ONE

Macready’s entry in the Oxford DNB states that he destroyed his diary and personal papers after the publication of his memoirs in 1924. If the present gossipy specimen is anything to go by, the loss of this material is most regrettable. (The ODNB entry for his father notes that he dealt with William Charles Macready's ‘copious and uninhibited diaries’ in similar fashion in 1914 - two years after the appearance of Toynbee’s edition.) See also the entry for Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland (1867-1955). 2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage.

A nice piece of First World War ephemera, from the period of transition from volunteering to conscription. Newnes was a leading British publisher of the period, and the present item may have been inserted in one of its periodicals, which included ‘The Strand Magazine’, ‘Women’s Own’ and ‘John O’London’s Weekly’. It is printed on a leaf of good quality cream 4to wove paper, and was intended for completion. In fair condition, lightly aged, with light wear and creasing to extremities.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both letters 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, but with the first bearing two tape stains. Both folded for postage. Each signed ‘R. E. Prothero’ and addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Speaker’. ONE (1 July 1918): He explains that ‘Agricultural labourers are specially excluded from the category of men to whom the War Office appeal to the V.T.C is addressed’, but that it was ‘only to be expected, as I had pointed out, that the appeal would still be made to them and that they would go in the middle of the harvest season. / The scheme is opposed by the Min.

An evocative artefact of one of the most successful British charities of the Great War. The Silver Thimble Fund was founded by Hope Elizabeth Hope Clarke of Wimbledon in 1915, and run from her house. Damaged trinkets made of precious metals, including 60,000 silver thimbles, were collected and melted down, paying for fifteen ambulances for the front and other medical transportation and equipment. The recipient is Mrs. Evelyn Julia Allan, listed in 1918 in the London Gazette as Honorary Secretary, Chelsea Division, British Red Cross.

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’.

This poem is said to be an earlier work by ‘A Tommy’, the pseudonymous author of the collection ‘If I Goes West’, published in London by Harrap in 1918. WorldCat has no entries to support a second claim: that the present poem was published in 1917, with the subtitle ‘Verses written by a “Tommy” who has fought, suffered and triumphed in Mesopotamia, and is still on active service there’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. A scarce item: no copy in the British Library and the only copies on COPAC at Cambridge and the V & A. In fair condition, lightly aged and with slight creasing to outer edge of front cover, on which a label has been laid down, carrying an inscription (repaired at one corner with archival tape) by Thomas: ‘From one child to another - Love and I cant thank you enough for everything - I’ll look forward to Janiuary - Muh love I’ll writer later’. A stapled pamphlet in brown card wraps. 16pp, landscape 8vo.

See Fisher’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Earlier in 1915 he had joined the Asquith government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board, and he would retain this post until June of 1917, when Lloyd George would promote him to the cabinet as President of the Local Government Board. The recipient Willoughby Hyett Dickinson (1859-1943), later an influential proponent of the League of Nations, began his career as a Liberal MP. He was knighted in 1918, and elevated to the peerage as Baron Dickinson of Painswick in 1930, the same year in which he joined the Labour Party.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Thomas Lloyd Humberstone (1876-1957) was a prominent member of the Convocation of the University of London. The work referred to in this letter is probably Hankey's 'The Supreme Command', the two volumes of which would be published in 1961. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded three times. He is returning his letter and ‘its interesting enclosure’. Not having had any experience of the Central Office of Information, he is left with the impression ‘that they are not very well informed on questions of Military Organisation’.

An extraordinary letter, rubbing the nose of a pro-Asquith Liberal in the muck on the eve of his leader Lloyd George’s landslide Coalition victory in the 1918 ‘Coupon Election’. Guest, who was Winston Churchill’s cousin, is described in his entry in the Oxford DNB as a ‘highly controversial’ figure who ‘knew where all the bodies were buried’, a useful attribute for someone who served as the Coalition Chief Whip from 1917 to 1921. The recipient Willoughby Hyett Dickinson (1859-1943), later an influential proponent of the League of Nations, began his career a Liberal MP.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is the Harrow housemaster George Townsend Warner (1865-1916), father of the novelist Sylvia Townsend Warner, referred to as ‘Townsend Warner / Historian’ in a pencil note to this letter. Signed ‘Ian Hamilton’. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with a few pin holes from attachment of a no-longer-present enclosure. Folded twice. Possibly concerning shooting practice for the Harrow army cadets.

See Fry’s entry by Michael Billington in the Dictonary of National Biography. His brother survives as a rather shadowy figure: he was certainly alive in 1978, when Fry referred to him in the account of his family background ‘Can You Find Me / A Family History’ (OUP). In that volume Fry describes his ‘brother Leslie’ as a baby ‘growing sturdily’, noting that ‘though he was later called by his first name Charles, he was Leslie for many years to come’.

Having made the first state visit to the United Kingdom by an American President, 26 to 28 December 1918, Wilson was in Europe at the opening of the Paris Peace Conference, which would result in the League of Nations and Treaty of Versailles. The present letter presents in forthright terms the Republican position on his activities in the aftermath of the First World War. 5pp, 12mo. On five leaves of letterheads of the Hotel Del Monte, California (‘Carl S. Stanley, Manager’). In postmarked envelope from the Hotel (stamps torn away), addressed to ‘Mr. P. A.

Paginated [387]-402, fold marks, small rust marks from staples, punch-hole. From the papers formerly held at the headquarters of the National Indian Association and the Northbrook Society, 21 Cromwell Road, later by its former Warden, Roland Knaster. BUT stamped 1917-CLUB, a club founded by Leonard Woolf, frequented by his friends and (re. Wikipedia entry, Gordon Childe, Ramsay MacDonald, Aldous Huxley, H. G. Wells, H. N. Brailsford, Elsa Lanchester, Rose Macaulay,[3] Frederick Pethick-Lawrence, J. A. Hobson, Norah C. James, W. C. Anderson, Mary Hamilton, Emile Burns, E. D.

8pp., folio. Unopened. On aged high-acidity paper, with wear along central vertical fold, and chipping to extremities. The article is unsigned, and covers the whole of the front page and p.5 (which is headed 'Ireland won't be fooled again.') and ends on p.6. An inflammatory piece of writing, as the following paragraph indicates: 'Good-bye, Tommy! | Firstly, the army of occupation has been taken from Ireland. Dozens of ships were steaming in and out of Dublin Bay for a week, taking away the men who held this country for England before Mr. Redmond offered Mr.

Piece of paper from lined exercise book, 11 x 13cm, good condition. Text: My subject will be 'Ourselves and Our Relations' [all underlined]. OURSELVES AND OUR RELATIONS.; Lecture by Mr.

The collection of seven items is in fair condition, lightly-aged and with slight rust staining to a few pages. The material is from the archives of an Anglo-German firm of City of London stockbrokers (see the list of clients in Item One below, all with German names), and is valuable for the material it contains revealing the impact of the First World War on the firm's own business (see Item Two below, regarding the 'Enemy [i.e.

Total 4pp., 4to, one with corner torn off, all a little battered but texts clear and complete. Letter One: He asks if anything can be done with [his] book, and discusses his re-writing another straight play. They don't seem to be able to stop me. I roughed it out during the war but have now done a lot to it. I think it's a winner! So does every one else who writes plays [further lighthearted comment on writing plays]. He asks finally whether Macqueen-Pope has any new books coming on. They seem to go down big.

See the entries for Smith and MacQueen-Pope in the Oxford DNB. Walt Disney had read The Hundred and One Dalmatians earlier in the year in which the present letter was written, and had immediately begun negotiations for the rights, much to Smith's delight, as she had hoped that he would make it into a film. 2pp, 8vo. A long letter, in a close and elegant hand. Writing on behalf of herself and her 'friend' and business manager Alec Macbeth Beesley, and on receipt of his latest book, she begins: 'Dear Popie, | How very, very kind of you to send us Give me Yesterday! Thank you so much.

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Having found among her correspondence an unanswered letter from her cousin she apologises for the apparent rudeness, before accepting her 'kind invitation to luncheon when next we are in your neighbourhood'. She hopes that they 'may be in the Forest some time in the summer'. She ends by stating that she is enclosing an autograph for her cousin's friend.

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Having found among her correspondence an unanswered letter from her cousin she apologises for the apparent rudeness, before accepting her 'kind invitation to luncheon when next we are in your neighbourhood'. She hopes that they 'may be in the Forest some time in the summer'. She ends by stating that she is enclosing an autograph for her cousin's friend.

1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. Bold signature in light-blue ink. He has not forgotten the 'very pleasant meeting' he had with Hills and her husband when she was on a trip to Newfoundland, and will be 'very pleased to accept your kind invitation for luncheon on the 5th November, and say a few words in connection with the work ahead for women in Empire Citizenship'. He assumes that the invitation extends to his wife.

1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged, with tissue labels from mount adhering to the reverse. Folded twice. Embossed letterhead with US seal. Salutation and valediction in Page's autograph, with addition of an exclamation mark. Addressed to 'Lady Lloyd, | 26, Great Cumberland Place, | W. | Enclosure.' He has had 'two moods' about the 'touching letter' that she is enclosing, but believes that 'the best thing to do is not to send it to Berlin'.

An unusual piece of First World War ephemera, a nicely-printed notebook intended for correspondence produced to raise funds for the charity. 48pp, 12mo, each page printed on its own leaf of wove paper. The leaves are perfect bound at the head, notebook-style, into grey card printed wraps, but with the glue now brittle and with the leaves now detached from the wraps, and with some leaves now loose.

An interesting collection of material relating to the preparations for the historic first Secret Session in the House of Lords, from the papers of Neville Digby Bosworth Smith (1886-1964) of the Privy Council Office. The material dates from the five days preceding 25 April 1916, when the House of Lords having voted in favour of the measure, it held a secret session to debate a motion regarding conscription following the passing of the Military Services Act 1916. (For a contemporary account of the parallel proceedings in the other house, see Sir C. P.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with a few light stains from mount. Folded once. Having seen the Times announcement of the birth of Cecil's son the previous Saturday, Jellicoe sends his 'Most hearty congratulations' on the birth of Cecil's son, and is 'so delighted that all is going so satisfactorily & that you can come to see us on the 14th.

3pp, 8vo. On three leaves with hole in one corner where they were attached with stud. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The letter is clearly a draft of a public letter to be signed by a number of eminent individuals, and was presumably composed by Bryce himself. No date or place, simply headed: 'To the Chairman of | The Government Distress Committee.' It begins: 'Sir, | We whose names are appended hereto view with concern the methods that seem about to be adopted for the relief of the distress caused by the war.

56pp, 8vo. With fold-out 'Chart indicating the suggested arrangement of buildings etc:' at rear, 29.5 x 53.5 cm. In grey printed wraps. Internally in good condition, lightly aged, in worn and torn wraps which are becoming detached. With label, stamp and shelfmarks of the Board of Education Reference Library. Black's preface (pp.5-6) begins by explaining that 'The ideas embodied in the following pages are the product of some eight months incarceration in Germany.

11 + [1]pp, 4to. Stitched with pink thread and unbound. In fair condition, lightly aged. Nicely printed on laid paper, with cover illustration in black and green of view from back of stage of dancer receiving a bouquet from an audience. The second page gives details of the performance, with a list of the names of the 'Executive Committee'. The programme is on pp.3-11. Divided into 16 numbers. After five songs, the main feature (numbers 6-15 pp.4-8) is 'Chelsea on Tiptoe | New Version', with 'A Prologue | Written specially for “Ellen Terry's Bouquet” | By E. V.

2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed to 'My dear Cope'. After thanking him for his letter Lavery writes: 'Our “friend” [Braynard?] when he called to ask for my signature told me many things, amongst others that the A. G. B. I. had already given him a grant some time back and that [Charleton?], Brangwyn and I were his sponsors | I had a hazy recollection of him and made up my mind that I would sign his paper and let the Secretary of the A. G. B. I. know the circumstance, which I did do that same day.