KERR

[Lady Jane Davy, widow of the chemist and inventor Sir Humphry Davy.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mr. Stirling’, regarding her ‘project for Spain’ and the suitability of Stirling’s former courier Jose Medina.

Author: 
Lady Jane Davy [née Kerr, previously Apreece] (1780-1855), wife of the chemist and inventor Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829)
Publication details: 
‘Abbotsford / Melrose / Augst. 11 [no year]’. [Abbotsford, then or formerly the home of Walter Scott], died 1832]
£65.00

See her husband’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount on blank reverse of second leaf. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Stirling’ and signed ‘Jane Davy’. She begins by asking him if he considers Jose Medina, the courier he had in Spain, ‘intelligent, active, & willing’. She adds: ‘I should now & then like my own way; will he allow me such an indulgence?’ She also wants to know if Medina is ‘fairly honest’, by which she means ‘that he will not allow others to cheat me.

[Laurence Olivier, distinguished English actor, star of stage and screen.] Autograph Signature on publicity photograph.

Author: 
Laurence Olivier [Laurence Kerr Olivier, Lord Olivier] (1907-1989), distinguished English actor, star of stage and screen, one of the greatest actors of the twentieth century
Olivier
Publication details: 
No date or place (1930s). Stamp on reverse of The Photo Repro Co., Photo House, 10 St Martin’s Court, London WC2.
£35.00
Olivier

Olivier’s luminous achievements are well described in his entry in the Oxford DNB. An 8 x 11 cm photographic image, printed in black and white on an 8.5t x 13.5 cm card, with the actor's autograph signature mostly on the blank area beneath the image: ‘L Olivier’. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. An attractive image of the head of the young thespian, staring moodily to his right, hair slicked back, with part of white shirt and smart dark jacket just visible. Not present among the 114 portraits of Olivier in the National Portrait Gallery inventory.

[Deborah Kerr, Hollywood film star from Scotland, six-time Oscar nominee.] Autograph Inscription Signed, beneath pencil sketch portrait of her by Kenneth Sephton, with a second portrait overleaf.

Author: 
Deborah Kerr, stage name of Deborah Jane Trimmer (1921-2007), Hollywood film star from Scotland, nominated six times for the Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Actress [Kenneth Sephton]
Kerr
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£100.00
Kerr

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. The inscription, firmly-written in pencil, reads, ‘With best wishes / Deborah Kerr.’, and is written beneath a pencil portrait of a smiling Kerr’s face and shoulders, competently-executed in typical fifties style. On recto of 10 x 12.5 cm leaf of a tracing paper bifolium, the verso of the second leaf carrying, upside-down, an outline sketch of Kerr. The paper is somewhat creased and worn.

[Norman Kerr, Scottish physician and social reformer.] Autograph Card Signed, thanking the headmaster and philanthropist Dawson William Turner for an ‘interesting & useful pamphlet’.

Author: 
Norman Kerr [Norman Shanks Kerr] (1834-1899), Scottish physician, social reformer and leading light of the British temperance movement [Dawson William Turner (1815-1885), teacher and philanthropist]
Publication details: 
9 January 1885. 42 Grove Street, Regent’s Park, NW [London].
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is not to be confused with his father the botanist Dawson Turner (1775-1858), whose entry contains the following regarding the son: ‘During his final decade he lived in central London, and his untidy figure became familiar to the needy in hospitals and on the streets, whom he assisted with dedicated benevolence. He died in Charing Cross Hospital, London, on 29 January 1885, and was buried at Brompton cemetery.’ The present item was hence written within weeks of the recpient’s death. Post Card printed with red halfpenny stamp.

[ 'The Arrangement', 1969 film directed by Elia Kazan. ] Folder of publicity material, including duplicated typescripts ('The Story', 'Notes of Interest', 'The Cast', 'Biography of Elia Kazan') and nine black and white lobby cards.

Author: 
Elia Kazan directs 'The Arrangement' (1969); Kirk Douglas; Faye Dunaway; Deborah Kerr; 'The Arrangement', a Warner Brothers Film
Publication details: 
'Warner Bros. presents An Athena Production released through Warner-Pathe.' [ 1969 ]
£56.00

The material is in good condition, lightly aged, in a 12 x 9 inch white folder with 'The Arrangement' printed in red on cover. Each A4 page of duplicated typescript carries a similar title in the right-hand margin. 'The Arrangement', 1969 film directed by Elia Kazan. ] Folder of publicity material, including duplicated typescripts 'The Story' is 2pp., beginning 'Eddie Anderson (KIRK DOUGLAS), a brilliant advertising executive, has everything; all the accoutrements of success and affluence. Everything that is, except self-respect.

[Major-General Francis Gilbert Hamley.] Printed 'Testimonials in support of an application made by Captain Hamley, Army Pay Department, for the appointment of Colonial Secretary, Bermuda.

Author: 
Major-General Francis Gilbert Hamley (1851-1918), Army Pay Department [Lieut-Gen. T.L. Gallwey; Lieut-Col. De Pentheny O'Kelley, Sir Robert Laffan; Lieut-Col. W. F. Kerr, the Buffs, Dover; R. H. Knox]
Publication details: 
[London. 1889.]
£110.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with crease at one corner. In small type. Containing six testimonials, dating between 1883 and 1889, from: Lieut-Gen. T. L. Gallwey, Governor & Commander-in-Chief, Bermuda; Lieut-Col. De Pentheny O'Kelley, A.P.D.; Emma Laffan ('Lady Laffan, widow of the late Sir Robert Laffan, late Governor and Commander-in-Chief, Bermuda'); Lieut-Col. W. F. Kerr ('Commanding "The Buffs," Dover'); R. H. Knox ('the Financial Secretary'); H. W. Just, Private Secretary to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Note at end: 'MEMO.

[Philip Lutley Sclater, Secretary of the Zoological Society of London.] Autograph Letter in the third person to 'Mis Kerr'.

Author: 
Philip Lutley Sclater (1829-1913), lawyer and zoologist, Secretary of the Zoological Society of London, 1860-1902
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Zoological Society of London, 11 Hanover Square. 29 August 1877.
£30.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with traces of glue from mount on the blank reverse. Reads: 'The Secretary presents his compliments to Miss Kerr and begs leave to inform her the Composition fee of £35 has been duly paid to Drummond & Co'.

Manuscript Letter from William Walker & Co. in Sydney, Australia, to William Kerr of Richmond, Virginia, regarding the state of the Australian tobacco trade and 'unfavorable' prices fetched by consignments of his tobacco.

Author: 
[William Walker & Co.; William Kerr of Richmond, Virginia; Messrs Gilmour & Kerr, Glasgow]
Publication details: 
Marked 'Per Caledonia', with ship's name altered to 'William Hyde'.
£120.00

1p., 4to. The second leaf only of a bifoliate letter. Addressed on reverse to 'William Kerr Esqr. | (of Richmond - Virginia) | Care of Messrs Gilmour & Kerr | Glasgow | NB'. An accompanying typed note identifies the postal features as follows: 'Postage: - 3d. pre-paid. Colonial outward Ship Letter rate. | 8d. to collect. Private Ship Letter rate. | Handstruck Marks: - PAID SHIP LETTER SYDNEY AP+21 1847 in red. (SL 3, var. 1 - early use.) | NN 29AU29 1847 in red.

Thirty-one secondhand booksellers' catalogues (one a duplicate).

Author: 
Bickers; Alfred Cooper; W. Downing; T. Gladwell; W. George; Kerr & Richardson; C. Lowe; Uriah Maggs; J. Mathews; J. Neale; Parry & Hales; W. Paterson; Reeves & Turner; J. Roche; H. Sotheran; H. Young
Publication details: 
1880-1882; London, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester.
£450.00

all octavo, in worn nineteenth-century binding, with front hinge loose, lacking spine. New endpapers. All items good, on aged paper with occasional foxing. An invaluable collection, providing a snapshot of secondhand bookselling in provincial Victorian England within an extremely short timescale. Several of the booksellers are not represented in the British Library collection, and others are only represented by catalogues of a later date. Of note are the two catalogues published by Sotheran's Manchester arm, the existence of which is not mentioned in Andrew Block's 'Short History' (1933).

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