BELL

[Sir John Gilbert, RA, painter and illustrator.] Autograph Letter Signed to the composer and antiquary Doyne Courtenay Bell, providing information regarding a painting of 'the Queen holding a drawing Room at St James's Palace'.

Author: 
Sir John Gilbert (1817-1897), RA, painter and illustrator [Doyne Courtenay Bell (c.1830-1888), court official, omposer and antiquary]
Sir John Gilbert
Publication details: 
'Blackheath 4th April' [no year].
£85.00
Sir John Gilbert

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. A protege of Prince Albert, Bell worked for the Privy Purse from the time of the Great Exhibition, and served as Permanent Secretary to the Keeper of the Privy Purse from 1876 to his death. Signed ‘John Gilbert’ and addressed to ‘Doyne C. Bell Esquire / &c &c.’ 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Reads: ‘Dear Sir, / I remember the small picture painted in 1851. H M The Queen holding a drawing Room at St James’s Palace. / I did not intend to paint a larger picture and never did’. See Image.

[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.

[John Joy Bell, Scottish journalist and chronicler of Glaswegian working-class life.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mr Keary’ [Peter Keary, editor of Pearson’s Weekly], explaining why the piece he is submitting for the ‘1000th Number’ is sub-par.

Author: 
John Joy Bell (1871-1934), Scottish journalist and author, noted for his accurate depiction of Glaswegian working-class life [Peter Keary (1865-1915), editor of Pearson’s Weekly]
Publication details: 
22 June 1909; on letterhead of Clyde Cottage, Craigendoran, Helensburgh.
£56.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded for postage. Reads: ‘Dear Mr Keary, / Enclosed is for 1000th Number of Pearson’s Weekly. It is not what I wanted to do for you, but illness and other interruptions have spoiled my work for the last two months. So please reject if necessary. / Faithfully yours / J. J. Bell’.

[Alastair Sims, much-loved Scottish character actor, star of the St Trinian’s films.] Typed Letter Signed to Adza Vincent, secretary to the playwright Christopher Fry, regarding ‘Christopher’s Bedford talk’.

Author: 
Alastair Sim [Alastair George Bell Sim] (1900-1976), much-loved Scottish character actor, star of the St Trinian’s films [Adza Vincent (1917-1995), secretary to playwright Christopher Fry]
Publication details: 
20 January 1956; on letterhead of Forrigan, Newnham Hill, near Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.
£50.00

A good firm signature, and not a common one. While hugely popular (see his entry in the Oxford DNB), Sims was an intensely private man, who refused to give autographs. 1p, landscape 12mo. In fair condition lightly aged and with slight rust spotting from paperclip; folded for postage. Reads: ‘Dear Adza Vincent, / My wife and I both thank you for sending Christopher’s Bedford talk. I have taken the liberty of typing a copy for own archives, and can now return the one you sent. / With renewed thanks, / Yours sincerely, / Alastair Sim’.

[Sir Claude MacDonald, soldier and diplomat in the far east; Japan] Two Autograph Letters in the third person to the Lord Mayor of London [Sir John Charles Bell], accepting luncheon invitations, one to meet ‘Prince Fushimi of Japan’.

Author: 
Sir Claude Macdonald [Colonel Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald (1852-1915), soldier and diplomat, British Minister to China and Korea, Consul-General to Japan [Prince Fushimi Sadanaru (1858-1923)]
Publication details: 
One on 8 March 1907; from 43 Augusta Gardens, Folkestone [Kent]. The other without date, but from May 1907; on letterhead of the United Service Club [London].
£90.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both items 1p, 12mo, and both in good condition, lightly aged, with slight evidence of previous mounting on the blank reverses. Both folded once for postage. Both letters during the tenure as Lord Mayor of London of Sir John Charles Bell (1843-1924). ONE (8 March 1907): ‘Sir Claude Macdonald has the honour to accept the kind invitation of the Lord Mayor to Luncheon on March 13th.

Autograph Letter Signed ('John Murray') from John Murray II to the Edinburgh publishers Bell & Bradfute, concerning his account with them for Thomas Thomson's 'System of Chemistry'.

Author: 
John Murray II (1778-1843), London publisher [Bell & Bradfute, Edinburgh publishers]
Publication details: 
11 July 1810; London.
£65.00

4to, 1 p. Fourteen lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. He has been 'extremely unwell', and is sending '3 bills for the account of Thomsons Chemistry £1100'. 'I trust that you will not be dis-satisfied with this as I can assure you conscientiously that I could not afford to give them shorter.' Reference to Longmans, and to his anxiety, 'as you left the settlement to my own conscience'.

[Martin Bell, RA, painter.] Colourful juvenile painting on paper, depicting Eve, the apple, and Pythagoras, with text: 'The Serpent on the fatal tree | Was l'esprit de géometrie'.

Author: 
Martin Bell [Norman Martin Bell] (1907-1970), RA, Cheshire painter, trained at Liverpool College of Art, 1925-30, and at the Royal College of Art, 1931-33
Publication details: 
Without date or place. In pencil on reverse: 'Juvenile painting By Martin Bell'.
£120.00

On 20 x 15 cm piece of paper torn from an exercise book. Aged and worn, with fraying to left-hand edge where the item has been torn away from the exercise book, but in fair overall condition. A faux-naive effort, crude but full of energy, painted in orange, yellow, red, blue, grey, purple, green. On reverse in pencil: 'Juvenile | painting | By Martin Bell'.

[Gilbert White, naturalist.] Original Manuscript, said to have been dictated by White himself, of 'Gilbert White's statement' on the venomous properties of the toad, with eleven authorial emendations. Together with a series of thermometer readings.

Author: 
Gilbert White (1720-1793), naturalist and ornithologist, author of the celebrated 'Natural History of Selborne' (1789) [Thomas Bell (1792-1880), zoologist]
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£350.00

A very nice artefact of one of the best-loved books in the England language, Gilbert White's 'Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne', which at one point was claimed to be the fourth most-printed book after the Bible, Shakespeare, and Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress'. White's entry in the Oxford DNB concludes by describing the book as 'an expression of universal thanksgiving, treasured by all'.

[Edinburgh, 1832: 'The first voting which took place on the Reform Bill'.] Manuscript 'Copy of Entry in the Register of Qualified Voters for the City of Edinburgh', signed by Carlyle Bell, Conjunct-Clerk, on George Berry of Antigua Street.

Author: 
Carlyle Bell (c.1779-1850), Conjunct-Clerk [joint town clerk] of the the City of Edinburgh [Great Reform Act, 1832]
Publication details: 
Entry dated 13 September 1832.
£250.00

A nice piece of Edinburgh historical ephemera. See the entry on George Berry (1795-c.1874), the first man to register to vote there following the passing the Great Reform Act, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1874-1875, where he is described as 'an enthusiastic "Free Trader"'. 40 x 10 cm slip of laid paper, with printed form on one side, headed 'COPY of ENTRY in the REGISTER of QUALIFIED VOTERS for the CITY of EDINBURGH.' In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with clean vertical cut unobtrusively repaired with archival tape.

[Jon Stallworthy, literary critic and poet.] Typed Letter Signed ('Jon') to the playwright Christopher Fry, praising Fry's 'screen-play for the film of Genesis', which John Bell of the Oxford University Press had wanted to publish.

Author: 
Jon Stallworthy [Jon Howie Stallworthy] (1935-2014), literary critic and poet, Oxford University Professor of English [Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright; John Bell; Oxford University Press]
Publication details: 
Wolfson College, Oxford; 8 February 2001.
£120.00

1p, 8vo. In good condition. Folded twice. With secretarial note in blue pencil, recording response by 'C.F.' The letter concerns Fry's screenplay for the 1966 film 'The Bible: In the Beginning...', produced by Dino De Laurentiis and directed by John Huston, which recounts the first 22 chapters of the Book of Genesis. Stallworthy wonders whether Fry remembers 'that, “in the dark backward and abyss of time”, the OUP wanted to publish your screen-play for the film of Genesis, but the film company's lawyers wouldn't allow it.

[Sir Thomas Watson, President of the Royal College of Physicians.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Thomas Watson.') to Yarmouth physician Henry Davey, suggesting a meeting and tour of London University, with reference to 'Mr. Bell', i.e. Sir Charles Bell.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Watson (1792-1882), President of the Royal College of Physicians, 1862-1866 [Sir Charles Bell (1774-1842), Scottish physiologist and surgeon; Henry William Robert Davey of Yarmouth]
Publication details: 
24 Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square [London]. 'Monday Evening. - Feby 23. 1829'.
£200.00

The recipient of this letter is the surgeon Henry William Robert Davey (1798-1870) of Yarmouth, son of surgeon Henry Sallows Davey (1781-1855) of Beccles; and the 'Mr. Bell' mentioned in it is Sir Charles Bell, who had taught Davey ten years before at Theatre of Anatomy, Great Windmill Street. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with a strip cut away from the outside edge of the second leaf, which carries two postmarks and Watson's address to 'Henry Davey Esqre | Tavistock Hotel | Covent Garden'. Twenty-one lines of neatly-written text.

[Marion, Lady Bell, wife of Sir Charles Bell, Scottish physiologist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Marion Bell') to her husband's 'old Pupil and Friend' Henry Davey of Yarmouth, discussing the publication of his letters to his brother.

Author: 
Marion Bell [Marion, Lady Bell, née Shaw] (1787-1876), wife of Sir Charles Bell (1774-1842), Scottish physiologist and surgeon [Henry William Robert Davey of Beccles, Yarmouth physician]
Publication details: 
[47?] Albany Street N.W. [London] 24 March [1870].
£600.00

Marion Shaw, daughter of Charles Shaw of Ayr, married Charles Bell in 1811. Following the death of her husband in 1842, she lived with her brother the surgeon Alexander Shaw (1804-1890), and their house became a centre of artistic and literary society. The recipient is a former pupil of Bell's at the Hunterian School of Medicine in Great Windmill Street, London, the surgeon Henry William Robert Davey (1798-1870), son of surgeon Henry Sallows Davey (1781-1855) of Beccles. The letter is written on the publication of 'The Letters of Sir Charles Bell, K.H., F.R.S.L.

[ Nancy R. E. Bell, author and wife of artist Arthur George Bell. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Nancy Bell') to unnamed 'Gentlemen', praising a book on Japan which (as the publishers) they have sent her, and expressing desire to review it.

Author: 
Nancy Bell { Nancy R. E. Bell, born Nancy Regina Emily Meugen ] (1844-1933), American art critic and travel writer, wife of Arthur George Bell (1849-1916), English genre and landscape painter
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Restgarth, Southbourne, Christchurch. 8 December [ no year ].
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. The 'Gentlemen' are clearly the publishers of a book which they wish Bell to review. She writes that she is greatly obliged to them for offering her 'a copy of your beautiful book on Japan', and has written 'to 4 editors to ask for space for early notices of it'. The book is 'indeed a marvel of technical skill in reproduction & it would be a pleasure to me to speak as highly of it as it deserves'.

[ Allan Cunningham, Scottish poet and author. ] Autograph Letter Signed to William Jerdan, editor of the Literary Gazette, an amusing letter of introduction for Henry Glassford Bell, editor of the Edinburgh Literary Journal.

Author: 
Allan Cunningham (1784-1842), Scottish poet and author, a member of the 'London Magazine' circle of John Scott [ William Jerdan; Literary Gazette ; Henry Glassford Bell; Edinburgh Literary Journal ]
Publication details: 
37 Belgrave Place [ London ]. 28 September 1830.
£220.00

1p., 12mo. Bifolium. Addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'Will. Jerdan Esq | Grove House | Brompton', with second signature 'Allan Cunningham' at bottom left of address. Docketed on the same page, presumably by Jerdan: 'A Cunningham | Introduction of Mr Bell | Ed. Of Edinh. Lit. Journal'. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The author, recipient and subject of the letter are all Scottish. A spirited and amusing letter: 'My dear friend. | Peace and health be with you in spite of captious authors and high-trotting horses.

[ R. E. B. Crompton, inventor and electrical engineer. ] Autograph Card in the third person, paying his subscription to the Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
R. E. B. Crompton [ Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton ] (1845-1940), British inventor, electrical engineer and industrialist [ Crompton & Co. ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Thriplands, Kensington Court, W. [ London ] 31 January 1901.
£38.00

On both sides of a 9 x 11 cm. grey card with embossed letterhead. In good condition, lightly aged. Docketted and with Royal Academy of Arts stamp. 'Lt. Colonel Crompton begs to enclose a cheque in payment of his subscription and will be greatly obliged to the Secretary if he will send him a form to enable his Bankers - Messrs. Barclay & Co. to pay the subscription in future.' Crompton's firm Crompton & Co. was one of the world's first large-scale manufacturers of electrical equipment.

[ George Joseph Bell, Professor of Scots Law at the University of Edinburgh. ] Manuscript Testimonial, Signed twice (both 'George Jos Bell'), on behalf of 'Mr Scipio A. Mactaggart'.

Author: 
George Joseph Bell (1770-1843), Professor of Scots Law at the University of Edinburgh, Scottish jurist [ Scipio Alexander Mactaggart (1812-1886), Writer to the Signet ]
Publication details: 
On printed card of the 'University of Edinburgh Lectures on the Law of Scotland'. Dated November 1834.
£80.00

The card is 12 x 9 cm. In fair condition, aged and worn. On one side, printed in fancy letters in blue, is 'University of Edinburgh | LECTURES | ON THE | LAW OF SCOTLAND'. Beneath this Bell has written: 'Mr. S. A. Mactaggart | George Jos Bell | Nov 1834'. The testimonial, in a secretarial hand, is on the reverse, signed by Bell at the bottom (again 'George Jos Bell'). It reads: 'Mr Scipio A.

[Edith Emerson, dau. Emerson; autograph-collecting ] Autograph Letter Signed "Edith Emerson Forbes", to a "Mr. Thorndike".

Author: 
Edith Emerson Forbes, daughter of Ralph Waldo Emerson
Publication details: 
[ Printed heading ] Milton Hall, 28 June 1899.
£180.00

Four pages, 12mo, in large readable hand, bifolium, fold marks, otherwise good condition. "I return the papers you were so kind to lend me and let me keep to show to my travellrs.

Printed prospectus for 'The English Pre-Raphaelite Painters, their Associates and Successors, by Percy H. Bate'.

Author: 
[Percy H. Bate; George Bell and Sons, London publishers; the Pre-Raphaelites]
Publication details: 
London: George Bell and Sons, York Street, Covent Garden. [1899.]
£35.00

4pp., 8vo. Bifolium. On laid paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and spotted. Printed in black with title in red. The first page headed: 'Now Ready | Small Colombier 8vo. With 7 Photogravure Plates, and 84 Illustrations in Half-Tone, £2, 2s.

[Printed pamphlet.] English Line Writing: A New, Simple, and Exact System of Phonetics.

Author: 
Alexander Melville Bell, Fellow of the Educational Institute of Scotland, The Royal Scottish Society of Arts, The American Association for the Advancement of Science, &c., &c.
Publication details: 
Edgar S. Werner, New York. [circa 1886]
£400.00

[2] + 52pp., 8vo. In grey printed wraps carrying advertisements. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. With label and stamp of the Science & Art Department of the Educational Library, London. In tasteful modern quarter-bound boards of light and dark grey paper, with white printed label on front.

[Offprint.] Upon a Method of Teaching Language to a Very Young Congenitally Deaf Child. By Alexander Graham Bell, Ph.D.

Author: 
Alexander Graham Bell, Ph.D. [The American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb]
Publication details: 
Third edition. Extracted, by permission, from the American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb, April, 1883, vol. xxviii, pp.124-139. Washington, D. C. Gibson Brothers, Printers. 1886.
£250.00

16pp., 8vo. Including full-page facsimile 'Specimen of Impromptu Conversation' and of 'the plan, recommended by George Dalgarno, of writing the alphabet upon a glove'. In grey card wraps. In good condition, on aged paper, with label and stamp of the Science & Art Department of the Educational Library on the front cover. In tasteful modern grey paper wraps with white printed label on front. No copies of this third edition on COPAC or OCLC WorldCat (but a total of fourteen copies of the first edition).

[Offprint.] Fallacies concerning the deaf, and the Influence of these Fallacies in preventing the Amelioration of their Condition. [...] With remarks by Dr. E. M. Gallaudet and Hon. Gardiner G. Hubbard.

Author: 
Alexander Graham Bell; Dr. E. M. Gallaudet; Hon. Gardiner G. Hubbard [The Philosophical Society of Washington; The American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb]
Publication details: 
An Address delivered before the Philosophical Society of Washington, October 27, 1883. Reprinted from the American Annals of the Deaf and Dumb for January, 1884. Washington D.C. Gibson Brothers, Printers. 1884.
£350.00

39pp., 8vo. Front cover of printed wraps present, with 'With the Author's Compliments' printed in top left-hand corner. In fair condition, lightly-aged, with shelfmarks, label and stamp of the Science & Art Department of the Education Library. In tasteful modern quarter-bound boards of light and dark grey paper, with white printed label on front.

[Printed pamphlet, 'With compliments, from | THE AUTHOR'.] World-English: The Universal Language. By Alexander Melville Bell, Author of "Visible Speech," &c., &c.

Author: 
Alexander Melville Bell, Author of "Visible Speech," &c., &c. [(1819-1905), father of Alexander Graham Bell]
Publication details: 
New York: N. D. C. Hodges, 47, Lafayette Place. London: Trübner & Co. 57 and 59, Ludgate Hill. 1888.
£300.00

[1] + 29 + [5]pp., 8vo. Advertisements at front and rear. With front cover of brown printed wraps present, bearing the title in a 'globe' design. Printed in a box in the top right-hand corner of the cover is: 'With compliments from | THE AUTHOR, | 1525, Thirty-fifth Street, | Washington, D. C. | Examination and comment requested.' In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with slight loss at edges of front cover. In tasteful modern quarter-bound boards of light and dark grey paper, with white printed label on front. Uncommon: four copies on COPAC.

[Printed pamphlet.] On Reading as a Means of Teaching Language to the Deaf by Alexander Graham Bell.

Author: 
Alexander Graham Bell [National Conference of Superintendents and Principals of Institutions for the Deaf; Mississippi Institution, Jackson]
Publication details: 
An Address delivered before the sixth National Conference of Superintendents and Principals of Institutions for the Deaf held at the Mississippi Institution, Jackson, Miss., April 14-17, 1888. Washington: Gibson Bros., Printers and Bookbinders. 1889.
£350.00

7pp., 8vo. With front cover of grey printed wraps. In good condition, on aged paper, with label and stamp of the Science & Art Department of the Educational Library, London on front cover. In tasteful modern grey paper wraps with white printed label on front. Epigram beneath title: 'I would have a deaf child read books in order to learn the language, instead of learning the language in order to read books.' Uncommon: no copy on COPAC and nine copies (all in American libraries, including three at Harvard) on OCLC WorldCat.

[George Charles Williamson, art editor to George Bell & Sons.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Geo C Williamson') to H. C. Marillier, reporting the high opinion of the Pre-Raphaelite patron George Rae of Birkenhead of his book 'Dante Gabriel Rossetti'.

Author: 
George Charles Williamson (1858-1942), art editor to George Bell & Sons [Henry Currie Marillier (1865-1951), textiles expert; George Rae (1817-1902) of Birkenhead, Pre-Raphaelite patron; Rossetti]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of G. Bell & Sons, York Street, Covent Garden, London. 24 August 1900.
£135.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. For further information about Williamson and his publications, see his entry in 'Who Was Who'; see also Marillier's entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

[Printed pamphlet.] Visible Speech as Taught to the Deaf. An Address Delivered Tuesday, July 7th, 1891, at the First Summer Meeting of the American Associate to Promote the Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, held at Lake George, N.Y.

Author: 
Alexander Graham Bell [American Association to Promote the Teachings of Speech to the Deaf]
Publication details: 
Reprinted from the Report of Proceedings [First Summer Meeting of the American Association to Promote the Teachings of Speech to the Deaf.] Mentor Print. [1891.]
£180.00

32pp., 8vo. Includes seven full-page charts. In fair condition, on lightly aged paper, in worn and aged light-brown printed wraps. With shelfmarks, stamp and labels of the Board of Education Reference Library, London. A total of eight copies located on OCLC WorldCat and COPAC, with the only copy in British libraries at the British Library.

[Printed pamphlet.] The London Schools' Guild of Arts & Crafts. Its Origin and Purpose. A Leaflet of information issued with the object of extending the influence of the Guild outside London, 1928.

Author: 
Professor Robert Anning Bell, President, The London Schools' Guild of Arts & Crafts; William J. Pettit, Hon. General Secretary; Board of Education Reference Library]
Publication details: 
'Please address all communications to Mr. William J. Pettit, (Hon. Sec.) The London Schools' Guild of Arts & Crafts, Stoke Newington Central School, Albion Road, London, N.16.
£60.00

12pp., 12mo. In cream wraps printed in brown. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with rusted staples and shelfmarks, stamp and label of the Board of Education Reference Library. Foreword (pp.1-2) by Bell, and text (pp.3-12) by Pettit. Scarce: no copy on COPAC.

[William Scott Cameron, editor of the Leeds Mercury.] Autograph Letter Signed ('W S Cameron') to George Bell, giving his reasons for decling his 'verses'.

Author: 
William Scott Cameron (c.1843-1914), editor of the Leeds Mercury [George Bell]
Publication details: 
On letterhead to the 'Weekly Supplement to The Leeds Mercury, Leeds'. 10 April 1891.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. On aged and worn paper. Cameron writes: 'Dear Sir, | I regret that the enclosed verses would occupy too much room for our space, but I return them with our thanks to you for bringing them under our notice'. The recipient is not the London publisher, who died in 1890.

[John Bell of Lincoln's Inn.] Part of document giving his legal opinion in a cause, written out by a clerk, and signed and dated by him.

Author: 
John Bell (1764-1836) of Lincoln's Inn, English barrister
Publication details: 
Lincoln's Inn. 14 March 1828.
£120.00

Bell's entry in the Oxford DNB records that 'In conversation with the prince regent (later George IV), Lord Chancellor Eldon was said to have described Bell as the best lawyer then at the equity bar, though he could "neither read, write, walk, nor talk": Bell was lame, spoke with a broad Westmorland accent, the effect of which was heightened by a confirmed stammer, and wrote in a hand never more than barely legible.

[Sheila Kaye-Smith, novelist.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. Cazenove' of the publishers George Bell & Sons, regarding the publication of her first novel 'The Tramping Methodist', requesting corrections to the proofs and suggesting the title.

Author: 
Sheila Kaye-Smith [married name Emily Sheila Fry] (1887-1956), English novelist [George Bell & Sons, London publishers]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 9 Dane Road, St Leonards on Sea. 20 May [1908].
£120.00

3pp., 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Docketed at head of first page. She begins by explaining that at her 'interview with Mr. Bell on the 8th. he suggested an alteration in an important sentence, giving me the alternative of taking the MS. home with me or of correcting the sentence in the proofs. At the time I thought the latter course would be the best, but it occurs to me that it would save expence if the correction was made now.' She asks Cazenove to 'ask Mr. O'Connor if he would kindly alter the words in accordance with the enclosed [not present]'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Mackenzie Bell') from the poet Henry Thomas Mackenzie Bell to 'Prof. Candy', regarding 'the most pressing difficulty we have'

Author: 
Mackenzie Bell [Henry Thomas Mackenzie Bell] (1856-1930), English poet, writer and literary critic
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 11 Buckingham Gate, S.W. [London]. 23 May 1911.
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, on aged and worn paper. The letter reads: 'Dear Prof. Candy, | I think you would wish to see enclosed which please return after perusal. | If you hear of anything kindly let me know. It is the most pressing difficulty we have and we see no present way of surmounting it. | With renewed thanks, | always sincerely yours, | Mackenzie Bell'.

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