CENTURY

Written during the 1984-5 Old Vic production of Arthur Schnitzler’s ‘The Lonely Road’, in which Eggar starred opposite Anthony Hopkin, with a young Colin Firth. 2pp, 12mo. Good bold signature: ‘Sincerely / Samantha Eggar’. Addressed to 'Mr Sephton'. In good condition, lightly aged, folded for postage. She thanks him for his ‘inquiry as to whether I would be able to talk to you about “Whos Who of Hollywood Britons’, and gives the only date that is convenient. ‘The show comes down at 5.15 approx, maybe a call to the theatre to check would be wise’. From the papers of Kenneth Sephton.

Dillon's entry in the Oxford DNB states that on 6 March 1889 he ‘sailed for Australia to solicit contributions; he also toured New Zealand, and returned to Ireland via the United States in late April 1890. His mission raised about £33,000’. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Addressed to ‘My dear Miss Meredith’ and signed ‘Yours very Sincerely / John Dillon’. In fair condition, lightly aged, with very light transfer of ink from another letter (from blotting pad?) onto third leaf, including signature. Folded for postage.

Leighton’s entry in the Oxford DNB explains that ‘In 1954 she began a long run (nearly four years in London and New York) as Anne Shankland and Sybil Railton-Bell in the double bill of Terence Rattigan's Separate Tables, co-starring with Eric Portman and winning a Tony award as best actress.’ 2pp, 4to. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr Sephton’, with good bold signature, ‘Margaret Leighton.’ In good condition, lightly aged, folded for postage.

See Hutton's entry in the Oxford DNB, together with that of the recipient Sir Lovelace Tomlinson Stamer (1829-1908), Anglican Bishop of Shrewsbury. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly aged paper, with slight smudging on the first page. With two folds for postage. Addressed to ‘The Revd Sir Lovelace T Stamer Bart’ and signed ‘R H Hutton’. Twenty-five lines of text in a hand that must surely have proved as much of a challenge to Hutton’s compositors as to present-day readers.

According to Delane’s entry in the Oxford DNB, he settled ‘from about 1847 at 16 Serjeants' Inn, Temple’. The addressee appears to be ‘W. Forsyth Esq’, and is named in the letter as a brother of the Conservative politician William Forsyth (1812-1899), who took silk in 1857, and hence also of the diplomat Sir Thomas Douglas Forsyth (1827-1886), both of whom have ODNB entries. 2pp, 12mo, with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged, and folded twice for postage, in the neat remains of a windowpane mount.

This item is a nice artefact of one of England?s foremost public schools. The great rival of Eton, Harrow numbers among its alumni seven prime ministers, including Churchill. This notebook comprises lists of boys and their positions and classes in a particular term. The paper stock, watermark and handwriting all indicate that its composition is contemporaneous with the schooling of those named. It is the work of one person, almost certainly one of the school?s masters, and its loose and hurried nature indicate that it was intended for personal use, or as an aid in future writing.

An uncommon signature. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of 18 x 10 cm piece of paper. Discoloured and worn, with spike hole. Good firm signature, full of character. Reads: ?174 Edgware Road / Maida Hill / 27 April 1832 / Please deliver to Mr Green or [aide? drdee?order?] my picture not received for the Exhibition / Henry Jutsum / To / Mr. Vaughan / Royal Academy?. See Image.

Watford?s obituaries noted her sensitive acting style, and ranked alongside Peggy Ashcroft. On both sides of a 14.5 x 10 cm card, with no printing but for the name ?GWEN WATFORD? in red at the head of recto. Addressed to ?Dear Mr Sephton? and with good firm signature ?Gwen Watford?. In good condition lightly aged. Twelves lines of neatly written text. She has ?just finished another mid-week matinee?, and is writing thank him for his ?most encouraging letter?, which she will ?treasure?.

In his entry on Laye in the Oxford DNB, Sheridan Morley describes her as a ?bright, particular star?. 1p, 12mo, on grey-blue paper with monogram of her initials printed at top left. The letter concerns the 1969-70 Palace Theatre production of ?Phil the Fluter?, in which she played Mrs Fitzmaurice. Addressed to ?Dear Kenneth? and with good firm signature ?Evelyn Laye?. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. She thanks him for the letter and ?the lovely Shamrock?, which she has planted ?in a little pot, as it was so very thoughtful of you to sentd it to me for Good Luck?.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The letter is addressed from the house of Frederick Goodall (also see ODNB), which at other times was occupied by Laurence Alma Tadema and James Murray. 2pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ?My dear Mrs. Calkin? and signed ?Frank Holl?. Twenty-six lines of text in a hurried hand. He thanks her for her ?kind trouble - & for the rifle which my model called for and brought with him this morning?. He is sorry that her son George has been injured.

See Jacob?s entry, and Colenso?s, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. Addressed to ?The / Revd. R. Wilkins?.

A close, controlled hand, on a slip of paper 10 x 1 cm. See Image. In good condition, lightly aged with a little light red spotting. Reads: ?Believe me / faithfully yours / Brunnow?.

In his entry on Laye in the Oxford DNB, Sheridan Morley describes her as a ?bright, particular star?. 1p, 16mo.Good firm signature. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. On the otherwise-blank reverse is Laye's monogram, with her initials. Reads: 'My dear Kenneth. / Thank you for your very sweet letter[.] I am so delighted you liked the broadcast[.] It brought back many happy memories to me & when I sat & listened to it all alone I must say I longed for the past. / Bless you. / Evelyn Laye.' From the papers of Kenneth Sephton.

A nice piece of Ealing ephemera, and scarce: no other copy traced, either on WorldCat or JISC. 48pp, 12mo. Stapled into grey wraps, with heavily-inked cover illustration by Joan Murrell, depicting six figures from various nations (Japanese geisha in the middle), beneath bunting of five flags with Union Flag in centre, and with 'BAZAAR OF NATIONS' at head. Title page reads: ?Book of the Bazaar / held at the / Ealing Town Hall, / Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, / June 8th, 9th, 10th / 1920.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that he 'was after Wellington the most respected soldier of his time in Britain, whose opinion carried immense weight both at home and abroad and not only on military matters'. 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight creasing at head. Reads: ‘Sir George Murray has to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Wrights letter of the 4th.

See his entry, and that of Delane, in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with neat remains of a windowpane mount adhering to the blank reverse of the second leaf. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr Lelane’ (sic) and signed ‘Stratford de R.’ Having heard that Delane was in town he writes to say that he was ‘gratified by the complimentary terms in which I was mentioned in the Times two or three days ago.

W. H. Gladstone was the eldest of W. E. Gladstone’s eight children. See his father’s entry in the Oxford DNB, along with those of his brothers Henry Neville Gladstone and Herbert John Gladstone. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium of grey paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with spike hole through one corner of each leaf. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘W H Gladstone’ and addressed to ‘W. Farish Esq / Chester’. He apologizes for having to decline Farish’s request, and is returning the card Farish has sent him.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is not to be confused with his father the botanist Dawson Turner (1775-1858), whose entry contains the following regarding the son: ‘During his final decade he lived in central London, and his untidy figure became familiar to the needy in hospitals and on the streets, whom he assisted with dedicated benevolence. He died in Charing Cross Hospital, London, on 29 January 1885, and was buried at Brompton cemetery.’ The present item was hence written within weeks of the recpient’s death. Post Card printed with red halfpenny stamp.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. The valediction of a letter, cut away for an autograph collector. On a slip of paper, around 7.5 x 1.5 cm. On lightly discoloured paper, with tear through signature, attached to piece of card with archival tape. Reads: ‘Very sincerely yours / Ellen Wood’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Philip Dosse (1925-1980), proprietor of Hansom Books, publishers of several arts magazines. Presumably acknowledging payment for a review in ‘Books and Bookmen’. On plain ‘House of Commons’ postcard. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with crease to one corner going through the final flourish of Grimond’s signature. Reads: ‘4 Aug / Many thanks for cheque for £20 already acknowledged / J Grimond’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Signed ‘Richard Alverstone’ and addressed to ‘J. Ellaby Esq’. He regrets that Ellaby is asking him ‘for more information than it is in my power to give you’. Even if he were ‘in possession of the views of the Government’ he ‘could not disclose them’ to Ellaby, who must form his own opinion ‘from the public utterances of the Prime Minister and Mr. Balfour’.

Interesting items, casting light on the life of an Australian rural doctor of the Victorian period. A selection of Bartlett’s memoirs was published under the title ‘Bush Doctor’, edited by Jane Caiger-Smith and Michael C Bartlett, in 2011. There is an good illustrated article on him and his family (‘A Classic Bush Doctor’) in ‘Australian Rural Doctor’, June 2013. Both letters are addressed to ‘Dear Mr. D’Eath’ and signed ‘Felix P. Bartlett’.

An uncommon signature. See her entry in the Oxford DNB. The valediction of a letter, cut away for an autograph collector. On a slip of paper, around 7.5 x 2 cm. Somewhat aged and worn, backed with discoloured card. Reads: ‘Very truly yours / Elizabeth M Sewell’. See Image.

Two nice pieces of Potteries ephemera. No other copies have been traced. ONE: Booklet. In fair condition, on aged paper, in lightly worn and creased wraps. 36pp, 12mo, stitched into red wraps with title repeated on cover in black. Slips with printed emendations have been laid down over text on pp.8, 9 and 32 (the last slip, carrying rule 84, ‘Hours for Consumption’, is amended in manuscript). Eighty-four rules on the first 32pp, with fifteen bye-laws on pp.33-34. TWO: ‘MEMBERS TICKET, 1929.’ A nice item on card, roughly 7 x 9 cm, with central horizontal crease folding it down to 4 1/2 x 7 cm.

In 1858 her son Frederick married Princess Victoria, the eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert; her grandson was Kaiser Wilhem III. For Lady Ashbourne, see her husband’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Before receiving Lady Ashbourne’s invitation, ‘The Duke & Duchess of Abercorns, [sic] my Cousins, had begged us attend a Masonic Concert the 18th.

The plaque referred is ‘attached to the rock face fronting Regent Road immediately to the east of the steps leading from the end of Waterloo Place to Calton Hill’, and was unveiled in 1894. The entry with Canmore ID 302221 gives some detail, but has no mention of the present appeal. 1p, 4to. On recto of first leaf of bifolium of laid paper. Discoloured and worn, but with text intact and clear. The authors are named as: ‘DAVID PRYDE, M.A., LL.D., / President of the Edinburgh Burns’ Club. / JAMES CRICHTON, Hon. Secy. / JOHN WALKER, Acting.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both in fair condition, worn and aged. The first item with one fold. Both signed ‘Edwin Waugh’ and addressed to ‘Mr. J. T. Baron’. ONE (14 February 1889): 2pp, 12mo. On the rectos of a bifolium. He would have answered Baron sooner, had he not been ‘tossing to and fro a good deal lately’. He thanks him ‘very heartily for the kind feeling expressed in your lines addressed to me on the 73rd [the 3 underlined three times] anniversary of my birth, in the Blackburn Times’.

Accompanying this item is a piece of paper with the following note in a mid-twentieth-century hand: ‘Interesting because of the very rare signature of Everard Peck, pioneer printer Father of Wm. F. Peck’. He was a bookbinder from Connecticut who moved to Rochester around 1816 and opened a bookstore. He moved into printing and publishing, founded the successful weekly Telegraph newspaper and later became a banker. He was a generous benefactor of the early city, co-founding the University of Rochester and the Rochester Orphan Asylum and becoming a leader in the Female Charitable Society.

See the entries for Wynter and Walford in the Oxford DNB. The present letter provides a valuable insight into the position of ‘the man of letters’ in Victorian periodical publication: according to the ODNB, Walford ‘edited the Gentleman's Magazine in 1866 and strongly objected to the proprietor Joseph Hatton's decision to change the character of that magazine.

See the entries for Cooper (born Arthur William Douglas Cooper) and Richardson in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of the recipient, Philip Dosse, who was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Art and Artists and Books and Bookmen. 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. 2pp, 8vo, on a single leaf of air mail paper. Forty-six lines of text. Somewhat worn and creased, but in fair condition overall.