BOOKSELLER

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, with that of the presumed recipient, the Manchester bookseller William Ford. 1p, 4to. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, the verso of the second addressed, with two postmarks, to ‘Mr. Wm. Ford / 11 Strangates / Lambeth.’ In good condition, lightly aged, with spots of paper from mount at corners on address page. Folded for postage. Signed ‘Geo: Chalmers’. He begins by thanking him for his ‘obliging Note’ of the previous day, before stating that he has ‘the curious Tract, which was printed, by Raban of Aberdeen’.

ay is said to have preached nearly a thousand sermons before the age of twenty-one. On 11 x 8.5 cm piece of paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, but with patches of sunning. At the head of the page is the order for the books, presumably in Godwin's hand: 'A Volume of Crabbe's Works - to bind / 2 Vols to match it'. Beneath this is Jay's heavily-inked response: 'Will Mr Godwin leave the ordering of the binding till I see him? / Wm Jay'. Scan on application.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and ruckled. Addressed to ‘Dear Maurice’ and signed ‘A Black’. For Lothian see ‘Memoirs of Adam Black’ (1885). He asks him to ‘glance at the inclosed’: ‘The description appears to me abundantly broad. And I hope to get the legion of proprietors in a trim to sign.’ He concludes by stating that he will ‘send for it’ that evening, ‘as Mr Bruce wishes to have it to send to Dymock tomorrow morning’. ‘Mr Bruce’ may be the future Sir James Knight Bruce (1791-1866); ‘Dymock’ is William Dymock, the Edinburgh advocate.

See his entry by his grandson Anthony Rota in the Oxford DNB. On one side of a piece of paper cut from the end of a letter. Refers to the first privately-printed collection of Dobell's poetry, 'Rosemary and Pansies' (1901). Reads: ‘Yours faithfully / Bertram Dobell. / I have printed only 75 copies of my booklet, so that it may have at least the recommendation of being scarce - the only one, I am afraid, that it can claim.’

See the entry on the Murray family in the Oxford DNB. In fair condition lightly aged and worn. Folded for postage, with short closed tears to the edges of central horizontal fold. Small biographical slip laid down at top left. Addressed to ‘Dear Colonel Fellows’ and signed ‘John Murray junr.’ Reads: ‘Our binders have done the best they can with your Volumes, short of rebinding, but as you know patching up leather bindings in a really satisfactory way is not easy. / However, I hope that you will be satisfied with the volumes which I am sending on to you today.’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. (BBTI has John Andrews with bookshop and circulating library at 167 New Bond Street from before 1831 to 1857.) 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Extracted from an album, and with the gutter strengthened with archival tape. Otherwise in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. As a piece of business correspondence has a spike hole through the centre of both leaves, unfortunately also through the ?H? of the signature ?H L Bulmer?, which is little more than a scrawl, with corkscrew paraphe.

1p, 4to. On lightly aged and somewhat creased paper. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘Leonard Hyman, Esq.’ and signed ‘Clarence Raybould’. He has received his Catalogue No. 87 and is sorry to learn of his ‘impending retirement from your business’. ‘The world is always the poor when someone of your integrity decides he has had enough of the intrigues of present-day life!’ He wishes him ‘a happy period of quieter days’: ‘I myself cease to bulk of my work in June of this present year, when I terminate a long association with the Senior Orchestra of the Royal Academy of Music.

xiv + [1] + 38pp, 12mo. No.16/500. In blue cloth binding, titled in gilt on cover and spine. No dust wrapper. Printed on thick paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Annotated in pencil throughout, and with a page of annotations at the end. The handwriting is distinctive (and certainly not Block’s), with the capital N in particular. Some of the annotations give dates from the 1970s, but the handwriting is that of someone from an earlier generation. As an example, one of the longer pencil annotations, on p.5, listing an additional item: ‘Caught Napping. / c. 1883.

An interesting piece of Exeter ephemera. See ‘Besley’s Exeter Directory for 1835’: ‘LUNATIC ASYLUM, St. Thomas. Founded in 1795. The expenses are defrayed by the board of patients whose friends can afford to pay for their maintenance, and by benefactions, legacies, &c.’ (In the entry ‘John Mackintosh’ is still listed as treasurer.) 1p, landscape 12mo. Addressed by Mackintosh on reverse to ‘Mr. James Penny / Bookseller / Fore St. / Exeter’. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-creased paper, with slight staining and damage from breaking open wafer.

The history of the business is convoluted. See the entries in the Oxford DNB of the founder of the firm John Newbery (c.1713-1767) of St Paul’s Churchyard, his son Francis Newbery (1743-1818), and Elizabeth Newbery, née Bryant (c.1746-1821, widow of Francis Newbery (c.1740-1780), cousin of the aforementioned Francis, who, according to Oxford DNB, ‘had studied chemistry and medicine but on the death of his father in 1767 he was urged by Samuel Johnson and Robert James to continue the business of publishing and selling patent medicines which he had inherited as the only surviving son. ...

The National Portrait Gallery copy of this item is NPG Ax17292, and the dating to September 1863 is theirs. A 5.8 x 8.8 cm photographic print, laid down on 6.2 x 10.3 cm piece of card. On the card beneath the portrait: 'JOHN WATKINS PHOT. / Copyright Secured'. On the reverse Watkins's full address, with crest. The image is faded and indistinct, compared with the NPG copy; otherwise the item is In fair condition lightly aged. A head and shoulders shot with a sepulchral Dickens turned almost to a left profile, eyes barely open, with a clenched right hand to the side of his face.

See his entry in the Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology, and Conder’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 4to. On the first leaf of a bifolium, the second addressed on the reverse, with postmark, to ‘Mr. Josh. Conder, / Bookseller, / Bucklersbury, / London.’ In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, spiked, folded for postage, and with damage and slight loss to the second leaf from the breaking of the wafer. Begins: ‘Learning lately from my friend Mr. Williams of Shrewsbury, [the future Sir John Bickerton Williams (1792-1855)] that you had engaged with him for his MS.

See the two men's entries in the Oxford DNB. Russell's papers are in the Harry Ransom Center at Texas. 1p, 4to. Aged and worn, with creasing and closed tear along left edge. Folded one. Carrying a neat and controlled signature, ‘Leonard Russell.’ He has ‘just come across’ the books Wilson lent him, ‘buried under a mass of books and papers’, and apologises. He ends by asking how Wilson’s ‘Notes from a Bookshop’ are going. ‘Copy as soon as you like.’ Wilson has ticked across the two paragraphs to signify action taken.

Morristown, N.J., 1952. xix,[1],97pp. plus facsimiles. Original printed wrappers. Minimal small chips and tears to edges, edges of wraps sunned (up to one inch), small stain on title. Good, with Thomas W. Streeter's calling card inserted.

For William Booth (1779-1840) of 32 Duke Street, Manchester Square [Portland Place], see the British Book Trade Index. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Neatly placed in remains of windowpane mount. Signed ‘Scott Portland’. With regard to the newspaper the Globe, he asks that it be ‘sent here till further orders - The Sun to be continued to be sent to Welbeck’. He is sending ‘the first volume of Horace Walpole’s private correspondence to be changed’, as it is incomplete: ‘It contains a portion of its pages twice over - & another portion wholly omitted’.

The recipient is not named, but can be identified as the Strand bookseller John Nourse, from Notes and Queries, 3 September 1881, which has as its first article a transcription, with commentary of five long letters from Mills to John Nourse, the noted scientific bookseller in the Strand, and the present item clearly belongs to the same correspondence, predating the first, which is dated 15 May 1765.

Five copies listed on JISC. Now scarce. 8pp, 16mo. Stitched pamphlet, on good wove paper. In fair condition, lightly aged, with small closed tear at head of first leaf. First two leaves with light crease. Enfolded in ‘wallet’ of the same paper, repeating the title on the front (differently positioned), and also giving the price as sixpence. The poem, covering pp.2-7, is in small print, and the first stanza reads: ‘I bind upon myself to-day / The Strength of the Holy Trinity: / That mighty Breastplate be my Stay! / I here invoke . . . I here confess . . .

The obituary of the recipient Andrew Block (1892-1987) in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business was established in 1911. 1p, 4to. In poor condition, aged and worn. Folded three times.

See Nicolas Barker’s obituary of Bondy in the Independent, 27 June 1993. The obituary of the recipient Andrew Block (1892-1987) in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business was established in 1911. An evocative piece of booktrade and London local government ephemera. 2pp, 8vo. Printed on a leaf of shiny art paper. Worn and creased; folded twice. On one side ‘L. W.

See Nicolas Barker’s typically-elegant obituary of Williamson in the Independent. 2pp, 4to. The obituary of the recipient Andrew Block (1892-1987) in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business was established in 1911. On aged and worn paper; folded three times. Signed ‘Hugh Williamson:’ and addressed to ‘Mr Block’. Thirty-one lines in a close, calligraphic hand.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. In the following transcript, the parts in Masefield’s autograph are in square brackets, and the first printed sentence (‘I [...] letter.’) has been scored through: ‘PINBURY PARK, / CIRENCESTER. / Dear [Sirs,] / I thank you for you letter. / [I shall be obliged if you will send me No 98 of your list / Du Maurier. Trilby / London, 1895.] / With all good wishes, / Yours sincerely, / John Masefield.’ (Note that this ‘signature’ is printed.) See image.

The obituary of the recipient Andrew Block (1892-1987) in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business was established in 1911. Both addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Block’. LETTER: 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Signed ‘Helen D. Willard’. She is hoping to be able to see him in London the following month. ‘I called in you [sic] briefly last year, then got swept up into many activities that kept me from returning to browse.’ She has a very pleasant memory of their conversation.

In his obituary of Low’s partner Robin Waterfield (Independent, 12 February 2002), James Fergusson describes Low as a ‘Scottish Polish Jewish bouquiniste’. The recipient Andrew Block’s obituary in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business was established in 1911. Plain orange-yellow card, with Reynolds Stone oval medallion letterhead. Signed ‘David’ in red ink. Addressed, with postmark and stamp, to ‘Mr. Andrew Block / 30, Barter Street / London W.C.1.’ He enquires whether the ‘coloured drawings on rice paper’ he is sending are ‘merely Chinese’.

See Nicolas Barker’s appreciative obituary in the Independent, 7 April 1999, which notes that after selling his entire stock to the University of Texas in 1968, ‘He moved his business to the other side of Great Russell Street, and briefly opened another shop, selling prints in partnership with Rob Douwma.’ (The British Museum website states that ‘Weinreb & Douwma was on the corner of Great Russell Street and Bloomsbury Way during the 1970s and 1980s.’) The obituary of the recipient Andrew Block (1892-1987) in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business w

Printed Wraps, 49pp., 8vo, some wear and tear due to use, but ow, good condition. Initially Contents page ranging from Autographs, Manuscripts, Jewish Bindings, and Four very rare Hebrew Books To T.J. Wise Pamphlets and Woman's Emancipation, including Russian Books. The extensive annotation includes (front wrap) FILE COPY IMPORTANT. WITH a forest of catalogue item numbers of sold items & marginal notes of sales (major institutions worldwide from Alberta to Jerusalem to Yale, Isaiah Berlin, Lelio Basso (both multiple orders), Haward (University) (many more than their multiple).

See his obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine, September 1839. B. Dulau & Co. was a firm of foreign language booksellers in Soho Square, London, founded by a Benedictine monk, Armand Bertrand Dulau, who had fled France during the revolution. 2pp, 4to. Thirty-two lines of text. In good condition, lightly aged, with stub from mounting adhering to one edge, and negligible damage at a corner. The letter begins: 'Sir James Craufurd prie M.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with traces of yellow paper mount adhering to the blank reverse. Reads: 'Mr & Mrs. Bohn present their compliments to the Mayor of Liverpool and Mrs. Hubback, and have much pleasure in accepting their polite invitation for the 15th. proxo.'

Two pages, 12mo, bifolium, formerly in an album, tipped onto strip of album page, as is the addressed envelope (no postal marks), good condition. My dear Sir | If as I hope you are disengaged on Friday [underlined] next come and partake of a quiet family dinner with us at 5 o'clock, you will confer much pleasure on us, and will I trust meet honest David Scott with whom we will discuss high & important matters. As an inducement to him to do me that favour I have ventured to tell him that I hope he will meet you. | Prytheee then let us not be disappointed. Postscript, asking What of Mr Black?

Both in good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip from mount adhering, and crease lines from folding. Two excellent long letters in Spedding's neat and close hand, full of content regarding the relationship between Victorian author, publisher and reader. The topic is Spedding's preparation for the publication of his pamphlet 'Publishers and Authors' (London: J. R. Smith, 1867). Both letters addressed to 'My dear Mervivale'. ONE: 3 September 1866. 4pp, 18mo. On a bifolium.

For John George Jackson (c.1798-c.1851), architect of Leamington Priors, pupil of P. F. Robinson, see Lyndon F. Cave's 'Royal Leamington Spa' (1988). He erected Newbold Lodge on the site of Strawberry Cottage in the early 1830s. See the entry for the recipient William Hookham Carpenter (1792-1866), later Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, in the Oxford DNB. At the time of the present letter Carpenter was working for his father the Old Bond Street bookseller James Carpenter (c.1768-1852). 2pp, 8vo. Bifolium.