SIR

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The ALS, whose recipient is not identified, is appended on the last page of the printed notice, which is 4pp, foolscap 8vo, on a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. The notice is headed 'University of Oxford. / Directions for Candidates for Degrees in Music.' and signed in type at the end 'Frederick Arthur Gore Ouseley, / Professor of Music. / Oxford, / March, 1878.' Divided into sections concerning a bachelor's and doctor's degree. The ALS, on the last page, reads: 'Dear Sir / You will see by this paper that your Dublin B.A.

xiv + [1] + 38pp, 12mo. No.16/500. In blue cloth binding, titled in gilt on cover and spine. No dust wrapper. Printed on thick paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Annotated in pencil throughout, and with a page of annotations at the end. The handwriting is distinctive (and certainly not Block’s), with the capital N in particular. Some of the annotations give dates from the 1970s, but the handwriting is that of someone from an earlier generation. As an example, one of the longer pencil annotations, on p.5, listing an additional item: ‘Caught Napping. / c. 1883.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. With thin mourning border. Extraction from an album has resulted in some wear to the border at the right of the page: otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ‘My dear Major’ and signed ‘Thos Sabine Pasley’. He is sorry the recipient ‘can’t come on Wednesday’, but he has ‘the best possible reason for not doing so’. He asks to be remembered ‘very kindly to your father on that day’. He asks if he can ‘come on Wednesday week’, as he has engaged a family (illegible) to meet him that day.

Silver gelatin negative photostatic print of two documents: 3pp, 4to (i.e. each of the three pages on 19.5 x 24 cm. leaf). The first page of Goschen’s two-page ‘Aide Mémoire’ on a separate leaf, and the second page and von Jagow’s note on different leaves of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. N.B. The entire item is a photostatic copy. Reproduced at the head and down the left margin of the first page of Goschen’s text are manuscript notes in German (including at top left: A15930 pr. 4. August 1914 pm. / Von Sir E.

A highly-interesting correspondence of some historical significance, in which North tells ‘the whole story’ as he sees it of his controversial wartime dismissal, to one of his leading supporters in the attempt to clear his name. A marked antipathy to Churchill is shown on both sides, with added attacks by Elibank on Earl Mountbatten and Montgomery of Alamein.

See the entries on Thornycroft and Allingham in the Oxford DNB. The letterhead is also of interest: 'One-Oak' is a notable example of the work of the Arts and Crafts architect A. H. Mackmurdo. 1p, 12mo. On grey paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with traces of mount adhering to blank reverse. Folded twice. Initial ?H? of signature slightly smidged. Reads: ?Dear Mrs Allingham / I have only [?] got your note. / I enclose two cards for RA. Hoping to see you there / Yours very sincerely / Hamo Thornycroft?. See Image.

Draper inspired characters in two of Agatha Christie?s books. Among others impressed by her work were Bernard Shaw, Thornton Wilder, John Gielgud, Katharine Hepburn, Maurice Chevalier, Laurence Olivier, Henry James, Henry Adams, Edith Wharton, Joyce Grenfell, Emma Thompson, David Mamet and Maureen Lipman. See Ross?s entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo, on bifolium of light-grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed to ?Dear Sir David? and signed ?Ruth Draper.? Presumably written during Ross?s Vice-Chancellorship, 1941-1944.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The National Portrait Gallery possesses a carte-de-visite another portrait of Manns by Negretti & Zambra, which it dates to 1898, but does not hold the present item, which is a head and shoulders shot showing a white-haired Manns, bald on top, with bushy eyebrows and walrus moustache looking to one side in dark jacket and white shirt and tie. A 10 x 14.5 cm albumen print, presented in the customary style on a grey cabinet card, with the firm?s details embossed in white at foot, and the usual photographers? details printed on the reverse.

Lightly-written signature (?Cliff Richard?) in blue ink at bottom left of 21 x 16 cm photographic print on glossy paper of black and white publicity photograph of a tanned Richard sitting in swimming trunks with his hands on his knees, looking at the viewer between two rather plain brunettes in bikinis. The print is somewhat creased and worn, with minor discoloration to white border at the top edge. See Image.

See the entries for Grey and Ross in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Reads: ?My dear Provost / Probably you will not think that the enclosed requires any answer or that it is a matter for the head of a College but as it concerns a member of Oriel I send it on to you / Yours very truly / Grey of Fallodon.?

See Dalton and Ross’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, small 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The body of the letter consists of nineteen typed lines, with ‘My dear Ross,’ and ‘Yours sincerely / Hugh Dalton.’ in Dalton’s autograph. Typed name of recipient at foot of page: ‘Sir David Ross, K.B.E.’ He is writing to thank him ‘for all the help which you have given in connection with the Committee on the Release of University staff from Government Service, on which you have so kindly acted as University representative’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 8vo. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Folded twice. A printed circular, completed in manuscript by a secretary for the ‘Earle of Hardwicke Kt’ (as Colonel of the Cambridge Regiment of Militia), and signed by Pulteney ‘Ja: Pulteney’. Note at head of page in a third contemporary hand: ‘Copied for Col. the Rt. Hon. Chas. Yorke - 14/7/7’.

See the entries for Morrison and Ross in the Oxford DNB. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. The second item has a punch hole centred at the head of the leaf. All three 1p, 12mo, and each with Morrison’s sprawling signature ‘Yrs sincerely / Herbert Morrison /’, the first in green ink. ONE (25 November 1941): Addressed by Morrison in green ink to ‘Dear Sir David’. Thanking him for a note ‘in which you assure me of the appreciation of the Nuffield College Committee at my action in agreeing to release Mr.

See the entries for Bevin and Ross in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed to ‘The Vice Chancellor, / Oxford University’. The two lines of Bevin’s autograph valediction ascending and converging at the same time: ‘Yours sincerely / Ernest Bevin’. He was glad to receive Ross’s letter ‘about the visit of the Greek Regent to this country’. He feels sure that ‘the Regent will wish to accept an invitation to visit Oxford’. He gives tentative dates for his stay, undertaking to ‘have a day at least set aside for this purpose’.

See the entries for Grenfell and Ross in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium of light-grey paper. In fair condition, aged and spotted. Folded once for postage. The identity of the recipient is unclear, but the item derives from the papers of Sir David Ross [W. D. Ross], Scottish philosopher and Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (see the Oxford DNB).

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to 'The Provost of Oriel' and with sprawling signature 'Yours vy trly / Cosmo Cantuar:'. Reads: 'Dear Provost, / I have received your letter of November 20th about Mr. Randall Cooper. I am sorry to say that your letter came too late for the appointment of the first batch of Assistant Cataloguers. They have now been appointed but I am informed that there may be further appointments in the Spring.

See the entries for Lang and Ross in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo, on light-grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Begins 'Dear Vice Chancellor. / Some time ago I proposed Sir David Cecil for election to the Athenaeum. His name has produced a remarkable number of supporters, but no one has been put down as seconder to my proposal.' He asks Ross to second Cecil's nomination, before writing a sentence which is hard to decipher. He concludes by suggesting that he inform the club secretary accordingly, if Ross is willing.

2pp, 12mo. On the rectos of the two leaves of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Begins: ‘Dear Mrs Ross. / We had the pleasure of having your daughter for tea yesterday & I hasten to tell you our pleasure in making her acquaintance. She is indeed charming & intelligent & bright; I am sure she will make the most of her stay here.

See Richard Wollheim’s appreciative entry on Ayer in the Oxford DNB. From the archives of Philip Dosse, proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of the ‘Seven Arts’ group of magazines, including ‘Books and Bookmen’ and ‘Plays and Players’. See ‘Death of a Bookman’ by the novelist Sally Emerson (editor of ‘Books and Bookmen’ at the time of Dosse’s suicide), in Standpoint magazine, October 2018. The three items are each 1p, small 4to. All three in good condition, each folded twice. All three signed ‘A. J. Ayer’, with typed name beneath, ‘Sir Alfred Ayer’.

See Thiselton-Dyer’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Printed on one side of a 10 x 13 cm piece of paper, and made out in manuscript to ‘Sir William Thistleton [sic] Dyer (and Lady)’. Text size in good condition, lightly aged, with the blank reverse of the card with slight damage from mounting. The recipient has written in a close hand in red ink at top left: ‘accepted. / 18. 7. 02.’ The text reads: ‘The Chelsea Physic Garden.

Peisse had already published his translation of ‘Fragments de Philosophie de M. William Hamilton’ (Paris, 1840), and had followed this with one from Dugald Stewart (1842-5). 2pp, 12mo. Forty-one lines of closely-written text. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with chipping and closed tears to edges. Folded once. Signed ‘L. Peisse / Louis Peisse, conservateur de l’ecole impériale des Beaux-arts. 2. Rue Boursault.’ The British recipient (one of Hamilton’s executors?) is not named (in a postscript Peisse apologises for being unable to decipher his details, or those of his co-editors).

Conyers is curiously absent from the Oxford DNB. The present item is a frail survival. It is the customary form, printed under the heading ‘Annuities, 3700 l. per Week.’ Completed in manuscript with date, amount and record of payment to ‘Sr Gerard Conyers - Asignee of ye Execr. of S. [Leshieuller? Lechienller?] & Attorney to Jno. Burkin, Esqr Assignee of ye same’. Signed at bottom right ‘Gerard Conyer[s]’ and with the signature of ‘Witness E Clarke’ at bottom left. On aged, creased and worn paper, with one hole from wear, and the last letter of Conyer’s surname worn away. See Image.

Sir Iain Moncreiffe of that Ilk was a true Scottish eccentric. The Oxford DNB refers to his reputation as ‘as an (eminently quotable) super-snob’, a characterization which is strongly supported by this energetic, entertaining and playful correspondence, which, as the extracts quoted below show, covers a great deal more than the practicalities of his review work. (See the ODNB’s evaluation of his intellectual merits: ‘In conversation, as well as in his published work, he relied on a marvellously retentive memory that was unimpaired even by a considerable intake of alcohol.

See Bloomfield’s entry, and that of Norton, in the Oxford DNB. The fragment of the letter bearing his signature is 5 cm x 4.5 cm. It is dated at one corner ‘1845’, and reads ‘R. Bgham / Bloomfield’. It is laid down on one side of a 4to leaf extracted from an album and paginated 58.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On piece of 8.5 x 4.5 cm laid paper cut. In fair condition, on aged paper with reverse bearing traces of glue from mount. Reads: ‘M. Power / M Genl. Comm[andin]g’. Endorsed on reverse: ‘M General / Sir Manley Power / K.C.B’. See Image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, and folded once for postage. With the item’s worn envelope, with ‘British Embassy, / Berlin.’ printed on the damaged flap, addressed by Malet to ‘Sir Robert Head Bt. / 97 Zimmer Strasse’, and initialed by him at bottom-left, ‘R B Malet’. The letter, which is signed ‘Edward B Malet’, begins: ‘Dear Sir Robert Head, / My wife will be very happy to take you and Lady Head to Countess Brockdorff’s on Monday at 3 1/2.

See the entries for Barrow and Seymour in the Oxford DNB. On laid Whatman paper dated 1833. Having served for four years as Commissioner at Portsmouth, Seymour had sailed out to South America in 1833 as commander-in-chief, dying of ‘low fever’ at Rio de Janeiro two months before the writing of the present letter. 1p, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, folded twice. At top left: ‘Duplicate, / No 50.’ Initialed at bottom left: ‘J. P.’ Good firm and attractive signature ‘John Barrow’. Writing with regard to ‘the late Rear Admiral Sir Michael Seymour’s letter of the 16th.

According to A. J. P. Taylor, Chamberlain was ‘the greatest force in British politics between the decline of Gladstone and the rise of Lloyd George. See his lengthy entry, and that of Maxse, in the Oxford DNB’. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged. With one central vertical fold from postage. Reads: ‘My dear Maxse / I have been away but will try & get a seat for Thursday & write to you again / Yours sincerely / J. Chamberlain’. Postscript at head of page: ‘Can you dine with me here on Friday at 8 p.m?’

See his entry in Who Was Who. The thirteen items in good condition, lightly aged, most with RSA date stamp and annotations. A total of 12pp, 8vo, in autograph; and 5pp, 4to, typed. The first ten signed ‘D T Chadwick’ and the last three ‘David Chadwick’. The earliest letter, to RSA Secretary Sir Henry Trueman Wood on 22 December 1916, deals with the publication of Chadwick’s remarks ‘at the discussion on Prof. Todds paper before the Indian Section of the Society of Arts’.

See Currie’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Both he and the recipient Hutton had South African interests. Both items in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, and each with pinholes at head from being attached, and folded for postage. Each is signed ‘Donald Currie’. ONE: 17 March 1879. 1p, 12mo. Addressed to ‘James E [sic] Hutton Esqr.’ He received Hutton’s ‘kind message’ and ‘called on the King. To-day I met the Duke of Sutherland.’ He will write to him again ‘in a day or two’. ‘Are you to be in town soon?’ TWO: 29 March 1879. 2pp, 12mo. Headed ‘Private’, and addressed to ‘J. F. Hutton Esqre.