BOOKSELLER

[ Printed item. ] A List of Choice Books on Sale by J. Bohn, 66, St. James's Street.

Author: 
J. Bohn [ James Bohn; James George Stuart Burges Bohn (1803-1880), London bookseller ]
Publication details: 
[ J. Bohn, 66, St. James's Street, London. ] J. Tuck, Printer, 6, Helmet Court, 338 1/2 Strand [ London ] ] [ December 1846. ]
£50.00

16pp., 12mo. Stabbed and unbound. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Dated in pencil in a modern hand at head of first page. Eighteenth and nineteenth century items in alphabetical order between A and G (but complete, nineteenth-century booksellers' catalogues often being issued as parts of series), The entry for the new edition of Dugdale's 'Monasticon Anglicanum', offered at £31 10s 0d, takes up more than half a page of small print. For more on Bohn see his entry in the Oxford DNB. Now scarce.

[ John Debrett, London publisher. ] Printed catalogue of 'Books printed for J. Debrett'.

Author: 
John Debrett (d. 1822), London publisher, responsible for the celebrated 'Debrett's Peerage'
Publication details: 
J. Debrett [ John Debrett, 178 Piccadilly, London ]. Undated [ 1794 ].
£100.00

8pp., 8vo. Unstitched (stabbed). Unopened, so that the four leaves unfold into a single strip with four pages on each side. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. First page headed 'BOOKS Printed for J. DEBRETT.' Numerous works are described in no particular order, in small print, beginning with 'PARLIAMENTARY REGISTER, 1794. | This day is published, | NUMBER XII. of the DEBATES of the PRESENT SESSION, [...]'. For more information on Debrett, see his entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. BBTI states that he was active before 1781, and went bankrupt in 1804.

[ John Gould, ornithologist. ] Autograph Note Signed to London bookseller J. E. Cornish, acknowledging a payment.

Author: 
John Gould (1804-1881), ornithologist [ J. E. Cornish, London bookseller ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 'London, 26, Charlotte Street, | Bedford Square. W. E.' 19 August 1870.
£150.00

1p., 12mo. In very good condition. Large bold signature. 'Dear Sir | Thanks for your prompt remittance: I return the a/c duly accepted and remain | Dear Sir | Yours very truly | John Gould | Mr. J. E. Cornish'. Docketted at top left.

[ Sheridan Morley, author and broadcaster. ] Two Autograph Letters Signed, two Typed Letters Signed and one telegram to theatrical bookseller Barry Duncan, with carbon copy of one of his letters.

Author: 
Sheridan Morley (1941-2007), English author and broadcaster, son of actor Robert Morley (1908-1992) and grandson of Dame Gladys Cooper (1888-1971) [ Barry Duncan, theatrical bookseller ]
Publication details: 
Two of the letters on letterhead of 5 Peckarmans Wood, London, SE26, and the other two (on cancelled BBC letterheads) from the same address. All six items from 1970.
£80.00

The six items in fair condition, with light signs of age and wear. The four letters all with Morley's expansive signature ('Sheridan Morley').

[ Thomas Simpson, English mathematician. ] Autograph Note Signed ('T. Simpson') to the London bookseller John Nourse

Author: 
Thomas Simpson (1710-1761), English mathematician, eponym of Simpson's Rule [ John Nourse of the Strand, London bookseller ]
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£180.00

1p., landscape 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with central spike hole. Addressed on reverse to 'Mr Nourse | Bookseller | in the Strand.' He is sending '10 Copies of Geometry', and asks him to send 'the Book of Algebra and Mr. Walmsley's Book by the Bearers'.

[ James Laver, museum curator and authority on fashion. ] Two Autograph Letters Signed (the first 'James Laver | Keeper of Prints') concerning purchases from bookseller Barry Duncan. With carbon copies of two of Duncan's letters.

Author: 
James Laver (1899-1975), art historian and authority on fashion, Keeper of Prints, Drawings and Paintings at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Publication details: 
Laver's two letters both on Victoria and Albert Museum letterheads, and dating from 30 December 1947 and 19 March 1948.
£120.00

Five items, in fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper, with slight rust staining from staple which held them together. Laver's two letters are both 2pp. long (one 8vo and one 12mo). The two relate to a collection of Dalziel wood-engravings, there being 'too many already in the Museum to justify our purchasing the collection in its entirety'. Laver suggests taking a selection of 100 engravings for £5, and with the second letter returns the residue, the price paid being £7 10s 0d. With Laver paying personally for two engravings damaged while in his care.

[ James Everett, Manchester bookseller and Wesleyan minister. ] Autograph Letter Signed to him from 'W. Brailsford', urging him to preach a 'preparatory Sermon' at a meeting of 'the Missionary committee' in Longholme.

Author: 
W. Brailsford of Longholme [ James Everett (1784-1872), Wesleyan minister and Manchester bookseller ]
Publication details: 
Longholme [ Manchester ]. 24 September 1832.
£56.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed on reverse to 'Mr. Everett | Market Street | Manchester'. Brailsford has been 'desired by the Missionary committee connected with this place to write you & earnestly to request the favour of yr. Services at their approaching Anniversary which is fixed for Monday Oct. 22nd. by preaching a preparatory Sermon on the Sunday eveng. Oct 21.

[ George Ormerod, Cheshire antiquary. ] Autograph Letter, in the third person, to 'Mr Cornish' [ the Manchester bookseller James Edward Cornish ], giving his reasons for asking £100 for a copy of his History of Cheshire.

Author: 
George Ormerod (1785-1873), Cheshire antiquary [ James Edward Cornish (1831-1903), Manchester bookseller ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Sedbury Park, Chepstow. 9 March 1867.
£150.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly-aged. Addressed to 'Mr Cornish | 33, Piccadilly | Manchester'. The letter begins: 'Mr. Ormerod has received Mr Cornish's enquiry whether Mr O. has "any Io [i.e. folio] Paper Hist: of Cheshire for sale.' He replies that he 'has now only two Io Paper copies of Hist: Cheshire One is extensively illustrated and bound in ten Volumes in Morocco - This, of course, cannot be parted with.' Ormerod would part with the other set 'for £100, (one Hundred pounds) Cash - not less'.

[ James Wilson, nineteenth-century Birmingham bookseller and manuscript dealer. ] Printed letterhead ('Memorandum from James Wilson'), in red and brown gothic type.

Author: 
James Wilson, nineteenth-century Birmingham bookseller and manuscript dealer
Publication details: 
James Wilson, 35 Bull Street, Birmingham. Dated in manuscript 30 January 1886.
£56.00

On 7 x 13.5cm piece of watermarked laid paper, cut from the head of a 12mo leaf. Tastefully printed in red and brown, in gothic type with rubricated capital. Reads: 'MEMORANDUM | from | James Wilson, | Dealer in Ancient and Modern Books and Manuscripts; rare | and valuable County Histories, Old Poetry, Theology, costly | Works on the Fine Arts, Illuminated Missals, and other | Ancient MSS. on vellum, and Literary Curiosities and Rarities | in general. Catalogues issued Monthly, gratis andn post free. | 35, Bull Street, Birmingham,'. The date 'Jan 30th 86' in bottom right-hand corner of slip.

[ Philippe François Lasnon de La Renaudière, French geographer and traveller. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Larenaudiere'), in French, to 'Monsieur Bennis a la librairie Anglaise', Paris

Author: 
Philippe François Lasnon de La Renaudière (1781-1845), French geographer and Anglophile book collector praised by Thomas Frognall Dibdin [ Bennis, Paris bookseller ]
Publication details: 
Paris. 25 January 1831.
£56.00

1p., 4to. Bifolium. Addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'Monsieur Bennis a la librairie Anglaise Rue Neuve St Augustin No 99'. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-worn paper. He had believed that he had a reciprocal agreement with Bennis, allowing him to borrow 'quelques volumes du Cabinet Cyclopedia', but he has now learned that Bennis has, 'contre ordre', cancelled his 'demande de Carnets'. As a consequence, 'par reciprocité également', he is returning the four volumes that he last borrowed, and he asks him to close his account.

[ Victorian bookseller's catalogue. ] Catalogue of Books & Portraits, comprising Miscellaneous, Theatrical, Old Newspapers, Views of Theatres, London, Trials, Collections, &c. &c.

Author: 
F. Kornman, Book and Printseller, 168 High Holborn, London, W.C.
Publication details: 
On sale by F. Kornman, Book and Printseller, 168 High Holborn, London, W.C. (Nearly opposite the end of Drury Lane.) No. 9. 1888.
£65.00

8pp., 12mo. Stapled. Heavily aged and worn. A trim little catalogue, with 158 books described on the first seven pages, and the last page devoted to prints. Beneath the drophead title: 'Post Office Orders to be made payable at High Holborn. | No books or prints sent on approval.

[] 'A Catalogue of valuable Ancient and Modern Books, comprising Specimens of Early Typography, Manuscripts on Vellum, with Miniatures, Early Printed Books with woodcuts [...]'.

Author: 
Antoine Bachelin-Deflorenne, bookseller of Paris and London
Publication details: 
Bachelin-Deflorenne, Bookseller, 25, Garrick Street, (Covent Garden), London. Catalogue No. 4. September 1869.
£80.00

66 + 2pp., 12mo. Stitched pamphlet. With printed front cover. In poor condition, aged and worn, with damage to top-edge. 774 lots with prices. Notes in English and French. Among the more expensive items is 228, a collection of material relating to the Chevalier d'Eon, for £12. In poor condition, but a scarce item.

[ B. F. Stevens of Vermont and his 'Index of all the documents of American concern in private or public Archives of Great Britain, Holland, France and Spain', 1763-1783 ] Printed pamphlet: 'American Manuscripts in European Archives.'

Author: 
[ Benjamin Franklin Stevens (1833-1902) of Vermont, American bookseller in London ]
Publication details: 
Without place [ B. F. Stevens, 4 Trafalgar Square, Charing Cross, London ] or date [ 1887 ].
£120.00

18 + [1]pp., 8vo. In red cloth half-binding, with brown marbled boards. Stamp of the Royal Historical Society on endpaper, and pencil shelfmarks. In fair condition, aged and worn. A curious production. The intent of the author (certainly Stevens) is to facilitate 'definite and permanent organisation', by his 'preparation of an Index of all the documents of American concern in private or public Archives of Great Britain, Holland, France and Spain that accumulated between the years 1763 and 1783'.

[ Shakespeariana collection of Prof. Wilhelm Wetz of Freiburg. ] Printed catalogue by Joseph Baer & Co. of 'English Langugage and Literature including a Collection of Shakesperiana partly from the Library of the late Professor W. Wetz of Freiburg'.

Author: 
Shakespeariana; Wilhelm Wetz (1858-1910), Professor at the University of Freiburg [ Joseph Baer & Co., Ancient and Modern Booksellers, Frankfurt, Germany; William Shakespeare ]
Publication details: 
Joseph Baer & Co. Ancient and Modern Booksellers, Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Catalogue No. 592. No date. [1911.]
£120.00

209pp., 8vo. In printed wraps, with contents page on inner front cover. Aged and with worn spine, on browned high-acidity paper. The catalogue contains 4510 items, with around 10% (472 items, numbered 2041-2513) under the headings 'Shakespeare' (2041-2208) and 'Shakespeariana' (2209-2513), and including sections of 'Separate Plays' (2082-2137) and 'Translations' (2143-2208). The catalogue also contains sections on other notable authors, including Ossian, Bulwer-Lytton, Macaulay, Thomas Moore and Ruskin. No other copy traced, either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC.

[Booksellers Stock 1880-1] A General Catalogue of the Stock of C.J. Stewart. 1880[1881]

Author: 
C.J. Stewart [Charles James Stewart], Bookseller (theological)
Publication details: 
C.J. Stewart, 11 King William Street, West Strand, London, WC, 1880-1.
£280.00

584pp., 8vo, utilitarian cloth binding, sl. hinge strain, for the sections as they were published (A-Calvin, Calvin-Fulke,Fulke-Zaccaria), with original wraps of the three original parts bound in, in good+ condition. Small stamp on spine "Trin.Coll. Camb.."His stock has a theological bent, for example the section on BIBLES runs from pp.106 -165, nos.1312-1912, Biblio polyglotta (1586) to Biblia Maxima Versionum ex Linguis Orientalibus (1660).

[ James Ridgway of Piccadilly, London bookseller. ] Printed catalogue titled 'Pamphlets on Corn Laws, Currency, Banking, China, &c. &c. Recently published by James Ridgway, 169, Piccadilly.'

Author: 
James Ridgway of 169 Piccadilly, London bookseller [ Blatch and Lampert, Printers, Grove Place, Brompton; the Corn Laws; Opium Trade; economic history ]
Publication details: 
[ James Ridgway, 169 Piccadilly [London]. Printed by 'Blatch and Lampert, Printers, Grove Place, Brompton.' [Circa 1840.]
£120.00

8pp., 8vo. Disbound. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Sixty titles, with prices and some information, arranged under five headings: 'Important Works on the Corn Laws, &c. &c.' (24 items); 'On Banking' (6 items); 'The Chinese and Opium Question' (4 items); 'On Education' (7 items); 'Political' (19 items). No copy traced on either COPAC or OCLC WorldCat.

[ The Antiquarian Etching Club, London. ] Printed prospectus, with 'Plan of the Club', 'Rules' and 'Contents of Volumes already issued. With descriptive letter-press.'

Author: 
[ H. W. King, Hon. Sec., the Antiquarian Etching Club, London, founded 1849 [ John Russell Smith, bookseller, 36 Soho Square, London ]
Publication details: 
[ John Russell Smith, 36, Soho Square, London. ] Tucker, Printer, Perry's Place, Oxford Street. [Circa 1852.]
£120.00

4pp., 8vo. Bifolium. Disbound. A frail survival, on aged paper, with chipping to gutter and extremities.

[ John Shury, London engraver. ] Engraved moving circular wheel on backing, titled 'A Circular Table, to find all the Moveable Sundays in the Year.'

Author: 
John Shury, engraver in Georgian London [ Thomas Tegg (1776-1845), London publisher and printseller ]
Publication details: 
'J. Shury Sc. | London, Published by Thomas Tegg, 73, Cheapside, July, 1, 1828.'
£120.00

An attractive and unusual item, and extremely scarce: no copies recorded on either OCLC WorldCat or COPAC. Engraved print in shape 11 cm diameter circle, carrying text and numeration, attached to printed 8vo leaf and superimposed on matching circular print with months and further numeration, to make a calculation tool. At head of page, beneath title and above wheel: 'To find the SUNDAYS that depend on EASTER day.

[Printed pamphlet.] The New Interest display'd: or A Second Dialogue between a Curate and a Cobler. Address'd to the Freeholders of Oxfordshire.

Author: 
[ C. Warburton of Amen-Corner, London bookseller ]
Publication details: 
London: Printed for C. Warburton, in Amen-Corner; and sold by the Booksellers of London and Westminster. 1753.
£100.00

22 + [1]pp, 8vo. Unbound, and stabbed as issued. Last page carries an advertisement for five books 'Just publish'd in Octavo'. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, with wear to fore-edge, and loss to bottom outer corner. Text entirely undamaged, apart from a tear through two words on the last page. The dialogue between the well-spoken curate and the dialect-spouting cobbler, on the subject of 'the Election-Business', takes place at 'the Cobler's Shop'. Seven copies on COPAC, but now uncommon.

Nayler & Co.[Dutch book catalogue, 1842] Catalogue van Kopiyen, Aanbiedingen, enz [Full title page give below]

Author: 
[Dutch bookseller's/auctioneer's catalogue 1842] Nayler and Co., booksellers, Amsterdam
Dutch Bookseller's Catalogue
Publication details: 
Gedruky bij M. & F.C. Westerman, O.Z. Achterburgwal te Amsterdam. 1842 (in roman numerals).
£250.00
Dutch Bookseller's Catalogue

Total 48pp, 8vo, including alternate blanks for notes,with handwritten information about prices, etc. (seller's marked copy presumably), marbled wraps, worn, contents sl. worn at edges but complete, with ill-defined stamps at beginning and end (one has phrase Noord Holland). REST Of title-page: "Op Zaturday den XVIII Junij 1842, | zullen Nayler & Co. met hunne | Ongebonden- Verkooping | een aanvang maken, | in het Logement DE ZON, op Nieuwen-Dijk, No. 234, | te Amsterdam [...] Uren van Verkoop: | 9 tot 12 - 1 tot 4 - 6 tot 10 - met Klokstage.

[James Tregaskis, London bookseller.] An engraving by Herbert Railton of the interior of his celebrated Holborn shop, captioned 'Old Stairway at the "Caxton Head."' Signed in pencil by Tregaskis.

Author: 
James Tregaskis (1850-1926), London bookseller; Herbert Railton (1857-1910), illustrator
Publication details: 
Published by James and Mary Lee Tregaskis, "Caxton Head," 232 High Holborn, London, 1894.
£100.00

On 32.5 x 23 cm piece of thin wove paper. In fair condition only: aged, especially at extremities, and with loss to all four corners on removal from mount. The image (which is roughly 21 x 17 cm) and text are clear and clean, as is the signature 'James Tregaskis', in pencil in the bottom right-hand corner. A charming view, in Railton's characteristic style, of a somewhat decrepit eighteenth-century interior, with a plump young girl in voluminous late-Victorian smock playing on the stairs with a small dog.

[Thomas John Dibdin, playwright.] Autograph Letter Signed ('T Dibdin') to the Pall Mall bookseller Clement Chapple, regarding terms for his 'New Opera'. With Signed Autograph Copy of Chapple's reply on reverse.

Author: 
Thomas John Dibdin (1771-1841), playwright and actor [Clement Chapple (d.1835), bookseller and publisher in Pall Mall, London]
Publication details: 
Dibdin's letter: place not stated; 'Sep 11 - mn' [dated in pencil in another hand '1824']. Copy of Chapple's reply: 'Pall Mall [London] Sep 12'.
£280.00

Dibdin's letter: 1p., 12mo. On bifolium, with the Signed Autograph Copy of Chapple's reply (also 1p., 12mo) on the reverse of the same leaf. Reverse of second leaf addressed to 'C. Chapple Esq', with a nineteenth-century shelfmark at the foot of the page: 'C.68.Coll.CR.' In fair condtion, on aged paper.

[Giuseppe 'Pino' Orioli, Florentine bookseller and companion of Norman Douglas.] Autograph Signature ('G. Orioli'), and Signed Autograph Inscription ('Pino') on title-leaf of his book 'Adventures of a Bookseller'.

Author: 
Giuseppe Orioli [Pino Orioli] (1884-1942), Italian bookseller, first publisher of 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' by D. H. Lawrence, and close companion of the English novelist Norman Douglas
Publication details: 
The inscription is dated 'Florence day of publication', the book being published in Florence in 1937.
£150.00

Only the prelims of the book are present, on four leaves. In fair condition, on aged paper, with slight damage at the margin of the first leaf. Orioli's two inscriptions are on the two central leaves. Comprising a leaf with series title ('The Lungarno Series No. 12'); leaf with half-title and limitation (no 5 of 300) on reverse, signed 'G. Orioli'; title leaf; and contents leaf. The inscription on the title reads: 'This is for Barbara and Raphael | with love and affection | from Pino [Orioli] | Florence day of publication'.

[Printed pamphlet by the London booksellers Bernard Quartich.] Thomas Love Peacock on the Portraits of Shelley. [Including a 'facsimile by a zinco-line process of the engraving by Lasinio of Leisman's portrait'.]

Author: 
[Henry Wallis; Thomas Love Peacock; Percy Bysshe Shelley; Carlo Lasinio; Giovanni Antonio Leisman; Bernard Quartich, London booksellers]
Publication details: 
Bernard Quartich, 11 Grafton Street, New Bond Street, London. Printed by Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, London, 1911.
£80.00

3pp., 8vo. Bifolium. On aged card, with wear to extremities. The text, attributed to Wallis by the British Library catalogue, is on the verso of the first leaf; and facing this, behind a tissue guard, is the print. Wallis discusses the 'feeble' nature of the 'various engaged portraits of Shelley', and explains Peacock's reservations in endorsing Lasinio's engraving of Leisman's painting. Uncommon: five copies on COPAC, the British Library entry attributing the publication to Henry Wallis.

[Cambridge bookseller] Autograph Letter Signed "G. Brimley Bowes" to "Mr Stoakley" of the bookbinders, Stoakley & Son, apologising for his behaviour but carrying a point.

Author: 
G. Brimley Bowes, Cambridge bookseller.
Publication details: 
[Printed heading] Macmillan & Bowes | Booksellers, Publishers, and Stationers | I, Trinity Street, Cambridge, 20 Dec. 1906.
£280.00

Two pages, 12mo, bifolium, good condition. As follows: " I wish to apologise for having spoken to you in the way I did here today in the presence of several people [...] I had no knowledge of the matter in question until my Father appealed to me for my opinion, and I gave my opinion [excision] viz. that we should have been referred to at an earlier period, & if the leather was actually in stock & not promised to anypne else when the order was received. that it should have been used for those books.

[John Churchill, London medical bookseller and publisher.] Itemised invoice, signed 'settled | J. Churchill', for books bought by Rutherford Alcock on behalf of W. Williamson; with Autograph Receipt Signed ('John Churchill').

Author: 
John Churchill [John Spriggs Morss Churchill] (1801-1875), London medical bookseller and publisher [Sir John Rutherford Alcock (1809-1897), diplomat]
Publication details: 
Invoice: on his letterhead as 'Medical Bookseller and Publisher, Princes Street, Soho'. 24 April 1841. Receipt: London. 24 April 1841.
£65.00

ONE: Invoice headed 'To Account delivered 1839.40'. 1p., 4to. In good condition, on lightly aged paper. Addressed to 'Rutherford Alcock Esqre. | (for W Williamson)' and listing four titles including 'Wilsons Anatomy' (12s 6d) and 'Alison's Physiology' (12s), totalling £10 15s 0d. Beneath the four entries the bookseller has writen 'Settled | J. Churchill | 24th. April 1841', and beneath this Williamson has added 'The above is quite correct | J Williamson | 9July 4th 1842'. TWO: Receipt on one side of 8 x 18.5 cm slip of paper, with embossed 6d stamp. Reads: 'London 24th April 1841.

[C. W. Beaumont, dance writer, bookseller and publisher.] Typed Letter Signed ('Cyril Beaumont') to 'Mr White', dismissing 'would-be Diaghilevs'.

Author: 
Cyril Beaumont [Cyril William Beaumont; C. W. Beaumont] (1891-1976), dance writer, bookseller and publisher
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 'C. W. Beaumont | Bookseller & Publisher | At the Sign of the Harlequins Bat', 75 Charing Cross Road, London WC2. 3 April 1954.
£80.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He begins by stating that his book 'contains the details' his correspondent requires, and continues: 'I am sorry to say that I made a little mistake when I was talking to you over the telephone about "Pulcinella". I think I said there was a long description of that ballet in my "Diaghilev Ballet in London", but of course it is the "Complete Book of Ballets".

[Charles E. Shepherd of J. Pearson & Co., Pall Mall booksellers.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. Reed', regarding autograph letters by Sir Philip Sidney and 'his very famous sister', asbestos cases by the binders Riviere, and a 'Breeches' bible.

Author: 
Charles E. Shepherd of J. Pearson & Co. [John Pearson], Rare Books and Autographs, 5 Pall Mall Place, London] [Reed; Riviere]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of J. Pearson & Co., Rare Books and Autographs, 5 Pall Mall Place, London. ('Telegraph & Cable Address, Parabola, London.') 20 May 1903.
£65.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. In something of a hard sell he begins by stating that 'the "Sir Philip Sidney" letter, of which I showed you a facsimile the other day, [...] seems to me peculiarly suitable for your collection'. In support of the letter's 'exceptional rarity' he cites 'a letter of Thorpe's (the expert of autographs of his day) dated 1839 accompanying the autograph & giving its pedigree, in which he says "I never saw a letter of Sidney's for sale except the present"', adding that 'no other autograph of his has occurred since'.

[W. T. Spencer, London bookseller and Dickens specialist.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to Miss Winifred Bois, urging her to buy a volume of drawings in a double case. With Autograph Letter Signed on the subject from Bois to London bookseller Sawyer.

Author: 
W. T. Spencer [Walter Thomas Spencer] (d.1936) of 27 New Oxford Street, bookseller specialising in Dickensiana
Publication details: 
Spencer's two letters both from Grange House, Shanklin, Isle of Wight. 23 and 26 February [1931]. Bois's letter to Sawyer: on letterhead of 32 Phillimore Walk, Kensington, London, W8. 14 March 1966.
£120.00

Spencer was a sharp operator (see Mandelbrote ed., 'Out of Print and into Profit', pp.285-287) and the present items give an hint of his methods. (The two letters are addressed from the premises at which his staff were said to practice their 'sophistications'.) His two letters (both signed 'W. T. Spencer') are in good condition, on lightly-aged and worn paper, with the second dated by Bois to 1931. Bois's letter (signed 'Winifred Bois') is in fair condition, with a short closed tear along one edge. Letter One: Spencer to Bois, 23 February [1931].

[Thomas Cadell, publisher] Autograph Note Signed, "T Cadell", to his assistant "Lawless", with (on same page) Autograph Note Signed "Robert Lawless", to "Madam" (Mrs Grignion, wife of the impoverished artist, Charles Grignion.)

Author: 
Thomas Cadell, publisher and bookseller, and Robert Lawless, his assistant
Publication details: 
Portsmouth, 11 October 1786.
£220.00

One page, 12mo, laid down on larger piece of paper, after formation of a 2" closed tear. text complete and clear. [Cadell] "If the game sent with this tolerably good send it to [Mrs] Grignion with my love. You will tell them it may be Sunday before we arrive as the weather is so uncertain." [Lawless adds] "Madam | I am afraid these are bad, but I believe it is only when it was shot" [whatever that means]. Lawless earned an obituary in the Annual Register.

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