Book Trade History

[Andrew White Tuer, proprietor of the Leadenhall Press, London.] Autograph Card to Percy Fitzgerald, Anglo-Irish author and critic, painter and sculptor, regarding his 'London City Suburbs' which he has just published.

Author: 
Andrew White Tuer (1838-1900), proprietor of the Leadenhall Press, London [ 'Ye Leadenhalle Presse'] [Percy Fitzgerald (1830-1925)]
Tuer
Publication details: 
29 May 1893; on letterhead of 'The Leadenhall Press, Ltd: / 50, LEADENHALL STREET, LONDON, E.C.'
£56.00
Tuer

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of a 12 x 7.5 cm post card. On brittle, discoloured card, with chipping to corners and some repair with archival tape. Self-printed with stamp, addressed, with postmark, to 'Percy Fitzgerald, Esq. / 37 St. George's Road / SW.' On other side, with letterhead in fancy type, regarding Fitzgerald's book 'London City Suburbs', which he has just published, reads: 'See todays & last Saturdays Daily Telegraph new no. (June) of Art Journal for notices L. C. Suburbs. Stamped at bottom right: 'The Leadenhall Press, Ltd:' See Image.

[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’.

One Autograph Letter Signed, Four Typed Letters Signed, and one Autograph Postcard Signed to Frank Marcham, Antiquarian Bookseller. With unsigned copy of one typed letter Marcham to Muir.

Author: 
Percy Muir, Bookman
Publication details: 
Taylors, Takeley, Essex (but on Elkin Mathews of 37a Duke Street or Grosvenor Street headed notepaper, with lines through the old addresses], 1939-1942, giving a picture of Britain and the Book Trade during the 2nd WW etc
£125.00

Total 5pp., 8vo, some chipping but texts clear and complete, signed variously, P, Percy Muir, Percy, PCM. (1939) Your letter cheered me up no end. It was just like being in the office & listening to you laying down the law in your usual style. | We hardly know there's a war on down here, except for black-outs & an unusual number of children in the village. We even manage to sell a few books from time to time - about one a week so far - made 3/- profit on a sale this morning. Well, I hope to live to see you commander in chief.

[David Low, London bookseller.] Typed Card Signed to ‘Dear Rock’ (the bookseller Andrew Block), regarding oriental prints and ‘Teddy’.

Author: 
David Low (1903-1987), London bookseller whose 1973 autobiography ‘With All Faults’ has an introduction by Graham Greene [Andrew Block (1892-1987)]
Low
Publication details: 
29 January 1977; on letterhead of David Low Booksellers, Ltd., Emmington, Chinnor, Oxford.
£45.00
Low

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’.

[Ben Weinreb, London bookseller and editor of ‘The London Encyclopedia’.] Autograph Note Signed [to fellow bookseller Andrew Block] on attractive printed invitation card for the opening of the new ‘Weinreb + Douwma’ print and map shop.

Author: 
Ben Weinreb (1912-1999), London bookseller and authority on architecture, first editor of ‘The London Encyclopedia’ [Robert Douwma, printseller; Andrew Block, bookseller]
Weinreb
Publication details: 
Invitation to shop opening, 26 January 1970; 93 Great Russell Street, London WC1.
£45.00
Weinreb

See Nicolas Barker’s appreciative obituary in the Independent, 7 April 1999, which notes that after selling his entire stock to the University of Texas in 1968, ‘He moved his business to the other side of Great Russell Street, and briefly opened another shop, selling prints in partnership with Rob Douwma.’ (The British Museum website states that ‘Weinreb & Douwma was on the corner of Great Russell Street and Bloomsbury Way during the 1970s and 1980s.’) The obituary of the recipient Andrew Block (1892-1987) in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business w

[Cecil Woolf, bookseller and publisher, nephew of Leonard and Virginia Woolf.] Autograph Card Signed to bookseller Andrew Block, regarding his offer of ‘two Thomas Moore letters’.

Author: 
Cecil Woolf [Cecil James Sidney Woolf] (1927-2019), bookseller and publisher, nephew of Leonard and Virginia Woolf [Andrew Block, London bookseller]
Woolf
Publication details: 
27 August 1959; on letterhead of ‘Cecil Woolf, Bookseller, 24 Victoria Square, London, S.W.1.’
£56.00
Woolf

See his obituary in the Guardian, 26 June 2019. 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. Plain postcard, with his letterhead and the following printed at the foot: ‘WANTED. Any English book, or any book printed in England, before 1700.’ Signed ‘Cecil Woolf.’ Aged and worn, with central vertical fold. Addressed, with stamp and postmark, to ‘Andrew Block, Esqre., / 20, Barter Street, / Holborn, W.C.1’.

[Anne Cobden-Sanderson; suffragette; Hammersmith Publishing Company] Pro Forma Invoice [Printed Heading] Bought of the Hammersmith Publishing Company sent to anarchist Ambrose Barker.

Author: 
[Anne Cobden-Sanderson; suffragette; Hammersmith Publishing Company]
Doves
Publication details: 
River House Hammersmith [handwritten]; printed 7 Hammersmith Terrace, W. excised. See image
£180.00
Doves

Obl.12mo, 20 x 13cm, foxing but text legible. Dated 6 Oct 1903 with details in Anne Cobden-Sanderson's hand (as other handwritten detail) of two items purchased by Barker, both by J.W. Mackail and printed at the Chiswick Press: Socialism & Politics and Parting of the Ways. I've found no substantial discussion of the Hammersmith Publishing Company. See image for full text.

[C. Abramsky Ltd, bookseller; printed Catalogue; heavily annotated by Abramsky] LIST No. 2

Author: 
[Chimen Abramsky (1916 – 2010), scholar, antiquarian bookseller, emeritus professor of Jewish studies at University College London]
Publication details: 
5 Hillway, London, N6, March 1963.
£250.00

Printed Wraps, 49pp., 8vo, some wear and tear due to use, but ow, good condition. Initially Contents page ranging from Autographs, Manuscripts, Jewish Bindings, and Four very rare Hebrew Books To T.J. Wise Pamphlets and Woman's Emancipation, including Russian Books. The extensive annotation includes (front wrap) FILE COPY IMPORTANT. WITH a forest of catalogue item numbers of sold items & marginal notes of sales (major institutions worldwide from Alberta to Jerusalem to Yale, Isaiah Berlin, Lelio Basso (both multiple orders), Haward (University) (many more than their multiple).

[ Clare Leighton; wood engraver ] Substantial Typed Letter Signed Clare Leighton to specialist bookseller, Barry Marks, responding comprehensively to questions about her activities, exhibitions of her work, whether she sells engravings, and so on.

Author: 
Clare Leighton [Clare Marie Veronica Leighton (1898–1989), English/American artist, writer and illustrator best known for her wood-engarvings
Publication details: 
Ash Swamp Road, Woodbury Co., 7 September 1977.
£350.00

One page, sm. folio, airmail, one small closed tear, good condition. Text: I was glad to get your letter of 8th August and must apologise for my delay in answering it. I was, just then, caught up into a confusion of work. | I telephoned Mr Leventhal (he doesnt live in Woodbury, but in Boston; howeyer, we are in touch) and he was delighted at his good fortune in acquiring a copy of my FARMER'S YEAR.

[ Victor Gollancz, Publisher ] Typed Letter Signed VG with substantial holograph additions to Hugh Burnett, producer, about his appearance on Face to Face [TV Interview with a John Freeman]. and its consequences.

Author: 
Victor Gollancz, Publisher
Publication details: 
[Headed] Victor Gollancz Ltd, 14 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, W.C.2, 1 December 1960.
£80.00

One page, 4to, fold mark, very good condition, Typed text: [...] I very much enjoyed myself, and so, apparently, did everyone who has written to me - except a somewhat illiterate gentleman who had never heard such drivel in all his life. | I thought John Freeman was extremely kind tp me. He has added in holograph: I've had five offers of copies of 'Sixty Years a Queen' ( whihc is apparently still available, as the Pakenhams immediately bought a copy, & confirmed that the picture in question was the Charge of the Heavy [underlined] Brigade.

[Henri Hoener [Haener]; Printing History] Letter (secretarial?) Signed "H Haener" to "Née de la Rochelle, libraire" [bookseller](Wikipedia

Author: 
Henri Haener [Hoener ], Imprimeur du Roi, Nancy, France [Printer to the King]
Haener printer
Haener printer
Publication details: 
Nancy, le 22 7bre 1787 (date corner chipped but year found within the letter).
£450.00
Haener printer
Haener printer

Four pages including address panel, 4to, bifolium, edges dulled, a little foxing. He outlines what he has done (sending things?), in a one page letter, and, on the other two pages, given a detailed account of what he has done for the bookseller from December 1787 to May 1788, including "brochures" (pamphlets). The recipient has noted when he replied. See images on my website.

[ Awnsham Churchill and Edward Clarke of Chipley, John Locke's associates. ] Printed Exchequer receipt, completed in manuscript, and signed by the bookseller 'A. Churchill' and witnessed by radical MP 'E Clarke'.

Author: 
Awnsham Churchill (1658-1728), bookseller at The Black Swan, Paternoster Row, London, Whig member of parliament, publisher and friend of John Locke; Edward Clarke (1650-1710) of Chipley ]
Publication details: 
[ Her Majesty's Receipt of Exchequer, London. ] 28 June 1715.
£450.00

1p., 8vo. On aged paper worn at head. Customary printed Exchequer receipt, completed in manuscript, headed (manuscript text in square brackets): 'Annuities, 3700l. per Week. | Record' [19 Janu. 1715]'. Calculations in right-hand margin and clerical sign on reverse. Recording the payment by Sir Richard Onslow of £100 to 'Awnsham Churchill Attorney for mr ffra: Bennett & for selfe'.

[Sir Thomas Phillipps, collector of manuscripts.] The manuscripts section of the printed auction catalogue of Craven Ord's library, priced and named in one hand, and annotated by Phillipps with a running total of his substantial purchases.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872) of Middle Hill, Welsh collector of manuscripts; Robert Harding Evans (1778-1857), auctioneer, of 93 Pall Mall, London [Craven Ord (1756-1832)]
Publication details: 
[Robert Harding Evans, 93 Pall Mall, London.] 'London: Printed by W. Nicol, Cleveland-row, St. James's.' 25 to 27 June 1829.
£350.00

The last eight leaves only of a printed catalogue (no. 260 in M. V. de Chantilly's 'Robert Harding Evans of Pall Mall | auction catalogues 1812-1846 | a provisional list' (2002)). Stitched and unbound. On aged and worn paper, with slight damp staining to margins. Paginated 23-37 + [1], with the final page (i.e. the verso of the last leaf) carrying the advertisement: 'Preparing for Sale by MR. EVANS. | THE VALUABLE LIBRARY of an | EMINENT COLLECTOR.' (in manuscript: 'Mr Rennie'). Slug at foot of p.37: 'London: Printed by W. Nicol, | Cleveland-row, St.

[ Eric Gill and the Spoil Bank Association Limited. ] Printed First and Second Mortgage Debentures, signed by Eric Gill, H. J. Cribb, Hilary Pepler, Charles L. Waters, Edgar Holloway, with printed transfer slips, all signed by Valentine KilBride.

Author: 
Eric Gill; The Spoil Bank Association Limited; Ditchling; H. J. Cribb [ Herbert Joseph Cribb ]; Hilary Pepler; Charles L. Waters; Valentine KilBride [ John Valentine Denis KilBride ]; Edgar Holloway
Publication details: 
Both items: The Spoil Bank Association Limited, 'Registered Office S. Dominic's Press, Ditchling Common, Hassocks, Sussex.' Both dated 23 February 1922, the first printed and second in manuscript.
£450.00

The Spoil Bank Association was the limited company which acted on behalf of the Guild of St. Joseph and St. Dominic, the group of Roman Catholic craftworkers centred on Gill and based on Ditchling Common in Sussex. Each of the present two items in good condition, with light signs of age and wear. Both bifoliums on good deckled-edge paper, and both 3pp., folio, with the customary covering information on the reverse of the second leaf. Attractive typographic productions, printed in black and red on deckled-edge watermarked laid paper. Both with tax stamps and the Association's seal.

[ Bookseller's catalogue. ] First Editions of Jack London, Thorne Smith, Erskine Caldwell, William Saroyan, John Steinbeck, Illustrated.

Author: 
The El Dorado Bookstore, San Francisco, California [ props Roskie & Wallace of Oakland; Philip M. Roskie (1921-93) ] [ Jack London, Thorne Smith, Erskine Caldwell, William Saroyan, John Steinbeck ]
Publication details: 
Catalogue No. 1, 1948. The El Dorado Bookstore, 309 Kearny Street, San Francisco 8, California.
£120.00

32pp., 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged. A previous owner has thought well enough of this item to have it put in a sturdy binding of black cloth, with title in gilt on spine. The binding is in very good condition, but a bookplate has been removed from the front pastedown. An interesting catalogue (especially when compared with the staid British book catalogues of the period), with each of the 108 items presented, four to a page, each with accompanying photograph of the covers of the book. The most expensive item, at $100, is a 1902 first edition of 'The Cruise of the Dazzler'.

[ Charles E. Robinson of the University of Delaware. ] Duplicated typed 'List of Charles Ollier Imprints (1817-23; 1846-49) and Works'.

Author: 
[ Charles Ollier (1788-1859), publisher, author and editor; Professor Charles E. Robinson; Percy Bysshe Shelley; John Keats ]
Publication details: 
Dated July 1985 by Robinson with his details: Prof. Charles E. Robinson, College of Arts and Science, Dept. of English, 204 Memorial Hall, Newark, Delaware 19716, USA.
£65.00

Robinson is the author of Ollier's entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, in which he discusses the 'fifty titles' that Ollier and his brother James published between 1817 and 1823, and the others dating from his second stint as publisher between 1846 and 1849. The list is 10pp., 4to. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Subtitle: '(*Indicates that U. of Delaware Library has in original, microform, or photo rpt.)' Robinson has given the date and his details in autograph at the head, and has starred items in 'urgently need' in red ink.

[ Presentation copy. ] Tokens of the Eighteenth Century connected with Booksellers & Bookmakers (Authors, Printers, Publishers, Engravers and Paper Makers)

Author: 
W. Longman [ William Longman (1882-1967) ]
Publication details: 
Longmans, Green and Co. 39 Paternoster Row, London. 1916.
£56.00

90pp., 8vo. Eleven plates and one full-page illustration in text. In good condition internally, on lightly-aged paper, in worn blue cloth gilt. Inscribed on front free endpaper: 'With the Author's compliments | March 5 1917'. Beneath the inscription in another hand: 'Presented to The Library of The Bookseller's Retreat. Abbots Langley.'

[ Printed item. ] A Catalogue of a Choice Collection of Books, Ancient and Modern, in English and Foreign Literature, selected from the Stock of J. Bellchambers, 10, King William Street, West Strand, London.

Author: 
Jonathan Bellchambers, nineteenth-century London bookseller
Publication details: 
[ J. Bellchambers, 10, King William Street, West Strand, London. ] Printed by W. Blanchard & Sons, 62, Millbank-street, Westminster. December 1846.
£50.00

16pp., 12mo. Stabbed and unbound. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. The books, from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, are such as would adorn the shelves of a gentleman's country mansion. BBTI only has Bellchambers active in 1846, and there is a hint of desperation about the pricing, with the published price often given along with Bellchambers', and Ritson's 'Ancient Poetry' being offered at 'a very reduced price'. Scarce: no copies traced either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC.

[ E. V. Lucas and Methuen & Co Ltd, publishers. ] Typed Letter Signed ('E V Lucas') from E. V. Lucas to 'Mr. Wilber', regarding portrait tablets of Sir Algernon Methuen, with copy of the printed booklet 'Sir Algernon Methuen Baronet. A Memoir.'

Author: 
E. V. Lucas [ Edward Verrall Lucas (1868-1938), author ] [ Sir Algernon Methuen, publisher; Methuen & Co Ltd, publishers ]
Publication details: 
Booklet: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 36 Essex Street, W.C., London. Printed at the University Press, Aberdeen. 1925. Lucas's letter dated 21 September 1925, on Methuen & Co letterhead.
£80.00

Lucas's letter is 1p., 4to. In fair condition, lightly spotted. He informs Wilber that when he arrives at the office the following morning, he will find that 'the two portrait tablets of the late Sir Algernon Methuen, the founder of our firm, have been unveiled'. He explains that the tablets are 'a gift to the firm from Lady Methuen, whose wish is that each member of the staff should possess a copy of the accompanying Memoir'. The booklet is 13pp., 4to. With three plates including collotype frontispiece portrait of tablet of author.

[ Printed item. ] Catalogue of Choice Books including a Collection of First & Rare Editions of the Works of Oscar Wilde. [ Including reproduction of caricature of Wilde by George Finch Mason. ]

Author: 
H. Gray & Co., London booksellers [ Oscar Wilde; George Finch Mason (1850-1915), English illustrator ]
Publication details: 
[Number Sixteen, New Series, 1930. ] H. Gray & Co. 188 Lewisham Road, London, S.E.13, and 8 Royal Parade, Blackheath, S.E.3.
£60.00

24pp., 8vo. Pagination includes the wraps, which carry the last two pages. With frontispiece plate: 'Oscar Wilde | Unpublished Caricature | By Finch Mason | [item 31]'. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, in worn and chipped wraps. Wilde's name has been underlined in red pencil on cover.

[ Printed item. ] A List of Choice Books on Sale by J. Bohn, 66, St. James's Street.

Author: 
J. Bohn [ James Bohn; James George Stuart Burges Bohn (1803-1880), London bookseller ]
Publication details: 
[ J. Bohn, 66, St. James's Street, London. ] J. Tuck, Printer, 6, Helmet Court, 338 1/2 Strand [ London ] ] [ December 1846. ]
£50.00

16pp., 12mo. Stabbed and unbound. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Dated in pencil in a modern hand at head of first page. Eighteenth and nineteenth century items in alphabetical order between A and G (but complete, nineteenth-century booksellers' catalogues often being issued as parts of series), The entry for the new edition of Dugdale's 'Monasticon Anglicanum', offered at £31 10s 0d, takes up more than half a page of small print. For more on Bohn see his entry in the Oxford DNB. Now scarce.

[ Printed item. ] Catalogue of Books published by Charles Cox, 12, King William Street, Strand. [ Including 'Knight's Shilling Weekly Volume', 'A Valuable Library of 150 Volumes for 150 Shillings.' ]

Author: 
[ Charles Cox, London bookseller ] [ Charles Knight (1791-1873) ]
Publication details: 
[ Charles Cox. ] '12, King William Street, Strand [ London ], February 1, 1847.'
£35.00

8pp., 12mo. Stabbed and unbound. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The main descriptions are for 'Knight's Shilling Weekly Volume' (covering the first four pages), and 'The New Orbis Pictus' (covering three pages), the latter described as '12,000 Engravings on Wood, 72 on Steel, 40 Illuminations, and 13 Coloured Maps.'

[ First edition inscribed by the author to Graham Pollard, with Pollard's label and the bookplate of Frank Spicer. ] Minding My Own Business. An Autobiography.

Author: 
Percy Muir [ Percy Horace Muir (1894-1979), antiquarian bookseller with firm Elkin Mathews Ltd and author; Graham Pollard (1903-1976), bookseller and bibliographer; Frank Spicer ]
Publication details: 
London: Chatto & Windus, 1956.
£100.00

[8] + 224pp., 8vo. Seven plates. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, in blue cloth binding, in worn and nicked dustwrapper. Inscribed on front free endpaper: 'For Graham | part author of these pages | R. H. M. June '56.' Pollard's partner in the unmasking of the Wise forgeriers is the book's dedicatee, and the pair's efforts are described in Chapter 8, 'Sherry and Shibboleths'. Pollard's small label ('From the Library of | GRAHAM | POLLARD') is at the head of the front pastedown, which also carries Spicer's owl and moon bookplate.

[ Printed item. ] The Directory of Second-hand Booksellers and List of Public Libraries, British and Foreign. Edited by James Clegg.

Author: 
James Clegg [ (b.1843) publisher, proprietor of the Aldine Press, Rochdale ]
Publication details: 
'Second Edition'.Rochdale: Printed and Published by James Clegg, Wet Rake. London:Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, E.C. [ also New York, Paris and Leipzig ] 1888.
£120.00

[3] + viii + 112 + 51pp., 4to. Internally fair, on lightly-aged paper, in binding with heavily-damaged leather spine and worn green cloth covers. The author states that the volume is the second edition in his preface, 'the First having been published by the late Arthur Gyles, in 1886'. The object 'is primarily to supply a work of convenient size for the use of Second-hand Booksellers, which may facilitate intercourse with their confreres in our own and other countries'. Three pages of advertisements at front, and a further fifty-one at rear.

[ Printed volume. ] American Booktrade Directory, including lists of publishers, booksellers, periodicals, literary agents, book clubs, etc.

Author: 
[ American Booktrade Directory 1939, R. R. Bowker (Office of The Publishers' Weekly) ]
Publication details: 
New York: R. R. Bowker Co. Office of The Publishers' Weekly, 1939.
£25.00

326pp., 4to. In green cloth binding with title in black on front cover. Internally good and tight, on aged paper, in worn binding with staining to front and back covers. In eighteen sections, including 'Auctioneers of Literary Property - United States', 'British Publishers', 'American Representatives of British Publishers' and 'Book Clubs in the United States'. Scarce.

[ Henry Southgate, auctioneer and anthologist. ] Autograph Letter Signed to E. D. Girdlestone

Author: 
Henry Southgate (1818-1888), London auctioneer [ Southgate & Barrett, 22 Fleet Street ] and anthologist [ E. D. Girdlestone [ Edward Deacon Girdlestone ] (1829-1892) ]
Publication details: 
Woodbine, Sidmouth, Devon. 11 May 1878.
£56.00

4pp., 12mo. Two pages on bifolium with two-page postscript on loose leaf. In good condition, lightly aged. He thanks him for his 'kind note and opinion respecting my "Many Thoughts" [ anthology of 1857 ] of which nearly 267 - tons have been sold, an odd way of putting it you will say, but such is the fact.' He is working on a 'curious and suggestive book now on Aphoristic Wisdom'. He thinks he may 'gather something' from Girdlestone's 'Collection', which he undertakes will be 'most carefully and thankfully returned'.

[ John Carter, bookseller ] Two Autograph Postcards Signed "John Carter" and "John C.", one to "R. Hyde" [Ron[ald] Hyde, collector/dealer etc, the other to Mrs [Richard] Bentley", widow of the publisher, Richard Bentley (II).

Author: 
John Waynflete Carter (1905-1975), bibliographer and bookseller
Publication details: 
[Hyde] Sotheby & Co. 34 & 35 New Bond Street, London, W1 [postmark 24 Nov. 1961] and [Mrs Bentley] [?Chelsea, 8 Dec. 1961].
£180.00

Two APCSs, sl. worn, but text clear and complete. The subject of both cards is the William Beckford letters which "disappeared" during an auction of the contents of The Mere, the Bentley house near Slough. First postcard (to Hyde): "My old friend Mrs Bentley has asked me to look into the question of other letters & papers, including the William Beckford lot w[hi]ch she tells me you saw; and I have had a talk today with her lawyer. I should much like to know just what you saw & heard. Could you possibly telephone me tomorrow morning or Sunday?

Manuscript Catalogue of 'Books received by R. H. Grubbe by bequest from W. J. Grubbe who received them by bequest from Louis H. Hall to be handed on for the most part to descendants of Dr. George William Hall, Master of Pembroke College, Oxford.'

Author: 
Louis Edmund Hall (b.1863); Rev. Reginald Hall Grubbe (b.1862) [ Dr George William Hall (1770-1843), Master of Pembroke College, Oxford and Vice-Chancellor ]
Publication details: 
'These books were recevied by the above R. H. G. in March & June 1926.'
£350.00

49pp. In 4to notebook with red cloth spine and black cloth boards. Internally in good condition, lightly aged, in aged and worn covers. An alphabetical list, with entries covering two facing pages, divided into three columns: 'Name of Book', 'Description' and 'How disposed of'. Almost all the entries in the last column are 'H[enr]y Hall', but one item is recorded as being 'Sent to Julia Hall'. The serious library of an educated Englishman, with almost no fiction present. Nearly all the books date from the period 1770-1900, although 'Gloucestershire Visitation of 1623' is also present.

Nayler & Co.[Dutch book catalogue, 1842] Catalogue van Kopiyen, Aanbiedingen, enz [Full title page give below]

Author: 
[Dutch bookseller's/auctioneer's catalogue 1842] Nayler and Co., booksellers, Amsterdam
Dutch Bookseller's Catalogue
Publication details: 
Gedruky bij M. & F.C. Westerman, O.Z. Achterburgwal te Amsterdam. 1842 (in roman numerals).
£250.00
Dutch Bookseller's Catalogue

Total 48pp, 8vo, including alternate blanks for notes,with handwritten information about prices, etc. (seller's marked copy presumably), marbled wraps, worn, contents sl. worn at edges but complete, with ill-defined stamps at beginning and end (one has phrase Noord Holland). REST Of title-page: "Op Zaturday den XVIII Junij 1842, | zullen Nayler & Co. met hunne | Ongebonden- Verkooping | een aanvang maken, | in het Logement DE ZON, op Nieuwen-Dijk, No. 234, | te Amsterdam [...] Uren van Verkoop: | 9 tot 12 - 1 tot 4 - 6 tot 10 - met Klokstage.

[Manuscript material; bookbinders] List of customers of Bookbinder in Cambridge, with a collection of letters, 1909 -1924

Author: 
[Stoakley & Son[s]; Frank E. Stoakley; bookbinders]
Publication details: 
c.1906-1924
£320.00

List of customers of bookbinder, Stoakley & Son, pre-1920(?)(from the list Professor Oppenheim died in 1919), 3pp., c.16 x 25cm, bifolium, 132 names listed alphabetically in pencil, most with ticks (bills paid?). Customers include A.C. Benson, Deighton Bell, Sir James Dewar, "Gaselee", "Gladstone", "Dr Greg" (W.W.?), Dr Keynes, J.M. Keynes, Bishop of Gibraltar, Alfred Milner, Lord Rayleigh, Sedgwick Museum, Sir J.J. Thomson, and several colleges. WITH: 21 Autograph Letters from a later incarnation of the Stoakley business, Signed, "H.T. Penn Young", Medical Officer H.M.

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