STREET

An interesting document relative to London social history, and a nice piece of Dickensiana. George Johnson is said to have established his celebrated restaurant Johnson's Alamode Beef House at 21 Clare Court, Drury Lane, in the 1780s, although the present letter states that it was licensed around 1805 . In 1824 a twelve-year-old Charles Dickens – employed in a nearby blacking warehouse as a result of his father's imprisionment for debt – himself experienced an incident which he later made use of in 'David Copperfield'.

4pp, 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to reverse of second leaf, which is addressed by Wadd, with his seal in red wax (the breaking of which has caused slight loss to a couple of words), to 'Henry Dewey Esqr | Surgeon | King Street | Yarmouth | Norfolk'. The recipient is in fact the surgeon Henry William Robert Davey (1798-1870) of Yarmouth, son of surgeon Henry Sallows Davey (1781-1855) of Beccles. An interesting letter, casting light on print and autograph collecting in Georgian London.

4pp, 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to one edge. Seventy-four lines of closely and neatly written text. Although the date is somewhat early, the recipient may be Lovell Reeve, editor until 1865 of 'Portraits of Men of Eminence in Literature, Science, and Art, with Biographical Memoirs' (1863-1867). Having received the recipient's letter on his 'return from abroad', Holland states his 'general objection to the biography of living men'.

1p, 12mo. Aged and worn. Reads: 'I should very much like to use your article, but we are so crowded with matter that I am afraid there is little chance of finding space for a considerable time and I therefore return the MS with much regret.'

On 10 x 6 cm slip of laid paper cut from an album, with partial ruled border in pink and blue. In good condition, lightly aged. A good firm signature, reading 'Randolph S. Churchill.' No other writing on the same side; with signature of 'Geoffrey H. Crump' on the reverse.

2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, on aged paper with central spike hole. Folded twice. Begins: 'My dear Mr. Tinsley, | I see that you are not going to use my article “We Women,” & I want it so much, to form the basis of a set of articles! - & I have no copy.' She notes that it is 'generally the case with regular workers, that the Editors return the rejected MS' and explains that she has 'destroyed the first rough draft', exclaiming: 'I do hope it is not lost!' She asks him to either tell her if it is lost, so that she may 'know the worst', or if it is not lost, '& is not to be used'.

Secret duplicated Home Office document, no other copy of which has been discovered (none on OCLC WorldCat, for example) and no reference to the meeting found.

A highly interesting letter from a leading Victorian dramatic critic (Thomas describes himself in the letter as 'For five & twenty years [...] theatrical critic of the Daily news & the Graphic', who has 'served under at least thirteen editors') to a leading actor-manager (Hare was knighted in 1907), on the subject of alleged editorial pressure on Fleet Street's theatre critics. 4pp, 8vo. On four leaves. Aged and worn, but with text complete and clear.

See Knox's obituary, Times, 4 May 1977 (which refers to 'some passages at arms' he had at the BBC with Sir John Reith). 3pp., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor staining from paperclip. An interesting glimpse into the world of Fleet Street 'big salaries' during the war period. He begins: 'My dear Collin Brooks, | A letter such as yours, from a man such as yourself for whom I have so strong a personal, and professional, regard comes as a gleam of blue in a darkish sky.' He proceeds to bemoan his sacking by the Daily Mail: 'Yes, it is a bad business.

The Sunday Times, 20 March 2002, carries an article by Ann Treneman, 'The real face of Rubinstein', discussing the discovery among Hollay's papers of her correspondence with Helena Rubinstein. The correspondence was made use of by Lindy Woodhead in her 2017 book 'War Paint: Elizabeth Arden and Helena Rubinstein: Their Lives, their Times, Their Rivalry'. Hollay was Rubinstein's London manager from 1914.

ONE: ALS from Dark to Brooks. The handwriting is quite atrocious, and the present transcription is at points tentative. Dark begins by recalling that at 'the delightful & very alcoholic Savage lunch' (i.e. lunch at the Savage Club), Brooks 'suggested that I should write an article for Truth. Perhaps because of the super-abundant alcoholic I have clean forgotten what the article was to he about. If you haven't & still want it, I might be able to write it.' The penultimate sentence is, to this cataloguer at least, indecipherable, apart from the words 'of course in a public sense'.

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Brooks may make whatever use he wishes of Templewood's speech. He agrees generally with 'Selby as to F[oreign]. O[ffice]. reorganisation', but is at present 'conentrating my attention to the points I raised in my speech. Whether we like it or not, we must now assume that public opinion will control our foreign policy. This being so, public opinion must be better instructed than it is at present.'

1p., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with punch holes at margin. MacEntee begins his letter to Hickey: 'In the tribute which “The Statist” pays to the late Hilaire Belloc a reference is made to his essay on usury. I read this some time ago but cannot recall the title of the volume in which it appeared. I should be grateful, indeed, if you would be kind enough to make good the lacuna by supplying the missing title.' He congratulates Hickey 'on the article itself'.

The four letters are in good condition, lightly aged and worn. Each 1p., 12mo. The first three letters are written to Brooks, as editor of 'Truth'; the fourth is a letter of condolence to Brooks's wife. In the first letter (14 April 1945) he apologises for the delay in sending in a review: 'I have been two months out of the country and nothing could be forwarded.' He adds: 'I wish I saw more of Charles Webster.

Both 1p., 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with paperclip stain to first letter. Unusual signature, in block capitals. Both addressed to Brooks at the Savage Club, with both salutations to 'Collin'. ONE: 18 April 1947. Begins: 'My dear Collin, | I consulted my firend in the Process Department here and he said that a half-tone block would not be very successful, as there is a dash of colour in the picture and the half-tone would not bring it out very well. He thought that a photograph on a piece of Matt bromide paper would look much better and not spoil the detail of the drawing.

Five documents. The two telegrams are in fair condition, lightly aged and worn; the other items are in good condition. A photocopy of a typed page from Brooks's diary explains the context in entertaining fashion: '”Staggerer number one,” whispered Dick Swiveller over my shoulder this morning when on my office desk I found a letter from Ronald Staples giving me a twelve month's statutory notice of dismissal from the editorship of Truth.' He explains that the magazine is losing money, and criticises Staples's plans. 'However – here's a how-de-do!

The three items are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: TLS, 15 March 1907. 4pp., 4to. He is sending a copy (i.e. Item Three below) of 'a complete statement of what has taken place up to date. In fact it is the actual statement I placed before my Solicitor this afternoon […] Of course this is what we might have expected from these people, and it does not come as a very great surprise. | It is a direct attempt to get out of their obligations, as they have done before, as they can get this new man, and have got him – at something like £500 a year without an interest'.

1p., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Signed 'Cyril Joad'. Written in the same month as Britain and France had declared war, the letter begins: 'I don't know whether you are still running the Sunday Dispatch, but if you are, how about an article on the philosophy which underlies the Nazi rule in Germany?

1p., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged, with two punch-holes in margin. He has been reading Brooks's book ('Devil's Decade: Portraits of the Nineteen-Thirties') 'during a few days' holiday in Norfolk', and finds it 'excellent': Brooks has 'drawn a very accurate picture of Rothermere'. He proposes a time for them to 'meet again and have lunch'. He wonders whether Brooks 'ever came across that photograph of Northcliffe with Cecil Rhodes which I remember you mentioned you thought you had somewhere or other', asks for a sight of it.

In good condition, lightly aged. Written with purple ink. Addressed to 'J. W. Arrowsmith Esq | Publisher | Bristol.' The message begins, without salutation: 'Booking Office blocked with Copy. But I have had the "Modder River" taken out of turn. You will find a notice in tomorrow's "Punch"'. He announces that on the fifteenth of the following month he is 'to be a guest of the New Vagabond Club', and notes that Arrowsmith is a member, adding 'we may possibly meet'.

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to 'My dear Richard'. In the first paragraph he explains that he will not be able to accept his inviation as he is 'obliged to go into the country'. In the second he writes: 'Arthur Locker will succeed me here after the first of May; and he will attend at the office, with me, for about a week before his engagement begins. If you don't know him and if you will look in I will introduce you.' The Graphic was first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Limited.

1p., 12mo. On grey paper. Aged and with light discoloration and chipping along one edge. A somewhat barbed missive, reading: 'Sir, | I thank you for your offer, but I have so many subjects on hand just now that I fear I could not find room for your article even if I approved of it.' The Graphic was first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Limited, with Henry Sutherland Edwards (1828-1906) as editor. Locker had taken over the editorship only a few days before the writing of this note, on 1 May 1870.

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Strip of glue from tape at head of page. Written in response to a request for an autograph. Centred in the page, and reading: 'Yours truly | James Payn | March 28th 1887.'

In a luxury binding: navy-blue straight-grain morocco covers, watered silk endpapers, internal gilt dentelles and leather hinges. Initial calligraphic address by 'L.J.S.' mounted in card frame, followed by 14pp.of signatures (numbering in excess of 150), on the rectos of 14 pieces of gilt-edged card. In good condition, with slight wear to corners and at head and tail of spine.

A marvellous slice of Victorian social history. The entry for 'Matrimonial News' in 'Frederick May's London Press Dictionary and Advertiser's Handbook, 1871' runs as follows: 'MATRIMONIAL NEWS AND SPECIAL ADVERTISER – 2d. F. Farrah, 282, Strand, W.C.

31 + [1]pp., 8vo. Stapled without wraps. Drophead title. (Offprint from Transactions of the Medico-Legal Society.) In fair condition, lightly aged, central vertical fold, rusted staples. 'No reasonable person', Riddell writes, 'suggests the wholesale sterilisation of masses of lunatics and defectives. Only very moderate measures are proposed.' Riddell's suggestion is that 'in suitable cases, subject to the consent of the Board of Control, or some similar body', and with the consent of the subject, lunatics and mental defectives be sterilised.

Half-penny postcard printed in purple. In fair condition, lightly aged, with thin strip along one edge from former mounting obscuring parts of a few words. Addressed to 'F. Davis Esq. | 4 Upper Phillamore [sic] Place | W.' The communication reads: 'Sir, | I beg to inform you that we have bought out Maltons Gt. Treatise on Perpective in the columns of the Forge & Lathe a fortnightly Journal devoted to Practical Mechanics &c. The Preface appeared in our No. Published yesterday price 6d by post 7d Terms for Subscribers 16/- Yearly 8/- ½ Yearly 4/- Quarterly. | A. Absolon | Publisher'.

Five items. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. ONE: Three Autograph Letters Signed (all 'E. L. Pollock') to W. H. Prince. A total of 6pp. The writer, 'Miss E. L. Pollock', is Benjamin Pollock's daughter Louise, who with her sister Selina managed the shop after his death. All three letters are written in 1944, the year in which the sisters sold the stock to the bookseller Alan Keen. The letters respond to enquiries regarding the stock, and one (12 May 1944) includes an itemised bill of twelve items 'Bought of Pollock's late B Pollock | 73. Hoxton St. London.

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, laid down on piece of card, with slight staining from the glue employed. The note reads: 'My dear Benthall. | I enclose what you wished for, a slip of Sala's “Copy”, and one of my own. They are both sufficiently grimy, having been through the printers' hands. | Sincerely your's [sic] | Edmund Yates'.

Six items from the Rothermere papers, on disparate subjects, casting light on the workings of 1930s Fleet Street. In good condition, lightly aged. The six are described below in chronological order. ONE: Typed Copy of letter, '(sgd) ROTHERMERE', to Donald. Hotel Splendide, 105 Piccadilly, W.1. 12 November 1929. 1p., 4to. The letter begins: 'My dear Donald, | I quite understand all the peculiar difficulties with which you are surrounded in connection with the Anglo-Foreign Newspapers Ltd.