[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 Emerson (editor of ‘Books and Bookmen’ at the time of Dosse’s suicide), in Standpoint magazine, October 2018. The collection is in good condition, lightly aged and worn. The material comprises: 14 Typed Letters Signed; 10 Typed Notes Signed; 6 Autograph Letters Signed; 2 Autograph Notes Signed; 4 Autograph Cards Signed. Formats vary but no items is more than one page in length. Most are signed ‘Thomas Balogh’ and some just ‘Thomas’, and addressed to ‘Dear Dosse’ or ‘Dear Philip’. Largely a business correspondence, but with several points of interest. On 12 May 1977, he writes of Enoch Powell: ‘Mr. Powell, however brilliant he is as an orator, has still not learned that the rate of interest depends mainly on sentiment. There is nothing artificial in not wanting to get foreign money in which [sic] will flow out at the first occasion. We certainly should not pay for it merely because our internal affairs demand higher rates of interest.’ On declining to review a book, 6 August 1974: ‘Wilf Beckerman is one of my best friends and I make it a principle not to review books written by friends as they are either considered as flattery because of the friendship or result in estrangement.’ In an undated letter from the House of Lords he writes: ‘There is a book about Michael Arlen which deals with emigration. As a fellow emigré I shd. be fascinated to write about it.’ On 2 May 1978 he raises an ‘awkward question’: ‘Once I retire I shall not be able to do reviews without a fee. I am sorry to raise this sordid question but I was under the impression that you had come to an agreement with my agent some time ago and I wondered how you felt about it?’ And on 5 June of the same year he writes that he has ‘a rather interesting review of Keynes which retells the story of my relationship with him in respect to “Exchange Control”, a story which has not been published’. On his return from Jamaica, 20 October 1973: ‘I wouldn’t mind at all writing a secondary view about Keynes, and I leave it to you as the publisher whether you want to publish it in the same issue or not. The only think [sic] is that I really must have Professor Wise’s piece in front of me, as otherwise we might be boringly duplicating each other.’ There are several references to the economic situation. On 28 April 1977 he writes that he is also ‘very pessimistic about the outlook as you can see from the enclosed copy of an article of mine which appeared in “The Banker” on “The limitation of the ‘safety net’”.’ In an undated letter: ‘The Unions seem bent on self-destructino & until that changes I shall remain gloomy.’ And an undated letter, written from the House of Lords ‘with fervent good wishes’, reads: ‘My dear Philip, I am distressed by your news. We are sinking in this country to a new barbarity with all beautiful things wiped out. I do hope you will be able to overcome your difficulties’. On several occasions he invites Dosse for drinks, and in June of 1974 he complains of ‘jaundice which does not encourage what the Americans call “creative writing”’. Also present is a TLS from his agent Felicity Bryan of Curtis Brown Ltd, 25 April 1974, regarding a fee.