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Author, Title, Summary Subject Price
Lord Palmerston [Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston] (1784-1865), statesman, twice Liberal Party Prime Minister

[Lord Palmerston, Prime Minister at the height of Britain's imperial power.] Autograph Note in French in the third person to 'Monsr le Harivel', suggesting a time for his reception at the Foreign Office.

1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, margins cropped, laid down on leaf removed from album. Annotated in ink with year. Reads 'Lord Palmerston presente ses Complimens a Monsr de Harivel et se fera l'honneur de le recevoir au “Foreign Office” Vendredi prochain a trois heures'.

£45.00
A. C. Swinton (d. c.1905) [Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), naturalist, co-conceiver with Darwin of Theory of Evolution; Louisa Catherine Shore (1824-1895), poet; her sister Arabella Susanna Shore]

[A. C. Swinton of Land Nationalisation Society, friend of Alfred Russel Wallace.] Three Autograph Letters Signed to the 'Misses Shore' [poet Louisa Catherine Shore and sister], on their brother in Australia, spiritualism, other topics inc. Wallace

The context is explained in Wallace's 'Island Life' (1880), in which he discusses 'a fragment of a well-formed stone axe' that his 'friend A. C. Swinton, Esq.' found, 'while working in the then almost unknown gold-field of Maryborough, Victoria, in January, 1855'. Later in the book Wallace...

£500.00
George Grossmith (1847-1912), comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer associated with Gilbert and Sullivan, author with his brother Weedon Grossmith of 'Diary of a Nobody'

[George Grossmith, the original 'Ko-Ko' in Gilbert and Sullivan's 'Mikado'.] Autograph Quotation from the operetta ('”Bother the Flowers that Bloom in the Spring”'), signed 'Geo: Grossmith'.

Firmly written out, evidently in response to a request for an autograph, on one side of a 10.5 x 11.5 cm piece of paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and spotted, with two folds and group of tiny pinpricks at bottom left. Reads: '”Bother the Flowers that Bloom in the Spring! | Mikado | Your's...

£150.00
Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright [Oxford University Press]

[Christopher Fry: 'The Dark is Light Enough', Corrected Proofs.] Revise Proofs of the first edition of 'The Dark is Light Enough' (Oxford University Press), with Autograph Emendations.

103pp, 8vo. Revises of the text of the play (and not the prelims) in unbound signatures. In fair condition, lightly aged. Red ink stamp at foot of pp.1 and 40: '15 APR 1954 | REVISE'. Numerous autograph emendations, nearly all minor and relating to accidentals, but with five verbal changes, of...

Literature, Music and Theatre £350.00
Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright and poet, noted for his verse dramas, author of 'The Lady's Not for Burning'

[Christopher Fry, 1930s pantomime (author's first book?) by the writer of 'The Lady's Not for Burning'.] Printed play text: 'The Sleeping Beauty | A Pantomime | by | Christopher Fry.'

Possibly the author's first book (see below), from the Christopher Fry papers (despite the ownership inscription). 54pp, 12mo. Stapled into green printed wraps (title and words '(ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)'). Tiny ownership signature in initials ('R. G.') in top right-hand corner of title-page. No...

Music and Theatre £250.00
Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright and poet, noted for his verse dramas, author of 'The Lady's Not for Burning'

[Christopher Fry, dramatist and poet.] "Thor with Angels" Copy of the 'Acting Edition for the Festival of the Friends of Canterbury Cathedral 1948', with anonymous manuscript copy letter, in two hands, of a rebuttal of a critical review in The Times.

From the Christopher Fry papers. PLAY: [1] + 47pp, 12mo. Stapled into buff wraps printed in red, including the statement that it is the 'Friends of Canterbury Cathedral Edition'. In fair condition, lightly aged, in worn wraps, with a trace of rust to staples. This edition of the play (the first...

Music and Theatre £180.00
J. B. Rondeau [John Burton Rondeau] (1825-1862) of Salford, book collector [James Crossley; Cheetham's Library, Manchester; Bindon Blood; Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe; Bernard Quaritch, bookseller]

[John Burton Rondeau of Salford, Manchester book collector.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J B Rondeau') to a bookseller, explaining how he made purchases from the Bindon Blood and Charles Kirkpatrick Sharpe collections.

2pp, 16mo. Bifolium with mourning border. Heavily aged, worn and creased, with traces of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. There is no salutation. The letter begins: 'It is impossible to make the best selection, out of 11 vols which I gave Quaritch, £8. for, from the...

£45.00
Lady Bulwer Lytton [Rosina Bulwer Lytton, née Rosina Doyle Wheeler] (1802-1882), Anglo-Irish novelist, wife of Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton [Lord Lytton]

[Lady Bulwer Lytton [Rosina Bulwer Lytton], Anglo-Irish novelist, wife of Lord Lytton.] Autograph Letter in third person to 'The Editor of “The Lady's Newspaper”' [Ebenezer Landells?], sending him a letter to read over, and referring to a 'Champion'.

4pp, 16mo. Bifolium. Forty-two lines of text. Letterhead of family crest in gold and red. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of white paper mount adhering to last page. Three fold lines. The editor's 'obliging Note' affords her 'sincere pleasure to have the opportunity of expressing...

£180.00
Patsy Hendren [Elias Henry Hendren] (1889-1962), noted Middlesex and England cricketer, prolific batsman, friend of Jack Hobbs

[Patsy Hendren, Middlesex and England cricketer.] Autograph Signature ('E. Patsy. Hendren.') on card in response to request for autograph.

On 5 x 9 cm card. In fair condition, lightly aged, with traces of glue from mount on reverse. The only writing on the card is the good firm signature 'E. Patsy. Hendren.', which is underlined twice with two short lines. At bottom right, in pencil, in a tiny hand: '1920'.

£25.00
Philip James Bailey (1816-1902), Victorian poet, author of ‘Festus’ and considered the father of the ‘spasmodic’ school of verse

[Philip James Bailey, Victorian ‘spasmodic’ poet.] Autograph Document Signed, giving a ten-line extract from his celebrated poem, ‘Festus’.

Bailey’s entry in the Oxford DNB describes the ‘remarkable popularity’ of the second edition of Festus in America: ‘seventeen ‘editions’ of a version pirated in Boston were called for in the first nine years, and it was also reprinted numerous times in Philadelphia, Louisville, and New York....

Literature £220.00 FESTUS