ROBIN

'[Robin Humphrey Legge (pen-name ‘Musicus’), chief music critic of the Daily Telegraph.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Richards’, declaring a desire to meet Hornung (author of the ‘Raffles’ books), discussing his brother’s ‘cruel death’.

Author: 
Robin Humphrey Legge (pen-name ‘Musicus’) (1862-1933), chief music critic of Daily Telegraph, early champion of Elgar and Puccini [Ernest William Hornung (1866-1921), author of the 'Raffles' books]
Publication details: 
5 January or 1 May 1901.
£45.00

See his obituary in The Times, 7 April 1933, and Hornung's entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. With mourning border. In fair condition on discoloured paper. Folded for postage. Begins: ‘My dear Richards, / Greetings! / I should like very much to meet Hornung - practically any day would suit me. I admire his book immensely, not only for the excellence of its workmanship but the remarkable manner of the characterization. It struck me as being intensely sincere.’ He hopes that the Richards clan are well (‘all of you’): ‘We are molto moderato so to speak - My brother’s cruel death in S.

[David Low, London bookseller.] Typed Card Signed to ‘Dear Rock’ (the bookseller Andrew Block), regarding oriental prints and ‘Teddy’.

Author: 
David Low (1903-1987), London bookseller whose 1973 autobiography ‘With All Faults’ has an introduction by Graham Greene [Andrew Block (1892-1987)]
Low
Publication details: 
29 January 1977; on letterhead of David Low Booksellers, Ltd., Emmington, Chinnor, Oxford.
£45.00
Low

In his obituary of Low’s partner Robin Waterfield (Independent, 12 February 2002), James Fergusson describes Low as a ‘Scottish Polish Jewish bouquiniste’. The recipient Andrew Block’s obituary in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business was established in 1911. Plain orange-yellow card, with Reynolds Stone oval medallion letterhead. Signed ‘David’ in red ink. Addressed, with postmark and stamp, to ‘Mr. Andrew Block / 30, Barter Street / London W.C.1.’ He enquires whether the ‘coloured drawings on rice paper’ he is sending are ‘merely Chinese’.

[Alan Hadfield, sculptor and author.] Inscribed copy of his pamphlet 'An Essay on Bernard Shaw (being an account of one man's approach to our Anglo-Irish dramatist)'; with conclusion of Autograph Letter Signed to playwright Christopher Fry.

Author: 
Alan Hadfield (b.1904), sculptor and children's author under name 'Robin Dale', proprietor of the Northern Lights Press, Harrowgate [and latterly Devon] [Christopher Fry, playwright]
Publication details: 
Pamphlet by the Northern Lights Press, Devon, undated, but with inscription dated February 1975. Conclusion of ALS without date or place.
£50.00

Both items in good condition, lightly aged. PAMPHLET: 12pp, 8vo. Stapled in green wraps, printed on both sides of covers, and with drawing of Shaw by Hadfield, dated 1974, on front cover. Containing a few autograph emendations. Inscribed on front cover: 'To Christopher Fry, | from | Alan Hadfield, | Greetings! | Feby 1975'. A quirky and highly personal response to Shaw, combining anecdote, reminiscence and original poetry.

[Robert Bridges, Poet Laureate.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Robert Bridges') to the Ulster poet R. N. D. Wilson, discussing the origins of the name of his home 'Chilswell', in the 'Childsworth Farm' of Matthew Arnold's poem 'Thyrsis'.

Author: 
Robert Bridges [Robert Seymour Bridges] (1844-1930), Poet Laureate [R. N. D. Wilson [Robert Noble Denison Wilson] (1899-1953), Ulster poet]
Publication details: 
Chilswell, Oxford; 29 March 1928.
£100.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and a little grubby. Folded once. Twenty-seven lines of text. Written in a far more ragged style than Bridges's usual calligraphic hand, perhaps suggesting undermined health. Wilson is 'at liberty to quote the verses of mine that you ask for – I take it as a complement [sic]' He thanks him for 'the kind gift of your book, wh I have not had time to read'. Noting that Wilson is 'interested in sacred wells', he states that 'our “Chilswell” is probably not a well.

[ Frederick William Fairholt, artist and antiquary. ] Autograph Letter Signed to '<Mayland?>, suggesting an appointment to discuss an individual who 'seems very anxious to come to some arrangement'.

Author: 
Frederick William Fairholt (c.1813-1866), artist and antiquary
Publication details: 
'Wednesday'. [ No place or date. ]
£50.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly-aged, with fold to one corner. Fairholt's handwriting is legible, but unfortunately the names of the recipient and subject of the letter are not so. It begins: ' seems very anxious to come to some arrangement. Can we meet on the point. I do not know if you are in London, if you are will you give me a call on Thursday evening'. He gives a few other options, before concluding.

[ Robin Chapman, novelist and screenwriter. ] Corrected typescript of adaptation, from a translation by Jill Booty, of Joao Bethencourt's 'Pure Pornography'. Accompanied by a Typed Letter Signed to Chapman from Laurence Harbottle, on the subject.

Author: 
Robin Chapman, English novelist and screenwriter; Laurence Harbottle (1924-2015) [ Joao Bethencourt [ João Estevão Weiner Bethencourt] (1924-2006), Hungarian/Brazilian playwright; Jill Booty ]
Publication details: 
Typescript: 6a Sloane Square, London, SW1. Undated [circa 1966]. Harbottle's letter: on letterhead of Harbottle & Lewis, Solicitors, 34 South Molton Street, London. 8 December 1966.
£180.00

Typescript: 132pp., folio. Each page on a separate leaf, all of which are attached with metal clasps in a grey card folder, with the label of the International Copyright Bureau Ltd, London, on the front cover (as well as on the title page). In fair condition, lightly-aged and worn, with title leaf coming away. Text with a few minor manuscript emendations. Accompanying the typescript is Harbottle's letter, signed 'Laurence'. 1p., 8vo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper.

[ Robin Wallace, British artist in the Second World War. ] Ten items including three Typed Letters Signed from Arnold Palmer of the Committee on the Employment of Artists in Wartime, Pilgrim Trust Grant, and the War Office and Ministry of Labour.

Author: 
Robin Wallace (1897-1952), English landscape artist [ Arnold Nottage Palmer (1886-1973), artist and arts administrator; the Committee on the Employment of Artists in Wartime, Pilgrim Trust Grant ]
Publication details: 
Palmer's three letters on letterheads of the Committee on the Employment of Artists in Wartime, Pilgrim Trust Grant, The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London. Also items from the War Office and Ministry of Labour.
£200.00

Wallace, a well-known painter of landscapes and still life subjects in oil and water-colour, was born at Kendal in the Lake District and studied in Kensington at the Byam Shaw and Vicat Cole School of Art. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1922, and at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Institute of Watercolour Painters, and with the Lake Artists' Society. He was a full member of the Royal Society of British Artists. The present collection casts an interesting light on the efforts of a good English artist to be of use to the war effort. Ten items.

[ Oliver Hall, RA, English artist and engraver. ] Drypoint etching titled 'Hayling Island' (in Hampshire). One of an edition of 40, signed by Hall and inscribed by him to Robin Wallace.

Author: 
Oliver Hall (1869-1957), RA, English landscape artist and engraver [ Robin Wallace (1897-1952), English artist from Kendal, Westmoreland ]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. The subject is Hayling Island in Hampshire.
£65.00

On watermarked laid paper. Dimensions of paper: 23 x 32cm. Dimensions of plate: 14 x 20cm. In fair condition, aged and lightly stained, with creasing and short closed tear to right-hand margin, but with the engraving good and clear. A windy scene, with a turbulent cloudy sky weighing heavily over a disheveled windswept landscape, in which two small figures can be made out on a bridge. Inscribed in pencil beneath the plate: 'Oliver Hall | To R. Wallace | Ed: 40.' The title 'Hayling Island' is in pencil in the bottom right-hand corner.

[ Robin Wallace, English landscape painter. ] Drypoint etching titled 'The River'. Inscribed to 'Father Richard' and described as a 'working Proof'.

Author: 
Robin Wallace (1897-1952), English artist from Kendal, Westmoreland
Publication details: 
Signed by the artist and dated by him 'July 1927'.
£56.00

On F. J. Head & Co. laid paper. Dimensions of paper: 23 x 29cm. Dimensions of plate: 17.5 x 25cm. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. A wonderful watery view of a winding country river and trees. Inscribed in pencil on the reverse: 'To Father Richard. This is working Proof for drypoint "The River" | Robin Wallace July 1927'. Wallace, a well-known painter of landscapes and still life subjects in oil and water-colour, was born at Kendal in the Lake District and studied in Kensington at the Byam Shaw and Vicat Cole School of Art.

[Inscribed printed booklet.] Presidential Address 1976 | John Murray C.B.E. | A Poet and his Publisher. [i.e. Lord Byron and John Murray]

Author: 
John Murray [John Murray VI [John Arnaud Robin Grey Murray] (1909-1993), publisher] [George Gordon Noel, Lord Byron]
Publication details: 
The English Association, 1 Priory Gardens, London, W4 1TT. 1976.
£60.00

16pp., 8vo. Stapled. In blue printed wraps. Inscribed at the head of the front wrap: 'For Cecil Clarabut who is also subject to Byron's magnetism | from John Murray | and with gratitude for Kindnesses | 30.xii.76'. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper.

Autograph Letter Signed from the poet Robin Skelton to the British Labour MP Tom Driberg, with an inscribed copy of Skelton's book 'Begging the Dialect', and a covering Typed Letter Signed from John Dekker, President, University of Manchester Union.

Author: 
Robin Skelton (1925-1997), Anglo-Canadian poet, academic and practitioner of the Wiccan religion [Tom Driberg [Thomas Edward Neil Driberg] (1905-1976), Baron Bradwell, journalist and Labour MP]
Publication details: 
Skelton's Letter: On lettheread of the University of Manchester, 18 May 1960. Book: London: Oxford University Press, 1960, with inscription dated May 1960. Dekker's Letter: On letterhead of University of Manchester Union. 19 May 1960.
£90.00

Book: [xii] + 95 pp., 8vo. In fair condition, in original green cloth and worn yellow dustwrapper. Inscribed on front free endpaper: 'For Tom Driberg | With Good Wishes | Robin Skelton | May 1960'. With review slip, on the reverse of which Driberg has written: 'Blake | Graves | Frost | Plomer'. Skelton's Letter: 2pp., 12mo. 20 lines. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Regarding the book he writes that he has 'added a note to the preface to the 2 Ballads of the Muse', which he hopes 'doesn't too much spoil the layout'. He thanks Driberg for his interest in his work.

Autograph Letter Signed from the London publisher John Murray the sixth ('John Grey Murray') to the diplomat Ernest Frederick Gye ['Dear Ernest Gye'], congratulating him on his posting to Tangier.

Author: 
John Murray the sixth [John Grey Murray; Jock Murray; John Arnaud Robin Grey Murray] (1909-1993), London publisher [Ernest Frederick Gye (1879-1955), diplomat, son of Ernest Gye and Dame Emma Albani]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of John Murray, 50 Albemarle Street, London. 9 January 1933.
£22.00

1p., 4to. Fair, on aged paper. He offers Gye his 'very best wishes' on his 'new appointment', adding: 'of course do not trouble to answer for this deserves none'.

Twenty-six items of ephemera relating to the 1st Battalion The Rifle Brigade, and Peter Kirwan-Taylor, designer of the Lotus Elite car, and assembled during his service in the Brigade as a Lieutenant.

Author: 
Lieutenant Peter Robin Kirwan-Taylor, 1st Battalion The Rifle Brigade (b.1930, designer of the Lotus Elite car) [British Army; military]
Twenty-six items of ephemera relating to the 1st Battalion The Rifle Brigade
Publication details: 
Between 1949 and 1952.
£100.00
Twenty-six items of ephemera relating to the 1st Battalion The Rifle Brigade

Texts of all items clear and complete. The collection on aged paper, with occasional wear and creasing. Includes Kirwan-Taylor's 'Range Barrier Pass Certificate', his 'Combined Leave Pass and Railway Ticket'; an 'Application for a Game Licence in the British Zone of Germany' by him; his 'Final Clearance Certificate.

Typed Letter Signed ('R. L. S. Bruce-Mitford') to Miss Robin Place.

Author: 
R. L. S. Bruce-Mitford [Rupert Leo Scott Bruce-Mitford] (1914-1994), archaeologist and art historian [T. D. Kendrick [Sir Thomas Downing Kendrick]; the British Museum]
Publication details: 
14 October 1947; on letterhead of the Department of British and Medieval Antiquities, British Museum, London.
£28.00

4to: 1 p. 22 lines. Text clear and entire on lightly aged and creased paper, with one 1.5 cm closed tear (not affecting text). Congratulating Place on her 'Assistant Principalship'. He considers she was 'very wise to take the opportunity'. He has discussed 'the house-key question with the Keeper [T. D. Kendrick]', who regards Saturday afternoons 'as a sacred time reserved for peaceful work, undisturbed by ones colleagues'. Consequently 'it would be rather difficult to accommodate you as a helper on Saturdays and after your week's work at the ministry'.

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