Literature

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of a 9 x 12.5 cm piece of paper: formerly the first leaf of a bifolium card, the second leaf, which carried the actual book token, having been detached by perforation. In good condition, lightly aged, but with traces of mount at the corners of the reverse, which carries a colour reproduction of a painting by Leonard Richmond. The page with the inscription is a printed form, and Masefield has written 'For Grace.' and 'John Masefield. / August the 31st. 1956.' See Image.

Talfourd’s entry in the Oxford DNB notes that he was ‘particularly loved’ by Dickens, and that he ‘provided the archetype of the idealistic Tommy Traddles in David Copperfield; his children Frank and Kate gave their names to two youngsters in Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby.’ The subject of the letter is the actor Henry Thomas Betty (1819-1897), son of ‘the young Roscius’ Henry Betty (1791-1874), whose entry in the ODNB also see. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, and with slight traces of mount on reverse. Folded for postage. Begins: ‘My dear Sir, / Mr.

As John Cannon writes in Francis’s entry in the Oxford DNB, ‘The authorship of the Junius letters has been the subject of innumerable publications of various merit’, with the case for Francis, first proposed by John Taylor in 1816, ‘far the most probable’. The present item is of double interest: handwriting analysis has played a significant part in a number of publications, e.g. ‘The handwriting of Junius professionally investigated by Charles Chabot, expert; with preface and collateral evidence, by the Hon. Edward Twisleton’ (London, 1871).

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, with that of the recipient Lady [Maria] Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), who lived in Kent House in Knightsbridge with her second husband Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), Bart, Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer, her first husband having been the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842). The three items are in good condition, lightly aged. Written in a difficult hand. ONE (13 June 1850, ‘Rolls House’): AL in the third person. 1p, 12mo. ‘Sir F.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is not named, but the item is from the papers of the author Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), successively wife of the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842) and the Liberal politician Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), all with entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Reads: ‘Many, many thanks for thinking of me! When I came to myself in the morning, I remembered something of a kind proposition you had made to me & resolved to call & learn more about it. / Monday the 9th.

The recipient Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865) was successively wife of the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842) and the Liberal politician Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), all of whom have entries in the Oxford DNB. The present item is an 11.5 x 8 cm panel of light-brown paper from the front cover of an envelope. Part of a large Boston postmark is at the left, with a manuscript ‘2’ written over a few letters of the address. All in Ticknor’s hand, it reads: ‘Lady Teresa Lewis / South Place, / Knightsbridge / London, SW.’, with the signature ‘Geo: Ticknor’ at bottom left.

See the description of Caine’s political views in his entry in the Oxford DNB. He began as a communist, but became a Christian Socialist, and a supporter of the Liberal Party on the mainland of Britain (he was a member of the Isle of Man House of Keys from 1901 to 1908) and a follower of the Church of England. The present item would appear to relate to the ‘impassioned propaganda’ that Caine published in the Daily Telegraph from September 1914 (ODNB). It is 1p, 4to.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. Neatly written out on a 6 x 11 cm piece of paper, laid down on a slighty larger piece of card. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Frances Trollope / Carlton [sic] Hill / 3d Feby 1843'. Mrs Trollope had the house named Carleton Hill built in 1840, just outside the village of Carleton. The cold climate proved unbearable, and she sold the residence in the year of this autograph. See Image.

Curious items. Yale has the originals of these pages, in an ‘Album, formerly owned by John Murray, containing items either by Pope or related to him, 1717-1855’, described as ‘original proof of two pages from Pope's Epistles, pages 69 and 70, with the author's corrections’. Each of the present items is printed on a 28.5 x 37.5 cm leaf of wove paper. A previous owner(lord Houghton in fact) thought highly-enough of them to include them in an album, as a profession white stub adheres neatly at the left of each.

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. The present item, is on one side of an 11 x 6.5 cm slip of paper, cut from a letter and laid down on a 12.5 x 8 cm piece of card. In good condition, lightly aged. Very slightly smudged by Leech. Reads: ‘[...] very low. until I see / you Believe me / Yours Ever Faithfully / John Leech. / Martin . F. Tupper Esq / &c. &c. &c.’ See Image. Leech illustrated at least one book by Tupper (The Crock of Gold).

Slip of paper, 11 x 4.5cm, foxing and smudging but text legible. See Image. Text given above. Perhaps it accompanied a text dedicated to Bolingbroke. For example, 'An Essay on Man' is a poem published by Alexander Pope in 1733–1734. It was dedicated to Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke.

Three pieces of ephemera from a golden period of English children’s book illustration. All three items printed on shiny paper, and all worn and discoloured. ONE: ‘Hodder & Stoughton’s Christmas List’, with advertisement for Edmund Dulac’s edition of A. T. Quiller-Couch’s ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ on cover. 20pp, folio. With rusting staples. Folded once. Undated, but containing items published in 1910, apart from the cover item, which appears to have been published in 1912.

xiv + [1] + 38pp, 12mo. No.16/500. In blue cloth binding, titled in gilt on cover and spine. No dust wrapper. Printed on thick paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Annotated in pencil throughout, and with a page of annotations at the end. The handwriting is distinctive (and certainly not Block’s), with the capital N in particular. Some of the annotations give dates from the 1970s, but the handwriting is that of someone from an earlier generation. As an example, one of the longer pencil annotations, on p.5, listing an additional item: ‘Caught Napping. / c. 1883.

Henley?s poem ?Invictus?, with its conclusion ?I am the master of my fate, / I am the captain of my soul?, is one of the most popular in the English language, and has inspired individuals as diverse as Nelson Mandela and Ron Kray. See Henley?s entry in the Oxford DNB. He was a friend of both Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and J. M. Barrie, and his daughter Margaret inspired the ?Peter Pan? character ?Wendy?. 1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded three times for postage. The letterhead has a thin black mourning border. Henley?s poem featured as the ?Envoy?

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the archives of Philip Dosse, proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of the ‘Seven Arts’ group of magazines, including ‘Books and Bookmen’ and ‘Plays and Players’. See ‘Death of a Bookman’ by the novelist Sally Emerson (editor of ‘Books and Bookmen’ at the time of Dosse’s suicide), in Standpoint magazine, October 2018. 2pp, 4to. The letterhead, on both leaves, is topped by a pleasing 10 x 6 cm woodcut of Combe Florey House. The paper is creased, otherwise in good condition, and entirely legible.

See Richard Wollheim’s appreciative entry on Ayer in the Oxford DNB. From the archives of Philip Dosse, proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of the ‘Seven Arts’ group of magazines, including ‘Books and Bookmen’ and ‘Plays and Players’. See ‘Death of a Bookman’ by the novelist Sally Emerson (editor of ‘Books and Bookmen’ at the time of Dosse’s suicide), in Standpoint magazine, October 2018. The three items are each 1p, small 4to. All three in good condition, each folded twice. All three signed ‘A. J. Ayer’, with typed name beneath, ‘Sir Alfred Ayer’.

A nice original item, unsigned but certainly in Florian’s distinctive hand. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with neat white-paper mount adhering to one edge on the blank reverse. Foliated 93. Sixteen-line poem, beginning ‘Sur le pont-neuf, entouré de badauds, / un charlatan criait a pleine tete, / venez, messieurs, accourez faire emplette / du grand remede a tous les maux.’ In the last line the remedy is revealed as ‘un peu de poudre d’or’.

A set of six scarce pieces of unusual Dickensiana. Difficult to date: the nature of the illustrations (printed in negative) gives them a modernist feel, but their purpose would place them before the 1920s. The six items, printed in black on pieces of grey-white card, range in size from 12 x 16.5 cm (‘SAM WELLER.’) to 4.5 x 6 cm (‘JOB TROTTER’). In good condition, lightly aged. Four of the six have soot stains on their blank reverses, presumably caused by the hot lantern.

See his entry, and Craig’s, in the Oxford DNB. 13 x 9 cm envelope, with seal (no impression of any kind) in red wax over the broken flap. In good condition, lightly aged. On the front of the envelope, in Jeffrey’s hand, ‘To / James Gibson Craig Esqre / 7. North St Andrew Street’. Beneath this, at bottom left and between the customary lines is the signature ‘F. Jeffrey’.

On a ‘Lion Brand’ plain post card. In good condition, but with the hurriedly-written text somewhat smudged, and a small staple at one corner. Addressed to ‘Robt J Drury / 141 Chichester Rd / Cleethorpes / S. Humberside / DN35 OJL.’ The message on the other side is hurriedly written: ‘August 1 1995 / Dear Mr. Drury / I’ve no thought on the Academy Awards I’m afraid. Some are well deserved some not - but thats true of a [?] Alan Bennett.’

1p, 12mo. On grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed ‘Dear Mr Robinson’ and signed ‘Alan Bennett.’ A short response to a letter about his play ‘The Old Country’, whose run at the Queen’s Theatre had started on 7 September 1977. He thanks him for his kind letter, and states that ‘It’s nice to hear from people in the audience as I often feel the play goes on night after night & has nothing to do with me at all - one penalty for not performing very much.’ See Image.

PROOF COPY. See Image. Pp.78[2], yellow paper wraps, aged with minimal foxing and staining, pages aged (indicating cheap wartime paper). Title (differing from published edition to reflect change in title), corrected in MS. caps, possibly in Sassoon's hand but nothing found comparable.

Strip from an endpaper(?), 12.5 x 1.5, laid down on sl. larger paper, aged but clear. A scarce autograph! See Image. Note: Of his best-known poems, especially The Chace (1735). That poem, written in Miltonic blank verse, traces the history of hunting up to the Norman Conquest of England (1066) and gives incidental information on kennel design, hare hunting, stag hunting, otter hunting, the breeding and training of dogs, and dog diseases… [Britannica]

This item is from the autograph album of the author George Meredith's daughter Marie Eveleen (Mariette; 1871-1933), wife of Henry Parkman Sturgis (1847-1929), American-born banker and Liberal politician. It does not however appear to be addressed to Meredith, but rather to the author William Sharp (‘Fiona Macleod’). See the several references to Bourget in the first volume of W. F. Halloran’s edition of Sharp’s letters. 1p, 16mo. Laid down on part of gilt-edged leaf from Mrs Sturgis’s album. In good condition, folded once for postage.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the autograph album of the novelist George Meredith's daughter Marie Eveleen (‘Mariette’; 1871-1933), later the wife of Henry Parkman Sturgis (1847-1929), American-born banker and Liberal politician. 1p, landscape 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, laid down on a part of a leaf from the album. Neatly written and centred on the page. Reads: ‘With kind regards / from your fathers friend / James Payn / Oct 31/91.’

A nice item linking one of late Victorian England’s most popular novelists with its most critically admired. See the entries for Caine and Meredith in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Laid down on part of a leaf from the autograph album of Meredith’s daughter Marie Eveleen (Mariette; 1871-1933), wife of Henry Parkman Sturgis (1847-1929), American-born banker and Liberal politician. Reads: ‘To / George Meredith / With much admiration / Hall Caine / 23/Sept/91.’ See image.

This prospectus is a scarce item: no other copy has been traced. A 4to bifolium, with four unnumbered pages printed in red. Somewhat aged and worn, with a horizontal strip of light discoloration at the head of the cover, which has the title and author’s name surrounded by a border made up of Tenniel’s illustrations, beneath this is a quotation from Dodgson’s poetry and the price of ‘7/6 net’. Across the middle two pages is the heading ‘The Centenary “Life of Lewis Carroll”’. The text begins by explaining that Reed has made use of Dodgson’s letters to Ellen Terry.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. The valediction of a letter, cut away for an autograph collector. On a slip of paper, around 7.5 x 1.5 cm. On lightly discoloured paper, with tear through signature, attached to piece of card with archival tape. Reads: ‘Very sincerely yours / Ellen Wood’.

An uncommon signature. See her entry in the Oxford DNB. The valediction of a letter, cut away for an autograph collector. On a slip of paper, around 7.5 x 2 cm. Somewhat aged and worn, backed with discoloured card. Reads: ‘Very truly yours / Elizabeth M Sewell’. See Image.

The National Portrait Gallery copy of this item is NPG Ax17292, and the dating to September 1863 is theirs. A 5.8 x 8.8 cm photographic print, laid down on 6.2 x 10.3 cm piece of card. On the card beneath the portrait: 'JOHN WATKINS PHOT. / Copyright Secured'. On the reverse Watkins's full address, with crest. The image is faded and indistinct, compared with the NPG copy; otherwise the item is In fair condition lightly aged. A head and shoulders shot with a sepulchral Dickens turned almost to a left profile, eyes barely open, with a clenched right hand to the side of his face.