OR

[The Sherborne Mercury, or Weekly Advertiser, Dorset's first newspaper, a printed periodical predating The Times.] Number for ?Tuesday, April 29, 1740.?

Author: 
The Sherborne Mercury, or Weekly Advertiser, proprietor William Bettinson (d.1746), Dorset's first newspaper
Publication details: 
?Tuesday, April 29, 1740.? (Vol. IV, No. 167.) ?Printed at SHERBORNE, by WILLIAM BETTINSON, from LONDON.? [Dorset.]
£180.00

An important provincial publication, predating The Times by half a century. See the Oxford DNB entry of the later proprietor Robert Goadby, and the article by Roger Guttridge, ?Dorset?s first newspaper?, in ?Dorset Life?, August 2019. 4pp, folio. On two leaves, which originally formed a bifolium, but have now become detached from one another. Aged and worn, with chipping to extremities and along central horizontal and vertical folds, resulting in occasional loss of text.

[Edward Tennyson Reed, Punch political cartoonist.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘E: T: Reed.’) to ‘Mr. Denselow’, joking with him on sending an autograph (of no interest to anyone, ‘except my tailor (who seldom sees it!)’.

Author: 
E. T. Reed [Edward Tennyson Reed] (1860-1933), political cartoonist and illustrator, associated with Punch Magazine
Publication details: 
9 September [no year]; on letterhead of 3 St Paul’s Studios, West Kensington, W. [London]
£45.00

See his entry by E. V. Knox in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with dog-eared corner. Folded once. Reads: ‘Dear Mr. Denselow, / If my erratic and unenviable handwriting has any interest for anyone - except my tailor (who seldom sees it!) you are very welcome to a fragmentary example of it, at its word’. The signature is no doubt deliberately emphatic, with colons to the initials, and a period on each side of the end of the final flourish. In a postscript Reed expresses gratification to hear ‘that my work “touches the spot” occasionally, that’s what it’s “for!”’

[C. L. Graves and Punch editor E. V. Knox.] Autograph Letter Signed from 'C L. G.' to 'Evoe', discussing in detail questions relating to his planned history of Punch, with long autograph 'Notes on your Memorandum'.

Author: 
C. L. Graves [Charles Larcom Graves (1856-1944), assistant-editor of Punch and the Spectator, uncle of poet Robert Graves [E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox] (1881-1971, 'Evoe'), editor of Punch]
Publication details: 
Letter on letterhead of Kent Lodge, Westgate-on-Sea, Thanet. 30 May 1938. Memorandum undated.
£250.00

For information on Graves see the generous obituary of him in The Times, 18 April 1944. Both items in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with minor staining from paperclip to first leaf of letter. The work was not published, and although Graves states in Item One that the greater part of the text is 'in the hands of my typist', there is no record of its survival, or of the thousand related documents he states were sent to him by M. H. Spielmann. ONE: ALS from 'C L. G.' to 'Dear Evoe'. 4pp., landscape 8vo.

Richard Doyle ['Dickie Doyle'] (1824-1883), Victorian illustrator, from the first closely associated with Punch magazine, uncle of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes.] Autograph Signature ('Richard Doyle.').

Author: 
Richard Doyle ['Dickie' Doyle] (1824-1883), Victorian illustrator, from the first closely associated with Punch magazine, uncle of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of Sherlock Holmes
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£30.00

On 3.5 x 5 cm slip, laid down on slightly larger rectangle of paper, removed from an album. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. A neat, firm signature, on a small slip of paper. Presumably cut from a letter, in response to a request for an autograph.

[Sir Francis Cowley Burnand, editor of Punch.] Autograph Letter Signed ('F. C. Burnand') to the playwright and author Mrs Craigie ('John Oliver Hobbes'), regarding publication of her latest 'story'.

Author: 
F. C. Burnand [Sir Francis Cowley Burnand] (1836-1917), comic author and playwright, editor of Punch magazine ['John Oliver Hobbes', pen-name of dramatist Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie (1867-1906)]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the publishers of Punch: Whitefriars, E.C. ('Telegrams: | CHARIVARI, LONDON.') 28 October 1899.
£40.00

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin vertical strip of paper from mount adhering along top of first page. Begins: 'My dear Mrs Craigie | Mr Arthur à Beckett tells me that your story will soon be ready. When? I want if possible to commence with it [?] within the next fortnight. I shall have to definitely settle the matter. I hope you will let me have it very soon as I will then have it set up for you at once [last two words underlined]'.

[Punch history; C. L. Graves and Punch editor E. V. Knox.] Autograph Letter Signed from 'C L. G.' to 'Evoe', discussing in detail questions relating to his planned history of Punch, with long autograph 'Notes on your Memorandum'.

Author: 
C. L. Graves [Charles Larcom Graves (1856-1944), assistant-editor of Punch and the Spectator, uncle of poet Robert Graves [E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox] (1881-1971, 'Evoe'), editor of Punch]
Publication details: 
Letter on letterhead of Kent Lodge, Westgate-on-Sea, Thanet. 30 May 1938. Memorandum undated.
£750.00

For information on Graves see his generous obituary in The Times, 18 April 1944. Both items in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with minor staining from paperclip to first leaf of letter. The work was not published, and although Graves states in Item One that the greater part of the text is 'in the hands of my typist', there is no record of its survival, or of the thousand related documents he states were sent to him by M. H. Spielmann. ONE: ALS from 'C L. G.' to 'Dear Evoe'. 4pp., landscape 8vo.

[George du Maurier, Punch artist and cartoonist.] Autograph Signature ('Yours faithfully | George du Maurier') in response to a request for an autograph.

Author: 
George du Maurier [George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurie] (1834-1896), Punch cartoonist and novelist
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£23.00

On 5 x 10 cm slip of paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Yours faithfully | George du Maurier'. The first line lightly inked, the signature itself bold and strong. Nothing else on the card, except for the number '92' in a contemporary hand at top left above the signature.

[ Privately printed for internal distribution, with fifteen colour illustrations of regimental colours and company badges, in dustwrapper. ] First or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards. Review of the Regiment by His Majesty The King.

Author: 
[ First or Grenadier Regiment of Foot Guards ] [ Buckingham Palace, London; the British Army ]
Publication details: 
[ Privately printed, London. ] 'Buckingham Palace, 29th June, 1910.'
£100.00

39pp., 12mo, with an additional fifteen plates. In boards of white shiny paper, with the royal crest of King George V stamped in blue and gilt on the front cover, and with all edges (including the boards) gilt. White dustwrapper with the following printed on the front: 'Extra Copies of this Book may be had on application to the Regimental Orderly Room.' Inscribed three times (reverse of title and last leaf, and on back of a plate) by 'Col. Sergt C. Riches | 3d: Battn. Grenr Gds'.

[ Poor Law Amendment Act, 1834. ] 30 documents (20 printed and 10 in manuscript) relating to the Old or Wold Parish, Brixworth Union, Northants, including forms, notrices, returns, correspondence.

Author: 
Brixworth Union, Northamptonshire, Old or Wold Parish; Rev. Richard Harington; Poor Law Amendment Act, 1834; J. G. S. Lefevre, T. F. Lewis and G. Nicholls; Richard Earle ]
Publication details: 
The Poor Law Commission for England and Wales, London. Old or Wold Parish, Brixworth Union, Northamptonshire. Dating from between 1835 and 1840.
£1,500.00

30 documents, 20 printed and 10 in manuscript. In good overall condition, on aged paper, with slight wear to some items. A significant and interesting collection, from the papers of Rev. Richard Harington (1800-1853, later Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford), Guardian of the Poor in the Parish of Old or Wold, Brixworth Union, Northamptonshire.

Poetae Scenici Graeci accedunt perditarum fabularum fragmenta.

Author: 
[ Frederick W. Farrar ] Guil. Dindorfius ("Recognovit et Prefatus est . . .").
Publication details: 
Lipsiae Libraria Weidmannia / Londini D. Nutt, 158, Fleet Street, 1841.
£450.00

Hf. lea., ]xxxii].766.162. Formerly a poor copy rescued by sympathetic rebacking, wear and tear and some internal damage (staining, one blank endpaper torn with some loss of page), text complete and clear. Heavily annotated throughout in English and occasional Greek by Frederick W. Farrar whose bookplate when he was at Trinity College, Cambridge, is loosely inserted and whose signature appears on the recto of the front free endpaper ("Frederic W. Farra/ Trin. Coll.

[Original drawings for Punch cartoons; women] Four original ink drawings, later engraved and published Punch, on the subjects: women on bicycles, ice skating, women in the Oxford and Cambridge boat race, punting.

Author: 
'F. C.' [original drawings for cartoons in Punch, or the London Charivari]
Publication details: 
The cartoons were published in Punch (London): 26 August 1865; 18 May and 2 June 1866; 18 May 1869.
£250.00

Four charming and amusing cartoons from Punch's golden age. All four are executed in a similar style, but the identity of the cartoonist or cartoonists is unknown. (The first of the two cartoons in Item Two below, as published by Punch, has the monogram signature 'F C' engraved in the bottom right-hand corner. No Punch cartoonist with these initials is apparent.) ONE: Captioned: 'Another Brilliant Idea, Only Brillianter!' 21 x 13.5cm. In good condition, on leaf of browned high-acidity paper torn from a notebook. Two men idle in a punt while two women hold up sheets.

[Douglas William Jerrold, playwright and contributor to Punch.] Autograph Note Signed ('Douglas Jerrold') to 'Webster', accepting an invitation in lighthearted style.

Author: 
Douglas William Jerrold (1803-1857), playwright, journalist and contributor to Punch
Publication details: 
Putney. 29 November [no year].
£28.00

1p., 32mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The note reads: 'My dear Webster, | I have fasted all the week in joyful expectation of the 1st of December. | Every truly your's [sic] | Douglas Jerrold'.

[Shirley Brooks, editor of Punch.] Autograph Letter Signed to William Glen, commending his 'friend's verses', which have 'an echo of Keats in them'.

Author: 
Shirley Brooks [Charles William Shirley Brooks] (1816-1874), journalist and novelist, editor of Punch, 1870-1874 [William Glen; the Literary Gazette]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Literary Gazette Office, 4 Bouverie Street, EC [London]. 5 October [circa 1858].
£45.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Brooks (who conducted the Literary Gazette between 1858 and 1859) writes that he has read Glen's 'friend's verses carefully, and with much pleasure. There is an echo of Keats in them, but no mere invitation.

[Printed offprint from Punch.] The ill-used Homoeopathists.

Author: 
[Victorian homoeopathy; homoeopathic; Punch, or the London Charivari]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [From 'Punch's Almanack', London, 1859.]
£80.00

1p.,12mo. Fifty-three lines of small type. Good, on lightly-aged and ruckled paper, with traces of mount on blank reverse. The item begins: 'MR. PUNCH is accustomed to receive letter and treaties, imploring him not to call homoeopathy fudge, and some of them attempting to assign reasons why he should not. In all these communications, the medical opponents of homoepathy are called "allopathists."' Later on the author comments: 'PROFESSOR HOLLOWAY is perhaps an allopathist; however he does not tell us on what principle his pills and ointments cure all diseases.

Autograph Signature ('Bernard Partridge') of the 'Punch' cartoonist Sir John Bernard Partridge.

Author: 
Bernard Partridge [Sir John Bernard Partridge] (1861-1945), cartoonist and illustrator, best-known for his work with 'Punch'
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£20.00

On one side of a 4.5 x 13 cm strip of paper, cut from the bottom of a letter. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. All in Partridge's hand. Reads: '[...]ment of time occupied. | With many regrets, | I am truly yours, | Bernard Partridge.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('F. C. Bernand') from the humorist Sir Francis Cowley Burnand to the illustrator Harry Furniss, lamenting that there will be 'no dinner for the Punch boys' in Christmas week, and discussing an unsuccessful illustration.

Author: 
F. C. Burnand [Sir Francis Cowley Burnand] (1836-1917), English humorist and dramatist, a main contributor to 'Punch' [Harry Furniss (1854-1925), 'Punch' caricaturist and illustrator]
Publication details: 
On Burnand's letterhead, 27 The Boltons, SW [London], 8 December 1891.
£56.00

2pp., landscape 12mo. Addressed to 'Dear Furniss'. He is glad to hear of Furniss's success: 'Your tour ends after the last dinner but one of the year. No dinner Xmas week! awful that isn't it? When all are feasting no dinner for the Punch boys!!' He hopes Furniss will be 'here with us'. Had Furniss been 'on the spot' Burnand would have got him 'to substitute something for your John Bull picture in almanack which no one (I do not speak of "The Table" but of our best friends outside) comprehends.

Autograph Letter Signed from the satirist Percival Leigh to 'My dear Brooks' [fellow 'Punch' contributor Shirley Brooks], regarding his writing, the nature of the joke, the unsuitability of his Hampshire surroundings to literature, and other matters.

Author: 
Percival Leigh (1813–1889), satirist, the first writer to carve his name into the 'Punch' table [Charles William Shirley Brooks (1816-1874), editor of 'Punch' from 1870 to his death]
Publication details: 
Shirley Warren, near Southampton. 28 July 1865.
£120.00

4pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He considers the cut excellent, and is grateful to Brooks for having 'managed so well' with his article. 'Many such an article of mine has been sacrificed, though absolutely a pretty good one, and comparatively to that which stood in its place, superexcellent. But such is my luck. By the by, don't measure the quantity of all that I do by what appeareth.' He reports that 'Fred is much amused with the verses on the Queen's first baby. I said that there are two men here besides himself who understand a joke.

Engraving by John Tenniel, from 'Punch' for 1867, titled 'Check to King Mob'. With caption referring to 'the London mob of would-be conspirators and sympathisers with revolutionary plots' and the attempt by the Fenians to blow up Clerkenwell Prison.

Author: 
Sir John Tenniel (1820-1914), illustrators [Punch, or the London Charivari; Fenians; revolutionary plots]
Check to King Mob
Publication details: 
From "Punch, or the London Charivari", November 30, 1867.
£75.00
Check to King Mob

On paper roughly 33 x 25.5 cm. The illustration itself is clear and complete on lightly-aged paper. Creasing around extremities and to left of caption. Tenniel's monogram, with number 61, in bottom left-hand corner. Britannia grips King Mob by the throat, while a paper crown (with 'MOB LAW' written on it) falls from his head.

Original engraving by John Tenniel, for 'Punch, or the London Charivari', October 1867, titled 'The Order of the Day; or, Unions and Fenians.'

Author: 
Sir John Tenniel (1820-1914), illustrators [Punch, or the London Charivari; Fenians; Trade Unions; revolutionary plots]
The Order of the Day; or, Unions and Fenians
Publication details: 
From 'Punch, or the London Charivari', 12 October 1867.
£95.00
The Order of the Day; or, Unions and Fenians

On paper 52 x 33 cm. Tenniel's monogram, with number 58, in bottom left-hand corner. An giant female figure, with black mask, blazing torch and sash on which is written 'MURDER', directs an assemblage of Fenians and Sheffield trade unionists. The caption reads 'Fenian conspiracies and outrages in Ireland and Manchester - co-incident with the revelations of murderous Trade-unionism at Sheffield and elsewhere - agitated the public mind, and seemed like an evocation of the Spirit of Slaughter to trample on the Law.

Autograph Letter Signed from the editor of 'Punch' F. C. Burnand to T. H. Lacy, regarding the publication of a farce.

Author: 
F. C. Burnand [Sir Francis Cowley Burnand] (1836-1917), English comic writer and editor of 'Punch' [Thomas Hailes Lacy (1809-1873), actor and theatrical publisher]
Autograph Letter Signed from the editor of 'Punch' F. C. Burnand
Publication details: 
29 April 1869; on letterhead of Hale Lodge, Edgware.
£56.00
Autograph Letter Signed from the editor of 'Punch' F. C. Burnand

12mo, 2 pp. Bifolium. Fair, on aged paper. He begins 'Print the farce', and gives two conditions, ending 'There that's definite'. He will have the farce published after it is performed in London, 'at a good theatre of course'. 'But get on with it and lets have the proofs.' He will 'most likely' play it himself 'at Manchester and somewhere else, when I will put all this stage business &c in'. Ends 'Toole wants to do it. | Yours Tooley - I mean Truly'. In one of two postscripts he hopes Lacy has 'a good supply of Billy Taylor. Hopewood & Crew publish it.'

Autograph Letter Signed to 'Dear Mr Taylor'.

Author: 
Barry Pain [Barry Eric Odell Pain] (1864-1928), English humorist and contributor to Punch magazine [Sir Hubert von Herkomer (1849-1914)]
Publication details: 
13 April 1905; on letterhead of Hogarth House, Bushey, Herts.
£38.00

12mo, 1 p. Thirteen lines. Text clear and complete. On aged and foxed paper with some fraying to edges (not affecting text). He would like to show Taylor 'something of interest with reference to Sir Herbert Taylor [sometime soldier and Private Secretary to teh KIng]' and suggests meeting that night. 'It seems rather late, but I shall be at von Herkomer's till then'.

Letter, headed 'Copy', in contemporary hand, from 'X.' to 'Mr. Editor' [of Punch].

Author: 
Punch, or The London Charivari' [Mark Lemon (1809-1870), editor; John Leech; Charles Kean; William Williams (1788-1865), Radical M.P. for Lambeth]
Publication details: 
01/05/59
£56.00

12mo, 4 pp. Bifolium. Watermarked 'TOWGOOD'S | SUPER FINE | 1859'. Eighty-seven lines of text. Text clear and complete on aged and grubby paper. With little hope of influencing the editor of Punch, the author feels compelled to 'write and tell you what I and many others think about your Publication and the malignant spite you display towards individuals who happen to incur your wrath'. This 'malignity', he feels, 'must be derived from that murderous old ruffian from whom your publication takes its name, and which alone prevents it being an influential publication.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Bernard Partridge.') to 'Miss Smith'.

Author: 
Bernard Partridge [Sir John Bernard Partridge] (1861-1945), English cartoonist and illustrator, best-known for his work for 'Punch'
Publication details: 
24 January 1897 ('M.dccc.xc.vij: | jan: xxiv.'); on letterhead of 11 Marlborough Road, St John's Wood, [London] N.W.
£56.00

12mo, 3 pp. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Attractive red letterhead, in the Arts and Crafts style. The writings she referred to in a previous letter have not come. 'You probably forgot to enclose them. I expect to read some of the papers in the days when I look in the P[all]. M[all]. G[azette].' He asks her to give him 'an idea of what the publisher proposes to spend on the illustrations, and also the size of them, and the style - pen & ink, or "wash".' He has heard news of her 'from Welsh, Ethel Johnson's husband, who is with me at the Haymarket'.

ACS ('Walter Emanuel') to Hammerton.

Author: 
Walter Emanuel [Sir John Alexander Hammerton (1871-1949), author and editor; The London Magazine; The Manchester Guardian; Punch magazine]
Publication details: 
28 November 1905; on letterhead of 89 Ladbroke Grove, W.
£25.00

Dimensions of card roughly 8.5 x 11 cm. Good, with slight creasing. Twenty lines of text. Congratulating Hammerton on his appointment as editor of the 'London Magazine'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('G. S. Layard') to Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. Gaskell.

Author: 
George Somes Layard (1857-1925), English biographical author; Shirley Brooks (1816-74), editor of 'Punch'
Publication details: 
9 August 1906; on letterhead 'BULLS CLIFF, FELIXSTOWE.'
£100.00

Four pages, 12mo. Very good on lightly aged paper. Docketed by Gaskell at head of first page 'This letter is written to myself in reply to my offer of the loan of 91 Shirley Brooks' letters. | J. B. Gaskell'. Acknowledges the receipt of the letters which Gaskell has 'so generously' placed at his disposal, and assures him that they will be 'treated with the greatest care' and returned as soon as possible, together with the photograph of 'Epicurus Rotundus' (Brooks's pen name), 'which is new to me'. Asks for 'any reminiscences, hearsay or otherwise of S. B.

Autograph Note Signed ('F. C. Burnand') to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Sir Francis Cowley Burnand (1836-1917), English writer, editor of the magazine 'Punch' from 1880 to 1906
Publication details: 
10 December 1901; place not stated.
£30.00

One page. Dimensions of paper roughly four inches by seven. On piece of aged, stained paper, mounted on piece of card. Remains of biographical cutting in bottom right-hand corner. Reads 'Here you are Sir | Autographs cheap today | F. C. Burnand | F. C. B. | 10 Dec 1901'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Mrs Chapman.

Author: 
William Agnew (1825-1910), English art dealer, director of the magazine 'Punch' from 1872
Publication details: 
8 October 1865; on monogrammed letterhead.
£60.00

Three pages, 12mo. Very good on lightly aged paper with slightest trace of previous mount adhering to blank verso of second leaf of bifolium. He has 'looked out' and is sending 'a few interesting Autographs', and would have sent them before, had he not been 'a great invalid all summer'. 'I will get Miss Chapman a good collection of the autographs of literary men. I am now very closely connected with Punch & other publications and shall have frequent opportunities.' Agnew's family, as partners in Bradbury & Agnew, were for many years the publishers of 'Punch'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('F C B.') to 'My dear Phil' - the publisher of 'Punch' Philip Leslie Agnew (1863-1938).

Author: 
Sir Francis Cowley Burnand (1836-1917), editor of 'Punch' [Phil May; Philip Leslie Agnew]
Publication details: 
31 July 1893; on letterhead 'Whitefriars, London.'
£56.00

12mo: 2 pp. On creased, discoloured paper, with small closed tear and traces of previous mount adhering to reverse. An amusing, playful letter in a smudged, expansive hand. Reads 'My dear Phil | The other Phil Phil May will Phil the page in Xmas No. This will fill up & give it a fillip. ergo no Caran d'Ache | With Phil we're full. | Ought to be a fine number. | Have asked Phil May to contribute previously - | Well Phil May - but will Phil? | perhaps a wilfil person'. Accompanied by long typed commentary, giving provenance 'From a group of letters to Phil Agnew.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Godfrey Turner') from Turner to [Charles Henry] Ross (1842?-1897).

Author: 
Godfrey Wordsworth Turner (1825-1891), English art critic and journalist, connected with the 'Daily Telegraph'
Publication details: 
15 December 1880; on letterhead of the Daily Telegraph.
£38.00

Three pages, 12mo. On aged paper, with some foxing, a few closed tears and wear to extremities. Glue and strip of mount adhering to blank verso of second leaf of bifolium. Text clear and entire. He is in 'a maelstrom of work and worry' and asks Ross 'a question which you are almost certain not to be able to answer!' Asks if he has 'seen Tom Smith's crackers', and if so, whether he observed 'anything specially and eminently notable'.

Autograph Note Signed ('F. C. Burnand') to unnamed male individual.

Author: 
Sir Francis Cowley Burnand (1836-1917), English writer, editor of the magazine 'Punch' from 1880 to 1906 [Mark Lemon]
Publication details: 
Date and place not stated [but pre-1870].
£76.00

On irregular piece of lightly creased and aged paper (roughly seven and a half by four and a half inches), with some chipping to extremities. Headed 'Punch Photographs'. 'Mr Mark Lemon [1809-1870, Punch editor] wishes me to come up to you & be photographed. I propose being with you at one tomorrow Saturday, if I am not unavoidably detained in Westminster on a trial.'

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