DRAMATIST

See his entry, and Manby?s, in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, on first leaf of bifolium, with the blank second leaf carrying traces of tape from the mount. Neatly folded for postage. Addressed to ?My dear Manby? and signed ?Jno. B Buckstone?. In addition to his work as an engineer Manby was for many years involved in the management of the Adelphi and Haymarket theatres.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with strip of tape from mount adhering to the blank second leaf. Folded for postage. Undated, but docketted ?18 April / 1857 / About ?Cologne Singers.?? Reads: ?Dear William. - All the songs are clear, and if you send they will be given to the musicians. If it is not convenient to send, drop me a line, and I will send to you. / Very tly yrs / J. Oxenford?. Oxenford provided a number of translations of German works for musical accompaniment.

Eleven lines of closely-written text. 1p, 16mo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, the verso of the second addressed in another hand to ‘F Chapuy / 6 Bis. Rue Rodier’. In good condition, lightly aged, with strip of tape from mount adhering to the second leaf. Folded once. Attractive vignette letterhead of illustration based around the letter W. Signed ‘Albert Wolff’. It will render him ‘un bien grand service’ if the recipient will act on his promise made when they dined together to place ‘un très brave et très digne garçon de mes amis’, as ‘il a besoin pour vivre’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, in trimmed windowpane mount, with glue marking on blank reverse. He thanks her for her letter, adding ‘I am completely floored with an attack of influenza and can only just manage to scribble this and assure you that I am / Very sincerely yours / J. R. Planché’.

Eleven lines of closely-written text. 1p, 16mo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, the verso of the second addressed in another hand to ‘F Chapuy / 6 Bis. Rue Rodier’. In good condition, lightly aged, with strip of tape from mount adhering to the second leaf. Folded once. Attractive vignette letterhead of illustration based around the letter W. Signed ‘Albert Wolff’. It will render him ‘un bien grand service’ if the recipient will act on his promise made when they dined together to place ‘un très brave et très digne garçon de mes amis’, as ‘il a besoin pour vivre’.

Novello’s three decades of unprecedented success began with the First World War song ‘Keep the home fires burning’. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 8.5 x 13.5 cm publicity photograph on postcard, printed in sepia. In good condition, with tiny dink at top left. Captioned at foot ‘MR. IVOR NOVELLO’. Prim-looking with side-parting in white shirt, tie, and dark double breasted suit, the darkness of which makes the signature ‘Ivor Novello’ rather difficult to make out. Scan on application

See his entry, and hers, in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of her relation Lady Theresa Lewis. 2pp, 8vo. On the first leaf of a bifolium, the recto of the second leaf being addressed by him to ‘Countess of Jersey / &c &c &c’. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded for postage. Written in high eighteenth-century style.

The material is in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Items Two and Three are addressed to ‘Cher ami’. De Cottens’ handwriting is somewhat opaque. ONE: ANS, 14 May [no year]. The letterhead includes an engraved illustration of the Queen’s Hotel in Leicester Square. 1p, 12mo. ‘Cher Monsieur Clarkson / tous mes bien vifs remerciements pour votre aimable envoi de tickets. / Bien votre / Victor de Cottens.’ TWO: ALS, 26 [March? 1910?]. 1p, 12mo. He wonders whether the recipient might put his ‘experience à la disposition’ of a named colleague from Brussels. THREE: ALS, 1p, 16mo.

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’.

Part of leaf from autograph album, cut into an irregular shape. In fair condition, on lightly aged and discoloured paper, with film of dried glue from mount on blank reverse. The passage, which curiously enough does not correspondend with the printed text, reads (with three mistakes scored through): ‘Life of Napoleon III - Vol 2. / The Government, it is true, endeavoured to prevail upon Queen Hortense to request him to give his word that he would remain in America for ten years; but she replied that Prince Louis was master of his own actions & she would not endeavour to influence them.

Interesting content. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. See ‘Death of a Bookman’ by the novelist Sally Emerson (editor of ‘Books and Bookmen’ at the time of Dosse’s suicide), in Standpoint magazine, October 2018. The six items are in good condition, lightly aged, and one lightly creased with wear to one edge. The four letters are each 1p, 4to, and folded for postage. One of the letters is signed ‘A. Wesker’, the others ‘Arnold Wesker’. ONE: Wesker TLS, 10 September 1972.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. LETTER: 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, in remains of windowpane mount. Folded twice. Addressed to ‘Dear [Derrick?]’ and signed ‘J: R: Planché’. The year has been supplied in another hand in pencil. He informs him that ‘Charles Dance is out of town’, and that ‘the price would be one guinea - but I am sure that being for a benefit he will make no charges’. Planché is ‘of course not authorized to say so’, but he has ‘no doubt upon the subject’ and will tell Dormer so on his return.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium, and addressed in autograph on the reverse of the second to ‘Mr. Raymond / Chester Street / Grosvenor Place / No. 3. / Hyde Park Corner’, with three postmarks and broken wafer. In fair condition, lightly aged, with spike hole through both leaves. Folded twice for postage. He is sorry Raymond had ‘so much trouble’ looking for him: ‘but the truth is I waited at home for you this morning till 12 -’. He explains that ‘the Copy Right of the Comedy’ is ‘purchas’d by Mr.

See his appreciative entry in the Oxford DNB, concluding with praise of his ‘undeniable’ achievements. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with the blank reverse carrying very slight staining to one edge from glue from mount. Folded once. Neatly and firmly written, with the underlined signature with a deliberate upwards slope. Clearly sent in response to a request for an autograph. Reads: ‘ “A man dies but once, a woman twice - the first time when she marries, and then, as at the last, wondering at the thereafter.” / Lady Bountiful. / Act IV. / Arthur W. Pinero. / 23rd. February 1897.’

See his entry, and that of his brother, in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Clifford Musgrave (d.1993), Borough Librarian, was instrumental in the saving and renovation of the Brighton Pavilion. Both items in good condition, lightly aged. Both written in an elegant close calligraphic hand. The first is misaddressed to ‘Mr Muspratt’, and the second to ‘Mr. Musgrave’. Both signed ‘Clifford Bax’. ONE (14 February 1945): 2pp, 16mo. Nineteen lines. Regarding the arrangements for a lecture he is going to give, he has been asked by ‘Eric’ to communicate with him about his ‘Brighton visit’.

See the recipient’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. Signed ‘Evelyn Lake’. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of paperclip. Folded once. She enjoyed his ‘article in yesterday’s Reynolds News’, and thinks it is ‘Lovely to be able to make people laugh spontaneously.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The valediction reads ‘Yours alway faithfully / Arthur W. Pinero’, and it is written with quite a flourish: the ‘y’ of ‘faithfully’ hooks downwards in a long squiggle, exrending downwards past the right of the termination of Pinero’s signature, which rises upwards, being dotted above and below the signature’s underlining. He feels that her ‘kind letter is all the more welcome inasmuch as it gives signs’ that she is recovering from her recent illness.

See the account of his life in the entry for his father the serjeant-at-law John Humffreys Parry (1816-1880) in the Oxford DNB. Signed ‘faithfully yours / Edward Parry / April . 1930’, across the headline of a 22 x 21 cm. cutting of a newspaper article, with text in three columns, the headline reading: ‘BREACH OF PROMISE / THE LAW, THE LADY, AND SEX EQUALITY/ By His Honour SIR EDWARD PARRY’. In good condition, on browning high-acidity paper. Folded once and with one crease. Begins: ‘Marriage is not the gilt-edged security that it was. Its stock is not rising.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On brittle, discoloured paper, cropped at foot. Signed (‘J. Oxenford’). The recipient is not named, but is clearly the editor of the Athenaeum. Reads: ‘Sir/- / In the name of Mr. C. A. Feiling and myself, I beg leave to thank you for the very handsome and prominent notice of our “German Tales” which appeared in the Athenaeum of the 30th. ult. - You will confer a further obligation by letting the gentleman who wrote the article [know] how much we feel indebted to his kindness.’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The two items are from the papers of Sally Worboyes, organiser of the residential arts courses at her home, Fen Farm in Suffolk, who has provided a signed caption on the reverse of both of the prints. Both colour prints. ONE: 23 x 16 cm photograph, in Landscape. Slightly creased at corners. A relaxed Rosenthal, in plaid shirt, jeans and trainers, seated on the steps of a farm outhouse, with five students and Warboyes grouped around him. On the reverse: ‘Jack Rosenthal / with his students / Sally Worboyes’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The three items are from the papers of Sally Worboyes, organiser of the residential arts courses at her home, Fen Farm in Suffolk, who has provided a signed caption on the reverse of each of the prints. All three in good condition. ONE and TWO: Black and white photographs, both 12 x 17 cm. ONE is in portrait, and shows Plater seated at a country table, in shirtsleeves, jeans and trainers, looking over with concentration and expressively spread hands. On back: ‘Alan Plater at my home. / Sally Worboyes’. TWO is in landscape.

Chambers is not mentioned in Dame Nellie Melba’s entry in the Oxford DNB. She met him in London in 1895, and their affair ended for unknown reasons in 1904. It is clearly the ‘notorious’ affair in whose fame Chambers ‘rejoiced to the last’, according to Somerset Maugham’s devastating assessment of the man in ‘A Writer’s Notebook’ (1946). Harry de Windt gives a markedly kinder account of Chambers in his ‘My Note-Book at Home and Abroad’ (1923).

It is puzzling that Van Druten, one of the most successful British playwrights of the early 1930s, should not have an entry in the Oxford DNB. The present entertaining and informative letter is written from the A. J. C. Ranch in Coachella Valley, which Van Druten purchased with his then-lover Carter Lodge and the British actress Auriol Lee (it was named after the initals of their first names).

2pp, 18mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded once. Written in a close, elegant hand. Written on receipt of a presentation copy of MacQueen-Pope's latest book, the letter begins: 'My dear Popie, | Thank you so very much for St James's, Theatre of Distinction. I think I am enjoying it even more than I usually enjoy your individual-theatre books, because the St James's meant so much to me. It was the first London theatre I ever went to - long before I could read or went to a school.

A total of 8pp of closely-typed text. In good condition. Also present are an additional four-page copy on pink paper of the first letter and its enclosure. First letter signed 'Kevin Bailey', two others signed 'Kevin B.' aq2 One letter lacks its last page and signature.

9pp, 8vo. Complete carbon typescript. On nine leaves, stapled together. Title at head of first page: 'THE BOAT THAT MOOED.' Fry's signature in blue ink at top left of first page: 'Christopher Fry:'. Fry has cut down the story by deleting and removing a passage. The lower part of the leaf carrying the sixth page of the story has been cut away, and the original seventh page has been removed, hence the typescript pagination 1-6, 8-10 has been amended in manuscript to 1-9. A lighthearted faux-naive story, replete with symbolism. Begins: 'Tom Crunch lived on a boat. All round the boat was water.

The two items are from the playwright's own papers. FIRST EDITION: [8] + 113pp, 8vo. A good tight copy in lightly-aged brown cloth and price-clipped cream dustwrapper with attractive design by Edward Blakeney in brown and black on front cover, and slight chipping to bottom edge at back. Label with English price on back of dustwrapper. No autograph interpolations. PROOFS: 96pp, 8vo. Duplicated printed pages, each page on a separate leaf. Paginated 1-96.

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 multi-talented figure, Denis Johnston was a protégé of W. B. Yeats and Bernard Shaw, and had a stormy friendship with Seán O'Casey. Jonathan Swift was a preoccupation of Johnston's (see his 1959 book 'In Search of Swift'), and his play about him, 'The Dreaming Dust', was first produced at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin, in 1940. It was published in collections of Johnston's plays in 1954, 1960, 1977 and 1983. This 1988 version remains unpublished. Both typescript and letter in fair condition, lightly aged.

Both letters 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Cole's handwriting is difficult. The recipient is not named. The first letter, 34 lines long, concerns a bill which Cole has drawn on the recipient of the letter. It is coming due, and he is uncertain whether it is for £90 or £100. He asks him to withhold payment for a while, as 'Lent is always a dead time with me'. He is 'going to try the experiment of Mr Butter for 6 nights', and has 'good hopes of the result'. The second letter begins: 'My dear Sir | I have made most liberal offers to Farren, Mrs. Nesbitt & Mr.