NOVEL

[ Mavis Gallant; short stories; inscribed by author ] From the Fifteenth District. A Novella and Eight Short Stories.

Author: 
Mavis Gallant [ Mavis Leslie de Trafford Gallant, CC, née Young (1922–2014), Canadian writer.
Publication details: 
Macmillan of Canada, Toronto, [1979 ]
£85.00

243 numbered pp., 8vo, dustjacket, sl chipped and rubbed, condition of book v.g.+ INSCRIBED By Author as follows (front free endpaper): "To Allard | In memory of the days on Shift 2, + how frightfully brave we were when all the mines in Nova Scotia caved in on our heads. | Mavis || Paris | Christmas 79".

[ Alec Waugh, novelist. ] Autograph Note Signed ('Alec Waugh') to 'Miss Marshall-Hall' (daughter of Sir Edward Marshall Hall), regarding the 'Invalids tour' and 'Milhanger'.

Author: 
Alec Waugh [ Alexander Raban Waugh ] (1898-1981), author, brother of the novelist Evelyn Waugh
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Easton Court Hotel, Chagford, Devon. Undated.
£45.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on aged paper, with creasing and wear at head. Written in Waugh's close, distinctive hand. Reads: 'Dear Miss Marshall-Hall | It was nice of you to write. I didn't go on the Invalids tour this year. It can't have been the same thing without Milhanger. | Sincerely Yrs | Alec Waugh /'. The reference is presumably to Milhanger, the Surrey country house designed by Harold Falkner.

Autograph notebook by the biographer and antiquary Thomas Wright of Olney, containing rough drafts of an apparently-unpublished story or novel ('My Little Lady. A Story without a Moral'), and of a lecture on Daniel Defoe and Stoke Newington.

Author: 
Thomas Wright ['Wright of Olney'] (1859-1936) of Olney, Buckinghamshire, biographer, editor and antiquary, founder of the Cowper, John Payne and Blake Societies
Publication details: 
[Edwardian. Olney, Buckinghamshire.]
£300.00

12mo, 134 pp each on one side of a ring-punched loose leaf, with the leaves attached by green thread within an original worn buckram binder with discoloured endpapers. The leaves themselves in good condition on lightly-aged paper; with those of the draft story ruled in red, and sometimes utilizing scrap paper (for example the blank reverses of prospectuses for Wright's books and scrap pages from Blake Society material).

[ Printed item in publisher's cloth. ] Doctor Grattan. A Novel.

Author: 
William A. Hammond, Author of "Lal." [ William Alexander Hammond (1828-1900), Surgeon General of the United States Army during the American Civil War ]
Publication details: 
London: Richard Bentley & Son, New Burlington Street. 1885.
£50.00

417pp., 8vo. A fair copy, on lightly aged paper, a little loose in worn publisher's brown cloth binding, with gilt title on spine and decorative cross on front board, and green patterned endpapers. Blind stamp of the W. H. Smith Library, Strand, to front free endpaper. According to Hammond's biographer Bonnie Ellen Blustein, 'The complex plot of Doctor Grattan revolved around the relation of insanity to neurological impairment, and touched on the subjects of neuralgia, headache, kleptomania, and delusions.' This English edition of Hammond's book is now uncommon.

Remembering Henry Miller: A Collage. A Henry Miller Centenary Celebration. Script compiled and arranged by Francine Parker.

Author: 
Francine Parker, editor [Henry Miller]
Publication details: 
October 26, 1991. Lenart Auditorium, Fowler Museum of Cultural History, UCLA. A program of UCLA Extension's Department of Humanities, Sciences, and Social Sciences.
£200.00

Jackson/Ashley A272. Unpublished. 43 pages in A4 (unpaginated title and pages 1-42). Perfect bound with black cloth spine in light-green wraps with title duplicated on front wrap. Very good, with top corner of front wrap slightly dogeared. With four photocopied A4 pages of typescript loosely inserted: the first carrying 'The Naked Tongue' by Diane Miller; the second 'Religious Views of Life'; the third, headed 'Remembering Henry Miller: A Collage', giving details of cast and crew; the fourth headed 'Celebrating Henry Miller: A Collage includes selections from the following:'. Scarce.

Poetae Scenici Graeci accedunt perditarum fabularum fragmenta.

Author: 
[ Frederick W. Farrar ] Guil. Dindorfius ("Recognovit et Prefatus est . . .").
Publication details: 
Lipsiae Libraria Weidmannia / Londini D. Nutt, 158, Fleet Street, 1841.
£450.00

Hf. lea., ]xxxii].766.162. Formerly a poor copy rescued by sympathetic rebacking, wear and tear and some internal damage (staining, one blank endpaper torn with some loss of page), text complete and clear. Heavily annotated throughout in English and occasional Greek by Frederick W. Farrar whose bookplate when he was at Trinity College, Cambridge, is loosely inserted and whose signature appears on the recto of the front free endpaper ("Frederic W. Farra/ Trin. Coll.

[ R. H. Mottram, author of the 'Spanish Farm' trilogy. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('R. H. Mottram') to 'Mr Pettitt', regarding the autographing of books and his Rankin relations in Rochford.

Author: 
R. H. Mottram [ Ralph Hale Mottram ] (1883-1971), English novelist, author of the 'Spanish Farm' trilogy
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Poplar Avenue, Eaton, Norwich. 11 July 1928.
£30.00

1p., 8vo. Lightly aged, and with creasing and closed tear at head. He will be pleased to autograph any copies of his book which Pettitt would like to send, and concludes: 'Are there any Rankin's in Rochford now? They are related to me'.

[ Katherine Thomson ('Grace Wharton'), Victorian novelist and historian. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('K. Thomson') to an unnamed man, regarding the publication of a novel after 'the storm of adverse criticism is over'.

Author: 
Katherine Thomson ('Grace Wharton') [ née Katherine Byerley; Mrs A. T. Thomson ] (1797-1862), Victorian novelist and historian
Publication details: 
37 <Sheffield?> Road, Derby. 4 December [ 1861 ].
£56.00

4pp., 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly-aged. She assumes that her work ('Celebrated Friendships', 1861), 'published with Messrs Hogg', has attracted his attention. 'Now about my novel, about which you have been very kind. Till the storm of adverse criticism is over, I think it will be much better to delay the work. Any notice it may have, will be cursory, & slight.' She wishes to postpone publication: 'My name will not appear in any book next year, that I know of, at present.' She will be in Derby for a few days, and will be happy to hear from him.

[ Frank Thomas Bullen, English maritime author. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('F. T. Bullen') to E. A. Carr, suggesting a meeting, and expressing displeasure at the publishers Cassells.

Author: 
F. T. Bullen [ Frank Thomas Bullen ] (1857-1915), British maritime author and novelist
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 89 Barry Road, S.E. [ London ] 25 September [no year].
£50.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly-aged, with minor traces of labels from mounting at head and foot. Having 'just returned from rather a long trip to the Mediterranean and found much arrears of correspondence' he can't write to Carr fully, but suggests that he call on him one day that week. 'I do not promise that I will do anything to swell Messrs Cassells bank a/c - I am rather displeased with them.' Carr's reputation was made by his 'Cruise of the Cachalot' (1898), a semi-autobiographical account of a whaling expedition.

[ Rosamond Lehmann, novelist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('R.') to 'Dearest Geoffrey', regarding an unnamed woman's conviction that he is 'Pourponne'.

Author: 
Rosamond Lehmann (1901-1990), British novelist, associated with the Bloomsbury Group
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 70 Eaton Square, London SW1. 17 March 1972.
£56.00

2pp., 8vo. On aged and worn paper. The letter begins: 'Dearest Geoffrey | She is quite convinced you were Pourponne! - says it was given to her before she saw your photographs - (about which she says some very gratifying things!) How does this strike you?!' The woman is 'hunting for a confirmatory portrait'. While Lehmann herself has 'only the haziest impression of Pourponne', she does know that 'they were mutually devoted' She exclaims: 'Oh do hurry up & start this book!

[ 'Mrs. Oliphant', novelist. ] Autograph Signature ('M. O. W. Oliphant').

Author: 
'Mrs. Oliphant' [ Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant (1828-1897) ], English novelist
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£15.00

On 2.5 x 6.5 slip of paper cut from the end of a letter. Laid down on a small piece of black card. In good condition, lightly aged. In a small tight hand. Reads 'Very truly yours | M. O. W. Oliphant'. With cutting of part of an article. featurinng a photograph of the novelist.

[ Eden Phillpotts,novelist. ] Photographic portrait, with signed inscription.

Author: 
Eden Phillpotts (1862-1960), English writer, author of many works about Dartmoor and his native Devon
Publication details: 
Dated 'May 1950'.
£45.00

The inscription is on a 22.5 cm square piece of card, and reads: 'Eden Phillpotts - somewhat battered, but still telling stories. | May 1950.' Laid down on the card, above the inscription, is a 14 x 18 cm black and white photograph, depicting Phillpotts, book in hand, standing in front of a bookcase, which has apparently been cut by Phillpotts from a magazine. The item is in fair condition, lightly-aged and worn.

[ Eric Linklater, Welsh novelist. ] Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Eric Linklater [ Eric Robert Russell Linklater ] (1899-1974), Welsh novelist
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£23.00

On 12.5 x 9 cm piece of cream paper. In good condition, with light signs of age. Boldly written and underlined, at the top of the page, reading 'Eric Linklater.' No other writing on either side of the leaf.

[ S. R. Crockett, Scottish novelist. ] Typed Letter Signed ('S. R. Crockett'), to a bookseller, thanking him for sending the book 'Idylls of Spain' and expressing an interest in the subject.

Author: 
S. R. Crockett [ Samuel Rutherford Crockett ] (1859-1914), Scottish novelist
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Savoy Hotel, Embankment Gardens, London. 30 January 1899.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged paper. He thanks him for sending 'Idylls of Spain' (by Rowland Thirlmere, 1897), which 'Mr. Milner' will settle with him for, and states that he is 'interested in the subject and would be glad of a note of any books you happen to come across on this subject'. In 1903 Crockett would publish 'The Adventurer in Spain'.

[ Sir A. J. B. Beresford-Hope, Tory politician and author. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('A J B Beresford Hope') to W. de Boinville, thanking him for uncovering information about the poet Christopher Smart.

Author: 
Sir Alexander James Beresford Beresford Hope [ Alexander Hope; A. J. B. Hope; A. J. B. Beresford Hope ] (1820-1887), Tory politician and author
Publication details: 
Bedgebury Park, Cranbrook [ Kent ]. 4 February 1858.
£45.00

3pp., 12mo. Writing in a difficult hand, he thanks him for his very curious & interesting letter respecting Chr. Smart, of whose birthplace I had been previously ignorant, tho' his name was not unknown to me in connection with Horace'.

[ Edgar Wallace, thriller writer. ] Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Edgar Wallace [ Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace ] (1875-1932), English thriller writer
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£25.00

On 5 x 11cm. piece of paper, torn from the conclusion to a typed letter. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: '[...] myself, you would write to me. | Yours very truly, | Edgar Wallace'.

[ Edward Lytton, Lord Lytton. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('L.') to 'Mr. Pearson', offering him a present.

Author: 
Edward Lytton, Lord Lytton [ Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton ] (1803-1873), 1st Baron Lytton, English novelist and politician, friend of Charles Dickens
Publication details: 
Without place or date. On his monogrammed letterhead.
£56.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly-aged. He writes that he has had 'a very fine p' sent to him, and asks if Pearson might accept it. 'If you dont care about it yourself you may have friends here to whom you might like to give it. Only, unluckily, I must have back the top'. He ends with a complaint regarding a 'Bronchial cough'.

[ Walter Greenwood, novelist. ] Autograph signature.

Author: 
Walter Greenwood (1903-1974), English novelist, author of 'Love on the Dole' (1933)
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£25.00

In blue ink, on 3.5 x 10 cm piece of thick paper, cut from a letter. In good condition, with traces of glue from mount on reverse. Reads: 'Yours faithfully | Walter Greenwood'.

[ Francis Browning Bickerstaffe-Drew, English author. ] Typed Letter Signed ('John Ayscough') to an unnamed editor, offering republication of his novel 'Two Fair Ladies', on reverse of letter from J. S. Wood, editor of the Gentlewoman.

Author: 
'John Ayscough', penmame of Francis Browning Bickerstaffe-Drew (1858-1928), English author, Roman Catholic priest and papal count; J. S. Wood [ John Snell Wood ] (1853-1920), editor of the Gentlewoman
Publication details: 
Wood's letter, on letterhead of the Gentlewoman, Arundel Street, Strand, WC. 3 January 1894. Bickerstaffe-Drew's letter from 6 Holyrood Place, Plymouth. 4 January 1894.
£100.00

Each letter 1p., 4to, Bickerstaffe-Drew's on reverse of Wood's. In fair condition, on aged leaf of paper with strip torn from head. The two letters cast an interesting light on English publishing practice in the late nineteenth century. Wood's letter, signed 'J. S. Wood', is written by a secretary, and addressed to 'The Right Rev Mgr Bickerstaff Drew'.

[Thurston, novelist] Autograph Note Signed "E. Temple Thurston" to "MIss [Carry?] W. Hay".

Author: 
E. Temple Thurston, novelist
Publication details: 
[Printed heading] 1 Adelphi Terrace House, Flat B., W.C., 10 Nov. 1908.
£56.00

One page, 12mo, minor marking, good condition. "I hope that this will be as useful for your purpose as 'Sally Bishop' [his novel- see note below]. The motive of Sally has been so misunderstood that I should be glad if I could stop the sale of it altogether - for which reason I preferred to give you 'Mirage'. Note: it appears that the Englsih edition of 'Sally Bishop' was published in 1910, the American in 1908 (the year of this letter). 'Mirage' was published in 1908.

[Anne Manning, Victorian novelist.] Autograph Letter Signed to her 'cousin and friend' 'Mr. Maleson', regarding his efforts to obtain a Civil List pension for her.

Author: 
Anne Manning (1807-1879), Victorian novelist [Arthur Hall, Virtue & Co., London publishers]
Publication details: 
Reigate Hill, Surrey. 18 July 1872.
£80.00

2pp., 12mo. 25 lines of text. In fair conditon, on aged and worn paper. Her sister Frances is 'overjoyed at your benevolent efforts for me', and 'Mr Arthur Hall is very glad indeed to hear what you are trying to do, and is quite ready if you and I approve to send a set of my books, with a notification to Mr Gladstone, and also of privately interesting the Archbishop, who will, he has no doubt send an autograph letter privately to the Prirme Minister'. The letter ends with a prayer for her 'kind friends', concluding 'The Lord will provide'.

[Lichfield House, Richmond upon Thames.] Nine indentures, deeds, and other property documents, including one signed by novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon and her son, another by her husband William Babbington Maxwell, and one by Sir Henry George Norris.

Author: 
Lichfield House, Richmond upon Thames, owned by novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon [Mrs Maxwell] (1835-1915), Sir Henry George Norris (1865-1934), MP, Henry Lascelles (1690-1753), MP and slave owner
Publication details: 
[Relating to Lichfield House, Sheen Road, Richmond upon Thames.] London; between 1914 and 1933.
£850.00

Lascelles bought Lichfield House in 1729, and committed suicide there in 1753. The enormous success of Braddon's novels 'Lady Audley's Secret' (1862) and 'Aurora Floyd' (1863) allowed her to buy Lichfield House, where she too died. It was demolished in the 1930s. ONE: Manuscript indenture on vellum. 'Mrs. M. E. Maxwell to G. M. Maxwell Esq | Conveyance of freehold property known as "The Homestead" Sheen Road Richmond Surrey'. 10 June 1914. 4pp., 8vo, with covering page. Laid out in usual fashion, bound with green ribbon with tax stamps, Land Registry stamp, and two seals in red wax.

[Eden Phillpotts, novelist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Eden Phill<...>') [to A. G. Gardiner, editor of the Daily News], complaining of a review of his book 'Green Alleys', 'the great cause of the natural born child' and the 'Bastardy Laws'.

Author: 
Eden Phillpotts (1862-1960), English novelist, often writing on Dartmoor [Alfred George Gardiner ['Alpha of the Plough'] (1865-1946), editor of the Daily News; Robert Lynd (1879-1949), Irish essayist]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. [1916.]
£56.00

In poor condition, on aged and brittle paper, with significant chipping to edges involving loss of text, including the end of Philpott's signature. Undated, but written in 1916, the year of publication of Phillpotts' 'The Green Alleys'. Headed in blue pencil 'Mr Lynd' (i.e for the attention of Daily News columnist Robert Lynd).

[Andrew Soutar, novelist.] To an unnamed recipient, informing him that he will be sending him a copy of his new novel, 'Some Fell Among Thorns'.

Author: 
Andrew Soutar (1879-1941), English author of approximately 50 novels
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Brooklyn, Ifield, Crawley, Sussex. 15 January 1931.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Written in purple ink. The letter reads: 'My dear Sir, | Here it is, for what it is worth. To-morrow, Jan 16, a new novel of mine, "Some Fell Among Thorns", should be published. I shall send you a copy & ask your acceptance of it. | Yours Sincerely | Andrew Soutar'. Soutar received a brief obituary in The Times, 25 November 1941.

[Printed keepsake.] Poem by Austin Dobson, titled 'Henry Fielding. Unveiling by the United States Minister, the Hon. J. Russell Lowell, of the Bust in the Shire Hall, Taunton. Sculptor, Miss Margaret Thomas.'

Author: 
Austin Dobson [Henry Austin Dobson] (1840-1921), English poet and essayist [Henry Fielding, novelist; James Russell Lowell (1819-1891), essayist and American ambassador in London; Margaret Thomas]
Publication details: 
Place not stated [London?]. September 1883.
£135.00

4pp., 12mo. Paginated to 4. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. On laid paper watermarked 'A PIRIE & SONS | 1883'. Tastefully printed.

[Lauren R. Stevens.] Autograph Letter Signed and Typed Letter Signed (both 'Lauren') to English literary critic A. Alvarez ('Al'), discussing his decision to leave Harvard and his first novel, 'The Double Axe', an inscribed copy of which is included.

Author: 
Lauren R. Stevens (b.1938) [A. Alvarez [Al Alvarez] (b.1929), English literary critic; H. C. Baker [Herschel Clay Baker] (1914-1990), Professor of English Literature at Harvard University]
Publication details: 
TLS: 430 W. Allen's Lane, Philadelphia 19, Pennsylvania. 5 October 1960. ALS: on his (cancelled) letterhead 1717 Cambridge Street, Cambridge 38, Massachusetts. 31 January 1961. Book: New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1961.
£250.00

TLS: 2pp., 12mo. In good condition. The letter begins: 'Dear Al: | Last Thursday morning, while sitting in a barbar chair, I asked myself a question which a number of people have been asking me recently, namely, What are you doing at Harvard? I couldn't come up with a very satisfactory answer, so I went to a friend's house on Cape Cod for the weekend. Monday I saw the head of the English Department at Harvard, H. C. Baker. He said, "Follow your star," which seemed to me a little romantic, but all the same good advice.

[Tighe Hopkins, novelist.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. Case', presenting a copy of his 'Iron Mask'.

Author: 
Tighe Hopkins (1856-1919), novelist, journalist and authority on prison life and penal reform
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Frayn, Herne Bay [Kent]. 7 August 1902.
£45.00

2pp., 8vo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. He asks him to accept a copy of the Tauchnitz edition of his 'Iron Mask', 'the only one I happen to have by me'. He continues: 'As you are kind enough to express an interest in work of mine, I may say that I expect to be in the West of Ireland next month in the interests of the Daily Chronicle - if you ever happen to see that paper - for which I am to write a special series of letters describing the present condition of that district.' For more on Hopkins see his obituary in The Times, 17 February 1919.

[Printed translation into Portuguese of the first Gothic novel, Horace Walpole's 'The Castle of Otranto'.] Livraria Amena | O Castello de Otranto. Conto Gothico por W. Marshall. Esq. Vertido do Inglez.

Author: 
'W. Marshall. Esq.' [Horace Walpole] [J. J. A. Silva, Lisbon publisher]
Publication details: 
Lisboa [Lisbon]: Typographia de J. J. A. Silva, 1854.
£350.00

[1] + 111pp., 16mo. Unbound or lacking wraps (?). Aged and worn, with slight ink staining to title-page. The text is preceded by a full-page 'Prologo' from the publishers. No other copy traced on either Worldcat, COPAC, or PORBASE, and does not feature in the list of 'Later Editions' of the novel on pp.66-67 of A. T. Hazen's 1948 Walpole bibliography.

[William Pett Ridge, author.] Autograph Card Signed ('W. P. Ridge') to 'Miss Paget'.

Author: 
William Pett Ridge (1859-1930), English writer
Publication details: 
Letterhead of 24 Ampthill Square, London, NW. 'Thursday' [postmark 28 June 1906].
£25.00

In good condition, lightly-aged. Addressed to 'Miss Paget, | 28, Campden Hill Square | W.' Reads: 'I will look in this morning at the hour of coffee.'

[Margaret Oliphant ('Mrs Oliphant'), Scottish author.] Autograph Letter Signed ('M. O. W. Oliphant') to 'Mrs. Laing', gently urging her to visit 'at a time of grief'.

Author: 
Margaret Oliphant [Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant; 'Mrs Oliphant'] (1828-1897), Scottish novelist and biographer
Publication details: 
'7 Ulster Place [London] | Saturday' [no year].
£45.00

2pp., 16mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Written with the essence of Victorian tact. 'We shall be extremely glad if you can give us the evening of the 7th. instead of the 5th. and I trust you will permit us to consider you engaged to us for that night - 8 oClock - | I am grieved to think that my note should have reached you at a time of grief. Thank you for kindly consenting to come.'

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