TWENTIETH

Autograph Letter Signed from the New York printer Walter Gilliss, presenting the journalist Clement Shorter with 'a little book written and made by me many years ago'.

Author: 
Walter Gilliss (1855-1925), New York printer [The Gilliss Press; Clement King Shorter (1857-1926), British journalist and literary critic]
Publication details: 
On Gilliss's own letterhead (with device of The Gilliss Press), Room 903, Mohawk Building, 160 Fifth Avenue, New York. 8 December 1923 [amended by Gilliss from 21 November 1923].
£120.00

1p., landscape 12mo. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper. The letter reads: 'Dear Mr. Shorter: | You were so good as to admire the Stevenson printed by Doubleday, Page & Co., which was my handiwork to a large extent, and so, I am sending you a copy of a little book written and made by me many years ago, which I hope may interest you for an idle quarter-hour, (if you ever have one at your disposal). | Wishing you all the compliments of the season. | Yours sincerely | Walter Gilliss'.

Autograph Letter Signed from the American artist Edwin Howland Blashfield to 'Mr. Thomas' [the playwright Augustus Thomas], regarding the National Institute of Arts and Letters [later the American Academy of Arts and Letters].

Author: 
Edwin Howland Blashfield (1848-1936), American artist, President of the National Institute of Arts and Letters [Augustus Thomas (1857-1944), American playwright; American Academy of Arts and Letters]
Publication details: 
On his letterhead of 48 Central Park South, New York City. 14 November [1915?].
£120.00

1p., 12mo. 25 lines, neatly and tightly written. In good condition, lightly-aged, and with pin hole to one corner. Blashfield declares himself 'much disappointed' that Thomas will not be presiding 'at the joint meeting on the 17th. Nov.', stating that he has been urging 'from the beginning' that Thomas should 'so preside'.

[Printed pamphlet by the Socialist Party of Canada.] The Socialist Manifesto.

Author: 
[The Socialist Party of Canada, founded in 1931 in Winnipeg, Manitoba]
Publication details: 
Published by the Socialist Party of Canada, P.O. Box 1751, Winnipeg, Canada. [Preface dated 'DOMINION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, | JUNE, 1944.']
£120.00

42pp., 12mo. In yellow wraps printed in black and red, with 'Object' and 'Declaration of Principles' of the SPC inside the front cover, and advertisements for SPC publications on both sides of the back cover. Stapled. In fair condition, aged and worn, with pencil ownership inscriptions of 'Jean Thurlow'. The Preface begins: 'This pamphlet was first published in 1910 as the Manifesto of the Socialist Party of Canada. During the ten-year period ending in 1920, five editions, totalling more than 25,000 copies, were issued.

Signature on card ('Alicia Markova') of the prima ballerina Dame Alicia Markova.

Author: 
Dame Alicia Markova [Lilian Alicia Marks] (1910-2004), Britain's first prima ballerina and in the 1940s the world's highest-paid dancer, discovered by Serge Diaghilev, and partnered by Anton Dolin
Publication details: 
Dated by Markova to 1933.
£25.00

In black ink on 5 x 8 cm card, with rounded edges. In very good condition, lightly aged, with evidence of previous mounting on the marbled reverse. Reads 'Alicia Markova | 1933.'

[Printed handbill.] Roedean School. Dates of the Beginning and End of Terms for 1917.

Author: 
[Roedean School, near Brighton, East Sussex, boarding school for girls founded by the Lawrence sisters in 1885]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [Roedean School, East Sussex. 1916 or 1917.]
£56.00

1p., 16mo. Good, on lightly-aged and spotted laid paper. A few pencil calculations on the reverse. Neatly printed. Giving details for the three terms: Lent, Summer and Michaelmas, with dates for 'Pupils re-assemble', 'Opening Address to Pupils', 'Reading of the Reports and Closing Address' and 'Pupils leave'. These details are followed by the following notices: 'Parents are earnestly requested to co-operate with the School authorities in enforcing punctuality of attendance at the beginning and end of Term.

Autograph Note Signed from the novelist John Galsworthy to Charles Seddon Evans of the London publishers Heinemann & Co. Ltd., enclosing a manuscript and stating its price.

Author: 
John Galsworthy (1867-1933), English novelist and playwright, best-known for his 'Forsyte Saga' [Charles Seddon Evans (1883-1944) of the London publishers Heinemann & Co. Ltd.]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Grove Lodge, The Grove, Hampstead, London, NW3. 20 April 1929.
£80.00

In good condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. Galsworthy writes: 'Dear Evans | Here is the MS. Price £300 [amended from 315] less half your Commission £30. = £285. nett. | Sincerely yours | John Galsworthy'. For such a short message, the manuscript shows signs of indecision: the latter part, from the word 'less', has clearly an addition, and the word 'half' has been inserted with a caret. While the manuscript referred to may well be the second collection of Forsyte Novels, 'A Modern Romance', published by Heinemann's in 1929, Galsworthy's price does seem rather cheap.

Autograph Letter Signed ('A. E. Dobell') from Arthur Eustace Dobell of the London booksellers P. J. & A. E. Dobell, to 'Mr. Price', regarding deeds relating to Watlington, which the firm could get 'on apro [sic]'.

Author: 
Arthur Eustace Dobell, partner with his brother Percy John Dobell in the firm of London booksellers P. J. & A. E. Dobell, 77 Charing Cross Road, and son of the booksellerBertam Dobell (1842-1914)
Publication details: 
On the firm's letterhead: 'P. J. & A. E. DOBELL, | Sons of the late BERTRAM DOBELL, | Dealers in Books, Manuscripts and Autograph Letters, | 77, CHARING CROSS ROAD, LONDON, W.C.2. | AND 8, BRUTON STREET, LONDON, W. 1.' 8 June 1926.
£38.00

1p., 4to. Good, on aged and lightly-worn paper. The letter reads: 'Dear Mr. Price | In reply to our advertisement for items on Watlington we have received the enclosed report of deeds, which we could supply at £2.15.0 if of any interest to you. If you wish to see them I think we could get them on apro. | Yours truly | A. E. Dobell'.

'Mayor's Parlour Visitor's Book' [of the Mayor of the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, Lancashire], signed by several hundred visitors, in tooled red morocco binding.

Author: 
[Mayor of the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, Lancashire]
Publication details: 
[Salford, Greater Manchester, Lancashire.] 9 November 1937 to 10 October 1938.
£350.00

43pp., 4to, all but one on the recto of a leaf. In very good condition, in lightly-worn red morocco binding, gilt, with dentelles, and the words 'MAYOR'S PARLOUR | VISITOR'S BOOK' and crest on front board, and marbled endpapers. The Deputy Mayor of the City of Salford, Peter Ashcroft, JP, signs on the very first page, and on several other occasions in the volume, and a large number of Salford residents also sign.

Autograph Letter Signed ('E. Ruggles-Brise') from prison reformer Sir Evelyn John Ruggles-Brise, to Captain Robert Arnold Vansittart , arranging a meeting with him and Captain Conor, Governor of Parkhurst, regarding development of the farm at Borstal

Author: 
Sir Evelyn John Ruggles-Brise (1857-1935), prison administrator and founder of Borstal system [Captain Robert Arnold Vansittart (1851-1938); Captain H. L. Conor, Governor of Parkhurst Gaol]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Prison Commission, Home Office, Whitehall, SW. 13 December 1907.
£65.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. In Prision Commission envelope, with two postmarks (one of them 'HOME OFFICE PRISONS | OFFICIAL'), addressed by Ruggles-Brise to 'Capt. Vansittart | 24 Cadogan Square | SW'. He writes to inform Vansittart that he has 'arranged for Capt Conor, Governor - Parkhust, to be at Borstal on Tuesday next 17th. inst. to confer with yourself & the Govr. as to the best way of developing the Farm.' He asks Vansittart to 'communicate with Major Elliott as to the time when it will be convenient to you to be there'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('D. S. Cairns') from the theologian David Smith Cairns to 'Mr. Vansittart' [the diplomat Robert Gilbert Vansittart, later Baron Vansittart of Denham], praising his poem 'The Singing Caravan' in the most fullsome terms.

Author: 
David Smith Cairns (1862-1946), theologian [Robert Gilbert Vansittart (1881-1957), Baron Vansittart of Denham, diplomat and poet]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 130 Desswood Place, Aberdeen. 12 May 1929.
£135.00

7pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. On two bifoliums. He begins: 'Dear Mr. Vansittart | I have just finished a second reading of "The Singing Caravan". I got a copy for myself after a hunt, for it is o[ut]. [of] p[rint]. as you know'. He will 'return to it again & again.

Typed Letter Signed ('Harewood') from George Henry Hubert Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, as editor of 'Opera' magazine, to Dr Erich Adolph Alport, regarding a 'muddle' over an article on Karl Rankl, caused by a letter from the conductor's wife.

Author: 
George Henry Hubert Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood (1923-2011) [Dr Erich Adolph Alport (d.1972), art connoisseur and book collector; Karl Frankl (1898-1968), English conductor, born in Austria]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Harewood House, Leeds. 14 February 1950.
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. 36 lines. Harewood explains that he 'originally asked Mrs Rankl to think of someone who had known her husband for, at any rate, a portion of his continental career who would be prepared to review his career before he came to this country, and also to give some idea of what he had achieved since arriving here [...] when the moment came she had to say that there appeared to be nobody who had known him abroad who had the necessary musical qualifications. When I saw her about 10 days ago I said I would find someone myself.

Thirty typewritten poems by the American poet Louis How, some with manuscript emendations, and all apparently unpublished.

Author: 
Louis How (1873-1947), American poet and translator, grandson and biographer of inventor James Buchanan Eads and brother of hobo activist James Eads How [St Louis, Missouri]
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£600.00

Each of the thirty poems ends with the typed name 'Louis How'. The collection is in good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with each poem printed on one side of a 4to leaf. There is no record of any of the thirty being published. Six of the poems have minor manuscript emendations, and several include minor corrections in type. A prolific poet, in 1915 How was grouped with Amy Lowell and Ezra Pound in an article by Zoe Akins in Reedy's Mirror (published in his native St. Louis).

Autograph Letter Signed ('Philip Fothergill') from the Yorkshire textile magnate Charles Philip Fothergill to Mark Bonham Carter, discussing the 'sudden crisis' that may follow the defeat of the Liberal Party at the next general electi

Author: 
Charles Philip Fothergill (1906-1959), Yorkshire textile magnate and Liberal Party politician [Mark Bonham Carter (1922-94), Baron Bonham-Carter, publisher and Liberal politician]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Eastburn House, Park Road, Dewsbury. 11 July 1948.
£120.00

4pp., 4to. 75 lines of neatly-written text. On creased aged paper, with a few closed tears (one of them 11cm long). He begins by praising Bonham-Carters 'objective & informed comments on American opinion' ('I hope you will feel encouraged to publish more of your findings'). 'But gratitude & a thirst for information & about American politics are not my only reason [sic] for writing. I wish you were in England, for I would very much enjoy an exchange of views with you about the position of the Party.

Autograph Signature of the British novelist Margaret Kennedy [Margaret Davies, Lady Davies].

Author: 
Margaret Kennedy [Margaret Davies, Lady Davies] (1896-1967), English novelist and playwright
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£20.00

On one side of a piece of 11 x 11 cm paper, cut from the bottom of a letter. In good condition, lightly-aged. Reads, all in Kennedy's hand: 'Yours sincerely | Margaret Kennedy'.

Autograph Signature of the artist, children's book illustrator and poster designer John Hassall.

Author: 
John Hassall (1868-1948), English painter, children's book illustrator and poster designer
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£25.00

On one side of a 5.5 x 20 cm strip of laid paper, cut away from the bottom of a letter. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with traces of mount adhering to the reverse. Reads, in a firm attractive hand: 'Yours very sincerely | John Hassall.'

Signed engraving by John Cameron, depicting a humorous scene in front of a 'Junk Shop in Chelsea'.

Author: 
John Cameron, artist and engraver [Chelsea, London]
Publication details: 
Without place or date [1950s?].
£180.00

In black and white. Dimensions of paper 15 x 20 cm; dmensions of plate 13.5 x 18.5 cm. In good condition, lightly-aged. Cameron's actual signature ('John Cameron') is in blue ink in the bottom right-hand corner of the card; his facsimile signature is in the bottom left-hand corner of the print, with 'Junk Shop | in Chelsea' in the bottom right-hand corner. A detailed, cartoony image (with Ronald Searle undertones), depicting a stretch of three houses in a terraced street, with a number of customers rooting through junk in front of a corner shop.

Autograph Letter Signed from the playwright Ben Travers to 'Miss Saunders', reporting that he is 'in the thick of this "Week in the Country" business', but that he will contribute to the 'Grand Magazine', despite being 'a rotten short story writer'.

Author: 
Ben Travers (1886-1980), English playwright, best-known for his farces at the Aldwych Theatre in London in the 1920s and 1930s
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Queen's Hotel, Southsea. 29 June 1927.
£50.00

1p., 12mo. On aged and ruckled paper, with pinholes to one corner. He is 'in the thick of this "Week in the Country" business'. 'When I come to town I'll come & see you about your proposition of the series for the Grand Magazine, but I'm a rotten short story writer, you know.'

Typed Letter Signed ('Alistair') from the historian of France Alistair Horne to the Sandhurst lecturer Antony Brett-James, regarding the trouble he has put him to over 'the Macmillan speech'.

Author: 
Sir Alistair Horne [Sir Alistair Allan Horne] (b.1925), British historian of modern France [Major Antony Brett-James (1920-1984), lecturer at Sandhurst]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 24 Lansdowne Road, London W11. 21 September 1979.
£40.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightl-aged paper. A short letter, in which he thanks Brett-James for writing to him 'about the Macmillan speech': 'I really feel badly at having put you obviously to so much trouble'. He suggests that Brett-James sends him 'the tape' and lets him 'have it transcribed here, by my secretary'.

Illustrated trade catalogue of 'Cornices Mouldings and Ornaments from the workshops of G. Jackson & Sons Limited'. With separate price list and two supplements.

Author: 
G. Jackson & Sons Limited ('Jackson's Architectural Decorations') of London [George Jackson (1766-1840)]
Publication details: 
G. Jackson & Sons Limited, 49 Rathbone Place, Oxford St, London, W. [Printed by the Winsley Press Agency Limited, 14 Miller St, Camden Town, NW1.] [Undated, but price list and one supplement dated July 1932.]
£100.00

[1] + 30pp., folio. In brown printed wraps. Worn and aged, with some damp staining to the first dozen leaves. Printed on art paper, and with the thirty pages of the catalogue filled with illustrations of every aspect of the firm's stock, from 'Composition enriched pine panel mouldings' to 'Fibrous plaster cornices'. The price list is printed on 4pp., folio, in a bifolium, as is one supplement of 'Additional fibrous plaster cornices & bands and composition ornaments'. The other supplement is a fold out poster (44 x 28.5 cm) carrying illustrations of 'Cast lead word'.

[Printed magazine.] The first issue of 'The 18-30 Review', March 1949, devoted to conscription ('National Service'), with main article 'The Lost Opportunity' by Basil Henriques.

Author: 
[The 18-30 Review; The 18-30 Conference, 26 Bedford Square, London; Conscription; National Service; Sir Basil Lucas Quixano Henriques (1890-1961)]
Publication details: 
No. 1. March 1949. The Editor, 26 Bedford Square, WC1 [London]. [Printed by Latimer, Trend & Co., Limited, Plymouth.]
£120.00

8pp., 4to. Stapled and unbound. In fair condition on aged paper. On the first page the 'object of this Review' is described as 'to provide a forum for discussion in which the organisations represented on the 18-30 Conference and their individual members can express their views on subject of common interest'. On the last page the 18-30 Conference is described as 'a consultative body', inaugurated in November 1946, 'established in recognition of the need to provide a forum for discussion on the interests of young citizens in the manifold activities of national life'.

Beekeeping Diary of Amy Mary Driberg of Uckfield Lodge, Crowborough, mother of Labour politician Tom Driberg, containing dated and initialled autograph entries, and detailed accounts of honey taken, sold and given away, with a few ephemeral items.

Author: 
Amy Mary Irving Driberg (d.1939) [née Bell], of Uckfield Lodge, Crowborough, wife of J.J.S. Driberg, and mother of Labour politician Tom Driberg (Baron Bradwell) (1905-76) [beekeeping; apiculture]
Publication details: 
[Uckfield Lodge, Crowborough, Sussex.] Dated between 1 July 1932 and 4 July 1938.
£450.00

142pp., 4to. In a ruled notebook, bound in black cloth, with marbled endpapers. In fair condition, on aged paper, in worn binding with loss to a corner of a board. Starting at one end of the notebook is the diary of autograph entries, each dated and initialled by Mrs Driberg. In 1932 Mrs Driberg, a formidable Scottish widow in the last years of her life, has five hives (numbered 1 to 4, with a fifth observation hive), with a sixth hive (No. 5) added by 1934.

[The Bee Kingdom Leaflets No. 19] Swarming and Its Control.

Author: 
H. J. Wadey [Herbert James Wadey], Editor, 'Bee Craft', England, Vice-President, B.K.L.
Publication details: 
'REPRINTED | From the "BEE KINGDOM" | May, 1938'. Published at 60, Rue Menasce, Alexandria, Egypt.
£120.00

12pp., 8vo. Stapled and unbound. Fair, printed on browned high-acidity paper, with some creasing and wear at foot. No copy of this offprint in the British Library or on COPAC.

Autograph Signature ('Teignmouth Shore') of the journalist and author W. Teignmouth Shore, cut away from a typed letter.

Author: 
W. Teignmouth Shore [William Teignmouth Shore] (1865-1932), British journalist and author
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£23.00

On 8 x 20.5 cm. rectangle, cut from the base of a 4to leaf. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, laid down on piece of cream card. Reads: 'With all Good Wishes, | Yours sincerely, | [signed] Teignmouth Shore | W. Teignmouth Shore Esq.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('M. Hewlett') from the novelist and poet Maurice Hewlett, complaining that he has been underpaid for two pieces of writing.

Author: 
Maurice Hewlett [Maurice Henry Hewlett] (1861-1923), novelist and poet
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Broad Chalke, Salisbury. 5 December 1922.
£45.00

1p., 16mo. Fair, on aged paper, laid down on piece of card. '1349' in blue pencil at head of page. The letter reads: 'Thank you for the cheque. He ought to have paid for two, as both appeared in November. | - | Yes, I have another copy of . | - | [signed] M. Hewlett'.

Autograph Signature of the novelist Gilbert Frankau, cut from letter.

Author: 
Gilbert Frankau (1884-1952), popular British novelist
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£23.00

On 12 x 21 cm rectangle, cut from the base of a 4to leaf. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with part of the card mount adhering to the reverse. A firm flowing signature which reads: 'Yours sincerely | Gilbert Frankau'.

Three albums filled with English and German manuscript memoranda, newspaper cuttings and mimeographed reports, relating to the Great War and 1898-1909 periods, assembled by an Anglo-German stockbroker in the City of London.

Author: 
[an Anglo-German stockbroker in the City of London during the Great War and 1898-1909 periods]
Publication details: 
Manuscript album, in German, 1898 to 1909, with label of a Hamburg stationer. Two other albums from 1917, with labels of London stationers.
£1,500.00

The three items come from the papers of an Anglo-German City of London stockbroker, with Item One, below, indicating that he was based in Germany between 1898 and 1909, and that he had moved to England by 1917. A major point of interest is the fact that the material has been assembled by an educated, intelligent and well-informed individual with good knowledge of both German and English economic realities, at a time of high conflict between the two nations. ONE: 94pp., folio. In black cloth quarter-binding with brown marbled boards, and label of W. Harneit, Hamburg. Consisting of 88pp.

[Printed pamphlet.] Empire "Socialism" By R. Palme Dutt.

Author: 
R. Palme Dutt [with foreword by 'T. B.', i.e. Thomas Bell (1882-1944), representative of the Communist Party of Great Britain to the Comintern's Executive Committee]
Publication details: 
Published by the Communist Party of Great Britain, 16 King Street, Covent Garden, WC2. ['Printed by Centropress Limited (T.U. Throughout) 168, Camberwell Road, London S.E.5.'] February 1925.
£120.00

20pp, 12mo. Stapled. In red printed wraps, with cartoon on cover showing giant worker sweeping away miniature capitalists. In fair condition: lightly-aged and with central vertical fold. Scarce: the only copies on COPAC at the British Library and Warwick University.

Typed Letter Signed from the Anglo-Jewish novelist Emanuel Litvinoff, thanking Derek Stanford for a review, and discussing the novelist Angus Wilson ('one of the few writers to whom I've written a fan letter') and short story writing.

Author: 
Emanuel Litvinoff (19150-2011), Anglo-Jewish novelist [Derek Stanford (1918-2008), Anglo-Jewish author and critic; Angus Wilson (1913-1991), English novelist]
Publication details: 
36 Byron Court, Mecklenburgh Square, London. 2 July 1973.
£165.00

1p., 4to. He thanks Stanford for sending 'the carbon' of his 'warm review' of Litvinoff's novel ('A Death out of Season'). He missed the article and the note Stanford wrote 'about my autobiographical sequence' in the Scotsman, but is now iinterested to see from the review that Stanford is 'nursing the idea of a 'Forties memoir. Amazingly, few of us have written about the decade. I shall be getting around to it one day also, I hope.

43 black and white photographic prints relating to the production of plywood, including 20 mounted prints by Panajou Frères of Bordeaux, showing a woodyard, with men and women at work.

Author: 
[Panajou Frères, photographers of Bordeaux; French woodyard; plywood]
Publication details: 
Twenty of the prints by Panajou Frères, Bordeaux. [1920s? Others from the 1940s?]
£180.00

The first 40 prints in good condition, and the last three lightly-aged and fair. Each of the 20 Panajou Frères prints (19 landscape and 1 portrait) is mounted on a 24 x 30 cm piece of grey card, blindstamped with the circular monogramme of 'PANAJOU FRES | BORDEAUX'. Depicting an extensive concern, with the outside of a large plant by a country river, and every stage in the production of plywood from log to storage in the factory. A second group of 20 prints (15 landscape and 5 portrait) are unmounted, and measure 18 x 24cm.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Benjamin Britten') and Typed Letter Signed ('Ben') from the composer Benjamin Britten to the publisher Hans Juda, with seven other items including an Autograph Card Signed from Britten's secretary Jeremy Cullum.

Author: 
Benjamin Britten (1913-1976), English composer [Hans Juda [Hans Peter Juda] (1904-1975), art collector, publisher of the magazine 'The Ambassador']
Publication details: 
Britten's and Cullum's letters from The Red House, Aldeburgh, Suffolk. The nine items dating from 1962, 1964 and 1965.
£600.00

The nine items are in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Items One, Three and Four, from 1962, and stapled together, as are the other six items, dating from 1964-5. ONE: Autograph Letter Signed ('Benjamin Britten') from Britten to Juda. On letterhead of The Red House, Aldeburgh, Suffolk. 25 July 1962. Responding to Item Three below, Britten thanks Juda for 'sending the magnificent book on Graham Sutherland', which Britten is 'very glad indeed to have'.

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