1920S

[‘must one glue the British public to its seat’?: Jeannette Sherwin [née Görlitz and latterley Jolley], English actress.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mr Rubinstein’, regarding a performance of Wagner’s ‘Tristan und Isolde’.

Author: 
Jeannette Sherwin [née Görlitz and latterley Jolley] (1894-1936), English actress, daughter of Australian soprano Amy Sherwin
Publication details: 
4 February 1913. 51 Nether Hall Gardens, N.W. [London]
£60.00

She was the daughter of the impressario Hugo Görlitz and the Australian soprano Amy Sherwin; and goddaughter of Paderewski. She married the actor James Thomas Jolley in New York (where the couple were based) in 1923, dying of consumption in England several years later. The present item is 2pp, small 4to, in bifolium, with the valediction written lengthwise and downwards on a third page. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Printed on the first page is the name ‘Jeannette’ within a small bow. The letter is addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Rubinstein’, and signed ‘Jeannette Sherwin Gorlitz’.

[1920s transatlantic ocean liner: RMS Transylvania, cruise ship with the Anchor Line.] Long Typed Letter from ‘Alex’ to his parents, written en route from Glasgow to New York, with account and diagrams of a sea rescue, and postcard of the liner.

Author: 
[1920s transatlantic ocean liner: TSS Transylvania (1925), cruise ship with the Anchor Line, requisi tioned by the Royal Navy in the Second World War, and torpedoed by the Germans in 1940
RMS Transylvania
Publication details: 
Letter from 'S. S. Transylvania' (en route from Glasgow to New York), 24, 26 and 29 November 1928. Postcard undated, but contemporaneous.
£180.00
RMS Transylvania

TSS Transylvania (the prefix stands for ‘Twin Screw Steamship’) was built in Glasgow for the Anchor Line and launched in 1925. She had three funnels, but two were redundant, only serving to render the ship more attractive to prospective passengers. In 1940 she requisitioned by the Royal Navy, and the following year she was torpedoed by the Germans, sinking with the loss of 36 lives. The letter is 13pp, 12mo; with neat single-space typing, on thirteen leaves.

[BBC: 1920s female broadcasters discuss their work.] Typed articles by seven women, including 'Wireless Aunties' or 'Organisers of Children's Hour' from BBC stations at Aberdeen ('Auntie Win'), Plymouth, Birmingham, Liverpool.

Author: 
[BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation), 1920s female broadcasters] Emma Dorothea Barcroft; Cecil E. M. Dixon; M. M. Hummerston; Muriel A. Levy; Winifred M. Manners; L. D. Rhodes
Publication details: 
Undated, but from the 1920s. [BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation).] From BBC stations at Aberdeen, Birmingham, Liverpool, Plymouth.
£450.00

A fascinating collection of articles - with added relevance at a time when the position of women in the BBC is much-debated - in which 1920s women broadcasters with at BBC provincial stations (including Aberdeen, BIrmingham, Liverpool, Plymouth) discuss their careers. One Seven original typescripts, totalling 20pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and creased, with occasional chipping to edges. The writing is thoughtful and often enlightening.

[Manchester Literary Club, founded 1862.] Three items of printed ephemera: menus for the ‘Christmas Supper’ in 1927 and 1929 (each with photograph of ‘J. Windsor Burgess as Father Christmas’); invitation to ‘Complimentary Supper' to Prof. F. E. Weiss

Author: 
Manchester Literary Club, founded 1862 [J. Windsor Burgess; Prof. F. E. Weiss; J. H. Brocklehurst; A. C. Wilson; Grand Hotel, Manchester]
Publication details: 
Events held at the Grand Hotel, Manchester. The ‘christmas suppers’ in 1927 and 1929; the ‘complimentary supper’ in 1928.
£120.00

Three scarce items, with no other copies traced. All three carry the Club’s badge. The 1929 menu is in good condition; the other two items are in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The two ‘Christmas Supper’ menus are uniform in layout. Each is printed on an 8vo piece of white card, with the same photograph of ‘J. Windsor Burgess as Father Christmas’ on one side and the menu on the other. (The menus differ and are dated.) Each menu is wrapped in a grey-paper 8vo bifolium, printed on all four sides. The Menu for 19 December 1927 states on the cover: ‘J. H. Brocklehurst, Esq.

[1920s ladies' fashion: Heather Thatcher, stage and screen actress and dancer.] Autograph Signature to Corrected Typescript of article ‘ “Dress To Suit Yourself.” / says Heather Thatcher / In an Exclusive Interview with Dorothy Owston-Booth.’

Author: 
Heather Thatcher (1896-1987), stage and screen actress and dancer whose Russian-designed costumes caused a sensation in the 1920s [Dorothy Owston-Booth (b.1889), journalist;1920s ladies’
Publication details: 
No date or place. [London. 1920s.]
£90.00

An excellent bold and sprawling signature ‘Heather Thatcher’ at the end of a carbon typescript of a 1920s article from an unascertained source, with a few minor corrections in pencil. 3pp, 4to. Fifty-nine lines of text, on three leaves attached with a slightly rusty paperclip. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Begins: ‘ “Luckily, fashion for this autumn and winter are going to be varied; so every woman will be able to find something to suit her own particular type,” said lovely Heather Thatcher when she was showing me some of her new autumn dresses.

[Leatrice Joy, Hollywood star of the silent movie era.] Printed circular, in the form of a Typed Letter, with facsimile signature, responding to fan mail.

Author: 
Leatrice Joy [Leatrice Johanna Zeidler] (1893-1985), Hollywood star of the silent movie era
Publication details: 
No date. From Hollywood, California. On her letterhead.
£50.00

1p, 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with rust stain from paperclip to one margin. The letterhead consists of a stylized vertical arrangement of the letters in the name ‘JOY’ at top left. The ‘signature’ is an extremely good facsimile in black ink.

[Tom Walls, English stage and film actor and director of the famous Aldwych farces.] Autograph Signature (‘Best Wishes / Tom Walls’) from autograph album.

Author: 
Tom Walls [Thomas Kirby Walls] (1883-1949), English stage and film actor, remembered for producing, directing and acting in 1920s Aldwych farces and their 1930s film adaptations
Walls
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£30.00
Walls

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 9.5 x 11.5 cm leaf of blue paper, with rounded outer corners, torn from an autograph album. In good condition, lightly aged, with spotting on reverse. Reads: ‘Best Wishes / Tom Walls.’ Good bold writing, with stylistic flourish linking the cross-stroke of the T in ‘Tom’ with the S of ‘wishes’, and two small vertical strokes at the centre of the underlining of the signature. See image

[Mabel Constandurous, star and writer of BBC radio series ‘The Buggins Family’.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to her agent ‘Miss Booth', discussing the success of her radio work, a fan letter from Compton Mackenzie, future engagements.

Author: 
Mabel Constanduros [Mabel Tilling] (1880-1957), commedienne and playwright, who wrote and starred in the BBC radio series ‘The Buggins Family’
Publication details: 
Neither item dated (but both after 1928). The first without place, the second on letterhead of Belhaven, Cornwall Road, Sutton.
£180.00

According to Barry Took’s entry on Constanduros in the Oxford DNB, ‘The Buggins Family’ was ‘the first radio family’, and she played all six parts, writing and performing in more than 250 episodes between and 1928 and 1948: ‘The popularity of the family was such that the Ministry of Food used Mrs Buggins to broadcast recipes during the Second World War.’Constanduros is also credited with having written more than one hundred plays. The recipient of these two letters, 'Miss Booth', is clearly her agent. Two items, the first in good condition and the second fair, on lightly discoloured paper.

[Harry Roy, British dance band leader responsible for the 1931 classic 'My Girl's Pussy' ; Joe Daniels, Dixieland drummer.] Autograph Signatures of Roy and Daniels, the latter cut from letter describing himself as ‘One of the Drumming Fraternity.’

Author: 
Harry Roy [born Harris Litman] (1900-1971), British dance band leader and clarinettist; Joe Daniels (1909-1993), British Dixieland drummer, born in South Africa
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£32.00

See Roy’s entry in the Oxford DNB. He part-wrote and performed the perennially popular ‘My Girl’s Pussy’, with other songs with suggestive titles. The two men’s careers both began in the 1920s, and Daniels played in the band of Roy’s brother Sid Roy. The two signatures laid down on an 8.5 x 7 piece cut from the leaf from an autograph album. Somewhat discoloured, otherwise in good condition. ONE: Signature of ‘Harry Roy’. On 6 x 4.5 cm slip of paper. Large signature, with the downstrokes of the final letter y’s extending unusually far. TWO: Signature of ‘Joe Daniels’.

[Henry Hall, Director of the BBC Dance Orchestra.] Coloured Lithographic portrait of him, in colours, with original Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Henry Hall [Henry Robert Hall] (1898-1989), Director of the BBC Dance Orchestra
Henry Hall
Publication details: 
The print: ‘Presented with “Radio Pictorial,” No. 1, January 19, 1934’.
£45.00
Henry Hall

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 20 x 25 cm lithograph in pink, white and black. In good condition, lightly aged. An attractive item, suitable for framing. Head and shoulders portrait of a dapper bespectacled Hall, with parted greased hair, in white tie, staring at the viewer. Across his shirt, Hall has written in green ink ‘Best Wishes / Henry Hall’. Captioned at bottom left: ‘HENRY HALL / DIRECTOR, B.B.C. DANCE ORCHESTRA’; and at bottom right: ‘Presented with “Radio Pictorial,” / No. 1, January 19, 1934’. See image.

['Pam Chelsea', 1920s London entertainer.] Autograph Magazine Article, signed ('(MR) Pam Chelsea'), titled '"On Tour" | A Magic Phrase - & what It means to The Small Theatrical Artiste' (on those working in small revues, concert parties, road shows).

Author: 
'Pam Chelsea', 1920s 'Small Theatrical Artiste' from London [revues, concert parties, road shows, music hall, variety]
Publication details: 
No date, but 1920s. Author: '(MR) Pam Chelsea | 9 Redburn Street | Chelsea SW3' [London].
£180.00

No information regarding 'Pam Chelsea' (female impersonator?) has been discovered, but the appearance of the document, and its presence in a batch of material relating to 1920s entertainment and broadcasting, date it to that period. 5pp, folio. 'No. of words. 1,063.' Written in a bold hand. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. The article was clearly accepted for publication, as '£1 11. 6 paid' is written at the top of the first page, and '5 line drop cap' at the start of the article.

[ Lord Riddell and eugenics: 'Lunacy and mental deficiency must always be festering sores'. ] Printed pamphlet: 'Sterilisation of the Unfit. Paper read by Lord Riddell before the Medico-Legal Society, April 25th, 1929.'

Author: 
Lord Riddell [ George Allardice Riddell, 1st Baron Riddell ] (1865-1934), Fleet Street press baron, proprietor of the News of the World [ eugenics ]
Publication details: 
Printed for H. K. Lewis & Co. Ltd, by Hazell, Watson & Viney, Ltd., London and Aylesbury. No date [ circa 1929 ].
£120.00

31 + [1]pp., 8vo. Stapled without wraps. Drophead title. (Offprint from Transactions of the Medico-Legal Society.) In fair condition, lightly aged, central vertical fold, rusted staples. 'No reasonable person', Riddell writes, 'suggests the wholesale sterilisation of masses of lunatics and defectives. Only very moderate measures are proposed.' Riddell's suggestion is that 'in suitable cases, subject to the consent of the Board of Control, or some similar body', and with the consent of the subject, lunatics and mental defectives be sterilised.

[ Michael Arlen, English author of Armenian extraction. ] Autograph Signature ('Michael Arlen') on note to the author Sewell Stokes.

Author: 
Michael Arlen [ born Dikran Kouyoumdjian ] (1895-1956), Anglo-American author, born in Bulgaria of Armenian extraction [ Francis Martin Sewell Stokes (1902-1979), author and broadcaster ]
Publication details: 
14 Queen Street, Mayfair [ London ]. October 1924.
£35.00

1p., 4to. The leaf is divided into four panels by a central horizontal crease; Arlen writes on the upper panel of one page, the rest of the leaf being blank. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Arlen writes neatly at the centre of the panel: 'Dear Sewell Stokes | Pip, Squeak and Wilfred. | Yrs. | Michael Arlen.' And at top left: '14 Queen St. | Mayfair. | October, 1924.' At the time of writing the precocious Stokes was an assistant editor at T.P.'s Weekly. 'Pip, Squeak and Wilfred' was a cartoon which ran in the Daily Mirror from 1919 to 1956.

[ The Game of Minims, invented by Edmond X. Kapp. ] Galley proof or offprint in which Kapp gives the eight rules of the game, under an explanatory introduction and the title 'Rules for the Game of Minims reprinted from "The Weekly Westminster."'

Author: 
Edmond X. Kapp [ Edmond Xavier Kapp (1890-1978), portrait painter and caricaturist, inventor of the Game of Minims [ The Weekly Westminster, London periodical; Faber & Gwyer, publishers ]
Publication details: 
Unattributed and undated. [ The Weekly Westminster, London? 1925 or 1926. ]
£50.00

Galley proof or off print of a single column. In fair condition, heavily aged and on brittle high-acidity newspaper stock. Headed: 'Rules for the Game of | Minims | reprinted from | "The Weekly Westminster." | The announcement in The Weekly Westminster Competitions of a prize for a new parlour game, suggested to Mr. Kapp that there was a game to be made out of Minims, a little book published by Faber and Gwyer a few weeks earlier. Mr. Kapp entered the competition and carried off first prize.

[ Devon County Cricket Club and Dorset County Cricket Club. ] Autograph Signatures of the twenty-two cricketers taking part in the match 'Dorset v. Devon. Aug. 22 & 23 - 1924'.

Author: 
Devon County Cricket Club, founded 1899; Dorset County Cricket Club, founded 1896
Publication details: 
[ Dorset v. Devon cricket match. ] 22 and 23 August 1924
£45.00

On one side of a 16 x 20 cm leaf torn from an album. In fair condition, lightly aged. The signatures of the eleven Devon players in column along the left-hand edge, and those of the Dorset players in a column along the right-hand edge. Details of the match and players are hard to find. Here is a tentative reading of the Devon signatures: 'F H Canok | A R Strephardy | W F Light | S Blakeney | K G E<?> | E. G. Trench | J R Carter | C R Russell | <?> | G H H Sherlock | E A S<?>'. And a similarly-tentative reading of the Dorset signatures: 'E. C. Walby | W Harrison | W. J. Knight | M. B.

[ Herbert Sutcliffe, Frank Woolley, Fred Root and William Astill, England cricketers. ] Autograph Signatures ('H Sutcliffe', 'F E Woolley', 'Fred Foot', 'W. E. Astill'), with the signature of 'B W Bullock'.

Author: 
Herbert Sutcliffe (1894-1978); Frank Woolley [ Frank Edward Woolley ] (1887-1978); Fred Root [ Charles Frederick Root ] (1890-1954); William Ewart Astill (1888-1948); B. W. Bullock
Publication details: 
Given at the Yorkshire v. Rest of England match, the Oval [ London ], September 1923.
£60.00

The signatures of Sutcliffe and Woolley are on a 16 x 18 cm. piece of grey paper, cut from an album, those of the other three men are crowded onto an L-shaped piece of paper, laid down on the same leaf. At head of page: 'Yorkshire v. Rest of England, The Oval, Sept. 1923.' The odd man out is B. W. Bullock [ Burnett Wedlake Bullock ] (1896-1954), who did not take part in the match. He played for Surrey, and was presumably around when his more illustrious colleagues were giving autographs. According to the report in The Times, the match ended in a draw.

[ The English garden. ] Manuscript plan of unnamed garden, with bloom calendar table showing the blooming patterns of more than a hundred flowers.

Author: 
[ The English garden; gardening; ecology ]
Publication details: 
Place not stated [ England ]. 1928.
£120.00

The table or bloom calendar is in a makeshift table, ruled out in pencil over 2pp., folio. It is in poor condition, heavily-aged, divided into two sections along central horizontal fold line, and with slight loss to text from chipping.

[ Jill Casson and Andrew Storie, British costume designers. ] Autograph note signed from Casson, on printed invitation to a show of 'Mr. Andrew Storie's drawings' at Casson's studio.

Author: 
Jill Casson and Andrew Storie, British costume designers
Publication details: 
The invitation, for 20 July 1928, from Casson's studio, The Little House, 24, Clareville Street, Queen's Gate. Autograph note by Casson undated.
£45.00

Printed on one 12mo page of a bifolium of thick orange paper. The invitation is to a show of 'Mr. Andrew Storie's drawings of modern, mediaeval and theatrical dresses at her studio on Friday, 20th July, 1928 from 4 to 7 - (p.m. of course)'. Casson's note, in top left-hand corner, reads: 'Mr. Ian Davison kindly told me he was sure you would be very interested in Mr. Storie's work. - I do hope you can find time to come. | Jill Casson'.

[ South African 1920s petrochemical industry. ] Substantial manuscript double-entry ledger of a company with international interests

Author: 
South African petrochemical industry in the nineteen-twenties [ South Africa; Standard Oil Company; tanning; petrol; petroleum ]
Publication details: 
Ledger by H. C. Cray & Co, Account Book Makers & Printers, Port Elizabeth [ South Africa ]. 1921 to 1928.
£500.00

340pp., folio. In sturdy brown calf binding with geometric decoration using thin leather strips and marbled endpapers. 'PRIVATE LEDGER' on label on spine. Thumb indexed. A further 12pp., 8vo, of manuscript accounts for 'Jan June 1928' on loosely-inserted leaves. The ledger indicates a substantial company (even possessing a 'Doubtful Debt Reserve'), its trading account showing a healthy balance, generally hovering around the £25,000 mark.

[ Conrad Heighton Leigh, English artist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('C H Leigh') to 'Mr Horton', giving an account of the result of his visit to the London publisher Grant Richards, regarding 'Mr Hegcock's & my little alphabet'.

Author: 
Conrad Heighton Leigh (b.1883), artist, commercial illustrator and member of the Brighton Arts Club [ Grant Richards (1911-1963), London publisher ]
Publication details: 
68 Grand Parade, Brighton. 20 January 1902.
£56.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, with light signs of age and wear. After following Horton's 'kind advice' concerning 'Mr Hedgcock's & my little alphabet', 're some sketches with more action in them', he has been to 'Town' to show the designs to the publishers Grant Richards. He 'called in person on Thursday but after some delay they have eventually rejected the Alphabet. [...] Evidently from what I was told the sketches such as you advised would have been more what they wanted', so he will do them again 'in that style and try again with other people'.

[Printed item relating to the Wilfredian League of Gugnuncs children's club, an offshoot of the Pip, Squeak and Wilfred comic strip in the Daily Mirror and Sunday Pictorial.] Third Gugnunc Sing-Song. Souvenir Programme 1929.

Author: 
'Uncle Dick' [Bertram Lamb (1889-1938), author of the Pip, Squeak & Wilfred comic in the Daily Mirror, and patron of the Wilfredian League of Gugnuncs [Austin Bowen Payne (1876-1956), illustrator]
Publication details: 
Event at the Royal Albert Hall, London. 11 May 1929. 'Organised by "The Daily Mirror." Rolls Buildings, Fetter Lane, London, E.C.4.'
£56.00

8pp., 12mo. Stapled. Printed in blue on shiny art paper, in cream card wraps, also printed in blue, and tied with blue and white ribbon. On aged and worn paper. With illustrations in text, including a half-page image of the 'Pip, Squeak & Wilfred Jig-Saw Puzzle'. The first page carries a message to 'My Dear Boys and Girls' from 'Uncle Bill', including: 'To-day's Gugnunc Party - our third - is particularly interesting as it is also a birthday party.

[Children's book with coloured illustrations.] The Pucksy Man. ['A Collins Picture Book'.]

Author: 
Agnes Grozier Herbertson [A Collins Picture Book, Collins' Clear-Type Press]
Publication details: 
London and Glasgow: Collins' Clear-Type Press. [1920s.]
£150.00

20pp., small 4to (16.5 x 13 cm). Sewn in card wraps, illustrated in colours. In fair condition, lightly and spotted, in worn wraps, with two uncoloured illustrations on the inside wraps coloured in. With ownership inscription on half-title, dated 18 September 1927. Eight attractive full-page colour illustrations (two out of register) in text, in a range of styles, suggesting stock images by different illustrators, and two uncoloured illustrations on the inside wraps, coloured in (by a child?), with another two illustrations on the front and back covers. This item is something of a mystery.

Anonymous album containing 29 quarto pages of superior ink drawings of teddy bears and other stuffed toys in cartoonish and anthropomorphic style.

Author: 
[An album of strikingly original illustrations of teddy bears]
An album of strikingly original illustrations of teddy bears
Publication details: 
The album dates from the 1930s; the drawings are undated, and would appear to be slightly later.
£250.00
An album of strikingly original illustrations of teddy bears

4to album, with the 29 pages of drawings on 28 leaves (on the rectos, except on one leaf, where they are on both sides). The album gives evidence of having been re-used, but gives no evidence as to the identity of the artist. While the covers of the album are worn, with the spine becoming detached, and with its leaves of discoloured high-acidity paper, all the drawings are clear and complete, consisting of twenty-eight full-page studies, and the remaining page (the first) with three studies on it. A few of the illustrations are lightly- and tastefully-coloured in pastel watercolour.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Julian B. Arnold') to Raffin, commenting on the state of the American book trade.

Author: 
Julian Biddulph Arnold, author, and son and biographer of Sir Edwin Arnold (1832-1904) [Alain Raffin]
Publication details: 
20 September 1921; 5132 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago, Illinois [on cancelled letterhead].
£85.00

4to, 2 pp. Twenty-seven lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged and slightly creased paper. He cannot help Raffin find an American publisher for his book 'Mystery, Mirage and Miracle' (privately printed for the author in London in 1921), although he finds its style 'delightful', and its subject matter 'one which deeply interests me'. 'The book-market is in a very strained condition - a sort of transition period with all the publishers "sitting on the fence", and the public refusing to by any books except a few which have the luck to become fashionable'.

Manuscript letter from 'Mummie' to 'Babsie', consisting of a long description in English of Burma from a visiting mother to her daughter.

Author: 
[Mandalay; Burma; Myanmar]
Publication details: 
March 17 [no year] [around 1927]. Mandalay, Burma.
£65.00

12mo, 15 pp. On watermarked laid paper. Very good, with slight wear to crease on first leaf damaging two words (both still legible). Otherwise text clear and complete. The item can be dated from a reference to 'a Dempsey-Tunney fight'. Although neatly written, the handwriting is so stylised that deciphering the text presents difficulties. Begins 'What a whirl since I wrote you on the boat before we landed in Rangoon [...] HOT. Yes! Right now it is 90 degrees in our room which has windows on three sides & there are two big fans going.

Scrapbook containing a hundred tickets from twenty-seven London theatres of the 1920s, with illustrations of actors.

Author: 
R. J. Olive [London theatres of the 1920s; theatrical ephemera]
Publication details: 
London: for performances dating from between 1922 and 1927.
£95.00

On fifty-seven pages, in a notebook of forty leaves (eighty pages). Dimensions: 20 x 16 cm. In red card covers with 'THEATRES' in manuscript on front. Pages aged and ruckled, with a little damp staining at rear (not affecting any of the ephemera) and a small amount of loss to a corner of the rear cover, but in fair condition overall. The first page, signed 'R. J. Olive', with title 'London Theatres'.

Handbill printed notice of a "£1 REWARD" for the return of 'A Lady's Gold Wrist-Watch & Bracelet, Engraved on the back, P.E.B., Dec. 28, 1921.'

Author: 
[Hall the Printer Ltd, 3A Queen Street, Oxford; Witney Police Station]
Publication details: 
HALL THE PRINTER LTD., 3A QUEEN STREET, OXFORD. 1929.'
£65.00

On one side of a piece of wove paper roughly 220 x 280 mm. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper, with a few short closed tears to extremities. Cheaply but effectively printed in a variety of point sizes. Reads '£1 REWARD | LOST, on Monday Evening, December 16, either on the Motor-bus between Oxford and Witney, or in Witney, A Lady's Gold Wrist-Watch & Bracelet | Engraved on the back, P.E.B., Dec. 28, 1921. | A Reward of £1 will be paid to anyone bringing the same to the Police Station at Witney, or to the County Police Station, New Road, Oxford.'

Spoof notice by 'T. N. Mitchell, Benson, Henley', regarding the death of an 82-year-old 'Wireless Dealer' who is said to have left a fortune of £50,000', with signed inscription by Mitchell on reverse.

Author: 
T. N. Mitchell of Benson, Oxford [Blows, printer, Henley; spoof; hoax]
Publication details: 
Dated by Mitchell in manuscript 'Xmas 1930'. Printed by 'BLOWS, HENLEY'.
£80.00

On a piece of brown card roughly 250 x 200 mm. Designed to be hung from two punch holes at head. Worn and aged, but with text (printed in red and black within a decorative border) clear and entire. A clever and amusing spoof, deliberately old-fashioned typographically in a parody of 'improving' texts. Reads '£50,000 | A Wireless Dealer aged 82, died - He left £50,000; thanks to long hours, close attention to business, strict economy, and - a bequest of £49,650 from an Uncle in Australia | T. N. MITCHELL | Benson, Oxford.' Inscribed on the reverse 'Xmas. 1930.

Typed Letter Signed ('John van Druten'), giving advice to an actor named 'France'.

Author: 
John Van Druten [John William Van Druten] (1901-1957), Anglo-American dramatist
Publication details: 
6 December 1928; 5 Harewood Court, Hanover Square, London W1.
£80.00

4to, 1 p, 21 lines. On creased and lightly-foxed paper, with a couple of closed tears (not affecting text, which is clear and entire). May refer to the 1928 revival of van Druten's play 'Young Woodley' (previously banned by the censor), or (which is more likely) to his 'After All' (1929).

Special Railway Supplement.

Author: 
The Financial Times [Railway; Railways]
Publication details: 
London; 1 January 1923.
£56.00

Thirty-six broadsheet pages. On aged paper, with chipping to extremities and first and last leaves detached, but with text clear and entire. Articles on 'The Four New Railways', with photographs, by Sir Herbert Walker, Felix J. C. Pole, Arthur Watson and R. L. Wedgwood. Other articles include 'Electrification - The Metropolitan's Experience' by R. H. Selbie, 'Railways - Their Position and Prospects' by Sir Sam Fry, 'Railway Rates under the New Regime' by Sir W. M. Acworth and 'Finance of British Railways' by W. J. Stevens.

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