POETRY

[William Hutton, Birmingham bookseller and local historian.] Leaf of 'unpublished poems, composed by, and in the Autograph of, William Hutton', with note by 'WB'; and fragment of his daughter Catherine Hutton's handwriting, 'when 87 years of age'.

Author: 
William Hutton (1723-1815), Birmingham bookseller and local historian; his daughter Catherine Hutton
Publication details: 
Neither item dated. The explanatory note by 'WB' dated 1843.
£280.00

Both items are laid down on a 12mo leaf extracted from an album. All in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Laid down on the reverse of the leaf is an early eighteenth-century engraving of a man (William Hutton?) holding a book. The explanatory note, on one side of the leaf from the album, reads: 'This Leaf, given to me by Mr. Samuel Hutton, High Street, is taken from a Volume of unpublished poems, composed by, and in the Autograph of, William Hutton. | That below which I received from Mr.

[Thomas Haynes Bayly, English poet.] Holograph Poem (signed 'Thomas Haynes Bayly') titled 'A ditty!', with note explaining that it has been 'written in the shortest minute of the longest day'.

Author: 
Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797-1839), English poet and dramatist [Isaac Watts]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. 22 June 1835.
£150.00

2pp., 4to. In fair condition, on aged paper. An unpublished jeux d'esprit on the well-known poem by Isaac Watts (also parodied by Lewis Carroll), the poem consists of twenty-four lines arranged in six four-line stanzas, followed by: 'written in the shortest minute of the longest day by | Thomas Haynes Bayly | June 22nd. 1835.' The first two stanzas read: 'As "doth the little busy Bee | "Improve each shining hour, | "And gather honey all the day | "From every opening flower." | So doth the busy T. H. B.

[Alaric Alexander Watts, poet and journalist.] Holograph poem ('Alaric A. Watts') titled 'To Octavia | The Eighth daughter of John Larking Esq late of Clare Hall Kent, on the completion of her sixth year.'

Author: 
Alaric A. Watts [Alaric Alexander Watts] (1797-1864), English poet and journalist [John Larking of Clare Hall, Kent]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. Dated October 1817.
£120.00

4pp., 4to. On a bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper, with stub from mount still adhering. The poem consists of 84 lines, arranged in seven twelve-line stanzas. It begins: 'Full many a gloomy month had past, | On flagging wing, regardless by - | Unremarked by aught - save grief since last | I gazed upon thy bright blue eye, | And bade my Lyre pour forth for thee | Its strains of wildest minstrelsy!' The fourth line in the fourth stanza, 'For blessings on thy future years', has been deleted and replaced with 'To save thee from affliction's tears'.

[William Wight of Ednam, Scottish poet.] Autograph Letter Signed ('W. Wight') to his 'dear new Friend' 'Mr. Falconer' of Newcastle, containing his poem 'My Absent Friend'.

Author: 
William Wight (c.1781-1821) of Ednam, Scottish poet [Falconer of Newcastle]
Publication details: 
Ednam. 8 October 1817.
£180.00

3pp., 12mo. Originally a bifolium, but with the two leaves now separated. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper watermarked 'S S | 1817'. The reverse of the second leaf is addressed to 'Mr. Falconer, | Newcastle on Tyne.' He begins by thanking Falconer for the 'nice little collection of Poems [...] The "Wreath" will often amuse my solitary hours'. After some pieties he states: 'I gladly subjoin a few verses for your amusement, and that of Miss Falconer [...] How glad I should be to see you and her again at Ednam!

[Nathaniel Thomas Haynes Bayly, poet.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Thomas Haynes Bayly') to Alaric Watts, expressing a desire to have work in the Literary Souvenir, 'either as a Poet or a Proser'.

Author: 
Nathaniel Thomas Haynes Bayly (1797-1839), poet and playwright [Alaric Alexander Watts (1797-1864), poet and editor of the Literary Souvenir, 1825-1835]
Publication details: 
'5 Wyndham Place [London] | Tuesday -' [no date]
£90.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. He would have called on him 'had weather permitted', as he wished to show him the item he is enclosing now (not present) before 'leaving Town next Monday week'. 'I wish to be sure of my footing in the Souvenir, either as a Poet or a Proser. [...] Do you like the enclosed? Shall you print my prose tale do you wish it altered? or do you reject it altogether, if the latter pray let me have it again as soon as convenient'. He concludes with 'best compliments to Mrs. Watts in which Mrs. Bayly unites'.

[Printed pamphlet.] Twelve Sonnets composed during a period of blindness by Thomas Bruce Dilks.

Author: 
Thomas Bruce Dilks (1866-1949), poet and local historian [East Gate Press, Bridgwater, Somerset]
Publication details: 
East Gate Press, Bridgwater. 1938.
£35.00

14pp., 12mo. Stitched into grey paper wraps, with white label printed in black and red on front cover. In fair condition, lightly worn and aged. The titles are: 'The Sea Bird at Dawn | January, 1937', 'Wonder', 'On my Father's Collection of Seaweeds', 'The Water Gate, Bridgwater Castle', '"Barchester"', '"We trusted that it had been he." (dated 'Good Friday, 1938'), 'The Third Day | Narrative of Cleopas' (dated 'Easter, 1938'), 'The Victorians', 'Robert Blake', 'Keats', 'John Richard Green' and 'To my Nurse | June, 1938'.

[Duplicated typescript] Variations

Author: 
Ursula Vaughan Williams
Publication details: 
Not "published" and undated.
£300.00

Not paginated, [44]pp., 4to, stapled, not bound, inc. front (= title with author) and back cover, one page inserted (sellotape) with carbon copy of poem ("Limitations | Prologue") with inking of three faint letters, foxed, cover heavily. This production (purpose unknown - perhaps a dummy run) contains substantially fewer poems than the published work (blue wraps, 61pp.).

[Booklet; Ist World War] Triolets from the Trenches

Author: 
Lt. C.G.L. du Cann
Publication details: 
London: Erskine Macdonald Limited, MCMXVII [1917]
£120.00

[40]pp., 16mo [c.12cm], paper boards, good+ condition, bookplate of Thomas Hutchinson of Morpeth inside front cover. Scarce. {Du Cann later wrote "The Loves of George Bernard Shaw" and other works.]

[Book; Ist World War Poetry] Cot 5

Author: 
[Edward Knoblock; Knoblauch]
Publication details: 
Methuen, London, 1917
£220.00

[viii].35 pp., 12mo, 17cm, decorated paper wraps, hinge strain, edges sl. worn, topt and bottom of spine damaged, ow good. Inscribed "From Tim | to | Tilda with love. | January 1918". COPAC and WorldCat only record the second edition ("Cot 5 and Rose Vacquette of La Boisselle", but Harvard have a copy of this first edition, naming Knoblock as the author. [Harvard have the Knoblock archive.]

[Nineteenth-century agricultural poetry.] Fair copy manuscript of anonymous (American?) poem titled 'Elegy on the death of a Farm Laborer.' With emendations and additions in pencil.

Author: 
[Nineteenth-century English or American agricultural poetry; Victorian rural verse; provincial literature; working class writing]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [1840s?]
£100.00

10pp.,, 8vo. On five leaves torn from a notebook. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-worn paper. A creditable effort, showing the influence of Gray's 'Elegy' and Goldsmith's 'Deserted Village', describing the unnamed farm hand's funeral, and reflecting on the virtues and hardships of the poor. Begins: 'From yonder peaceful and secluded dell, | Snug in the bosom of th'encircling hills, | The perfumed Zephyr bears a passing knell, | And melancholy o'er the Soul distils.

[John Pascoe of Veryan, Cornish poet.] Two autograph volumes of transcriptions of original poems, made on the eve of his death for Mrs Ball of the City Hotel, Truro, with extensive biographical notes for her, and a letter of presentation.

Author: 
John Pascoe (1820-1889) of Veryan (and latterly Castle Rise, Claremont, Truro), Cornish poet and Wesleyan minister
Publication details: 
The poems in both volumes transcribed in 1889, those in the first volume having been composed between 1844 and 1884, and in the second between 1881 and 1889. Letter from Castle Rise, Claremont, Truro [Cornwall], 26 August 1889.
£1,600.00

The two volumes contain transcriptions of a total of 65 original autograph poems, most of them unpublished, with extensive explanatory and biographical notes (sometimes running to several pages) composed especially for the recipient of the volumes, Mrs Ball of the City Hotel, Truro. In two uniform 4to notebooks with waxed black cloth bindings. The first volume is in fair condition, on aged and worn paper, in worn binding with loss of spine. The second volume has damp affecting the first 60pp., causing slight loss to text, and damage to the binding. ONE: On front free endpaper: 'Vol I.

[Book] A Boy of Clare

Author: 
E.H.W. Meyerstein
Publication details: 
OUP. 1937.
£45.00

Bound in off-white paper over boards; white cloth shelfback, 98pp., sm.8vo, good condition. Printed title stuck on front cover, 4 x 1cm, inscribed "Roderick from Pat || 15th March 1938." Scarce.

[William Angus Knight, Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of St Andrews.] Autograph Letter Signed ('W. Knight.') to James Dykes Campbell, expressing regret at revealing the existence of Wordsworth's 'Axiologus' sonnet, and attacking T. J. Wise

Author: 
William Angus Knight (1836-1916), Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of St Andrews, 1876-1902 [James Dykes Campbell (1838-1895), Coleridge biographer; Thomas James Wise. forger]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the 'University of St Andrew. N.B. [Scotland]'. 2 January 1892.
£120.00

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-worn paper. Written in a difficult hand. The letter begins: 'My dear Campbell. | You will find all I know about Axiologus, and Miss Maria Williams, in a prefatory note Vol I of my Edition of W[illiam]. W[ordsworth].s Poems (not Life).' He confirms that the poem is by Wordsworth, and expresses regret at 'letting it be known: for it led Tutin [John Ramsden Tutin (1855-1913)] of Hull to go & print the sonnet for private circulation some years ago.

[John Reade, 'the grand old man of Canadian letters'.] Autograph Letter Signed to Frederick M. Hopkins of New York, regarding his book of poems ['The Prophecy of Merlin and other Poems'].

Author: 
John Reade (1837-1919), Irish-born Canadian journalist, essayist and poet, 'the grand old man of Canadian letters', literary editor of the Montreal Gazette
Publication details: 
270 Laval Avenue, Montreal [Canada]. 9 and 18 October 1897.
£120.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on aged paper, with a couple of short closed tears along creases. The body of the letter, written on 9 October 1897, reads: 'Dear Sir, | I have published only one small volume of verse which has long been out of print ['The Prophecy of Merlin and other Poems', published in 1870]. I will see if from some friend I can borrow a copy to send you. | I have written some occasional and other verse besides that of the little book, but for some years have done little expect writing for the press.' In a postscript of 18 October 1897, signed 'J.

[E. Cecil Mornington Roberts.] Holograph Poem (signed 'Cecil Roberts'), a sonnet titled 'Liberty Challenged' ('Not without cause just and unshakeable').

Author: 
E. Cecil Mornington Roberts [Cecil Edric Mornington Roberts] (1892-1976), writer and editor
Publication details: 
On his 'E. CECIL MORNINGTON ROBERTS' letterhead, 'c/o Clarke & Co. | 13 & 14 Fleet St. EC.'
£100.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on aged, creased and worn paper. The poem features under the title 'Liberty Imperilled' in Roberts's collection 'Charing Cross and Other Poems of the Period' (1919), and the context suggests that the poem was composed at the commencement of the First World War. The sonnet begins: 'Not without cause just and unshakeable | Will we surrender up the cherished prize | Of individual liberty, so well | and nobly held'.

[Printed book.] Lavender Harvest.

Author: 
Constance Farmar [The Cayme Press, Kensington, owned by Humphrey Toulmin (1893-1971)]
Publication details: 
Printed at the Cayme Press, Kensington. 1926.
£120.00

50pp., 12mo. In light-blue boards, with white label on front board carrying title and illustration of sickle with sheaves of lavender. Internally good, on lightly-aged paper, in worn and aged boards. Uncommon: only three copies on COPAC (British Library, Oxford and National Library of Scotland), with a further four in American institutions on WorldCat. Farmar's only other book appears to have been 'Castles in Spain' (1907). She also produced the lyrics to a song titled 'Bluebell-time', with music by Ruby Holland.

[Sir Edwin Arnold.] Holograph Poem, signed 'Edwin Arnold', titled 'The Heavenly Secret', exhibiting a few differences from the printed version, presented to Mrs A. G. Henriques.

Author: 
Sir Edwin Arnold (1892-1904), poet and journalist, best-known for his 'Light of Asia' (1879) [Mrs A. G. Henriques]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. 6 March 1887.
£75.00

1p., 8vo. Laid down on a piece of card. Aged and discoloured, with chipping to extremities and some loss of text. The poem is sixteen lines long, arranged in two eight-line stanzas. The first stanza reads: '"Sometimes" - Althaea sighed - "in hours of sadness, | A sudden pleasure shines upon the soul; | The heart beats quick to half-heard notes of gladness, | And from the dark mind all its clouds unroll: | How comes this, Poet! You, who know things hidden, | Whence sounds that undersong of soft Content? | What brings such peace, unlooked-for & unbidden! | Answer me!

[Marianne Moore, American modernist poet.] Printed invitation to 'A Poetry Reading and Commentary' by 'Marianne Craig Moore | Distinguished Alumna of Bryn Mawr College'.

Author: 
Marianne Moore [Marianne Craig Moore] (1887-1972), American Modernist poet and editor of 'The Dial'
Publication details: 
At Cooper Union, 7th Street and 4th Avenue, New York. 20 January 1958.
£56.00

Printed on one side of a 9.5 x 15 cm piece of green paper. In good condition, lightly-aged and sunned, with one corner slightly-dogeared. The text reads: 'Marianne Craig Moore | Distinguished Alumna of Bryn Mawr College | will present | A Poetry Reading and Commentary | on Monday, January 20, 1958 | at 8:30 o'clock | at Cooper Union | 7th Street and 4th Avenue, New York | Admission free'.

[George Gilfillan, Scottish critic and 'spasmodic' poet.] Autograph Note Signed to an unnamed autograph hunter.

Author: 
George Gilfillan (1813-1878), Scottish Presbyterian minister, critic and 'spasmodic' poet
Publication details: 
Dundee; 18 January 1855.
£56.00

1p., 16mo (12.5 x 11.5cm). In good condition, on lightly aged and ruckled paper, with traces of mount on reverse and minor loss to one edge. Reads: 'Dundee | 18th. Jany. | 1855 | My Dear Sir | I have much pleasure in transmitting you my Autograph | I am | Yours very truly | George Gilfillan'.

[Shirley Brooks, editor of Punch.] Autograph Letter Signed to William Glen, commending his 'friend's verses', which have 'an echo of Keats in them'.

Author: 
Shirley Brooks [Charles William Shirley Brooks] (1816-1874), journalist and novelist, editor of Punch, 1870-1874 [William Glen; the Literary Gazette]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Literary Gazette Office, 4 Bouverie Street, EC [London]. 5 October [circa 1858].
£45.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Brooks (who conducted the Literary Gazette between 1858 and 1859) writes that he has read Glen's 'friend's verses carefully, and with much pleasure. There is an echo of Keats in them, but no mere invitation.

[Charles G. Mortimer, lyricist and Catholic writer.] Collection of 54 autograph song lyrics and poems by him, mostly holographs (signed 'CGM'), noting the sale of each (to music publishers and magazines). With Autograph Letter Signed to his typist.

Author: 
Charles G. Mortimer [Charles Gordon Mortimer, lyricist, Catholic journalist and author [Dulwich College; Brasenose College, Oxford; Stonyhurst College, Lancashire; Rudyard Kipling]
Publication details: 
One from Caterham House, Caterham, Oxfordshire, and another on letterhead of Stonyhurst College, near Blackburn, Lancashire Undated [1920s and 1930s], except for one dated 9 March 1921. The letter to his typist dated 2 April 1934.
£600.00

After leaving Dulwich College Mortimer was a classical scholar at Brasenose College, Oxford. In 1933 he was received into the Roman Catholic Church, after which he became a schoolmaster in Catholic schools, most notably Stonyhurst. According to his profile in the Catholic Herald, 5 August 1938, Mortimer was 'well-known as a composer and lyric writer, and his work has been broadcast from the early days of broadcasting. | Recently he has contributed " uncle-duty " to the [BBC] Children's Hour.

[John Russell Lowell, American poet.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. R. Lowell'), while American ambassador in London, to Lady Elphinstone, declining an invitation and attempting to arrange a meeting to renew their acquaintance.

Author: 
J. R. Lowell [John Russell Lowell] (1819-1891), American poet, author and diplomat [Lady Elphinstone]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 40 Clarges Street, Piccadilly, W. [London] 2 July 1886.
£60.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, and with the margins cut down. The letter reads: 'Dear Lady Elphinstone, | I am very sorry that an engagement here will prevent my having the pleasure of coming to you this afternoon. But I hope to be able to go out to Richmond next Friday & if so shall do myself the honour of renewing so agreeable an acquaintance.'

[Handbill] The Cowper & Newton Museum Series. No. 4. The Kissing Candidate Letter from William Cowper to the Rev. John Newton March 29th, 1784

Author: 
[William Cowper, poet]
Publication details: 
A.H. Stanley, printer, Olney, [no year].
£56.00

Four pages, 16mo, grubby, small chip from first page, text clear and complete. Scarce. One copy only found on COPAC/WorldCat at Pittsburgh.

[Inscribed copy.] Trial of a Judge. A tragedy in five acts.

Author: 
Stephen Spender
Publication details: 
London: Faber and Faber Limited. 1938.
£80.00

115pp., 8vo. In red cloth binding. No dustwrapper. Aged, with back hinge sprung and one bumped corner at the back. Excellent inscription by Spender on the front free endpaper, in which he describes the history of the composition of the play: 'To And | with love from | Stephen. | March 16 1938. | This play begun January 1933, at Barcelona, partly written in January 1937 in Madrid & Albacete, and finished January 1938 in London, is almost a record of our friendships through five years.'

[Rupert Brooke; booklet] 1914 by Rupert Brooke set to music for Chorus and Organ, or Orchestra

Author: 
Alan Gray, composer
Publication details: 
Novello and Company Limited; New York: The H.W. Gray Co [1919? see COPAC]
£180.00

24pp., cr. 8vo, grey printed paper wraps, partially detached, creased and and worn, with two stains on front cover, largest 3/4"dia, contents aged but good. Tow copies listed on COPAC/WorldCat (both BL), i.e. very scarce.

[Peter Levi, poet and Jesuit priest.] Holograph collection of nine poems, titled 'The Element', with signed autograph note from Dom Moraes explaining their background.

Author: 
Peter Levi [Peter Chad Tigar Levi] (1931-2000), Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford, 1984-1989, and Jesuit priest [Dom Moraes (1938-2004), Indian poet]
Publication details: 
Dated by Levi to the period November 1957 to January 1958. Moraes' note dated 10 June 1963.
£750.00

14pp., 4to. In exercise book with green printed wraps. Good, on lightly-aged and worn paper. The first page carries the title 'The Element', with the words 'Peter Levi S.J. | Nov. '57-Jan. '58' in the top right-hand corner. With occasional light corrections. The second poem ('Out of shaking') has the directions: 'No title & no commas', and the last but one ('Unfinished Elegy'), which is the longest at 4pp., is annotated: 'There ought to be three parts or possibly four.

[Peter Levi, S.J., English poet.] Unpublished holograph poem ( 'P. L.') titled 'For Henrietta and Dom. | (December, 1960.)' Addressed to the Indian poet Dom Moraes and his wife Henrietta Moraes, lover of Lucien Freud and model for Francis Bacon.

Author: 
Peter Levi [Peter Chad Tigar Levi] (1931-2000), Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford and Jesuit priest [Dom Moraes (1938-2004), Indian poet; his wife Henrietta Moraes (1931-1999)]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. December 1960.
£280.00

2pp., foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. A fair copy of a twenty-eight line poem, arranged in seven four-line stanzas. Signed at end 'P. L. | December 1960.' The first stanza reads 'Rain-threaded gull-wheeling bell-clamorous air, | by wind shifted, by smoke lightly weighted, | in which sirens beautifully despair, | no monumnet crumbles uncelebrated,'. The poem ends with a simile of 'Adam when he woke: | stood for a moment as if he had been blind, | and bent suddenly over Eve, and spoke.' There is no indication that the poem has been published.

[Peter Levi, S.J., English poet.] Autograph Card Signed to the bookseller Eric Korn, with copies of his 'Three Poems' and the Jesuit bulletin 'To our friends', the latter with signed autograph note: 'This I did write & hideous [...] it is'.

Author: 
Peter Levi [Peter Chad Tigar Levi] (1931-2000), Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford and Jesuit priest
Publication details: 
Card postmarked from Campion Hall, Oxford, and with postmarked date 21 November 1971. Three Poems: Sycamore Press, 4 Benson Place Oxford; Spring 1970. 'To our friends': No. 33, April 1962; with note on letterhead of Heythrop College, Chipping Norton.
£200.00

The three items in good condition, with light age and wear. CARD: He has been told about Korn by 'Barbara and Cyril Connolly': 'Maybe we might meet, though I shall now be leaving England for a time. Do you ever have a catalogue? If so please put me on your list. I chiefly want classics & archaeology & (old) travels in Greece & Central Asia, but sometimes modern poetry. I am always at or c/o this address. Peter Levi.' THREE POEMS: Landscape 8vo, folded twice to make three panels. Printed in blue. The first poem is titled 'Riddle' and the other two are untitled.

[Alfred Austin, poet.] Autograph Letter Signed to the Chevalier de Chatelain, thanking him for gifts, and reminiscing about the Chevalier and his wife Clara de Chatelain.

Author: 
Alfred Austin (1835-1913), English Poet Laureate from 1896 to his death [Jean-Baptiste François Ernest De Chatelain (1801-1881) and his wife Clara de Chatelain (1807-1876), author]
Publication details: 
67 Queen's Gardens, Bayswater. 2 August 1877.
£65.00

2pp., 16mo. 17 lines of text. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He begins by thanking him for 'the History of the Flitch of Bacon Custom at Dunnow. I well remember reading in the papers of 55 the celebration of the fete at which you & poor Made. de Chatelain were the hero & heroine'. He has called on de Chatelain to thank him for the 'Fleurs et Fruits' which he sent him, but did not find him at home. He will try again before leaving town for the autumn, 'which I shall do in a few days'.

Autograph Note Signed and poem by the Congregational minister James Bennett of Rotherham, with manuscript poem ('Psalm 149.3, Let the Saints sing about upon their beds') by James Gray of Nailsworth, titled 'Elijah's Interview with God'

Author: 
James Bennett (1774-1862) of Rotherham, Congregational minister; James Gray of Nailsworth
Publication details: 
Bennett's note dated from Rotherham, 26 November 1829. Gray's poem dated from Nailsworth. 19 January 1828.
£250.00

On a 4to leaf removed from an album, with Bennett's piece on one side of the leaf, and Gray's on the other. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, with a short closed tear to the fore-edge. Bennett's note reads: 'Dearest Brethren, ye know how that a good while ago, God made desire among us, that the Gentiles, from my mouth, should hear the word of the Gospel & believe. And God, who knoweth the hearts, bore them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us: put no difference between us & them, purifying their hearts, by faith'.

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