ARTHUR

[Sir Ernest Gowers, author of the guide to correct English usage ‘Plain Words’.] Three Autograph Letters Signed and one Typed Letter Signed to fellow-grammarian V. H. Collins, discussing a crux and the perils of being an authority in the field.

Author: 
Sir Ernest Gowers [Sir Ernest Arthur Gowers] (1880-1966), author of the guide to correct English usage ‘Plain Words’, and the revision of Fowler’s ‘Modern English Usage’ [V. H. Collins, grammarian]
Publication details: 
Autograph Letters: 27 June 1952, 27 March 1954 and 16 March 1955. Typed Letter Signed: 29 July 1953. All four items on letterhead of Rondle Wood, Liphook, Hants.
£120.00

See the entry what was wrote about him in the Oxford DNB. The archives of the recipient, Vere Henry Collins (1872-1966), are now housed in the library at Yale. All four items signed ‘Ernest Gowers’ ONE: ALS, 27 June 1952. 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, worn and spotted, with pin holes to one corner and short closed tear at edge of one of the two folds. Begins: ‘By all means. The more I look into your book the more I realise how true what I said was.

[Walter Severn, English watercolour painter, son of Joseph Severn who nursed the dying Keats.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mrs. FitzSimon’, regarding the sending of an autograph and an engraving of a painting by his father of Keats.

Author: 
Walter Severn (1830-1904), English watercolour painter, son of Joseph Severn, brother of Arthur Severn and Mary Newton.
Publication details: 
16 January 1897. On letterhead of 9 Earls Court Square, South Kensington [London].
£65.00

A successful member of an English artistic family. See the Oxford DNB entries on his father Joseph Severn (who nursed John Keats in Rome in his final illness) and sister Mary Newton. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of glue from mount to inner margin, and details typed at head. Folded once. Reads: ‘Dear Mrs FitzSimon / I have much pleasure in sending an autograph of my dear friend Sir F. Leighton. I send also the portrait of Keats. It is photogravure by Hollyer from one of my father’s pictures / Yours sincerely / Walter Severn’.

[Arthur Severn, English watercolour painter.] Autograph Letter Signed to John Fulleylove, discussing a dinner invitation.

Author: 
Arthur Severn (1842-1931), English watercolour painter, son of Joseph Severn and brother of Walter Severn and Mary Newton [John Fulleylove (1845-1908), painter]
Publication details: 
15 June [no year]. On letterhead of [28] Herne Hill, S.E. [London]
£56.00

A successful member of an English artistic family. See the Oxford DNB entries on his father Joseph Severn, brother Walter Severn and sister Mary Newton. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium on grey wove paper. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of paper from mount adhering to the blank verso of the second leaf, and details typed at head. Folded once.

[The schoolboy Auberon Waugh (journalist and novelist, son of Evelyn Waugh) converts his entire class to ‘the Cause’ of Imperialism; fascist] Autograph Letter Signed & Typed Letter Signed Waugh to the editor of ‘Candour’ A. K. Chesterton

Author: 
Auberon Waugh (‘Bron’, 1939-2001), journalist and novelist, son of Evelyn Waugh [A. K. Chesterton (1899-1973), editor of ‘Candour’, founder of League of Empire Loyalists]
Publication details: 
Autograph Letter: 7 May [1955]. On letterhead of Downside School, Strattono on the Fosse, Bath. Typed Letter: 12 June 1955. On letterhead of Downside Numismatic Society, Bath.
£90.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. If, as Geoffrey Wheatcroft states in Waugh’s, he ‘liked to play the reactionary’, these two letters show that he started playing the game during his schooldays. They are both in good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Both carry two punch holes for a binder, the autograph letter lacking the word ‘on’ as a result. Both are signed ‘Auberon Waugh’. ONE: ALS, 7 May [1955]. 2pp, 4to. The recipient is not named, but is clearly AKG. He begins by claiming that he has ‘read every edition of your magazine and can not [sic] praise it too highly.

[The Great Duke of Wellington, conqueror of Napoleon at Waterloo, and two-time Tory Prime Minister.] Manuscript Letter in the third person, apparently written by a secretary.

Author: 
The Duke of Wellington [Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington] (1769-1852), conqueror of the French in the Peninsular War, and of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo; two-time Tory Prime Minister
Publication details: 
'London March 7 1842.'
£80.00

One of the great figures in world history. See his entries in Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Oxford DNB. On one side of piece of laid paper rougly 11 cm squarer, with partial watermark ‘J G’. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with traces of mount on blank reverse. Folded twice. Reads: ‘London March 7 1842 / F M The Duke of Wellington presents his Compliments to Miss Busby / Not being resident at Oxford he has no Controul [sic] over any matter relating to the Bodleian Library. / Miss Busby should apply to the Vice Chancellor.

[Lord Balfour [A. J. Balfour; Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl Balfour], Conservative Prime Minister.] Autograph Signature ‘Arthur James Balfour’ for collector.

Author: 
Lord Balfour [A. J. Balfour; Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl Balfour] (1848-1930), Conservative politician, Prime Minister 1902-1905; Foreign Secretary who issued the 1917 Balfour Declaration
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£25.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On piece of paper, roughly 12 x 7.5 cm, laid down on 14 x 9 cm plain postcard, with contemporary printed heading on reverse (‘A half penny stamp to be placed here.’, and so on). In good condition, lightly aged. Good firm signature at head of paper, with ‘Autograph’ in a contemporary hand at the foot, with wide space between.

[Sir Arthur Hodgson, Australian squatter and politician.] Autograph Letter in the third person, thanking ‘Marcian’ [Evan Marlett Boddy?] for his ‘brochure’ ‘Relics of the late William Shakespeare’.

Author: 
Sir Arthur Hodgson (1818-1902), Australian squatter and politician involved in the deaths of hundreds of aborigines, and later Mayor of Stratford-upon-Avon [Evan Marlett Boddy (c.1847-1934)]
Publication details: 
1 September [1901]. On embossed letterhead of Clopton House, Stratford-on-Avon.
£60.00

Hodgson’s entry in the Australian Dictionary of Biography omits to mention the fact that the territory named Eton Vale which he squatted with his brother Christopher Pemberton Hodgson (1821-1865), was taken by force from the Barunggam people, and that, as the brother recalled in 1848, ‘so many hundreds of these poor creatures’ were ‘sacrificed’ in the struggle over the territory. From the papers of Evan Marlett Boddy (c.1847-1934), who is presumably the recipient ‘Marcian’, author of the named ‘brochure’, published in Birmingham in 1901. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, folded once.

[Battle of Jutland, 1916.] Eye-witness article titled ‘H.M.S. “Ardent” and the Jutland Action. / By A. M.’, i.e. Arthur Marsden, ship’s commander and one of two survivors of her sinking, in ‘The Britannia Magazine’ (Royal Naval College, Dartmouth).

Author: 
Battle of Jutland (1916): Arthur Marsden (1883-1960), Royal Navy officer commanding HMS Ardent; Royal Naval College, Dartmouth: The Britannia Magazine [Royal Navy]
Publication details: 
Christmas 1916. Underhill & Co., Printers & Publishers, Plymouth.
£280.00

This is an extremely scarce item, not held by the Imperial War Museum, and significant for the five-page eye-witness account it contains (pp.29-33): ‘‘H.M.S. “Ardent” and the Jutland Action. / By A. M.’, i.e. Lieutenant-Commander Arthur Marsden, who was in command of the Ardent and one of only two survivors of its sinking. It is remarkable that he was allowed to disseminate such a candid account (for the perusal of naval cadets!) within months of the engagement. On cover: ‘The Britannia Magazine / Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. / Christmas, 1916.’ and printers’ slug.

[Conan Doyle; Oscar Slater] Autograph Sentiment and signature Oscar Slater, with image seemingly extracted from a newspaper.

Author: 
Oscar Slater, victim of miscarriage of justice, supported by Conan Doyle among others.
Oscar Slater
Publication details: 
Dated '23/4.27' ("1927 saw the publication of The Truth about Oscar Slater by William Park."
£450.00
Oscar Slater

Sentiment Thanks for your good wishes | Sincerely yours | Oscar Slater | 23/4.27. Image (= portrait) appears to be a drawing extracted from a newspaper or periodical. Backing paper, 8 x 11.5, portrait and text (slightly overflowing) on laid down pink paper, c.9.5 x 6cm. SEE IMAGE. Note: a. Oscar Joseph Slater (8 January 1872 – 31 January 1948) was the victim of a notorious miscarriage of justice in Scotland.

[Dean Stanley’s ‘execrable handwriting’.] Autograph Letter Signed from Arthur Penrhyn Stanley, Dean of Westminster, to 'My dear Dictionary ' [i.e. Sir William Smith, editor of the Quarterly Review and lexicographer], about a friend of Duckworth's.

Author: 
Dean Stanley [Arthur Penrhyn Stanley (1815-1881), Dean of Westminster, theologian [Sir William Smith (1813-1893), classical and biblical scholar and lexicographer, editor of the Quarterly Review]
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£45.00

See the entries for Stanley and Smith in the Oxford DNB, the former drawing attention to Stanley’s ‘execrable handwriting’. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Nineteen lines of text. Addressed to ‘My dear “Dictionary” ’, and signed ‘A P Stanley’, but with much of what comes in between only deciperable with effort: ‘[...] salutation [...] addressing [...] Could you do anything for the enclosed? I know nothing beyond what the writer says of himself - & Duckworth’s recommendation of him which I also enclose.

[Arthur O?Connor [Arthur Conner; Arthur Condorcet-O?Connor], Irish nationalist and polemicist, one of the United Irishmen.] Autograph Signature and valediction cut from letter.

Author: 
Arthur O?Connor [born Arthur Conner; latterly Arthur Condorcet-O?Connor] (1763-1852), Irish nationalist and polemicist, United Irishman who settled in France after seeking assistance from Napoleon
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£30.00

Lord Longueville's once-celebrated judgement was that 'of all bad men he is the worst'. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the collection of Irish nationalist autographs of Miss Burgess of Norwich. On a neat piece of cream paper, 7 x 3 cm. In good condition, lightly aged. Nothing on the reverse. Reads: ?Faithfully yours / Arthur O?Connor.?

[Female suffrage; printed pamphlet.] On the Forfeiture of Property by Married Women. [Reprinted, by kind permission, from the FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW, for the Committee in support of MR. RUSSELL GURNEY'S MARRIED WOMEN'S PROPERTY BILL.] With an Appendix.

Author: 
Arthur Hobhouse, Q.C. [Alexander Ireland, Manchester printer; Rt Hon. Russell Gurney, QC, MP] [women's suffrage; Victorian feminism]
Publication details: 
Manchester: A. Ireland & Co., Printers, Pall Mall. 1870.
£80.00

16pp., 8vo. In good condition, lightly-aged, no wraps, disbound. Several copies on COPAC, none of this edition on market currently.

[‘the greatest theatrical comic of his age’: Ken Dodd, Liverpool comedian and singer.] Typed Letter Signed with biographical details, and signed publicity postcard with photographic portrait.

Author: 
Ken Dodd [Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd] (1927-2018), Liverpool comedian and singer, ‘the greatest theatrical comic of his age’
Ken Dodd
Publication details: 
Letter dated ‘C/o B.B.C. Manchester. / October 9th 1957.’
£100.00
Ken Dodd

Dodd’s entry in the Oxford DNB by Michael Billington concludes with the assessment that he was ‘the greatest theatrical comic of his age and the last link with the hallowed days of music hall’. The two items are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: TLS, 9 October 1957. 1p, 4to. Good large signature ‘Ken Dodd’. The male recipient is not named. He apologises for the late reply to the recipient’s letter. ‘May I also thank you for the compliments paid to my performance on Television. / I am a Liverpudlian, residing in Knotty Ash Liverpool.

[‘The Tichborne Claimant’: the soi-disant Sir Roger Charles Doughty-Tichborne, held to be an imposter named Arthur Orton.] Signed Autograph inscription as ‘R. C. D. Tichborne’, with Signed Autograph inscription by Major-General Arthur Phelps.

Author: 
‘The Tichborne Claimant’ (d.1898): the soi-disant Sir Roger Charles Doughty-Tichborne (b.1829), held to be an imposter named Arthur Orton (b.1834); Major-General Arthur Phelps (1837-1920), Indian Army
‘The Tichborne Claimant’
Publication details: 
Inscription by the Tichborne Claimant dated 6 March 1893. Inscription by Phelps dated 9 December 1890.
£160.00
‘The Tichborne Claimant’

The Tichborne Case was very possibly the greatest scandal of Victorian England. See the entry for ‘Tichborne claimant’, with subheading for ‘Arthur Orton’ in the Oxford DNB. Trained as a civil engineer, Major-General Arthur Phelps (1837-1920), civil engineer, was a prominent homeopath, anti-vaccinationist, and anti-vivisectionist, who promoted his views as proprietor and editor of the Citizen newspaper. Each inscription is on one side of a single 11.5 x 18.5 cm piece of gilt-edged wove paper, presumably extracted from an autograph album.

[Lord Haldane [Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane], Lord Chancellor.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr Hurd' (i.e. the future Sir Archibald Hurd), regarding his essay on defence against German invasion, and Sir Arthur Wilson.

Author: 
Lord Haldane [Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane] (1856-1928), Scottish Liberal and Labour politician, philosopher, and Lord Chancellor [Sir Archibald Hurd (1869-1959), naval strategist]
Publication details: 
9 January 1911. On letterhead of Cloan, Auchterarder, N. B. [North Brition, i.e. Scotland]
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with the blank second leaf carrying some traces of pink paper mount. Written a couple of months before Haldane’s acceptance of a peerage, so that he could become leader of the Liberals in the House of Lords, and in response to Hurd’s essay ‘The New Policy of Imperial and Home Defence’, published in the January 1911 number of ‘The Nineteenth Century and After’.

Hodder & Stoughton ephemera: Christmas List [1910] with Dulac’s ‘Sleeping Beauty on cover; prospectus for Rackham’s ‘6/- net edition’ of 'Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens'; Christmas List [1911] with F. D. Bedford’s ‘Peter and Wendy’ on cover..

Author: 
Edmund Dulac; Arthur Rackham; F. D. Bedford; Peter Pan; Hodder & Stoughton, London publishers; J. M. Barrie; Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch
Edmund Dulac
Publication details: 
All three items by Hodder & Stoughton, Warwick Square, London, E.C. All undated. Dulac 'Christmas List' from 1910; and ‘new 6/- net edition’ of ‘Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens’ dating from the same year. Bedford 'Christmas List' from 1911.
£220.00
Edmund Dulac

Three pieces of ephemera from a golden period of English children’s book illustration. All three items printed on shiny paper, and all worn and discoloured. ONE: ‘Hodder & Stoughton’s Christmas List’, with advertisement for Edmund Dulac’s edition of A. T. Quiller-Couch’s ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ on cover. 20pp, folio. With rusting staples. Folded once. Undated, but containing items published in 1910, apart from the cover item, which appears to have been published in 1912.

[Sir Frederick Ouseley, Professor of Music, Oxford University.] Autograph Letter Signed concerning requirements for an Oxford degree in music, appended to printed notice by him: ‘University of Oxford. Directions for Candidates for Degrees in Music.'

Author: 
Sir Frederick Ouseley [Sir Frederick Arthur Gore Ouseley] (1825-1889), Anglican composer, church musician and musicologist, Professor of Music at Oxford University
Publication details: 
Notice dated 'OXFORD, / March, 1878.' Autograph Letter undated, but from around the same time.
£75.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The ALS, whose recipient is not identified, is appended on the last page of the printed notice, which is 4pp, foolscap 8vo, on a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. The notice is headed 'University of Oxford. / Directions for Candidates for Degrees in Music.' and signed in type at the end 'Frederick Arthur Gore Ouseley, / Professor of Music. / Oxford, / March, 1878.' Divided into sections concerning a bachelor's and doctor's degree. The ALS, on the last page, reads: 'Dear Sir / You will see by this paper that your Dublin B.A.

[The Duke of Wellington, British soldier, conqueror of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo.] Manuscript letter by a secretary, on his behalf, to 'Mr: Briggs', suggesting a meeting with 'the Gentleman mentioned in Mr. Briggs's note'.

Author: 
The Duke of Wellington [Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington] (1769-1852), conqueror of the French in the Peninsular Campaign, and of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo; prime minister
Duke of Wellington
Publication details: 
27 November 1826. London.
£120.00
Duke of Wellington

1p, 4to. In fair condition, on aged and somewhat brittle paper, with unobtrusive repair to one corner. Folded three times. Certainly not in Wellington's distinctive hand. Reads: 'The Duke of Wellington presents his Compliments to Mr: Briggs and begs to acquaint him that he is going out of Town this night. / But he will be happy to receive the Gentleman mentioned in Mr. Briggs's note at the Ordnance Office Pall Mall on Friday next at three oClock. / London / 27th: Novr: 1826.' See Image.

[A. J. Balfour [Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl Balfour], Conservative Prime Minister.] Lithographed Circular in facsimile of Autograph Letter Signed, urging Parliamentary attendance (of MPs) for ‘the discussion of important questions'.

Author: 
A. J. Balfour [Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl Balfour] (1848-1930), Conservative Prime Minister who as Foreign Secretary issued the 1917 Balfour Declaration
A. J. Balfour
Publication details: 
24 January 1896; on letterhead of First Lord of the Treasury, 10 Downing Street, Whitehall, S.W. [London]
£60.00
A. J. Balfour

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. A lithographed document, in facsimile of an Autograph Letter Signed, on a genuine letterhead with embossed motif of First Lord of the Treasury, with mourning border. On aged paper, with the blank reverse carrying unobtrusive glue stains from previous mounting. Folded three times for postage.

[Major-Gen. Sir Robert Neville, soldier with the Rl Marines and later Governor of the Bahamas] Typed Letter Signed to Lieut. G. Hide, asking for assistance in getting back to Edinburgh after a trip to Scapa.

Author: 
Major-General Sir Robert Neville [Robert Arthur Ross Neville] (1896-1987), British soldier with the Royal Marines in both world wars; Governor of the Bahamas, 1950-1953; Combined Operations, Whitehall
Publication details: 
15 August 1943; on letterhead of the Combined Operations Headquarters, 1A Richmond Terrace, Whitehall, SW1 [London].
£120.00

See his obituary in The Times, 16 June 1987. 1p, 4to. On aged and lightly creased and worn paper. Folded twice, with short closed tears to edges of central horizontal crease. Addressed to ‘Dear Hide’ and ‘Lieutenant G. Hide, R.N.V.R. / 700 Squadron / TWATT.’ Signed ‘Robert Neville’. He feels ‘very guilty’ that he did not write to thank Hide ‘for the Walrus, which was, of course, an absolute Godsend to me. Sargent could not have been a more delightful or obliging pilot.

[Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, leading late-Victorian and Edwardian playwright.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Arthur W. Pinero') to the daughter of the writer George Meredith, regretting that he cannot visit her and her father at Box Hill.

Author: 
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (1855-1934), leading English late-Victorian and Edwardian playwright, after beginning as an actor in Sir Henry Irving’s company at the Lyceum Theatre, London [George Meredith]
Publication details: 
25 June 1891; on copperplate letterhead of 64 St John's Wood Road, London N.W.
£56.00

See his appreciative entry in the Oxford DNB, concluding with praise of his ‘undeniable’ achievements.2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition; folded once for postage, and with the blank reverse of the first leaf laid down on part of a leaf from the autograph album of the novelist George Meredith's daughter Marie Eveleen (‘Mariette’; 1871-1933), wife of Henry Parkman Sturgis (1847-1929), American-born banker and Liberal politician. Addressed to 'Miss Marie E. Meredith' and signed 'Arthur W. Pinero'. Begins: 'It is with a heavy heart that I tell you I am pledged, wit h Mrs.

[The Duke of Wellington, conqueror of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo.] Autograph Valediction to Letter, with signature 'Wellington' .

Author: 
The Duke of Wellington [Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington] (1769-1852), conqueror of the French in the Peninsular Campaign, and of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo; prime minister
Wellington
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£50.00
Wellington

One of the great figures of world history. On one side of 10 x 3.5 cm piece of wove paper, cut from the end of a letter, with blank reverse. In fair condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of glue at right (away from signature) and central horizontal fold (over signature). Evidently cut from the letter in response to a request for an autograph. Reads 'Your obedient servant / Wellington'. See Image.

[Sir John Gielgud, distinguished English actor.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mrs. Doubleday', wife of the publisher.

Author: 
Sir John Gielgud [Arthur John Gielgud] (1904-2000), distinguished English actor [Florence Van Wyck Doubleday, wife of New York publisher Frank Nelson Doubleday]
Publication details: 
27 October [1936]. 59 East 56th Street, New York City.
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded once for postage. The year is given in pencil, and a note in the same hand identifies the recipient as ‘Mrs Florence Doubleday (wife of publisher) in Oyster Bay’. Ten lines of text, in a close hand, with larger, firm signature ‘John Gielgud.’ A somewhat pompous missive. He thanks her for giving him ‘so delightful an opportunity of meeting you, and to ask me to stay in your charming house and meet your friends, who were all so nice to me’.

[Sir John Gielgud, distinguished English actor.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mrs. Bannerman', thanking her for sending the 'enchanting' and costly flowers which she has packed 'so beautifully'.

Author: 
Sir John Gielgud [Arthur John Gielgud] (1904-2000), distinguished English actor
Publication details: 
13 May [no year - 1960s?]. On his letterhead, 16 Cowley Street, London, S.W.1.
£50.00

1p, small 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice for postage. Written in a close hand, with a larger and more forceful signature, with long underlining: ‘John Gielgud.’ Reads: ‘Dear Mrs. Bannerman. / All my best thanks for the lovely lilies, which arrived fresh and safely. They are quite enchanting - and cost a small fortune if one buys them in a florists.

[Arthur Young, lexicographer and adjuster of averages, Dundee.] Autograph Letter Signed, as ‘one of the proprietors’ of the London Institution, regarding forthcoming lectures by ‘Mr. J. Z Bell’ (the artist and fellow-Dundonian John Zephaniah Bell).

Author: 
Arthur Young, compiler of the 1846 ‘Nautical Dictionary’; Adjuster of Averages, Dundee; a proprietor of the London Institution [John Zephaniah Bell (1794-1883), Scottish artist]
Publication details: 
'43 Arundel Square (N) / 18 May 1863'.
£56.00

Young was the author of a well-received nautical dictionary (1846; second ed. 1863). His authorship of the present letter is established from the ‘List of Presents / Received for the General Library’, in the Journal of the London Institution, November 1872: ‘MARITIME LAW. Reports of Maritime Law Cases, 1868. 8vo. From Arthur Young, Esq., Prop., Lond. Inst.’ (The work was compiled by Young himself.) Like the subject of this letter J. Z. Bell, Young hailed from Dundee, and since Bell's mother's maiden name was Anna Young, it may be that Young and Bell were kinsmen, perhaps cousins. 1p, 12mo.

[Sir Arthur Bryant, historian and biographer of Samuel Pepys.] Signed Autograph Inscription to Philip Dosse, publisher of 'Books and Bookmen', on the half-title of his book 'A Thousand Years of British Monarchy'.

Author: 
Sir Arthur Bryant [Sir Arthur Wynne Morgan Bryant] (1899-1985), historian and biographer of Samuel Pepys [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher of arts magazines including ‘Books and Bookmen’]
Publication details: 
No date or place, but the book published in London in 1975.
£35.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, the revised version of which describes his pre-war Nazi sympathies. 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. 1p, 8vo.

[Sir Arthur Bryant, historian and biographer of Samuel Pepys.] Seven Autograph Letters Signed and four Typed Letters Signed to publisher Philip Dosse, regarding reviews in ‘Books and Bookmen’, and his writing a multi-volume biography of Dr Johnson.

Author: 
Sir Arthur Bryant [Sir Arthur Wynne Morgan Bryant] (1899-1985), historian and biographer of Samuel Pepys [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher of arts magazines including ‘Books and Bookmen’]
Publication details: 
Between 12 May 1974 and 22 January 1976. On either of two of his letterheads: from 18 Rutland Gate, London SW7, or Myles Place, The Close, Salisbury.
£220.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, the revised version of which describes his pre-war Nazi sympathies. 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. The present collection of eleven items totals 17pp (fourteen pages in autograph and four typed), in various sizes from 4to to 12mo.

[Dorset dialect poetry.] Three pamphlets of poems by ‘Two Darset Maids’: one titled ‘Ye Olde Dorset Fayre’, and two (different) titled ‘Wole Darset Vayre’.

Author: 
‘Two Darset Maids’ [Arthur Nicholls; Dorset dialect poetry; Borough and Town of Weymouth Melcombe Regis; H. D. Warwick and W. J. Squibb, Weymouth printers]
Publication details: 
‘Ye Olde Dorset Fayre’, 22 and 23 August 1923; H. D. Warwick, printer, Weymouth. The two titled ‘Wole Darset Vayre’, 24 and 25 August 1927 and 21, 22 and 23 August 1929. The first printed by Warwick and the second by W. J. Squibb of Weymouth.
£220.00

Three scarce items: no other copy traced. The three pamphlets are uniform in design, each consisting of 4pp, 12mo, stapled into card wraps with title and date beneath the Borough crest. Presumably produced for distribution at the annual town fair. The text of each poem covers all four pages. The first two are in good condition, lightly aged; the last is in fair condition, slightly ruckled and spotted. ONE: ‘Ye Olde Dorset Fayre’. At the Royal Palm Court, Weymouth, 22 and 23 August 1923. Poem ‘By Two Darset Maids’ beginning: ‘Come in, me vriends, and look around, / We got all zarts to zell:’.

[The Duke of Wellington, conqueror of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo.] Autograph Signature 'Wellington' on front of an envelope addressed by him to 'M General / Henry Thomas'. Sealed with red wax.

Author: 
The Duke of Wellington [Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington] (1769-1852), conqueror of the French in the Peninsular Campaign, and of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo; prime minister
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£65.00

One of the great figures of world history. A 12 x 8 cm envelope, with the front panel addressed in Wellington's distinctive forward-sloping hand to 'M General / Henry Thomas'. Under this is a line wih three loops, and at bottom left the good clear signature 'Wellington'. The envelope is in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, and has been ripped open with military decisiveness. On the reverse is a government seal in red wax, of which the only clear impressions are the unicorn and a fragment of text at the head: '[...]R . IN . CHIEFS . OF [...]'.

[Sir Frank Stockdale: agriculture in Britain's African colonies, 1929-37.] Four official Autograph Journals by Colonial Office Agricultural Advisor Sir Frank Stockdale, describing in detail tours in Crown Colonies in East and West Africa and Cyprus.

Author: 
Sir Frank Stockdale [Sir Frank Arthur Stockdale] (1883-1949), distinguished agronomist and mycologist, Colonial Office Agricultural Advisor
Publication details: 
Written between 1929 and 1937. Entries relating to England, East and West Africa, Cyprus, Sudan and Egypt. [Uganda, Kenya, Tanganyika, Zanzibar, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Ghana, Gambia.]
£1,000.00

Stockdale’s entry in the Oxford DNB provides an excellent commentary on the present four items: ‘An assumption that colonial economies should continue to be dominated by the export of cash crops, and a faith in Western scientific agriculture led in 1929 to the establishment of the colonial agricultural service with a colonial advisory council of agriculture and animal health, and a full-time agricultural adviser, a position to which Stockdale was appointed.

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