BRITISH

Information regarding this major figure in British history is not far to seek. On 11.5 x 5.5 cm panel cut from front of envelope. In fair condition, with a few traces of glue at centre and short closed tear to right-hand edge; none of this anywhere near the signature. The letter is addressed in another hand: ‘The Solicitor General / Hackwood Park / Basingstoke’, with last word deleted. Signed in the customary manner at bottom left: ‘W E Gladstone’. Basingstoke postmark in blue, and cropped frank in red. See image.

A scarce piece of English theatrical ephemera, illustrative of the restrictions imposed following the Second World War. From the papers of W. Macqueen-Pope. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) The item is a duplicated bulletin of six closely-typed 8vo pages, on three loose leaves. The text is complete and clear, but the item is aged and with wear to edges. The first page is headed by the following, in capitals, above the address and phone number of ‘The Stage’: ‘According to latest directions from the Ministry of Fuel & Power this is for private circulation only and is distributed gratis.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged, with paper from mount on reverse. Folded once. On 6 x 10 cm piece of paper, cut from conclusion of letter. Good firm signature. Reads: ‘[...] European troops / [...] quartered them. / Yours sincerely / Elphinstone’. See image.

Interesting artefacts of provincial Georgian connoisseurship and picture dealers. If genuine (unlikely, given the period) the paintings would be of considerable interest. Given the exchange of cash, ‘W. Hayward’ could well be a visiting picture dealer. Both memoranda in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: 1p, 8vo. Folded four times. Reads: ‘Gloster 20th. Octr. 1841 | Exchanged with Dr. Maddy the following pictures viz / Waterfall &c. - Berghem / Landscape - Hobbema / for / Landscape - K. Du Jardin / Perseus & Andromeda - S. Rosa / and / Cash - £100 / W. Hayward’. TWO: 1p, landscape 12mo.

A nice slice of London ephemera. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged. They were clearly all sent together. ONE: ALS from Westley (‘W. Westley | Hon. Sec.’) to unnamed recipient. 2pp, 12mo. In answer to an application he is sending ‘one New Programme showing Waters &c’, pointing out that not all are ‘Trout Waters’, and that ‘about 30% of the Members only take part in competitions’. He explains that they have had good (he mistakenly writes ‘few’) membership over the previous two years, ‘but at the present time there are a few members’. TWO: Printed ‘C.L.P.S.

On 11 x 6 cm piece of paper cut from letter. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: ‘Yours faithfully / Olga Novikoff.’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, landscape 8vo. In good condition, folded once. Headed ‘Private & Confidential’. Reads: ‘Dear Bob, / I had a word with the V. C [presumably the Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University] this morning and am writing a letter to Sartain, which he should receive before the meeting of the G. B. on Wednesday. I hope something is done. / Yours ever / Oliver.’

See the entries for Beresford and Temple in the Oxford DNB (in an unfortunate omission, Ramsay - ‘The King of Kumaon’ - is not represented in that work). 3pp, 12mo. Ruckled, with second leaf laid down on a piece of card, and damage along the gutter repaired with archival tape. Twenty-nine lines of text. Signed ‘Charles Beresford’. He has received ‘a long explanatory letter from General Sir Henry Ramsey [sic] containing the explanation of a grievance by which he has lost £300 a year since 1884.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, with light dabs of glue from mount on reverse. On 11.5 x 9 cm card with rounded edges. Clearly in response to a request for an autograph, he writes: 'For Louis Frewen / with all good wishes / from / Anthony Asquith / December 1931'.

On one side of a 12.5 x 8.5 cm piece of thin white card. Clearly given in response to a request for an autograph. Written in a large somewhat old-fashioned hand, with ‘Edith Pargeter.’ centred towards the head of the page, and ‘‘Ellis Peters’.’ at bottom right. See image.

Printed in two columns in black and red on one side of a piece of paper seventeen and a half inches by eleven and a quarter wide. Foxed and with a few very small closed tears at points along crease lines. Thirty-six rules, listed under sections headed 'THE EXECUTIVE', 'GENERAL MEETINGS', 'MOTIONS', 'ELECTION OF MEMBERS', 'PAYMENT OF SUBSCRIPTIONS, &C.', 'HONORARY MEMBERS', 'ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE', 'DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT', 'DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY', 'DUTIES OF THE AUDITOR', 'BOOKS, NEWSPAPERS, &C.', 'MISCELLANEOUS' and 'CLUB DINNER'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The recipient’s name is uncertain (‘Knight Sladen’?) He is sorry that he is prevented from ‘coming to the Mansion House on Wedy’ by ‘the demands of practice’. The subject has his sympathy, ‘and, else, 2 Guineas if there is a subscription list & if small amounts be accepted’. He wonders whether his ticket might be used ‘by a patriotic sister & a friend!’ He asks him to simply send a post card ‘to say I may substitute their names for mine’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, but a little brittle and discoloured (unobtrusive repair to one corner with archival tape). The recipient is not named. Reads: ‘Dear Sirs / I shall be pleased to see your Ramblers June the 6th. Let me know details of them & numbers a week before. / Yours truly / Hubert Herkomer’.

On both sides of a 14.5 x 10.5 cm plain postcard. In good condition, with large firm signature ‘Richard Ingrams’. He thanks him for ‘the interesting Cobbett item’ and would like ‘your Elgar postcard’ if available. Ends: ‘Enclose cheque. Cobbett always welcome. Also G. K. Chesterton.’ Ingram had published an anthology of Cobbett in 1974, and would publish a biography of him in 2005, and a book on Chesterton in 2021.

See the entries for the two men in the Oxford DNB, as well as that of the subject of the letter, Sir Richard Temple’s eldest son Captain Richard Carnac Temple (1850-1931), the future second baronet. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Aged, with the gutter repaired with archival tape, and the reverse of the second leaf adhering to part of its mount. Headed ‘Private’ and addressed to ‘Dear Sir Richard’.

See the entries for Robinson and Cooke in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, folded twice. Addressed to ‘My dear Mr Cooke’. Cooke’s ‘friendly note’ about the time he ‘proposed setting out for Deal’ was received on the Thursday, and the Robinsons are ‘glad indeed to hear that your dear Mother is again restored to her usual health’. The Robinsons think that ‘change of occupation & fresh air together, may have the desired effect both as regards yourself & your son Conrad’.

See the entries for writer and recipient in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, folded once. In envelope (with Oxford crest on flap), with stamp and two postmarks, addressed by Magrath to ‘Henry Jenner Esq / British Museum / London E.C.’ From ‘a communication I have received from Madan’ (Falconer Madan, Bodley’s Librarian) he gathers that Jenner ‘would be interested to know the results of the kind assistance you gave a Committee of the Hebdomadal Council in May in the matter of the extension of the Bodleian Library’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of mount to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. Le Jeune’s handwriting is strangely childlike. The recipient is not named. He begins: ‘Dear Sir / Your little picture of “The Bather” has been finished some time, & I should be glad to shew it you at your earliest convenience.’ He briefly suggests arrangements for a showing.

See his entry in the History of Parliament, which quotes a contemporary source describing him as ‘one of the oldest reformers in the House’, ‘in favour of the ballot and the immediate abolition of slavery’. 1p, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded four times. Begins: ‘Colonel Gore Langton presents his Compliments to Messrs: Cox and Greenwood, and as the Oxfordshire Regiment of Militia are expected to return from Ireland about Christmas, he is very desirous of being informed whether any arrangement has been made respecting their Winter Quarters’.

Attractive item, suitable for framing. In good condition, lightly aged, with 1cm closed tear to one edge. Printed on shiny paper. Folded three times. The note, with good firm signature, reads: ‘Louis B. Frewer Esq / Dear Sir / Autograph enclosed with much pleasure. To-day is the 49th. anniversary of my wedding. / Yours faithfully / Charles Coborn’. The letterhead has Coborn’s name printed in large type, and describes him as ‘Comedian, Vocalist, Story-teller, etc. and Walker’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded once. In a loose, untidy hand. He is ‘much obliged for the note of the 4th.’, and as she wishes has sent instructions to ‘Davy’, to whom he asks her to ‘send all communications’. He is ‘very sorry indeed’ to ‘loose [sic]’ her as a tenant.

See the entries for Jones and Chantry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. An interesting letter of 39 lines with text intact, in poor condition, aged and with closed tears, and discoloration from tape used in repair, and ink blot to first page. The surname of the recipient is not given, but the close friendship between the two men (Jones published a memoir of Chantrey in 1849) puts Chantrey’s identity beyond doubt.

The book collector Percival M. Stone (1886-1965) of Waltham, Massachusetts, was a Harvard alumnus. He was an expert in the field of crime fiction, and in particular the 'Dr Thorndyke' stories of R. Austin Freeman. Stone edited an American collection of Freeman's stories, titled 'Dr Thorndyke's Crime File' (1941), to which he contributed the essay '5a King's Walk'. The eight long and informative letters in this collection reveal Stone's association with the Harvard Theatre Collection (whose curator William B.

The present item is the producer Hugh Burnett's own copy, from his papers, of the transcript of John Freeman's interview with John, broadcast in the groundbreaking BBC series 'Face to Face' on 15 May 1960. This single-spaced typed transcript was produced for inclusion in Burnett's book 'Face to Face / Edited and introduced by Hugh Burnett' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1964), and is marked up with printing instructions in pencil and red ink, with a few proof corrections in green ink. 3pp, foolscap 8vo, on three leaves stapled together.

A curious artefact, indicating Garbo’s iconic status, and an early example of a journalistic trend which has gained ground since the late 1960s. Hayden-Guest, still active as a writer, is the son of the diplomat Peter Haden-Guest, 4th Baron Haden-Guest, and brother of the 5th Baron, Christopher, who is won fame as ‘Nigel’ in the film ‘Spinal Tap’.

Fragment of letter in Gladstone’s autograph, with his signature, on both sides of 10 x 6 cm rectangle. In good condition, with one vertical fold. Five lines on recto read: ‘<...> It was most kind of you to send me the delightful pearl studs - & to write so friendly a letter. Lady Paget gave me a set’. Recto reads: ‘<...> & preserve your kind thought | With many thanks to you & Mrs Robson | Always | W E Gladstone’. See image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The valediction of a typed letter, on slip of paper, 8.5 x 3.5 cm. Somewhat creased, and with two thin printed slips ‘DIRECTOR | R. H. TAWNEY, B.A.’ and ‘London School of Economics’) laid down near the signature (‘R H Tawney’), above which is typed ‘Yours very sincerely,’.

2pp, 4to. 34 lines of closely-written text. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed to ‘Mr. Poole’. After expressing a hope that they will be meeting Poole now that they are both on the council of the Royal Historical Society, he explains that he is writing in relation to his redrafting of ‘the early part of Percy for the Complete Peerage’, noting that ‘the present draft is certainly alarming’. He is taking it ‘down to 1245’ and finds it ‘full of snags’. He has ‘just finished a draft of Jocelin, Agnes de Percy’s husband’, and L. C.

Boehm had executed a bronze bust of Wolseley two years before. It may be that the present letter is in response to congratulations from Boehm on his forthcoming elevation to the viscountcy, with occurred 28 September 1885. 1p, 12mo. Folded once. In good condition, with unobtrusive folds to two corners. Reads: ‘Dear Lord Wolseley | Many thanks for your kind note & the Norfolk jaquet which arrived safely this morning | Yours sincerely & obliged | J. E. Boehm’.

See Beaverbrook's entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Thomas Lloyd Humberstone (1876-1957) was an educationalist and prominent member of the Convocation of the University of London. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Addressed to Humberstone at 15 Gower Street, London. After apologizing for the delay in replying, due to his absence, he simply states: ‘I am inquiring into the situation regarding the Bedford estate.’ Possibly written in reference to the Senate House development, in which Humberstone took a keen interest.