Autograph Letters

Autograph Note Signed to unnamed male correspondent [Rev. E. J. F. Davies].

Author: 
Spencer Leigh Hughes (1858-1920), British politician and journalist, 'Sub Rosa' of the 'Daily News' and 'Morning Leader'
Publication details: 
6 December 1907; on letterhead of the 'Morning Leader', Stonecutter Street, London, E.C.
£20.00

One page, octavo. Mounted on piece of card. Ruckled and lightly aged, with some rust spotting from paperclip, and a little glue in left-hand margin. 'I send you my signature below with pleasure. My father was Welsh & my mother was English.' From the collection of Rev. E. J. F. Davies.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Clunie') to an unnamed male autograph collector.

Author: 
John Clunie (1784-1858), Principal of Leaf Square and Seedley Grove Academies, 1812 to 1837
Publication details: 
20 June 1836; Seedley Grove, near Manchester.
£50.00

One page, on piece of lightly aged paper, roughly six and a half inches by seven. Strip neatly torn away at head (not affecting text, but perhaps bearing recipient's address). Good, with a little damage from breaking of wafer and slight evidence of previous mounting on revese. Thirteen lines. He is sending the selected autographs, and will 'be happy to receive, at your leisure, those of Currie, Daubeny, Mc.Culloch, Flowers, Woodville & Phillips & Jones - or such 5 of them as you can best spare'.

Fragment of Typed Letter Signed to unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
C. Maguire [autograph dealer?]
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£80.00

On piece of paper roughly seven inches by eight wide. On aged paper with closed tears and fraying to extremities. Top part of document torn away, leaving ten complete lines of text. Lays out the conditions under which an archive of letters is offered for sale.

Two Autograph Letters Signed and two Autograph Card Signed (all 'W J Collins') to Sir Henry Trueman Wood, with offprint of lecture to Royal Sanitary Institute: 'The Chadwick School of Thought. (An appeal from the New Sanitarians to the Old.)'

Author: 
Sir William Job Collins (1859-1946), English ophthalmic surgeon and Liberal politician
Publication details: 
The letters and cards, 1914, 1915 and 1916; the offprint, 'Excerpt from Vol. XXXIV., No. 7 (1913) of the Journal of The Royal Sanitary Institute.'
£120.00

The collection is in good condition. Three of the communications bear the stamp of the Royal Society of Arts, of which the recipient Wood was the Secretary.

Autograph Letter Signed to Thomas Thompson of Liverpool.

Author: 
Catherine Hutton (1756-1846), English novelist and miscellaneous writer [AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING]
Publication details: 
Bennett's Hill June 1832'.
£600.00

Two pages, quarto. Well preserved, on good lightly-aged paper, but with the original piece of paper (which was roughly nine inches by seven and a half wide) now neatly cut into three strips (the top and bottom of which are two and three-quarter inches high, and the middle three and a half inches high). The text is extremely neatly written and entirely legible, and the whole easily repairable with archival tape. The whole of this long, interesting letter (thirty-five lines and a two-line postscript) is given over to the current craze for autograph collecting (for which see A. N. L.

Autograph Note Signed to an unnamed correspondent, in French.

Author: 
[Unknown Collector] Leon Gautier, literary historian and palaeographer.
Publication details: 
No place [Paris], 19 Nov. 1868.
£60.00

One page, 8vo, fold mark, good condition. "Je m'empresse de vous adresser épreuve de votre [premier] Eclaircissement . | L'ouvrage sera tiré in folio et ce que je vous envoie est ce qu'on appelle 'une composition perdue' d'apres laquelle on imprimera Le texte definitif en plus grand format. | Veuillez me renvoyer 8 rue Vaum . .

Autograph Note Signed ('F. C. Burnand') to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Sir Francis Cowley Burnand (1836-1917), English writer, editor of the magazine 'Punch' from 1880 to 1906
Publication details: 
10 December 1901; place not stated.
£30.00

One page. Dimensions of paper roughly four inches by seven. On piece of aged, stained paper, mounted on piece of card. Remains of biographical cutting in bottom right-hand corner. Reads 'Here you are Sir | Autographs cheap today | F. C. Burnand | F. C. B. | 10 Dec 1901'.

Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed female correspondent.

Author: 
W.W. Caddell, autograph-collector [?]
Publication details: 
3 Castellain Road, Maida Hill, w. [London], 16 Feb. 1914.
£80.00

Two pages, 8vo, good condition. He claims that he has checked his post and finds he had not answered her. "If you still have the autograph letters of Gissing & others & will post them on approval I will see if I can afford your price." He refers to his enclosure of a "The 'Bazaar' Reference Register" (present) which is a coupon certifying that the references provided by "Capt. W. Waithman Caddell" were perfectly satisfactory.

A small collections of letters to Robert Cole, and related notes and printed material.

Author: 
Robert Cole, antiquary and autograph (and manuscript)-collector of note.
Publication details: 
Various places, 1856-1860.
£400.00

The material is loosely sewn together and not bound, much marking and chipping but little textual loss. There is an interchange of information, the main drive being antiquarian material concerning Sir Michael Stanhope, however remote the connection, some elicited by a request for information in "Notes & Queries".Twenty-one autograph letters, most extensive, signed from antiquaries, many distinguished: Robert Lemon, archivist (DNB) (1), George R. Corner, antiquary (DNB) (9), "Mr Sage" (enclosed in letter from King - and TO H.W. King - but signature cut off: "E.J.

Autograph Letter Signed to Rosa Tuckwell [nee Strong, b.1829/30], wife of William Tuckwell (1829-1919).

Author: 
Mary Campbell [AUTOGRAPHS; Sir Joshua Reynolds; Rev. William Tuckwell]
Publication details: 
No date [but between 1858 and 1878]; Wheatleigh.
£100.00

Four pages, 12mo. Very good on lightly aged paper. She apologises for only sending 'two words of Sir Joshua Reynolds' writing', and hopes she may some day 'succeed in getting a more valuable autograph'. It was given to her 'by a great niece' of the artist, 'and was cut out of a manuscript of some work on Engravings, which he had prepared for the press'. They are glad to hear of Tuckwell's 1878 'appointment to the living of Stockton': 'I trust many years of rest and happiness are in store for you in that quiet retreat'.

Autograph Note Signed ('Herbert Trench', twice) to unnamed female correspondent.

Author: 
Frederic Herbert Trench (1865-1923), Irish poet
Publication details: 
Undated; on letterhead of the United University Club, Pall Mall East, S.W. [London].
£40.00

Octavo, one page. Good, with stains from paperclip at head. Large bold signature on top half of leaf, and body of note, with signature on bottom half. 'I have pleasure in sending my signature. Yes I am the author of "Deirdre Wedded" & "New Poems" (including Apollo & the Seaman) which Methuen published.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('G. S. Layard') to Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. Gaskell.

Author: 
George Somes Layard (1857-1925), English biographical author; Shirley Brooks (1816-74), editor of 'Punch'
Publication details: 
9 August 1906; on letterhead 'BULLS CLIFF, FELIXSTOWE.'
£100.00

Four pages, 12mo. Very good on lightly aged paper. Docketed by Gaskell at head of first page 'This letter is written to myself in reply to my offer of the loan of 91 Shirley Brooks' letters. | J. B. Gaskell'. Acknowledges the receipt of the letters which Gaskell has 'so generously' placed at his disposal, and assures him that they will be 'treated with the greatest care' and returned as soon as possible, together with the photograph of 'Epicurus Rotundus' (Brooks's pen name), 'which is new to me'. Asks for 'any reminiscences, hearsay or otherwise of S. B.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. P. Drury') to unnamed female correspondent.

Author: 
Major William Price Drury (1861-1928), Royal Marines, English author
Publication details: 
3 September 1907; East Lavington, Petworth, Sussex.
£25.00

One page, 12mo. Good, on aged paper with a little paperclip spotting. Laid down on piece of card. 'It is with considerable misgiving that I thrust my autograph upon the distinguished company you cite in your letter. Since, however, it is unthinkable to refuse the request of a lady, I have the honour to subscribe myself, | Yours faithfully, | W. P. Drury.'

Autograph Note Signed ('Wemyss Reid') [to Rev. E. J. F. Davies].

Author: 
Sir Thomas Wemyss Reid (1842-1905), British novelist and biographer
Publication details: 
8 July 1902; Falcon Hotel, Bude, Cornwall.
£30.00

One page, 12mo. On blue paper discoloured from glue by previous mounting. Seven-line printed biographical cutting in top right-hand corner. 'I am very happy to comply with your request [for an autograph].'

Typed Letter Signed ('Walter Runciman') to L. P. Jacks.

Author: 
Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford (1870-1949), English Liberal politician [paper making; the book trade; publishing]
Publication details: 
21 February 1916; on letterhead of the Board of Trade, Whitehall Gardens, London, S.W.
£56.00

12mo, 3 pp, 35 lines. Good, on lightly aged paper, and with a thin strip from mount adhering at head of blank verso of second leaf of bifolium. Discusses 'the restriction on the importation of paper and paper making materials', imposed 'with the object of securing more tonnage space in incoming vessels'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('H S Cotton') to William Upcott (1779-1845), Secretary of the London Institution and autograph collector.

Author: 
Rev. Horace Salusbury Cotton (c.1774-1846), Ordinary of Newgate Prison and autograph collector
Publication details: 
20 August 1830; place not stated.
£150.00

One page, octavo. Very good. Docketed at head 'Ordinary of Newgate', and with small fragment of printed slip laid down in top left-hand corner (not affecting text). Reads 'My dear Sir, | A friend of mine lays claim to the Arrandale Peerage & estates - do you happen to possess any documents of any kind which can throw light upon the subject & assist him in the prosecution of his claims - He claims I believe from Lord John Johnstone who was in Newgate for Treason about the year 1700, but was never convicted - Yrs. very truly | H S Cotton'. Addressed to 'William Upcott Esq.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Seymour Lucas') to 'Mr Wright' [W.H.K. Wright, editor of the Journal of the Ex-Libris Society?].

Author: 
John Seymour Lucas (1849-1923), R.A., English artist and costume designer
Publication details: 
17 April 1906; on letterhead of Priory Place, Blythburgh, Suffolk.
£30.00

Two pages, 12mo. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper. 'In the rush of finishing [his] Academy work' he finds Wright's letter 'among numerous others unanswered'. He will be returning to London in a fortnight 'and shall have great pleasure in sending you the bookplate together with an early one. Also my autograph &c.'

Two Typed Letters Signed ('H. Gordon Griffin' and 'H. G. Griffin') to 'The Secretary' and K. W. Luckhurst, Royal Society of Arts; with carbon of Luckhurst's reply; and draft of 'C.P.R.E. Publication on the Design and Layout of Small Houses.'

Author: 
Sir Herbert Gordon Griffin (died 1969), General Secretary, The Council for the Preservation of Rural England [Royal Society of Arts, London]
Publication details: 
Letters of 12 January 1927 and 10 December 1956, both on Council letterhead; carbon reply, 11 December 1956; draft, November 1956.
£100.00

All items very good. A couple with slight staining at head from paperclip. Letter One (to 'The Secretary', 4to, 1 p, 5 lines): Apologising for delay in acknowledging the 'letter and enclosures of 31st ultimo': 'my office was only opened on Wednesday last and I have had much correspondence with which to deal'. Letter Two (to Luckhurst, 4to, 1 p, 18 lines): Concerning 'a booklet on the layout and design of small houses' which the C.P.R.E. 'is hoping to publish this spring'.

Ten Autograph Letters Signed (all 'E Walford') to a number of different correspondents (including A., F. and H. Barker, Mrs Ratcliffe and a newspaper editor named 'Taylor').

Author: 
Edward Walford (1823-97), topographer, genealogist, antiquary and editor of 'Once a Week' and 'The Antiquarian Magazine and Bibliographer'
Publication details: 
Five undated, the others 1860 to 1890; all but one (from Bracknell in Berkshire) from a number of London addresses.
£400.00

All items good, though on dusty and aged paper. Five items are addressed to sellers of manuscripts (probably the same individual). ONE (to H. Barker, 23 April 1885, on letterhead of 'The Antiquarian Magazine and Bibliographer', one page, octavo): Asks to be offered Wellesley autographs purchased at a recent Sotheby sale, of which he sent an account to 'The Times', which was 'crowded out'. TWO (to F. Barker, 25 April [1885], 'at T.

Autograph Letter Signed, in French, to unnamed male correspondent. With manuscript English translation.

Author: 
Eugenie Nau, French actress, active in the cinema between 1908 and 1924
Publication details: 
10 March [1919]; on letterhead of the Hotel Thorndike, Boston.
£75.00

Octavo, one page. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper, with the merest hint of a damp stain. English translation in contemporary hand on separate piece of 12mo paper, with slight loss at head (not affecting text). She has received no acknowledgement from him for 'the autograph which I sent you and a little book of verse sold for the benefit of the soldier who wrote them. The little book ought to be sold for at least 75 cents.

Autograph Letter Signed "P. Goldsmith Medd" to "Cummings", collector.

Author: 
Peter Goldsmith Medd, theologian, one of the founders of Keble College, Oxford (DNB).
Publication details: 
University College, 9 Feb. 1867.
£40.00

2pp., c.12 x 14cms,remnants of laying down process obscuring af ew words. "I am not much in the habit of corresponding with great people, but I enclose you a few autographs." He then discusses a curacy and a pupil.

Keywords:

Autograph Letter Signed to Dawson Turner from his daughter Elizabeth ('E. Palgrave').

Author: 
Elizabeth Palgrave (nee Turner, 1799-1852), wife of Sir Francis Palgrave (1788-1861) [Dawson Turner]
Publication details: 
[Docketed by Turner 'Hampstead 21st June 1848.']
£80.00

One page, octavo. Good, on aged paper with some loss to extremities repaired with archival tape. Fifteen lines of text clear and complete. On learning of Dawson Turner's celebrated collection of autographs from her son, Elizabeth Palgrave's 'kind old neighbour' Lady Bentham asked her 'some questions which led to the enclosed note & the letters I send' (none present).

Autograph Note Signed ('H W Gwatkin') to 'Miss Thomas'.

Author: 
Henry Melvill Gwatkin (1844-1916), English theologian and church historian
Publication details: 
8 Scrope [sic] Terrace, Cambridge; 12 May 1908.
£25.00

One page, 12mo. Very good, on lightly aged and spotted paper. 'Dear Miss Thomas | The autograph-hunter has the advantage. It is not civil to ignore her, and she cannot be refused without getting what she wants'.

Autograph Note Signed ('Owen Rhoscomyl') [to the autograph hunter Rev. E. J. F. Davies].

Author: 
Arthur Owen Vaughan (1863-1919, born Robert Scourfield Mills, and writing under the names 'Owen Rhoscomyl' and 'Owen Vaughan'), Welsh author and adventurer
Publication details: 
6 May 1909; on letterhead of the Welsh National Pageant, Pageant House, Cardiff.
£35.00

Quarto, one page. Good, on lightly aged paper spotted by paperclip, with some creasing to extremities. 'If you will let your list down to this level, here you are'. The letterhead carries the names of the Pageant's officers with a Welsh dragon in red in the top left-hand corner. From the collection of Rev. E. J. F. Davies.

Autograph Letter Signed ("M. Howitt") to a "William Brown", autograph collector.

Author: 
Mary Howitt (1799-1888), miscellaneous writer (DNB)
Publication details: 
28 Upper [?] Road, Regents Park, [London], 22 Dec. [no year].
£100.00

Two pages, 8vo, creased, minor staining, left edge reinforced, text complete and clear as follows: "I have it not in my power to render you the service you request, and, I am sorry to say, cannot put you in the way of obtaining the autographs of Miss Jane Porter or Miss Edgeworth. Mrs. S.C. Hall's might be had I doubt not for the asking for - try addressing her at the Art Journal Office Wellington |Street (North) Starnd London." Mary Howitt's poem Father is coming", clipped from a newspaper is tipped onto the seecond page.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Spencer Todd') to autograph collector S[eymour]. C. J. Freeman-Matthews of Cape Town.

Author: 
John Spencer Brydges Todd (1840-1921), Executive Commissioner, Paris, for the Universal Exhibition of 1878, and colonial officer
Publication details: 
18 August 1900; on crested letterhead '112, VICTORIA STREET, LONDON, S.W.'
£30.00

One page, 12mo. Very good. 'Although I am surprised at your wishing to include mine in your collection of autographs, here it is. | I agree with Sir Alfred Milner that Work, Brains & Opportunity are necessary to success; and that the last is most necessary. But I think that Self-control should be added to His Excellency's list.' A printed biographical cutting is appended.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Jas: Stanley:Little') to S[eymour C.] J. Freeman-Matthews [of Cape Town].

Author: 
James Stanley Little (1856-1940), British novelist
Publication details: 
28 September 1900; on letterhead 18 Drakenfield Road, Tooting Common, S.W.
£30.00

One page, quarto. On aged and lightly creased paper. He is sending the signature with 'one or two others'. 'Possibly the work I have done for South Africa (I have been upholding the Imperial cause for a quarter of a century) is your reason for paying me the compliment.' Thinks he recognises from Freeman-Matthews' crest that he is 'a descendant of the Llandaff Mathews family'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Horace') and fragment of Autograph Letter Signed ('Horace Annesley Vachell.').

Author: 
Horace Annesley Vachell (1861-1955), English novelist and playwright
Publication details: 
The letter: 24 September 1899, on letterhead 'PEVERELL, HURSLEY, WINCHESTER.' The fragment: undated and with place not stated.
£30.00

The letter: one page, 12mo. Good, but with removal from mount having thinned the paper in places, and with traces of brown paper mount still adhering. He is sending the autographs of 'Henry Seton Merriman (Hugh Scott); Gertrude Atherton; Miss Fowler; and Douglas Sladen. Also a photo from Ted (not a good one, but the only one I have left).' He enjoyed himself 'so much' at Langford. 'It was a week of real enjoyment to me.' The fragment: one page, four inches by four and a half wide.

Typed Note, third person (as above) to Miss Winifred Oldfield.

Author: 
The Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales [Edward].
Publication details: 
St James's Palace, London, S.W., 30 June 1921.
£35.00

One page, 8vo, minor defects. A standard reply with a gap filled by the name of whichever royalist had made a request for an autograph. He expresses "His Royal Highness's regret that, owing to the immense number of requests for his autograph and photograph, it has become impossible for him to comply, save in the case of those with whom he is actually personally acquainted."

Autograph Letter Signed ('Theodore Martin') [to an autograph dealer?].

Author: 
Sir Theodore Martin (1816-1909), Scottish poet, biographer and translator.
Publication details: 
27 February 1888; on letterhead '31, Onslow Square, S. W.' [London].
£50.00

One page, 12mo. Good, though a little grubby at the right-hand margin, and with the name of the recipient neatly torn away at foot. 'Dear Sir | Neither Lady Martin nor myself feel any interest in any letters of ours, which may have come into your hands.'

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