HALL

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) 1p, 4to. On light-blue paper, with letterhead in dark-blue and red. Signed ‘Ralom’, with ‘RALOM & ROSA’ typed beneath. In good condition, lightly aged. Writing to MP at the Evening News, London. ‘There has [sic] been quite a few remarks passed by critics of the “paucity” of Acts in the Variety profession.

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) 1p, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Begins: ‘Dear Mac, Im going great and I dont use THE MIKE. I enclose Bill of Last Week / I first Worked 60 Years ago. Mac I want to get. to Broadcast. THIS. IS. Your. LIFE / I Started when I was 9 Year Old. Im now 82. Can anyone beat my Record.’ He gives details of booking at the ‘Metropoliton [sic] Music Hall Edgware Rd. I was first there. 1901. NOVEMBER 4 Weeks / Of cours [sic] I was There many Times. Mac you ought to try and get me on Television. or. Radio.

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 the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. Poke’s two letters are in good condition, lightly aged, the second with slight rust spotting from paperclip; the carbons of MP’s letters to Poke on aged, worn and discoloured cartridge paper. ONE: Poke to MP, 12 March 1951. 3pp, small 4to.

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.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Signed ‘Lonsdale’. Recipient (‘Dear Sir’) not named. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin neat strip of windowpane mount at edges. Folded twice for postage. He has received the recipient’s letter, and is ‘sorry on different accounts the excavations have not arrived at a better success.

An excellent letter, in which Caine evaluates his wartime activities, criticises those of others, and gives his opinion of the the standing of the man of letters in the England of his time. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. A long letter: forty-two lines in Caine’s distinctive close hand, with the first two pages on the rectos of the leaves, and the third page written lengthwise on the verso of the first leaf. Signed ‘Hall Caine’ and addressed to ‘My dear Sladen’.

Barnett’s entry in the Oxford DNB accepts his ‘greatness’ and discusses its nature. 1p, 16mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The subject of this letter is William Tourell, Superintendent of the East London Shoeblack Brigade, a charity of which Barnett was treasurer. The letter begins: ‘Dear Maud. / My Friend Towrell [sic] is dying of cancer. He is taking violet leaves & somehow the disease seems arrested. The doctor says he had better go on taking these leaves as they may be doing good’.

A nice item, casting light on the practice of the provincial medical profession in Victorian England. See Higginbottom’s obituary in the British Medical Journal, 16 March 1895. There are a number of references to Higginbottom in the memoir of 1861 memoir of Marshall Hall (1790-1857) by his widow. For information about Hall, who died the following year, see his entry in the Oxford DNB, together with that of the otologist Joseph Toynbee (1815-1866). The item is from the papers of Rev. Samuel Walker, successively of Nottingham and Liverpool.

See his son Ivo Bligh’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: ‘Sir: / You are welcome to take some photographic views of this place: - you will please to ask to see the Houseeeper when you come. / I remain / Yours faithy / Darnley’. In worn envelope, self-stamped with pink penny stamp and two postmarks, one from Gravesend. Addressed in Autograph by Darnley to ‘Mr. F. York / Alfred Villa / Lancaster Road / Notting Hill London W.’

A very nice piece of musichall ephemera: a signed self-caricature by one of its leading lights. See Robey’s entry in the Oxford DNB. On a 7 x 8.75 cm piece of card, cut from a plain printed postcard. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of the four paper label mounts on reverse. On the front, which is entirely plain apart from Robey’s writing, is his Autograph Inscription, in a close hand with stylized signature: ‘Good luck. Geo Robey.’ This is at the foot of the page, beneath a well-executed self-caricature in blue and red ink.

See Belloc’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is Colonel Frederick Hugh Langston Oldham (1876-1965), D.S.O., D.L., of Overley Hall near Wellington. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: ALS, 5 October 1922. 1p, 4to. With mourning border. Folded twice. Giving details of the train from Paddington he is proposing to take to Wellington for ‘[t]he lecture’ on 13 October. ‘It is most kind of you to have asked me to stay with you & I am much looking forward to it.’ TWO: TL, 11 October 1922. 1p, 8vo. Folded twice. The signature ‘H.

On 15 x 11 cm card, with vertical central fold making it into a bifolium with front and back covers, and central text across the opening. In fair condition, a little aged. Perforated outer corner removed from bottom of second leaf, no doubt as proof of use; with slight creasing to first leaf at same point. Printed at the head of the back cover is the word ‘AUTOGRAPHS’, and here in blue ink is the signature ‘Victor Silvester’. There are no other autographs. The front cover is headed ‘T. F. Firth and Sons Ltd.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 20 x 25 cm lithograph in pink, white and black. In good condition, lightly aged. An attractive item, suitable for framing. Head and shoulders portrait of a dapper bespectacled Hall, with parted greased hair, in white tie, staring at the viewer. Across his shirt, Hall has written in green ink ‘Best Wishes / Henry Hall’. Captioned at bottom left: ‘HENRY HALL / DIRECTOR, B.B.C. DANCE ORCHESTRA’; and at bottom right: ‘Presented with “Radio Pictorial,” / No. 1, January 19, 1934’. See image.

See Mercer’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 20 lines on both sides of a 12mo landscape letterhead. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Mercer has the proverbial handwriting of a doctor, rendering the present item somewhat difficult to read. He begins by thanking Goodwin for the ‘lovely surprise’ of ‘a packet of the War Effort Canadian stamps in mint condition’, which (illegible name) ‘didn’t get the length of Edinburgh as he has been called to the Pacific’.

Attractive item, suitable for framing. In good condition, lightly aged, with 1cm closed tear to one edge. Printed on shiny paper. Folded three times. The note, with good firm signature, reads: ‘Louis B. Frewer Esq / Dear Sir / Autograph enclosed with much pleasure. To-day is the 49th. anniversary of my wedding. / Yours faithfully / Charles Coborn’. The letterhead has Coborn’s name printed in large type, and describes him as ‘Comedian, Vocalist, Story-teller, etc. and Walker’.

A nice piece of ephemera, associated with a landmark concert in the history of British popular music. 1p, 8vo. Twenty-three-line typed circular, with perforated order slip for tickets at end. In fair condition, lightly aged. Signed ‘Donegall’ and with autograph address to ‘Dear Mac Queen Pope’ (i.e. the theatre historian W. P. MacQueen Pope). The circular begins: ‘I am writing to you because H. R. H.

The 20 items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE:. Receipts from: The Union of London & Smiths Bank, London (2) and Dumbell's Banking Company, Limited, Isle of Man. With two paying-in slips from the Manx Bank, and a dividend counterfoil from the Isle of Man Railway Company. TWO: TLS from R. Golding Bright, 'London Representative' of New York dramatic agent Miss Elisabeth Marbury. 4 July 1904. 2pp., 4to. With envelope addressed to HC at the Hotel Caspar Badrett, St Moritz.

All signed ‘George C: Oke’. At the time of writing Oke was Assistant Clerk to the Lord Mayor, a position he had held since 1855; in 1864 he would assume the Chief Clerkship. For details of the recipient, barrister and F.R.S, elder brother of Sir Bartle Frere and nephew of Canning’s friend the satirist John Hookham Frere, see the Law Times, 31 December 1887. The four letters total 10pp, 12mo, all on letterheads with engraved arms of the City of London. All in good condition; very lightly aged; with folds. Closely and neatly written.

Typescript (carbon), Seven pages, 4to, good condition. the text as Macqueen-Pope typed it had a good crop of typos (for example, we justvcllaed for we just called), some elision, but just two annotations (the correction of the spelling of weasels, and change of a pub name from the Kings Head to the Cromwell Arms). A comprehensive and enthusiastic biography. With two Typed Letters Signed Kay Fuller, Talks Producer, General Overseas Service, (29 March 1951) acknowledging receipt of he script which I greatly look forward to reading She has given up the idea of inserting a song into your talk.

14 x 13.5cm, laid down on slightly larger leaf extracted from an Autograph Album, very good condition. Pussyfoot is at the piano, blacked up (with thick whitened lips!).See image/

NOTE: One page, sm. folio, fold marks, eccentric spelling, omissions, and grammar included: Dear Popie I heard you a few Times on Wirless Real good. I Wrote to you years ago. I enclose your letter I enclose I knew if They gave you a chance they will Want you : fo good.

The three items (two letters from Peter Opie to MacQueen-Pope and carbon copy of his reply to the first of these) are in fair condition, on aged and lightly-creased paper, with a slight nick at the head of the first letter. Inspired by the recent publication of MP's 'The Melody Lingers On: The Story of Music Hall' (1950), Opie writes to MP via his publishers W. H. Allen & Co, and signs both letters 'Peter Opie.' MP writes to Opie at Rockbourne House. ONE: TLS from Opie to MP. 20 January 1951. 1p, 4to.

2pp, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. The content is remarkably sprightly and the handwriting firm. The letter begins: 'My dear Russell, | Telephone: no good. So I guess that you are holiday-making. | Lord Drogheda is my close friend & collaborator. His wife Joan is a pianist[.] I have heard her only when she gave her services. But she appears to practice daily, like a professional trooper.' He has advised her to 'play chamber music.

2pp, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. The content is remarkably sprightly and the handwriting firm. The letter begins: 'My dear Russell, | Telephone: no good. So I guess that you are holiday-making. | Lord Drogheda is my close friend & collaborator. His wife Joan is a pianist[.] I have heard her only when she gave her services. But she appears to practice daily, like a professional trooper.' He has advised her to 'play chamber music.

14pp, 4to. Stitched into grey printed wraps. In good condition, lightly aged, with one corner slightly dog-eared. 143 lots, divided into two sections: 'Miniatures and Enamels' and 'Objects of Vertu'. The snuff-boxes feature in the latter, and include: '112 A Louis XVI. plain oblong gold snuff-box, with rounded ends and reeded borders - bearing the mark of Henri Clavel, Paris 1778 - the rim engraved "DU PETIT DUNKERQUE"' and '122 A LOUIS XV.

No information regarding 'Pam Chelsea' (female impersonator?) has been discovered, but the appearance of the document, and its presence in a batch of material relating to 1920s entertainment and broadcasting, date it to that period. 5pp, folio. 'No. of words. 1,063.' Written in a bold hand. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. The article was clearly accepted for publication, as '£1 11. 6 paid' is written at the top of the first page, and '5 line drop cap' at the start of the article.

An interesting correspondence, casting light on the practicalities of early twentieth-century English portrait-painting. The recipient is Colonel Frederick Hugh Langston Oldham, D.S.O., D.L., of Overley Hall, near Wellington, Shropshire, eldest son of the Archdeacon of Ludlow, and the letter concerns Brock's portrait of Oldham's wife Christabel Josephine Oldham. The five letters in good condition, lightly aged. The four dated letters are dated between 25 February and 13 July 1920. The total 9pp (seven in 8vo and two in 12mo).

This unusual item is scarce: no copy has been located on OCLC WorldCat, and no reference to the poem has been discovered. Not dated, but the printer was active at the end of the nineteenth century: two other items at least were printed by 'C. Oswald' in Staines, one in 1887 and the other in 1898. Its subject is now obscure, but perhaps may be illuminated by the local historian. 8pp, 12mo. Stapled. Aged, worn and creased, with closed tear at foot of fold to outer bifolium.

Three excellent and characteristic long letters, neatly and closely written, in the first of which he describes 'the little tide of misfortune' which has befallen him, including shipwreck and indisposition; in the second he gives a vivid account of a visit to Wakefield by the temperance campaigner Father Mathew; and in the last he explains is reluctance to dissect the body of a bird she has sent him, exclaiming: 'I never do things by halves in Natural History'. Along the way there are references to 'my little roman owls' and 'my lions and my lion cubs'.