BOOK

Autograph Note Signed ('Horder') to Noon, on his father's death.

Author: 
Mervyn Horder (1910-1997), Lord Horder of Ashford, publisher and composer [Thomas Jeeves Horder (1871-1955), 1st Baron Horder, physician to the British royal family; Charles Noon (d.1957)]
Publication details: 
10 August [1955]; on letterhead of Ashford Chace, Petersfield, Hampshire.
£56.00

12mo, 2 pp. Twenty-one lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with punch-hole to the top left-hand corner. As a colleague of Horder's father (senior surgeon and the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital) Noon has offered a 'collection of aphorisms', which Horder feels will be 'of the greatest value, indeed it is exactly what I want'. He asks for Noon's memories of 'personal dealings': 'These are especially useful in the early days, when of course my own memory does not serve.' Concludes: 'We all thought he'd have another 10 years ahead, so it has been a sad shock.'

A Catalogue of a Library of Books, [...] Prints, Books of Prints, Paintings, [...] and miscellaneous Articles, the Property of a Gentleman, removed from Southampton. [priced by auctioneers for proprietor]

Author: 
J. C. & S. Stevens, auctioneers, 38 King Street, Covent Garden [Victorian book auction catalogue; Alexander Hoyes of Bittern Grove, near Southampton]
Publication details: 
Which will be sold by auction, by Messrs. J. C. & S. Stevens, at their Great Room, 38, King Street, Covent Garden, On Thursday, the 18th day of July, 1844. [Alfred Robins, Printer, 101, Long Acre.]
£125.00

8vo, 8 pp. Unbound. Text clear and complete. On aged paper with wear to extremities. According to the title-page the sale contains 'The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Johnson's Poets, Scott's Works, Swift's ditto, Annual Register, British Theatre, and other Works, in various branches of Literature; Prints, Books of Prints, Paintings, Mahogany Cabinets, Antiquities, Gold Repeater, Grand Piano-Forte, by Zeitter'.

Printed notice of relocation, and advertisement for new publications.

Author: 
James Blackwood & Co., London publishers and wholesale stationers
Publication details: 
[Circa 1910.] London: James Blackwood & Co., 12/14 Heneage Lane, Bevis Marks, E.C.
£45.00

4to, 4 pp. Bifolium. Nicely printed with vignette of flowers and ribbons on first page. Fair, on aged paper. The firm, boasting establishment in 1849, is described on the first page as 'late of Lovell's Court, Paternoster Row, E.C.', where the announcement is made 'that they have Transferred their Business to the Above Address'. Six new editions of works are advertised on the following two pages, with details given of contents. The last page advertises 'Blackwood's Diaries for 1911' and 'Blackwood's New Series of Scribbling Diaries'.

Catalogue of Books published by James Blackwood & Co., Publishers & Wholesale Stationers.

Author: 
James Blackwood & Co., Publishers and Wholesale Stationers [trade catalogues]
Publication details: 
[Circa 1910.] London: James Blackwood & Co., 8. Lowell's Court, Paternoster Row, E.C. [amended in manuscript to '12/14 Heneage Lane. E.C.']
£75.00

12mo, 24 pp. Unbound. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with rusting to staples. Hundreds of titles, in such series as 'The Unique Library', 'Choice Readings. Books suitable for presents, etc.', 'Universal Library of Standard Authors', 'Blackwood's Edition of the Poets', 'Library of Thoughtful Books' and 'Choice Books for Young Persons'.

Typed Letter Signed, in English, to R. W. C. Vail of the Roosevelt House Library and Museum, with typed invoice.

Author: 
Edouard Champion, Paris bookseller, publisher and autograph dealer, 'Seul Agent (France, Belgique, Suisse) du British Museum'
Publication details: 
Both items dated 11 July 1924, and both on his letterhead.
£125.00

Both items fair, on lightly-aged paper. Both with list of Champion's publications down the left-hand margin, and with the list continuing in the letter to the blank second page. Letter: 4to, 1 p. He is sending 'a few documents which I have so far collected' relating to the Marquis de Chamilly. 'It is a long time since I last heard from the ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION, and am always at your entire disposal.' Invoice: Landscape 8vo. 12mo, 1 p. Containing five Chamilly letters, totalling 268 francs.

Autograph Note in the third person to Simco. With priced list (by Simco?) of engravings on reverse.

Author: 
John Chamberlaine (c.1745-1812), antiquary [John Simco (c.1749-1824), London bookseller]
Publication details: 
Brompton. Friday Morng' [c.1812?].
£95.00

12mo, 1 p. On bifolium. Good, on aged paper. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Mr. Simco | Warwick St. | Golden Square.' Asking Simco to send a book 'by the Bearer', as well as ' a remittance upon his account of Holbein', as 'he has some large payments to make at the beginning of next week'.

The first sixteen volumes of 'The Autograph Collectors' Journal', retitled, from vol.5 no.4 (Summer 1953), 'Manuscripts'.

Author: 
National Society of Autograph Collectors; The Manuscript Society
Publication details: 
Vol.1, no.1 (Chicago: The Norman Press, 'Published by The National Society of Autograph Collectors', October 1948) to vol.16 no.4 (Chicago: 'Published Quarterly by the Manuscript Society', Fall 1964).
£450.00

Sixteen vols, the first seven quarto and last nine octavo. Index to vols.1-11 loosely inserted. Good (apart from issue for Summer 1957 which has slight damp damage), crudely bound in eight volumes of blue cloth, with titles in neat manuscript on white label on spine (one of the bindings stained and two in a lighter shade of blue with titles stamped in gilt). Well produced and profusely illustrated, with informative and scholarly articles, advertisements, and sections on 'the auction market' and 'manuscripts in the news'.

Autograph Prices Current (Published Annually.) Being a Complete Alphabetical and Chronological Record of all Autograph Letters, Documents & Manuscripts, Sold by Auction in London, with the Date and Place of Sale, Name of Purchaser, and Price [...].

Author: 
Edward Hugh Courville (died 1920), A. J. Herbert, eds. A.G.E. Phillips, contrib. [Autograph Prices Current]
Publication details: 
Six vols [all published]: 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1921, 1922 [covering years 1914 to 1922]. First vol: London: E. H. Courville, 25 Rumsey Road, Brixton, S.W. [1916]. Sixth vol: London: A. J. Herbert, 1, Barton St., Westminster, S.W.1.[1922].
£200.00

The six vols are uniformly octavo, in original blue cloth gilt. Good, on lightly-aged paper. In worn, spotted binding, with gilt on spine dulled. Each volume opens with several leaves of advertisements for dealers (ranging from Maggs and Quaritch to James Tregaskis and Frank Hollings) and a preface by the editor (that of 1918 describing as the 'outstanding features of the past season [...] the two sales of the Alfred Morrison Collection and the two 'Red Cross' sales'). Still a valuable reference tool, with many of the entries including a precis of the item or quotation from it.

Sammlung historisch-beruehmter Autographen, oder Facsimile's von Handschriften ausgezeichneter Personen alter und neuer Zeit.

Author: 
Ad. Becher [German autograph collecting; autographs; facsimiles]
Publication details: 
Erste Serie. [all published] Stuttgart: Ad. Becher's Verlag. 1846.
£60.00

Quarto. Not paginated, but consisting of around 240 leaves containing approximately 280 numbered and well-executed facsimiles. In original brown cloth decorative binding. On aged paper in worn binding, with front board detached with first seven leaves. No letterpress, apart from title and alphabetical index. Apparently published in England under the title 'A Collection of three hundred Autograph Letters of Celebrated Individuals of all Nations, from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. [...]'. COPAC only lists a copy at Aberdeen.

Autograph Letter Signed and franked (both 'Js Stuart Wortley') to the London booksellers Messrs Ridgeway.

Author: 
James Stuart-Wortley [James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie] (1776-1845), 1st Baron Wharncliffe, Conservative politician [James Ridgeway, Piccadilly bookseller]
Publication details: 
5 September 1835; Wortley.
£28.00

12mo, 1 p. Bifolium. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with traces of minor traces of stub adhering to one edge. Franked, with remains of red wax seal, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Messrs. Ridgeway | Piccadilly. | [signed] Js Stuart Wortley'. Giving instructions for the sending of newspapers to Wighill Park, Tadcaster, and to Wortley.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. M. Bucknall') to MacLehose

Author: 
W. M. Bucknall [William Miles Bucknall], Librarian to the Board of Trade [James MacLehose (1811-1885), Glasgow bookseller and publisher]
Publication details: 
10 January 1861; on Board of Trade letterhead.
£35.00

12mo, 4 pp. Bifolium. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Discussing 'Mr Sterling's Pamphlet on Banks', which MacLehose has sent him ('a work so difficult to obtain elsewhere'). While not recognising 'the existence of any really national Banking System', he considers Sterling's 'remarks most judicious'. Mentions the Banking Act of 1844, before concluding with a reflection on credit. Bucknall published his 'Catalogue of the Library of the Board of Trade' in 1866.

Manuscript transcript of 'the entry of the Hunting Journal of 1816. [18]17', addressed to Triphook, giving costs for printing '20 Copies of Belvoir Hunt'.

Author: 
[Robert Triphook, London bookseller (d.1868); Belvoir Hunt; hunting; printing]
Publication details: 
Undated [1818?].
£56.00

Landscape 8vo, 1 p. On aged and discoloured paper, with four spike holes. Neatly written out, in a contemporary hand. Addressed on reverse to 'Mr. R. Triphook'. Pencil annotations on both sides. Headed 'The following is the entry of the Hunting Journal of 1816. 17 -'. First item (of six): 'Setting Press & Printing 20 Copies of Belvoir Hunt 1816.17 13 Sheets & 1/2 Demy, Pica & long Primmer with Tables fine ink. @ 83/. Pr Sheet } 56. 0. 6'. At foot of page: '1817-18 - furnished by R.

Typed Letter Signed ('G. R. Hall Caine') to Sir Thomas Moore of Hatchards bookshop, regarding 'the rehabilitation of this business'.

Author: 
Gordon Ralph Hall Caine [G.R. Hall Caine](1884-1962), Chairman and Managing Director, Argosy & Sundial Libraries Limited, of London and Liverpool [son of the novelist Hall Caine (1853-1931)]
Publication details: 
23 June 1947; on Argosy & Sundial letterhead.
£95.00

8vo, 1 p. Text clear and complete. On creased and lightly-aged paper. He is glad that Sir Thomas appreciates 'the seriousness of our position', and the reasons for asking Hatchards 'to release Mr. Edgeley to us for approximately six months in order to enable him to concentrate mainly upon the rehabilitation of this business'. Not a minor matter; according to one source the firm had '2,217 branches and 1.3 million books in circulation by 1934'.

Typed Letter Signed to "Sydney Gutman. The Bermondsey Book[shop]".

Author: 
Frank Harris, author
Publication details: 
C/o The American Express Company, 2 rue du Congres, Nice. A.M. December 15, 1925.
£235.00

One page, 4to, punchholes, edges discoloured, mainly good condition. Two small additons in his hand. He thanks Gutman for his cheque and order for "three sets of Oscar Wilde" of which he can immediately supply two, the other to come from storage. One copy sent is the "Brentano's edition of New York" and he wonders if Gutman would prefer "my German editon. He has written to "Heath" [bookseller, partner of Gutman's] about copies of James Thomson's poems on his hands.

Autograph Letter Signed ('G : A Galignani'), in Italian, to Twining. With signed receipt by Galignani, in Italian, for '18 Lezioni'.

Author: 
Giovanni Antonio Galignani (1757-1821), Paris bookseller and publisher of English works [Richard Twining (1772-1857), tea merchant]
Publication details: 
Letter: 'Venerdi mattina' (docketed with date 8 November 1796). Receipt dated 21 January 1797.
£800.00

Letter: 12mo, 1 p. On bifolium. Text clear and complete. On aged and ruckled paper. Slight damage to second leaf caused by breaking open of wafer. Addressed to 'Illustrissimo Signore'. Having 'un affare di qualche importanza alle nove', he would like to give Twining his lesson (presumably in Italian) the following morning at 8 o'clock. He hopes that coming half an hour early does not cause any inconvence. Receipt: on one side of a slip of paper, 7 x 19.5 cm. Headed 'Memorandum del Signor Twining'. For '18 Lezioni la prima delle quali fa data li 15 Novembee', and signed 'Galignani'.

Stamped Autograph Receipt Signed ('R C Dallas') for an advance from his publishers Cadell & Davies.

Author: 
Robert Charles Dallas (1754-1824), English writer [Cadell & Davies, London booksellers]
Publication details: 
23/12/00
£65.00

On a piece of paper 7.5 x 18 cm. Neatly mounted (windowpane mount) on leaf of paper 27 x 23 cm. Neatly written out by Dallas, and reading 'Received Decr. 23d. 1800 the sum of Ten Pounds on account from Messrs Cadell and Davies. | [signed] R C Dallas. - | £10.-.-' On the right a blind-stamped government two pence stamp, 'FOR RECEIPTS'. Dallas published several works with Cadell & Davies, and the receipt may possibly relate to his 'Annals of the French Revolution' (1800), or his 'Natural History of Volcanoes' (1801).

Autograph Signature, in form of monogram, on part of letter.

Author: 
Sarah Prideaux [Sarah Treverbian Prideaux] (1853-1933), British bookbinder
Publication details: 
Date and place not stated.
£28.00

On a piece of grey paper, 5 x 9.5 cm, cut away from a letter. Good. Thin strip of white mount adhering to right-hand edge. The signature is in the form of a monogram, with Prideaux's initials S and T combined to make a stylized shape with long diagonal stroke, which cuts through the final 'P.' The letter's valediction reads '<...> all my divans. | Yrs. | [signature]'. Lengthwise to the right of the signature, the slip is docketed 'Miss Sarah Prideaux | celebrated as a Lady Bookbinder whose Work has taken prizes at all the great exhibitions'.

Six More Letters on Fox's Acts and Monuments, originally published in the British Magazine, in the Years 1837 & 1838.

Author: 
Rev. S. R. Maitland [Samuel Roffey Maitland; J. G. F. & J. Rivington, London booksellers]
Publication details: 
London: Printed for J. G. F. & J. Rivington, St. Paul's Church Yard, and Waterloo Place, Pall Mall. 1841. [Gilbert & Rivington, Printers, St. John's Square, London.]
£95.00

8vo: [iv] + [70] + [i] pp. The body of the text is paginated 75-144, with the six letters numbered seven to twelve. At the end of the volume are an index to the whole work, and a title-page for Maitland's 'Twelve Letters on Fox's Acts and Monument' (Rivingtons, 1841). In original buff wraps, with white printed label on front cover. Text clear and complete, but in poor condition: worn, dogeared and lightly-stained, with loss to margins.

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'.

Autograph draft of letter to the Editor of the Daily Chronicle, rebutting in strong terms the claim that Knowles was editor of the Contemporary Review.

Author: 
Alexander Strahan [Alexander Stuart Strahan] (1833-1918), English publisher [Sir James Thomas Knowles (1831-1908); Alfred Tennyson]
Publication details: 
14 February 1908; on letterhead of Oakhurst, Ravenscourt Park, W.
£150.00

12mo (17.5 x 11 cm): 5 pp. On two bifolium letterheads and half of a third. The text of each page is clear and complete on aged and lightly-spotted paper, but gaps between the various sections indicate that the draft is incomplete. Begins 'Sir | I see that in your obituary notice of Sir James Knowles inn today's paper you say that he was the Editor of the Contemporary Review from 1870 to 1877. | This is news to me. I was the Editor and proprietor of the Contemporary Review all these years, and I think I ought to know the facts of the matter.

Typed Letter Signed ('Holbrook Jackson') to G. S. Tomkinson of Whitville, Kidderminster.

Author: 
George Holbrook Jackson (1874-1948) [Sir Geoffrey Stewart Tomkinson (1881-1963); Lovat Fraser; Flying Fame; Fleuron; New Age Press; fine printing; bibliography]
Publication details: 
26 February 1925; Regent House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2.
£100.00

8vo: 2 pp. 32 lines of text. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He is willing to help Tomkinson with his book 'Modern Presses', but would not 'have time to be responsible for the writing of any chapters'. Offers to answer 'a questionnaire' regarding 'Flying Fame', and directs Jackson to his 'articles on the work of Lovat Fraser in the "Bookman", the "Fleuron", and "To-day".' Paragraph discusses the 'New Age Press', which 'was not a Press at all, but a publishing business'. In the last paragraph changes his mind, and offers to write a brief chapter.

Two Autograph Letters Signed "H. Thomson" and "Hugh Thomson" to [J.C.] Dollman, artist, discussing golf and illustrating his humour, physical failings and research.

Author: 
Hugh Thomson, artist-illustrator
Publication details: 
5 Playfair Mansions, West Kensington, 23 March n.y. and 27 Perhap Road, West Kensington, 12 Feb. 1906.
£180.00

Total 5pp., 8vo, one sl.marked but mainly good condition. [March 23] He commiserates on "domestic troubles" and says what a disaster it would have been if the completion of a picture had been delayed. "You will be sorry to hear that I am confiend to the house with varicose veins in the leg. The trouble has arisen through bicycling, a maniac of the wheel having induced me to scorch over half a county with him. I am consequently obliged to give up the treat I promised myself in seeing your pivture at your studio but I mean to ahe- honour the Academy with a visit . . .

Printer's trade catalogue, titled 'Cut Book. Showing a few of the many cuts carried in stock and for sale by The Enterprise Printing House, Corfu, N.Y.' Containing more than a hundred vignettes, with prices.

Author: 
The Enterprise Printing House, Corfu, New York [American trade catalogue]
Publication details: 
Undated [late Victorian or Edwardian]. Corfu, New York State.
£200.00

8vo (23 x 15 cm), 32 pp. Stapled. Outer pages in blue. In fair condition, with a little damp-staining at the head of the first leaf (with minimal effect on the text), and a tiny dab of the same staining continuing at the corner of each leaf (not affecting the text). Title-page on cover illustrated by C. H. Dennis, showing Uncle Sam sharpening a razor of 'GOOD CUTS'. Note on page 2 begins: 'THIS CUT BOOK contains a few of the many varieties and styles of cuts which we carry in stock and use on your printing free of charge. We have many more and are constantly adding new designs. [...]'.

Alphabetical and Descriptive Catalogues of the Publications of the Presbyterian Board of Publication.

Author: 
The Presbyterian Board of Publication, Philadelphia [Joseph P. Engles, Publishing Agent; trade catalogues]
Publication details: 
Undated [circa 1860]. Philadelphia: Joseph P. Engles, Publishing Agent, No. 821 Chestnut Street.
£200.00

12mo: xxvi + 64 + [i] pp. Unbound. Stitched as issued. Last leaf blank. Text clear and complete. On aged paper, with heavy wear to outer leaves, and staining to first and last half-dozen leaves. Ownership inscription of Charles Ira Gordon Skeen of Covington, Virginia, along outer margin of title. Two vignettes: the first on the title (three boys entering an library and being handed books by an adult) and the second at the head of the Descriptive Catalogue (family at the dining table). The main body of volume (pp.1-61) consists of the Descriptive Catalogue, in small type, of 553 items.

Autograph Note Signed to [J.C.] Dollman, artist [Artist's General Benevolent Fund etc]

Author: 
Byam Shaw, artist and illustrator
Publication details: 
62 Addison Road, Kensington, W [London], 1 May 1907
£56.00

Two pages (but large handwriting), 8vo, conjoined leaves, good condition. "I write to thank you most sincerely, for your kind letter about my picture. I think it was very kind indeed to trouble to write. I appreciate it very much."

First issue of 'John Nichols's Metropolitan Advertiser'.

Author: 
John Nichols, printer, The Milton Press, Strand [The Metropolitan Advertiser]
Publication details: 
No. 1. 7 January 1836. 'Printed at the Milton Press, 9, Chandos Street, Strand, by John Nichols.'
£225.00

4to, 4 pp. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged and grubby paper. Engraving of beehive, with motto, beneath title. Given away 'GRATIS'. Begins with a prospectus for what is described as 'a new medium of communicating with the public', concluding, 'for the inconsiderable sum of 5s. an Advertiser may give publicity to his business in FIVE THOUSAND respectable channels inaccessible to every other advertising medium hitherto established'. The rest of the first page carries 'ADVICE TO A YOUNG TRADESMAN' by 'AN OLD TRADESMAN'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. P. Greswell') to an unnamed bookseller [Thomas Thorpe?].

Author: 
William Parr Greswell (1765-1854), Anglican clergyman and bibliographer [Thomas Thorpe, London bookseller]
Publication details: 
4 October 1821; Denton near Manchester.
£75.00

4to, 2 pp. Thirty lines of text. Clear and complete. On aged and grubby paper. One closed tear and minor traces of mount to extremities. An interesting letter, casting light on the relationship between bookseller and knowledgeable client in Georgian England. He gives the conditions under which he would be interested in buying a few items from the booksellers monthly catalogue.

Original illustration, produced for publication, signed 'A. Twidle' and entitled on reverse 'Monkish Robes', showing three monks in the grounds of an oriental (Burmese?) temple.

Author: 
Arthur Twidle (1865-1936), English book illustrator [Burma; Burmese; oriental; the Far East]
Publication details: 
Undated.
£80.00

On a piece of thin card, 30.5 x 23 cm. Dimensions of illustration 23 x 17 cm. Signed by Twidle in bottom right-hand corner. The image itself is clear and sharp, in spotted and grubby margins. Docketed in pencil on reverse 'Monkish Robes | 491 | to 5 inches width | with rule as in picture'. An attractive, detailed watercolour, in black and grey, and picked out in white, showing three monks processing with eyes cast to the ground in different directions in the grounds of stone temple overgrown with foliage.

Autograph Letter, third person, to "Mr Andrews" (no further information).

Author: 
[ Andrews, bookseller and bookbinder [?]] Lord M[oun]t Edgcumbe
Publication details: 
Twickenham, 27 Feb. (no year).
£75.00

Four pages, 8vo, vestiges of an album page on final page, text clear and complete. He is sending some MSS. to be bound up, giving detailed instructions. He reminds Andrews of previous work, and insists on secrecy. He asks him to post (and pay for) a "foreign letter", and asks "how the Opera succeeds & if the men singers are liked. In a postscript he asks for the third volume of "Johnson's Life" since he has nearly finished the second.

Le Bon Anglais Text de Roger Boutet de Monvel. Images de Guy Arnoux.

Author: 
Roger Boutet de Monvel; Guy Arnoux (1886-1951), French illustrator
Publication details: 
Chez Devambez 43 boulevard Malesherbes à Paris.
£165.00

Landscape 12mo (leaf dimensions 12 x 16 cm): 27 pp. Stitched with no jacket as issued. Covers a little grubby, but a good copy of a scarce item. Title page and twelve delightful full-page pochoir illustrations by Arnoux, all hand-coloured: 'En temps de Paix', 'Premier contact', 'Le sous-lieutenant', 'Les Indiens', 'Black-Watch', 'Le capitaine et l'infirmiere', 'Les Irlandais', 'Le Major', 'La Mascotte', 'Ship ahoy!!', 'Le bon Ecossais' and 'God save the King'.

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