MARY

[‘If it suits me to sing it’. Mary Davies, Welsh mezzo-soprano, first President of the Welsh Folk Song Society.] Autograph Signature to conclusion of Autograph Letter Signed.

Author: 
Mary Davies (1855-1930), English-born Welsh mezzo-soprano, co-founder and first President of the Welsh Folk Song Society, principal vocalist at the London Ballad Concerts and 1906 National Eisteddfod
Publication details: 
6 October 1882; no place.
£50.00

On 11 x 14.5 piece of paper, cut for an autograph collector from the conclusion of a letter. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with light patches of discoloration and a couple of pin holes; laid down on piece of cream paper from album. One fold line. Reads: ‘[...] I will be very pleased to look through it and if it suits me to sing it. / With kind regards to all / Believe me to remain / Yours faithfully / Mary Davies’.

[Mary Carpenter, educationist, penal and social reformer in Bristol and India, abolitionist.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Miss Thompson’, following a meeting at the Bristol Social Science Congress.

Author: 
Mary Carpenter (1807-1877), educationist, penal and social reformer in Bristol and India, abolitionist [Bristol Social Science Congress, 1869]
Publication details: 
9 October 1869; Bristol.
£45.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. The ‘Congress’ she is referring to in the letter is the 1869 Bristol Social Science Congress. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: ‘Dear Miss Thompson / It gave me pleasure to see you at the Congress I feel sure you will have heard much here which will stimulate you to further work. / I enclose you my carte as a remembrance. / Yours truly / Mary Carpenter. -’

[Lilian Mary Faithfull, Principal of Cheltenham Ladies’ College, social reformer and advocate of women’s rights.] Autograph Card Signed inviting Miss Muriel Lewis of Carshalton to lunch the following day.

Author: 
Lilian Mary Faithfull (1865-1952), Principal of Cheltenham Ladies’ College, social reformer and advocate of women’s rights, one of the ‘Steamboat ladies’ who pushed for the admission of women to the u
Publication details: 
No date, but with Kensington postmark of 6 November [1914?]; 1 Campden Grove, Kensington [London].
£45.00

An attractive artefact of a pioneer of women’s rights. See her entry in the Oxford DNB. On 14 x 9 cm post card. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed by Faithfull, with two stamps and postmarks, to ‘Miss Muriel Lewis / Greyhound Hotel / Carshalton / Surrey’. In neat hand and with good firm signature: ‘1 Campden Grove Kensington / I hope to see you to lunch to-morrow Monday at 1. pm. / Yrs. / L. M. Faithfull’.

[W. J. Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian.] 27 items: fifteen Typed Scripts of BBC broadcasts, including eleven concerning different London theatres, five earlier drafts, three sets of music lists and two letters to MP from BBC producer Mary Treadgold.

Author: 
W. J. Macqueen-Pope [Walter James Macqueen-Pope], theatre historian and theatre manager, associated in particular with the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London [Mary Treadgold, BBC producer; British Broa
Publication details: 
Treadgold’s two letters from the BBC,200 Oxford Street, London, both dated 1951. Three of MP’s scripts dated from the same year, and the rest of the material from around this time.
£1,500.00

The material collected here is perhaps unique: it is not clear whether any material relating to Macqueen-Pope’s BBC broadcasts has survived elsewhere. It is hard to overestimate the significance of ‘Popie’ to the history of the London stage. Other items from among his papers offered seperately attest to the regard in which he was held by both actors and those behind the scenes, as the foremost chronicler of a cherished era that was quickly passing into oblivion.

[Mary Jarred, English opera singer and Professor at the Royal Academy of Music.] Autograph Signature on photographic portrait of her.

Author: 
Mary Jarred (1899-1993), English mezzo-soprano and contralto opera singer at Covent Garden and Sadler's Wells, Professor at the Royal Academy of Music
Jarred
Publication details: 
1935. No place.
£23.00
Jarred

On 9 x 13.5 cm newspaper cutting of photographic portrait of Jarred. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: ‘Mary Jarred / 1935.’ The photograph shows Jarred posing in a black dress and pearls, with left hand arranging her white fur coat to tastefully emphasize her bust. See image.

[Benjamin Stoddert Ewell, sixteenth president of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.] Autograph Note Signed (‘Benj. S. Ewell’) to ‘Mr. Walter G. Webster’, in response to a request for an autograph.

Author: 
Benjamin S. Ewell [Benjamin Stoddert Ewell] (1810-1894), Confederate army officer, civil engineer, and sixteenth president of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia
Publication details: 
7 June 1872; on letterhead of the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.
£150.00

William and Mary owes its survival to Ewell: he rebuilt it from ruins after the American Civil War, and every morning during several years of closure he is said to have rung the assembly bell to keep the memory of the college fresh. The present item is 1p, landscape 8vo. It is in poor condition, on brittle high-acidity paper, with significant chipping to all the edges except the bottom one, which has resulted in the loss of a few letters of text, and to the engraved illustration of the college in the letterhead. The letter reads: ‘Mr. Walter G.

[Mrs Humphry Ward, author and anti-suffrage campaigner.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Mary A. Ward’) to ‘Miss Parker’, thanking her and her sisters for agreeing to ‘sing in the Anthem’ at her daughter’s wedding. With printed wedding invitation.

Author: 
Mrs Humphry Ward [Mary Augusta Ward, née Arnold] (1851-1920), author and anti-suffrage campaigner, wife of Thomas Humphry Ward (1845-1926), author and journalist
Publication details: 
Letter of 11 March 1904; on letterhead of 25 Grosvenor Place, S.W. [London.] Printed invitation to wedding at Manchester College, Oxford, 19 March 1904.
£56.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. Both letter and invitation have been repaired with archival tape after being torn in half; otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Letter of 11 March 1904. 2pp, 12mo. She has ‘heard from Mr. Tierny’ that Miss Parker and her sisters ‘have very kindly offered to sing in the Anthem on the occasion of my daughter’s wedding. It is most kind of you to give your time in this way, and we are sure that the music will be a very great addition to the service.’ She hopes that the sisters will see her ‘in the Library after the service’.

[Felix Eugen Fritsch, Professor and Head of Botany, Queen Mary College, University of London.] Autograph Note SIgned F.E. Fritsch to Crow.

Author: 
Felix Eugen Fritsch (1879–1954), algologist, Professor and Head of the Botanical Department, Queen Mary College, University of London, from 1911-1948
Publication details: 
3 June 1929; on letterhead of the Department of Botany, East London College, Mile End Road, E1. [London]
£38.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is William Bernard Crow, and the work referred to in the letter is his University of London thesis, presumably written under Fritsch’s supervision. 1p, 4to. Aged and creased, with chipping to edges. Folded three times. Good firm signature at foot: ‘F. E. Fritsch’. He thanks him for the copy of his book on “Contributions to the Principles of Morphology”, which he hopes to read ‘when the present rush dies down’. He hopes he is ‘getting on well at Huddersfield’.

[‘Ellis Peters’, pseudonym of Edith Pargeter, author of the ‘Brother Cadfael’ crime novels.] Autograph Signature, with pseudonym: ‘Edith Pargeter. / ‘Ellis Peters’.’

Author: 
‘Ellis Peters’, pseudonym of Edith Mary Pargeter (1913-1995), author of the ‘Brother Cadfael’ crime novels
Ellis Peters
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£85.00
Ellis Peters

On one side of a 12.5 x 8.5 cm piece of thin white card. Clearly given in response to a request for an autograph. Written in a large somewhat old-fashioned hand, with ‘Edith Pargeter.’ centred towards the head of the page, and ‘‘Ellis Peters’.’ at bottom right. See image.

[King Leopold III and Eton.] Typed Letter Signed (‘Lilian de Belgique’), in French, from Princess Lilian of Belgium to Lord Monckton, discussing her late husband’s connection with Eton, and the 'émouvant hommage' the college has just paid to him.

Author: 
Princess Lilian of Belgium [née Mary Lilian Baels] (1916-2002), Princess of Réthy, second wife of King Leopold III [Lord Monckton [Gilbert Walter Riversdale Monckton (1916-2006), 2nd Viscount]]
Publication details: 
21 February 1988; on letterhead of the ‘Domaine d’Argenteuil’.
£56.00

1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. The typed text of the letter is in French, but the following autograph text is in English: the address (‘Dear Lord Monckton,’), the valediction (‘With the hope of seeing you here soon! | Liliane de Belgique’), and the dating (‘21st. of February 1988’). She has been deeply touched by the ‘émouvant hommage’ which, thanks to Monckton, Eton has just rendered to the memory of the king. Monckton is aware ‘combien celui-ci était resté attaché à son ancien collège, auquel le liaient tant de souvenirs, et dont l’empreinte a marqué toute sa vie’.

[Charles Henry Alexander Paget, 6th Marquis of Anglesey, soldier and courtier.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Anglesey’), thanking A. C. Cox for offering ‘the Commissions in the name of the Marquess of Anglesey’.

Author: 
Marquis of Anglesey [Charles Henry Alexander Paget, 6th Marquis of Anglesey (1885-1947)], Lord Chamberlain to Queen Mary, soldier with Royal Horse Guards, courtier and landowner, patron of Rex Whistle
Publication details: 
26 January 1937; on letterhead of Plas Newydd, Llanfairpwll, Isle of Anglesey, with stamp ‘GUARDS 2 / RECEIVED’.
£38.00

2pp, 12mo. In good condition, folded once. Headed by him ‘Guards & Cavalry’. He is obliged to Cox for his ‘courtesy in offering me the Commissions in the name of the Marquess of Anglesey’, and will be ‘very grateful for them and they will be with all the family papers of which there are a great many & well cared for & catalogued’.

[‘Lucas Malet’ (pseudonym of Mary St Leger Kingsley), Victorian novelist admired by her friend Henry James.] Autograph Letter Signed (“Mary St Leger Harrison | ‘Lucas Malet’ ”) to ‘Mr. Combe’, sending him her autograph in charming style.

Author: 
‘Lucas Malet’, pseudonym of Mary St Leger Kingsley (1852-1931), Victorian novelist admired by her friend Henry James, daughter of Charles Kingsley
Publication details: 
10 October 1892. On embossed letterhead of Clovelly Rectory, Bideford.
£35.00

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border (her mother had died the previous December). In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of paper to which the item was glued still adhering to reverse of second leaf. Having been informed by her sister ‘Miss Kingsley’ (her elder sister Rose) that Combe is ‘kind enough to wish for my autograph’, she has ‘much pleasure in sending it you - but I wish my pen was a better one, more befitting this serious occasion!’

[E. V. Knox, editor of Punch, his wife Mary Shepard (illustrator of ‘Mary Poppins’).] Miscellaneous manuscript material, correspondence and ephemera inserted in manuscript appointments diary for 1954, including first page of typed memoir of Knox .

Author: 
E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox] (1881-1971, ‘Evoe’), editor of ‘Punch’ 1932-1948, humorist, essayist and poet [his wife Mary Shepard (1909-2000), illustrator of ‘Mary Poppins’]
Publication details: 
Hampstead, London. ‘Boots’ Scribbling Diary’ covers year 1954. Inserted material dated between 1954 and 1976.
£1,500.00

The diary is a 4to, with around 100pp. (a week’s entries on each leaf). In worn and marked printed olive boards with cloth spine; internally good and sound on lightly-aged paper. No ownership inscription, but from the E. V. Knox papers, and with entries in Knox’s hand and that of his wife Mary, illustrator of Mary Poppins, and daughter of ‘Winnie the Pooh’ illustrator Ernest Shepard. The eighteen inserted items, in good overall condition, are described here before the contents of the diary.

[E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox] (1881-1971, ‘Evoe’), editor of ‘Punch’.] Two Typed unpublished Talks on Punch, one dealing with the magazine’s place in social history, the other with its politics. With two drafts of the first, one in autograph

Author: 
E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox] (1881-1971, ‘Evoe’), editor of ‘Punch’ 1932-1948, humorist, essayist and poet [son of Edmund Abruthnott Knox, brother of Ronald, Dillwyn and Wilfred Knox]
Publication details: 
[Hampstead, London.] 1948 and 1949.
£2,500.00

See Knox’s entry in the Oxford DNB, along with those of his father Edmund Arbuthnott Knox, his brothers Ronald, Dillwyn and Wilfred, his wife the ‘Mary Poppins’ illustrator Mary Shepard (daughter of Ernest Shepard) and his daughter the novelist Penelope Fitzgerald. At the time the present material was composed Knox had been involved with Punch for more than four decades (1904-1948), holding the editorship for the last sixteen, with the magazines circulation rising to a peak of almost 200,000 as he approached his retirement.

[Naomi Jacob] Typescripts of her plays THE ACE (A Play in One Act) AND THE DAWN (A Play in One Act)

Author: 
Naomi Jacob [Naomi Eleanor Clare Ellington Jacob (1884 – 1964), writer, actress and broadcaster.]
Publication details: 
No date
£250.00

A. The Ace: 29 pages, sm. fol., in red paper covers, bindin a little battered but contents very good, address of agent handwritten on title (Elsa Daniels, 179 Manchester Road, Bury, Lancs). The play centres on Mary, Queen of Scots; B. The Dawn: 23 pages, sm. fol., in sl.stained folder, contents very good. Both plays apparently unpublished with minimal references on Google. A mysterious traveller turns up and discusses the present and future of Scotland, eventually revealing himself as The Young Pretender. Two items,

[ William Godwin, political philosopher ] Autograph Address only from Letter to Victorian Novelist Lady Stepney.

Author: 
William Godwin [ (1756–1836), journalist, political philosopher and novelist.]
Publication details: 
No Date.
£100.00

Piece of paper, c.11 x 5cm, on sl.larger card, foxed. Some marking of address but text clear: Lady Stepney | Henrietta Street | Cavendish Square

[Mary Somerville, Scottish scientist after whom Somerville College, Oxford, is named.] Autograph Signature ('Yours truly | Mary Somerville') cut from letter.

Author: 
Mary Somerville [née Fairfax, sometime Greig] (1780-1872), Scottish scientist and author after whom Somerville College, Oxford, is named
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£35.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. Since 2017 she has been depicted on the Scottish ten pound note. On 2.5 x 8.5 cm slip of paper, cut from letter. In good condition, lightly aged. Laid down on 4 x 9.5 cm piece of paper. Reads 'Yours truly | Mary Somerville'.

[Mary Martin, Broadway star.] Two Typed Letters Signed (both 'Mary') to 'Popie', i.e. the English theatre historian MacQueen-Pope, discussing her family's plans and the projected production of 'South Pacific' at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Author: 
Mary Martin [Mary Virginia Martin[ (1913-1990), American actress, singer, and Broadway star associated with Rodgers and Hammerstein [W. J. MacQueen-Pope; Larry Hagman]
Publication details: 
One 28 May [1950], the other undated, but from 1951. Both on her letterhead.
£120.00

Each letter 1p, 8vo. Both in fair condition, lightly aged and creased. On signing one of the letters she has slightly smudged it. ONE: 28 May [1950]. She thanks him for his 'fascinating-looking book, THE MELODIES LINGER ON', and for his 'most generous inscription'. She and her husband 'Richard' (the drama critic Richard Halliday) have 'read bits and pieces and have looked at every photograph, and can't wait to really sit down and read the book from cover to cover!' She continues: 'And that will be soon.

[Harold Wilson, Labour prime minister.] Christmas card, signed by Wilson, his wife Mary and son Giles, together with his foreign secretary George Brown and his wife Sophie, who writes a message in German.

Author: 
Harold Wilson (1916-1995), Labour prime minister; his wife Mary Wilson (1916-2018); his son Giles Wilson; George Brown (1914-1985), Labour politician; his wife Sophie Brown [Sophia Levene] (1911-1990)
Publication details: 
1966. Christmas card by Lum & Feher Press, Honolulu.
£100.00

In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Christmas card with unusual image of the three wise men (in Roman helmets) seen from behind, following the guiding star as it leads them across a Hawaian beach to the hut in which the birth of the messiah is occurring. Printed message in card in Hawaian and English. The reverse of the second leaf has nothing printed on it other than the publisher's slug, and at the head the prime minister has written 'Happy Christmas'. Beneath this, one above the other, are the five signatures: 'Harold Wilson | Mary Wilson. | Giles Wilson.

[George Henry Lewes, editor of the Fortnightly Review, 'husband' of the novelist 'George Eliot' (Mary Ann Evans).] Autograph Letter Signed ('G H Lewes'), to Reginald Stuart Poole, regarding his article on 'Pagan and Muslim Arabs'.

Author: 
G. H. Lewes [George Henry Lewes] (1817-1878), critic and philosopher, editor of the Fortnightly Review, 'husband' of the novelist 'George Eliot' (Mary Ann Evans) [Reginald Stuart Poole (1832-1895)]
Publication details: 
'Friday' (no date, but in 1865); on letterhead of The Fortnightly Review, Office, 193 Piccadilly [London].
£380.00

2pp, 12mo. Twenty-seven lines of text. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. A nice item, giving an indication of Lewes's editorial principles at the Fortnightly Review (he held the position from 1865 to the following year). Addressed to 'R. S. Poole'. He begins by explaining that he only returned to England the previous night, '& found your notes & m.s awaiting me'.

[Edmund Boyle, 7th Earl of Cork and 7th Earl of Orrery, Irish peer ] Autograph Signature ('Cork') to part of document addressed to the Duke of York (as Commander in Chief of the British Army).

Author: 
Earl of Cork [Edmund Boyle, 7th Earl of Cork and 7th Earl of Orrery] (1742-1798), Irish peer, on whose wife Mary Monckton Dickens modelled Mrs Leo Hunter in 'Pickwick Papers'
Publication details: 
[November 1795]; no place.
£35.00

On one side of 8 x 18.5 cm piece of paper, torn from the end of a letter. In fair condition, aged and worn, with traces of brown paper from mount adhering to the blank reverse. The item would appear to be entirely in the hand of the Earl, but the matter is not quite certain, and it may be in a secretarial hand, with only Cork's signature in autograph. It reads: '[...] | Sir | Your Royal Highness's | very obedient | and very humble Servant | Cork | Col | [Som.?] Reg.] Addressed to 'His R. H. | The Duke of York | &c &c &c'. Annotated, in two separate contemporary hands: 'Novr. 1795' and 'Nov.

[British Army Regimental Colonels during the reigns of William and Mary and Queen Anne.] Contemporary Manuscript of Regimental Colonels in Britain, South Britain, North Britain [Scotland], Ireland, Gibraltar and Port Mahon (Minorca), with emendations

Author: 
British Army Regimental Colonels during the reigns of William and Mary and Queen Anne
Publication details: 
No date but circa 1715, and amended until the mid-1720s. No place [War Office, London?]
£280.00

The present early eighteenth-century document lists the heads of British Army regiments from the period of the Glorious Revolution to the accession of George I. Internal evidence suggests that it was compiled around 1715, and that it was amended until the mid-1720s. The care with which it was compiled, over a decade and in a number of hands, would appear to suggest some sort of official standing. It is on nineteen 18 x 7.5 cm leaves of laid paper, formed in ten bifoliums, now loose but originally bound together, and with traces of thread still present.

[Lady Mary Augusta Holland, Whig society hostess, wife of Lord Holland.] Unsigned Autograph Letter [to Lord Rosebery or his wife?] regarding a foreign trip and Sydney Smith's view of the ballot.

Author: 
Lady Holland [Lady Mary Augusta Holland, née Coventry] (1812-1889), society hostess, wife of Lord Holland [Henry Edward Fox] (1802-1859), Whig politician [Sydney Smith (1771-1845), wit and cleric]
Publication details: 
'Saturday | Dover'. [7 September 1838.]
£80.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged. The reverse of the second leaf laid down on part of leaf from an album, the other side of which carries an engraving of Lord Melbourne. The letter is endorsed '1838 Sept 7# | Lady Holland' on the reverse of the second learf, and at the head of the first page: 'R[eplied]. at Dalmeny | Septr. 12. 1838'. There is no salutation to the letter (which is also unsigned), but the reference to Dalmeny House would appear to suggest that the recipient was Archibald Primrose, 4th Earl of Rosebery, or his second wife, born Anne Margaret Anson.

[George Canning, Prime Minister; John Richardson of Oxford University.] Manuscript copies of poems which won Chancellor's Medal for Latin verse: Canning's 'Iter ad Meccam [Journey to Mecca]'; Richardson's 'Maria Scotorum Regina [Mary Queen of Scots]'

Author: 
George Canning, British Prime Minister; John Richardson, Student of the University of Oxford [Chancellor's Medal for Latin verse]
Publication details: 
[University of Oxford, post 1789 and 1792.]
£450.00

Manuscripts in a contemporary hand of two poems which won the University of Oxford Chancellor's Prize for Latin Verse, neither of them published. In 1789, Canning, as a Christ Church undergraduate, won the prize for the second of the two, 'Iter ad Meccam Religionis causa susceptum'; and in 1792 John Richardson, 'Scholar of University', won it for the first of the two, 'Maria Scotorum Regina'. The manuscript of the two poems totals 29pp, 8vo. The pages are written lengthwise on fifteen of the twenty leaves of a stitched booklet of laid paper with Britannia watermark.

[ Charlotte M. Yonge, Victorian novelist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('C M Yonge') to 'Miss Sewell' [Elizabeth Missing Sewell?] regarding books, reviews and Hookham's Lending Library.

Author: 
Charlotte M. Yonge [ Charlotte Mary Yonge; C. M. Yonge ] (1823-1901), English novelist associated with the Oxford Movement
Publication details: 
28 August [no year]. On letterhead of Elderfield, Otterbourne, Winchester.
£120.00

4pp, 16mo. Bifolium of grey paper, with letterhead printed in red. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded three times. The recipient is undoubtedly Elizabeth Missing Sewell or a member of her family, and the letter begins: 'My dear Miss Sewell, | I wish you could have accomplished giving us a day, hoping you might have found me in more lively and sensible trim than when you were here, when I had a headache just enough to make me stupid.' She is going to post her Roscoe's 'William I', which she got 'from the L[ending] Library'.

[Frederick Burnaby, British traveller and national hero.] Engraving by Elizabeth Adela Forbes, of a drawing of Burnaby by Mary Blanchard Reed, signed by both women ('Mary B Reed' and 'Elizabeth A. Armstrong').

Author: 
Frederick Burnaby [Frederick Gustavus Burnaby] (1842-1885), soldier, traveller and balloonist; Elizabeth Adela Forbes [née Armstrong] (1859-1912), Canadian artist; Mary Blanchard Reed; Sidney Redrup
Publication details: 
'London Published July 8th. 1885 by Sidney Redrup. 175. New Bond Street. Copyright Registered.'
£1,500.00

See the Oxford DNB entry on Burnaby ('He was commemorated in verse, song, and Staffordshire pottery').

[Thomas Humphry Ward, author and journalist.] Autograph Card Signed ('Humphry Ward') to unnamed recipient, suggesting arrangements for an inspection of a portrait of 'H. [Sandwith?]'.

Author: 
Humphry Ward [Thomas Humphry Ward] (1845-1926), author and journalist, husband of Mary Augusta Ward [née Arnold], who wrote under the name Mrs. Humphry Ward
Publication details: 
9 June 1910. Letterhead of 25 Grosvenor Square, S.W. [London]
£35.00

On both sides of the card. In good condition, lightly aged. The recipient is not named. Reads: 'Dear Sir | I should like to see the [Sandwith?] portrait, & will take an early opportunity of calling at the Club. Perhaps, in case you are not there, you will kindly instruct the poert to shew it me when I call. The signature looks like H. [Sandwiths?] writing – but he certainly wore moustache & whiskers from 1850 onwards.'

[Sibyl Colefax [Lady Colefax], interior decorator and socialite.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Sibyl Colefax') to 'Mrs. Fox Pitt', offering to do the interior design for the Old Mill Hotel, Harnham, Salisbury.

Author: 
Sibyl Colefax [Sibyl, Lady Colefax, née Halsey] (1874-1950), interior decorator and socialite [Mary Fox-Pitt, proprietor, the Old Mill Hotel, Harnham, Salisbury]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Argyll House, 211 King's Road, Chelsea, SW [London]. No date.
£56.00

2pp, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded once. The letter concerns Colefax's offer to do the interior design of the Old Mill Hotel, Harnham, Salisbury, whose proprietor was Mary Fox-Pitt, daughter-in-law of Augustus Pitt Rivers. Begins: 'Dear Mrs. Fox Pitt | Lady [?] told me to write to you, & she has also told me of your exceedingly interesting plan of making an ideal Hotel near Salisbury.' Colefax boasts that she knows 'all that neighbourhood so well'. She feels the hotel 'would be a wonderful boon to everyone who lives there'. She now comes to the point.

[ Percy Shelley, son of [...]] Autograph Note third person "Sir Percy Shelley [...] to Messrs Sewell & Co., asking for his purchases to be delivered.

Author: 
Sir Percy Florence Shelley, 3rd Baronet (1819–1889) was the son of poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley,
Shelley
Publication details: 
24 Chester Square, 10 Dec. 1847.
£220.00
Shelley

One page, 16mo (9 x 11.5cm), trimmed, staining (recto and verso, from being laid down in an album presumably) but text clear and complete: "Sir Percy Shelley would be obliged to Messrs Sewell & Co. to send home the articles he purchased today - before two o'clock tomorrow, as Sit Percy is going into the country and wishes to take the parcel with him." Note: a. Sewell & Co. were perhaps the silk mercers and drapers of Compton St., London; b. Image on website.

[Mrs Humphry Ward, novelist.] Autograph Signature ('Mary A. Ward'), on letter in a secretarial hand, to 'Mrs. Story', suggesting - with 'a considerable hesitation' - a meeting when she and her family reach Rome.

Author: 
Mrs Humphry Ward [Mary Augusta Ward] (1851-1920), novelist, author, educationalist and founding President of the Women's National Anti-Suffrage League
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Hotel Timeo, Taormina. 3 April 1903.
£40.00

2pp, 12mo. Creased and worn. Folded once. She explains that she and her husband and daughter are on the way to Rome, where they will stay at the Hotel Molaro for six days, and expresses the hope that 'we may have the pleasure of seeing you & Mr. Story during that time, if you are at home'. She admits that she feels 'a considerable hesitation about letting any of our friends in Rome know of our coming', as they are 'so overdone with “forestieri” at this time of year'.

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