ANTONY

[Cyril Falls, military historian and journalist.] Autograph Letter Signed to military historian Antony Brett-James, regard the possibility of Brett-James writing a chapter ‘on Waterloo in the Great Battles Series I am editing’.

Author: 
Cyril Falls [Cyril Bentham Falls] (1888-1971), Anglo-Irish military history and journalist [Antony Brett-James (1920-1984), military historian]
Publication details: 
16 June 1962. 16 Archery Close, Hyde Park, London W2.
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly-aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr Brett-James’ and signed ‘Cyril Falls’. He is ‘delighted to hear from Brigadier Peter Young’ that Brett-James will, ‘he feels sure, take on Waterloo in the Great Battles Series I am editing’. He explains that the book’s chapters ‘are brief’, and is enclosing an explanatory sheet. Ends: ‘Please, however, let me have your reply at the earliest possible moment.’ The volume ‘Great Military Battles’, edited by Falls, appeared in 1964.

[Anthony Shepherd, Plumian Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge, after whom his friend Captain Cook named a group of islands.] Autograph Letter Signed, asking the recipient to consult ‘the Arundelian Mss’ with regard to Burnham Rectory in Norfolk.

Author: 
Anthony Shepherd (c.1721-1796), Plumian Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge, after whom his friend Captain Cook named a group of islands
Publication details: 
1 May 1767. Maddox Street [London].
£90.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which notes his unpopularity at his college Christ’s, which terminated his fellowship in 1783. According to Fanny Burney he was ‘dullness itself’. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, on lightly aged and browned paper. Folded for postage. Signed ‘A. Shephard Plume’s Profr. / Camb.’ The recipient is not named.

[ Sir William Carew, Bart, of Antony, near Saltash, Cornwall. ] Autograph Signature ('W Carew') on Exchequer receipt.

Author: 
Sir William Carew (1690-1744), 5th Baronet, of Antony, near Saltash, Cornwall, Tory Member of Parliament
Publication details: 
[ Receipt of His Majesty's Exchequer, London. ] 5 June 1739.
£50.00

On 19.5 x 19 cm. piece of paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Laid out in the usual way, with printed text completed in manuscript. Records payment of £9 11s 8d on an annuity. With signature of witness 'E Clark'. For more information on Carew, see his two entries in the History of Parliament.

Sixty-five black-and-white pencil portraits by Antony Brett-James, 5th Indian Division Royal Signals, of Indian soldiers who served under him and his fellow English officers, including the fifteen reproduced in his book 'Report My Signals' (1948).

Author: 
Antony Brett-James (1920-1984), 5th Indian Division Royal Signals, military historian and Sandhurst lecturer
Publication details: 
Executed while on duty with the British Army in Africa and Asia between 1942 and 1945.
£600.00

A feature of Brett-James's well-received war memoir 'Report My Signals' (1948) was the fifteen reproductions of his pencil drawings of Indian men who served under him, the originals of which are present here, together with a further fifty. These indicate Brett-James's skill at conveying character in well-executed pencil sketches. The sixty-five black-and-white pencil drawings in this collection are in good condition, on lightly-aged paper with occasional creasing. They consist of: ONE. The original fifteen portrait heads of men of the Fifth Indian Division reproduced as illustrations in RMS.

[ Lord Snowdon and Sir Peter Hall. ] Print of photograph of Sir Peter Hall, with stamp of 'Tony Armstrong Jones' on reverse, and Autograph Invoice by Armstrong Jones.

Author: 
Tony Armstrong Jones [ Antony Armstrong-Jones, 1st Earl of Snowdon [ Lord Snowdon ] ] (born 1930), photographer and husband of Princess Margaret [ Sir Peter Hall (b.1930), theatre director ]
Publication details: 
Invoice on letterhead of Armstrong Jones Ltd., 20 Pimlico Road, London, SW1. 2 February 1960. Print with stamp from same address, undated.
£60.00

Both items in good condition, with minor signs of age and wear. The black and white photographic print is 24.5 x 19.5 cm, and depicts a chubby Hall, in shirtsleeves and tie, leaning over a seat at the back of a darkened theatre, with a positive look of concentration on his face, as he stares at the stage, a playscript in his hand. The reverse carries two stamps by 'Tony Armstrong Jones, one of them declaring his copyright. Also on the reverse are pencil calculations of dimensions for cropping for publication.

Sixty-five black-and-white pencil portraits by Antony Brett-James, 5th Indian Division Royal Signals, of Indian soldiers who served under him and his fellow English officers, including the fifteen reproduced in his book 'Report My Signals' (1948).

Author: 
Antony Brett-James (1920-1984), 5th Indian Division Royal Signals, military historian and Sandhurst lecturer
Publication details: 
Executed while on duty with the British Army in Africa and Asia between 1942 and 1945.
£600.00

A feature of Brett-James's well-received war memoir 'Report My Signals' (1948) was the fifteen reproductions of his pencil drawings of Indian men who served under him, the originals of which are present here, together with a further fifty. These indicate Brett-James's skill at conveying character in well-executed pencil sketches. The sixty-five black-and-white pencil drawings in this collection are in good condition, on lightly-aged paper with occasional creasing. They consist of: ONE. The original fifteen portrait heads of men of the Fifth Indian Division reproduced as illustrations in RMS.

Typescript of 'Report My Signals', war memoir of Antony Brett-James, 5th Indian Division Royal Signals, exhibiting differences from the version published in 1948; with a copy of the book marked up for a projected second edition, and a signed copy.

Author: 
Antony Brett-James (1920-1984), 5th Indian Division Royal Signals, military historian and Sandhurst lecturer
Publication details: 
Typescript undated. Signed copy of book: Hennel Locke Limited, London & Sydney, 1948. Marked-up copy of book: Hennel Locke and George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd, London, 1948.
£450.00

'Report My Signals' (hereafter RMS) was well received on its publication in 1948, a second impression appearing in the same year. The book's dustwrapper blurb describes the contents as 'the war memoirs of a Signals officer who served for three years with the Fifth Indian Division. He was with this illustrious formation from August 1942 (near El Alamein) until the recapture of Rangoon. | The author writes frankly and sincerely of his experiences with Indian soldiers, for whom he expresses affection and admiration.

Seventeen black-and-white pencil portraits of Tibetans by Antony Brett-James, including one of the sirdar Lobsang, who took part in the 1938 Everest expedition; with two portraits of Naga natives.

Author: 
Antony Brett-James (1920-1984), 5th Indian Division Royal Signals, military historian and Sandhurst lecturer [Lobsang (d.1945), Tibetan Sirdar; Himalayan Club; Everest Expedition, 1938]
Publication details: 
Executed in in Darjeeling (11), Dentam (1), Kewzing (1), Namchi (1), Phalut (1), Tanglu (1) and Naga (2) in 1943 (10), in 1944 (2) and 1945 (4).
£600.00

A feature of Brett-James's well-received war memoir 'Report My Signals' (1948) was the fifteen reproductions of his pencil drawings of Indian men who served under him. None of the portraits present here feature in that book or have been reproduced elsewhere, but those published in the book give an excellent idea of Brett-James's skill at conveying character in well-executed pencil sketches. The nineteen drawings in this collection are all in good condition, on aged paper, with occasional light creasing. Eleven are in 8vo, and eight in 12mo.

[ The King's School, Canterbury. ] 18 items from scholar Antony W. Budgen, including 4 amateur dramatic programmes with some cast signatures, 4 family photographs, invitation card and 6 press photographs of Queen Mother's opening of Great Hall.

Author: 
The King's School, Canterbury, Kent; Antony W. Budgen, son of Rev. H. W. Budgen, Rector of St Peter and St Paul, Charlton
Publication details: 
The King's School, Canterbury, Kent. Between 1955 and 1957.
£250.00

The collection is in fair condition, with the photographs in good condition, and the other items showing some signs of age and wear. The four printed programmes are all bifoliums. ONE: Programme for a School House and Galpin's performance of R. F. Delderfield's 'Worm's Eye View', 12 March 1955. Signed by sixteen members of the cast, including Budgen. TWO: Programme for a King's School Players performance of Romeo and Juliet, 16 to 23 July 1955. Signed by five members of the cast.

Copy of Typed Letter from Major Antony Brett-James to Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Gwynne Horrocks, recalling his wartime experiences with the 5th Indian Division Signals, while discussing 'what makes a good division'.

Author: 
Major Antony Brett-James (1920-84), 5th Indian Division Royal Signals, lecturer at Sandhurst [Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Gwynne Horrocks (1895-1985), commander of XXX Corps in the Second World War]
Publication details: 
82 Barnet Way, Mill Hill, NW7 [London]. 28 January 1953.
£56.00

3pp., 4to. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed by Brett-James in pencil at the head of the first page to 'Lt Gen Sir Brian Horrocks' and with one manuscript correction. The letter begins: 'I do want to say how interesting and worthwhile I found the broadcast discussion last Sunday evening about the factors which make a good division. All that was said was true and most stimulating, but there are a few points which I should like to add.

Twenty-two typed and manuscript accounts, receipts and notes assembled by the military historian and Sandhurst lecturer Eliot Antony Brett-James, while a student at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

Author: 
[Major Eliot Antony Brett-James (1920-84), 5th Indian Division Royal Signals, lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst; Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge]
Publication details: 
Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge. 1945 and 1947.
£320.00

An interesting collection of Cambridge ephemera, dating from a period of considerable economic and social turbulence. The twenty-two items are in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. They include six term accounts, with Brett-James's details typewritten on printed forms, signed by tutors D. Thomson and B. T. D. Smith. These accounts are itemised, with details of domestic charges. Affixed to all but one of these accounts are official College receipts signed by tutors. Also present is an Autograph Note to Brett-James from the College clerk R. S.

Typed Letter Signed ('Alistair') from the historian of France Alistair Horne to the Sandhurst lecturer Antony Brett-James, regarding the trouble he has put him to over 'the Macmillan speech'.

Author: 
Sir Alistair Horne [Sir Alistair Allan Horne] (b.1925), British historian of modern France [Major Antony Brett-James (1920-1984), lecturer at Sandhurst]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 24 Lansdowne Road, London W11. 21 September 1979.
£40.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightl-aged paper. A short letter, in which he thanks Brett-James for writing to him 'about the Macmillan speech': 'I really feel badly at having put you obviously to so much trouble'. He suggests that Brett-James sends him 'the tape' and lets him 'have it transcribed here, by my secretary'.

Typed Letter Signed ('S. W. Roskill') from the naval historian Captain Stephen Wentworth Roskill to the Sandhurst lecturer Major Antony Brett-James, proposing two subjects for a lecture to the Napier Society.

Author: 
Captain Stephen Wentworth Roskill [Captain S. W. Roskill, Royal Navy] (1903-1982), British naval officer and historian [Major Antony Brett-James (1920-1984), lecturer at Sandhurst]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Blounce, South Warnsborough, Basingstoke, Hertfordshire. 12 January 1966.
£80.00

1p., 4to. He is honoured to be asked to talk to the Napier Society (a military history society at Sandhurst), but is 'right in the middle of the Cambridge term', as a Fellow of Churchill College, and so must 'propose a subject which I have already talked about.' He suggests two topics: 'Trade Defence in World War II' and 'Some Reasons for Official History', in the last of which he tries 'to answer criticisms of that form of history and describe the sources I had used and the way I had worked when writing The War at Sea 1939-45'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('M: A: Lower') from the Sussex antiquary Mark Anthony Lower to Lord Londesborough

Author: 
Mark Antony Lower (1814-1876), F.S.A. M.A., Sussex historian who founded the Sussex Archaeological Society [Albert Denison Denison (1805-1860), 1st Baron Londesborough]
Publication details: 
Lewes [Sussex]. 23 May 1851.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Written in a bold, attractive hand. The letter begins: 'It was with much regret that I was compelled to forgo the honour of attending your Lordship's Conversazione on Wednesday.' He was called to Hastings that day by '[u]navoidable business', but hopes to have 'during the continuance of the Exhibition, an opportunity of waiting on your Lordship'.

Autograph Diary, 1950 to 1955, of Captain Antony Brett-James, military historian and Sandhurst lecturer

Author: 
Captain Antony Brett-James (1920-1984), 5th Indian Division Royal Signals, military historian and Sandhurst lecturer, partner of the actress Jill Balcon (1925-2009)
Publication details: 
On pages of a book of letterheads: 'From Captain Brett James, Officer Commanding. Officers' Training Corps (J.D.), Mill Hill School Contingent, School House, Mill Hill, N.W.' 4 January 1950 to 18 September 1955.
£400.00

54pp., 12mo. Neatly written out on pages of a book of leaves of paper for correspondence, comprising numbered letterheads with blank underleaves for carbon copies. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with the cover and first few leaves of the volume missing. Terse, pithy entries, noting down facts concerning work, meetings, lunches, family matters, school activities, holidays. During the course of the diary Brett-James switches work from the publishers Harrap to their rivals Chatto & Windus, and the entries reflect his activities in both the military and cultural world.

Six Typed Letters Signed, one Autograph Letter Signed, four Typed Notes Signed and one Autograph Note Signed from Compton Mackenzie to the military historian Antony Brett-James. With one letter by Mackenzie's wife, and a collection of press cuttings.

Author: 
Sir Compton Mackenzie [Sir Edward Montague Compton Mackenzie] (1883-1972), Scottish writer [Antony Brett-James (1920-1984), 5th Indian Division Royal Signals, military historian, Sandhurst lecturer]
Publication details: 
Written between 1948 and 1955. Most on Mackenzie's letterhead, 'Denchworth Manor, by Wantage, Berkshire'.
£350.00

All texts clear and complete. Autograph item with some creasing, otherwise in good condition on lightly-aged paper. Ten items signed 'Compton Mackenzie', and two ''. Eight of the items each one page of landscape 8vo; one 8vo, 1 p; another 12mo, 1 p; the autograph note 4to, 1 p; and the card 16mo, 1 p. The first item (4to, 1 p, in autograph) is dated 22 September 1948. Having met Brett-James he thanks him for sending the proofs of his war memoir 'Report My Signals' (London: Hennel Locke Ltd, 1948): 'I was much impressed by it, and supported it strongly for a Book Society Recommendation.

Nine Typed Letters Signed, one Typed Note Signed and one Autograph Card Signed (all eleven 'Nicolette') from the author and artist Nicolette Devas to the military historian Antony Brett-James.

Author: 
Nicolette Devas [née Macnamara; other married name Shephard] (1911-1987), author and artist [Antony Brett-James (1920-1984), military historian and Sandhurst lecturer]
Nicolette Devas
Publication details: 
[1960-74?] All from West London. Card postmarked 11 October 1960, on cancelled letterhead of Anthony Devas, 12 Carlisle Square. Three items (none with year) on letterhead 18 Wetherby Gardens; seven (two from 1974) on letterhead 68 Limerston Street.
£550.00
Nicolette Devas

Apart from the card (12mo, 1 p), totalling 4to, 10 pp; 12mo, 2 pp. All items in good condition, with text clear and complete, on lightly-aged paper. All post-1960. Two of the eleven (20 January and 13 June 1974) are fully dated by Devas; another four have day and month. The card from 1960 is the earliest item; the three from Wetherby Gardens date from between this point and Devas's second marriage to Rupert Shephard in 1965, and the seven from Limerston Street from after the marriage. A good-natured correspondence, written in a chatty style.

Two Autograph Letters signed from the Sussex antiquary Mark Antony Lower (both signed 'M: A: Lower') to John Wickham Flower.

Author: 
Mark Antony Lower (1813-1876), English antiquary and local historian, founder member of the Sussex Archaeological Society [John Wickham Flower (1807-1873), Croydon geologist and archaeologist]
Two Autograph Letters signed from the Sussex antiquary Mark Antony Lower
Publication details: 
27 April and 9 November 1865; on letterheads of St Anne's House, Lewes, Sussex.
£125.00
Two Autograph Letters signed from the Sussex antiquary Mark Antony Lower

Both items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Letter One (27 April 1865): 12mo, 2 pp. Bifolium. Seventeen lines. He is sorry not to have been able to accept Flower's hospitality: 'Let us hope to meet about Whitsuntide for the pilgrimage to Firle'. He is eager for information for his 'Sussex Worthies'. 'My eldest dau[ghte]r's marriage & the starting of my eldest son on his professional career cost money, & every 30s. [subscription) will help.' Letter Two (9 November 1865): 12mo, 1 p. 13 lines. He has received the 30s.

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