Printed Ephemera

Engraved advertisement printed in dark blue, light blue and pink on both sides of 20 x 14 cm piece of unwatermarked wove paper. An amusing fake bank note or bond, designed to showcase the firm’s competency. The paper stock and layout are entirely consistent with the firm’s work. On one side, instead of a picture of a monarch or president, is the face of a rather imperious young woman (one of the directors’ wives?), together with a design featuring the fasces and motto ‘VIS UNITA FORTIOR’.

An attractive collection of chromolithographs, suited to display. The plates are all in good condition, laid down on the aged and sometimes damaged leaves of a small 4to (17 x 21 cm) album with good tight bevelled-edged binding in dark brown cloth, on which an embossed stylized pattern of foliage and two storks is printed in black with the word ‘ALBUM’ on the front cover and blind-stamped on the back cover. The album has an ornate title page, printed in red, with illustration of flowers, branches and a butterfly, together with the word ‘Album’ and publishers’ details.

A painting by Manet of the celebrated engagement between the Alabama and the Kearsarge was finished and exhibited before the end of 1864. It now hangs in the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Art. The present item is a steel engraving, dating from five years later, on a small 8vo piece of thickish wove paper. In good condition, on lightly aged paper, with slight discoloration and creasing to the blank edges. At the foot of the engraving is the name of the publishers, ‘Kelly, Piet & Co. Baltimore’ (it appeared in their 1869 book, ‘Memoirs of Service Afloat, during the War between the States.

The item advertised in the present prospectus (no other copy of which has been traced) is unaccountably absent from the bibliography of the Victorian author Charles Kingsley. Information regarding the Universal Group of Intuitives was provided to ‘Light’, the journal of the Spiritualist Alliance, by its General Secretary Mrs Frances Boltwood (‘Angela’), and appeared in its number of 10 September 1936.

Not only an interesting item of sigillography, but also a nice item relating to Victorian philanthropy. Eight red wax seals and two black, of varying sizes. Laid down in three rows on reverse of 15 x 11 cm card, tastefully printed in blue, red and gold, with facsimile of the signature of the Secretary, S. J. Aldrich. Originally ten seals were present, those that remain in good condition, most with good impressions of crests.

See his entry, and those of his siblings, in the Oxford DNB. A 15.5 x 20 cm black and white print, on glossy paper. Worn at edges, and with staining to blank area at top left. Stamped by the publishers on the reverse with ‘Sir Osbert Sitwell. Bt. / 25. 8. 49.’ There is a possibility that this is a signature by Sitwell, but the letter ‘O’ and other features are not quite right.

Ticket, 18 x 13cm, very good condition, remnants of laying down on reverse, commencing The President and Council of the Royal Horticultural Society request the pleasure [...] See Image. Sir William Thiselton-Dyer was a leading British botanist, and the third director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

A nice piece of anti-nuclear war ephemera. A 19 x 6.75 cm block of perforated stamps with gum on reverse. The block originally had twelve stamps, but the one at top right is lacking. Printed in blue on white with a simple design of a dove with an olive branch in its mouth, encircled by the words 'THE SOUTH AFRICAN PEACE COUNCIL.' Stapled between two 19 x 6.75 pieces of paper: the one behind the stamps blank and grey, the one before the stamps being the cover, on which is printed: ‘OUTLAW ATOMIC WEAPONS / THE SOUTH AFRICAN PEACE COUNCIL / P.O.

Apparently a rare survival but I'd welcome information. One page, folio, fold marks, foxing, some rough edges, but text clear and complete. Headed by Royal Coat-of-Arms (Dieu et Mon Droit). Signed by Church Wardens and Overseers of the Poor of Sevenoaks (signatures of Thomas Reeeve, John Summers, Rich Phillips), attested by [signatures follow] R. Spilsted and Tho. Richardson. Concluding with the signatures of J[effrey] Amherst (father of the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in the British Army to be) AND W[illiam] Lambard (presumably descendant of the Antiquary). SEE IMAGE for details.

See image for text of Latin encomium and detail of seal. . Card Base, 14 x 16cm, sl. damage not affecting text, spotting and aging, text legible. Seal sl. damaged. See image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. He published two dozen works on calligraphy, and Pepys described him as ‘the famous writing-master’, and employed him to engrave his slide rule, but it is as an arithmetician that he is remembered: two works published shortly after his death, purportedly from his manuscript, gave rise to the expression ‘according to Cocker’. It has not been established which one of Cocker’s works the present item comes from (his earliest, ‘Pen’s Experience’, is lost). In black ink on one side of a 17 x 11 cm piece of laid paper.

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’.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB, which carries a quotation pointing out her ‘unerring sense of admiration for herself’. What the present collection of well over a thousand cuttings assembled by her from newspapers and magazines appears to indicate is that the admiration was to a certain extent also felt by the general public; and taken as a whole the collection serves as a memorial to a once-celebrated English public figure, a woman making her mark on society in the age of suffrage. The first volume (1887-1899) is 117pp, folio: firm and tight in brown leather half binding.

Two-sided leaflet, edges have been in the Wars, fold marks (quartering), with 2 small holes with no loss of text. See image of recto. See descriptions by my colleagues on abebooks for comment on its status as a first edition, scarcity, etc. WITH: Another two-page leaflet, but 8vo, City of Liverpool | INVASION EXERCISES | Advice to the Public [...] W.H. Baines. Good condition. See image of verso.

The present item gives the text of the poem described by Byron as 'the most perfect ode in the English language' before its first publication in the Newry Telegraph in April 1817. See Wolfe’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The source of the present item is unclear. It is a photographic facsimile, many decades old, on both sides of a 4to leaf. In fair condition, slightly creased on browned paper, with negligible loss to margin at head. With five creases from folding. Addressed to ‘John Taylor Esqe / at the Revd Mr. Armstrong’s / Clonoully / Cashel’.

The present item is excessively scarce: there is no record of it on either OCLC WorldCat or JISC. The Staff College Drag Hunt at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, was established in 1869 as a private pack which drag-hunted twice a week in the area surrounding Camberley, and after more than a hundred and fifty years, the hunt still rides. 1p, 12mo. Text enclosed in rules with decorative corners. In fair condition, lightly worn and spotted, with traces of stub and mounting on blank reverse. Titled: ‘The Staff College Drag Hunt Song. / By Major M.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The two items are from the papers of Sally Worboyes, organiser of the residential arts courses at her home, Fen Farm in Suffolk, who has provided a signed caption on the reverse of both of the prints. Both colour prints. ONE: 23 x 16 cm photograph, in Landscape. Slightly creased at corners. A relaxed Rosenthal, in plaid shirt, jeans and trainers, seated on the steps of a farm outhouse, with five students and Warboyes grouped around him. On the reverse: ‘Jack Rosenthal / with his students / Sally Worboyes’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The three items are from the papers of Sally Worboyes, organiser of the residential arts courses at her home, Fen Farm in Suffolk, who has provided a signed caption on the reverse of each of the prints. All three in good condition. ONE and TWO: Black and white photographs, both 12 x 17 cm. ONE is in portrait, and shows Plater seated at a country table, in shirtsleeves, jeans and trainers, looking over with concentration and expressively spread hands. On back: ‘Alan Plater at my home. / Sally Worboyes’. TWO is in landscape.

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.

On 15 x 11 cm card, with vertical central fold making it into a bifolium with front and back covers, and central text across the opening. In fair condition, a little aged. Perforated outer corner removed from bottom of second leaf, no doubt as proof of use; with slight creasing to first leaf at same point. Printed at the head of the back cover is the word ‘AUTOGRAPHS’, and here in blue ink is the signature ‘Victor Silvester’. There are no other autographs. The front cover is headed ‘T. F. Firth and Sons Ltd.

It seems extraordinary that they were able to pull this off during wartime restrictions, and Dickens would have relished the shabby-genteelness of it. The menu is shakily printed in a faded blue on a 10 x 16.5 cm piece of cream card, with rounded edges. At foot: ‘Holborn Restaurant 7th February 1942’. The menu is headed: ‘THE DICKENS FELLOWSHIP / 130th Anniversary of the / Birthday of Charles Dickens / Chairman: WALTER DEXTER, Vice-President / Speakers: HUMPHREY HOUSE, JAMES AGATE’.

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.

The tradition of this annual day of revels at Scotland's oldest university St Andrews is said to date back to the fifteenth century and is said to commemorate the visits of a lady Katharine Kennedy to her uncle, Bishop Kennedy of St Andrews, every Spring. 9 x 5 cm sepia photographic print of illustration, laid down on 10.5 x 6 cm piece of card, and clearly made in the nineteenth century. In fair condition, lightly aged. As part of the print, at bottom right: ‘Kate Kennedy pinxit / 1871’.

Parker was with the Wimbledon Dons between 1945 and 1953, during which time he won three national trophies (1950, 1951 and 1953). He also rode in several World Finals. Fynn came over to Britain from Australia, and Speedway Star, 7 May 2022, contains a biographical feature, with photograph, on the occasion of his hundredth birthday. A pair of black-and-white prints, each on 14 x 9 cm glossy paper. Each with stamp of ‘BCM/SPORTS PHOTOS’ on reverse, stating ‘SPORTS PHOTOGRAPHS 6d each’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 20 x 25 cm lithograph in pink, white and black. In good condition, lightly aged. An attractive item, suitable for framing. Head and shoulders portrait of a dapper bespectacled Hall, with parted greased hair, in white tie, staring at the viewer. Across his shirt, Hall has written in green ink ‘Best Wishes / Henry Hall’. Captioned at bottom left: ‘HENRY HALL / DIRECTOR, B.B.C. DANCE ORCHESTRA’; and at bottom right: ‘Presented with “Radio Pictorial,” / No. 1, January 19, 1934’. See image.

An interesting and evocative collection of ephemeral material, casting light on the social activities and entertainments of the British in India in the last months of the Indian Mutiny, also the year of the dissolution of the East India Company. No other record of this amateur ‘Corps Dramatique’, or of its conductor ‘Mrs. Comfit’, has been discovered.

Printed Portrait, coloured, 25 x 17signed JW Southall in a scawl (see Image), fold marks, small closed tear on base fold line, remnants of glue etc on reverse from being laid down. This is the sort of item that was enclosed in Boys' Comics. Apparently it derives from 8 x 6 inch sepia toned photograph of Southall astride his racing cycle signed and dated Oct.24th 1934 (see this on Bristow and Garland's website).

Typed (cyclostyled or similar?) Letter Signed as above, three pages, 12mo. very good condition, apart from small rusty hole where formerly stapled.

Both items in good condition, lightly aged and worn. Excessively scarce, with COPAC only listing one copy (at the British Library) of both items. ONE: 'An Irish Cradle Song. Words by W. B. Yeats. From Poems by W. B. Yeats, published by T. Fisher Unwin'. [1914.] 5 + [1]pp., folio. Title page carries the gaelic motto: Goth yani me von gilli beg, | N heur ve thu more a creena. TWO: 'The Lake Isle of Innisfree. Words by W. B. Yeats'. [1917.] 5 + [1]pp., folio. Illustration of tree on bank of lake on front cover.