BRADWELL

Typed account, signed 'Anyanga' [J. H. Driberg], of a liaison with a Frenchwoman named Yvonne Beaubouchais in Marseille in 1915, titled 'L'Entente Cordiale'.

Author: 
'Anyanga'; J. H. Driberg [Jack Herbert Driberg (1888-1946), social anthropologist and brother of flamboyant Labour MP Tom Driberg (1905-1976), Baron Bradwell]
Publication details: 
'From J. H. Driberg, 19, Dryden Chambers, W.1.' Undated [1920s?].
£180.00

8pp., 4to. On eight leaves pinned together. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with rust staining from pin. Apparently unpublished. Typed at head of first page: 'From J. H. Driberg, 19, Dryden Chambers, W.1.', above which, in manuscript: 'NL. N. 10 pt Miscellany'. Driberg is clearly the author: 'Anyanga' is a surname common in the area of Kenya in which he was based as a colonial offical. The first paragraph gives an indication of the tone of the piece: 'The War left me with one fragrant memory. Her name was Yvonne Beaubouchais, and the date was 1915.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Vera Meynell') from Lady Vera Meynell, wife of the typographer Sir Francis Meynell, to 'Dear Jack' [the anthropologist J. H. Driberg], asking him to 'let bygones be bygones' and visit her at Toppesfield, 'Hitler permitting'.

Author: 
Lady Vera Meynell [née Vera Rosalind Wynn Mendel] (1895-1947), wife of Sir Francis Meynell (1891-1975), publisher and typographer, founder of the Nonesuch Press [Jack Herbert Driberg (1888-1946)]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 39 Woburn Square, WC1 [London]. 5 July [no year, but during the Second World War].
£65.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The letter begins: 'Dear Jack | It is a long time since we met - but perhaps that is my fault. If so, will you let bygones be bygones - and come over to Toppesfield some time?' She suggests a date, 'Or any Sunday lunch in the immediate future', stating that 'after July, all plans are "Hitler permitting"!' Driberg has noted his acceptance of the invitation up one margin. [Driberg was a Lecturer in Anthropology at Cambridge University from 1934 to 1942. His brother was the colourful Labour MP Tom Driberg.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Basil A. Yeaxlee') from the English educational pioneer Basil Yeaxlee [Basil Alfred Yeaxlee] to the anthropologist J. H. Driberg, regarding his difficulty in acquiring a copy of 'Island India goes to School' by E. R. Embree.

Author: 
Basil Yeaxlee [Basil Alfred Yeaxlee] (1883-1967), English pioneer in the field of adult education [Jack Herbert Driberg (1888-1946), anthropologist, brother of colourful Labour politician Tom Driberg]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 109 Woodstock Road, Oxford. 9 May 1939.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He begins: 'My bookseller has sent me tonight "Island India at School" - Chicago University Press $2 [in fact 'Island India at School', E. R. Embree et al, 1934], and therefore, presumably, C.U.P. in this country.' He apologises for troubling Driberg unnecessarily: 'But yesterday they told me that they couldn't even trace it in Publishers' Catalogues.' Postscript reads: 'I hope I'm not robbing you of your proper style & title. I feel that it might be "Dr."

Autograph Journal, by Amy Mary Irving Driberg, mother of the Labour Party politician Tom Driberg [Baron Bradwell], titled 'Tom - School' and containing entries on his schooldays.

Author: 
Amy Mary Irving Driberg [née Bell] (d.1939), of Uckfield Lodge, Crowborough, mother of Tom Driberg [Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, Baron Bradwell] (1905-76), journalist and Labour Party politician
Publication details: 
Entries dating from 27 September 1910 to 30 July 1918.
£180.00

14pp., 12mo. In ruled notebook bound in black cloth. Titled 'Tom - School' at head of first page, with small section cut away from the front cover to make this visible. In fair condition on lightly-aged paper, with one slightly dogeared corner and light staining to blank leaves at the rear. Written while Driberg was between the ages of five and thirteen, and with the handwriting more untidy towards the end.

Typed Letter Signed from John Papworth to Mrs Ena Driberg, wife of the Labour MP Tom Driberg

Author: 
John Papworth (b.1921), English economist and activist, personal adviser to the President of Zambia Kenneth Kaunda [Ena Mary Binfield, née Lyttelton, wife of Tom Driberg of Bradwell Lodge, Essex]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the British Asian and Overseas Socialist Fellowship (London Branch). 15 November 1957.
£36.00

1p., 4to. Fair, on aged paper, with one small burn-hole to margin. Addressed to 'Mrs. T. Driberg, | Bradwell Lodge, | Bradwell juxta Mare, | nr. Southminster, | Essex.' He thanks her for receiving 'an African boy from Northern Rhodesia and some members of my family', and 'showing us the details of your charming house so unhesitatingly'. He discusses the 'astonishing contrast the house is to the landscape around it.

Autograph Letter Signed from the bookseller and publisher Herbert van Thal to the gossip columnist 'William Hickey' [Tom Driberg], regretting his sacking from the Daily Express

Author: 
Herbert van Thal [Bertie Maurice van Thal] (1904-1983), bookseller and publisher [Tom Driberg [Thomas Edward Neil Driberg] (1905-1976), Baron Bradwell, the 'William Hickey' of the Daily Express]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the White House, Regents Park, NW1. 5 July 1943.
£56.00

1p., 8vo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Van Thal was 'most distressed to read in the Daily Express this morning that you were no longer connected with that paper.' He thanks him 'for the pleasure that you have given me over a number of years of reading a first class column'. He hopes it will be 'discoverable as to where you are going to continue to write - or have politics put an end to a chapter?' In a postscript he states that he is at least 'able to console myself with Hansard!'

Two Autograph Drafts of reviews and one Autograph Letter Signed to Philip Dossé of Hansom Books, Artillery Mansions, 75 Victoria Street, London SW1.

Author: 
Tom Driberg [Thomas Edward Neil Driberg, Baron Bradwell of Bradwell-juxta-Mare] (1905-1976) [crossword puzzled]
Publication details: 
Both reviews undated [both c. 1974]. Letter of 14 March 1974; 601 Mountjoy House, Barbican, London, on cancelled House of Commons letterhead.
£100.00

All three items lightly aged but good. Driberg has written 'TOM DRIBERG' at the head of the first page of both reviews. First Review (8vo, 7 pp) with slight wear at head (not affecting text) of first four leaves; last three leaves on House of Commons letterheads. With corrections. The subject is Daphne Fielding's 'The Rainbow Picnic' (1974). Second Review (8vo, 7 pp, on House of Commons letterheads) of four books about crossword puzzles, including Roger Millington's 'The Strange World of the Crossword' (1974). With corrections.

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