W.E.

[W. E. Henley, poet who wrote ?Invictus?.] Autograph Manuscript Signed (Holograph) of his poem ?My songs were once of the sunrise?, on letterhead of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, daughter of George du Maurier and mother of the ?lost boys? in ?Peter Pan?.

Author: 
W. E. Henley [William Ernest Henley] (1849-1903), English poet, famed for his poem ?Invictus? [Sylvia Llewelyn Davies, daughter of George du Maurier; J. M. Barrie; Peter Pan]
Henley
Publication details: 
Between c.1901 and 1903. On letterhead of ?Twenty Three, / Campden Hill Square, / Kensington.? (?Telephone 3041, Kensington.?) [London.]
£220.00
Henley

Henley?s poem ?Invictus?, with its conclusion ?I am the master of my fate, / I am the captain of my soul?, is one of the most popular in the English language, and has inspired individuals as diverse as Nelson Mandela and Ron Kray. See Henley?s entry in the Oxford DNB. He was a friend of both Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and J. M. Barrie, and his daughter Margaret inspired the ?Peter Pan? character ?Wendy?. 1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded three times for postage. The letterhead has a thin black mourning border. Henley?s poem featured as the ?Envoy?

[William Ewart Gladstone and colonial railways, 1846.] Printed Colonial Office circular dispatch, laying out ‘some general principles’ regarding ‘plans of Railway communication’ in the British colonies.

Author: 
W. E. Gladstone [William Ewart Gladstone] as Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1846 [Colonial Office, Whitehall; nineteenth-century railways; Victorian locomotives]
Publication details: 
Dated from Downing Street [London], 15 January 1846.
£120.00

A scarce item, of which no other copy has been traced. 9pp, 8vo. Disbound from a volume, and paginated in manuscript 57-65. In good condition, lightly aged. Printed in lithograph in facsimile of a manuscript document. Begins by explaining the purpose of the dispatch in true Gladstonian style: ‘I find that the impulse which has been given in every other part of the Civilized World to plans of Railway communication has been felt in many of the British Colonies.

[William Ewart Gladstone and banking in the colonies, 1846.] Colonial Office printed circular dispatch, with printed set of ‘Regulations and Conditions’ regarding ‘Banking Companies’, for governors, legislative bodies and local authorities.

Author: 
W. E. Gladstone [William Ewart Gladstone] as Secretary of State for the Colonies, 1846 [Colonial Office, Whitehall; banking regulations]
Publication details: 
ONE: Circular dispatch, dated from Downing Street, 30 May 1846. TWO: ‘Regulations and conditions’ [Whitehall, London, 1846].
£120.00

Both items are scarce: no copy of the first and only two copies of the second on OCLC WorldCat and JISC (at Manchester and Glasgow). Both are in good condition, lightly aged. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. ONE: Printed ‘Circular’ headed in manuscript ‘Banking Companies’, and dated from Downing Street, 30 May 1846. 1p, 8vo. Paginated in manuscript 67. Thirty-two lines of small print, in a copperplate font. At foot of the page (not in Gladstone’s hand): ‘/sd/ Grey [last word deleted] W. E. Gladstone’.

[ Printed pamphlet on the Crimean War. ] Speech of the Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. for the University of Oxford, On the War and the Negotiations, in the House of Commons, On the 3rd of August, 1855. Revised and corrected by himself.

Author: 
The Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M.P. for the University of Oxford [ William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal Prime Minister; The Crimean War ]
Publication details: 
Published at the Empire Office, 145, Fleet Street; and sold by all booksellers. 1855. [ J. Clayton, Printer, Crane Court, Fleet Street. ]
£80.00

24pp., 12mo. Disbound stitched pamphlet. In fair condition, lightly aged, with central vertical fold. In manuscript at head of title-page: 'No 6'. Having been Chancellor of the Exchequer during the Crimean War, Gladstone had resigned with the other Peelites at the beginning of 1855. Seven copies on COPAC, but now scarce.

[ William Edward Frost, English artist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('W. E. Frost') to Joseph B. Cooke, regarding family illness and the gift of a photograph.

Author: 
W. E. Frost [ William Edward Frost ] (1810-1877), English artist specialising in female nudes, Royal Academician [ Joseph B. Cooke; Oscar Wilde ]
Publication details: 
46 Fitzroy Square [ London ]. 30 January 1875.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. On aged and worn paper. He regrets to inform him that 'we have still a sick house'. His 'dear Sister' has been 'very ill', but he trusts they are 'both mending'. He concludes: 'I have pleasure in enclosing a Photo of myself, and shll be pleased to be admitted to your collection'. Professor Joseph Bristow, in his paper 'Homosexual Blackmail in the 1890s', describes how, twenty years later (on 11 August 1894), at a party hosted at 46 Fitzroy Square by John Watson Preston, twenty men were arrested, including two dressed in women's clothing.

[ Maggs Brothers.] Two Autograph Letters Signed by W. E. Lent, reporting on sale, with copy of ''Hallgate Auction Rooms, Doncaster. Catalogue of the Library of Rare and Valuable Books, The Property of G. E. Crouch Yarborough, Esq.'

Author: 
[ W. E. Lent [William Lent] of Maggs Brothers, London booksellers; G. E. Cooke-Yarborough; J. H. Crouch & Son F.A.I., Hallgate Auction Rooms, Doncaster ]
Publication details: 
Letters both on letterhead of Danum Hotel, Doncaster. 11 and 12 February 1931. Auction catalogue: J. H. Crouch & Son F.A.I., Hallgate Auction Rooms, Doncaster. 11, 12 and 13 February 1931.
£200.00

The two letters each 1p., 4to. Both on aged paper, with wear to left hand margin causing loss to text. In the first letter Lent gives details of 8 of his 17 purchases on that day, adding that 'The Lots sold quite well, a good many co are here, also Bowes, Blackwell, Mc Leis Taylor (Scheurer). Edwards, Pickering & E. Mathews, have marks.' In the second letter he gives details of 5 of his 10 purchases, one of them for 'Mr Butterwick'. He gives details of three commissions which Butterwick left with him, only one of which was successful. Catalogue: 31 + [1]pp., 4to.

[Pamphlet.] The Education of Engineers in America, Germany, and Switzerland. Excerpt Minutes of Proceedings of the Meeting of the Institutution of Mechanical Engineers, in London, 24th April 1903.

Author: 
Professor W. E. Dalby [William Ernest Dalby], M.I.Mech.E. [J. Hartley Wicksteed, President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers]
Publication details: 
Published by the Institution, Storey's Gate, St. James's Park, Westminster, S.W. [1903.]
£75.00

69pp., 8vo, paginated 281 to 349. In brown printed card covers. With shelfmarks and labels of the Board of Education Reference Library, otherwise in fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Scarce: no copy at the British Library, and the only copy on COPAC at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

[Large printed colour poster, issued by the Army Bureau of Current Affairs.] The Infinite Variety of the U.S.S.R. [ABCA Map Review No. 2.]

Author: 
ABCA Map Review No. 2 [Army Bureau of Current Affairs (A.B.C.A.), W. E. Williams, Director; Second World War propaganda]
Publication details: 
'Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Fosh and Cross, Ltd.' 'The period from November 23 to December 6, 1942.'
£180.00

Printed on both sides of a piece of paper roughly 38 x 100 cm. In fair condition, on lightly-aged and creased paper. Folded four times. The outer side, printed in black and white, carries the article on the Soviet Union, with thirteen photographs (including ones of Stalin and four other party leaders) and a large map. The other side carries the ABCA Map Review No. 2, covering the period from 23 November to 6 December 1942, with large coloured map, and dealing with seven themes from 'Russia' to 'The Prospects for Italy' and 'The War against Want'. An attractive piece of modern design.

[Large printed colour poster, issued by the Army Bureau of Current Affairs.] Britain's Radio Covers The World. [ABCA Map Review No. 6.]

Author: 
ABCA Map Review No. 6 [Army Bureau of Current Affairs (A.B.C.A.), W. E. Williams, Director; Second World War propaganda; British Broadcasting Corporation; BBC]
Publication details: 
'Printed for H.M. Stationery Office by Fosh & Cross, Ltd.' 'The period from January 18th to January 31st, 1943.'
£180.00

Printed on both sides of a piece of paper roughly 38 x 100 cm. In good condition, on lightly-aged and creased paper. Folded four times. The outer side, printed in black and white, carries the article on 'the vast broadcasting network which spreads across the world from Britain', with large stylised map, with BBC microphone, indicating 'The BBC broadcasts day and night in 47 languages, to 200,000,000 listeners every week.'.

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