NOVEL

[ S. R. Crockett, Scottish novelist. ] Typed Letter Signed ('S. R. Crockett'), to a bookseller, thanking him for sending the book 'Idylls of Spain' and expressing an interest in the subject.

Author: 
S. R. Crockett [ Samuel Rutherford Crockett ] (1859-1914), Scottish novelist
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Savoy Hotel, Embankment Gardens, London. 30 January 1899.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged paper. He thanks him for sending 'Idylls of Spain' (by Rowland Thirlmere, 1897), which 'Mr. Milner' will settle with him for, and states that he is 'interested in the subject and would be glad of a note of any books you happen to come across on this subject'. In 1903 Crockett would publish 'The Adventurer in Spain'.

[ Sir A. J. B. Beresford-Hope, Tory politician and author. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('A J B Beresford Hope') to W. de Boinville, thanking him for uncovering information about the poet Christopher Smart.

Author: 
Sir Alexander James Beresford Beresford Hope [ Alexander Hope; A. J. B. Hope; A. J. B. Beresford Hope ] (1820-1887), Tory politician and author
Publication details: 
Bedgebury Park, Cranbrook [ Kent ]. 4 February 1858.
£45.00

3pp., 12mo. Writing in a difficult hand, he thanks him for his very curious & interesting letter respecting Chr. Smart, of whose birthplace I had been previously ignorant, tho' his name was not unknown to me in connection with Horace'.

[ Edgar Wallace, thriller writer. ] Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Edgar Wallace [ Richard Horatio Edgar Wallace ] (1875-1932), English thriller writer
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£25.00

On 5 x 11cm. piece of paper, torn from the conclusion to a typed letter. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: '[...] myself, you would write to me. | Yours very truly, | Edgar Wallace'.

[ Edward Lytton, Lord Lytton. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('L.') to 'Mr. Pearson', offering him a present.

Author: 
Edward Lytton, Lord Lytton [ Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton ] (1803-1873), 1st Baron Lytton, English novelist and politician, friend of Charles Dickens
Publication details: 
Without place or date. On his monogrammed letterhead.
£56.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly-aged. He writes that he has had 'a very fine p' sent to him, and asks if Pearson might accept it. 'If you dont care about it yourself you may have friends here to whom you might like to give it. Only, unluckily, I must have back the top'. He ends with a complaint regarding a 'Bronchial cough'.

[ Walter Greenwood, novelist. ] Autograph signature.

Author: 
Walter Greenwood (1903-1974), English novelist, author of 'Love on the Dole' (1933)
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£25.00

In blue ink, on 3.5 x 10 cm piece of thick paper, cut from a letter. In good condition, with traces of glue from mount on reverse. Reads: 'Yours faithfully | Walter Greenwood'.

[ Francis Browning Bickerstaffe-Drew, English author. ] Typed Letter Signed ('John Ayscough') to an unnamed editor, offering republication of his novel 'Two Fair Ladies', on reverse of letter from J. S. Wood, editor of the Gentlewoman.

Author: 
'John Ayscough', penmame of Francis Browning Bickerstaffe-Drew (1858-1928), English author, Roman Catholic priest and papal count; J. S. Wood [ John Snell Wood ] (1853-1920), editor of the Gentlewoman
Publication details: 
Wood's letter, on letterhead of the Gentlewoman, Arundel Street, Strand, WC. 3 January 1894. Bickerstaffe-Drew's letter from 6 Holyrood Place, Plymouth. 4 January 1894.
£100.00

Each letter 1p., 4to, Bickerstaffe-Drew's on reverse of Wood's. In fair condition, on aged leaf of paper with strip torn from head. The two letters cast an interesting light on English publishing practice in the late nineteenth century. Wood's letter, signed 'J. S. Wood', is written by a secretary, and addressed to 'The Right Rev Mgr Bickerstaff Drew'.

[Thurston, novelist] Autograph Note Signed "E. Temple Thurston" to "MIss [Carry?] W. Hay".

Author: 
E. Temple Thurston, novelist
Publication details: 
[Printed heading] 1 Adelphi Terrace House, Flat B., W.C., 10 Nov. 1908.
£56.00

One page, 12mo, minor marking, good condition. "I hope that this will be as useful for your purpose as 'Sally Bishop' [his novel- see note below]. The motive of Sally has been so misunderstood that I should be glad if I could stop the sale of it altogether - for which reason I preferred to give you 'Mirage'. Note: it appears that the Englsih edition of 'Sally Bishop' was published in 1910, the American in 1908 (the year of this letter). 'Mirage' was published in 1908.

[Anne Manning, Victorian novelist.] Autograph Letter Signed to her 'cousin and friend' 'Mr. Maleson', regarding his efforts to obtain a Civil List pension for her.

Author: 
Anne Manning (1807-1879), Victorian novelist [Arthur Hall, Virtue & Co., London publishers]
Publication details: 
Reigate Hill, Surrey. 18 July 1872.
£80.00

2pp., 12mo. 25 lines of text. In fair conditon, on aged and worn paper. Her sister Frances is 'overjoyed at your benevolent efforts for me', and 'Mr Arthur Hall is very glad indeed to hear what you are trying to do, and is quite ready if you and I approve to send a set of my books, with a notification to Mr Gladstone, and also of privately interesting the Archbishop, who will, he has no doubt send an autograph letter privately to the Prirme Minister'. The letter ends with a prayer for her 'kind friends', concluding 'The Lord will provide'.

[Lichfield House, Richmond upon Thames.] Nine indentures, deeds, and other property documents, including one signed by novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon and her son, another by her husband William Babbington Maxwell, and one by Sir Henry George Norris.

Author: 
Lichfield House, Richmond upon Thames, owned by novelist Mary Elizabeth Braddon [Mrs Maxwell] (1835-1915), Sir Henry George Norris (1865-1934), MP, Henry Lascelles (1690-1753), MP and slave owner
Publication details: 
[Relating to Lichfield House, Sheen Road, Richmond upon Thames.] London; between 1914 and 1933.
£850.00

Lascelles bought Lichfield House in 1729, and committed suicide there in 1753. The enormous success of Braddon's novels 'Lady Audley's Secret' (1862) and 'Aurora Floyd' (1863) allowed her to buy Lichfield House, where she too died. It was demolished in the 1930s. ONE: Manuscript indenture on vellum. 'Mrs. M. E. Maxwell to G. M. Maxwell Esq | Conveyance of freehold property known as "The Homestead" Sheen Road Richmond Surrey'. 10 June 1914. 4pp., 8vo, with covering page. Laid out in usual fashion, bound with green ribbon with tax stamps, Land Registry stamp, and two seals in red wax.

[Eden Phillpotts, novelist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Eden Phill<...>') [to A. G. Gardiner, editor of the Daily News], complaining of a review of his book 'Green Alleys', 'the great cause of the natural born child' and the 'Bastardy Laws'.

Author: 
Eden Phillpotts (1862-1960), English novelist, often writing on Dartmoor [Alfred George Gardiner ['Alpha of the Plough'] (1865-1946), editor of the Daily News; Robert Lynd (1879-1949), Irish essayist]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. [1916.]
£56.00

In poor condition, on aged and brittle paper, with significant chipping to edges involving loss of text, including the end of Philpott's signature. Undated, but written in 1916, the year of publication of Phillpotts' 'The Green Alleys'. Headed in blue pencil 'Mr Lynd' (i.e for the attention of Daily News columnist Robert Lynd).

[Andrew Soutar, novelist.] To an unnamed recipient, informing him that he will be sending him a copy of his new novel, 'Some Fell Among Thorns'.

Author: 
Andrew Soutar (1879-1941), English author of approximately 50 novels
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Brooklyn, Ifield, Crawley, Sussex. 15 January 1931.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Written in purple ink. The letter reads: 'My dear Sir, | Here it is, for what it is worth. To-morrow, Jan 16, a new novel of mine, "Some Fell Among Thorns", should be published. I shall send you a copy & ask your acceptance of it. | Yours Sincerely | Andrew Soutar'. Soutar received a brief obituary in The Times, 25 November 1941.

[Printed keepsake.] Poem by Austin Dobson, titled 'Henry Fielding. Unveiling by the United States Minister, the Hon. J. Russell Lowell, of the Bust in the Shire Hall, Taunton. Sculptor, Miss Margaret Thomas.'

Author: 
Austin Dobson [Henry Austin Dobson] (1840-1921), English poet and essayist [Henry Fielding, novelist; James Russell Lowell (1819-1891), essayist and American ambassador in London; Margaret Thomas]
Publication details: 
Place not stated [London?]. September 1883.
£135.00

4pp., 12mo. Paginated to 4. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. On laid paper watermarked 'A PIRIE & SONS | 1883'. Tastefully printed.

[Lauren R. Stevens.] Autograph Letter Signed and Typed Letter Signed (both 'Lauren') to English literary critic A. Alvarez ('Al'), discussing his decision to leave Harvard and his first novel, 'The Double Axe', an inscribed copy of which is included.

Author: 
Lauren R. Stevens (b.1938) [A. Alvarez [Al Alvarez] (b.1929), English literary critic; H. C. Baker [Herschel Clay Baker] (1914-1990), Professor of English Literature at Harvard University]
Publication details: 
TLS: 430 W. Allen's Lane, Philadelphia 19, Pennsylvania. 5 October 1960. ALS: on his (cancelled) letterhead 1717 Cambridge Street, Cambridge 38, Massachusetts. 31 January 1961. Book: New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1961.
£250.00

TLS: 2pp., 12mo. In good condition. The letter begins: 'Dear Al: | Last Thursday morning, while sitting in a barbar chair, I asked myself a question which a number of people have been asking me recently, namely, What are you doing at Harvard? I couldn't come up with a very satisfactory answer, so I went to a friend's house on Cape Cod for the weekend. Monday I saw the head of the English Department at Harvard, H. C. Baker. He said, "Follow your star," which seemed to me a little romantic, but all the same good advice.

[Tighe Hopkins, novelist.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. Case', presenting a copy of his 'Iron Mask'.

Author: 
Tighe Hopkins (1856-1919), novelist, journalist and authority on prison life and penal reform
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Frayn, Herne Bay [Kent]. 7 August 1902.
£45.00

2pp., 8vo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. He asks him to accept a copy of the Tauchnitz edition of his 'Iron Mask', 'the only one I happen to have by me'. He continues: 'As you are kind enough to express an interest in work of mine, I may say that I expect to be in the West of Ireland next month in the interests of the Daily Chronicle - if you ever happen to see that paper - for which I am to write a special series of letters describing the present condition of that district.' For more on Hopkins see his obituary in The Times, 17 February 1919.

[Printed translation into Portuguese of the first Gothic novel, Horace Walpole's 'The Castle of Otranto'.] Livraria Amena | O Castello de Otranto. Conto Gothico por W. Marshall. Esq. Vertido do Inglez.

Author: 
'W. Marshall. Esq.' [Horace Walpole] [J. J. A. Silva, Lisbon publisher]
Publication details: 
Lisboa [Lisbon]: Typographia de J. J. A. Silva, 1854.
£350.00

[1] + 111pp., 16mo. Unbound or lacking wraps (?). Aged and worn, with slight ink staining to title-page. The text is preceded by a full-page 'Prologo' from the publishers. No other copy traced on either Worldcat, COPAC, or PORBASE, and does not feature in the list of 'Later Editions' of the novel on pp.66-67 of A. T. Hazen's 1948 Walpole bibliography.

[William Pett Ridge, author.] Autograph Card Signed ('W. P. Ridge') to 'Miss Paget'.

Author: 
William Pett Ridge (1859-1930), English writer
Publication details: 
Letterhead of 24 Ampthill Square, London, NW. 'Thursday' [postmark 28 June 1906].
£25.00

In good condition, lightly-aged. Addressed to 'Miss Paget, | 28, Campden Hill Square | W.' Reads: 'I will look in this morning at the hour of coffee.'

[Margaret Oliphant ('Mrs Oliphant'), Scottish author.] Autograph Letter Signed ('M. O. W. Oliphant') to 'Mrs. Laing', gently urging her to visit 'at a time of grief'.

Author: 
Margaret Oliphant [Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant; 'Mrs Oliphant'] (1828-1897), Scottish novelist and biographer
Publication details: 
'7 Ulster Place [London] | Saturday' [no year].
£45.00

2pp., 16mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Written with the essence of Victorian tact. 'We shall be extremely glad if you can give us the evening of the 7th. instead of the 5th. and I trust you will permit us to consider you engaged to us for that night - 8 oClock - | I am grieved to think that my note should have reached you at a time of grief. Thank you for kindly consenting to come.'

['Francesca Marton' [Margaret Bellasis], historical novelist.] Typed Letter Signed ('Margaret Bellasis | "Francesca Marton') to 'Mr. Wiener', agreeing to give a talk to his 'Society' and discussing a BBC radio adapation of her work by Lance Sieveking

Author: 
Margaret Bellasis [Margaret Rosa Bellasis], historial novelist under the pseudonym 'Francesca Marton' [Lance Sieveking (1896-1972), English writer and BBC radio and television producer]
Publication details: 
"Pilot's Cottage", 35 Victoria Road, Deal, Kent. 2 March 1968.
£35.00

2pp., 12mo. 36 lines. She begins by accepting an invitation to give a talk to Wiener's 'Society', about which she has 'hears so much'. She is 'honoured to add my name to such a distinguished roll of speakers'. She next explains why she believes radio to be 'infinitely superior to TV'. She next turns to 'Mr. Sieveking's adaptation', which she considers 'very clever, as he had to leave out the descriptions which formed such an important part of the book. He allowed me to see and criticise all his scripts, too. I'm so glad you are liking the result. Isn't the signature-tune pleasing?

[Bibliographical Society offprint, inscribed by the author Michael Sadleir to Richard Bentley.] Anthony Trollope and his Publishers.

Author: 
Michael Sadleir [The Bibliographical Society; Anthony Trollope]
Publication details: 
London: Reprinted by the Oxford University Press from the Society's Transactions (The Library). 1924.
£150.00

[1] + 28pp., 4to. New title-leaf and text pp.215-242. In printed brown paper wraps, inscribed at head of front cover 'to Mr Richard Bentley | from Michael Sadleir | Dec 1924'. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. The paper was read before the Bibliographical Society on 17 November 1924. NOte: Sadleir describes the wonderful moment when he first saw the Bentley file copy collection in "Nineteenth-Century Fiction". He inevitably became very friendly. Richard Bentley was the grandson of the founder of the firm, selling up to MACMILLAN'S IN 1898.

[Joseph Paul Christopher Hatton, novelist and journalist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Joseph Hatton') to the autograph hunter J. T. Baron, discussing two of his works and enclosing a printed publicity flier for Hatton's publications.

Author: 
Joseph Hatton [Joseph Paul Christopher Hatton] (1837-1907), novelist and journalist, editor of the Gentleman's Magazine and Sunday Times [John T. Baron of Blackburn, autograph hunter]
Publication details: 
Letter: on letterhead of the Garrick Club, London. 7 December 1881. Flier: London: Frederick Warne & Co. [1878.]
£80.00

Letter: 1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. He begins by suggesting that Baron write to 'Mr Payn' (the novelist and editor James Payn) via the Reform Club, Pall Mall. (Baron's method involved asking one celebrity how to contact another.) He next discusses two of his works: '"The Memorial Windows" appeared in the Gentleman's & was published in Pippins & Cheese (Bradbury & Evans) - "The Valley" you will see in enclosed list'. He concludes by thanking Baron for his 'complimentary note'. With envelope addressed to 'J. T.

[Jessica Brett Young, widow of novelist Francis Brett Young.] Four Autograph Letters Signed to 'Mr Jackson', 'Manager, Heinemann & Cassell', discussing her husband's copyrights in an energetic style, with notes on the writing of 'My Brother Jonathan'

Author: 
Jessica Brett Young [née Hankinson], (1883-1970), wife of the English novelist Francis Brett Young (1884-1954)
Publication details: 
All four on letterheads of the Mount Nelson Hotel, Cape Town. Written in October and November 1967.
£100.00

The first three letters each 1p., 4to; and the fourth 2pp., 4to. In good condition, on aged and creased paper, with three of the four letters stapled together. Letter One: 13 October 1967. She writes 'for information about my position concerning my late husband's books, and my Biography of him which Heinemann's published in London in 1962'. The closing of the firm's Cape Town office has been a shock to her. Letter Two: 4 November 1967.

[Eden Philpotts] Two Autograph Postcards signed "E.P." to Lewis Wynne, Welsh poet.

Author: 
Eden Philpotts (1862-1960), English novelist, author of many works about Dartmoor and his native Devon [Helen Allingham]
Publication details: 
Torquay, 9 and 19 Feb. 1929.
£60.00

Postcards, c.11 x 9cm, some smudging but mainly good condition, text clear and complete. Postcard One: "Dear Mr Wynne, | Very best thanks for your valued gift: a fine & distinguished poem."; Postcard 2: "[...] | The books can be got separately & there are cheap editions of those two books any bookseller can secure for you for 2/- & 2/6 each. | I'm afraid London has had enough of my plays. My daughter's paly is not about [?] folk." Two items,

[Eden Philpotts] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Wilfrid C. Mosley', regarding Mosley's poor choice of a piece of his prose for an anthology. [not traced]

Author: 
Eden Philpotts (1862-1960), English novelist, author of many works about Dartmoor and his native Devon [Helen Allingham]
Publication details: 
Torquay | 14 March 1913.
£45.00

4to, 1 p. Ten lines, edges a little damaged but text clear and complete, on flimsy paper. "You are welcome to the quotation from my school-boy story - if it is worth while. I could have wished, however, that in an anthology of serious prose you had given me credit as a serious writer & chosen something more interesting. With compliments [...]"

[Mary Cholmondeley.] Autograph Letter Signed to fellow-novelist Frances Mary Peard

Author: 
Mary Cholmondeley (1859-1925), English novelist [Frances Mary Peard (1835-1923), English novelist, author of more than forty books]
Publication details: 
Hendon. 29 January [no year].
£56.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with short closed tear at head of second leaf. She begins: 'I was so disturbed and disappointed when I came in on Tuesday to find I had missed you. And I believe you had been kind enough to call when we ought to be, and almost invariably are in - after 4.

[E. Temple Thurston, Anglo-Irish author.] Autograph Letter Signed to his (American?) publisher 'Jewett', discussing his literary affairs and his plans for future writing.

Author: 
E. Temple Thurston [Ernest Temple Thurston] (1879-1933), Anglo-Irish author
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Gellibrands, Horn Hill, Chalfont St. Peter. 7 November 1914.
£90.00

4pp., 16mo. On bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly-aged and worn paper. He begins: 'No - I am not going to write the sequel to The City [his 1909 book 'The City of Beautiful Nonsense'] - but I am now hard at work on a book that is going to give me more pleasure to do than anything I have done yet. It is all laid in Ireland - which I have not written of for some years - & I believe will be as interesting to read as it is engrossing to me to write.' He asks him to 'go & see my play "Driven" when Johnson does it - some time this month in New York - & let me know - in

Substantial Autograph Letter Signed ('Frederick Niven') from the Canadian novelist Frederick John Niven to the Irish journalist and essayist Robert Lynd, explaining his ill health and praising Lynd's writing.

Author: 
Frederick Niven [Frederick John Niven] (1878-1944), novelist from British Columbia, Canada, born in Chile of Scottish parents [Robert Lynd (1879-1949), Irish journalist and essayist]
Publication details: 
Lorenza, Combe Martin, North Devon. 26 December 1916.
£160.00

4pp., 4to. Fair, on lightly aged and creased paper, with a few closed tears. The letter begins: 'Dear Lynd: I have been very ill and after two months in bed and an introduction to what Marley called "the thick, sweet smell of chloroform" I have been sent down here to get better - with the word of specialist and doctor that when I am well again I shall be better than I have been for a long time. This I write because I have often thought of writing to tell you how much I relish your papers.

Autograph Note Signed from the novelist John Galsworthy to Charles Seddon Evans of the London publishers Heinemann & Co. Ltd., enclosing a manuscript and stating its price.

Author: 
John Galsworthy (1867-1933), English novelist and playwright, best-known for his 'Forsyte Saga' [Charles Seddon Evans (1883-1944) of the London publishers Heinemann & Co. Ltd.]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Grove Lodge, The Grove, Hampstead, London, NW3. 20 April 1929.
£80.00

In good condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. Galsworthy writes: 'Dear Evans | Here is the MS. Price £300 [amended from 315] less half your Commission £30. = £285. nett. | Sincerely yours | John Galsworthy'. For such a short message, the manuscript shows signs of indecision: the latter part, from the word 'less', has clearly an addition, and the word 'half' has been inserted with a caret. While the manuscript referred to may well be the second collection of Forsyte Novels, 'A Modern Romance', published by Heinemann's in 1929, Galsworthy's price does seem rather cheap.

[Verse] Thought (Signed at end "Ann S. Stephens").

Author: 
Ann S. Stephens, American "dime" novelist.
Publication details: 
Washington, 29 June 1866.
£100.00

One page, 17.5 x 12cm, 8 lines, heavy grey paper, corner smudged, good condition. Title "Thought". "Give me thought - glorious thought [...] | To the sight of a flower; | Though it trembles and shrinks | From the touch of its thorn." Note: She was not known for her verse.

[Handbill] Notice [about school closure during Scarlet Fever Epidemic]

Author: 
[Scarlet Fever]
Publication details: 
Baily and Son, Machine Printers, Cirencester, [c.1890?]
£90.00

One page, 8vo, good condition, commences [title] NOTICE | The Managers of the ..............School consider it necessary, in consequence of the existence of Scarlet Fever in the neighbourhood [...] People are warned not to send children to school if there is illness inthe house of any sort, giving the circumstances for penalties (usually £5 fine), and outlining symptoms. Any householder swith illness in the hosue shouldcontact William Bishop Harmer, the Sanitary Inspector of the District.

Autograph Note Signed ('Max Pemberton') from Sir Max Pemberton to 'Dear Betty' [i.e. Elizabeth, daughter of the actor Seymour Hicks and his wife Ellaline Terriss]

Author: 
Sir Max Pemberton (1863-1950), popular Victorian novelist [Sir Arthur Seymour Hicks (1871-1949)]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Georgian House, Bury Street, St James', SW [London]. 12 January 1914.
£28.00

1p., 12mo. On thick deckled-edge paper. He apologises for the delay in sending a copy of his 'Iron Pirate', due to a delay in receiving it from the publishers.

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