THE

The Plight of the Creative Artist in the United States of America.

Author: 
Henry Miller [Bern Porter]
Publication details: 
[Houlton, Maine: Bern Porter, 1944.]
£75.00

8vo: paginated 3-38. Four full-page reproductions of Miller's paintings. In original yellow printed wraps. On brittle, aged paper, with the body of the book detached from the wraps, which are worn and with one corner at front creased. Title taken from front wrap. One of 950 numbered copies, signed by the publisher on the final page (beneath 'Publisher's Addendum') 'Bern Porter | 25 South St | Houlton Maine | Copy # 296'. Shifreen &Jackson A37a. Uncommon. Apart from the British Library, COPAC only lists copies at Cambridge, Manchester, Oxford and Bristol.

Two Autograph Letters Signed to Osbert Burdett, both on the subject of his study of the novels of the Dutch writer 'Maarten Maartens'.

Author: 
Norreys Jephson O'Conor (1890-1964), Irish-American poet [Osbert Burdett; 'Maarten Maartens']
Publication details: 
18 and 21 November 1930; both on letterheads of 31 Edwardes Square, Kensington, W8.
£95.00

Both letters 4to, 2 pp. Both texts clear and complete, and both in fair condition, with dog-eared corners. In the first letter O'Conor writes that he has 'heard from Miss Maartens', and that he is sending 'Dr van Maanen's' study of the author. 'Miss Maartens suggests that you and I might meet, which appeals greatly to me, for I enjoyed your review of the Maarten Maartens letters and have also heard about you from my friend John Gould Fletcher.' Gives a time when 'Miss Maartens is coming to the London Library to read some Dutch' for him, and he suggests that Burdett join them.

Broadside titled 'King Crispin. The ancient and modern history of King Crispin, with a particular account of the plan and order of the grand procession, time of meeting, &c.'

Author: 
Robert Martin, Edinburgh printer [Freemasonry; the Craft; broadsides; street ballads; handbills]
Publication details: 
Edinburgh: 'Printed for, and sold by R. MARTIN . . . . Price one penny. | Glass, Printer, South Niddry Street'. [Between 1832 and 1851?]
£175.00

Printed on one side of wove paper roughly 41.5 x 17 cm. Text clear and complete. On aged, creased and grubby paper. In two columns, headed by the title and royal crest. Begins 'Bannatyne's Key to the Almanack gives the following account of Sts Crispin and Crispianus, brothers, [...]'. Concludes: 'In a short time Crispin ascended the throne, [...] he was sainted and the Shoemakers, through gratitude for the privileges conferred on them, made him their tutelar saint'.

Manuscript Leave or Licence of Absence ('Leave to come to Great Britain'), signed by King George II ('George R.'), and by Henry Fox ('H Fox').

Author: 
Charles William Tonyn of University College, Oxford, 'Chaplain to the British Factory at Algier' [King's Chaplain at Algiers]; King George II; Henry Fox (1705-1774), 1st Baron Holland of Foxley
Tonyn
Publication details: 
12 April 1756; 'Given at Our Court at St: James's'.
£350.00
Tonyn

2 pp, on the first leaf of a bifolium of gilt-edged watermarked laid paper. Leaf dimensions 30 x 19 cm. Text clear and entire. On lightly aged, worn and creased paper. The king's signature is in the top left-hand corner of the first page, above the royal seal, which is embossed on a folded square of paper over red wax. The seal covers the downstroke from the 'g' of 'George' and the final stroke of the 'R' in the royal signature. The document carries three blind-stamped 2s 6d tax stamps in the left-hand margin of the first page.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Le Despencer') to a member of the Tonyn family.

Author: 
Francis Dashwood (1708-1781), 11th Baron Le Despencer, politician and rake; member of the Hellfire Club; founder of the Monks of Medmenham Abbey
Publication details: 
24 February 1774; Manchester Square, London.
£300.00

4to: 1 p. 9 lines of text. Good, on lightly aged paper, with a light stain affecting a couple of words. Text clear and entire. Docketed on the reverse of the otherwise-blank second leaf of the bifolium. Concerning his and Tonyn's positions as magistrates. 'I never can conveniently at this time of the year stay above a day at W Wycombe at one time'. Were he in the county he would 'attend you on Saturday in Easter Week, and I believe I shall, but to make a journey on purpose to attend a petty sessions at my time of life cannot be expected'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('B. B. Woodward') to 'Dr Reynolds'.

Author: 
Bernard Bolingbroke Woodward (1816-1869), Librarian in Ordinary to the Queen, Windsor Castle
Publication details: 
2 June 1869; on embossed Buckingham Palace letterhead.
£38.00

12mo, 3 pp. Bifolium. Thirty-three lines of text. Good, on aged paper, with slight traces of glue from mount on blank reverse of second leaf. Apologising for not being able to join Reynolds' party, because of the visit of 'a gentleman' who 'is coming from the country to me on business of importance to me'. This is also disappointing to his daughter, who would have accompanied him. He hopes his 'excellent friends', Reynold's 'colleagues', will not suppose him 'indffierent to their invitation! Especially now that my renewed health has permitted me to accept <?>'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Le Despencer') to a member of the Tonyn family.

Author: 
Francis Dashwood (1708-1781), 11th Baron Le Despencer, politician and rake; member of the Hellfire Club; founder of the Monks of Medmenham Abbey [Admiral Charles William Paterson (c.1756-1841)]
Publication details: 
8 February 1776; Hanover Square, London.
£350.00

4to: 1 p. 7 lines of text. Docketed on the reverse. Good, on lightly aged paper. That day he went to the Admiralty 'in hopes of meeting Lord Sandwich in order to recommend Mr Paterson [later Admiral Charles William Paterson] to his good will', but he did not see him. When he does, he will 'certainly say everything in that young Gentlemans favor', and he will 'say the same to Lord Howe if I can catch sight of him'. 'Our last news from America are not unfavorable in some respects.'

Two Letters in a Secretarial Hand, one of them signed by Amherst ('Amherst'), both to the Rev. Charles William Tonyn (d.1805) of Radnage, Bucks.

Author: 
Jeffrey Amherst, first Baron Amherst (1717-1797), field-marshall, conqueror of Canada
Publication details: 
The signed letter: 18 June 1781, Whitehall. The unsigned letter: 9 March 1782, Whitehall.
£220.00

The signed letter: 4to, 1 p. 11 lines of text. With the address on a separate and similarly-sized leaf. Franked 'War Office | ', and bearing two circular postmarks, one of them in red with the word 'FREE'. Good, on aged and creased paper. Assuring Tonyn that it will give him 'much pleasure' to recommend Tonyn's nephew George Augustus Tonyn for an army commission, 'as soon as I may be able to do it consistently with the very great number of Applications which I have already on my hands'.

Two copies of the typescript of a humorous poem titled 'Lines Written in Contemplation of the King's Bodyguard for Scotland 1937.'

Author: 
T. B. S.' [T. B. Simpson; Thomas Blantyre Simpson (1892-1954), author and Sheriff of Perth and Angus] [The King's Bodyguard for Scotland]
Publication details: 
1937. [One copy headed in manuscript: 'From T. B. SIMPSON | 11/6/49.']
£75.00

Each of the two typescripts is on one side of a piece of A4 paper. One is signed in type at end 'T. B.S.' and the other (which appears to be mimeographed) carries what is presumably Simpson's signature at head in the manuscript note: 'From T. B. SIMPSON | 11/6/49.' Text of each clear and complete, on creased and aged paper. Apart from the typed signature to the one copy, and the fact that one copy has square brackets and the other curved, the two texts are identical.

Thirty-one items: including fourteen Signed Letters and Notes (all 'E. F Crowe'), Typed and in Autograph, mostly written to various Secretaries and officials of the Royal Society of Arts. With enclosures, drafts and copies of replies.

Author: 
Sir Edward Crowe [Sir Edward Thomas Frederick Crowe] (1877-1955), public servant, Vice-President (1937-60), President (1942-3), and Chairman of the Council (1941-3) of the Royal Society of Arts
Publication details: 
Dating from between 27 June 1940 and 26 March 1943. Most of Crowe's letters from his London address: 12A Ennismore Gardens, SW7.
£125.00

The collection of thirty-one items is in good condition, with the texts (in a variety of formats) clear and complete. Includes nine Typed Letters Signed, one Autograph Letter Signed, two Autograph Notes Signed, one Autograph Card Signed, one Typed Note Signed by Crowe, with a Typed Letter and a Typed Note signed on his behalf. The first item is an Autograph Card Signed from Crowe accepting his election as the Society's Vice-President.

Visiting card, bearing autograph note to 'Mr Palgrave [Francis Turner Palgrave, 1824-1897?], [and] The Misses Palgrave'.

Author: 
Anna Swanwick (1813-1899), English author, feminist, and translator of Goethe, born in Liverpool
Publication details: 
Undated. Printed address '23, Cumberland Terrace, Regent's Park. [London]'
£56.00

Dimensions of card 6 x 9 cm. Good. Printed on the card are the name 'Miss Anna Swanwick,' and the address. Written around the name in MS is 'Mr Palgrave, The Misses Palgrave from [Miss Anna Swanwick] With kindest regards and all the good wishes of the season.'

Inadvertencies collected from the works of several eminent authors.

Author: 
E. G-H.' [i.e. Edward Gathorne-Hardy], editor [The Mill House Press]
Publication details: 
Stanford Dingley: The Mill House Press, 1963.
£105.00

Number 174 of 'Two hundred numbered copies [...] printed by hand on mould-made paper.' 8vo: [ii] + 9 pp. Stitched pamphlet of twelve leaves, with four vignettes giving it a distinct chap-book feel. COPAC only lists copies at the British Library and Oxford. Prefatory note by 'E. G-H.' [Eddie Gathorne-Hardy].

Pamphlet advertising ''Mr. Joseph Hatton's Dramatic Reading, founded upon his Great Society Novel of English Life and Manners, entitled "The Queen of Bohemia." '

Author: 
Joseph Hatton (1841-1907), English novelist and journalist [Victorian monologues; nineteenth-century dramatic readings; The Palace Hotel, Buxton]
Publication details: 
The Drawing-Room, Palace Hotel, Buxton. Thursday Evening, August 19th, 1880.'
£56.00

4to, 8 pp. Stitched pamphlet on grey paper. Text clear and complete. Good, though somewhat creased, and a little stained. In small type. Divided into two sections: 'Selections from the opinions of the London press' and 'Selections from the opinions of the provincial press'. In a long quotation on the front page: 'Charles Dickens made the practice famous, and Mr. Joseph Hatton has begun his platform career in the same modest, careful, and unpretentious way [...]'. (p.1, 'From General Press Notices').

Nos. 85, 106 and 108 of 'The Naturalists' Leisure Hour and Monthly Bulletin.'

Author: 
A. E. Foote, editor (natural history bookseller of Philadelphia [geological reports]
Publication details: 
October 1884, July 1887 and March 1888. 1223 Belmont Avenue, Philadelphia, Pa.
£185.00

Each catalogue 8vo, 32 pp. Stapled and unbound. The text of all three items clear and complete. On aged and spotted paper. Each issue carries an editorial introduction, with that of October 1884 (no. 85) eight pages long, and boasting that it is 'the most complete catalogue of American Official Geological Reports ever published. The previous lists of Prime and Marsh have been consulted, but very many have been added during the period covered by Prime'.

Printed Edinburgh Assize paper, a summons to be served to those accused of 'Mobbing and Rioting', 'Obstructing a Presbytery' and 'Assualt', in which Neave sets out the case against them. With 'List of Witnesses' and 'List of Assize. Edinburgh'.

Author: 
Charles Neaves, A.D. [The Black Isle Riot, 1843; Royal Burgh of Cromarty, Scotland; Scottish law; Edinburgh assizes]
Publication details: 
[Edinburgh: 1843.]
£100.00

Ten quarto pages (paginated 1 to 10) on three loose bifoliums. Stabbed as issued. Text clear and complete. On aged paper with chipping and short closed tears to edges.

Alnwick Scientific and Mechanical Institution. Fine Art Exhibition in Corn Exchange, Alnwick, November 1882, Collection of Coins, Eggs of Farne Islands, Native and Foreign Curiosities, &c., &c., collected and exhibited by Mr. J. J. Horsley, Alnwick.

Author: 
J. J. Horsley of Alnwick, collector of coins and eggs of the Farne Islands [Alnwick, Northumberland; birds' eggs; ornithology; numismatics]
Publication details: 
1882. Alnwick: Printed by C. E. Moore.
£75.00

12mo, 11 pp. Stitched and unbound. First and last leaves loose, otherwise in fair condition, on lightly-aged paper with grubby title. The section of 'Eggs of the Farne Islands' consists of fifteen entries on pp.8-9, from '1. Eider or St. Cuthbert's Duck (Somateria mollissima)' to '15.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Alexr Peddie MD. F.RCP.'). A letter of recommendation [reference] for Speer.

Author: 
Alexander Peddie (1810-1907), of the Minto House Hospital and Dispensary, Edinburgh [Dr Stanhope Templeman Speer]
Publication details: 
1 August 1848; Edinburgh.
£56.00

12mo, 2 pp. 28 lines of text. Clear and complete. Folded into a packet 5 x 6.5 cm. With envelope addressed by Peddie as 'from | the Minto House Hospital | Edinburgh.' Fair, on aged paper with some short closed tears to the folds. Speer has been an assistant at Minto House since the previous 1 May, 'during which period he has witnessed a great amount of medical and surgical practice, has had under his own care a very considerable number of patients [...]'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W Knollys | Lt Genl') to J. Maitland, on the presentation of an address to the Prince of Wales by the Church of Scotland.

Author: 
General Rt. Hon. Sir William Thomas Knollys (1797-1883), Treasurer and Comptroller of the Household of the Prince of Wales, 1862-1877 [General Assembly of the Church of Scotland; J. Maitland]
Publication details: 
25 March 1863; Buckingham Palace.
£65.00

4to, 2 pp. Good, on lightly-aged laid paper, with small area torn away from top corner (not affecting text). Docketed at head in an Edwardian hand: 'From Lieutt Genl. Sir William Knollys to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland on the occasion of the Prince of Wales' marriage | Private Secretary to the Prince of Wales [Edward VII]'.

A printed circular by 'Members of the Birmingham Committee of Shareholders', addressed 'To the Shareholders of the Standard Bank of London Limited', with a lithographed facsimile letter from the firm's liquidator Leslie, and a share prospectus.

Author: 
Henry Leslie, F.S.A. [The Standard Bank of London Limited; London Stock Exchange; Victorian economics]
Publication details: 
Circular dated 'Committee Room, 116, Colmore Row, Birmingham, 27th April, 1882.' ['Printed by JOSIAH ALLEN, Birmingham.'] Lithograph dated 8 May 1882. Prospectus: 10 December 1880.
£125.00

According to the prospectus (item three below), the Bank was 'Incorporated under the Companies' Acts, 1862, 1867, 1877 and 1879.' The three items were formerly pinned together. Item One (printed circular): 4to, 4 pp. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Headed 'TO SHAREHOLDERS ONLY. - PRIVATE.' Signed in type by seven 'Members of the Birmingham Committee of Shareholders'. The first paragraph reads 'The action of Mr.

Two Autograph Letters Signed to 'Dear France'.

Author: 
Edgar Jepson [Edgar Alfred Jepson] (1863-1938), English writer of detective fiction, sometimes under the name 'R. Edison Page'
Publication details: 
Letter One: 17 May 1907; Hillfarance, Elm Road, Wembley. Letter Two: 29 June 1907; 23 Bath Road, Bedford Park. London W.
£95.00

Both items in fair condition, on lightly-aged and foxed paper. Letter One: 12mo (15 x 10 cm), 1 p. He thanks him 'for the Tickets': 'we are looking forward to seeing you act. I shall be very pleased to come to smoke a cigarette after the first act off the Duel.' ('The Duel' was produced at the Garrick Theatre, London, in 1907.) Letter Two: 12mo, 2 pp. He thanks him 'for the excellent evening you gave me at The Coronet the other night. | The Incubus is an admirable play, and admirably acted.' He hopes France 'had a good week of it': 'I told innumerable people not to miss it.'

Two Autograph Cards Signed (both 'H M Durand') to Sir Henry Trueman Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Sir Mortimer Durand [Sir Henry Mortimer Durand] (1850-1924), British diplomat and civil servant,, Foreign Secretary of India, 1884-1894
Publication details: 
Received 19 July 1916 and 7 June 1917.
£28.00

Both cards plain with printed stamp and 9 x 11 cm. Both bearing the Society's oval purple stamp. Card One: He is 'leaving town on business for two or three days' and so cannot attend the meeting of the Indian Section Committee. Card Two: He will 'with pleasure support Abney if in town', but may not be there on the day.

Autograph Letter Signed ('C. Cohen') to Walters.

Author: 
Chapman Cohen (1868-1954), Editor of 'The Freethinker' [John Cuming Walters (1863-1933), Editor, Manchester City News]
Publication details: 
2 May 1919; on letterhead of 'The Freethinker'.
£75.00

4to, 2 pp. Good, on lightly-aged and worn paper. Thirty-seven lines of text. He finds himself 'very much in accord' with the views expressed by Walters in his address on 'The New Religion'. His 'chief difference' is 'a dislike to the use of the word "Religion." It has, to me, associations that are certain to rob it of all good.' As a 'working term', in Cohen's view, it lacks 'satisfactory power'. 'However, the great thing seems to me to keep churches & individuals on the move.

Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'H W Kennard') to Beresford Hope, the first providing information useful to an Edwardian British attaché in Washington.

Author: 
H. W. Kennard [Sir Howard William Kennard] (1878-1955), British diplomat [Beresford Hope; James Bryce (1838-1922), 1st Viscount Bryce, British Ambassador to the United States, 1907-1913]
Publication details: 
2 December 1907 and 16 August 1909; both on letterhead of the British Embassy, Washington [second letterhead amended to 'N. E. Harbor'].
£56.00

Hope had returned to the Foreign Office from Tehran in May 1907, but had moved to the Washington Embassy, as second secretary, that October. The recipient is presumably one of the ten children of the Tory politician A. J. B. Beresford Hope (1820-1887). Letter One: 12mo, 8 pp. Very good on lightly-aged paper. Addressed to 'My dear Beresford Hope'. A teasing, friendly letter, intresting for the information it provides on the situation of a minor attaché in Edwardian Washington.

Autograph Letter Signed to Lord Harmsworth, presenting a copy of ' "Ye Pepys Journall" 1665-1954', containing a 'List of Portraits Commissioned and Painted', and biographical information, including an account of the her bookselling mother.

Author: 
Margaret Grose, artist [Samuel Pepys; Samuel Johnson; Cecil Harmsworth, 1st Baron Harmsworth; Francis Grose]
Publication details: 
Letter: 2 June 1955; addressed from ' "Ye Pepys Journall", 37. St Martin's Court, W.C.2.' Journal: 'C. E. Gray, Kennington, London'
£56.00

Letter: 12mo, 2 pp. Bifolium. Good, on aged paper, with small rust stain at head from paperclip. She is writing to Harmsworth ('President, Dr Johnson's House') to ask him to accept a copy of 'my Journal in which mention is made of my Portrait of Dr Samuel Johnson which hangs in the Garrett of Dr Samuel Johnson house this was presented by H. B. Wheatley whom I knew for many years.' On a visit to the curator of Johnson's house she was 'pleased to see the picture still hands in its original place'.

Autograph Note Signed to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Edith Coates (1908-1983), English mezzo-soprano opera singer.
Publication details: 
Undated; 31 Makepeace Avenue, Highgate, London.
£28.00

12mo, 1 p. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Punch-hole in top left-hand corner. Replying to an autograph hunter, she states that she has 'signed the programme' and has 'much pleasure in returning it with every good wish'. Good, firm signature.

Alteration of Constitution. Federal Referendums. The Case FOR and AGAINST. ['Aviation' and 'Marketing']

Author: 
[Australian Federal Referendums on Aviation and Marketing, 1937]
Publication details: 
By Authority: H. J. Green, Government Printer, Melbourne. [Canberra, 30th December, 1936.]
£56.00

4to: [iii] + 15 + [ii] pp. Ten-leaf stapled pamphlet. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Slight rusting to staples. In small hand in red ink at head of title: 'M.S. 834 - 21/1/37'. Giving the texts of two proposed constitution alterations, 'Aviation' and 'Marketing', with the cases for and against, the referendums on which are both to be taken on 6 March 1937. 1 cm stamp in red ink of the Webster Collection at foot of final page, numbered 4190.

The Dangers and Safeguards of Ethical Science. An Inaugural Lecture delivered in the Clarendon, May 25th, 1836.

Author: 
The Rev. W. Sewell [William Sewell (1804-1874)], M.A. Sub-Rector of Exeter College, and Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Oxford
Publication details: 
Oxford: D. A. Talboys. 1837.
£165.00

8vo: 66 pp. Stitched pamphlet. In original grey printed wraps. Text clear and complete. Tight copy on lightly-aged and foxed paper, with light staining at foot of wraps and first and last few leaves. List of 'Publications by the same Author' on the reverse. Worn inscription at head of title, to 'The Revd Vaughan Thomas | With the Authors best comptss & regards'. Scarce: no copy in the British Library, and the only copies on COPAC at Bristol, Lambeth Palace and Oxford.

Somersetshire Worthies. [In original wraps.]

Author: 
Edward T. D. Foxcroft. [Frome, Somersetshire]
Publication details: 
[1876 or 1878] London: W. Kent & Co., 23, Paternoster Row. Frome: W. C. & J. Penny.
£125.00

12mo: [vi] + iv + 80. In original grey printed wraps, on which the name of the London publishers Kent features before Penny's (the actual title page simply gives 'Frome: W. C. & J. Penny.') Text clear and complete. On aged and slightly grubby paper. Wraps worn and stained. Recently bound in grey boards, with red leather label gilt on front. Ownership inscription at head of front wrap, dated 25 May 1878. Fly leaf with contemporary quotation decrying the books publication, 'as it may deter some more capable writer with better sources of information at his command'.

Handbill poem entitled 'Baron Böhmbig [Bohmbig], or the Rival Jumpers.'

Author: 
[Jonathan Blewitt (1782-1853), English composer] [The Flying Dutchman]
Publication details: 
Without date or place. [London, 1850s?]
£75.00

Printed on one side of a piece of wove paper, 32.5 x 24 cm. Text clear and complete, on aged paper with chipping and closed tears to edges. The only copy of this title on COPAC is at the British Library (folio, 4 pp, published by Zenas T. Purday), where it is ascribed to Blewitt and tentatively dated to around 1850. Six eight-line stanzas with chorus 'Jump high, jump low, jumping we go.' Possibly written with satiric intent.

Darkest Africa And An Easy Way Out.

Author: 
W. L. Warden [Harold Sidney Harmsworth (1868-1940, 1st Viscount Rothermere]
Publication details: 
[1940.] 'For Private Circulation Only.' ['Printed by Warden & Co. Ltd., 71, Church Road, Hendon, N.W.4.'] [Introductory note by Warden dated '38, Portland Place, London, W.1. March, 1940.']
£85.00

8vo: 12 pp (unpaginated). Wraps and stapled. Fair: on aged and lightly-creased paper. A few marks in pencil and red pencil (on two occasions 'my "Owner" ' in the text noted as 'Lord R.'). Stamped with limitation number 57. Printed in small type in double column. In his introductory note Warden explains that the text is 'made up of extracts from a diary, which I more or less kept, and letters sent home during a recent voyage of 20,000 miles.

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