BENN

[ Fleet Street in the Thirties: Sir Robert Donald of United Newspapers and Ernest Outhwaite, editor of Leeds Mercury, Viscount Rothermere, Lord Harmsworth, Ernest Benn. ] TLsS from Donald and Outhwaite; copies of Rothermere and Benn letters.

Author: 
Sir Robert Donald (1860-1933), editor, Daily Chronicle, and Managing Director, United Newspapers; Ernest Outhwaite, editor, Leeds Mercury [ Viscount Rothermere; Lord Harmsworth; Ernest J. Benn ]
Publication details: 
Donald: on letterhead of 12 Thorney Court, Palace Gate, W.8. [ London ] 24 March 1932. Outhwaite: on letterhead of La Dragonniere, Cap Martin, A.M. 8 April 1930. Rothermere copies from 1929 and 1930. Benn copy from 1932.
£150.00

Six items from the Rothermere papers, on disparate subjects, casting light on the workings of 1930s Fleet Street. In good condition, lightly aged. The six are described below in chronological order. ONE: Typed Copy of letter, '(sgd) ROTHERMERE', to Donald. Hotel Splendide, 105 Piccadilly, W.1. 12 November 1929. 1p., 4to. The letter begins: 'My dear Donald, | I quite understand all the peculiar difficulties with which you are surrounded in connection with the Anglo-Foreign Newspapers Ltd.

[ Anthony Wedgwood Benn, Labour politician: 'You shouldn't believe the rubbish you read in the press'. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Tony Benn') to 'Mrs Kingham', describing his 'life-style' and family.

Author: 
Tony Benn [ Anthony Wedgwood Benn, quondam Viscount Stansgate ] (1925-2014), Labour politician
Publication details: 
On House of Commons letterhead. 16 November 1979.
£35.00

1p., 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Obtrusive stamp at head giving the date of receipt as 28 November 1979, with this date queried in ink. Benn's signature underlined by the recipient in thin red ink. Reads: 'Dear Mrs Kingham: | Forgive the delay. | My life-style is that of a very hard-working M.P. with a wife who teaches & writes & 4 children educated at comprehensive schools. | You shouldn't believe the rubbish you read in the press.'

[Humbert Wolfe, author.] Two Autograph Letters Signed and two Typed Letters Signed to Sylvia Lynd (three signed in full and one 'Humbert'), discussing the inclusion of her poetry in a series of publications. With copy of letter from Victor Gollancz.

Author: 
Humbert Wolfe (1885-1940), Italian-born British poet and author [Victor Gollancz (1893-1967), London publisher; Sylvia Lynd (1888-1952), Anglo-Irish poet, wife of the essayist Robert Lynd (1879-1949)]
Publication details: 
The five items between 1924 and 1927. Wolfe's letters from the hotel Les Bergues, Geneva; the Ministry of Labour, London; and Montagu House, Whitehall (2). The Gollancz copy from Ernest Benn Limited Publishers, London.
£120.00

Wolfe's four letters total 5pp., 12mo; the copy of the Gollancz letter 1p., 8vo. Item One in its original envelope, with both envelope and letter carrying closed tears, the other four items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. ONE: ALS on letterhead of the hotel Les Bergues, Geneva; 7 April 1924, with envelope, with both letter and envelope torn on opening. TWO: ALS from the Ministry of Labour, London; 24 April 1924. THREE: TLS from Montagu House, Whitehall; 24 Aug. 1926. Sending, 'in confidence, this letter that I have had from Benn's.

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