YORK

[‘I don’t care where I get to if I am only inside the gate’: Thomas De Witt Talmage, prominent American preacher.] Autograph Letter Signed to an English preacher (‘brother’), describing his hard work preaching and converting.

Author: 
Thomas De Witt Talmage (1832-1902), prominent American Presbyterian, one of the most popular preachers of his day
Publication details: 
16 December 1893; on letterhead of ‘The Christian at Work’, 102 Chambers Street, New York.
£50.00

In his 1902 biography L. A. Banks quotes Dr David Gregg of Brooklyn: ‘There is but one man in the American pulpit that can draw, and hold, and thrill, twice every Sabbath the year round, an audience of 8,000. There is but one man on the globe that preaches the Gospel every week through the press to 25,000,000.’ 3pp, 8vo. Bifolium, with the final page written lengthwise on the reverse of the first leaf. In good condition, on discoloured paper, with remains of stub adhering to blank reverse of second leaf, which also carries a pin hole to one corner. The recipient is unidentified.

[Norman Mailer [Nachem Malech Mailer], American novelist and journalist.] Typed Letter Signed to Rosalyn Sacks of the Mishkan Israel-Linas Hazedek, Jamaica, New York, with unsigned black and white publicity photograph by Molly Malone Cook.

Author: 
Norman Mailer [Norman Kingsley Mailer, pen-name of Nachem Malech Mailer (1923-2007)], American novelist and journalist [Molly Malone Cook, Provincetown photographer]
Publication details: 
Letter dated 29 July 1975; no place. Photograph by Molly Malone Cook, Provincetown, copyrighted 1973.
£150.00

See his entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica. Both items are in good condition, lightly aged. TLS: 1p, 4to. Addressed to 'Rosalyn Sacks / YMHA - YWHA / Congregation of Mishkan Israel-Linas Hazedek of Jamaica, Inc. / 153-14 90th Avenue / Jamaica, New York 11432'. Signed 'Norman Mailer'. Reads: 'Dear Rosalyn Sacks, / I don't have any pictures at the moment, but I'll try to get ahold of one and autograph it and send it to you and the members of the Congregation of Mishkan Israel-Linas Hazedek in Jamaica.

[Thomas Ord, Colonel Commandant of the 4th Battalion of the Royal Artillery.] Manuscript document detailing his ‘Services’ in the West Indies, Flanders and America.

Author: 
Thomas Ord (d.1777), British Army officer who served with distinction in the West Indies, Flanders and America, latterly as Colonel Commandant of the 4th Battalion of the Royal Artillery
Publication details: 
Entries between 1740 and 1762, regarding the West Indies, Flanders and America. In a contemporary hand (Ord's own?).
£180.00

Something akin to a CV in a neat contemporary hand (perhaps Ord’s own, in pursuit of preferment or a pension?). A useful summary of Ord’s career features in ‘Commissary Wilson’s Orderly Book. Expedition of the British and Provincial Army, under Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Amherst, against Ticonderoga and Crown Point. 1759.’ (New York, 1857): ‘THOMAS ORD was appointed Captain in the Royal Artillery on 1st March, 1746. He was an excellent Officer, and stood high in the Duke of Cumberland’s esteem, by whom he was selected to Command the Artillery in Braddock’s Expedition.

[Jacob Schwartz, American-born proprietor of the Ulysses Bookshop in London, dealer in James Joyce and the Modernists.] Autograph Letter Signed

Author: 
Jacob Schwartz [Jake Schwartz] (b. 1899, fl. 1960), New York dentist who turned to bookselling and founded the Ulysses bookshop in London, dealing largely in James Joyce and the Modernists
Publication details: 
23 October [no year]. On letterhead of the Ulysses Bookshop, 20 Bury Street, London WC1.
£80.00

Several James Joyce scholars have turned their attention to Schwartz, an early dealer in his books and manuscripts, as well as publisher of a couple of pirated editions. See William S. Brockman, 'Jacob Schwartz - The Fly in the Honey' in Joyce Studies Annual, Summer 1998. 1p, 4to. On the Ulysses Bookshop letterhead, printed on green paper. Addressed to 'Dear Sir:' and with valediction 'Au Revoir / Dr J Schwartz / prop / Ulysses Books'.

[Lowell Thomas, American author and broadcaster associated with Lawrence of Arabia.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mr. McCormick’ regarding a publication he has forgotten.

Author: 
Lowell Thomas [Lowell Jackson Thomas] (1892-1981), American author and broadcaster associated with T. E. Lawrence [Lawrence of Arabia] and television executive
Publication details: 
18 October 1977; on his letterhead, Hammersley Hill, Pawling, New York.
£60.00

Thomas broadcast many of his programmes from the Hammersley Hill estate, overlooking the Catskills. 1p, foolscap 8vo. On cream paper with letterhead in green. In good condition, folded twice for postage. Thomas’s bold signature, also in green, rises at an angle. Reads: ‘Dear Mr. McCormick, / I’ve entirely forgotten. / If you know of an extra copy I would like to add it to my collection. / With best wishes. / Sincerely, / Lowell Thomas’.

[Mary Anne Clarke; Duke of York] Handbill satire on the Duke of York, entitled 'Love a-la-mode, or, My Darling; A Duett, As Sung by An Overseer of the United Parishes of John Bull and St. George's, and Mrs. Clarke, late of Gloucester Place Theatre.'

Author: 
[Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany; Mary Anne Clarke (1776-1852)]
Mary Anne Clarke
Publication details: 
[circa 1809] 'Printed and Published by J. Lowe, No 27, Bakers Row, Whitehcapel Road.'
£120.00
Mary Anne Clarke

Printed on one side of a piece of laid paper, watermarked with date 1808, roughly 34.5 x 21 cm. Very good. Illustration at head, coloured in red and green, roughly 6.5 x 10 cm.

[ Peter de Rome, 'Grandfather of Gay Porn'. ] Eight Letters (five in Autograph, three Typed), seven of them signed ('Peter.' and 'P.') to costume designer Ivan Alderman.

Author: 
Peter de Rome (1924-2014), homosexual filmmaker, called 'Grandfather of Gay Porn' [ Ivan Alderman (d.2003), costume designer ]
Publication details: 
Four from 1986-1987, on letterheads of the Paramount Pictures Corporation, New York. The others from New York, 1997-1998, the last two with his monogram letterhead.
£450.00

The eight letters total 10pp., 4to., of which 3pp. are typed and 7pp. in autograph. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. De Rome's reputation was enlarged towards the end of his life, with the British Film Institute mounting a thrusting retrospective season, with an accompanying DVD and a penetrating documentary by David McGillivray, 'Peter de Rome: The Grandfather of Gay Porn' (2007). For more information on Alderman, who acted in de Rome's films 'Scopo' (1966) and 'The Second Coming' (1970), and who had been J. R.

[Frederick, Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, First Lord of the Admiralty.] Autograph Letter Signed requesting a Royal Navy post for a 'young man', with autograph draft of Spencer's reply.

Author: 
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (1763-1827), second son of George III, Commander-in-Chief of British Army during Napoleonic Wars; George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758-1834)]
Publication details: 
ONE (Frederick's ALS): 'York House [London] February 6th 1798'. TWO (Spencer's Signed Autograph Draft of his Reply): 'Adm[iralt]y. [London] 6 Feb: 1798.'
£180.00

See the two men's entries in the Oxford DNB. Each of the two letters is 1p, 4to, with the Prince’s letter on the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium, and the Earl’s signed autograph copy of his reply on the recto of the second leaf of the same bifolium. Both leaves are discoloured and damaged, with wear and loss from infestation, but the two signatures and the area around them are good and clear. The document has been folded twice for postage. Strip of white tape along gutter of blank reverse of second leaf from mount. ONE (Frederick’s ALS): Fifteen lines.

[Heinz Berggruen, German and American art dealer, with a renowned private collection of twentieth century masters.] Typed Letter Signed to London printseller Robert Erskine, regarding prints he has ‘set aside’ for him.

Author: 
Heinz Berggruen (1914-2007), German and American art dealer, with a renowned private collection of twentieth-century masters [Robert Erskine, London printseller]
Publication details: 
10 May 1954; Paris. On letterhead of Berggruen & Cie, ‘gravures originales modernes’.
£56.00

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.

[Cosmo Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury during the Abdication Crisis.] Typed Letter Signed ('Cosmo Cantuar:') to the Provost of Oriel [Sir David Ross], regarding his nomination of ‘Mr. Randall Cooper’ as a British Museum Assistant Cataloguer..

Author: 
Cosmo Lang [William Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1st Baron Lang of Lambeth] (1864-1945), Archbishop of Canterbury during the Abdication Crisis [Sir David Ross [W. D. Ross] (1877-1971), Scottish philosopher']
Cosmo Lang,
Publication details: 
22 November 1933; on letterhead of Lambeth Palace, S.E.1. [London]
£45.00
Cosmo Lang,

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.

[Cosmo Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury during the Abdication Crisis.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Lang of Lambeth / Abp.') to the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford [Sir David Ross],

Author: 
Cosmo Lang [William Cosmo Gordon Lang, 1st Baron Lang of Lambeth] (1864-1945), Archbishop of Canterbury during the Abdication Crisis [Sir David Ross [W. D. Ross] (1877-1971); Lord David Cecil]
Publication details: 
18 March 1944; on embossed letterhead of The King's Cottage, Kew Green, Richmond, Surrey.
£45.00

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.

[Sir John Gielgud, distinguished English actor.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mrs. Doubleday', wife of the publisher.

Author: 
Sir John Gielgud [Arthur John Gielgud] (1904-2000), distinguished English actor [Florence Van Wyck Doubleday, wife of New York publisher Frank Nelson Doubleday]
Publication details: 
27 October [1936]. 59 East 56th Street, New York City.
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded once for postage. The year is given in pencil, and a note in the same hand identifies the recipient as ‘Mrs Florence Doubleday (wife of publisher) in Oyster Bay’. Ten lines of text, in a close hand, with larger, firm signature ‘John Gielgud.’ A somewhat pompous missive. He thanks her for giving him ‘so delightful an opportunity of meeting you, and to ask me to stay in your charming house and meet your friends, who were all so nice to me’.

[Rochester, New York State.] Manuscript ‘Arbitration Bond’, with ‘the very rare signature of Everard Peck, pioneer printer Father of Wm. F. Peck’ and that of Walter S. Griffith.

Author: 
Everard Peck (1791-1854), Rochester printer, newspaper editor, father of the historian William Farley Peck (1840-1908); Walter S. Griffith (c.1810-1872) [Lewis Selze; Monroe County, New York State]
Publication details: 
No date [1860s or 1870s?]. [Rochester, Monroe County, New York State.]
£320.00

Accompanying this item is a piece of paper with the following note in a mid-twentieth-century hand: ‘Interesting because of the very rare signature of Everard Peck, pioneer printer Father of Wm. F. Peck’. He was a bookbinder from Connecticut who moved to Rochester around 1816 and opened a bookstore. He moved into printing and publishing, founded the successful weekly Telegraph newspaper and later became a banker. He was a generous benefactor of the early city, co-founding the University of Rochester and the Rochester Orphan Asylum and becoming a leader in the Female Charitable Society.

[Harkness Fellowships.] Five Typed Letters Signed and one Autograph Letter Signed from Lansing V. Hammond of the Commonwealth Fund to Mark Bonham Carter, discussing the organization, cultural matters and death of his father William Churchill Hammond.

Author: 
[Harkness Fellowships] Lansing V. Hammond of the Commonwealth Fund of New York City [his father William Churchill Hammond (1860-1949), organist and choir master; Mark Bonham Carter (1922-1994)]
Publication details: 
ONE (ALS): 10 January 1948; on letterhead of the Hotel Durant, Berkeley. TWO to SIX (TLsS): 29 December 1948; 18 February, 9 June and 8 July 1949; 3 May 1950; all on letterhead of The Commonwealth Fund, 41 East Fifty-seventh Street, New York 22, N.Y.
£280.00

Lansing Van der Heyden Hammond (b.1906), son of the distinguished organist and choirmaster of Mount Holyoake College William Churchill Hammond, was for many years Director of the Commonwealth Fund Division of International Fellowships. For Bonham Carter, see his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present group of six items shed light on the 1940s administration of the Commonwealth Fund. They are in good condition, lightly aged and creased. The autograph letter is 1p, 12mo; the five single-spaced typed letters total 6pp, 4to. All six are signed ‘Lance’. ONE: ALS, 10 January 1948. 1p, 12mo.

[West Indian Slave Trade; rum; sugar.] Eighteen manuscript documents (most from Lewis Simond & Co, New York Merchants) regarding slave trader and Jamaican plantation owner William Atherton and his Green Park Estate in Trelawny Parish.

Author: 
West Indian Slave Trade: William Atherton (Wikipedia) (1742-1803), slave trader & owner of Jamaican sugar plantations, including the Green Park Estate in Trelawny Parish [Lewis Simond, NY merchants]
Publication details: 
One item from 1777, from Bounty Hall Estate, Jamaica; three items from London, 1800 and 1801; fourteen items from New York [Lewis Simond & Co.], 1803 and 1804.
£1,500.00

All 18 items are in very good condition, with slight signs of age and wear. Items One and Eighteen are letters (Eighteen being a ‘triplicate’), the other sixteen items are accounts, with items Five to Eighteen relating to the firm of the New York merchant Lewis Simond. Items Seven, Nine and Twelve are copies (i.e. written out afresh but containing the same text) of Items Six, Eight and Eleven. ONE: Henry Hough (overseer of the Bounty Hall estate, Jamaica) to ‘William Fairclough / Green Park’: Autograph Letter Signed.

[Sir John Beckett of Somerby Park, as Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs.] Autograph Letter Signed, to Col. Torrens, giving view of Home Secretary Richard Ryder on ‘The Commander in Chief’ (Prince Frederick, Duke of York) and ‘Mr Sonnenberg'.

Author: 
Sir John Beckett (1775-1847) of Somerby Park, Lincs, Tory politician [Col. Robert Torrens (1780-1864); Richard Ryder (1766-1832), Home Secretary; Prince Frederick, Duke of York; Sir Robert Peel]
Publication details: 
‘Whitehall 26th. March 12’ [i.e. 1812].
£80.00

See Beckett’s entry in the History of Parliament, according to which he held the position of Under-Secretary of State for Home Affairs from 1806 to 1817. 1p, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased at the foot, with strip of discoloration at the head. Folded twice into a packet. Addressed to ‘Colonel Torrens’.

[Michael Frankael, writer associated with Henry Miller.] Printed item: leaflet advertising his various publications, with ‘Press Opinions’ including Aldous Huxley, Havelock Ellis and Henry Miller.

Author: 
Michael Fraenkel (1896-1957), avant-garde writer and proprietor of the Carrefour Press, associated with Henry Miller
Publication details: 
No date [early 1940s]. Order from The Argus Book Shop, Chicago.
£50.00

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’.

[Michael Frankel, writer associated with Henry Miller.] Three printed items: prospectus for ‘Bastard Death’; leaflet advertising his publications, with press opinions and manuscript additions; invitation to a French Henry Miller exhibition.

Author: 
Michael Fraenkel (1896-1957), avant-garde writer and proprietor of the Carrefour Press, associated with Henry Miller
Publication details: 
ONE ('Bastard Death' prospectus): [1946.] Carrefour, 342 E. 19th Street, New York City. TWO (Advertisement for Fraenkel's publications): No date [early 1940s]. Order from The Argus Book Shop, Chicago. Three (Henry Miller exhibition invitation): 1994.
£180.00

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.

[Sir Edward Mortimer Archibald, British Consul in New York.] Autograph Signature to Manuscript document acknowledging the Albion Society of New York’s ‘Resolution of Condolence’ on the death of Princess Alice.

Author: 
Sir Edward Mortimer Archibald (1810-1884), British Consul in New York from 1857 to 1883, born in Nova Scotia [Albion Society of New York; Princess Alice]
Archibald
Publication details: 
9 January 1879; British Consulate General, New York.
£60.00
Archibald

2pp, foolscap 8vo. On grey laid paper with mourning border, brittle and lightly creased, with chipping and closed tears to edges. Addressed in Archibald’s hand to ‘The President of the Albion Society of New York’, and signed ‘E M Archibald / HM Brit Consul Genl’.

[‘The most remarkable pulpit orator of his time’: James Parsons of York, Congregational minister.] Autograph Letter Signed to Rev. J. Rawlinson, discussing his ‘intended retirement from my Pastorate in York’.

Author: 
James Parsons (1799-1877) of York, Congregational minister, son of the preacher Edward Parsons (1762-1833)
Publication details: 
20 July 1870. High Harrogate [Yorkshire].
£90.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which characterizes him as ‘the most remarkable pulpit orator of his time’, and that of his father. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. Somewhat aged and with the recto of the first leaf grubby, but with text clear and complete, with thirty-three lines of text in Parsons’ close and neat hand. Signed ‘James Parsons’ and addressed to ‘Revd. J. Rawlinson’. He ‘must, reluctantly, decline to comply’ with Rawlinson’s request. He wonders whether he has ‘seen, or heard of an announcement in “the Leeds Mercury” with reference to my intended retirement from my Pastorate in York’.

[Christopher Fry breaks America, 1950-1951.] Fry’s own cuttings, with manuscript captions, largely from English and North American newspapers, many describing the success of John Gielgud’s US touring production of ‘The Lady’s Not For Burning’.

Author: 
Christopher Fry [born Arthur Hammond Harris] (1907-2005), distinguished English playwright, leading exponent of verse drama [John Gielgud]
Publication details: 
Cuttings from North American, English, European and African newspapers and magazines, dating from between 19 July 1950 and 20 July 1951.
£650.00

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.

[Lieut-Col. John Stuart Bligh, 6th Earl Darnley, amateur cricketer.] Autograph Note Signed, giving ‘Mr. F. York’ permission to ‘take some photographic views’ of Cobham Hall, Gravesend. With stamped envelope, addressed in Autograph.

Author: 
Lieut-Col. John Stuart Bligh, 6th Earl of Darnley [formerly Lord Clifton] (1827-1896), amateur cricketer, father of the England captain Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley [F. York, London photographer]
Publication details: 
5 September 1868. On embossed letterhead of Cobham Hall, Gravesend.
£50.00

See his son Ivo Bligh’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: ‘Sir: / You are welcome to take some photographic views of this place: - you will please to ask to see the Houseeeper when you come. / I remain / Yours faithy / Darnley’. In worn envelope, self-stamped with pink penny stamp and two postmarks, one from Gravesend. Addressed in Autograph by Darnley to ‘Mr. F. York / Alfred Villa / Lancaster Road / Notting Hill London W.’

[‘He as good as called me a liar: Sir Walter Newman Flower, proprietor of London publishers Cassell’s.] Autograph Letter Signed and two Typed Letters Signed to Sir James Marchant, complaining of treatment by Thomas B. Wells of New York firm Harpers.

Author: 
Sir Walter Newman Flower (1879-1964), proprietor of London publishers Cassell & Co, biographer and literary editor [Thomas Bucklin Wells (1875-1944) of Harper & Co., New York; Sir James Marchant]
Publication details: 
First TLS: 3 January 1928. Second TLS: 11 December 1928. Both on letterheads of Cassell & co. Ltd., La Belle Sauvage, London, EC4. ALS: 18 December 1928, on letterhead of Idlehurst, Sevenoaks.
£150.00

Publishing history does not get more vivid than this. See Flower’s obituary in The Times, and Wells’s in the New York Times. The three items in good condition, lightly aged. All three folded once and signed ‘Newman Flower’. First TLS (3 January 1928): 1p, 12mo. He writes that although ‘a very apologetic letter from Mr. Wells of Harpers’ has ‘cleared the air entirely’, ‘a reply from Holt’ received at the same time is not very satisfactory’, and ‘in view of the fact that Cassell’s and Harpers will be coming together again, it would, perhaps, be as well not to do anything at present’.

[Elsa Shelley, American dramatist and actress.] Two Typed Letters Signed to theatre historian W. J. Macqueen-Pope, giving and asking for news, and announcing her approaching arrival in England.

Author: 
Elsa Shelley (c.1903-c.1971), Russian-born American dramatist and actress, wife of producer Irving Kaye Davis (1900-1965) [W. J. Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian]
shelley
Publication details: 
ONE: 7 December 1951; 685 West End Avenue, New York, on her letterhead. TWO: 15 December [1946?]; on Cunard Line letterhead of R.M.S. Mauretania.
£120.00
shelley

See the recipient's entry in the Oxford DNB. Both letters signed ‘Elsa’. ONE (7 December 1951): 1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded three times. Thirty-eight lines of text. She received his letter while wishing to contact him, and wonders if this is a coincidence. ‘And my wanting to write you grew out of an intense yearning to be in London again’.

[‘The most barefaced case of pretended centenarianism’: Frederick Lahrbush, confidence-trickster and pretended centenarian.] Signed Autograph Inscription claiming that he was ‘born March 9th. 1766.’

Author: 
‘Capt. Lahrbush’ [Frederick Lahrbush] (d. 1877), English fraudster, Australian convict, New York confidence-trickster and pretended centenarian
Lahrbush
Publication details: 
In another hand: ‘Written Oct 7. 1870.’ [New York.]
£135.00
Lahrbush

During Lahrbush’s lifetime William John Thoms, in his ‘Human Longevity’ (1873), described his claim to have been born in 1766 as ‘the most barefaced case of pretended centenarianism which has ever come under my notice’. ‘Capt. Lahrbush’, who claimed to have been born in 1766, ended his days in New York. He also claimed to have guarded Napoleon in St Helena, and to have obbained a lock of Bonaparte’s hair there. In fact he was court-martialled for fraud in 1818, and sent as a convict to Australia.

[‘There has been such “a run on” me’:] Autograph Letter Signed (‘G. H. Boughton’) to J. P. Broadhurst, editor of ‘The Field’, regarding ‘a Menu Card’ and an illustration from his book with E. A. Abbey, which Broadhurst may wish to use.

Author: 
G. H. Boughton [George Henry Boughton] (1833-1905), RA, English artist and illustrator whose childhood was spent in America [The Royal Academy, London; J. Pendred Broadhurst, editor of 'The Field']
Publication details: 
Undated. On letterhead of West House, Campden Hill, Kensington. [London.]
£40.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The recipient is named as ‘J. Pendred Broadhurst Esq’. Boughton begins by thanking him for his ‘kind note’. He is ‘quite out of photos for the moment - there has been such “a run on” me’. His portrait is not ‘in commerce’. He is enclosing ‘a Menu Card (of a dinner given me by Messrs Harper in New York)’, which has ‘a portrait by Mr L. Alma Tadema R.A. which I think is a little out of the Common. There is also an illustration from our book - (E. A.

[‘It was pleasant to be raised to the “Upper Shelf”’: George Henry Boughton, RA, artist and illustrator.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘G. H. Boughton’) to ‘Bamley’, on becoming a full member of the Royal Academy.

Author: 
G. H. Boughton [George Henry Boughton] (1833-1905), RA, English artist and illustrator whose childhood was spent in America [The Royal Academy, London]
Publication details: 
1 April 1896. On letterhead of the Reform Club, Pall Mall, S.W. [London.]
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On the first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. He begins by thanking him ‘most sincerely for your cheering note of congratulation’. Whilst it is ‘pleasant to be raised to the “Upper Shelf”’, he finds that ‘the position of Associate of the Royal Academy is one that is quite Ideal. To gain that - and to paint a good picture were my two great ambitions’.

[Harry Harkness Flagler, fabulously-wealthy son of the founder of Miami and Palm Beach, Florida.] Autograph Letter Signed to Mrs Helen Lossing Johnson, explaining why he declines to buy the New York diaries and other material she has sent him.

Author: 
Harry Harkness Flagler (1870-1952), President of Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York, son of Henry Morrison Flagler (1830-1913), founder of Standard Oil and of Miami and Palm Beach, Floriida
Publication details: 
5 January 1933; on letterheads of 32 Park Avenue [New York].
£120.00

Harry Harkness Flagler was son and heir to one of America’s greatest fortunes, inheriting the sumptuous Whitehall estate in Florida (now the Flagler Museum). The recipient was the wife of Frank Edgar Johnson, whose obituary is in New York Times, 5 December 1932 (‘Yonkers life insurance man was an authority on birds’). 6pp, four of which in 12mo and two in 8vo. On two bifoliums, each with the final page of text written lengthwise across the central opening. In envelope, with post mark and stamp, addressed by Flagler to ‘Mrs.

[Mary Martin, Broadway star.] Two Typed Letters Signed (both 'Mary') to 'Popie', i.e. the English theatre historian MacQueen-Pope, discussing her family's plans and the projected production of 'South Pacific' at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.

Author: 
Mary Martin [Mary Virginia Martin[ (1913-1990), American actress, singer, and Broadway star associated with Rodgers and Hammerstein [W. J. MacQueen-Pope; Larry Hagman]
Publication details: 
One 28 May [1950], the other undated, but from 1951. Both on her letterhead.
£120.00

Each letter 1p, 8vo. Both in fair condition, lightly aged and creased. On signing one of the letters she has slightly smudged it. ONE: 28 May [1950]. She thanks him for his 'fascinating-looking book, THE MELODIES LINGER ON', and for his 'most generous inscription'. She and her husband 'Richard' (the drama critic Richard Halliday) have 'read bits and pieces and have looked at every photograph, and can't wait to really sit down and read the book from cover to cover!' She continues: 'And that will be soon.

[Angna Enters, American dancer, painter, author.] Sketch of dance costume in pencil and watercolour, captioned 'Fleur du Mal (Proust Sequence)', signed 'Angna Enters '56'. In envelope addressed by her to theatre historian W. J. MacQueen-Pope.

Author: 
Angna Enters [Anita Enters] (1907-1989), American painter, writer, dancer and mime, partner of Michio Ito, wife of Louis Kalonyme [Louis Kantor] [W. J. MacQueen-Pope, theatre historian]
Angr
Publication details: 
Signed and dated to 1957. Envelope with London postmark dated 18 January 1957 and her embossed address: 35 West 57th Street, New York.
£200.00
Angr

Enters exhibited her artistic work - including many sketches of her own costume designs - widely in the United States and Europe, and her work is held by several museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The present item is an attractive impressionistic sketch, in grey and black pencil, with watercolour wash in pink, light red and grey, showing a dancer with arms outstretched and heavy costume with full sleeves and train. Captioned by Enters at bottom left: 'Fleur du Mal (Proust Sequence)'. Signed at bottom left: 'Angna Enters '56'. On 23 x 15.5 cm laid paper.

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