EPHEMERA

The parallel which Bertrand Russell showed between Marxism and Christianity is apparent in this piece of quasi-religious propaganda, which presumably emanates from the Communist Party of Great Britain. It is printed in red on one side of a 20 x 29 cm piece of shiny paper, scarcely thicker than tracing paper. Lightly aged, and with creasing and wear to extremities. The text, which translates part of a letter sent by Stalin to the Rabochaya Gazeta on the first anniversary of Stalin’s death, reads as follows: ‘Remember, love and study Lenin, our teacher and leader.

This prospectus is a scarce item: no other copy has been traced. A 4to bifolium, with four unnumbered pages printed in red. Somewhat aged and worn, with a horizontal strip of light discoloration at the head of the cover, which has the title and author’s name surrounded by a border made up of Tenniel’s illustrations, beneath this is a quotation from Dodgson’s poetry and the price of ‘7/6 net’. Across the middle two pages is the heading ‘The Centenary “Life of Lewis Carroll”’. The text begins by explaining that Reed has made use of Dodgson’s letters to Ellen Terry.

A nice piece of Edwardian trade ephemera. It would appear that W. B. Corsets were running a franchise scheme, providing suppliers with their catalogue and printing the franchisee's name on the back cover: little is to be discovered about either firm. No other copy traced. Hard to date: the corsets have an Edwardian feel, but some features of the illustrations may suggest a slightly later date. A 12mo stapled pamphlet, consisting of 20 pages on ten leaves of shiny paper: unnumbered front and back leaves, and pages on central eight leaves numbered 1-16.

See Dawtry’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is scarce: no copies traced on JISC or WorldCat. 4pp, 4to. Bifolium printed in small type. In fair condition, lightly aged, with creasing and nicking to both leaves at bottom outer edge.

Two nice pieces of Potteries ephemera. No other copies have been traced. ONE: Booklet. In fair condition, on aged paper, in lightly worn and creased wraps. 36pp, 12mo, stitched into red wraps with title repeated on cover in black. Slips with printed emendations have been laid down over text on pp.8, 9 and 32 (the last slip, carrying rule 84, ‘Hours for Consumption’, is amended in manuscript). Eighty-four rules on the first 32pp, with fifteen bye-laws on pp.33-34. TWO: ‘MEMBERS TICKET, 1929.’ A nice item on card, roughly 7 x 9 cm, with central horizontal crease folding it down to 4 1/2 x 7 cm.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both of these items are scarce as separate printings: no trace of either crops up on JISC or WorldCat. Both are in good condition, with light wear. ONE: ‘Engine Knock and Related Problems.’ 15pp, 12mo. Stapled. Headed: ‘Royal Institution of Great Britain. / Weekly evening meeting. / Friday, May 25, 1928. / Sir Robert Robertson, K.B.E. M.A. F.R.S., / Honorary Secretary and Vice-President, in the Chair. / Alfred C. Egerton, M.A. F.R.S. M.R.I., / Reader in Thermodynamics, University of Oxford.’ TWO: ‘Warmth and Comfort Indoors’. 22pp, 12mo. Stapled.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. A very good facsimile of a typed letter, with the main text in black, some in red and the facsimile signature 'Henry W. Nevinson' in light blue. Names of Nevinson as President, E. M. Forster as Past-President, and dozens of Vice-Presidents in left-hand margin, including Aldous Huxley, A. A. Milne, J. B. Priestley, H. G. Wells and Rebecca West. Addressed to 'Dear Sir', the letter sets out the history of the organization, appealing for 'support for its activities'.

The present item differs from the version published on pp.248-254 of the ‘Notices of the Proceedings’, vol.2 (1854-1858), and no other copy has been traced. Drophead title: ‘Royal Institution of Great Britain. / Weekly Evening Meeting, / Friday, April 25, 1856. / Sir Benjamin Collins Brodie, Bart. D.C.L. F.R.S. Vice-President, in the Chair. / W. B. Donne, Esq. / On the Works of Chaucer, considered as Historical Illustrations of England in the 14th Century.’ 10pp, 16mo, paginated [1]-10. In very good condition, lightly aged. Stabbed as issued, with no wraps, and unopened. Begins: ‘MR.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Although reset, the text of the present five-page synopsis does not appear to differ from that printed on pp.118-433 of the ‘Notices of the Proceedings’, vol.2 (1854-1858). No other copy of this offprint has been traced. In very good condition, lightly aged. Drophead title: ‘Royal Institution of Great Britain. / Weekly Evening Meeting, / Friday, May 18, 1855. / Rev.. John Barlow, M.A. F.R.S. Vice-President and Secretary, in the Chair. / James Philip Lacaita, Esq. LL.D. / On Dante and the “Divina Commedia.”’ 5pp, 16mo, bifolium, paginated [1]-5.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The full lecture, fifty-four pages in length, was published for Playfair in Edinburgh by Edmonston & Douglas in 1865, with the subtitle ‘Lecture delivered at the Royal Society, Edinburgh, 3d April 1865, and Royal Institution, London, 28th April 1865.’ Although reset, the text of the present three-page synopsis does not appear to differ from the version printed on pp.431-433 of the ‘Notices of the Proceedings’, vol.4 (1862-1866). No other copy of this offprint has been traced. In very good condition, lightly aged.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The full text of Maurice’s lecture was printed posthumously on pp.268-299 of his ‘The Friendship of Books and Other Lectures’ (1880). Although reset, the text of the present six-page synopsis does not appear to differ from that printed on pp.328-333 of the ‘Notices of the Proceedings’, vol.2 (1854-1858). No other copy of this offprint has been traced. In very good condition, lightly aged. Drophead title: ‘Royal Institution of Great Britain. / Weekly Evening Meeting, / Friday, January 30, 1857. / William Pole, Esq. M.A. F.R.S.

An interesting artefact, issued at the commencement of the conflict, and laying out the rules of engagement. The only copies traced are in the A. J. B. Walker collection in the Imperial War Museum, the National Army Museum and the University of Cyprus. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. On 26 December 1955 the British Governor General of Cyprus declared a state of emergency, as a result of the EOKA insurgency which had begun with the 1 April Attacks. 4pp, 32mo, printed in black on a bifolium of red card.

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.

Not only an interesting item of sigillography, but also a nice item relating to Victorian philanthropy. Eight red wax seals and two black, of varying sizes. Laid down in three rows on reverse of 15 x 11 cm card, tastefully printed in blue, red and gold, with facsimile of the signature of the Secretary, S. J. Aldrich. Originally ten seals were present, those that remain in good condition, most with good impressions of crests.

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.

ONE: ‘The National Front and the Jews / A briefing document by the Anti Nazi League / March 1978’. Stapled pamphlet of 8pp, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Striking cover with title in large letters printed in black onto strips of green. Two-page introduction followed by two pages of illustrations (‘merely intended as a sample of the National Front’s continual argument by innuendo. All are taken from the National Front monthly, Spearhead’); page headed ‘Before the National Front / 1959-67’, followed by two pages titled ‘The National Front / 1967-’.

A nice piece of OUP ephemera, and a memorial to the lost art of letterpress printing. Stitched pamphlet of 24pp, 12mo. Wraps not called for. In good condition, lightly aged, with outer pages a little grubby. A couple of sources help establish the date: on p.13 it is announced that ‘the most recent discoveries, especially in Egypt, have been inserted, down to March, 1893’, and the second of the ‘Extracts from Opinions’, pp.21-23, from ‘Nature’, dates from 5 October 1893.

A nice piece of anti-nuclear war ephemera. A 19 x 6.75 cm block of perforated stamps with gum on reverse. The block originally had twelve stamps, but the one at top right is lacking. Printed in blue on white with a simple design of a dove with an olive branch in its mouth, encircled by the words 'THE SOUTH AFRICAN PEACE COUNCIL.' Stapled between two 19 x 6.75 pieces of paper: the one behind the stamps blank and grey, the one before the stamps being the cover, on which is printed: ‘OUTLAW ATOMIC WEAPONS / THE SOUTH AFRICAN PEACE COUNCIL / P.O.

Three scarce items: no other copy traced. The three pamphlets are uniform in design, each consisting of 4pp, 12mo, stapled into card wraps with title and date beneath the Borough crest. Presumably produced for distribution at the annual town fair. The text of each poem covers all four pages. The first two are in good condition, lightly aged; the last is in fair condition, slightly ruckled and spotted. ONE: ‘Ye Olde Dorset Fayre’. At the Royal Palm Court, Weymouth, 22 and 23 August 1923. Poem ‘By Two Darset Maids’ beginning: ‘Come in, me vriends, and look around, / We got all zarts to zell:’.

Scarce: no copy on ViaLibri, OCLC WorldCat and JISC LHD. Stapled pamphlet. 7pp, 12mo. Unpaginated. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with light spotting and slightly rusted staples. Inscribed at head of cover: ‘With the author’s compliments / O. A. LeBeau’. Drophead title on third page: ‘HALLEY’S COMET. / BY O. A. LE BEAU, B.Sc. / [Mr. Le Beau is an O. B. of the Grammar School, whose Astronomical Notes in our columns some years ago many of our readers will no doubt remember. - ED.]’

A nice piece of Sherborne ephemera, in unusually good condition. Between 1855 and 1860 Ransam House had been used to board boys from Sherborne School. ‘The Sherborne Academy’ to which the present card refers was run by John Kidd (c.1834-1891), FRAS, MCP, at Ransam between the end of 1861 and 1868, when it reverted to Sherborne School. The present item is printed in black ink on both sides of a x cm piece of white card. In very good condition, lightly aged.

A scarce item, no other copy discovered on ViaLibri, WorldCat or JISC LHD. 4pp, 12mo. Paginated bifolium in small print. Aged and worn, with short closed tear in gutter. Folded twice.

An attractive item on four unpaginated folio pages, in a bifolium. Uncommon. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, but not folded, with small closed tear at head of first leaf. Drophead title: ‘No. 7 (New Series) July 1935. / A Broadside / Editors: W. B. Yeats and F. R. Higgins; Musical Editor, Arthur Duff.

An attractive item on four unpaginated folio pages, in a bifolium. Uncommon. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, but not folded. Drophead title: ‘No. 8 (New Series) August 1935. / A Broadside / Editors: W. B. Yeats and F. R. Higgins; Musical Editor, Arthur Duff.

Five galley-proofs of articles written during the high-point of the Raj by leading Victorian journalist in India W. Martin Wood (editor of the Times of India, founder and editor of the Bombay Review). Ephemeral items, creased and worn, but with text clear and entire. ONE: Headed ‘ALLEN’S INDIAN MAIL / THE LATE MR. EDWARD BROOME, C.E. / Mr. M. Martin Wood writes to us as follows: -’. Sixty-two lines in small print follow, beginning: ‘Some little time back your “Domestic Occurrences” contained the name of Mr.

Two galley-proofs of articles by leading Victorian journalist in India W. Martin Wood (editor of the Times of India, founder and editor of the Bombay Review). Ephemeral items, creased and worn, but with text clear and entire. ONE: Headed ‘ALLEN’S INDIAN MAIL / THE LATE MR. EDWARD BROOME, C.E. / Mr. M. Martin Wood writes to us as follows: -’. Sixty-two lines in small print follow, beginning: ‘Some little time back your “Domestic Occurrences” contained the name of Mr. Edward Broome, Civil Engineer, as having died at Southport, something under 60 years of age.

A scarce item: the only copy on COPAC at Trinity College Dublin. (WorldCat records a German library holding). See the entry on the Society’s founder, Rev. Alexander Dallas, in the Oxford DNB. The organisation, which still operates, is a controversial one. It was founded to convert Irish Roman Catholics to Protestantism, and the attitude of those involved can be gauged by the fact that its members considered the Potato Famine a judgement on the Catholics and made relief conditional on conversion, and that the Bishop of Tuam evicted tenants for not sending their children to Protestant schools.

Two pieces of uncommon Edwardian bibliographical ephemera. Both items worn and aged, and the catalogue somewhat dogeared. Both with some pencil marking. ONE (1909 catalogue): 32pp, 12mo. Drophead title on first page: ‘Macmillan’s Three-and-Sixpenny Library of Books by Popular Authors / Crown 8vo.’ The first two pages carry a description of the series, which ‘comprises over four hundred volumes in various departments of Literature. Prominent among them is a new and attractive edition of The Works of Thackeray, issued under the editorship of Mr. Lewis Melville.

Three scarce items, with no other copies traced. All three carry the Club’s badge. The 1929 menu is in good condition; the other two items are in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The two ‘Christmas Supper’ menus are uniform in layout. Each is printed on an 8vo piece of white card, with the same photograph of ‘J. Windsor Burgess as Father Christmas’ on one side and the menu on the other. (The menus differ and are dated.) Each menu is wrapped in a grey-paper 8vo bifolium, printed on all four sides. The Menu for 19 December 1927 states on the cover: ‘J. H. Brocklehurst, Esq.

The present item is rare, and its interest is heightened by the fact that it is accompanied by a press release and has the covers covered in what are clearly notes on how to film the ceremony by a press cameraman. Only three copies on COPAC: at the British Library, Sheffield Hallam and the Bishopsgate Institute. An 8vo stitched pamphlet of twenty unpaginated pages in printed card wraps. Internally very good.