VIENNA

[A. J. Ayer [Sir Alfred Jules ‘Freddie’ Ayer], logical positivist philosopher, Wykeham Professorship in Logic at Oxford.] Three Typed Letters Signed to Philip Dosse of Hansom Books, regarding review work for ‘Books and Bookmen’.

Author: 
A. J. Ayer [Sir Alfred Jules ‘Freddie’ Ayer] (1910-1989), logical positivist philosopher, Wykeham Professorship in Logic at Oxford [Philip Dosse (c.1924-1980), proprietor of ‘Books and Bookmen']
Ayer
Publication details: 
4 February, 18 April and 18 October 1974. All three on letterhead of 10 Regents Park Terrace, London NW1.
£250.00
Ayer

See Richard Wollheim’s appreciative entry on Ayer in the Oxford DNB. From the archives of Philip Dosse, proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of the ‘Seven Arts’ group of 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 three items are each 1p, small 4to. All three in good condition, each folded twice. All three signed ‘A. J. Ayer’, with typed name beneath, ‘Sir Alfred Ayer’.

[Dr Innocenz Grafe [Dr I. Grafe], Viennese art historian; Rembrandt.] Typed Letter Signed, asking art historian Giles Robertson, on behalf of Prof. Otto Benesch and his publishers Phaidon, if he will assist with ‘stylistic revision’

Author: 
Dr Innocenz Grafe [Dr I. Grafe], Viennese art historian, translator and book editor, primarily with the London firm Phaidon [Giles Henry Robertson (1913-1987), Italian Renaissance expert]
Publication details: 
11 May 1954. On letterhead of Phaidon Press Ltd, Publishers, 3 Cromwell Place, London SW7.
£80.00

Grafe’s putative intelligence work during the war is referenced in Helen Fry’s ‘The Walls Have Ears | The Greatest Intelligence Operation of World War II’ (2019). He worked as translator and editor from as early as 1950 (for Phaidon) and 1986 (for Thames and Hudson). Nigel Spivey, in his ‘Phaidon 1923-98’ (1999), describes how, during the ‘Harvey Miller period’ at the firm, ‘Steady editorial continuity within the workforce at Cromwell Place was provided by an ex-Viennese scholar called Innocenz Grafe (who for a perhaps obvious reason preferred to be known as simply ‘Dr G.’ ’.

[Giuseppe Antonio Taruffi, Italian author, diplomat and chess player.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Taruffi'), in English, to 'a matchless Nobleman', regarding individuals including 'Canon Ghigiotti', 'Valiani, & Corallis', and 'the strangest varlet'..

Author: 
Giuseppe Antonio Taruffi (1715-1786), Italian author, diplomat and chess player
Publication details: 
Vienna. 18 April 1768.
£250.00

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Written in a clear and attractive hand. The recipient is not named. Begins: 'My dear & ever-honoured Friend! | Some business of great importance kept me nine days absent from this Capital. At my return I found your most obliging Letter of the 7th. instant, & was exceedingly delighted with your Kindness. You are indeed a matchless Nobleman.' He asks if the recipient is acquainted with Prince Charles of [Cunandia?], adding: 'I swear you knew the strangest varlet that ever was. It is pity.

[Lord Castlereagh, Tory Foreign Secretary at the Congress of Vienna, hated by Byron and Shelley.] Autograph Letter in the third person, as 'Lord Londonderry', asking him to present a book to the king from 'Monsieur de Martens'.

Author: 
Lord Castlereagh [Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry; styled Viscount Castlereagh, 1769-1821] (1769-1822), Tory Foreign Secretary at Congress of Vienna, hated by Byron, Shelley and radicals
Publication details: 
'St James' Square | 1 May /22 [1822]'.
£56.00

2pp., 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Lord Londonderry presents his compliments to Mr Watson and begs to forward to him a letter and book which he has been requested by Monsieur de Martens to present to His Majesty'. Londonderry was considered a repressive figure by the radicals. In a poem Byron called on travellers to piss on his grave, and in 'The Masque of Anarchy' Shelley wrote: 'I met murder on the way, | He had a mask like Castlereagh.' Within months of the present communication Londonderry would commit suicide.

[ Douglas Woodruff and Dr Max Bindermann ] Typed Letter Signed from Woodruff to Bindermann, defending the Tablet's position on the Hungary; with typed article by Bindermann on the Habsburgs and Fascist Fatherland Front; and autograph notes by him.

Author: 
Douglas Woodruff (1897-1978), editor of 'The Tablet', London Roman Catholic newspaper; Dr Max Bindermann, Viennese lawyer and socialist, an emigré in London
Publication details: 
Woodruff's letter on letterhead of The Tablet, London. 6 November 1939. Bindermann's article undated (but in response to one in the Tablet, 11 November 1939). Some notes dated 27 February 1940.
£180.00

The three items in fair condition, on aged and worn paper. ONE: TLS by 'Douglas Woodruff'. 1p., 4to. The letter begins testily: 'Dear Sir, | I was rather puzzled to receive your letter in the form of a carbon copy. As you may imagine, we are not fond of letters that are circulated. I have now read it in Truth, although presumably the opening paragraph refers to the Tablet.

Autograph Receipt Signed by the Austrian art dealer Charles Sedelmeyer of Vienna, for a painting by T. Schmitson of Vienna, for an exhibition by the London art dealer Ernest Gambart.

Author: 
Charles Sedelmeyer (1837-1925), Austrian art dealer, based first in Vienna and then Paris [Ernest Gambart (1814-1902), Belgian-born London picture dealer; Teutwart Schmitson (1830-1863), painter]
Publication details: 
London. 30 June 1862.
£60.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. The receipt reads: 'Pour l'exposition de M. Gambart: | un tableau par T. Schmitson de Vienne representant des chevaux sortant de l'abreuvoir | prix (nette) frcs. 1500. - | Londre, le 30: Juin 862 | Charles Sedelmeyer | m[archan]d. de tableaux de Vienne'. Sedelmeyer has written some calculations in the bottom right-hand corner, and at the foot: 'Received back the above | Sedelmeyer'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Hugo') from Anglo-Jewish poet Hugo Manning to Gerald Long, with a copy of Manning's book 'Modigliani', inscribed to Gerald and Anne Long.

Author: 
Hugo Manning (1913-1977), Anglo-Jewish poet, journalist and mystic [Gerald Long (1922-1998), General Manager of Reuters, 1963-1981]
Publication details: 
Letter: 46 Belsize Square, London, NW3. 15 September 1976. Book: Enitharmon Press, London. 1976.
£100.00

Letter: 1p., 4to. Good, on blue paper. Addressed to 'Dear Gerry', it reads: 'Please accept the enclosed book. I hope you & your family are well & flourishing. We have to soldier on - with some hope in our hearts - despite the molestations of a dark age. | The best there is | [signed] Hugo'. Book: 34 + [i] pp., 8vo. Very good copy; in fair dustwrapper, with slight spotting at head. Limited to 550 copies. Inscribed on half-title 'To Gerald & Anne Long | wishing them peace & all good things | [signed] Hugo Manning | 1976'.

Four photogravure prints, including portrait of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria by Heinrich von Angeli and painting by Anton Kozakiewicz, accompanying an advertising brochure for 'Richard Paulussen | Establishment for Photogravure | Vienna (Austria)'

Author: 
Richard Paulussen (c.1854-1906), of Margarethenhof, Vienna, photogravure engraver and printer [Heinrich von Angeli; Anton Kozakiewicz, Polish painter; Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria]
Publication details: 
Brochure dated in type 'Vienna, May 1889. | V. Margarethenhof.' The four engravings undated.
£280.00

The four prints are in good condition, on aged paper. Each of the four engravings is on india paper, laid down on a piece of good thick laid paper of dimensions 19.5 x 28 cm. Printed beneath each image is 'Photogravure R.

Autograph Signature of the Austrian classical violinist Wolfgang Schneiderhan, written when touring England at the age of fifteen, and signed 'Wolfi Schneiderhan'.

Author: 
Wolfgang Schneiderhan [Wolfgang Eduard Schneiderhan; Wolfi Schneiderhan] (1915-2002), Austrian classical violinist
Publication details: 
Dated by Schneiderhan 1930.
£35.00

On rectangle of pink paper, removed from autograph album. In good condition. Reads 'Wolfi Schneiderhan | 1930.'

Autograph Letter Signed to 'Miss Lewis'.

Author: 
Ludwig Straus (1835-1899), Austrian violinist
Publication details: 
4 April 1891; Rosstrevor Priory Road West Cliff, Bournemouth.
£65.00

12mo, 1 p. Good, on lightly-aged and ruckled paper. He explains that the 'remaining dates of the 4tett Class had to be alterered', given the alternatives. 'I hope you will not be inconvenienced by that change and that you kindly will assent to it.' He gives the date of her next lesson, to which he looks forward.

Autograph Letter Signed to "Lennox" (Sir Wilbraham Oates Lennox, Royal Engineers (see DNB)). WITH related material.

Author: 
C.W. Wilson and some important papers [CHARLES WILLIAM WILSON], Major-General.
Publication details: 
War Office, 12 May 1873.
£450.00

Director of the Topographical Department at the War Office (1836-1905)(see DNB). Two pages, 8vo, fold marks but good condition. "I send you today the remainder of the plans you left with me; and a translation of the letter press on those of the environs of Vienna. The plans of the defences of Vienna during the war of /66 are very interesting and I should be glad to have them for the Topo: if you will present them to the Dept: after you have finished with them.

Photographic Portrait, with Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Maria Jeritza [born Maria Jedlicková] (1887-1982), soprano singer nicknamed 'the Moravian Thunderbolt', associated with the Vienna State Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera of New York
Publication details: 
1923
£120.00

The sepia photograph, 11 x 4 cm, is a full-length shot of a radiant Jeritza, posing stylishly in Grecian décolleté dress and sandals. It is neatly mounted in the top left-hand corner of a leaf of cream paper (24 x 20 cm) removed from an album. The whole attractive and in good condition. In a large, bold hand Jeritza has written, diagonally across the paper and upwards towards the photograph, 'With best wishes | [signed] Maria Jeritza | 1923.'

Photographic portrait by Letzer of Vienna, with Autograph Signature ('Raoul M. Aslan:') and quotation.

Author: 
Raoul Aslan [Raoul Maria Aslan-Zumpart] (1886-1958), Austro-German actor of Turkish extraction
Publication details: 
Wien, Oktober 1923. -' [Photograph stamped at foot: 'Letzer | WIEN | VII. HOFSTALLSTR. 5.']
£120.00

The sepia photograph, 10 x 7 cm, is a head and shoulders shot of Aslan staring at the viewer in the character of Hamlet holding Yorick's skull. It is neatly mounted on a leaf of cream paper (24 x 20 cm) removed from an album. The whole attractive and in good condition. In a firm, bold hand Aslan has written, across the page beneath the photograph: '"Zu was für schnöden Bestimmungen | wir doch kommen, Horatio"! - | (Hamlet) | Ein Erinnerung | [signed] Raoul M. Aslan: | Wien, Oktober 1923. -'

Katalog 1: Autographen.

Author: 
Christian M. Nebehay, Austrian dealer in autographs
Publication details: 
Wien 1. (Vienna, Austria) Annagasse 18. [1950s?]
£50.00

Quarto: 40 pp. In original printed wraps, decorated with various facsimiles. Facsimiles in text, and portrait of Beethoven on rear inner wrap. Good, on browned paper. Sections on painters, writers, poets, architects, sculptors, musicians. Nods towards the American market, with some entries in English and Dollar conversions. Together with Nebehay's attractive bifoliate trade card, carrying a photograph of his premises.

Autograph Note Signed ('Anneliese'), to 'liebe Liesel', on reverse of photographic portrait postcard.

Author: 
Anneliese Rothenberger (born 1924), German operatic lyric soprano
Publication details: 
1956
£28.00

Dimensions roughly 14 x 9 cm. Very good. The photograph, captioned 'Anneliese Rothenberger', is a head and shoulders shot of a smiling Rothenberger. The note on the reverse, in green ink, reads 'dir, liebe Liesel, alles ! | diese | [signed] Anneliese | 1956'.

Part of an Autograph Letter, missing signature page, to "Wellesley", prob. a Richard Wellesley.

Author: 
Stratford Canning. The Treaty of Vienna.
Publication details: 
Vienna, 21 February 1815.
£850.00

Four pages, 4to, incomplete, fold marks, some tears on folds, complete and legible, as follows: "It is perfectly true. I am indeed, my dear Wellesley, the most faithless of correspondents. And towards you too! You, who deserved so different a treatment at my hands. . . . My time has passed away for the last four months in such an odd sort of bustling, hurrying, half occupied, half dissipated way . . . Will you believe that till yesterday I had not written a syllable to Gally Knight [see DNB] for the last four months?

Paper entitled 'DISCUSSION: (I) Philosophy Without Science'.

Author: 
Herbert Louis Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel, Sir Alfred Jules Ayer; Herbert Dingle
Publication details: 
Reprinted from PHILOSOPHY, Vol. XXIII, No. 84, January 1948.'
£45.00

12 pages, octavo. Unbound. Folded once, down the centre, vertically. Good, though grubby, and with marks from paperclip. Each of the three contributes a section. PRESENTATION COPY, with slip from Samuel, on his notepaper '32, PORCHESTER TERRACE, W.2.' on which is typed 'WITH LORD SAMUEL'S COMPLIMENTS'.

Syndicate content