FIRST

[Sir Sidney Gerald Burrard (1860-1943), Surveyor General of India.] Large printed coloured map of ?Tibet and Adjacent Countries?, during the First World War.

Author: 
?Tibet and Adjacent Countries?: Sir Sidney Gerald Burrard (1860-1943), Surveyor General of India; Survey of India
Publication details: 
?Compiled under the direction of Colonel Sir S. G. Burrard, K.C.S.I., R.E., F.R.S., Surveyor General of India, 1917?, ?Helizincographed at the Survey of India Offices, Dehra Dun.?
£560.00

The original item. On one side of a piece of a piece of paper roughly 70 x 100 cm, folded into a 10.5 x 15.5 cm packet of fifty panels. An attractive item, but in need of some attention: on brittle and discoloured paper, with several closed tears. The map was the work of Col. H. B. Hudson. A significant map, still cited in the Sino-Indian border dispute. For the background see 'Two Important Maps from the Survey of India', Geographical Journa, October 1915. First published in 1914, but the only copy of this 1917 version located in the National Library of Australia.

[Lord Buxton, Governor-General of South Africa [Sydney Charles Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton), Liberal politician].] Autograph Letter Signed, thanking Bernard Piffard for copies of the ‘West Herts Radical’, which he hopes will prove effective.

Author: 
Lord Buxton, Governor-General of South Africa during the Great War [Sydney Charles Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton (1853-1934), Liberal politician] [Bernard Piffard (1833-1916), microscopist and entomologist]
Publication details: 
1 April 1890; on embossed letterhead of 14 Eaton Place, S.W. [London]
£65.00

Buxton was a popular Governor-General who formed an effective partnership with Botha. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed to ‘B Piffard Esq’ and signed ‘Sydney Buxton’. He is obliged for the ‘copies of the “West Herts Radical”’, and is glad to hear that Piffard is ‘able to circulate such a large number in your Division’. He hopes it will have ‘a satisfactory effect on the next Election’.

[Author of the first million-seller: Hall Caine, the most popular novelist of his day.] Autograph List of Corrections ‘With Sir Hall Caine’s Compts’, to [Daily Telegraph propaganda?] articles entitled ‘Downfall of a Nation’ (revolutionary Russia).

Author: 
Hall Caine [Sir Hall Caine; Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine] (1853-1931), the most popular novelist of his day, author of ‘The Eternal City’, the first million-seller, with strong Isle of Man connections
Hall Caine
Publication details: 
No date or place. (Circa 1917)
£320.00
Hall Caine

See the description of Caine’s political views in his entry in the Oxford DNB. He began as a communist, but became a Christian Socialist, and a supporter of the Liberal Party on the mainland of Britain (he was a member of the Isle of Man House of Keys from 1901 to 1908) and a follower of the Church of England. The present item would appear to relate to the ‘impassioned propaganda’ that Caine published in the Daily Telegraph from September 1914 (ODNB). It is 1p, 4to.

[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.

[Lord Simon [John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon], Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord Chancellor.] Two Typed Letters Signed to the future Sir W. D. Ross, regarding university settlements and the foundation of Barnett House, Oxford.

Author: 
Lord Simon [John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon] (1873-1954), Liberal Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord Chancellor [Sir W. D. Ross; Barnett House, Oxford]
Publication details: 
2 May 1911 and 14 November 1914. Both on letterhead of 57 Kensington Court, W. [London]
£90.00

See the entries on Simon and Ross in the Oxford DNB. At the time of writing Ross was a Fellow of Oriel College. Barnett House in Oxford was established in 1914 as a result of an appeal to academic and political figures, mainly through the actions of another Oriel fellow, Sidney Ball (1857-1918). It was named after Canon Barnett, founder of the university settlement Toynbee Hall. Barnett House was intended as a ‘citizens’ house’ - a centre for economic and social enquiry, and between 1957 and 2004, as a department of the university, was a centre for the training of social workers. See G.

[Oriel College, Oxford.] Four printed items of ephemera from the papers of college fellow Sir William David Ross: three reports for the academic years ending 1918, 1921 and 1922, and a prospectus for the sexcentenary volume of Richards and Shadwell.

Author: 
Oriel College, University of Oxford [Sir W. D. Ross [Sir William David Ross] (1877-1971), Vice-Chancellor and philosopher]
Publication details: 
The three reports: [Oriel College, Oxford] 1918 [with stamp of 'The Treasury'], 1921 and 1922. The prospectus by Basil Blackwell, Oxford, [1921].
£280.00

Four scarce pieces of ephemera: no other copies of them traced on either JISC or WorldCat. See Ross’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The three reports give lists of college persons, with general and particular news. Items Two to Four in good condition, lightly aged and creased; Item One as described below. ONE: ‘ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD / 1917-1918’. Signed in type by ‘L. L. P.’ [i.e. Langford Lovell Price, retiring treasurer] and dated 31 July 1918. 7pp, 12mo. On two bifoliums of thin war-economy paper, glued together.

[Armando Diaz, 1st Duke della Vittoria, Marshal of Italy, First World War Italian general who triumphed in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto.] Autograph Signature: 'Generale A. Diaz'.

Author: 
Armando Diaz (1861-1928), 1st Duke della Vittoria, First World War Italian general, victor over the Austrians in Battle of Vittorio Veneto (1918); putative author of the Bolletino della Vittoria
ARMANDO DIAZ
Publication details: 
No place or date. (Before his ennoblement in 1921.)`
£75.00
ARMANDO DIAZ

A nice item, suitable for framing, relating to one of the best generals of the First World War. (He commanded one and a half million troops in the 1918 Battle of Vittorio Veneto, defeating the Austrians - a third of a million of whom surrendered - and closing the Italian Front.) Clearly given in response to a request for an autograph. The good bold signature ‘Generale A. Diaz’ sits slightly over the centre of an otherwise-plain 15 x 10 cm piece of wove paper, laid down on paper backing. In good condition, lightly aged, with two unobtrusive vertical fold lines. See Image.

[Louis Alexander Mountbatten [formerly Prince Louis Alexander of Battenberg], 1st Marquess of Milford Haven.] Autograph ‘Note for Secretary’, with monogram Signature ‘LB’, regarding to the ‘relative positions of “Iris” & “Phoebe”’.

Author: 
Louis Alexander Mountbatten [formerly Prince Louis Alexander of Battenberg], 1st Marquess of Milford Haven (1854-1921), First Sea Lord, German prince related by marriage to the British royal family
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. With mourning border. In fair condition, aged and worn, with remains of white 'star' wafer mounts adhering to the four corners. Beneath the underlined heading 'Note for Secretary' reads: 'The relative positions of Iris & Phoebe do not appear to agree in papers marked (2) and (4) in my letter. Please let me know which is right. / LB.' Presumably Iris and Phoebe were ships.

[Lord Milner [Alfred, Viscount Milner], Liberal politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr Ross' [the future Sir W. D. Ross], regarding the future of the philanthropic 'settlement' Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel.

Author: 
Lord Milner [Alfred Milner (1854-1925), 1st Viscount Milner], Liberal politician, Governor of the Cape Colony and first Governor of the Transvaal [Sir W. D. Ross (1877-1971), Oxford Vice-Chancellor]
Publication details: 
14 October 1913. 47 Duke Street, S.W. [London]
£56.00

See the entries for Milner and Ross in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed to 'Dear Mr Ross' and with good bold signature 'Milner'. The subject of the letter is the philanthropic ‘settlement’ Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel, founded in 1884 by Canon Barnett and Henrietta (DBE), his wife.

[Lord Grenfell [Francis Wallace Grenfell], British Army soldier, Governor of Malta, Commander-in-Chief, Ireland.] Autograph Signature (‘Francis Grenfell / Maj Genl’) cut from a letter for an autograph hunter.

Author: 
Lord Grenfell [Field Marshal Francis Wallace Grenfell, 1st Baron Grenfell (1841-1925)], British Army soldier, victor at Suakin and Toski in Mahdist War; Governor of Malta; Commander-in-Chief, Ireland
Lord Grenfell
Publication details: 
16 April 1892. No place.
£45.00
Lord Grenfell

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 13 x 6.5 cm piece of thin paper, apparently cut from the end of a letter for an autograph hunter. In good condition, lightly aged and creased, folded twice. Reads: ‘Francis Grenfell / Maj Genl / April 16 / 1892.’ See image.

[World War One: ‘The Guns of August’, 1914.] Silver gelatin negative photostatic print of typed British Government ‘Aide Mémoire’ on the German Army and Belgian neutrality, including copy of note by German Foreign Minister Gottlieb von Jagow.

Author: 
[World War One: 'The Guns of August', 1914] Sir Edward Goschen (1847-1924), British Ambassador in Berlin [Gottlieb von Jagow (1863-1935), German Foreign Minister]
Aide Mémoire
Publication details: 
A photographic copy (made in the 1920s or contemporary?) of: ONE: Goschen's 'Aide Mémoire' dated 'BERLIN, August 4, 1914.' TWO: Von Jagow's manuscript note, 'Berlin, den 5. 8 1914.' [5 August 1914]
£450.00
Aide Mémoire

Silver gelatin negative photostatic print of two documents: 3pp, 4to (i.e. each of the three pages on 19.5 x 24 cm. leaf). The first page of Goschen’s two-page ‘Aide Mémoire’ on a separate leaf, and the second page and von Jagow’s note on different leaves of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. N.B. The entire item is a photostatic copy. Reproduced at the head and down the left margin of the first page of Goschen’s text are manuscript notes in German (including at top left: A15930 pr. 4. August 1914 pm. / Von Sir E.

[Sir Edward Grey [Viscount Grey of Fallodon], Foreign Secretary during First World War.] Autograph Letter Signed to the ?Provost? [of Oriel College, Oxford, Sir David Ross], regarding what is probably not ?a matter for the head of a College'.

Author: 
Sir Edward Grey [Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon] (1862-1933), Liberal Party politician, Foreign Secretary for much of the First World War [Sir David Ross [W. D. Ross] (1877-1971)]
Publication details: 
30 November 1922; on letterhead of Fallodon, Christon Bank, Northumberland.
£45.00

See the entries for Grey and Ross in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Reads: ?My dear Provost / Probably you will not think that the enclosed requires any answer or that it is a matter for the head of a College but as it concerns a member of Oriel I send it on to you / Yours very truly / Grey of Fallodon.?

[Edward Grenfell [Edward Charles Grenfell, 1st Baron St Just], banker and politician.] Autograph Letter Signed, praising ‘Mr Ross’ for the extra work he has undertaken during ‘this unhappy year’, in an attempt to ‘aid your country’s interest'.

Author: 
Edward Grenfell [Edward Charles Grenfell, 1st Baron St Just] (1870-1941), banker and politician [Sir David Ross [W. D. Ross] (1877-1971), Scottish philosopher]
Publication details: 
31 December 1915; on letterhead of 22 Old Broad Street, London, E.C.
£50.00

See the entries for Grenfell and Ross in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium of light-grey paper. In fair condition, aged and spotted. Folded once for postage. The identity of the recipient is unclear, but the item derives from the papers of Sir David Ross [W. D. Ross], Scottish philosopher and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (see the Oxford DNB).

[Gladys Cooper, star of stage and screen.] Gelatin silver print of Foulsham & Banfield photograph of Gladys Cooper in the play ‘My Lady’s Dress’, with a second photograph of her embracing Dennis Eadie in the same production.

Author: 
Gladys Cooper [Dame Gladys Constance Cooper] (1888-1971), English actress, over seven decades a star of stage and screen; Dennis Eadie (1869-1928), actor; Foulsham & Banfield, London photographers
Cooper
Publication details: 
Label on reverse dates the solo photograph to 27 February 1914, with the stamp of Foulsham & Banfield, 49 Old Bond Street, W. [London]. The photograph of Cooper & Eadie without date or place, but from the same production.
£100.00
Cooper

Edward Knobloch’s play ‘My Lady’s Dress’ (‘in which’, as one newspaper wrote at the time, ‘the heroine’s dream takes her to the foreign [and London] scenes surrounding the manufacture of a costly gown’) premiered at the Royalty Theatre in London in 1914 and was revived several times through the 1920s.

[Viscount Sydney [John Robert Townshend, 1st Earl Sydney], Liberal politician, twice Lord Chamberlain of the Household and twice Lord Steward.] Part of Autograph Letter, with Signature, regarding the killing of rabbits.

Author: 
Viscount Sydney [John Robert Townshend, 1st Earl Sydney] (1805-1890), Liberal politician, twice Lord Chamberlain of the Household and twice Lord Steward
Sydney
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£50.00
Sydney

On 11 x 6 cm piece of aged paper, with patches of discoloration and traces of mount on reverse. Good clear firm and undamaged signature on front: ‘[...] I am Sir / Yr Obt. Sert. / Sydney’. The reverse reads: ‘[...] ristricted from killing rabbits on the land lately taken on lease from me and also from ploughing up any part of it but I hereby give you leave to kill rabbits or any [...]’. See Image.

[‘Gray’s Desk on which he wrote the Elegy’: Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London auctioneers.] Letters and accounts from Sotheby’s to Mrs Sarah Turpin, relating to the 1915 sale of ‘Letters and Relics’ by Thomas Gray, including priced catalogue entries

Author: 
Thomas Gray (1716-1771), poet, author of 'Elegy written in a Country Churchyard' [Mary Antrobus; Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London auctioneers; Sarah Turpin, wife of organist Edmund Hart Turpin]
Publication details: 
Eleven items dating from 1914 and 1915. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, Auctioneers, 13 Wellington Street, Strand, London, W.C.
£450.00

A nice collection of ephemera, relating not only to one of England’s best-loved poets, but also to Sotheby’s auction practice during the Great War. The provenance of the Gray letters put up for auction by Mrs Turpin is given in a New York Times article of 27 June 1915 (‘To sell relics of Thomas Gray; many letters by the poet will also be put up at auction at Sotheby's’), which stated in a report on the forthcoming sale that the letters ‘were transmitted to the present owner, Mrs.

[Geraldine McEwan, distinguished English actress on stage, screen and television.] Autograph Inscription Signed to menu for Gallery First Nighters? Club luncheon in honour of Prunella Scales and Timothy West.

Author: 
Geraldine McEwan [born Geraldine McKeown] (1932-2015), distinguished English actress on stage screen and television [Timothy West and Prunella Scales; The Gallery First Nighters? Club]
McEwan
Publication details: 
Luncheon by the Gallery First Nighters? Club on 24 April 1994, at the London Marriott Hotel.
£120.00
McEwan

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. A nice item, printed on shiny card. Bifolium folding to 21 x 14.5 cm. In good condition, lightly aged. On the front is a photograph of Scales and West by Jane Bohn. On reverse of first leaf is the menu, on recto of second the ?Toast List?, and the verso of the second a list of officers. McEwan?s inscription, in a good firm hand is at top left of the menu. It reads: ?With Best Wishes / Geraldine / McEwan?. From the papers of Kenneth Sephton. See Image.

[Sir Charles Trevelyan and the Union of Democratic Control.] Typed Note Signed ('Charles Trevelyan') to E. Dinnage of Cambridge, enclosing a receipt ‘for payment of literature already sent’.

Author: 
Sir Charles Trevelyan [Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, 3rd Baronet] (1870-1958), Liberal politician, a founder of the anti-First World War group the Union of Democratic Control
Trevelyan
Publication details: 
11 February 1915. On letterhead of The Union of Democratic Control, 37 Norfolk Street, Strand, W.C., London.
£65.00
Trevelyan

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that after his resignation from government in protest against the impending war, ‘Around him he rallied those few brave, independent spirits who shared his views. Together they helped to found the Union of Democratic Control, in A. J. P. Taylor's judgement 'the most formidable Radical body ever to influence British foreign policy' (A. J. P. Taylor, Politicians, Socialism and Historians, 1982, 103). Trevelyan became the union's principal advocate in the Commons.

[Admiral of the Fleet James Gambier, distinguished Royal Navy officer.] Navy Office document, signed by Gambier, John Henslow and Charles Hope, querying an account submitted by ‘Captain Stanhope / late of L’Achille’.

Author: 
James Gambier [Lord Gambier] (1756-1833), Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and First Naval Lord; John Henslow (1730-1815); Captain Charles Hope
Publication details: 
'Navy Office 20th March 1799.'
£220.00

See Gambier’s entry in the Oxford DNB. He served during capture of Charleston during American Revolutionary War, at the Glorious First of June, and commanded at Battle of Copenhagen and Battle of the Basque Roads. He was First Naval Lord, three times: 1795-1801, 1804-6 and 1807-8. Henslow was Surveyor to the Navy, 1784-1806, and Hope was Deputy Comptroller of the Navy, 1795-1801.

[Margaret Lloyd George, wife of Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George.] Typed Letter with cyclostyled signature, asking Rev. A. H. Sayers of Monmouth to arrange for a collection in his church for the British and Foreign Sailors? Society.

Author: 
Margaret Lloyd George [nee Owen] (1866-1941), Welsh wife of the Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George [Rev. A. H. Sayers of Monmouth; British and Foreign Sailors? Society]
Publication details: 
7 December 1916. On letterhead of 11 Downing Street, London, S.W.
£50.00

See her entry, and those of her husband and their two daughters, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Although Sayers? name and address are given as recipient at the beginning, the letter is clearly a circular, and the signature is cylcostyled.

[Five First World War Royal Navy Admirals.] Autograph Signatures of Bethell, Egerton, Hedworth Meux [Lambton], Berkeley Milne, Doveton Sturdee, cut from various documents.

Author: 
Five First World War Royal Navy Admirals: Bethell, Egerton, Hedworth Meux [Lambton], Berkeley Milne, Doveton Sturdee
Publication details: 
One dated 1912, the others undated.
£100.00

On slips of paper ranging in size from 6.5 x 2 cm to 9 x 4.5 cm. Laid down, three/two , on one side each of two 16 x 12 cm leaves, one white and the other grey, removed from an autograph album. In good condition, lightly aged. They are as follows (autograph text in square brackets). ONE: Sir Alexander Edward Bethell (1855-1932). ?[A E Bethell] / VICE-ADMIRAL COMMANDING / CHANNEL FLEET.? TWO: Sir George Le Clerc Egerton (1852-1940). ?spared. / [G le C Egerton] / ADMIRAL.? THREE: Sir Hedworth Meux [n? Lambton] (1856-1929).

[Lieut. C.A. Macartney; Poet; Book] Poems

Author: 
Lieut. C.A. Macartney
Publication details: 
Erskine Macdonald, First Thousand: June, 1915 ; The William Morris Press Ltd, Forty-Two Albert Streetm Manchester.
£100.00

Text 40pp, with 6 unnumbered pages of advertisements for books, apparently re-bound (judging by the image of the other copy currently on the Net), hf-lea., sl. speckled, one corners sl. damaged, faint foxing first few pages, with decorated endpapers (gold and silver shells), with the bookplate Ex libris C. and G.M. Bonham-Carter. Editor's Note (p.[8]): These poems are the work of a young lieutenant of the New Army. Written for the most part before the war, they reflect it in one instance only : the poem immediately following the introduction and dedication [...].

[Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, war correspondent whose reporting of the Gallipoli campaign laid the foundation of the ‘Anzac legend’.] Autograph Signature and address extracted from document.

Author: 
E. Ashmead-Bartlett [Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett] (1881-1931), Daily Telegraph war correspondent in the Balkans in the First World War, noted for his reporting of the Gallipoli Campaign [Dardanelles]
Publication details: 
No date. ‘Marlborough Chambers / Jermyn Street’.
£38.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states with regard to his reporting of the Dardanelles Campaign that his ‘vivid description of the courage, spirit, and fighting qualities of the soldiers became the foundation of the “Anzac legend”, a key part of popular nationalism in Australia and New Zealand’. In addition Ashmead-Bartlett is responsible for the only extant cinematic footage of the campaign. Strip of paper from the lower part of a leaf, carrying the end of a document, laid down on leaf extracted from album. In fair condition on lightly aged and browned paper.

[Walter H. Page, American ambassador to the United Kingdom during the First World War.] Typed Note Signed to C. Reginald Grundy [editor of 'The Connoisseur'], regretting his inability to attend a meeting at the Mansion House.

Author: 
Walter H. Page [Walter Hines Page] (1855-1918), journalist and publisher, American abassador to United Kingdom during First World War [Cecil Reginald Grundy (1870-1944), editor of 'The Connoisseur']
Publication details: 
22 May 1917; London, on embossed letterhead of the Embassy of the United States of America.
£80.00

1p, 4to. Rather aged, with some wear and discoloration at head and foot, and minor traces of mount on reverse. Four folds. Signed ‘Walter H. Page’ and addressed to ‘C. Reginald Grundy, Esq., / 1, Duke Street, / S. W. 1.’ The note reads: ‘Dear Sir: / I wish it had been possible for me to attend the meeting at the Mansion House to-day to further the establishment of local war museums, but I regret to say that it was impossible. / Yours very truly, / Walter H. Page’.

[Henry Williamson, English author best-remembered for his 'Tarka the Otter'.] 77 pages of typescript from ‘A Fox Under My Cloak’, the fifth novel in the sequence ‘A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight’, with extensive autograph emendations and deletions.

Author: 
Henry Williamson (1895-1977), English novelist best-remembered for his 'Tarka the Otter'
Williamson
Publication details: 
Undated. In envelopes with postmarks of 10 March 1955 (Georgeham) and 15 March 1955 (Barnstaple). The second with his autograph address: 'H. Williamson / Georgeham, N. Devon.'
£950.00
Williamson

Asee image of[339]See Williamson’s entry by his daughter-in-law Anne Williamson in the Oxford DNB, together with her 1995 biography of him. The present tranche of material gives a marvellous insight into the working processes of a fine - perhaps even a great - English writer, in addition to showing the gestation of one of the finest novels of the First World War.

[Admiral Beatty, First Sea Lord.] Autograph Signature (‘David Beatty | Rear-Admiral’) on part of document.

Author: 
Admiral Beatty [Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (1871-1936)], First Sea Lord, 1919-1927, commander of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron at the Battle of Jutland in 1916
Beatty
Publication details: 
Dated 21 June 1913. No place.
£50.00
Beatty

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, in which ‘deep professional commitment and mental toughness’ are said to be qualities whose possession he demonstrated ‘heroically’. Beatty’s aggressive tactics at the Battle of Jutland are often contrasted with Jellicoe’s more cautious approach. After the explosion of the Indefatigable and the Queen Mary, with the loss of 1283 officers and men, he came out with the celebrated understatement, ‘There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today’.

[‘Reeking of the dungheap’: Sir Claude Phillips, first Keeper of the Wallace Collection.] Anonymous original manuscript poem in Latin, with English translation in same hand, attacking him as a ‘lustful’ user of ‘language planted with dirty refuse'.

Author: 
Sir Claude Phillips (1846-1924), first Keeper of the Wallace Collection, art critic of the Daily Telegraph [Albert Curtis Clark (1859-1937), Corpus Christi Professor of Latin at Oxford?]
Publication details: 
No date [circa 1920?] or place, but circa 1920? On paper watermarked ‘The Club Note | Thomas & Sons | London’.
£100.00

The circumstances surrounding this extraordinary original composition in Latin verse are obscure. See Phillips’s entry in the Oxford DNB, which notes that there was ‘an air of Proust’ about him, and quotes Oliver Brown’s description of him as ‘a stout man, immaculately dressed and heavily scented, who talked continuously while he looked at the pictures'. It may be that Phillips and the author of the poem had been educated together, or that they were members of the same club (the Athenaeum for example).

[Lord Bryce (James Bryce), Liberal politician, jurist and Ambassador to United States; Ist WW.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mr. Marshall’, stating that it is not yet time for ‘negotiating the peace’ [with Germany].

Author: 
Lord Bryce [James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce] (1838-1922), Ulster-born Liberal politician, jurist, British Ambassador to United States
Publication details: 
22 November 1916.
£65.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. The letter was torn in two vertically, and has been taped back together, with the tape going over the downstroke of the ‘y’ in Bryce’s signature. It also has a spike hole. Otherwise in fair condition. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Marshall’ and signed ‘Bryce’. Marshall’s telegram has followed him into the country, ‘& it is now too late to express the opinion you ask for’, although that would in any case ‘be really superflous because I said upon Tuesday the 14th. Novr.

[Wilfred Owen, war poet.] Printed ‘Order of Service for the dedication of a memorial to Wilfred Owen 1893-1918’. [with readers including Ted Hughes, Geoffrey Hill, D. J. Enright, Jon Stallworthy, Jill Balcon]

Author: 
[Wilfred Owen (1893-1918), war poet; Rev. Norman Print, Vicar of Dunsden; Catherine Winkworth; John Stallworthy; D. J. Enright; Robert Gittings; Geoffrey Hill; Ted Hughes; Reynolds Stone; Jill Balcon]
Publication details: 
‘All Saints Church Dunsden at 2.30 p.m. on 12 November 1978 Remembrance Sunday’.
£220.00

A nice association with a man widely regarded as the greatest English poet of the First World War, and a scarce item of which not many copies can have been printed, and no other copy has been traced. 4pp, 8vo. Bifolium on laid paper. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight creasing at head. Explanatory note on final page begins: ‘The memorial to Wilfred Owen is cut on Portland stone by Michael Harvey from lettering drawn by Reynolds Stone, CBE, RDI. / The graves of Tom and Susan Owen, the poet’s father and mother, and of his sister Mary are in the south-east corner of the churchyard.

[‘I knew the lady well’: General Sir Nevil Macready on Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland, her field hospital and marital misadventures.] Autograph Letter Signed to William Toynbee, editor of the diaries of his father, actor William Charles Macready.

Author: 
Sir Nevil Macready [Cecil Frederick Nevil Macready] (1862-1946), World War general, son of William Charles Macready [William Toynbee (1849-1942); Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland (1867-1955)]
Publication details: 
28 August [no year]. On embossed letterhead of Les Sapins, Boulevard Thiers, Fontainebleau S & M’.
£180.00

Macready’s entry in the Oxford DNB states that he destroyed his diary and personal papers after the publication of his memoirs in 1924. If the present gossipy specimen is anything to go by, the loss of this material is most regrettable. (The ODNB entry for his father notes that he dealt with William Charles Macready's ‘copious and uninhibited diaries’ in similar fashion in 1914 - two years after the appearance of Toynbee’s edition.) See also the entry for Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland (1867-1955). 2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage.

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