[Sir Thomas Armstrong, Principal of the Royal College of Music.] Autograph Letter Signed T.A., on his retirement, thanking the RAM Professor of Cello Ambrose Gauntlett for sending him a book about breadmaking.

See Armstrong’s entry in the Oxford DNB. For Gauntlett, who was Professor of Cello at the RAM from 1947 to 1965, see the Times obituary by Sir Anthony Lewis, and the excellent article on the ‘Semibrevity’ blog: ‘Ambrose Gauntlett, forgotten gamba player and continuo cellist’, beginning: “Although Ambrose Gauntlett (1889-1978) spent most of his career as a full-time orchestral principal, he was the most sought-after continuo cellist and gamba player in the UK for many years.” The musicologist Professor Hans van Dijk describes Gauntlett as ‘A very great gambaplayer indeed!’ Addressed to ‘Dear Amrbose’ and signed ‘T. A.’ He thanks him ‘very much indeed for your kindness in sending me this helpful book about bread-making, which I am glad to have. It will help me a lot. I can now generally turn out a fairly reliable and palatable loaf, but my repertory is severly limited, and I daresay I shall have some pun in trying to extend it by attempting some of these more exotic recipes.’