VIOLET

[Sir Herbert James Read, Governor of Mauritius, and his wife Lady Violet.] Six items including autograph speech by him for members of Second Colonial Office Conference to British Empire League, and other speech, and commonplace book by Lady Read.

Author: 
Sir Herbert James Read (1863-1949), Governor of Mauritius, and his wife Lady Violet Kate Read [n?e Maclachlan] (d.1951) [Second Colonial Office Conference, 1930]
Publication details: 
Second Colonial Office Conference speech from 1930, on letterhead of Government House, Mauritius. Lady Read's commonplace book dated March 1924. Another item from 1934.
£350.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Six items. Items Two and Five in fair condition, somewhat creases; the other four items in good condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: Autograph fair copy of speech by Read on behalf of his ?fellow-members on the [Second] Colonial Office Conference? [1930] to the British Empire League and the British Empire Club. Apparently unpublished. Unsigned. 5pp, 12mo. On bifolium and single leaf, both with letterhead of Government House, Mauritius.

[Violet Bonham Carter, daughter of Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, step-daughter of Margot Asquith, and wife of Maurice Bonham Carter.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. Seyers', declining 'offers of hospitality' from Monmouth Town.

Author: 
Violet Bonham Carter (1887-1969), daughter of Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith [Herbert Henry Asquith], step-daughter of Margot Asquith, and wife of Maurice Bonham Carter
Publication details: 
22 June 1932. On letterhead of Stockton House, Codford St. Mary, Wilts.
£120.00

An opponent of appeasement and Winston Churchill's closest female friend. See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘Mr. Seyers’ and signed ‘Violet Bonham Carter’. She regrets that she is unable to accept his invitation to ‘come to Monmouth in November - as my plans are very uncertain - it is just possible I might be abroad then. / It is so good of the Monmouth Town [bench?] to invite me’. She ends by asking him to thank them for ‘their kind offers of hospitality’.

[Henrietta Stannard, author and journalist with pseudonyms ‘John Strange Winter’ and ‘Violet Whyte’.] Typed Letter Signed, with long Autograph postscript, regarding how she has used the donations towards the ‘comfort and independence’ of an old lady.

Author: 
Henrietta Stannard [Henrietta Eliza Vaughan Stannard; née Palmer] (1856-1911) author and pioneering woman journalist who employed the pseudonyms ‘John Strange Winter’ and ‘Violet Whyte’
Publication details: 
17 December 1901; 25 Charleville Road, West Kensington, W. [London.]
£50.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, on lightly-browned paper. Folded four times. The recipient is not identified. Signed ‘Henrietta E. V. Stannard’ and addressed to ‘Dear Lady’. She thanks her for ‘the kind help you have provided for my old lady’. The ‘very generouos responses’ she has met with have exceeded her expectations, and she hopes that her ‘dear old friend’s future comfort and independence are now assured, for the rest of her life’.

[Violet Markham, author and social reformer, to art historian Benedict Nicholson.] Typed Letter Signed ('Violet Markham'), thanking him for 'drawings of St. Nectaire', discussing France and French 'betrayal of the Allied cause'.

Author: 
Violet Markham [Violet Rosa Markham], author, social reformer and campaigner against women's suffrage [Benedict Nicholson (1914-1978), art historian]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 8 Gower Street, Bloomsbury [London]. 3 December 1942.
£65.00

2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to 'B. Nicholson, Esq., | Brooks's, | St. James's Street, S.W.1.' (Nicholson was the son of Harold Nicholson and Vita Sackville-West.) She begins by thanking him for his 'kind letter and charming gift of your drawings of St. Nectaire', adding: 'as an author my vanity is flattered by your appreciation of “Romanesque France”'. She is glad she has helped 'a certain number of people in getting to know some of the beauties of France', but feels 'something of a fraud about the book as without the help of my friend Mr.

[Pietro Annigoni: personal reminiscences of John Phillips.] Privately-printed pamphlet: 'Maestro Annigoni', containing stories relating to the Queen, Princess Margaret, the Duke of Bedford and Violet Trefusis. Inscribed to Barbara Reed.

Author: 
John Phillips (1926-2017), flâneur and executor of Violet Trefusis (1894-1972; née Keppel), English socialite and author, lover of Vita Sackville-West [Pietro Annigoni (1910-1988, Italian painter]
Publication details: 
[Phuket, Thailand.] 2012.
£400.00

After a twelve-year 'amitié amoureuse' with Phillips, Violet Trefusis died in 1972, appointing him her literary executor and leaving him her last home, La Tour de Saint Loup. The present item – only one other copy of which has been traced – is from a collection of Phillips's papers amassed by his friend Barbara Reed, containing pamphlets privately printed by him between 2009 and 2014.

[Violet Trefusis, lover of Vita Sackville-West.] Unpublished work privately printed by John Phillips: 'Letters from Violet Trefusis to John Phillips (1961-1968)'.

Author: 
John Phillips (1926-2017), flâneur and literary executor of Violet Trefusis (1894-1972; née Keppel), English socialite and author, lover of Vita Sackville-West ['Sasha' in 'Orlando' of Virginia Woolf]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [Phuket, Thailand: between 2009 and 2014.]
£800.00

After a twelve-year 'amitié amoureuse' with Phillips, Violet Trefusis died in 1972, appointing him her literary executor and leaving him her last home, La Tour de Saint Loup. The present item – no other copy of which has been traced – is from a collection of Phillips's papers amassed by his friend Barbara Reed, containing pamphlets privately printed by him between 2009 and 2014.

[Rudolf Nureyev: personal reminiscences of John Phillips.] Privately printed collection of 'Nureyev Notes August 1966', regarding 'Sleeping Beauty' at La Scala, Milan. Inscribed by Phillips to Barbara Reed.

Author: 
John Phillips (1926-2017), flâneur and literary executor of Violet Trefusis (1894-1972; née Keppel), English socialite and author, lover of Vita Sackville-West [Rudolf Nureyev, Russian ballet dancer]
Publication details: 
Privately printed. [Phuket, Thailand; 2009.] Inscription of February 2011.
£250.00

After a twelve-year 'amitié amoureuse' with Phillips, Violet Trefusis died in 1972, appointing him her literary executor and leaving him her last home, La Tour de Saint Loup. The present item – only one other copy of which has been traced – is from a collection of Phillips's papers amassed by his friend Barbara Reed, containing pamphlets privately printed by him between 2009 and 2014.

[Camilla Parker-Bowles, now Duchess of Cornwall: personal reminiscences of John Phillips.] Privately-printed pamphlet: 'Camilla Story', with facsimiles of five letters from her, and accounts of two meetings, with her negative view of Cherie Blair..

Author: 
John Phillips (1926-2017), flâneur and executor of Violet Trefusis (1894-1972; née Keppel), English socialite and author, lover of Vita Sackville-West [Camilla Parker-Bowles, now Duchess of Cornwall]
Publication details: 
[Phuket, Thailand.] 2013.
£500.00

After a twelve-year 'amitié amoureuse' with Phillips, Violet Trefusis (a relation of Camilla Parker-Bowles, both being members of the Keppel family) died in 1972, appointing him her literary executor and leaving him her last home, La Tour de Saint Loup. The present item – no other copy of which has been traced – is from a collection of Phillips's papers amassed by his friend Barbara Reed, containing pamphlets privately printed by him between 2009 and 2014.

[ George Whyte-Melville, Scottish novelist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('G Whyte Melville') to 'Lady Violet' [ Lady Violet Greville ], declining a dinner invitation.

Author: 
George Whyte-Melville [ Major George John Whyte Melville ] (1821-1878), Scottish novelist and writer on field sports [ Lady Violet Greville (1842-1932) ]
Publication details: 
On his armorial letterhead, 22 Onslow Gardens, South Kensington, S.W. [ London ]
£35.00

1p., 16mo. In fair condition, aged and with bands of glue at head and tail on reverse. He thanks her for her note, but he cannot join her party. 'I wish I could!' Postscript: 'I hope you are quite well again!'

[ Violet Loraine, music hall artiste who duetted with George Robey on 'If I were the only Girl in the World'. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Violet Loraine Joicey'), a letter of condolence to the widow of composer Herman Finck.

Author: 
Violet Loraine [ Violet Loraine Joicey, born Violet Mary Tipton ] (1886-1956), English music hall artist [ Herman Finck [ born Hermann Van Der Vinck ] (1872-1939), Anglo-Dutch composer ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Blenkinsopp Castle, Greenhead, Carlisle. 22 April [ 1939 ].
£35.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. She expresses 'heartfelt sympathy' at 'the loss of our darling old Herman. How we all loved him & what a dear & true friend he always was to me. I am terribly sorry at his going'. The word 'Answered' is written at the head. Violet Loraine's signature song was her duet with George Robey, 'If I were the only Girl in the World'. Finck's 'In the Shadows' was one of the last pieces played by the orchestra on the Titanic.

[ Chelsea Hospital for Officers. ] Programme for an entertainment, signed by 25 performers ('The P.U.O.'s. (Pierrots of Unknown Origin)') and Sir Edward Marshall Hall

Author: 
Chelsea Hospital for Officers, London, founded by Lady Violet Brassey; Sir Edward Marshall Hall (1858-1927), barrister and Conservative MP
Publication details: 
[ Chelsea Hospital for Officers, 40 Upper Grosvenor Street, London. ] 'Xmas 1918.'
£120.00

[4]pp., 8vo. On shiny art paper. Stitched with red, white and blue ribbon into cream card wraps. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The front cover of the wraps has the signature of 'E. Marshall-Hall' at its head, and is illustrated with a spoof coat of arms, featuring three nurses, beneath the heading 'The P.U.O.'s. (Pierrots of Unknown Origin)'. Inside the front cover is a page of spoof advertisements, with in-jokes about the performers, as well as one clearly referring to Marshall Hall: 'I will cure you of the Swearing Habit in 9 days.

Conservative High Society in late Victorian Britain: The album of Miss Evelyn Peel, daughter of Sir Robert Peel, 1896-1899

Author: 
[Emily Peel, daughter of Sir Robert Peel III; Alice Keppel and her like]
Publication details: 
1896-1899
£1,200.00

Evelyn Emily Peel (c.1869-1960), second daughter of Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Bart (1822-1895), and Lady Emily Hay, daughter of the Marquess of Tweeddale, married the diplomat Sir (James William) Ronald Macleay (1870-1943) in 1901. Compiled in the years preceding her marriage, the album reflects Evelyn Peel's energetic and playful personality, and her position as a member of late-Victorian Conservative high society.

[Violet Attlee, wife of the Prime Minister Clement Attlee.] Autograph Note Signed ('V H A') at head of Autograph Letter from Downing Street secretary E. J. Sayer, apologising for a mistake.

Author: 
Violet Helen Attlee [née Millar] (1896-1964), Countess Attlee, wife of Clement Attlee (1883-1967), 1st Earl Attlee, Labour Prime Minister; Elizabeth Sayer, later Cooper, Downing Street secretar
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Prime Minister. Sayer's apology: 30 March 1950. Violet Attlee's reply on the same day.
£65.00

1p., on 20.5 x 8.5 cm slip, headed by the Prime Minister's official letterhead. Sayer's apology is headed 'Mrs Attlee', and she writes that she feels she 'must apologise in writing for the mistake I made over the arrangements for giving your two seats to the Misses Trevor', hoping that it did not cause inconvenience and promising not to do the like again. Violet Attlee's reply, headed 'Miss Sayer', is at the head of the letter: 'Please don't worry. It is quite a relief to me to find that somebody besides myself makes mistakes! | W H A 30/3'.

[Violet Eleanor Scott-James, wife of Rolfe Arnold Scott-James, editor of the 'New Weekly'.] Long Autograph Letter Signed ('V. E. S. J.') [to the Irish journalist Robert Lynd], with reference to Wyndham Lewis, Charlotte Mew, Ivy Low and Mary Crosbie.

Author: 
Violet Eleanor Scott-James [née Brooks] (c.1886-1942), wife of Rolfe Arnold Scott-James (1878-1959), editor of the New Weekly [Robert Lynd (1879-1949); Percy Wyndham Lewis (1882-1957)]
Publication details: 
Addressed from 'Dunedin', Lower Rock Garden, Brighton, on letterhead of 4 Colville Square [London], W. 15 July 1914.
£120.00

4pp., 4to. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with short closed tears at heads of both leaves. The recipient is not named, but the letter is from the Lynd family papers. Robert Lynd was in St Ives at the time of writing, and the letter begins: 'I'm so glad you are in such a nice place & that the children can join you there. They will love it. London gets so odious by the 15th of July. I came her e last week as I was very tired, & sick of the stuffy feeling of everything.

Appointments |Diary { T.J. & J. Smith's - Datada Diary 1949)

Author: 
Mark Bonham-Carter, tiro publisher (House of Collins)(DNB).
Publication details: 
1949.
£450.00

Printed beige boards, hinge strain at front cover, condition mainly good., 3 or 4 days to the pages, additional space for notes not used. Mainly a record of times, dates, people involved in a busy life of professional and social engagements, and expenditure, at the beginning of Bonham-Carter's years with The House of Collins. He records the occasional "Edit. Meting" (3 Jan. possibly his first?). Information also includes phone numbers and addresses. His background obviously gave him access to many circles.

Three Typed Letters Signed (the first two in full and the third 'E P Gorini') the first two to Violet Bonham Carter and the last to her son Mark, the first in English and the last two in Italian.

Author: 
Edvige Pesce Gorini, Italian poet, editor of the 'Giornale dei Poeti' [Violet Bonham Carter (1887-1969); Mark Raymond Bonham Carter (1922-1994), Baron Bonham-Carter, Liberal politician]
Publication details: 
21 February 1946; 15 May 1947; and 28 July 1948. All three from Via Angelo Poliziano No. 69, Rome.
£120.00

Text of all three items clear and complete. All three on lightly aged paper, creased and with some wear to extremities. Letter One (8vo, 1 p; 20 lines of text): She thanks Bonham Carter for her 'kind and appreciative letter' and 'will see that through the English Embassy' she receives 'a copy of my short story: "I due prigionieri", of which your son is the protagonist'. (An officer in the Grenadier Guards, during the war Mark Bonham Carter had escaped from a prison camp in northern Italy.) Describes material she is sending relating to her 'literary career'.

Typed Letter Signed ('Violet Astor') to 'Miss Morland', as 'Chairman, Middlesex Hospital Rose Day Committee'.

Author: 
Violet Astor, Lady Astor of Hever [née Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound] (1889-1965), wife of John Jacob Astor
Publication details: 
14 June 1932; on letterhead of The Middlesex Hospital, W.1.
£35.00

4to: 1 p. On grubby, aged paper, with crease to one corner. Laid down on a leaf removed from an autograph album. Thanking the recipient for 'selling Roses in the Middlesex Hospital Area' on 'Alexandra Rose Day'. 'The total sum collected in our Area amounted to £680. 10s. 6d. which is most satisfactory, and I do hope you will feel rewarded for your trouble and fatigue by this very gratifying result.' Docketed at foot 'Viscount Astor'.

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