[ James Laver, museum curator and authority on fashion. ] Two Autograph Letters Signed (the first 'James Laver | Keeper of Prints') concerning purchases from bookseller Barry Duncan. With carbon copies of two of Duncan's letters.

Five items, in fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper, with slight rust staining from staple which held them together. Laver's two letters are both 2pp. long (one 8vo and one 12mo). The two relate to a collection of Dalziel wood-engravings, there being 'too many already in the Museum to justify our purchasing the collection in its entirety'. Laver suggests taking a selection of 100 engravings for £5, and with the second letter returns the residue, the price paid being £7 10s 0d. With Laver paying personally for two engravings damaged while in his care. Also present is an unsigned typed letter to Duncan, on V & A letterhead, dated 5 March 1948, and confirming the details of the purchase. The carbon copies of Duncan's two letters are dated 6 January and 26 March 1948. Each is 1p., 4to. In the first he proposes the price of £7 10s, and in the second he explains that he is returning the two shillings for the damaged prints: 'I would not have accepted it had I collected the remainder of the prints personally'.