[ Moira Lister, film and theatre actress. ] Seven Signed Letters (six in Autograph) and one Autograph Card Signed, to theatrical bookseller Barry Duncan, in folder containing newspaper cuttings, a programme, and copies of his letters to her.

The thirty-six items in the folder are in good condition, with light signs of age. ONE: Six Autograph Letters Signed, one Typed Letter Signed, and one Autograph Card Signed. All signed 'Moira Lister' except the last communication, the card, which is signed 'Moira d'Orthez'. With four stamped envelopes, addressed to Duncan at his bookshop in St Martin's Court. A courteous and businesslike correspondence, firmly parrying Duncan's efforts at greater familiarity. The first letter, typed, is dated 8 March 1955, and relates to the sale of books. Duncan's response (see below) elicits a warm reply: 'Thank you so much for your sweet & encouraging words about my Juliet. I thought it had been lost in the limbo of oblivion! Yes I have one or two interesting anecdotes on St. James Theatre, & if you'd like to give me a call I can tell you about them, then you can put them into good literary language!' In February 1957 she agrees to let him send her a play, and in exchange asks if he can 'think of any classic stories which I could include in my T.V. Series (have you seen them - Saturday nights at 10.30 p.m.) I have to find more. She goes on to describe the six 'limits within they are set'. She considers the short story he sends her a few weeks later 'excellent but unfortunately too gruesome for the B.B.C. are very anti. I've had great difficulty to get them to accept an Edgar Allan Poe'. She also feels that a play he sends her is 'not quite me'. In her last communication, declining in 1961 his proposal for the purchase of the Edwardian Restaurant (see below) she writes: 'You are very courageous'. TWO: Unsigned carbon copies of five of Duncan's letters to Lister, all typed, with an autograph draft of his last communication, on 3 May 1961. The first letter, 21 April 1955 praises Lister's performance as Juliet in Shakespeare's play (the second letter being addressed to 'Juliet'), discussing a playscript and short story he sends her, and pumping her for an anecdote for his book on the St James's Theatre. Also present are two copies of bills for books, and a couple of scraps with pencil notes. THREE: Programme for the production of Alec Coppel's 'The Gazebo', starring Lister and Ian Carmichael, at the Savoy Theatre, 1960. On 1 May 1961 he describes in detail his plan to take over 'the Edwardian restaurant (ex-Slaters) a few doors east of the Vaudeville in the Strand'. Two days later, in a final communication, he writes, regarding her rejection of his proposal, 'Of course I'm disappointed what I thought a brainwave - wasn't!' FOUR. Seventeen cuttings relating to Lister from English newspapers, dating from between 1947 and 1971.