BOOKTRADE

[Thomas Thorp, bookseller of Guildford and London; Bookplates.] Printed item: ‘A Catalogue of Books and Bookplates’ [1943 items and a further fifty-one pages of bookplates.]

Author: 
Thomas Thorp, bookseller of Guildford and London, established in 1883, closed 2003 [bookplates]
Publication details: 
Catalogue Number 406 [1930s]. ‘On Sale by - / Thomas Thorp / Strathfieldsaye, Guildown Road / Guildford, England / (Also of 93 St. Martin’s Lane, London, W.C.2)’. Printed by Robert Stockwell, Baden Place, Borough, London, S.E.1.
£80.00

See Sheila Markham’s interview with Thorp’s grandson Jim in ‘The Bookdealer’, April 1995, and the report ‘Now it’s the end of the Thomas Thorp story’, Surrey Live, 17 January 2003. 132pp, 8vo. Stapled. Pagination includes grey printed wraps, with title and first and last entries. On cheap discoloured paper, with slight wear to bottom corner of first few leaves; spine worn and chipped, covers detached. Undated, but with no item found dated later than 1929. Fifty-one pages (33-83) of bookplates in small print.

[ Printed booklet. ] The Idea of a British Book Trade Association. An Address given to The Society of Bookmen by Basil Blackwell.

Author: 
Basil Blackwell [ Sir Basil Blackwell (1889-1984), Oxford bookseller and publisher ] [ The Society of Bookmen, London ]
Publication details: 
The Society of Bookmen, 3 Henrietta Street, London, W.C.2. June 1937. [ Unwin Brothers Limited, London and Woking, Printers. ]
£35.00

12pp., 8vo. Stapled into light-brown printed wraps, with title in dark-brown on white label on front wrap. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Blackwell's address is on pp.3-10; p.11 carries a 'List of Members 30th June 1937', in two columns, including R. Cobden-Sanderson, Geoffrey Faber, Rupert Hart-Davis, Harold Macmillan, Stanley Unwin and Sir Hugh Walpole. The final page carries details of the Society's officers, committee, secretary and offices. Blackwell begins his address: 'I have nothing new or strange to propose to-night.

[ Bookseller's catalogue. ] Literary Ladies of the Nineteenth Century. A Catalogue of Books: Autograph Letters: Illustrations: etc.

Author: 
Ian Hodgkins & Co. Ltd, booksellers [ English nineteenth-century women writers; British Victorian female authors ]
Publication details: 
Ian Hodgkins & Co. Ltd., Upper Vatch Mill, The Vatch, Slad, Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL6 7JY. Catalogue 81. Summer 1995.
£56.00

40pp., 8vo. Stapled in printed wraps with illustration on front cover. In fair condition, somewhat aged and worn. Hodgkin was known for his meticulous catalouging, and 500 items are described, by a range of authors, both prominent and obscure, ranging from Grace Aguilar to Mrs Mary Wood-Allen. There are sub-sections for Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Fanny Burney, Jane Welsh Carlyle, Eliza Cook, Marie Corelli, Maria S. Cummins, Lady Elizabeth Eastlake, Maria Edgeworth, George Elliot, Mrs.

[ Inscribed copy from subject's son to fellow-publisher Richard Bentley. ] Life and Letters of Alexander Macmillan.

Author: 
Charles L. Graves, author of 'The Life of Sir George Grove' [ Alexander Macmillan (1818-1896), publisher; his son George Augustin Macmillan (1855-1936); Richard Bentley (1854-1936), publisher ]
Publication details: 
London: Macmillan and Co., Limited, St. Martin's Street. 1910.
£45.00

[7] + 418pp., 8vo. With frontispiece and four other plates. Good copy, lightly-aged in bright red cloth gilt and dustwrapper with slight chipping at head. Inscribed on front free endpaper: 'Richard Bentley | from his friend | George A. Macmillan | October 1910'. The recipient is the grandson of the noted London publisher of the same name.

[ First edition inscribed by the author to Graham Pollard, with Pollard's label and the bookplate of Frank Spicer. ] Minding My Own Business. An Autobiography.

Author: 
Percy Muir [ Percy Horace Muir (1894-1979), antiquarian bookseller with firm Elkin Mathews Ltd and author; Graham Pollard (1903-1976), bookseller and bibliographer; Frank Spicer ]
Publication details: 
London: Chatto & Windus, 1956.
£100.00

[8] + 224pp., 8vo. Seven plates. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, in blue cloth binding, in worn and nicked dustwrapper. Inscribed on front free endpaper: 'For Graham | part author of these pages | R. H. M. June '56.' Pollard's partner in the unmasking of the Wise forgeriers is the book's dedicatee, and the pair's efforts are described in Chapter 8, 'Sherry and Shibboleths'. Pollard's small label ('From the Library of | GRAHAM | POLLARD') is at the head of the front pastedown, which also carries Spicer's owl and moon bookplate.

[ Printed volume. ] American Booktrade Directory, including lists of publishers, booksellers, periodicals, literary agents, book clubs, etc.

Author: 
[ American Booktrade Directory 1939, R. R. Bowker (Office of The Publishers' Weekly) ]
Publication details: 
New York: R. R. Bowker Co. Office of The Publishers' Weekly, 1939.
£25.00

326pp., 4to. In green cloth binding with title in black on front cover. Internally good and tight, on aged paper, in worn binding with staining to front and back covers. In eighteen sections, including 'Auctioneers of Literary Property - United States', 'British Publishers', 'American Representatives of British Publishers' and 'Book Clubs in the United States'. Scarce.

[ James Wilson, nineteenth-century Birmingham bookseller and manuscript dealer. ] Printed letterhead ('Memorandum from James Wilson'), in red and brown gothic type.

Author: 
James Wilson, nineteenth-century Birmingham bookseller and manuscript dealer
Publication details: 
James Wilson, 35 Bull Street, Birmingham. Dated in manuscript 30 January 1886.
£56.00

On 7 x 13.5cm piece of watermarked laid paper, cut from the head of a 12mo leaf. Tastefully printed in red and brown, in gothic type with rubricated capital. Reads: 'MEMORANDUM | from | James Wilson, | Dealer in Ancient and Modern Books and Manuscripts; rare | and valuable County Histories, Old Poetry, Theology, costly | Works on the Fine Arts, Illuminated Missals, and other | Ancient MSS. on vellum, and Literary Curiosities and Rarities | in general. Catalogues issued Monthly, gratis andn post free. | 35, Bull Street, Birmingham,'. The date 'Jan 30th 86' in bottom right-hand corner of slip.

[ Cadell & Davies, London booksellers. ] Autograph Note Signed from 'S. Cadell' to 'Mr Lawless' [ the firm's assistant Robert Lawless ], instructing him to deliver copies of Pope's Homer to 'Mr Nichols' [ John Bowyer Nichols ].

Author: 
S. Cadell [ John Bowyer Nichols (1779-1863), printer and publisher; Robin Lawless (1724-1806), Irish-born assistant to the London booksellers Cadell & Davies [ Thomas Cadell & William Davies ] ]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [ London, pre-1806. ]
£56.00

On one side of a small rectangle of laid paper, with one corner snipped off. In fair condition, aged and worn, with spike hole not affecting text. Reads: 'Mr Lawless | Deliver Mr Nichols Ninety Popes omer 4 Vol. | S. Cadell'. Although clearly a member of the firm, the identity of the writer is unclear, the descriptions of Cadell & Davies material at the Huntingdon and Yale not yielding any information.

[Catalogue by Elkin Mathews Limited.] List 71. A Small Collection of Children's Toys and Games.

Author: 
[Percy Muir [Percy H. Muir; Percy Horace Muir] (1894-1979), bookseller, proprietor of Elkin Mathews Limited, Takeley, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire]
Publication details: 
Elkin Mathews Limited, Takeley, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, England. [1960s?]
£135.00

[2] + 8pp., 8vo., with an additional 6pp of illustrations. Aged and creased, with rusted staples. Typeset with something akin to an IBM golfball. Introductory note: 'This small collection of children's toys and games was formed in the early years of this century and had remained undisturbed in a packing case until purchased by us some months ago. Some of the toys show signs of use but in general the condition is very good. Adequate description is difficult and we have endeavoured to illustrate as many of the toys as possible.

[P. S. King, London Parliamentary Bookseller.] 36 items from his papers, including correspondence from individuals including the Bishop of Chichester, Sir Charles Bowyer Adderley, Sir Edward Cholmley Dering, William Knight and other public figures.

Author: 
P. S. King [Philip Stephen King] (1819-1908), London Parliamentary Bookseller of 12 Bridge St, Westminster and other addresses[William Knight, Sir Charles Bowyer Adderley; Sir Edward Cholmley Dering]
Publication details: 
Mainly from London and Westminster. Dating from between 1855 and 1907.
£450.00

The notable London firm of P. S. King & Son, 'Publishers, Parliamentary and General Booksellers, Bookbinders and Printers', was in existence for more than a hundred years, having been established, according to its own account, in Parliament Street in 1819, and still active until 1941, when it became P. S. King and Staples, under which name it traded for around six years. (An advertisement for the Staples Press Limited in The Times, 14 February 1946, lists, among incorporated companies: 'P. S.

[Chatto & Windus, London publishers.] Manuscript letter, signed on behalf of 'Chatto & Windus', to fellow London bookseller Philip Stephen King, declining the offer of a translation of Portuguese novelist Alexandre Herculano's 'O Monge de Cister'.

Author: 
Chatto & Windus [P. S. King [Philip Stephen King] (1819-1908), London Parliamentary Bookseller of 12 Bridge St, Westminster and other addresses; Alexandre Herculano (1810-1877), Portuguese writer]
Publication details: 
On the firm's letterhead at the 'Office of Belgravia of the Gentleman's Magazine & of "Academy Notes", 74 & 75 Piccadilly, London. 4 January 1878.
£120.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Tasteful letterhead including the firm's device within an oval, printed in sepia. In good condition: on aged and lightly-worn paper. King was the leading London parliamentary bookseller, and it is interesting to see him apparently offering a work of his own to other publishers. The letter reads: 'Dear Sir | We beg to acknowledge with thanks your offer of a translation of Herculano's "O Monge de Cister," which we much regret our inability to accept - our hands being very full just now, & all our arrangements for some time to come made.

Autograph Letter Signed from the bookseller and publisher Herbert van Thal to the gossip columnist 'William Hickey' [Tom Driberg], regretting his sacking from the Daily Express

Author: 
Herbert van Thal [Bertie Maurice van Thal] (1904-1983), bookseller and publisher [Tom Driberg [Thomas Edward Neil Driberg] (1905-1976), Baron Bradwell, the 'William Hickey' of the Daily Express]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the White House, Regents Park, NW1. 5 July 1943.
£56.00

1p., 8vo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Van Thal was 'most distressed to read in the Daily Express this morning that you were no longer connected with that paper.' He thanks him 'for the pleasure that you have given me over a number of years of reading a first class column'. He hopes it will be 'discoverable as to where you are going to continue to write - or have politics put an end to a chapter?' In a postscript he states that he is at least 'able to console myself with Hansard!'

Copy of Two Typed Letters from the London publisher Martin Secker to the Scots-Canadian author Frederick Niven, the first asking for 'one more chance' to publish his work. With typed copies of two of Niven's replies, the first extremely critical.

Author: 
Frederick Niven [Frederick John Niven] (1878-1944), Scots-Canadian writer [Martin Secker [Percy Martin Secker Klingender] (1882-1978), London publisher; J. B. Pinker, literary agent]
Publication details: 
Secker: both from Number Five, John Street, Adelphi; 26 and 28 February 1913. Niven: both from Holmleigh, Church Hill, Loughton, Essex; 27 February and 2 March 1913.
£280.00

Sent by Niven to his literary agent J. B. Pinker, whose date stamp is on the first of Secker's letters. All four items in fair condition, on aged and lightly-creased paper. Secker's first letter: 1p., 4to. He begins by praising 'Denny's display' [a window display of Niven's work in Denny's bookshop in the Strand]: 'I am wondering whether you managed to get the photograph into any of the papers. Shall I send it to the Bookman?' He continues: 'The sales [of Niven's novel The Porcelain Lady] up to date amount to 434 in England.

Three catalogues of publications by the Religious Tract Society ('Illustrated Gift Books', 'The "Pen and Pencil" Series' and general catalogue for September 1906) together with three ephemeral items relating to the Society.

Author: 
[The Religious Tract Society; Victorian booktrade]
Three printed catalogues of publications by the Religious Tract Society
Publication details: 
The general catalogue dated to September 1906, another item from 1899, and the rest undated. [London: Paternoster Row.]
£125.00
Three printed catalogues of publications by the Religious Tract Society

All items unbound. Texts clear and complete. On aged and dusty paper, with some spotting and one item creased at extremities. ITEM ONE: General catalogue (4to, 68 pp). In original yellow printed wraps. ITEM TWO: Catalogue of 'Illustrated Gift Books' (12mo, 12pp). Numerous vignettes. The front page, bearing an engraving of a seagull, headed in red 'Sold by W. EARDLEY, Crewe'. ITEM THREE: 'The "Pen & Pencil" Series.' (12mo, 10pp). Illustrations, including one of the Bishop's Rock Lighthouse. ITEM FOUR: Handbill advertisement (8vo, 4 pp) for 'The Annotated Paragraph Bible'.

Valuable Works Lately Published, or in course of publication, by Treuttel and Würtz, and Richter, 30, Soho Square.

Author: 
Treuttel and Wurtz, and Richter [Treuttel et Würtz; Wuertz], foreign booksellers in London
Valuable Works Lately Published , , ,  by Treuttel and Würtz, Printed Catalogue
Publication details: 
July, 1833. [ Treuttel and Würtz, and Richter, 30, Soho Square.]
£56.00
Valuable Works Lately Published , , ,  by Treuttel and Würtz, Printed Catalogue

12mo, 16 pp. Unpaginated. Unbound and unstitched. Stabbed as issued. Fair, on lightly aged and worn paper. Extensive descriptions of 62 items, from 'The Mother's Manual; or Illustrations of Matrimonial Economy' to 'History of Russia, and of Peter the Great. By General Count Philip de Segur'. Five items 'In the Press' on the last page. Scarce: no copy in the British Library or on COPAC.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J A Lowell') to Rainford, concerning a consignment of botanical books from England.

Author: 
John Amory Lowell (1798-1881), American businessman and philanthropist [Edward Rainford, London bookseller]
Publication details: 
19 June 1843; Boston.
£195.00

4to, 1 p. Twenty-one lines of text. Clear and complete. On aged, stained and worn paper, with a couple of small spike holes. Revealing, in the attention to detail which it exhibits. He begins by reporting that 'the Rosabella arrived safe & the books appear to be correct with the following exceptions'. Two paragraphs follow, carefully describing duplicate plates and other faults in the books received (including "Genus Plantarum"). The replacements may be sent 'through Wilmer & Smith, booksellers, Liverpool - or by Harden's express - or through Messrs. John D.

Janus, Lake Sonnets, etc. and other Poems.

Author: 
David Holt [William Pickering, London bookseller; the Aldine Press; Charles Whittingham, printer; the Chiswick Press]
Publication details: 
London: William Pickering, Piccadilly. George Bell, Fleet Street. 1853. ['C. Whittingham, Tooks Court, Chancery Lane.']
£56.00

12mo: viii + 207 pp. Advertisement and printer's slug on reverse of last leaf. Additional sepia engraved title ('T. Letherbrow. Del. W. Morton. Sc. Manchr.') with illustration depicting a stern-looking woman (one of the fates?) holding a bobbin of thread. By her side a cherub with a lyre and a large, incongruous metal cog. In original blind-stamped green cloth binding. A tight copy, lightly foxed and aged, in faded binding with slight wear and a small stain to the front board. Ownership stamp of Florence Armaghdale on front free endpaper. Last two leaves opened clumsily. Scarce.

Fragment of Typed Letter Signed to unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
C. Maguire [autograph dealer?]
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£80.00

On piece of paper roughly seven inches by eight wide. On aged paper with closed tears and fraying to extremities. Top part of document torn away, leaving ten complete lines of text. Lays out the conditions under which an archive of letters is offered for sale.

Memorandums of Agreement and other documents relating to the publication of three novels.

Author: 
David Benedictus, English author (born 1938) [Anthony Blond Ltd; E. P. Dutton Inc.; publishing agreements]
Publication details: 
1963 to 1971.
£180.00

The collection is in very good condition, though items are lightly creased and a tad grubby. ITEM ONE: Memorandum of Agreement, 26 February 1963, between Anthony Blond Limited and Benedictus (of 'Winter Lodge, Cookham Dean, Berkshire'), for 'You're a Big Boy now' (published by Blond in 1963). Signed; initialed 'D. H. B.' [David Henry Benedictus] twice. Three pages, folio. Staple attached at head of first leaf of bifolium. Advance of £250 and discussion of royalties and percentages.

Advertisement leaf containing list of architectural books.

Author: 
A. Webley, bookseller, at the Bible and Crown in Holborn, near Chancery-Lane
Publication details: 
Undated [circa 1765].
£200.00

Dimensions roughly eight inches by five and a half. Very good on aged paper. All but top edge rough. One page, blank reverse.

Coloured advertisement featuring cartoon by P. Webb.

Author: 
C. A. Stonehill, Inc., booksellers of New Haven, Connecticut [Charles Archibald Stonehill]
Publication details: 
Undated; 'PRINTED BY BROWN & BIGELOW, ST. PAUL, MINN., U.S.A.'
£45.00

Dimensions roughly nine inches by three and a half wide. Creased and somewhat aged, with traces of previous blue paper mount on reverse. The cartoon, which occupies just under the top half, shows three hillbillies watching a fourth chalk crosses onto a farmyard wall, with the caption 'Somebody told him 'bout a old age pension . . . he's practicin' to sign up fer it.' Beneath this 'ATTENTION! | C. A. STONEHILL, Inc. | Rare Books and Manuscripts | IS NOW LOCATED AT | 198 1/2 YORK ST. | SECOND FLOOR | NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT | Come In and Browse'.

Eight items relating to royalties due from Richards for Lucas's 'The Open Road' following Richards' bankruptcy.

Author: 
Edward Verrall Lucas (1868-1938), English author; Grant Richards (1872-1948), English publisher
Publication details: 
London; 9 March to 7 April 1905.
£220.00

The collection as a whole is in good condition, although lightly creased in places and somewhat dusty and aged. All items have unobtrusive pinholes, and Item Seven has fraying and closed tears to extremities. An interesting correspondence casting light on publishing practices at the turn of the nineteenth century. ITEMS ONE TO FIVE: 12mo letters from Lucas's solicitors Field, Roscoe & Co., each on the firm's letterhead, to the 'Receiver and Manager appointed to carry on [Richards'] business', H. C. K. Stileman, dated 9, 11, 18 and 21 March, and 1 April 1905.

Autograph Note Signed ('Geo Gregory') to 'Mr Hawley'.

Author: 
George Gregory, Bath bookseller
Publication details: 
4 June 1919; on firm's ornate letterhead.
£75.00

One page, on paper roughly seven inches by eight wide. Good, on lightly creased paper. Stamped with date. He thanks his correspondent for 'the typed list'. Headed 'Memorandum from | GEORGE GREGORY, Book Merchant, Library Buyer and Exporter, | The Imperial Book Store, | 5 and 5a ARGYLE STREET, BATH. | Out-of-Print and Rare, or Out-of-the-Way Books sought for and reported promptly, with option of purchase. Send me your List of Wants. | Licensed Valuer. Stock well classified in Thirty Rooms. Libraries Purchased. | Bankers: UNION OF LONDON & SMITHS BANK, LTD., BATH.

Manuscript Indenture (counterpart of Lease of Brown's premises at no. 342 Strand), on parchment, signed by Brown.

Author: 
Alexander Brown, nineteenth-century bookseller in the Strand, London [Smith and Guscotte, Solicitors, 19 Essex Street, Strand]
Publication details: 
26 July 1865, London.
£125.00

Fifty-two long lines of text, on one side of a single piece of parchment, roughly inches by. '[...] Between John Guscotte of No. 19 Essex Street Strand [...] and Alexander Brown of No. 342 Strand in the County of Middlesex aforesaid Book Seller'. A ten-year lease for a consideration of sixty pounds and yearly rent of one hundred and four pounds. Includes conditions relating to the upkeep of the premises, whitewashing of the walls, display of advertisements, etc.

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