ENGLISH

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Tipped in onto paper mount. Reads: 'Mr Gally Knight requests Mr Radley to let him have a Room for a few Hours on Monday Morning - He & Mrs Knight purpose to be at Liverpool about twelve oclock & will go to Manchester by the 1/2 p 2 Train. - They wish to have some Luncheon between one & two oclock.' Scott's Ivanhoe is set near to Firbeck Hall, and Knight may have been his source of local information.

On one side of an 11.5 x 17.5 cm page removed from an album, dated 2 March 1934 and headed 'THE NEW ENGLISH SINGERS'. In good condition, lightly aged. To the right of the page are the signatures of 'Dorothy Silk' and 'Nellie Carson' (sopranos), and 'Martin ' and 'Mary Morris'; to the left are those of 'Vernon and 'Cuthbert Kelly' (bass). According to Chapter One of 'The Travel Diaries of Peter Pears, 1936-1978' (1999), titled 'American Tour with the New English Singers (1936)', the ensemble was 'a vocal sextet specializing in Elizabethan madrigals and English folksongs.

1p., 16mo. With mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged. Begins: 'Dear Lady Wynn | I thank you from the depths of my heart for your kind letter. I enclose you a word portrait of my splendid wife. More I dare not write or I shall not regain the strength I need to carry out her wishes in life.' As the Oxford DNB explains, after the death of his first wife in 1883 'Herkomer married, on 14 August 1884, a Welsh nurse, Lulu Griffiths (b. 1849), who had been a member of his household since 1874. He was devastated by her sudden death a year later.'

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Evidently responding to an order from an exhibition catalogue for one of her sculptures, she thanks her for her 'note and enclosed cheque which was quite right - Number 16 is not yet taken so I will put it down to your name'.

1p., 4to. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The letter reads: 'Dear Sir/ | I am very pleased to hear you like my pictures and seem so well acquainted with them - | I hope you will go on taking an interest in Art. | I am | Yours Sincerely | Arthur Hacker'.

On one side of a 6 x 11.5 cm slip of grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged, with small strip of glue staining along right-hand edge. Reads: 'A mile of daughters - | Family of Furlongs having 8 girls | 8 furlongs = 1 mile. - | T. Hood.' A joke on the surname of the person who requested Hood's autograph, as explained in Walter Jerrold's 'Thomas Hood, his Life and Times' (1907), which states that in 1838 Hood wrote to his friend Wright: '[…] only think of a mile of daughters! There is a family of Furlongs coming to live here, whereof eight are daughters – 8 furlongs = 1 mile.'

1p., 4to. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The first paragraph reads: 'Dear Cuming Walters, | Forgive me for not writing sooner. The fact is I have been down with influenza and pneumonia for the last three weeks. The worst time of the year for me! After the first week I contrived with difficulty to carry on with things, lying on my back dictating letters to my daughter, who has helped me enormously. But I am up again, and though not allowed out of doors have for the last four days been working in my room here, so shall manage all right and get my Christmas No.

On one side of an 11.5 x 17 cm leaf extracted from an album. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Large bold signature, slightly smudged by Menuhin, written diagonally and upwards at the centre of the page. Reads: 'Yehudi Menuhin | Nov. 65, 1934'. On the reverse have been lightly tipped-in two cuttings from magazines.

2pp., 4to. In poor condition, on brittle, aged paper, with closed tears and chipping to extremities causing slight loss to some words of text; repaired long since with archival tape. 2pp., 4to. Addressed to his 'Dear Brother', i.e. Sir William Wentworth of Bretton.

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. He begins: 'On taking up the spare proof I find one small correction which should have been made'. He describes the correction that needs to be made on 'page 5 of th proof 13th line from bottom'. Ramsay is not named, but the item is from his papers.

1p., 12mo. In good condition, with the Society's oval date stamp. He thanks him for the 'kindly renewed invitation to lecture at the R.S.A. As you surmise, I am too much engaged at present to put together anything worthy of so august a body.' He is 'collecting material & perhaps at that indefinite date - "after the war" - I may be able to put it into shape'. He concludes: 'We miss you at the Chadwick'.

On one side of a 7.5 x 12.5 cm leaf of pink paper, extracted from an album. In good condition, very lightly aged. Centred on the page, in blue ink, the inscription reads: 'love from | Enid Blyton'. No other writing anywhere on the leaf. As 600 million copies of Blyton's books have been sold worldwide, and as she oversaw the design of her books, and insisted on her distinctive signature being placed on every cover, it is not an exaggeration to state that this is one of the most famous signatures of the twentieth century.

1p., 4to. In good condition, on lightly aged paper. Begins: 'Dear Sir | Mr. J. A. Fuller Maitland, who is singing in my little choir is also most kindly helping me by suggesting the right people to sing! & has told me to use his name & send you one of the enclosed lithographed letters which will speak for itself.' She concludes in the hope that he will 'help by singing'.

1p., 4to. In fair condition, somewhat aged and worn. The letter reads: 'My dear friend | On examining your plates of symbols I find no perceptible [corrected from 'practicable'] difference between Nos 154 & 155; although the former is described as a dog and the latter as a hairy shaggy dog. Is the fact so? Excuse the freedom of yours | very sincerely | Thos. Fisher'. Fisher's letter may be connected with Robert Morrison's 'Dictionary of the Chinese Language' (1815-1823), which has a symbol for 'A hairy, shaggy dog.'

1p., 8vo. In fair condition, on aged paper with small spike hole at head. He thanks the unnamed recipient for his 'obliging letter' and 'ingenious Catalogue', and 'would have acknowledged the receipt sooner' had he not been waiting for 'an opportunity of conveying the same free of expence'. The recipient is 'welcome' to the copy of 'Stewarts Athens' at his 'own price' of two guineas. Burnham has 'adjusted Mr. Hayes's Account with the balance of onepound [sic] ffifteenshillings [sic]', and begs 'to thank that Gentleman for the same'.

Printed in black on one side of a 10 x 13 cm piece of grey-blue paper. In good condition, lightly aged, laid down on part of a leaf from an album. A tastefully-presented piece of London artistic ephemera, reading (with manuscript text in square brackets): 'THE NEW SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN WATER COLOURS. | The Committee solicit the honor of | [The Editor of the Gentleman's Magazine and friend] Company at their Gallery 53, Pall Mall, on Wednesday the 17th. of May, to an Evening View of their 14th. Annual Exhibition. | from 8 o'Clock to 11. | 1848 | [James Fahey] Secy. | NOT TRANSERABLE'.

1p., 4to. On aged and worn paper, with chipping along one edge. He begins: 'Word of the loss of your dear husband reached us some time ago, but I was not able to write you until just now when I received your address from Ralph Hawkes.' He offers his condolences 'on behalf of our whole organisation'. According to Hawkes 'the funeral service was a most impressive one' and 'Mr. Finck was a great figure in the musical world and that he shall be missed a great deal.

One of 50 copies (numbered 33}, 8pp., 4to, printed paper wraps, sewn, with device of the Press on front cover/title, good condition.

Walley has converted one volume of a printed diary ('The Business Year Book' for 1923, by the R. C. Maxwell Co., Trenton, New Jersey) into a continuous table listing all the articles contributed between 27 November 1925 and 17 January 1934. Entries are compiled with the meticulous attention to detail one would expect from an engineer, giving a range of information including the times of receipt of material to the minute, and even the typeface in which an article was printed.

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. He apologises for his 'long silence', having been 'troubled by several things not connected with literature'. He expresses a desire to call on her 'some time later'. He has not been successful with her articles with Lord Beaverbrook, and thinks 'the most effective step to take would be to publish your novel first'. (Her first novel 'Cold Surge' was published by Hutchinson & Co. in 1929.) He has signed her copy of his novel 'The Polyglots', which he is returning separately.

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, tipped in onto leaf removed from album. After apologising for the late reply to the recipient's note he acknowledges 'the Compliment you make me'. He continues in his customary vainglorious style, appropriating Milton's words to himself: 'I am so deeply occupied in writing works I have been writing the last 20 years, that I have scarce a moment: my audience hitherto have been fit tho few'.

2pp., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. A warm and characteristically solicitous letter. She has heard 'such a sad account' of the recipient, and hopes she is 'quite well & fit again now'. The Dearmers 'couldn't manage Paris but we should have loved it - There has been so much - boys' holidays & my book & now another new play! I am sending you "Gervase" - I always think of correcting the proofs at Alnmouth and the sunshine there - & your little red cap with the tassel!' She asks if 'Mrs.

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'My dear Sir, | I shall feel much pleasure in joining Your party tomorrow evening, with my nephew C. Cazalet, who conveyed to me the wish you had expressed to see us at your lodgings, before your not came. | I am Your's sincerely | de Bode'. See John H. Harland, 'Baron de Bode and his Capstan', in The Mariner's Mirror, vol.99, 2013.

Written one above the other on one side of a pink 12mo leaf of paper removed from an album. In fair condition, aged and worn, with small square of tape staining at head, and some light offsetting of ink over Nicholls' signature. Reads: 'Yours sincerely | Ben Davies.' and 'In remembrance of | Agnes Nicholls'.

Walsham's entry in Munk's Roll describes him as 'a pioneer of radiology of the chest, and his book, written in collaboration with Harrison Orton, 'Roentgen Rays in the Diagnosis of the Diseases of the Chest' (1906), was the first to deal with the subject in English. 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged. Difficult to decipher, possibly because Walsham 'paid dearly for his work in the loss of several fingers'.

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'My dear Sir/ | I think it is the 28th. thar you proposed to come to me & I hope that you & Mrs. Farrer may find it not interfering with more agreeable <?> please to stay at least till the following Monday or Tuesday Aug 1st'.

7pp., 12mo. On two bifoliums. In good condition, lightly aged. She feels she has 'two reasons for approaching' Bondfield, at the time Minister of Labour: 'I believe you are a Somerset woman, & know that you are interested in the question of housing.' She hopes that 'in any plans for bettering housing conditions that this government may make, the state of rural workers' homes may not be overlooked. You are probably as familiar as I am with the horrors of the “Country Slum”.

Both items in good condition, lightly aged, and both bearing the Society's stamp. ONE: 26 January 1915. 1p., 12mo. He is obliged by a previous engagement to decline the invitation 'to take the Chair for Mr. F Vincent Brooks lecture on Lithography on the 10th.', but feels the honour 'all the same'. TWO: 1 April 1915. 1p., 12mo. He would like, 'for every reason', 'to take the chair for M. Paul Lambottes lecture on C Meunier', but he will probbably be 'out of London during the first two weeks in May'.

2pp., 12mo. With mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged. When Twiss 'suggested the circumstance', Sir R. Palmer 'had some doubts about the United States Courts having limited the criminal consequences of violating neutrality to the cruise [last word underlined]'. There was also 'some doubt about the effect of a sale by a <?> of a Prize Court to a third party. Twiss thinks 'it might be desirable to print & circulate the enclosed observations bearing upon those two points'.

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly-aged, with slight damage on removal from album. Addressed to 'Revd. Mr. Gilpin | Cheam'. (In 1777, on becoming vicar of Boldre in the New Forest, Gilpin handed over the headmastership of Cheam School to his second son William Gilpin the younger (1757-1848).) Written with a freshness reflecting 'the particular interest' Gilpin paid to 'the theory and practice of epistolary writing', noted by Alain Kerhervé in his edition of Gilpin's letters to his grandson ('William writes to William', 2014).