PROOF

[Michael Frankael, writer associated with Henry Miller.] Printed item: leaflet advertising his various publications, with ‘Press Opinions’ including Aldous Huxley, Havelock Ellis and Henry Miller.

Author: 
Michael Fraenkel (1896-1957), avant-garde writer and proprietor of the Carrefour Press, associated with Henry Miller
Publication details: 
No date [early 1940s]. Order from The Argus Book Shop, Chicago.
£50.00

6pp, 8vo: with three pages beside one another on each side of a strip that folds in on itself. In fair condition, on lightly worn and discoloured paper. Front page with ‘Michael Fraenkel’ and list of five publications: ‘Death Is Not Enough / (Essays in Active Negation) / Werther’s Younger Brother / (The Story of an Attitude) / Death In A Room / (Poems 1927-1930) / Bastard Death / (The Autobiography of an Idea) / Hamlet, Volumes I and II / with HENRY MILLER’.

[Michael Frankel, writer associated with Henry Miller.] Three printed items: prospectus for ‘Bastard Death’; leaflet advertising his publications, with press opinions and manuscript additions; invitation to a French Henry Miller exhibition.

Author: 
Michael Fraenkel (1896-1957), avant-garde writer and proprietor of the Carrefour Press, associated with Henry Miller
Publication details: 
ONE ('Bastard Death' prospectus): [1946.] Carrefour, 342 E. 19th Street, New York City. TWO (Advertisement for Fraenkel's publications): No date [early 1940s]. Order from The Argus Book Shop, Chicago. Three (Henry Miller exhibition invitation): 1994.
£180.00

ONE: Prospectus for ‘Bastard Death / The Autobiography of an Idea / By / Michael Fraenkel’. 4pp, small 4to. Bifolium leaflet with prospectus on recto of first leaf, ‘press proof’ on two central pages, and list of other works, with reviews, and order form on verso of second leaf. In fair condition, on lightly-creased browning wove paper. The prospectus begins: ‘This is an uncorrected press proof of the new limited edition of BASTARD DEATH, showing hand-set 12 point Cheltenham type, size and set-up of page, etc.

[‘King of Redonda’: John Gawsworth, English poet.] Galley proof of his poem ‘Rest’ (‘Beneath the oaks the soldiers lie’) with one minor emendation.

Author: 
John Gawsworth [pseudonym of Terence Ian Fitton Armstrong (1912-1970)], English poet, author and ‘King of Redonda’ [New English Weekly, founded in 1932 by A. R. Orage]
Redonda
Publication details: 
No date [1940s]. Stamped ‘FOR & ON BEHALF OF / THE NEW ENGLISH WEEKLY. / 15 REGENT’S PARK TERRACE / GULiver 3875’.
£120.00
Redonda

On one side of a 12mo a piece of grey-green paper; creased, worn and torn at the bottom. A fifteen-line poem in five three-line stanzas, titled ‘REST’. At end: ‘JOHN GAWSWORTH’. Proof directions in pencil to convert a full-stop at the end of the fourth stanza to a comma. While the poet's attempt at direct simplicity verges on triteness, one should recall that he served manfully in the RAF: ‘Beneath the oaks the soldiers lie / Staring at the open sky / Drowsily, lazily. / Like England is this plot of green / But in the mountains all unseen / The guns’ complaint affects the scene.

[Philip Youngman Carter, Assistant Editor of The Tatler and husband of Margery Allingham.] Eight Signed Letters (three in Autograph, five Typed) to E. V. Knox, regarding reviewing, with galley proof of one of Knox's reviews.

Author: 
Youngman Carter [Philip Youngman Carter] (1904-1969), crime novelist, graphic artist, husband of Margery Allingham, assistant editor of 'The Tatler' [E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox] (1881-1971)]
Publication details: 
All eight letters on letterhead of The Tatler and Bystander, London. Seven dated between 17 November 1950 and 14 May 1953, the other without year.
£220.00

According to the Oxford DNB entry on Carter's wife the crime writer Margery Allingham (whose book jackets were among those he designed): 'Their amiable, childless marriage was funded by Allingham's increasingly successful fiction. And, although Youngman Carter assisted his wife as a sounding board for plot design, and by producing covers and illustrations for her work, he found it difficult to sell his art.

[Christopher Fry: 'The Dark is Light Enough', Corrected Proofs.] Revise Proofs of the first edition of 'The Dark is Light Enough' (Oxford University Press), with Autograph Emendations.

Author: 
Christopher Fry (1907-2005), playwright [Oxford University Press]
Publication details: 
[London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1954.] Red ink stamp at foot of first page: '15 APR 1954 | REVISE'.
£650.00

103pp, 8vo. Revises of the text of the play (and not the prelims) in unbound signatures. In fair condition, lightly aged. Red ink stamp at foot of pp.1 and 40: '15 APR 1954 | REVISE'. Numerous autograph emendations, nearly all minor and relating to accidentals, but with five verbal changes, of which the following two are the most significant. Printed on p.9: 'KASSEL. Well, Bella, does she seem to be in trouble? | BELLA. She says the only trouble is us who trouble ourselves.' amended in autograph to 'KASSEL. Well, Bella, where has she been/ | BELLA.

[Charles Williams, C. S. Lewis.] Proof Copy: 'Arthurian Torso Containing the Posthumous Fragment of The Figure of Arthur by Charles William and a Commentary on the Arthurian Poems of Charles Williams by C. S. Lewis Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford'

Author: 
Charles Williams, C. S. Lewis [The Inklings, Oxford University; J. R. R. Tolkien]
Publication details: 
London: Geoffrey Cumberlege, Oxford University Press. 1948.
£1,500.00

[8] + 200pp, 8vo. In light-brown wraps with title repeated on front cover. Worn, on aged paper, with the upper back few leaves dogeared, and spotting at foot of first few leaves. The present proof must in some regard differ from the published version, whose various listings on COPAC give it 200pp, rather than the 199pp here. Lewis's two-page 'Introductory' concludes with a vivid picture of the Inklings: 'The first two chapters had been read aloud by the author to Professor Tolkien and myself.

[ William Henry Black, antiquary. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('W. H Black') to John Bowyer Nichols, editor of the Gentleman's Magazine

Author: 
William Henry Black [ W. H. Black ] (1808-1872), antiquary [ John Bowyer Nichols (1779-1863), printer and editor of the Gentleman's Magazine ]
Publication details: 
6 Pratt Street [ Camden Town, London ]. 7 November 1834.
£75.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium on grey paper. Aged and worn. Addressed on reverse of second leaf by Black, with his initials, to 'J B Nichols, esq | 25 Park Street.' An interesting glimpse of the editorial workings of the Gentleman's Magazine and Georgian periodical publication in general. Black complains that he has been 'waiting some days for the concluding sheet (as I suppose) of that part of which contains the Ferrar, - the end of the quarto MS. copy'.

[ Proof of the suppressed version of Ian Hamilton's biography, with fullest quotations from Salinger's letters. ] J. D. Salinger: A Writing Life.

Author: 
Ian Hamilton [ J. D. Salinger; William Heinemann Ltd, London publishers; Random House ]
Publication details: 
Suppressed proof. [ London: William Heinemann Ltd. 1986 ]
£1,850.00

The present item is a product of one of the most celebrated publishing controversies of the twentieth century. In 1982 the English critic and poet Ian Hamilton set out to write a biography of the legendarily-reclusive Salinger. The attempt, as The Times explained in Hamilton's obituary, 31 December 2001, 'went horribly wrong': 'Salinger succeeded in blocking publication in the courts', because the book, to be titled 'J. D.

[ Lafayette photographic studios, London. ] Eight proofs of portrait photographs [ of Selina, Lady Hamilton, daughter of Viscount Dundas ].

Author: 
James Stack Lauder (1853-1923), Lafayette photographic studios, London [ Selina, Lady Harington (1874-1945), wife of Sir Richard Dundas Harington (1861-1931), daughter of 6th Viscount Melville ]
Publication details: 
All eight stamped 'LAFAYETTE, LONDON'. October 1905.
£80.00

The eight range in size from 14 x 10 cm to 11.5 x 10 cm. Most are heavily faded, almost to the point of indistinguishableness, but presumably recoverable using modern computer techniques. Each is stamped on the front 'PROOF TO BE RETURNED TO LAFAYETTE, LONDON'. Each with pencil note on the back identifying the sitter as 'Mrs. Harrington', with reference number and date in October 1905. From the papers of Sir Richard Harington of Ridlington, the sitter being identified by reference from other material therein.

[ Macleod Yearsley and the Thinker's Library. ] Copy of Yearsley's book 'The Folklore of Fairy-Tale' with extensive autograph emendations (two notes initialled 'M. Y.') and two proof specimens for intended republication in the Thinker's Library.

Author: 
Macleod Yearsley [ Percival Macleod Yearsley ] (1867-1951), surgeon, author, folklorist and eugenicist [ The Thinker's Library, published by Watts & Co. for the Rationalist Press Association, London ]
Publication details: 
Book: London: Watts & Co., Johnson's Court, Fleet Street, E.C.4. 1924. Specimen proofs by Richard Clay & Sons, Bungay, Suffolk: June and July 1936.
£280.00

The item provides an interesting insight into the editing process of the Thinker's Library, 140 volumes of which Watts & Co. published for the Rationalist Association between 1929 and 1951. The book is xiii + 240pp., 8vo, in red cloth binding, gilt. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with slight wear to one corner. A couple of leaves have been neatly torn out, evidently in the process of revision. Stamp of the Rationalist Press Association Ltd on reverse of title.

[ Jefferson Miles, Proof Master General of Ordnance. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Jeaffreson Miles') to Robert Eddowes, Ordnance Storekeeper at Portsmouth, directing him to have all his receipts signed.

Author: 
Jeaffreson MIles [ Jefferson Miles ] (d.1763), Proof Master General of Ordnance [ Robert Eddowes, Ordnance Storekeeper at Portsmouth; Royal Navy ]
Publication details: 
Office of Ordnance [ London ]. 17 July 1753.
£250.00

1p., folio. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Addressed on reverse of second leaf, with postmark, 'To | Robert Eddowes Esqr | Ordnance Storekeeper | at | Portsmouth'. 24 lines of neatly-written text. An unusually emphatic communication, the possibility of fraud clearly being in the air.

[W. Heath Robinson.] Proofs of two sets of prelims from his Navarre Society edition of 'The Works of Mr. Francis Rabelais', with a total of ten illustrations by W. Heath Robinson.

Author: 
W. Heath Robinson [The Navarre Society, London; Morrision & Gibb, Limited, Printers, Edinburgh; Francois Rabelais]
Publication details: 
Navarre Society, London. Both sets of prelims with stamp of Morrison & Gibb, Limited, Printers, Edinburgh, dated 18 March 1954.
£180.00

Both sets of proofs unstitched and unopened (and both opening out into a folio sheet), and both with title-pages printed in red and black. Both in very good condition, on lightly-aged paper, and both stamped on first page 'PLEASE PASS FOR PRESS | MARGINS' in blue, with purple oval dated printers' stamp. FIRST SET: 16pp., 8vo, paginated to xvi. Title: 'THE WORKS OF MR. FRANCIS | RABELAIS | [...] | Illustrated by W. HEATH ROBINSON | The Second Part'. Publishers' details at foot on pasted label at foot of title-page: 'MCMLIV | THE NAVARRE SOCIETY LONDON'.

[G. A. Aitken, editor.] Autograph Letter Signed and Autograph Note Signed to the London publishers George Routledge & Sons, correcting a proof and discussing a reprint of his edition of the 'Spectator', with copy of a typed reply from the firm.

Author: 
G. A. Aitken [George Atherton Aitken] (1860-1917), author and editor [George Routledge & Sons, Ltd, London publisher; the Victorian book trade; English bookselling and publishing]
Publication details: 
Aitken's ALS and ANS both on letterhead of 42 Edwardes Square, Kensington, W. [London] 3 and 6 December 1907. Copy of typed reply from George Routledge & Sons, Ltd, London. 4 December 1907.
£100.00

All three items in good condition, on lightly aged paper. The two Aitken letters are both signed 'G A Aitken'. ONE: ALS by Aitken, 3 December 1907. 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. He begins by suggesting an emendation to a note on an 'enclosed proof' regarding Dr Pearce and 'The Tatler'. He then discusses a reprint by the firm of his edition of the 'Spectator', which he has not seen. 'If it bears a current date on the title-page, I trust you have preserved the date to the Preface, to show that I have not revised the work.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J Montagu Sims') from the editor of the Manchester 'free Lance' to copy editor 'Mr. Alvarez', regarding the journal's system of punctuation.

Author: 
J. Montagu Sims (fl. 1870s), editor of the Victorian Manchester periodical 'free Lance' [Alvarez, copy editor]
Publication details: 
'Southport. Tuesday.' [no date] On letterhead of 'The Editor's Department', "free Lance" Office, 36, Corporation Street, Manchester.
£65.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. He begins by informing Alvarez that the periodical 'somehow made a sad hash of the printing of ye last No. which I have sent to the works | As you are now definitely engaged to read, I will tell you our system. | No high pointing, the other plan being both more scholarlike & less expensive. | All proofs read after my signature is attached (in page) to be only altered for literals.' He ends by informing Alvarez that he has 'sent on something of yrs'.

Offprint from the Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature: 'On Two Events which occurred in the Life of King Canute the Dane.'

Author: 
John Hogg, Foreign Secretary of the Royal Society of Literature [John Lee (ne Fiott) (1783-1866), of Hartwell House]
Publication details: 
London: Printed by W. Hughes, King's Head Court, Gough Square. 1855.
£75.00

8vo: [ii] + 18 pp. In worn original buff wraps with white printed label on front. Clear and complete. On aged, damp-stained paper. Presentation copy, with note on title-page: 'To John Lee Esqre. L.L.D. | with the Author's kind regards.' Ownership inscription of 'J. Lee. Hartwell. 3 May 1856.' also on title. Scarce.The only copies on COPAC at the British Library and the Society of Antiquaries.

Remarque Proof Impression of etching on japon paper, signed by the engraver, of Meissonier's celebrated battlefield painting of Napoleon, 'Friedland, 1807'.

Author: 
Charles Klackner, New York and London printseller; Jean Louis Ernest Meissonier, French artist; L. Ruet, engraver [Napoleon Bonaparte; Battle of Friedland, 1807]
Publication details: 
Copyright 1913 by C. Klackner, 7 West 28th Street, New York. [20 Old Bond Street London, Printed by Ch. Wittmann.]'
£300.00

On japon paper, roughly 260 x 330 mm. Dimensions of image roughly 140 x 225 mm. The impression has a metallic sheen. An impressively-executed engraving, a clear and crisp representation of Meissonier's celebrated painting, with a remarque of a horse at the foot. To the right of the remarque is the engraver's signature in pencil, ''. Klackner's copyright details run along the head of the engraving. Good, in crude card mount. A light smudge in the top left-hand corner of the margin, and a little damage to the bottom right-hand corner of the margin.

Galley proofs of an article in the London Magazine, entitled 'Conversation with Lawrence'; with a Typed Letter Signed by Lawrence's biographer Edward Nehls, and covering letter by Barbara Cooper, assistant editor, London Magazine.

Author: 
Brigit Patmore (1882-1965) [D. H. Lawrence; the London Magazine; Barbara Cooper; Edward Nehls]
Publication details: 
Proofs of an article appeared in the London Magazine for June 1957. Nehls's Letter: 7 June 1957; Urbana, Illinois. Cooper's Letter: 18 June 1957; on letterhead of the London Magazine.
£100.00

The proofs are on one side each of five strips (each approximately 60 x 15.5 cm) of discoloured high-acidity paper. They are in good condition, with a little light creasing, and slight chipping at head of first strip (not affecting text). They are headed 'GALLEY ONE [TWO, THREE, FOUR, EIGHT]'. Text clear and entire. The article reads continuously, with no hiatus between Galleys Four and Eight. Some simple errors indicate that these are early proofs, i.e.

Proof ('Saunders sculp.'), 'Engraved for Ashburton's History of England', of 'Henry II after having his Son crowned King serving the first dish to his Table'.

Author: 
[Charles Alfred Ashburton; Ashburton's History of England; Joseph Saunders, engraver; W. & J. Statford, Print Sellers, High Holborn, London]
Publication details: 
Published by W. & J. Stratfords, No: 112 Holborn Hill March 16, 1793.'
£28.00

On wove paper, with watermark '179< >'. Dimensions roughly 22.5 x 39 cm. Very good on lightly aged paper. One small unobtrusive spot of foxing. The illustration is within an oval roughly 21.5 cm wide, enclosed in a decorative box of dimensions 18 x 27.5 cm. A couple of bishops with croziers and a mass of nobles in ermine look on in a vaulted castle hall while Henry II presents what looks like a pie to his bemused offspring, who is seated beneath a canopy.

Autograph Card Signed ('Marshall P. Wilder') to the English publisher [William Swan] Sonnenschein (1855-1934).

Author: 
Marshall Pinckney Wilder (1859-1914), American humourist
Publication details: 
19 August 1889; on Marshall's letterhead from 'The Alpine', 55 West 33rd. Street, New York.
£28.00

8.5 x 11 cms. Grubby and lightly spotted. Reads 'My dear Mr Sonnenschein | Kindly send draft as I can collect here - | Merrily Yours | Marshall P. Wilder'. Presumably refers to the English printing of his 'The people I've smiled with: recollections of a merry little life' (1889).

Proof engraving of 'Harrietta Bowdler' by Scriven, after a drawing by Slater.

Author: 
Harrietta Bowdler (nee Hanbury, died 1829) of Eltham, Kent (wife of John Bowdler the elder, 1746-1823) [Joseph Slater (c.1779-1837), artist; Edward Scriven (1775-1841), engraver]
Publication details: 
Without date or place. [London: Colnaghi & Co., July 1830?] 'J. Slater. delt. 1817. Edwd. Scriven. sculpt.'
£80.00

The word 'Proof' is engraved in the bottom right-hand corner. Dimensions of paper roughly ten inches by seven and a half. Good clean image on lightly aged paper. Head and shoulders portrait, in which a dolorous old biddy in cap stares vacantly at the viewer. Presumably a companion piece to an engraving in the National Portrait Gallery by Isaac W. Slater of a drawing by Scriven of Henrietta Maria Slater, published by Colnaghi in July 1830. This item is not present in the National Portrait Gallery online catalogue.

Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mrs Valentine'.

Author: 
Victor Sawdon Pritchett
Publication details: 
16 December 1985; on letterhead '12 REGENTS PARK TERRACE | LONDON N.W.I'.
£28.00

English novelist (1900-96). One page, octavo. Good, but with slight marking from staple in top left-hand corner. He is glad his correspondent is 'having therapy for your bad back for, hard work though it is, and must be in your case, I'm sure you will find it helpful. | About author's proofs, they of course usually go back to publishers; but what I am glad to be able to send you is the jacket of my latest book which at least has a picture and my signature, and I hope it will, at least, be decorative in your study.' Signed 'Victor S Pritchett'.

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