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Author, Title, Summary Price
Sir Henry Halford [born Henry Vaughan] (1766-1844), Physician Extraordinary to George III, George IV, William IV and the young Victoria

[Sir Henry Halford, President of the Royal College of Physicians.] Autograph Letter in third person to [G. J. Guthrie] President of the Royal College of Surgeons, explaining non-attendance at the coming Hunterian Oration.

2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, aged, but with closed tear along inner edge of leaf caused by removal from mount, and affecting a couple of words of text. The letter reads: 'Sir Henry Halford assures the President of the Royal College of Surgeons that it grieves him to forgo the pleasure of being...

£60.00
Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal (1776-1846), judge, Chief Justice of Common Pleas [Lord Lyndhurst [John Singleton Copley, 1st Baron Lyndhurst] (1772-1863), Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain]

[Sir Nicholas Conyngham Tindal, as Solicitor General.] Autograph Letter Signed ('N. C. Tindal') to [Lord Lyndhurst] Lord Chancellor, proposing his friend Rev. T. Foord Bowes for the living of Thwing, Yorkshire. With Lyndhurst's autograph endorsement.

Tindal is notable for defending Queen Caroline in her 1820 adultery trial, and for introducing the special verdict 'Not Guilty by reason of insanity', in the case of Daniel M'Naghten. The letter is undated, but Tindal states that it was a written a week after the death of Rev. John Kirk, Rector...

£65.00
Judge Jeffreys [George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys of Wem] (1645-1689), byword for cruelty for his handling of the Bloody Assizes after Monmouth's Rebellion [William of Orange; Glorious Revolution]

[Judge Jeffreys, William of Orange and the Glorious Revolution, 1688.] Printed handbill: 'The Lord Chancellor's Petition to His Highness the Prince of Orange, On His Entrance into London.'

ESTC R21335, which states: 'Attributed to George Jeffreys. Cf. BM.' 1p, folio. Aged and worn, with fraying to edges, but with text clear and entire. At top right, in pencil, in an eighteenth-century hand, 'Dupl' (i.e. duplicate). The heading reads: 'THE | Lord Chancellor's | PETITION | To His...

£280.00
[William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806), Prime Minister during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars] Summers & Young, Printers, Sunderland

Handbill satirical spoof epitaph on William Pitt the Younger, printed in Sunderland, titled ''An Inscription for the Proposed Monument to the Rt. Hon. W. Pitt. Respectfully dedicated to the Subscribers to his Statue. De Mortuis nil nisi Verum.'

A savage and bitterly-sarcastic satirical spoof epitaph, the text of which, the Liverpool Mercury reported in 1822, had been 'repeatedly published before'. Some versions are said to have included a woodcut by George Cruikshank, but the only other publication found (with a few minor variations...

£250.00
Thomas Anstey Guthrie ['F. Anstey'] (1856-1934), Punch humorist, novelist and journalist, author of 'Vice Versa' and 'The Tinted Venus' ['Arthur Chudleigh' [Arthur Lillies], actor-manager]

[Thomas Anstey Guthrie ['F. Anstey'], Punch humorist and novelist.] Autograph Letter Signed 'Anstey Guthrie' to the actor-manager Arthur Chudleigh, sending a present and commenting on the success of 'Pinero's brilliant play'.

1p, 12mo. Letterhead in green. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of glue from mount adhering to blank reverse. Addressed to 'My dear Chudleigh'. He asks him to accept 'the accompanying volume', which he ordered to be bound for him 'weeks ago but it has only turned up this...

£45.00
Rupert Hart-Davis [Sir Rupert Charles Hart-Davis] (1907-1999), publisher, editor and letter-writer [Percy Muir [Percy H. Muir] (1894-1979), leading bookseller with firm Elkin Mathews]

[Sir Rupert Hart-Davis, publisher.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Rupert') to antiquarian bookseller Percy Muir, praising his catalogues as his 'favourite reading', and ordering items while 'saving up' for his daughter's wedding.

1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with three punch holes to margin, and endorsement of number in a circle. The letter begins: 'My dear Percy | Your catalogues – especially the literary parts of them – are my favourite reading. You find such unusual books, and describe them with such...

£90.00
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

[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'

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 '...

£56.00
T. E. B. Clarke [Thomas Ernest Bennett 'Tibby' Clarke] (1907-1989), screenwriter who won an Oscar for 'The Lavender Hill Mob', and crime writer [Ealing Comedies; Barbara Kaye, novelist]

[T. E. B. Clarke, Oscar-winning screenwriter and crime writer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Tibby') to the novelist Barbara Kaye, discussing common acquaintances after the episode of the TV programme 'This Is Your Life' devoted to him.

Other than 'The Lavender Hill Mob', for which he won an Oscar, Clarke's screenplays include 'The Blue Lamp' and 'The Titchfield Thunderbolt'. For the recipient Barbara Kaye [Barbara Kenrick Gowing] (1908-1998), writer, bookseller and wife of Percy Muir, see her obituary by Nicolas Barker in the...

£45.00
Robert Clarke, actor-manager, Theatre Royal, Liverpool [Charles Kean (1811-1868), actor-manager, son of Edmund Kean, husband of Ellen Tree (1805-1880); Benjamin Webster (1797-1882), actor, dramatist]

[Charles Kean and his wife Ellen Tree prepare to return from America.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Rt. Clarke.') from Robert Clarke to Benjamin Webster, asking on Kean's behalf for 'information respecting Theatres in England', discussing Kean and wife.

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium, endorsed 'Clarke' on reverse of second leaf. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded three times. The letter begins: 'My dear Webster, | Charles Kean has requested me to give him information respecting Theatres in England, in which it is probable he may form...

£80.00
John Van Druten [John William Van Druten] (1901-1957), English playwright and theatre director [Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960),; Ivor Novello; Christopher Isherwood; Julie Harris]

[John Van Druten, dramatist.] Typed Letter Signed ('John van Druten') to W. J. Macqueen-Pope, discussing his memories of Ivor Novello, and his new play 'I am a Camera', based on Christopher Isherwood, and Julie Harris.

2pp, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. A very good and informative letter. Written from the A. J. C. Ranch, which Van Druten had purchased with his former lover Carter Lodge (now his business manager) and the British actress Auriol Lee. Van Druten left his interest in the ranch to...

£150.00
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