ABBEY

Manuscript Victorian directions for a servant in a large establishment, giving twenty instructions, primarily regarding cleaning.

Author: 
[Directions for a nineteenth-century English servant; Victorian domestic service]
Publication details: 
Without date or place. [England, 1860s?]
£60.00

4pp., 16mo. Bifolium. On piece of watermarked laid paper. The first page reads: 'Not to call out to any of the servants but to go up to them when wanted or to ring the call bell. | Care about curtains & chairs - wear white cotton gloves to touch them with | Open shutters gently so as not to disturb the family. | Dont talk loud or laugh loud. - where there are many servants the noise is disagreeable & never allowed.' Towards the end: 'In setting your candle down see that there is nothing over it - such as a picture frame or ornament of any kind -'.

Autograph Card Signed ('Herbert E Ryle') from Herbert Edward Ryle, Dean of Westminster, to 'Mr. Johnson', explaining to him the consequences of his missing lectures at Queens' College, Cambridge, because of the 'flu' ('that detestable "pestilence"').

Author: 
Herbert Edward Ryle (1856-1925), Dean of Westminster from 1911 to 1925, who composed the inscription on the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey [Queen's College; Cambridge]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of The Lodge, Queen's College, Cambridge. 25 January 1898.
£40.00

On both sides of a card with a mourning border. Good, on lightly-aged grey card. If Johnson does not miss more than two lectures he will be in no danger of 'losing a certificate through failure of attendance'; if he misses three, 'it becomes a serious, but not hopeless question. Four absences would certainly disqualify'. Ryle will put a note against Johnson's name, 'that you have been made captive by the "flu"', and trusts that he will 'soon be released from the grip of that detestable "pestilence"'.

Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'T Gambier Parry') from Thomas Gambier Parry, to 'Mr. Moore' [B. T. Moore], regarding repairs to Tewkesbury Abbey, both lamenting that the paint he chose for the roof has turned to the colour of 'disgraceful mud'.

Author: 
Thomas Gambier Parry (1816-1888), benefactor and art collector [Benjamin Thomas Moore (d.1896), for 38 years churchwarden of Tewkesbury Abbey; Ven. Hemming Robeson]
Publication details: 
ONE: on letterhead of the United University Club, Pall Mall East, S.W. [London]. 8 February 1885. TWO: on letterhead of Highnam Court, Gloucester. 16 October [1885?].
£120.00

ONE: 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with traces of glue from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Parry begins by exclaiming: 'What a grand example your activity at Tewkesbury is!' Whatever Moore means by 'the Construction of the Cloister walk - and other important business', Parry regrets that his 'obligations in London' will not allow him to join the Abbey Committee. He continues: 'I wish "bad times" did not put another thing out of my Power w[hic]h.

[Printed handbill poem by 'B. B.'] On a favourite Dog, interred in the Grounds of Dryburgh Abbey, MDCCCXIV. [With Victorian photograph of a dog.]

Author: 
'B. B.' [Sir Brooke Boothby (1744-1824)?] [Dryburgh Abbey, property of David Steuart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan]
Publication details: 
Date and publisher not stated. [Scotland, circa 1814?]
£400.00

Poem: On one side of a piece of 12mo paper. Fair, lightly-aged and a little ruckled, with traces of gum from previous mounting on the blank reverse. The 12-line poem is written in heroic couplets, and begins 'POOR, faithful animal, adieu! - | To Nature's kind affection true, | For fourteen years, thy grateful heart, | Devoted, play'd its humble part.' At the end a contemporary hand has ascribed the poem to 'B. B.', and the same hand gives the date as 'September 3d'.

Three Autograph Letters Signed (all 'A. L. Baldry') to C. R. Grundy, editor of the Connoisseur, on the subject of the Royal Academy.

Author: 
Alfred Lys Baldry (1858-1939), painter and art critic (Globe, Studio), author of a work on the Wallace Collection [Cecil Reginald Grundy (1870-1944), editor of the Connoisseur; the Royal Academy]
Publication details: 
5, 10 and 27 May 1921. All three on letterhead of Wolmer Road, Marlow Common, Marlow, Bucks.
£125.00

All three letters 12mo: the first of three pages, and the last two one page apiece. Texts clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Letter One: Sir Henry Vansittart Neale will be pleased to allow Grundy 'a look at his pictures' at Bisham Abbey. Gives directions. Discusses Grundy's letter in the Daily Express, complaining about the 'crowding out' of pictures at the Royal Academy.

Small archive of 22 Typed Letters Signed ('Frank Baines') and one Autograph Letter Signed, to G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, with documents including a draft speech by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, with Baldwin's emendations.

Author: 
Sir Frank Baines (1877-1933), British architect, Director of Works, Her Majesty's Office of Works [Stanley Baldwin]
Publication details: 
1927 to 1928; on letterheads of the Director of Works, H.M. Office of Works, and 34, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, W.C.2. [London].
£450.00

The collection is in very good condition, on slightly aged and dusty paper. Several items bear the Society's stamp. An interesting and significant correspondence. The letters, in a variety of formats from 12mo to foolscap, are often long, and are written in an informal tone. Indicating Baines's deep involvement in the Society's affairs, they most significantly concern an appeal, organised by Baines on behalf of the Society, 'for the preservation of the cottage architecture of Great Britain', with the backing and involvement of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Le Despencer') to an unnamed correspondent (a neighbouring landowner?).

Author: 
Francis Dashwood (1708-1781), 11th Baron Le Despencer, politician and rake; member of the Hellfire Club; founder of the Monks of Medmenham Abbey
Publication details: 
Hanover Square, London, 7 May 1779
£350.00

4to: 1 p. 10 lines of text. Good, on lightly aged paper. Text clear and entire. Docketed on the reverse of the otherwise-blank second leaf of the bifolium. See preceding letter on same subject (#8136). He hoped to have met his correspondent "ar WestWycombe" to discuss the cottage occupied by a "poor man" which may be on a neighbour's land. A "trifling affair". "I did nequire about it last summer, and was told that it was built on the waste by some poor man and I suppose some small fine might have been set on it by the Jury at my Court as a trespass on the waste.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Le Despencer') to a member of the Tonyn family.

Author: 
Francis Dashwood (1708-1781), 11th Baron Le Despencer, politician and rake; member of the Hellfire Club; founder of the Monks of Medmenham Abbey
Publication details: 
24 February 1774; Manchester Square, London.
£300.00

4to: 1 p. 9 lines of text. Good, on lightly aged paper, with a light stain affecting a couple of words. Text clear and entire. Docketed on the reverse of the otherwise-blank second leaf of the bifolium. Concerning his and Tonyn's positions as magistrates. 'I never can conveniently at this time of the year stay above a day at W Wycombe at one time'. Were he in the county he would 'attend you on Saturday in Easter Week, and I believe I shall, but to make a journey on purpose to attend a petty sessions at my time of life cannot be expected'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Le Despencer') to a member of the Tonyn family.

Author: 
Francis Dashwood (1708-1781), 11th Baron Le Despencer, politician and rake; member of the Hellfire Club; founder of the Monks of Medmenham Abbey [Admiral Charles William Paterson (c.1756-1841)]
Publication details: 
8 February 1776; Hanover Square, London.
£350.00

4to: 1 p. 7 lines of text. Docketed on the reverse. Good, on lightly aged paper. That day he went to the Admiralty 'in hopes of meeting Lord Sandwich in order to recommend Mr Paterson [later Admiral Charles William Paterson] to his good will', but he did not see him. When he does, he will 'certainly say everything in that young Gentlemans favor', and he will 'say the same to Lord Howe if I can catch sight of him'. 'Our last news from America are not unfavorable in some respects.'

Envelope, with stamp and postmark, addressed in autograph by Stanley to George Moore.

Author: 
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley [1815-1881), Dean of Westminster [Dean Stanley.]
Publication details: 
Postmarked 16 April 1877, London.
£18.00

Envelope (dimensions 6.5 x 12 cm) with mourning border. Lacking flap, but good. Penny red stamp with two circular postmarks in black ink. Docketed 'Dean Stanley' in neat contemporary hand above address, which reads 'George Moore Esq. | 15a. Court | Bayswater W.' Moore was a lace manufacturer and philanthropist.

Beltaine. An Occasional Publication. The Organ of the Irish Literary Theatre. Edited by W. B. Yeats.

Author: 
W. B. Yeats, editor; George Moore, Edward Martyn, W. B. Yeats, Alice Milligan, and Augusta Gregory, contributors [Irish literature]
Publication details: 
Number Two. February 1900. London: At the Sign of the Unicorn, VII Cecil Court, Saint Martin's Lane, W.C.
£200.00

4to, 28 + [iv] pp. In original buff printed wraps. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with rust to staples causing detached covers. Nicely printed. Advertisements on the last four pages and three sides of the wraps.

The Arrow. W. B. Yeats Commemoration Number.

Author: 
Edmund Dulac, Oliver St. John Gogarty, John Masefield, Lennox Robinson, William Rothenstein, Max Beerbohm, contributors [The Abbey Theatre, Dublin; W. B. Yeats; Irish literature]
Publication details: 
Summer 1939. Published by the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. [Wood Printing Works, Ltd., Dublin.]
£50.00

4to, 24 pp. With four pages of illustrations (by J. B. Yeats, Charles Shannon, Sean O'Sullivan, Max Beerbohm and Edmund Dulac). Stapled. In original grey printed wraps. Aged and dog-eared, in worn wraps. The introduction, by 'L. R.', explains that 'THE ARROW is an occasional, a very occasional, publication by the Abbey Theatre. Only four numbers of it have appeared, two in 1906, one in 1907, 1908 and 1909.' Essays by John Masefield ('William Butler Yeats'), F. R.

The Dublin Magazine. A Quarterly Review of Literature, Science and Art. [Featuring 'Diarmuid and Grania. A Play in Three Acts. By George Moore and W. B. Yeats. Now first printed with an introductory note by William Becker'.]

Author: 
Seumas O'Sullivan, editor [George Moore; W. B. Yeats]
Publication details: 
April-June 1951. [Printed by Alex. Thom & Co. Ltd., Dublin.]
£20.00

4to, x + 64 pp. In original grey printed wraps. In fair condition: on aged paper, with slightly dog-eared with a little creasing and a couple of short closed tears at rear. In lightly-worn wraps. Becker's introduction to 'Diarmuid and Grania', dated 'Oxford, November, 1950', covers pp.1-4, with the play itself on pp.5-41. This is followed by 'Dramatic Commentary' (not on the play) by A. J. Leventhal on pp.42-44, 'Art Notes' by Edward Sheehy on pp.45-46 and book reviews on pp.47-64.

The Arrow.

Author: 
W. B. Yeats, editor [The Abbey Theatre, Dublin, Ireland; Irish literature]
Publication details: 
Vol.1, No.2. 24 November 1906. [Hely's, Limited, Printers, Dame St., and Acme Works, Dame Court, Dublin.]
£350.00

4to, 8 unpaginated pages. In original grey printed wraps. Text clear and complete. Neat vertical fold. On worn and foxed paper, with rust to staples and slight wear and chipping to wraps. The second of the five issues to appear in Yeats's lifetime. (In the 'W. B. Yeats Commemoration Number' of Summer 1939, 'The Arrow' was described as 'an occasional, a very occasional, publication by the Abbey Theatre', with only five numbers to have appeared up to that point: 'two in 1906, one in 1907, 1908 and 1909') Contains three articles signed 'W. B.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Le Despencer') to an unnamed correspondent (a neighbouring landowner?).

Author: 
Francis Dashwood (1708-1781), 11th Baron Le Despencer, politician and rake; member of the Hellfire Club; founder of the Monks of Medmenham Abbey
Publication details: 
Hanover Square, London, 5 May 1779
£350.00

4to: 1 p. 15 lines of text. Good, on lightly aged paper, with a light stain affecting but not obscuring a couple of words. Text clear and entire. Docketed on the reverse of the otherwise-blank second leaf of the bifolium.

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'.

The Troth. A Play in One Act

Author: 
Rutherford Mayne, pseud. [i.e. Samuel Waddell], Irish playwright.
Publication details: 
Dublin : Maunsel & Co., 1909
£125.00

First edition. Original green wraps, title in red, 14pp, 8vo, wraps frayed and sunned (or grubby) at edges, contents good. Scarce: COPAC lists two copies (BL and NLS).

The Turn of the Road. . . A Play in Two Scenes and An Epilogue

Author: 
Rutherford Mayne, pseud. [i.e. Samuel Waddell], Irish playwright.
Publication details: 
Dublin : Maunsel & Co., 1907
£200.00

First edition. Original green wraps, title in red, 14pp, 8vo, wraps partially detached, frayed and sunned (or grubby) at edges, contents good. INSCRIBED by the author: "To Norman Morrow / With the compliments of the Author//". Morrow was a member of a family which involved itself in set design and related ativity for the Ulster Literary Theatre. Scarce: COPAC lists two copies (BL and Trinity, Dublin).

Autograph Letter Signed ('L. P. Hobart-Hampden') to 'Miss <Caste?>'.

Author: 
Lucy Pauline Wright, afterwards the Hon. Mrs Charles Hobart-Hampden [Lucy Hobart-Hampden] (d. 1913), author of 'The Changed Cross'
Publication details: 
21 May 1889; Fonthill Cottage.
£20.00

12mo, 4 pp. Good. A bifolium, attached by a strip along the inner margin to a leaf removed from an autograph album, docketed 'Mrs. Hobart Hampden, Authoress of "The Changed Cross" '. Postscript written vertically across the upper part of the first page. Concerns a photograph of the recipient's mother: a 'sweet souvenir of such a rare & precious jewel as your dear & beautiful Mother; whom we feel it such a privelidge [sic] to see and to know'.

Four Autograph Letters Signed (all 'A. Rutledge Crouch') to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
A. Rutledge Crouch, English designer and illustrator
Publication details: 
14, 20 and 28 February and 8 March 1941; all on letterheads of 'Redcot', Rutland Road, Wanstead, Essex.
£120.00

The first three items are 4to, with the first two of two pages and the last of one page, all with a brown border. The fourth item is 12mo, 1 p. The quarto items have some creasing and discoloration to the extremities, and a few closed tears. The 12mo item is good. Text of all four letters clear and entire. The correspondence concerns Crouch's application for membership. He gives the names of individuals who 'have signified their willingness to second' Crouch: Sir William Wayland, M.P.

Autograph Letter Signed ('A. P. Stanley') to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1815-1881), Dean of Westminster
Publication details: 
16 April 1877; Deanery, Westminster.
£45.00

12mo: 2 pp. Thick mourning border. Good. The recipient has provided a partial interlinear transcription of what the New DNB describes as 'Stanley's execrable handwriting'. Stanley is 'much obliged for having [his] attention called to anything in the Abbey Services which requires rectification', and will 'make inquiry into the cause of [his correspondent's] complaint'. The 'inattention [...] will be remedied, so far as the nature of the case admits'.

autograph letter signed to W. D. Cooke

Author: 
Lord Cleveland on Battle Abbey, Sussex
Publication details: 
4pp, 8vo, Battle Abbey, 11 November 1869
£100.00

Is not sure whether he can find a ground plan of the Abbey before his alterations, but provides a detailed description of them, e.g. 'I took down some parts which were not old but added by Sir Godfrey Webster, built very badly of brick & cemented over to look like stone, and have rebuilt it of stone with a slight alteration so as to render it more in character'. He refers in detail to the rebuilding of the library 'which is 76 feet long is substantially the same building as the former one erected by Sir Anthony Brown after the dissolution of the monastery and its cession to him'.

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