writer

[ George Joseph Bell, Professor of Scots Law at the University of Edinburgh. ] Manuscript Testimonial, Signed twice (both 'George Jos Bell'), on behalf of 'Mr Scipio A. Mactaggart'.

Author: 
George Joseph Bell (1770-1843), Professor of Scots Law at the University of Edinburgh, Scottish jurist [ Scipio Alexander Mactaggart (1812-1886), Writer to the Signet ]
Publication details: 
On printed card of the 'University of Edinburgh Lectures on the Law of Scotland'. Dated November 1834.
£80.00

The card is 12 x 9 cm. In fair condition, aged and worn. On one side, printed in fancy letters in blue, is 'University of Edinburgh | LECTURES | ON THE | LAW OF SCOTLAND'. Beneath this Bell has written: 'Mr. S. A. Mactaggart | George Jos Bell | Nov 1834'. The testimonial, in a secretarial hand, is on the reverse, signed by Bell at the bottom (again 'George Jos Bell'). It reads: 'Mr Scipio A.

[ Langford Reed, film writer and director. ] Typed Letter Signed ('Langford Reed') to theatrical bookseller Barry Duncan, regarding the sale of 'Spy' cartoons and old plays.

Author: 
Langford Reed [ Herbert Langford Reed ] (1889-1954), writer and film writer and director, best known for his work on Charlie Chaplin's 'Chase Me Charlie' (1918)
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 59 Carlton Hill, St John's Wood, NW8 [ London ]. 7 January 1946.
£50.00

1p., 4to. On aged and worn paper. In response to Duncan's advertisement in 'The Stage', he asks whether he would be 'interested in the famous cartoons, in colour, which, with the signature of "Spy," used to appear in "Vanity Fair."? I have about seventy in good condition, all published between 1860 and 1885'. He also offers 'several volumes of old plays - some of them over 140 years old, and asks whether Duncan 'might care to drop in and have a look at these "treasures. | But, give me a tinkle on the 'phone first as I am rather a busy Man.'

[ Archibald Macwhirter, Scottish author. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('A. Macwhirter') to London theatrical bookseller Barry Duncan, placing a order. With carbon copy of Duncan's detailed reply.

Author: 
Archibald Macwhirter, Scottish 'Antiquarian and General Writer'
Publication details: 
Macwhirter's lettter on his pictorial letterhead, Ardgaith, Dysart, Fife [ Scotland ]. 16 July 1965.
£50.00

Both items in fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with a little rust spotting from a paperclip. Macwhirter's letter is 2pp., landscape 8vo. The letterhead, featuring two engravings of coaches, is printed in blue, and boasts that Macwhirter is an 'Antiquarian and General Writer | Contributor since 1926 to leading journals', as well as 'Lecturer in New College, Edinburgh, to Scottish Church History Society, 1944 and 1952.' It also contains a three-line list of the journals he has contributed to.

[ Murder mystery concerning crime writers in 1950s London. ] Two typewritten drafts of the play '"Death in Act IV" by Basil Francis', accompanied by Typed Letter Signed from the author to theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope.

Author: 
Basil Francis [ W. Macqueen-Pope [ Walter James Macqueen-Pope ] (1888-1960), theatre manager and historian ]
Publication details: 
Letter on Francis's letterhead of 115 Kenilworth Court, S.W.15. 14 November 1950. Both typescript with same address; neither dated.
£320.00

ONE: Letter. 1p., landscape 12mo. Aged and creased. Addressed to 'My dear Popie'. He is sending the revised version of the play, 'which has been tightened up considerably from the earlier draft', asking whether it has 'commercial possibilities', or 'stinks'. He feels that five minutes with Pope gives him 'more practical dope on the theatre than 5 years at the RADA!' TWO: Early typescript of 'Death in Act IV'. The letter ends with a reference to 'Fanny K', Francis's 1950 biography 'Fanny Kelly of Drury Lane'. 68pp., 8vo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper.

[ Edgar Wallace, thriller writer. ] Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Edgar Wallace [ Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace ] (1875-1932), English thriller writer
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£25.00

On 5 x 11cm. piece of paper, torn from the conclusion to a typed letter. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: '[...] myself, you would write to me. | Yours very truly, | Edgar Wallace'.

[ Walter Sydney Sichel, historical biographer. ] Autograph Signature ('Walter S Sichel') on part of letter.

Author: 
Walter S. Sichel [ Walter Sydney Sichel ] (1855-1933), English historical biographer biographer
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£20.00

On one side of 7 x 11 cm piece of paper, cut from the end of a letter. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'It would be very good of you to append this short notice of a deserving measure. | Please forgive me trespassing on yr. time & good nature and believe me | Faithfully your's | Walter S Sichel'. For more information about Sichel, see his entry in Who Was Who.

[Helen Zimmern] Autograph Letter Signed "Helen Zimmern" to "Miss Haas" [pianist?]

Author: 
Helen Zimmern (1846–1934), German-British writer and translator (Nietsche etc) , sister of suffragist, Alice Zimmern.
Publication details: 
Hotel König von Ungarn, Schulerstraße, Wien [Vienna], no date
£56.00

Two pages, 8vo, some minor marking, chipping, and small closed tears, but text clear and complete. She will come to call on Miss Haas in a few days with a friend, and will then bring a parcel for her. She's caught a cold and is "not thgerefore in a very presenatble state". Not good because it defeats the object of her being in Vienna "to do theatres".

[William Pett Ridge, author.] Autograph Card Signed ('W. P. Ridge') to 'Miss Paget'.

Author: 
William Pett Ridge (1859-1930), English writer
Publication details: 
Letterhead of 24 Ampthill Square, London, NW. 'Thursday' [postmark 28 June 1906].
£25.00

In good condition, lightly-aged. Addressed to 'Miss Paget, | 28, Campden Hill Square | W.' Reads: 'I will look in this morning at the hour of coffee.'

[Cornelius Elliot, Writer to the Signet.] Autograph Letter Signed to Charles Erskine, Writer, of Melrose, regarding a planned meeting in Edinburgh of the trustees of the estate of his brother-in-law Adam Ogilvie, Factor to the Duke of Buccleugh.

Author: 
Cornelius Elliot (1732-1821) of Wollee, Writer to the Signet, brother-in-law of Adam Ogilvie, Factor of the Duke of Buccleugh
Publication details: 
Teviotbank [Roxburghshire]. 5 February 1810.
£150.00

2pp., 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. The letter begins: 'For your letter of November you gave me to think that a Meeting of Adam Ogilvies Trustees would be after Martinmas. I now see that could not take place, but I want to see how his matters stand as your Rents and the Roup Bills will all be come in.

[Paul Hamilton Hayne] Autograph Letter Signed "Paul H. Hayne" to [the wife of Henry M. Alden, editor of Harper's Monthly], about publication of a poem.

Author: 
Paul Hamilton Hayne, Southern American Poet [1830-1886].
Publication details: 
Augusta, 19 March 1873.
£180.00

Two pages, 8vo, a small stain, fold marks, mainly good condition. He begins by saying that he has an "uncomfortable feeling" that he's about to impose of her kindness. But "Nothing but the presence of a stern necessity, just at present, could have emboldened me to again [underlined] address you and again [underlined] solicit your good offices in the disposition of one of my poems. | But verily, I am hard-[bestead?] and I must spare no effort to sell these and other compositions, if indeed I would successfully accomplish a purpose, near my heart. Pardon thus much of explanation.

Manuscript account book of an East London sign painter: 'F. J. L. Foot | Ledger & Journal | Business Commencing | Aug 27th 1934'.

Author: 
F. J. L. Foot, East London sign painter of the nineteen-thirties [sign writing]
Publication details: 
Dating from 27 August 1934 to 9 September 1937.
£220.00

286pp., foolscap 8vo, with 143 numbered double-page spreads. In sturdy ruled account book with stamp of the London stationers Parnell & Co. Very good, on lightly-aged paper, in worn black-cloth binding. Each entry gives the name and address of the business for which the work was done, with details of the job including the dimensions of the letters, and cost. Although some work is done in central London (Bedford College, Regent's Park), most is for firms in the E17 (Walthamstow) and E18 (Woodford) postcodes, suggesting Foot's location in the same neighbourhood.

Autograph Signature ('Geo Combe') of the Scottish lawyer and phrenologist George Combe.

Author: 
George Combe [Comb] (1788-1858), Scottish lawyer, phrenologist and author
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£25.00

On one side of a 5 x 8 cm piece of paper, cut from a letter, and backed with card. In good condition, lightly-aged, with the top two corners rounded. Reads: 'I am | Gentlemen | Your very obed Sert | [signed] Geo Combe'.

Typed Letter Signed and Memo from the Claims Section, British Embassy, Athens, regarding clothing and money allegedly lent to Major Patrick Leigh Fermor by Kyriakos Pattakos of Amariou.

Author: 
[Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor [Paddy Leigh Fermor] (1915-2011), British scholar, travel writer and soldier who fought in Crete in the Second World War] [Kyriakos Pattakos of Amariou]
Publication details: 
Letter addressed to Leigh Fermor from Claims Section, British Embassy, Athens. 22 October 1946. Memo without date or place.
£165.00

Both items in fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. The two are attached with a rusty pin, and there is a tiny hole at the head of the memo, affecting the word 'Kyriakos'. LETTER: 1p., 4to. Signature illegible. Addressed 'To: Mr. P. Leigh Fermor | British Council | ATHENS | From: Claims Section | British Embassy | ATHENS'. With 'Ref: 133/2803/109' and headed 'Subject: Force 133 Claim - Kyriakos PATTAKOS (2803)'. Requesting Leigh Fermor's 'general observations' on the enclosed memo regarding Pattakos's 'petition to H.M. Ambassador requesting payment of compensation amounting to £150/200.

Four documents concerning an application by Carolina Nairne [née Carolina Oliphant], Lady Nairne, to Chancellor of the Exchequer Thomas Spring Rice for an extension to her civil list pension, including accounts and statements of her financial affairs

Author: 
Carolina Nairne [née Carolina Oliphant], Lady Nairne (1766-1845), Scottish songwriter and song collector [John Mackenzie Lindsay, WS; Thomas Spring Rice, 1st Baron Monteagle(1790-1866)]
Publication details: 
Two items dating from December 1837, one from 1838, and one undated [November 1837?].
£280.00

Items Two to Four are in good condition, on aged paper; with Item One worn and creased, repaired with strips of white paper. Items Three and Four are attached to one another by a stub, and all four items show evidence of having been removed from a letterbook. Items One and Four are statements describing Lady Nairne's financial affairs, with Items Two and Three letters to Spring Rice and the Civil List committee on the matter, the first anonymous and the second by Lady Nairne's solicitor John Mackenzie Lindsay, Writer to the Signet.

Autograph Letter Signed from the dramatist and editor of 'Punch' Tom Taylor to J. Watkins [the photographer John Watkins?], regarding the construction of a case for a portrait of him.

Author: 
Tom Taylor (1817-1880), playwright and comic writer, author of 'The Ticket of Leave Man' (1863) and editor of 'Punch' [John & Charles Watkins, London photographers]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Local Government Act Office, 8 Richmond Terrace, Whitehall; 30 January [1864?].
£60.00

3pp., 8vo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with remains of stub along one edge. Second leaf inserted into a paper windowpane mount. Written in a hurried and difficult hand. Taylor writes that he wishes to have a portrait put into a case 'by the workman you employ for such work'. He gives instructions, concluding 'The portrait I think the most satisfactory that has yet been taken of me.' The National Portrait Gallery possesses an albumen carte-de-visite of Taylor ('1864 or before') by John & Charles Watkins.

Autograph Manuscript Signed, an untitled holograph poem by the Scottish writer and artist James Ballantine, beginning 'Confide ye aye in Providence, for Providence is Kind'.

Author: 
James Ballantine (c.1807-1877), Scottish writer and artist in stained glass
Publication details: 
Edinburgh; 16 August 1856.
£500.00

1p., landscape 8vo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. Well presented, with the second blank leaf neatly inserted into a windowpane border. The poem is sixteen lines long, arranged in four stanzas, neatly written out on a piece of wove paper. The first stanza reads 'Confide ye aye in Providence, for Providence is Kind | And bear ye a' lifes changes, wi a calm an' tranquil mind | Though pressed an' hemmed on every side, hae faith, an' ye'll win through | For ilka blade o grass keeps its ain drap o dew'.

Fragment of Autograph Letter Signed from the Welsh writer Showell Styles.

Author: 
Showell Styles (1908-2005), Welsh writer and mountaineer, whose detective fiction appeared under the pseudonym 'Glyn Carr'
 Autograph Letter Signed from the Welsh writer Showell Styles.
Publication details: 
Dated August 1970; on letterhead of Trwyn Cae Iago, Borth-y-Gest, Portmadoc, Caernarvonshire.
£38.00
 Autograph Letter Signed from the Welsh writer Showell Styles.

The 12mo letter has been cut into two sections, both laid down on a piece of mustard paper, with typed caption. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The body of the letter is on a piece of paper roughly 11 cm square. Six lines of text, enclosing 'autograph & quotation' (not present), and apologising for having 'no photo available'. 'Glad you enjoy my books, & thanks for your good wishes'. The smaller piece, with letterhead and Styles's dating, is roughly 8.5 x 3.5 cm.

Autograph Letter Signed Wm. H. Dall, naturalist and explorer, to Mrs Geo. R. Parks [née Elizabeth Robins, author], 24 Iverna Gardens, Kensington, W [London] about Mrs Pennell and the Yukon.

Author: 
William Healey Dall, American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska.
Autograph Letter Signed  Wm. H. Dall, naturalist and explorer
Publication details: 
[Headed] Smithsonian Institution, United States National Museum, Washington, DC, 12 Feb. 1907.
£750.00
Autograph Letter Signed  Wm. H. Dall, naturalist and explorer

ELIZABETH ROBINS TRAVEL WRITER ALASKA YUKON EXPLORER SMITHSONIAN ARCTIC

Typed Letter Signed by Nicolas Bentley to the actor C. Kenneth Benda, concerning the rights to his book 'Trent's Last Case', and a proposal by Benda for a stage adaptation.

Author: 
Nicolas Bentley [Nicolas Clerihew Bentley (1907-1978)], British author and illustrator [C. Kenneth Benda (1902-1978), British actor]
Typed Letter Signed by Nicolas Bentley
Publication details: 
10 June 1966; on Bentley's letterhead, 7 Hobury Street, Chelsea.
£75.00
Typed Letter Signed by Nicolas Bentley

4to, 1 p. 19 lines. Text clear and complete. On aged and lightly creased paper, with strip of sunning to left-hand margin. Neat signature: 'Nicolas Bentley'. The film and television rights to the book were all 'bought some years ago by Herbert Wilcox, who, as I understand it, still owns them'. Bentley has reports the opinion of 'Messrs A. P. Watt, my late father's agent', on the question of the radio rights. 'I control the stage rights', Bentley states, giving the conditions on which he would agree to a stage adaptation.

Autograph Card Signed to unnamed male correspondent [the headmaster of Harrow School?].

Author: 
Anna Swanwick (1813-1899), English author, translator and social reformer [Reginald Bosworth Smith (1839-1908), Housemaster of Harrow School]
Publication details: 
20 March [no year, but after 1892]; on letterhead of 23 Cumberland Terrace, Regents Park, N.W.
£75.00

On both sides of the gilt-edged card, which is roughly 9 x 11.5 cm. Aged, but in fair condition. 'Mr Bosworth Smith' has informed her that her book 'Poets the Interpreters of Their Age' (1892) 'will be acceptable to the pupils of Harrow School', and she has 'great pleasure in presenting a copy to your library, & hoping that a kind welcome will be accorded to my little offering'. A postscript explains that the volume 'will be forwarded by an early post'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Mrs Wedderburn; and Autograph Note to Mr and Mrs G. Wedderburn.

Author: 
Catherine Sinclair (1800-1864), Scottish novelist
Publication details: 
Letter, 13 February [no year or place]; Note, 23 March [no year], 133 George Street [Edinburgh].
£28.00

LETTER: One page, 12mo. Good, on aged, creased paper, with trace of stub on blank verso. Crest at head. 'It will give my brother & me much pleasure to accept your kind invitation for Tuesday evening the 16th. - I dine that day with Lady Sempill which will make me later than I should wish, but I hope to reach your house soon after 10'. NOTE: One page, 12mo, good, with fraying at head and traces of mount adhering to blank verso. A formal note written in the third person. 'Miss Catherine Sinclair will be happy to have the honor of accepting Mrs. Wedderburns & Mr.

Signed Autograph Manuscript testimonial ('Philip Gibbs') on behalf of G. K. Chesterton's candidacy for the Rectorship of the University of Glasgow.

Author: 
Sir Philip Gibbs [Sir Philip Armand Hamilton Gibbs] (1877-1962), writer and journalist [G. K. Chesterton; Glasgow University]
Publication details: 
Undated [1925].
£45.00

8vo: 2 pp. Fifty lines. Text clear and complete, on two pieces of aged and spotted paper, with rust spots from paperclip. Untitled. Begins: 'I should like to see Chesterton as Lord Rector of a university which stands for Liberal thought. Some people, limited in imagination and hostile to unconventional character, would as soon give their votes to a modern Don Quixote who by some miracle has acquired the corporeal structure of his own Sancho Panza.

Four ALSs and one Typed Note Signed to Harry Furniss, caricaturist and illustrator.

Author: 
F.C. Burnand, comic writer, sometime editor of "Punch"
Publication details: 
[Three with printed heading "Whitefriars, London, E.C." Three with no year given, others 1886 and 1894]
£120.00

Total thirteen pages, mainly 8vo, fair to good condition, texts clear and complete. Jocular, often obscurely, and in a difficult hand, subjects include: an invitation to ride; Furniss missing the Cardinal; trip to Calais; Paris trip for "Mr Punch"; "night gatherings of clubs"; Lord Rosebery; another ride, giving directions, suggesting meeting at Tenniel's place, and concluding with cartoon of a mill on top of a hill (obvious destination); reference to the Punch table and something confidential happening involving the proprietors.

Autograph Card Signed [to Rev. E. J. F. Davies].

Author: 
Edward Hutton (1875-1969), British writer on travel and Italy
Publication details: 
21 April 1934; Rome.
£10.00

One page, on back of printed postcard. Very good. Photograph of the Via Appia on reverse. Reads 'Dear Sir | In reply to your request I have pleasure in sending you this'.

Autograph Note Signed ('F. C. Burnand') to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Sir Francis Cowley Burnand (1836-1917), English writer, editor of the magazine 'Punch' from 1880 to 1906
Publication details: 
10 December 1901; place not stated.
£30.00

One page. Dimensions of paper roughly four inches by seven. On piece of aged, stained paper, mounted on piece of card. Remains of biographical cutting in bottom right-hand corner. Reads 'Here you are Sir | Autographs cheap today | F. C. Burnand | F. C. B. | 10 Dec 1901'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Theodore Martin') [to an autograph dealer?].

Author: 
Sir Theodore Martin (1816-1909), Scottish poet, biographer and translator.
Publication details: 
27 February 1888; on letterhead '31, Onslow Square, S. W.' [London].
£50.00

One page, 12mo. Good, though a little grubby at the right-hand margin, and with the name of the recipient neatly torn away at foot. 'Dear Sir | Neither Lady Martin nor myself feel any interest in any letters of ours, which may have come into your hands.'

Autograph Fragment of essay, initialed 'W. R.'

Author: 
William Roscoe (1753-1831), English historian of the Renaissance
Publication details: 
Date and place not stated.
£56.00

Dimensions roughly four and a quarter inches by eight wide. Good on lightly aged paper, and with traces of previous grey-paper mount adhering to reverse, which is docketed, in a nineteenth-century hand, 'Handwriting of the Author of Lorenzo de Medici'. Also docketed in left-hand margin of recto. Begins 'One of the most fatal enemies to the tranquility & happiness of human life is that jealous & timid apprehension which foresees evils at too great a distance, & often imagines them when they do not exist'. Initialled in top left-hand corner.

Autograph Note Signed to an unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
Fergus Hume.
Publication details: 
44 Eton Gardens, London, SW, 2 Sept. 1900.
£180.00

Australian Novelist, author of "Mystery of a Hansom Cab" (1886). One page, 8vo, suitable for framing, with bold signature, minor defects, text clear and complete as follows: Dear Sir, / Better late than never. Herewith the autograph you asked me for 14th February last / Yours faithfully, / Fergus Hume..

Autograph letters signed (x 2) to Sir William [Henry] Flower (1831-99), director of the Natural History Museum,

Author: 
Sir George Otto Trevelyan
Publication details: 
1891 and 1898.
£50.00

English historian (1838-1928). The first letter, 27 February 1891, with letterhead 8 Grosvenor Crescent, one page, 12mo. "Dear Flower, / I have a great deal of work tomorrow morning: but I will certainly come to the general meeting, and to the Standing Committee as soon as I can get there." Long vertical tear caused by removal from mount, traces of which adhere to blank verso. The second letter, 18 October 1898, with letterhead Wallington, Cambo, Northumberland. 3 pages, 12mo.

Fragment of Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mrs. Randolph'.

Author: 
James Hain Friswell
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£28.00

English novelist and miscellaneous writer (1825-78). Dimensions five inches by four and a half. Good. Mounted along one edge to piece of grey card. Cutting from Times, 15 March 1879, mounted on reverse of letter (giving Friswell's dates as 1827-79), and partly obscured by gum. Reads: '<...> I cannot say that the picture of life as you draw it is charming & only hope it is not true - illusions! | Your cursory remarks on us poor Men are written with a copper pen & sulphuric acid. Mr Randolph, who is of course the noble exception, must be delighted with them.

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