LONDON

[David Low, English cartoonist, born in New Zealand.] Printed christmas card ‘from Mr. and Mrs. David Low’, illustrated with a cartoon by him of a dog caught ripping up a christmas card.

Author: 
David Low [Sir David Alexander Cecil Low] (1891-1963), English political cartoonist, born in New Zealand
Low
Publication details: 
No date. ‘25, Helenslea Avenue, / N. W. 11. [London]’
£80.00
Low

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is a nice piece of printed ephemera relating to the man described in his Guardian obituary as ‘the dominant cartoonist of the western world’. In 1937 Goebbels had told Lord Halifax that Low’s cartoons were harming Anglo-German relations, and after the war it was revealed that his name was in the ‘black book’ of individuals to be ‘liquidated’ on German conquest of Britain. In good condition, lightly aged.Small 4to bifolium printed in brown ink on thick wove paper.

[Blanchard Jerrold, journalist and author.] Signature and autograph paraphrase of passage from his ‘Life of Napoleon III - Vol 2.’, written out for an album.

Author: 
Blanchard Jerrold [William Blanchard Jerrold] (1826-1884), journalist and author
Publication details: 
No place or date, but after the book’s publication in 1874.
£56.00

Part of leaf from autograph album, cut into an irregular shape. In fair condition, on lightly aged and discoloured paper, with film of dried glue from mount on blank reverse. The passage, which curiously enough does not correspondend with the printed text, reads (with three mistakes scored through): ‘Life of Napoleon III - Vol 2. / The Government, it is true, endeavoured to prevail upon Queen Hortense to request him to give his word that he would remain in America for ten years; but she replied that Prince Louis was master of his own actions & she would not endeavour to influence them.

[Cecil King, Fleet Street press baron.] 47 Autograph Cards Signed to the publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’ Philip Dosse, on various topics including the reviews he is writing for him.

Author: 
Cecil King [Cecil Harmsworth King] (1901-1987), Fleet Street press baron (Daily Mirror, Sunday Pictorial, IPC), nephew of Viscounts Northcliffe and Rothermere [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher]
Publication details: 
35 of the 47 cards with postmarks from between 1971 and 1977; the other 14 postmarks illegible. 29 of the cards from England (ten with his letterhead, The Pavilion, Hampton Court, Surrey); 17 from the Republic of Ireland [Eire]; one from Iran.
£1,200.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, together with those of his uncles and other members of the newspaper dynasty of which he was a member. The recipient Philip Dosse was the proprietor of the London publishers Hansom Books. Beginning in 1950 with ‘Dance and Dancers’, Dosse built up a stable of seven monthly arts magazines, produced from offices in Artillery Mansions, London, the most influential of which were ‘Books and Bookmen’, ‘Plays and Players’ and ‘Films and Filming’. An elusive figure, Dosse certainly merits a full-length study.

[John Pyke Hullah, English composer and Professor of Vocal Music at King’s College, London.] Autograph Note Signed (‘John Hullah’), forwarding to ‘Mrs. Tail’ a note from ‘Mr. Otto Goldschmidt, about the Bach Choir’.

Author: 
John Hullah [John Pyke Hullah] (1812-1884), English composer and teacher of music, Professor of Vocal Music at King's College, London, and also at Queen's College and Bedford College
Publication details: 
18 May 1878; on letterhead of Grosvenor Mansions, Victoria Street, S.W. [London]
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which quotes Gordon Cox as stating that Hullah was ‘the fountain head of music education in the nineteenth century’. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Handwriting and signature in a bold attractive hand. Reads: ‘Dear Mrs. Tail / I have the pleasure to send you a few lines fm Mr. Otto Goldschmidt, about the Bach Choir. / I am, dear Madam / Always Your’s [sic] Truly / John Hullah’.

[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’.

[‘Everyone is holding on tight’: James Bone, Scottish journalist, London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian.] Typed Letter Signed to ‘Burdett’, explaining how ‘experienced men’ are ‘on the street’ (during the Great Depression).

Author: 
James Bone (1872-1962), Scottish journalist, for three decades London correspondent of the Manchester Guardian, brother of Sir Muirhead Bone
Publication details: 
12 May 1932; on letterhead of the Manchester Guardian London Office, 43 Fleet Street, EC4 [London].
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Addressed to ‘Dear Burdett’ and signed ‘J Bone’. He will let him know if he hears of anything with regard to Burdett’s ‘young friend’, ‘but one hears so rarely now of newspaper openings, as everyone is holding on tight, and there are so many experienced men on the street’. He is sending Burdett’s note ‘on to Manchester in case there should ever be an opportunity there’.

[Roget family tree.] Autograph pedigree of Jean Roget, father of Peter Mark Roget, creator of the Thesaurus.

Author: 
John Roget [Jean Roget] (1751-1783), Geneva-born pastor of two French protestant churches in London, father of Thesaurus compiler Peter Mark Roget and brother-in-law of Sir Samuel Romilly (1757-1818)
Publication details: 
Note by Roget dating the item to ‘le mois May 1761’.
£350.00

See the entries in the Oxford DNB for his brother-in-law Sir Samuel Romilly and his son Peter Mark Roget, as well as Joshua Kendall’s 2008 biography of the latter, ‘The Man Who Made Lists’. From the Roget family papers. On one side of a 33 x 23 cm piece of laid paper.

[John Roget [Jean Roget], Geneva-born pastor in London, father of Peter Mark Roget (of the ‘Thesaurus’) and brother-in-law of Sir Samuel Romilly.] Autograph Notebook in French, with apparently-original compositions and extracts from other authors.

Author: 
John Roget [Jean Roget] (1751-1783), Geneva-born pastor of two French protestant churches in London, father of Thesaurus compiler Peter Mark Roget and brother-in-law of Sir Samuel Romilly (1757-1818)
Publication details: 
Undated, but probably started after 1773, and in part written after his arrival in London from Geneva in 1775.
£800.00

See the entries in the Oxford DNB for his brother-in-law Sir Samuel Romilly and his son Peter Mark Roget, as well as Joshua Kendall’s 2008 biography of the latter, ‘The Man Who Made Lists’. From the Roget family papers, and certainly of later date than the two schoolboy commonplace books by Jean Roget offered separately. Roget is not named as the author, but the handwriting is his, and the spine bears the remains of a blue paper label with the words ‘MSS of the Rev. J. Ro[get]’ on it the same nineteenth-century hand (P. M. Roget's?) as the two commonplace books.

[John Roget [Jean Roget], Geneva-born protestant pastor in London, father of Thesaurus compiler Peter Mark Roget and brother-in-law of Sir Samuel Romilly.] Two childhood Autograph Commonplace Books (‘Livres d'Extraits’ and ‘Fruits de mes Lectures’).

Author: 
John Roget [Jean Roget] (1751-1783), Geneva-born pastor of two French protestant churches in London, father of Thesaurus compiler Peter Mark Roget and brother-in-law of Sir Samuel Romilly (1757-1818)
Publication details: 
1766-1767 [Geneva]. Vol. 1: 27 June to 16 December 1766. Vol.2: Begun 17 December 1766.
£500.00

See the entries in the Oxford DNB for his brother-in-law Sir Samuel Romilly and his son Peter Mark Roget, as well as Joshua Kendall’s 2008 biography of the latter, ‘The Man Who Made Lists’. The two items were commenced while Roget was a fifteen-year-old schoolboy in Geneva, and nine years before his 1775 emigration to London. The two volumes of the same dimensions, but not uniform. Vol.1: 179pp, small 4to. Vol.2: 146pp, small 4to. Both tight and internally in good condition, lightly aged, in worn card wraps, each with a different stencilled design on the covers.

[Sir John Rothenstein, art historian and Director of the Tate Gallery, London.] Autograph Letter Signed to Philip Dosse, publisher of ‘Art and Artists’, regarding difficulties in his reviewing Holroyd and Easton’s books on Augustus John.

Author: 
Sir John Rothenstein [Sir John Knewstub Maurice Rothenstein] (1901-1992), art historian and Director of the Tate Gallery, London [Philip Dosse (c.1924-1980), publisher of ‘Art and Artists’]
Publication details: 
9 May 1974; on letterhead of Beauforest House, Newington, Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxford.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. 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. The present item is 2pp, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘John Rothenstein’.

[‘No British Government could afford the economic cost’: Stuart Hampshire, philosopher and Warden of Wadham College, Oxford.] Typed Letter Signed to Philip Dosse, publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’, regarding boycotting South Africa over apartheid.

Author: 
Stuart Hampshire [Sir Stuart Newton Hampshire] (1914-2004), English philosopher and Warden of Wadham College, Oxford [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher ‘Books and Bookmen’; apartheid in South Afri
Publication details: 
9 April 1974; on his letterhead as Warden of Wadham College, Oxford.
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. 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. This item is 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and creased and folded twice for postage. Signed ‘Stuart Hampshire’.

[‘Nothing good can come out of Printing House Square’: Sir Colin Coote, editor of the Daily Telegraph.] Autograph Manuscript, signed ‘Colin R. Coote’, of review of ‘The Reigning Error’ by William Rees-Mogg, editor of The Times.

Author: 
Sir Colin Coote [Sir Colin Reith Coote] (1893-1979), editor of the Daily Telegraph and Liberal politician [Philip Dosse (1925-80), publisher, ‘Books and Bookmen’; William Rees-Mogg, editor, The Times]
Publication details: 
Not dated, but published in the London magazine ‘Books and Bookmen’ in 1974.
£180.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Philip Dosse, who was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. 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. Rees-Mogg’s book was published in 1974, and the present item appeared in ‘Books and Bookmen’ in the same year. A late draft, neatly written out on 5pp, small 4to, with each page on separate leaf. Signed at end ‘Colin R. Coote’.

[Philip Dosse, proprietor of Hansom Books, publishers of a stable of arts magazines.] Six items, including corrected typescript (by Dosse himself) endorsing ‘Books and Bookmen’, and corrected draft of a press release on its merger with Argosy.

Author: 
Philip Dosse (1925-1980), proprietor of Hansom Books, publishers of a stable of seven arts magazines including ‘Books and Bookmen’ and ‘Films and Filming’ [The Argosy, London; IPC Magazines Ltd]
Publication details: 
Two items on merger with Argosy dating from 1974, both from IPC Magazines Ltd, London. The other material also from the 1970s.
£450.00

An elusive figure, Dosse is certainly a candidate for a full-length study. The novelist Sally Emerson gives an excellent account of her time as editor of ‘Books and Bookmen’ in its last days in an article titled ‘Death of a Bookman’ (Standpoint magazine, October 2018). These six items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: 2pp, foolscap 8vo, second page numbered. Complete rough draft of typed letter, with manuscript corrections, endorsing ‘Books and Bookmen’.

[Sir Arnold Wesker, playwright.] Two Autograph Cards Signed and three Typed Letters Signed to Philip Dosse, proprietor of Plays and Players, with one Typed Letter Signed from his secretary Margaret Groom.

Author: 
Sir Arnold Wesker (1932-2016), playwright; his secretary Margaret Groom [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of arts magazines including Books and Bookmen]
Publication details: 
Wesker's letters from 27 Bishop's Road, London N6; his postcards from Munich and Poland. Groom's letter from 25 Glasslyn Road, London N8.
£180.00

Interesting content. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. 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. The six items are in good condition, lightly aged, and one lightly creased with wear to one edge. The four letters are each 1p, 4to, and folded for postage. One of the letters is signed ‘A. Wesker’, the others ‘Arnold Wesker’. ONE: Wesker TLS, 10 September 1972.

[‘I don’t much like the idea of sniping at my fellow writers’: Peter Quennell, biographer and historian.] Autograph Letter Signed to Philip Dosse, publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’, declining to ‘co-operate’ with his ‘questionnaire’.

Author: 
Peter Quennell [Sir Peter Courtney Quennell] (1905-1993), biographer, historian and founding co-editor of ‘History Today’ [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’]
Publication details: 
4 December 1973; on his joint letterhead with Alan Hodge as co-editor of ‘History Today’, London.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. 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. The present item is 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘Peter Quennell’. He ‘can’t co-operate’ with the questionnaire that Dosse has sent him.

[Norman Collins, author of ‘London Belongs to Me’.] Typed Letter Signed to Philip Dosse, publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’, regarding a review he has written, and a party in his honour held by the English Centre of P.E.N.

Author: 
Norman Collins [Norman Richard Collins] (1907-1982), author of ‘London Belongs to Me’ and TV executive [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’]
Publication details: 
2 March 1977; on letterhead of ATV House, 17 Great Cumberland Place, London W1.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. 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. The present item is 1p, 4to. Signed ‘Norman Collins’. In good condition, lightly aged. He is submitting a review of J. B. Priestley’s ‘Instead of the Trees’, in the hope that it is ‘the kind of thing that you had in mind’.

[Miron Grindea, editor of the literary magazine ‘Adam’.] Typed Letter Signed to Philip Dosse, publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’, regarding the rudeness (‘to the point of sheer impertinence’) of a member of his staff, and the ‘exchange of ads’.

Author: 
Miron Grindea [formerly Mondi-Miron Grimberg] (1909-1995), editor of the literary magazine ‘Adam’ [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’]
Publication details: 
1 May 1974; 1 Palmeira Square, Brighton.
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. 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. The present item is 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded twice for postage. Signed ‘Miron Grindea’.

[John Calder, London avant-garde publisher.] Three Autograph Cards Signed and a Typed Letter Signed to Philip Dosse, publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’, regarding reviews he is writing because of ‘financial troubles tempting enough to do a Stonehouse'.

Author: 
John Calder [John Mackenzie Calder] (1927-2018), London avant-garde publisher of Scottish-Canadian descent [Calder and Boyars; Better Books; Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher ‘Books and Bookmen’]
Publication details: 
TLS: 17 July 1974; on letterhead of Calder and Boyars Ltd, 18 Brewer Street, London. All three ACS on his letterhead, 6 Dalmeny House, 9 Thurloe Place, London SW7; one dated 15 January 1975 the others undated.
£180.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. 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. The typed letter is in fair condition, aged and worn; the three cards are in very good condition. The signature on the four items is little more than a squiggle. Of the three cards, only Item Four below is addressed.

[Dillibe Onyeama, Nigerian author of a controversial account of the racism he experienced at Eton College in England.] Two Typed Letters Signed to Philip Dosse, publisher of ?Books and Bookmen?, one regarding the trials of a freelance reviewer.

Author: 
Dillibe Onyeama (1951-2022), Nigerian author of a controversial account of his experience of racism as the first African educated at Eton College in England [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher]
Publication details: 
ONE: 15 May 1974; 47a Leigham Court Road, Streatham Hill, London SW16. TWO: no date; c/o 21 Inglethorpe Street, Fulham, London SW6. Also an ANS to 'Mrs Poppmacher' (Dosse's secretary?): 21 February 1973; 169 Breakspears Road, Brockley, London SE4.
£150.00

Onyeama was the second black boy to go to Eton, and the first to complete his education there. See his obituary in the Guardian, 11 February 2022. His hugely-controversial 1972 book ?Nigger at Eton?, which resulted in him being banned from the school, was reprinted by Penguin Books in 2020 under the title ?Black Boy at Eton?. Philip Dosse, the recipient of the first two letters, was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players.

[Bernard Levin, writer and broadcaster.] Two Typed Letters Signed and one Typed Note Signed to Philip Dosse, in one declining to review (for ?Books and Bookmen?), in another expressing agreement with Dosse?s position.

Author: 
Bernard Levin [Henry Bernard Levin] (1928-2004), writer and broadcaster [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher ?Books and Bookmen?]
Publication details: 
6 February and 18 September 1974, and 21 April 1977. All three on letterhead of The Times, New Printing House Square, London WC1.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. 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. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn, and folded for postage. All three signed loosely ?Bernard Levin?. ONE: TLS, 6 February 1974. 1p, foolscap 8vo.

[Foyles Literary Luncheon for Sir Angus Wilson, 1980.] Autograph Letter Signed from ‘Dolly’ [Mrs A. G. Dowdeswell] to ‘Philip’ [Philip Dosse of ‘Books and Bookmen’], with reference to Wilson, Melvyn Bragg, Simon Young of John Murray, Ian Jack.

Author: 
[Foyles Literary Luncheon for Sir Angus Wilson, 1980] ‘Dolly’ [Mrs A. G. Dowdeswell, Secretary, The Johnson Society of London] [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher ‘Books and Bookmen’; Melvyn Bragg,
Publication details: 
27 August 1980; on letterhead of 26 High Street, Biddenden, Kent.
£75.00

See the entries for Angus Wilson and Christina Foyle in the Oxford DNB. ‘Dolly’ is clearly the ‘Mrs. A. G. Dowdeswell’ who was secretary of the Johnson Society of London in the 70s and 80s (arranging luncheons) and named as a member of the Johnson Society at least as late as 1992. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. 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.

[A Lancashire slaver and his coach.] Two itemised manuscript receipts for work on a coach from the London coachmaker Thomas Thorpe to the Lancashire slave trader William Atherton of Prescot Hall, one signed by Thorpe.

Author: 
Thomas Thorpe, London coachmaker [William Atherton (1742-1803) of Prescot Hall, St Helens, Lancashire, slave trader and owner of plantations in Jamaica]
Publication details: 
1799 and 1801. [Thorpe & Co., Coachmakers, 210 Holborn, London.]
£280.00

An indication of how slavers spent the fruits of their slaves’ labours. With the advent of slavery studies William Atherton has been the subject of a deal of interest, reflected on his Wikipedia page. Thorpe and Lee are listed as coachmakers at 210 Holborn in 1791; in 1803 the firm is named as Thorpe and Co at the same address. The two items are written out in a secretarial hand, each on a long strip made by cutting a folio leaf in half vertically. Both in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Each with slight damage from the breaking open of the wafer.

[Scripophily and philately: Waterlow & Sons Limited of London, manufacturers of bank notes and stamps to the British Government.] Advertisement for the firm in the form of a fake bank note or other security.

Author: 
Waterlow & Sons Limited, London, established 1810, manufacturers of bank notes, bonds, stamps and all other high-class securities, postage stamp printers and contractors to the British Government
Waterlow
Publication details: 
[1930s.] Waterlow & Sons Limited, London.
£120.00
Waterlow

Engraved advertisement printed in dark blue, light blue and pink on both sides of 20 x 14 cm piece of unwatermarked wove paper. An amusing fake bank note or bond, designed to showcase the firm’s competency. The paper stock and layout are entirely consistent with the firm’s work. On one side, instead of a picture of a monarch or president, is the face of a rather imperious young woman (one of the directors’ wives?), together with a design featuring the fasces and motto ‘VIS UNITA FORTIOR’.

[Marcus Ward & Co., chromolithographic printers, London and Royal Ulster Works, Belfast.] 36 attractive chromolithographic prints of autumn leaves, each on a separate card, laid down in album by Marcus Ward & Co.

Author: 
Marcus Ward & Co., chromolithographic printers, London and Royal Ulster Works, Belfast [chromolithographs]
Marcus Ward
Marcus Ward2
Publication details: 
No date [1870s?]. In album with printed title-page of ‘London: Marcus Ward & Co., / And / Royal Ulster Works, Belfast.’
£350.00
Marcus Ward
Marcus Ward2

An attractive collection of chromolithographs, suited to display. The plates are all in good condition, laid down on the aged and sometimes damaged leaves of a small 4to (17 x 21 cm) album with good tight bevelled-edged binding in dark brown cloth, on which an embossed stylized pattern of foliage and two storks is printed in black with the word ‘ALBUM’ on the front cover and blind-stamped on the back cover. The album has an ornate title page, printed in red, with illustration of flowers, branches and a butterfly, together with the word ‘Album’ and publishers’ details.

[Swan Sonnenschein & Co., Limited, London publishers.] The first number and the only one printed of the periodical ‘What to read / A guide to the best in periodical literature books of the hour & books for all time’.

Author: 
Swan Sonnenschein & Co., Limited, London publishers [A. Fenwick; W. Macdonald; Charles Weekes; George Sampson; Tolstoy; Gilbert White of Selborne; Rudyard Kipling]
Publication details: 
5 November 1902 (vol. 1, no. 1). Swan Sonnenschein & Co., Limited, London. Printed by C. F. Hodgson & Son, London; ‘Published for the Proprietors by A. FENWICK, at 18 Bride Lane, Fleet Street, London.’
£100.00

Stapled periodical in black and white: iv + 12 pp, 4to. The outer leaves carry advertisements, with the front leaf paginated i-ii and the back leaf iii-iv. Engraved masthead at top of front cover. Containing thirteen articles between ‘Foreword’ (the journal aims ‘to address itself to all who, caring to read about Books, care especially to read about the Best - about those which are, beyond question, always worth reading and worth writing about’) and ‘Editorial Notices’, including ‘Books and Life’ by W. Macdonald, ‘The Birth of a Classic’ (i.e.

[The man who saved William of Orange from capture: Brigadier General Henry Lumley.] Autograph Signature (‘H Lumley’) to Exchequer receipt for £25. With signature of witness John Letton.

Author: 
Brigadier General Henry Lumley (c.1658-1722), army officer and Member of Parliament, brother of Richard Lumley, first earl of Scarborough; John Letton
Lumley
Publication details: 
12 January 1716. [His Majesty's Exchequer, London.]
£120.00
Lumley

See his entries in the Oxford DNB and History of Parliament, the former of which notes his ‘high reputation for courage’ and his presence ‘at Neerwinden and Landen in 1693, covering the retreat on 19 July, and saving William III from capture by the enemy’. 1p, 8vo. On aged and worn paper, with chipping to edges and pitting along a horizontal central line, but with both signatures clear and unblemished. The customary printed document, completed in manuscript. Records in a secretarial hand, the receipt of £25 by ‘Hen: Lumley Esqr. attor to the Rt.

[Victorian London Theatres: Adelphi, Drury Lane, Gaiety, Her Majesty’s, Lyceum, Princess’s, St James’s.] Seven large printed handbill notices, with illustration giving seating plan, details of proprietors and prices, ticket agents, advertisements.

Author: 
[Victorian London Theatres: Adelphi, Drury Lane, Gaiety, Her Majesty’s, Lyceum,Princess’s, St James’s.] [Benjamin Webster; Samuel Hayes; Keith, Prowse, and Co.; James Bromwich, florist]
Publication details: 
Circa 1878? Publication details not given.
£350.00

Each of the seven plans is on a 27 x 35.5 cm piece of paper.The source has not been established, and each carries the pencil date 1878 in a modern hand. They are uniform in layout, each with heading of the name of the theatre followed by a plan in the form of a 22 x 15 cm lithographic illustration of the respective theatre, as viewed from the stage, with the seating numbered. Beneath each plan are names of proprietors, lessees and managers, prices of admission, and in every case the details of the two ticket agents ‘Mr.

[Sir Thomas Armstrong, Principal of the Royal College of Music.] Autograph Letter Signed T.A., on his retirement, thanking the RAM Professor of Cello Ambrose Gauntlett for sending him a book about breadmaking.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Armstrong [Sir Thomas Henry Wait Armstrong] (1898-1994), organist, Principal of the Royal Academy of Music, 1955-1968 [Ambrose Gauntlett (1889-1978), Professor of Cello at the RAM]
Publication details: 
22 May 1968; on letterhead of the Royal Academy of Music, Marylebone Road, London NW1.
£35.00

See Armstrong’s entry in the Oxford DNB.

[Royal General Annuity Society, London, S. J. Aldrich, Secretary.] Printed ‘Lady’s Ticket’ to the ‘Anniversary Festival’ with impressions of ten wax seals of eminent Victorians, with names and dates in contemporary manuscript, laid down on reverse.

Author: 
Royal General Annuity Society, London, S. J. Aldrich, Secretary; Sir Denis Le Marchant; Sir Edward Crofton; Sir Stratford Canning; Sir John Cunningham; Sir Edward Kerrision; Sir James Graham
Seals
Seals2
Publication details: 
Ticket to ‘Anniversary Festival’ of the Royal General Annuity Society, at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate Street (‘George Hudson, Esq., M.P. in the Chair’) dated 16 February 1848. Seals variously dated to 1847, 1848 and 1850.
£120.00
Seals
Seals2

Not only an interesting item of sigillography, but also a nice item relating to Victorian philanthropy. Eight red wax seals and two black, of varying sizes. Laid down in three rows on reverse of 15 x 11 cm card, tastefully printed in blue, red and gold, with facsimile of the signature of the Secretary, S. J. Aldrich. Originally ten seals were present, those that remain in good condition, most with good impressions of crests.

[Sir Osbert Sitwell, author and brother of the poet Edith Sitwell and art critic Sacheverell Sitwell.] Black and white publicity photograph, supplied by his publishers Macmillan and Co.

Author: 
Sir Osbert Sitwell [Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, 5th baronet] (1892-1969), writer, brother of the poet Edith Sitwell and art critic Sacheverell Sitwell
Osbert
Publication details: 
Dated on back 25 August 1949. ‘From MACMILLAN & Co., Ltd., / St. Martin’s St., London, W.C.2.’
£50.00
Osbert

See his entry, and those of his siblings, in the Oxford DNB. A 15.5 x 20 cm black and white print, on glossy paper. Worn at edges, and with staining to blank area at top left. Stamped by the publishers on the reverse with ‘Sir Osbert Sitwell. Bt. / 25. 8. 49.’ There is a possibility that this is a signature by Sitwell, but the letter ‘O’ and other features are not quite right.

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