PICTURES

[English Social History: A working-class London cinema-goer.] Two exercise books, filled with 385 manuscript entries by ‘Miss Renee Fish’ of Catford, detailing ‘Films I have seen’, between 1930 and 1934, and 1939 and 1943, at various London cinemas.

Author: 
[English Social History: A working-class London cinema-goer in the 1930s and 1940s; the movies; the pictures; the flicks]
Publication details: 
‘Miss Renee Fish, / 112, Allerford Road / Catford, / S.E.6. [London]’ First exercise book: 272 entries between 3 January 1930 and 27 October 1934. Second exercise book: 113 entries between 12 June 1939 and 20 March 1943.
£450.00

An interesting agglomeration of ephemera London cinematic information. The author is working-class or lower-middle-class. Two sturdy ruled small 4to exercise books, with black covers of ribbed watered cloth and spine of red cloth. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: 150pp. Ownership inscription on inside of front cover: ‘Miss Renee Fish, / 112, Allerford Road / Catford, / S.E.6.’ The first page is headed: ‘31. 12. 29. Films I have seen during 1930.’ Each of the volume’ The entries are numbered from 1 to 272, with an additional numeration for each year from the second year onwards.

[Lawrence P. Bachmann, American film producer, head of Paramount British Productions Ltd.] Typed Letter Signed to ‘Miss Cond’, regarding two German films in the pipeline, 'The Phoenix' and 'The Lorelei', and her restaurant.

Author: 
Lawrence P. Bachmann [Lawrence Paul Bachmann], American film producer who settled in Britain as head of Paramount British Productions Ltd and then MGM British [Eileen M. Cond, autograph collector]
Publication details: 
2 December 1957. On letterhead of Paramount British Productions Ltd, Plaza Theatre Offices, Jermyn Street, London, S.W.1.
£120.00

1p, 4to. Addressed to 'Dear Miss Cond' and signed 'G P Bachmann'. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded twice for postage. He apologises for the late reply to her ‘nice note and the book-plate’. He gives details of two films he has been ‘terribly busy making’, ‘neither of them stories I wrote’: ‘The Phoenix is to start in Berlin this winter as a very big film with three big stars.

[‘A very nice little collection’: the 2nd Marquis of Hastings boasts about his picture collection.] Autograph Letter Signed regarding ‘the entry in the Leicester registry’ and a picture sent to him by the recipient.

Author: 
Marquis of Hastings [George Rawdon Hastings (1808-1844), 2nd Marquess of Hastings, 3rd Earl of Moira, 3rd Baron Rawdon], British peer and courtier [Donnington Park, Leicestershire]
Publication details: 
‘Donnington Park / Novr. 5th / 1836.’
£56.00

See the entry in the Oxford DNB for his father the 1st Marquis. 2pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and discoloured, with thin strip of glue from previous mount on reverse of second leaf. The recipient is not named, and he signs ‘Hastings’. The letter begins: ‘Dear Sir, / I made the necessary enquiries as to the entry in the Leicester registry (through a friend of our clergyman) & enclose his reply [not present] - I fear it is not what you wished for.’ He might get ‘more satisfactory information’ if the recipient can give a ‘better clue to go by’.

[ 'Edward Carrick', i.e. Edward Craig, art director, author and illustrator. ] Page proofs of his 'Designing for Moving Pictures'.

Author: 
'Edward Carrick' [ Edward Craig (1905-1998), art director, author and illustrator, son of Edward Gordon Craig (1872-1966) ]
Publication details: 
The Studio Publications, London & New York. Printed in England n Fosh & Cross Ltd., Mansell Street, London (Blackmore Press Ltd.).
£450.00

104pp., 4to. Unbound page proofs. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. In worn envelope with printed details of 'The Studio Publications', addressed to 'Edward Carrick, Esq., | G.P.O. Film Unit, | Soho Square, | London, W.C.', amended to '20 Gordon Place', 'W.8.' This was Craig's foremost work, highly influential. Comprising eight signatures of text, each initialled by him with the date 6 March 1941, seven of them with stamp in red ink: 'MARKED PROOF'; together with two signatures of illustrations on art paper, included in the pagination, one of them also signed and initalled.

[ Herman Wouk and the making of the 'Winds of War' television series. ] Eighteen Typed Letters Signed and three Autograph Letters Signed from Wouk to screenwriter Jack Pulman, with copies of Pulman letters, and other material relating to the project.

Author: 
Herman Wouk (b.1915), American novelist [ Jack Pulman (1925-1979), British screenwriter; Stanley Kallis; Dan Curtis (1927-2006), director; Paramount Pictures ]
Publication details: 
Washington, Los Angeles and London. Most of Wouk's letters on his Washington letterhead. Between 2 December 1977 and 22 April 1979.
£1,800.00

From the Jack Pulman papers. Pulman's distinguished career is well described on the British Film Institute's website, which descibes the background to this material, although its author us clearly unaware of the increasing tension between Pulman and Wouk revealed by material in the present collection: 'In early 1978 Paramount TV producer Stanley Kallis and author Herman Wouk approached Pulman to write a treatment (to be followed by a screenplay) for Wouk's sweeping World War Two novel 'The Winds of War'.

[ Jack Pulman, British screenwriter. ] Collection of material from his personal papers, including typescripts, drafts and correspondence relating to various projects including the 1970 film 'The Executioner'; and folders of film industry material.

Author: 
Jack Pulman (1925-1979), British screenwriter [ Charles H. Schneer; Ameran Films; George Peppard; Sam Wannamaker; Columbia Pictures ]
Publication details: 
From London and other locations. Dating from between 1964 and 1975.
£1,500.00

From the Jack Pulman papers. Pulman's distinguished career is well described on the British Film Institute's website. His work for British and American television gained him plaudits as an 'adaptor-extraordinary', beginning with a 1965 version of Thomas Mann's 'Buddenbrooks' for the BBC, and including Henry James's 'Portrait of a Lady' (BBC, 1968) and 'The Golden Bowl' (1972), as well as 'David Copperfield' (NBC, 1970), 'Jane Eyre' (NBC, 1971), 'War and Peace' (BBC, 1973), and the controversial 'I, Claudius' (BBC, 1976).

[ James Laver, museum curator and authority on fashion. ] Two Autograph Letters Signed (the first 'James Laver | Keeper of Prints') concerning purchases from bookseller Barry Duncan. With carbon copies of two of Duncan's letters.

Author: 
James Laver (1899-1975), art historian and authority on fashion, Keeper of Prints, Drawings and Paintings at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Publication details: 
Laver's two letters both on Victoria and Albert Museum letterheads, and dating from 30 December 1947 and 19 March 1948.
£120.00

Five items, in fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper, with slight rust staining from staple which held them together. Laver's two letters are both 2pp. long (one 8vo and one 12mo). The two relate to a collection of Dalziel wood-engravings, there being 'too many already in the Museum to justify our purchasing the collection in its entirety'. Laver suggests taking a selection of 100 engravings for £5, and with the second letter returns the residue, the price paid being £7 10s 0d. With Laver paying personally for two engravings damaged while in his care.

[ Percy Nash, English pioneering film director. ] Collection of miscellaneous material, from the Percy Nash papers, including typescripts of unpublished and unperformed plays, poetry collections, autobiographical account, correspondence.

Author: 
Percy Nash [ Percy Cromwell Nash ] (1869-1958), pioneering British film director and dramatist
Publication details: 
Most items undated, others from between 1923 and 1957. From London, Brighton and other locations.
£1,250.00

The material, from the Percy Nash papers, is in fair condition, with light signs of age and wear. It is arranged in the following description in ten sections. ONE: Two drafts of an autobiographical account by Nash, ending in 1933. Both 2pp., 4to. The first is headed 'Percy Nash' and the second 'PERCY NASH. born December 5th 1868'. Of interest are the following statements: 'Owing to indisposition of Harry Loveday, was engaged by Sir Henry Irving to Stage Manage (associated with Laurence) the production of "Robespierre" at the Lyceum Theatre, and remain with him for several years.

[ Sidney Morgan, English film director ] Autograph Letter Signed to fellow film-director Percy Nash, regarding the British Association of Film Directors and the 'great fight to obtain The Quota'.

Author: 
Sidney Morgan (1874-1946), English film director, who acted for Alfred Hitchcock [ [ Percy Nash [ Percy Cromwell Nash ] (1869-1958), film director and dramatist; Cinematograph Films Act of 1927 ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the British Association of Film Directors, The Players Club, Denman Street, London. 30 May 1927.
£90.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Nash is named on the letterhead as the Association's president, and Morgan as Honorary Secretary and Treasurer. The letter begins: Dear Percy / | For various reasons we did not get a largely attended meeting on Friday, but the better feeling between members seems still to grow.' Nash's 'protracted illness' has clearly necessitated his stepping down as president, and '[a]fter considerable discussion it was decided to ask Pearson & Elvey [i.e. George Pearson (1875-1973) and Maurice Elvey (1887-1967)] to be President & Vice with myself to continue'.

[ George Sanders, English film actor. ] Typically-caddish Autograph Inscription to a six-year-old girl, given during shooting of 'The Saint in London'. With autographs of the brothers John Paddy Carstairs (director) and Tony Keys.

Author: 
George Sanders (1906-1972), English film actor; John Paddy Carstairs [ born John Keys ] (1910-1970), film director, and his brother Tony Keys, film producer associated with Hammer Films
Publication details: 
No place [ Twickenham Film Studios]. April 1939.
£90.00

The three inscriptions are all on one side of an 18 x 16 cm leaf taken from an album. In good condition, lightly-aged. Given during the shooting of the RKO film 'The Saint in London' (1939), which Sanders starred in and Carstairs directed. Sanders writes, at the head of the page, 'To Anne | I want to see you in about 8 years time! | George Sanders | April 1939.' Beneath this is: 'Anne - let's make it seven! | John Paddy Carstairs: | '39.' And beneath Carstairs' inscription: 'Six years. X. | Tony Keys'. The recipient was the daughter off a cameraman at Twickenham Film Studios.

[Richard Redgrave, RA, English artist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Richd Redgrave') to the artist Walter Fryer Stocks, discussing his intention to teach landscape drawing in Leamington, and praising his painting 'The Last Gleam'.

Author: 
Richard Redgrave (1804-1888), RA, English artist, Surveyor of the Queen's Pictures,1857-1880 and art education reformer [Walter Fryer Stocks (1842-1915), English artist]
Publication details: 
18 Hyde Park Gate, South Kensington. Undated.
£56.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. On aged and worn paper. Addressed to 'Walter F. Stocks Esq'. He begins by pointing out that his daughter is not to blame for the late reply: 'it is my own fault my correspondence being somewhat in arrears'.

Printed Victorian handbill for 'Walford's Royal Military & Naval Warograph and Vocophone Company', including 'Walford's animated pictures by means of the most perfect Cinematograph', with Autograph Letter Signed from E. W. Walford to Wivenhoe School.

Author: 
[E. W. Walford, 'originator of the Walford Family's Entertainments'; Walford's Royal Military & Naval Warograph and Vocophone Company; Walford's Animated Pictures; Victorian cinema; Thomas Edison]
E. W. Walford, 'originator of the Walford Family's Entertainments'
Publication details: 
Handbill advertising show on 10 February [1902]. Letter dated 10 April [no year]; on Walford's letterhead, The Bungalow, Bletchingley, Surrey.
£325.00
E. W. Walford, 'originator of the Walford Family's Entertainments'

Surprisingly little is known about this British cinematographic pioneer, and these items are rare survivals, there being no reference to Walford on COPAC. Handbill: 8vo (27 x 21 cm). Printed on both sides. Clear and complete. Aged and creased, with damage at edges. In portrait 8vo on one side, with picture of British Army lancer and border of Union Flags. Headed 'Great Additions with Augmented Change of Artistes since last visit. | The Schoolroom, Watton. | Monday, February 10th.' 'Walford's Royal Military and Naval Warograph & Vocophone Co.

Autograph Signature of the English actress Anna Neagle.

Author: 
Dame Anna Neagle (1904-1986), English singer and stage and screen actress
Publication details: 
Undated.
£15.00

On rectangle of paper, laid down on leaf removed from autograph album. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Reads 'Good wishes | Anna Neagle.' With two newspaper cuttings carrying photographic portraits, one loose and one laid down to the left of the signature.

Signed Autograph Inscription by the English cinema actor Peter Haddon.

Author: 
Peter Haddon (1898-1962), English actor, whose career began in 1924 and ended in 1952
Publication details: 
Dated by Haddon 1928.
£12.00

On leaf removed from autograph album, with one set of rounded corners. In good condition. Reads ' Good Morning - Bill! | With every good wish | Yours Sincerely | Peter Haddon | 1928 -'. Together with a loose newspaper cutting carrying a photographic portrait.

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