Search results

Author, Title, Summary	Subject	Price
[Christopher Fry [born Arthur Hammond Harris] (1907-2005), playwright] his brother Charles Leslie Harris (b.1902) [Bedford School] [Christopher Fry: the schoolboy diaries of his elder brother Charles Leslie Harris.] Four years of diaries, 1916-1919, covering his time at Bedford School. See Fry’s entry by Michael Billington in the Dictonary of National Biography. His brother survives as a rather shadowy figure: he was certainly alive in 1978, when Fry referred to him in the account of his family background ‘Can You Find Me / A Family History’ (OUP). In that volume Fry describes...		£450.00
[Fishing.] City of London Piscatorial Society (CLPS), founded in 1902 and one of the oldest angling clubs in England; Walter Westley, Honorary Secretary [City of London Piscatorial Society.] Autograph Letter Signed from the Honorary Secretary of the CLPS, Walter Westley, with printed booklet of ‘C.L.P.S. / Programme 1935-36’ and application form. A nice slice of London ephemera. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged. They were clearly all sent together. ONE: ALS from Westley (‘W. Westley \| Hon. Sec.’) to unnamed recipient. 2pp, 12mo. In answer to an application he is sending ‘one New Programme showing Waters &c’,...		£150.00
[Motorcycle Speedway] Norman Parker (1908-1999), captain of the Wimbledon Dons; his rider George ‘Huck’ Fynn (b.1922), Australian speedway rider [Motorcycle Speedway.] Publicity photos, each signed by the subject, of Norman Parker, captain of the Wimbledon Dons, and his rider George ‘Huck’ Fynn. 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...	Social history	£56.00
[Pantomime Dame.] Alwyn D. Fox, actor-manager of Horsham Repertory Company, the man who discovered Michael Caine [Pantomime Dame.] Autograph Letter Signed from actor-manager Alwyn D. Fox, announcing that he is ‘free for Dame for coming season pants’, and giving his credentials for playing the part. See Michael Caine’s affectionate account of Fox in ‘The Elephant to Hollywood’ (2010), from which the anecdote at the end of this entry is taken. 1p, 4to. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Hindin’, signed ‘Alwyn Fox’ and headed ‘Pantomime - “Dame”.’ While the twenty lines of text are clear and complete,...		£80.00
[Provincial Georgian Art Connoisseurs: ‘Dr Maddy’, i.e. Edwin Maddy, LLD, Mayor of Gloucester, and W. Hayward] [Provincial Georgian Art Connoisseurs.] Two Autograph Memoranda, both signed by ‘W. Hayward’, recording an exchange of paintings (by Correggio, Hobbima, Du Jardin, et al) with ‘Dr. Maddy’ [Edwin Maddy, LLD, Mayor of Gloucester]. Interesting artefacts of provincial Georgian connoisseurship and picture dealers. If genuine (unlikely, given the period) the paintings would be of considerable interest. Given the exchange of cash, ‘W. Hayward’ could well be a visiting picture dealer. Both memoranda in good condition, lightly...		£56.00
[St Andrews University, Fife, Scotland: Kate Kennedy Day 1871; John Stuart Mill] [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. 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...	Social history	£90.00
[Tobacco in Orléanist France.] Le Directeur du Déptartement du Pas-de-Calais, 1834 [Tobacco in Orléanist France.] Poster-size manuscript ‘Tableau des communes qui ont cessé d’être autorisées à planter du tabac’, signed by ‘Le Directeur du Dépt du Pas-de-Calais’. On one side of a 42 x 52 cm piece of laid paper. Folded three times. In very good condition, lightly aged. A striking item in its austere way: very neatly written out, and perhaps suitable for framing. At head: ‘No. 2. Tableau des communes qui ont cessé d’être autorisées à planter du tabac.’ At...		£180.00
Charles Williams [Charles Walter Stansby Williams] (1886-1945), poet and author, member with C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien of Oxford group ‘The Inklings’ [Ruth Spalding (1913-2009), author on BBC] [Charles Williams, with C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien one of the ‘Inklings’.] Typescript of Ruth Spalding’s BBC radio programme ‘Portrait of Charles Williams’, produced by Terence Tiller and featuring T. S. Eliot, Christopher Fry and others. Williams, who has an entry in the Oxford DNB, became a close friend of Spalding and her sister Anne after lodging with their parents during the Second World War. The present item is a transcription, made and printed out around the 1980s, of the 1961 radio programme, on one side each of 34...		£180.00
Charles-Alexandre de Calonne (1734-1802), French statesman whose efforts at financial reform precipitated the crisis that led to the French Revolution [Charles-Pierre Lavalete] [The man who set the French Revolution in motion.] Countersignature of Charles-Alexandre de Calonne to quittance on parchment of Charles-Pierre Lavalette, regarding the ‘feu Fauveau de Frenilly Receveur général des Domains des bois de Poitier’. According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, it was de Calonne’s efforts at reform, which precipitated the crisis which let to the French Revolution. The present item is on a 31 x 22 cm piece of parchment. In good condition, lightly aged, with a couple of closed tears. On the front is the main...		£100.00
Frederic Vanson (1919-1993), Essex poet and and journalist; his wife the painter Olive Bentley [Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright] [Frederic Vanson, Essex poet and journalist; his wife the painter Olive Bentley.] Eight Autograph Letters Signed and one Typed from Vanson to playwright Christopher Fry, collection of poetry typescripts, and ALS to Fry from Bentley. See David Gaskin’s obituary of Vanson, Independent, 27 July 1993, and Fry’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The material is in good condition, lightly aged, with one leaf of poetry typescript creased. Vanson’s eight Autograph Letters Signed date from between 29 December 1983 and 12 January 1993. total...		£400.00