BROADCASTING

See his entry in the Dictionary of National Biography. From the papers of Sylvia and Robert Lynd. Scarce: only three copies on JISC (Oxford, NLS and BL). 24pp, 12mo. Stapled. In blue printed wraps with flaps. Colophon on first page, with small indistinguishable device: ‘THE FIRST BOOKLET / set, printed and published by the / Janus Press at Bickley in Kent / 1933’. Title-page: ‘AN IRISH IDYLL / CHARLES DUFF / [crude vignette of shamrock] / Janus Press’. Information on reverse of title includes: ‘An Irish Idyll was first used by / The British Broadcasting Corporation / on the 12th.

See Michael Kennedy's assessment of Boult, in his entry in the Oxford DNB: 'In the music he admired most, Boult was often a great conductor; in the rest, an extremely conscientious one.' Good bold signature ('Adrian C. Boult') is centred on one side of an 11.5 x 9 cm piece of card. The signature and the space around it are clear, but the discoloured card has a smudge on it, and carries traces of previous mount on reverse. At foot of signed side, in pencil:Sir Adrian Boult - Conductor of the B.B.C.Orchestra London / Famous English Conductor'. See Image.

A poignant letter, written during Joad's final illness (he died on 9 April 1953). Joad’s entry in the Oxford DNB ends with this assessment: ‘Cyril Joad was an outstanding educator, a tireless proponent of ‘progressive’ causes, and one of the best-known broadcasters of the 1940s.’ The recipient Vere Henry Collins (1872-1966), was an author and grammatical stickler, and the letter concerns his 1952 book 'The Choice of Words'. 2pp, 4to. Aged and discoloured, and cropped at the head with loss of a line of text. Folded once for postage. Date given in ink at head, presumably by Collins.

See Michael Kennedy's assessment of Boult, in his entry in the Oxford DNB: 'In the music he admired most, Boult was often a great conductor; in the rest, an extremely conscientious one.' On card with stamp, crest and ‘POST CARD’ printed in red. In fair condition, lighly worn. Addressed to ‘Miss Minshull / 1 Claverley Grove / Finchley N.3.’ Reads on the other, crosswise: ‘Please excuse a hasty scrawl: can you come to Lincoln’s Inn at 5 on Wed? Dont answer if all right. / I am so glad you’re able to do it: it will be fine I think. / Adrian C. Boult / 11 Chelsea Embankment / S.W.3.’

See Michael Kennedy's assessment of Boult, in his entry in the Oxford DNB: 'In the music he admired most, Boult was often a great conductor; in the rest, an extremely conscientious one.' The two items are unrelated. LETTER: 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly creased. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘C. Holme-Barnett, Esq., / 54 Anchorage Road, / Sutton Coldfield, / Warwickshire.’ The salutation and valediction are in Boult’s autograph: ‘Dear Mr Holme-Barnett’ and ‘Yours sincerely / Adrian C. Boult.’ The letter concerns two Birmingham conductors.

See Smith’s entry in the Oxford DNB, and Michael Kennedy's assessment of Boult, in his entry in the same work: 'In the music he admired most, Boult was often a great conductor; in the rest, an extremely conscientious one.' The two items are unrelated. LETTER: 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded once for postage and with corners snipped diagonally to make an octagonal shape. Salutation and valediction are in Boult’s autograph: ‘Dear Mrs Brown’ and ‘Yours very sincerely / Adrian C. Boult’. PROGRAMME: 12pp, 8vo. Stapled.

A fascinating collection of articles - with added relevance at a time when the position of women in the BBC is much-debated - in which 1920s women broadcasters with at BBC provincial stations (including Aberdeen, BIrmingham, Liverpool, Plymouth) discuss their careers. One Seven original typescripts, totalling 20pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and creased, with occasional chipping to edges. The writing is thoughtful and often enlightening.

There were around thirty ‘Paul Temple’ radio serials between 1938 and 1968, along with four films, a dozen books, a television series and a newspaper cartoon strip. Despite obituaries in the major British newspapers Durbridge has not been granted an entry in the Oxford DNB. On 14 x 5.5 cm piece of light-blue laid paper, cut from a typed letter. In good condition, lightly aged. Good clear signature. Reads ‘Thank you for your nice poem - / Best wishes to Dave. / Francis Durbridge’.

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. His entry in the Oxford DNB describes how, in the 1950s, he was ‘in demand as a lecturer on the theatrical subjects he loved, and he appeared often in the same capacity on radio and on television. Ironically he regarded these two forms of public entertainment, and television in particular, as representing a serious threat to the survival of theatre, about which he cared passionately’.

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) On 20 October 1922 Millais broadcast on 2LO radio, becoming the first comedian on what was later to become the BBC. In a performance on 21 November 1922 she became the third entertainer to appear on the week-old BBC. All three items in good condition, lightly aged, though the autograph letter has pin holes to a corner, and the typed letter rust from a paperclip. Both letters signed ‘Helena Millais’. ONE: TLS. 3pp, 12mo. Having met him ‘at various C.A.A. evenings, she asks him for advice about several books.

See the two men’s obituaries in The Times. 1p, 12mo. With thin mourning border. On aged and creased paper, with nicks and closed tears to edges, and slight loss at one corner. Folded twice. He is enclosing a programme for ‘Foundations of Music / Tuesday, March 26th’, ‘in which you are taking part’. He gives the time for ‘The rehearsal and balance test’. ‘Both transmission and rehearsal at Broadcasting House.’

The present item is producer Hugh Burnett's own copy, from his papers, of the transcript of John Freeman's interview with Harding, broadcast in the groundbreaking BBC television series 'Face to Face' on 18 September 1960, a few weeks before Harding’s death on 16 November 1960. Harding’s entry in the Oxford DNB states that, ‘in radio programmes such as The Brains Trust and Twenty Questions, and on television in What's my Line?, Harding became a great popular figure, especially of television in which he was probably the best-known performer in the country.

According to Barry Took’s entry on Constanduros in the Oxford DNB, ‘The Buggins Family’ was ‘the first radio family’, and she played all six parts, writing and performing in more than 250 episodes between and 1928 and 1948: ‘The popularity of the family was such that the Ministry of Food used Mrs Buggins to broadcast recipes during the Second World War.’Constanduros is also credited with having written more than one hundred plays. The recipient of these two letters, 'Miss Booth', is clearly her agent. Two items, the first in good condition and the second fair, on lightly discoloured paper.

'Plato and his Dialogues' was Lowes Dickinson's last book. It was warmly received on its posthumous publication, with its contemporary relevance recognised. In a review of May 1932, the Classical Association's journal 'Greece and Rome' declared: 'Here is material for the most exciting and stimulating discussions'. The same review said of the BBC series on which the book was based: 'if all such talks could have so happy an issue, wireless might be said to have justified itself'. And in October 1932, in another BBC radio talk, Lowes Dickinson's literary executor E. M.

3pp, 4to, each page on a separate leaf. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded once. There is no indication that either item was published, nor even that the poem is connected to the 'programme'. (If unpublished the poem may have found its way into Fry's papers from Hassall's.) The 'programme' - with no title or heading - is two pages long (with slight damage from a small staple to corners of both leaves) and complete, being divided into six numbered sections.

Contemporary duplicated typescript, from the Christopher Fry papers. 14pp, 8vo. Each page on a separate leaf. In fair condition, lightly aged. Fry's introductory talk is present in its entirety on pp.1-5, this is followed by an unpaginated page, then pp.8-15 with p.[10] also unpaginated. Hence p.6 or p.7, beginning the extracts from the play, would appear to be absent. On the front page, between the heading and transmission details is: 'Rehearsal: Thursday 4th June 1953: 10.00 onwards | Recording: Thursday 4th June 1953: 12.15 - 1.00 p.m. 3A | Recording of Insert: [BLANK]'.

A significant document in the history of BBC Television, casting valuable light on production practices and internal procedure in the years following the end of the BBC's television monopoly. From the papers of distinguished producer Charles Chilton (1917-2013), best known for his radio series 'Journey into Space' and association with the Goon Show. The present item relates to the first of the BBC Television Training Courses.

This is the transcript of John Freeman's celebrated interview of Evelyn Waugh, broadcast in the BBC series 'Face to Face' on 26 June 1960. The Waugh interview is not among those which feature in Burnett's book 'Face to Face' (Jonathan Cape, 1964) and has never been published. Waugh was apprehensive about the interview, writing beforehand to his friend Tom Driberg, who knew Freeman from his time as a fellow Labour MP: ‘I have let myself in for cross-examination on Television by a man named Major Freeman who I am told was a colleague of yours in the Working Class Movement.

In fair condition, lightly aged, with punch holes for ring binder. Addressed to 'John M[?] Esq. | (Far Eastern Section) | B.B.C. | 200 Oxford St | London W'. Text reads 'Alas, I have been ill with a virus infection and am going to France for a holiday with Henry, who has been ill too, and I don't think I had better undertake anything. Can I leave it till I come back – that will be at the end of September? | R. W.' In addition to two date stamps and a reference number the card carries two initialled manuscript notes on the address side.

ONE: ACS ('R Power'). 29 Devonshire Street, London. No date. In pencil (as Item Two). Addressed to 'Mrs B. I Magraw | Ash | Canterbury'. In fair condition (as Item Two), lightly aged and worn. Begins, on the subject of a proposed children's script for BBC radio: 'Will you go ahead with Akbar? I am in a nursing Home pro. Tem – small sudden operation – septic tonsils & will be incapacitated for a fortnight.' She reassures her about the script: 'I know you'll do a good job.

2pp., 4to. Forty-four lines of text. She thanks her 'for returning the plays, and thte nice things you say about them'. Mitchison's entry in the Oxford DNB has no reference to her working for the BBC, but from the context of the letter it is clear that she wrote scripts for radio broadcasts for children. Regarding the BBC she suggests that Magraw writes to 'Miss Edith MacQueen, and if I were you I think I should write out one or two synopses of broadcasts which you propose to do'.

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. He has learnt with 'the deepest regret' of his 'old friend's passing'., and sends his condolences. He will be unable to attend the funeral service, as he had 'a bad fall & fractured two ribs'. He concludes: 'Herman was a great fellow, & nobody will ever replace him -'. Finck's 'In the Shadows' was one of the last songs played as RMS Titanic went down.

1p., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Although '[w]ords at these times seem rather empty things', he feels he must write to express his sympathy on her loss: 'To know dear Herman as I knew him, was to love him - & I am ,mindful of many happy times we had together & many kindnesses he has shown me'. He asks her to be consoled by the fact that Finck 'leaves behind him a fine reputation & a grand record of service'. According to a contemporary account: 'Joseph Lewis, senior conductor of the BBC, was born in Brierly Hill Staffs, in 1878.

'Plato and his Dialogues' was Lowes Dickinson's last book. It was warmly received on its posthumous publication, with its contemporary relevance recognised. In a review of May 1932, the Classical Association's journal 'Greece and Rome' declared: 'Here is material for the most exciting and stimulating discussions'. The same review said of the BBC series on which the book was based: 'if all such talks could have so happy an issue, wireless might be said to have justified itself'. And in October 1932, in another BBC radio talk, Lowes Dickinson's literary executor E. M.

'Plato and his Dialogues' was Lowes Dickinson's last book. It was warmly received on its posthumous publication, with its contemporary relevance recognised. In a review of May 1932, the Classical Association's journal 'Greece and Rome' declared: 'Here is material for the most exciting and stimulating discussions'. The same review said of the BBC series on which the book was based: 'if all such talks could have so happy an issue, wireless might be said to have justified itself'. And in October 1932, in another BBC radio talk, Lowes Dickinson's literary executor E. M.

ONE: TLS. 1p., 4to. In fair condition, on aged paper. The letter begins: 'Dear Mary, | I am writing a musical play called "Hearts Beloved". The central character is MARIA FITZHERBERT and it is the story of her love affair with GEORGE IV, (Prinny). I am very anxious for you to consider playing MARIA FITZHERBERT. The part would suit you very well and I think the present time is just the moment to produce a historical play on an English stage.' He has seen 'Tom Arnold's representative', who would be interested if she agreed. TWO: Typescript. 49pp., folio. No title page.

149pp., 4to. Carbon copy. On rectos of leaves only, and bound in a buff card folder with metal clasps. Internally in good condition, on lightly-aged paper, in worn binding. The play centres around 'the "Hibiscus" night-club, one of those London resorts which are alike the despair of Social Reformers and the delight of the Forces when on Leave. It is situated somewhere between Berkeley Square and Dover Street.' The typescript is clearly an actual play and not a radio play, but there is no record of it having been performed on stage.

The duplicated typescript of the play is 79pp., folio, on 79 leaves attached with a stud. Aged and worn, with slight staining to early leaves. Accompanied by a BBC compliments slip, with the typed name of the play's producer Shaun MacLoughlin. Also present is a BBC postcard, with short typed message dated 26 July 1979: 'We are sorry but there is nothing in print for the play "Shadowfall".' A carbon copy of the typed letter from Mrs. D. G.

[2] + 170pp., 8vo. On 172 leaves, held together by a steel stud. In good condition, lightly aged, with discoloring to first leaf and the last seven leaves dogeared. The names of the crew are given on the first covering page, and the cast of characters (but not the names of the actors playing them) on the second. An interesting artefact, indicative of the continuing reassessment and reinterpretation of the works of one of Britain's great writers.

ONE: Typescripts of 13 radio talks. 65pp., 4to. On loose leaves. Titles: 1, 'Our Earth in Space'; 2, 'Dreams of other Worlds'; 3, 'Rockets into Space'; 4, 'Man-made Moons'; 5, 'Man in Space'; 6, 'Space Research and Ourselves'; 7, 'Contact with the Moon'; 8, '"One small Step . . . ."'; 9, 'Space Stations and Lunar Bases'; 10, 'Mariners to Mars'; 11, 'Into the Hot Regions'; 12, 'The Grand Tour'; 13, 'Flight to the Stars'. TWO: Typed Note, signed on behalf of T. Van Heerden, Head of External Services, SABC. 16 March 1972.