[Peter Pears, English tenor.] Two Typed Letters Signed, sent to individuals writing about the dying Benjamin Britten. With printed programme and libretti of their ‘Concert in aid of the Sandham Memorial Chapel, Burghclere’.

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. The material is in good condition, lightly aged, except that the envelopes of the first two items are somewhat worn and grubby. ONE: TLS to Douglas C. Dorrington. 1p, 12mo. The address to ‘Dear Mr. Dorrington’ and signature ‘Peter Pears’ are in autograph; the rest is typed. Written while Britten is dying. Reads: ‘Benjamin Britten wishes me to thank you for your kind message. He hopes you will understand that it is not possible for him to answer you himself.’ In envelope with Saxmundham postmark dated 22 November 1976, addressed in Pears’s autograph to ‘Douglas C Dorrington Esq / 9 Chatsworth Rd / Croydon / Surrey’. The envelope is annotated in another hand: ‘B. B. died 4/12/76’. TWO: TLS to ‘Ray Seaton’. 1p, 12mo. No more than a note really. Written after Britten’s death. Reads as follows, with typed section in square brackets and the rest in autograph: ‘Dear Ray Seaton / [Thank you very much indeed for your most kind message.] which I much appreciated / Sincerely / Peter Pears’. No place or date, but in envelope with Saxmundham postmark dated 15 December 1976 and typed address to ‘Mr. R. P. Seaton, / 28 Hollybush Street, / PLAISTOW, / LONDON E.13.’ THREE: Printed programme. Headed: ‘The Stone Gallery, The Vyne, nr. Basingstoke / (by kind permission of The National Trust and The Hon. Antony Lyttelton) / Peter Pears / Benjamin Britten / A Concert in aid of the Sandham Memorial Chapel, Burghclere’. Dated on cover ‘Sunday, April 20, 1958, at 3.0 p.m.’ 4pp, 8vo. Bifolium. Cover in grey with some red lettering. Illustration on cover of ‘The Resurrection (Sandham Memorial Chapel) by Stanley Spencer’. The reverse of the first leaf carries the programme, the recto of the second a paragraph about the chapel itself, the reverse of the second leaf the names of the ‘patrons of the concert’, committee and management. Loosely inserted is a stapled pamphlet (8pp, 12mo), with drophead heading ‘Peter Pears / Benjamin Britten / Text of the Songs’. Entirely composed of texts of 22 songs, some in German and French, with the last four ‘arr. BENJAMIN BRITTEN’. Also present is an envelope (only), with stamps and Saxmundham postmark of 20 July 1976, addressed to ‘GEORGE BEHREND / FLIQUET, / JERSEY, / CHANNEL ISLES.’ Not in Pears’s elegant hand, and with a distinctive capital ‘Q’ (dead vertical downstroke). Whether written out by Britten or not is unclear, but annotated in another hand ‘Last letter of any sort from Ben on becoming Lord Britten.’ I stress that there is no letter surviving. See Image. Could the annotation be by a grief-stricken Peter Pears?