Search results

Author, Title, Summary Subject Price
Angela Burdett-Coutts [Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, Baroness Burdett-Coutts] (1814-1906), the richest woman in Victorian England, prominent philanthropist [James Cowan (1816-1895); Blind System]

[The richest woman in Victorian England: Angela Burdett-Coutts, philanthropist.] Autograph Letter Signed to Mrs [Charlotte] Cowan, wife of the Lord Provost of Edinburgh, declining an invitation connected with ‘The Blind System’.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘My dear Mrs Cowan’ and signed ‘Burdett Coutts -’. Thirty lines of text. The ‘blind system’ appears to have been a form of education for the blind, possibly involving a...

£45.00
Felix Paul Bartlett (1855-1944), Australian ‘Bush Doctor’ at Cowra, New South Wales

[‘A Classic Bush Doctor’: Felix Paul Bartlett, Australian surgeon at Cowra, New South Wales.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to ‘Mr D’Eath’, one giving news of his surgery and mutual friends, the other describing ‘poor Walkers sudden death’.

Interesting items, casting light on the life of an Australian rural doctor of the Victorian period. A selection of Bartlett’s memoirs was published under the title ‘Bush Doctor’, edited by Jane Caiger-Smith and Michael C Bartlett, in 2011. There is an good illustrated article on him and his...

£180.00
Frank Norman [John Norman] (1930-1980), working-class writer on London low-life, best-known for the memoir Bang to Rights (1958) and musical Fings Ain't Wot They Used T'Be (1960) [Philip Dosse]

[Frank Norman.] Three Typed Letters Signed and one Autograph Card Signed to Philip Dosse of Hanson Books, complaining about his treatment over the reviews he has contributed to ‘Books and Bookmen’.

Norman is puzzlingly absent from the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. See ‘Death of a Bookman’ by the novelist Sally Emerson (editor...

£220.00
Gavin Lambert (1924-2005), English-born Hollywood screenwriter, novelist and film historian [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), proprietor of Hanson Books, publisher of arts magazines]

[Gavin Lambert, Hollywood screenwriter, novelist and film historian.] Twenty-one items of correspondence addressed to Philip Dosse of Hanson Books ('Books and Bookmen', 'Films and Filming'), regarding reviewing and other matters.

Material relating to Lambert is in the Charles E. Young Research Library of the University of California. See his obituary by Sharon Waxman in the New York Times (‘Gavin Lambert, 80, Writer Who Chronicled Hollywood Life, Dies’), 19 July 2005, which describes him as ‘an incisive observer of life...

£750.00
Jo Grimond [Joseph Grimond, Baron Grimond] (1913-1993), Scottish Liberal Party politician

[Jo Grimond, Scottish Liberal Party politician.] Autograph Card Signed acknowledging receipt of twenty pounds from Hanson Books.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Philip Dosse (1925-1980), proprietor of Hansom Books, publishers of several arts magazines. Presumably acknowledging payment for a review in ‘Books and Bookmen’. On plain ‘House of Commons’ postcard. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn,...

History £35.00 Grimond
Lord Alverstone [Richard Webster (1842-1915), 1st Viscount Alverstone, successively Attorney General, Master of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice of England] [Lord Salisbury; A. J. Balfour]

[Lord Alverstone [Richard Webster, Lord Chief Justice of England; Irish Home Rule.] Autograph Letter Signed to J. Ellaby, regarding Home Rule and ‘the Ulster Unionist Programme at the next Election’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Signed ‘Richard Alverstone’ and addressed to ‘J. Ellaby Esq’. He regrets that Ellaby is asking him ‘for more information than it is in my power to give you’. Even if he were ‘in possession of...

£150.00
Lord Balogh [Thomas Balogh, Baron Balogh, born Balog Tamás] (1905-1985), British economist of Hungarian Jewish descent, advisor of Labour prime minister Harold Wilson [Philip Dosse (1925-1980)]

[Lord Balogh, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s economic advisor.] 36 items of correspondence to Philip Dosse of Hanson Books, in connection with reviews by him for ‘Books and Bookmen’.

Balogh’s entry in the Oxford DNB notes his ‘flamboyant mind and considerable moral courage’. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Films and Filming. See ‘Death of a Bookman’ by the novelist Sally...

£1,200.00
Sir Digby Dent (1739-1817), Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy, under whom Nelson served as a midshipman on HMS Seahorse, and whose son acted as the best man at Nelson’s wedding

[Sir Digby Dent, Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy.] Autograph certification to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that ‘Mr. George Ross’, who ‘serv’d as Midshipman on Board His Majesty’s Ship Princess Amelia’ is ‘fitly Qualified for Preferment’.

1p, foolscap 8vo. On an aged and worn piece of watermarked laid paper with some closed tears. Folded twice. Reads: ‘These are to Certify the Right Honble. the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. or whom else it may Concern that Mr. George Ross serv’d as Midshipman on Board His Majesty’s Ship...

Military and Naval History £220.00 Dent
Mrs. Henry Wood [Ellen Wood, née Price] (1814-1887), English author whose best-known work is ‘East Lynne’ (1861)

Mrs. Henry Wood [Ellen Wood, née Price], English author whose best-known work is ‘East Lynne’ (1861).

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. The valediction of a letter, cut away for an autograph collector. On a slip of paper, around 7.5 x 1.5 cm. On lightly discoloured paper, with tear through signature, attached to piece of card with archival tape. Reads: ‘Very sincerely yours / Ellen Wood’.

Literature £25.00 Wood
National Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, London; Frank Dawtry [Frank Dalmeny Dawtry] (1902-1968), General Secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers

[National Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, London.] Printed pamphlet by NCADP Secretary Frank Dawtry: ‘Bulletin No. 26 / Public Opinion and the Death Penalty’.

See Dawtry’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is scarce: no copies traced on JISC or WorldCat. 4pp, 4to. Bifolium printed in small type. In fair condition, lightly aged, with creasing and nicking to both leaves at bottom outer edge. Begins: ‘The Home Secretary, in introducing the...

£80.00