Social history

[‘God save the Quin’: Frederic Quin, homeopathic physician and society figure.] Joking Autograph Letter, inviting ‘Jesse’ to a dinner at ‘Vun Undred and Vunety Vun Mount Street [...] No Dogs admitted’.

Author: 
Frederic Quin [Frederic Hervey Foster Quin] (1799-1878), the first homeopathic physician in England, figure of high society, friend of Dickens and Thackeray
Quin
Publication details: 
111 Mount Street [London]. ‘Friday evening’ [no date].
£80.00
Quin

The present item gives an indication of the high spirits, though hardly the ‘brilliant wit’, which, according to Quin’s entry in the Oxford DNB, afforded him a welcome to high society. 3pp, 16mo. Bifolium, with second leaf slightly damaged at foot by removal from mount. The body of the letter reads: ‘Dear Jesse / Don’t you or your fair friends forget Supper at Vun Undred and Vunety Vun Mount Street tomorrow Saturday night at 11 oclock or as soon after it as you can come. / N.B.

[Sir Philip Sassoon of Port Lympne: described by Noel Coward as ‘a phenomenon that would never recur’.] Autograph Signature (‘Philip Sassoon.) and autograph compliments slip.

Author: 
Sir Philip Sassoon [Sir Philip Albert Gustave David Sassoon] (1888-1939), politician, art collector and socialite at Port Lympne and Trent Park, cousin of Siegfried Sassoon, friend of Noel Coward
Sassoon
Publication details: 
No date [dated by recipient 12 June 1928]. Laid down on letterhead of 25 Park Lane, W. [London.], which carries the autograph compliments.
£50.00
Sassoon

Considered by his friend Noël Coward as ‘a phenomenon that would never recur’. See his entry by Osbert Sitwell in the Oxford DNB and the biography by Damian Collins, ‘Charmed Life: The Phenomenal World of Philip Sassoon’ (2016). Clearly sent in response to a request for an autograph. The signature is on a plain 9 x 6 cm card, and reads simply ‘Philip Sassoon.’ The card is laid down at the foot of a 12mo letterhead, on which is written by Sassoon, above a flourish: ‘With Sir Philip Sassoon’s Compliments’. Both items in good condition, lightly aged.

[St Andrews University, Kate Kennedy Day 1871.] Victorian photographic print of illustration depicting nine St Andrews Professors, one of them said to be John Stuart Mill, in fantastic revels.

Author: 
[St Andrews University, Fife, Scotland: Kate Kennedy Day 1871; John Stuart Mill]
St Andrews
Publication details: 
Victorian photographic print of illustration ‘signed’ ‘Kate Kennedy pinxit / 1871’.
£90.00
St Andrews

The tradition of this annual day of revels at Scotland's oldest university St Andrews is said to date back to the fifteenth century and is said to commemorate the visits of a lady Katharine Kennedy to her uncle, Bishop Kennedy of St Andrews, every Spring. 9 x 5 cm sepia photographic print of illustration, laid down on 10.5 x 6 cm piece of card, and clearly made in the nineteenth century. In fair condition, lightly aged. As part of the print, at bottom right: ‘Kate Kennedy pinxit / 1871’.

[Motorcycle Speedway.] Publicity photos, each signed by the subject, of Norman Parker, captain of the Wimbledon Dons, and his rider George ‘Huck’ Fynn.

Author: 
[Motorcycle Speedway] Norman Parker (1908-1999), captain of the Wimbledon Dons; his rider George ‘Huck’ Fynn (b.1922), Australian speedway rider
Motor bikes
Publication details: 
Between 1945 and 1953, when Parker was with the Wimbledon Dons. Each photograph stamped on reverse ‘BCM/SPORTS PHOTOS, / LONDON, W.C.1.’
£56.00
Motor bikes

Parker was with the Wimbledon Dons between 1945 and 1953, during which time he won three national trophies (1950, 1951 and 1953). He also rode in several World Finals. Fynn came over to Britain from Australia, and Speedway Star, 7 May 2022, contains a biographical feature, with photograph, on the occasion of his hundredth birthday. A pair of black-and-white prints, each on 14 x 9 cm glossy paper. Each with stamp of ‘BCM/SPORTS PHOTOS’ on reverse, stating ‘SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHS 6d each’.

[Anthony Asquith, British film director.] Signed Autograph Inscription to Louis Frewen, of rHodes Hose Library, autograph collector..

Author: 
Anthony Asquith ['Puffin'] (1902-1968), film director ('The Winslow Boy', 'The Browning Version', 'Pygmalion') and aesthete, son of Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith and socialite Margot Asquith
Asquith
Publication details: 
December 1931. No place.
£45.00
Asquith

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, with light dabs of glue from mount on reverse. On 11.5 x 9 cm card with rounded edges. Clearly in response to a request for an autograph, he writes: 'For Louis Frewen / with all good wishes / from / Anthony Asquith / December 1931'.

[Professor A. Mawer, founder of the English Place-Name Society] Typed Note Signed A. Mawer to Major W. Newbold, c/o Board of Education, Whitehall, acknowledging his subscription to the English Place-Name Society.

Author: 
Professor A. Mawer, founder of the English Place-Name Society [Sir Allen Mawer, philologist.]
Publication details: 
[Headed] English Place-Name Society. | Founded to Carry Out the | Survey of English Place-Names [...] followed by names of the President (Tait), etc The University, Liverpool, 28 Feb. 1928.~One page, 4to, minor defects (small closed tear, fold marks, grubby corners), good condition. Text: We very much welcome your membership of the Place-Name Society, and thank you for your subscription, for which the Treasurer will send you a receipt in due course. I have instructed the Cambridge Press to send you the Worcestershire volume forthwith, and you will receive the volume on the North Riding when it appears in the course of the summer.
£45.00

One page, 4to, minor defects (small closed tear, fold marks, grubby corners), good condition. Text: We very much welcome your membership of the Place-Name Society, and thank you for your subscription, for which the Treasurer will send you a receipt in due course. I have instructed the Cambridge Press to send you the Worcestershire volume forthwith, and you will receive the volume on the North Riding when it appears in the course of the summer."

[Frank Southall, racing cyclist] Printed Portrait of him on his Hercules bike, signature both printed and handwritten F W Southall

Author: 
F.W. Southall [Frank Southall (1904-1964)], racing cyclist.
Cycling
Publication details: 
No date.
£25.00
Cycling

Printed Portrait, coloured, 25 x 17signed JW Southall in a scawl (see Image), fold marks, small closed tear on base fold line, remnants of glue etc on reverse from being laid down. This is the sort of item that was enclosed in Boys' Comics. Apparently it derives from 8 x 6 inch sepia toned photograph of Southall astride his racing cycle signed and dated Oct.24th 1934 (see this on Bristow and Garland's website).

[Jim Mollison, aviator] Signature Only J A Mollison.

Author: 
J.A. Mollison [Jim Mollison], James Allan Mollison (1905 – 1959), Scottish pioneer aviator, married to Amy Johnson.
Aviator
Publication details: 
No place or date given [c.1938?].
£45.00
Aviator

Signature only on scrap of paper, uneven edges,c.12 x 7.5 cm, tipped on to sl. larger page from an autograph album, sl. faded as if ink in pen running out. See image. The signature of Arthur J, Cummings, journalist and author is on the reverse, dated 20 Sept. 1938.

[Aberdeen Shoemaker's Stock and Equipment, 1838] [MANUSCRIPT] Roup [Auction] Account of the Stock in Trade which belonged to Mr. Andrew Affleck Shoemaker sold in his Shop Union Street Aberdeen | 19th and 20th March 1838.

Author: 
[Aberdeen Shoemaker's Stock and Equipment, 1838]
Shoemaker
Shoemaker2
Publication details: 
[Aberdeen, 1838]
£250.00
Shoemaker
Shoemaker2

Eight Pages, sm. fol., two bifoliums, fold marks, good condition. Stock and Cobblers' Equipment listed with quantities and sums achieved. Headings: Pair Prunella Shoes; Prunella Boots, Cloth Boots [...] Leather Shoes, Boots, Gents Boots, Wellington Boots, Blucher Boots, Slippers [...], Grindstone (x 9), Cutting Board (x18), Logs, Lasts, Boothooks, etc. etc. See Images

[Elizabeth Vassall Fox, Baroness Holland, political hostess] Autograph Note Signed Elizth Fox to unnamed male correspondent settling a bill but mentioning that she has enclosed autographs which, he has said, his father collects(not present).

Author: 
Elizabeth Fox [Elizabeth Vassall Fox, Baroness Holland (1771-1845), political hostess and the wife of Whig politician Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland.]
Holland
Publication details: 
St Anne's Hill 16 Dec. 1839.
£65.00
Holland

One page, 8vo, fold marks, good condition. Text: I enclose you a check for the amount of my bill which I shall be glad to know you receive safe- As you say your Father is collecting autogreaphs I have enclosed you a few which he may like to have. See image.

[Henry Cole as sub-commissioner under the Record Commission; Exchequer Records] Incomplete Autograph Letter or Draft in Cole's Handwriting about an impediment in the arrangement of the Miscellaneous Records of the Exchequer.

Author: 
[Henry Cole][Sir Henry Cole (1808 – 11882), civil servant and inventor who facilitated many innovations in commerce & education in the 19th century in the U.K.]
Cole
Publication details: 
No place, 4 March 1835.
£450.00
Cole

Two pages, 4to, good condition, lacking at least a signature page. An impediment in the arrangement of the Miscellaneous Records of the Exchequer which I feel it my duty to submit to the notice of the Board.

[Thomas Law, reformer; Bengal; India; Washington DC] Autograph Letter Signed T Law to The Honble Mr Clay [Henry Clay Sr., American attorney/statesman], praising Clay, mention of Talbother's fever, expanding on his theory re population control

Author: 
Thomas Law (1756 - 1834), reformer of British policy in India, where he served as collector of revenue for the East India Company.
Law
Publication details: 
No place or date given. Clay became Speaker in the 1810-1811 Elections.
£250.00
Law

Three pages, 4to, bifolium, poor condition, with some (crude) repair work but other closed tears on folds, requiring attention BUT text clear and complete (with odd difficult word). Some pencil notes by a later reader, inaccurately attributing to Edmund Law. Text: I regret sincerely that I cannot participate with my fellow citizens in the general expression of their sense of your high merits. Were I able to attend I would drink your health Eminent [speaker?] but most exalted when addressing his successor.

[The Panel, Any Questions (Radio)] Signatures of F.H. Freddie Grisewood, Isobel Barnett, Bronowski and others

Author: 
The Panel. Any Questions? November 25, 1960 Tatworth. Freddie Grisewood, Isobel Barnett, Ralph Wightman, J. Bronowski, A.N. Other and Producer Michael Bowen .
Any questions
Publication details: 
[Tatworth, 25 Nov. 1960]
£100.00
Any questions

Page extracted from autograph album, 15 x 10cm, right edge rough, ow good condition. See image. The inks (green particularly) don't respond well to the camera.

[Percy Chapman, cricketer] Signature only A.P.F. Chapman underlined. with signature Tennyson. See image

Author: 
A.P.F. Chapman [Arthur Percy Frank Chapman (1900 – 1961), Kent cricketer who captained the England cricket team between 1926 and 1931.
Cricket
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£25.00
Cricket

Page torn from album, 16 x 13cm, one rough edge left, corner clipped left. Tennyson would be a titled descendant of the poet.

[Primo Carnera, Boxer] Autograph Signature. See image.

Author: 
Primo Carnera [(1906 -1967), nicknamed the Ambling Alp, Italian professional boxer and wrestler, World Heavyweight Champion from 29 June 1933 to 14 June 1934.]
Carnera
Publication details: 
Docketed in pencil (not in his hand), Christmas Day, 1930.
£80.00
Carnera

Paper, 9.5 x 7cm, very clear bold signature, very good condition.

[Helmut Gernsheim; photography] Typed Letter Signed Helmut Gernsheim to Ronald Horton responding to a request for Lantern Slides for a lecture, referring to his latest book, and appreciative of comments on his latest work.

Author: 
Helmut Gernsheim [Helmut Erich Robert Kuno Gernsheim (1913 – 1995), historian of photography, collector, and photographer.]
Gernsheim
Publication details: 
[Printed] 19 St. Edmunds Court, Regents Park, London, NW8, 28 October 1951. Docketed 14 Nov. 51 (presumably the reply date).
£220.00
Gernsheim

One page, 8vo, Note: Ronald Horton (1902–1981), Royal Pavilion & Museums Trust, Brighton & Hove. See image. Text: I was very interested to hear about your forthcoming lecture of 'The inter-relationship of Art and Photography', but I am sorry I have not got any lantern slides at all.

[Montagu of Beaulieu; the Birth of mass motoring] One Typed Letter Signed Montagu of Beaulieu AND Two Typed Notes Signed Montagu about cars and motoring in their infancy, and future legislation in their regard..

Author: 
Montagu of Beaulieu [John Walter Edward Douglas-Scott-Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu (1866 ? 1929), Conservative politician and promoter of motoring.
Publication details: 
[Headed] Palace House, Beaulieu, Brockenhurst, Kent, 22 Nov. 1905; [Headed] 17 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W., 10 Oct and 15 Oct. [1906].
£200.00

A. 22 Nov. 1905, Three pages, 12mo, bifolium,black-bordered, good condition. He refers to an account sent to him by a correspondent of Car which I read with great interest but he had yet to receive a detailed account. I quite understand in Surrey motorists must be a great nuisance to many of the inhabitants, and therefore was quite prepared for the Council passing a resolution-which in itself is I think impracticable.

[L. Werner, Photographer in Dublin] Carte-de-Visite, photograph of a woman's head.

Author: 
L. Werner, Photographer in Dublin
Dublin
Publication details: 
L. Werner, 15 Leinster Street, Dublin (printed on reverse), [1860s?]. See image.
£56.00
Dublin

Carte-de-Visite, c.10 x 6cm, sl. grubby but a good image. Name of subject (apparently) written on reverse in pencil, Mrs Magrath. A similar item at the V & A is described as an albumen print. Louis Werner appears in the Dictionary of Irish Artists. Apparently ill health drove him from portrait painting to photography.

[Vellum Deed] Indenture between Totnes Corporation to Daniel Marriott, vintner ...18 Sept.[1719]. Signed by Mayor and Councillors. WITH town seal in good condition. See images.

Author: 
[Totnes; Mayor; Corporation] See images.
Totnes
Totnes2
Publication details: 
18 Sept. 1719
£350.00
Totnes
Totnes2

Vellum Deed, c.70 x 55cm, folded as usual, signs of age but text clear and complete, with town seal with small cracks but intact. The reverse contains a memorandum signed by the Mayor and his Burgesses: Totnes Guildhall viiith Sept.

[Huddersfield F.C.] The Autograph Signatures of 12 Players for Huddersfield in its golden period

Author: 
Huddersfield F.C. in its pomp.
Huddersfield
Publication details: 
c.1925 [John F. Chaplin, a signatory of this collection describes himself as Trainer. He was trainer from 1922-6 (playup liverpool site)]
£180.00
Huddersfield

Page extracted from autograph book, 10 x 14cm, dulled but still clear, one edge roughened having been removed from an autograph book. Signatures of N. Christie, W. Carr, G M Lean, W.E. Roughton, J. Smith, C. Luke, W.H. Smith, J.J. Williams, H. Turner, R. Robinson, W.G.B. Bottrell, F.R. Goodall, John F. Chaplin. See image. Note: Huddersfield became the first English club to win three successive English league titles in 1925–26. The first two league titles were won under manager and pioneer Herbert Chapman, who also led the team to an FA Cup win in 1922.

[Bill Burgess; T.W.Burgess, Channel swimmer] Signature Only T W Burgess

Author: 
Thomas William Burgess (1872 – 1950), second person to successfully complete a swim of the English Channel after Matthew Webb.
Burgess
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£35.00
Burgess

Green Card, 9 x 6cm, laid down on small album page sl. larger than the card, Some creases at corner and across the B of Burgess, sl. soiled but signature clear. See image.

[ Manuscript; auction ] Roup Roll of the Farm Stocking Household Furniture etc. sold at Findon 13 Nov. 1820.

Author: 
[ Findon, Aberdeenshire ]
Roup Roll
Publication details: 
[ Findon, Aberdeenshire, 13 November 1820
£80.00
Roup Roll

Five-page list of items, fold marks, some dusting, fair condition. Lots, Buyers and Prices (see image). From Scythe and rake to horses and potatoes.

[ Fanny Garrison; suffrage; black rights ] Autograph Poem signed Fannie Garrison with autograph verse signed by Francis Jackson] Garrison

Author: 
Fanny Garrison [Helen Frances “Fanny” Garrison Villard (1844–1928), American women's suffrage campaigner, pacifist, co-founder of National Association for the Advancement of Colored People].
Garrison
Publication details: 
{Fannie's verse} Boston, Oct.21, 1860; {Francis Jackson's verse} Boston, Oct.23, 1860.
£500.00
Garrison

One page, 12mo, very good condition. Text, a verse from Gerald Massey's To-Day and To-Morrow (see note below) as follows: [Fanny's quotation marks] Though hearts brood o'er the past, our eyes | With smiling features glisten, | For, lo! our day bursts up the skies! | Lean out your souls and listen! | The world rolls Freedom's radiant way, | And ripens with her sorrows; | Keep heart! who bears the cross to-day, | Shall wear the crown tomorrow. | Fannie Garrison. | Boston, Oct.21st, 1860 | [ 'Mrs Henry villard' in another hand ] || Why ask a name?

[ Baden-Powell Family; Debutantes 1933 ] Correspondence of Miss Louise Andree Coury, fashion journalist, with Olave Baden-Powell and Heather Baden-Powell, wife and daughter respectively of Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Scouting Movement

Author: 
[ Baden-Powell Family; Debutantes 1933 ]
Publication details: 
[Baden-Powell] Pax Hill, Bentley, Hampshire, March and April 1933.
£100.00

Fron Coury's archive/files. Seven items (incuding two duplicates), one page each, 4to. 1. Coury's file carbon copy of her original Typed Letter to Heather Baden-Powell (14 March 1933), asking her questions about family connections, hobbies, ambitions etc., information to be used in the 'Who's Who' of 1933 debutantes which I am preparing for the 'Daily Express' and which will appear every day once the series has been started. She also asked for a photograph. 2. Typed Letter Signed by Heather Baden-Powell (21 March 1933) answering Coury's questions meticulously (e.g.

[ Gamage, Lipton, Lyons, Whiteley, founders of stores/a caterer ] Clipped signatures.

Author: 
A.W. Gamage, Thomas Lipton, Joseph Lyons, and William Whiteley, Store founders (and a chain of cafes).
Publication details: 
No places or dates.
£32.00

All 7 x 2cm, or thereabouts, clipped a little roughly round the edges, paper darkened, but signature clear, tipped on to sl. larger piece of paper docketed with their names and the store associated with them. The only additional information is for Whitley Shot in his Office.

[ J. Cuming Walters, sometime editor of the Manchester City News; Capital Punishment ] Holograph Manuscript Article on Capital Punishment with some printed ephemera from his archive on the same subject.

Author: 
J. Cuming Walters, sometime editor of the Manchester City News [Capital Punishment ]
Publication details: 
[c.1923]
£180.00

Manuscript, [21]pp., 8vo, edge of p.[1] dusted, ow all good condition, Heavily worked on discussion of the issue of Capital Punishment, a subject on wh[ich] I feel so deeply, so strongly, so earnestly, that I dare not trust myself to speak upon it without constraint.

[ John B. Gough, Temperance ] Autograph Quotation or Statement (Sentiment) Signed boldly John B. Gough.

Author: 
John B. Gough, American Temperance Lecturer (Orator)(1817-86).
Publication details: 
[Princeton?] | May 28, 1867.
£45.00

Paper, 16 x 17.5cm, laid down on similar sized paper, good condition. He only is a true freeman who renders stedfast obedience to righteous law. If a quotation, not traced. So a statement, sentiment, or word of wisdom perhaps.

[Richard Carlile, leader of the Rotunda Radicals.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to 'Mr. Teague', i.e. John Teague, Keeper of the Giltspur Street Compter where Carlile was incarcerated, regarding editing proofs and having his head cast by phrenolog

Author: 
Richard Carlile (1790-1843), publisher and writer, leader of the Rotunda Radicals, lover of Elizabeth Sharples (1803-1852), suffragist [John Teague (1779-1841), Keeper of the Giltspur Street Compter
Publication details: 
'Compter Decr. 29. 1834'. [Giltspurt Street Compter, London]
£450.00

For information on Carlile - described by E. P. Thompson as a 'Showman of Free Thought' - and his 'moral wife' the suffragist Eliza Sharples, see their entries in the Oxford DNB. At the time of writing Carlile was in prison for refusal to pay the church rates. The proofs Carlile asks to be allowed to receive in the first letter are presumably those of his journal 'The Gauntlet'. The phrenologist 'Mr. Hohn' referred to in the second of the letters - the 'Mr. Holme' of the accompanying slip - is the German-born physician and phrenologist John Diederick Holm (d.1856).

[Scottish seventeenth-century wholesale draper.] Itemised manuscript accounts, naming customers, fabrics, dates, lengths, sums.

Author: 
[Scottish seventeenth-century wholesale draper]
Draper
Publication details: 
8 June 1664 to 8 March 1664/5. No place given [Scotland].
£550.00
Draper

There is no indication of the author's identity, but one of the customers is named as 'Mr: Dougall Campball', and others include 'Balantine', 'Mr Connor', 'Mr Hall', 'Thomas Eson' and 'Tho Eison'. The sums involved are large, and the document would appear to suggest a wholesaler. 2pp, folio, on a leaf of laid paper with no watermark. Aged and worn, with chipping along one edge resulting in slight loss to some of the figures on one side of the leaf.

[Count d'Orsay, French painter and dandy.] Individual etched portraits of Prince Talleyrand and Comte Montrond, on the same leaf, each with caption stating 'Sketched by D'Orsay'.

Author: 
Count d'Orsay [Alfred Guillaume Gabriel Grimod d'Orsay, comte d'Orsay] (1801-1852), French painter and dandy, linked with Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (1789-1849); Talleyrand; Montrond
Publication details: 
[London? Circa 1831?]
£180.00

Two etchings in black ink, printed side by side on a 23.5 x 18 cm piece of wove paper, with a thin printed line dividing them. Possibly proofs of two plates on conjoined leaves in a book. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with a tiny nick at foot and dog-eared corners. Each of the sketches is full-length, and has a caption at foot, in a facsimile of D'Orsay's hand.

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