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[Thomas Hughes, author of ‘Tom Brown’s Schooldays’.] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Spencer Ponsonby of the Lord Chamberlain's Office, introducing ‘Mr. Selway’, whom he advises him to consult about proposals for a theatre in Surrey Gardens.

Author: 
Thomas Hughes (1822-1896), author of the Victorian classic children's book 'Tom Brown's Schooldays', Liberal MP for Lambeth [Sir Spencer Cecil Brabazon Ponsonby-Fane of the Lord Chamberlain's Office]
Publication details: 
19 March 1872. No place.
£220.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. On first leaf of a bifolium of wove paper. Folded for postage. Signed ‘Tho. Hughes’. Begins: ‘My dear Ponsonby / Let me introduce the bearer, Mr. Selway, [i.e. William Robbins Selway (c.1822-1893) of Walworth] who was vice Chairman of my Committee in Lambeth, & is one of the most influential & trustworthy men in the South of London’. Selway wishes to see Ponsonby ‘about a building in the Surrey Gardens which certain persons are proposing to convert into a Theatre’.

[National Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, London.] Printed pamphlet by NCADP Secretary Frank Dawtry: ‘Bulletin No. 26 / Public Opinion and the Death Penalty’.

Author: 
National Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, London; Frank Dawtry [Frank Dalmeny Dawtry] (1902-1968), General Secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers
Publication details: 
March 1948. National Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, 14 Victoria Street, London, SW1. ‘Printed for Edgar G. Dunstan & Co., Draycot House, Gordon Street, W.C.1, by The Hereford Times Ltd., London and Hereford.
£80.00

See Dawtry’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is scarce: no copies traced on JISC or WorldCat. 4pp, 4to. Bifolium printed in small type. In fair condition, lightly aged, with creasing and nicking to both leaves at bottom outer edge.

[Sir Charles Trevelyan and the Union of Democratic Control.] Typed Note Signed ('Charles Trevelyan') to E. Dinnage of Cambridge, enclosing a receipt ‘for payment of literature already sent’.

Author: 
Sir Charles Trevelyan [Sir Charles Philips Trevelyan, 3rd Baronet] (1870-1958), Liberal politician, a founder of the anti-First World War group the Union of Democratic Control
Trevelyan
Publication details: 
11 February 1915. On letterhead of The Union of Democratic Control, 37 Norfolk Street, Strand, W.C., London.
£65.00
Trevelyan

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that after his resignation from government in protest against the impending war, ‘Around him he rallied those few brave, independent spirits who shared his views. Together they helped to found the Union of Democratic Control, in A. J. P. Taylor's judgement 'the most formidable Radical body ever to influence British foreign policy' (A. J. P. Taylor, Politicians, Socialism and Historians, 1982, 103). Trevelyan became the union's principal advocate in the Commons.

[H. W. Nevinson, campaigning journalist.] Circular Typed Letter, with facsimile signature, appealing for support for the National Council for Civil Liberties.

Author: 
H. W. Nevinson [Henry Woodd Nevinson] (1856-1941), campaigning journalist who reported on slavery in Africa, suffragist, war correspondent [National Council for Civil Liberties, London]
Publication details: 
23 November 1939. On letterhead of the National Council for Civil Liberties, London.
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. A very good facsimile of a typed letter, with the main text in black, some in red and the facsimile signature 'Henry W. Nevinson' in light blue. Names of Nevinson as President, E. M. Forster as Past-President, and dozens of Vice-Presidents in left-hand margin, including Aldous Huxley, A. A. Milne, J. B. Priestley, H. G. Wells and Rebecca West. Addressed to 'Dear Sir', the letter sets out the history of the organization, appealing for 'support for its activities'.

[Herbert Thurston, SJ, Roman Catholic liturgical scholar and member of the Society for Psychical Research.] Autograph Letter Signed regarding Samuel Butler and the ‘Oxford theory’ of Shakespeare’s sonnets.

Author: 
Herbert Thurston [Herbert Henry Charles Thurston] (1856–1939), Jesuit priest, Roman Catholic liturgical scholar, andt member of the Society for Psychical Research [Samuel Butler; William Shakespeare]
Publication details: 
3 December 1930; on letterhead of 114 Mount Street, Grosvenor Square, London, W.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The recipient is not identified. Addressed to ‘My dear Sir’ and signed ‘Herbert Thurston’. He begins by thanking him for ‘the nice things you say’, and continues: ‘I fear I have no defence as regards Samuel Butler. I knew that he had written on the Sonnets and that some people thought highly of his book but I have never seen it. The fact was that I was provoked into talking up the question by some friends who have recently become obsessed by the Oxford theory.

[Ben Purse [Benjamin Ormond Purse], trade unionist and campaigner for the rights of blind people.] Typed Letter with cyclostyled signature, to Carmichael Thomas, describing his ‘interests’ while asking for help in joining the Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Ben Purse [Benjamin Ormond Purse] (1874-1950), British trade unionist, social worker and campaigner with the National Institute for the Blind [Carmichael Thomas; Royal Society of Arts]
Publication details: 
21 April 1921; on letterhead of the National Institute for the Blind, London.
£60.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and with two creases from folding for postage. Addressed to ‘Carmichael Thomas, Esq., / Mount Cottage, / Borough Green, / Kent.’ Cyclostyled signature of ‘Ben Purser.’ Begins: ‘For some time I have been desirous of becoming a member of the Royal Society of Arts. Mentioning this matter to your daughter a few days ago, Miss Thomas thought that if I wrote you in this connection you might possibly be able to arrange this matter for me.

[‘100% Socialist but disrespectful to Marx’: Sir Richard Acland, Labour politician and a founder of CND.] Typed Letter Signed to Philip Dosse, publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’, describing his self-published book ‘The Next Step’.

Author: 
Sir Richard Acland [Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet] (1906-1990), Common Wealth Party and Labour politician, a founder of CND [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher ‘Books and Bookmen’]
Publication details: 
8 February 1974; Sprydon, Broadclyst, Exeter.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. See ‘Death of a Bookman’ by the novelist Sally Emerson (editor of ‘Books and Bookmen’ at the time of Dosse’s suicide), in Standpoint magazine, October 2018. This item is 2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with the two leaves attached by a slightly rusty staple. Folded twice for postage. Large sprawling signature ‘Richard Acland’ above typed name ‘Sir Richard Acland’.

[British 1970s anti-fascism.] Four printed items: ‘The National Front and the Jews / A briefing document’, David Edgar, ‘Racism Fascism and the Politics of the National Front’; ‘Workers Socialist League / How to really fight the fascists’; and form.

Author: 
[British 1970s anti-fascism] Anti Nazi League, London; Institute for Race Relations, London; Socialist Workers League, London; Peter Hain, Paul Holborow, Ernie Roberts
Publication details: 
1977 and 1978. Two items from the Anti Nazi League, 12 Little Newport Street, London WC2. One from the Institute of Race Relations, 247 Pentonville Road, London N1. One from the Workers Socialist League, 31 Dartmouth Park Hill, London NW5.
£220.00

ONE: ‘The National Front and the Jews / A briefing document by the Anti Nazi League / March 1978’. Stapled pamphlet of 8pp, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Striking cover with title in large letters printed in black onto strips of green. Two-page introduction followed by two pages of illustrations (‘merely intended as a sample of the National Front’s continual argument by innuendo. All are taken from the National Front monthly, Spearhead’); page headed ‘Before the National Front / 1959-67’, followed by two pages titled ‘The National Front / 1967-’.

[Anti-Vietnam War movement, UK.] Mimeographed pamphlet issued by the ‘Committee for Communist Unity & Vanguard’, titled ‘Vietnam’.

Author: 
[Anti-Vietnam War, UK.] Committee for Communist Unity; ‘Vanguard’ edited by Arthur Henry Evans (b. 1902), Anti-Revisionist Maoist Welsh communist and poet, proprietor of David-Goliath Publications
Publication details: 
No date [1964 or 1965]. ‘Issued by the: - / COMMITTEE for COMMUNIST UNITY / & / VANGUARD. / Flat 3, 33 Anson Road, / London. N.7.’
£120.00

The Committee for Communist Unity and Vanguard were both mouthpieces of the Maoist Welsh Communist A. H. Evans, who was born in the village of Aber Clydach, near Talybont on Usk, Breconshire. He gives biographical information in his ‘English Historians and Welsh History’ (1975). The only copy of the present item traced is at the British Library, which dates it to 1964 or 1965. 8pp, small 4to. Mimeographed on two bifoliums, one loosely inserted in the other. A lo-fi production. The full title reads: ‘VIETNAM / OPPOSE “NEGOTIATIONS AT ANY PRICE!” / OPPOSE A CEASEFIRE WHILE U.S.

[Society for Irish Church Missions to the Roman Catholics.] Printed promotional pamphlet, including ‘The West Galway Church Building Fund / Appeal from the Bishop of Tuam.’ [i.e. Thomas Span Plunket]

Author: 
Society for Irish Church Missions to the Roman Catholics, Anglican missionary society, founded 1849 [The West Galway Church Building Fund; Thomas Span Plunket, Bishop of Tuam; Rev. Alexander Dallas]
Publication details: 
[November, 1850.] For the Society for Irish Church Missions to the Roman Catholics [The West Galway Church Building Fund].
£320.00

A scarce item: the only copy on COPAC at Trinity College Dublin. (WorldCat records a German library holding). See the entry on the Society’s founder, Rev. Alexander Dallas, in the Oxford DNB. The organisation, which still operates, is a controversial one. It was founded to convert Irish Roman Catholics to Protestantism, and the attitude of those involved can be gauged by the fact that its members considered the Potato Famine a judgement on the Catholics and made relief conditional on conversion, and that the Bishop of Tuam evicted tenants for not sending their children to Protestant schools.

[Society for the Reform of Colonial Government, London.] First edition: 'Charters of the Old English Colonies in America. With an Introduction and Notes, by Samuel Lucas, Esq., M.A. Late of Queen’s College, Oxford; Barrister at Law.'

Author: 
Samuel Lucas, Esq., M.A. Late of Queen’s College, Oxford; Barrister at Law [The Society for the Reform of Colonial Government, London]
Publication details: 
Published for the Society for the Reform of Colonial Government. London: John W. Parker, West Strand. 1850.
£250.00

Scarce. xx + 123pp, 8vo. With erratum slip following prelims. Internally good and tight, on slightly-discoloured brittle paper, with one leaf among the prelims with small grease stain in margin; in heavily worn half-calf binding, with loosening boards. The introduction begins, p.ix: ‘The present volume comprises ten of the Charters which were granted to our early American Colonies.

[The Child Welfare Centre, St Andrews; child welfare specialist.] Three Autograph Letters Signed from Elenora Simpson of the James Mackenzie Institute, St Andrews, to her Professor David Waterston, regarding research and data.

Author: 
The Child Welfare Centre, St Andrews [Elenora Simpson of the James Mackenzie Institute for Clinical Research; Professor David Waterston (1871-1942)]
Publication details: 
26 December 1939; and 10 August and 8 October 1940. All three on letterhead of The James Mackenzie Institute for Clinical Research, St Andrews, Fife.
£180.00

As a result of her pioneering work at the Child Welfare Centre at St Andrews, Simpson was appointed to a sub-committee of the Scientific Advisory Committee set up by the Department of Health (see Jaqueline Jenkinson, ‘Scotland’s Health 1919-1948’, 2002). Waterston was Bute Professor of Anatomy at the University of St Andrews from 1914 to 1942. In 1913, while Professor of Anatomy at King's College, London, he was the first authority to debunk the Piltdown Man hoax.

[Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League: Frances J. Balfour, Hon. Sec. of Sheffield & District Branch.] Autograph Letter Signed (possible spoof) to ‘Mr. Sayers’ [A. H. Sayers], requesting contribution so branch can become ‘influential & successful’.

Author: 
Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League; Frances J. Balfour, Hon. Sec. of the Sheffield & District Branch [Rev. A. H. Sayers of Monmouth]
Publication details: 
Dated ‘Sheffield & District Branch / Arcadia / March 31st. 09’. On letterhead of Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League, Caxton House, Tothill Street, Westminster, London, S.W.
£120.00

1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Considering the tone of the letter, the similarity between the signatories name and that of the prominent suffragist Lady Frances Balfour (1858-1931), and the fact that there is no record of a Sheffield branch of the WNASL, nor of a place in Warrington called ‘Arcadia’, nor of any Balfours living there, one must strongly suspect that this letter is a spoof, perhaps written by in some such scenario as a pro-suffrage child of a member of the WNASL, having got hold of one of the organisations blank letterheads. Or perhaps not.

[Rev. J. S. Brownrigg, Secretary of the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church.] Autograph Letter Signed to Mr De Winton, regarding his points concerning a parliamentary bill.

Author: 
Rev. J. S. Brownrigg [John Studholme Brownrigg] (b.1842), Rector of Moulsoe, Buckinghamshire [National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church]
Publication details: 
16 April 1896, on his letterhead as Secretary of the National Society for Promoting the Education of the Poor in the Principles of the Established Church, Westminster.
£56.00

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair, condition on lightly aged and discoloured paper. Folded twice. Signed ‘J. S. Brownrigg’. He will makes sure that the points raised by De Winton are fully considered at a ‘good meeting’ the following Monday of ‘our Standing Committee and the Committee of the Church Parliamentary Party’. While one of the points will be ‘easily met by moving the exclusion of Clause 17’, he is afraid that ‘a new Committee elected under the provisions of the Bill would be hardly better than the present governing Body in Welsh Counties’.

[William Ewart Gladstone and colonial railways, 1846.] Printed Colonial Office circular dispatch, laying out ‘some general principles’ regarding ‘plans of Railway communication’ in the British colonies.

Author: 
W. E. Gladstone [William Ewart Gladstone] as Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1846 [Colonial Office, Whitehall; nineteenth-century railways; Victorian locomotives]
Publication details: 
Dated from Downing Street [London], 15 January 1846.
£120.00

A scarce item, of which no other copy has been traced. 9pp, 8vo. Disbound from a volume, and paginated in manuscript 57-65. In good condition, lightly aged. Printed in lithograph in facsimile of a manuscript document. Begins by explaining the purpose of the dispatch in true Gladstonian style: ‘I find that the impulse which has been given in every other part of the Civilized World to plans of Railway communication has been felt in many of the British Colonies.

[William Ewart Gladstone and banking in the colonies, 1846.] Colonial Office printed circular dispatch, with printed set of ‘Regulations and Conditions’ regarding ‘Banking Companies’, for governors, legislative bodies and local authorities.

Author: 
W. E. Gladstone [William Ewart Gladstone] as Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1846 [Colonial Office, Whitehall; banking regulations]
Publication details: 
ONE: Circular dispatch, dated from Downing Street, 30 May 1846. TWO: ‘Regulations and conditions’ [Whitehall, London, 1846].
£120.00

Both items are scarce: no copy of the first and only two copies of the second on OCLC WorldCat and JISC (at Manchester and Glasgow). Both are in good condition, lightly aged. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. ONE: Printed ‘Circular’ headed in manuscript ‘Banking Companies’, and dated from Downing Street, 30 May 1846. 1p, 8vo. Paginated in manuscript 67. Thirty-two lines of small print, in a copperplate font. At foot of the page (not in Gladstone’s hand): ‘/sd/ Grey [last word deleted] W. E. Gladstone’.

[Lord John Russell and banking in the colonies, 1840.] Colonial Office manuscript circular dispatch by Russell, with printed set of ‘Regulations and Conditions’ regarding ‘Banking Companies’, for governors, legislative bodies and local authorities.

Author: 
Lord John Russell as Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1840 [Colonial Office, Whitehall; banking regulations]
Publication details: 
ONE: Manuscript circular dispatch, dated from Downing Street, 4 May 1840. TWO: Printed ‘Regulations and conditions’ [1840]. Slug: ‘LONDON: / PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, 14, CHARING CROSS, / For Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.’
£120.00

The printed item is excessively scarce: no copy on OCLC WorldCat or JISC. Transcriptions of both items are to be found in The Journal of the Legislative Council of the Province of New Brunswick, 20 January to 26 March, pp.26-28. The two items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. ONE: Manuscript ‘Circular’ headed ‘Banking Companies’ and dated from Downing Street, 4 May 1840. 1p, 8vo. Paginated in manuscript 15. On W. Horsington paper with watermark date 1839.

[Lord Grey and ‘unsteady habits’ of immigrants to Mauritius (and West Indies), 1846.] Three printed items: Colonial Office circular dispatch; copy of dispatch to Governor of Mauritius; ‘Heads of an Ordinance for Promoting Immigration’ to Mauritius.

Author: 
Lord Grey [Henry George Grey, 3rd Earl Grey] as Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1846 [Colonial Office, Whitehall; Sir W. M. Gomm, Governor of Mauritius; West Indies]
Publication details: 
ONE: Printed circular dispatch, Downing Street, 23 October 1846. TWO: Grey’s Dispatch No. 38, Downing Street, 29 September 1846. THREE: ‘Heads of an Ordinance’ [London, 1846].
£120.00

All three items are scarce, with no copies on OCLC WorldCat or COPAC. Both in good condition, lightly aged. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. ONE: Printed ‘Circular’, headed in manuscript ‘Immiration / W. Indies & Mauritius’, and dated from Downing Street, 23 October 1846. Paginated in manuscript 93. At foot of page (not in Grey’s hand): ‘/sd/ Grey’.

[Lord Grey and the ‘Publication of Colonial Papers’, 1849.] Private Circular Dispatch to Colonial Governors, discussing the question.

Author: 
Lord Grey [Henry George Grey, 3rd Earl Grey] as Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1849 [publication of colonial papers]
Publication details: 
Dated from Downing Street, 15 June 1849.
£75.00

An interesting indication of the Victorian approach to transparency in government. A scarce item: no other copy traced. Dispatch with ‘Circular. / Private.’ in the margin. Headed in manuscript ‘Publication of Colonial Papers. / (Parliamentary Papers)’. At end in manuscript (not Grey’s handwriting): ‘/sd/ Gray’. In good condition, lightly aged. 4pp, 8vo. Disbound from volume, and paginated in manuscript 175-178. Printed in copperplate font.

[Lord Grey and immigration to British West India Colonies, 1850.] Two printed Colonial Office circular dispatches: on ‘Coloured Emigrants from United States’, and ‘Immigration’ of ‘Coolies’, ‘Kroomen’ and Africans taken from captured Slavers’.

Author: 
Lord Grey [Henry George Grey, 3rd Earl Grey] as Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1850 [Colonial Office; slavery; the United States]
Publication details: 
ONE: ‘Coloured Emigrants from United States’, Downing Street, 16 October 1850. TWO: ‘Immigration’, Downing Street, 30 October 1850.
£150.00

Two interesting items from the period leading up to the American Civil War. Both items are scarce: no other copy of either traced. In good condition, lightly aged. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript.Both printed in copperplate font. ONE: Printed ‘Circular’ dated from Downing Street, 16 October 1850. Headed in manuscript ‘Colonial Emigrants from United States’. In manuscript at end (not in Grey’s hand) ‘/sd/ Grey’. 2pp, 8vo. Paginated in manuscript 239-240.

[Lord Grey and colonial postal arrangements, 1850.] Two printed Colonial Office documents: a copy of a letter from W. L. Maberly of the General Post Office to H. Merivale of the Colonial Office; and a covering circular dispatch on ‘Book Posts’.

Author: 
Lord Grey [Henry George Grey, 3rd Earl Grey] as Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1850 [W. L. Maberly of the General Post Office; Herman Merivale; Royal Mail; book post]
Publication details: 
ONE: W. L. Maberly to H. Merivale; dated from General Post Office, 14 December 1850. TWO: Headed ‘Book Posts’; dated from Downing Street, 27 December 1850.
£80.00

Both items scarce: no other copies traced. In good condition, lightly aged. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. ONE: Copy of letter from W. L. Maberly to ‘H. Merivale, Esq., / &c. &c. &c. / Colonial Office’, dated from General Post Office, 14 December 1850. 2pp, 8vo. Paginated in manuscript 257-258.

[Lord Derby [as Lord Stanley] and crime on the high seas, 1842.] Printed Colonial Office circular dispatch laying out the Government’s conclusions on the question of ‘acts done in the High Seas’.

Author: 
Lord Derby [Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby] as Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1842 [Colonial Office; maritime law; piracy]
Publication details: 
Dated from Downing Street [London], 16 December 1842.
£90.00

Scarce: no other copy traced. 1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript 37. Printed ‘Circular’ dated from Downing Street, 16 December 1842. Headed in manuscript ‘Crime in the high Seas’. At bottom, in manuscript (not Stanley’s hand): ‘/sd/ Stanley’. Twenty-nine lines in copperplate font.

[Lord Derby [as Lord Stanley] and emigration from West Africa to West Indies, 1843.] Two printed Colonial Office items: Circular dispatch on ‘Emigration from the W. Coast of Africa’ and ‘A circular to all the West India Colonies’ on ‘Emigration’.

Author: 
Lord Derby [Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby] as Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1843 [Colonial Office; immigration to West Indies; West Africa; African emigration]
Publication details: 
ONE: ‘Emigration from the W. Coast of Africa.’ Downing Street, 25 February 1843. TWO: ‘A circular to all the West India Colonies.’ Downing Street, 25 February 1843. Printed by W. Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street, for Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.
£120.00

Important items, reflecting the state of affairs regarding movement of West Africans to the British West India colonies in the period immediately following the abolition of slavery. Both items excessively scarce: no copies traced on either OCLC WorldCat or COPAC. In good condition, lightly aged. The two items disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. ONE: Printed ‘Circular’ dated ‘Downing Street, / 25th. February 1843.’ Lithographic reproduction of manuscript text, headed in real manuscript ‘Emigration from the W. Coast of Africa’.

[The National Association for Freedom, London.] Publicity pamphlet and membership application form.

Author: 
The National Association for Freedom, libertarian pressure group set up in London in 1975 by Viscount De L'Isle, Norris McWhirter, Ross McWhirter and John Gouriet; now called the Freedom Association
Publication details: 
The National Association for Freedom, 500 Chesham House 30/32 Warwick Street, London W1R 5RD. No date (dating from between 1975 and late 1978).
£180.00

A scarce piece of political ephemera, from the turbulent days of 1970s Britain. The only other copy traced at the British Library, where it is tentatively dated to 1977.

[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’.

Author: 
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]
Publication details: 
5 October and 15 November 1993, and 24 March 1994. All three on letterhead of the M. K. Institute for Nonviolence, Christian Brothers University, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.
£90.00

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: 6 October 1993. He thanks him for his ‘positive response’ to the invitation to ‘contribute a statement for our forthcoming book WORLD WITHOUT VIOLENCE’, to be published to commemorate his grandfather’s 125th birthday. He concludes with details of an extended deadline. TWO: 15 November 1994.

[Lord Thomson, Minister for Air in Ramsay MacDonald’s Labour Government.] Typed Letter Signed (‘Thomson’) to Sir Reginald Hart, praising his ‘advanced views on politics’.

Author: 
Lord Thomson [Christopher Birdwood Thomson] (1875-1930), army officer and Minister for Air in Ramsay MacDonald Labour Government, killed in R101 airship disaster [Sir Reginald Clare Hart (1848-1931)]
Publication details: 
2 April 1924; on letterhead of 12 St James’s Court, Buckingham Gate, S.W.1 [London]
£38.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ‘Dear Sir Reginald’. After sympathizing with him on his indisposition he writes: ‘I always felt that you really had more advanced views on politics than most of the Generals in the British Army, and what you say in your letter does not surprise me therefore in the least.’ He ends with regards to Lady Hart and the Harts’ daughter. Autograph postscript: ‘Ps. Ps. forgive type written letter.’

[Queensland immigration] Printed advertisement, with long descriptive text, issued by the 'Agent-General for Queensland, 409 & 410, Strand, London, W.C.', for emigration from England to 'Queensland Crown Lands'.

Author: 
The Agent-General for Queensland [emigration to Australia; Australian immigration]
Publication details: 
[Edwardian] The Agent-General for Queensland, 409 and 410, Strand, London, W.C.
£28.00

4to, 4 pp. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. First page carries the decorative title beneath the Queensland crest.The central two pages carry a long text, in small type, under the headings 'AGRICULTURE SELECTIONS', 'GRAZING SELECTIONS', 'GROUP SETTLEMENT' and 'OTHER MODES', and the subheadings 'AGRICULTURAL FARMS', 'AGRICULTURAL HOMESTEADS', 'GRAZING FARMS' and 'GRAZING HOMESTEADS'. The final page advertises 'FREE PASSAGES [...] TO Female Domestic Servants of Good Health and Character, between 17 and 35 years of age. Plenty of Work!

[Indian Students' Department, East India Association, London.] Six yearly issues of the printed 'Report on the Work of the Indian Students' Department', variously by C. E. Mallet, N. C. Sen and Thomas Quayle, from between July 1912 and 31 March 1922.

Author: 
Indian Students' Department, East India Association, London (C. E. Mallet, N. C. Sen and Thomas Quayle) [Office of the High Commissioner for India]
Publication details: 
London: His Majesty's Stationery Office [the last published by the Office of the High Commissioner for India]. Six items: a run of four from July 1912/June 1913 to July 1915/June 1916; with: 1 April 1920/31 March 1921 and 1 April 1921/31 March 1922.
£450.00

From the papers held at the headquarters of the National Indian Association and the Northbrook Society, 21 Cromwell Road, London (referred to in the report for 1912/1913 as 'The House in Cromwell Road' and 'The London Bureau' and 'still to a large extent the headquarters of the Student's Department'; and in the report for 1914/1915 as 'Mr. Arnold's Bureau', referring to 'Mr. T. W. Arnold, C.I.E., the Educational Adviser in London'). For the context see F. H. Brown's article 'Indian Students in Great Britain' (with 'Discussion'), Asiatic Review, July 1925, quoting Sir Charles E.

[Sir William Grant, Scottish lawyer and English judge.] Autograph Note in the third person, regarding 'the Old Fish Dinner party'.

Author: 
Sir William Grant (1752-1832), Scottish lawyer and English judge, Attorney General for Quebec, Member of Parliament, Master of the Rolls
Publication details: 
23 June 1829. Lincoln's Inn Fields [London].
£30.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of a 12 x 11 cm piece of paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: 'Lincoln's Inn Fields | 23d. June 1829 | Sir Wm. Grant will have the honor of joining the Old Fish Dinner party on Saty. the 27th. of June.'

[E. V. Knox, editor of Punch.] Autograph Text of Prize-giving speech for speech day at Brookfield Secondary School for Girls, Highgate, with two versions of programme, and covering note.

Author: 
E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox] (1881-1971, 'Evoe'), editor of Punch, 1932-1949, essayist, poet and humorist [Brookfield Secondary School for Girls, Highgate, London]
Publication details: 
Speech dated by Knox 19 July 1951. The two programmes for Brookfield Secondary School for Girls [Highgate, London], Speech Day, 1951. Knox's covering note on his letterhead, 110 Frognal, NW3.
£220.00

See Knox's entry in the Oxford DNB, along with those of his father and three brothers. The school was in existence in various places and under various names between 1914 and 1965. Four items, in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Autograph Speech by Knox, headed 'BROOKFIELD SCHOOL'. Dated 19 July 1951. 3pp, 12mo. On three leaves held together with brass stud, with directions to the school on reverse of last leaf. Written in capital letters. Knox begins by noting the prizes: 'Difficult to think of anything else when one sees this table loaded with gifts.

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