STREET

Thomas was for upwards of twenty-five years the theatrical critic of the London papers Daily News and the Graphic. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with evidence of mount adhering to the blank second leaf. Folded for postage. Addressed to ?Will Williams Esq? and signed ?Moy Thomas?. He would have answered Williams?s note sooner, but he has been ?on the Continent for a few days?.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with postage folds. In trimmed windowpane mount. Reads: 'Madam. / My name is not generally spelt with an e, but I [confide?] it is ['really' deleted here] my [last word underlined] autograph which you desire. / Truly / James Payn'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient (?Broadley Pasha?) was a renowned autograph collector and shady social figure, as well as the de facto editor of Yates?s ?World?, until the Cleveland Street scandal drove him into exile in 1890. Broadley was a prominent figure in freemasonry, and the present item appears to link two individuals who were members of Oxford?s Apollo University Lodge: Oscar Wilde (whose proclivities Broadley shared) and Randolph Stewart (later Earl of Galloway). 1p, 16mo. On first leaf of bifolium, with second leaf tipped-in onto a page from one of Broadley?s albums.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient (?Broadley Pasha?) was a renowned autograph collector and shady social figure, as well as the de facto editor of Yates?s ?World?, until the Cleveland Street scandal drove him into exile in 1890 (the year of this item with its reference to 'going away'). A 9 x 5 cm piece of paper, cut from the end of a letter, and laid down on a 13 x 7.5 cm piece, which has been neatly annotated by Broadley: 'Signature of Edmund Yates 1890'. In good condition, lightly aged, with one postage fold. Reads, with good firm stylized signature: '[...] of going away?

See his entry, and those of his brother and Kenney, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Twenty-two lines of text, addressed to ?C. L. Kenney Esq? and signed ?Aug: Mayhew?. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of glue from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Begins: ?Dear Charlie/ Of course, we have to act under legal guidance.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In addition to being the de facto editor of Edmund Yates?s ?World?, the recipient (?Broadley Pasha?) was a renowned autograph collector and shady social figure. Scott?s handwriting is not entirely legible. ONE: ?Wednesday?, dated by Broadly ?March 1887.? 1p, 12mo. In good condition, with glue from mount adhering to the blank reverse. Folded once. Signed ?Clement Scott?. On the question of ?the letter from the impertinent idiot Mr James Runciman? he comments: ?He thinks that calling a man ?Tommy Rot? is a complaint! I conclude that he must be a madman?.

According to Russell’s entry in the Oxford DNB, while reporting on the Civil War, he was described by one American newspaper as ‘the most famous newspaper correspondent the world has ever seen'. The inscription on his memorial in St Paul’s Cathedral calls him ‘'the first and greatest of War Correspondents'. He coined the phrase ‘thin red line’, was instrumental in the sending of Florence Nightingale to the Crimea, and is said to have written the report that inspired Tennyson to write ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’.

2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Thirty-nine lines, closely written. Signed ‘Gilbert Thomas’. He begins by thanking him ‘most warmly for your letter and the most kind and generous review to hand this morning.

Emerson’s novels have undergone a re-evaluation in recent years. The first six were republished by Quartet Books as ‘Rediscovered Classics’ in 2017, and in 2021 by Quadrant Books. ‘Books and Bookmen’ was one of a stable of seven London arts magazines owned by Philip Dosse (1925-1980) of Hansom Books. Emerson, who was the editor of the magazine at the time of Dosse’s suicide, has published an account of her time there: ‘Death of a Bookman’, Standpoint, October 2018.

The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and ‘Plays and Players’. 2pp, small 4to. Addressed to ‘Dear Philip Dossé’ [sic] and signed ‘Richard Ingrams’. He is enclosing ‘a rather rude review of the Clive James book for the June B & B’, and sends renewed apologies for missing the May issue. He will ‘do Thurber next’ and reminds Dosse that he still has ‘the biography of Thurber which you sent me many moons ago’: ‘Would it be too late to embrace that as well?’ He thanks him for ‘continuing to print the P.

See her entry, and those of Robey and her husband, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. With two folds. Addressed to ‘Geo Robey. Esq. C.B.E.’ and signed ‘Margaret Lloyd George.’ She gives details of a concert she is having at Downing Street the following month, ‘in aid of the Electrical Industries Association’, and has been asked by its committee to ‘invite your kindly assistance’.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. She thanks him for his note, adding 'Would this do?', and stating 'I will write my piece definitely by March 15th.' Signed 'Nora Beloff / NORA BELOFF'.

See Astley's entry in the History of Parliament (he was created a baronet at the end of the year in which this letter was written). The ‘Lavender’ mentioned in the letter is Bow Street Runner Stephen Lavender (fictionalized in a series of books by Karen Charlton), who was leaving to take up the position of Deputy Chief Constable at Manchester.1p, 4to. On recto of first leaf of bifolium. Verso of second docketed: ‘Chas. Humphreys / recomn to be an Officer’ and in another hand ‘Dugdale Asteley [sic]’. In good condition, lightly aged, with reverse of second leaf slightly grubby.

The second of these ballads, 'Silver Threads Among the Gold', by the American Eben Eugene Rextord (1848-1916), was immensely popular on its release in 1873 with music by Hart Peas Danks (1834-1903). The earliest reference to the first ballad, 'Could you lend my mother a saucepan?' is in an 1885 number of 'All the Year Round'. The song is an absolute hoot, but its text is not to be found anywhere on the internet.

Livings’s entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica notes that his farces ‘convey serious truths’ with ‘both a dazzling comic flair and an unexpected force and profundity that is heightened by his use of colloquial language’. 1p, foolscap 8vo. Twenty-two lines of text. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with four light ink underlinings. Signed ‘Yours, / Henry Livings’. One of a number of letters to Furness by writers, responding to his enquiry about socialist authors and British pubs.

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded once. From Taylor’s papers. Addressed to ‘Tom Taylor Esq’. Begins: ‘Dear Mr Taylor / I have profited by your kind instructions, & enrolled myself on the List of the Arundel Society.’ He finds the collection ‘well worth seeing’, and ‘the Van Eyck in particular strikes me as being the most wonderful example of successful reproduction in Chromo Lithography that I have yet seen’. Signed ‘J Walter’. From Taylor’s papers.

See his father?s entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 16mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. The recipient?s full name is not give. Signed ?Walter H Pollock?. The ?Ajax business? referred to in the letter is the performance of the first of the Cambridge Greek plays, organised by the archaeologist Sir Charles Walston [formerly Waldstein] (1856-1927).

A significant figure, unaccountably unrepresented in the Oxford DNB. An interesting item, casting light on the way business was conducted in the world of nineteenth-century newspaper proprietorship. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded for postage. The recipient, evidently a fellow newspaper proprietor, is not named, and the letter is signed ?William Ingram?.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. (BBTI has John Andrews with bookshop and circulating library at 167 New Bond Street from before 1831 to 1857.) 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Extracted from an album, and with the gutter strengthened with archival tape. Otherwise in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. As a piece of business correspondence has a spike hole through the centre of both leaves, unfortunately also through the ?H? of the signature ?H L Bulmer?, which is little more than a scrawl, with corkscrew paraphe.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Twenty-two lines of text. In good condition, lightly discoloured and worn. Folded for postatge. The addressee’s name is unclear. Signed ‘Clement Scott’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, landscape 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with four small gummed squared as mounts adhering to the four corners. Folded for postage. Large firm signature and handwriting. Reads: 'Dear Miss Thompson / The piece is not mine and I am sorry I cannot inform you to whom the acting rights, if any, belong. / Your sincerely / Geo R Sims'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. (BBTI has John Andrews with bookshop and circulating library at 167 New Bond Street from before 1831 to 1857.) 1p, 12mo. Addressed on reverse of second leaf for delivery by hand ('wait') to 'Mr Wauchope / at Mr Andrews' / 167. New Bond St.'. In good condition, lightly aged, with unobtrusive central spike hole (for business correspondence) through both leaves. Reads: 'Dear Sir / Be so good as send me the vouchers of the Scrivener for 1827 agreeably with your promise, is there particular occasion for them today'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with strip of mount adhering to inner margin. Folded once for postage. Reads 'My dear Miss Stuart / I don't think Mr. Bridges brings us much forrider with Keats. Many thanks for the article but I am a little disappointed that his criticism seems so flat. I return your paper with many thanks - / Every yours very truly / Robert H Hutton'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both letters closely written. Both folded for postage. The letters concern the following statement in the Spectator, 6 February 1875: ‘Rumour says that Sir William Harcourt has ascertained from his friend, Mr. Disraeli, that while he will treat the Marquis of Hartington with all the respect due to the leader of a great party, he could not have accorded that deference to Mr. Forster. If rumour does not speak falsely, we could wish that the meeting of the Reform Club had received that very significant message.’ ONE (9 March 1875): 4pp, 12mo. Fifty-seven lines.

Berggruen was awarded the French Legion of Honour and the German Order of Merit. Among those attending his funeral were German Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Horst Köhler. One of his sons is the US billionaire investor and philanthropist Nicholas Berggruen. In the year this letter was sent Erskine opened his influential St Georges Gallery Prints off Cork Street. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, but with slight damage and creasing at the centre of the right-hand margin. Highly stylized signature, ‘Heinz Berggruen’. Folded once for postage. Reads: ‘Dear Mr.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On the front cover of a 12 x 7 cm envelope, from which the seal has been torn away on the reverse. Otherwise in very good condition. A pleasing piece of calligraphy, with the word ‘Private’ centred and underlined at the head, and the address to ‘The Honble. Spencer Ponsonby. / Foreign Office’ across the central band, with the signature at bottom left: ‘Alaric Watts.’ See Image.

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of a bifolium, the second docketed ‘Mr. Delane / April 6/59 / Introd. Mr Wimpore Cooke - Times Correspt in China -’. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Addressed to ‘The Earl of Clarendon’ and signed ‘John T. Delane’. Reads: ‘My dear Lord, / I should be much obliged if you would receive the bearer, Mr.

See his entry, and hers, in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Addressed to ‘The Lady Theresa Lewis’. Reads: ‘Mr Delane regrets sincerely that a previous engagement will prevent him from having the honour of waiting upon Sir G. Cornewall and Lady Theresa Lewis on Thursday the 13th. In 1844 Lady Theresa married her second husband, the future Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), her first having been the novelist Thomas Henry Lister. (1800-1842)

Curious items. Yale has the originals of these pages, in an ‘Album, formerly owned by John Murray, containing items either by Pope or related to him, 1717-1855’, described as ‘original proof of two pages from Pope's Epistles, pages 69 and 70, with the author's corrections’. Each of the present items is printed on a 28.5 x 37.5 cm leaf of wove paper. A previous owner(lord Houghton in fact) thought highly-enough of them to include them in an album, as a profession white stub adheres neatly at the left of each.

The Clarendon Hotel was once - as ‘Routledge’s Popular Guide to London’ stated in 1862 - ‘the most fashionable place in London’, and the present collection of autograph signatures from its guestbook, all of them said to date from 1831, bear witness to the fact that - as ‘Gilbert’s Visitor’s Guide to London’ (1851) states - it was ‘frequented by the Nobility and Gentry, and Foreigners of rank’. Its reputation had been made during the Regency period, and in 1820 ‘Leigh’s New Picture of London’ stated that it ‘and Jaquiers are now one hotel’.