BRITISH

Autograph Signature on letterhead.

Author: 
Gilbert Murray (1866-1957), British (Australian-born) classical scholar and advocate of the League of Nations
Publication details: 
6 August 1930; on letterhead 'YATSCOMBE, BOAR'S HILL, OXFORD.'
£10.00

Paper dimensions: five inches by eight inches wide. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper. Good clear signature reads 'Yours sincerely | Gilbert Murray. | August 6. 1930.'

Autograph Note Signed.

Author: 
Charles Warner (Charles John Lickfold, 1846-1909), English actor
Publication details: 
1902; date not stated.
£10.00

One page, roughly four and a half inches by seven wide. Grubby, and with one inch closed tear at foot, caused by removal from mount, traces of which, and of another autograph adhere to reverse. Reads ' "How good it is to live, even at the worst" | "Christ in Hades" by Stephen Phillips | [signed] Charles Warner | 1902'. Small neat green circle containing number in bottom right-hand corner.

Autograph Note Signed ('Geo: Macdonald') to unnamed male correspondent [the autograph collector Rev. E. J. A. Davies?]

Author: 
Sir George Macdonald (1862-1940), numismatist, classical scholar, archaeologist and civil servant
Publication details: 
13 March 1931; on embossed letterhead '17 LEARMOUTH GARDENS | EDINBURGH'.
£20.00

One page, 12mo. Very good, with a little light spotting at foot. 'Dear Sir, | I suppose it will suffice if I sign myself | Yours faithfully | Geo: Macdonald'. Docketed in pencil at foot.

Autograph Letter Signed ('H. Rayson Venables') to Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.

Author: 
Horace Rayson Venables (b. c.1898) [AUTOGRAPHS; Montgomery of Alamein]
Publication details: 
3 June 1943; 28 Chalcot Square, Regent's Park, N.W.1, on cancelled letterhead of 44 Oakfield Court, N.8.
£40.00

Four pages, 12mo. Good, on aged paper with one half-inch closed tear. Claims to be 'compiling an historic book [...] which has been left to the nation', and asks for his contribution. Provides a full-page list from the 'over 500 Autographs'. The collection 'could not be complete without' Montgomery's 'honoured name'. Asks for 'a few words (as many others have done) on the blank side so as to keep this for Gen Alexander & others who took part in your campaign'. Congratulates him on his 'brilliant Victory'.

Catalogue of an Interesting Collection of Autograph Letters, selected from the Portfolios of Several Distinguished Amateurs [...] Family of George the Third [...] Some curious Shaksperian Papers [...] Oxford, Cambridge, Eton, and Winchester Scholars.

Author: 
Puttick and Simpson, London auctioneers [autographs; sale catalogues; Shakespeare; George Washington]
Publication details: 
Messrs. Puttick and Simpson, Auctioneers of Literary Property and Works of Art, At their House, No. 47, Leicester Square, W.C.; 23 March 1864.
£80.00

Octavo: ii + 51 + [1] pp. Stitched and unbound. Grubby, and with loss to final leaf, affecting a couple of lots and an advertisement, from removal of label. 521 lots. Postmarked penny red postage stamp. Letters of Burns, Byron, Coleridge, Frederick the Great, Haydn, Rousseau, Voltaire. The high point of the sale undoubtedly three letters from George Washington to Sir Edward Newenham.

Autograph Note Signed (' "Winifred Graham" | (Mrs. Theodore Cory)') accompanying Typed Letter Signed ('Winifred Cory') to the Rev. E. J. F. Davies.

Author: 
Winifred Graham (Matilda Winifred Muriel Graham Cory, 1873-1950), author of more than eighty books, and opponent of the Mormon religion
Publication details: 
Both on letterhead 'ST. ALANS, | HAMPTON-ON-THAMES'; both dated 7 January 1931.
£50.00

Both items one page, 12mo. Both on creased, aged paper, with some paperclip spotting. In the typed letter (which is in slightly worse condition than the other item) she explains that she is enclosing her autograph on a separate sheet. '[I]n case you care to have it My Mother, Mrs. Graham, (I write under my maiden name) thought you might like to have Sir Philip Gibbs' autograph, [^the celebrated author,] so she has asked me to send you a card she received from him the other day. [not present] You certainly have a wonderful collection!' The autograph reads 'Jan: 7th.

Autographs [Reprinted from The Concise Encyclopaedia of Antiques Volume IV by kind permission of The Connoisseur].

Author: 
P. J. Croft [Winifred A. Myers (Autographs) Ltd]
Publication details: 
London: Winifred A. Myers (Autographs) Ltd, 80 New Bond Street, W1. [c.1954].
£45.00

Quarto: 10 pp (paginated 236-41). Stapled. In original printed green card wraps. Good, though lightly creased. Five plates, examples of the hands of Queen Elizabeth I, Sir John Harington, Admiral Lord Nelson, together with an original and a faked Burns letter. While the offprint is undated, the Encyclopaedia itself was published in 1954.

Autograph Letter Signed ('F. Oxon.) to Mrs. Light, autograph collector

Author: 
Francis Paget (1851-1911), Bishop of Oxford
Publication details: 
19 March 1904; on letterhead of the 'Diocesan Registry, Oxford.'
£60.00

One page, octavo. Good, though a little smoked at head and foot. 'Here, after a delay I am ashamed of, are the autographs: I shall indeed be glad if they give any pleasure to the recipient. | I trust that you and the Vicar were not overtired on the day of the Confirmation: and that you know what a happiness both the Service and the welcome were to me.' Sends 'Mr. Green's kindest remembrances'.

Autograph Letter Signed to J. Dixon Spain.

Author: 
Charles Chabot (1815-82), author and handwriting expert
Publication details: 
27. Red Lion Square | London. 3. Novr. 1881.'
£100.00

One page, octavo. Very good. Neatly written, as one might expect. 'My usual charge for comparing writings is 2 Gnas and for deciphering MSS. according to the time occupied therein'. He will be 'in Town week after next but as I have to attend at the Courts at Westminster it is uncertain at what hour you would find me here unless you made an appointment beforehand.' Chabot was the author of 'The handwriting of Junius professionally investigated by Charles Chabot, expert | With preface and collateral evidence by the Hon. Edward Twisleton' (1871).

Autograph Note Signed (' "Allen Raine" ') to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Allen Raine' (Ann Adaliza Puddicombe, nee Evans, 1836-1908), British novelist, known as 'the Welsh Catherine Cookson'
Publication details: 
Traethsaith | Cardiganshire | Aug 30th/06'.
£30.00

One page, 12mo, on mourning paper. Aged and cropped at foot. Dusty, and with minor paperclip stains to edges, and traces of previous mount on reverse. Reads 'Dear Sir, | I have much pleasure in sending you my Autograph. | Yours truly | "Allen Raine" '. Four-line cutting giving printed biography neatly laid down in bottom right-hand corner.

Autograph Note Signed ('Henry Newbolt') to unnamed female correspondent.

Author: 
Sir Henry John Newbolt (1862-1938), English poet and novelist
Publication details: 
16 July 1907; on letterhead 'ST. GILES'S MOUNT, WINCHESTER.'
£30.00

One page, 12mo. Neatly mounted on card. Nine-line biographical newspaper cutting neatly laid down at foot. Ten lines from another newspaper cutting, relating to Madame Patti, at head. Reads 'Dear madam | I thank you for your flattering letter and subscribe myself, as you wish, | Yours truly | Henry Newbolt'.

Autograph Card Signed ('Agnes Castle' and 'Egerton Castle').

Author: 
Egerton Castle (1858-1920) and his wife Agnes Castle, nee Sweetman (1860-1922), British historical novelists
Publication details: 
6 December 1901; place not stated [Brighton].
£30.00

Printed Post Card, dimensions three and a half inches by five and a half. Good, on aged paper, but with the reverse (showing the remains of a photograph of Brighton) damaged by its removal from an autograph album. Unobtrusive vertical crease. Reads (apparently in Egerton Castle's hand) 'Dear Miss Gray | Your letter has been forwarded to us here. We have much pleasure in sending you the autographs you desire'.

Autograph Note Signed ('Wemyss Reid') [to Rev. E. J. F. Davies].

Author: 
Sir Thomas Wemyss Reid (1842-1905), British novelist and biographer
Publication details: 
8 July 1902; Falcon Hotel, Bude, Cornwall.
£30.00

One page, 12mo. On blue paper discoloured from glue by previous mounting. Seven-line printed biographical cutting in top right-hand corner. 'I am very happy to comply with your request [for an autograph].'

Autograph Letter Signed to autograph collector 'Miss <Lull?>'.

Author: 
General Sir Francis Thomas Lloyd (1838-1912), British soldier
Publication details: 
9 October 1907; on letterhead of The Lawn, Walmer.
£40.00

Two pages, 12mo. Very good, on lightly creased paper. He is sending five autographs to add to her collection and is 'sorry not to have those of distinguished men of later dates but I am quite out of the service now'. Wonders if she knows his 'very dear friend General Nicholson who is living now at St. Andrews. He and his wife are among our dearest friends.' He 'saw the Godfreys last week - both well.'

Autograph Note Signed to unnamed male correspondent [Rev. E. J. F. Davies].

Author: 
Spencer Leigh Hughes (1858-1920), British politician and journalist, 'Sub Rosa' of the 'Daily News' and 'Morning Leader'
Publication details: 
6 December 1907; on letterhead of the 'Morning Leader', Stonecutter Street, London, E.C.
£20.00

One page, octavo. Mounted on piece of card. Ruckled and lightly aged, with some rust spotting from paperclip, and a little glue in left-hand margin. 'I send you my signature below with pleasure. My father was Welsh & my mother was English.' From the collection of Rev. E. J. F. Davies.

Two Typed Letters Signed ('H. Gordon Griffin' and 'H. G. Griffin') to 'The Secretary' and K. W. Luckhurst, Royal Society of Arts; with carbon of Luckhurst's reply; and draft of 'C.P.R.E. Publication on the Design and Layout of Small Houses.'

Author: 
Sir Herbert Gordon Griffin (died 1969), General Secretary, The Council for the Preservation of Rural England [Royal Society of Arts, London]
Publication details: 
Letters of 12 January 1927 and 10 December 1956, both on Council letterhead; carbon reply, 11 December 1956; draft, November 1956.
£100.00

All items very good. A couple with slight staining at head from paperclip. Letter One (to 'The Secretary', 4to, 1 p, 5 lines): Apologising for delay in acknowledging the 'letter and enclosures of 31st ultimo': 'my office was only opened on Wednesday last and I have had much correspondence with which to deal'. Letter Two (to Luckhurst, 4to, 1 p, 18 lines): Concerning 'a booklet on the layout and design of small houses' which the C.P.R.E. 'is hoping to publish this spring'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Mrs Chapman.

Author: 
William Agnew (1825-1910), English art dealer, director of the magazine 'Punch' from 1872
Publication details: 
8 October 1865; on monogrammed letterhead.
£60.00

Three pages, 12mo. Very good on lightly aged paper with slightest trace of previous mount adhering to blank verso of second leaf of bifolium. He has 'looked out' and is sending 'a few interesting Autographs', and would have sent them before, had he not been 'a great invalid all summer'. 'I will get Miss Chapman a good collection of the autographs of literary men. I am now very closely connected with Punch & other publications and shall have frequent opportunities.' Agnew's family, as partners in Bradbury & Agnew, were for many years the publishers of 'Punch'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Rosa Tuckwell [nee Strong, b.1829/30], wife of William Tuckwell (1829-1919).

Author: 
Mary Campbell [AUTOGRAPHS; Sir Joshua Reynolds; Rev. William Tuckwell]
Publication details: 
No date [but between 1858 and 1878]; Wheatleigh.
£100.00

Four pages, 12mo. Very good on lightly aged paper. She apologises for only sending 'two words of Sir Joshua Reynolds' writing', and hopes she may some day 'succeed in getting a more valuable autograph'. It was given to her 'by a great niece' of the artist, 'and was cut out of a manuscript of some work on Engravings, which he had prepared for the press'. They are glad to hear of Tuckwell's 1878 'appointment to the living of Stockton': 'I trust many years of rest and happiness are in store for you in that quiet retreat'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Sarath Kumar Ghosh') to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Sarath Kumar Ghosh (born 1883), Indian writer
Publication details: 
26 March 1906; on letterhead '28 Elgin Avenue, [London] W.'
£60.00

One page, 12mo. Grubby, and with traces of previous mount adhering to reverse. Small circle containing '170' in red in top left-hand corner. He is sending his autograph, 'which I could not do while at . I am glad you have read some of my stories; I presume those now in book form as "1001 Indian Nights." '

Autograph Letter Signed to Thomas Thompson of Liverpool.

Author: 
Catherine Hutton (1756-1846), English novelist and miscellaneous writer [AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING]
Publication details: 
Bennett's Hill June 1832'.
£600.00

Two pages, quarto. Well preserved, on good lightly-aged paper, but with the original piece of paper (which was roughly nine inches by seven and a half wide) now neatly cut into three strips (the top and bottom of which are two and three-quarter inches high, and the middle three and a half inches high). The text is extremely neatly written and entirely legible, and the whole easily repairable with archival tape. The whole of this long, interesting letter (thirty-five lines and a two-line postscript) is given over to the current craze for autograph collecting (for which see A. N. L.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Seymour Lucas') to 'Mr Wright' [W.H.K. Wright, editor of the Journal of the Ex-Libris Society?].

Author: 
John Seymour Lucas (1849-1923), R.A., English artist and costume designer
Publication details: 
17 April 1906; on letterhead of Priory Place, Blythburgh, Suffolk.
£30.00

Two pages, 12mo. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper. 'In the rush of finishing [his] Academy work' he finds Wright's letter 'among numerous others unanswered'. He will be returning to London in a fortnight 'and shall have great pleasure in sending you the bookplate together with an early one. Also my autograph &c.'

Autograph Letter Signed to A. H. Terry.

Author: 
J. Pettit Griffith [autograph dealer?]
Publication details: 
18 July 1910; 42 Glenelg Road, Acre Lane, Brixton, SW. [London]
£80.00

One page, octavo. Good, on lightly creased and aged paper, with a little wear at foot. Purple ink. He thanks him 'for Cheque safely to hand for the Autograph Album. There is no question abot the Collection being a genuine one.' Details the provenance from the artist H. W. Pickersgill, to Charles Kingsley, to Kingsley's brother. 'I bought the Vol at the latters sale -'. He will send the two letters 'and the Kingslake in the morning'. He has been 'laid up ill for some days'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Horace') and fragment of Autograph Letter Signed ('Horace Annesley Vachell.').

Author: 
Horace Annesley Vachell (1861-1955), English novelist and playwright
Publication details: 
The letter: 24 September 1899, on letterhead 'PEVERELL, HURSLEY, WINCHESTER.' The fragment: undated and with place not stated.
£30.00

The letter: one page, 12mo. Good, but with removal from mount having thinned the paper in places, and with traces of brown paper mount still adhering. He is sending the autographs of 'Henry Seton Merriman (Hugh Scott); Gertrude Atherton; Miss Fowler; and Douglas Sladen. Also a photo from Ted (not a good one, but the only one I have left).' He enjoyed himself 'so much' at Langford. 'It was a week of real enjoyment to me.' The fragment: one page, four inches by four and a half wide.

Autograph Note Signed to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Edmund Yates (1831-94), British novelist, dramatist and editor of the 'World' magazine
Publication details: 
28 August 1886; on letterhead 1 York Street, Covent Garden, London.
£40.00

One page, 12mo. Very good on lightly-aged grey paper. Reads 'Dear Sir. | Here is the autograph you require. | Faithfully your's | [signed] Edmund Yates'. The words 'Here' and 'to' are slightly smudged.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. P. Drury') to unnamed female correspondent.

Author: 
Major William Price Drury (1861-1928), Royal Marines, English author
Publication details: 
3 September 1907; East Lavington, Petworth, Sussex.
£25.00

One page, 12mo. Good, on aged paper with a little paperclip spotting. Laid down on piece of card. 'It is with considerable misgiving that I thrust my autograph upon the distinguished company you cite in your letter. Since, however, it is unthinkable to refuse the request of a lady, I have the honour to subscribe myself, | Yours faithfully, | W. P. Drury.'

Autograph Note Signed ('Clara Gigliucci nata Novello'), 'To - Wright Esqre.' With Times obituary and another.

Author: 
Countess Clara Gigliucci [nee Clara Novello] (1818-1908), English soprano, daughter of Ivor Novello
Publication details: 
Fermo. Marche | August 24th. 1863.'
£80.00

One page, octavo. Very good, on lightly aged paper, with embossed blue ink monogram at head. 'Dear Sir | My Sister Isabella, just arrived, tells me you desire my autograph, I have great pleasure in complying with your flattering request. [...]' The blank second leaf of the bifolium is carefully attached to a larger piece of neatly-docketed paper, and has the two newspaper cuttings partially laid down on it. The short Times obituary, dated 17 March 1908, states that 'She must surely have been the last person alive to whom Charles Lamb addressed a poem'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Spencer Todd') to autograph collector S[eymour]. C. J. Freeman-Matthews of Cape Town.

Author: 
John Spencer Brydges Todd (1840-1921), Executive Commissioner, Paris, for the Universal Exhibition of 1878, and colonial officer
Publication details: 
18 August 1900; on crested letterhead '112, VICTORIA STREET, LONDON, S.W.'
£30.00

One page, 12mo. Very good. 'Although I am surprised at your wishing to include mine in your collection of autographs, here it is. | I agree with Sir Alfred Milner that Work, Brains & Opportunity are necessary to success; and that the last is most necessary. But I think that Self-control should be added to His Excellency's list.' A printed biographical cutting is appended.

Autograph Note Signed ('Ernest Myers') to autograph collector 'Mr. Soulsby'.

Author: 
Ernest James Myers (1844-1921), English classicist, translator and poet
Publication details: 
10 January 1884; place not stated.
£40.00

One page, 12mo. Very good. 'I have much pleasure in sending you my signature, as I am told you wd. care to have it.

Ten Autograph Letters Signed (all 'E Walford') to a number of different correspondents (including A., F. and H. Barker, Mrs Ratcliffe and a newspaper editor named 'Taylor').

Author: 
Edward Walford (1823-97), topographer, genealogist, antiquary and editor of 'Once a Week' and 'The Antiquarian Magazine and Bibliographer'
Publication details: 
Five undated, the others 1860 to 1890; all but one (from Bracknell in Berkshire) from a number of London addresses.
£400.00

All items good, though on dusty and aged paper. Five items are addressed to sellers of manuscripts (probably the same individual). ONE (to H. Barker, 23 April 1885, on letterhead of 'The Antiquarian Magazine and Bibliographer', one page, octavo): Asks to be offered Wellesley autographs purchased at a recent Sotheby sale, of which he sent an account to 'The Times', which was 'crowded out'. TWO (to F. Barker, 25 April [1885], 'at T.

Typed Letter Signed ('R. E. Slade') to K. W. Luckhurst, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts; with carbon of Luckhursts reply.

Author: 
Roland Edgar Slade (died 1968), physicist and vice-chairman of ICI
Publication details: 
21 January 1952, on letterhead Tednambury, Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire. Luckhurst's reply dated 23 January 1952.
£38.00

Letter, 4to, 1 p, 12 lines. On lightly aged and spotted paper, with pin holes in top left-hand corner. Docketed in blue ink. Slade is 'very pleased with the re-prints': 'I think these three Essays go very well together.' Suggests that a copy be sent to the Secretary of the National Farmers' Union: 'tell him the terms on which he can have extra copies if he wants them to circulate amongst members of committees'. The carbon of Luckhurst's reply, on green paper, is 8vo, 1 p, 15 lines. 'We have been in touch with the N.F.U. [...] Do you think that I.C.I.

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