WALTER

[Walter Bache, English pianist and conductor who championed Liszt and the New German School.] Autograph Card Signed to ‘Mrs. Lewis’, gracefully declining a invitation.

Author: 
Walter Bache (1842-1888), English pianist and conductor who championed Liszt and the New German School
Publication details: 
11 June [no year]. With letterhead of 17 Eastbourne Terrace, Hyde Park, W. [London]
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged, but with unobtrusive part of paper mount still adhering to one corner. Good bold signature ‘Walter Bache’. Reads: ‘Dear Mrs. Lewis / It is most kind of you to keep me still in your remembrance! I am teaching every day & all day - alas! & Friday is just my afternoon at the Academy. So I cannot possibly accept your most welcome invitation, for which please accept my best thanks.’

[Walter Crane, book illustrator, designer and painter associated with the Arts and Crafts movement and the Art-Workers' Guild.] Autograph Signature and valediction of a letter.

Author: 
Walter Crane (1845-1915), book illustrator, designer and painter, associated with the Arts and Crafts movement and the Art-Workers' Guild
Walter Crane
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£35.00
Walter Crane

from the end of a letter. A good example of Crane's stylized and distinctive signature. Reads: 'Believe me, / Very truly yours, / Walter Crane'. The top part of a cropped 'P S' is present at bottom left. See Image.

[Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe, Scottish antiquary and collector.] Autograph Letter Signed, thanking William Frazer and 'Mr Mackenzie's Trustees'.

Author: 
Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe (1781-1851), Scottish antiquary and collector [William Frazer of Edinburgh]
Publication details: 
18 January [1818?]. 28 Drummond Place [Edinburgh].
£35.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On first leaf of a bifolium, with the second leaf carrying a broken seal in red wax, and the address in Sharpe’s autograph, ‘William Frazer Esqre / 12 Duke St.’ In good condition, lightly aged, with glue to one edge of second leaf from mount. Folded several times. Signed ‘Chas. Kirkpatrick Sharpe’. He asks him to accept his ‘sincere thanks for the great favour you have conferred on me, respecting the old [stone?]’. He asks him to mention his ‘obligation to Mr Mackenzie’s Trustees, on the same account’.

[Rochester, New York State.] Manuscript ‘Arbitration Bond’, with ‘the very rare signature of Everard Peck, pioneer printer Father of Wm. F. Peck’ and that of Walter S. Griffith.

Author: 
Everard Peck (1791-1854), Rochester printer, newspaper editor, father of the historian William Farley Peck (1840-1908); Walter S. Griffith (c.1810-1872) [Lewis Selze; Monroe County, New York State]
Publication details: 
No date [1860s or 1870s?]. [Rochester, Monroe County, New York State.]
£320.00

Accompanying this item is a piece of paper with the following note in a mid-twentieth-century hand: ‘Interesting because of the very rare signature of Everard Peck, pioneer printer Father of Wm. F. Peck’. He was a bookbinder from Connecticut who moved to Rochester around 1816 and opened a bookstore. He moved into printing and publishing, founded the successful weekly Telegraph newspaper and later became a banker. He was a generous benefactor of the early city, co-founding the University of Rochester and the Rochester Orphan Asylum and becoming a leader in the Female Charitable Society.

[Walter Rosenhain, distinguished metallurgist of German-Jewish extraction, grew up in Australia, lived in England.] Six Typed Letters Signed, Two Autograph Letters Signed, and one Typed Note Signed to G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Walter Rosenhain (1875-1934), distinguished metallurgist born in Germany of Jewish extraction, who grew up in Australia and moved to England in 1897 [Royal Society of Arts]
Publication details: 
1915, 1924 (3), 1925 (3) and 1926 (2). The nine items on letterheads of the metallurgy department of the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex.
£250.00

See his entries in the Oxford DNB and Australian Dictionary of Biography. The recipient George Kenneth Menzies (1869-1954) was Secretary to the Royal Society of Arts between 1917 and 1935. The nine items are in good condition, lightly aged, and are folded for postage. Each bears the stamp of the RSA, some with manuscript docketting. Letters of 4 April and 18 September 1925 are in autograph, the rest typed; all nine are signed ‘Walter Rosesnhain’.

[Henry Beveridge, Scottish historian and translator.] Autograph Letter Signed to Joseph L. Williams, responding to suggested corrections, and mentioning Dr Walter Graham Blackie of his publishers Blackie & Son, Glasgow.

Author: 
Henry Beveridge (1799-1863), Scottish historian, author of ‘A Comprehensive History of India’ (1858-1863) and translator with the Calvin Translation Society, Edinburgh [Blackie and Son, Glasgow]
Publication details: 
‘8 Roxburgh Terrace Haverstock Hill [London] / 29 June 1858’.
£80.00

The recipient is clearly not the American politician Joseph Lanier Williams (1810-1865), but rather an editor of Beveridge’s history of India at Blackie’s. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, but with diagonal crease at bottom right going through Beveridge’s signature. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘Joseph L. Williams Esqr’ and signed ‘Henry Beveridge’. He begins by undertaking to ‘attend to the matters’ mentioned in Williams’s note.

[Walter Sichel, journalist and biographer.] Autograph Letter Signed, discussing ?information? (regarding his biography of Emma, Lady Hamilton.

Author: 
Walter Sichel [Walter Sydney Sichel] (1855-1933), English journalist and biographer of German-Jewish descent
Publication details: 
14 December 1905. On letterhead of 50 Egerton Gardens, S.W. [London]
£56.00

3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded once for postage. He thanks him ?for kind lines with the information? (regarding his biography of Emma, Lady Hamilton). The mistake his recipient points out, regarding ?the Douglas case?, will be ?put right in any subsequent edn.? Regarding ?the Duchess & Lady H?s marriage?, he has ?now put it more hypothetically?, but he considers ?the inference justified by Lady H?s letter (Morison M.S.

[Walter H. Page, American ambassador to the United Kingdom during the First World War.] Typed Note Signed to C. Reginald Grundy [editor of 'The Connoisseur'], regretting his inability to attend a meeting at the Mansion House.

Author: 
Walter H. Page [Walter Hines Page] (1855-1918), journalist and publisher, American abassador to United Kingdom during First World War [Cecil Reginald Grundy (1870-1944), editor of 'The Connoisseur']
Publication details: 
22 May 1917; London, on embossed letterhead of the Embassy of the United States of America.
£80.00

1p, 4to. Rather aged, with some wear and discoloration at head and foot, and minor traces of mount on reverse. Four folds. Signed ‘Walter H. Page’ and addressed to ‘C. Reginald Grundy, Esq., / 1, Duke Street, / S. W. 1.’ The note reads: ‘Dear Sir: / I wish it had been possible for me to attend the meeting at the Mansion House to-day to further the establishment of local war museums, but I regret to say that it was impossible. / Yours very truly, / Walter H. Page’.

[Sir Walter Gibbons, theatre impressario who built the London Palladium.] Auction catalogue of his effects, with a bookseller’s bids in pencil: ‘A Catalogue of the Contents of Kensington House, Bayswater, W.2’

Author: 
Sir Walter Gibbons (1871-1933), theatre impressario, founder of the London Palladium and owner of around forty music halls [Kensington House, Bayswater; Knight, Frank & Rutley; auction catalogue]
Publication details: 
10 to 13 March 1931. Knight, Frank & Rutley, 20 Hanover Square, London, W.1. Printed by J. Davy & Sos, Ltd., 8-9 Frith Street, London.
£180.00

As the Great Depression hit Gibbons found himself over-extended, and was forced into bankruptcy. The present item is scarce. The only copy on JISC is at the Paul Mellon Centre Library. 68pp, 8vo. In grey printed wraps, and with purchase slip tipped in. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. At head of title-page: ‘By Direction of Lieut.-Col. SIR WALTER GIBBONS, K.B.E., D.L. Following the Sale of the Freehold, and the proposed conversion of the Property into high-class Residential Flats.’ ‘Conditions of Sale’ on reverse of title. 974 lots.

[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.] Carbon of Typed BBC script of ‘2nd Broadcast’ in the series ‘Theatre Songs and Stories / by / W. Macqueen-Pope’, on the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Author: 
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and its historian, W. Macqueen-Pope [Walter James Macqueen-Pope] (1888-1960) [BBC Radio]
Publication details: 
Undated, but shortly after the death of Ivor Novello on 6 March 1951. [BBC Radio, London.]
£120.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. His entry in the Oxford DNB describes how, in the 1950s, he was ‘in demand as a lecturer on the theatrical subjects he loved, and he appeared often in the same capacity on radio and on television. Ironically he regarded these two forms of public entertainment, and television in particular, as representing a serious threat to the survival of theatre, about which he cared passionately’.

[W. Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian and broadcaster, and Drury Lane press agent.] Fifteen Typed Newspaper Articles [for the magazine 'Everybody's'] giving weekly news of 'The London Theatre', with newspaper cuttings, TLS from editor Greville Poke.

Author: 
W. Macqueen-Pope [Walter James Macqueen-Pope, ‘Popie’] (1888-1960), theatre historian, broadcaster and journalist, archivist and Drury Lane press agent [Greville Poke, editor, Everybody's magazine]
Publication details: 
One of the articles from December 1948; two from November and December 1951 (with two drafts of the second of these); and the other twelve articles from between January to March 1957. ['Everybody's' magazine, Fleet Street, London.]
£450.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Known by his nickname ‘Popie’, Macqueen-Pope was widely regarded as the leading theatre historian of his day. His many books (from histories of individual theatres to a biography of Ivor Novello) sold well, and his broadcasts on the BBC were extremely popular. Eighteen items, providing something a glimpse of his working methods. The last two of the eighteen items are TLsS to MP: one from the editor of ‘Everybody's’ Greville Poke (also see his Oxford DNB entry), and the other Pauline Carter, ‘EDITORIAL’.

[Clan Chattan Association.] Autograph Letter Signed from the editor of its journal, Murdoch Macintosh, to theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope, discussing the Macqueen family in Scotland and his own wartime service.

Author: 
Clan Chattan Association: Murdoch Macintosh, F.S.A. Scot., editor of its journal [Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
3 May 1952; on letterhead of the Clan Chattan Association, The Castle, Inverness, Scotland.
£80.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) The Clan Chattan Association is a confederation of highland clans. 2pp, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight creasing to one corner, and rust staining from paperclip. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to MP’s London address in Coventry Street. ‘I’ve heard about your James MacQueen. His name appears in quite a few locally published papers &c. on Culloden. His new teeth are quite famous up here.’ He accepts the proposal for an article: ‘if you could go to 900-1000 words I’d be happy’.

[Drury Lane Ghost.] Carbon of typewritten letter from W. Macqueen-Pope to Jack Todd of New York, giving an account of the ghost at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, which he has seen ‘on very many occasions’, and of his own association with the place.

Author: 
Drury Lane Ghost [Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London; Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
16 December 1957. [London.]
£120.00

From the papers of theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope, who was for more than twenty years press representative for Drury Lane. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) The recipient is given by MP as ‘Jack Todd Esq / 446, Dimmick Street, Waterton, New York’. 2pp, 4to. 59 lines of text, single-spaced. An unsigned carbon copy, in fair condition, on lightly-aged and creasted cartridge paper.

[Guido Orlando, Italian-American press agent.] Copy of Typed Article on Orlando by W. Macqueen-Pope titled ‘“Enfant Terrible” of Public Relations’, with TLS to MP from Sidney Gordon of ‘Everybody’s’ magazine, rejecting the article as too scandalous.

Author: 
[Guido Orlando (1906-1988), Italian-American press agent.] Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian and journalist; Sidney Gordon, journalist with ‘Everybody’s’ magazine
Publication details: 
Gordon’s letter to Macqueen-Pope is dated 28 December 1950; on letterhead of ‘Everybody’s’, 114 Fleet Street, London, EC4. Macqueen-Pope’s article without date or place, but contemporaneous.
£125.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) The subject of MP’s article is the press agent and publicist Guido Orlando who came to the United States from Italy with his family in 1917. (MP may have come into contact with Orlando in his own position as press agent for Drury Lane and other theatres.) He was most active in Hollywood from the 1930s to 1960s. His papers are in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Margaret Herrick Library.

[Ernest Lauri, Australian actor and singer, ‘The Singing Anzac’.] Autograph Letter Signed [to theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope], requesting tickets, as an Australian theatre correspondent, to the London production of South Pacific.

Author: 
Ernest Lauri (1891-1977), Australian actor and singer, ‘The Singing Anzac’ [Walter James Macqueen-Pope, English theatre historian]
Publication details: 
2 April 1952; from an hotel in Paris, on letterhead of ‘Ernest Lauri / (The Singing Anzac)’.
£80.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) 1p, 4to. Aged and creased, on discoloured high-acidity paper. Folded twice for postage, and with closed tear at head of vertical fold. Slight damage and rust staining from removal of staple. The letterhead incorporates two photographic portraits of Lauri, with press comment from ‘Everyone’s Magazine’ and career resume beginning: ‘Ernest Lauri / (The Singing Anzac) / STARRED IN AUSTRALIAN PICTURES / Versatile Vocalist and Monologist’. Macqueen-Pope is not named, but is presumably the recipient.

[Dorothy Tutin [Dame Dorothy Tutin], Shakespearian actress.] Autograph Card Signed to W. J. Macqueen-Pope, with typed article by him (‘Star in Spite of Herself’), his typed interview notes, and carbon of typed letter from him to Sir Andrew Caird.

Author: 
Dorothy Tutin [Dame Dorothy Tutin] (1930-2001), English Shakespearian actress [Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960); Sir Andrew Caird of Lord Northcliffe’s Associated Newspapers; RADA]
Publication details: 
ONE: Her ACS to MP, from Wyndham’s Theatre, postmarked London, 6 October 1953. TWO: Copy of TL from MP to Caird, 13 October 1953. The other two items without date or place, but contemporaneous.
£180.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. See his entry and hers in the Oxford DNB. Caird was Northcliffe’s right-hand man, and mainly associated with the Daily Mail. The four items are in fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with slight rust spotting from a paper clips. Items Two to Four are on carbon paper. ONE: ACS from Tutin to MP. Small unillustrated postcard, signed ‘Dorothy Tutin’. Reads: ‘I remember you very well - your fascinating letures at the Academy [i.e. London theatre school RADA, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art] - and shall be very happy to meet you for this article.

[Ellaline Terriss, Edwardian actress and singer.] Four items of Autograph Correspondence with theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope (‘Popie’), comprising three letters and one card, all signed ‘Ella’.

Author: 
Ellaline Terriss [born Mary Ellaline Lewin] (1871-1971), Edwardian actress and singer, wife of Seymour Hicks and daughter of William Terriss [Walter James Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian]
Publication details: 
ONE: 28 December 1950; 36 Lauderdale Mansions, Maida Vale [London]. TWO: [1956.] THREE: ‘Tuesday’; with letterhead of The Old Rectory, Frimley, Aldershot, Hants. FOUR: Post Card with Frimley postmark, 8 July 1957; Frimley letterhead of ‘Lady Hicks'.
£80.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. See both their entries in the Oxford DNB. The four items in good condition, lightly aged and creased, with slight spotting to one corner of Item. Folded for postage. ONE: ALS dated 28 December 1950. 2pp, 12mo. Before sending seasonal greetings she begins: ‘My dear Popie / I returned home to find your wonderful book waiting for me.

[Angus McBean, Welsh photographer and set designer associated with surrealism.] Bromide print of photographic portrait of Moya Macqueen-Pope, daughter of theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope.

Author: 
Angus McBean [Angus Rowland McBean] (1904-1990), Welsh photographer and set designer associated with surrealism [Moya Macqueen-Pope (b.1916), daughter of theatre historian Walter James Macqueen-Pope]
Publication details: 
Undated. Stamp on reverse of ‘Angus McBean / Photographer / Maskmaker / 29B Belgrave Road, / London, S.W.1. / Telephone: Victoria 1048.’
£350.00

From the papers of W. Macqueen-Pope. See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. The National Portrait Gallery holds McBean’s portrait of MP, but not the present item, of which no other copy has been traced. 17.5 x 25 cm. In fair condition, with two corners dogeared; the reverse, carrying McBean’s stamp, is rather discoloured. Also on the reverse, in pencil is ‘Moya Macqueen-Pope’. Plain background.

[1909 Handel-Mendelssohn Festival Crystal Palace, 1909.] Printed ‘Book of Words & Programme for the Rehearsal Day’.

Author: 
The Great Handel Festival and Mendelssohn Centenary at the Crystal Palace, London,1909 [Dr Frederic Cowan, conductor; Walter W. Hedgcock, organist]
Crystal Palace
Publication details: 
Sydenham: The Crystal Palace Company, 1909.
£450.00
Crystal Palace

A scarce item: the only other copy located is at the Foundling Hospital, London. 30pp, 4to, with a further 7pp of advertisements at the back. Stapled into grey wraps printed in red. A delicate survival, on browing high-acidity paper, in worn wraps chipped around the edges. On the front cover the item is described as ‘Book of Words & Programme for the Rehearsal Day’.At top right-hand corner of the title-page are the pleasing ownership initials of ‘A. G.

[Countess Theresa Pulszky, wife of Hungarian nationalist Count Ferenc Pulszky.] Autograph Letter Signed, in English, to Sabilla Novello, describing her ‘Dante festivals’ and artistic activities in Florence.

Author: 
'Theresa Pulszky [Terézia Pulszky; née Walter] (1819-1866), Austro-Hungarian wife of the Hungarian nationalist Count Ferenc Pulszky (1814-1897) [Sabilla Novello; Clara Novello [Countess Gigliucci]
Publication details: 
‘Villa Petrovitz Sulla Cos[ta] / Florence June 3d 1865’.
£280.00

The Pulskys had fled Austria-Hungary during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, and while in London the Countess had published her well-received ‘Memoirs of a Hungarian Lady’. They would only be allowed back under an imperial amnesty in the year after this letter in 1866. The recipient, Sabilla Novello, was the daughter of London music publisher Vincent Novello, and sister of Alfred and Clara Novello [the ‘Countess Gigliucci’ referred to in the letter], all three of whom have entries in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. On bifolium.

[‘He as good as called me a liar: Sir Walter Newman Flower, proprietor of London publishers Cassell’s.] Autograph Letter Signed and two Typed Letters Signed to Sir James Marchant, complaining of treatment by Thomas B. Wells of New York firm Harpers.

Author: 
Sir Walter Newman Flower (1879-1964), proprietor of London publishers Cassell & Co, biographer and literary editor [Thomas Bucklin Wells (1875-1944) of Harper & Co., New York; Sir James Marchant]
Publication details: 
First TLS: 3 January 1928. Second TLS: 11 December 1928. Both on letterheads of Cassell & co. Ltd., La Belle Sauvage, London, EC4. ALS: 18 December 1928, on letterhead of Idlehurst, Sevenoaks.
£150.00

Publishing history does not get more vivid than this. See Flower’s obituary in The Times, and Wells’s in the New York Times. The three items in good condition, lightly aged. All three folded once and signed ‘Newman Flower’. First TLS (3 January 1928): 1p, 12mo. He writes that although ‘a very apologetic letter from Mr. Wells of Harpers’ has ‘cleared the air entirely’, ‘a reply from Holt’ received at the same time is not very satisfactory’, and ‘in view of the fact that Cassell’s and Harpers will be coming together again, it would, perhaps, be as well not to do anything at present’.

[Walter Crane, Arts and Crafts artist.] Autograph Letter Signed to J. Stanley Little, with thirteen examples of Crane's work, including invitation cards, handbills, letterheads.

Author: 
Walter Crane (1845-1915), English illustrator, designer and painter, associated with the Arts and Craft Society, Fabian Society and Art Workers' Guild [James Stanley Little (1856-1940)]
Publication details: 
13 Holland Street, Kensington, and other London addresses. 1886 to 1912.
£450.00

The fourteen items are laid down on three pages, on two leaves of grey paper, removed from an album, on the reverse of one leaf are two coloured coaching scenes by Randolph Caldecott, one featuring a highwayman. The overall condition is fair, with creasing and signs of age. The Autograph Letter Signed is from Crane to 'My dear Stanley Little'. 1p., landscape 8vo. With letterhead of Beaumont Lodge, Shepherd's Bush, featuring an illustration by Crane of a shepherd and sheep. 20 September 1892.

[A Dickens Fellowship dinner in wartime London.] Autograph Signatures of James Agate, Walter Dexter, Humphrey House and Lewis B. Frewer to menu for dinner celebrating the ‘130th Anniversary of the Birthday of Charles Dickens’.

Author: 
James Agate (1877-1947), diarist and theatre critic; Walter Dexter; Humphrey House, Louis B. Frewer, Superintendent of Rhodes House Library, Oxford; Dickens Fellowship
Dickens
Publication details: 
‘Holborn Restaurant [London] 7th February 1942’.
£60.00
Dickens

It seems extraordinary that they were able to pull this off during wartime restrictions, and Dickens would have relished the shabby-genteelness of it. The menu is shakily printed in a faded blue on a 10 x 16.5 cm piece of cream card, with rounded edges. At foot: ‘Holborn Restaurant 7th February 1942’. The menu is headed: ‘THE DICKENS FELLOWSHIP / 130th Anniversary of the / Birthday of Charles Dickens / Chairman: WALTER DEXTER, Vice-President / Speakers: HUMPHREY HOUSE, JAMES AGATE’.

[Sir George Prothero, historian, as editor of the Quarterly Review.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘G. W. Prothero’) and dictated Manuscript Letter to Professor H. W. C. Davis regarding article on H. W. V. Temperley and Paris Peace Conference of 1919.

Author: 
Sir George Prothero [Sir George Walter Prothero; Sir G. W. Prothero], English historian, editor of Quarterly Review [Henry William Carless Davis; Harold William Vazeille Temperley]
Publication details: 
7 November [1921] and 30 March 1922; each on letterhead of The Quarterly Review, 50A Albemarle Street, London, W.1.
£60.00

In addition to the entry for Prothero in the Oxford DNB, see those of H. W. C. Davis (1874-1928) and H. W. V. Temperley (1879-1939), which reveal the interest all three had in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. Both items in good condition, lightly aged. Each folded once. Both addressed to 'Davis'. ONE: 7 November [1921]. 4pp, 12mo. Dictated, and entirely (including signature) in the hand of an amanuensis.

[Charles Williams, with C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien one of the ‘Inklings’.] Typescript of Ruth Spalding’s BBC radio programme ‘Portrait of Charles Williams’, produced by Terence Tiller and featuring T. S. Eliot, Christopher Fry and others.

Author: 
Charles Williams [Charles Walter Stansby Williams] (1886-1945), poet and author, member with C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien of Oxford group ‘The Inklings’ [Ruth Spalding (1913-2009), author on BBC]
Publication details: 
Later (1980s) transcription of BBC radio feature on 'Third Programme 13.9.61 [13 September 1961]'.
£180.00

Williams, who has an entry in the Oxford DNB, became a close friend of Spalding and her sister Anne after lodging with their parents during the Second World War. The present item is a transcription, made and printed out around the 1980s, of the 1961 radio programme, on one side each of 34 numbered pieces of A4 paper, loosely gathered by a black plastic spine.

[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.

[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’.

[?I feel his animosity so strongly.? Sir Donald Wolfit complains about the News Chronicle theatre critic Alan Dent.] Autograph Letter Signed (?Donald?) to the theatre critic W. J. Macqueen-Pope (?Popie?), explaining why he is barring Dent.

Author: 
Sir Donald Wolfit (1902-1968), English Shakespearian actor-manager [W. J. MacQueen-Pope [Walter James MacQueen-Pope] (1888-1960), theatre historian; Alan Holmes Dent (1905-1978), Scottish critic]
Publication details: 
4 November 1948. On his letterhead, from the New Theatre, Hull.
£45.00

See the entries on author and recipient in the Oxford DNB. The subject of the letter Alan Dent, began his career as a prot?g? of James Agate. Although a somewhat histrionic figure, Wolfit's reputation rivalled that of Gielgud and Olivier, and his influence was acknowledged by both Harold Pinter and Peter O?Toole, and Ronald Harwood based his play and film ?The Dresser? on him. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, on lightly-aged and wrinkled paper, with slight nick to bottom-right, and evidence of paper clip. Folded once.

[Alexander Hamilton Bullock, Republican politician and abolitionist.] Autograph Signature ('Alexander H Bullock') to printed card of 'The Governor of Massachusetts', inscribed on reverse as a gift 'For Master Walter G. Webster'.

Author: 
Alexander Hamilton Bullock (1816-1882), Republican politician and abolitionist, who served three terms as 26th Governor of Massachusetts
Publication details: 
[Massachusetts.] Dated by Bullock '1867'.
£56.00

6.5 x 11 cm calling card, with the words 'The Governor of Massachusetts' printed at centred of one side. Above this Bullock signs 'Alexander H Bullock', and below it '1867'. On the reverse Bullock writes: 'For | Master | Walter G. Webster'. In good condition, lightly aged, with the reverse carrying traces of grey paper mount at the four corners.

[Dodie Smith, children's writer, author of 'The Hundred and One Dalamatians'.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Dodie') to 'Popie' [the theatre historian W. J. MacQueen-Pope], praising his writing, theatre work and latest book, discussing Vivien Leigh.

Author: 
Dodie Smith [Dorothy Gladys Smith] (1896-1990), children's writer and playwright, author of 'The Hundred and One Dalmatians' (1956) and 'I Capture the Castle' (1948) [W. J. MacQueen-Pope (1888-1960)]
Publication details: 
5 March 1958. On letterhead of The Barretts, Finchingfield, Essex.
£150.00

2pp, 18mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded once. Written in a close, elegant hand. Written on receipt of a presentation copy of MacQueen-Pope's latest book, the letter begins: 'My dear Popie, | Thank you so very much for St James's, Theatre of Distinction. I think I am enjoying it even more than I usually enjoy your individual-theatre books, because the St James's meant so much to me. It was the first London theatre I ever went to - long before I could read or went to a school.

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