ARTS

Autograph Letter Signed, in French, to Monsieur Bailly President of the Institut.

Author: 
Emile Bastien-Lepage
Publication details: 
7 April 1887; 6 Rue de Phalsbourg, Paris.
£35.00

French architect (1845-1938), brother of the painter Jules Bastien-Lepage. One page, 12mo. Very good, on discoloured paper. Rodin (the sculptor) has informed him that the sketch requested by the committee will be ready the next Saturday. Points out that it will be difficult to convene a meeting during the Easter holidays. Signed 'Emile Bastien-Lepage'.

Twenty-one Typed Letters Signed to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Captain John Laurence Pritchard [The Royal Aeronautical Society]
Publication details: 
Between 1931 and 1934; all on letterhead of the Royal Aeronautical Society, of which Pritchard was secretary.
£100.00

Novelist and writer on aeronautics (1885-1968). All items one page, quarto. As a whole good, though grubby, but some items with pin holes, closed tears, etc. Most bearing the R.S.A. stamp and some docketed. Three items with enclosures. The items are dry communications relating to the arranging of R.A.S. lectures at the R.S.A.

Five Autograph Letters Signed to [G. K. Menzies,] the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Maurice Drake
Publication details: 
2 October 1922; 21 November 1922; 1 December 1922; 26 February 1923; 22 March 1923; the first four on letterhead 'The Three Gables, | Cathedral Close, | Exeter', the fifth on embossed letterhead 'COLWELL COTTAGE, | EXETER.'
£250.00

English glass painter and novelist (1875-1923). All five items in very good condition, and all but the third and fifth stamped and docketed. ITEM ONE: two pages, 4to. He will be 'delighed and honoured by reading a paper before the R.S.A.' Gives a choice of dates and states 'I shall want a lantern.' He wants 'to draw the Society's attention to the fact that the various processes in making a modern window follow the developments of stained glass from the 11th (or perhaps the 9th) century to the beginning of the 15th.' Explains his thesis in some detail, and discusses possible titles.

Typed Letter Signed to Sir Henry Truman Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
George Titus Barham
Publication details: 
20 December 1916; on letterhead of the Express Dairy Co. Limited.
£23.00

Founder of Express Dairies (1860-1937), and antiquarian with a private museum in Sudbury. One page, quarto. Very good on slightly discoloured paper. He thanks him for sending Professor Petrie's letter. 'It is a subject which we have had before us for some time past, and are still keeping well in view as we are specially anxious to do something more on the lines the Professor pints [sic - and how appropriate!] out.' He has dropped Petrie a line. Signed 'G. Titus Barham'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Alfred Edward Chalon.

Author: 
Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey
Publication details: 
Belgrave place | Thursday Ev[eni]ng.' [no year].
£66.00

English painter and sculptor (1781-1841). The recipient (1780-1860) was an English artist of Swiss descent. One page, quarto. Good, but with traces of previous brown-paper mount adhering to rear and minor damage to several corners. Reads 'My Dear Sir | When I asked you for an impression I had not seen the composition & had no idea that I was asking so much - believe me I feel very grateful for your kindness in putting me in possession of so very interesting a work - I do not mean to be understood as speaking of Lithography only.

Typed Letter Signed to Sir Philip Magnus [of the Royal Society of Arts], Tangley Hill, Chilworth, Surrey.

Author: 
Sir Arthur Isaac Durrant [Royal Society of Arts]
Publication details: 
27 September 1918; on letterhead of the War Cabinet Committee on Accommodation.
£36.00

English civil servant (1864-1939). The recipient was an educationalist and authority on Edmund Burke. One page, quarto. Very good on slightly discoloured paper. Docketed and bearing the Society's stamp. 'On behalf of Sir Alfred Mond [Committee Chairman], I hasten to assure you and the Committee at the Royal Society of Arts that there is at present no intention on the part of H.M.

Two Typed Letters Signed to G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Sir Ambrose Heal [Heal's Department Store]
Publication details: 
7 October 1918 and 15 May 1919; both on letterhead of Heal & Son Ltd. 195 to 198 Tottenham Court Road, London.
£75.00

Art historian, designer and founder of department store (1872-1959). Both items very good though somewhat dusty. One docketed and both bearing the Society's stamp. ITEM ONE (one page, quarto, 7 October 1918). He encloses (not present) a letter he has received from a woman named Evelyn James. 'I do not know what facilities you have for getting publicity but Miss James has done a good deal of this kind of thing and done it very well. She is a thoroughly capable young woman.' Her help may be sought regarding the meeting on 28 October.

Autograph Signatures on fragment of letter.

Author: 
James Ward, John Jackson
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£25.00

The engraver and painter Ward (1769-1859) and the artist Jackson (1778-1831). Dimensions of paper roughly five inches by two inches. Good. From a collection of material relating to the Artists' General Benevolent Fund. The reverse reads '<...> <...> | Daughters of the late Robert <...> | Painter Engraver & Publishe <...>'. Clearly a petition on behalf of the two women, and with Georgiana Dodd's cropped signature above those of 'James Ward R.A. | John Jackson R.A.'.

Autograph Signatures on fragment of a document.

Author: 
Clarkson Stanfield, Michael Meredith
Publication details: 
1825; London.
£26.00

Stanfield was a marine and landscape painter (1793-1867); Meredith was employed by the auctioneers Machin and Debenham of King Street. Paper dimensions roughly five and a half inches by four inches. Folded twice. Grubby and lightly creased, with dog-eared corners. Reads '[signed] Michael Meredith | No 6 Blomfield St | Finsbury Circus | [signed] C Stanfield R A | Mornington Place | Novr. 20th. 1825. From a collection of material relating to the Artists' General Benevolent Fund.

Autograph Letter Signed to 'Miss Ward'.

Author: 
Briton Riviere
Publication details: 
23 May 1892; on letterhead 'FLAXLEY, | 82 FINCHLEY RD.. N.W.'
£33.00

English artist (1840-1920). Two pages, 12mo. Good, but with closed tear at head unobtrusively repaired with archival tape, and some spotting. In stamped envelope addressed in autograph and with postmark. 'I shall be pleased to come & see your pupils work on Wednesday June the 1st but shall not be able to reach there before 2.45 I regret to say. | With kind regards | Yours very truly | [signed] Briton Riviere'.

Two Typed Letters Signed to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Isaiah Bowman [John Hopkins University; American Geographical Society of New York; Royal Society of Arts]
Publication details: 
13 July 1916 and 26 May 1917; on American Geographical Society letterheads.
£56.00

Canadian-born American geographer (1878-1950), President of John Hopkins University, a member of the American delegation at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference, at which the United Nations was founded. Both letters docketed and bearing the Society's stamp. Both good though lightly creased and on slightly discoloured paper; letter one with a spike-hole (not affecting text) and letter two with rust stains from a paperclip.

Typed Letter Signed to Miss Scott Rogers of the Royal Academy of Arts.

Author: 
Ernest Alfred Sallis Benney
Publication details: 
9 May 1946; on Brighton School of Art letterhead.
£26.00

Artist (1894-1966) and principal of Brighton School of Art. One page, octavo. Good, but lightly creased and with staple holes in the top lefthand corner. Date stamps in grey and red ink. Letter concerns the suitability of Alfred Charles Hull as a member of the Academy. Benney knew Hull 'for many years as a master at Shoreham Grammar School' and elsewhere. 'Mr. Hull is an extremely charming fellow and would socially fit in very happily with the Society. It is a little difficult, however, for me to say whether he is of fellowship standard.

Two typed Letters Signed, successively to G[eorge]. K[enneth]. Menzies and W. Perry, Secretaries, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Sir Alfred Charles Bossom, 1st Baronet [British Art in Industry Exhibition, 1935; Royal Society of Arts; Royal Academy]
Publication details: 
22 June and 1 October 1935; both on House of Commons embossed letterheads, and from 5, Carlton Gardens, S.W.1.
£100.00

English politician (1881-1965) and architect, much of whose work was done in the United States. Both letters two pages, quarto. Both letters docketed (the first heavily so), bearing the Society's stamp, and with pin and staple holes in top left-hand corner. Second letter good, first lightly creased and grubby. Revealing documents relating to the Royal Society's 'British Art in Industry' exhibition, held at the Royal Academy in 1935. The Society's website describes this as a 'resounding success', but as these letters show, the matter was not so clear cut.

Autograph Letter to Mrs Morgan.

Author: 
Richard Westmacott
Publication details: 
Undated; 'Wilton Place | Wednesday.'
£25.00

English sculptor (1799-1872), Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy and son of Sir Richard Westmacott. Two pages, 12mo. Good, but on grubby, foxed paper, and with remains of stubs from previous mounting still adhering. A formal letter in the third person. Reads 'Mr Westmacott presents his Compliments, and thanks Mrs Morgan very much for her kind proposal for Friday - Malheureusement Mr. W. is engaged that day - & must therefore give up the pleasure that Mr & Mrs. <?>'s kindness offers him.'

Typed Note Signed to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Robert Browne Dunwoody
Publication details: 
7 December 1914; on letterhead of Association of Chambers of Commerce of the United Kingdom.
£15.00

English engineer (1879-1966), Secretary of the Associated British Chambers of Commerce, 1912-46. Very good, though creased and on slightly discoloured paper. Bearing the Society's stamp. Reads 'I beg to acknowledge with thanks the receipt of your Journal of the 4th December, for which I am greatly obliged. | I enclose herewith the report of a recent meeting of this Association in exchange.' Signed 'R. B. Dunwoody'.

Thirty-four Autograph Letters Signed to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Vice-Admiral Sir (Henry) Percy Douglas
Publication details: 
1935-8; on letterheads including 18 Dealtry Road, Putney, and 34 Waterloo Mansions, Dover.
£180.00

British sailor (1876-1939), hydrographer of the Royal Navy (1924-32), inventor of the Douglas Protractor and the Douglas-Appleyard Arcless Sextant. Various formats from 12mo to octavo. Very good, some docketed and/or bearing the Society's stamp. Relating to the business of the Society, and in particular to a lecture by Douglas involving film of the Manchester Ship Canal.

Three Autograph Letters Signed, Three Typed Letters Signed, to Sir Harry Lindsay and C. Buchanan-Dunlop of the Royal Society of Arts, together with three carbons of replies and a newspaper cutting.

Author: 
William Ernest Frank Ward [GHANA]
Publication details: 
1948-9; Ward's six letters on Colonial Office letterheads.
£45.00

English educationalist (born 1900) and authority on West Africa. Various formats from 12mo to quarto. Very good. Some items stamped or docketed. Mainly relates to a lecture to the Society by Ward, provisionally entitled 'Mass education in the colonies'. Letter of 1 November 1948: 'I am leaving for Beirut in a fortnight to attend the UNESCO conference, and am straining to get the next issue of 'Overseas Education' off to the press before I go.

Typed Letter Signed to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Herbert Sammons [D. Napier & Son]
Publication details: 
22 August 1947; on letterhead of D. Napier & Son Limited, Acton.
£35.00

Scottish engineer (died 1967), noted for his innovative design of a gas turbine engine. One page, 12mo. Very good. Pinholes to one corner and bearing a date stamp. He is honoured to be nominated as a fellow of the Society, and encloses the proposal and a cheque (neither present), thanking the Council 'for the kind invitation extended to me'. Signed 'H. Sammons'.

Five Autograph Letters Signed and one Typed Letter Signed to G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Sir Charles Herbert Armstrong
Publication details: 
1927-30; Elmhyrst, Guildford.
£120.00

British railway magnate and industrialist in India (1862-1949). The collection is very good. The five autograph letters are 12mo, and printed on letterheads. All items signed 'C H Armstrong'. Several items docketed and bearing the Society's stamp. Mainly concerned with Society committee matters, but two letters of interest. The first (autograph, 15 February 1928, 2 pages, 12mo): 'You will no doubt have seen the remarks of the Lord Chief Justice in the Mitchell Hedges case - Times of 14 inst page 5 column 2 - on "learned societies . . . .

Three Typed Letters Signed, two of them to G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, together with three leaflets relating to the 'THE AUDIT BUREAU OF CIRCULATIONS LTD.'

Author: 
Alfred Henry Angus [ADVERTISING]
Publication details: 
The letters, 30 November, 3 and 7 December 1931; the first on the letterhead of the Audit Bureau of Circulations Ltd, and the last two on the letterhead of the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers Ltd.
£85.00

Founder and first editor of The British Advertiser (1873-1957). The collection in very good condition, with rust marks from a paperclip to one item. All items quarto. All items signed 'Alfred H. Angus'. The first letter invites 'The Managing Editor' of the Society's Journal to become a member of the A.B. of C. 'It is felt that your co-operation would be of the utmost value to the Bureau in the achievent of its objectives.' Letter three states that the I.S.B.A. executive have 'unanimously elected' W. D. H. McCullough as their representative to the R.S.A. committee.

Autograph Letter Signed to [K. W. Luckhurst], Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, together with unsigned carbon of reply.

Author: 
Thomas Girtin
Publication details: 
The letter, 17 July 1951, on letterhead 'PELHAM MOUNT | PELHAMS WALK | ESHER'; the carbon, 13 July 1951.
£45.00

British metallurgist (1874-1960) and Master of the Worshipful Company of Clothworkers. Apologises for assuming that Dr Thomas Monro was a member of the Society. 'I never doubted it because not only did he live in Adelphi Terrace, next door to his friend David Garrick, but he was friendly with so many of the Members of that day, and a great patron of the Arts. For the rest he was a medical man - chief physician to 'Bedlam' and one of poor old George III's mental doctors -'.

Typed letter signed by Gibson, together with printed copy of the League's thirty-sixth annual report, and unsigned carbon copies of reply from the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
THE LEAGUE OF REMEMBRANCE [Mrs E. H. Gibson (Myra Macindoe Gibson)]
Publication details: 
Gibson's letter, 31 May 1957, on League of Remembrance letterhead; carbon of reply, 3 June 1957. Report printed by 'THE GARDEN CITY PRESS LTD., LETCHWORTH, HERTS.'
£45.00

Mrs Gibson, whose husband was Vice-Chairman of the League, died in 1966. Her letter (one page, quarto, very good apart from rust stain from paperclip) explains that the League is 'at present in temporary premises' and 'without accommodation for its Annual General Meeting' in November ('Her Grace the Duchess of Beaufort is to preside.'), and asks if 'your Society of its kindness, could find it possible to lend a room for the Meeting'. Points out that 'this organisation is over 40 years old', and asks for details of hiring fee. Signed 'Myra Gibson'.

Four Typed Letters Signed, one Autograph Letter Signed, and one Autograph Note Signed, to (successively) Menzies, Perry and Luckhurst, Secretaries, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Thomas Cantrell Dugdale
Publication details: 
1925 to 1938.
£120.00

English painter (1880-1952) and member of the International Socialist Organization. All items in good condition, though variously grubby or discoloured with age, lightly creased or with pin holes to corners. All items signed either 'T C Dugdale' or 'T. C. Dugdale'. Several items docketed and/or bearing the Society's stamp. LETTER ONE (typed, 23 June 1925, one page, 12mo, on letterhead '9 AVENUE STUDIOS, 76 FULHAM ROAD, LONDON, S.W.3.'): He hopes to 'be able to accept your invitation to act as Judge in the same section as last year'. Asks for the date.

Eleven Typed Letters Signed and one Autograph Letter Signed, variously to W. Perry and G. F. Menzies, Royal Society of Arts; and three-page typed 'brief statement of Dr. [Charles] Carpenter's qualifications', headed 'CONFIDENTIAL'.

Author: 
Edward Frankland Armstrong
Publication details: 
1927 to 1934; on letterheads including 'BUSH HOUSE, | ALDWYCH', 'BALDWIN HOUSE, | 67, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET', and that of the British Dyestuffs Corporation Ltd.
£120.00

British chemist (1878-1945), Vice-President of the Royal Society, 1942-3. All items in very good condition. All letters, one page, quarto. Subjects include an R.S.A. lecture by Armstrong on 'Hydrogen and its uses', the proof of another lecture, Armstrong's chairmanship of various R.S.A. meetings, his appointment as R.S.A. Vice-President, and the possibility of a 'paper on the hydrogenation of bituminous coal ('even though a good many people may be a little tired of the subject'): 'I suppose the man you ought to ask in the first place is K.

One Autograph Letter Signed and one Typed Letter Signed to W. Perry, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Sir Arthur Leigh Bolland Ashton [Leigh Ashton]
Publication details: 
Typed letter: 19 November 1930; autograph letter, no date; both items on (different) Victoria & Albert Museum letterheads.
£75.00

Director (1897-1983) and Secretary, Victoria and Albert Museum, 1945-55. Both items one page, quarto. Both in very good condition. Typed letter bearing R.S.A. stamp. Both items concerning a projected lecture. TYPED LETTER: Perry will have a typescript by the end of the month, 'but as a good dea of my lecture is extempore you may find it rather shorter than you had anticipated. The written part will be roughly two thousand words.' Signed Leigh Ashton'. AUTOGRAPH LETTER: Perry will 'have to be content with the length of M.S. I send in. It may possibly run to 3000 but not more.

Five Typed Letters Signed, and one letter in a secretarial hand signed in autograph, to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Rev. Allan Gairdner Wyon
Publication details: 
1916 to 1925; on letterhead '80, Boundary Road, | St. John's Wood, | London, N.W.'
£180.00

British sculptor (1882-1962) and 'MEDALLIST AND ENGRAVER | TO | HIS MAJESTY THE KING' (as per letterhead). All six items one page, quarto. All six signed 'Allan G. Wyon'. Five bearing the R.S.A. stamp and two docketed. All six very good though dusty (but see secretarial item below). ITEMS ONE (19 October 1916, typed) and TWO (21 October 1916, typed) discuss the practicalities and cost of repairing the R.S.A. 'broken Seal Press'.

Four Typed Letters Signed to G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
John Hudson Elder-Duncan
Publication details: 
5 Feb 1927; 4 and 28 Feb and 8 March 1930; all four on letterhead of 'THE ARCHITECTURE CLUB | "THE LONDON MERCURY" OFFICE, | 229, STRAND, LONDON, | W.C.2.'
£105.00

English politician (1877-1938), MInister of Agriculture and Fisheries, and Secretary of the Architecture Club. All four items one page, quarto, and in very good condition. Last item with one inch closed horizontal tear (not affecting text). Three items stamped and two bearing the Society's stamp. All four signed 'J. H. Elder-Duncan'. ITEM ONE: At a recent meeting of the Architecture Club committee Arthur J. Davis 'raised the question of our helping in some way to give wider publicity to your prizes for design'.

Two Typed Letters Signed to [G. K.] Menzies[, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts].

Author: 
Clyde Young
Publication details: 
21 November 1934 and 21 June 1935, both on letterhead '6, NEW SQUARE, | LINCOLN'S INN, W.C.2.'
£56.00

British architect (born circa 1872), the son of Sir William Young (1843-1900), whose most important commission, the War Office, Whitehall (1900-1906) he completed. Both items one page, octavo, and very good, though on slightly discoloured and creased paper, one piece bearing pin holes and the other paperclip marks. Both items docketed and one bearing the Society's stamp. ITEM ONE: 'You will be interested to see the enclosed copy of Lord Iveagh's reply.

Two Typed Letters Signed to G. E. Mercer, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, concerning his award of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travel Fellowship; with seven associated items (draft replies, memo, programme, etc).

Author: 
Edward David Mills
Publication details: 
1969
£156.00

Architect (1915-98), designer of the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham. All items very good. ITEM ONE (one page, folio): typed copy of Mills' 'programme' ('The object of the proposed research is to study at first hand the effect of these new techniques on building types in the United States [...]'.). ITEM TWO (one page, quarto, typed): letter by Mills dated 3 March 1969. Congratulates the Society on 'the new appearance of the R.S.A. Journal which is an enormous improvement on the past'. Explains that he has been awarded the Fellowship and encloses copy of programme.

Two Autograph Letters Signed and first leaf of Autograph Letter; all three items to Sir Henry [Trueman Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts].

Author: 
Edward North Buxton [BIG GAME HUNTING]
Publication details: 
29 April and 2 May 1901, 8 May [1901]; all three items on letterhead 'KNIGHTON, | BUCKHURST HILL.'
£120.00

Politician and director of Trueman, Hanbury, Buxton and Co. (1840-1924), whose entry in 'Who's who' describes his 'Recreations' as 'a keen follower of big game in four continents'. All three items 12mo and very good. The first two items on cream paper and bearing the Society's stamp; the last item on grey paper and docketed. First and last item signed 'E N Buxton'. ITEM ONE (two pages) addressed to 'Sir Trueman' [sic]: 'I have not forgotten that you asked me how my films stood the Climate & if I got any decent results in the Soudan'. Offers to show Wood 'a few' at the Athenaeum.

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