SUPERNATURAL

[Wilfrid Pippet, member of noted Solihull family of ecclesiastical artists and designers.] Eleven signed original illustrations for Thomas Wright of Olney’s ‘Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire Ballads’ (including 'The Three Men of Yardley Chase').

Author: 
Wilfrid Pippet (1873?-1946?), illustrator and designer, member of Solihull family that worked with Gothic Revival firm Hardman & Co. [Thomas Wright (1859-1936) of Olney]
Pippet
Publication details: 
Three editions, Olney, [1924? and] 1925.
£450.00
Pippet

The Pippets of Solihull were a Roman Catholic family that worked closely on ecclesiastical designs with the Gothic Revival firm Hardman & Co (whose archives are held by the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery). Wilfrid also collaborated with J. B. Trinick on the striking illustrations to A. E. Waite’s rosicrucian ‘Album of the Great Symbols of the Paths’ (1917-21; copy in the British Museum Department of Prints and Drawings). Eleven attractive illustrations in black ink (over pencil draft).

[Francis Vivian, writer of popular fiction, author of the Inspector Knollis mysteries.] Typed Letter Signed to Eileen Cond, assessing his books and giving a synopsis of forthcoming story ‘The Frog was Yellow’.

Author: 
Francis Vivian [pen name of Arthur Ernest Ashley (1906-1979), writer of popular fiction, author of the Inspector Knollis mysteries, brother of photographer Hallam Ashley [Eileen Cond]
Publication details: 
11 November 1939; The Chalet, Skegby, Mansfield.
£120.00

An excellent letter to enthusiastic autograph collector Eileen Margaret Cond (1911-1984). It shows Cond’s ability to draw a more than perfunctory response from her targets. 1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Signed ‘Francis Vivian’. He is ‘very grateful’ for her ‘appeciation of my book, The Three Short Men. I have to confess that I thoroughly enjoyed writing it, even though both Pam and Hathersage at times refused to obey my orders, and went their own sweet way.

[Algernon Blackwood, celebrated ghost story writer.] Typed Card Signed to ‘Miss Cond’ [autograph collector Eileen Cond], thanking her for a card that has enchanted him.

Author: 
Algernon Blackwood [Algernon Henry Blackwood] (1869-1951) English ghost writer, one of the most celebrated and prolific in the history of the genre of supernatural fiction [Eileen Lond]
Blackwood
Publication details: 
15 December 1959; Savile Club, 69 Brook Street, W1 [London], with Paddington postmark.
£150.00
Blackwood

Blackwood’s entry in the Oxford DNB quotes H. P. Lovecraft’s opinion that he was the author of ‘some of the finest spectral literature of this or any age’. On post card with printed stamp. In good condition, lightly worn, on light-brown card. Addressed to ‘Miss Cond, / Deer Park, / Honiton.’ Apart from the signature, Blackwood has added quotation marks and dealt with two typing mistakes in autograph. Good firm signature. Reads: ‘Savile Club, 69 Brook St, W. 1.

[Drury Lane Ghost.] Carbon of typewritten letter from W. Macqueen-Pope to Jack Todd of New York, giving an account of the ghost at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, which he has seen ‘on very many occasions’, and of his own association with the place.

Author: 
Drury Lane Ghost [Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London; Walter James Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
Publication details: 
16 December 1957. [London.]
£120.00

From the papers of theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope, who was for more than twenty years press representative for Drury Lane. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) The recipient is given by MP as ‘Jack Todd Esq / 446, Dimmick Street, Waterton, New York’. 2pp, 4to. 59 lines of text, single-spaced. An unsigned carbon copy, in fair condition, on lightly-aged and creasted cartridge paper.

[Pamphlet.] Spiritualism and Insanity: An Essay describing the disastrous consequences to the Mental Health which are apt to result from a pursuit of the study of Spiritualism. By Dr. C. Williams, Author of Insanity: its Causes and Prevention, etc.

Author: 
Charles Williams (b.1858), LRCP, Assistant Medical Officer, the Warneford, Oxford [spiritualism]
Publication details: 
London: The Ambrose Co., Ltd., 55 & 57 Wigmore Street, W. [1909 or 1910]
£56.00

12mo, 53 + [iii] pp. Text clear and complete. Aged and worn, with loose original front cover, printed in green, remaining from the binding. Stamp of 'The Community of the Resurrection' on title-page. A few manuscript notes in light pencil. Scarce: five copies on COPAC, at the British Library, Oxford, Cambridge, the National Library of Scotland, and University of London, variously dated to 1909 and 1910.

[Charles Nodier, French Romantic supernatural author.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Charles Nodier'), in French, explaining to an unnamed count that his friend and protégé 'M. Leharivel' is not eligible for membership of the Academie Française.

Author: 
Charles Nodier [Jean Charles Emmanuel Nodier] (1780-1844), French Romantic author of fantastic and supernatural tales, Librarian of Bibliothèque de l'Arsenal, Member of the Académie Française
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£250.00

1p, 12mo. Seventeen lines of closely written text. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, laid down on a leaf from an album. The recipient is not named, but is addressed as 'Monsieur le Comte'. The letter concerns the count's 'ami et protégé' 'M. Leharivel' [author of 'Grammaire Francaise Pasigraphique, Simplifiee Et Regularisee, Pour Servir de Base Fondamentale; Et Anecdotes, Et Contes Historiques (1839) ].

[Sabine Baring-Gould, ghost story writer, antiquarian and folklorist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('S. Baring Gould'), regarding the copyright of his 'Lives of the Saints'.

Author: 
Sabine Baring-Gould (1834-1924), ghost story writer, antiquarian, folklorist and Anglican priest
Publication details: 
20 March 1897. Lew Trenchard, North Devon.
£56.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Neatly and closely written out. Good firm signature, not hyphenated (as opposed to his entry in the Oxford DNB). A short letter, begging with thanks to the unnamed recipient 'for a sight of your beautiful drawings.' He continues: 'I have nothing to do with the publication of “Lives of the SS” as I parted with copyright at the time they were just done.' The sixteen volumes of his 'Lives of the Saints' appeared between 1872 and 1877.

[Walter de la Mare answers the question 'What does "The Listeners" mean?'] Typed Letter Signed ('Walter de la Mare') to Sonia Drynan, explaining, with a quotation from Lewis Carroll, his position on the meaning of the poem.

Author: 
Walter de la Mare (1873-1956), poet and short story writer
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Hill House, Taplow, Buckinghamshire. 21 December 1936.
£400.00

De la Mare's definitive answer to the oft-asked question regarding the meaning of his best-known poem - and also one of the most celebrated English poems of the twentieth century - 'The Listeners'. 1p, 4to, in good condition, lightly aged, folded twice. After thanking her for her 'kind letter', he adds: 'I am afraid you may not find my answer to your question a very satisfactory one.

[ Arnold Bennett, English author. ] Typed Note Signed to the ghost story writer Frederick I Cowles, declining to act.

Author: 
Arnold Bennett (1867-1931), English author from the Staffordshire Potteries [ Frederick Ignatius Cowles (1900-1948), English author of supernatural fiction ]
Publication details: 
75 Cadogan Square, S.W.1. [ London ] 5 November 1930.
£65.00

S1p., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of mount on reverse. Addressed to 'Frederick I. Cowles, Esq., F.R.S.L., F.R.S.A., F.S.A.' Reads: 'Dear Sir, | In reply to your letter, I should have liked to oblige you but it is impossible for me to do so. The matter would require much more time than I have to spare.'

Typescript, marked 'Producer's Copy', of the play 'Ghost for Sale', with manuscript addition to ending.

Author: 
Ronald Jeans (1887-1973), British playwright over five decades
Publication details: 
In manuscript on front cover: 'Return to 40c Palace St: London S.W.1'. Undatd. From Pinker's Play Bureau, Talbot House, Arundel Street, Strand, London, WC2.
£220.00

147pp., 8vo. In fair condition, on aged paper, with rusty binding, in worn covers. In manuscript on the cover are the return address and 'Producer's Copy'. In the same hand is an addition to the ending: 'Judy | Then there is a ghost' | Geoffrey | Not a word to your father'. 'Who's Who in the Theatre' records a production of the play in 1938, but there is no reference to it on either OCLC WorldCat, or on COPAC.

[Printed pamphlet.] The Golden Valley, Herefordshire, by Thomas Powell, Rector of Dorstone. [The Golden Valley: Its Parishes; Its Beauties; Its Salubrity; The Objects of Interest. A Trip for a Day.]

Author: 
Thomas Powell, Rector of Dorstone.
Thomas Powell, Rector of Dorstone.
Publication details: 
Hereford: Printed by Jakeman and Carver, Printers, Widemarsh Street, High Town, Hereford. [1880s]
£120.00
Thomas Powell, Rector of Dorstone.

12mo, [iv] + 48 pp. In original brown printed wraps. Text clear and complete. Aged and lightly worn, with slight staining to edges of wraps. Can be dated to the 1880s, as Powell died in 1886, and the latest date in the text is 1881. Preface: 'This little work professes to give merely a sketch of the objects of beauty and interest to be found in The Golden Valley. The Landscape-Painter, the Archaeologist, the Botanist, the Historian, will there find ample occupation.

The Haunted House translated from Plautus

Author: 
H.A. Strong
The Haunted House translated from Plautus
Publication details: 
London: Richard Bentley and Son, 1872.
£125.00
The Haunted House translated from Plautus

xxxviii.80pp., 8vo, printed red cloth, slight hinge strain, endpapers discoloured, cover has minor defects, but is attractive. A drama. Scarce: COPAC lists only the BL copy but WorldCat lists five other British repositories.

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