[ Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths, City of London livery company. ] Printed facsimile 'Report to the Livery' by Prime Warden Sir George Courthope, describing the Company's recent 'good and bad days'.

4pp., folio. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly-aged. With facsimile signature of 'George Courthope'. The document begins: 'Dear Sir, | The last Report to the Livery was issued in Professor Hutton's Prime Wardenship at Christmas, 1942. I succeeded him in May, 1943, and this Report coincides with the end of my term of office and the declaration of Peace in the West. A list of individuals admitted to the Company is followed by references to: 'the Pyx Verdicts'; 'visit of Members of the American Forces' ('They had the rare experience of drinking cocktails on the roof of Goldsmiths' Hall whilst seeing the widest scene of desolation anywhere in London'; 'Mr. Sizer, Principal of the Museum of Fine Arts at Yale'; the Stalingrad Sword ('Those of us who saw the crowds filling up outside Goldsmiths' Hall on the first exhibition of the Sword in this country, will never forget it.'); the deaths of 'Gleadowe' and Harold Stabler; 'Trade Meetings at the Hall'; 'the purchase of a Hostel in the country'; the Company's 'derelict' City Estates; 'The difficulties before us in rebuilding our own Hall'. The final paragaph begins: 'The menace of Flying Bombs and Rockets is over. Fire-Watching of the Hall is over, and our Plate and Records are being brought back from that safe place in the West where they have been since the early days of the War.' There is also a reference to the 'tired and depleted Staff'.