WAR

[First World War commemoration.] Printed pamphlet with fold-out plan: 'The Empire's War Memorial and a Project for a British Imperial University of Commerce by Ernest H. Taylor and J. B. Black, M.A., B.A.'

Author: 
Ernest H. Taylor; J. B. Black [Isambard Owen, W. H. Hadow, H. F. Wilson, Angus Watson, T. J. Lennard, A. K. Wright] ['The Empire's War Memorial'; First World War commemoration]
Publication details: 
Edinburgh: Macniven & Wallace, 138 Princes Street, 1920.
£56.00

56pp, 8vo. With fold-out 'Chart indicating the suggested arrangement of buildings etc:' at rear, 29.5 x 53.5 cm. In grey printed wraps. Internally in good condition, lightly aged, in worn and torn wraps which are becoming detached. With label, stamp and shelfmarks of the Board of Education Reference Library. Black's preface (pp.5-6) begins by explaining that 'The ideas embodied in the following pages are the product of some eight months incarceration in Germany.

[Admiral John Markham, Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and First Naval Lord.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J Markham') to John Atkins, regarding the 'general drunken habits' of 'Mr [Miles] Burn', and the impossibility of reinstating him 'to his rank'

Author: 
Admiral John Markham (1761-1827), Royal Navy officer who served in the American and French Revolutionary Wars, Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and First Naval Lord, MP for Portsmouth [Miles Burn]
Publication details: 
Admiralty [London]. 21 August 1806.
£100.00

The letter is 1p, 12mo, and is accompanied by the covering 8vo leaf, addressed to 'John Atkins Esqre | Duke Street | Westminster', with a second signature for franking. The covering leaf is endorsed: 'Admiralty August 21 1806 | Adml. Markham concerning Miles Burn that it would be impossible to get him reinstated'. Both letter and covering leaf in good condition, lightly aged and worn, with fold lines. Markham could hardly be more decisive.

[Jan Kemp, Boer War general.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Kemp'), in Afrikaans, to the British officer commanding at Olifants Nek, regarding Lord Kitchener's permission to General Botha to obtain medicines.

Author: 
Jan Christoffel Greyling Kemp (10 June 1872 – 31 December 1946) was a South African Boer officer, rebel general, and politician [Second Boer War; South Africa; General Kitchener]
Publication details: 
In the Field [South Africa]; 1 August 1901.
£250.00

1p, 4to. Written in pencil on a piece of tissue paper, stamped in one corner with leaf number 675. Aged and wrinkled, with fraying to edges, but text clear and complete. Folded twice. A scarce survival, such thin paper, used for security reasons, not faring well in the passage of time. The signature is Kemp's, the rest of the document being in a secretarial hand. An interesting document – which would seem to indicate that the British were employing a more conciliatory approach following Emily Hobhouse's revelations in her June 1901 report on British concentration camps.

[Sir Frederic George Kenyon, Director and Principal Librarian of the British Museum.] Autograph Letter Signed ('F. G. Kenyon') to 'Mr Frewen', writing in wartime to thank him for offering 'duplicates to help in the restoration of destroyed libraries'

Author: 
Sir Frederic George Kenyon [Sir F. G. Kenyon] (1863-1952), palaeographer, biblical and classical scholar, Director and Principal Librarian of the British Museum, President of the British Academy
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Friends of the National Libraries, c/o The British Museum, London, WC1. 1 September 1941.
£56.00

2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. He is 'very much obliged' to Frewen for the offer 'of duplicates to help in the restoration of destroyed libraries', and notes that 'it is impossible to forecast the needs that will exist at the end of the war'. In the meantime he has 'marked with the initials F. [L. S.?] a number of volumes in your list which I think are sure to be useful for our purpose.

[Sir George Thomas Napier, distinguished soldier.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Geo. Napier') to 'Captn. Hamilton', regarding his request for a position, and quoting from a letter from Secretary at War Fox Maule.

Author: 
Sir George Thomas Napier (1784-1855), distinguished British army officer who served in the Peninsular War and commanded the army of the Cape Colony [Major-General William Craig Emilius Napie]
Publication details: 
Geneva. 11 July [1855].
£56.00

The letter must have been written in 1855, as Fox Maule (later Earl of Dalhousie) was appointed Secretary of State for War on 8 February of that year, and Napier died on 16 September. 4pp, 16mo. Bifolium with black border. Loss to part of second leaf caused by removal from mount, resulting in loss of a few words of text, otherwise in good condition. Begins: 'In consequence of a letter from my Son William of your regt. [i.e. the King's Own Scottish Borderers] stating your wish to be appointed a Paymaster to the Out Pensioners, I wrote to my friend Mr Fox Maule the Secy.

[Violet Markham, author and social reformer, to art historian Benedict Nicholson.] Typed Letter Signed ('Violet Markham'), thanking him for 'drawings of St. Nectaire', discussing France and French 'betrayal of the Allied cause'.

Author: 
Violet Markham [Violet Rosa Markham], author, social reformer and campaigner against women's suffrage [Benedict Nicholson (1914-1978), art historian]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 8 Gower Street, Bloomsbury [London]. 3 December 1942.
£65.00

2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to 'B. Nicholson, Esq., | Brooks's, | St. James's Street, S.W.1.' (Nicholson was the son of Harold Nicholson and Vita Sackville-West.) She begins by thanking him for his 'kind letter and charming gift of your drawings of St. Nectaire', adding: 'as an author my vanity is flattered by your appreciation of “Romanesque France”'. She is glad she has helped 'a certain number of people in getting to know some of the beauties of France', but feels 'something of a fraud about the book as without the help of my friend Mr.

[Anne de Vere Chamberlain, wife of Conservative Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.] Autograph Note Signed ('Anne Chamberlain') to printed notice of thanks for messages of condolence on her husband's death.

Author: 
Anne de Vere Chamberlain [née Cole] (1883-1967), wife of Conservative Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain [Arthur Neville Chamberlain] (1869-1940), who pursued a policy of appeasement against Hitler
Publication details: 
Printed notice is dated from Highfield Park, Heckfield, Basingstoke; November 1940; Autograph Note undated.
£100.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Conventionally-presented printed notice, in copperplate with mourning border, with address and date at foot. Reads: 'Mrs. Neville Chamberlain is deeply grateful for the wonderful messages and letters which she has received and she sends you her heartfelt thanks for your sympathy.' At the head of the notice is the ANS: 'Thank you Sir Egerton so much. I [?] you are right in what you say about my husband's efforts & work. & I like to have your sympathy. | Anne Chamberlain'.

[Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Dundas, Royal Navy officer who distinguished himself at Trafalgar.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Thomas Dundas') to Sir John Philippart, regarding his writing of an article for the Naval and Military Gazette.

Author: 
Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Dundas (1765-1841), Royal Navy officer in American War of Independence, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and at Battle of Trafalgar [Sir John Philippart]
Publication details: 
Falkirk. 11 January 1832.
£220.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with traces of mount, and red wax seal, adhering to the reverse of the second leaf, which is franked (the franker's name and signature illegible) to 'Sir John Phippart [sic] | &c &c | No 8 New Burlington St'. Slight loss to one corner of second leaf, from breaking open of seal, with damage to one word of text.

[Lord Gambier, Admiral of the Fleet.] Manuscript designs of heraldic achievements (coats of arms), made by a signwriter for display at his funeral.

Author: 
[Admiral Lord Gambier [James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier (1756-1833), Admiral of the Fleet, Royal Navy officer in American Revolutionary War and French Revolutionary Wars and Glorious First of June]
Publication details: 
'April 22nd.' [1832].
£400.00

An interesting and unusual survival, casting light on funerary practice in Georgian London. In black ink on 37 x 15 cm piece of watermarked laid paper, clearly cut from the working ledger of the signwriter responsible for the display at Gambier's funeral. Two excellent drawings, marked up with notes for colours, as a guide for the painting process.

[W.L. George, novelist ] Autograph Letter Signed "W L George" to "[Mr?] Clifford", mentioning 'shirkers' and discussing the Battle of Verdun and possible consequences,.

Author: 
W.L. George [Walter Lionel George (1882, Paris, France–1926) chiefly known for his popular fiction, which included feminist, pacifist, and pro-labour themes]
Publication details: 
[Printed heading] Ministry of Munitions of War, Whitehill Place, SW, 4 June 1916.
£180.00

One page, 4to, good condition. "Two little acts of Justice: one yto John Palmer who I am told has twice tried to enlist and was turned down for eyes, but the other 'shirkers' stand; one to one: I thought and thought about my fatal phrase, which did not sound quite right on the phone, and yet was familiar: : what I said was 'I'd rather be cut than shot for a cause I don't believe in',- " He imagines how good it would be when the fighting is over ("dividon and pain").

[Admiral Saumarez ] Autograph Note in the third person describing the gratitude of Emperors/Kings (Russian, Austrian, Prussian and Swedish).

Author: 
Admiral Sir James Saumarez [1st Baron de Saumarez (or Sausmarez), GCB (1757–1836)].
Publication details: 
No date or place. Docketed [ 1827 ]
£120.00

Two pages, obl.12mo, fold mark, good condition. "Previous to leaving the Baltic, Sir James Saumarez was presented with a magnificent Sword [sett?] in Diamonds by His Majesty The King of Sweden for the Services he rendered to thjat country and upon the arrival of the Emperor of Russia and the King of Prussia in England he was honored with their Majesties persoanl thanks for the benefit derived to the Common Cause of Europe, which were also communicated to him from the Emperor of Austria by his Excellency Prince Metternich.

[Jon Silkin, poet.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Jon Silkin') to the playwright Christopher Fry, asking permission to print Fry's poem on Edmund Blunden, with reference to his own book 'Out of Battle'.

Author: 
Jon Silkin (1930-1997), poet and editor of the literary magazine 'Stand' [Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright; Edmund Blunden]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Stand Magazine, 179 Wingrove Road, Newcastle upon Tyne; 19 July 1997.
£80.00

2pp, landscape 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Begins: 'Dear Christopher Fry, | I am sorry to contradict you, but I showed my co-editor, the poet Rodney Pybus, your poem “For Edmund Blunden”, and we both [last word underlined] feel it should be published, and that we would like to publish it. Please.' In the hope that Fry will agree, he asks him to 'sign and return an acceptance form and send us the biog. note you would like to print alongside the poem'. He continues: 'I do hope you'll agree.

[Spencer Perceval, the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated.] Autograph Rough Notes, titled 'Parliamentary | Miscellaneous', for a House of Commons debate on Customs and Excise duties, with reference to 'the Brandy act of last year'.

Author: 
Spencer Perceval (1762-1812), Tory Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer [William Pleydell-Bouverie, 3rd Earl of Radnor [Lord Folkestone] (1779-1869); Customs and Excise duties]
Publication details: 
[Houses of Parliament. 1808.]
£500.00

On both sides of a 37 x 24 cm piece of paper (i.e. half a 'pinched post' folio leaf), with 1806 fleur-de-lys watermark. Folded twice, to make eight 24 x 9 cm panels (four on each side), in seven of which Perceval has written his notes in a close and neat hand. The eighth panel forms the outside of the folded paper, and on this Perceval has written 'Parliamentary | Miscellaneous'. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn.

[Charles Townshend, British politician behind the Townshend Acts.] Autograph Signature ('C Townshend') and seal, with signatures of Charles Bembridge, John Powell, Thomas Farraine, to document appointing Robert Digby deputy paymaster of Minorca.

Author: 
Charles Townshend (1725-1767), British politician behind the Townshend Acts in the American Revolution; Charles Bembridge; John Powell; Thomas Farraine [Admiral Robert Digby (1732-1815); Minorca]
Publication details: 
'the 12th. of June 1765 in the Fifth Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the Third of Great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, &c.'
£220.00

1p, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to edge on reverse. Folded once. Signed 'C Townshend' with good impression of seal in red wax at bottom right. Nineteen-line document in a secretarial hand, with tax stamp at head. At foot, by two members of the Army Pay Office, Horse Guards: 'Sign'd, Sealed and delivered, (being first duly stamp'd) in the presence of | John Powell | Chas: Bembridge'.

[ Russell Braddon ] Autograph Note Signed "Russell Braddon" to a "Mr Kwiatowski", about having his photograph taken.

Author: 
Russell Braddon, Australian author (of "Naked Island" etc.)
Publication details: 
[Headed] 11e Cornwall Gardens, London, SW&, 10 Nov. 1989.
£65.00

One page, 8vo, very good condition. He thanks his correspondent for his letter and poems, adding: "I dislike being formally photographed, so I have no studio shots to send you, but I enclose the four signed cards for which you asked - even though I doubt that those to Wendy, Mary and Anon will be in the least appreciated."

[Duff Cooper, as Minister of Information in Churchill's wartime government.] Publicity document, in facsimile of typed letter, praising the British Commonwealth of Nations, attacking Hitler, and looking ahead to a union of European nations.

Author: 
Duff Cooper [Alfred Duff Cooper, 1st Viscount Norwich] (1890-1954), Conservative politician, diplomat and author, Minister of Information in Winston Churchill's wartime government
Publication details: 
On letterhead of The Special Secretariat, Ministry of Information, Malet Street, London, W.C.1. 2 August 1940.
£180.00

2pp, 8vo. On a single leaf. In fair condition, aged, worn and creased, with one short closed tear. Folded twice.

[Colonel Sir Anthony Coningham Sterling of the Highland Brigade, Scottish soldier and military historian.] First four pages of Autograph Letter to 'Maclean', describing his efforts to obtain a commission for Maclean's 'Young friend'.

Author: 
Colonel Sir Anthony Coningham Sterling (1805–1871), Scottish soldier who distinguished himself during the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny, author of 'The Highland Brigade in the Crimea'
Publication details: 
3 South Place, Knightsbridge. 1 November 1856.
£120.00

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Evidently incomplete: the first part only of a long letter. Begins: 'My dear Maclean | I have it not in my heart to put forward an excuse for very long silence, beyond an amount of employment the like of which I have never had thrown upon me before, for many years.' He hopes to see him, but leaves that night 'for the North on a tour of inspection'.

[Commander Stephen King-Hall's propaganda battle with Joseph Goebbels.] Printed pamphlet, in German, a letter from King-Hall to 'Lieber deutschen Leser', ridiculing Hitler, Goebbels and the Nazis. With contemporary English translation.

Author: 
Stephen King-Hall [William Stephen Richard King-Hall, Baron King-Hall] (1893-1966), writer, politician, naval officer, propagandist
Publication details: 
[London, 1939.] Letter dated from 162 Buckingham Palace Road, London, S.W.1. Slug: 'L.C.P. - 5404'.
£180.00

The present item is part of a propaganda battle between King-Hall and Goebbels. The only other copy of the item located is at the German National Library, King-Hall having 'contrived to infiltrate', as his Oxford DNB entry has it, this 'German version' of his 'King-Hall News Letter' to 'individuals in the Reich, provoking a vehement reaction from Goebbels and Hitler himself'. See also the article in Time magazine, 7 August 1939: 'Last week all Europe was excited about the propaganda battle between England's Commander Stephen King-Hall and Germany's Paul Joseph Goebbels (TIME, July 31).

[V-Letter from Karl Shapiro to George Barker, written in publication year of Shapiro's 'V-Letter and other Poems'.] A V-Mail [Victory Mail] letter (i.e. photographic print of autograph letter), praising Barker and criticising current 'War Poetry'.

Author: 
Karl Shapiro [Karl Jay Shapiro] (1913-2000), American poet [George Barker (1913-1991), English poet]
Publication details: 
A V-Mail [Victory Mail] letter. San Francisco. February 1944.
£500.00

An interesting communication from one noted twentieth-century English-language poet to another, and of additional significance as a V-Letter written in the year of publication of Shapiro's first successful collection, the Pulitzer Prize winning 'V-Letter and Other Poems' (1944). (See Diederik Oostdijk, 'The Wartime Success of Karl Shapiro's V-Letter' (2006).) The present item is a V-Mail [Victory Mail] letter: a 13.5 x 11 cm photograph print of an autograph letter bearing the censor's stamp.

['Mau Mau terrorism' in Kenya, and the UK Foreign Office.] Typewritten Foreign Office briefing document titled: '(a) The political and economic effect of MAU MAU in KENYA.'

Author: 
'Mau Mau terrorism' in Kenya, and the British Foreign Office [Kikuyu tribe; Jomo Kenyatta; Sir Philip Mitchell; Sir Evelyn Baring]
Publication details: 
[United Kingdom Foreign Office, Whitehall, London. Circa 1953.]
£150.00

The Mau Mau uprising began in 1952, and the atrocities committed by the rebels were matched by those of the British, whose Attorney General in Kenya, Eric Griffith-Jones, wrote to Governor Baring in 1957 that the colony's detention camps for Mau Mau suspects were 'distressingly reminiscent of conditions in Nazi Germany or Communist Russia'.

[The Fall of Fort Bowyer to the British, following the Battle of New Orleans, 1815.] Contemporary Manuscript Copy of Autograph Despatch from Major John Lambert to Earl Bathurst, describing the action.

Author: 
Sir John Lambert (1772-1847), British Army general in the Napoleonic Wars [Henry Bathurst (1762-1834), 3rd Earl Bathurst; Battle of New Orleans and Fall of Fort Bowyer, 1815]
Publication details: 
'Head Quarters Isle Dauphine | February 14th. 1815.' [On paper with Golding & Snelgrove watermark dated 1811.]
£750.00

3pp, foolscap 8vo. On laid paper with watermark: 'GOLDING | & | SNELGROVE | 1811'. Aged and worn, with closed tears along folds, but with text complete and clear. The document includes two passages written in red ink which has faded but is still legible. The background to the present letter is given in Lambert's entry in the Oxford DNB: 'On 4 June 1813 Lambert was promoted major-general, and was appointed to a brigade of the 6th division. […] Having been sent to America, he joined the army under Sir Edward Pakenham below New Orleans on 6 January 1815, with the 7th and 43rd foot regiments.

[Poland; Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki, Commander-in-Chief of the November Uprising.] Conclusion of Autograph Letter Signed ('Skygnecki.'), in French, to 'Le General Lt. de Tahlen', regarding the needs 'de la nation Polonoise' for religion and liberty.

Author: 
Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki (1787-1860), Polish general, Commander-in-Chief of the November Uprising against Russia, 1830-1831
Publication details: 
'Varsovie 12 Mars 1831.' [Warsaw, Poland; 12 March 1831.]
£600.00

Lower half of a 4to leaf. In good condition, lightly aged, with stub from mount adhering. Written in old-fashioned, and not entirely grammatical, French, the text reads: '[…] de la nation Polonoise a la quelle S. M. donneroit le garanties necessaires, sous le respect de la stabilité des droits qu'elle réclame et qui sont fondés sur deux besoins absolus: la religion e le [sic] liberté. | A greez M. le M. l'assurance de plus [?] consideration avec la quelle je suis &c Varsovie 12 Mars 1831. | Skygnecki | Monsieur le Comte | Le Genenral Lt.

[Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki, Commander-in-Chief of the November Uprising.] Conclusion of Autograph Letter Signed ('Skygnecki.'), in French, to 'Le General Lt. de Tahlen', regarding the needs 'de la nation Polonoise' for religion and liberty.

Author: 
Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki (1787-1860), Polish general, Commander-in-Chief of the November Uprising against Russia, 1830-1831
Publication details: 
'Varsovie 12 Mars 1831.' [Warsaw, Poland; 12 March 1831.]
£750.00

Lower half of a 4to leaf. In good condition, lightly aged, with stub from mount adhering. Written in old-fashioned, and not entirely grammatical, French, the text reads: '[…] de la nation Polonoise a la quelle S. M. donneroit le garanties necessaires, sous le respect de la stabilité des droits qu'elle réclame et qui sont fondés sur deux besoins absolus: la religion e le [sic] liberté. | A greez M. le M. l'assurance de plus [?] consideration avec la quelle je suis &c Varsovie 12 Mars 1831. | Skygnecki | Monsieur le Comte | Le Genenral Lt.

[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.

[Sir John Lavery, Irish artist, to Sir Arthur Stockdale Cope, portraitist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('John Lavery'), regarding the Artists' General Benevolent Institution and a man who has 'pestered' him 'by his visits and letters'.

Author: 
Sir John Lavery (1856-1941), RA, Irish painter [Sir Arthur Stockdale Cope (1857-1940), RA, portrait painter; Artists' General Benevolent Institution, London]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 5 Cromwell Place, S.W.7 [London]. 30 January 1918.
£300.00

2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed to 'My dear Cope'. After thanking him for his letter Lavery writes: 'Our “friend” [Braynard?] when he called to ask for my signature told me many things, amongst others that the A. G. B. I. had already given him a grant some time back and that [Charleton?], Brangwyn and I were his sponsors | I had a hazy recollection of him and made up my mind that I would sign his paper and let the Secretary of the A. G. B. I. know the circumstance, which I did do that same day.

[Ivan Maisky, Soviet Union Ambassador to the United Kingdom during the Second World War.] Autograph Signature ('I. Maisky').

Author: 
Ivan Maisky [Ivan Mikhailovich Maisky] (1884-1975), Soviet Union Ambassador to the United Kingdom during the Second World War
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£100.00

On 6 x 7.5 cm slip of paper, laid down on a piece of card. In good condition, lightly aged. A good firm and large signature, reading 'I. Maisky'.

[Tania Long of the New York Times writes from wartime London on 'queue psychology' in Britain and America.] Typed Letter Signed ('Tania Long Daniell') to Punch editor E. V. Knox, in connection with an article being commissioned from him.

Author: 
Tania Long [Tania Long Daniell] (1913-1998), American journalist and war correspondent [E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox] (1881-1971, 'Evoe'), editor of Punch]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the London bureau of the New York Times, Savoy Hotel, London WC2. 24 May 1943.
£250.00

Long's obituary in the New York Times, 6 September 1998, describes her as 'war correspondent for The New York Herald Tribune and The New York Times who covered the London blitz and the Nuremburg trials' and 'one of only a few women who were correspondents in World War II'. She had joined the New York Herald Tribune's London bureau in 1941, and subsequently married Raymond Daniell, chief of the New York Times's London bureau, joining that newspaper as a reporter in February 1942.

[Alys Pearsall Smith, first wife of Bertrand Russell.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Alys Russell') to 'Mr Armstrong' [radical journalist George Gilbert Armstrong], regarding his 'valuable little pamphlet'.

Author: 
Alys Russell [born Alyssa Whitall Pearsall Smith] (1867-1951), American Quaker activist, sister of critic Logan Pearsall Smith, first wife of Bertrand Russell [George Gilbert Armstrong (1870-1945)]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 11 St Leonard's Terrace, Chelsea, S.W. [London] 29 June 1917.
£220.00

She thanks him for sending his 'most interesting & valuable little pamphlet', which she will give to her friends to read, hoping that it will 'really help at this most difficult time'. She is struck by his 'footnote about “The Freedom of the Seas”', and wishes she 'could really understand that subject'. She ends by asking (disingenuously?) if anything has been written which 'puts your point of view at more length & simply enough for an ordinary mortal to take it in'. The pamphlet referred to is presumably Armstrong's 'Peace with Security' (1917).

[Christmas Card from the British Expeditionary Force, France, 1939.] Lithographed Christmas Card, with 'B.E.F.' and Spearhead Badge of 1 British Corps, and illustration by 'L. D. C.' of White Cliffs of Dover, France, military convoy, army camp.

Author: 
[British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F.), France, 1939; 1 British Corps; British Army]
Publication details: 
British Expeditionary Force [France]. Christmas 1939.
£100.00

A nice piece of Second World War ephemera, of which no other copy has been traced. 1 British Corps formed part of the B.E.F., travelling to France in September 1939, and withdrawing from Dunkirk at the 'Darkest Hour' in May 1940. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Lithographed in black on the four sides of a 9.5 x 15 cm bifolium. Two parallel diagonal red lines printed at top left of front cover, which also carries the Spearhead badge of 1 British Corps at centre, above 'B.E.F.' in a scroll, with 'Christmas – 1939' at bottom left.

[Flatbush Motor Corps, National League for Woman's Service, New York.] Programme of entertainment in aid of the Corps, including 'Houdini | The World's Greatest Mystifier' and 'The Celebrated Creator of the Jazz Dance Craze' Bert Kelly.

Author: 
Flatbush Motor Corps, National League for Woman's Service, New York [Harry Houdini; Bert Kelly's Famous Band; Red Cross]
Publication details: 
[Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York.] Flatbush Theatre, Church and Flatbush Avenues. 9 December 1918.
£220.00

[40]pp., small 4to. Stapled in brown printed wraps. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Title from cover, where it is printed in blue, enclosed in a border of US flags, with clutch of four flags (UK Red Ensign, Cuban, French, US) in blue and red at head. Filled with advertisements, including an illustrated full-page one inside the front cover for 'Dodge Brothers | Convertible Car'.

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