NORTHCLIFFE

[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.

[George E. Dunn, author and editor.] Autograph Letter Signed to theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope, discussing the perils of the proof-reading process, with reminiscences.

Author: 
George E. Dunn, author and editor [Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
5 July [year?]. Three Corners, Watledge, Gloucestershire.
£65.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) 2pp, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly-aged, with creasing at head, which is annotated by MP ‘(author)’. After thanking him for his letter he writes: ‘It is fatal to have a book published without seeing a proof. In my “G[ilbert] & S[ullivan] Dictionary” I had occasion to mention “The Yeomen of the Guard” 14 times. The comp[ositor], aided by the reader, deliberately channged them to “Yeoman”.

[Sir Geoffrey Harmsworth, journalist, nephew of Lords Northcliffe and Rothermere.] Three Typed Letters Signed to theatre historian W. J. Maqueen-Pope, discussing his family and asking for information for a biography he is writing of Northcliffe.

Author: 
Sir Geoffrey Harmsworth [Arthur Geoffrey Annesley Harmsworth] (1904-1980), journalist and member of Fleet Street dynasty, nephew of Lords Northcliffe and Rothermere [Walter James Macqueen-Pope]
Publication details: 
9 August, 3 October and 31 December 1951. The first on letterhead of the Harmsworth Press Limited, 8 Stratton Street, London, W1; the other two on letterhead of 8 Stratton Street, with second cancelled in favour of Thorpe Hall, Louth, Lincolnshire.
£80.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. See MP’s entry and those of various members of the Harmsworth family in the Oxford DNB. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged, with the first with rust staining from paperclip, and all three folded twice. Each signed ‘Geoffrey Harmsworth’. ONE: 9 August 1951. 1p, 8v. He doubts whether MP will remember their previous meeting. He is ‘engaged on a full-length Life of Northcliffe’ (written with Reginald Pound, and appearing in 1959), and is having to do ‘much digging to find out information about the early days’.

[Lord Harmsworth, press baron.] Typed Letter Signed (‘Harmsworth’) to journalist Collin Brooks, praising his assessment of ‘R’ - his brother Viscount Rothermere - in his memoir ‘Devil’s Decade’.

Author: 
Lord Harmsworth [Cecil Bisshop Harmsworth (1869-1948), 1st Baron Harmsworth], Fleet Street press baron, brother of Viscounts Northcliffe and Rothermere [Collin Brooks (1893-1959), journalist]
Publication details: 
4 April 1948; on letterhead of ‘The Field’, 8 Stratton Street London.
£45.00

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Minor staple marks at top right. Writing shortly before his death, he thanks him for sending an inscribed copy of his book ‘Devil’s Decade’, which he enjoyed ‘enormously’.

[Hall Caine's brother Ralph threatens Lord Northcliffe's Amalgamated Press with legal action for 'stealing my idea' on popular publishing.] Two Typed Letters Signed from 'Ralph' to his 'Papa & mama', with his Typed 'complete [solicitors'] statement'.

Author: 
Ralph Hall Caine (1865-1939), Isle of Man author and journalist; brother of novelist Hall Caine [Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe; Sir Harold Harmsworth; Amalgamated Press]
Publication details: 
Letters on letterhead of 2 Tudor Street, London E.C. [Amalgamated Press Ltd offices] 15 March and 18 April 1907. Statement without place or date.
£120.00

The three items are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: TLS, 15 March 1907. 4pp., 4to. He is sending a copy (i.e. Item Three below) of 'a complete statement of what has taken place up to date. In fact it is the actual statement I placed before my Solicitor this afternoon […] Of course this is what we might have expected from these people, and it does not come as a very great surprise. | It is a direct attempt to get out of their obligations, as they have done before, as they can get this new man, and have got him – at something like £500 a year without an interest'.

[ Lord Harmsworth, press baron. ] Autograph Note Signed ('Alfred Harmsworth') to 'Mr. Fisher', explaining that he cannot attend a meeting as he has to 'attend to my newspapers all day long'.

Author: 
Lord Northcliffe [ Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe (1865-1922) ], press baron, owner of the Daily Mail and the Daily Mirror
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Daily Mail, Temple, E.C. [ London ] 29 November 1898.
£56.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Reads: 'Dear Mr. Fisher | I am so sorry I cannot attend the meeting. Unfortunately, I am absolutely obliged to attend to my newspapers all day long. | Yours faithfully | Alfred Harmsworth'. The Daily Mail was little more than two years old at the time of this note.

[ John Rutherford Gordon, editor of the 'Sunday Express'. ] 'Rough draft' of typed article, with autograph emendations, on Lord Northcliffe, 'the incomparable journalist of the age', written from personal knowledge.

Author: 
John Rutherford Gordon (1890-1974), editor of London 'Sunday Express' [ Lord Northcliffe [ Alfred Charles William Harmsworth (1865-1922), 1st Viscount Northcliffe ], press baron, owner of Daily Mail ]
Publication details: 
Dated 25 April 1952, and with autograph note stating that it was 'Partly used in Sunday Express [ London ] 27/4/52'.
£350.00

21pp., fourteen of them in 4to, and the other seven pages cut down. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Stapled together, with the first leaf detached. The article is complete but untitled. It is unattributed, but comes from the J. R. Gordon papers. A well-written and incisive piece, written from an insider's point of view. Gordon lays out his stall at the very start: 'Few people of our generation have influenced the life of it so profoundly as Lord Northcliffe. He was the incomparable journalist of our age.

Autograph Letter Signed ('G. F. Hamilton') to 'My dear Harmsworth' (Viscount Northcliffe?). With a copy of his booklet translation: 'In St. Patrick's Praise: The Hymn of St. Secundinus (Sechnall)'.

Author: 
[G. F. Hamilton, Rector of Moylough, Co. Galway] [Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe]
Publication details: 
Letter dated 13 March 1919; on letterhead of the Rectory, Moylough, Co. Galway. Booklet: Dublin: The Church of Ireland Printing and Publishing Co., Ltd., 61 Middle Abbey Street.
£125.00

Letter: 12mo, 1 p. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Begins 'Your hands must be full just now, judging from the Daily Papers.' He presents the 'booklet' as 'a small memento of friendship for you', and describes as 'just published by me on a hymn considered (by Bernard, Bury etc.) to be a contemporary of St. Patrick. An 11th. cent MS. containing it is in T. C. D. Library. And it is also given in a 7th. cent. MS. at Milan.' Postscript referring to an article he has sent Harmsworth, 'for which I received thanks (quite unsolicited) of the Prof. of English Literature, T.C.D.!

Northcliffe: The Facts.

Author: 
Louise Owen [Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, Viscount Northcliffe; Harold Sidney Harmsworth, Viscount Rothermere]
Publication details: 
London: 22 Buckingham Gate, S.W.1. [Preface dated 'September, 1931.'] ['Printed in Great Britain by Louise Owen, 2, Johnson's Court, London, E.C.4.'
£45.00

8vo: 334 pp. Portrait of Northcliffe as frontispiece. Three facsimiles of letters in text and fold-out with facsimiles of three of Northcliffe's letters. Inscribed by Owen on front pastedown 'To Elaine from Louise and Northcliffe. | Nov. 1938'. (The reference to 'Northcliffe' is explained by the fact that Owen considered herself a spirit medium, in contact with the deceased Viscount.) Internally good: sound and tight, on lightly aged paper. In original worn red cloth, with slight bloom on front.

Typed Letter Signed ('Wickham Steed') to Rev. E. J. F. Davies.

Author: 
Henry Wickham Steed (1871-1956), English journalist and historian, nicknamed 'Stickum'
Publication details: 
1 June 1932; on letterhead Lansdowne House 7, Holland Park, W.11 [London].
£10.00

One page, 12mo. Very good. 'Absence abroad has prevented me hitherto from complying with your request. I have pleasure in enclosing herewith a specimen of my signature.'

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