ENGLISH

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice for postage. Begins: ‘Mr. Westall presents his compliments to Miss Macirone & begs to assure her how very much obliged to her he feels for the honor she has done him in sending him two tickets for her morning concert’. He will have ‘the greatest pleasure in attending’ the concert, and is ‘quite sure he shall be very much delighted’.

The circumstances surrounding this extraordinary original composition in Latin verse are obscure. See Phillips’s entry in the Oxford DNB, which notes that there was ‘an air of Proust’ about him, and quotes Oliver Brown’s description of him as ‘a stout man, immaculately dressed and heavily scented, who talked continuously while he looked at the pictures'. It may be that Phillips and the author of the poem had been educated together, or that they were members of the same club (the Athenaeum for example).

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, slightly discoloured, with traces of grey paper mount adhering to the blank reverse. Folded once for postage. The year is not given, but the water mark appears to read ‘[18]21’. Good clear signature. Fielding writes: ‘My Dear Madam, / I shall have much pleasure in shewing you the pictures which I have prepared for the Exhibition, should it be agreeable to Mrs. Sharp & yourself to come to Newman at any hour on Monday or Tuesday next, & I hope you will do me the favour of persuading Mr Sharp to accompany you.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Reads: ‘Dear Miss Cond, / I have pleasure in sending you my signature. As you will see, it is quite an ordinary one. / Yours very truly / William Plomer’. The signature is in fact rather stylish in an understated way, and the underlining has two small curls in it. In ink on otherwise-blank reverse, by someone who misread the signature: 'William Ploms'. See Image.

See her Guardian obituary by Ronald Bergan, ‘Britain's original “It” girl, who rose from shop assistant to movie star’, 13 September 1999. Both items in good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Both letters with good content. Eileen Margaret Cond (1911-1984) of Honiton was an enthusiastic autograph collector, and she had an ability to draw a more than perfunctory response from her targets. ONE (1944 ALS): 2pp, 8vo. Addressed to ‘Dear Miss Cond’ and signed ‘Chili Bouchier’. Begins: ‘Just a wee line to thank you so much for your nice Xmas card which was forwarded to me in Egypt.

Four pages, 12mo, bifolium, good condition. May I ask whether you have very kindly managed to make the numismatic memoranda for me from the 'Num: Chronicle' of 'Num: Jour.' which I asked in my last letter. I mean the examplesof engraved coins bearing crosses, with the vol: and page where they occur? I am rather anxious to get this information, and I thought if you (as I feel sure)) have the books you would kindly make me this note.

Short Biography by John Munro.Frederick James Furnivall A Volume of Personal Record with List of SubscribersRebound, hf-lea, rubbed, endpapers sl.

It is perhaps appropriate that we should have been left such a collection by an author who made a name for herself with pioneering works on the social history of English literature.

Scarce. xx + 123pp, 8vo. With erratum slip following prelims. Internally good and tight, on slightly-discoloured brittle paper, with one leaf among the prelims with small grease stain in margin; in heavily worn half-calf binding, with loosening boards. The introduction begins, p.ix: ‘The present volume comprises ten of the Charters which were granted to our early American Colonies.

Excessively scarce, with no copy listed on either WorldCat or JISC LHD, and absent from Parrish (1940). Not only a desideratum of a leading Victorian author (at his height only equalled in financial success by Dickens, George Eliot and Wilkie Collins), but also a fine example of eccentric Victorian zeal pushed almost to the point of insanity. The earnestness of the present item suggests that it is satirical in intent, but this is not the case.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, small 4to. On laid light-brown paper. In good condition, with fold for postage. Reads: ‘Dear Miss Cond, / Your nice letter was mislaid in my flitting from the Whitehall to the Victoria Palace, hence the delay in acknowledging it. / Many thanks for your good wishes / Sincerely / Greer Garson.’ Eileen Cond was an enthusiastic autograph collector.

Blackwood’s entry in the Oxford DNB quotes H. P. Lovecraft’s opinion that he was the author of ‘some of the finest spectral literature of this or any age’. On post card with printed stamp. In good condition, lightly worn, on light-brown card. Addressed to ‘Miss Cond, / Deer Park, / Honiton.’ Apart from the signature, Blackwood has added quotation marks and dealt with two typing mistakes in autograph. Good firm signature. Reads: ‘Savile Club, 69 Brook St, W. 1.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo, with verso paginated 135 and ending ‘FINIS.’ The items are described over forty-five lines. The text is complete and clear, but the laid paper is in a delicate condition, discoloured and with chipping to extremities. The longest title is the first, at ten lines: ‘I. The Practice of Physick, containing seventeen several Books: wherein is plainly set forth, the Nature, Cause, Differences, and several sorts of Signs; together with the Cure of all Diseases in the Body of Man.

The six items - all from Cruikshank’s ‘Comic Almanac’ for 1845 - are in fair condition, lightly aged, and have all been trimmed, with diagonals cut from the corners resulting in minor loss. The last has a small amount of loss to the bottom left-hand corner from removal from a mount. All six are signed in type by Cruikshank at bottom left. They are captioned: ‘Flying Artillery’ (gentlemen on bended knee, declaring their love to ladies, while Cupids shoot arrows from overhead), ‘The Day After - “St.

1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with one dog-eared corner. He writes that he has ‘had the engraving photographed’, and can ‘return it together with the casting’, with ‘very many thanks to you for being so kind as to lend it to me’.

On one side of a 12mo a piece of grey-green paper; creased, worn and torn at the bottom. A fifteen-line poem in five three-line stanzas, titled ‘REST’. At end: ‘JOHN GAWSWORTH’. Proof directions in pencil to convert a full-stop at the end of the fourth stanza to a comma. While the poet's attempt at direct simplicity verges on triteness, one should recall that he served manfully in the RAF: ‘Beneath the oaks the soldiers lie / Staring at the open sky / Drowsily, lazily. / Like England is this plot of green / But in the mountains all unseen / The guns’ complaint affects the scene.

Four copies on JISC (only one in a deposit library, NLS); now scarce. 12pp, 12mo. Disbound. Worn and discoloured. After the end of the prose work are two poems (pp.11-12): ‘Hymn. / Frail Life and Succeeding Eternity’ and ‘The Danger of Delay.’ In addition to being the ‘Godfather of English Hymnody’, Watts was a noted logician, producing a successful work on the subject, and despite the repetition of the phrase ‘Time shall end!’ throughout, the present extract treats the subject of ‘The End of Time’ in an unusually thoughtful way for a work of theology.

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry, and those of Foyle and Mackenzie, in the Oxford DNB.) Apart from damage and rust staining from paperclips, the seven items are in good condition. The correspondence mainly concerns a Foyles Literary Lunch for Macqueen-Pope, which Mackenzie was unable to chair because of an attack of bronchitis. All items 1p, 8vo. Mackenzie’s two letters signed ‘Compton Mackenzie’ and Foyle’s signed ‘Christina Foyle’. ONE: Foyle to MP, 26 February 1951. She is forwarding a letter from Mackenzie.

From the papers of theatre historian Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960). (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) The three items are in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Her two letters are pinned together. The letter to Kerby has the large and firm signature ‘Suzette Tarri’; the letter to Horsfield is evidently signed ‘Suzette Terri’ on her behalf by her husband. ONE (ST to P. W. Kerby): 23 January 1944. Letterhead of ‘“Suda” / 25 Manor Drive, Southgate, N. 14’ (‘SUZETTE TARRI / RADIO COMEDIENNE / WITH / DAVID JENKINS / THE POPULAR PIANIST-VOCALIST’). 1p, 4to.

From the Macqueen-Pope papers, and evidently received by him. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) Of Dunn an online source states: ‘On the 10th of November 1917, the Stage Gossip feature in the Yorkshire Evening Post recounted the career of Finlay Dunn, a stage actor. According to the report, Dunn performed as what he refers to as a stand-up comedian.

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See MP's entry in the Oxford DNB.) Nash made around 70 films between 1912 and 1927, and was a key figure in the creation of Elstree Studios. His career as a film maker was effectively ended following the screening of his 1921 film 'How Kitchener was betrayed'. See Bernard Ince, ' “For the Love of the Art”: The Life and Work of Percy Nash, Film Producer and Director of the Silent Era’, ‘Film History’, September 2007. Both items in good condition, lightly aged, each with light rust staining at one corner from paper clip. LETTER: 1p, 4to. Signed ‘Percy Nash’.

From the Macqueen-Pope papers.. See his entry, and that of Matheson Lang, in the Oxford DNB. As the latter states, Britton and Lang had married in 1903 (she had been an actress with him in the Benson company since 1901). They toured together in Lang’s company, with Britton usually as his leading lady. ‘In 1914 they helped to inaugurate Shakespeare productions at the Old Vic under Lilian Baylis, for which Lang personally lent costumes and scenery.’ Britton was for many years a member of the Old Vic's governing board. Both items are signed ‘N. Matheson Lang’. ONE: ALS, 28 April 1948.

From the Macqueen-Pope papers (see his entry in the Oxford DNB). 2pp, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, and folded three times for postage. She asks him to send ‘3 or 4 more copies’ of his ‘nice write up in the “Sunday Chronicle” March 13th.’, as she would like to send ‘a copy to Australia, Canada & America, as there is some talk about my going to America in the near future’. She has ‘tried all over Streatham and Brixton and it seems impossible to get a copy anywhere’, and will be happy to pay the cost.

An idiosyncratic letter, revealing something of his working practices, and the relations between client and bookseller in the early nineteenth century. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. From the collection of a painstaking Victorian autograph collector, who has unobtrusively repaired slight damage to a central fold. On lightly discoloured paper, with a thin neat strip from the windowpane mount adheres to the edges. The letter is signed ‘Sh.n Turner’ and the recipients are not named.

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of mounting on the blank reverse. The letter reads: 'I shall be happy to execute your orders, and shall be obliged if you kindly forward me the blocks and Copy, with your directions upon what style you wish these drawings to be done: to my address as above.'

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, landscape 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘Marie Belloc Lowndes’ and addressed to ‘My dear Mrs Doubleday’. Begins: ‘This is only a line of very very grateful thanks for our delightful stay with you and the Great Effendi!’ They ‘enjoyed every minute’ of their visit, and she wants the recipient to have their ‘London address and telephone no. so that we may meet at once when next you are in England!’ She will write if she has ‘any authentic news as to Lord Grays book’.

See his father’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 2p, 12mo. Neatly written over 26 lines. With mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Signed ‘E. G. Marsh’. Recipient not named (‘My dear Sir’). He explains that, having happened on the previous day to be in the chair ‘at the monthly meeting of our clerical society in Maidstone’, he was present when the recipient’s ‘two letters to Dr. Maitland’ were presented, and is requested to convey the meeting’s gratitude, not only for the letters, but for his history of Rome, ‘received by them on a former occasion’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Rectangle of paper, evidently cut from a letter for an autograph hunter. Reads: ‘Yours truly / Tom Hood’. See image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Signed ‘W Harrison Ainsworth’. Signed ‘W Harrison Ainsworth’ and reads: ‘Dear Mrs Barlow / My Daughters return on the 30th. May[.] I therefore hope to have the pleasure of seeing you and Mr. Barlow at Dinner at a quarter after 9 o’clock on Saturday, 30th?’ See image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. For Gauntlett see the excellent article on the ‘Semibrevity’ blog: ‘Ambrose Gauntlett, forgotten gamba player and continuo cellist’, beginning: ‘Although Ambrose Gauntlett (1889–1978) spent most of his career as a full-time orchestral principal, he was the most sought-after continuo cellist and gamba player in the UK for many years. In his obituary, published in The Times, Sir Anthony Lewis mentions “his beautiful playing of the important 18th-century viola da gamba obbligato roles”.’ Both items in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Letter, 1 June 1972.