Search results

Author, Title, Summary Subject Price
V. S. Pritchett [Sir Victor Sawdon Pritchett] (1900-1997), English writer and literary critic

[‘A whole career lies between the quotations’: V. S. Pritchett, English writer and critic.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Victor Pritchett’), submitting his ‘Turgenev’ (i.e. the typescript of his ‘Gentle Barbarian’) to his editor ‘Mr Higgins’.

Pritchett’s ‘The Gentle Barbarian: The Life and Work of Turgenev’ appeared in 1977; the present letter is clearly addressed to his editor at the book’s publishers Chatto & Windus. Pritchett’s entry in the Oxford DNB describes his handwriting as ‘legendarily ugly and difficult to decipher’,...

Literature £56.00 Pritchett
W. C. R. Watson [William Charles Richard Watson; William Watson] (1885-1954), English botanist, author of ‘Handbook of the Rubi of Great Britain and Ireland‘ (1958)

[W. C. R. Watson, English botanist.] Two Autograph Cards Signed (both ‘W. Watson’), concerning botanical matters, one to F. O. Whitaker of Plumstead, and the other to C. G. Grinling of Woolwich.

Note to be confused with the Kew curator William Watson (1858-1925). Both cards are plain: the first with a self-printed stamp and the second with stamp affixed. Both in fair condition, lightly aged. ONE (to Grinling): He identifies the fungi he sent, adding a comment on bacteoles of mallow....

£50.00
William Hayes Fisher [Lord Downham] (1853-1920), Conservative politician, President of Local Government Board and Minister of Information in Lloyd George's War Cabinet [Sir Willoughby Hyett Dickinson]

[The growing First World War pensions crisis discussed by a member of the government.] Autograph Letter Signed from William Hayes Fisher [the future Lord Downham] to Willoughby Hyett Dickinson, discussing the problem ‘full of difficulty’.

See Fisher’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Earlier in 1915 he had joined the Asquith government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board, and he would retain this post until June of 1917, when Lloyd George would promote him to the cabinet as President of the Local Government Board....

£90.00
‘Bert Thomas’ [Herbert Samuel Thomas MBE (1883-1966)], British political cartoonist who contributed to Punch magazine and created British propaganda posters during the two world wars

['Bert Thomas', British political cartoonist.] Copy of his book 'Close-ups Through a childs eyes / by Bert Thomas', with label bearing autograph inscription.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. A scarce item: no copy in the British Library and the only copies on COPAC at Cambridge and the V & A. In fair condition, lightly aged and with slight creasing to outer edge of front cover, on which a label has been laid down, carrying an inscription (...

Literature £120.00 'Bert Thomas'
Adrian Stokes [Charles Adrian Scott Stokes] (1854-1935), RA, English landscape artist, husband of Marianne Stokes, part of St Ives artists’ colony, brother of Leonard Stokes and Sir Wilfred Stokes

[Adrian Stokes, RA, English landscape artist.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Adrian Stokes’), thanking ‘Mrs. Terrell’ for her congratulations on his election as an Associate of the Royal Academy.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, and that of his brothers the architect Leonard Scott Stokes and the inventor of the ‘Stokes Gun’ Sir Wilfred Scott Stokes. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Signed ‘Adrian Stokes’. He has added the word ‘at’ above the letterhead, indicating...

£56.00
Alan Plater [Alan Frederick Plater] (1935-2010), playwright and television dramatist (Z-Cars and the Beiderbecke series) [Sally Worboyes, Fen Farm, Suffolk]

[Alan Plater, playwright and television dramatist (Z-Cars and the Beiderbecke series).] Three photographs of Plater with students at the residential writing course at Fen Farm in Suffolk, each with signed caption by organizer Sally Warboyes.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The three items are from the papers of Sally Worboyes, organiser of the residential arts courses at her home, Fen Farm in Suffolk, who has provided a signed caption on the reverse of each of the prints. All three in good condition. ONE and TWO: Black and white...

Social history £75.00 Alan Plater
Arun Manilal Gandhi (born April 14, 1934), peace activist, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi [Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi], founder of the M. K. Gandhi Institute of Nonviolence [Christopher Fry, playwright]

[Arun Manilal Gandhi, peace activist and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi.] Three Typed Letters Signed to the playwright Christopher Fry, concerning his contribution to a book to be titled ‘World Without Violence’.

As a pacifist of Quaker stock the recipient Christopher Fry would have been sympathetic to Gandhi’s goals. See Fry’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The three items in good condition, lightly aged and with slight creasing along one edge. All three 1p, 4to, and signed ‘Arun Gandhi’ and folded twice. ONE...

£90.00
George du Maurier [George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier] (1834-1896), novelist and Punch cartoonist, creator of the character ‘Svengali’ in his novel ‘Trilby’; grandfather of Daphne du Maurier

[George du Maurier, novelist and Punch cartoonist, creator of ‘Svengali’.] Autograph Signature and valediction cut from letter.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On rectangular slip of paper, roughly 11 x 3 cm, cut from the end of a letter. In fair condition, lightly aged, slightly spotted and laid down along one edge on thicker piece of paper. In an elegant calligraphic hand he writes: ‘Believe me / Yours truly / Geo du...

Literature £25.00 Geo du Maurier
Hilaire Belloc [Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc] (1870-1953), poet and author [Col. F. H. L. Oldham of Overley Hall, near Wellington]

[‘One like me who spends half his life wandering about’: Hilaire Belloc, poet and author.] Two Autograph Letters Signed and one Typed Letter signed in his name, to Col. Oldham of Wellington, regarding his stay with him while giving a lecture.

See Belloc’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is Colonel Frederick Hugh Langston Oldham (1876-1965), D.S.O., D.L., of Overley Hall near Wellington. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: ALS, 5 October 1922. 1p, 4to. With mourning border. Folded twice. Giving details of...

Literature £165.00 Hilaire Belloc
Jack Rosenthal [Jack Morris Rosenthal] (1931-2004), playwright and television dramatist (including eight years on ‘Coronation Street’), husband of actress Maureen Lipman [Sally Worboyes, Fen Farm]

[Jack Rosenthal, playwright and television dramatist (including eight years on ‘Coronation Street’.] Two photographs of Rosenthal while teaching the residential writer course at Fen Farm, Suffolk, each with signed caption by organizer Sally Worboyes

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The two items are from the papers of Sally Worboyes, organiser of the residential arts courses at her home, Fen Farm in Suffolk, who has provided a signed caption on the reverse of both of the prints. Both colour prints. ONE: 23 x 16 cm photograph, in Landscape....

Social history £75.00 Rosenthal