VERNON

[Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, or his son Admiral Peregrine Osborne, 2nd Duke of Leeds, as Marquis of Carmarthen.] Drawn note (cheque), signed ‘Carmarthen P:’, directing his banker Sir Francis Child to pay £100 to William Vernon.

Author: 
Thomas Osborne (1632-1712), 1st Duke of Leeds, or his son Admiral Peregrine Osborne (1659-1729), 2nd Duke of Leeds [Viscount Osborne, Earl of Danby, Marquis of Carmarthen] [Sir Francis Child the elder
Publication details: 
'Febry. ye 9th. 1693/4'.
£600.00

See the entries on the two Dukes in the Oxford DNB, as well as that of Sir Francis Child the elder. Both Dukes are significant; the first was a leading Tory politician and one of the ‘immortal seven’ who invited William of Orange to England, and the second was a naval adviser to Peter the Great of Russia. The present item is signed ‘Carmarthan P:’, which would seem to suggest it is the signature of the 2nd Duke, Peregrine Osborne, but the Oxford DNB states that he became Marquis of Carmarthen a few months after the present item, on his father being made Duke of Leeds on 4 May 1694.

[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'.

[Christopher Fry discusses Christopher Hassall.] Two-page Typescript, with extensive Autograph Emendations by Fry, of a (BBC radio?) 'programme' by Fry about Christopher Hassall, with a separate Typescript poem (by Hassall?) 'Pilgrim's Way'.

Author: 
Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright, a leading exponent of verse drama [Christopher Hassall [Christopher Vernon Hassall] (1912-1963), poet and dramatist, biographer of Rupert Brooke
Publication details: 
No place or date, but some time after Hassall's death in 1963, and probably written from Fry's house, The Toft.
£250.00

3pp, 4to, each page on a separate leaf. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded once. There is no indication that either item was published, nor even that the poem is connected to the 'programme'. (If unpublished the poem may have found its way into Fry's papers from Hassall's.) The 'programme' - with no title or heading - is two pages long (with slight damage from a small staple to corners of both leaves) and complete, being divided into six numbered sections.

[Christopher Hassall's poem on Andrew Young, with annotations by Christopher Fry.] Typescript of Hassall's poem 'For Andrew Young', with a couple of minor autograph corrections by him, and biographical note on his association with the two men by Fry.

Author: 
Christopher Hassall [Christopher Vernon Hassall] (1912-1963), poet and dramatist; Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright, leading exponent of verse drama [Andrew Young (1885-1971), Scottish poet]
Publication details: 
At end, in type: 'Christopher Hassall | November, 1939.'
£120.00

1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged. On Croxley Script cartridge paper. Folded three times. Typed at top left: 'For Andrew Young'. From the Fry papers, with the playwright apparently stating that he found the typescript in a copy of Robert Frost's poems. Hassall's poem is apparently unpublished (but see below). It is divided into two sonnets, numbered I ('Yours is the Wildern World beyond my door') and II ('Speak for us to the earth, interpreter -').

[Laurence Whistler, poet, artist and glass engraver.] Two Autograph Letters Signed ('Laurence Whistler' and 'Laurence') to playwright Christopher Fry, one expressing admiration of his work, the other a moving tribute to his friend Christopher Hassall

Author: 
Laurence Whistler [Sir Alan Charles Laurence Whistler] (1912-2000), poet, artist and glass engraver [Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright; Christopher Hassall (1912-1963), actor, poet and author]
Publication details: 
Both on letterhead of Little Place, Lyme Regis, Dorset. 13 December 1961 and 21 August 1963.
£180.00

Both 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Written in Whistler's calligraphic hand. ONE: 13 December 1961. He will be 'so pleased' if Fry will accept a copy of his poems, 'which I like to send you because of my admiration for your work, and sense of sympathy with what you express, or create'. TWO: 21 August 1963. 33 lines of text, written following the death of his friend Christopher Hassall.

[Leslie Hotson and Norman Holmes Pearson on a George Washington letter.] Autograph Letter Signed from Hotson, and Typed Letter Signed from Pearson, both to Robert Beloe, discussing the proposed sale of his George Washington letter.

Author: 
Leslie Hotson [John Leslie Hotson] (1897-1992), authority on Elizabethan literature; Norman Holmes Pearson (1909-75), Yale academic [Robert Beloe (1905-84), educationalist; George Washington]
Publication details: 
Hotson's letter from Northford, Connecticut (but sent from a museum in Pieter Cornelisz Hooftstraat, Amsterdam), 29 January 1955. Pearson's letter from 233 Hall of Graduate Studies, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 1 February 1955.
£120.00

Two Air Mail letters, both in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Both letters are addressed to Beloe (author of the 1960 Beloe Report - education at The Hill House, Queen's Road, Richmond, Surrey. The subject of the two letters is a letter from George Washington to Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie, Belvoir, 7 March 1754, beginning ''Honble. Sir | If the Vessel you Honour hir'd of Colo. Eyre has not left York'. The letter is now at Mount Vernon. ONE: Hotson's letter, signed 'Leslie Hotson'. 29 January 1955. 1p., 12mo.

[Francis G. Pease's photographs of space, used by Edwin Hubble to identify new galaxies.] Five framed photographic astronomical prints of images by Pease, taken from Mount Vernon. Owned by Charles Chilton ('Journey into Space').

Author: 
Francis G. Pease [Francis Gladheim Pease] (1881-1938), American astronomer at the Mount Wilson Observatory, California [Edwin Hubble [Edwin Powell Hubble] (1889-1953); Charles Chilton (1917-2013)]
Publication details: 
Mount Wilson Observatory, Los Angeles County, California, USA. None of the prints dated (1940s?). Two of the five photographic images dated 1919.
£4,500.00

Five black and white prints, all laid down on mount and in glass frame. Later prints (1940s) rather than the early silver gelatin ones. Each with manuscript caption at foot of mount, and Negative Number written in manuscript on reverse of frame. Each print in excellent condition. All five behind glass in worn plain black frames. From the papers of Charles Chilton, the creator and producer of the influential BBC Radio series 'Journey into Space' (1953-1958), which numbered among its admirers Stephen Hawking and Colin Pillinger.

[ George Washington ] The Pinney archive of material relating to the English branch of the family of George Washington

Author: 
S. C. Pinney, American authority on George Washington Genealogy.
Publication details: 
Various.
£1,250.00

Large archive of material relating to the English branch of the Washington family, assembled by American authority S. C. Pinney, comprising manuscripts, typescripts, printed extracts and offprints, photographic and other illustration, and a small batch of letters to Pinney from the English Washington expert Thomas Pape. The collection in good condition, with no more than a handful of items aged or worn. Containing a mass of obscure and difficult to obtain material, from English and American sources, mostly dating from the first two decades of the twentieth century.A. Manuscript material: ONE.

[ Vernon Hill, sculptor and artist. ] Two Autograph Letters Signed to 'Mr Bleackley' [ the writer Horace Bleackley ], regarding a drawing of the recipient he has been asked to make by 'Mr Lane' [ the publisher John Lane ].

Author: 
Vernon Hill (1887-1972), sculptor, lithographer, illustrator [ Horace Bleackley (1868-1931), author; John Lane (1854-1925), London publisher who founded the Bodley Head with Charles Elkin Mathews ]
Publication details: 
30 St Luke's Road, W [ London ]. 1 July 1915 and 'Thursday' [ no date ].
£35.00

Both letters 1p., 4to. Both in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The letters concern a drawing of Bleackley, made by Hill at the instigation of 'Mr Lane'. On 1 July 1915 Hill writes that he has 'placed it before such authorities as Mr Willette and Mrs Lane, persons all I think to whom the shock of an unlikeness would have evoked candid opinion in criticism. I found them agreed as to its likeness Mr Lane voicing the common opinion by declaring on the instant: "That's got him!"'

[ Pierre-Louis Caron de Vernon, French art collector and inventor. ] Address, in French, signed 'Caron de Vernon', 'A Son Altesse Royale Monseigneur le Duc D'Orléans', presenting him with two marble statues.

Author: 
Pierre-Louis Caron de Vernon, French art collector and inventor [ King Louis Philippe I of France (1773-1850), who was Duc D'Orléans between 1793 and 1830
Publication details: 
Paris. 18 November 1828.
£120.00

2pp., folio. On bifolium. In a contemporary hand in margin of first page: 'Mr. Leblond' and a reference number. The document begins: 'Pre. Louis Caron de Vernon a eu l'honneur de servir sous les ordres de V: Altesse Royale en 1793 dans le 73 Bataillon de Paris, et au camp de Ste. Margueritte celui d'offrir son pain a V: Altesse, qu'Elle volut bien daigner accepter, en recommandant de lui rappeller cette circonstance dans l'occasion.

[Lady Muriel Paget.] Typed Letter Signed to Ernest Frederick Gye, congratulating him on his diplomatic posting to Tangier.

Author: 
Lady Muriel Paget [Lady Muriel Evelyn Vernon Paget, née Finch-Hatton] (1876-1938), humanitarian relief worker [Ernest Frederick Gye (1879-1955), diplomat, son of Ernest Gye and Dame Emma Albani]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 'British Subjects in Russia Relief Association (1930)'. 30 January 1933.
£90.00

1p., 4to. On aged paper, with slight damage at margin and head, not affecting text. She congratulates him 'on the news that I have read in this morning's paper'. She is sorry 'that there are probably no D.B.S. in Tangier', but hopes that 'some day you will go "en poste" to U.S.S.R.' She concludes by thanking him 'for all that you have done to help us with the work for D.B.S. in Russia'.

[Lady Muriel Paget.] Typed Letter Signed to Ernest Frederick Gye, congratulating him on his diplomatic posting to Tangier.

Author: 
Lady Muriel Paget [Lady Muriel Evelyn Vernon Paget, née Finch-Hatton] (1876-1938), humanitarian relief worker [Ernest Frederick Gye (1879-1955), diplomat, son of Ernest Gye and Dame Emma Albani]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 'British Subjects in Russia Relief Association (1930)'. 30 January 1933.
£90.00

1p., 4to. On aged paper, with slight damage at margin and head, not affecting text. She congratulates him 'on the news that I have read in this morning's paper'. She is sorry 'that there are probably no D.B.S. in Tangier', but hopes that 'some day you will go "en poste" to U.S.S.R.' She concludes by thanking him 'for all that you have done to help us with the work for D.B.S. in Russia'.

Pencil sketch of George Washington's home Mount Vernon by 'G E Blenkins', with leaf from the orange tree planted by Washington, and explanatory Autograph Note by Blenkins.

Author: 
Mount Vernon, Virginia home of George Washington, first United States President [George Eleazar Blenkins (d.1894), Assistant Surgeon, Grenadier Guards, and Member of the Royal College of Surgeons?]
Washington
Publication details: 
Sketch made and leaf taken by Blenkins on a visit to Mount Vernon, Virginia, in 1840.
£450.00
Washington

While only a rough pencil sketch, the drawing is an attractive one, landscape on a piece of wove paper, 20 x 25 cm, with 'JESSUPS' watermark. In good condition, on lightly-aged and creased paper, folded into a packet for postage, with remains of red wafer. Beneath the drawing, in ink in a shaky contemporary hand: 'Lawn view from the backs of Mount Vernon | This is from the Orange Tree planted by himself.' The reverse carries the following note: 'I made the enclosed rough sketch of Mount Vernon the residence of Genl.

Autograph Letter Signed from the Sussex physician and engraver Arthur Evershed to the critic William Cosmo Monkhouse

Author: 
Arthur Evershed (1835-1919), Sussex engraver and physician to the Mount Vernon Consumption Hospital, North London [William Cosmo Monkhouse (1840-1901), poet and critic]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 10 Mansfield Villas, Hampstead. 9 February 1883.
£80.00

1p., 12mo. Fourteen lines. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He is sorry to have put Monkhouse to 'the trouble of writing', and hopes someday to show him his 'best etchings'. 'I have been exhibiting etchings at R.A. for about 10 years: and my published work has been very favourably noticed in the "Times", "Athenaeum" "Academy" &c. &c.' He is enclosing (not present) an article which 'the Gazette des Beaux Arts' carried on his work, 'so long ago as 1876'.

The Pinney archive of material relating to the English branch of the family of George Washington

Author: 
S. C. Pinney, American authority on George Washington Genealogy.
Publication details: 
Various.
£2,250.00

Large archive of material relating to the English branch of the Washington family, assembled by American authority S. C. Pinney, comprising manuscripts, typescripts, printed extracts and offprints, photographic and other illustration, and a small batch of letters to Pinney from the English Washington expert Thomas Pape. The collection in good condition, with no more than a handful of items aged or worn. Containing a mass of obscure and difficult to obtain material, from English and American sources, mostly dating from the first two decades of the twentieth century.A.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Robert Cust') to Horace Bleackley (1868-1931).

Author: 
Robert Cust [Robert Henry Hobart Cust] (1861-1940), English art critic, an authority on the renaissance [Horace Bleackley; John Wilkes]
Publication details: 
12 October [no year]; on letterhead of Vernon House, Lyndhouse Road, Hampstead.
£28.00

12mo, 4 pp. Good, on lightly aged paper, but with a thin strip along the outer edge of the second leaf of the bifolium with glue staining from previous mounting, and a 3.5 x 0.5 piece missing at head causing damage to one word ('hers'). Otherwise text clear and entire. Cust's aunt has informed him 'that she has at present in her possession in London all the papers belonging to Sir John Cust that remain'. She does not however think that they contain much about Wilkes.

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