AUTOGRAPH

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. H. Barnes'), to the leaseholder of the Prince of Wales Theatre, concerning his desire to become a tenant.

Author: 
J. H. Barnes [John H. Barnes] (1850-1925), English actor [The Prince of Wales Theatre, London]
Publication details: 
24 November 1899; on letterhead of 25 Finchley Road, London, N.W.
£56.00

4to, 2 pp. Text clear and complete. On aged and lightly-creased paper. 'The nature of my business is a desire to become a tenant of the Prince of Wales Theatre, for a long or short time, and entirely subject to existing arrangements in order to produce a play which good judges (as well as myself) regard as one (if not the) play of the present generation'. The name of the play is not given. Barnes states that 'if Mr Harvey is your permanent tenant it would quite suit me to do the play at any time <?> another provincial Town'. He offers 'a short or long lease [...] with unimpeachable security'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J A Stuart Wortley') to Ridgway, bookseller..

Author: 
James Stuart-Wortley [James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie] (1776-1845), 1st Baron Wharncliffe [James Ridgway (1755-1838), London bookseller]
Publication details: 
26 September 1812; Wortley Hall, Sheffield.
£38.00

4to, 1 p. Fair, on aged paper, with the remains of a stub adhering to the blank reverse. Concerning the insertion of an advertisement in a number of newspapers.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J A Lowell') to Rainford, concerning a consignment of botanical books from England.

Author: 
John Amory Lowell (1798-1881), American businessman and philanthropist [Edward Rainford, London bookseller]
Publication details: 
19 June 1843; Boston.
£195.00

4to, 1 p. Twenty-one lines of text. Clear and complete. On aged, stained and worn paper, with a couple of small spike holes. Revealing, in the attention to detail which it exhibits. He begins by reporting that 'the Rosabella arrived safe & the books appear to be correct with the following exceptions'. Two paragraphs follow, carefully describing duplicate plates and other faults in the books received (including "Genus Plantarum"). The replacements may be sent 'through Wilmer & Smith, booksellers, Liverpool - or by Harden's express - or through Messrs. John D.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Eustace G Cecil') to 'Mr. Chittenden'.

Author: 
Lord Eustace Cecil [Lord Eustace Brownlow Henry Gascoyne-Cecil] (1834-1921), British Conservative politician
Publication details: 
10 October [no year]; on letterhead of Knowsley, Prescot.
£28.00

12mo, 3 pp. Good, on lightly-aged and creased paper. Recomending shares in three companies of which he is chairman, before discussing personal matters. 'Evelyn is prospering as much as an expectant & comparatively briefless barrister can [...] Arthur Balfour is doing very well - & is holding his own - & more than his own - spite of misrepresentation - downright falsehood - & the tricks which politicians in these days seem so proud'. Laments the 'standard of morality', and apologises for the 'long sermon'.

Autograph Letter, in the third person, to Ridgway.

Author: 
Edward Law (1790-1871), 1st Earl of Ellenborough [James Ridgway (1755-1838), London bookseller]
Publication details: 
16/07/35
£35.00

12mo, 1 p. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with remains of stub adhering to blank second leaf of bifolium. Ask for the Morning Post to be sent to Euston Square, and 'the Standard discontinued'. He will require the Morning Post the following day.

Autograph Letter Signed "Wm Geo. Skyring" to John Ince of the Royal Navy, of Crooms Hill, Greenwich

Author: 
William George Skyring, Naval Officer and surveyor, Captain of HM Surveying VesselS Aetna
Publication details: 
H.M. Surveying Vessel Aetna, 9 Oct. 1833.
£250.00

One page, folio, some tears on fold marks, other minor defects, text clear and complete. "I beg you to let me know by return of Post [phrase underlined] whther you desire to join the Aetna - I heard from Captn. Beaufort this morning that you do - but you have acted with so much indecision that I scarcely know whether to apply or not until more fully assured - For your Mothers sake alone I am perfctly willing to wait an answer - and if you are prepared to join - send me - / Your name at length / Date of original Entry in the Service / Name of last Ship / Rating on her.

Autograph Letter Signed ('James Donnet') to Mrs Hollingworth, discussing autograph collecting.

Author: 
Sir James Donnet [Sir James John Louis Donnet] (1816-1905), inspector-general of hospitals and fleets [autograph collecting]
Publication details: 
24 March 1895; on letterhead of 5 Park Road, Bognor, Sussex.
£38.00

12mo, 4 pp. Text clear and complete. Very good on lightly-aged paper, with thin strip from stub still adhering. Thanking her for 'sending me the acceptable autographs you have. Though seemingly scraps of paper they possess for the initiated a value, for I believe every individual to be possessed of a romance which opportunity and occasion bring to the fore and make of him a personage whose writing is worthy of preservation. The diamond in its mine is of no value, but when found, cut, and set in its golden framework, it is prized and esteemed'. Defends 'the collector' against criticism.

Autograph Letter Signed ('S. Lane Poole') to Mrs. Hollingworth.

Author: 
Stanley Lane-Poole (1854-1931), British orientalist and archaeologist
Publication details: 
10 June 1896; on letterhead of 3 Newham Road, Bedford.
£38.00

12mo, 4 pp. In bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. He has forgotten which letters he has sent her for her autograph collection, 'but I daresay some of the list written at the back of this are new to you'. He will send any she wants. Asks for any duplicates she may have to spare. The list covers the last two pages, and consists of 39 names, from 'Sir John Burgoyne, R.E.' to 'Count Zamorgski'.

Autograph Note Signed ('C M Yonge') to unnamed woman.

Author: 
Charlotte Yonge [Charlotte Mary Yonge (1823-1901)], English novelist
Publication details: 
19 December [no year]; Elderfield.
£45.00

On one side of a piece of paper, 9.5 x 7.5 cm. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. Minor traces of stub in thin strip along one edge. Reads 'Elderfield | Decr 19 | Dear Madam | The Story you mean is in the Christmas number of the Monthly Packet for 1877 | Yours truly | [signed] C M Yonge'. Docketed on reverse in a contemporary hand 'Miss Charlotte M. Yonge Authoress of The Daisy Chain etc. etc. etc'.

Autograph Signature ('Waddington') and address in frank to Fritz Cunliffe Owen, and with an Autograph Note Signed by Owen to 'friend Leckie'.

Author: 
William Henry Waddington (1826-1894), Prime Minister of France in 1879 [Fritz Cunliffe Owen]
Publication details: 
Undated.
£28.00

On one side of a piece of paper, an irregular rectangle cut from the front of a letter (10 cm x 13 cm at head and 16 cm at foot). On aged paper with pinholes from mounting. Small signature boxed in to the bottom left-hand corner by Waddington. Addressed to 'Fritz Cunliffe Owen Esqre | 4 Grafton Street | Piccadilly'. Owen's note, above the address, reads 'Dr. friend Leckie. Your sister may like to have this autogr. of the French ambassador Mr. Waddington as you know, a great French statesman - au revoir a Bologna on Sunday morning. Yours affect. [signed] Fritz Cunliffe Owen'.

Autograph Note Signed ('S. Rogers.') to unnamed man.

Author: 
Samuel Rogers (1763-1855), English banker and poet
Publication details: 
06/07/48
£45.00

16mo (13.5 x 9 cm), 1 p. On recto of first leaf of bifolium. Good, on aged paper. Traces of brown paper mount adhering to reverse of second leaf. Reads 'You & the young Ladies will be welcome whenever it suits you best. After 2 oClock you will be least liable to Interruption.'

Four Typed Letters Signed (three 'Peggy Ramsay' and one 'Peggy R.') to Goodman, giving her characteristically forthright opinion of his plays.

Author: 
Peggy Ramsay [Margaret Ramsay] [Margaret Francesca Ramsay, née Venniker] (1908-1991), English theatrical agent [Jonathan Goodman (1931-2008)]
Publication details: 
29 May 1955, and 5 and 12 March and 19 April 1956. All on letterheads of Margaret Ramsay Ltd, Play Agent.
£120.00

All four items good, on lightly aged paper. Two of the five leaves have small dog-ears to corners. Goodman has done his accounts on the blank reverse of one leaf. An important collection, in which the most important British post-war play agent reveals, in entertaining and increasingly-brusque terms, the criteria by which she judges scripts. Goodman was hailed by Jacques Barzun as 'the greatest living master of true-crime literature', but his first love was, as his obituary in the Daily Telegraph (16 January 2008) states, the theatre.

Three Autograph Letters Signed (all 'J Rose Innes') from Sir James Rose Innes, and one letter from his wife ('Jessie Rose Innes'), all to Lady Bower.

Author: 
Sir James Rose-Innes (1855-1942) and his wife, born Jessie Dods Pringle (d.1943) [Lady Maud Bower (born Maude Laidley Mitchell), wife of Sir Graham Bower (1848-1933)]
Publication details: 
Sir James's letters: 1935, 1936 and 1939. His wife's letter: 1937. All four on letterheads of Kolara Farm, Gibson Road, Kenilworth [South Africa].
£180.00

All items good, on aged paper, with Lady Rose-Innes' letter in its envelope. Bower and Rose-Innes had worked together when the former was Imperial secretary to the High Commissioners for Southern Africa at the time of the Jameson Raid. Rose-Innes three letters are dated 17 October 1935 (12mo, 4 pp), 9 July 1936 (12mo, 4 pp) and 13 April 1939 (12mo, 4 pp). All are closely and neatly written. In the first letter Rose-Innes describes a journey 'through the S.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Eldon') to Twining, based on a misapprehension. With memorandum by Twining, initialled 'R T'.

Author: 
John Scott, 1st Earl of Eldon (1751-1838), Lord Chancellor [Richard Twining (1749-1824)]
Publication details: 
Undated. [London, post 1801.]
£38.00

8vo, 1 p. Eleven lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with a couple of spots from the leaf to which it was attached adhering to the blank reverse. Docketed at head in ink: 'Mem I know not to what application this refers.'; and at foot in pencil: 'Mem I was not the writer of the Letter referr'd to! | R T'. Eldon has received the recipient's letter, 'with a paper inserted from Mrs <?> Campbell or Clark. This paper is addressed to me under a very common Misapprehension of the Chancellors powers & duties'.

Draft Autograph Letter, probably incomplete (lacking signature page), to "St John". WITH related material.

Author: 
George Wyndham
Publication details: 
"Private / Draft / 25 Oct. 1904".
£500.00

(Wyndham) Statesman and man of letters, at the time of this letter Chief Secretary fo Ireland (see DNB). Three pages, 4to, good condition, draft with much working over. He appreciates being given detailed grounds for a proposal that Sir Anthony Macdonnell [MacDonnell, Antony Patrick, Baron MacDonnell, statesman, of Irish origin] , currently working with Wyndham in Ireland might be made available in the Indian Council, a matter of urgency. He explains at length his high opinion of Macdonnell (energy, ability, distinction, etc.) and his reluctance to part with him.

ALS to "Dr Rost", orientalist

Author: 
Dr James Burgess
Publication details: 
17/10/84
£100.00

Archaeological surveyor of India. 2pp., 8vo. He discusses the personnel of the Survey, the senior position to be filled, and what he would do if he were in charge. (He was Director General from 1886 to 1889.)

Autograph Signature, removed from letter.

Author: 
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), British Liberal Prime Minister
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£25.00

On piece of paper roughly 2.5 x 7.5 cm. Mounted on piece of 7.5 x 13 cm card. In fair condition, with both card and paper aged and slightly discoloured. Good firm underlined signature ('W E Gladstone'). The card carries the following caption, in a contemporary hand: 'Autograph of | The Right Honorable William Ewart Gladstone, M.P., | Premier Minister and | Chancellor of the Exchequer.'

Fragment of Autograph Letter to Palmer, with signature ('W E Gladstone') on frank.

Author: 
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), British Liberal Prime Minister [Roundell Palmer (1812-1895), Earl of Selborne]
Publication details: 
20/07/35
£30.00

Part of a letter, cut away for an autograph collector, roughly 5.5 x 10.5 cm. The recto carries the franked address, trimmed close, reading 'London July twenty 1835. | Roundell Palmer Esq | Mixbury | Birmingham [corrected in another hand to 'Magdalen Colle | Oxford'], signed in bottom left-hand corner 'W E Gladstone'.

Autograph Signature ('W E Gladstone') on frank, addressed to Guillemard at 11 Downing Street.

Author: 
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), British Liberal Prime Minister [Sir Laurence Nunns Guillemard (1862-1951)]
Publication details: 
Without date.
£25.00

The front cover of the envelope, 9.5 x 12 cm, cut away and laid down on a ruled piece of paper cut from an autograph album. A little grubby, but good. Reads 'L N Guillemard Esq | 11 Downing St. | [signed] W E Gladstone'. Signature approximately 4.5 cm long, and underlined.

Signature below photograph.

Author: 
Franz Lehar, composer.
Publication details: 
Wien [Vienna], 27 [?] 1923.
£200.00

Photograph (upper body, seated and besuited), c.8 x 13cms, characteristic signature beneath with place and dat, all in Lehar's hand, on page extracted from an album of autographs accumulated by Harry Woord Wolling, BBC producer (?). Suitable for framing.

Photograph, 7.5 x 10cms, with inscription appended by Strauss.

Author: 
Richard Strauss, composer.
Publication details: 
Wien [Vienna], 1923.
£400.00

On page extracted from an album of inscriptions with photographs by composers, actors, etc. Good condition. Inscribed by Strauss as follows: "Herr?] Harry Woord Wolling / Richard Strauss / Wien 15.12.23". The signature is bold. Scan provided on request.

Autograph Letter, third person, to "Mr Andrews" (no further information).

Author: 
[ Andrews, bookseller and bookbinder [?]] Lord M[oun]t Edgcumbe
Publication details: 
Twickenham, 27 Feb. (no year).
£75.00

Four pages, 8vo, vestiges of an album page on final page, text clear and complete. He is sending some MSS. to be bound up, giving detailed instructions. He reminds Andrews of previous work, and insists on secrecy. He asks him to post (and pay for) a "foreign letter", and asks "how the Opera succeeds & if the men singers are liked. In a postscript he asks for the third volume of "Johnson's Life" since he has nearly finished the second.

Miscellaneous collection of drafts and notes, in manuscript and typescript, including short articles of reminiscences of his teachers and medical acquaintances.

Author: 
Nehemiah Asherson (1897-1989), English otorhinolaryngologist and Librarian of the Medical Society of London
Publication details: 
[Written between the 1960s and the 1980s?]
£180.00

Around 100 loose, disordered leaves, mostly A4, with autograph notes or typescript on one side only. In good condition. Includes jumbled sections of a monograph (unpublished?) on Sir William Macewen. Also a few notes on Morell Mackenzie, and complete short articles containing reminiscences of teachers and medical acquaintances, including Charles Coley Choyce, Hamilton Bailey, Girling Ball, Cuthbert Wallace. With Asherson's card, noting his 'Change of Address from 24th December, 1945' to 21 Harley Street.

A collection of six autograph letters signed to Clement Shorter, man of letters, editor of "The Sphere".

Author: 
George Scott Robertson.
Publication details: 
1898-1914.
£150.00

Anglo-Indian Administrator (1852-1916). Total sixteen pages, 8vo, good condition. . Subjects include: anticipation of the publication of his book, "Chitral. The Story of a Minor Siege"; the Johnson Club, political activity (canvassing), Edward Clodd, a request to be the "accredited agent" of "The Sphere" at the Front (Great War). With; (printed) Order of his Memorial Service (1916). 7 items,

Autograph Letters Signed (3) to Clement Shorter, Man of Letters.

Author: 
Max Pemberton.
Publication details: 
Troston Hall, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, 1909-1921.
£50.00

Man of Letters. Total 7pp., 8vo, fold mark, good condition. He promotes the interests of a friend, asks if writing for another periodical (presumably not Shorter's The Sphere) would create a conflict of interest, discus the framework of a play about Goldsmith's Life. etc. Three items,

Autograph Signature.

Author: 
John Hullah [John Pyke Hullah] (1812-1884), English composer and music teacher
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£20.00

Cut from a letter. On small rectangle of light-grey paper, roughly 2 x 4 cm. Fair, on aged paper with thin light strip of glue staining along top edge. Neat firm signature, underlined and overlined, reading 'John Hullah'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Alec Waugh') to 'Dear Burdett'.

Author: 
Alec Waugh [Alexander Raban Waugh (1898-1981), English author, elder brother of Evelyn Waugh
Publication details: 
28 January 1921; on letterhead of Chapman & Hall Ltd, 11 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London WC2.
£56.00

12mo: 2 pp. Bifolium. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. If the recipient visited on the Saturday he would have found that the Waughs were away: 'My wife was developing mumps in London & I was kicking a football. Would tha tit had been any other day.' He thanks him for 'the review of Strachey', which he read with much interest, if partial agreement': 'I think mystic experience lies beyond my compass, & therefore I can hardly judge'. Quotes 'our friend Moore' (the philosopher G. E. Moore?) on the subject.

Autograph Signature ('J Arthur Thomson').

Author: 
J. Arthur Thomson [Sir John Arthur Thomson] (1861-1933), Scottish naturalist and author whose writings sought to reconcile science and religion
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£18.00

On slip of paper, roughly 2.5 x 10 cm, cut from a letter for an autograph hunter. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Reads 'Yours sincerely | J Arthur Thomson'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('C. Genest'), in French, to unnamed male recipient.

Author: 
Claude Genest [editor, 'La Revue du XIXème siècle']
Publication details: 
Undated, on printed 1840s lettehead of the 'Revue du XIXème siècle', 'Bureaux, 11, rue de Lille', Paris.
£38.00

12mo, 1 p. 20 lines of text. Clear and complete. On aged paper and lightly-creased paper. Writing to ask how the recipient wishes to deal with 'traités de Botanique et de Chimie' in his reviews. Written during the first of several incarnations of the 'Revue', this one beginning around 1836.

Autograph Note Signed to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Edith Coates (1908-1983), English mezzo-soprano opera singer.
Publication details: 
Undated; 31 Makepeace Avenue, Highgate, London.
£28.00

12mo, 1 p. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Punch-hole in top left-hand corner. Replying to an autograph hunter, she states that she has 'signed the programme' and has 'much pleasure in returning it with every good wish'. Good, firm signature.

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