TWENTIETH

[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’.

[‘Before your very eyes!’ Arthur Askey, comedian and entertainer.] Signed Autograph inscription: ‘Yours Big-Heartedly. / Arthur Askey.’

Author: 
Arthur Askey [Arthur Bowden Askey] (1900-1982), comedian and entertainer
Askey
Publication details: 
1938. No place.
£45.00
Askey

Dating from what his entry in the Oxford DNB describes as Askey’s ‘prime professional days’: ‘In 1938 Askey joined Powis Pinder's Sunshine concert party at Shanklin, Isle of Wight, where he performed successfully for the next eight years. In 1938 the BBC also engaged him for a new radio show called Band Waggon, in which his partner was Richard Murdoch. The show, first broadcast in January 1938, was an enormous success and its innovative style was perhaps Askey's greatest contribution to the entertainment business.’ On one side of a 12.5 x 8.5 cm piece of light-green card.

[‘One like me who spends half his life wandering about’: Hilaire Belloc, poet and author.] Two Autograph Letters Signed and one Typed Letter signed in his name, to Col. Oldham of Wellington, regarding his stay with him while giving a lecture.

Author: 
Hilaire Belloc [Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc] (1870-1953), poet and author [Col. F. H. L. Oldham of Overley Hall, near Wellington]
Hilaire Belloc
Publication details: 
ONE: ALS, 5 October 1922; on letterhead of Kings Land, Shipley, Horsham. TWO: TLS, 11 October 1922; on lettehead of the Reform Club, Pall Mall, S.W.1. [London] THREE: ALS, 15 October 1922; on letterhead of Crosby Hall, Blundellsands, Liverpool.
£165.00
Hilaire Belloc

See Belloc’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is Colonel Frederick Hugh Langston Oldham (1876-1965), D.S.O., D.L., of Overley Hall near Wellington. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: ALS, 5 October 1922. 1p, 4to. With mourning border. Folded twice. Giving details of the train from Paddington he is proposing to take to Wellington for ‘[t]he lecture’ on 13 October. ‘It is most kind of you to have asked me to stay with you & I am much looking forward to it.’ TWO: TL, 11 October 1922. 1p, 8vo. Folded twice. The signature ‘H.

[‘A whole career lies between the quotations’: V. S. Pritchett, English writer and critic.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Victor Pritchett’), submitting his ‘Turgenev’ (i.e. the typescript of his ‘Gentle Barbarian’) to his editor ‘Mr Higgins’.

Author: 
V. S. Pritchett [Sir Victor Sawdon Pritchett] (1900-1997), English writer and literary critic
Pritchett
Publication details: 
11 May 1977. On letterhead of 12 Regents Park Terrace, London N.W.1.
£56.00
Pritchett

Pritchett’s ‘The Gentle Barbarian: The Life and Work of Turgenev’ appeared in 1977; the present letter is clearly addressed to his editor at the book’s publishers Chatto & Windus. Pritchett’s entry in the Oxford DNB describes his handwriting as ‘legendarily ugly and difficult to decipher’, but the present example is no worse than an average hand. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Two fold lines. He is sending his ‘Turgenev’, and explains: ‘As you will see I have marked passages from the book in purple crayon, and my own summary bridges in green.

[Nicolas Orloff [Nikolai Andreyevich Orlov], Russian concert pianist noted for his interpretations of Chopin.] Autograph Signature and English inscription on Christmas card to Alan Lockhart; with second Autograph Signature and note signed 'N. O.'

Author: 
Nicolas Orloff [Nikolai Andreyevich Orlov ] (1892-1964), Russian concert pianist noted for his interpretations of Chopin, who settled in Scotland
Orloff
Publication details: 
Card dated by Orloff to 1964/64. Signature on paper dated 1960.
£90.00
Orloff

Orloff left Russia in 1921, and toured the world as a leading interpreter of Chopin. He settled in Grantown-on-Spey in 1948, becoming a British citizen four years later. ONE: 6.5 x 14 cm bifoliate Christmas card, with blue and black illustration ‘Designed by Kris’. Dated at head by Orloff ‘1963/64’. Beneath the printed message he writes a large signature on two lines: ‘Nicolas Orloff’. Recipient’s name written at foot, in another hand: ‘Alan Lockhart’. The verso of the second leaf of this card is laid down on the verso of the following item.

['The tarn is metres above the level my legs would take me': Norman Nicholson, Cumbrian poet.] Typed Letter Signed to ‘Eric’, commenting wistfully on two correspondents pointing out a ‘simple slip’ in Hunter Davies’ ‘Walk Around the Lakes’.

Author: 
Norman Nicholson [Norman Cornthwaite Nicholson] (1914-1987), Cumbrian poet [Millom, Cumbria; Lake District; Hunter Davies]
Nicholson
Publication details: 
25 September 1981; Millom, Cumbria.
£56.00
Nicholson

1p, landscape 8vo. In fair condition; a little creased. Folded twice. Nicholson’s signature is a stylized squiggle, and there are a few minor autograph corrections to the typescript. The letter begins: ‘Dear Eric / I think the correspondent is probably right and that it is Windermere and not Coniston Water which can be seen from near Stickle Tarn.’ Nicholson cannot speak from experience, ‘as the tarn is metres above the level my legs would take me, but the map does seem to confirm what the two correspondents say’.

[John Cowper Powys (1872-1963), novelist and poet.] Envelope addressed by Powys in Autograph to his London bookseller G. L. Lewin, with his name and address written by him on the reverse.

Author: 
John Cowper Powys (1872-1963), novelist and poet [George Lionel Lewin (1890-1970), bookseller of Great Russell Street, London]
Publication details: 
'From / J. C. Powys / Corwen / Merioneth / N. Wales'. Oxford postmark dated 13 August 1941.
£35.00

An evocative artefact of the interesting connection between Powys and the man who supplied him with the books for his translation of Rabelais. Writing on 24 September 1940, in 'Letters to Sea-Eagle', Powys gives a lengthy account of 'Our Jew Book-Pedlar' and the bombing by the Germans of his Russell Street address.

[The man T. S. Eliot called ‘a great editor’: Sir Bruce Richmond, editor of the Times Literary Supplement.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to Orlo Williams, one a moving tribute to him and review of the TLS on his ninetieth birthday.

Author: 
Sir Bruce Richmond [Sir Bruce Lyttelton Richmond] (1871-1964), influential editor of Times Literary Supplement over thirty-five years, 1902-1937 [Orlo Williams [Orlando Cyprian Williams] (1883-1967)]
Publication details: 
3 January [1937]; on letterhead of Netherhampton House, Salisbury. [27 January 1961]; on letterhead of The Old Rectory, Islip, Oxford.
£120.00

Two charming and moving letters, each sent on a significant occasion: the first Richmond’s resignation from the editorship of the TLS in 1937, and the second his ninetieth birthday in 1961; and with the latter containing interesting reminiscences of the early years of the TLS. See his appreciative entry in the Oxford DNB. Both items in good condition, lightly aged, and both addressed to ‘Dear Orlo’. ONE: 3 January [‘1937’, the year added by Williams]. Signed ‘Bruce L. Richmond.’ 2pp, landscape 12mo. Folded twice.

[Graham Wallas, Fabian socialist thinker and a co-founder of the London School of Economics.] Autograph Signature to conclusion of Autograph Letter Signed [to A. G. L. Rogers].

Author: 
Graham Wallas (1858-1932), English socialist thinker, social psychologist, educationalist, a leader of the Fabian Society and a co-founder of the London School of Economics [A. G. L. Rogers]
Publication details: 
May 10 [no year]. 32 Great Ormond Street, W.C. [London.]
£28.00

See Wallas’s entry in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son and editor of the economist Thorold Rogers [James Edwin Thorold Rogers] (1823-1890), for information regarding whom see his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The conclusion of the letter only. Reads: ‘[...] extracts enclosed - / Edgeworth says he will look out for materials for you. / Sincerely / Graham Wallas / 32 Great Ormond St / W. C. / May 10 -’.

[Lascelles Abercrombie, English poet and literary critic.] Autograph Note in the third person regretting his inability of attending of the annual meeting of the Friends of the Bodleian Library.

Author: 
Lascelles Abercrombie (1881-1938), English poet and literary critic, a member of the ‘Dymock Poets’ group
Publication details: 
10 June 1926; on letterhead of The University, Leeds.
£35.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. At the time of writing he was Professor of English Language and Literature at Leeds. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Reads: ‘Mr Lascelles Abercrombie regrets his inability to attend the Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Bodleian in the Divinity School on June 22nd. / June 10th. 1926’.

[Lord Denning, the man Mrs Thatcher considered the greatest modern judge.] Typed Letter Signed (‘Tom Denning.’), thanking Lord Monckton for ‘putting in a word’ with Oliver Franks regarding ‘Cumberland Lodge’ and backing from banks.

Author: 
Lord Denning [Alfred Thompson ‘Tom’ Denning, Baron Denning] (1899-1999), English judge, Master of the Rolls for twenty years, praised by Mrs Thatcher, and author of the Report into the Profumo Affair
Publication details: 
22 November 1961; on letterhead of the House of Lords [Westminster].
£45.00

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with punch hole at top left. Receipt stamp at head. Addressed in autograph to ‘My Dear Walter’. Recipients formal name (‘The Right Hon. Viscount Mounkton of Brenchley’) and address at foot. He thanks him for his ‘line about Cumberland Lodge and for having a word with Oliver Franks on the telephone’. He understands Monckton’s ‘doubts whether the banks can give us practical backing, but even if they cannot I am most grateful to you for having taken time to consider it’. He adds in autograph: ‘& putting in a word for us.

[Henry Mancini, one of the greatest composers in the history of cinema.] Large publicity photograph with Signed Autograph Inscription ‘to Ray’.

Author: 
Henry Mancini (1924-1994), Hollywood composer regarded as one of the greatest in the history of cinema, whose compositions include ‘Moon River’ and ‘The Pink Panther Theme’
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£50.00

A true great: Mancini won four Oscars, a Golden Globe and twenty Grammies. No place or date. Black and white 19 x 23.5 cm print on 20 x 25.5 cm glossy photographic paper. In fair condition, with slight creasing at one corner. In sports jacket and tie, Mancini stares over his piano with the merest of smiles. On the left-hand side of his jacket, in Mancini’s autograph, is the inscription, in black felt-tip pen: ‘to / Ray / Henry / Mancini’. See image.

[‘Odali Careno’ (stage name of Oda Slobodskaya, Russian soprano).] Autograph Note Signed (‘Odali Careno’), providing a ‘small Autograph’.

Author: 
‘Odali Careno’, occasional stage name of Oda Slobodskaya (1888-1970), Russian soprano associated with Chaliapin, Diaghilev and Stravinsky, who settled in England
Odali
Publication details: 
[24 June 1930.] On letterhead of the Clarendon Hotel, Oxford.
£50.00
Odali

For Diaghilev Slobodskaya starred in the 1922 Paris premiere of Stravinsky's opera Mavra, and she toured Europe as principal soprano with Chaliapin’s company. For her serious operatic work she retained her real name, but she used the stage name ‘Odali Careno’ when performing in vaudeville and light entertainment. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Dated in another hand at foot: ‘24-6-30’ (the period of her appearance in a London Palladium production).

[‘Clemence Dane’, i.e. Winifred Ashton, playwright, novelist and Oscar-winning screenplay writer.] Typed Letter Signed discussing a misunderstanding of her book ‘Legend’, with inscribed photographic portrait.

Author: 
‘Clemence Dane’, nom de plume of Winifred Ashton (1888-1965), playwright, novelist and Oscar-winning screenplay writer [G. Ralton Barnard of York]
Clemence Dane
Publication details: 
TLS: 17 January 1922; on letterhead of 26 Castellain Mansions, Maida Vale, W.9. [London.] Photograph without date or place.
£120.00
Clemence Dane

See Ashton’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Both items in good condition, lightly aged, with evidence of mount to blank reverse of photograph. ONE: TLS. 17 January 1922. 1p, 12mo. Folded once. Signed ‘Clemence Dane’. Addressed to G. Railton Barnard, 6 The Crescent, York. She thanks him for his ‘interesting letter’: ‘If the same question had not already crept up once or twice, I should not have thought it possible for anyone so to misunderstand Legend, but I know people do, clear as I thought I had made it.’ Barnard is ‘absolutely right’: ‘Madala Grey is head over ears in love with her husband.

[Frederic Vanson, Essex poet and journalist; his wife the painter Olive Bentley.] Eight Autograph Letters Signed and one Typed from Vanson to playwright Christopher Fry, collection of poetry typescripts, and ALS to Fry from Bentley.

Author: 
Frederic Vanson (1919-1993), Essex poet and and journalist; his wife the painter Olive Bentley [Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright]
Publication details: 
Correspondence dating from between 29 December 1983 and 12 January 1993. Letters of 1983 and 1984 from 24 Morley Grove, Harlow (Essex); the rest from 178 Elm Tree Avenue, Walton on the Naze (Essex).
£400.00

See David Gaskin’s obituary of Vanson, Independent, 27 July 1993, and Fry’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The material is in good condition, lightly aged, with one leaf of poetry typescript creased. Vanson’s eight Autograph Letters Signed date from between 29 December 1983 and 12 January 1993. total 11pp, 8vo, and 2pp, 12mo. One of the letters is lacking all but the last (signed) page; the others are complete. Vanson’s Typed Letter Signed is 1p, 8vo. It is undated, but dated by Fry to 14 August (no year, but from the context written in 1992). The nine letters are all signed ‘Frederic’.

[City of London Piscatorial Society.] Autograph Letter Signed from the Honorary Secretary of the CLPS, Walter Westley, with printed booklet of ‘C.L.P.S. / Programme 1935-36’ and application form.

Author: 
[Fishing.] City of London Piscatorial Society (CLPS), founded in 1902 and one of the oldest angling clubs in England; Walter Westley, Honorary Secretary
Publication details: 
Westley’s letter dated 17 June 1935; on his letterhead, ‘City of London Piscatorial Society. / Headquarters: “Crown & Cushion,” 73, London Wall, E.C.2.’ Printed programme for 1935-36; application form (same address as letterhead) from 1930s.
£150.00

A nice slice of London ephemera. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged. They were clearly all sent together. ONE: ALS from Westley (‘W. Westley | Hon. Sec.’) to unnamed recipient. 2pp, 12mo. In answer to an application he is sending ‘one New Programme showing Waters &c’, pointing out that not all are ‘Trout Waters’, and that ‘about 30% of the Members only take part in competitions’. He explains that they have had good (he mistakenly writes ‘few’) membership over the previous two years, ‘but at the present time there are a few members’. TWO: Printed ‘C.L.P.S.

[Oliver Zangwill, ‘the Father of British neuropsychology’.] Autograph Note Signed (‘Oliver.’) to ‘Bob’, describing steps he has taken and hoping that 'something is done'.

Author: 
Oliver Zangwill [Oliver Louis Zangwill] (1913-1987), ‘the Father of British neuropsychology’, Professor of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge
Oliver
Publication details: 
10 February 1969; on letterhead of ‘Professor O. L. Zangwill, The Psychological Laboratory, Downing Street, Cambridge.’
£50.00
Oliver

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, landscape 8vo. In good condition, folded once. Headed ‘Private & Confidential’. Reads: ‘Dear Bob, / I had a word with the V. C [presumably the Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University] this morning and am writing a letter to Sartain, which he should receive before the meeting of the G. B. on Wednesday. I hope something is done. / Yours ever / Oliver.’

[Harry Plunket Greene, Irish baritone singer.] Autograph Signature and valediction cut from letter.

Author: 
Harry Plunket Greene (1865-1936), Irish baritone singer
Greene
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£28.00
Greene

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On strip of paper, roughly 10 x 3.5 cm, cut into an irregular rectangular shape. On one side is the valediction: ‘Yours very sincerely / Harry Plunket Greene’. On the other a fragment of three lines of the letter: ‘[...] I hope no [...] / started that things [...] / go on well. I am part[...]’. See image.

[‘Ellis Peters’, pseudonym of Edith Pargeter, author of the ‘Brother Cadfael’ crime novels.] Autograph Signature, with pseudonym: ‘Edith Pargeter. / ‘Ellis Peters’.’

Author: 
‘Ellis Peters’, pseudonym of Edith Mary Pargeter (1913-1995), author of the ‘Brother Cadfael’ crime novels
Ellis Peters
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£85.00
Ellis Peters

On one side of a 12.5 x 8.5 cm piece of thin white card. Clearly given in response to a request for an autograph. Written in a large somewhat old-fashioned hand, with ‘Edith Pargeter.’ centred towards the head of the page, and ‘‘Ellis Peters’.’ at bottom right. See image.

[Sir Walter Mercer, Scottish orthopaedic surgeon.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Walter Mercer’), thanking ‘Dr Goodwin’ for ‘War Effort Canadian stamps’, praising the surgery of Goodwin’s colleagues, and finding things ‘pretty hectic’.

Author: 
Sir Walter Mercer (1890-1971), Scottish orthopaedic surgeon, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh who donated his collection of anatomical specimens to Surgeon's Hall in Edinburgh
Publication details: 
19 July 1945; on his letterhead (‘Consultations by Appointment’) of 'MR. WALTER MERCER', 12 Rothesay Terrace, Edinburgh 3.
£38.00

See Mercer’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 20 lines on both sides of a 12mo landscape letterhead. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Mercer has the proverbial handwriting of a doctor, rendering the present item somewhat difficult to read. He begins by thanking Goodwin for the ‘lovely surprise’ of ‘a packet of the War Effort Canadian stamps in mint condition’, which (illegible name) ‘didn’t get the length of Edinburgh as he has been called to the Pacific’.

[A Welsh poet at work: Harry Guest.] Three Autograph Poems: ‘Climbing a Volcano’ (two drafts), ‘At Shoreham’ (holograph), and ‘Sentence’ (fragment); with covering Autograph Letter Signed to Claire Freiburger; and transcription from Abelard.

Author: 
Harry Guest [Henry Bayly Guest] (1932-2021), Welsh poet and noted translator from French and Japanese
Publication details: 
The poems undated. The letter dated 3 September 1970; ‘c/o Mr. T. Mugishima, | Kugahara 4-Chome 23-9, | Ohta-Ku, / Tokyo 165’.
£220.00

See Tony Lopez's obituary in the Guardian, 11 April 2021.The letter was sent, with Items One and Two at least, while Guest was Lecturer in English at Yokohama National University, 1966-1972. All four items are neatly written in black ink in a close hand. The first three items are in good condition; Item Four is in fair condition, on aged paper and with wear to the outer edges. The parallel drafts of ‘Climbing a Volcano’ in Item One present an excellent example of the working process of a poet in the pre-digital age. ONE: Autograph Manuscript (2pp, folio) on one leaf.

[Ruby Miller, actress.] Three Autograph Letters Signed (all ?Ruby?) to W. J. Macqueen-Pope (?Popie?), expressing great grief at the death of Ivor Novello, whose spirit form she describes seeing at his memorial performance at Drury Lane.

Author: 
Ruby Miller [Ruby Laura Rose Miller] (1889-1976), English actress, one of the ?Gaiety Girls? [W. J. Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian; Ivor Novello, actor, composer and matin?e idol]
Publication details: 
14 March, 6 April and 8 October 1951; all three from 57B York Street, Baker Street, W1 [London].
£120.00

See the entries for writer and recipient in the Oxford DNB. The three items in good condition, lightly aged, with the last carrying minor rusting from paperclip. ONE: 3pp, 8vo. She got his office number from ?Mrs. Popie?, ?but the line has been busy all the time?. She asks for ?a pass for darling Ivor?s [i.e. Ivor Novello?s] memorial service?. The previous week she was ?playing at the Regent Theatre, Hayes, & on the Monday night I was weighed down by a dreadful foreboding of disaster?.

[Prince Littler, extensive theatre propietor.] Four Typed Letters Signed and one Typed Note Signed to theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope, on topics including productions of ?Oaklahoma?, ?The King and I? and ?Plain and Fancy?.

Author: 
Prince Littler [born Jules Richeux] (1901-1973), extensive theatre proprietor, Managing Director of the Stoll, Associated and Moss Theatre groups [W. J. Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
The five items between 1950 and 1956. On letterheads of Stoll Theatres Corporation Limited, Stoll Offices, London Coliseum, WC2, and Cranbourn Mansions, Cranbourn Street, London WC2.
£180.00

For more information on writer (one of West End theatre?s ?most dominant and successful landlords?) and recipient (the foremost British theatre historian of the twentieth century), see their entries in the Oxford DNB. The five items (the TNS is Item Three, the others are ALsS) are in good condition, lightly aged; Item Five with slight paperclip damage to a margin. Each folded once. All five signed ?Prince Littler? and addressed to ?Popie?, two at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, one at 9 Oakdale, London N14, and one at Coventry House, Coventry St, W1.

[Augustus John, OM RA, celebrated Welsh painter.] Producer Hugh Burnett’s copy of the typed transcript of John’s BBC TV interview with John Freeman in the series ‘Face to Face’, with proof and typographical marks for publication.

Author: 
Augustus John [Augustus Edwin John] (1878-1961), OM RA, celebrated Welsh painter [John Freeman (1915-2014), Labour MP and interviewer on 'Face to Face'; Hugh Burnett (1924-2011), BBC TV producer]
Publication details: 
Without date or place, but BBC TV interview on 15 May 1960; and this transcript produced for inclusion in version published in London in 1964.
£220.00

The present item is the producer Hugh Burnett's own copy, from his papers, of the transcript of John Freeman's interview with John, broadcast in the groundbreaking BBC series 'Face to Face' on 15 May 1960. This single-spaced typed transcript was produced for inclusion in Burnett's book 'Face to Face / Edited and introduced by Hugh Burnett' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1964), and is marked up with printing instructions in pencil and red ink, with a few proof corrections in green ink. 3pp, foolscap 8vo, on three leaves stapled together.

[Clare Leighton [Clare Marie Veronica Leighton, born Clara Ellaline Hope Leighton] (1898-1989), wood-engraver.] Four original proof wood-engravings by Clare Leighton: ‘The Village’, ‘The Cricket Match’, shepherd with crook, rainy rural scene

Author: 
Clare Leighton [Clare Marie Veronica Leighton (1898–1989), wood-engraver and illustrator
Leighton
Publication details: 
No place. Two of the four dated on mount to 1927.
£180.00
Leighton

Four wood-engravings by a twentieth-century master, all in Leighton's characteristically heavily-inked style. The print dimensions of all four items are 9 x 7 cm. One to Three are in landscape and Item Four portrait. Paper dimension for all four 9.75 x 7.5 cm. All four on thin proof paper. Items One and Two are mounted on 14.5 x 12.5 cm pieces of cream paper cut from an album. All four in fair condition, with Items One and Three lightly creased.

[Lord Esher [Lionel Brett, 4th Viscount Esher], architect and town-planner.] Typed Letter Signed and Autograph Note Signed to the lutenist Desmond Dupré, discussing costs and options for new house.

Author: 
Lord Esher [Lionel Brett; Lionel Gordon Baliol Brett, 4th Viscount Esher (1913-2004), British architect and town-planner [Desmond Dupré (1916-1974), English lutenist]
Publication details: 
Both items on his letterhead, Wellington Park, Oxon, and New Town House, Hatfield, Herts. ANS: 22 October 1952. TLS: 28 October 1952.
£90.00

Dupré is thinking of retaining Brett as architect in the rebuilding of a house on an attractive site, and the two items deal with the practicalities. Both signed 'Lionel Brett', and both in fair condition, lightly aged. ONE: TLS. 2pp, 4to, Folded three times. Forty-two lines of text. Addressed to Dupré at The Lodge, Windlesham, Withyham, Sussex. Deals firstly with ‘the estimate for demolition’, with comments ‘On the technical side’, before moving on to the question of ‘salvage materials’.

[Luigi Montesanto, Italian baritone opera singer.] Autograph Signature (‘Luigi Montesanto’) to part of printed English libretto to Leoncavallo’s ‘Pagliacci’.

Author: 
Luigi Montesanto (1887-1954), Italian baritone opera singer
Luigi
Publication details: 
Dated by Montesanto to 1936. [His Master’s Voice, London.]
£40.00
Luigi

At top right-hand corner of part of printed English libretto to Leoncavallo’s ‘Pagliacci’. Dimensions: 13.5 x 17.5 cm. Sloping upwards towards the corner, and underlined: ‘Luigi Montesanto | 1936’. On shiny art paper and in fair condition, lightly creased and a little dog-eared at the corner of the signature. The cutting is headed: ‘Prologue (Pagliacci) ... ... ... ... Leoncavallo | LUGI MONTESANTO | PROLOGUE’, with thirty-two lines of English translation.

[Sheena Tennant, Scottish composer and Margot Asquith's niece.] Two pieces of printed sheet music: her piano accompaniments of 'An Irish Cradle Song', 'From Poems by W. B. Yeats'; and Yeats's 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree'.

Author: 
Sheena Lilian Grant Tennant (1883-1974, later Kendall), daughter of James Tennant (1852-1933) of Fairlieburne, Fairlie, Ayrshire, Scotland, industrialist and cousin of Margot Asquith [W. B. Yeats]
Sheena
Publication details: 
Both items published by The Frederick Harris Company, London. 'An Irish Cradle Song' from 85 Newman Street, Oxford Street, W. [1914.] 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree' from 40 Berners Street, London, W1. [1917]
£350.00
Sheena

Both items in good condition, lightly aged and worn. Excessively scarce, with COPAC only listing one copy (at the British Library) of both items. ONE: 'An Irish Cradle Song. Words by W. B. Yeats. From Poems by W. B. Yeats, published by T. Fisher Unwin'. [1914.] 5 + [1]pp., folio. Title page carries the gaelic motto: Goth yani me von gilli beg, | N heur ve thu more a creena. TWO: 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree. Words by W. B. Yeats'. [1917.] 5 + [1]pp., folio. Illustration of tree on bank of lake on front cover.

[Meredith Frampton, 'the forgotten genius of British art'.] Autograph Letter Signed , thanking portraitist Maurice Codner for 'a most enjoyable evening'.

Author: 
Meredith Frampton [George Vernon Meredith Frampton], English artist, 'the forgotten genius of British art' [Maurice Frederick Codner (1888-1958), portraitist]
Publication details: 
16 May 1938. On his letterhead, 92 Carlton Hill, NW8 [London].
£30.00

Alistair Sooke, on the BBC website, makes the case that 'Meredith Frampton is the forgotten genius of British art'. See Frampton's entry in the Oxford DNB, and also those of Codner and of Frampton's father Sir George Frampton, who executed the celebrated statue of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (not modelled on his son, who was eighteen when it was made). 1p, 4to, in fair condition, aged and worn. Folded once. Writing to 'My dear Codner', he apologises for 'keeping you up till such a late hour last night'.

[Eric Maschwitz, writer and broadcaster.] Typed Letter Signed ('Eric') to 'Mac' [W. J. MacQueen-Pope], suggesting that he write a history of His Majesty's Theatre.

Author: 
Eric Maschwitz [Albert Eric Maschwitz] (1901-1969), writer, lyricist, screenwriter and BBC broadcaster [W. J. MacQueen-Pope [Walter James MacQueen-Pope] (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
8 September [no year]. On letterhead of 23 Bruton Street, W.1. [London]
£150.00

Maschwitz wrote the lyrics to 'A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square' and 'These Foolish Things', and was nominated for an oscar for co-writing the screenplay of 'Goodbye, Mr Chips'. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Twenty-nine lines of text. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Maschwitz begins by congratulating him 'on a really enthralling book! Loved every page of it!' With reference to Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, he explains that the previous day he 'had a talk with old Dennis Grayson who with Mrs Corey Wright is one of Tree's executors.

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