TWENTIETH

1p, 4to. Twenty-three lines. Large sprawling signature ‘Lawrence G. Blochman’. In fair condition, worn and creased on lightly-discoloured paper. The recipient, an enthusiastic autograph collector, has evidently asked him to sign a bookplate to be stuck in his latest book ‘’Recipe for Homicide’. Her note has finally reached him ‘through channels (via my English publisher through my London agent to my New York agent)’. He is glad she finds the book entertaining, ‘even though you had not yet, at the time of writing, discovered the culprit’.

Jane Aiken Hodge was author of many works, mainly romantic fiction. Her most popular book was a study of Georgette Heyer, and she was also responsible for a biography of Jane Austen. 1p, landscape 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded once for postage. Signed in type ‘Jane Hodge’, with the following in type: ‘Mrs. Alan Hodge’.

6pp, 8vo: with three pages beside one another on each side of a strip that folds in on itself. In fair condition, on lightly worn and discoloured paper. Front page with ‘Michael Fraenkel’ and list of five publications: ‘Death Is Not Enough / (Essays in Active Negation) / Werther’s Younger Brother / (The Story of an Attitude) / Death In A Room / (Poems 1927-1930) / Bastard Death / (The Autobiography of an Idea) / Hamlet, Volumes I and II / with HENRY MILLER’.

ONE: Prospectus for ‘Bastard Death / The Autobiography of an Idea / By / Michael Fraenkel’. 4pp, small 4to. Bifolium leaflet with prospectus on recto of first leaf, ‘press proof’ on two central pages, and list of other works, with reviews, and order form on verso of second leaf. In fair condition, on lightly-creased browning wove paper. The prospectus begins: ‘This is an uncorrected press proof of the new limited edition of BASTARD DEATH, showing hand-set 12 point Cheltenham type, size and set-up of page, etc.

Five copies listed on JISC. Now scarce. 8pp, 16mo. Stitched pamphlet, on good wove paper. In fair condition, lightly aged, with small closed tear at head of first leaf. First two leaves with light crease. Enfolded in ‘wallet’ of the same paper, repeating the title on the front (differently positioned), and also giving the price as sixpence. The poem, covering pp.2-7, is in small print, and the first stanza reads: ‘I bind upon myself to-day / The Strength of the Holy Trinity: / That mighty Breastplate be my Stay! / I here invoke . . . I here confess . . .

6pp, 12mo, on two bioliums. A long letter, neatly and closely written. In stamped envelope, with stamps and postmark, addressed to ‘Miss Sprott / Magavelda / Blakeney / Holt [Norfolk]’ and signed ‘John Bacon’. The letter and envelope are in fair condition, on slightly discoloured paper and with short closed tears along the folds made for postage. He begins: ‘Dear Miss Sprott.

From the Williamson family papers. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The material is in fair condition, lightly aged and creased. In a card folder on which is written by Williamson’s son Richard ‘PLANS for House for Ox’s Cross - DENNIS (builder) 1973 / Plans of Cottage. / See Schwabe’s original plans.’ ONE: Typed Letter Signed from A. J. Dennis to Williamson at 4 Capstone Place, Ilfracombe. 2pp, 4to. Headed in brown felt-tip ‘Copy’, but certainly with Dennis’s genuine signature. Much of the text underlined in red felt-tip.

Peteris Cedrins possessed an interesting dual heritage: born in the US to exiles from communism, he grew up in Chicago, was educated at Bard College (NYS), and settled in Latvia on the fall of the Soviet Union. He published in English and Lavian in the US, UK and Latvia. See the appreciative obituary by Jeffrey Sommers, posted on the ‘Counterpunch’ website on 11 August 2022: ‘Memoriam: Latvia’s Peteris Cedrins, Last of the National Poets’.

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.

For Powys and his two literary brothers see the Oxford DNB. On 11 x 9 cm piece of wove paper. The paper is discoloured with heavy spotting aroudnd the signature. Clearly a response to a request for an autograph, neatly written and centred on the paper, the only writing is the signature: ‘Theodore Frances Powys’. See image.

An attractive artefact of a pioneer of women’s rights. See her entry in the Oxford DNB. On 14 x 9 cm post card. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed by Faithfull, with two stamps and postmarks, to ‘Miss Muriel Lewis / Greyhound Hotel / Carshalton / Surrey’. In neat hand and with good firm signature: ‘1 Campden Grove Kensington / I hope to see you to lunch to-morrow Monday at 1. pm. / Yrs. / L. M. Faithfull’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The first letter 2pp, 12mo; the other three 1p, 12mo. All four items in good condition, lightly aged; and all four folded once. Each with the stylized signature ‘Trenchard Cox’. None of the four gives the year, but the first is noted in pencil as being replied to on 14 January 1971, and the last is accompanied by its envelope, with 1972 postmark, addressed by Cox to ‘Peter Wiener Esqr / 2 Napoleon Road / RAMSGATE’. The middle two are from the same period as the fourth.

Long and almost universally-appreciative articles, with photographs and cartoons, reflecting the excitement and energy of the period during which Fry was, as Michael Billington writes in his entry on the playwright in the Oxford DNB, ‘a dominant figure in British drama’. Ranging from three continents, with a few articles in foreign languages (Swedish, German, French). Among the material are John Gielgud’s long statement ‘Mr. Gielgud discovers Mr. Fry’, New York Times, 5 November 1950; and Richard L. Coe, ‘ “Lady” Delights A Packed Gayety’, Washington Post, 21 March 1951.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. Sixteen lines of text. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Stylized signature: ‘L A G Strong.’ He replies to her letter by saying that he is ‘delighted’ that she enjoys reading his books, ‘and I very much appreciate your kindness in taking the trouble to write and tell me so’. He hopes that she will continue to read his work, and that it will ‘never disappoint’ her. ‘Nothing is more encouraging to a writer than to know that he has numbers of friends, whom he has never seen, but who are following what he does with interest and pleasure.’

See his entry, and that of his brother, in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Clifford Musgrave (d.1993), Borough Librarian, was instrumental in the saving and renovation of the Brighton Pavilion. Both items in good condition, lightly aged. Both written in an elegant close calligraphic hand. The first is misaddressed to ‘Mr Muspratt’, and the second to ‘Mr. Musgrave’. Both signed ‘Clifford Bax’. ONE (14 February 1945): 2pp, 16mo. Nineteen lines. Regarding the arrangements for a lecture he is going to give, he has been asked by ‘Eric’ to communicate with him about his ‘Brighton visit’.

See Hopkins’s entry in the Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English. His papers are in the Harry Ransom Center of the University of Texas. The obituary of the recipient Andrew Block (1892-1987) in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business was established in 1911. Printed on one side of a foolscap 8vo leaf. A tasteful piece of provincial printing. Worn, creased and dog-eared, with closed tears at head. Inscribed at bottom-right: ‘for Andrew Block / Kenneth Hopkins’. Titled ‘THREE SONNETS’ and signed in type ‘KENNETH HOPKINS’.

On 9 x 13.5 cm newspaper cutting of photographic portrait of Jarred. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: ‘Mary Jarred / 1935.’ The photograph shows Jarred posing in a black dress and pearls, with left hand arranging her white fur coat to tastefully emphasize her bust. See image.

On 17.5 x 11.5 cm leaf of pink paper, with rounded edges, removed from autograph album. In good condition, lightly aged. Written in a large, expansive hand, diagonally and upwards. Reads: ‘With all / good wishes / Oda Slobodskaya’. See image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. In the following transcript, the parts in Masefield’s autograph are in square brackets, and the first printed sentence (‘I [...] letter.’) has been scored through: ‘PINBURY PARK, / CIRENCESTER. / Dear [Sirs,] / I thank you for you letter. / [I shall be obliged if you will send me No 98 of your list / Du Maurier. Trilby / London, 1895.] / With all good wishes, / Yours sincerely, / John Masefield.’ (Note that this ‘signature’ is printed.) See image.

In his obituary of Low’s partner Robin Waterfield (Independent, 12 February 2002), James Fergusson describes Low as a ‘Scottish Polish Jewish bouquiniste’. The recipient Andrew Block’s obituary in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business was established in 1911. Plain orange-yellow card, with Reynolds Stone oval medallion letterhead. Signed ‘David’ in red ink. Addressed, with postmark and stamp, to ‘Mr. Andrew Block / 30, Barter Street / London W.C.1.’ He enquires whether the ‘coloured drawings on rice paper’ he is sending are ‘merely Chinese’.

Dating from what his entry in the Oxford DNB describes as Askey’s ‘prime professional days’: ‘In 1938 Askey joined Powis Pinder's Sunshine concert party at Shanklin, Isle of Wight, where he performed successfully for the next eight years. In 1938 the BBC also engaged him for a new radio show called Band Waggon, in which his partner was Richard Murdoch. The show, first broadcast in January 1938, was an enormous success and its innovative style was perhaps Askey's greatest contribution to the entertainment business.’ On one side of a 12.5 x 8.5 cm piece of light-green card.

See Belloc’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is Colonel Frederick Hugh Langston Oldham (1876-1965), D.S.O., D.L., of Overley Hall near Wellington. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: ALS, 5 October 1922. 1p, 4to. With mourning border. Folded twice. Giving details of the train from Paddington he is proposing to take to Wellington for ‘[t]he lecture’ on 13 October. ‘It is most kind of you to have asked me to stay with you & I am much looking forward to it.’ TWO: TL, 11 October 1922. 1p, 8vo. Folded twice. The signature ‘H.

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.

Orloff left Russia in 1921, and toured the world as a leading interpreter of Chopin. He settled in Grantown-on-Spey in 1948, becoming a British citizen four years later. ONE: 6.5 x 14 cm bifoliate Christmas card, with blue and black illustration ‘Designed by Kris’. Dated at head by Orloff ‘1963/64’. Beneath the printed message he writes a large signature on two lines: ‘Nicolas Orloff’. Recipient’s name written at foot, in another hand: ‘Alan Lockhart’. The verso of the second leaf of this card is laid down on the verso of the following item.

1p, landscape 8vo. In fair condition; a little creased. Folded twice. Nicholson’s signature is a stylized squiggle, and there are a few minor autograph corrections to the typescript. The letter begins: ‘Dear Eric / I think the correspondent is probably right and that it is Windermere and not Coniston Water which can be seen from near Stickle Tarn.’ Nicholson cannot speak from experience, ‘as the tarn is metres above the level my legs would take me, but the map does seem to confirm what the two correspondents say’.

An evocative artefact of the interesting connection between Powys and the man who supplied him with the books for his translation of Rabelais. Writing on 24 September 1940, in 'Letters to Sea-Eagle', Powys gives a lengthy account of 'Our Jew Book-Pedlar' and the bombing by the Germans of his Russell Street address.

Two charming and moving letters, each sent on a significant occasion: the first Richmond’s resignation from the editorship of the TLS in 1937, and the second his ninetieth birthday in 1961; and with the latter containing interesting reminiscences of the early years of the TLS. See his appreciative entry in the Oxford DNB. Both items in good condition, lightly aged, and both addressed to ‘Dear Orlo’. ONE: 3 January [‘1937’, the year added by Williams]. Signed ‘Bruce L. Richmond.’ 2pp, landscape 12mo. Folded twice.

See Wallas’s entry in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son and editor of the economist Thorold Rogers [James Edwin Thorold Rogers] (1823-1890), for information regarding whom see his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The conclusion of the letter only. Reads: ‘[...] extracts enclosed - / Edgeworth says he will look out for materials for you. / Sincerely / Graham Wallas / 32 Great Ormond St / W. C. / May 10 -’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. At the time of writing he was Professor of English Language and Literature at Leeds. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Reads: ‘Mr Lascelles Abercrombie regrets his inability to attend the Annual Meeting of the Friends of the Bodleian in the Divinity School on June 22nd. / June 10th. 1926’.

A true great: Mancini won four Oscars, a Golden Globe and twenty Grammies. No place or date. Black and white 19 x 23.5 cm print on 20 x 25.5 cm glossy photographic paper. In fair condition, with slight creasing at one corner. In sports jacket and tie, Mancini stares over his piano with the merest of smiles. On the left-hand side of his jacket, in Mancini’s autograph, is the inscription, in black felt-tip pen: ‘to / Ray / Henry / Mancini’. See image.