him do it now. Here I am!' Dimensions of print roughly 13 x 17 cm. On original grey paper windowpane mount (22 x 27.5 cm). Engraved label (4 x 12.5 cm) beneath the print, with small remarque-style illustrations. Aged and spotted, with slight wear to the print. An unusual and attractive piece of Napoleonic iconography, a full-length image of the deposed Emperor of the French, characteristically attired, on a beach with his hand on a rock, looking out to a sunset at sea.

A speech delivered in the House of Commons in the debate on the North American blockade, Tuesday, March 7, 1862.

Author: 
Sir Roundell Palmer, M.P., Her Majesty's Solicitor-General [the Earl of Selborne; American Civil War]
Publication details: 
London: James Ridgway, Piccadilly. W. 1862.
£150.00

Octavo: 29 + [2] pp. Unbound, stabbed and stitched. Slightly dogeared, on grubby, lightly-spotted paper. Loss to top right-hand corner of title-leaf (not affecting text). Two pages of advertisements at rear, headed 'Important pamphlets, etc. Recently published by James Ridgway, Piccadilly.'

Official Programme of the State Procession of the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Victoria.

Author: 
The Coronation of Queen Victoria, 1838 [Sir Henry Dryden of Canons Ashby]
Publication details: 
[1838] 'London: Printed by W. MARSHALL, 24, Tavistock-street, Covent-Garden; Removed from 1, Holborn Bars Printed by E. ELLIOT, 14, Holywell-street, Strand.'
£500.00

On a piece of yellow wove paper roughly 565 x 455 mm. Text and illustrations clear and entire on creased and spotted paper with some wear to extremities. The order of the procession is given in three columns, divided by decorative rules. At the foot is an illustration (120 x 195 mm) of the queen's coach reaching Westminster Abbey, with crowds and a banner reading 'LONG LIVE VICTORIA'.

Handbill cockney street ballad entitled 'IT'S MONEY WELL LAID OUT. Sung by ALEC HURLEY.'

Author: 
Alec Hurley [Alexander Hurley (1871-1913), music hall artiste, coster singer, and Marie Lloyd's second husband [George Le Brunn; Harry Castling; London street ballad; cockney; East End slang]
Publication details: 
Date, place and printer not stated. [circa 1898]
£120.00

On one side of a piece of light-brown laid paper, dimensions roughly 240 x 125 mm. Text clear and entire, on lightly creased paper with chipping, short closed tears and loss to extremities. Crudely printed. A thirty-two line poem, arranged in four four-line stanzas, each with a different chorus. An excessively scarce piece of music hall ephemera. No other copy of this particular item, possibly produced for distribution to Hurley's music hall audience, is present on COPAC or anywhere on the web.

Spoof notice by 'T. N. Mitchell, Benson, Henley', regarding the death of an 82-year-old 'Wireless Dealer' who is said to have left a fortune of £50,000', with signed inscription by Mitchell on reverse.

Author: 
T. N. Mitchell of Benson, Oxford [Blows, printer, Henley; spoof; hoax]
Publication details: 
Dated by Mitchell in manuscript 'Xmas 1930'. Printed by 'BLOWS, HENLEY'.
£80.00

On a piece of brown card roughly 250 x 200 mm. Designed to be hung from two punch holes at head. Worn and aged, but with text (printed in red and black within a decorative border) clear and entire. A clever and amusing spoof, deliberately old-fashioned typographically in a parody of 'improving' texts. Reads '£50,000 | A Wireless Dealer aged 82, died - He left £50,000; thanks to long hours, close attention to business, strict economy, and - a bequest of £49,650 from an Uncle in Australia | T. N. MITCHELL | Benson, Oxford.' Inscribed on the reverse 'Xmas. 1930.

Handbill street ballad entitled 'Mr. Sopkin's Misadventures at Blackpool. (After Ingoldsby's Misadventures at Margate.)'

Author: 
Samuel Laycock (1826-1893), Victorian Yorkshire dialect poet [nineteenth-century Blackpool]
Publication details: 
Publisher and date not stated.
£75.00

At foot: 'PRICE ONE PENNY.' On one side of a piece of wove paper, roughly 220 x 170 mm. Enclosed within decorative border. Foxed and creased, with edges trimmed to edge of border. Thin strip of card mound adhering to one edge of reverse. Text clear and entire. Printed in two columns employing characteristically Victorian typography. Twenty-six four-line stanzas (the last two being the 'MORAL.'). Begins 'When down at Blackpool last July, and walking on the Pier, | I met a pretty maiden, so I said "How do my dear?" | "What do you here, love, by yourself? How is it you're alone?

Autograph (Facsimile?) Letter Signed ('Jas. R. Fairfax') to male correspondent.

Author: 
Sir James Reading Fairfax (1834-1919), Australian newspaper proprietor [The Sydney Morning Herald; The Sydney Mail]
Publication details: 
11 May 1884; on letterhead of the Sydney Morning Herald and Sydney Mail.
£56.00

12mo: 1 p. Ten lines of text. Bifolium. Grubby, and with the text of the letter faint. Letterhead printed in red with illustration of the firm's headquarters. Written in, or faded to, lilac, and could well be a carbon. Sending copies of the two newspapers as 'we think it probable you would like your newly published works noticed or reviewed' in them.

Everything New? Or Nothing New? A Satirical Comicality, Relating to Men, Manners, Incidents, and Novelties of the Day. [...] To which is added, The Shakespeare Tercentenary Prologue, As Spoken by the author, April 23, 1864.

Author: 
William Scribble, Esq.' (pseudonym of William Smyth (1813-1878), Irish portrait painter, satirist and friend of William Makepeace Thackeray)
Publication details: 
Dublin: William Robertson, 35, Lower Sackville-street, And may be had of Wiseheart, and all Booksellers. 1864. [Goodwin, Son, and Nethercott, Printers, 79, Marlborough-street, Dublin.]
£225.00

12mo: 24 pp. In original pink printed wraps: the front wrap bearing the title; the recto and verso of the rear carrying newspaper reviews of works by 'Scribble'. Stitched. On aged and spotted paper. Wraps heavily worn. A worn presentation inscription can be made out at the head of the title: 'Dr <?> With the Authors Best regards'. Pp.1-2: Introduction and Author's Preface (the latter dated 'Dublin, May, 1864.').

Illustrated chromolithographic printing proof of 'CALENDAR 1878 | ENGLISH & FOREIGN WATCHES & CLOCKS | A CHOICE SELECTION OF JEWELLERY'.

Author: 
Victorian colour printing [nineteenth century illustration; chromolithography; lithographic Calendar 1878]
Publication details: 
[1877. British.]
£65.00

Printed on one side of a piece of stiff art paper (shiny on printed side, matt on reverse), dimensions roughly 245 x 160 mm). Very good. The name of the firm is not stated, and dabs of colour in 3 mm margins as printing guide. Attractive and characteristic illustration, in eight (?) colours: dark brown, beige, green, red, pink, yellow, dark and light blue, showing a carriage clock surrounded by plate, jewellery (including a goblet, a fan, a pearl necklace, a fob watch, decanters) and a profusion of flowers. The calendar in twelve tiny squares, six at the head at six at the foot.

Fairburn's Genuine Edition of the Death-Bed Confessions of the late Countess of Guernsey, to Lady Anne H*******; developing a series of mysterious Transactions connected with the most illustrious Personages in the Kingdom: to which are added, [...].

Author: 
Francis Villiers, Countess of Jersey [spurious, attributed to] [Queen Caroline; King George IV; Lady Anne Hamilton]
Publication details: 
London: Printed and Published by John Fairburn, Broadway, Ludgate-hill.
£45.00

8vo: iv + 48 + [ii] pp. Last leaf carries advertisements for works by Fairburn. In marbled wraps. Text clear and entire. On aged paper with slight wear and fraying, small holes and light stains to first four leaves. Title continues '[...] to which are added, The Q-'s last letter to the K-, Written a few Days before Her M-'s Death, and other Authentic Documents, never before published. | [quotation] I am the Viper that has been secretly wounding you both.

The Official Theatre Guide of London [EPHEMERA]

Author: 
[LONDON THEATRE 1939; BROCHURE-cum-POSTER]
Publication details: 
Complete run from 2 January to 9 September 1939, issued weekly.
£180.00

Thirty-six weekly issues. As poster, c.29 x 39cm, fold marks indicate possible use as a brochure, good condition. Information given on verso: Theatre, Nearest Tube, Eves. & Mats, Play, Description of Play. At the bottom information about "Official Ticket Agents for All London Theatres" and a line encouraging smoking (especially Abdullas). Information given on recto: Garges in Theatreland, Contractors to West End Theatres, the title "page", and two columns of "Theatre Notes". The only MS. annotations are: Issue for 2-7 Jan.

Souvenir of the Visit of the King of Spain to England', printed as napkin or handkerchief on tissue paper, illustrated, and with coloured border.

Author: 
Burgess, William & Co., London printers [King Alfonso XIII of Spain; King Edward VII of the United Kingdom; typography; typographical]
Publication details: 
[1905] 'Burgess William & Co., Printers, 12, Mansell Street, Aldgate, London City.'
£200.00

An unusual, scarce and frail survival. Printed on one side of a piece of tissue paper, roughly 35 cm square. Surprisingly well preserved: heavily creased, with some wear to extremities, one small hole (not affecting text or image) and one closed tear of approximately 4 cm to coloured border.

Proof of a printed prospectus for the British Piscicultural Company, Limited, 'formed for the purpose of carrying out on a large scale and on commercial principles in this country, the modern system of propagating fresh water and marine fish'.

Author: 
[The British Piscicultural Company, Limited.; Jean Jacques Marie Cyprien Victor Coste (1807-1873)]
Publication details: 
Undated, but the company 'Incorporated under the Companies' Act, 1862.'
£56.00

On both sides of a folio leaf (dimensions 42 x 26.5 cm). On aged and lightly creased and spotted paper. Proposing to raise 'CAPITAL, £50,000, in 5,000 SHARES of £10 each.' Details of Directors; Bankers; Auditors; Brokers; Solicitors; Secretary, (pro tem.); and Offices left blank.

Handbill entitled 'The Recruiting Officer's Speech.'

Author: 
The Recruiting Officer' [evangelical Christianity; handbills; Salvation Army; George Brimmer, London printer; G. and I. Offer, booksellers; ephemera]
Publication details: 
[c. 1818] London: Printed by G. Brimmer, 15, Water-lane, Fleet-street; and sold by G. and I. Offer, Postern Row, Tower Hill, and J. Higham, 6, Chiswell Street.
£150.00

On one side of a piece of unwatermarked wove paper, 32 x 25 cm. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper. Attractively produced within a decorative border, with the title in gothic script and the text beginning in a single column before splitting into two. Printer's and publishers' details at foot, with advertisement of five works published between 1815 and 1817.

Handbill, advertising 'Messrs. Raphael Tuck & Sons' next Amateurs' "Literary" and "Painting" Prize Competition, (A Special Section being reserved for Children of varying ages), in May 1895.', judged by 'Walter Besant and Marcus Stone, R.A.'

Author: 
Raphael Tuck & Sons, Fine Art Publishers, London [Walter Besant; Marcus Stone]
Publication details: 
London: Messrs. Raphael Tuck & Sons, Fine Art Publishers, 72/73 Coleman Street, City. [1895]
£100.00

On one side of a piece of paper roughly 24 x 14.5 cm. With card backing. Good, though lightly aged. Headed by the Royal warrant, the top-half of the handbill features, in a variety of types and point sizes, the announcement of Tuck and Sons' intention to award 'Upwards of 4,000 prizes, of the value of 3,000 guineas, and a number of judges' diplomas', with Besant and Stone as judges. The lower part has two columns featuring fifteen testimonials, by newspapers ranging from 'Windsor and Eton Gazette' to the 'Sheffield Telegraph'.

The Struggle.

Author: 
Joseph Livesey, Preston [William Strange, Paternoster Row; Free Trade; repeal of the Corn Laws]
Publication details: 
No. 75. 'Printed and Published by J. LIVESEY, Preston. Sold by W. Strange, Paternoster-row, London [...]. [between 1842 and 1846]
£56.00

4to: 4 pp. Unbound. Good. Half-page illustration on first page of 'The Emigrant's Farewell'. Small vignette on p.3 of 'Sancho Panza flogging himself, or the Landlords laying peculiar burthens on themselves!' Includes articles entitled 'Onward Still!', 'The Sugar Monopoly' and 'The Working Man his Own Capitalist'. Ends with 'A HINT. - Every newspaper containing debates on the corn laws, should be sent through the post from one hand to another while it will hold together.'

The Ulster Calendar of Persons and Events. By Alex. Riddell. 1911.

Author: 
Alex. Riddell,
Publication details: 
N.p. 1911.
£100.00

8vo, 76 + [i] + [iii]. Rebound in attractive green paper wraps, including surviving front wrap (back wrap missing), damaged but reinforced, staples rusty. Final page a Calendar for 1911, followed by three pages blank but for heading 'MEMORANDA'. Verso of front wrap carries an advertisement, with photograph of shop front, for James' Boys' Clothing, 10 Lombard St., Belfast. Scarce. No copy listed in National Library of Ireland online catalogue, and only one copy on COPAC (at the British Library).

Printed Deposit Book for the 'GOVERNMENT SAVINGS BANK | FALKLAND ISLANDS.'

Author: 
Falkland Islands [Islas Malvinas; Government Savings Bank; Government Press]
Publication details: 
[1930s?] 'GOVERNMENT PRESS, FALKLAND ISLANDS.'
£20.00

12mo, 8 leaves opening to make seven sets of columns running across seven pairs of facing pages. Stitched, and within original yellow printed wraps, with rough cloth weave. Lightly aged and worn, but in good condition overall, and free from any manuscript entries (i.e. not filled in). The front wrap is headed by a governmental crest, and carries eleven lines of text. Five lines of text, and the slug, on the back wrap ('The Officers engaged in the discharge of their duties under this Ordinance shall not disclose, except to the Governor, or in due course of law, the name of any Depositor.').

Autograph Letter Signed ('H. Rayson Venables') to Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.

Author: 
Horace Rayson Venables (b. c.1898) [AUTOGRAPHS; Montgomery of Alamein]
Publication details: 
3 June 1943; 28 Chalcot Square, Regent's Park, N.W.1, on cancelled letterhead of 44 Oakfield Court, N.8.
£40.00

Four pages, 12mo. Good, on aged paper with one half-inch closed tear. Claims to be 'compiling an historic book [...] which has been left to the nation', and asks for his contribution. Provides a full-page list from the 'over 500 Autographs'. The collection 'could not be complete without' Montgomery's 'honoured name'. Asks for 'a few words (as many others have done) on the blank side so as to keep this for Gen Alexander & others who took part in your campaign'. Congratulates him on his 'brilliant Victory'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Clunie') to an unnamed male autograph collector.

Author: 
John Clunie (1784-1858), Principal of Leaf Square and Seedley Grove Academies, 1812 to 1837
Publication details: 
20 June 1836; Seedley Grove, near Manchester.
£50.00

One page, on piece of lightly aged paper, roughly six and a half inches by seven. Strip neatly torn away at head (not affecting text, but perhaps bearing recipient's address). Good, with a little damage from breaking of wafer and slight evidence of previous mounting on revese. Thirteen lines. He is sending the selected autographs, and will 'be happy to receive, at your leisure, those of Currie, Daubeny, Mc.Culloch, Flowers, Woodville & Phillips & Jones - or such 5 of them as you can best spare'.

A Representation of the Tables in the Body of Guildhall, and the Old Court of King's Bench, with the arrangement for the members of the Court of Common Council and their ladies. Lord Mayor's Day, 1838.

Author: 
[Samuel Wilson, Lord Mayor of London; Lord Mayor's Banquet, 1838; Guildhall; City of London Livery Companies]
Publication details: 
Taylor, Printer, Coleman Street. [1838.]
£28.00

Printed on one side of a piece of paper 43 x 33 cms. Good, on lightly creased and spotted aged paper. A printed plan, with two diagrams, designed to show the members of the various livery companies where to sit at the banquet for Samuel Wilson, Lord Mayor of London. The name 'R. Taylor' (of the Ward of Farringdon Without) is filled in in manuscript: 'The Situation for Mr. [R. Taylor] is marked in Red; And for his Lady ........Blue.'

Catalogue No. 26: 'Early Newspapers | From 1625 to 1850'.

Author: 
Birrell & Garnett, Ltd., 30 Gerrard Street, London W.1 [booksellers' catalogues; bookselling]
Publication details: 
Harding & Curtis, Ltd., Somerset Street, Bath. [1929.]
£56.00

Octavo: 32 pp. Stapled and unbound. Rather worn, particularly at first and last leaves. A few pencil marks and notes, and slight ink staining at head of first leaf. Twenty illustrations. 168 items; three-part index on final page. Influential catalogue, the collection sold in its entirety to Duke University. One of Birrell & Garnett's managers was Graham Pollard, co-author of the book which unmasked T. J. Wise as a forger.

Signed photograph.

Author: 
Nicolai Malko (1883-1961), Russian conductor, latterly chief conductor in Australia with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Publication details: 
1949
£200.00

Dimensions of photograph roughly nine inches by seven wide. Aged, lightly creased and a little scuffed. Slight loss to bottom right-hand corner of border, not affecting image. A bespectacled Malko in a double-breasted pinstripe jacket, in the act of conducting, baton aloft, and with violinist in the background. Malko has written his inscription over his torso, beginning 'Cnacudo', and giving the date 1949.

Financial Reform Tracts. No. 1.

Author: 
Liverpool Financial Reform Association [Free Trade; Richard Cobden; economic history]
Publication details: 
[Financial Reform Association, Hargreave's Buildings, Liverpool, September, 1848.] Sold by Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., London; and by the Printers, Smith, Rogerson, and Co., 44, Lord-street, Liverpool.
£56.00

12mo. 20 pages. Stitched and unbound. Creased, aged and somewhat dusty. Historic first publication of 'the most persistent and single-minded free trade lobby England has known' (W. N. Calkins, Economic History Review, 1960).

Printed handbill advertising the publication of Kirby's 'Monographia Apum Angliae'.

Author: 
William Kirby [John White, bookseller; Stephen Couchman, printer]
Publication details: 
London: 'Printed for the AUTHOR, and Sold by J. WHITE, Fleet-Street. Printed by S. Couchman, Throgmorton-Street.' [1802].
£120.00

One page, on rough-edged grey wove paper, roughly nine inches by six wide. An attractive production of twenty-two lines, with ornamental rules top and bottom, headed 'This Day is Published, | IN TWO VOLUMES OCTAVO, | PRICE ONE GUINEA IN BOARDS, | Monographia Apum Angliae; | [...] | By WILLIAM KIRBY, B.A. F.L.S. | RECTOR of Barham in Suffolk. | [...]'. According to BBTI John White traded between 1785 and 1816 and Stephen Couchman between 1774 and 1825.

Engraved portrait of Gutenberg by Gaywood, mounted on piece of paper with painted decorations.

Author: 
Johannes Gutenberg, German printer; Peter Stent (fl.1643-67), London printseller; Richard Gaywood (fl.1644-68), English engraver
Gutenberg
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£100.00
Gutenberg

Good clean image of a seventeenth-century engraving, from an earlier idealised portrait of the putative 'father of printing'. It is of irregular shape, the background having been carefully cut away. Neatly mounted on piece of beige paper, illustrated with a brown pseudo-frame with decorative book devices in the four corners. Half-length portrait of a bearded Gutenberg in fur-lined hat and coat, with composing stick in left hand and stylus in right. Dimensions roughly eight and a quarter inches by seven wide. Engraved beneath is 'P Stent Excudit: R Gaywood fecit'.

Handbill of 'Rules for conducting the six-pence <...> Society, In Aid of the Funds for defraying the <Expence> of carrying on the Worship of God, In York-street Chapel, Manchester.'

Author: 
York Street Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Todmorton, Manchester
Publication details: 
To commence from the first of January, 1820. [...] W. Cowdroy, printer, Manchester.'
£45.00

On one side of a piece of paper roughly 22 x 14 cms. Good, apart from some repaired damage at head from scorching, resulting in loss to two lines of text. Title followed by the eight rules of the Society over twenty-one lines of text. At foot names of the sixteen members of the Committee (eight ladies and eight gentlemen), together with those of the treasurer and secretary. According to BBTI William Cowdroy Jr was a printer, publisher and newspaper proprietor between 1795 and 1824.

Handbill headed 'STOLEN POSTAL ORDER FORMS | STOLEN POSTAGE STAMPS NEGOTIATED BY MEANS OF STAMP SAVINGS SLIPS'.

Author: 
E. H. Bourne, Director, Investigation Branch, Personnel Department [THE POST OFFICE; ROYAL MAIL; POSTAL HISTORY]
Publication details: 
[London,] 20 January 1939.
£56.00

Two pages. On both sides of a piece of paper roughly twelve and a quarter inches by eight inches wide. Illustrated on both sides. An unusual piece of Post Office ephemera, and something of a period piece, on aged paper, with fraying to extremities. Begins 'The object of these instructions is to secure the apprehension of men and women who are negotiating stolen postal order forms and stolen penny stamps, the proceeds of thefts from Post Office. [...]'.

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