LONDON

Pye was an active figure in nineteenth-century British art. According to his entry in the Oxford DNB he was the engravers’ ‘best spokesman’, hoping ‘to raise the fortunes, status, and public profile of engravers by means of professional association and co-operation’. He was the author of a number of works, including 'Patronage of British Art' (1845). His collection of prints after Turner was acquired by the British Museum in 1869, and the proofs of Turner's ‘Liber Studiorum’ followed in 1870. His notebooks are in British Library.

See Fry’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Dickinson was an influential proponent of the League of Nations. The present item concerns the London Declaration concerning the Laws of Naval War, an international code of maritime law, following on from the second Hague Conference. Great Britain, as the world’s chief naval power, had felt that such a court should be governed by defined principles, and had convened an international concerence in London in 1908. The Declaration that was issued three years later comprised 71 articles. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once.

Pritchett’s ‘The Gentle Barbarian: The Life and Work of Turgenev’ appeared in 1977; the present letter is clearly addressed to his editor at the book’s publishers Chatto & Windus. Pritchett’s entry in the Oxford DNB describes his handwriting as ‘legendarily ugly and difficult to decipher’, but the present example is no worse than an average hand. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Two fold lines. He is sending his ‘Turgenev’, and explains: ‘As you will see I have marked passages from the book in purple crayon, and my own summary bridges in green.

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. ‘Many many thanks, my dear Ellis, for the kind present of your book, which, as soon as I am released from a torment of which you have had some experience, - correcting the press, I promise myself much pleasure and instruction in perusing. /As soon as my doggerel is printed, you may rely on having a copy. My best remembrance if you please to Lady Georgiana / Ever faithfully Yours / Henry Luttrell.’ Which of Luttrell’s or Ellis’s books are referred to here is unclear.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The recipient is named as ‘J. Pendred Broadhurst Esq’. Boughton begins by thanking him for his ‘kind note’. He is ‘quite out of photos for the moment - there has been such “a run on” me’. His portrait is not ‘in commerce’. He is enclosing ‘a Menu Card (of a dinner given me by Messrs Harper in New York)’, which has ‘a portrait by Mr L. Alma Tadema R.A. which I think is a little out of the Common. There is also an illustration from our book - (E. A.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On the first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. He begins by thanking him ‘most sincerely for your cheering note of congratulation’. Whilst it is ‘pleasant to be raised to the “Upper Shelf”’, he finds that ‘the position of Associate of the Royal Academy is one that is quite Ideal. To gain that - and to paint a good picture were my two great ambitions’.

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with unobtrusive grease stain stain to one blank corner. Folded twice. Good bold hand with large signature. ‘My dear Miss Atkins - / How very kind of you to return me my old book. It was very valuable to me, & I was wondering where it was - so I am very glad to have it back again. / Hoping we shall meet before long / With kindest regards & many thanks / Yours very sincerely / Ethel Henry Bird.’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 9.5 x 11.5 cm leaf of blue paper, with rounded outer corners, torn from an autograph album. In good condition, lightly aged, with spotting on reverse. Reads: ‘Best Wishes / Tom Walls.’ Good bold writing, with stylistic flourish linking the cross-stroke of the T in ‘Tom’ with the S of ‘wishes’, and two small vertical strokes at the centre of the underlining of the signature. See image

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. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged with a crease. Folded once. Signed ‘Haldane’. He begins ‘With all good wishes for any cause you are engaged in’, but ‘no hope of success for a new weekly paper’.

An evocative artefact of the interesting connection between Powys and the man who supplied him with the books for his translation of Rabelais. Writing on 24 September 1940, in 'Letters to Sea-Eagle', Powys gives a lengthy account of 'Our Jew Book-Pedlar' and the bombing by the Germans of his Russell Street address.

See Roy’s entry in the Oxford DNB. He part-wrote and performed the perennially popular ‘My Girl’s Pussy’, with other songs with suggestive titles. The two men’s careers both began in the 1920s, and Daniels played in the band of Roy’s brother Sid Roy. The two signatures laid down on an 8.5 x 7 piece cut from the leaf from an autograph album. Somewhat discoloured, otherwise in good condition. ONE: Signature of ‘Harry Roy’. On 6 x 4.5 cm slip of paper. Large signature, with the downstrokes of the final letter y’s extending unusually far. TWO: Signature of ‘Joe Daniels’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 10.5 x 8 cm piece of ruled paper, laid down on 21 x 10.5 piece of light blue-green paper cut from album. In good condition, lightly discoloured. Reads: ‘With all kindly salutations to you & yours - believe me / Yours very truly / F. Edward Hulme’ See image.

Two charming and moving letters, each sent on a significant occasion: the first Richmond’s resignation from the editorship of the TLS in 1937, and the second his ninetieth birthday in 1961; and with the latter containing interesting reminiscences of the early years of the TLS. See his appreciative entry in the Oxford DNB. Both items in good condition, lightly aged, and both addressed to ‘Dear Orlo’. ONE: 3 January [‘1937’, the year added by Williams]. Signed ‘Bruce L. Richmond.’ 2pp, landscape 12mo. Folded twice.

See the entry for Thomas Mann in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son and editor of the economist Thorold Rogers [James Edwin Thorold Rogers] (1823-1890), for information regarding whom see his entry in the Oxford DNB. The second letter in good condition, lightly aged and folded once; the first in fair condition, folded three times with a number of short closed tears along creases. Mann is writing in his capacity as Secretary of the London Reform Union (for whose ‘Object’ see the end of this entry). ONE: 12 May 1893. 2pp, 4to.

The present item gives an indication of the high spirits, though hardly the ‘brilliant wit’, which, according to Quin’s entry in the Oxford DNB, afforded him a welcome to high society. 3pp, 16mo. Bifolium, with second leaf slightly damaged at foot by removal from mount. The body of the letter reads: ‘Dear Jesse / Don’t you or your fair friends forget Supper at Vun Undred and Vunety Vun Mount Street tomorrow Saturday night at 11 oclock or as soon after it as you can come. / N.B.

See his entry by E. V. Knox in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with dog-eared corner. Folded once. Reads: ‘Dear Mr. Denselow, / If my erratic and unenviable handwriting has any interest for anyone - except my tailor (who seldom sees it!) you are very welcome to a fragmentary example of it, at its word’. The signature is no doubt deliberately emphatic, with colons to the initials, and a period on each side of the end of the final flourish. In a postscript Reed expresses gratification to hear ‘that my work “touches the spot” occasionally, that’s what it’s “for!”’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is the publisher Henry Blackett (1825-1871) of the leading London firm Hurst & Blackett, and the meeting was evidently to discuss terms, possibly for Wiseman’s ‘Recollections of the Last Four Popes’, which the firm published in 1859. 1p, 8vo. Laid down on another leaf. In fair condition, lightly aged, on thin paper, and with discoloration from the glue used in laying the item down. Small red armorial letterhead.

Chambers is not mentioned in Dame Nellie Melba’s entry in the Oxford DNB. She met him in London in 1895, and their affair ended for unknown reasons in 1904. It is clearly the ‘notorious’ affair in whose fame Chambers ‘rejoiced to the last’, according to Somerset Maugham’s devastating assessment of the man in ‘A Writer’s Notebook’ (1946). Harry de Windt gives a markedly kinder account of Chambers in his ‘My Note-Book at Home and Abroad’ (1923). The recipient would appear to be Chambers’s agent. Regarding the content of this letter, see ‘The Theatre’, 1 November 1894: ‘Mr.

Chambers is not mentioned in Dame Nellie Melba’s entry in the Oxford DNB. She met him in London in 1895, and their affair ended for unknown reasons in 1904. It is clearly the ‘notorious’ affair in whose fame Chambers ‘rejoiced to the last’, according to Somerset Maugham’s devastating assessment of the man in ‘A Writer’s Notebook’ (1946). Harry de Windt gives a markedly kinder account of Chambers in his ‘My Note-Book at Home and Abroad’ (1923).

See Tyndall’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. Written in purple ink with bold flowing signature. Addressed to ‘John Symonds Esq’ (in the 1870s Symonds was Chairman of the Library Committee of the Corporation of London). Reads: ‘My dear Sir / Most willingly would I permit your friendly letter to draw me towards you to day. But I am bound with a chain. / I was glad to learn that Lady Morrison was your niece. She is obviously drawing out the inherent tenderness of a nature whose intellectual side has won general renown.

See Wallas’s entry in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son and editor of the economist Thorold Rogers [James Edwin Thorold Rogers] (1823-1890), for information regarding whom see his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The conclusion of the letter only. Reads: ‘[...] extracts enclosed - / Edgeworth says he will look out for materials for you. / Sincerely / Graham Wallas / 32 Great Ormond St / W. C. / May 10 -’.

In addition to the entry for Prothero in the Oxford DNB, see those of H. W. C. Davis (1874-1928) and H. W. V. Temperley (1879-1939), which reveal the interest all three had in the Paris Peace Conference of 1919. Both items in good condition, lightly aged. Each folded once. Both addressed to 'Davis'. ONE: 7 November [1921]. 4pp, 12mo. Dictated, and entirely (including signature) in the hand of an amanuensis.

Toole’s entry in the Oxford DNB describes how ‘Toole was desolate, and his health broke’, after the Tooles’ twenty-two year-old daughter Florence died from typhoid fever on in November 1888, contracted a week before when visiting her parents who were performing at Cork. Her mother, Toole’s wife Susan, died three and a half months later, in February 1889. Both letter and card are in good condition. They are enclosed in a grubby envelop, with stamp and postmarks, addressed to ‘David Cunningham Esq / Belmont / Antrim / Ireland’. Letter and envelope have thick mourning border. ONE: ALS.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. Folded twice. Signed ‘André Deutsch’ (but note that there is no accent to the name on the letterhead). He thanks him for his letter, and hope that ‘the enclosed postcard [not present] will be of some help. It is rather an amusing one, as Herr von Papen gives a literal translation of the German expression for the appendix’. Here Deutsch adds in autograph: ‘(Physical).’ He ends by stating that he is enclosing ‘a copy of our list for your information’ (also not present).

A scarce piece of English theatrical ephemera, illustrative of the restrictions imposed following the Second World War. From the papers of W. Macqueen-Pope. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) The item is a duplicated bulletin of six closely-typed 8vo pages, on three loose leaves. The text is complete and clear, but the item is aged and with wear to edges. The first page is headed by the following, in capitals, above the address and phone number of ‘The Stage’: ‘According to latest directions from the Ministry of Fuel & Power this is for private circulation only and is distributed gratis.

The context appears to be that Wynne-Rushton is supplying Aylesford with ‘inside information’ regarding the ‘shady deals’ of one Soulsby, proprietor of the Westminster Association, a travel agent’s being employed by Aylesford with regard to a pilgrimage to Rome. Lynch’s two letters and that of J. Cleeve’s all in good condition, lightly aged and each folded three times. Letter by ‘J. R.’ in fair condition, on aged paper. Lynch’s letters are both signed ‘Malachy Lynch O. Carm.’ ONE: By Lynch, 21 January [1950]. He explains: ‘I understood that the Agency had made provision already for 1,000.

Keys features in his son’s entry in the Oxford DNB. (John Paddy Carstairs was christened Nelson John Keys.) Three theatrical autographs - Nelson Keys, ‘G. L.’ and ‘Gordon’ - on one side of a 25 x 20.5 cm piece of card. Apparently a gift from fellow cast-members to the actress playing the ‘Spirit of Spring’ in the Arthur Wimperis sketch ‘The Queen of Hearts’, in the C. B. Cochran London Pavilion revue ‘London, Paris and New York’, which ran for 366 performances between 1920 and 1921. J. P.

A nice slice of London ephemera. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged. They were clearly all sent together. ONE: ALS from Westley (‘W. Westley | Hon. Sec.’) to unnamed recipient. 2pp, 12mo. In answer to an application he is sending ‘one New Programme showing Waters &c’, pointing out that not all are ‘Trout Waters’, and that ‘about 30% of the Members only take part in competitions’. He explains that they have had good (he mistakenly writes ‘few’) membership over the previous two years, ‘but at the present time there are a few members’. TWO: Printed ‘C.L.P.S.

See Michael Caine’s affectionate account of Fox in ‘The Elephant to Hollywood’ (2010), from which the anecdote at the end of this entry is taken. 1p, 4to. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Hindin’, signed ‘Alwyn Fox’ and headed ‘Pantomime - “Dame”.’ While the twenty lines of text are clear and complete, the item is not in the best of condition, on aged and creased on discoloured paper with closed tears to edges. The letter begins: ‘I am at present free for Dame for coming season pants. and would be glad to negotiate with you.