DIRECTOR

[Erich von Stroheim's lost film.] 'Final Shooting Script' of his adaptation (with Leonard Spigelgass and Geraldine Nomis) of Dawn Powell’s ‘Walking down Broadway’, for which he was sacked by the studio, the film being reshot as ‘Hello, Sister!’

Author: 
Erich von Stroheim (1885-1957), Austrian director and actor in Germany and Hollywood; Dawn Powell (1896-1965), author; Fox Film Company, California; Leonard Spigelgass; Geraldine Nomis
Publication details: 
'Fox Film Comp. / California'. 9 August 1932.
£450.00

Fox agreed to the film on condition that von Stroheim was limited to shooting 85,000 feet of film (around an hour and a half of screen time). The studio was pleased when he brought it in on time (he tied a thread around lead actor James Dunn’s genitals, and tugged on it every time he wanted him to show emotion) and on budget, but a screening left them appalled at the morbid content. Von Stroheim was sacked and the film was rewritten and renamed ‘Hello, Sister!’, with three-quarters of the original retained. It was a flop and von Stroheim chose never to direct again.

[Sir August Manns, German conductor in England, Director of Music at the Crystal Palace, London.] Autograph Signature to photographic portrait on cabinet card by Negretti & Zambra, Crystal Palace.

Author: 
Sir August Manns [Sir August Friedrich Manns] (1825-1907), German conductor who made his career in England, Director of Music at the Crystal Palace, London [Negretti & Zambra, Crystal Palace]
Sir August Manns,
Publication details: 
Dated by Manns to 1894. Cabinet card by Negretti & Zambra, Crystal Palace.
£100.00
Sir August Manns,

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The National Portrait Gallery possesses a carte-de-visite another portrait of Manns by Negretti & Zambra, which it dates to 1898, but does not hold the present item, which is a head and shoulders shot showing a white-haired Manns, bald on top, with bushy eyebrows and walrus moustache looking to one side in dark jacket and white shirt and tie. A 10 x 14.5 cm albumen print, presented in the customary style on a grey cabinet card, with the firm?s details embossed in white at foot, and the usual photographers? details printed on the reverse.

[Richard Attenborough [Lord Attenborough], British film actor and director.] Typed Letter Signed to Mr and Mrs Allchild, thanking them for their donation to the Actors’ Orphanage Fund.

Author: 
Richard Attenborough [Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough; Lord Attenborough] (1923-2014), British film actor, director and producer [The Actors’ Orphanage Fund, London]
Attenborough
Publication details: 
29 March 1956. On letterhead of the Actors’ Orphanage Fund, 32 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1.
£100.00
Attenborough

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded twice for postage. The letterhead is somewhat striking, with a band of green printed along the top, and the charity’s logo featuring prominently. The names of many officers and committe members are printed down the left-hand margin, headed by President Noel Coward, and including ‘Miss Gladys Cooper’, ‘Dame Edith Evans’, ‘Lady Du Maurier’, ‘Sir Laurence Olivier’, ‘Mr. Michael Redgrave’, ‘Mr. Jack Hawkins’ and ‘Mr. Kenneth More’. Attenborough features both as Hon.

[Victor de Cottens, French dramatist and director, associated with the Folies Bergère in Paris.] Two Autograph Letters Signed and an Autograph Note Signed, in French, one from London to ‘Monsieur Clarkson’, and the other two to the same recipient.

Author: 
Victor de Cottens (1862-1956), French dramatist, librettist and director, associated with the Folies Bergère, Olympia music hall and Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris
Publication details: 
ONE (ANS to 'Monsieur Clarkson): 14 May [no year]. On illustrated letterhead of the Queen's Hotel, Leicester Square, London. TWO: ALS, 26 [March? 1910?]; on letterhead of the Olympia, 8 Rue Caumartin, Paris. THREE: ALS, 22 Mai [no year or place].
£50.00

The material is in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Items Two and Three are addressed to ‘Cher ami’. De Cottens’ handwriting is somewhat opaque. ONE: ANS, 14 May [no year]. The letterhead includes an engraved illustration of the Queen’s Hotel in Leicester Square. 1p, 12mo. ‘Cher Monsieur Clarkson / tous mes bien vifs remerciements pour votre aimable envoi de tickets. / Bien votre / Victor de Cottens.’ TWO: ALS, 26 [March? 1910?]. 1p, 12mo. He wonders whether the recipient might put his ‘experience à la disposition’ of a named colleague from Brussels. THREE: ALS, 1p, 16mo.

[Terence Hodgkinson, art historian and Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to renaissance art expert Giles Robertson, regarding a relief attributed to Grinling Gibbons.

Author: 
Terence Hodgkinson [Terence William Ivan Hodgkinson] (1913-1999), art historian and Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London [Giles Henry Robertson (1913-1987), Italian Renaissance expert]
Publication details: 
20 and 31 December 1947. Both on letterheads of the Victoria & Albert Museum, South Kensington, London.
£50.00

See his entry in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. A year before these letters Hodgkinson had become an assistant keeper in the Department of Architecture and Sculpture at the Victoria and Albert, where his first task had been to organize the display of the Hildburgh collection of English medieval alabasters. Also in 1946 Robertson had begun his long career at Edinburgh University, having worked through the war at Bletchley Park, before joining the unit assigned to track down works of art looted by the Nazis.

[Sir George Christie, longtime chairman of the Glyndebourne opera festival.] Typed Letter with Autograph passages, to ‘Mr. Hedley’, stating that he and his wife are ‘thrilled [at his knighthood] - first and foremost for Glyndebourne’s sake’.

Author: 
Sir George Christie [Sir George William Langham Christie] (1934-2014), for a third of a century chairman of the Glyndebourne opera festival, founded by his father John Christie (1882-1962)
Publication details: 
26 June 1984; on letterhead of Glyndebourne, Lewes, Sussex.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded twice for postage. The letter reads (with autograph parts in square brackets): ‘[Dear Mr. Hedley,’] / Thank you. / Mary and I are of course thrilled - first and foremost for Glyndebourne’s sake. / [It was charming of you to write. / Yours sincerely, / George Christie / P.S. I’m afraid I dont ever send autographed photographs. Sorry to disappoint you.] / [P]PS Please forgive typescript.’

[Keith Falkner, English bass-baritone, Director of the Royal College of Music, London.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to ‘Miss Scott’ [the musicologist Marion Scott], the first agreeing to sing at an 'At Home', the second while at work for the RAF.

Author: 
Keith Falkner [Sir Donald Keith Falkner] (1900-1994), distinguished English bass-baritone, Director of the Royal College of Music, London [Marion Margaret Scott (1877-1953), musicologist]
Publication details: 
ONE: 10 June 1928, from 60 Mayfield Road, Sanderstead, Surrey. TWO: 18 August 1941, ‘as from R.A.F. Middle Wallop. / Nr. Stockbridge. Hants.’, on cancelled letterhead of the Officers Mess, RAF ‘Woodlands’, Clamp Hill, Stanmore, Middlesex.
£120.00

See his entry and hers in the Oxford DNB. The two items are in good condition, lightly aged, and each folded once for postage. Neatly and firmly written. Both addressed to ‘Dear Miss Scott’ and signed ‘Keith Falkner’. ONE: 2pp, 12mo. Eleven lines. He will be ‘pleased to sing in the “Peasant Cantata” at the Union “At Home” on June 28th’ and asks to know ‘which version you will be doing as soon as you decide?’ He ends with thanks for her ‘kind sympathy - I do appreciate it very much’. TWO: 2pp, 8vo. Twenty-three lines of text.

[Reginald Denham, English actor, writer and Broadway director.] Four chatty Autograph Letters Signed to the theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope, with carbon of a reply by MP, and two associated items from other parties.

Author: 
Reginald Denham (1894-1983), English actor, writer and Broadway director [W. Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
One of Denham’s letters dated 8 June 1951; the others without year but from the same time. All four from 100 Central Park South, New York 19. Macqueen-Pope’s letter dated 5 October 1951; 359 Strand, WC2 [London]. The other two items also from 1951.
£135.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) The seven items are in good condition, though one of Denham’s letters has slight wear to one edge. All date from the same period. The four Denham letters total 5pp, foolscap 8vo; three are signed ‘Reg’ and the other ‘Reginald’; two are on his letterhead. The fully-dated Denham letter (8 June 1951) is the longest at 2pp, 8vo. Addressed to ‘My dear Mac’, he gives details of a visit he is paying to England to settle his late mother’s affairs (‘She was 83.’) He is also going to ‘confer with Edward Percy.

[Basil Ashmore, theatre and music director.] Typed Letter Signed to theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope, regarding work on his film on the actor Edmund Kean.

Author: 
Basil Ashmore [Basil Norton Ashmore] (1915-1998), British theatre and music director and author, associated with Glyndbourne, Covent Garden, the Chiltern Festival, and Birmingham and Wycombe Repertory
Publication details: 
8 March [no year, 1950s]; Far Corner, Stubbs Wood, Amersham, Bucks.
£80.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers (see his entry in the Oxford DNB). 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and folded three times. Signed ‘Basil Ashmore’. Begins: ‘Dear Mr MacQueen Pope, / Im [sic] sorry to keep bothering you about this film on Kean. Last time I saw you, you said “see me in March”[.] This week you said “leave it until they start in April”[.] / You may remember that I am a director, who has recently worked with Michael Powell on his new film.’ Ashmore is ‘anxious to contact the producer of your Kean film in case I can assist on this.

[Sir George Trenchard Cox, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum.] Four Autograph Letters Signed to Peter Wiener, regarding the arrangements for a lecture he is giving in Ramsgate.

Author: 
Sir George Trenchard Cox (1905-1995), Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London [Peter Wiener of Ramsgate]
Publication details: 
12 January [1971], 23 February [1972], and 3 and 8 March [1972]. All three on letterhead of 33 Queen’s Gate Gardens, London SW7.
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The first letter 2pp, 12mo; the other three 1p, 12mo. All four items in good condition, lightly aged; and all four folded once. Each with the stylized signature ‘Trenchard Cox’. None of the four gives the year, but the first is noted in pencil as being replied to on 14 January 1971, and the last is accompanied by its envelope, with 1972 postmark, addressed by Cox to ‘Peter Wiener Esqr / 2 Napoleon Road / RAMSGATE’. The middle two are from the same period as the fourth.

[Percy Nash, British cinema pioneer.] Eight Typed Letters Signed to theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope, with personal reminiscences. With carbons of two replies, and typescript of reminiscences titled ‘The Tragic Comedians / Laughter and Tears’.

Author: 
Percy Nash (1869-1958), British film producer and director, key figure in the creation of Elstree Studios [W. J. Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian]
Publication details: 
Nash’s eight TLsS from between 4 July 1949 and 10 October 1951; all on letterheads of 2 Bristol Court West, Marine Parade, Brighton. Macqueen-Pope’s carbons from 1949 and 1951. ‘The Tragic Comedians’ undated.
£450.00

Nash made around 70 films between 1912 and 1927, and was a key figure in the creation of Elstree Studios. His career as a film maker was effectively ended following the screening of his 1921 film 'How Kitchener was betrayed'. See Bernard Ince, ' “For the Love of the Art”: The Life and Work of Percy Nash, Film Producer and Director of the Silent Era’, ‘Film History’, September 2007. See also Macqueen-Pope’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The collection of eleven items is in fair overall condition, with minor creasing and aging to some items.

[Adlai Stevenson, American Democratic politician.] Producer Hugh Burnett's copy of typescript of Stevenson’s interview with John Freeman in the BBC TV series 'Face to Face', marked up for publication.

Author: 
Adlai Stevenson [Adlai Ewing Stevenson II] (1900-1965), American Democratic nominee for President of the United States [John Freeman, interviewer on BBC programme ‘Face to Face’; Hugh Burnett]
Publication details: 
Undated, but BBC interview broadcast on 22 July 1959, and this item prepared for publication in 1964.
£80.00

The present item is producer Hugh Burnett's own copy, from his papers, of the transcript of Stevenson's interview with Freeman, broadcast in the groundbreaking BBC television series 'Face to Face' on 22 July 1959. The single-spaced typed transcript was produced for inclusion in Burnett's book 'Face to Face / Edited and introduced by Hugh Burnett' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1964), and is marked up with printing instructions in pencil and red ink, with a few proof corrections in pencil and green ink. 2pp, foolscap 8vo, on two leaves.

[Percy Nash, pioneering British film director rewrites Oliver Goldsmith’s ‘She Stoops to Conquer’.] File of related material, including a typescript of Nash’s version, and letters from theatre impressario Jack Gladwyn and Stanford Robinson of BBC.

Author: 
Percy Nash (1869-1958), film producer and director, key figure in the creation of Elstree Studios; Jack Gladwyn, theatre impressario; Stanford Robinson of the BBC; Gladys Ripley; Oliver Goldsmith]
Publication details: 
Material dating from 1949 and 1950. Nash’s letterhead of 2 Bristol Court West, Marine Parade, Brighton. Robinson on letterhead of Broadcasting House, London. Gladwyn on his letterhead, Cecil House, 41 Charing Cross Road, London.
£500.00

Ten items relating to Percy Nash’s unsuccessful attempt to turn Goldsmith’s ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ into a musical, casting light on English theatre production practices in the immediate postwar period. Despite interest from the theatre impressario Jack Gladwyn, the project stalls. Percy Nash (1868-1958), who made around 70 films between 1912 and 1927, was a key figure in the creation of Elstree Studios. His career as a film maker was effectively ended following the screening of his 1921 film 'How Kitchener was betrayed'.

[Henry Hall, Director of the BBC Dance Orchestra.] Coloured Lithographic portrait of him, in colours, with original Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Henry Hall [Henry Robert Hall] (1898-1989), Director of the BBC Dance Orchestra
Henry Hall
Publication details: 
The print: ‘Presented with “Radio Pictorial,” No. 1, January 19, 1934’.
£45.00
Henry Hall

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 20 x 25 cm lithograph in pink, white and black. In good condition, lightly aged. An attractive item, suitable for framing. Head and shoulders portrait of a dapper bespectacled Hall, with parted greased hair, in white tie, staring at the viewer. Across his shirt, Hall has written in green ink ‘Best Wishes / Henry Hall’. Captioned at bottom left: ‘HENRY HALL / DIRECTOR, B.B.C. DANCE ORCHESTRA’; and at bottom right: ‘Presented with “Radio Pictorial,” / No. 1, January 19, 1934’. See image.

[Anthony Asquith, British film director.] Signed Autograph Inscription to Louis Frewen, of rHodes Hose Library, autograph collector..

Author: 
Anthony Asquith ['Puffin'] (1902-1968), film director ('The Winslow Boy', 'The Browning Version', 'Pygmalion') and aesthete, son of Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith and socialite Margot Asquith
Asquith
Publication details: 
December 1931. No place.
£45.00
Asquith

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, with light dabs of glue from mount on reverse. On 11.5 x 9 cm card with rounded edges. Clearly in response to a request for an autograph, he writes: 'For Louis Frewen / with all good wishes / from / Anthony Asquith / December 1931'.

[Braham Murray, in his Century Theatre Company's inaugural season at the University Theatre, Manchester.] Autograph Notes for his production of Eugene O'Neill's 'Long Day's Journey into Night'.

Author: 
Braham Murray [Braham Sydney Murray, born Braham Goldstein] (1943-2018), director, one of five founding Artistic Directors, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester [Eugene O'Neill]
Publication details: 
[1965. The Century Theatre at] the University Theatre, Manchester.
£450.00

An interesting artefact of what was to become the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. See Murray's Guardian obituary, 3 August 2018: 'Murray left Oxford in 1964 without sitting his finals but with a starry reputation.

[Braham Sydney Murray, theatre director: his first-ever production, for the Oxford University Dramatic Society.] Typescript of Brendan Behan's 'The Hostage', with extra pages covered with autograph directorial notes and stage directions.

Author: 
Braham Sydney Murray [born Braham Goldstein] (1943-2018), director, one of five founding Artistic Directors, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester [Brendan Behan; Oxford University Dramatic Society]
Publication details: 
[Oxford University Dramatic Society, 1961.]
£600.00

For the background see Murray's 2014 autobiography 'The Worst It Can Be Is A Disaster', where he describes the production as 'a big production with its quasi-musical form. In such a large cast some of the actors were rather basic but some were superb. Michael Elwyn brought the house down as Monsewer [...] Michael York was very touching as the innocent Cockney soldier and the brother owners were expertly played by Ian Davidson, who later became a successful comedy scriptwriter, and the beautiful Canadian Nancy Lane, who is now a distinguished professor at Cambridge.

[Percy Nash, film director; his nephew Bournemouth artist Eustace Nash.] Two synopses (one signed) of Percy Nash's review 'The Charm', with text of anti-Labour and pro-Churchill song. With watercolour of backdrop and covering letter by Eustace Nash.

Author: 
Percy Nash (1869-1958), film director; his nephew the Bournemouth artist and cartoonist Eustace Nash (1886-1969)
Publication details: 
Second synopsis dated to 1951. Eustace Nash's letter dated 8 December 1952, on his and his brother's firm's letterhead , as 'Nash & Co. Studios Artists for Advertisers' ('Partners: | L. F. N. Nash | E. P. E. Nash'), 8 Albert Road, Bournemouth.
£250.00

An interesting period piece. Two synopses of Percy Nash's review 'The Charm', the second dated by him to 1951, and with reference to the nationalisation of the coal industry. Together with the typescript of a song from the play about the 'Man of Might' Winston Churchill, and the Labour Party, who 'Have sullied the Fair name | of dear old England'. Also present is a watercolour drawing by Percy Nash's nephew the Bournemouth artist Eustace Nash of the intended backdrop to the first act of the review, together with an ALS discussing his ideas for the design of the piece.

[Edward Hull, geologist, Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Edward Hull') to Sir H. T. Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, suggesting the reading of a paper by relative on the German use of fat in explosives.

Author: 
Edward Hull (1829-1917), Irish geologist, Director of the Geological Survey of Ireland and Professor of Geology in the Royal College of Science, Dublin [Royal Society of Arts, London]
Publication details: 
Undated, but with date stamp of the Royal Society of Arts, London, 24 March 1916. On letterhead of 14 Stanley Gardens, W. [London]
£50.00

3pp., 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. With date stamp of the RSA, and endorsement in blue pencil. He is writing to inform Wood that 'a relative of mine has written a paper on a subject of importance regarding the connection of fat [containing glycerin] with manufacture of explosives in Germany - and showing how that Country is approaching a crisis - when her supply of fat will be approaching exhaustion'.

[Sir Frederic George Kenyon, Director and Principal Librarian of the British Museum.] Autograph Letter Signed ('F. G. Kenyon') to 'Mr Frewen', writing in wartime to thank him for offering 'duplicates to help in the restoration of destroyed libraries'

Author: 
Sir Frederic George Kenyon [Sir F. G. Kenyon] (1863-1952), palaeographer, biblical and classical scholar, Director and Principal Librarian of the British Museum, President of the British Academy
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Friends of the National Libraries, c/o The British Museum, London, WC1. 1 September 1941.
£56.00

2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. He is 'very much obliged' to Frewen for the offer 'of duplicates to help in the restoration of destroyed libraries', and notes that 'it is impossible to forecast the needs that will exist at the end of the war'. In the meantime he has 'marked with the initials F. [L. S.?] a number of volumes in your list which I think are sure to be useful for our purpose.

[Val Guest, film director associated with Hammer horror.] Signed Autograph Score of his song '”Swell” | Lyrics and music by | Val Guest'.

Author: 
Val Guest [Valmond Maurice Guest] (1911-2006), Hammer horror film director and screenwriter
Publication details: 
No date or place. [London, 1940s?]
£220.00

In the 1940s Guest wrote the lyrics to several songs by the American composer Manning Sherwin (1902-1974), several of them for his comedy 'I'll be your Sweetheart' (1945), but he is not known to have written any music himself. No record has been found of the present item, but it presumably dates from the same period. It is 4pp., 4to. On bifolium of printed music paper. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with central vertical fold. The title is on the cover: '”Swell” | Lyrics and music by | Val Guest'. There is an illegible name lightly written at top right in another hand.

[ Sir William Boxall RA, Director of the National Gallery. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('W Boxall'), regarding painting a portrait of the wife of either Sir W. J. Hooker or his son Sir J. D. Hooker, successively Directors, Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.

Author: 
Sir William Boxall RA (1800-1879), English artist and Director of the National Gallery, London [ Sir William Jackson Hooker and Sir Joseph Hooker, Directors of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew ]
Publication details: 
14 Welbeck Street [ London ]. 'Monday' [no date].
£65.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with some damage ay foot of reverse of second leaf (not affecting signature) caused by removal from mount. The letter presumably dates from before Boxall's appointment as Director of the National Gallery in 1866, when he all but gave up painting. It is addressed to 'Dr. Hooker', and the recipient is either Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785-1865) or his son Sir Joseph Hooker (1817-1911), successively Directors of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.

[ Philip Saville, 'the Orson Welles of the small screen'. ] Two Autograph Notebooks by the pioneering British director: first with account of making of 'Hamlet in Elsinore', second with plot, dialogue, notes, for 'Stop The World, I Want To Get Off'.

Author: 
Philip Saville (1930-2016), 'the Orson Welles of the small screen', pioneering British film and television director, associated with Harold Pinter, Jane Arden, Diana Rigg, Bob Dylan, Pauline Boty
Publication details: 
Both with Saville's London address, 28 Finchley Road, NW8. Both volumes undated, but the first around 1964, and the second around 1966.
£850.00

These two items date from the 1960s, a period during which Saville was a notable 'face' on the London scene: he dated the 'Avengers' actress Diana Rigg and the Pop artist Pauline Boty, and flew Bob Dylan to Britain for his first acting role.

[ Major-General Sir Henry James of the Royal Engineers, Director General of the Ordnance Survey. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Henry James.') to Sir John Fox Burgoyne, regarding Sir Emerson Tennent and 'abstracts from Meteorological observations'.

Author: 
Major-General Sir Henry James (1803-1877) of the Royal Engineers, British army officer, Director General of the Ordnance Survey, 1854-1875 [ Sir Emerson Tennent (1804-1869); Sir John Fox Burgoyne]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Ordnance Map Office, Southampton. 20 November 1856.
£80.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to 'Sir John F. Burgoyne. | Bart:'. He is sending 'a copy of the Abstracts from Meteorological observations taken at our Foreign stations, in which Sir Emerson Tennent will find the abstract from the observations taken at Columbo in the year 1853-4'. He is also sending abstracts from subsequent years which 'have not yet been printed'.

[ 'Edward Carrick', i.e. Edward Craig, art director, author and illustrator. ] Page proofs of his 'Designing for Moving Pictures'.

Author: 
'Edward Carrick' [ Edward Craig (1905-1998), art director, author and illustrator, son of Edward Gordon Craig (1872-1966) ]
Publication details: 
The Studio Publications, London & New York. Printed in England n Fosh & Cross Ltd., Mansell Street, London (Blackmore Press Ltd.).
£450.00

104pp., 4to. Unbound page proofs. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. In worn envelope with printed details of 'The Studio Publications', addressed to 'Edward Carrick, Esq., | G.P.O. Film Unit, | Soho Square, | London, W.C.', amended to '20 Gordon Place', 'W.8.' This was Craig's foremost work, highly influential. Comprising eight signatures of text, each initialled by him with the date 6 March 1941, seven of them with stamp in red ink: 'MARKED PROOF'; together with two signatures of illustrations on art paper, included in the pagination, one of them also signed and initalled.

[ Albert Cazabon, violinist, composer and head of the Albert Cazabon Orchestra. ] Long letter of condolence to the widow of the conductor Herman Finck, containing personal reminiscences.

Author: 
Albert Cazabon (1883-1970), violinist, composer and head of the Albert Cazabon Orchestra [ Herman Finck [ born Hermann Van Der Vinck ] (1872-1939), composer and conductor ]
Publication details: 
32 Aberdeen Place, N.W.8. [ London ] 24 April 1939.
£90.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, aged and worn. He informs her that Finck was 'a very old friend of mine & my father's. I knew Herman when I was a boy, & had always held his loyal friendship as something to be treasured as a great privilege. When I left for Australia in 1927 a radiogram of good wishes from him came to me at sea, & when I returned two years ago he received me in the same old warm-hearted way, & was the first friend to try to help to get me re-established in London.' He continues in the same vein, describing Finck as 'a great & well-beloved man'.

[ Austin Melford, actor, screenwriter and film director. ] Autograph Letter Signed, a letter of condolence to the widow of composer Herman Finck.

Author: 
Austin Melford [ born Alfred Austyn Melford Smith ] (1884-1971), British actor, screenwriter and film director [ Herman Finck [ born Hermann Van Der Vinck ] (1872-1939), Anglo-Dutch composer ]
Publication details: 
On his letterhead, 3 The Close, St John's Wood, N.W.8. [ London ]. 24 April 1939.
£35.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-creased paper. He and his wife send their 'sincerest sympathy' on her 'irreparable loss': 'Herman will be missed sadly by his many, many friends and his passing will leave a void which can never be filled.' The word 'Ans:' is written at the head. Finck's song 'In the Shadows' was one of the last to be played as RMS Titanic went down.

[ Oscar Barrett, musical director. ] Autograph Letter Signed, a letter of condolence to the widow of composer Herman Finck

Author: 
Oscar Barrett (1846-1941), musical director of Augustus Harris, producer of pantomimes at the Crystal Palace and the Olympic Theatre, London [ Herman Finck [ born Hermann Van Der Vinck ] (1872-1939) ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 2 Coleherne Mansions, 226 Old Brompton Road, S.W.5. [ London ] 22 April 1939.
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. He writes that 'The passing on of such a dear man as Herman leaves a blank in many many peoples lives & those who had the priviledge [sic] of his friendship can the better realise all you must be suffering at the present time.' He concludes by telling her that her 'grief is shared' by Finck's 'countless friends', and that she must have a 'sweet solace' in the memory of 'the many joyous times spent in his company'. The word 'Answered' is written at the head.

[ Hamilton Cuffe, 5th Earl of Desart. ] Two Secretarial Letters both with autograph signature 'Desart', to Sir Richard Harington, re Regina v. Corbett.

Author: 
Hamilton John Agmondesham Cuffe, 5th Earl of Desart (1848-1934), Irish peer, Director of Public Prosecutions and Treasury Secretary [ [ Sir Richard Harington of Ridlington (1835-1911), 11th Baronet ]
Publication details: 
Both on letterhead of the Treasury, Whitehall, S.W. 19 and 24 June 1902.
£50.00

Each letter 1p., 12mo. Both in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Each in a different secretarial hand, both headed 'R v Corbett'. The first letter reads: 'The accused has been sentenced to 7 years penal servitude. Mr. Lawrence mentioned to the Judge privately the question of postponing sentence but the latter would not adopt the course suggested.' The second reads: 'I will certainly instruct Lawrence as to the circumstance to which you refer so that your application may be made to the Court'. From the Harington papers.

[ L. P. Williams, English art director. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Bill') and Typed Letter Signed ('Bill | Bloody Williams') to 'Edward Carrick' (Edward Craig), giving personal news and 'a little professional dirt' from Hollywood.

Author: 
L. P. Williams [ Lawrence Paul Williams ] (1905-1996), English art director in England and Hollywood 'Edward Carrick' [ pseudonym of Edward Anthony Craig ] (1905-1998), film and stage designer ]
Publication details: 
ALS: 138 Mabery Road, Santa Monica, California, USA. 12 December 1940. TLS: 1914 Laurel Canyon Boulevard, Hollywood, California, USA. 21 June 1941.
£80.00

Both items in fair condition, on lightly-aged and creased paper., the typed letter having a few autograph notes by Craig at end. ONE: ALS. 4pp., 8vo. He begins by telling Craig that he has been worrying about 'how to get your dope for you'. He is going to get in touch with 'Say & Drier', but does not know how the latter will react, 'being pro German you know - in the Guard Cuirasiers of the Prussian Guard in the last war'.

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