WILL

[Will Fyffe, Scottish comedian and music hall entertainer.] Two drafts of Typed Obituary of Fyffe [by theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope].

Author: 
[Will Fyffe (1885-1947), Scottish comedian and music hall entertainer] W. Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian
Publication details: 
No date or place. [1947. London.]
£90.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. MP is not named as the author, but there is no doubt that he is. Item one has corrections in his hand. Both versions are simply titled ‘Will Fyffe’. The two versions exhibit a number of differences from one another. It is not clear where the obituary was published, but it was probably the London magazine ‘Everybody’s’, for which MP contributed a weekly column. ONE: 4pp, 4to, double-spaced, on four leaves.

[Charles Wadsworth inscribes Rampant Lions Press book with his illustrations to poems on Robert Frost to Christopher Fry, also signed by author.] Seed Leaves | Homage to R. F. | Poetry by Richard Wilbur | Prints by Charles Wadsworth.

Author: 
Richard Wilbur; Charles Wadsworth; Richard R. Godine, Publisher, Boston; Will Carter, Rampant Lions Press, Cambridge [Christopher Fry; Robert Frost]
Publication details: 
David R. Godine, Publisher, Boston. [No 44 of '160 copies only designed and printed by Will Carter at the Rampant Lions Press, Cambridge, England'] 1974.
£150.00

Beautiful stitched pamphlet, with three gorgeous colour natural history prints by Wadsworth, comprising frontispiece and one other full-page print, and double-page print incorporating the words of the title. Near fine. Text unpaginated, printed on eleven pages, over eight leaves of green laid paper. Numbered 44 on the colophon, which carries the device of the Rampant Lions Press, and is signed 'Richard Wilbur' and 'Charles E.

[Rampant Lions Press, Cambridge.] Printers' dummy for the author of 'Root & Sky. Poetry from the plays of Christopher Fry. Compiled and arranged by Charles E. and Jean G. Wadsworth. Collagraph-intaglios designed and printed by Charles E. Wadsworth.

Author: 
Rampant Lions Press, Cambridge; Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright; Charles E. Wadsworth and Jean G. Wadsworth; Will Carter and Sebastian Carter
Publication details: 
Rampant Lions Press, Cambridge. [Circa 1975.]
£1,500.00

A very nice artefact relating to a beautiful Rampant Lions production, published in 1975. Printers' dummy, produced to indicate the intended layout of the book, consisting of duplicated typed leaves, with emendations and printing instructions in manuscript, showing the intended arrangement of the 125 pages of letterpress (and including an alternative version of p.78), with eleven illustrations loosely interleaved. In good condition, lightly aged and worn.

[ Will Owen, illustrator of W. W. Jacobs. ] Two unpublished autograph volumes by Owen, the first and last of a three-volume work described by him as 'a more or less humorous account of a ramble round the Kentish Coast by two men'.

Author: 
Will Owen (1859-1957), English book illustrator associated with W. W. Jacobs, cartoonist, caricaturist and commercial artist making posters for London Underground, creator of the 'Bisto Kids'
Publication details: 
'A Corner of Kent | by Will Owen | Flat 90. Charterhouse Square | E.C.1 [ London ]'. Undated [ late 1940s? ].
£850.00

The two volumes constitute the first and last volumes (the middle volume is missing) of a three-volume work described by its author as 'a more or less humorous account of a ramble round the Kentish Coast by two men'. This unpublished work constitutes a topographical and social narrative, written by the well-known artist and illustrator when in his eighties. Stylistically indebted to Jerome K.

[ Will Till, South African photographer. ] Long Autograph Letter Signed to English royal photographer Marcus Adams, discussing his work, methods and circumstances.

Author: 
Will Till (c.1893-1971), photographer, 'the greatest South African pictorialist' [ Marcus Adams (1875-1959), English royal photographer ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Will Till, Hon. F.R.P.S., "Bryro", 3 Grays Terrace, Kensington, Johannesburg, South Africa. 2 July 1956.
£120.00

4pp., 4to. In good condition, lightly-aged and worn. Long closely-written letter, friendly and informative. Topics include the breaking of his right arm, the weather in Johannesburg ('I do not take my landscapes in winter - but our Transvaal summer is my time to operate with the camera to record the trees - the clouds & all the mood that goes with it'), Adams's support for 'the London Salon panel of prints'.

[ Will Day, British cinema pioneer. ] Typed Letter Signed ('W. Day | F.R.P.S. FRSA') to firm of royal photographer Marcus Adams, regarding his desire to end a 'film somewhat of a national character' with 'a short length of little Princess Elizabeth'.

Author: 
Will Day [ Wilfred Ernest Lytton Day ] (1873-1936), cinema historian, showman and dealer in film equipment [ Marcus Adams (1875-1959), royal photographer ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Will Day, Ltd, Wireless Apparatus, 19 Lisle Street, Wardour Street, W.C., London. 22 May 1928.
£65.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Ornate letterhead printed in red and black, with engraving of a rising sun ('The Mark of Excellence'). Addressed to 'Messrs. Marcus Adams Ltd. | Child Photographers, | 43, Dover Street, | W.1.' The letter begins: 'I have in hand the production of a film somewhat of a national character, including all the episodes in the reigns of our Royal Family, from Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee onwards, and I thought it would be a very nice idea to finish the film with a short length of little Princess Elizabeth.

[Printed pamphlet.] The English College System. A Lecture by Will Spens, Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge before Yale University, 19 October 1933.

Author: 
Will Spens, Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
Publication details: 
Printed at the University Press, Cambridge. [Cambridge: Printed by Walter Lewis, M.A., at the University Press.] [1933.]
£80.00

19pp., 12mo. Stitched; in light-brown printed wraps. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. With stamp, label and shelfmarks of the Board of Education Reference Library. Two copies on OCLC WorldCat and none on COPAC.

Autographh Letter Signed from the illustrator Will Owen, thanking T. Hellier Denselow for saying 'nice things' about his work, which he himself likes 'occasionally - not often'.

Author: 
Will Owen (1869-1957), English book illustrator and poster artist [T. Hellier Denselow]
Publication details: 
4 Richmond Avenue, Richmond, Surrey. 7 July 1901.
£38.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The letter is addressed to 'T. Hellier Denselow Esq.', but the accompanying envelope (with stamp and postmark) is addressed by him to 'D. [sic] Hellier Denselow Esqre | 137 Hurlingham Road | London S.W.' Owen thanks Denselow 'for all the nice things in your letter', adding that he is 'glad you like the sketches. I do myself occasionally - not often.' Denselow would himself appear to have been a commercial artist, with a studio in Gunnersbury Lane in west London.

Autograph Note Signed ('Will Irwin') from the American 'muckraker' journalist William Henry Irwin.

Author: 
Will Irwin [William Henry Irwin] (1873-1948), American author and 'muckraker' journalist
Publication details: 
On his letterhead, 240 West 11th Street, New York City. No date.
£56.00

Landscape 12mo. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. Reads: 'Dear Dan; / You're one of the birds I just love to be praised by! / As ever / [signed] Will Irwin'.

Typed Letter Signed ('Richard. O. Gross') to K. W. Luckhurst, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Richard Oliver Gross (1882-1964), English-born New Zealand sculptor
Publication details: 
20 June 1949; on his letterhead from 7 Marie Avenue, Hillsborough, Auckland, New Zealand.
£38.00

4to, 1 p, 8 lines. Lightly creased and with a little smudging from a carbon and some minor paperclip staining (none of which affects the signature). He is sending 'a short article [not present] - "Art in the Post War World", and a copy of an address to "The Auckland Society of Arts." ' He believes 'that countries like New Zealand, cut off from the inspiration and example of what is best in European Art, are prone to be dazzled by Materialistic Efficiency; even when linked with the best technical flavourings through Art in industry.'

Prospectus for an edition of Johnson's 'THE VANITY OF HUMAN WISHES', with sample illustration by Tegetmeier.

Author: 
Rampant Lions Press [Denis Tegetmeier; Samuel Johnson]
Publication details: 
To be published this summer 1984 by the | RAMPANT LIONS PRESS | 12 Chesterton Road, Cambridge, England'.
£23.00

Unbound. Large Octavo bifolium on grey wove paper. Good only, with creasing to corners (that would carefully iron out), and some marking to front cover. Title in large gold letters on front, details of edition on versos of both leaves, and specimen page on recto of second leaf. Illustration ('The author | A reproduction of Tegetmeier's frontispiece') on Arches paper (twelve and a half inches by nine wide) loosely inserted, together with printed 'Book order' leaf.

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