ENGLISH

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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’.

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

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.

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.

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.’

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.

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.

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’.

For information about the Lady Hosie and her husband see his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage, and with a minor closed tear to edge of fold at head of leaf. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Burdett’ and signed ‘Dorothy [sic] Hosie’. Forty-one lines of closely-written text. The letter concerns a review she has written for a periodical whose title is difficult to decipher (‘The L[?]’). She was ‘going to type out a fair copy’, but thinks Burdett ‘may like it at once’. If he feels ‘portions of it unsuitable’, he ‘can then delete’. ‘Mr.

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium, the second leaf being blank, apart from the end of the signature ‘Jas Sant’, which has extended across from the bottom right corner of the reverse of the first leaf. In good condition, lightly aged, with the reverse of the second leaf laid down on a rectangle of grey paper cut from a leaf of an album. Addressed to ‘G. Lance Esqr.’ The letter begins: ‘My Dear Sir / My best thanks for your note. Depend upon it I will look to myself and in doing so look to yr.

See her entry and that of her husband Neville Braybrooke in the Oxford DNB. ‘Peggy Stanford’ is Derek Stanford’s first wife Margaret (née Holdsworth), who wrote under the pen name ‘Margaret Philips’ (see his Guardian obituary, 26 March 2009). Two long letters, written in a neat close hand. Both in good condition and folded for postage. ONE (22 September 1973): To ‘Dear Derek and Peggie’ and signed ‘June’. 4pp, 12mo. With envelope addressed to the Stanfords at Seaford in Sussex. Having enjoyed their meeting the previous week she ‘kept saying to Neville: how I wished that you lived in Cowes'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 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. This item is 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and creased and folded twice for postage. Signed ‘Stuart Hampshire’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 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 present item is 1p, 4to. Signed ‘Norman Collins’. In good condition, lightly aged. He is submitting a review of J. B. Priestley’s ‘Instead of the Trees’, in the hope that it is ‘the kind of thing that you had in mind’.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 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 present item is 1p, small 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded.. Signed ‘Marghanita Laski’. She had no fears about the cheque for £50 he has sent: ‘I knew it would turn up.’ She thanks him for offering her ‘some reviewing.

An interesting letter, containing an assessment by a leading publisher of what he sees as the unusual position he considers his profession occupies within the business world. See his entry, and that of his partner Nigel Nicolson, in the Oxford DNB. 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 present item is 2pp, 12mo.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 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 present item is 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, and folded once for postage. Thirty-one lines of text. Signed ‘H.

Anne Williamson, author of two books on Henry Williamson and of his entry in the Oxford DNB, was married to his youngest son Richard (1935-2022). The present typewritten material (88pp, 8vo) consists of several drafts and duplicates of material intended for circulation to production companies she hoped to interest in a television documentary on Williamson. It is in good condition, with each page printed on a separate leaf of A4 cartridge paper.

Fortnightly publication, founded after the closure of Punch by Sir John Sorrell and the Punch cartoon editor Steve Way. It only lasted for eight months, and this and the second number are said to be scarce. (The only copies listed on JISC are at the deposit libraries.) A 28-page broadsheet. Folded twice. In good condition, on lightly-discoloured and worn paper. Whole of the front page taken up with striking image by Chris Riddle of Boris Yeltsin holding up a piece of paper on which he orders democracy, while dwarfed by a menacing Soviet bear.

See his entry, and those of his siblings, in the Oxford DNB. A 15.5 x 20 cm black and white print, on glossy paper. Worn at edges, and with staining to blank area at top left. Stamped by the publishers on the reverse with ‘Sir Osbert Sitwell. Bt. / 25. 8. 49.’ There is a possibility that this is a signature by Sitwell, but the letter ‘O’ and other features are not quite right.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 11 x 7.5 cm piece of paper, cut from a printed document. The signature is large, bold and undamaged, on heavily-worn paper with several instances of damage, laid down on a piece of card. The printed text reads: ‘[...] / I [have] the honour to be, / Sir, / Your most obedient / and very humble Servant, / [Autograph Signature ‘Wm. Yarrell’] / Treasurer.’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. According to Anne Williamson’s 1995 biography, Williamson decided on the spot to purchase the farm at Bank House, Botesdale, Suffolk, when his car broke down across the road from it in July 1945. The purchase price was £1700. Five years later he decided that the farm ‘could be honourably sold and he could become a full-time writer again’. It was sold in September 1950 for £2,600, although, as Anne Williamson notes, and the present item makes clear, a higher price had previously been considered. The present item is a 3pp, 4to.

An uncommon signature of a neglected artist. Hawkins was a founding member of the Society of British Artists, exhibiting there prolifically from 1824 to 1881. He also showed at the Royal Academy eight times between 1822 and 1849. (See Holmes's entry in the Oxford DNB.) On 14 cm square piece of watermarked wove paper, cut from a frank. The letter is written on the reverse of the cover, which is laid out in the customary way: ‘London third July 1838 / Wm. Loney Esq / Macclesfield.’ With red dated postmark, and signed in the customary way at bottom left: ‘John [Baron?]’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that he has ‘strong claims to be regarded as the greatest sporting all-rounder of his or any era since’. (Neville Cardus counted him ‘among the most fully developed and representative Englishmen of his period’.) It also seems that in 1920 he was offered the chance of becoming king of Albania. His grave at Repton is inscribed: ‘Cricketer, scholar, athlete, Author – The Ultimate All-rounder’.

Asee image of[339]See Williamson’s entry by his daughter-in-law Anne Williamson in the Oxford DNB, together with her 1995 biography of him. The present tranche of material gives a marvellous insight into the working processes of a fine - perhaps even a great - English writer, in addition to showing the gestation of one of the finest novels of the First World War.