PUNCH

[Sir Francis Cowley Burnand, editor of Punch.] Autograph Letter Signed ('F. C. Burnand') to the playwright and author Mrs Craigie ('John Oliver Hobbes'), regarding publication of her latest 'story'.

Author: 
F. C. Burnand [Sir Francis Cowley Burnand] (1836-1917), comic author and playwright, editor of Punch magazine ['John Oliver Hobbes', pen-name of dramatist Pearl Mary Teresa Craigie (1867-1906)]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the publishers of Punch: Whitefriars, E.C. ('Telegrams: | CHARIVARI, LONDON.') 28 October 1899.
£40.00

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin vertical strip of paper from mount adhering along top of first page. Begins: 'My dear Mrs Craigie | Mr Arthur à Beckett tells me that your story will soon be ready. When? I want if possible to commence with it [?] within the next fortnight. I shall have to definitely settle the matter. I hope you will let me have it very soon as I will then have it set up for you at once [last two words underlined]'.

[Tania Long of the New York Times writes from wartime London on 'queue psychology' in Britain and America.] Typed Letter Signed ('Tania Long Daniell') to Punch editor E. V. Knox, in connection with an article being commissioned from him.

Author: 
Tania Long [Tania Long Daniell] (1913-1998), American journalist and war correspondent [E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox] (1881-1971, 'Evoe'), editor of Punch]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the London bureau of the New York Times, Savoy Hotel, London WC2. 24 May 1943.
£250.00

Long's obituary in the New York Times, 6 September 1998, describes her as 'war correspondent for The New York Herald Tribune and The New York Times who covered the London blitz and the Nuremburg trials' and 'one of only a few women who were correspondents in World War II'. She had joined the New York Herald Tribune's London bureau in 1941, and subsequently married Raymond Daniell, chief of the New York Times's London bureau, joining that newspaper as a reporter in February 1942.

[E. V. Lucas writes to E. H. Shepard regarding the illustrating of a poem for 'Punch'.] Typed Letter Signed ('E. V.') to 'Ernest', regarding the illustrating of a poem ('Monmouthshire'?) for 'Punch'.

Author: 
E. V. Lucas [Edward Verrall Lucas] (1868-1938), author and Chairman of Methuen & Co, London publishers [E. H. Shepard [Ernest Howard Shepard] (1879-1976), artist and illustrator; Punch magazine]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Methuen & Co, Publishers, London. 17 May 1928.
£100.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed in type to 'My dear Shepard,' but with the last word corrected in autograph to 'Ernest'. He has now 'made sufficient progress with Monmouthshire' to be able to give Shephard 'a line': 'The first two verses bear upon the Wye valley and the Usk valley, of which Tintern is the best symbol.

[Punch history; C. L. Graves and Punch editor E. V. Knox.] Autograph Letter Signed from 'C L. G.' to 'Evoe', discussing in detail questions relating to his planned history of Punch, with long autograph 'Notes on your Memorandum'.

Author: 
C. L. Graves [Charles Larcom Graves (1856-1944), assistant-editor of Punch and the Spectator, uncle of poet Robert Graves [E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox] (1881-1971, 'Evoe'), editor of Punch]
Publication details: 
Letter on letterhead of Kent Lodge, Westgate-on-Sea, Thanet. 30 May 1938. Memorandum undated.
£750.00

For information on Graves see his generous obituary in The Times, 18 April 1944. Both items in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with minor staining from paperclip to first leaf of letter. The work was not published, and although Graves states in Item One that the greater part of the text is 'in the hands of my typist', there is no record of its survival, or of the thousand related documents he states were sent to him by M. H. Spielmann. ONE: ALS from 'C L. G.' to 'Dear Evoe'. 4pp., landscape 8vo.

[George du Maurier, Punch artist and cartoonist.] Autograph Signature ('Yours faithfully | George du Maurier') in response to a request for an autograph.

Author: 
George du Maurier [George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurie] (1834-1896), Punch cartoonist and novelist
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£23.00

On 5 x 10 cm slip of paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Yours faithfully | George du Maurier'. The first line lightly inked, the signature itself bold and strong. Nothing else on the card, except for the number '92' in a contemporary hand at top left above the signature.

[Jeanne de Casalis, film and stage actress, writes to 'Mr. Knot' (E. V. Knox) of 'Punch'.] Autograph Card in the third person, informing him when she will be doing a BBC radio broadcast of his 'Reparation'.

Author: 
Jeanne de Casalis [born Jeanne Casalis de Pury in Basutoland] (1897-1966), Anglo-French stage and screen actress [E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox, pseud. 'Evoe'] (1881-1971), editor of Punch]
Publication details: 
On her letterhead, Hunger Hatch, Little Chart, Kent. Postmarked 28 June 1941.
£35.00

Card with stamp and postmark. Of the two addresses in her letterhead, she has deleted the London one (105 Hallam Street, W1). In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Addressed to 'Secretary to | E. V. Knot [sic] Eq. | Offices of “Punch”'. The card reads: 'Miss de Casalis hopes to broadcast Mr. Knot's “Reparation” at the end of her turn on Friday 27th 9.35 to 10.15 (Forces programme) & again on Sunday to Forces abroad.'

[Sir Henry William Lucy, celebrated Victorian political journalist.] Autograph Card Signed to Bristol printer and publisher J. W. Arrowsmith

Author: 
Sir Henry William Lucy [H. W. Lucy] (1842-1924), celebrated Victorian political journalist, parliamentary correspondent of Punch magazine [J. W. Arrowsmith [James Williams Arrowsmith] (1839-1913)]
Publication details: 
42 Ashley Gardens, Victoria Street, S.W. [London], on card with embossed letterhead of the House of Commons. 27 February [1900].
£40.00

In good condition, lightly aged. Written with purple ink. Addressed to 'J. W. Arrowsmith Esq | Publisher | Bristol.' The message begins, without salutation: 'Booking Office blocked with Copy. But I have had the "Modder River" taken out of turn. You will find a notice in tomorrow's "Punch"'. He announces that on the fifteenth of the following month he is 'to be a guest of the New Vagabond Club', and notes that Arrowsmith is a member, adding 'we may possibly meet'.

[ Alfred Pearse, cartoonist and campaigner for women's suffrage. ] Autograph Note Signed ('A: Pearse') responding to a request for an autograph from 'Mr. Bull' (i.e. Montague Bull).

Author: 
Alfred Pearse ['A Patriot'] (1855-1933), cartoonist ('Votes For Women', 'Illustrated London News', 'Punch') and campaigner for women's suffrage who set up the 'Suffrage Atelier' with Laurence Housman
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£30.00

On 10.5 x 19.5 cm piece of paper. in good condition, laid down on part of a leaf removed from an album. Good firm signature and strong handwriting. Reads: 'Dear Mr. Bull | It is a pleasure to accede to your request | Truly yours | A: Pearse'.

[ Shirley Brooks, the 'Epicurus Rotundus' of Punch. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('S. Brooks'), regarding the address of a club and 'Sir Rowland's myrmidons'.

Author: 
Shirley Brooks [ Charles William Shirley Brooks ] (1816-1874), journalist and novelist, the 'Epicurus Rotundus' of Punch
Publication details: 
9 Havelock Road, Hastings, on cancelled letterhead of 6 West Terrace, Regent's Park, N.W. [ London ] No date.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, aged and worn, with traces of mount on blank reverse. He is sending, 'as promised, the address', but has forgotten 'the exact member of the club'. 'I conclude, however, that it is well known to Sir Rowland's myrmidons' (Sir Rowland Hill and his postmen). He asks for 'a line of assurance', and for a proof if the recipient prints the address. A pencil postscript at the foot of the leaf has been neatly torn away, except for the following, up the right-hand margin: '<...> I have pencilled might be omitted. She can judge'.

[ Companion volumes illustrated by John Leech. ] 'The Comic Latin Grammar; A new and fracetious Introduction to the Latin Tongue' and 'The Comic English Grammar; A new and facetious Introduction to the English Tongue.'

Author: 
[ Percival Leigh (1813-1889), satirist and humorist, contributor to 'Punch' [ John Leech (1817-1864), illustrator and caricaturist; Charles Tilt and Richard Bentley, London booksellers ]
Publication details: 
'Latin Grammar': London: Charles Tilt, Fleet Street. 1840. [ Printed by T. H. Coe, Old Change, St. Paul's. ] 'English Grammar': London: Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street. 1840. [ Printed by Samuel Bentley, Bangor House, Shoe Lane. ]
£100.00

Two good tight copies, on lightly aged paper, in worn original bindings with gilt decorations on front covers, with engravings on browning paper because of high acidity content. Both volumes with bookplate of Alan Angele and manuscript library shelf label. ONE: 'The Comic Latin Grammar'. 163 + [3]pp., 8vo. Eight engravings and numerous illustrations in text (the first engraving is positioned as frontispiece rather than at p.23 as specified).

[ Irving Montagu of the Illustrated London News and Punch. ] Three Autograph Letters Signed (one 'Irving Montagu' and two 'Montagu') to Edward Draper

Author: 
Irving Montagu (1842-1901), war correspondent and artist of the Illustrated London News and Punch [ Edward Draper, London solicitor and writer on the theatre ]
Publication details: 
Two from Briar Cottage, Shepherds Bush, 2 and 7 January 1893. One on letterhead of 64 Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square [ London ]. 'Saturday' [no date].
£56.00

The three items in fair condition, on aged and worn paper, the last two items with traces of grey paper from mounting adhering. ONE: From Charlotte Street. 'Saturday' (undataed). Signed 'Irving Montagu'. 2pp., 8vo. Arranging to dine at Draper's in the face of a clashing invitation. TWO: From Briar Cottage, 2 January 1893. 4pp., 12mo. Signed 'Montagu'.

[ Charles Samuel Keene, Punch illustrator. ] Unattributed charcoal portrait (self-portrait?), in colours, accompanied by a letter about him to his brother Henry Keene from 'M. Jackson', and a letter to a descendant from Sarah Fox-Pitt of the Tate.

Author: 
[ C. S. Keene [ Charles Samuel Keene ] (1823-1891), Punch illustrator; Henry Keene; M. Jackson ]
Publication details: 
Drawing undated. Jackson's letter on letterhead of 79 Warwick Road, Earl's Court, S.W. [ London ] 10 October 1891.
£90.00

The three items are unconnected, but clearly derive from the papers of a descendant. All three are in good condition, with light signs of age. ONE: The charcoal drawing, in colours, is on a 13 x 19.5 cm piece of wove paper, and is an impressionistic representation of his head, close cropped and with eyes closed, sleeping or in death. TWO: The letter from 'M. Jackson' is 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In it Jackson invites Henry Keene, shortly after C. S.

[ Linley Sambourne. ] Large printed 'Memorial Card', carrying engraving of 'the Liberal Monument to Mr. Gladstone erected within the Palace of Westminster'.

Author: 
Linley Sambourne [ Edward Linley Sambourne ] (1844-1910), English cartoonist and illustrator who worked with Punch [ William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), Liberal Prime Minister ]
Sambourne
Publication details: 
Without date or place. 'Linley Sambourne invt et delt V & C'.
£85.00
Sambourne

Printed in black on one side of a 19 x 29 cm piece of stiff card, with rounded corners. In fair condition, lightly-aged, with 4cm vertical closed tear at head. The memorial to a stern-faced Gladstone is depicted - a setting sun blazing behind it - between two mythical seated women, Justice on the right, and a hooded woman with a hand mirror on the left. In the background are the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. The card is made out in manuscript to 'Edward C Young' (with '186357' at foot), and the caption at the foot reads: 'This Memorial Card was issued to [ Edward C Young.

[ Mary Knox, illustrator. ] Printed illustrated Christmas card 'from E. V. & Mary Knox.' With manuscript address and telephone number at foot.

Author: 
Mary Knox [née Mary Shepard] (1909-2002), illustrator; E. V. Knox [ Edmund George Valpy Knox ] (1881-1971), poet and satirist ('Evoe'), editor of Punch magazine, 1932-1949
Publication details: 
[London, 1930s or 1940s.]
£85.00

Printed in black on one side of a 12.5 x 16.5 cm piece of card. A charming image, framed within the drawn curtains of a theatre stage, showing four snowmen, dressed as toff in top hat, flat-capped figure with spade, lady with shawl and umbrella, and bowler-hatted figure with muffler and broom. At head of image 'A Merry Christmas', and at foot, 'from E. V. & Mary Knox'. In blue ink in border at foot of page: '110 Frognal. N.W.3.' and 'Hampstead 7330.' Mary Knox's father E. H. Shepard was the illustrator of the Winnie the Pooh books.

[British Army in India (a supplies scandal?)] Eight highly-finished, capable caricatures by 'C', involving a Raj (army supplies?) scandal, 'Bilk', 'Jemadar Amwalla and the Old Atasi Troupe', 'Mahomed Arif & Co', 'the G. C. M.', and the Madras Times.

Author: 
'C'. [British Army in the Raj, 1913; British India; Cannanore [Kannur], Kerala; Mahomed Arif & Co.; Jemadar Amwalla ]
Publication details: 
Two dated from Cannanore [Kannur, Kerala, India], one to December 1913 and the other simply to 1913.
£200.00

Eight witty and attractive caricatures, in a sub-Punch style. All eight in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Each in black ink on a separate piece of paper, five of them 33.5 x 21.5 cm, and three of them 21 x 17 cm. The context of the caricatures is at present obscure, but would undoubtedly make itself clear with specialist research. The five largest illustrations are: ONE: Caption: 'Please to remember | The twenty-seventh of November | The "Bilk-Powder" treason and plot'.

[E. V. Knox, editor of Punch.] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'E. V. Knox') to Anglo-Irish poet Sylvia Lynd, the first concerning an 'American publisher', and the second a letter of condolence on the death of her husband Robert Lynd.

Author: 
E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox; 'Evoe'] (1881-1971), English author and editor of Punch, 1932-1949 [Sylvia Lynd (1888-1952), Anglo-Irish poet, wife of the essayist Robert Lynd (1879-1949)]
Publication details: 
ONE: On letterhead of 34 Well Walk, Hampstead; 1 Nov. 1926. TWO: On letterhead of 110 Frognal; 7 Oct. 1949.
£120.00

Both items are 2pp. 12mo, on bifoliums. Both in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. ONE: 'I was so sorry I couldn't come this afternoon - especially if he was a simple kind of American publisher. Owing to a rash fit of indulgence in Church going I had to have tea elsewhere'. TWO: Letter of condolence on the death of Robert Lynd.

[Original drawings for Punch cartoons; women] Four original ink drawings, later engraved and published Punch, on the subjects: women on bicycles, ice skating, women in the Oxford and Cambridge boat race, punting.

Author: 
'F. C.' [original drawings for cartoons in Punch, or the London Charivari]
Publication details: 
The cartoons were published in Punch (London): 26 August 1865; 18 May and 2 June 1866; 18 May 1869.
£250.00

Four charming and amusing cartoons from Punch's golden age. All four are executed in a similar style, but the identity of the cartoonist or cartoonists is unknown. (The first of the two cartoons in Item Two below, as published by Punch, has the monogram signature 'F C' engraved in the bottom right-hand corner. No Punch cartoonist with these initials is apparent.) ONE: Captioned: 'Another Brilliant Idea, Only Brillianter!' 21 x 13.5cm. In good condition, on leaf of browned high-acidity paper torn from a notebook. Two men idle in a punt while two women hold up sheets.

[Douglas William Jerrold, playwright and contributor to Punch.] Autograph Note Signed ('Douglas Jerrold') to 'Webster', accepting an invitation in lighthearted style.

Author: 
Douglas William Jerrold (1803-1857), playwright, journalist and contributor to Punch
Publication details: 
Putney. 29 November [no year].
£28.00

1p., 32mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The note reads: 'My dear Webster, | I have fasted all the week in joyful expectation of the 1st of December. | Every truly your's [sic] | Douglas Jerrold'.

[Bert Thomas, cartoonist.] Print of Thomas's celebrated ' "Arf a mo' Kaiser!' First World War cartoon of an English Tommy lighting his pipe, on the front of a brown-paper envelope addressed by Thomas to Suffolk artist William Henry Booth.

Author: 
Bert Thomas (1883-1966), Welsh cartoonist associated with 'Punch' [William Henry Booth (1861-1928), Suffolk artist]
Bert Thomas
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [1918.] Green halfpenny George V postage stamp, with postmark of 'S.W.' beneath the two uprights of a triangle (no base).
£120.00
Bert Thomas

The envelope is 27.5 x 12.5 cm, and the cartoon is printed lengthwise (around 15cm long including caption) on the front in brown ink, with facsimile signature. In good condition, lightly-aged and worn, with the flap of the apparently-empty envelope gummed back into place. The stamp is attached in its customary place, with the address in Thomas's autograph beneath it: 'Wm. Booth Esq | The Rosery | Cambridge Rd. | Felixstowe'. Thomas's original cartoon had been drawn in ten minutes for the Weekly Dispatch 'Smokes for Tommy' campaign.

[Shirley Brooks, editor of Punch.] Autograph Letter Signed to William Glen, commending his 'friend's verses', which have 'an echo of Keats in them'.

Author: 
Shirley Brooks [Charles William Shirley Brooks] (1816-1874), journalist and novelist, editor of Punch, 1870-1874 [William Glen; the Literary Gazette]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Literary Gazette Office, 4 Bouverie Street, EC [London]. 5 October [circa 1858].
£45.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Brooks (who conducted the Literary Gazette between 1858 and 1859) writes that he has read Glen's 'friend's verses carefully, and with much pleasure. There is an echo of Keats in them, but no mere invitation.

[Shirley Brooks, editor of Punch.] Autograph Letter Signed to Leitch Ritchie, regarding contributions to Chambers's Journal. With the first part ONLY of Brooks's 'Sooner or Later', and note from G. E. S. Chambers describing its 'extreme rarity'.

Author: 
Charles William Shirley Brooks (1816-1874), journalist, editor of Punch, 1870-1874 [Leitch Richie (1800-1875), Scottish novelist; G. E. S. Chambers of the publishers W. & R. Chambers, Ltd, Edinburgh]
Publication details: 
Brooks's letter to Leitch Ritchie from Marlborough Chambers, Pall Mall, London. 7 August [1849]. 'Sonner or Later', No. 1: London, Bradbury, Evans, and Co., 11 Bouverie Street, EC. 1866. Notes by Chambers on letterhead of W. & R. Chambers, Edinburgh.
£200.00

ONE: Brooks's letter to Leitch Ritchie: 4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. He thanks him for his 'kind and courteous communication', and is pleased that 'the article I sent seems to you adapted to the purpose'. Brooks has, he explains, 'availed myself of your suggestions in reference to the additions'. He continues with references to Vauxhall and 'The Highland Lamp'.

[Printed periodical, in original illustrated wraps.] The Month. A View of passing Subjects and Manners, Home and Foreign, Social and General. By Albert Smith & John Leech. [Issues I, II, III and V.]

Author: 
Albert Smith [Albert Richard Smith] (1816-1860), editor; John Leech (1817-1864), illustrator [Bradbury & Evans, Printers, Whitefriars]
Publication details: 
Published at the Office of 'The Month,' No. 3, Whitefriars Street. [Bradbury & Evans, Printers, Whitefriars.] [Issues I, II, III and V, dated July, August, September and November 1851.]
£180.00

16mo, with the first three issues continuously paginated to 240, and issue V paginated 321-400. Each volume with a frontispiece by Leech, and numerous illustrations by him in text. Three of the four issues (I, III and V) with an initial four-pages of advertisements, and more advertisements on the wraps. The four volumes in fair condition, on aged paper, in worn wraps, with the first volume lacking its spine. Each with the small and neat ownership inscription of 'L Jackson' in the top right-hand corner of its front wrap.

[Printed offprint from Punch.] The ill-used Homoeopathists.

Author: 
[Victorian homoeopathy; homoeopathic; Punch, or the London Charivari]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [From 'Punch's Almanack', London, 1859.]
£80.00

1p.,12mo. Fifty-three lines of small type. Good, on lightly-aged and ruckled paper, with traces of mount on blank reverse. The item begins: 'MR. PUNCH is accustomed to receive letter and treaties, imploring him not to call homoeopathy fudge, and some of them attempting to assign reasons why he should not. In all these communications, the medical opponents of homoepathy are called "allopathists."' Later on the author comments: 'PROFESSOR HOLLOWAY is perhaps an allopathist; however he does not tell us on what principle his pills and ointments cure all diseases.

Autograph Letter Signed ('David Pollock') from the future Sir David Pollock, Chief Justice of Bombay, to John Silk Buckingham, regarding the British and Foreign Institute, and a controversy in The Times.

Author: 
Sir David Pollock (1780-1847), Chief Justice of Bombay [James Silk Buckingham (1786-1855), author and traveller; the British and Foreign Institute, Hanover Square, London; The Times]
Publication details: 
Monmouth. 30 Ocotber 1843.
£80.00

2pp., 12mo. 29 lines of neatly-written text. In very good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Addressing his letter to 'J: S: Buckingham Esqre.', Pollock writes that Buckingham's letter, 'enclosing the Rules &c. of the British and Foreign Institute', has been forwarded to him in Monmouth, where he is 'engaged on a long Circuit professionally, which comprehends all South Wales, and the West and South of England'. He is 'on the move continually', without 'time or opportunity to give sufficient consideration to the subject'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('L Raven HIll') from the illustrator and Punch cartoonist Leonard Raven-Hill to J. P. Brodhurst [J. Penderel Brodhurst], regarding 'the entire copyright of all my drawings that appeared in the Pall Mall Budget'.

Author: 
Leonard Raven-Hill (1867-1942), English painter, illustrator, printmaker and Punch cartoonist [Pall Mall Budget; J. Penderel Brodhurst]
Publication details: 
20 North Side, Clapham Common, SW [London]. 19 December 1898.
£56.00

2pp., 16mo. Bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper, with small hole through both leaves at top inner corner. Beneath the signature the faint stamp of the St. James's Budget, 15 Dorset Street, EC. Raven-Hill points out that the Pall Mall Budget had only the right to use his drawings 'in that paper', and that he holds 'the entire copyright of all my drawings that appeared' in that magazine. 'If you want any of mine you could of course get the blocks from them & we could come to some arrangement about using them'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('F. H Townsend') from the Art Editor of Punch F. H. Townsend [Frederick Henry Townsend] to J. Penderel Brodhurst, regarding 'the Copyright of my late drawings in the Pall Mall Budget'.

Author: 
F. H. Townsend [Frederick Henry Townsend] (1868-1920), artist, illustrator and cartoonist, the first Art Editor of Punch [Pall Mall Budget; J. Penderel Brodhurst]
Publication details: 
61 Glebe Place, Chelsea, SW, on cancelled letterhead of the Chelsea Arts Club, 181 Kings Road, SW [London]. 28 December 1895.
£56.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper, with small hole through both leaves at top inner corner. The letter begins: 'As far as I can remember I keep the Copyright of my late drawings in the Pall Mall Budget'. He refers Brodhurst to the magazine's editors, and apologises for his alte response.

Autograph Signature ('Bernard Partridge') of the 'Punch' cartoonist Sir John Bernard Partridge.

Author: 
Bernard Partridge [Sir John Bernard Partridge] (1861-1945), cartoonist and illustrator, best-known for his work with 'Punch'
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£20.00

On one side of a 4.5 x 13 cm strip of paper, cut from the bottom of a letter. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. All in Partridge's hand. Reads: '[...]ment of time occupied. | With many regrets, | I am truly yours, | Bernard Partridge.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('F. C. Bernand') from the humorist Sir Francis Cowley Burnand to the illustrator Harry Furniss, lamenting that there will be 'no dinner for the Punch boys' in Christmas week, and discussing an unsuccessful illustration.

Author: 
F. C. Burnand [Sir Francis Cowley Burnand] (1836-1917), English humorist and dramatist, a main contributor to 'Punch' [Harry Furniss (1854-1925), 'Punch' caricaturist and illustrator]
Publication details: 
On Burnand's letterhead, 27 The Boltons, SW [London], 8 December 1891.
£56.00

2pp., landscape 12mo. Addressed to 'Dear Furniss'. He is glad to hear of Furniss's success: 'Your tour ends after the last dinner but one of the year. No dinner Xmas week! awful that isn't it? When all are feasting no dinner for the Punch boys!!' He hopes Furniss will be 'here with us'. Had Furniss been 'on the spot' Burnand would have got him 'to substitute something for your John Bull picture in almanack which no one (I do not speak of "The Table" but of our best friends outside) comprehends.

Autograph Letter Signed from the satirist Percival Leigh to 'My dear Brooks' [fellow 'Punch' contributor Shirley Brooks], regarding his writing, the nature of the joke, the unsuitability of his Hampshire surroundings to literature, and other matters.

Author: 
Percival Leigh (1813–1889), satirist, the first writer to carve his name into the 'Punch' table [Charles William Shirley Brooks (1816-1874), editor of 'Punch' from 1870 to his death]
Publication details: 
Shirley Warren, near Southampton. 28 July 1865.
£120.00

4pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He considers the cut excellent, and is grateful to Brooks for having 'managed so well' with his article. 'Many such an article of mine has been sacrificed, though absolutely a pretty good one, and comparatively to that which stood in its place, superexcellent. But such is my luck. By the by, don't measure the quantity of all that I do by what appeareth.' He reports that 'Fred is much amused with the verses on the Queen's first baby. I said that there are two men here besides himself who understand a joke.

Autograph synopsis and notes by the dramatist and editor of 'Punch' Tom Taylor of part of Act III of his 1866 play 'A Sister's Penance', written with Augustus W. Dubourg.

Author: 
Tom Taylor (1817-1880), playwright and comic writer, author of 'The Ticket of Leave Man' (1863) and editor of 'Punch [Augustus W. Dubourg]
Publication details: 
On government letterhead; undated [c.1866].
£250.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The first page headed 'Act III', and the whole tightly-written and filled with deletions, interpolations and marginal notes, providing a valuable insight into the creative process of one of Victorian England's most successful dramatists. The last page breaks off: 'Handeside confesses his own desperate attachment. Markham <...>'. 'A Sister's Penance' was a great success, with 83 performances at the Adelphi between 26 November 1866 and 2 March 1867.

Syndicate content