Literature

Autograph Letter Signed "a la Bible. on R. du cherche midi [89?]".

Author: 
Guillaume Depping.
Publication details: 
Bibliotheque Imperiale "midi [89?]".
£56.00

Miscellaneous author. Two pages, 8vo, good condition. He asks politely for two pieces of information. Firstly, they have a book with engravings about Liberia "fondee par les Americains". He wonders if Liberia has a charge d'affaires in Paris or London. Secondly, he'd like to publish an article on "votre Bibliotheque americaine" and hopes they'll provide documentation.

Part of a substantial autograph letter signed to an unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
Sir Richard Church.
Publication details: 
No place or date ([c. 1845])
£300.00

Liberator of Greece (see DNB). Three pages (one cross-written making essentially four pages), 4to, sl. damage with obscuring of a word or two, mainly good condition, apparently missing the first leaf.

Three typed letters signed, with manuscript additions and corrections, to Mrs [Lucy] Clifford, novelist and dramatist, who also adds comments in the last letter.

Author: 
St John Ervine [ John St John Greer Ervine ]
Publication details: 
8 Arcade House, Temple Fortune, NW4, 13, 17 19 Dec. 1920.
£350.00

Northern Irish Author and drama critic, see DNB. Three substantial and characteristic letters, total 8pp., 4to. She has submitted some of her plays for his critical appraisal and he has been plain-spoken. In the first letter, he comments on "The Long Duel" that he appreciates its literary rather than its dramatic qualities, but likes it. He finds two "grave faults" "one of which is common to dramatists who are primarily novelists.

Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed correspondent. En francais.

Author: 
Octave Feuillet
Publication details: 
[Paris, October 1860].
£36.00

Dramatist and novelist. One page, 8vo, good condition. In a difficult hand, he says that he has heard from [M. Rey?] that he hasn't concluded his engagement in Brussels and has no interest in the role mapped out except in a few days. He goes on to talk of the work involved in corrections which has prevented him from sending a "manuscript exact". Note: The place and date are written in another hand on the reverse.

Autograph Letter Signed to "Major Blake".

Author: 
Robert W. Chambers.
Publication details: 
43 East Eighty-Third Street, 12 Feb. 1926.
£100.00

American novelist (see American DNB). Three pages, 8vo, laid down on a piece of card, sl. soiled but text clear and complete. He acknowledges receiving a letter and goes on "I red the fascinating book with the greatest possible pleasure. It is charmingly written, and so interesting that when it ended I wished for more." He thanks Mrs Blake for "the delightful hours she has given me in following her adventures and yours." [Book unidentified] He asks the to let him know when they return to America.

Two Autograph Letters Signed to J.T.J. Hewlett, author of "Peter Priggins" and others.

Author: 
W. Shackell.
Publication details: 
1844
£80.00

(John Bull) W. Shackell (2; 1844), prob. printer (BBTI) and publisher and/or joint-proprietor of John Bull. He encourages contributions and anticipates "the Proprietor" making a proposition "for your further and permanent connexion with [John Bull]." See immediately above and below for more material from the J.T.J. Hewlett archive. Originally from a larger archive, the residue of which is described in #3157 (Hewlett's papers), this and other items appear in my ABE inventory in book id#s 3124-3156.

Autograph Letter Signed to J.T.J. Hewlett, author of "Peter Priggins" and other books.

Author: 
Henry Flower.
Publication details: 
1846
£35.00

Henry Flower, presumably the bookseller and publisher in BBTI, discussing Hewlett's Dunster Castle in congratulatory terms, hoping for a meeting. Originally from a larger archive, the residue of which is described in #3157 (Hewlett's papers), this and other items appear in my ABE inventory in book id#s 3124-3156.

Seven Autograph Letters Signed to J.T.J. Hewlett, author of "Peter Priggins" and others.

Author: 
William Mudford.
Publication details: 
1844
£200.00

(John Bull) William Mudford (DNB) (7; 1844), author and journalist. Five letters are signed "The Editor of the John Bull" or similar but two are signed by Mudford who suggests that his name is no longer a secret to Hewlett because of Barham. (Although the article in DNB on Mudford says that he succeeded Hook as Editor in 1841, no other authoritative source gives this information, from CBEL to the Waterloo Directory.) He tells Hewlett the Proprietors' requirements and his policy, presenting Theodore Hook, former Editor, as the model writer for the periodical.

Autograph Letter Signed to J.T.J. Hewlett, author of "Peter Priggins" and other books.

Author: 
Drinkwater Meadows
Publication details: 
1843
£45.00

Drinkwater Meadows (DNB), actor, taking up Hewlett's offer of help to get him published in the New Monthly Magazine. (Nothing by Meadows is listed in the Wellesley Index for NMM, but he contributed a series to Ainsworth's Magazine, Oct. 1845-August 1845.) Originally from a larger archive, the residue of which is described in #3157 (Hewlett's papers), this and other items appear in my ABE inventory in book id#s 3124-3156.

Autograph Letter Signed to J.T.J. Hewlett, author of "Peter Priggins" and other books.

Author: 
William Naisby.
Publication details: 
[1843].
£45.00

William Naisby (1; [1843]), giving a detailed and hostile critique of Hewlett's College Life. Originally from a larger archive, the residue of which is described in #3157 (Hewlett's papers), this and other items appear in my ABE inventory in book id#s 3124-3156.

Four autograph letters signed to J.T.J. Hewlett, author of "Peter Priggins" and others.

Author: 
Robert Bell.
Publication details: 
1845
£100.00

Robert Bell (DNB) (4; 1845), author and editor. (Jan.) He encourages Hewlett to contribute to a "publication called the Great Gun, the scope of which is more comprehensive than Punch". (See George Alder (#3127)). He characterises the sort of contribution required, and gives other detail including payment terms. He refers him to the editor, C. L. Gruneisen (see below). (July) He is unhappy to have introduced Hewlett to the "Great Gun" whose proprietor, Edwards (below), appeared to have committed suicide (not so, it transpired).

One Autograph Letter Signed to J.T.J. Hewlett, author of "Peter Priggins" and other books.

Author: 
William Edwards.
Publication details: 
1845
£45.00

[William] Edwards, possibly the proprietor of the Great Gun mentioned by Robert Bell (above #3128)), Mrs Gruneisen (with husband #3134), and in Diaries (J.T.J. Hewlett below). He accepts a Bill of Exchange and discusses it. Originally from a larger archive, the residue of which is described in #3157 (Hewlett's papers), this and other items appear in my ABE inventory in book id#s 3124-3156.

Autograph Letter Signed to J.T.J. Hewlett, author of "Peter Priggins" and other books.

Author: 
Andrew Spottiswoode .
Publication details: 
1846
£120.00

Andrew Spottiswoode ( Boase), of the printers and publishers (BBTI as printers only), proprietor of Hood's Magazine from early 1844 (see Jane Hood #3138). Hewlett has obviously followed Hurst's suggestion (above) that he contact Spottiswoode about the editorship of the Pictorial Times and contributions. The latter here replies that there is no vacancy and comments that it is not desirable "to fill up the Pages of a Newspaper with Novels".

Six Autograph Letter Signed to J.T.J. Hewlett, author of "Peter Priggins" and other books.

Author: 
Frederick Oldfield Ward.
Publication details: 
1845
£150.00

Frederick Oldfield Ward, temporary editor of Hood's Magazine (see "The Letters of Thomas Hood", passim). He discusses the prestige of a name (such as "Peter Priggins") and speculates that authors write better under the name "to which their fame is attached". Colburn is trying to insist that Hewlett cannot use this name, but Ward advises a "more independent and more honorable position with regard to Colburn." He mentions Hood's health on several occasions, later mentioning his death. He asks for stories not dependent on College life, explaining why.

Autograph Letter Signed to J.T.J. Hewlett, author of "Peter Priggins" and other books.

Author: 
Samuel Phillips.
Publication details: 
1846
£45.00

Samuel Phillips (DNB), journalist and novelist, editor and owner of John Bull (see #s3131, 3132) at one time. He refers to an introductory letter to Blackwoods and sympathises with him in ill health: "Essex is not the place for poor curates or . . . poor literary men". Originally from a larger archive, the residue of which is described in #3157 (Hewlett's papers), this and other items appear in my ABE inventory in book id#s 3124-3156.

The Leadenhall Press Sixteenpenny Series. Illustrated Gleanings from the Classics. Numbers 1 to 4.

Author: 
The Leadenhall Press - Field and Tuer
Publication details: 
London: no date[, but 1886-8].
£200.00

4 volumes, 4to, each with a preface by John Oldcastle. Number one: Sir Charles Grandison, 36 pages, 6 illustrations; number two: Solomon Gessner ("The Swiss Theocritus"), 28 pages, 6 illustrations and extra portrait; number three: Thomson's Seasons, 32 pages, 4 illustrations and extra portrait; number four: Tristram Shandy, 28 pages, 6 illustrations. All four numbers replete with attractive vignettes. Only these four numbers were published (vide number four, page 4). Each of the four numbers has an eight-page publishers' catalogue at the end.

Autograph Letter Signed to J.T.J. Hewlett, author of "Peter Priggins" and other books.

Author: 
C.L. Gruneisen.
Publication details: 
1845
£85.00

C. L. Gruneisen (DNB), journalist, music critic, editor of the Great Gun. He explores the possibility that the author of Peter Priggins might write for the Great Gun, explaining his policy and agreeing "in Masonic confidence" to give him the names of the principal contributors.(Presumably these names were sent by George Alder above.) According to DNB, Gruneisen edited the Great Gun from 16 Nov. to 28 June 1845, prob. the life of this weekly. (Copy in British Library Newspaper Library.) WITH: Mrs. C.L.

Five Autograph Letters Signed to J.T.J. Hewlett, author of "Peter Priggins" and other books.

Author: 
Joseph Schroder Moore.
Publication details: 
1845
£120.00

Joseph Schroder Moore, barrister (Post Office Directory 1846), brother to J.C. Moore ("The Letters of Thomas Hood", passim). Initially he is chasing up a manuscript promised by Hewlett. He then explains why the delivery of the manuscript was declined by his brother, suggesting that the proprietors of the Rejected's Magazine (see Francis Brown, #3130) would not have stopped its publication if his manuscript had come to hand.

Autograph Letter Signed to J.T.J. Hewlett, author of "Peter Priggins" and others.

Author: 
George Alder.
Publication details: 
[1844?].
£50.00

George Alder (1; [1844?]) discusses the nature of a "new periodical" for which he hopes Hewlett will write (prob. the short-lived "Great Gun" - see Bell (#3128) and Gruneisen below), naming potential fellow-contributors in confidence. Originally from a larger archive, the residue of which is described in #3157 (Hewlett's papers), this and other items appear in my ABE inventory in book id#s 3124-3156.

Autograph Letter Signed, to unnamed correspondent [George Cruikshank].

Author: 
Frank E. Smedley
Publication details: 
Park, no date (watermark 1853)
£100.00

"Frank Fairleigh". Novelist (1818-1864). Three pages, 8vo, bifoliate, sl. dusted, mainly good. "Mr. Austen seems to have written word for word what you wished said abt. Tobacco, but if there is to be much attraction abt. the article, your clever pencil must put it in, for, as it stands it is dull as . . . I was going to add ditch-water ("water" underlined] but I beg to apologise for the inadvertence - as [page 2] the worst kind of fermented liquors! -/ I send by todays post a Prospectus to Mr.

Autograph letter signed, Mary-Cecile Loge, translator, to A.P. Watt, Literary Agent

Author: 
[ Jack London ] A French Translator
Publication details: 
13/05/08
£250.00

Four pages, 8vo. She declines to translate "White Fang" because the similarity of its "most important scenes" to those in "The Call of the Wild" ("leading" Paris editors agree with her) would jeopardise sales, suggesting that compression into one third of the original length would be necessary. She remits eight guineas to be forwarded to Jack London, and makes a play for the rights to translate a new Robert Hichens novel. WITH: typed note signed, 8vo, in German, from the publishers, Ferdinand Schoningh, to A.P. Watt, 20 Nov.

Typed Letter Signed to Mrs Kyrle Fletcher, bookseller

Author: 
Brocard Sewell
Publication details: 
The Aylesford Review, 13 Dec. 1960
£200.00

Private pressman and monk. 2pp., 4to. She is still in time to get a copy of his and Cecil Woolf's "Corvo", he thinks, but will check with Woolf. They have been awaiitng an introduction from Pamela Hansford Johnson. Their press cannot help her with her bit of printing ("our press here is closing this week and the staff --one laybrother and one employee transferring to our'commercial' press at Faversham"). He discusses a portrasit of George Anne Bellamy and the "Memoir of Montague Summers ("going round the publishers"), anticipating criticism and a later limited edition.

The Pythean, Nemean and Isthmian Odes of Pindar

Author: 
Edward Burnaby Greene, trans.
Publication details: 
London, 1778
£120.00

Full lea., rebacked, raised bands, gt.dec., corners and edges bumped and worn, some foxing of mainly endpapers, contents g-vg. INSCRIBED by the author to Hans Sloane , physician and collector (collections formed basis of British Museum).

One Autograph Letter Signed and one Autograph Postcard Signed to J.F. Scanlon, writer (?)

Author: 
Henri de Montherlant
Publication details: 
Tunis, 1926
£150.00

Novelist, essayist and dramatist, both in French, signed "Montherlant. ALS, in original envelope, 2pp., 4to. In the letter, he is sorry to have missed him and includes him among the few people he does want to see again. "Je pense rester en Afrique jusque vers mai". A "Mr Bradley left for New York. "Il devait, pendant son sejour las-bas, s'occuper du lancement des Bullfighters et m'ecrire pour me servir au courant. . .". He thanks him for his article ("intelligent et sympathique") asking if he knows anything of the author.

Autograph Letter Signed "Nellie Harris" to Martin Secker, publisher.

Author: 
Mrs Frank Harris.
Publication details: 
5 Minetta Lane, New York, 5 March 1946.
£150.00

Widow of Frank Harris. One page, 8vo, good condition. She reminds him that she signed a contarct for the publication of an abridged version of her "husband's "Book". "Life & Loves". She has yet to receive proofss for her approval, arguing that the book is not yet published. She asks when he will do so.

Autograph Note Signed to unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
C.P. Scott.
Publication details: 
02/11/16
£20.00

Newspaper editor (1846-1932). One page, 8vo, acknowledging good wishes for his 70th birthday.

Autograph Note Signed to unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
Anne Benson Procter [nee Skepper] [Bryan Waller Procter, 'Barry Cornwall']
Publication details: 
14 February 1874; 32 Weymouth St, Portland Place, W.
£45.00

Wife (1799-1888) of the English poet Bryan Waller Procter ('Barry Cornwall', 1787-1874), and stepdaughter of the noted jurist Basil Montagu. One page, 12mo. Very good on slightly paper, and with closed tear to blank second leaf of bifoliate. Written on behalf of her husband during his final illness. 'Mr Procter desires me to say that you have his ready permission to print The Old Arm Chair | I regret to say that my husband is now too feeble to write to you.' Signed 'Anne B. Procter'.

Two Autograph Letters Signed to [the Hon.] Mrs [Alicia Margaret Tyssen] Amherst.

Author: 
Augusta Noel (nee Keppel)
Publication details: 
9 May [no year] and 'Friday' [no date] [but both 1885]; on 29A Grosvenor Square letterheads.
£45.00

English author (1838-1902). The recipient was later Baroness Rockley. Both items are very good. They can be dated from the reference to the Noel's mother (nee Susan trotter, died 1885) and the mourning border. ITEM ONE (three pages, 12mo): 'I send you a very rough little story, for the Children's Hospital book. I do not know whether it will suit your purpose, but I must just let it go as it is.

Autograph Letter to 'Sir J. Phillepart' [i.e. John Philippart].

Author: 
Cyrus Redding
Publication details: 
Thursday [docketed 'Feb 1847']; [10?] Hill Road, St John's Wood.
£80.00

Editor and journalist (1785-1870). The recipient (1784?-1874) was a writer on military matters, and editor of the United Services Journal. Two pages, 12mo. Good, though grubby, and with docketing, rust from paperclip and biographical details typed in line at head. A formal letter, unsigned and in the third person. 'Mr Redding presents his Compts. to Sir J. Phillepart with but scanty recollections for it is many years since they met and wishes to remind him of an article sent to the U[nited]. S[ervices]. J[ournal]. thro' Mr Hunt.

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