THE

[Ellaline Terriss, Edwardian actress and singer.] Four items of Autograph Correspondence with theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope (‘Popie’), comprising three letters and one card, all signed ‘Ella’.

Author: 
Ellaline Terriss [born Mary Ellaline Lewin] (1871-1971), Edwardian actress and singer, wife of Seymour Hicks and daughter of William Terriss [Walter James Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian]
Publication details: 
ONE: 28 December 1950; 36 Lauderdale Mansions, Maida Vale [London]. TWO: [1956.] THREE: ‘Tuesday’; with letterhead of The Old Rectory, Frimley, Aldershot, Hants. FOUR: Post Card with Frimley postmark, 8 July 1957; Frimley letterhead of ‘Lady Hicks'.
£80.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. See both their entries in the Oxford DNB. The four items in good condition, lightly aged and creased, with slight spotting to one corner of Item. Folded for postage. ONE: ALS dated 28 December 1950. 2pp, 12mo. Before sending seasonal greetings she begins: ‘My dear Popie / I returned home to find your wonderful book waiting for me.

[Thomas Wakley, surgeon & reformer; The Lancet] Autograph Letter Signed Thomas Wakley concerning a patient (a young boy), who died a violent death.

Author: 
Thomas Wakley [(1795 – 1862), surgeon, gained fame as a social reformer who campaigned against incompetence, privilege and nepotism, founding editor of The Lancet]
Publication details: 
Bedford Street, Strand, [London], 5 March [no year given].
£150.00

Four pages, bifolium, with thin neat strip of windowpane mount at edges, good condition, large handwriting. The 'notice' of the death of George [Miles?] was sent to this office by the parish Constable, as is usual on such occasions. It also appeared that the Registrar had declined to register the death. The inquest was held because the child had died from a violent cause. About three months since the poor little fellow fell into a basion of boiling water.

[‘What a play!’: Percy Merriman, musician and songwriter, mainstay of the Roosters troupe of entertainers.] Autograph Letter Signed to theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope, recalling Sir George Alexander’s 1896 production of ‘The Prisoner of Zenda’.

Author: 
Percy Merriman [Percival Harry Merriman] (1882-1966), musician and songwriter with the Roosters troupe of entertainers, who began as a First World War concert party [Walter James Macqueen-Pope]
Publication details: 
14 October [no year, but before 1958]. On letterhead of ‘Percy Merriman / Lecturer and Entertainer / 37 Parliament Hill / London / N.W.3’.
£45.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers (see his entry in the Oxford DNB). Merriman was accorded the honour of an episode of the BBC’s Desert Island Discs in 1964. 2pp, 12mo. Signed ‘Percy’ and addressed to ‘Dear Popie’. In good condition, lightly aged, with one dog-eared corner and folded twice for postage. Begins: ‘Am not of course seeking any publicity over your book on St. James Theatre [published in 1958] only wish I could help more. / You know of course Allan Ainsworth [sic, for ‘Aynesworth’] is alive the doyen of the Garrick Club! He played often with G[eorge]. A[lexander]. - in Pinero & Wilde.

[Percy Nash, film producer and director, key figure at Elstree Studios.] Typed Letter Signed to theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope, recounting an anecdote about his time at His Majesty’s with Sir Herbert Beerbohm-Tree; with a signed Typed CV.

Author: 
Percy Nash (1869-1958), British film producer and director, key figure in creation of Elstree Studios [W. J. Macqueen-Pope [Walter James Macqueen-Pope] (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
Letter: 12 November 1948. On letterhead of 2 Bristol Court West, Marine Parade, Brighton. CV undated, but with autograph address 'Percy Nash / 2 Bristol Court West / Marine Parade. / Brighton. / Sussex'.
£150.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See MP's entry in the Oxford DNB.) Nash made around 70 films between 1912 and 1927, and was a key figure in the creation of Elstree Studios. His career as a film maker was effectively ended following the screening of his 1921 film 'How Kitchener was betrayed'. See Bernard Ince, ' “For the Love of the Art”: The Life and Work of Percy Nash, Film Producer and Director of the Silent Era’, ‘Film History’, September 2007. Both items in good condition, lightly aged, each with light rust staining at one corner from paper clip. LETTER: 1p, 4to. Signed ‘Percy Nash’.

[Ralph Reader, Broadway and West End theatrical impressario.] Typed Letter Signed to theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope, thanking him for writing about ‘the new Award’ [perhaps the Novello?] and giving his news.

Author: 
Ralph Reader (1903-1982), Broadway and West End theatrical impressario associated with Scouting movement Gang Show and FA Cup Final community singing [Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960)]
Publication details: 
26 June 1957; on his letterhead, 14b Fitzjohn’s Avenue, NW3 [London].
£42.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition. Signed ‘Ralph’ and addressed to ‘Dear Popie’. It was ‘extremely good’, ‘and typical too’, of MP to write to him ‘about the new Award’. He is ‘at Newcastle now with the Val Parnell Summer Show and we ring up on Monday’. MP will know ‘what we shall be going through at the moment!’ He ends by thanking him ‘VERY [sic] much for writing’.

[Saint Nihal Singh, trailblazing Indian journalist.] Typed Card Signed to W. Macqueen-Pope, querying their possible acquaintance during his years of ‘London journalism’, and the Indian reception of MP’s BBC radio broadcasts. With carbon reply by MP.

Author: 
Saint Nihal Singh [St Nihal Singh] (1884-1949), trailblazing Indian journalist and author, for a time based in England [W. J. Macqueen-Pope [Walter James Macqueen-Pope] (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
3 November 1951; Suryasthanam, 16, Nemi Road, Dehra Dun, Uttar Pradesh, India.
£180.00

From the papers of W. J. Macqueen-Pope (see his entry in the Oxford DNB). Addressed in autograph to MP care of the BBC, and then forwarded to his office, 359 Strand. Pencil annotation by MP. On one side of an unillustrated postmarked printed British ‘Indian Postage’ air mail card with Indian postage stamp. In good condition, aged and lightly-worn. Also in Singh’s autograph is the salutation to ‘Dear Pope’ and the valediction ‘Your sincere / St Nihal Singh ST NIHAL SINGH’.

[Ifan Kyrle Fletcher, theatre historian and antiquarian bookseller.] Typed Letter Signed to fellow theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope, regarding theatrical ephemera he is supplying for ‘the redecoration of the Whitbread house in Covent Garden’.

Author: 
Ifan Kyrle Fletcher (1905-1969), theatre historian and antiquarian bookseller [Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
16 March 1951; on letterhead of Ifan Kyrle Fletcher, Rare Books, 12 Lansdowne Road, Wimbledon, SW20, London.
£45.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers (see his entry in the Oxford DNB). 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once, with one dogeared corner. He thanks him for ‘having mentioned my name in connection with the playbills, prints, etc., needed for the redecoration of the Whitbread house in Covent Garden’. He believes MP will be ‘seeing my selection within the next few days’, and hopes that, ‘in general, you will approve of it’.

[Matheson Lang, London-based Canadian Shakespearian actor.] Autograph Letter Signed to W. J. Macqueen-Pope, containing reminiscences of his early London career at the St James’s Theatre, written in response to MP’s book ‘Carriages at Eleven’.

Author: 
Matheson Lang [Alexander Matheson Lang] (1879-1948), Canadian actor-manager based in London [Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
10 December 1947; ‘c/o Canadian Bank of Commerce / Bridgetown / Barbados / B. West Indies’.
£50.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. Air Mail letter, 2pp, 4to, written within a few months of his death. With large signature ‘Matheson Lang’, and addressed to ‘My dear Pope’. Lightly-aged and worn, with slight damage from removal of postage stamp. Thirty-three lines of text, neatly-written and complete.

[Hutin Britton, Shakespearian actress.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to theatre historian, one written following the death of her husband, Canadian actor-manager Matheson Lang.

Author: 
Hutin Britton [Nellie Hutin Britton], English Shakespearian actress, wife of Canadian actor-manager Matheson Lang (1879-1948) [Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
ONE: 28 April 1948; from the Marine Hotel, Hastings, Barbados, British West Indies. TWO: 15 October 1951; on letterhead of 11 Reddington Road, Hampstead, NW3 [London].
£60.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers.. See his entry, and that of Matheson Lang, in the Oxford DNB. As the latter states, Britton and Lang had married in 1903 (she had been an actress with him in the Benson company since 1901). They toured together in Lang’s company, with Britton usually as his leading lady. ‘In 1914 they helped to inaugurate Shakespeare productions at the Old Vic under Lilian Baylis, for which Lang personally lent costumes and scenery.’ Britton was for many years a member of the Old Vic's governing board. Both items are signed ‘N. Matheson Lang’. ONE: ALS, 28 April 1948.

[‘Kate Carney’, stage name of music hall artiste Catherine Mary Shea, ‘The Coster Comedienne’.] Autograph Letter Signed, thanking theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope for the ‘nice write up’, and asking for help in finding an editor for her memoirs.

Author: 
‘Kate Carney’ [stage name of Catherine Mary Shea, née Pattinson] (1869-1950), English music hall artiste, known as ‘The Cockney Queen’ and ‘Coster Comedienne' [W. J. Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian]
Publication details: 
14 March 1949; 60 Christchurch Road, Streatham Hill, SW2 [London].
£56.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers (see his entry in the Oxford DNB). 2pp, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, and folded three times for postage. She asks him to send ‘3 or 4 more copies’ of his ‘nice write up in the “Sunday Chronicle” March 13th.’, as she would like to send ‘a copy to Australia, Canada & America, as there is some talk about my going to America in the near future’. She has ‘tried all over Streatham and Brixton and it seems impossible to get a copy anywhere’, and will be happy to pay the cost.

[Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh in Rattigan’s ‘Sleeping Prince’.] Duplicated typescript of article by W. Macqueen-Pope: ‘This is Real Theatre / The Oliviers Return to Town’, with carbon of covering TL, and commissioning ALS by Barbara Beauchamp.

Author: 
[Laurence Olivier [Lord Olivier] and Vivien Leigh] W. J. Macqueen-Pope [Walter James Macqueen-Pope] (1888-1960), theatre historian; Barbara Proctor Beauchamp (1909-74), journalist and novelist
Publication details: 
Beauchamp’s commissioning TLS: 15 September 1953; on letterhead of publishers Newnes & Pearson’s, London. Carbon of MP’s covering TL: 24 September 1953. MP’s article undated, but contemporaneous.
£150.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. The occasion of the article was the forthcoming premiere of Rattigan’s play ‘The Sleeping Prince’, Olivier’s production of which, at the Phoenix Theatre in London, opened on 5 November 1953. The movie rights were bought by Marilyn Monroe, and the Hollywood film appeared in 1957 as ‘The Prince and the Showgirl’, with Olivier reprising his stage role, and Rattigan also writing the filmscript. See the entries on the Oliviers and Macqueen-Pope in the Oxford DNB. Interest in Beauchamp’s novels has grown in recent years.

[William Jerdan, editor of ‘The Literary Gazette’.] Autograph Letter Signed (to the annual’s editor Thomas K. Hervey?), regarding the reviewing of ‘Friendship’s Offering’ and ‘Mr Kennedy’s Volume of genuine poetry’.

Author: 
William Jerdan (1782-1869), Scottish journalist and antiquary, for thirty-four years editor of ‘The Literary Gazette’ [Thomas K. Hervey, editor of ‘Friendship’s Offering?]
Publication details: 
‘Grove House Brompton 20. Oct.’ [no year]
£80.00

An interesting letter, casting light on the workings of Victorian literary criticism. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The subject of the letter, ‘Friendship’s Offering’, was one of the four great nineteenth-century London ‘gift books’, appearing between the 1820s and the 1840s, for some of the period at least under the editorship of Thomas K. Hervey. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin neat strip of windowpane mount adhering to edges. Folded four times for postage. Thirteen lines of text. Signed ‘W. Jerdan’, with recipient (‘Dear Sir’) not named.

[Lord Stanhope, historian, antiquary and Tory politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to the editor of The Times, J. T. Delane, bewailing the state of Paris following the Franco-Prussian War, criticising French typography, and praising ‘Dr. Russell’.

Author: 
Lord Stanhope [Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope] (1805-1875) [styled Viscount Mahon between 1816 and 1855], historian and Tory politician [John Thadeus Delane (1817-79), editor of The Times]
Publication details: 
‘Chevening [Chevening House, Sevenoaks, Kent] | Oct. 14. [1870]’ No year, but with 1869 watermark.
£120.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin neat strip from windowpane mount adhering to the outer edges. Folded twice for postage. Writing during the Siege of Paris, he begins by thanking him ‘for the specimen of the present Paris printing. Alas how different is this blurred & blotted mass of types from the beautiful pages of typography which that brilliant city afforded!

[‘I like to see myself all original authorities’: Sharon Turner, historian, author of the ‘History of the Anglo-Saxons’.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Sh.n Turner’), instructing his booksellers to procure a rare book for him.

Author: 
Sharon Turner (1768-1847), historian, author of a four-volume ‘History of the Anglo-Saxons’, 1799-1805
Publication details: 
11 March 1836. ‘Cottage / Winchmore Hill’.
£90.00

An idiosyncratic letter, revealing something of his working practices, and the relations between client and bookseller in the early nineteenth century. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. From the collection of a painstaking Victorian autograph collector, who has unobtrusively repaired slight damage to a central fold. On lightly discoloured paper, with a thin neat strip from the windowpane mount adheres to the edges. The letter is signed ‘Sh.n Turner’ and the recipients are not named.

[Lord Carrington, Tory politician who sorted out Pitt the Younger’s personal finances.] Autograph Letter Signed to Robert Sparrow regarding a parliamentary bill on the subject of waste land and enclosures.

Author: 
Lord Carrington [Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington of Bulcote Lodge, Ireland, and Upton, Nottingham] (1752-1838), Tory politician and banker [Robert Sparrow]
Publication details: 
‘Board of Agriculture / Feb 26. 1801’.
£150.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 4to. In good condition, with thin neat strip from windowpane mount adhering at edges. Folded for postage. Signed ‘Carrington’ and addressed to ‘Robert Sparrow Esq.’ He has received Sparrow’s letter, and informs him that ‘the Bill is yet [to be] brought into the House of Lords for the improvement of waste land’.

[J. L. Motley, American historian of the ‘Dutch Republic’.] Autograph Letter Signed to the editor of the Times of London, J. T. Delane, discussing his failing health and hope for a review of his latest (and perhaps last) work.

Author: 
J. L. Motley [John Lothrop Motley] (1814-1877), American historian of the ‘Dutch Republic’, and diplomat in Europe under Lincoln who helped prevent European intervention in the American Civil War
Publication details: 
‘Villa Meissonnier / Cannes / 3 Jany ’74’.
£90.00

A poignant letter. See Delane’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, with neat thin strip from Victorian windowpane mount adhering to edges of second leaf. Folded for postage. 32 lines, closely written. Presumably with reference to his ‘Life and Death of John of Barneveld’, Motley begins: ‘My dear Delane / Just before leaving England ten days ago in search of health (a fugitive very hard to catch) I begged Murray to send you a copy of a work which was to come out almost immediately.

[Col. Charles Booth Brackenbury, R.A., military historian and Times correspondent.] Autograph Letter Signed to his editor J. T. Delane, on writing and reviewing after the Franco-Prussian war, with claim to have ‘started the Intelligence Department’.

Author: 
Col. Charles Booth Brackenbury, R.A. [C. B. Brackenbury] (1831-1890), military historian and British Army officer in Crimea, and war correspondent [John Thadeus Delane (1817-79), editor of The Times]
Publication details: 
10 April 1874; from Hill Street [Woolwich], on letterhead of Hill House, Woolwich, S.E.
£350.00

An excellent letter, casting light on the relationship between the editor of The Times and a senior correspondent. See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. Brackenbury’s states that ‘During the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 Brackenbury was the Times correspondent with the Austrian army, and was at the battle of Königgrätz (Sadowa) — riding with Benedek under fire at Chlum — and reported the naval battle of Lissa.

[1st Duke of Westminster [Henry Lupus Grosvenor, as Marquis of Westminster.] Secretarial Hand, Signed in Autograph, granting his assent to a Major of the 1st Lancashire Engineer Volunteers, for the regiment to join ‘The New Brighton Parade’.

Author: 
1st Duke of Westminster [Hugh Lupus Grosvenor] (1825-1899) [Viscount Belgrave, 1831-45; Earl Grosvenor, 1845-69; Marquess of Westminster, 1869-74], landowner, politician and racehorse owner
Publication details: 
‘Motcombe House, / Shaftesbury, / Sept 5th. 1867.’
£45.00

The founder of the greatest of London’s ‘Great Estates’. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In good condition, on light-grey paper, with thin neat strip of windowpane mount adhering to edges. Folded three times for postage. Good firm signature ‘Westminster’, and with the name of the recipient neatly cut away: ‘Major <...> / 1st Lancashire Eng[ee]r. Vol[un]t[ee]rs.

[Pamphlet.] Spiritualism and Insanity: An Essay describing the disastrous consequences to the Mental Health which are apt to result from a pursuit of the study of Spiritualism. By Dr. C. Williams, Author of Insanity: its Causes and Prevention, etc.

Author: 
Charles Williams (b.1858), LRCP, Assistant Medical Officer, the Warneford, Oxford [spiritualism]
Publication details: 
London: The Ambrose Co., Ltd., 55 & 57 Wigmore Street, W. [1909 or 1910]
£56.00

12mo, 53 + [iii] pp. Text clear and complete. Aged and worn, with loose original front cover, printed in green, remaining from the binding. Stamp of 'The Community of the Resurrection' on title-page. A few manuscript notes in light pencil. Scarce: five copies on COPAC, at the British Library, Oxford, Cambridge, the National Library of Scotland, and University of London, variously dated to 1909 and 1910.

[Rowland Edmund Prothero [Lord Ernle], author, politician and first-class cricketer.] Two Autograph Letters Signed, as President of the Board of Agriculture, reporting on the wartime situation to the Speaker of the House of Commons [James Lowther].

Author: 
Rowland Edmund Prothero [latterly Lord Ernle] (1851-1937), author, agriculturalist, Conservative politician and first-class cricketer [James Lowther (1855-1940), Speaker of the House of Commons]
Publication details: 
1 July and 5 September 1918. Both on letterhead of the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, 4 Whitehall Place, S.W.1 [London].
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both letters 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, but with the first bearing two tape stains. Both folded for postage. Each signed ‘R. E. Prothero’ and addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Speaker’. ONE (1 July 1918): He explains that ‘Agricultural labourers are specially excluded from the category of men to whom the War Office appeal to the V.T.C is addressed’, but that it was ‘only to be expected, as I had pointed out, that the appeal would still be made to them and that they would go in the middle of the harvest season. / The scheme is opposed by the Min.

[Marie Belloc Lowndes, novelist, sister of Hilaire Belloc, author of Jack the Ripper novel ‘The Lodger’.] Autograph Letter Signed regarding ‘ our delightful stay with you and the Great Effendi’.

Author: 
Marie Belloc Lowndes [Marie Adelaide Elizabeth Rayner Lowndes; Mrs Belloc Lowndes] (1868-1947), novelist, sister of Hilaire Belloc, author of Jack the Ripper novel 'The Lodger', filmed by Hitchcock
Publication details: 
‘Sunday’ [no date]. On letterhead of 9 Barton Street, Westminster, S.W.
£50.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, landscape 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘Marie Belloc Lowndes’ and addressed to ‘My dear Mrs Doubleday’. Begins: ‘This is only a line of very very grateful thanks for our delightful stay with you and the Great Effendi!’ They ‘enjoyed every minute’ of their visit, and she wants the recipient to have their ‘London address and telephone no. so that we may meet at once when next you are in England!’ She will write if she has ‘any authentic news as to Lord Grays book’.

[Admiral Sir Charles Eden, Second Naval Lord.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Fanny’, with reminiscences of ‘Mrs Quilter’ who used to get him out of childhood ‘scrapes’.

Author: 
Admiral Sir Charles Eden (1808-1878), Second Naval Lord of the Royal Navy
Publication details: 
18 [January 1865]. 23 Prince’s Terrace, Hyde Park [London].
£56.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Large signature ‘Charles Eden’; addressed to ‘My dear Fanny’. Year and month added in pencil in another hand. He thanks her for her kind letter ‘and its enclosure from my dear, kind, old friend Mrs Quilter’. He will visit her later, but at present he has ‘several melancholy duties to attend to which prevent my leaving London’. He is also ‘wanted at the Admiralty next week - altho’!

[‘It is never desirable to say any thing on the subject’: Charles Greville, diarist.] Autograph Letter Signed regarding the desirability of allowing ‘poor Douglas’ (i.e. John Douglas of Newmarket Palace) to rest in peace.

Author: 
Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville (1794-1865), diarist [John Douglas (1774-1838) of Newmarket Palace]
Publication details: 
31 March 1839. Newmarket [Cambridgeshire].
£120.00

See Greville’s entry in the Oxford DNB, and Douglas’s in the History of Parliament, which explains the context: ‘Gambling losses, largely accruing from his turf accounting activities at Newmarket - Douglas laid the blame on ‘Peel and Huskisson ... tampering with the currency’, problems raising capital from his property and ‘keeping too large establishment of servants’ - had reduced his fortune’. 4pp, 4to. Bifolium. 44 lines of text. In good condition, lightly aged, with negligible remains of windowpane mount neatly adhering to reverse of second leaf. Folded three times for postage.

[1909 Handel-Mendelssohn Festival Crystal Palace, 1909.] Printed ‘Book of Words & Programme for the Rehearsal Day’.

Author: 
The Great Handel Festival and Mendelssohn Centenary at the Crystal Palace, London,1909 [Dr Frederic Cowan, conductor; Walter W. Hedgcock, organist]
Crystal Palace
Publication details: 
Sydenham: The Crystal Palace Company, 1909.
£450.00
Crystal Palace

A scarce item: the only other copy located is at the Foundling Hospital, London. 30pp, 4to, with a further 7pp of advertisements at the back. Stapled into grey wraps printed in red. A delicate survival, on browing high-acidity paper, in worn wraps chipped around the edges. On the front cover the item is described as ‘Book of Words & Programme for the Rehearsal Day’.At top right-hand corner of the title-page are the pleasing ownership initials of ‘A. G.

[Sir Anthony Carey Lewis, Principal of the Royal Academy of Music.] Typed Letter Signed to the cellist Ambrose Gauntlett, thanking him for participating in the RAM 150th Anniversary Concert. With copy of the programme.

Author: 
Sir Anthony Carey Lewis (1915-1983), Principal of the Royal Academy of Music and founder of Musica Britannica [Ambrose Gauntlett (1889-1978), cellist, Professor of Cello at the Royal Academy of Music]
Publication details: 
LETTER: 1 June 1972; on letterhead of the Royal Academy of Music. Programme of Royal Academy of Music concert to be held 30 May 1972 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall [London].
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. For Gauntlett see the excellent article on the ‘Semibrevity’ blog: ‘Ambrose Gauntlett, forgotten gamba player and continuo cellist’, beginning: ‘Although Ambrose Gauntlett (1889–1978) spent most of his career as a full-time orchestral principal, he was the most sought-after continuo cellist and gamba player in the UK for many years. In his obituary, published in The Times, Sir Anthony Lewis mentions “his beautiful playing of the important 18th-century viola da gamba obbligato roles”.’ Both items in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Letter, 1 June 1972.

[Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, as Gladstone’s Colonial Secretary.] Confidential unsigned Autograph Letter [to J. T. Delane, editor of ‘The Times’], regarding British involvement in the treaty following the Franco-Prussian war.

Author: 
Lord Granville [Granville George Leveson-Gower (1815-1891), 2nd Earl Granville], Colonial and Foreign Secretary in Gladstone’s first ministry [John Thadeus Delane (1817-1879), editor of The Times]
Publication details: 
‘July 13 / midnight. [1870]’ On embossed letterhead of the Colonial Office [Whitehall].
£450.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with negligible remains of windowpane mount adhering at edges of reverse of second leaf. Folded for postage. The item - an immediate artifact with the feel of history in the making - is unsigned and headed ‘Confidential’.

[Chapman Cohen, English freethinker.] Printed pamphlet titled ‘God and Man. An Essay in Common Sense and Natural Morality. By Chapman Cohen.’

Author: 
Chapman Cohen (1868-1954), English freethinker
Publication details: 
London: The Pioneer Press, 61 Farringdon Street, E.C. 4. 1918.
£30.00

Only two copies of any edition of this title on JISC: at the BL and Glasgow University. Cohen’s obituary in The Times describes him as ‘outstanding as a forthright, witty and courteous debater and lecturer’. This item is 30pp, 12mo. Stitched into wraps with title printed on the front and publicity material on the other three sides. Internally in good condition, lightly aged, in slightly spotted and worn wraps.

[Eliza Lynn Linton, novelist, pioneering woman journalist and anti-feminist.] Autograph Note Signed enquiring about what constitutes an acceptable subscription.

Author: 
Eliza Lynn Linton (1822-1898), novelist, pioneering woman journalist and anti-feminist
Publication details: 
25 June [1892], but with initialled receipt stamp dated 27 June 1892. ‘address / c/o Captain W. Colburn D.L. / Bellevue / Enniskillen / Co. Fermanagh’; on letterhead of Queen Anne’s Mansions, St. James’s Park, S.W. [London]
£30.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. On bifolium with her current address in autograph on the reverse of the second leaf, which has slight traces of paper from a previous mount at its head. The recipient is not named. Reads: ‘Dear Sir / Will you give me some idea of the subscriptions made by the Committee, so that I may be [?] the amount to send, as I do not ish to send a cheque equal with the highest or below the lowest. / Faithfully yrs. / E. Lynn Linton’.

[‘I am persuaded you have talent for Farce writing’: ‘Henry Compton’ (Charles Mackenzie), actor noted for his Shakespearian comic roles.] Autograph Letter Signed to J. Hollingshead, giving his ‘honest opinion’ of the farce he has sent him.

Author: 
‘Henry Compton’ [stage name of Charles Mackenzie (1805-1877)], English actor noted for his Shakespearian comic roles [John Hollingshead (1827-1904), manager of Alhambra and Gaiety theatres in London]
Publication details: 
‘16 Charing X [i.e. Charing Cross, London.] / April 3rd 1854’.
£100.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. An interesting letter, linking two significant figures in the London theatre. Around the time of writing Hollingshead had given up his career in the clothing business to write full time, early on for Dickens at ‘Household Words’, then later for Thackeray at the ‘Cornhill’. The farce that is the subject of the present letter is possibly ‘Birth Place of Podgers’, the only one known to have been published by Hollingshead, a New York edition of which appeared around 1858. 2pp, 16mo.

[Sir Samuel Romilly, abolitionist and legal reformer.] Autograph Letter in the third person to ‘Mr. Williams’, explaining that he will be finishing ‘the Bill in this Cause’ while out of town.

Author: 
Sir Samuel Romilly (1757-1818), abolitionist and legal reformer of Huguenot descent
Publication details: 
15 September 1794. Lincoln’s Inn [London].
£50.00

See his long entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, with negligible remnants of windowpane mount adhering at edges of blank reverse. Reads: ‘Mr. Romilly presents his compliments to Mr. Williams and informs him that he is obliged to go out of Town tomorrow & that he has not been able to finish the Bill in this Cause but he will take it with him into the Country & send it to Mr. W. in two or three days’.

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