SHORT

[‘‘F. Anstey’, pseudonym of the English humorist Thomas Anstey Guthrie.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Anstey Guthrie’) to J. G. Wilson, proprietor of the London booksellers J. & E. Bumpus.

Author: 
‘F. Anstey’, pseudonym of the English humorist Thomas Anstey Guthrie (1856-1934) [John Gideon Wilson (1876-1963), proprietor of the prestigious London booksellers J. & E. Bumpus.]
Publication details: 
31 October 1931. On letterhead of 24 Holland Park Road, Kensington, W. [London]
£80.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, on the first leaf of bifolium. (There are extensive pencil annotations in a later hand on the second leaf.) Very neatly written. Addressed to ‘J. G. Wilson Esqre.’ and signed ‘Anstey Guthrie’. He has ‘much pleasure’ in answering Wilson’s question. ‘‘Shut Out’ is a short story of mine which was published in Longmans Magazine about 1895 or 6, afterwards included in a volume of short stories under the title of “The Talking Horse”. I think published by Messrs. Smith & Elder - but now long out of print.

[W. W. Jacobs, writer noted for his ghost stories and tales of the sea.] Autograph Signature.

Author: 
W. W. Jacobs [William Wymark Jacobs] (1863-1943), English short-story writer, noted for his tales of the sea and ghost stories
Publication details: 
No date. On letterhead of 'Beechcroft, / Berkhamstead.'
£20.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 10 x 7 cm piece of paper, cut down from letterhead. In good condition, lightly aged, with pin holes at top left. Clearly sent in response to a request for an autograph. Reads: 'Yours very truly / W. W. Jacobs'. See scan

[W. W. Jacobs, short story writer of tales of the sea and the macabre.] Autograph Note Signed to the commercial artist D. H. Denselow, thanking him for sending a letter with an illustration.

Author: 
W. W. Jacobs [William Wymark Jacobs] (1863-1943), English short-story writer, noted for his tales of the sea and ghost stories [Douglas Harold Hellier-Denselow, commercial artist]
Publication details: 
9 May 1899; 112 Manor Road, Stoke Newington, N [London].
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The recipient, whose name Jacobs gives as ‘D. H. Denselow Esq’, was the commercial artist and autograph hunter Douglas Harold Hellier-Denselow, whose studio was in Gunnersbury, West London. The note reads: ‘Dear Mr. Denselow / I am much obliged for your letter & its accompanying illustration. I shall not follow your example & affix my eye to my autograph / Yours very truly / W. W. Jacobs’.

[Sir Frank Short, President of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Gosselin’, describing changes to his ‘old Studio’.

Author: 
Sir Frank Short [Sir Francis Job Short] (1857-1945), RA, printmaker and teacher of printmaking, President of the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers, 1910-1938
Publication details: 
2 April 1892. On letterhead of Wentworth Studios, Manresa Road, Kings Road, S.W.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Signed ‘Frank Short’. The salutation is unclear: it appears to be to ‘Dear Mist Gosselin’, but it could be ‘Mirst’ or ‘Urist’ Gosselin. He thanks him for his kind note, ‘but it wasn’t really of any importance about that bell. Don’t trouble any more about it as far as I am concered.

[‘A whole career lies between the quotations’: V. S. Pritchett, English writer and critic.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Victor Pritchett’), submitting his ‘Turgenev’ (i.e. the typescript of his ‘Gentle Barbarian’) to his editor ‘Mr Higgins’.

Author: 
V. S. Pritchett [Sir Victor Sawdon Pritchett] (1900-1997), English writer and literary critic
Pritchett
Publication details: 
11 May 1977. On letterhead of 12 Regents Park Terrace, London N.W.1.
£56.00
Pritchett

Pritchett’s ‘The Gentle Barbarian: The Life and Work of Turgenev’ appeared in 1977; the present letter is clearly addressed to his editor at the book’s publishers Chatto & Windus. Pritchett’s entry in the Oxford DNB describes his handwriting as ‘legendarily ugly and difficult to decipher’, but the present example is no worse than an average hand. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Two fold lines. He is sending his ‘Turgenev’, and explains: ‘As you will see I have marked passages from the book in purple crayon, and my own summary bridges in green.

[Barry Pain, writer.] Autograph Letter Signed [to James Payn, editor of the Cornhill Magazine], discussing the reception of his breakthrough story 'The Hundred Gates', the next story he has planned, and the pressures of his teaching work.

Author: 
Barry Pain [Barry Eric Odell Pain] (1864-1928), writer of light verse and humorous stories, and horror and fantasy fiction [James Payn (1830-1898), editor of the Cornhill Magazine]
Publication details: 
5 October 1889; Edgeborough, Guildford, Surrey.
£180.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Fifty-one lines of text in a close neat hand, the last page written lengthwise. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of white paper mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded once. The letter is signed 'Barry Pain'. The recipient is not named, but is James Payn, editor of the Cornhill Magazine, who had just published the story that made Pain's name, 'The Hundred Gates'.

[ Augustus Short, Bishop of Adelaide. ] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'A Short'), written while at Oxford to Rev. Richard Harington, regarding the Oxford Movement and 'Schismatics', and reporting a comment by John Henry Newman.

Author: 
Augustus Short (1802-1883), first Bishop of Adelaide, Librarian of Christ Church [ Rev. Richard Harington (1800-1853), Principal of Brasenose;J ohn Henry Newman; the Oxford Movement; Tractarians ]
Publication details: 
Neither with place or year [ 1840s ]. One 'Wednesday. Mh. 13.'; the other 'Tuesday | June 4'.
£120.00

Both items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. According to Short's entry in the Oxford DNB, he 'had many friends among the Tractarians, and wrote (but did not publish) a defence of Tract 90, though he voted for the condemnation of W. G. Ward's Ideal of a Christian Church in 1845. In 1846 he delivered at Oxford the Bampton lectures entitled The Witness of the Spirit with our Spirit'. ONE: 'Tuesday | June 4'. 3pp., 12mo. He begins by stating that he is enclosing the 'Extracts from the Tracts', together with Harington's 'paper of observations'.

[ L. P. Hartley, novelist. ] Two typewritten drafts of his final short story 'The Ugly Picture', one headed in autograph 'First Version | (with description of <Verdley?> picture)'.

Author: 
L. P. Hartley [ Leslie Poles Hartley ] (1895-1972), English novelist and short-story writer
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [ Circa 1972. ]
£350.00

'The Ugly Picture' was L. P. Hartley's final short story. It appeared in the Christmas issue of the Spectator, 23 December 1972, a few days before his death. There is a synopsis in Adrian Wright's 'Foreign Country: The Life of L. P. Hartley' (1996). Neither of the two drafts present here corresponds with the published version, whose ending, for example, has been heavily reworked from the ending to the later of the two drafts. The two items are both in good condition, each on loose leaves (one side only) of paper attached with a safety pin.

[ Thomas Vowler Short, academic and clergyman. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Thos V Short') to Rev. Richard Harington

Author: 
Thomas Vowler Short (1790-1872), English academic and clergyman, successively Bishop of Sodor and Man and of St Asaph [ Dr Richard Harington (1800-1853) , Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford ]
Publication details: 
Kingsworthy. 6 September 1833.
£60.00

4pp., 4to. On bifolium. In fair condition, In good condition, lightly aged, with part of second leaf torn away and adhering under the red wax seal, which carries a good impression. Addressed by Short to 'Rev Ricd Harington' in Northamptonshire, and redirected to 'Robt. Harington Esqre', Torrance, East Kilbride, Glasgow.

[ Mavis Gallant; short stories; inscribed by author ] From the Fifteenth District. A Novella and Eight Short Stories.

Author: 
Mavis Gallant [ Mavis Leslie de Trafford Gallant, CC, née Young (1922–2014), Canadian writer.
Publication details: 
Macmillan of Canada, Toronto, [1979 ]
£85.00

243 numbered pp., 8vo, dustjacket, sl chipped and rubbed, condition of book v.g.+ INSCRIBED By Author as follows (front free endpaper): "To Allard | In memory of the days on Shift 2, + how frightfully brave we were when all the mines in Nova Scotia caved in on our heads. | Mavis || Paris | Christmas 79".

[ Robert Simson, Scottish mathematician. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Rob: Simson') to unnamed recipient, regarding the shipping of 'Fifty four English Euclids Small paper', and the transit of Venus.

Author: 
Robert Simson (1687-1768), Scottish mathematician, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Glasgow [ John Bevis (1695-1771); James Short (1710-1798); James Bradley (1693-1762), Astronomer Royal]
Publication details: 
Glasgow, 1 July 1761.
£180.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, on aged paper discoloured at the corners, neatly placed in a paper windowpane mount. He asked 'Mr Foulis to pack up Fifty four English Euclids Small paper, for as they had been put up in three bundles of 18 books in each, he thought it should be left to pack up these bundles as they were rather than break one of them to take out four books'. The books have been sent to 'Borroustonness', i.e. Bo'ness (Burrowstounness), Falkirk, and Foulis has given him a receipt from 'Richard G the Master of the Neptune aboard which Ship they are <?> directed to you'.

[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.

['H. E. H.'] A melodramatic murder story, written for Blackwood's Magazine but unpublished, entitled 'Recollections of a Governess | My first Friend', and purporting to be the work of 'Emma', daughter of 'Henry Darrel [...] an Officer in Dragoons'.

Author: 
'H. E. H.', soi-disant daughter of 'Henry Darrel [...] Officer in Dragoons' [Blackwood's Magazine, Edinburgh]
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated. [England; 1840s.]
£450.00

56pp., 4to. On wove paper watermarked 'E & S | 1840'. In ruled notebook, in contemporary brown calf half-binding, with marbled boards. In very good condition, lightly-aged and worn. Neatly written out, with a few emendations in pencil. Signed at the end 'H. E. H.' (either the initials of the author or of the narrator 'Emma').

Signed mezzotint engraving by Frank Short [Francis Job Short] of the Royal Academy, headed 'Twelve Subjects from the Liber Studiorum of J. M. W. Turner, R.A. Etched & Mezzotinted by Frank Short.'

Author: 
Frank Short [Francis Job Short (1857-1945)], RA, engraver [J. M. W. Turner]
Publication details: 
'Published by Robt. Dunthorne, at the Sign of The Rembrandt Head, in Vigo Street, London. W.' [1890s?]
£120.00

Landscape on 16 x 12 cm paper. Dimensions of plate 12.5 x 18.5 cm. In very good condition, lightly-framed. Signed in pencil 'Frank Short' at bottom right outside the plate. The mezzotint itself (a cloudy view of a bay, with shipping in the background) is 5.5 x 10.5 cm., within a 7 x 12 cm printed frame. Outside the frame, in the bottom left-hand corner, is an engraving of a pheasant on reeds by a river. The title is at the head, with the list of the twelve engravings down the right-hand side of the mezzotint, and the publisher's details beneath it in the bottom right-hand corner.

[Printed book.] Rational Stenography; or, Short-Hand Made Easy, In a few familiar Lessons, founded on the Principles of the late John Byrom, Esq. M.A. F.R.S. With numerous improvements. By the Rev. J. Nightingale.

Author: 
Rev. J. Nightingale, Author of "A Comparative View of Mavor's and Byrom's Systems," and of several Works of History and general Science, &c. [Joseph Nightingale (1775-1824); John Byrom (1692-1763)]
Publication details: 
London: J. Robins and Co. Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row. 1823. [J. Robins and Co. Albion Press, London.]
£150.00

40 + 3 + 4 pp., 12mo. With frontispiece, and three plates on one fold-out strip. In original grey printed wraps (giving the price as 2s 6d). In good condition, on lightly-aged and spotted paper, in worn wraps. Excellent frontispiece portrait, with tissue guard, captioned 'Rev. Joseph Nightingale. | Drawn by Shoosmith - Engraved by R. Roffe. | Published by J. Robins & Co. London. Feby. 1. 1824.' Six-page preface, dated 'Southwark Square, 1823.' Three plates on one fold-out strip, facing p.12.

Autograph Letter Signed from the playwright Ben Travers to 'Miss Saunders', reporting that he is 'in the thick of this "Week in the Country" business', but that he will contribute to the 'Grand Magazine', despite being 'a rotten short story writer'.

Author: 
Ben Travers (1886-1980), English playwright, best-known for his farces at the Aldwych Theatre in London in the 1920s and 1930s
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Queen's Hotel, Southsea. 29 June 1927.
£50.00

1p., 12mo. On aged and ruckled paper, with pinholes to one corner. He is 'in the thick of this "Week in the Country" business'. 'When I come to town I'll come & see you about your proposition of the series for the Grand Magazine, but I'm a rotten short story writer, you know.'

Signed autograph itemised receipt by William Croslie [wine and spirit merchant, Castle Douglas?], for food and drink provided to 'Fanny Wilson for fathers funeral' in Scotland.

Author: 
William Crosbie, wine and spirit merchant, Castle Douglas [Fanny Wilson; funerals in Scotland]
Publication details: 
1 October 1810.
£56.00

Possibly submitted by the 'Mr William Crosbie, wine and spirit merchant', whose death at Castle Douglas on 15 March 1821 is recorded in Blackwood's Magazine, April 1821. 1p., 8vo. Neatly written out on watermarked laid paper. Headed 'Fanny Wilson for fathers funeral | To William Crosbie | 1810'. Eleven entries for the funeral on 1 October 1812, including two plum cakes, '11 Cakes Short Bread'; '2 Gallons <?> Rum' and '2 1/4 ditto Whisky'; '6 Bottles Old Port' and '6 ditto Sherry'. Receipt of payment on 5 November at foot, signed by Crosbie.

[Autograph Manuscript] A Little Romance of 'P.W.' ['P.W.' = Pearson's Weekly]

Author: 
William Le Queux, novelist
William Le Queux, novelist
Publication details: 
No date.
£750.00
William Le Queux, novelist

ARCTIC LAPLAND LAPPLAND LITERATURE SHORT STORY PERIODICAL

Seacht mbuaidh an eirghe-amach

Author: 
Padraic O Conaire
Publication details: 
Dublin, 1918.
£90.00

Short stories. First Edition, original brown cloth, minimal damage and staining, mainly good. Scarce.

Deoraidheacht

Author: 
Padraic O Conaire
Publication details: 
[Dublin], 1910.
£100.00

130pp., 8vo, lacking back wrap rebound in green paper wraps with label on front, contenst good, some wear to front cover/titlepage. Scarce: No copy on AddAll, and COPAC lists only later editions.

Fear. Reprinted from the "Manchester Quarterly," April 1914.

Author: 
L. Conrad Hartley
Publication details: 
London: Sherratt and Hughes. Manchester: 34 Cross Street.
£28.00

8vo: 8 pp. Stapled and unbound. In original grey printed wraps with rusted staples. Grubby and dogeared. Signed ('L. Conrad Hartley') presentation inscription dated 31 May 1915. No copy of the offprint of this short story on COPAC.

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