CLOCK

[The horologist who designed the Big Ben clock: Sir Edmund Beckett Denison (latterly Lord Grimthorpe).] Three Autograph Letters Signed to Edward Hayes Plumptre, regarding the business of Westminster girls’ school Queen’s College.

Author: 
Sir Edmund Beckett Denison [afterwards Edmund Beckett, Lord Grimthorpe] (1816-1905), lawyer, architect and horologist who designed the Big Ben clock [Edward Hayes Plumptre (1821-91); Queen’s College]
Publication details: 
ONE: 14 January 1856; Queen’s College. TWO: ‘Valentines Day’ [14 February] 1870; 33 Queen Anne Street W. [London] THREE: 3 April 1870; Doncaster.
£220.00

The third of these letters in particular gives a good indication of his Yorkshire bluntness (his entry in the Oxford DNB describes him as ‘a man of arrogance and bile, [...] capable of generosity, strong friendships, and kindness towards people in need of help’). The three items are in good condition, lightly aged; the third with slight wear along one edge. All three are signed ‘E B Denison’ and the second and third are addressed to ‘My dear Plumptre’. ONE (14 January 1856): 3pp, 4to.

[General Edmund Boyle, 8th Earl of Cork and Orrery.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Cork') to 'Mr: Vuillamy' [i.e. Benjamin Lewis Vuillamy, Clockmaker to the Crown], regarding a broken watch. Also franked by him, as 'Boyle'.

Author: 
[General Edmund Boyle, 8th Earl of Cork and Orrery (1767-1856), Irish peer and soldier, styled Viscount Dungarvan, 1768-1798 [Benjamin Lewis Vulliamy (1780-1854), Clockmaker to the Crown]
Publication details: 
Marston. 25 November 1814.
£200.00

1p, 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Franked on reverse of second leaf, with seal in red wax broken into two pieces, and franking postmark: 'Frome – November twenty fifth 1814 | Messrs: Wulliamys | Watch Maker's | Pall Mall | London | Boyle'.

[Rafael Sabatini, Anglo-Italian popular novelist.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Miss Greenwood', regarding a 'flagrant' cause for complaint, and the removal of his name from the 'author credits' of a film with an 'unutterable scenario'..

Author: 
Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950), Anglo-Italian author of romance and adventure novels
Publication details: 
On his letterhead, Clock Mill, Clifford, Hertfordshire. 23 July 1949.
£80.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Folded once. Signed 'Rafael Sabatini'. After thanking her for her letter of sympathy, he notes: 'In the past I have had plenty of cause for complaint, but nothing quite so flagrant.' He has been 'avenged by the Press, which described the unutterable scenario from which the film was made in terms similar to those which I employed when I requested that my name be removed from the “author credits”'. He ends with good wishes to her 'laudable enterprise'.

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