[W. T. Spencer, London bookseller and Dickens specialist.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to Miss Winifred Bois, urging her to buy a volume of drawings in a double case. With Autograph Letter Signed on the subject from Bois to London bookseller Sawyer.

Spencer was a sharp operator (see Mandelbrote ed., 'Out of Print and into Profit', pp.285-287) and the present items give an hint of his methods. (The two letters are addressed from the premises at which his staff were said to practice their 'sophistications'.) His two letters (both signed 'W. T. Spencer') are in good condition, on lightly-aged and worn paper, with the second dated by Bois to 1931. Bois's letter (signed 'Winifred Bois') is in fair condition, with a short closed tear along one edge. Letter One: Spencer to Bois, 23 February [1931]. The letter begins: 'I have just come across a vol of Flowers & Birds, Drawings on Paper, that I thought you might like, I have never seen anything quite like them before, and being in a double case, thought they might be the work of a famous artist'. He offers it to her for £20, and also sends 'a Rice Paper Vol with some loose ones inside' priced at £12. Letter Two: Spencer to Bois, 26 February [1931]. He urges her 'to secure those Drawings, even if only as an investment'. 'I feel somehow at the back of my head, that they are very valuable; because I have never before seen anything in a double case, and as you know I have seen a good many of these things'. He admits that 'they are oxydized, but if you do not know how to take that off, Miss Marie will tell you how to, when next you are that way'. He concludes: 'Do please secure it.' Letter Three: Bois to 'Mr Sawyer', 14 March 1966. She thanks him for his cheque for £184 'in payment for the Books taken on Thursday. I was sorry to not to see you but your assistant seemed a very nice pleasant young man & very keen on the books.' She feels 'quite happy about the deal' and is 'glad the books have gone back to their original home'. She asks whether he still buys 'Chinese Drawings', having sold him some of hers in the past. 'I have a book which old Walter Spencer was certain was very valuable as he had never seen one like it before - I want to dispose of it some time but should like to ask your advice first.' She asks him to telephone as she finds it 'very difficult getting about in the crowded London streets'.