OSCAR

[Evelyn Laye, English actress and singer, star of stage and screen.] Autograph Signature added at foot of pencil sketch of her by Kenneth Sephton.

Author: 
Evelyn Laye [née Elsie Evelyn Lay] (1900-1996), English actress and singer, star of stage and screen, associated with Noel Coward [Kenneth Sephton]
Laye
Publication details: 
No date or place. [1950s]
£90.00
Laye

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. After a stint as one of George Edwardes’ Gaiety Girls, she made her name in a number of revues, her performance in the lead role of the 1929 Broadway production of ‘Bitter Sweet’ prompting Coward to praise her grace and charm and assurance, which he said provoked one of the most prolonged outbursts of cheering I have ever heard in the theatre. She was less successful in Hollywood, starring in the Romberg/Hammerstein musical ‘One Heavenly Night’ (1931), a failure for Samuel Goldwyn.

[Christopher Hampton, English playwright and two-time Oscar-winning Hollywood screenwriter.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mr. Whitworth’, announcing his ‘new translation of “Uncle Vanya”’ and discussing a forthcoming interview.

Author: 
Christopher Hampton [Sir Christopher James Hampton] (b.1946), English playwright and two-time Oscar-winning Hollywood screenwriter
Publication details: 
28 October 1969; on letterhead of the Royal Court Theatre (The English Stage Company), Sloane Square, London.
£90.00

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and creased. Ten lines in a close, controlled hand. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Whitworth’ and signed ‘Christopher Hampton’. He writes to confirm that he will be free on the date he suggested he ‘might be able to come down to meet you’. He also gives an alternative date. ‘At the moment I’m working on a new translation of “Uncle Vanya”, which was to be finished by the end of November.

[H. Montgomery Hyde, authority on Oscar Wilde and Ulster Unionist MP.] Autograph Letter Signed to Philip Dosse, publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’, regarding a review by Lord O’Neill of his book on Carson, a trip to North America, and money owed.

Author: 
H. Montgomery Hyde [Harford Montgomery Hyde] (1907-1989), writer, Ulster Unionist politician and authority on Oscar Wilde [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’]
Publication details: 
30 September 1974; on letterhead of Westwell House, Tenterden, Kent.
£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 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, and folded once for postage. Thirty-one lines of text. Signed ‘H.

[A. & C. Black, Edinburgh publishers, to Cambridge educationalist Oscar Browning.] Manuscript Letter, signed ‘A. &. C. Black’, granting Browning permission to use material from his Encyclopaedia Britannica articles in books on Dante and Goethe.

Author: 
A. & C. Black, Edinburgh and London publishers [Oscar Browning (1837-1923), Cambridge educationalist and historian]
Publication details: 
10 July 1891; on letterhead of A. & C. Black, 4, 5 and 6 Soho Square, London.
£45.00

See the entries in the Oxford DNB on Browning and firm’s founder Adam Black (1784-1874). 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded three times. Addressed to ‘Oscar Browning Esq’ and signed ‘A. &. C. Black’. The firm is replying to a note of Browning’s of 7 July 1891, ‘desiring our assent to the separate publication in book form of your Articles, from the Ency[lopaedi]a Brit[annic]a. on Dante & Goethe’. They ‘have pleasure in complying therewith, on the usual understanding that the sources of the articles is duly acknowledged & a copy of the book sent to us when published’.

[Oscar Alfred Le Beau, Headmaster of the Lower School of John Lyon, Harrow on the Hill.] Inscribed copy of offprint ‘Halley’s Comet. / By / O. A. Le Beau, B.Sc.’

Author: 
O. A. Le Beau, B.Sc. [Oscar Alfred Le Beau (1885-1975), headmaster of the Lower School of John Lyon, Harrow on the Hill, 1926-1951; Halley’s Comet]
Publication details: 
‘Reprinted from the “Beds. Times and Independent,” April 8th, 1910.’
£120.00

Scarce: no copy on ViaLibri, OCLC WorldCat and JISC LHD. Stapled pamphlet. 7pp, 12mo. Unpaginated. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with light spotting and slightly rusted staples. Inscribed at head of cover: ‘With the author’s compliments / O. A. LeBeau’. Drophead title on third page: ‘HALLEY’S COMET. / BY O. A. LE BEAU, B.Sc. / [Mr. Le Beau is an O. B. of the Grammar School, whose Astronomical Notes in our columns some years ago many of our readers will no doubt remember. - ED.]’

[Oscar I, King of Norway and Sweden.] Part of document, with Autograph Signature (‘Oscar’), date and large embossed seal under paper.

Author: 
Oscar I, King of Sweden and Norway (born Joseph François Oscar Bernadotte; lived 1799-1859; reigned 1844-1859)
Oscar
Publication details: 
'Stockholms Slott [Stockholm Castle] den 6 Maj 1847.'
£56.00
Oscar

On 22 x 14 cm piece of laid paper, cut from the foot of a document. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with tiny closed tear to one edge. Folded three times. At head, in the kings hand: ‘[...] terrattelse lander. Stockholms Slott den 6 Maj 1847. / Oscar’. Directly beneath the firm, clear signature, is the embossed circular seal, under paper, 6 cm in diameter, with motto ‘OSCAR SVER NOR GOTH OCH W KONUNG / RATT OCH SANNING’.

[Oscar Hammerstein, American lyricist and librettist associated with Richard Rodgers.] Typed Note Signed ('Oscar') to W. J. Macqueen-Pope, regarding the opening of the London production of 'The King and I'.

Author: 
Oscar Hammerstein [Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II] (1895-1960), American lyricist, librettist, associated with composer Richard Rodgers [W. J. Macqueen-Pope]
Publication details: 
12 October 1953. On London letterhead of 'The King and I', Williamson Music Limited, 14 St George St, W.1.
£220.00

1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The printing of the letterhead, in red and black, extends along three edges, with decorations including an oriental-style architectural motif in front of a tree at bottom right. At the head of the page the letterhead reads 'Williamson presents The King and I as originally produced by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein 2nd.' The four directors of Williamson Music Limited are named at the foot, including Rodgers, Hammerstein and 'Louis Dreyfus (British formerly American)'. The note, addressed to 'Mr.

[Edmund Gwenn, English actor who won an Oscar for his role as 'Kris Kringle' in the Hollywood film 'Miracle on 34th Street'.] Three Autograph Letters Signed to 'Mr. Stuart', in one describing Henry Irving as the actor who impressed him most.

Author: 
Edmund Gwenn [Edmund John Kellaway] (1877-1959), English actor who worked with Alfred Hitchcock and won an Oscar for his role as Kris Kringle in the 1947 Hollywood film 'Miracle on 34th Street'
Publication details: 
21, 23 and 26 January 1939. The first from the University Arms Hotel, Cambridge; the other two from the Royal Albion Hotel, Brighton.
£250.00

The three letters in good condition, lightly aged, tipped-in onto a leaf removed from an album. The first 1p, 12mo; the other two each 1p, 8vo. All three signed 'Edmund Gwenn'. In the first he thanks him for his 'great courtesy during my visit', and for reproducing 'that old programme'. In the second letter he acknowledges 'a further proof of your kindly interest', received at his hotel after sending his first letter. The article was 'extremely interesting', as was 'the Photograph of Irving in his robes', a copy of which, he asks to purchase.

[Sir John Mills, Oscar-winning actor.] Typed Letter Signed ('John Mills') to Mrs Richard Eyre, daughter of Charles Royds, First Lieutenant to Scott of the Antarctic, regarding research on the film, in which Mills starred as Scott.

Author: 
Sir John Mills [born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills] (1908-2005), Oscar-winning English film actor [Richard Eyre; Scott of the Antarctic]
Publication details: 
24 November 1947; Fernacres, Fulmer, Bucks.
£120.00

2pp, 12mo. On grey paper with letterhead of his name. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight staining tape staining to two corners from mount. Addressed to 'Mrs Richard Eyre, | Bullsmead, | Maiden Newton, | Dorset.' The subject of the letter is the preparation for the 1948 British film 'Scott of the Antarctic', in which Mills starred in the title role. The recipient is the mother of the noted English director Sir Richard Eyre (b. 1943), whose father Charles Royds was Scott’s First Lieutenant.

[T. E. B. Clarke, Oscar-winning screenwriter and crime writer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Tibby') to the novelist Barbara Kaye, discussing common acquaintances after the episode of the TV programme 'This Is Your Life' devoted to him.

Author: 
T. E. B. Clarke [Thomas Ernest Bennett 'Tibby' Clarke] (1907-1989), screenwriter who won an Oscar for 'The Lavender Hill Mob', and crime writer [Ealing Comedies; Barbara Kaye, novelist]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Tanners Mead, Oxted, Surrey. 10 November 1960.
£45.00

Other than 'The Lavender Hill Mob', for which he won an Oscar, Clarke's screenplays include 'The Blue Lamp' and 'The Titchfield Thunderbolt'. For the recipient Barbara Kaye [Barbara Kenrick Gowing] (1908-1998), writer, bookseller and wife of Percy Muir, see her obituary by Nicolas Barker in the Independent, 12 March 1998. The present letter was written a few days after Clarke's appearance on 31 October on the television programme 'This Is Your Life'. 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, aged and worn. Folded once. The letter begins: 'Dear Barbara, | Many thanks for your kind letter.

[Sir William Rothenstein, artist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Will Rothenstein'), to 'Horder', i.e. the architect Percy Morley Horder, giving a humorous spoof autobiographical entry, as a jokey suggestion of how Horder should approach the topic.

Author: 
Sir William Rothenstein (1872-1945), painter, printmaker, draughtsman, lecturer, and writer on art [Percy Richard Morley Horder (1870-1944), architect ]
Publication details: 
'Chelsea – Glebe Place | Sunday'. No place.
£220.00

1p, 8vo. Text clear and complete, on heavily chipped and worn thin paper, with loss to extremities. An unusual and revealing letter, in which Rothenstein gives his own jokey suggestion of how Horder should approach a biographical entry he has been asked to write, begins: 'My dear Horder – of course you will do it! “Mr W. R.

[Peter Ustinov, film and theatre actor.] Autograph Card Signed ('Peter (USTINOV)'), describing himself as a 'lousy correspondent', regarding his mother's death and his own 'shyness'.

Author: 
Peter Ustinov [Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov] (1921-2004), Academy Award winning film and theatre actor, author [his mother the artist Nadia Benois [Nadezhda Leontievna Ustinova] (1896-1975)]
Publication details: 
Paris. 23 June 1975.
£120.00

Seventeen lines of text, on both sides of a piece of grey card. In good condition. Written in felt-tip pen, and difficult to decipher in places, as for example the Paris address and name of recipient. Begins: 'Surprise, surprise, dear [?], it is no longer true that I have not answered a single letter. Dear Nadia was so popular a person that I am still struggling with an Everest of condolences, and this far happier event has given me a momentary pause in my labours'.

[ Charles Robert Maturin, author of 'Melmoth the Wanderer'. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('C. R. Maturin') to William Spooner, writh reference to a 'friendly letter' by Sir Walter Scott, and his family's 'romantic' history.

Author: 
Charles Robert Maturin [ C. R. Maturin ], Irish writer of gothic novels and plays, best-known for 'Melmoth the Wanderer'
Publication details: 
No place [ Dublin, Ireland ]. 15 August [ no year ].
£600.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, aged and worn. The breaking open of the wafer has resulted in slight loss at the beginning of Maturin's signature. Addressed on reverse to 'William Spooner Esqre | at Mr Millikin's | Grafton Street'. (His not writing of 'Dublin' implies that he is writing from the same place.) Maturin was the great-uncle of Oscar Wilde, who adopted the name 'Sebastian Melmoth' during his self-exile on the continent.

[ 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.

[ Allan Aynesworth [ Edward Abbot-Anderson ], actor. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Allan Aynesworth'), a letter of condolence to Lady Hall on the death of Sir Edward Marshall Hall.

Author: 
Allan Aynesworth [ Edward Abbot-Anderson] (1864-1959), English actor who had a leading role in the first production of 'The Importance of Being Earnest' by Oscar Wilde [ Sir Edward Marshall Hall ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 78 Portland Place, W.1. [ London ] 24 February 1927.
£100.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Addressed to 'Dear Lady Hall', and sending his 'sincere condolences on the death of Dear Ted', from whom he 'had received [...] so many acts of true friendship & kindness'. The loss is great to him and many of Hall's friends. The letter concludes: 'May it be of some solace to you & your Daughter to know how beloved he was!'

[ Sir Edward George Clarke, barrister who represented Oscar Wilde. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Edward Clarke'), reminiscing about a trial at which he considers his client was wrongly convicted, and commenting on his son William Francis Clarke.

Author: 
Sir Edward Clarke [ Sir Edward George Clarke ] (1841-1931), Conservative Solicitor-General who represented Oscar Wilde against the Marquis of Queensbury [ William Francis Clarke (1883-1961) ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Peterhouse, Staines [ Middlesex ]. 22 December 1927.
£90.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. He begins by expressing pleasure at having been asked to write his name in Tyrrell's copy of his book (probably 'Benjamin Disraeli', published in 1926). He also thanks him for 'the kind things said about me in your letter'. He has 'tried to be useful in various ways', and remembers 'the case you mention.

[ Printed item. ] Catalogue of Choice Books including a Collection of First & Rare Editions of the Works of Oscar Wilde. [ Including reproduction of caricature of Wilde by George Finch Mason. ]

Author: 
H. Gray & Co., London booksellers [ Oscar Wilde; George Finch Mason (1850-1915), English illustrator ]
Publication details: 
[Number Sixteen, New Series, 1930. ] H. Gray & Co. 188 Lewisham Road, London, S.E.13, and 8 Royal Parade, Blackheath, S.E.3.
£60.00

24pp., 8vo. Pagination includes the wraps, which carry the last two pages. With frontispiece plate: 'Oscar Wilde | Unpublished Caricature | By Finch Mason | [item 31]'. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, in worn and chipped wraps. Wilde's name has been underlined in red pencil on cover.

[ William Edward Frost, English artist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('W. E. Frost') to Joseph B. Cooke, regarding family illness and the gift of a photograph.

Author: 
W. E. Frost [ William Edward Frost ] (1810-1877), English artist specialising in female nudes, Royal Academician [ Joseph B. Cooke; Oscar Wilde ]
Publication details: 
46 Fitzroy Square [ London ]. 30 January 1875.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. On aged and worn paper. He regrets to inform him that 'we have still a sick house'. His 'dear Sister' has been 'very ill', but he trusts they are 'both mending'. He concludes: 'I have pleasure in enclosing a Photo of myself, and shll be pleased to be admitted to your collection'. Professor Joseph Bristow, in his paper 'Homosexual Blackmail in the 1890s', describes how, twenty years later (on 11 August 1894), at a party hosted at 46 Fitzroy Square by John Watson Preston, twenty men were arrested, including two dressed in women's clothing.

[ Edmund Gwenn, Oscar-winning actor, and Jan Hurst, composer and conductor. ] Autograph Signatures, with five others.

Author: 
Edmund Gwenn [ Teddy Gwenn ] (1877-1959), Oscar-winning English actor; Jan Hurst (c.1890-1967), composer and conductor, and Musical Director to the Brighton Corporation
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Bedford Hotel, Brighton. Undated [between 1929 and 1934].
£35.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The seven signatures are on top of one another, with the fifth in pencil and the others in ink. They read: 'Teddy Gwenn | [ ditto ] Michael | Lawrence | Sevier | Tommy Shale | Jan Hurst. | Patersen Story'. From the papers of Herman Finck (1872-1939), with whom Jan Hurst was connected. According to one authority: 'In 1929 [Hurst] secured the all year round post of Musical Director to the Brighton Corporation and as such, he was in charge of their Municipal Orchestra.

[ Don Ameche, American Oscar-winning actor. ] Autograph signature.

Author: 
Don Ameche [ Dominic Felix Amici ] (1908-1993), American Oscar-winning actor
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Savoy Hotel, London. Undated.
£30.00

Good firm inscription on 19.5 x 16 cm letterhead. In good condition, lightly aged and creased, with slight rust staining to top left-hand corner from paperclip. Inscription reads: 'Sincere best wishes | Don Ameche'.

[ George J. Firmage, literary critic. ] Folder of material relating to e. e. Cummings and his wife (christmas card from them, pamphlet by Holley Cantine inscribed by her, cuttings, offprint, photographs), with poem inscribed to him by Oscar Williams.

Author: 
George James Firmage (1928-2005), authority on e. e. Cummings [ Edward Estlin Cummings (1894-1962); Marion Morehouse Cummings (1906-69); 'Oscar Williams' [ pen-name of Oscar Kaplan (1900-1964)] ]
Publication details: 
Most items from New York City. Dating from between 1962 and 1972.
£320.00

George James Firmage was born in New York; attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1947-48) and College of the City of New York (1949); BA, New York University, 1952; pursued graduate study, University of Massachusetts, 1952-54; publications supervisor in advertising and marketing services department, First National City Bank, New York, 1954; wrote several books, including E.E. Cummings: a Miscellany (1958) and E.E. Cummings: a Bibliography; editor of A Garland for Dylan Thomas (1963) and of E.E. Cummings' Three Plays and a Ballet (1967).

'Ballade de la Geôle de Reading'. [Numbered copy of livre d'artiste': a French prose translation of Oscar Wilde's 'Ballad of Reading Gaol', with drypoint engravings by Robert Fonta.

Author: 
Oscar Wilde; Robert Fonta (1922-1976), illustrator; Société des Bibliophiles et Graveurs d'Aujourd'hui, Paris [Jacques Le Désert; Jean Brisset; Fequet et Baudier; Georges Visat]
Publication details: 
[Paris.] Bibliophiles et Graveurs d'Aujourd'hui. 1950.
£150.00

80 + [1]pp., 8vo. Unstitched signatures with brown paper wraps and grey boards, both with text in red. In plain black paper-covered slipcase. On reverse of half-title: 'Il a été tiré de cet ouvrage, imprimé sur Vélin de Rives, 110 exemplaires numérotés de 1 à 110, réservés aux Membres de la Société des Bibliophiles et Graveurs d'Aujourd'hui. | En outre, dix exemplaires numérotés de I à X ont été réservés à l'artiste et aux divers collaborateurs de l'édition. | Exemplaire No 35 imprimé pour M. Jacques Le Désert'.

[Oscar Eckhard, popular illustrator and artist.] Autograph Note Signed regarding 'Cowes drawing'.

Author: 
Oscar Eckhard (b.1862), popular illustrator and artist, contemporary of the poet Rupert Brooke at Rugby School, and lover of the classicist G. Lowes Dickinson
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 64 Glebe Place, Chelsea, SW [London]. No date, but dated on reverse in another hand July 1897, with stamp of the St James's Budget, 15 Dorset Street, Westminster.
£60.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Reads: 'Dear Sir/ | I beg to enclose my account for Cowes drawing. | Yrs truly | Oscar Eckhard'. On the reverse, in another hand: 'Oscar Eckhardt. [sic] | Popular Illustrator & artist. | (July 1897)', with stamp of the St James's Budget.

Two Autograph Letters Signed from the Oxford Professor of Fine Arts, Selwyn Image, to 'My dear Barnard' [Rev. P. M. Barnard?], regarding funghi and moths.

Author: 
Selwyn Image (1849-1930), Slade Professor of Fine Art at Oxford University [Rev. Percy Mordaunt Barnard (1868-1941) of Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent, antiquarian bookseller]
Publication details: 
Both from 20 Fitzroy Street, W.; 12 and 17 August 1908.
£175.00

Both items good, on aged paper. Written in Image's distinctive calligraphic hand. Letter One (12 August 1908): 1 p, 12mo. The 'Galatheas' arrived the previous evening 'quite safe'. 'Fancy your being at The Warren as well as at Deal! The Warren [Folkestone] is famous for being stocked with good things. You are indeed in the very heart of the richest entomological country in England.' Letter Two (17 August 1908): 2 pp, 12mo. He is delighted with 'these beautiful ochroleuca, which arrived this afternoon quite safely'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm: Melmoth') to 'my very dear Sophia [Walters]', exhibiting a warmth unusual in one writing 'at the advanced Age of eighty five'.

Author: 
William Melmoth the Younger (c.1710-1799), translator of Pliny and Cicero, and author of 'Fitzosborne's Letters' (1748, 1749) [Sophia Walters]
Publication details: 
Date and place not stated. Docketed in a contemporary hand: '1798 Written at the advanced Age of eighty five [sic, for 88]'.
£180.00

1 p, landscape 12mo (18.5 x 11.5 cm). Eleven long lines in a small neat hand. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Tipped in onto a piece of paper, 21 x 13 cm. The reference to Melmoth's 'advanced Age' is at the foot of the page. Docketed on reverse in a contemporary hand: 'From Mr. Melmoth to Mrs. Walters'. Begins: 'Believe me, my very dear Sophia, I am so truely [sic] your obedient servant in every affectionate & friendly sense of those terms, that there is no office in which you can employ me I shd.

[Printed] The Soul of Man under Socialism

Author: 
Oscar Wilde
Publication details: 
London, Privately Printed, 1904.
£100.00

[ii].87pp., printed paper wraps, light brown paper letters in red, No. 78 of 250 copies, on last page date in pencil 12/7/3, sl. chipping and fraying at edges which are sl. sunned

Typed Letter Signed to "Sydney Gutman. The Bermondsey Book[shop]".

Author: 
Frank Harris, author
Publication details: 
C/o The American Express Company, 2 rue du Congres, Nice. A.M. December 15, 1925.
£235.00

One page, 4to, punchholes, edges discoloured, mainly good condition. Two small additons in his hand. He thanks Gutman for his cheque and order for "three sets of Oscar Wilde" of which he can immediately supply two, the other to come from storage. One copy sent is the "Brentano's edition of New York" and he wonders if Gutman would prefer "my German editon. He has written to "Heath" [bookseller, partner of Gutman's] about copies of James Thomson's poems on his hands.

Autograph Signature, in roman script ('A. N. Roussoff').

Author: 
Alexandre Nicolaievich Roussoff [Alexandre Nicolaïevitch Roussoff or Volkoff-Muromsoff] (1844-1928), Russian artist and rival of Whistler
Publication details: 
Dated 'Cairo 1892'. On letterhead of the Cairo Continental Hotel.
£56.00

On piece of watermarked laid paper 12.5 x 13.5 cm. In fair condition: lightly-aged and creased. Clearly in response to a request for an autograph. Firmly written, with the signature 5.5 cm long. Reads 'A. N. Roussoff | Cairo 1892'. Roussoff famously wagered that he could produce a dozen pastels indistinguishable from those of Whistler. He lost the bet, and was 'obliged to take a course of mud baths after his defeat'.

A folio leaf containing seven 'Specimen Pages from Books made at the Walpole Printing Office in New Rochelle, N.Y, including the title-page and frontispiece of the limited edition of T. S. Eliot's 'John Dryden'.

Author: 
The Walpole Printing Office, in New Rochelle, N.Y. [Peter Beilenson; Edmund B. Thompson; Peter Pauper Press; Herb Roth; American fine printing; typography; T. S. Eliot]
Publication details: 
1929-1932. The Walpole Printing Office in New Rochelle, N.Y.
£120.00

Printed in black and sepia on both sides of a leaf of watermarked wove paper, 45 x 30 cm. On lightly-aged paper with one vertical and two horizontal fold lines. The seven sample pages feature a total of six illustrations, in a variety of styles, two by Herb Roth. The arrangement is as follows. Recto: Title ('Specimen Pages from Books made at the Walpole Printing Office in New Rochelle, N.Y. 1929-1932') with vignette of Walpole. Specimen One, titled 'Piratical Barbarity, &c.', with illustration of pirate ship by Roth. Specimen Two, title-page of T. S. Eliot's 'John Dryden. The Poet.

Autograph Letter Signed ('L. C. Purser') to the classical scholar John Percival Postgate (1853-1926).

Author: 
Louis Claude Purser (1854-1932), Classical scholar, President of the Royal Irish Academy, a fellow pupil of Oscar Wilde and close friend of Yeats's sister Lollie [Trinity College, Dublin]
Publication details: 
22 February 1915; 35 Trinity College, Dublin.
£80.00

4to, 1 p, 22 lines. On aged paper, with chipping at extremities neatly repaired with archival tape. Text clear and entire. He thanks him for his 'interesting paper', commenting on the 'Lucretian passage'. Postgate's 're-arrangement [...] is undoubtedly more attractive & logical than the ordinary arrangment, and as such I welcome it: but must we suppose always that artists do as well instinctively as they might if they had taken counsel?' 'Ex silentio I judge that all is well with you, as far as anything can be well for any of us these terrible times.

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