critic

See his entry, and Craig’s, in the Oxford DNB. 13 x 9 cm envelope, with seal (no impression of any kind) in red wax over the broken flap. In good condition, lightly aged. On the front of the envelope, in Jeffrey’s hand, ‘To / James Gibson Craig Esqre / 7. North St Andrew Street’. Beneath this, at bottom left and between the customary lines is the signature ‘F. Jeffrey’.

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.

One page, 12mo, good condition, laid down on part of an album page (see note below). Text: My dear Con, | Many and many a Happy Christmas to you- & to all who love you - that's a wide wish I know. | Now - when & how do you & mama want me to come to yoy. I will be at your [underlined] orders, (provided they are peremptory-) any day after New Years day. | Thank mama for her kind note. | Ever affectionately Your | J Ruskin. Note: Item detached from Meredith family album containing letters from distinguished contemporaries such as Henry James, Thomas Hardy, Clemenceau, etc etc.

Rather long for a carte de visite: 6 x 9 cm albumen print laid down on 6.5 x 10.5 cm card. In fair condition, lightly discoloured and worn. On the card beneath the photograph is a facsimile of Ruskin’s signature (‘John Ruskin’) and ‘ELLIOTT & FRY Copyright. 55. BAKER ST.’ Printed on the reverse is the royal crest and the firm’s address. A copy of the present item was offered by Sotheby’s in 2021, dated to 1867, with the claim that it was ‘signed on the mount’. That claim is erroneous: the signature to that copy is identical with the present lithographed one.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium. Addressed on reverse of second leaf: ‘123456 / [T. W. Naellz?] Esqr / Ambleside’. Aged and worn, with closed tears along folds, and damage to second leaf from breaking of seal. Reads: ‘Dear Sir / If you can send me Madame Cottin’s romance about Saladin you will much oblige me. / Yours truly / John Wilson’. Good large signature. The first edition of ‘The Saracen; Or, Matilda and Melek Adhel: A Crusade Romance, From the French of Madame Cottin, with an Historical Introduction, by J.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is not named, but the item is from the papers of Eileen Cond, an enthusiastic collector of autographs. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. In Blunden’s stylish hand the note simply reads: ‘[9 Woodstock Close / Oxford] / 1 April 1936 / Dear Madam / I append the autograph which you requested. / yours faithfully / Edmund Blunden.’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The postcards are bromide prints, and 9 x 14 cm. The two identical images of Scott, dressed for the theatre, with curled moustache and flower in his buttonhole, are both inscribed. In the bottom margin of one he has written ‘late of the D. T.’; in the same position on the other, and rather poignantly considering his later history, ‘Remember me / Clement Scott / 1902’. The former card is addressed by Scott on the reverse, with Ingatestone postmark dated 27 February 1904, to ‘Mr S. Le Sage / Maisonette / Ingatestone / Essex’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In fair condition, lightly aged and with slight wear at base. Typed address to ‘Mr. J. A. Neuhuys, / 37, Dean Road, / Willesden Green, / N. W. 2’. Reads: ‘Will you please send me on approval No. 582a, from your catalogue No. 29. / R. W.’ Recipt marked with red date stamp of 1 January 1924, and message lightly crossed out in pencil.

The circumstances surrounding this extraordinary original composition in Latin verse are obscure. See Phillips’s entry in the Oxford DNB, which notes that there was ‘an air of Proust’ about him, and quotes Oliver Brown’s description of him as ‘a stout man, immaculately dressed and heavily scented, who talked continuously while he looked at the pictures'. It may be that Phillips and the author of the poem had been educated together, or that they were members of the same club (the Athenaeum for example).

1p, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged. Removed from an album, and with stub still adhering to inner edge. Folded twice. He asks to be accorded ‘un quart d’heure d’audiénce’, as he is leaving on a journey and needs a passport and letters of recommendation. The recipient is not named, but he has written ‘Samedi à midi’ at top left.

See Hopkins’s entry in the Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English. His papers are in the Harry Ransom Center of the University of Texas. The obituary of the recipient Andrew Block (1892-1987) in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business was established in 1911. Printed on one side of a foolscap 8vo leaf. A tasteful piece of provincial printing. Worn, creased and dog-eared, with closed tears at head. Inscribed at bottom-right: ‘for Andrew Block / Kenneth Hopkins’. Titled ‘THREE SONNETS’ and signed in type ‘KENNETH HOPKINS’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On brittle, discoloured paper, cropped at foot. Signed (‘J. Oxenford’). The recipient is not named, but is clearly the editor of the Athenaeum. Reads: ‘Sir/- / In the name of Mr. C. A. Feiling and myself, I beg leave to thank you for the very handsome and prominent notice of our “German Tales” which appeared in the Athenaeum of the 30th. ult. - You will confer a further obligation by letting the gentleman who wrote the article [know] how much we feel indebted to his kindness.’

Chambers is not mentioned in Dame Nellie Melba’s entry in the Oxford DNB. She met him in London in 1895, and their affair ended for unknown reasons in 1904. It is clearly the ‘notorious’ affair in whose fame Chambers ‘rejoiced to the last’, according to Somerset Maugham’s devastating assessment of the man in ‘A Writer’s Notebook’ (1946). Harry de Windt gives a markedly kinder account of Chambers in his ‘My Note-Book at Home and Abroad’ (1923). 2pp, 8vo. Bifolium. Twenty-seven lines of text. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Signed 'C Haddon Chambers'.

For information on Cook see his biography in the Oxford DNB, which points out that the subtlety of his later fiction was lost on his contemporaries, being written in a style that ‘was not sufficiently sensational’ for the period. The present item is the complete text of the last thing Cook ever wrote: a story which appeared in the weeks following his death, in Hood’s Comic Annual for 1884 (London, 1883).

Paper, 9.5 x 10cm, laid down on larger piece of paper, part of album page, good condition. Vous sentez bien que votre approbation m'est precieuse. Elle l'est par ille-meme & par ce qu'ille suppose - Je suis d'ailleurs toujours un invalide, & ma sante, depuis trois mois et demi, [?] restee avc un grave [accrue?]. | A vous [...]

2pp, 12mo. On aged and creased paper, with two torn spike holes resulting in loss of a few letters of text. Date stamp on reverse. The recipient is not named, but is presumably the BBC producer Terence Dudley (1919-1988). Writing three months before his death, Strong begins the letter: 'My dear Terence, | How very kind of you! I [d]on't have any dignity in such matters! and I'd love to have a go, whether live or recorded.

xv + 179pp, 8vo. Good tight copy in brown cloth, in worn printed dustwrapper. Frontispiece portrait of Fry. Inscribed on front free endpaper: 'To Christopher Fry | from | Glenda Leeming | with love'. In her preface Leeming notes Fry's 'patience and tolerance, as well as his helpful explanations of his plays, his intentions, and their realization'. The volume contains pencil annotations between pp.43 and 73, mostly relating to 'The Lady's not for Burning'. All are marginal indications of passages with vertical lines, apart from two annotations suggesting a degree of impatience with the text.

2pp, 12mo. Twenty-seven lines of text. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. A nice item, giving an indication of Lewes's editorial principles at the Fortnightly Review (he held the position from 1865 to the following year). Addressed to 'R. S. Poole'. He begins by explaining that he only returned to England the previous night, '& found your notes & m.s awaiting me'.

On one side of an irregular piece of thin paper, roughly 12.5 x 13.5 cm. From the celebrated autograph collection of Richard Monckton Milnes (Lord Houghton), and neatly mounted on a leaf extracted from an album. He writes that a few days previously he wrote to ask 'Monsieur le ministre de la marine' for 'une audience de q[uel]ques instants'. He fears that the letter did not reach him, and so renews his request. Signed 'salut et paternité | Alphonse Karr'.

Both in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: 2pp, 12mo. He 'must bear the entire blame' for 'an indiscretion', and is 'exceedingly sorry'. 'Nothing was said between us in regard to the giving or withholding of addresses, & I had not at that time considered the point.

ONE: Typed Letter Signed from 'Bertie' (i.e. Herbert van Thal) to 'John' (i.e. J. C. Trewin). 15 March 1978. On letterhead of the London publishers Weidenfeld & Nicolson. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The letter reads: 'My dear John, Alas, they do not think that they would be able to sell this Eugene Aram idea here, without the backing of a television programme or a film to back it up. But Orbis recently asked me if I had any ideas, and I have sent it on to them. Will let you know what they have to say.

A highly interesting letter from a leading Victorian dramatic critic (Thomas describes himself in the letter as 'For five & twenty years [...] theatrical critic of the Daily news & the Graphic', who has 'served under at least thirteen editors') to a leading actor-manager (Hare was knighted in 1907), on the subject of alleged editorial pressure on Fleet Street's theatre critics. 4pp, 8vo. On four leaves. Aged and worn, but with text complete and clear.

A notable item in the present collection is a letter written by William Archer to Braekstad's widow in 1923, in which he gives a fulsome assessment of his character, describing his 'old friend' as 'the unofficial and unpaid consul for Norway', 'unwearied in his service to his country as represented by Norwegians in London'. Hans Lien Brækstad (who has a brief entry in Who Was Who) features prominently in Lionel Carley's 'Edward Grieg in England' (2006), where he is described as 'a major Norwegian presence in London.

1p., 8vo. Bifolium addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'Messrs: Nichols & son, | No. 26, | Parliament Street, | Westminster.' (Delivered by hand, with word 'Wait.' at bottom left of address.) In fair condition, lightly aged. Written in a bold hand, the letter reads: 'Gentlemen, | I lately sent you by post a careful review of Baron D'Ordre's “Exiles of Parga,” & offered to correct a proof for you. Have you any intention to print the same?

The three items in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Postage stamp and paper beneath torn from third letter,, resulting in loss of full date All three signed 'George Saintsbury'. Saintsbury's handwriting is difficult to decipher and the following description only gives a phrase from each of the letters. Mansel had pretentions as a poet, and the first two items at least appear to concern volumes which he had sent Saintsbury. ONE (15 January 1911): 2pp., 12mo. Explaining that he has been compelled to 'make it a fixed rule to decline giving <?> opinion on poetry'.

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'.

On 8 x 12.5 cm piece of paper, torn from the end of a letter. In fair condition, aged and lightly spotted. On one side of the slip is the conclusion of the letter: '[...] | Yours very sincerely | Edith Sitwell'. On the other side is the following autograph fragment: '[...] kind of you to invite me to your lumcheon party on Tuesday, and I am looking forward to it so much. I have not seen you for [...]'.

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'My dear Sir | I have great pleasure in accepting your invitation to dinner on Tuesday next. | Yours very faithfully | C. L. Eastlake'.

2pp., 4to. In fair condition, on aged, worn and creased paper. Written in a hurried, difficult hand. He begins by saying he was 'just thinking' of him, 'and wondering!' He then invites him to dine the following Sunday in the 'usual way'. He continues: 'No, I didn't write about H. H. . There was a <?> ordinary notices in the D[aily]. T[elegraph]., but by whom written I can't say. I didn't really know enough about him.' He is 'going with Mr. Crawshay to the Elgar performance: it appears the new things are wonderful.

The two letters in good condition, on lightly aged paper. ONE: 2pp., 12mo. He begins by stating that he 'knew Leonard pretty well in the 2nd Life G[uar]ds., he was a good fellow, but rough and wild - he came from Mullingar, my local capital, a good man with a horn but too heavy for a groom'. He could not give Leonard 'a better character than the regiment has done', and if 'his knee is too bad for him to soldier it probably would prevent him being a groom anywhere [...] he occasionally came before me for punishment - and as a fellow countryman I took an interest in him'.