ROBERT

[Lady Salisbury, wife of the Prime Minister.] Autograph Letter Signed to Charlotte Mary Yonge, discussing ‘the original casket letters’ of Mary Queen of Scots found by Dr Brewer at Hatfield House.

Author: 
Lady Salisbury, wife of Prime Minister the Marquis of Salisbury [Georgina Caroline Gascoyne-Cecil [née Alderson] (1826-1899), Marchioness of Salisbury; Charlotte Mary Yonge (1823-1901), author]
Publication details: 
10 September [circa 1882]. From Castel du Parc, Royat-les-Bains, Clermont Ferrand, Puy de Dome, France; on cancelled Hatfield House letterhead.
£150.00

See her own entry in the Oxford DNB, as a ‘political wife’, and that of Yonge, whose ‘Unknown to History: A Story of the Captivity of Mary of Scotland’ was published in 1882. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Signed ‘G Salisbury’ and addressed to ‘Miss Yonge’. In good condition, with negligible remnants of windowpane mount adhering at edges. ‘One of the original casket letters was found at Hatfield some years ago by Dr Brewer who was then looking over the papers on behalf of the Record Office to which he belonged - Also a copy of another - of the same date.

[Sir Robert Christison, distinguished Scottish phyisician and toxicologist.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Dr. Bowman’ [John Eddowes Bowman Jnr], correcting a statement regarding ‘the subject of the Nitrate of Iron as a remedy for chronic diarrhoea’.

Author: 
Sir Robert Christison (1797-1882), Scottish physician and toxicologist, President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and British Medical Association [John Eddowes Bowman Jnr (1819-1856),
Publication details: 
11 April 1846; Edinburgh.
£80.00

Christison was the author of a standard Victorian textbook of toxicology and founder of a medical dynasty; see his 1885 autobiography and his entry in the Oxford DNB (the latter also contains an entry for Bowman). 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded twice, with small closed tear at edge of one fold. Looping stylized signature ‘R. Christison’. He begins by referring to ‘a previous communication received from the South of England on the subject of the Nitrate of Iron as a remedy for chronic diarrhoea’.

[Robert Lockhart Hobson, Keeper of the Department of Ceramics and Ethnography at the British Museum.] Autograph Letter Signed to Wilfred Seymour De Winton, describing the process of reopening the Museum in the wake of the Great War.

Author: 
R. L. Hobson [Robert Lockhart Hobson], ceramicist and cataloguer, Keeper of the Department of Ceramics and Ethnography at the British Museum and President of the Oriental Ceramic Society [De Winton of
Publication details: 
24 December 1918; on letterhead of the British Museum, London.
£45.00

See his obituaries in The Times, Burlington Magazine and elsewhere. Casting light on the process of reopening the British Museum in the wake of the Great War. From the papers of the recipient, Wilfred Seymour De Winton of Haverfordwest and Cardiff. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly worn and creased. Signed ‘R. L. Hobson’ and addressed to ‘Dear Mr. de Winton’. He has been ‘back at the Museum about 3 weeks & most of that has been spent in helping to get ready for the public some of the more accessible galleries’.

[Sir Edward Baines, nonconformist newspaper editor and Liberal politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to Rev. H. R. Reynolds D.D., describing an encounter he has just had with the ailing Earl Russell [the former Lord John Russell] in the House of Lords

Author: 
Sir Edward Baines (1800-1890), nonconformist newspaper editor and Liberal MP [Rev. Henry Robert Reynolds (1825-1896), D.D., Congregational minister, President of Cheshunt College; Lord John Russell]
Publication details: 
‘Monday Evening’ [no date, but between 1861 and 1878]; on letterhead of the House of Commons [Westminster].
£56.00

See the entries for Baines and Reynolds in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed to ‘The Rev. H. R. Reynolds, D.D.’, and signed ‘Edw. Baines.’ The letter dates from between 1861, when Lord John Russell was created Earl Russell, and his death in 1878. Begins: ‘My very dear Friend, / I have just been shaking hands with Earl Russell. I was standing with the mob of M.

[Robert Smith Candlish, Free Church of Scotland minister and theologian.] Autograph Letter Signed to Rev. W. Wallace Allan, regarding the ‘rude abuse’ he receives, and Allan’s views on ‘monumental inscriptions in Christian communities’.

Author: 
Robert Smith Candlish (1806-1873), Free Church of Scotland minister and theologian, a leading figure in the Disruption of 1843 [Rev. W. Wallace Allan]
Publication details: 
18 June 1863; Edinburgh.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Sixteen closely- and neatly-written lines. After thanking him for his ‘kind and seasonable letter’, he states that he is ‘not much affected by rude abuse in parliament or through the press’ as he is ‘pretty well hardened in that respect’, and that he ‘may possibly have an opportunity’, in his own ‘proper place’, ‘of explaining & vindicating’ his position, for the purpose of which he asks Allan ‘for somewhat more particular information in regard to monumental inscriptions in Christian communities’.

[Sir John Robert Seeley, Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge.] Autograph Letter Signed, declining to write ‘the article Colonies’ for ‘the Encylopaedia of Messrs Chambers’, as too little time is allowed for its writing.

Author: 
J. R. Seeley [Sir John Robert Seeley] (1834-1895), Liberal historian and essayist, Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge [Messrs Chambers & Co, publishers]
Publication details: 
26 April [no year]. On letterhead of 7 St Peter’s Terrace, Cambridge.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. Nine lines. In good condition, on lightly aged grey paper. Folded once. Addressed to ‘Dear Sir’, and signed ‘J R Seeley’. He states that ‘it will be quite impossible for me to undertake the article Colonies for the Encyclopaedia of Messrs Chambers, as the time you allow for the preparation of it is altogether too short’.

[Duke of Montrose [James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose], Scottish nobleman and Tory politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to Robert Saunders Dundas (the future Viscount Melville), regarding the amending of a ‘very insufficient’ act of parliament.

Author: 
Duke of Montrose [James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose; until 1790 Marquis of Graham] (1755-1836), Scottish nobleman and Tory politician [Robert Saunders Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville (1771-1851)]
Publication details: 
5 January 1809; Grosvenor Square [London].
£65.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly-aged, with small triangle cut away from letter in opening red wax seal, of which minor traces remain. Folded and addressed in the customary manner. Franked to ‘Right Honble / Robert S: Dundas &c &c &c / Downing Street / Montrose’, sent from ‘Grosvr: Sq: 5th Jan 1809’ and signed ‘Montrose’. Begins, without salutation: ‘I wish you would look to this act, as it appears to require attention.

[Ben Weinreb, London bookseller and editor of ‘The London Encyclopedia’.] Autograph Note Signed [to fellow bookseller Andrew Block] on attractive printed invitation card for the opening of the new ‘Weinreb + Douwma’ print and map shop.

Author: 
Ben Weinreb (1912-1999), London bookseller and authority on architecture, first editor of ‘The London Encyclopedia’ [Robert Douwma, printseller; Andrew Block, bookseller]
Weinreb
Publication details: 
Invitation to shop opening, 26 January 1970; 93 Great Russell Street, London WC1.
£45.00
Weinreb

See Nicolas Barker’s appreciative obituary in the Independent, 7 April 1999, which notes that after selling his entire stock to the University of Texas in 1968, ‘He moved his business to the other side of Great Russell Street, and briefly opened another shop, selling prints in partnership with Rob Douwma.’ (The British Museum website states that ‘Weinreb & Douwma was on the corner of Great Russell Street and Bloomsbury Way during the 1970s and 1980s.’) The obituary of the recipient Andrew Block (1892-1987) in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business w

[Robert Lynd, Irish journalist and essayist at whose house James Joyce held his wedding reception.] Typescript, with Autograph Emendations in pencil, of the commencement of Chapter 7, ‘Kinsale’, of his 1912 book ‘Rambles in Ireland’.

Author: 
Robert Lynd [Robert Wilson Lynd] (1879-1949), Irish journalist and essayist, husband of the poet Sylvia Lynd (1888-1952), at whose house James Joyce held his wedding reception
Publication details: 
Circa 1912.
£650.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. ‘Rambles in Ireland’ was published in 1912, with illustrations by Jack B. Yeats. On one side each of four 4to leaves of aged and worn paper. The first leaf carries a covering page on which is the typed word ‘KINSALE’; above this Lynd has written in pencil: ‘26 / Rambles in Ireland / (By Robert Lynd) / Chapter VII’. The three pages which follow carry the text: title and 21 lines on the first, and twenty-five lines apiece on the second and third.

[Robert Lynd, Irish journalist and essayist at whose house James Joyce held his wedding reception.] Part of Corrected Autograph Draft of essay on ‘the Irish comic spirit’and ‘the Irish tradition’ in literature.

Author: 
Robert Lynd [Robert Wilson Lynd] (1879-1949), Irish journalist and essayist, husband of the poet Sylvia Lynd (1888-1952), at whose house James Joyce held his wedding reception
Publication details: 
No date, but published in the Irish Book Lover (London and Dublin), vol. 13, 1922.
£650.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Unsigned, but in Lynd’s hand and from the Lynd family papers. 6pp, 4to, on six leaves of ruled paper, twenty-six lines to a page. In fair condition, lightly aged, with dog-eared corners. Lynd’s handwriting is execrable, and he employs a number of abbreviations of common words, such as ‘and’, ‘the’, ‘of’. Begins: ‘[...] found expression in literature. / As I have suggested, however, it is in the art of conversation rather than the art of literature that the Irish comic spirit has found its fullest expression.

[Sir Robert Peel, Tory Prime Minister, founder of the Metropolitan Police, creator of modern Conservative Party.] Autograph Signature (‘Robert Peel’) and address by him franking a letter to the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford.

Author: 
Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), two-time Tory Prime Minister, founder of the Metropolitan Police, creator of modern Conservative Party
Peel
Publication details: 
‘London June seven 1820’.
£30.00
Peel

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The front panel of an envelope, 12 x 7 cm. In good condition, lightly aged, neatly backed by part of leaf from autograph album. Red frank stamp (with slight cropping to crown: ‘FREE / 7 JU 7 / 1820’. Headed ‘Private’ and otherwise set out in the conventional fashion. Reads: ‘London June seven 1820 / The Rev. The Vice Chancellor / &c &c &c / Oxford’, with underlined signature at bottom left: ‘Robert Peel’. See image.

[Sir Peter Scott, ornithologist, conservationist and artist.] Typed Letter Signed, advising ‘Squirrel’ on ‘the right type of field glasses’ and new developments in the design of binoculars.

Author: 
Sir Peter Scott [Sir Peter Markham Scott] (1909-1989), ornithologist, artist, conservationist, founder of the Wildfowl Trust, son of Antarctic explorer Sir Robert Falcon Scott
Scott
Publication details: 
3 November 1962; on letterhead (with illustration by him of birds in flight) of the Wildfowl Trust, Slimbridge, Gloucestershire.
£50.00
Scott

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight spotting to margin. Folded three times. Good signature: ‘Peter Scott.’ Addressing himself to ‘Dear Squirrel’, he writes: ‘Yes, of course I will try to advise you on the right type of field glasses. I have used Ross 12 by 50 Stepsun for many years and have found it a very good glass for ornithological and also general use. I would strongly recommend it.

[‘The time is not one that favours such an enterprise’: Lord Haldane, Lord Chancellor and philosopher.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Miss Black’, giving his considered opinion of the prospects for ‘a new weekly paper’.

Author: 
Lord Haldane [Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane] (1856-1928), Scottish Liberal and Labour politician, philosopher, and Lord Chancellor
Publication details: 
9 March 1920; on letterhead of 28 Queen Anne’s Gate, Westminster.
£65.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged with a crease. Folded once. Signed ‘Haldane’. He begins ‘With all good wishes for any cause you are engaged in’, but ‘no hope of success for a new weekly paper’.

[Henry Hall, Director of the BBC Dance Orchestra.] Coloured Lithographic portrait of him, in colours, with original Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Henry Hall [Henry Robert Hall] (1898-1989), Director of the BBC Dance Orchestra
Henry Hall
Publication details: 
The print: ‘Presented with “Radio Pictorial,” No. 1, January 19, 1934’.
£45.00
Henry Hall

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 20 x 25 cm lithograph in pink, white and black. In good condition, lightly aged. An attractive item, suitable for framing. Head and shoulders portrait of a dapper bespectacled Hall, with parted greased hair, in white tie, staring at the viewer. Across his shirt, Hall has written in green ink ‘Best Wishes / Henry Hall’. Captioned at bottom left: ‘HENRY HALL / DIRECTOR, B.B.C. DANCE ORCHESTRA’; and at bottom right: ‘Presented with “Radio Pictorial,” / No. 1, January 19, 1934’. See image.

[Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, radical politician ruined by the Crawford Scandal.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Charles W. Dilke’) to fellow-MP Robert Bourke (the future Lord Connemara), regarding ‘Greek Papers’ being sent to the Commons from the Lords.

Author: 
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843–1911), radical Liberal politician and author, ruined by Crawford Scandal [Robert Bourke (1827-1902), 1st Baron Connemara, Conservative politician, Governor of Madras]
Publication details: 
20 May 1879; on letterhead of 76 Sloane Street, S.W. [London]
£50.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. Lurid claims of three-in-a-bed adulteries put a paid to Dilke’s political ambitions (he had been touted as a future prime minister), and rendered him the butt of musical hall jokes. 16mo, 2pp. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and folded once. ‘Dear Bourke / If you are in the House at 2 o’clock to-day I propose to ask you when the Greek Papers which were promised yesterday in the House of Lords are likely to be distributed to members of the House of Commons / Yrs. very truly, / Charles W.

[Sir Robert Peel, father of the Prime Minister of that name, industrialist] Autograph Letter Signed to David Scott, recommending to the East India Company a firm for ‘the cleaning and washing of India piece Goods’.

Author: 
Robert Peel Sir Robert Peel, (1750 – 1830), father of Prime Minister. politician and industrialist and one of early textile manufacturers of the Industrial Revolution.
Publication details: 
‘No 8 Milk Street [London] | 7th Septr 1799’.
£180.00

A neat item, providing an insight into the great statesman’s mercantile roots. See his entry in the Oxford DNB, together with those of his father the first baronet (Lancashire calico printer and politician) and the recipient Scott. 2pp, 4to. On watermarked laid paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded three times. The recipient is named as ‘David Scott Esqr’.

Two Autograph Letters Signed J. Chamberlain to Sir Robert Giffen, eminent Scottish statistician and economist, encapsulating his views on tariff reform and related issues at a critical time.

Author: 
Joseph Chamberlain (DNB), politician and statesman
Publication details: 
[Printed headings] 40 Prince's Gardens, SW [London], 11 Aug. 1902 AND Highbury, Moor Green, Birmingham, 11 Dec. 1903.
£450.00

3 & 4pp., 12mo, very good condition. With original addressed envelope for Letter 1 (Sir Robert Giffen KCB | etc etc etc. [Chamberlains' joke?], 40 Brunswick Road ...) , with franked signature of Chamberlain. Letter One (1902): Many thanks for your notes. I agree with you in thinking that preference is chiefly valuable as promoting the Imperial sentiment of unity. | It has, however, other advantages - (1) it is a movement as far as it goes, towards free trade within the Empire. Every reduction of duty helps towards the end.

Copy of the Irish republican newspaper 'Saoirse na h-Éireann. Irish Freedom', from the papers of Robert Lynd, and with the front-page article 'Germany is not Ireland's Enemy' possibly written by him.

Author: 
Robert Lynd [Robert Wilson Lynd; Riobard ua Floinn] (1979-1949), Irish essayist [Saoirse na h-Éireann. Irish Freedom]
Publication details: 
'Printed by Patrick Mahon, 3 Yarnhall St., Dublin, for the Proprietors and published by them at their Office, 12 D'Olier Street, Dublin.' September 1914.
£100.00

8pp., folio. Unopened. On aged high-acidity paper, with wear along central vertical fold, and chipping to extremities. The article is unsigned, and covers the whole of the front page and p.5 (which is headed 'Ireland won't be fooled again.') and ends on p.6. An inflammatory piece of writing, as the following paragraph indicates: 'Good-bye, Tommy! | Firstly, the army of occupation has been taken from Ireland. Dozens of ships were steaming in and out of Dublin Bay for a week, taking away the men who held this country for England before Mr. Redmond offered Mr.

[Sir Robert Long, Royalist politician and exchequer official, associate of Samuel Pepys and rival of the Earl of Clarendon.] Autograph Signature ('Rob Long') on exchequer document..

Author: 
Sir Robert Long (c.1602-1673) of Worcester Park, Royalist MP, Auditor of the Lower Exchequer and Receiver-General of the Queen's Revenues, associate of Samuel Pepys and rival of the Earl of Clarendon
Publication details: 
July 1667. Place not stated.
£30.00

See Long's entry in the Oxford DNB. On 7 x 17 cm piece of paper, laid down on slightly larger piece of thick paper cut from an album. In good condition, lightly aged. Three lines of text by Long in clerk's hand, reading 'Registred accordinge to Ex Art within [mentioned?] ye [?] day of July 1667[.] And to be paid in coarse [?] after 397338 16 1'. A good example of Long's neat signature, larger and underlined with a tight flourish, beneath the text and towards the right.

[Ken Rosewall and Darlene Hard, celebrated tennis players.] Autograph Signatures.

Author: 
Ken Rosewall [Kenneth Robert Rosewall] (b.1934), Australian lawn tennis player; Darlene Hard [Darlene Ruth Hard] (b. 1936), American tennis player who won three open championships
Publication details: 
No date or place, but dated in another hand '1956'.
£45.00

In blue ink on a 9 x 6 cm rectangle of laid paper. In good condition. Hard signs first ('Darlene | Hard') with Rosewall's signature ('Ken Rosewall') curving upwards beneath hers. Between the two, in another hand is the date 1956, and beneath Rosewall's signature, in the same hand, is '(Rosewall)'. In 1956 Rosewall was on the verge of turning professional. In that year he won the US Open, beating fellow-Australian Lew Hoad. It was one of eight Grand Slam finals he played in as an amateur, winning three. In 1956 Hard was nearing her peak.

[C. R. Cockerell [Charles Robert Cockerell], Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts.] Autograph Letter Signed ('C. R. Cockerell.'), regarding the reprinting of a paper.

Author: 
C. R. Cockerell [Charles Robert Cockerell] (1788-1863), architect, archaeologist and author, Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts
Publication details: 
29 January 1856. No place.
£35.00

1p, 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Folded twice. The recipient is not named, but would appear to be the editor of a journal. The letter begins: 'My Dear Sir | I really think it would be desirable to reprint the paper on the [Stones?] testimonial to distribute it as a corrected paper. | Otherwise the dissatisfaction I felt, & the trouble I have given you, will be universal amongst the subscribers'.

[Frank Benson [Sir Francis Robert Benson; F. R. Benson], actor-manager who specialised in Shakespeare productions.] Autograph Note in third person, stating that 'his departure for South Africa' prevents him from attending a Literary Society banquet.

Author: 
Frank Benson [Sir Francis Robert Benson; F. R. Benson] (1858-1939), actor-manager who specialised in Shakespeare productions [Royal Literary Society, London]
Publication details: 
4 July 1921. No place.
£35.00

1p, 4to. In fair condition, on lightly aged and creased paper, folded twice. Reads: 'Sir Frank Benson regrets that his departure for South Africa will prevent his having the pleasure of availing himself of the Literary Society's kind invitation to assist at the banquet, on Wednesday, July 16th. -'

[Charles Robert Cockerell, architect, archaeologist and author.] Autograph Note Signed ('C. R. Cockerell') to 'Roberts' [the Scottish painter David Roberts], accepting an invitation to a 'meeting' with 'Distinguished Guests'.

Author: 
C. R. Cockerell [Charles Robert Cockerell] (1788-1863), architect, archaeologist and author [David Roberts (1796-1864), Scottish painter]
Publication details: 
12 February 1858. No place.
£45.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. The letter reads: 'My Dear Roberts. | I shall have great pleasure in accepting your kind invitation for Friday next, & in meeting such Distinguished Guests as you propose to gather round you. | Ever my Dear Roberts | Sincerely yours | C. R. Cockerell.' From the Roberts papers.

[[C. R. Cockerell [Charles Robert Cockerell], Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts.] Autograph Note Signed ('C. R. Cockerell') regarding the paying of a subscription.

Author: 
C. R. Cockerell [Charles Robert Cockerell] (1788-1863), architect, archaeologist and author, Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts
Publication details: 
8 May 1848. No place.
£35.00

1p, 12mo. On a bifolium endorsed on second leaf '1848 | C R Cockerell R A | 8 May'. Reads: 'My Dear Sir | I hope you have recd. my subscription paid by cheque on London & Westymr. Bank. & forwarded to Mess. Drummond on the 14 Feby. 1848. | Your's truly | C. R. Cockerell'.

[ George Thomson, friend of Burns ] Autograph Letter Signed G. Thomson to W.F. Watson, bookseller of Prince's Street, with a sportive invitation to dinner. (also invited David Scott(

Author: 
[George Thomson [(1757–1851), noted collector of the music of Scotland, music publisher, and a friend of Robert Burns.]
Publication details: 
Leith Links, 3 John's Place, Tuesday 4 Jany (docketed, adding 1848).
£180.00

Two pages, 12mo, bifolium, formerly in an album, tipped onto strip of album page, as is the addressed envelope (no postal marks), good condition. My dear Sir | If as I hope you are disengaged on Friday [underlined] next come and partake of a quiet family dinner with us at 5 o'clock, you will confer much pleasure on us, and will I trust meet honest David Scott with whom we will discuss high & important matters. As an inducement to him to do me that favour I have ventured to tell him that I hope he will meet you. | Prytheee then let us not be disappointed. Postscript, asking What of Mr Black?

[Robert Donat, film and stage actor.] Typed Letter Signed ('Robert.') to 'Popie', i.e. the theatre historian W. J. MacQueen-Pope, regarding his article 'Children's Theatre | Sound'.

Author: 
Robert Donat [Friedrich Robert Donat] (1905-1958), English film and stage actor, whose films included 'The 39 Steps' and 'Goodbye Mr. Chips' [W. J. MacQueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
30 October 1946. On his letterhead, 23 Three Kings Yard, London, W1.
£45.00

1p, 8vo. On aged and worn paper, with spots of rust staining from paperclip. Folded twice. Addressed to MP at 359 Strand, WC2. Reads: 'Dear Popie, | Children's Theatre | Sound | This is just to acknowledge your rough draft of the article you suggest. I have not had time to look at it yet, but I will do so as soon as I possibly can. Meanwhile, perhaps your secretary will let my secretary know the latest date for returning it.' MP's reason for sending the article to Donat is not immediately apparent. Donat's papers are in the University of Manchester Special Collections.

[Robert Lax inscribes a copy of his first book to the playwright Christopher Fry and his wife, 'merely to think of whom gladdens the heart & makes the countenance shine'.] The Circus of the Sun. [Signed by Lax and illustrator Emil Antonucci.]

Author: 
Robert Lax (1915-2000), American poet, friend of Thomas Merton; Emil Antonucci (1929-2006), artist, illustrator and proprietor of the Journeyman Press, New York [Christopher Fry]
Publication details: 
New York: Journeyman Books, 1959.
£380.00

[55]pp, 8vo. Number 448 of 500 copies, with colophon signed by 'Robert Lax' and illustrator 'Emil Antonucci'. In quarter binding of spine in plain black cloth and paper boards on which are printed circus photographs by Charles Harbutt. Nice inscription on front free endpaper: 'For Mr & Mrs Chistopher Fry, merely to think of whom gladdens the heart & makes the countenance shine, | Robert Lax'. Lacking the original plain glassine dustwrapper. In good condition, apart from a 6 cm horizontal cut or rub mark to the front board, which is not overly obtrusive.

[Sir Robert Mayer, musical patron, writing in his hundredth year.] Autograph Letter Signed ('R M.') to 'Russell', boasting of being 'young & venturesome', describing plans for an American lecture tour, asking if he could use Lady Drogheda as pianist.

Author: 
Sir Robert Mayer (1879-1985), German-born British musical patron and philanthropist
Publication details: 
10 September 1979. On letterhead of 2 Mansfield Street, London W1.
£60.00

2pp, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. The content is remarkably sprightly and the handwriting firm. The letter begins: 'My dear Russell, | Telephone: no good. So I guess that you are holiday-making. | Lord Drogheda is my close friend & collaborator. His wife Joan is a pianist[.] I have heard her only when she gave her services. But she appears to practice daily, like a professional trooper.' He has advised her to 'play chamber music.

[Sir Robert Hamilton Bruce Lockhart, diplomat, author, secret agent.] Autograph Letter Signed ('R. H. Bruce Lockhart.') to Lloyd Humberstone, describing his book 'Your England' as a tribute to the 'broad-minded, tolerant, and humane' English.

Author: 
R. H. Bruce Lockhart [Sir Robert Hamilton Bruce Lockhart] (1887-1970), diplomat, author and secret agent [Thomas Lloyd Humberstone, Secretary, University of London]
Publication details: 
16 August 1935. On letterhead of 30 Douglas Crescent, Edinburgh, 12.
£45.00

1p, landscape 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He thanks him for his letter containing 'kind words about my book, Your England'. He did not expect anyone to agree with all he wrote in it. His aim in writing was 'to pay a tribute to the English who are the most broad-minded, tolerant, and humane of all the numerous peoples among whom I have lived.'

[Sir Robert Mayer, musical patron, writing in his hundredth year.] Autograph Letter Signed ('R M.') to 'Russell', boasting of being 'young & venturesome', describing plans for an American lecture tour, asking if he could use Lady Drogheda as pianist.

Author: 
Sir Robert Mayer (1879-1985), German-born British musical patron and philanthropist
Publication details: 
10 September 1979. On letterhead of 2 Mansfield Street, London W1.
£60.00

2pp, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. The content is remarkably sprightly and the handwriting firm. The letter begins: 'My dear Russell, | Telephone: no good. So I guess that you are holiday-making. | Lord Drogheda is my close friend & collaborator. His wife Joan is a pianist[.] I have heard her only when she gave her services. But she appears to practice daily, like a professional trooper.' He has advised her to 'play chamber music.

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