LOW

[Frank Norman.] Three Typed Letters Signed and one Autograph Card Signed to Philip Dosse of Hanson Books, complaining about his treatment over the reviews he has contributed to ‘Books and Bookmen’.

Author: 
Frank Norman [John Norman] (1930-1980), working-class writer on London low-life, best-known for the memoir Bang to Rights (1958) and musical Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be (1960) [Philip Dosse]
Publication details: 
All from 1975. The three letters from 5 Seaford Court, 222 Great Portland Street, W1 [London].
£220.00

Norman is puzzlingly absent from the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 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 four items are in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. They are all signed ‘Frank Norman’, and the letters are each 1p, 4to. ONE: TLS, 17 February 1975.

[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.

[David Low, London bookseller.] Typed Card Signed to ‘Dear Rock’ (the bookseller Andrew Block), regarding oriental prints and ‘Teddy’.

Author: 
David Low (1903-1987), London bookseller whose 1973 autobiography ‘With All Faults’ has an introduction by Graham Greene [Andrew Block (1892-1987)]
Low
Publication details: 
29 January 1977; on letterhead of David Low Booksellers, Ltd., Emmington, Chinnor, Oxford.
£45.00
Low

In his obituary of Low’s partner Robin Waterfield (Independent, 12 February 2002), James Fergusson describes Low as a ‘Scottish Polish Jewish bouquiniste’. The recipient Andrew Block’s obituary in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business was established in 1911. Plain orange-yellow card, with Reynolds Stone oval medallion letterhead. Signed ‘David’ in red ink. Addressed, with postmark and stamp, to ‘Mr. Andrew Block / 30, Barter Street / London W.C.1.’ He enquires whether the ‘coloured drawings on rice paper’ he is sending are ‘merely Chinese’.

[ David Low, cartoonist. ] Typed Letter Signed ('David Low') to 'Mr. Armstrong' of the Golders Green Literary Society, decling to become a vice-president.

Author: 
David Low [ Sir David Alexander Cecil Low ] (1891-1963), English cartoonist, born in New Zealand
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 3 Rodborough Road, Golders Green, N.W.11 [ London ] 18 May 1934.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He begins by acknowledging Armstrong's letter: 'I assure your Committee that I appreciate the honour they do me by asking me to become a Vice-President of the Golders Green Literary Society.' He has for some time felt that in the interest of his health he must 'enter no fresh engagements for a while', and therefore does not feel 'able to accept even this one, which I am sure would be pleasanter than most'. He ends by offering his 'sincere regrets'.

[ Low Moor Explosion, Bradford, 1916. ] Printed handbill poem: 'The Yorkshire Munitions Disaster. A descriptive Poem on the Munitions Disaster, which occurred on August 21st, 1916, resulting in loss of life and destruction of property.'

Author: 
Ben Norton, The Yorkshire Poet [ Low Moor Explosion, Bradford, 1916; Blackburn & Co., Printers, Leeds ]
Publication details: 
Copyright. Price one penny. Wholesale, or Retail from the Author: Ben Norton, Newsagent, 17, Alexandra Road, Leeds. Blackburn & Co., Printers, 188, Cardigan Road, Leeds. [ 1916. ]
£150.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Heavily creased and worn. A large number of Norton's productions are listed on the front and back pages. Eleven eight-line stanzas. The poem, which does not mention Bradford once, begins: 'On the 21st of August, | In the year nineteen-sixteen, | A great munition works in Yorkshire | Was a busy, lively scene.

[ Limited edition, inscribed by printer, de Vinne ] The Bibliomaniac by Charles Nodier. With forty-five illustrations from designs by Maurice Leloir, engraved on wood by F. Noel, and a preface by R. Vallery-Radot. Translated by Mabel Osgood Wright.

Author: 
Charles Nodier; Maurice Leloir; F. Noel; R. Vallery-Radot; Mabel Osgood Wright; Theodore Low De Vinne; The De Vinne Press, New York; J. O. Wright & Company
Publication details: 
New York: J. O. Wright & Company, 1894. [ No. 122 of 150 copies printed on Japan paper by the De Vinne Press, New York. ]
£220.00

79pp., 8vo. Tipped-in at front is an engraved plate of a bibliomaniac sitting reading in his crammed library, captioned 'MY DEN.' In good condition, lightly aged, in fake-vellum wraps, with medallion and title in gilt on lightly-worn cover. Inscribed by the book's printer Theodore De Vinne on front free endpaper: 'To David Douglas | With love of D V | Aet 1894'. No copy at the British Library, and none traced on COPAC.

[ 'Low' (David Low), cartoonist. ] Caricature titled 'The Odd Volumes | Ladies Night', depicting a fashionable young lady reading a book on top of a ladder in a library, on cover of menu for 'Ye 461st Meeting of Ye Sette of Odd Volumes'.

Author: 
'Low' [ Sir David Alexander Cecil Low (1891-1963) ], British cartoonist of New Zealand extraction [ Ye Sette of Odd Volumes, London literary dining club; Sir Harry Trelawney Eve ]
Publication details: 
[ Ye Sette of Odd Volumes, London.] 'holden at ye Savoy Hotel, on Tuesday ye Twenty-third day of June, 1931'. [Printed at the Pelican Press, 2 Carmelite Street, London EC4.]
£80.00

Printed on one side of a piece of wove paper, folded twice to make a card of 4pp., 4to. In good condition, lightly-aged and spotted. Low's 10 x 8.5 cm illustration is on the cover, and is rather uncharacteristic in its lightness of touch. Nor is the layout of the cover in the usual 'Sette' style, rather harking forwards to the 1940s. Cover states: 'His Oddshippe Sir Harry Trelawney Eve (Chaplain) in ye Chair'.

[ 'Low' (David Low), cartoonist. ] Caricature of 'Lord Moynihan, Incisor', laying a wreath before the Venus de Milo, printed on cover of a 'Ladies' Night' menu for 'The 506th Meeting of Ye Sette of Odd Volumes'.

Author: 
'Low' [ Sir David Alexander Cecil Low (1891-1963) ], British cartoonist of New Zealand extraction [ Ye Sette of Odd Volumes, London literary dining club; Lord Moynihan [Berkeley Moynihan, 1st Baron] ]
Publication details: 
[Menu for Ye Sette of Odd Volumes, 506th Meeting ('Ladies' Night'), 23 June 1936. ] Printed at the Pelican Press, 2 Carmelite Street, London, E.C.4.
£80.00

4pp., 4to. Bifolium on card. In good condition, lightly-aged. A bold and characteristic cartoon by Low, depicting the evening's chairman. The central two pages, under the heading 'LADIES' NIGHT', give a humorous description of the planned celebrations, beginning: 'The June Meeting of the Sette is nominally dedicated to the graces of feminine society. Actually, it is an overt act of self glorification on the part of the individual members of the Sette.' Among those referred to are: 'the Master of Ceremonies, Bro. S. K. Glanville (Ushabti)', 'Bro. Vyvyan Holland (Idler)', 'Bro J. G.

[David Low (1891-1963), cartoonist.] Autograph Letter Signed to Anglo-Irish poet Sylvia Lynd, a letter of condolence on the death of her husband Robert Lynd.

Author: 
David Low [Sir David Alexander Cecil Low] (1891-1963), New Zealand-born British cartoonist [Sylvia Lynd (1888-1952), Anglo-Irish poet, wife of the essayist Robert Lynd (1879-1949)]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 3 Rodborough Road, Golders Green. 9 October 1949
£40.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and creased. On behalf of himself and his wife Madeline he writes: 'Like everybody that knew Robert we shall miss him keenly - For me the world will be a poorer place. Words don't come easily to me to express my sorrow.'

[Violet Eleanor Scott-James, wife of Rolfe Arnold Scott-James, editor of the 'New Weekly'.] Long Autograph Letter Signed ('V. E. S. J.') [to the Irish journalist Robert Lynd], with reference to Wyndham Lewis, Charlotte Mew, Ivy Low and Mary Crosbie.

Author: 
Violet Eleanor Scott-James [née Brooks] (c.1886-1942), wife of Rolfe Arnold Scott-James (1878-1959), editor of the New Weekly [Robert Lynd (1879-1949); Percy Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957)]
Publication details: 
Addressed from 'Dunedin', Lower Rock Garden, Brighton, on letterhead of 4 Colville Square [London], W. 15 July 1914.
£120.00

4pp., 4to. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with short closed tears at heads of both leaves. The recipient is not named, but the letter is from the Lynd family papers. Robert Lynd was in St Ives at the time of writing, and the letter begins: 'I'm so glad you are in such a nice place & that the children can join you there. They will love it. London gets so odious by the 15th of July. I came her e last week as I was very tired, & sick of the stuffy feeling of everything.

[Book of type specimens.] Old Faces of Roman and Medieval Types lately added to the De Vinne Press.

Author: 
[The De Vinne Press] [Theodore Low De Vinne (1828-1914), American printer and authority on typography]
Publication details: 
Printed at the De Vinne Press, No. 12 Lafayette Place, New York. 1897.
£180.00

[4] + 47pp., 8vo. In printed wraps. Internally in fair condition, on aged paper, with slight staining to the corners; in worn and chipped wraps. A handsome production, as one might expect from one of the nine founders of the Grolier Club, with a two-page introduction followed by a full-page reproduction of the Ascensius printer's device, and 47 examples of pages set in various point sizes of Cushing, Ancient Roman, Jenson, Satanick, Louis XV, and Century Roman. No copy on COPAC, six American and one French on WorldCat.

[MANUSCRIPT; "Feudal Supreme Court of Brabant" - pencil note in MS; Legal or juridical Manuscript "specifically aimed at the Council of Brabant" ]

Author: 
[Brabant Law] Anon.
Publication details: 
Eighteenth-Century (again pencil note in MS). Note: 'Maid of Dort' Pro Patria watermark (i.e. Dutch paper)
£600.00

238pp. used, sm folio, full leather, raised bands, worn, words on spine obscured (gilt worn away), in Latin, French and Flemish. Note: Some Belgian scholars have kindly contributed the following background: "The manuscript is a typical 18C- juridical compilation. This one is specifically aimed at the Council of Brabant. The manuscript was probably 'started' by a lawyer, an attorney or another jurist who often frequented the council of Brabant. It contains a number of texts with Brabant law sources, and law procedures.

[William Maynard, 2nd Baron Maynard.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Maynard') to Sir Richard Bulstrode, expressing puzzlement that his grandson should have visited Brussels without calling upon him, and asking him to show the boy favour.

Author: 
William Maynard, 2nd Baron Maynard (c.1623-1689) [Sir Richard Bulstrode (1617-1711), British ambassador at Brussels]
Publication details: 
'Windzor' [i.e. the Royal Court at Windsor]. 25 June 1686.
£180.00

2pp., 12mo. 49 lines of text. Bifolium. In very good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf (which also carries his seal): 'For Sr Richard Bulstrode | Envoy from his Matie of greate Brittaine Att ye Court | Att Bruxells | these'.

[Printed booksellers' catalogue.] Illustrated Hand-books of Art included in The Art Prize List of the Science and Art Department Published by Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington.

Author: 
[E. J. Poynter and Professor Roger Smith, editors, 'Illustrated Hand-books of Art history', Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, London publishers, St Dunstan's House, Fetter Lane
Publication details: 
London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington at St Dunstan's House in Fetter Lane. 1887.
£45.00

8pp., 12mo. Two bifoliums, one loosely inserted in the other. Printed in red. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-stained paper. A tasteful Italianate design, with thick decorative borders containing flowers, birds, a cherub and a monkey. The last page ends with commendatory quotations from the Spectator and Times.

Autograph Letter Signed, apparently to his publishers Sampson Low & Co.

Author: 
Sir William Laird Clowes
Publication details: 
Sark. 9.9.02.'
£25.00

British naval historian (1856-1905), author of a standard history of the Royal Navy (7 vols, 1897-1903). One page, on piece of stiff paper, roughly four and a half inches by three and a half. In poor condition, discoloured and stained, and with one small hole and some fraying to extremities. Reads 'Thanks for yours of the 8th. | I am afraid that I can only express the hope that you will, in this case, keep the price as low as possible, - as I do not know the business aspects of the question.

Autograph Letter Signed to "Mrs Trevelyan".

Author: 
Lady Anne Isabella Ritchie.
Publication details: 
27 Young Stree, Kensington Square, W., London, Tuesdau [no date].
£56.00

Novelist and essayist, daughter of Thackeray (see DNB). Two pages, 8vo, remnants of mounts, mainly good condition. She is sorry she missed her but was "at the hairdressers superintending Hector's first crop". She looks forward to visiting and mentions that she "spent a very happy half hour yesterday with Fox in Fleet Street in Messrs Sampson Lows shop, so that it seemed quite natural to see yr writing."

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