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Author, Title, Summary Price
B. F. Stevens [Benjamin Franklin Stevens] of Vermont, London-based American bookseller, 17 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden [The Chiswick Press, Whittingham and Willkins, Tooks Court, Chancery Lane]

[Printed catalogue.] One Thousand English Books all in handsome Bindings recommended by B. F. Stevens for the Foundation of the English Portion of an American Home Library.

Not paginated. [107]pp., 16mo. Internally good and tight, elegantly printed in red and black. In original heavily-worn green leather binding. Small leaf, printed on both sides, advertising the book, loosely inserted. In the twenty-two lines on the reverse Stevens states that 'The price of all...

£280.00
[J. Vavasseur of 'Rothbury', Blackheath Park; Hampton & Sons, 2 & 3 Cockspur Street, London, SW]

[Book auction catalogue.] "Rothbury," Blackheath Park, [...] Catalogue of the Valuable Library formed by the late J. Vavasseur, Esq., C.B. [Partially priced, and with manuscript list of booksellers attending.]

20pp., 4to. Stapled. In original card wraps printed in black and red. 317 lots. Worn and aged and with central vertical crease to volume. Central bifolium loose. Advertisement for the auctioneers on inside front cover, and 'Time Table' on inside rear. A second day's sale, on the following day,...

£220.00
William Gawtress, printer and proprietor of the 'Leeds Intelligencer' [Rev. Thomas Greenwood, of Trinity College, Cambridge, Lecturer at Cripplegate Church]

[William Gawtress, Leeds printer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm. Gawtress') to Rev. Thomas Greenwood, requesting contributions [to the Leeds Intelligencer] of 'Sketches' of 'Dawson and Newton', and discussing a book society and Greenwood's poetry.

2pp., 4to. On bifolium, with reverse of second leaf addressed to 'Rev. T. Greenwood, | Leeds.' In good condition, on aged paper, with slight discoloration to second leaf. BBTI lists Gawtree as active in Leeds between 1817 and 1822; he took over the Leeds Intelligencer in 1818. The first...

£280.00
Stephen Spender

[Inscribed copy.] Trial of a Judge. A tragedy in five acts.

115pp., 8vo. In red cloth binding. No dustwrapper. Aged, with back hinge sprung and one bumped corner at the back. Excellent inscription by Spender on the front free endpaper, in which he describes the history of the composition of the play: 'To And | with love from | Stephen. | March 16 1938...

£80.00
Rev. David Henry Urquhart (c.1754-1829), Prebendary of Lincoln [Cadell & Davies, London publishers; Thomas Cadell (1773-1836); William Davies; Andrew Strahan (1750-1831), printer; Spottiswoode]

[Rev. David Henry Urquhart.] Autograph Letter Signed from his wife Eliza Urquhart to his publishers [Cadell & Davies], urging them to send proofs [of his 'Commentaries on Classical Learning'] more quickly, or 'the Season will inevitably be lost'.

1p., 4to. On aged paper, with damage and discoloration to one margin. Eliza Urquhart begins her letter: 'Gentlemen, | Mr Urquhart has desired me to acquaint you that he thinks it would be adviseable immediately to see Mr Spotswood [i.e. Spottiswoode, then an employee of the book's printer Andrew...

£100.00
John Hullah [John Pyke Hulla] (1812-1884), English composer for one of whose operas Charles Dickens wrote the libretto

[John Pyke Hullah, composer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('John Hullah'), sending tickets to 'Laura'. With cutting of a few bars of manuscript sheet music by him.

Both items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. ONE (letter): 1p., 12mo. In a neat and elegant hand, it reads: 'Tuesday Night | Dear Laura | I send the tickets; as Goldsmith sent the portion of Lord Clare's haunch of venison to Sir Joshua - | "To paint it or eat it, whichever he pleased" |...

£120.00
John Bell (1764-1836) of Lincoln's Inn, English barrister

[John Bell of Lincoln's Inn.] Part of document giving his legal opinion in a cause, written out by a clerk, and signed and dated by him.

Bell's entry in the Oxford DNB records that 'In conversation with the prince regent (later George IV), Lord Chancellor Eldon was said to have described Bell as the best lawyer then at the equity bar, though he could "neither read, write, walk, nor talk": Bell was lame, spoke with a broad...

£120.00
Adolphe Thiers [Marie Joseph Louis Adolphe Thiers] (1797-1877), French statesman and historian [General Henryk Dembinski; Joachim Lelewel; Leon Chodsko; J. B. Ostrowski; Poland; Polish]

[Adolphe Thiers, French statesman.] Autograph Letter Signed ('A. Thiers'), in French, to a general [Dembinski?], regarding the plight of Polish exiles (including Lelewel and Ostrowski) following the November 1830 Uprising against the Russians.

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-worn paper. Accompanying the document is an undated and unsigned twentieth-century English translation, on letterhead of Lincoln House, Beauchamp Road, East Molesey, Surrey, headed 'A very free translation - guessing at illegible words'. At the...

£550.00 Adolphe Thiers
[Thomas Forder Plowman (1844-1919)]

[Inscribed copy.] Acis & Galataea, or The Beau ! the Belle !! and the Blacksmith !!! A Piece of Oxford Extravagance. Written for the Annual Dramatic Performance at the Victoria Theatre, Oxford, December, 1869, in aid of the Radcliffe Infirmary.

[4] + 43pp., 12mo. Stabbed as issued. An attractive and elegantly-printed little book. Internally very good, on lightly-aged paper, loose in worn light-brown calf binding, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, back hinge sprung. Stamped in gilt on the front cover: 'ACIS & GALATAEA | A PIECE OF...

£120.00
Sir Hubert von Herkomer (1849-1914), German-born British painter admired by Van Gogh [Joseph Bennett; Edward Dalziel (1817-1905), wood engraver; Dorothy Dene (1859-1899), actress; Lululaund, Bushey]

[Sir Hubert von Herkomer, painter.] Five illustrated items designed by him for his private Wagnerian theatre: invitation to 'The Sorceress'; prospectus, libretto and invitation card for his 'Pictorial-Music-Play' 'An Idyl'; and Christmas card.

In addition to his pioneering cinematographic work, Herkomer was a theatrical innovator. As Lynda Nead points out in her 'The Haunted Gallery' (Yale, 2007), it was shortly after the opening of his art school that 'he and his students created an auditorium, modelled on Wagner's Festspielhaus in...

£1,150.00
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