SERVICE

[Burma Frontier Service;Evelyn Waugh's batman] 105 items: confidential correspondence, memoranda, reports, printed docs, telegrams, cuttings) relating to R.E.S. Tanner's BFS application and training, including a Civil Affairs Staff Centre course.

Author: 
Burma Frontier Service; Civil Affairs Staff Centre, Wimbledon; Ralph Esmond Selby Tanner (1921-2017), Social Anthropologist, East African colonial administrator, Evelyn Waugh's batman
Publication details: 
Burma and London (including Whitehall and the Civil Affairs Staff Centre, Southlands House, Wimbledon Common). Between 1946 and 1948.
£850.00

For biographical details of Dr R. E. S. Tanner, see the end of this description. Brown card folder (by The Parker File Co. Ltd, Rangoon), housing 105 items (confidential correspondence, memoranda, applications, advisory and information documents, reports, telegrams, newspaper cuttings) relating to Tanner's application and training for a Civil Affairs post in Burma, including material from the training course he undertook at the Civil Affairs Staff Centre, Wimbledon. The folder and its contents are in fair condition, lightly-aged and worn.

[Spike Milligan, influential British comedian, originator of 'The Goon Show'.] Good bold Autograph Signature, on a leaf from an album.

Author: 
Spike Milligan [Terence Alan Milligan] (1918-2002), British comedian, originator of the BBC radio series 'The Goon Show', in which he performed with Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe and Michael Bentine
Spike Milligan
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£35.00
Spike Milligan

See his entry, and those of Sellers, Secombe and Bentine, in the Oxford DNB. On 11.5 x 10 cm leaf of light-blue paper, extracted from an album. In good condition, lightly aged, with short crease to one corner. Nothing else is written on either side of the leaf, apart from the large spidery signature 'Spike Milligan'. See Image.

[Charles de Gaulle, army officer and statesman] Flamboyant Autograph Signature C. de Gaulle on an Oxford College headed notepaper, with the signatures of William Walton and Malcolm Sergant on reverse. WITH; Programme of former's Memorial Servic.

Author: 
Charles de Gaulle, army officer and statesman [William Walton, composer; Malcolm Sargent, conductor].
Publication details: 
[Headed notepaper] The Provost's Lodgings | Oriel Collegeg | Oxford. No date
£400.00

One page of letterheard, 12mo, minor foxing not affecting text. WITH: Printed Programme for the Memorial Service for Charles de Gaulle former President of the French Republic 1890 1970, in St Paul's Cathedral, pamphlet, 10 pp.4to, fold mark down middle. See Images.

[Kenneth Horne, much-loved comedian whose BBC radio series included 'Round the Horne'.] Autograph Note Signed, cut from a letter, regarding Frank Muir, pronunciation and a taxi to the Savoy.

Author: 
Kenneth Horne (1907-1969), much-loved comedian with three BBC radio series ‘Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh’ (1944–54), ‘Beyond Our Ken’ (1958–64) and ‘Round the Horne’ (1965–68) [Frank Muir (1920-1998)]
Horne
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£35.00
Horne

See Horne and Muir's entries in the Oxford DNB. On one side of 8.5 x 20.5 piece of paper cut from the conclusion of a letter. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. With fold from postage. Good firm signature. Reads: 'Re above from Frank Muir, I pronounced the name to my taxi-driver and had no difficulty. After he had taken me to the Savoy I came back here and had a marvellous meal / Kenneth Horne'. See image.

[James Smith, humorist, co-author with his brother Horace Smith of the celebrated ‘Rejected Addresses’ (1812).] Autograph Letter Signed to John Wilson Croker, regarding his post as Assistant Solicitor to the Board of Ordnance.

Author: 
James Smith (1775-1839), humorist, co-author with his brother Horace Smith [Horatio Smith] (1779-1849) of the ‘Rejected Addresses’ (1812) [John Wilson Croker (1780-1857), politician and diarist]
Publication details: 
‘18 Austin Friars [London] / 26 June 1826’.
£120.00

See his entry, and those of his brother and the recipient, in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 4to. Bifolium. The letter had been torn in half, with loss of a strip of paper from the second leaf, resulting in damage to a couple of words from the valediction; it has been carefully repaired with archival tape, and is otherwise in fair condition, lightly aged, with slight fading of the ink on the first page. The large signature ‘James Smith’ is clear and undamaged. Addressed to ‘J. W. Croker Esq’. An interesting letter, casting light on the workings of the Georgian civil service.

[Marghanita Laski, novelist, journalist and radio personality.] Autograph Letter Signed to Philip Dosse, editor of ‘Books and Bookmen’, explaining her reasons for postponing future reviewing.

Author: 
Marghanita Laski [née Esther Pearl Laski] (1915-1988), novelist, journalist and radio personality [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’]
Publication details: 
15 December 1973; on letterhead of Capo di Monte, Windmill Hill, London NW3 (with upside-down letterhead of Les Forges de Montgaillard, 11 Mouthoumet).
£56.00

See her 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 1p, small 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded.. Signed ‘Marghanita Laski’. She had no fears about the cheque for £50 he has sent: ‘I knew it would turn up.’ She thanks him for offering her ‘some reviewing.

[Sir William Beveridge, C. E. R. Sherrington and the Railway Research Service.] Forty-one items of correspondence regarding accommodation, staff, and administrative matters, including some to and from Beveridge as Director of the LSE.

Author: 
William Henry Beveridge [Lord Beveridge], economist; C. E. R. Sherrington [Charles Ely Rose Sherrington]; Railway Research Service, LSE; Sir Josiah Stamp; Robert Bell, Assistant General Manager, LNER
Publication details: 
Material dating from 1929. [Railway Research Service, initially at The London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), Houghton Street, Aldwych, London, WC2, and latterly of 4 Cowley Street.]
£1,500.00

41 items from the papers of the railway economist C. E. R. Sherrington [Charles Ely Rose Sherrington] (1897-1973). Sherrington was the son of the Nobel-prize winning physiologist Sir Charles Scott Sherrington (1857-1952). Having served in France with the Oxfordshire Light Infantry and the Railway Transport Establishment of the British Expeditionary Force, Sherrington was lecturer in Economics and Transportation at Cornell University from 1922 to 1924. Returning to Britain, he was Secretary of the Railway Research Service from 1924 to 1962.

[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.] Carbon of Typed BBC script of ‘2nd Broadcast’ in the series ‘Theatre Songs and Stories / by / W. Macqueen-Pope’, on the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Author: 
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and its historian, W. Macqueen-Pope [Walter James Macqueen-Pope] (1888-1960) [BBC Radio]
Publication details: 
Undated, but shortly after the death of Ivor Novello on 6 March 1951. [BBC Radio, London.]
£120.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. His entry in the Oxford DNB describes how, in the 1950s, he was ‘in demand as a lecturer on the theatrical subjects he loved, and he appeared often in the same capacity on radio and on television. Ironically he regarded these two forms of public entertainment, and television in particular, as representing a serious threat to the survival of theatre, about which he cared passionately’.

[W. J. Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian.] 27 items: fifteen Typed Scripts of BBC broadcasts, including eleven concerning different London theatres, five earlier drafts, three sets of music lists and two letters to MP from BBC producer Mary Treadgold.

Author: 
W. J. Macqueen-Pope [Walter James Macqueen-Pope], theatre historian and theatre manager, associated in particular with the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London [Mary Treadgold, BBC producer; British Broa
Publication details: 
Treadgold’s two letters from the BBC,200 Oxford Street, London, both dated 1951. Three of MP’s scripts dated from the same year, and the rest of the material from around this time.
£1,500.00

The material collected here is perhaps unique: it is not clear whether any material relating to Macqueen-Pope’s BBC broadcasts has survived elsewhere. It is hard to overestimate the significance of ‘Popie’ to the history of the London stage. Other items from among his papers offered seperately attest to the regard in which he was held by both actors and those behind the scenes, as the foremost chronicler of a cherished era that was quickly passing into oblivion.

[Mabel Constandurous, star and writer of BBC radio series ‘The Buggins Family’.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to her agent ‘Miss Booth', discussing the success of her radio work, a fan letter from Compton Mackenzie, future engagements.

Author: 
Mabel Constanduros [Mabel Tilling] (1880-1957), commedienne and playwright, who wrote and starred in the BBC radio series ‘The Buggins Family’
Publication details: 
Neither item dated (but both after 1928). The first without place, the second on letterhead of Belhaven, Cornwall Road, Sutton.
£180.00

According to Barry Took’s entry on Constanduros in the Oxford DNB, ‘The Buggins Family’ was ‘the first radio family’, and she played all six parts, writing and performing in more than 250 episodes between and 1928 and 1948: ‘The popularity of the family was such that the Ministry of Food used Mrs Buggins to broadcast recipes during the Second World War.’Constanduros is also credited with having written more than one hundred plays. The recipient of these two letters, 'Miss Booth', is clearly her agent. Two items, the first in good condition and the second fair, on lightly discoloured paper.

[William Govett Romain, as Second Secretary to the Admiralty.] Autograph Signature (‘W. G. Romaine’) with accompanying text filling in printed 'communication' appointing William Mullice ‘Gunner, 2d Class, Additional’ on board HMS Cumberland.

Author: 
W. G. Romaine [William Govett Romaine] (1815-1893), English barrister, civil servant and colonial administrator [William Mullice]
Publication details: 
11 April 1861; on board ‘H.M.S. “Excellent” / WW Portsmouth.’
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, tall 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged; folded twice. In the following transcription the manuscript parts are in square brackets: ‘By Command of the Commissioners for Executing the Office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, &c.

[Christopher Fry, playwright.] Two items from his papers: an American first edition of his play 'A Yard of Sun', together with proof leaves of a later printing of the play, entirely reset.

Author: 
Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright, with Auden and Eliot a leading exponent of twentieth-century verse drama
Publication details: 
First edition: O.U.P. [Oxford University Press], New York. 1970. Proofs undated and without publishing details. [New York: Dramatists Play Service Inc. 1998?]
£450.00

The two items are from the playwright's own papers. FIRST EDITION: [8] + 113pp, 8vo. A good tight copy in lightly-aged brown cloth and price-clipped cream dustwrapper with attractive design by Edward Blakeney in brown and black on front cover, and slight chipping to bottom edge at back. Label with English price on back of dustwrapper. No autograph interpolations. PROOFS: 96pp, 8vo. Duplicated printed pages, each page on a separate leaf. Paginated 1-96.

[UK Foreign Office view on US military bases in the Spain of General Franco; MI5.] Typewritten Foreign Office briefing document titled ('c) The purpose of the United States agreement with SPAIN.'

Author: 
UK Office, Information Research Department; General Franco; Spain; United States overseas military bases; Special Intelligence Service
Publication details: 
[United Kingdom Foreign Office, Whitehall, London. Circa 1953.]
£250.00

From a batch of Foreign Office documents, including material from the Information Research Department (for whose activities, financed from the budget of the Special Intelligence Service, otherwise MI6, see The Times, 17 August 1995; and also Michael Cullis's obituary of Sir John Peck in the Independent, 20 January 1995). Duplicated typescript headed: '(c) The purpose of the United States agreement with SPAIN.' 4pp, foolscap 8vo, paginated '(c) 1' to '(c) 4'. Complete, with catchwords to the first three pages. In good condition, lightly aged.

[Apartheid in South Africa and British Foreign Office] Foreign Office briefing document titled 'The measures which have been taken to establish the policy of APARTHEID in South Africa and its effect on the European, Indian and African communities'.

Author: 
Apartheid in South Africa and the British Foreign Office [Information Research Department; Special Intelligence Service]
Publication details: 
[United Kingdom Foreign Office, Whitehall, London. Circa 1953.]
£280.00

From a batch of Foreign Office documents, including material from the Information Research Department (for whose activities, financed from the budget of the Special Intelligence Service, otherwise MI6, see The Times, 17 August 1995; and also Michael Cullis's obituary of Sir John Peck in the Independent, 20 January 1995). Duplicated typescript. Headed: '(g) The measures which have been taken to establish the policy of APARTHEID in South Africa and its effect on the European, Indian and African communities.' 10pp, foolscap 8vo. Pagination on pp.2-10 preceded by '(g)'.

[Burma Frontier Service;Evelyn Waugh's batman] 105 items: confidential correspondence, memoranda, reports, printed docs, telegrams, cuttings) relating to R.E.S. Tanner's BFS application and training, including a Civil Affairs Staff Centre course.

Author: 
Burma Frontier Service; Civil Affairs Staff Centre, Wimbledon; Ralph Esmond Selby Tanner (1921-2017), Social Anthropologist, East African colonial administrator, Evelyn Waugh's batman
Publication details: 
Burma and London (including Whitehall and the Civil Affairs Staff Centre, Southlands House, Wimbledon Common). Between 1946 and 1948.
£1,750.00

For biographical details of Dr R. E. S. Tanner, see the end of this description. Brown card folder (by The Parker File Co. Ltd, Rangoon), housing 105 items (confidential correspondence, memoranda, applications, advisory and information documents, reports, telegrams, newspaper cuttings) relating to Tanner's application and training for a Civil Affairs post in Burma, including material from the training course he undertook at the Civil Affairs Staff Centre, Wimbledon. The folder and its contents are in fair condition, lightly-aged and worn.

[Flatbush Motor Corps, National League for Woman's Service, New York.] Programme of entertainment in aid of the Corps, including 'Houdini | The World's Greatest Mystifier' and 'The Celebrated Creator of the Jazz Dance Craze' Bert Kelly.

Author: 
Flatbush Motor Corps, National League for Woman's Service, New York [Harry Houdini; Bert Kelly's Famous Band; Red Cross]
Publication details: 
[Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York.] Flatbush Theatre, Church and Flatbush Avenues. 9 December 1918.
£220.00

[40]pp., small 4to. Stapled in brown printed wraps. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Title from cover, where it is printed in blue, enclosed in a border of US flags, with clutch of four flags (UK Red Ensign, Cuban, French, US) in blue and red at head. Filled with advertisements, including an illustrated full-page one inside the front cover for 'Dodge Brothers | Convertible Car'.

[ John Latchford and Thomas Meates, King's Messengers in the foreign service. ] Material relating to them and their families, mainly transcriptions by C. E. Meates, but with some originals. With other material including a memorandum by Lewis Hertslet

Author: 
John Latchford (1778-1833) and Thomas Meates (1768-1836), King's Messengers; Lewis Hertslet (1787-1870) of the Foreign Office [ The King's Messenger Service; C. E. Meates of the Pioneer Corps ]
Publication details: 
[ The King's Messenger Service, London. ] Original documents from the 1820s and 1830s from Paris, Brussels and the Hague;, and C. E. Meates's writing from the 1930s to 1960s.
£950.00

For an overview of the post of King's Messenger, see 'The Cambridge History of British Foreign Policy', ed. Ward and Gooch, vol.3 (1923), which states that during the two men's time in the post (i.e. in 1822) 'the number of the corps was raised to thirty-eight. Eighteen of these were placed under the immediate orders of the Foreign Office for foreign service only. They were required to be British subjects, not over thirty-five years of age, good linguists and good horsemen; and the choosing of them rested in turn with each of the three Secretaries of State'.

[ Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford. ] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'Longford') to the music critic R. A. Streatfeild regarding the suitability as a groom or chauffeur of his 'fellow countryman' Leonard, for whom he has a 'sneaking liking'.

Author: 
Thomas Pakenham, 5th Earl of Longford [ Lord Silchester to 1887 ] (1864-1915), Irish politician and soldier [ R. A. Streatfeild [ Richard Alexander Streatfeild ] (1866-1919), music critic ]
Publication details: 
On letterheads of 44 Byranston Square, W. [ London ] 11 and 12 May 1911.
£60.00

The two letters in good condition, on lightly aged paper. ONE: 2pp., 12mo. He begins by stating that he 'knew Leonard pretty well in the 2nd Life G[uar]ds., he was a good fellow, but rough and wild - he came from Mullingar, my local capital, a good man with a horn but too heavy for a groom'. He could not give Leonard 'a better character than the regiment has done', and if 'his knee is too bad for him to soldier it probably would prevent him being a groom anywhere [...] he occasionally came before me for punishment - and as a fellow countryman I took an interest in him'.

[ Lord George Hamilton, Conservative politician. ] Autograph Letter in the third person to Percy Noble, recommending Ernest Peeke as a footman.

Author: 
Lord George Hamilton (1845-1927), British Conservative politician, First Lord of the Admiralty, 1885-1886, and Secretary of State for India, 1895-1903
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Deal Castle, Deal. 25 February 1910.
£50.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Hamilton can 'confidently recommend' Peeke 'as a reliable honest & capable footman. He is very steady, a trifle slow at taking in <?> but remembers all he is told. He is a good valet. Lord George is sorry to lose him.'

[ Arthur Joseph Munby, diarist and poet. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('A. J. Munby') to the bookseller Bertram Dobell, regarding two lost postal orders.

Author: 
A. J. Munby [ Arthur Joseph Munby ] (1828-1910), diarist, poet and barrister obsessed with women in service [ Bertram Dobell (1842-1914), bookseller and literary scholar ]
Publication details: 
Ripley, Sussex. 23 September 1894.
£65.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. The letter concerns two missing postal orders, regarding which Munby reports that he has made enquiries with 'the Ripley postmaster'. He discusses the question, giving the numbers of the postal orders, and writes: 'The postmaster tells me that, as the Orders were crossed, the G. P. O. will (unless by any chance the Orders have been cashed) repay the £1. 4.

[ Henry Ferne, Receiver General; Secret Service ] Autograph Signature ('Hen: Ferne') on manuscript receipt of payment from fund 'for Secrett Service'.

Author: 
Henry Ferne, Receiver General, and Cashier of His Majesty's Customs [ Richard Porter; English secret service; Stuart spying; espionage ]
Publication details: 
[ His Majesty's Customs, London. ] 24 December 1701.
£220.00

1p., on 24 x 16cm. piece of paper. The first part of the document reads: 'Recorded 24 Decembr 1701 | Received of the Lord ffitcharding three hundred pounds part of an Order of ten thousand two hundred pounds out of the 4½ P Cents for Secrett Service'. Below this, in the right-hand margin, Ferne has written: 'Three Hundred Pounds | Hen: Ferne | ple of 10200 | Pr Secret Service | 22 Decr. 1701'. At the foot of the page, in another hand: 'Witness. | Rd: Porter'.

[ Henry Ferne, Receiver General; Secret Service ] Autograph Signature ('Hen: Ferne') on manuscript receipt of payment from fund 'for Secrett Service'.

Author: 
Henry Ferne, Receiver General, and Cashier of His Majesty's Customs [ Richard Porter; English secret service; Stuart spying; espionage ]
Publication details: 
[ His Majesty's Customs, London. ] 24 December 1701.
£80.00

1p., on 24 x 16cm. piece of paper cut from Customs' ledger. The first part of the document reads: 'Recorded 24 Decembr 1701 | Received of the Lord ffitcharding three hundred pounds part of an Order of ten thousand two hundred pounds out of the 4½ P Cents for Secrett Service'. Below this, in the right-hand margin, Ferne has written: 'Three Hundred Pounds | Hen: Ferne | ple of 10200 | Pr Secret Service | 22 Decr. 1701'. At the foot of the page, in another hand: 'Witness. | Rd: Porter'.

[ Northcote-Trevelyan Report, 1854. ] Six items: long letter from Herries to Northcote in defence of the civil service; Northcote's reply; Herries' rejoinder; letter from Frederick Goulburn to Herries; two printed papers by George Arbuthnot.

Author: 
Northcote-Trevelyan Report, 1854 [ Sir Charles John Herries; Sir Stafford Northcote [ Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh ]; George Arbuthnot; Frederick Goulburn; Civil Service reform ]
Publication details: 
The six items from 1854. Northcote's letter from the Pynes, Exeter; Herries from the 'I[nland]. R[evenue].' and 114 Piccadilly; Goulburn from the Board of Customs [ London ]; and one of Arbuthnot's papers 'Printed at the Foreign Office'.
£1,650.00

Lord Hennessy has characterised the subject of these items, the Northcote-Trevelyan Report of 1854, as 'the greatest single governing gift of the nineteenth to the twentieth century: a politically disinterested and permanent Civil Service with core values of integrity, propriety, objectivity and appointment on merit, able to transfer its loyalty and expertise from one elected government to the next'.

[ The Civil Service Life-Boat Fund. ] Two Autograph Volumes by Honorary Secretary Charles Dibdin, including minutes, accounts, lists of offices and addresses, and corrected printed lists of Civil Service employees.

Author: 
The Civil Service Life-Boat Fund, London, British charity founded in 1866, now named the Lifeboat Fund [ Charles Dibdin (1849-1910), Honorary Secretary ]
Publication details: 
[ The Civil Service Life-Boat Fund, London. ] 'Charles Dibdin | Honorary Secretary | 14 John Street, Adelphi, W.C.' 1892 and 1897.
£750.00

The Civil Service Life-Boat Fund (now the Lifeboat Fund) was founded by a group of civil servants wishing to donate a single lifeboat to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. In 1866 they issued an appeal for £300 to government offices and raised the sum within a year. Since then the charity has supplied the RNLI with more than fifty lifeboats, which have saved nearly five thousand lives. The present two volumes, for 1892 and 1897, are uniform in heavily-worn halfbindings with black cloth spines and marbled boards.

[ Vera Dart, social worker and Labour Party politician. ] Duplicated Typescript of unpublished autobiography titled 'My Six Lives in a Changing World'.

Author: 
Vera Dart (1892-1984), social worker and Labour Party politician, born in Liverpool [ Women's Voluntary Service for Civil Defence; London County Council ]
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated. [ London, c. 1977. ]
£400.00

[3] + ii + 152pp., 4to. Perfect bound, with each page on a separate leaf. In fair condition, aged and a little dogeared. Title-page reinforced at fore-edge. Missing the last page or so of the 'Conclusion'.

[ United States Postal Service. ] Folder of 35 printed publicity items, including 22 issues of the 'Philatelic Release' of the 'Information Service | Post Office Department', posters for postmasters' bulletin boards,

Author: 
[ United States Postal Service ]
Publication details: 
United States Postal Service, Washington, D.C. Dating from between 1960 and 1966.
£220.00

The collection of 37 items (35 publicity items and two cables) is in good condition, in a blue card folder. The following description is divided into seven parts. ONE: 22 issues of the 'Philatelic Release' of the 'information Service | Post Office Department', dating from between 22 October 1965 and 11 June 1966. Totalling 51pp., 8vo. An incomplete run. Giving information relating to the new releases of stamps, including 'the John F.

[ Auxiliary Territorial Service in the Second World War. ] Album of Junior Commander Kathleen Wynne-Edwards, commander of 'five Platoons, on the average 220 strong' at Prestatyn, containing original photographs, letters, circulars, cuttings, ephemera

Author: 
Kathleen Violet M. Wynne-Edwards [ née Touzel ] (1895-1978) of the ATS [ Auxiliary Territorial Service ], wife of Lieut-Col. John Copner Wynne-Edwards (1891-1967)
Publication details: 
2nd Signal Training Centre, Prestatyn, North Wales. Between 1939 and 1942.
£400.00

The material is laid down and loosely inserted on 39pp. of a folio album with paper covers (the ATS badge drawn on the front). The album itself is aged and worn, but the material inside is in good condition, with light aging.Biographical information on Wynne-Edwards is given in a loosely-inserted copy of an autograph letter to 'Mrs.

[ Sir Archibald Spicer Hurd, naval authority. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('A S H.') to 'Mr Service' (of the publishers Seeley & Co.), complaining about the severity of a proposed contract for a series of articles.

Author: 
Sir Archibald Spicer Hurd (1869-1959) [ Seeley, Service and Co., London publishers ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 6 Stafford Terrace, Plymouth.
£65.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Written in pencil. A long and interesting complaint, casting an interesting light on the journalistic practices of the period. Hurd begins without preamble, pointing out, with reference to a previous letter, that he 'never promised 35000 words', and stating that the publisher 'would doubtless be able to put in a few extra illustrations to fill it out'.

[ The National Health Service Bill, 1946. ] Printed circular to members of the British Medical Association, from its Secretary Charles Hill, explaining the purpose of an 'Emergency Guarantee Fund' set up in case of 'any conflict which might arise'.

Author: 
Charles Hill [ Baron Hill of Luton (1904-1989) ], Secretary, British Medical Association, London [ The National Health Service Bill ]
Publication details: 
'D.25 | 1945-46'. British Medical Association House, Tavistock Square, London, W.C.1. March, 1946.
£65.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and creased. An interesting piece of ephemera, relating to one of the most significant events in the history of modern Britain. The recto of the first leaf carries Hill's circular letter, with facsimile signature, beginning 'The National Health Service Bill is upon us. | In order that the profession my be financially armed for any conflict which might arise, the Council of the B.M.A.

[Royal investiture, Buckingham Palace, 1943.] Printed programme of an 'Investiture at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday, the 11th of May, 1943, at 11 o'clock a.m.'

Author: 
[King George VI; Royal investiture, Buckingham Palace, 1943.]
Publication details: 
Buckingham Palace [London]. 11 May 1943.
£120.00

7pp., folio. On seven leaves of thick paper, stapled together. In fair condition, aged and worn. Annotated in grey and blue pencil. Ownership inscription at head: 'Mr. Mann'. Divided into subsections, with the main ones being the Distinguished Service Order; The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire; The Distinguished Service Cross; The Distinguished Flying Cross. Ten individuals receive the Military Cross, beginning with 'Major Thomas Scrymsoure-Steuart-Fothringham, The Black Watch'.

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