AUTOGRAPH

[Douglas Sladen, author and poet.] Autograph Card Signed to Herman Hart, stating that he has written a letter of recommendation for him to 'Thring'.

Author: 
Douglas Sladen [Douglas Brooke Wheelton Sladen] (1856-1947), English author, poet and academic, Professor of History at the University of Sydney
Publication details: 
Undated. Card with letterhead of 32 Addison Mansions, Kensington, W. [London.]
£38.00

Plain 11.5 x 7.5 cm card, with letterhead in red. The card reads: ‘Dear Herman Hart / I can barely write even today with rheumaticky right hand. I have written to Thring to say that I propose you & have known you for years. It gives me great pleasure to do so / Yrs sincerely / Douglas Sladen’. On reverse, in contemporary hand, ‘Author of Japanese Marriage.’

[Ethel Henry Bird, soprano, pianist and tutor.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Miss Atkins’, thanking her for returning an ‘old book’ that is ‘very valuable to me’.

Author: 
Ethel Henry Bird (d.1942), soprano, pianist and teacher at the Trinity College of Music, London
Publication details: 
30 September [no year]. On letterhead of 8 Longridge Road, Earl’s Court, S.W. [London.]
£45.00

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with unobtrusive grease stain stain to one blank corner. Folded twice. Good bold hand with large signature. ‘My dear Miss Atkins - / How very kind of you to return me my old book. It was very valuable to me, & I was wondering where it was - so I am very glad to have it back again. / Hoping we shall meet before long / With kindest regards & many thanks / Yours very sincerely / Ethel Henry Bird.’

[Cardinal Manning, second Archbishop of Westminster.] Autograph Letter Signed, as Rector of Lavington, asking the owner to lend him the key to the private chapel in Findon Church, so that he can make measurements for a new window for his own church.

Author: 
Cardinal Manning [Henry Edward Manning] (1808-1892), Roman Catholic prelate; second Archbishop of Westminster, 1865-1892 [Lavington and Findon, Sussex]
Publication details: 
2 May 1842. No place [Lavington, Sussex].
£50.00

At the time of writing Manning was rector of Lavington, Sussex. See his entry in the Oxford DNB, and also Edmund Sheridan Purcell, ‘Manning as an Anglican’ (1895). 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with a couple of creases. Folded twice. Signed ‘H. E. Manning.’ The recipient is not named. Begins: ‘My dear Sir / I am going to ask of you a favour by which you would greatly oblige me if you have no objection.

[Adolph Saphir, Hungarian Jew who became a Free Church of Scotland minister.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘A Saphir’), asking ‘Mr Maclaren’ to give his writings a ‘little impulse’ in Edinburgh.

Author: 
Adolph Saphir [Aaron Adolph Saphir] (1831-1891), Christian polemicist, a Hungarian Jew who settled in England as a Free Church of Scotland minister
Publication details: 
25 October [no year, but after 1880]. 57 Ladbroke Grove W. [London.]
£90.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition; with slight traces of mount on blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. He begins by explaining that he was ‘not able to call before leaving Edinburgh’, as he was ‘much harried at last’.

[Victor Silvester, bandleader and ballroom dancer.] Autograph Signature on ‘Souvenir Programme’ for the ‘Grand Empire Day Dance’ at the Alexander Hall, Halifax, with local band 'Harry Nicholl and his Alexandrians' .

Author: 
Victor Silvester [Victor Marlborough Silvester] (1900-1978), British bandleader and ballroom dancer [Harry Nicholl and his Alexandrians; Alexandra Hall, Halifax]
Silvester
Publication details: 
Date of the ‘Grand Empire Day Dance’: 24 May 1957. At the Alexandra Hall, Halifax, for T. F. Firth & Sons Ltd. Sports Club.
£25.00
Silvester

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.

[W. H. Smith, newsagent and politician, the ‘Sir Joseph Porter’ of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore.] Autograph Letter Signed to George Townsend Warner, discussing a request to fish in his private stream.

Author: 
W. H. Smith [William Henry Smith] (1825-1891), founder of the fortunes of the British chain of newsagents, Conservative politician, First Lord of the Admiralty [George Townsend Warner (1865-1916)]
Publication details: 
5 March 1891; on letterhead of 10 Downing Street, Whitehall. [London.]
£50.00

From the first Smith has been considered as the model of the ‘Sir Joseph Porter’ of Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘HMS Pinafore’, and Disraeli himself is said to have referred to him as ‘Pinafore Smith’. See Smith’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is signed ‘W. H. Smith’, addressed to ‘Mr Townsend Warner’, and headed ‘Private’. The recipient is the historian and Harrow housemaster George Townsend Warner (1865-1916), father of the novelist Sylvia Townsend Warner. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once.

[Tom Walls, English stage and film actor and director of the famous Aldwych farces.] Autograph Signature (‘Best Wishes / Tom Walls’) from autograph album.

Author: 
Tom Walls [Thomas Kirby Walls] (1883-1949), English stage and film actor, remembered for producing, directing and acting in 1920s Aldwych farces and their 1930s film adaptations
Walls
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£30.00
Walls

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 9.5 x 11.5 cm leaf of blue paper, with rounded outer corners, torn from an autograph album. In good condition, lightly aged, with spotting on reverse. Reads: ‘Best Wishes / Tom Walls.’ Good bold writing, with stylistic flourish linking the cross-stroke of the T in ‘Tom’ with the S of ‘wishes’, and two small vertical strokes at the centre of the underlining of the signature. See image

[Sir Stanley Rous, association football referee and 6th President of FIFA.] Typed Note Signed (‘Stanley Rous’) to the BBC sports commentator Max Robertson.

Author: 
Stanley Rous [Sir Stanley Ford Rous] (1895-1986), Secretary of the Football Association, 6th President of FIFA, referee [Max Robertson [William Maxwell Robertson] (1915-2009), BBC sports commentator]
Rous
Publication details: 
26 May 1955; on letterhead of the Football Association, 22 Lancaster Gate, London W2.
£35.00
Rous

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight creasing to one corner. Folded once. In addition to the signature ‘Stanley Rous’, the salutation ‘Dear Max’ is written in Rous’s autograph. (Robertson’s full Wandsworth address is typed out at the head.) The note reads: ‘The enclosed translation of an article which appeared in a Continental newspaper has just been handed to me. I sent it on at once, in case it is of help to you.’ See image

[Sir Richard Airey: the man who issued the order for the Charge of the Light Brigade.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mrs. Gardiner’, describing the ‘escape by a miracle’ of ‘Gardiner’ after a dangerous fall from his horse.

Author: 
Sir Richard Airey [Richard Airey, 1st Baron Airey] (1803-1881), senior British Army officer, remembered for writing out the order for the Charge of the Light Brigade, and 1879-1880 Airey Commission
Publication details: 
29 June 1865; ‘Horseguards’ [Horse Guards, London.], on embossed government letterhead.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB: ‘Following Raglan's instructions, he wrote out the order which led to the fateful charge of the light brigade on 25 October 1854, but unfortunately in the heat of battle kept no duplicate. Subsequently, he had to request a copy from Lieutenant-General Lord Lucan, the cavalry division's commander, to whom the order was addressed and who strongly resented implications that he was at fault. In writing and in person Airey attempted to placate Lucan, reputedly arguing that “it is nothing to Chillianwallah”’.

[‘An Admiral with salt in his ears and his tongue’: Admiral of the Fleet Sir Varyl Begg, First Sea Lord.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mr Dean’, listing his ‘appointments as Captain & Admiral’.

Author: 
Sir Varyl Begg [Admiral of the Fleet Sir Varyl Cargill Begg] (1908-1995), First Sea Lord 1966-1968; Governor of Gibraltar 1968-1973; served with distinction in Second World War [Royal Navy]
Publication details: 
Undated [between 1964 and 1965]. On his letterhead as Commander-in-Chief, Far East, Phoenix Park, Singapore.
£100.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. See David Owen, who was minister for the navy when Begg was appointed Admiral of the Fleet in 1968, commented on his death that Begg was 'an Admiral with salt both in his ears and his tongue', who 'did not suffer fools gladly' (The Independent, 15 July 1995). 2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Begins: ‘Dear Mr Dean. / I have signed the photograph as you asked.

[‘I may yet be a burden to the Royal Literary Fund’: Sir John Fortescue, military historian and Royal Librarian at Windsor.] Autograph Letter Signed, joking about his lack of success as an author while sending £5 to the Fund’s chairman Lord Curzon.

Author: 
Sir John Fortescue [Sir John William Fortescue] (1859-1933), military historian, Royal Librarian at Windsor Castle [Lord Curzon [George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston]; Royal Literary Fund]
Publication details: 
28 March 1913; on Windsor Castle letterhead.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Begins: ‘Dear Curzon, / I have sent, with great pleasure, a fiver to the Literary Fund in honour of your chairmanship; but not [last word underlined] as a successful man of letters.’ He explains that had he been dependant on his books for a livelihood, he would ‘long ago have starved, and, by the Grace of the present Government, I may yet be a burden to the Royal Literary Fund.’ Curzon has minuted the letter at the head of the first page: ‘Hon J Fortescue £5’.

[Sir Peter Scott, ornithologist, conservationist and artist.] Typed Letter Signed, advising ‘Squirrel’ on ‘the right type of field glasses’ and new developments in the design of binoculars.

Author: 
Sir Peter Scott [Sir Peter Markham Scott] (1909-1989), ornithologist, artist, conservationist, founder of the Wildfowl Trust, son of Antarctic explorer Sir Robert Falcon Scott
Scott
Publication details: 
3 November 1962; on letterhead (with illustration by him of birds in flight) of the Wildfowl Trust, Slimbridge, Gloucestershire.
£50.00
Scott

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight spotting to margin. Folded three times. Good signature: ‘Peter Scott.’ Addressing himself to ‘Dear Squirrel’, he writes: ‘Yes, of course I will try to advise you on the right type of field glasses. I have used Ross 12 by 50 Stepsun for many years and have found it a very good glass for ornithological and also general use. I would strongly recommend it.

[Sir George Otto Trevelyan, Liberal politician and author.] Autograph Signature on letter in secretary’s hand to Theodore Fry of Darlington, regarding the application of ‘Mr. M. Hedley, a Veterinary Inspr. in Ireland, for increase of pay’.

Author: 
Sir George Otto Trevelyan (1838-1928), Liberal politician and author, twice a minister in a Gladstone government, biographer of his uncle Thomas Babington Macaulay [Sir Theodore Fry (1836-1912)]
Publication details: 
2 December 1882; on embossed government letterhead of the Irish Office, Great Queen Street, S.W. [London.]
£35.00

See his entry and Fry’s in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Signed ‘G O Trevelyan’. He has received Fry’s letter ‘in support of an application made by Mr. M. Hedley, a Verterinary Inspr. in Ireland, for increase of pay’, and will submit his recommendation ‘to his Excellency the Lord Lieutenant’. The second leaf carries the name of Trevelyan’s parliamentary constituency Hawick at the head of the recto.

[Sir Edward Northey, Attorney General under Queen Anne and King George I.] Signed Autograph Receipt.

Author: 
Sir Edward Northey (1652-1723) of Epsom, lawyer and politician, Attorney General under Queen Anne and King George I
Northey
Publication details: 
9 December 1715. No place.
£50.00
Northey

See his entries in the Oxford DNB and History of Parliament. On 11 x 6 cm slip of paper, laid down on thicker paper cut from album. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: ‘9th Dececmr. 1715 / Receit in full / Edw Northey’. See image.

[Percy Nash, pioneering British film director rewrites Oliver Goldsmith’s ‘She Stoops to Conquer’.] File of related material, including a typescript of Nash’s version, and letters from theatre impressario Jack Gladwyn and Stanford Robinson of BBC.

Author: 
Percy Nash (1869-1958), film producer and director, key figure in the creation of Elstree Studios; Jack Gladwyn, theatre impressario; Stanford Robinson of the BBC; Gladys Ripley; Oliver Goldsmith]
Publication details: 
Material dating from 1949 and 1950. Nash’s letterhead of 2 Bristol Court West, Marine Parade, Brighton. Robinson on letterhead of Broadcasting House, London. Gladwyn on his letterhead, Cecil House, 41 Charing Cross Road, London.
£500.00

Ten items relating to Percy Nash’s unsuccessful attempt to turn Goldsmith’s ‘She Stoops to Conquer’ into a musical, casting light on English theatre production practices in the immediate postwar period. Despite interest from the theatre impressario Jack Gladwyn, the project stalls. Percy Nash (1868-1958), who made around 70 films between 1912 and 1927, was a key figure in the creation of Elstree Studios. His career as a film maker was effectively ended following the screening of his 1921 film 'How Kitchener was betrayed'.

[Sir Ian Hamilton, British commander in the Gallipoli Campaign.] Autograph Letter Signed to George Townsend Warner, following consultation with Lord Roberts over a musketry matter and Harrow School.

Author: 
Sir Ian Hamilton [Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton] (1853-1947), soldier, commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in the First World War Gallipoli Campaign [George Townsend Warner]
Publication details: 
2 March 1901; on letterhead of 3 Chesterfield Street, Mayfair. [London.]
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is the Harrow housemaster George Townsend Warner (1865-1916), father of the novelist Sylvia Townsend Warner, referred to as ‘Townsend Warner / Historian’ in a pencil note to this letter. Signed ‘Ian Hamilton’. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with a few pin holes from attachment of a no-longer-present enclosure. Folded twice. Possibly concerning shooting practice for the Harrow army cadets.

['The tarn is metres above the level my legs would take me': Norman Nicholson, Cumbrian poet.] Typed Letter Signed to ‘Eric’, commenting wistfully on two correspondents pointing out a ‘simple slip’ in Hunter Davies’ ‘Walk Around the Lakes’.

Author: 
Norman Nicholson [Norman Cornthwaite Nicholson] (1914-1987), Cumbrian poet [Millom, Cumbria; Lake District; Hunter Davies]
Nicholson
Publication details: 
25 September 1981; Millom, Cumbria.
£56.00
Nicholson

1p, landscape 8vo. In fair condition; a little creased. Folded twice. Nicholson’s signature is a stylized squiggle, and there are a few minor autograph corrections to the typescript. The letter begins: ‘Dear Eric / I think the correspondent is probably right and that it is Windermere and not Coniston Water which can be seen from near Stickle Tarn.’ Nicholson cannot speak from experience, ‘as the tarn is metres above the level my legs would take me, but the map does seem to confirm what the two correspondents say’.

[Nicolas Orloff [Nikolai Andreyevich Orlov], Russian concert pianist noted for his interpretations of Chopin.] Autograph Signature and English inscription on Christmas card to Alan Lockhart; with second Autograph Signature and note signed 'N. O.'

Author: 
Nicolas Orloff [Nikolai Andreyevich Orlov ] (1892-1964), Russian concert pianist noted for his interpretations of Chopin, who settled in Scotland
Orloff
Publication details: 
Card dated by Orloff to 1964/64. Signature on paper dated 1960.
£90.00
Orloff

Orloff left Russia in 1921, and toured the world as a leading interpreter of Chopin. He settled in Grantown-on-Spey in 1948, becoming a British citizen four years later. ONE: 6.5 x 14 cm bifoliate Christmas card, with blue and black illustration ‘Designed by Kris’. Dated at head by Orloff ‘1963/64’. Beneath the printed message he writes a large signature on two lines: ‘Nicolas Orloff’. Recipient’s name written at foot, in another hand: ‘Alan Lockhart’. The verso of the second leaf of this card is laid down on the verso of the following item.

[Mabel Constandurous, star and writer of BBC radio series ‘The Buggins Family’.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to her agent ‘Miss Booth', discussing the success of her radio work, a fan letter from Compton Mackenzie, future engagements.

Author: 
Mabel Constanduros [Mabel Tilling] (1880-1957), commedienne and playwright, who wrote and starred in the BBC radio series ‘The Buggins Family’
Publication details: 
Neither item dated (but both after 1928). The first without place, the second on letterhead of Belhaven, Cornwall Road, Sutton.
£180.00

According to Barry Took’s entry on Constanduros in the Oxford DNB, ‘The Buggins Family’ was ‘the first radio family’, and she played all six parts, writing and performing in more than 250 episodes between and 1928 and 1948: ‘The popularity of the family was such that the Ministry of Food used Mrs Buggins to broadcast recipes during the Second World War.’Constanduros is also credited with having written more than one hundred plays. The recipient of these two letters, 'Miss Booth', is clearly her agent. Two items, the first in good condition and the second fair, on lightly discoloured paper.

[Major-General Abraham D’Aubant, who played a leading role in the 1794 invasion of Corsica, frustrating Nelson with his caution.] Autograph Note in the third person to ‘Mr Brown’.

Author: 
Major-General Abraham D’Aubant (d.1805), Colonel of His Majesty's Corps of Royal Engineers, who played a leading role the 1794 invasion of Corsica [Horatio Nelson; Lord Nelson]
D'Aubant
Publication details: 
8 July [no year]; Devonshire Place [London].
£180.00
D'Aubant

An uncommon signature. During the 1794 invasion of Corsica, D’Aubant took over as Lord Hood’s second-in-command after Hood forced Major-General David Dundas to resign, but proved even more cautious, to the frustration of Nelson and others. 1p, landscape 8vo. Laid down on part of leaf from autograph album, captioned in Victorian hand, ‘General D’Aubant’. On discoloured paper, with deeper discoloration from glue from mount. Folded twice. Reads: ‘Genl D’Aubant presents his compliments to Mr Brown, and will call upon him at 12. next Thursday 8th July / Devonshe. place.’ See image.

[Louis Blanc, French socialist politician and historian.] Autograph Letter Signed, in French, regarding the purchase of books, including one on ‘notre digne et excellent ami Karl Blind’.

Author: 
Louis Blanc [Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc] (1811-1882), French socialist politician and historian and advocate of co-operative enterprise, who obtained an amnesty for the Communards [Karl Blind]
Publication details: 
18 April 1861; no place.
£100.00

3pp, 16mo. Bifolium. 25 lines of text. In good condition, on thin paper, with minor staining from label to mount. Signed ‘Louis Blanc’. The salutation is ‘Cher Monsieur’. The recipient, who is not named, is presumably a bookseller. He is returning two of the books, keeping only the ‘Cabinet Lawyer’, whose price he asks. He wants to acquire a copy of the latest edition of ‘la Biographie des contemporains de M. Vapereau’: ‘naturellement plus complète, et où beaucoup d’erreurs se trouvent, je suppose, corrigées’.

[‘The time is not one that favours such an enterprise’: Lord Haldane, Lord Chancellor and philosopher.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Miss Black’, giving his considered opinion of the prospects for ‘a new weekly paper’.

Author: 
Lord Haldane [Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane] (1856-1928), Scottish Liberal and Labour politician, philosopher, and Lord Chancellor
Publication details: 
9 March 1920; on letterhead of 28 Queen Anne’s Gate, Westminster.
£65.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged with a crease. Folded once. Signed ‘Haldane’. He begins ‘With all good wishes for any cause you are engaged in’, but ‘no hope of success for a new weekly paper’.

[Lord Derby disassociates himself from John Stuart Mill.] Autograph Letter in the third person [to Matthew Arnold], expressing a willingness to join in ‘any mark of respect’, as long as it does not imply ‘an agreement in Mr Mill’s political opinions'

Author: 
Lord Derby [Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby] (1826-1893), Conservative politician who served as Foreign Secretary and Colonial Secretary [John Stuart Mill; Matthew Arnold]
Publication details: 
13 May 1873; 23 St James’s Square [London].
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Mill had died on 8 May, and in his 2018 biography, Timothy Larsen gives an account of the controversy over the efforts to have buried in Westminister Abbey. (In any event by his own desire Helen Taylor had her husband buried at Avignon.) 2pp, 12mo. With thin mourning border. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded three times.

[Lord Carnarvon [Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon], Conservative politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to E. Lovell, expressing a desire to attend an event, while explaining that this is unlikely.

Author: 
Lord Carnarvon [Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon] (1831-1890), Conservative politician, known as Lord Porchester from 1833 to 1849, who served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Publication details: 
4 April 1857; Torquay.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, aged and worn, with slight damage to one corner from removal from mount. Folded four times. Signed ‘Carnarvon’ and addressed to ‘E. Lovell Esr.’ If he possibly can he will ‘attend on the Wednesday’, but he doubts whether his ‘other business’ will allow this. ‘Wednesday is a less convenient day than Tuesday to me, but I sd. be very glad to attend if possible.’

[Lord Albemarle, Whig politician.] Autograph Signature (‘Albemarle’) to a long secretarial letter to the surgeon William Barnard Boddy, describing in detail the state of his cataracts, and discussing possible treatment.

Author: 
Lord Albemarle [William Charles Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle] (1772-1849), Whig politician, Master of the Horse who travelled with Queen Victoria to coronation [William Barnard Boddy (1796-1884)]
Publication details: 
24 October 1845; Quidenham, near Kenninghall, Norfolk.
£120.00

An interesting item from a medical point of view, with a well-informed patient describing and discussing his condition, symptoms and treatment options. Three years after the writing of this letter the appropriately-named Boddy, who is addressed here as ‘W. Barnard Boddy Esqr / 3. Saville Row. Walworth’, published ‘Diet and Cholera’ (London, 1848). 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Fifty-five lines of closely-written text. The signature is large and shaky, and the use of an amanuensis is understandable in the light of the content of the letter.

[John Parsons Earwaker, Cheshire antiquary.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘J. P. Earwaker.’) to genealogist T. E. Strangwayes, regarding the activities of the Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society.

Author: 
J. P. Earwaker [John Parsons Earwaker] (1847-1895), Cheshire antiquary [Thomas Edward Strangwayes; Lancashire and Cheshire Record Society]
Publication details: 
24 November 1894; on his (Welsh) letterhead as Honorary Secretary of the Record Society for the publication of Original Documents in Lancashire & Cheshire.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Strangwayes published his ‘Materials for a Genealogical History of the House of Strangwayes sometime of Strangwayes Hall, in the County of Lancaster’ in two parts, 1894 and 1895. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount laid down along inner and outer top edges. With large bold signature. He explains that Strangwayes’ name was sent to him by ‘Mr Ryland’ a few weeks before, but he has delayed in replying, having been ‘laid up all this month’.

[Lieutenant-General Sir John Hope, one of Wellington’s commanders in the Peninsular War.] Autograph Signature as Commander in Chief, Scotland: ‘John Hope / M. Genl. Commdg / in N. B.’

Author: 
Lieutenant-General Sir John Hope (1765-1836), Scottish soldier, British Army officer, one of Wellington’s commanders in the Peninsular War; Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, 1816-1819
Publication details: 
[Between 1816 and 1819; Scotland.]
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Between 1816 and 1819 Hope held the post of Major General Commanding in North Britain (i.e. Commander-in-Chief in Scotland). On 9.5 x 4 cm slip of wove paper, presumably the valediction cut from a letter. In good condition, lightly aged, with the reverse bearing a thin strip of grey paper from mount along thin strip at head. Reads: ‘John Hope / M. Genl. Commdg / in N. B.’ See image.

[John Cowper Powys (1872-1963), novelist and poet.] Envelope addressed by Powys in Autograph to his London bookseller G. L. Lewin, with his name and address written by him on the reverse.

Author: 
John Cowper Powys (1872-1963), novelist and poet [George Lionel Lewin (1890-1970), bookseller of Great Russell Street, London]
Publication details: 
'From / J. C. Powys / Corwen / Merioneth / N. Wales'. Oxford postmark dated 13 August 1941.
£35.00

An evocative artefact of the interesting connection between Powys and the man who supplied him with the books for his translation of Rabelais. Writing on 24 September 1940, in 'Letters to Sea-Eagle', Powys gives a lengthy account of 'Our Jew Book-Pedlar' and the bombing by the Germans of his Russell Street address.

['Nearly made bankrupt' by this work: Henry Hugh Armstead, sculptor.] Autograph Letter Signed to James Dafforne of the Art Journal, describing his extensive work on the Colonial Office in Whitehall.

Author: 
Henry Hugh Armstead (1828-1905), British sculptor associated with George Gilbert Scott, Gothic Revival and Pre-Raphaelites [James Dafforne (1804-1880) of the Art Journal; Colonial Office, Whitehall]
Publication details: 
3 November 1874; Bridge Place, Eccleston Bridge.
£150.00

See both men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with slight spot from previous mount at one corner. Folded twice. Signed ‘H. H. Armstead’. In reply to a letter of Dafforne, he reports that ‘the Statues I have made for the “Colonial Office” Niches are not yet in situ - but are now being raised to the niches, and they will be in their places within the next few days.’ He gives the names and positions of the statues, adding: ‘The eight men are there as Secretaries of State for the Colonies’.

[Harry Roy, British dance band leader responsible for the 1931 classic 'My Girl's Pussy' ; Joe Daniels, Dixieland drummer.] Autograph Signatures of Roy and Daniels, the latter cut from letter describing himself as ‘One of the Drumming Fraternity.’

Author: 
Harry Roy [born Harris Litman] (1900-1971), British dance band leader and clarinettist; Joe Daniels (1909-1993), British Dixieland drummer, born in South Africa
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£32.00

See Roy’s entry in the Oxford DNB. He part-wrote and performed the perennially popular ‘My Girl’s Pussy’, with other songs with suggestive titles. The two men’s careers both began in the 1920s, and Daniels played in the band of Roy’s brother Sid Roy. The two signatures laid down on an 8.5 x 7 piece cut from the leaf from an autograph album. Somewhat discoloured, otherwise in good condition. ONE: Signature of ‘Harry Roy’. On 6 x 4.5 cm slip of paper. Large signature, with the downstrokes of the final letter y’s extending unusually far. TWO: Signature of ‘Joe Daniels’.

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