AUTOGRAPH

One page, 35 x 24cms, extracted from a Family Album (see Note below) assembled almost certainly by George Meredith's daughter, Marie. The text, written directly onto the Album page (see Image) is an extract from Fortunatus the Pessimist, in the drama read by Urania to April (pp.85-6 in the Second Edition if not the First - latter not available on Google), 3 four-line verses: A summons to my slumbering spirit came [...] Past me there swept the coronated Night. One small variation from the published text (second verse, l.3 Choiring for Quiring). See Image.

Theatre Programme, 8vo, for The Old Country. A new play by Alan Bennett with Alec Guinness, inscribed on the 'titlepage' Mr & Mr Robinson with best wishes from Alan Bennett. See Image.

One page, 35 x 24cms, extracted from a Family Album (see Note below) assembled almost certainly by George Meredith's daughter, Marie. The text, written directly onto the Album page (see Image) is an extract from Fortunatus the Pessimist, in the drama read by Urania to April (pp.85-6 in the Second Edition if not the First - latter not available on Google), 3 four-line verses: A summons to my slumbering spirit came [...] Past me there swept the coronated Night. One small variation from the published text (second verse, l.3 Choiring for Quiring). See Image.

Four pages, 12mo, bifolium, some marks but mainly good condition. Text: Dear Mr. Meredith, | I am going to ask you (if your health and time permit) to do me and many of my countrymen a great favor. | The Centennial of the birth of Nathaniel Hawthorne comes on the 4th.

One page, cr 8vo, sl. crumpled, edges sl. sunned, mainly good, text clear and complete, Text: My dear Bernard | This must indeed be a wonderful night for you because it is the fulfilment of all you have dreamed of and worked for for so long. | I do salute you for your enthusiasm and determination and, from one who has always been stage-struck, for your deep-seated love of the Theatre. | All my best possible good wishes to you. | Yours, | Noel Coward.

Eight pages, 12mo, two bifoliums, one page stained but legible, mainly good condition. He discusses holiday plans initially for his Aunt Mary, and how they affect his own and others (we). He continues: Your sonnet on Columbus is greatly admired here - not least by me, who think [sic] it quite one of your finest.

Two pages, 8vo, good condition. Text: Thank you for your kind thought in reserving seats for us at your wedding. I shall certainly be there & and there is a chance (but I'm afraid a very slight one) that Epstein will down tools just for that one morning but the compulsion to work every [underlined] morning is very strong. Perhaps I can persuade him to declare a one day strike on June 1st. | It sounds such an auspicious date. I do hope it will prove a very happy one. | With best wishes from us both | Kathleen & Epstein.

One page, 4to, a little grubby and worn at edges, some text faded but all legible. See image. Text: Dear Sir, | Kindly excuse delay in replying to yours of March 19th but, as [you] see, I am not in England [touring America, 1907-8]. I sh[ou]ld be very pleased to grant permission for the inclusion of some of my children's poems in your anthology. A great many children's poems are included in my last published vovl.

Two pages, 8vo, blue paper, fold marks, slight damage at fold not affecting text, mainly good condition. Despite a neat appearance, a difficult hand occasionally. Text: Of our disaster [underlined] you will have heard from others. I know you will not be displeased to hear of our safety from us [underlined]. We have lost nearly everything - Maria everything [see Note B. below] & have been clothed by Christian charity. I think better of human nature & more highly of human virtue after what I have seen. It was a beautiful display of every mortal excellence.

Three pages, 12mo, bifolium, very good condition. Russell has written his third page across the interior of the bifolium. Text: I do not think that I should be deemed worthy to hold even the obscure place I occupy in English Literature if I omitted to honour myself by doing a poor man's honour to a great Master on the approach of his 80th birthday. In an age in which literature is assessed on the merits of quantity - so many thousand words!

On a rectangular label, gummed on the reverse. In fair condition, on aged paper, with traces of paper adhering to the gummed side. The notice reads: 'The Librarian regrets that he has to inform you that owing to your breach of Stat. Cap. XLI 9a (Consumption of Edibles) he must forbid you the use of the Bodleian and Camera until the matter can be dealt with by the Curators. | Dr. H. Koeppler, | Magdalen College.'

Calling Card, 9.5 x 5.5cm, some staining but text clear. See Images. Printed text (recto) is as follows: Léo Delibes || Membre de l'Institut || 220 rue de Rivoli. He has written the following; Mille remerciements bien affectueux, cher collaborateur. Vous permettez ce titre, sinon a l'auteur du Roi l'a dit [underlined], du moins a celui de 'Lakmé'! | L.D.

Postcard (Carte Postale), 14 x 9cm, shade of green, somewhat grubby and crumpled, smudged. See Images. Text: I sent you a letter some weeks ago - making a proposal with reference to a distinguished Sculptor here [Auguste Rodin perhaps]. Did my letter reach you? !! I regret that I shall not be able to be present at the meeting of 7th - I also wrote as you requested to Gilbert, R.A. | Very faitfully yours | J McN. Whistler. The card is addressed to Monsieur Francis Howard, The Exhibition of International Art, Prince's Skating [Club?] Knitsbridge [sic] S.W. London || Angleterre. See Images.

One page, 12mo, good condition, laid down on part of an album page (see note below). Text: My dear Con, | Many and many a Happy Christmas to you- & to all who love you - that's a wide wish I know. | Now - when & how do you & mama want me to come to yoy. I will be at your [underlined] orders, (provided they are peremptory-) any day after New Years day. | Thank mama for her kind note. | Ever affectionately Your | J Ruskin. Note: Item detached from Meredith family album containing letters from distinguished contemporaries such as Henry James, Thomas Hardy, Clemenceau, etc etc.

Three pages, 12mo, bifolium, good condition. Second leaf laid down on part of a album page. See Image of pp.2 & 3. Text: You write to me and I dont [sic] answer. but I know you hear of me From [sic] his letters - which I just manage to send though I fear . [sic] they most often be very dull. | Are you coming up For the Jubilee - its all Jubilee - I hope it is going to be Fine [sic] it would bve such a great disappointment if it was not. | I have been awayFor [sic] the last three Sundays but it seems to take a lot of time somehow . We are of course a long way off the station here.

One page, 12mo, bifolium, second leaf laid down on part of an Album page, good condition. A scrawl. See Image. Text: I regret [so much?] not being able to accept your invitation - I have already booked myself elsewhere for that Sunday. | With best regards | Yoiurs sincerely | John S. Sargent. Note: Sargent's letter to a Mrs Sturgis has been extracted from an Album which mainly contains letters from distinguished writers (Hardy, George Eliot, Henry James, etc) to fellow author, George Meredith, or his daughter.

One page, 12mo, tipped on to part of an album page, name of writer written below letter presumably by Miss Meredith. See Image. Text: My dear Miss Meredtith, | You will never succeed in making a complete collection of the signatures of your father's debtors, but one of them, at least, takes great pleasure in thus acknowledging what he can never discharge. | Faithfully yours | J.R. Lowell || Miss Marie Eveleen Meredith. Item detached from Meredith family album containing letters from distinguished contemporaries such as Henry James, Thomas Hardy, Clemenceau, etc etc.

One page, cr. 8vo, fold marks, faint foxing, good condition. See Image. Text: It is delightful to read that August Manns [conductor - see Wiki] is still remembered. I was born within sight of the Crystal Palace and can even remember the great fire on one Sunday afternoon when part of the 'Tropical End' was burned to the ground. Those Courts [with?] the fine casts of statues of all periods taught me how to look at their originals in many places.

One page, 12mo, blue paper, good condition. See Image. I am so sorry - I have got no photograph so just the autograph must do -.

See his entries in the Oxford DNB and Australian Dictionary of Biography. The recipient George Kenneth Menzies (1869-1954) was Secretary to the Royal Society of Arts between 1917 and 1935. The nine items are in good condition, lightly aged, and are folded for postage. Each bears the stamp of the RSA, some with manuscript docketting. Letters of 4 April and 18 September 1925 are in autograph, the rest typed; all nine are signed ‘Walter Rosesnhain’.

Excellent affectionate and eloquent content, including a moving expression of the conventional Victorian view of Christmas. See Bright's entry in the Oxford DNB. A total of eight pages, six of which are closely written. Items One and Two addressed to ‘My dear Jacob’. Item Three is incomplete. ONE: ‘Univ Coll / Innocents Day 1866.’ 5pp, 12mo. On bifolium. Bright’s signature ‘W. Bright’ and the conclusion of the letter (i.e. the fifth page) are written crosswise at the head of the first page.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The fibre-glass dress in which his second wife Helen married him is exhibited in his museum at the University of Sheffield, and was included in the 2010 BBC radio series A History of the Word in 100 Objects. The recipient George Kenneth Menzies (1869-1954) was Secretary to the Royal Society of Arts between 1917 and 1935. The nine items are in good condition, on lightly aged paper, and are folded for postage. All nine are signed 'W. E. S. Turner'. Each bears the stamp of the RSA, some with manuscript docketting.

The University of Wyoming American Heritage Center has mounted a ‘traveling exhibit’ of watercolours and diaries from Kennet Were’s 1868-9 journey across the United States, a long account of which he published in the Gazette (‘Nine Months in the United States’) on his return. Were’s obituary in the Transactions of the Devonshire Association, vol. 48, (1916), p. 54, describes him as one of Sidmouth’s ‘most respected inhabitants’ and ‘the prime mover in movements for the improvement of the resort and a supporter of all good causes’, but does not refer to his artistic activities.

In one of the present letters Hay signs himself as ‘Retired Behar Indigo planter’, and the material provides an knowledgeable commentry on the colonial textiles industry at the beginning of the First World War. Some of the material was printed in the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts. The recipient George Kenneth Menzies (1869-1954) was Secretary to the Royal Society of Arts between 1917 and 1935. A total of 21pp, 4to. Each bears the stamp of the RSA, some with manuscript docketting.

Stapled pamphlet. 20pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Sargent’s unusual bold stylized signature, in blue pencil, almost occupies a 5 cm square. All but the top centimeter which touches the printed date at points, is written on blank space on the cover. See image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son and editor of the economist Thorold Rogers [James Edwin Thorold Rogers] (1823-1890), for information regarding whom see his entry in the Oxford DNB. A little grubby, but in fair condition, folded once. Good clear signature. Reads: ‘The 1st. of January 1926. / My dear Rogers, / Many thanks for your letter and information re the hostel. I have already brought it before The Bishop of St. David’s and hope that something may result. / With kind regards and best wishes.

See the entry in the Oxford DNB for his father the 1st Marquis. 2pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and discoloured, with thin strip of glue from previous mount on reverse of second leaf. The recipient is not named, and he signs ‘Hastings’. The letter begins: ‘Dear Sir, / I made the necessary enquiries as to the entry in the Leicester registry (through a friend of our clergyman) & enclose his reply [not present] - I fear it is not what you wished for.’ He might get ‘more satisfactory information’ if the recipient can give a ‘better clue to go by’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. (In his Who’s Who entry he stated that he was ‘author of a great number of papers and articles in the Journals of Scientific Societies’.) 1p, landscape 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. With stamp and manuscript docketting of the RSA. He writes: ‘In 1900 (I think) I gave a lecture on Round About the Andamans & Nicobars published in vol XLVIII. If you have a separate copy left I shall be glad if you can send me one on payment / from Yrs trly / R. C. Temple’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, and with a thin strip of discoloration from glue for mount along one edge. Folded for postage. Signed ‘Dunraven’. Begins: ‘My dear Mr Harnwell / I have kept your very interesting drawings & plates a long time. The Bridge must be a very striking object. The proofs of the ancient dwellings I fear I shd not have kept so long.’ Dunraven is ‘longing to see’ Bradford and will ‘get some copies of the photos’. It may be better to ‘get it photd [sic] on a larger scale’.

One page, folio, good condition. In the form of an instruction/letter addressed to The respective Captains, Commanders, and Commanding Officers of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels and Concludes By the Command of their Lordships [Autograph] W Marsden. Marsden (Wikipedia): William Marsden FRS FSA (16 November 1754 – 6 October 1836) was an Irish orientalist, numismatist, and linguist who served as Second, then First Secretary to the Admiralty during years of conflict with France. James, Lord Gambier and Sir William Young, both Admirals, also feature strongly in Wikipedia.