ENGLISH

[Keith Falkner, English bass-baritone, Director of the Royal College of Music, London.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to ‘Miss Scott’ [the musicologist Marion Scott], the first agreeing to sing at an 'At Home', the second while at work for the RAF.

Author: 
Keith Falkner [Sir Donald Keith Falkner] (1900-1994), distinguished English bass-baritone, Director of the Royal College of Music, London [Marion Margaret Scott (1877-1953), musicologist]
Publication details: 
ONE: 10 June 1928, from 60 Mayfield Road, Sanderstead, Surrey. TWO: 18 August 1941, ‘as from R.A.F. Middle Wallop. / Nr. Stockbridge. Hants.’, on cancelled letterhead of the Officers Mess, RAF ‘Woodlands’, Clamp Hill, Stanmore, Middlesex.
£120.00

See his entry and hers in the Oxford DNB. The two items are in good condition, lightly aged, and each folded once for postage. Neatly and firmly written. Both addressed to ‘Dear Miss Scott’ and signed ‘Keith Falkner’. ONE: 2pp, 12mo. Eleven lines. He will be ‘pleased to sing in the “Peasant Cantata” at the Union “At Home” on June 28th’ and asks to know ‘which version you will be doing as soon as you decide?’ He ends with thanks for her ‘kind sympathy - I do appreciate it very much’. TWO: 2pp, 8vo. Twenty-three lines of text.

[Lord Curzon [George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquis Curzon of Kedleston], Conservative statesman and Viceroy of India.] Autograph Letter Signed [to Mr Campbell], declining an invitation as he will not be taking 'any part in public affairs' that summer

Author: 
Lord Curzon [George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquis Curzon of Kedleston] (1859-1925), Conservative statesman, Viceroy of India
Publication details: 
Undated, but after 1895, and probably written early in 1922. On letterhead of The Priory, Reigate.
£65.00

See his long and sympathetic entry by David Gilmour in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Curzon acquired the Priory at Reigate after his marriage in 1895, and the letter probably dates from around March to July 1922, when, according to the Oxford DNB, ‘he was laid low by a combination of phlebitis, thrombosis, and lymphangitis which kept him out of action for five months’. 4pp, 12mo. On bifolium. Written in pencil. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight spotting at foot of first page. One central fold for postage.

[Dame Judi Dench, star of stage and screen.] Typed Letter Signed to Neil Hurst, responding to his expression of appreciation for her work.

Author: 
Dame Judi Dench [Judith Olivia Dench] (b.1934), star of stage and screen, widely regarded as one of Britain’s greatest actresses
Publication details: 
11 January 2000. No address, on paper headed ‘JUDI DENCH’.
£56.00

See her entry in Encyclopedia Britannica. 1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with some grubbiness around the top-left corner. The text of the letter and the stylish and assured signature are unaffected. Reads: ‘Dear Neil Hurst, / Thank you very much for your letter. I’m delighted to know that you have enjoyed my work, and it was kind of you to write. / I have pleasure in sending you a signed photograph, with my best wishes. / Yours sincerely, / Judi Dench’. Dench terminates the signature with a diagonal dash through a widely-spaced colon.

[Christopher Hampton, English playwright and two-time Oscar-winning Hollywood screenwriter.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mr. Whitworth’, announcing his ‘new translation of “Uncle Vanya”’ and discussing a forthcoming interview.

Author: 
Christopher Hampton [Sir Christopher James Hampton] (b.1946), English playwright and two-time Oscar-winning Hollywood screenwriter
Publication details: 
28 October 1969; on letterhead of the Royal Court Theatre (The English Stage Company), Sloane Square, London.
£90.00

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and creased. Ten lines in a close, controlled hand. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Whitworth’ and signed ‘Christopher Hampton’. He writes to confirm that he will be free on the date he suggested he ‘might be able to come down to meet you’. He also gives an alternative date. ‘At the moment I’m working on a new translation of “Uncle Vanya”, which was to be finished by the end of November.

[R. J. Burn [Rodney Joseph Burn], English painter.] Three Autograph Letters Signed and one unsigned, to ‘Mr Lawrence’, regarding his work, his studio and ‘Mr Daniel’ [Sir Augustus Moore Daniel], the new Director of the National Gallery.

Author: 
R. J. Burn [Rodney Joseph Burn] (1899-1984), English painter, Member of the Royal Academy, senior tutor at the Royal College of Art [Sir Augustus Moore Daniel (1866-1950)]
Publication details: 
One dated 10 September 1928, the others without year, but around the same time. All from 2 Hill Way, Highgate N.6. [London]. One also with ‘Studio address / 7 Park Hill studios / Park Hill road / Hampstead’.
£150.00

After serving in the Great War, Burn (son of Sir Joseph Burn) studied at the Slade between 1918 and 1922, winning six prizes. After teaching in London at the Royal College, and in Boston, he offered his services to the war effort. After the war he went back to the Royal College, as a senior tutor. The four ot the items here are in fair condition, lightly worn and discoloured. Each is folded once for postage. Although only one is dated, the others appear to date from around the same time. ONE (‘Monday’): 1p, 4to. Unsigned.

[Samantha Eggar, Hollywood actress.] Autograph Letter Signed to Kenneth Sephton, arranging a meeting to discuss ‘Whos Who of Hollywood Britons’.

Author: 
Samantha Eggar [Victoria Louise Samantha Marie Elizabeth Therese Eggar] (b. 1939), British stage and screen actress, active in Hollywood
Publication details: 
22 February [1985]. On letterhead of the Old Vic, London.
£80.00

Written during the 1984-5 Old Vic production of Arthur Schnitzler’s ‘The Lonely Road’, in which Eggar starred opposite Anthony Hopkin, with a young Colin Firth. 2pp, 12mo. Good bold signature: ‘Sincerely / Samantha Eggar’. Addressed to 'Mr Sephton'. In good condition, lightly aged, folded for postage. She thanks him for his ‘inquiry as to whether I would be able to talk to you about “Whos Who of Hollywood Britons’, and gives the only date that is convenient. ‘The show comes down at 5.15 approx, maybe a call to the theatre to check would be wise’. From the papers of Kenneth Sephton.

[Margaret Leighton, English actress.] Autograph Letter Signed, thanking Kenneth Sephton for his letter concerning ‘Separate Tables’ and other work.

Author: 
Margaret Leighton (1922-1976), English actress
Publication details: 
29 March [1956]. St James’s Theatre [London].
£50.00

Leighton’s entry in the Oxford DNB explains that ‘In 1954 she began a long run (nearly four years in London and New York) as Anne Shankland and Sybil Railton-Bell in the double bill of Terence Rattigan's Separate Tables, co-starring with Eric Portman and winning a Tony award as best actress.’ 2pp, 4to. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr Sephton’, with good bold signature, ‘Margaret Leighton.’ In good condition, lightly aged, folded for postage.

[J. T. Delane [John Thadeus Delane, distinguished editor of The Times.] Autograph Letter Signed, to a brother of the Conservative politician William Forsyth, concerning a meeting proposed by Lord Clarendon.

Author: 
J. T. Delane [John Thadeus Delane (1817-1879)], editor of The Times, 1841-1877 [William Forsyth, Conservative politician; Lord Clarendon, Liberal Foreign Secretary]
Publication details: 
November 29 [no year, but between 1857 and 1870]. 16 Serjeants Inn [Temple, London].
£56.00

According to Delane’s entry in the Oxford DNB, he settled ‘from about 1847 at 16 Serjeants' Inn, Temple’. The addressee appears to be ‘W. Forsyth Esq’, and is named in the letter as a brother of the Conservative politician William Forsyth (1812-1899), who took silk in 1857, and hence also of the diplomat Sir Thomas Douglas Forsyth (1827-1886), both of whom have ODNB entries. 2pp, 12mo, with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged, and folded twice for postage, in the neat remains of a windowpane mount.

[Gwen Watford, English actress.] Autograph Card Signed to [Kenneth] Sephton, standing up for Jeffrey Archer (in a London production of whose ?Beyond Reason Doubt? she is acting).

Author: 
Gwen Watford (Gwendoline Watford) (1927-1994), English actress on stage, screen and television [Jeffrey Archer]
Publication details: 
8 December 1988. No place.
£56.00

Watford?s obituaries noted her sensitive acting style, and ranked alongside Peggy Ashcroft. On both sides of a 14.5 x 10 cm card, with no printing but for the name ?GWEN WATFORD? in red at the head of recto. Addressed to ?Dear Mr Sephton? and with good firm signature ?Gwen Watford?. In good condition lightly aged. Twelves lines of neatly written text. She has ?just finished another mid-week matinee?, and is writing thank him for his ?most encouraging letter?, which she will ?treasure?.

[H. Brereton Baker, distinguished English chemist.] Autograph Letter Signed [to Sir Henry Trueman Wood, Secretary of the Royal Society of Arts, London], agreeing to give three Cantor lectures.

Author: 
H. Brereton Baker [Herbert Brereton Baker] (1862-1935), distinguished English inorganic chemist [Sir Henry Trueman Wood (1845-1929), Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, London]
Publication details: 
30 July 1913; on letterhead of Latchmoor House, Gerrard?s Cross, Bucks.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightl aged. Folded once for postage. The recipient is not named, but the letter has at its head the date stamp of the Royal Society of Arts, London, and is docketed by Wood. Signed ?H. Brereton Baker?. He agrees to give ?the three Cantor lectures as you suggest, provided they can begin after the 3rd. week in February?. He gives the subject as ?Catalysis in its scientific and industrial aspects?. A pencil note at the foot gives dates for the lectures as ?Mch 16, 23, 30?.

[?A bright, particular star?: Evelyn Laye, English actress and singer.] Typed Letter Signed, with some manuscript text, informing Kenneth [Sephton] that she has planted the lucky shamrock he sent her.

Author: 
Evelyn Laye (1900-1996), English actress and singer, who began her career as one of George Edwardes' 'Gaiety Girls'
Publication details: 
25 November [1969]. From the Palace Theatre, London.
£45.00

In his entry on Laye in the Oxford DNB, Sheridan Morley describes her as a ?bright, particular star?. 1p, 12mo, on grey-blue paper with monogram of her initials printed at top left. The letter concerns the 1969-70 Palace Theatre production of ?Phil the Fluter?, in which she played Mrs Fitzmaurice. Addressed to ?Dear Kenneth? and with good firm signature ?Evelyn Laye?. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. She thanks him for the letter and ?the lovely Shamrock?, which she has planted ?in a little pot, as it was so very thoughtful of you to sentd it to me for Good Luck?.

[Frank Holl, RA, painter and illustrator.] Autograph Letter Signed, to ?Mrs. Calkin?, regarding the borrowing of her son George's rifle, bayonet and sheath for a painting, and the health of his father the engraver Francis Holl.

Author: 
Frank Holl [Francis Montague Holl], (1845-1888), RA, painter and illustrator [his father Francis Holl, engraver]
Publication details: 
17 November 1879. 4 Camden Square, N.W. [London]
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The letter is addressed from the house of Frederick Goodall (also see ODNB), which at other times was occupied by Laurence Alma Tadema and James Murray. 2pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ?My dear Mrs. Calkin? and signed ?Frank Holl?. Twenty-six lines of text in a hurried hand. He thanks her for her ?kind trouble - & for the rifle which my model called for and brought with him this morning?. He is sorry that her son George has been injured.

[Geraldine McEwan, distinguished English actress on stage, screen and television.] Autograph Inscription Signed to menu for Gallery First Nighters? Club luncheon in honour of Prunella Scales and Timothy West.

Author: 
Geraldine McEwan [born Geraldine McKeown] (1932-2015), distinguished English actress on stage screen and television [Timothy West and Prunella Scales; The Gallery First Nighters? Club]
McEwan
Publication details: 
Luncheon by the Gallery First Nighters? Club on 24 April 1994, at the London Marriott Hotel.
£120.00
McEwan

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. A nice item, printed on shiny card. Bifolium folding to 21 x 14.5 cm. In good condition, lightly aged. On the front is a photograph of Scales and West by Jane Bohn. On reverse of first leaf is the menu, on recto of second the ?Toast List?, and the verso of the second a list of officers. McEwan?s inscription, in a good firm hand is at top left of the menu. It reads: ?With Best Wishes / Geraldine / McEwan?. From the papers of Kenneth Sephton. See Image.

[?A bright, particular star?: Evelyn Laye, English actress and singer.] Autograph Letter Signed to Kenneth [Sephton], regarding a broadcast she has given.

Author: 
Evelyn Laye (1900-1996), English actress and singer, who began her career as one of George Edwardes' 'Gaiety Girls'
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£45.00

In his entry on Laye in the Oxford DNB, Sheridan Morley describes her as a ?bright, particular star?. 1p, 16mo.Good firm signature. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. On the otherwise-blank reverse is Laye's monogram, with her initials. Reads: 'My dear Kenneth. / Thank you for your very sweet letter[.] I am so delighted you liked the broadcast[.] It brought back many happy memories to me & when I sat & listened to it all alone I must say I longed for the past. / Bless you. / Evelyn Laye.' From the papers of Kenneth Sephton.

[Lord Balogh, Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson’s economic advisor.] 36 items of correspondence to Philip Dosse of Hanson Books, in connection with reviews by him for ‘Books and Bookmen’.

Author: 
Lord Balogh [Thomas Balogh, Baron Balogh, born Balog Tamás] (1905-1985), British economist of Hungarian Jewish descent, advisor of Labour prime minister Harold Wilson [Philip Dosse (1925-1980)]
Publication details: 
Between 1973 and 1978. Letterheads: 10 of the letters from the House of Lords; 15 from the British National Oil Corporation, London; 5 from Queen Elizabeth House, 21 St Giles, Oxford.
£1,200.00

Balogh’s entry in the Oxford DNB notes his ‘flamboyant mind and considerable moral courage’. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Films and Filming. 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 collection is in good condition, lightly aged and worn.

Mrs. Henry Wood [Ellen Wood, née Price], English author whose best-known work is ‘East Lynne’ (1861).

Author: 
Mrs. Henry Wood [Ellen Wood, née Price] (1814-1887), English author whose best-known work is ‘East Lynne’ (1861)
Wood
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£25.00
Wood

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. The valediction of a letter, cut away for an autograph collector. On a slip of paper, around 7.5 x 1.5 cm. On lightly discoloured paper, with tear through signature, attached to piece of card with archival tape. Reads: ‘Very sincerely yours / Ellen Wood’.

[Alfred Edward Chalon, Portrait Painter in Water Colour to Queen Victoria, and John James Chalon, Swiss-born British artists, both Royal Academicians.] Autograph Signatures to part of an application for assistance from the daughter of Henry Bone, RA.

Author: 
Alfred Edward Chalon (1780-1860), Portrait Painter in Water Colour to Queen Victoria, and John James Chalon (1778-1854), Swiss-born British artists, both Royal Academicians [Henry Bone (1755-1834)]
Chalon
Publication details: 
8 November 1849.
£75.00
Chalon

See their separate entries in the Oxford DNB. On 12.5 x 9.5 cm piece of light-grey paper, cut from. The large signatures are written one on top of the other on one side of the paper, with the only other writing the date at the head: ‘Alfd. Edwd. Chalon / Jno. Jas Chalon’. On the reverse is the beginning of an application to the Artists’ General Benevolent Institution: ‘Gentlemen, Your Petitioner Elizth. Debh. Bone, only Daughter of the late Mr Bone R.A.

[‘He walked across Africa’: Verney Lovett Cameron, the first European to cross equatorial Africa from coast to coast.] Autograph Signature to conclusion of a letter: ‘V. Lovett Cameron / Commander R. N.’

Author: 
Verney Lovett Cameron (1844-1894), explorer who ‘walked across Africa’, the first European to cross equatorial Africa from Indian Ocean to Atlantic
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£76.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. A good large bold signature, with the autograph valediction of a letter. On one side of a 20 x 9 cm piece of wove paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: ‘Your’s [sic] very truly / V. Lovett Cameron / Commander R. N.’ See Image.

[Sir Malcolm Sargent, composer and conductor.] Large sprawling stylized Autograph Signature in blue pencil on front of printed programme for a Royal Albert Hall performance of Berlioz’s ‘Grande Messe des Morts’.

Author: 
Sir Malcolm Sargent [Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent] (1895-1967), composer, organist and conductor of choral works, especially at the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts (‘The Proms’)
Sargent
Publication details: 
Programme for performance at the Royal Albert Hall, London, 8 April 1954. ‘Published by The British Broadcasting Corporation, 35 Marylebone High Street, London, W.1.’
£56.00
Sargent

Stapled pamphlet. 20pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Sargent’s unusual bold stylized signature, in blue pencil, almost occupies a 5 cm square. All but the top centimeter which touches the printed date at points, is written on blank space on the cover. See image.

[Walter Sichel, journalist and biographer.] Autograph Letter Signed, discussing ?information? (regarding his biography of Emma, Lady Hamilton.

Author: 
Walter Sichel [Walter Sydney Sichel] (1855-1933), English journalist and biographer of German-Jewish descent
Publication details: 
14 December 1905. On letterhead of 50 Egerton Gardens, S.W. [London]
£56.00

3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded once for postage. He thanks him ?for kind lines with the information? (regarding his biography of Emma, Lady Hamilton). The mistake his recipient points out, regarding ?the Douglas case?, will be ?put right in any subsequent edn.? Regarding ?the Duchess & Lady H?s marriage?, he has ?now put it more hypothetically?, but he considers ?the inference justified by Lady H?s letter (Morison M.S.

[G. C. Williamson [George Charles Williamson] (1858-1942), art historian ‘Rowley Cleeve’, who advised J. Pierpont Morgan on purchases.] Two Typed Letters Signed to social historian Amy Cruse, praising her books and discussing a Milton portraits.

Author: 
G. C. Williamson [George Charles Williamson] (1858-1942), art historian and ‘Rowley Cleeve’, who advised J. Pierpont Morgan on purchases [Amy Cruse (1870-1951; née Barter), social historian]
Publication details: 
16 October and 5 December 1941; each on letterhead ‘From Doctor Williamson / Mount Manor House, / The Mount, / Guildford, Surrey.’
£120.00

Some of Williamson’s papers are held by Boston College. These two items are each 1p, 4to, on aged and worn paper, the first letter with blotting to signature. The two are held together by strip of paper mount. Written little more than a year before Williamson’s death. ONE: 16 October 1941. Begins: ‘Dear Miss Cruse, / I am delighted to have your letter of October 9th, and so glad that my epistle to you gave you any pleasure.’ He finds her books ‘very delightful’, and names ‘the other two’, of whose existence he was ignorant.

[‘No-one under 80 probably likes my books & they will all die out’.] Autograph Letter Signed by novelist Winifred Peck, sister of E. V. Knox and Ronald Knox, sending Adam Dickson an autograph.

Author: 
Winifred Peck [née Knox] (1882-1962), prolific novelist and biographer, sister of E. V. Knox and Ronald Knox
Publication details: 
8 March [1950]; on embossed letterhead of 19 George Square, Edinburgh 8.
£56.00

See the entries of members of her extraordinary family in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage, and accompanied by envelope with stamps and 1950 Edinburgh postmark, addressed by her to ‘Adam Dickson Esq. Junior / 28 Comely Bank Grove | Edinburgh’. Signed ‘Winifred Peck’. Responding to an autograph hunter, she writes: ‘Dear Sir, / How kind of you to like to [sic] my books & to say so.

[Sir Charles Wheeler [Sir Charles Thomas Wheeler], the first sculptor to be President of the Royal Academy.] Autograph Letter Signed declining an invitation ‘to lecture on some Aspect of Renaissance Sculpture’.

Author: 
Sir Charles Wheeler [Sir Charles Thomas Wheeler] (1892-1974), the first sculptor to be President of the Royal Academy, 1956 to1966
Publication details: 
10 January [1961?]; on his letterhead, 2A Cathcard Road, South Kensington, SW10 [London].
£60.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. The year of the letter looks more like ‘1901’ than ‘1961’, but the letterhead names the writer as ‘Charles Wheeler, C.B.E., R.A.’ Addressed to ‘Dear Sir’ and signed ‘Charles Wheeler’. Having received two letters from the unnamed recipient, he explains that the first ‘got mixed with some papers sent to my Accountant and therefore was not answered’. He apologises for ‘the consequent neglect’.

[Samuel Rogers ('The Banker Poet')] Autograph Note Signed to Lady Burdett, declining with regret an invitation that would have given him pleasure.

Author: 
Samuel Rogers, 'The Banker Poet', art connoisseur, member of the Holland House circle, and acquaintance of Wordsworth, Byron, Sir Walter Scott [Lady Burdett]
Rogers
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£56.00
Rogers

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Removed from album, and closely trimmed, having been cut down to 9 x 7 cm, with corners cropped. Lightly aged, with one fold for postage. In neat close hand, reads: ‘My dear Lady Burdett / I am very sorry indeed that an Engagement from which I cannot release myself will deprive me of so great a pleasure. Yours ever / S Rogers.’ See image

[Francis Gerard, thriller and science fiction writer.] Two Typed Letters Signed to Eileen Cond, discussing his plans for writing, and work for the ‘delightful old boy’ Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, and his Anglo American Corporation of South Africa.

Author: 
Francis Gerard [Francis Edward Marie Gérard] (1906-1966), English thriller and science fiction writer who settled in South Africa, creator of ‘Occult Detective’ Sir John Meredith [ [Eileen Cond]
Publication details: 
12 March 1950; ‘P.O. Box 143, Westville, Natal [South Africa].’ 19 August 1955; Caroline Cottage, 1st Avenue, Inanda, Johannesburg.
£250.00

Good letters, the second with biographical content about a prolific yet elusive author. The recipient Eileen Margaret Cond (1911-1984) was an enthusiastic collector of autographs, with the ability to draw a more than perfunctory response from her targets. Both letters in good condition, on lightly aged paper folded for postage. Each bearing large stylized signature ‘Francis Gerard’ and addressed to ‘Dear Miss Cond’. ONE (12 March 1950). 1p, 4to.

[Edmund Blunden, English poet and critic, Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford, nominated six times for the Nobel Prize in Literature.] Autograph Note Signed [to Eileen Cond], appending ‘the autograph which you requested’.

Author: 
Edmund Blunden (1896-1974), poet and critic, Professor of Poetry at the University of Oxford, nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature six times [Eileen Cond (1911-1984), autograph collector]
Blunden
Publication details: 
1 April 1936; 9 Woodstock Close, Oxford.
£45.00
Blunden

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is not named, but the item is from the papers of Eileen Cond, an enthusiastic collector of autographs. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. In Blunden’s stylish hand the note simply reads: ‘[9 Woodstock Close / Oxford] / 1 April 1936 / Dear Madam / I append the autograph which you requested. / yours faithfully / Edmund Blunden.’

[Dorothy Jarman (pseudonyms ‘Ann Trent’, ‘Dorothy Desana’, ‘Davide Sernicoli’, ‘Ann Carlton’, ‘Elaine Crosse’), prolific English romantic novelist.] Typed Letter Signed, as ‘Dorothy Desana’, to autograph collector Eileen Cond, describing her novels.

Author: 
Dorothy Jarman (1902-1978; pseudonyms ‘Ann Trent’, ‘Dorothy Desana’, ‘Davide Sernicoli’, ‘Ann Carlton’, ‘Elaine Crosse’), romantic novelist [Eileen Margaret Cond (1911-1984), autograph collector]
Publication details: 
17 July 1961; Crosselands, Salisbury Road, Carshalton, Surrey.
£50.00

For such a prolific author, it is odd that so little is to be gleaned about Dorothy Jarman (1902-1978; Fellow of the Institute of Arts and Letters, widow of Roy H. Jarman), who claims in this letter, written as ‘Dorothy Desana’, that ‘Ann Trent’ is her pseudonym, while in the 1971 edition of ‘The Author’s and Writer’s Who’s Who’, ‘Ann Trent’ is given as her real name, while ‘Dorothy Desana’ is one of four pseudonyms. Whatever the case, twenty-six books were published under the name ‘Davide Sernicoli’ between 1936 and 1953, with twenty more books published by her under other names.

[David Low, English cartoonist, born in New Zealand.] Printed christmas card ‘from Mr. and Mrs. David Low’, illustrated with a cartoon by him of a dog caught ripping up a christmas card.

Author: 
David Low [Sir David Alexander Cecil Low] (1891-1963), English political cartoonist, born in New Zealand
Low
Publication details: 
No date. ‘25, Helenslea Avenue, / N. W. 11. [London]’
£80.00
Low

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is a nice piece of printed ephemera relating to the man described in his Guardian obituary as ‘the dominant cartoonist of the western world’. In 1937 Goebbels had told Lord Halifax that Low’s cartoons were harming Anglo-German relations, and after the war it was revealed that his name was in the ‘black book’ of individuals to be ‘liquidated’ on German conquest of Britain. In good condition, lightly aged.Small 4to bifolium printed in brown ink on thick wove paper.

[Blanchard Jerrold, journalist and author.] Signature and autograph paraphrase of passage from his ‘Life of Napoleon III - Vol 2.’, written out for an album.

Author: 
Blanchard Jerrold [William Blanchard Jerrold] (1826-1884), journalist and author
Publication details: 
No place or date, but after the book’s publication in 1874.
£56.00

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.

[John Pyke Hullah, English composer and Professor of Vocal Music at King’s College, London.] Autograph Note Signed (‘John Hullah’), forwarding to ‘Mrs. Tail’ a note from ‘Mr. Otto Goldschmidt, about the Bach Choir’.

Author: 
John Hullah [John Pyke Hullah] (1812-1884), English composer and teacher of music, Professor of Vocal Music at King's College, London, and also at Queen's College and Bedford College
Publication details: 
18 May 1878; on letterhead of Grosvenor Mansions, Victoria Street, S.W. [London]
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which quotes Gordon Cox as stating that Hullah was ‘the fountain head of music education in the nineteenth century’. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Handwriting and signature in a bold attractive hand. Reads: ‘Dear Mrs. Tail / I have the pleasure to send you a few lines fm Mr. Otto Goldschmidt, about the Bach Choir. / I am, dear Madam / Always Your’s [sic] Truly / John Hullah’.

Syndicate content