AUTHOR

[John Moore of Tewkesbury, writer, naturalist and conservationist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('John C Moore') to Edward Thomas's friend R. N. Green-Armytage, asking for personal recollections of Thomas, and the loan of letters, for his biography.

Author: 
John Moore [John Cecil Moore] (1907-1967) of Tewkesbury, author and conservationist [Robert North Green-Armytage, friend of Edward Thomas]
Publication details: 
On his letterhead, 11, The Gastons, Gloucester Road, Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. 17 January 1936.
£100.00

2pp., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Addressed to 'Dear Mr Green-Armytage', corrected from 'Armitage'. The letter begins: 'You may have heard that a Committee, of which Walter De la Mare is chairman, is considering the question of putting up some sort of memorial to Edward Thomas. At the same time I am beginning work on a Life and Letters of Edward Thomas, which has Mrs Thomas' approval, and is intended to be something in the nature of a memorial edition.' He will 'shortly be issuing an appeal in the press for the loan of letters etc in the possession of E.

[Lady Margaret Sackville, poet and children's author, mistress of Ramsay MacDonald.] Typescript of juvenile novel 'Sylvia Thistledown', with autograph emendations, regarding the advetures in Fairy-land of Amelia Egerton and the fairy of the title.

Author: 
Lady Margaret Sackville (1881-1963), English poet and children’s author, who had an affair with Labour Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald, daughter of Earl De La Warr, cousin of Vita Sackville-West
Publication details: 
On front cover: 'Margaret Sackville | 22. Lansdowne Terrace | Cheltenham'. Undated, but date stamped 30 November 1945.
£950.00

According to the Daily Telegraph, 2 November 2006 (see the end of this description), Lady Margaret Sackville was 'a poet who mixed with writers such as W B Yeats and Wilfred Scawen Blunt, was a friend of Lady Ottoline Morrell, a leading member of the Bloomsbury Set'. 167pp., 4to. Each page on the recto of a separate leaf, the whole bound with green thread through punch holes in margins. The first page worn and with label (of literary agent?) removed from head, otherwise in good condition, lightly aged and worn.

[ David Christie Murray, Victorian foregin correspondent and author.] Autograph Letter Signed ('D. Christie Murray') to Messrs Edward Gwyer & Son, regarding his plans for payment of a debt following the completion of a book.

Author: 
D. Christie Murray [David Christie Murray] (1847-1907), journalist and author, a noted foreign correspondent
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 10 Elmsworthy Terrace, Primrose Hill, N.W. [London] September 1893.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of paper from mount on reverse. Reads: 'Gentlemen, | My book was finished and handed in last Monday. I have written to Smedley's setting forth that fact. The document they hold forbids me to draw the money and sent it to them, but in the course of a few days Messrs Newnes will probably pay-up, and Watt on receipt of cheque will send Smedleys their due.' For information on Christie Murray, see his entry in the Oxford DNB.

[ Ethel Colburn Mayne, Irish author ] Autograph Letter Signed "Ethel Mayne" to Clifford Bax, author and editor, shwoing pleasure at something of hers featuring in "The Golden Hind" and discussing John Austen, also present.

Author: 
Ethel Colburn Mayne (1865-1941), Irish novelist, short-story writer, biographer, literary critic, journalist and translator.
Publication details: 
11 Holland Road, W. 14, 1 Nov. 1922.
£400.00

Two pages, cr. 8vo, torn from pad so rough at top, fold marks, good condition, occasionally difficult to read. "I have tried over and over again to get this letter written. Of course I want to thanks you for my place in "The Golden Hind" and to say how proud I am to be there. And the other reading is delightful - poetry and prose together make a most distinguished number. | I am very glad to see John Austen among the artists.

[ 'Mrs. George Wrottesley' [ Margaret Anne Wrottesley ], journalist and daughter of Sir John Fox Burgoyne. ] Autograph Letter in the third person to 'Mr Lacy' [ theatrical bookseller Thomas Hailes Lacy ], regarding copies of two plays.

Author: 
'Mrs George Wrottesley' [ Margaret Anne Wrottesley, nee Margaret Anne Burgoyne ] (c.1832-1883), journalist ('M. A. B.'), daughter of Sir John Fox Burgoyne [ Thomas Hailes Lacy, theatrical bookseller ]
Publication details: 
Wrottesley, Wolverhampton. 10 February 1864.
£45.00

See Mrs George Wrottesley's obituary in The Times, 10 May 1883, in which she is praised for 'her undaunted courage and unshaken endurance of difficulties displayed repeatedly during her father's mission to the East' in 1854. 1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. The main body of the letter reads: 'Mrs. George Wrottesley will feel much obliged to Mr Lacy if he will send her a copy of the play of | "The Wonder" - | The address is to | The Honble. | Mrs. George Wrottesley | Wrottesley | Wolverhampton'. At the head of the letter she adds a query concerning 'the play of Donna Diana'.

[ Agnes Giberne, British astronomer. ] Autograph Note Signed ('Agnes Giberne'), sending her autograph to 'Mr Case'.

Author: 
Agnes Giberne (1845-1939), prolific British author and astronomer, who helped set up the British Astronomical Association
Publication details: 
Worton House, Eastbourne. 11 June 1902.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Reads: 'Dear Mr Case, | You are most welcome to my Autograph, which I send in signing myself - | Yours faithfully | Agnes Giberne'.

[ 'Anya Seton', pen name of Ann Seton Chase, American author of historical romances. ] Typed Letter Signed ('Anya Seton | (Mrs. Hamilton Chase)') to 'Miss Cond' [ Eileen M. Cond ]. giving plans for a trip to England, to visit her father's family.

Author: 
'Anya Seton', pen name of Ann Seton Chase (1904-1990), bestselling American author of historical romances
Publication details: 
On her letterhead, Old Greenwich, Connecticut. 14 July 1958
£50.00

2pp., 8vo. 2pp., 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged. She begins, after stating that she is returning her bookplate (which she has signed), with details of a forthcoming visit to England, involving a drive 'up North to my father's birthplace', where she will 'stay in Northumberland a fortnight at least, and investigate some of the masses of cousins I have there'. Later she may 'be down your way' (Devon): 'Do you still run the Deer Park?

[ 'Lewis Melville' [ Lewis Saul Benjamin ], Anglo-Jewish author. ] Autograph Note Signed ('Lewis Melville')

Author: 
'Lewis Melville', pen name of Lewis Saul Benjamin (1874-1932), English author, born into a Jewish family
Publication details: 
On letterhead of The Playgoers Club, Strand, W.C. [ London ]. 'Please reply | 28 Clifton Gardens | Madia Vale. W' 28 September 1900.
£25.00

1p., 12mo. On grey paper. In fair condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Dear Sir, | Will you please give me an appointment on Thursday next when I am in town? | Faithfully yours, | Lewis Melville'.

[ Horace Annesley Vachell, Edwardian novelist and playwright. ] Studio photograph by Swaine's, with autograph signature ('Horace Annesley Vachell.').

Author: 
Horace Vachell [ Horace Annesley Vachell; H. A. Vachell ] (1861-1955), prolific popular author
Publication details: 
Photograph by Swaine of London and Southsea. Undated [ First World War or just after ].
£45.00

Sepia-coloured studio photograph on 19 x 14 cm card. Backed on the reverse with brown paper on which are printed the details of the photographic studio responsible, Swaine's of London and Southsea. The print itself is in good condition, lightly aged and worn; the reverse is heavily-worn with traces of glue from previous mounting. Vachell has written his underlined signature in black ink diagonally upwards at the bottom right-hand corner: 'Horace Annesley Vachell.' This studio photograph of Vachell is not present in the National Portrait Gallery collection.

[ Margaret L. Woods, novelist and author. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('M. L. Woods.') to 'Mr Sladen' [ i.e. the author Douglas Sladen ], regarding a bereavement, 'Captain Christmas', Horace Annesley Vachell and the publisher John Lane.

Author: 
Margaret L. Woods [ Margaret Louisa Woods, née Bradley ] (1855-1945), novelist and poet [ Douglas Sladen [ Douglas Sladen [ Douglas Brooke Wheelton Sladen ] (1856-1947), author ]
Publication details: 
Southwold. 14 November [ 1914 ].
£90.00

2pp., 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged. She condoles with her over her 'sad loss last June. I had no idea of it, or I should have written to express my sympathy at the time. I was so much interested to meet your son, & hear how splendidly he had done.' On receiving Sladen's letter she wrote to her neice Betty Brichenough, and wonders if 'Captain Christmas', i.e. Danish sea captain and author Captain Walter Christmas (1861-1924), has heard from her. Fearing that she has mislaid Christmas's card she asks Sladen to write to him on her behalf.

[ Abraham Hayward, author and barrister. ] Autograph Note Signed ('A. Hayward') to 'Seymour', asking for an 'early copy' of a book to be sent to Lady Herbert.

Author: 
Abraham Hayward (1801-1884), English author and barrister
Publication details: 
8 St. James' Street [ London ]. 29 January [ no year ].
£35.00

1p., 16mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. With neat central vertical and horizontal folds. Reads: 'My dear Seymour | Will you direct an early copy to be sent to Lady Herbert. | Ever truly yours | A. Hayward'.

[ Mrs Molesworth, children's writer. ] Autograph Signature ('Louisa Molesworth') on valediction to letter.

Author: 
Mrs Molesworth [ Mary Louisa Molesworth, née Stewart; M. L. S. Molesworth; 'Ennis Graham' ] (1839-1921), English children's writer
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£25.00

On one side of a 2.5 x 11 cm slip of paper, cut from the end of a letter. Reads 'Yours very sincerely | Louisa Molesworth'.

[ Katherine Austen, diarist and poet ] Printed Document with MS adds, Signed "Katherine Austen". Receipt of "Tally levied" and money paid to her., partially filled in.

Author: 
Katherine Austen (1629 – ca. 1683), diarist and poet best known for "Book M"
Publication details: 
24 November 1679.
£650.00

One page, 4to, fold marks, edge curled.

[ John Galsworthy, author of the Forsyte Saga, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature. ] Printed facsimile of an autograph letter signed, regarding a coming Royal Literary Fund dinner of which he will be chairman.

Author: 
John Galsworthy (1867-1933), novelist and playwright, author of the Forsyte Saga, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature [ The Royal Literary Fund, London ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Royal Literary Fund, Stationers' Hall, Stationers' Hall Court, E.C.4. [ London ] March 1929.
£75.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. A circular appeal for donations and a well-printed facsimile. Galsworthy writes that he is taking the chair at 'the 139th Dinner of the Royal Literary Fund, on May 9th: in the Edward VIIth Room of the Hotel Victoria. | The beneficial work of the Fund must be well known to you; nor is it needful for me to stress the urgent nature of the many appeals that tax its resources to the utmost.

[ Eliza Weaver Bradburn, children's author and daughter of Rev. Samuel Bradburn, 'the Methodist Demosthenes'. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Eliza W. Bradburn') [ to Rev. S. Walker ] regarding the sale of her 'little books', and her 'Missionary capes'.

Author: 
Eliza Weaver Bradburn, children's author and biographer of her father Rev. Samuel Bradburn (1751-1816), 'the Methodist Demosthenes' [ Rev. Samuel Walker of Nottingham ]
Publication details: 
'At G. Laishley's Esq. | 71 Finchley New Road | St. John's Wood | London'. 5 December 1856.
£120.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. The letter indicates that Bradburn was deriving some sort of income from the sale of her books, and was making 'Missionary capes', possibly for charity. She writes that she is concerned that 'the two notes written to Mrs. Walker and the one to yourself, were not received', and asks whether ''the Missionary Books' and magazines were sent to him as ordered, 'I trust Mr. Thomas Walker had the dozen for which he kindly prepaid me.' She has 'an affectionate respect for Mr. and Mrs.

[ Andrew Halliday, Scottish journalist. ] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Dear Teget' [ W.B.Tegetmeier, naturalist ], asking to see him regarding something to his advantage in his 'own line'.

Author: 
Andrew Halliday [born Andrew Halliday Duff ] (1830-1877), Scottish journalist and dramatist, associate of Dickens & Thackeray, a founder of Savage Club [ W.B. Tegetmeier, naturalist, member of Club]
Publication details: 
122 Camden Street N. W. [ London ]. 'Tuesday Evg' [ no date ].
£35.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on greyish paper, laid down on part of a leaf from an album. 'Teget' is a nickname: Halliday gives the recipient's name in full at the foot of the letter, but it is not quite legible: ' Esq'. The letter reads: 'Dear Teget. | I want to see you with reference to something that is likely to be to your advantage in your own line. Can you run up here to-morrow or Thursday?'

[ Enid Blyton, English children's writer: the famous signature of one of the world's best-selling authors. ] Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Enid Blyton [ Enid Mary Blyton ] (1897-1968), English children's writer, one of the world's best-selling authors
Publication details: 
Without dater or place.
£120.00

On one side of a 7.5 x 12.5 cm leaf of pink paper, extracted from an album. In good condition, very lightly aged. Centred on the page, in blue ink, the inscription reads: 'love from | Enid Blyton'. No other writing anywhere on the leaf. As 600 million copies of Blyton's books have been sold worldwide, and as she oversaw the design of her books, and insisted on her distinctive signature being placed on every cover, it is not an exaggeration to state that this is one of the most famous signatures of the twentieth century.

[ Agnes Giberne, author and astronomer. ] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mrs Ranks'

Author: 
Agnes Giberne (1845-1939), prolific British author and astronomer, who helped set up the British Astronomical Association
Publication details: 
Abergeldie, Eastbourne. 1 September 1880.
£50.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Abergeldie, Eastbourne, 'is at present my permanent address. We are not likely to return to Clifton, but shall probably settle down in Eastbourne, - though not in this house.' She thanks her for her invitation to Dalston: 'If I find it possible, when in London, to get there, I will write to let you know.'

[ Ernest Hawkins, Canon of Westminster. ] Autograph Letter Signed, writing in affectionate terms ('My dear') to an unnamed recipient, about 'your little manual'.

Author: 
Ernest Hawkins (1802-1868), Canon of Westminster, missionary society administrator and ecclesiastical author
Publication details: 
'79 Pallmall [sic] [ Pall Mall, London ] | July 3. 1851'.
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Begins: 'My dear | Our Jubilee bustle - & subsequently four days spent at Oxford on a College Election have prevented my attending to your little manual - The last corrections which you made - are now sent to the Printer - & a revise shall be sent in a day or two.' He ends by expressing relief at the 'improving accounts of your poor brothers family'.

[ Mabel Dearmer, author and pacifist. ] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Dearest Molly'

Author: 
Mabel Dearmer [ Jessie Mabel Prichard Dearmer, née White ] (1872-1915), English illustrator, writer, nursing orderly and pacifist
Publication details: 
On letterhead of St. Mary's Vicarage, Primrose Hill, N.W. [ London ] 23 April [ 1909 ].
£180.00

2pp., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. A warm and characteristically solicitous letter. She has heard 'such a sad account' of the recipient, and hopes she is 'quite well & fit again now'. The Dearmers 'couldn't manage Paris but we should have loved it - There has been so much - boys' holidays & my book & now another new play! I am sending you "Gervase" - I always think of correcting the proofs at Alnmouth and the sunshine there - & your little red cap with the tassel!' She asks if 'Mrs.

[ Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Lord Lytton, author and politician. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Lytton'), inviting the unnamed recipient, presumably F.W. Farrer, and 'Mrs. Farrer' to extend their forthcoming stay.

Author: 
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Lord Lytton [ Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton ] (1803-1873), English novelist, poet, playwright, and politician, friend of Charles Dickens
Publication details: 
12 Grosvenor Square [ London ]. 21 July [ no year ].
£50.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'My dear Sir/ | I think it is the 28th. thar you proposed to come to me & I hope that you & Mrs. Farrer may find it not interfering with more agreeable <?> please to stay at least till the following Monday or Tuesday Aug 1st'.

[ Geoffrey Drage, author and Conservative politician. ] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Miss May' [ children's author Beatrice Irene Magraw ], acknowledging her 'kind and graceful hospitality.

Author: 
Geoffrey Drage (1860-1955), author and Conservative politician [ Beatrice Irene Magraw [ B. I. Magraw, born Beatrice Irene May ] (c.1888-1970), children's author ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Royal Commission on Labour, 44 Parliament Street, London. 10 November 1892.
£35.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition. He thanks her for 'the very pleasant glimpse of yourself and your family which I got last Saturday to Monday'. He hopes she will excuse the delay in acknowledging her 'kind and graceful hospitality'.

[ Mary Cholmondeley, English novelist. ] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. Harington', a dinner invitation with a reference to copies of a book.

Author: 
Mary Cholmondeley (1859-1925), English novelist
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 62 Albert Gate Mansions, Hyde Park, S.W. [ London ] 7 March [ 1899 ].
£40.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p., 12mo. On aged and worn paper. She has pinned a short newspaper cutting regarding Major Matthew Nathan at the head, and drawn a hand pointing to it. A dinner invitation, concluding 'You had better begin to look out for second hand copies of ""' From the papers of the Harington baronets of Ridlington.

[ Alan Pryce-Jones, editor of The Times Literary Supplement. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Alan Pryce-Jones | as from The Times | E.C.4.') to 'Mr. Elliot' [ Hubert Elliot ], giving advice regarding his 'Heathfield MS'.

Author: 
Alan Pryce-Jones [ Lt-Col. Alan Payan Pryce-Jones ] (1908-2000), literary critic and author, editor of The Times Literary Supplement, 1948-1959
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Hever Castle, Edenbridge, Kent. 7 November [ circa 1955 ].
£56.00

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The letter begins: 'When Violet asked me first about your Heathfield MS I suggested John Murray as a suitable publisher: the young John Murray (not so young but distinct from Sir John) is an old friend of mine and a nice fellow, whose advice would be worth having.' He gives the firm's address, and suggests the name of 'an historian'. Elliot's work on George Augustus Eliott, 1st Baron Heathfield, Governor of Gibraltar during the Great Siege of 1779-1783, does not appear to have been published.

[ Warwick Deeping, novelist. ] 5 Autograph Letters Signed and 3 Autograph Notes Signed to Margaret Greenwood, regarding the adapation of his work for film. With 3 Autograph Letters Signed from his wife, and 13 copies of Greenwood's letters.

Author: 
Warwick Deeping [ George Warwick Deeping ] (1877-1950), English best-known for 'Sorrell and Son' (1925) and his wife Maud Phyllis Merrill (c.1882-1971) [ Margaret Greenwood ]
Publication details: 
On blind-stamped letterheads of his country house Eastlands, Weybridge, Surrey. 1949 and 1950.
£500.00

21 items. In good condition, lightly aged, held together with a brass stud. Deeping's eight items of correspondence - all signed 'Warwick Deeping' - total 9pp. His wife's three letters total 4pp. One of Deeping's letters is in its envelope, addressed by him to 'Miss Margaret Greenwood | 15 Horsham Road | Bexleyheath | Kent'. The copies of Greenwood's typed letters, totalling 16pp., date from between 27 July 1949 and 22 July 1950, bookending the whole correspondence. They are written on the backs of discarded typed drafts of pages from Greenwood's screenplays.

[ Cyrus Townsend Brady, American author. ] Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Cyrus Townsend Brady (1861-1920), American author, adventure writer and screenwriter, a bitter opponent to women's suffrage
Publication details: 
Brooklyn, New York. 23 October 1902.
£20.00

On 6.5 x 11.5 cm piece of card, laid down on a slightly larger piece of paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Neatly written out and apparently sent in response to a request for an autograph. Reads: 'Yours Sincerely | Cyrus Townsend Brady | Brooklyn N.Y., | October 23rd., 1902'.

[ Dreyfus Affair; pamphlet ] Humanite-Verite-Justice L'Affaire Dreyfus Lettre a la Jeunesse

Author: 
Emile Zola
Publication details: 
Paris: Eugene Fasquelle, Editeur [...] 1897.
£100.00

Pamphlet, 13pp., 8vo, printed yellow paper wraps, sunned and soiled, text foxed but clear, spine worn (formerly bound into a volume of pamphlets). Front cover signed "Victor Leuliette" (author of Fenelon, His Life and Works ). Numerous copies in libraries but none currently recorded on the market (viaLibri).

[ Mabel H. Spielmann, author. ] Latter part of Autograph Letter Signed ('Mabel H Spielmann.')

Author: 
Mabel H. Spielmann [ Mabel Henrietta Spielmann ] (1862-1938), wife of art critic Marion Spielmann (1858-1948), author, sister of Liberal politician Herbert Samuel, Viscount Samuel (1870-1963)
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated. [ After 1919. ]
£28.00

2pp., 12mo. The last two pages of a letter, numbered 3 and 4. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, with short closed tears at edges of central fold. The item begins with part of a sentence regarding 'dramatization in Paris', before turning to Spielmann's desire to have her novel 'The Sterndales of Sterndale House' (1919) filmed. She praises the recipient's 'critical faculty', adding 'The points taken are seldom just the points.' She will let the recipient's 'good opinion' of her be known 'in one or two quarters'.

[ Thomas Hughes, author of 'Tom Brown's Schooldays'. ] Autograph Signature on part of letter.

Author: 
Thomas Hughes (1822-1896), English lawyer and judge, author of 'Tom Brown's Schooldays'
Publication details: 
Place not stated. [ 1873. ]
£25.00

On 3.5 x 16.5 cm piece of paper, cut from the end of a letter. Ruckled and lightly stained, with small closed tear (not affecting signature). Good firm signature. Reads: 'Kindest regards to your wife | Ever most truly yours | Thos Hughes'. At bottom left: '1873'. Same year printed on reverse, which carries more autograph text by Hughes, written at right angles to the text on the other side.

[ Charlotte Yonge, novelist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('C M Yonge') to a 'Mr Moberley', regarding a catalogue (of farming machinery?) he has sent her.

Author: 
Charlotte Yonge [ Charlotte Mary Yonge ] (1823-1902), Victorian novelist
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Elderfield, Otterbourne, Winchester. 17 June [ no year ].
£50.00

1p., 12mo. On grey paper with mourning border. In fair condition, lightly aged and ruckled. She is 'much obliged for the Catalogue', and hopes 'to make good use of it, when I have had a consultation with my brother and a neighbour or two who may like to combine in a parcel'.

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