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Author, Title, Summary Price
Anthony Chenevix-Trench (1919-1979), successively headmaster of Bradfield College, Berkshire, and Fettes College, Edinburgh, alleged child sex abuser and flagellomaniac [Philip Dosse (1925-1980)]]

[Anthony Chenevix-Trench, flagellomaniac headmaster of Bradfield College and Fettes College, Edinburgh.] Autograph Letter Signed to Philip Dosse of 'Books and Bookmen'.

Chenevix-Trench’s entry in the Oxford DNB discusses his achievements, as well as his ‘unhealthy addiction to corporal punishment, a trait later exposed by one of his former pupils, Paul Foot, in the satirical magazine Private Eye’. At least one of his former pupils (Nicholas Fraser) alleges that...

£45.00
[Victory in Europe thanksgiving, St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, 1945] Andrew Browne Cunningham (1883-1963), 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope; Commodore Charles Musgrave Ford (1887-1974)

[Victory in Europe thanksgiving, St Giles’ Cathedral, Edinburgh, 1945.] Three printed items: two orders of service, one signed by Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope, and Commodore C. M. Ford of the Queen Elizabeth; with Usher Hall radio broadcast songsheet.

The three items are in good condition, lightly aged and discoloured. Slight traces of glue from mount to the blank last page of the second item. Each with neat creases from folding. ONE: ‘St Giles’ Cathedral / Solemn Thanksgiving to Almighty God / for / Victory in Europe / WEDNESDAY, 16th MAY...

£100.00
[Bow Street Runner Stephen Lavender (1789-1833)] Sir John Dugdale Astley (1778-1842), 1st Bart, of Everleigh, Member of Parliament and High Sheriff of Wiltshire

[Bow Street Runner Stephen Lavender.] Autograph Letter Signed from Sir John Dugdale Astley to ‘My Lord’ (Prime Minister Lord Liverpool?), recommending Charles Humphreys, ‘at present belonging to the Office at Bow Street’ for Lavender’s position.

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...

£50.00
Rebecca West, author

Rebecca West: Correspondence, 1936-1955: Letters to Charlotte [Ives] Boissevain and Jan Maurits Boissevain

Rebecca West: Correspondence, 1936-1955An extraordinary correspondence of the highest class, in which a major woman writer of the twentieth-century and prominent feminist speaks frankly and vividly to an intimate friend about her work, sexuality, family, personal relations with individuals of...

£6,000.00
William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), Warden of New College, Oxford, who gave his name to the 'spoonerism'

[Eponym of the 'Spoonerism': William Archibald Spooner, Warden of New College, Oxford.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Dear old Lee'

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Addressed to 'Dear old Lee' and signed 'W A Spooner -'. He explains that he and his colleagues thought Lee's 'testimonials & references very good, as you may gather from our having put you on...

£56.00
Walter Severn (1830-1904), English watercolour painter, son of Joseph Severn, brother of Arthur Severn and Mary Newton.

[Walter Severn, English watercolour painter, son of Joseph Severn who nursed the dying Keats.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mrs. FitzSimon’, regarding the sending of an autograph and an engraving of a painting by his father of Keats.

A successful member of an English artistic family. See the Oxford DNB entries on his father Joseph Severn (who nursed John Keats in Rome in his final illness) and sister Mary Newton. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of glue from mount to inner margin, and details typed...

£65.00
W. H. Hudson [William Henry Hudson; Guillermo Enrique Hudson] (1841-1922), American-Argentine author, naturalist and ornithologist, who settled in England

[W. H. Hudson [William Henry Hudson; Guillermo Enrique Hudson], American-Argentine author, naturalist and ornithologist, who settled in England.] Autograph Signature and inscription.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On a 17.5 x 12 cm piece of ruled paper, laid down on a piece of card. The high-acidity paper is browned, otherwise in good condition, with small nick to one edge. The signature ‘W. H. Hudson / June 27. ’20’ is beneath two lines written in a foreign language, a...

£50.00
Sir Robert Smirke (1780-1867), RA, architect of the British Museum

[Sir Robert Smirke, RA, architect of the British Museum.] Autograph Note Signed to Charles Fowler, a vice-president of the Artiists' General Benevolent Institution, enclosing a cheque.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, torn along the inner edge on removal from mount. Addressed to ‘Chas. Fowler Esqr:’ (a vice-president of the Artists’ General Benevolent Institution) and signed ‘Rob. Smirke.’ Reads: ‘Dear Sir / May I request you will...

£45.00
Sydney Smith (1771-1845), ‘The Smith of Smiths’, English cleric, author and celebrated wit

['four thousand Years of amusement': Sydney Smith, ‘The Smith of Smiths’, cleric, author and celebrated wit.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mrs. William Smith', itemising the pleasures that some persons might be punished with hereafter for their sins.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, the verso of the second leaf addressed, with two postmarks, to 'Mrs. William Smith / Park Street / Westminster'. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Annotations in pencil in a modern hand. He begins by...

£85.00
Sir Samuel Smiles (1812-1904), Scottish biographer and reformer, author of ‘Self-Help’ (1859) [P. V. de Montgomery]

[Sir Samuel Smiles, Scottish biographer and reformer, author of ‘Self-Help’.] Autograph Letter Signed to P. V. de Montgomery, with reference to a visit to the Lake District, his biography of Stephenson, and the new edition of ‘Self-Help’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Smiles names the recipient as ‘P. V. de Montgomery Esq’ and signs the letter ‘S Smiles’. He thanks him for ‘the shawl, which has duly come to hand’, continuing, ‘We reached town last night, after a...

£80.00
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