SAWYER

[ B.P. Shillaber; humorist ] Autograph Note Signed B.P. Shillaber to a Walter G. Webster responding to a request for his autograph

Author: 
B.P. Shillaber [Benjamin Penhallow Shillaber (1814-1890), American printer, editor, and humorist.]
Publication details: 
Chelsea, Mass., 20 July 1872.
£50.00

Part of leaf from exercise book (it seems), 12.5 x 11.5cm, laid down on paper slightly larger, good condition. Dear Sir: I comply with your request very willingly, and subscribe myself Yours autographically | and truly | B.P. Chillaber | for sef and | Mrs Partington.

['Mark Twain' (Samuel Langhorne Clemens), great American writer.] Envelope addressed to 'S. L. Clement, Esqr. | "Mark Twain"', at 'Buckenham Hall', and forwarded to 88 Brook Street, with annotations and eight postmarks.

Author: 
'Mark Twain', pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), great American writer, creator of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, described by William Faulkner as 'the father of American literature'
Twain
Publication details: 
Sent from Belfast to Brandon in Norfolk, and then on to London. November 1887.
£90.00
Twain

8.5 x 14 envelope. In fair condition, aged and creased. Torn open, with slight loss to flap. A nice Mark Twain artefact, and something of a puzzle, as he does not appear to have been in England at the time. There does not appear to be any connection between Twain and William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst (1835-1909), 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney, whose London address was 88 Brook Street, Grosvenor Square.

[Edward Capern, 'the Postman Poet' and 'Devonshire Burns'.] Autograph Letter Signed to the poet William Kingston Sawyer, thanking him for a photograph and book of his verses ('Ten Miles from Town').

Author: 
Edward Capern (1819-1894), 'the Postman Poet' and 'Devonshire Burns' [William Kingston Sawyer (1828-1882); Edward Litt Leman Blanchard (1820-1889); Bryan Waller Procter (1787-1874)]
Publication details: 
Rock Villa Harborne, Birmingham. 27 August 1869.
£220.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged paper. Addressed to 'My Dr Sawyer'. He begins by thanking him for the photograph: 'Whenever I look on it - and I shall do so often - I shall be reminded of the fourth gentle poet who did all he could to make a few pleasant hours for a humble brother <?> during his short sojourn in the great metropolitan maze of this England of ours'.

[Sir Arthur Penn, Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.] Two Typed Letters Signed and one Autograph Letter Signed to the London booksellers Chas. J. Sawyer Ltd, regarding orders by her and casting light on her book-buying practices.

Author: 
Sir Arthur Horace Penn (1886-1960), Treasurer to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother [Chas. J. Sawyer, booksellers, 12 & 13 Grafton Street, London]
Publication details: 
All three letters on Clarence House letterheads.28 May and 20 October 1954 (both typed); and 21 October 1957 (in autograph).
£160.00

The three items are in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. One is slightly creased, and the other two carry minor traces of rust from a paperclip. All three are accompanied by their envelopes, each bearing a circular royal stamp in purple, and a 'LONDON SW1 OFFICIAL PAID' postmark in red. ONE: 28 May 1954. 1p., 12mo. 'I am commanded by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother to thank you for your letter, and for the leaflet announcing a reproduction of the "Album of Redouté".

[W. T. Spencer, London bookseller and Dickens specialist.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to Miss Winifred Bois, urging her to buy a volume of drawings in a double case. With Autograph Letter Signed on the subject from Bois to London bookseller Sawyer.

Author: 
W. T. Spencer [Walter Thomas Spencer] (d.1936) of 27 New Oxford Street, bookseller specialising in Dickensiana
Publication details: 
Spencer's two letters both from Grange House, Shanklin, Isle of Wight. 23 and 26 February [1931]. Bois's letter to Sawyer: on letterhead of 32 Phillimore Walk, Kensington, London, W8. 14 March 1966.
£120.00

Spencer was a sharp operator (see Mandelbrote ed., 'Out of Print and into Profit', pp.285-287) and the present items give an hint of his methods. (The two letters are addressed from the premises at which his staff were said to practice their 'sophistications'.) His two letters (both signed 'W. T. Spencer') are in good condition, on lightly-aged and worn paper, with the second dated by Bois to 1931. Bois's letter (signed 'Winifred Bois') is in fair condition, with a short closed tear along one edge. Letter One: Spencer to Bois, 23 February [1931].

Typed Letter Signed ('Beaverbrook') from the press baron Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, proprietor of the Daily Express, to the London bookseller Charles J. Sawyer, regarding 'the United States Tariff Act'.

Author: 
William Maxwell "Max" Aitken (1879-1964), 1st Baron Beaverbrook [Lord Beaverbrook], Anglo-Canadian press baron, proprietor of the Daily Express [Charles J. Sawyer, London bookseller]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Lord Beaverbrook's Office, 29 Bury Street, St James', SW1 [London]. 14 July 1930.
£60.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with strip from mount adhering at head of blank reverse. He thanks Sawyer for his letter: 'I am obliged to you for sending me the front page of the United States Tariff Act'. 'The Americans are out for their own prosperity all the time. I only wish our own Government would show the same propensity.' He addresses the letter to 'Chas. J. Sawyer, Esq., 12 & 13, Grafton Street, New Bond Street, W.1.

Typed Letter Signed ('Fitzroy Maclean') from Sir Fitzroy Maclean, thanking the London bookseller R. E. B. Sawyer for giving his opinion of his botanical drawings.

Author: 
Sir Fitzroy Maclean (1911-1996), Scottish soldier and author best-known for 'Eastern Approaches' [R. E. B. Sawyer of the London booksellers Charles J. Sawyer & Co]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Strachur House, Argyll [Scotland]. 25 April 1978.
£120.00

1p., 12mo. On light-blue paper. In good condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. He thanks Sawyer for his letter and enclosure, found on his return and read 'with the greatest interest'. 'It was extremely kind of you to come and look at my botanical drawings and I am most grateful for the information you have been able to give me. It was marvellous to be able to have the opinion of a real expert.'

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