[ Herman Finck, composer and conductor. ] Collection of unpublished Autograph Papers, comprising joke collection 'Green Roomers by the Rags Wags', and plan of book to be titled '"In the Chair." More memories'. With covering letter from Finck's wife.

In good condition, on loose leaves, with light signs of age and wear. ONE: 'Green Roomers by the Rags Wags.' A large collection of original jokes. Around 140pp., mostly 8vo. On different papers, including letterheads of 212 Finchley Road, London, the Burlington in Folkestone, and the Hermitage Hotel, Le Touquet. Hundreds of unconnected gags, each of them framed as a rhetorical question, mostly relating to the London entertainment world. The humour is now mostly impenetrable. Individuals referred to include: C. B. Cochran, H. G. Hibbert, Henry Kendall, Sir Landon Ronald, Sax Rohmer, Arthur Collins, Harry Lauder, Arnold Bennett, Boyle Lawrence, Charles Coborn, George Mozart, George Tully, Macdonald Hastings, Sir William Orpen, Donald Calthrop, H. A. Saintsbury, Julian Royce, Lyell Tayler, Arthur Wimperis, Oscar Barrett, Billy Mason, Julian Wylie, Tom Webster, Caradoc Evans, Josef Holbrooke, George Graves, Oscar Asche, Alfred Drayton, Mackenzie Rogan, Jack Hulbert, Max Beerbohm, Alfred Dore, Sir Edward Elgar, Gerald Lawrence, Basil Dean, Ernest Newman, Morris Harvey, Stanley Logan, Vernon Watson, Alfred Turner, F. C. Pool, George Bernard Shaw. A couple of sequences give a good impression of the nature of the jokes: 'Whether John Webster or Stanley Holloway is the Master of the Chipstead Fox hounds. | How many Clubs George Tully belongs to during the month of August. | Why Macdonald Hastings thinks that Blankenburg is bad language in Belgese. | How much Mel, the Melodious, dropped or picked up on a recent visit to Le Touquet.' And: 'If The Times hasn't been awfully sweet to the Southern Railway. | Whether "Tales of a Tubby" by Alfred Turner will soon appear. | Why "Sketchers" at the Piano waste so much time "rotting on the keys" before they begin their actual show. | If Vernon Watson is giving a welcome-back banquet to Frank Tinney. | If the world isn't becoming over photographed - especially with regard to murderers and mummers. | Should the works of a deservedly successful novelist be reviewed by a deservedly unsuccessful novelist.' TWO: Plan and notes for a book to be titled ' "In the Chair." More memories by Herman Finck'. 10pp., various formats. Including the titles of the 14 proposed chapter headings, followed by: 'More caricatures and drawing of Author by James Gunn. | Stories of In the Chair as applied to Old Music Hall Chairmen. Chairmen at Lunches and dinners. Public Companies Etc. Barbers' Chairs Sedan Chair Musical Chair | Chair eoo!' THREE: Covering Autograph Letter Signed from Mabel Finck to W. Macqueen-Pope. 10 Grove End Gardens, St John's Wood, NW8. 15 February 1956. 1p., 12mo. She has 'glanced through' the material, and iss afraid it will not be 'of much use' to him, 'but if you can sort out any material, you are more than welcome'.