CHRISTOPHER

A total of twenty-eight items of correspondence, comprising: nineteen Autograph Letters Signed (two on the backs of cards), two Typed Letters Signed, and seven Autograph Cards Signed. In good condition. All signed 'Mary', and the large part addressed to 'Christopher', with a few to 'Kit' and one to 'Dear Phyl [i.e. Fry's wife Phyllis], dear Christopher'. The correspondence indicates a deep affection and long-standing intimacy.

1p, landscape 12mo. In good condition, folded twice. With envelope addressed to Fry at his East Dean address. Fry has written at the head of the cover of the envelope: 'From Norman Nicholson'. After thanking Fry for his 'good wishes at Christmas', Nicholson continues: 'I, too, am sorry that we have not met, which – unless you are ever in Cumberland – seems less likely than ever, as I am much less mobile since the death of my wife.' He presumes Fry has learnt of his bereavement from Edward Lowbury, 'for I know that you were a friend of his father-in-law's'.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Each page numbered by Fry. An Unsigned document from the Christopher Fry archive. Warm personal recollections, entertaining and evocative. Unpublished.

Unpaginated stapled pamphlet of 24pp, small 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight damage at head of spine. On the second page: 'The arrangement of this Programme has been the work of the Rev. Hugh Ross Williamson.' Programme for the day on front cover, including a talk by 'Mr Robert Speight: “Touring in Canada with Murder in the Cathedral”'. The final event, at 7pm in the Chapter House, is a performance entitled 'The Drama of our Festival years', and the text of this piece makes up 21pp of the pamphlet.

On 17 x 12 cm leaf of thickish paper, removed from 'The Meredith Birthday Book'. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Scratchy signature, underlined. In one of three printed boxes of red rules on one side of the leaf, the other side bearing quotations from George Meredith for the days 25 to 27 April.

The letters are in fair condition, lightly aged; the card is discoloured and stained. Loosely inserted in a copy of Williams's 'Thomas Cranmer of Canterbury', 75 + [1]pp, 8vo, with the ownership signature 'Christopher Fry' on the front free endpaper, in worn binding with fraying at head of spine. Delightful and revealing letters, mixing personal and business (Williams worked for the Oxford University Press and Fry was published by them). ONE: ALS from Southfield House, 17 December 1941. 2pp, 12mo. Thirty lines of closely-written text, on a leaf of ruled paper torn from a notebook.

115pp, 12mo. In good condition: sound and tight, on browning War Economy paper, in green cloth with slight bloom, and in slightly worn and chipped browning dustwrapper. (The subtitle 'A Play in Three Acts' features on the dustwrapper, but not on the title-page.) Fry's ownership inscription 'Christopher Fry' is in blue ink at the top right-hand corner of the recto of the front free endpaper. A verse drama from the library of the leading twentieth-century English exponent of the genre, after T. S. Eliot.

55pp, 8vo. In fair condition, internally tight and sound, on browning paper, in lightly-worn blue cloth binding. No dustwrapper. Slight dink at head of spine. Ownership inscription 'Christopher Fry' in blue ink at top right-hand corner of recto of front free endpaper. Fry and Williams were on cordial terms, the latter working for Oxford University Press and the former being published by them.

The letters are in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, except for the third, which is damp-stained with closed tears at head and foot. The book is in fair condition, without dust wrapper. All four letters are signed 'W. H. Davies.' The first three are addressed to 'Mr Harris', and the last (an ANS rather than an ALS) to 'Mr Fry'. Each is 1p, 12mo. Letter One: 23 March 1928; Malpas House, Oxted. After reading his poem, Davies states, 'I begin to think you ought to take some step towards publishing, as soon as you have enough material.

For the context of the letter see Pamela M. King's 2007 paper 'Twentieth-Century Medieval-Drama Revivals and the Universities', which states that at the time of the writing, there was in Canterbury 'to be a new play by Robert Gittings about St Alphege and the Danish invasion entitled Makers of Violence', and that at the Pilgrim Players in Norwich planned to put on, at the church of St Peter Mancroft, a production of Fry's 'Sleep of Prisoners'. 2pp, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with a little light damp spotting. Folded once.

ONE: TLS. Ithaca, NY; 20 September 1976. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. The letter begins: 'Dear Christopher Fry, | I so relish climbing the castellations of your wit, to where I feel energized and deliriously long-sighted, or running higgledy-piggledy with your thoughts, at times as if with the bulls of Pamplona, I simply cannot resist telling you so any longer.' According to her 'internal calculations' she owes him 'at least a galaxy for the delight your plays have given me; perhaps you'd accept these few planets instead'.

Impressively printed in black on one side of a 58 x 43 cm sheet. In fair condition, aged and worn, with slight loss to the edge on one side, and light creasing. Impressively laid out in copperplate, beneath the College's coat of arms. The signatures are arranged in two columns, with the first two bracketted as 'Vice Presidents': '[left-hand column] J. W.

[2] + 17pp, 8vo. Lacking the conclusion (one page). On seventeen leaves of paper stapled together, with covering typed note on slip, reading 'PLEASE RETURN TO MR. BIRDWOOD'. The covering leaf carries two sets of initials, one in pencil and one in ink, both ticked through. This may suggest official distribution, but the tone of the document makes it more likely to have been a personal statement, presumably by Birdwood. Aged and worn, with rusting to staples.

The 14 letters total 72pp. The collection is in good condition, lightly aged. Most items docketed and with the Society's stamp. The correspondence relates to Society business, from a strongly Anglo-Indian viewpoint. Letters of 26 May and 2 June 1913 are each 12pp. Long, and concern the relative merits of Indian colonial official Sir William Lee-Warner (1846-1914) and the geographer Sir Thomas Holdich (1843-1929), to be chairman of the Society.

Folio, 4 pp. Bifolium, with folio 'PROOF OF COLLOTYPE PLATE' of 'St Paul's Cathedral, London. View of One Bay of Aisle' loosely inserted; and full-page 'SPECIMEN PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHIC PLATE' of the Cathedral in 'CROSS SECTION LOOKING EAST'. Finely printed, with the title in red and black, on Alton Mill wove paper. 4to order form tipped in to margin of third page. The third page of gives the contents and list of plates (eight in collotype and twenty-four in photo-lithography), as well as a long 'LIST OF PRELIMINARY SUBSCRIBERS'. The last page carries a 'SPECIMEN PAGE OF TEXT'.

Gordon is described in The Times, 20 August 1958, as a 'traveller, lecturer, and author', and a resident of Lausanne at the time of her death. All seven items in fair condition, on aged paper, with some rust spotting from a paperclip. The book referred to is 'Roumania, Yesterday and Today' (1918), which has an introduction and two chapters by the Queen of Romania. ONE: Gordon's letter to Barwick. 24 June 1912. 3pp., 8vo. She writes that she has already tried to place 'the little book' with 'Geo. Bell - Jacks - & Gay & Hancock. As to yr.

11pp., 8vo, paginated 243-253. Stapled. In good condition, lightly aged. Inscribed at head of first page: 'Very cordially, | Irving Ribner'. No copies of this offprint found on either WorldCat or COPAC.

3pp., 12mo. Writing in a difficult hand, he thanks him for his very curious & interesting letter respecting Chr. Smart, of whose birthplace I had been previously ignorant, tho' his name was not unknown to me in connection with Horace'.

4pp., 12mo. On aged and lightly-creased paper. Originally a bifolium, but with the two leaves separated, and evidence of previous stitching into a binding. Regarding his new book 'Cruel London', he asks him if he can send six copies of what is not only 'a kindly notice, but excellently well written. All the more gratifying. The Spectator is always my enemy just as the Saturday was Thackerays, to compare a big man with a small one.' He refers to a notice in the Sunday Times by Joseph Knight, who 'also sent me a charming letter of congratulation'.

Apart from one contribution dating from 1800, three from the 1850s and two from the 1860s, all contributions date from between 1820 and 1847. 237pp., 4to, with eight items loosely inserted (including four coloured botanical drawings on card) and three-page partial index of contributors. In contemporary black leather binding, with embossed pattern and gilt border on front board, marbled endpapers, and all edges gilt. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, in rebacked binding, worn at spine, with new label.

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly aged paper, in a windowpane mount. It gives him 'much pain' to refuse the recipient's 'kind and friendly invitation': 'My Sundays for 12 Months are engaged. I fear some kind friends forget I am a settled Pastor & not at liberty to accept one twentieth of the Invitations I get. I have only a few Sundays which I feel I can consistently spend away from home - & these are generally engaged several months in advance'.

2pp., 4to. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. In the letter the Duke of Edinburgh is referred to as 'the Sailing Master'. Addressed to 'The Director of the Operations Division, Ministry of Defence (Navy)', and beginning 'Dear Director of Operations Division (if indeed you are still called that!), | The Sailing Master (and I) are interested in whether we caused you any concern during Bloodhound's passage back from Brunsbuttel to this country.

A cultured man (an authority on numismatics), Fewster worked for the family firm of Thomas Fewster of Hull, paint, colour and varnish manufacturers. The present item is an attractive example of his professional interest in the developments in late nineteenth-century design (another is his collection of the designs of Christopher Dresser, in two albums, is now in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London). It is a small 4to (21 x 17 cm) album of green cloth, with embossed design of birds and foliage around the words 'Scrap Album' on front cover, and printed illustrated title by Marcus Ward & Co.

Letter: 1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. He begins by suggesting that Baron write to 'Mr Payn' (the novelist and editor James Payn) via the Reform Club, Pall Mall. (Baron's method involved asking one celebrity how to contact another.) He next discusses two of his works: '"The Memorial Windows" appeared in the Gentleman's & was published in Pippins & Cheese (Bradbury & Evans) - "The Valley" you will see in enclosed list'. He concludes by thanking Baron for his 'complimentary note'. With envelope addressed to 'J. T.

The collection is in good condition, lightly aged and worn, apart from Item Seven. ONE: Autograph notes by Newberry on the firms of 'Chiswick Press Tooks Court' and 'Wm. Griggs & Sons Ltd. Peckham'. 4pp., 12mo. Closely written, with corrections. The first section concludes: 'Jacobi was certainly an experienced and successful printer of fine printed volumes and H.M. paper. William Morris drew inspiration from Chiswick Press that led to his founding the Kelmscott Press. His first experiments in the use of type designed at K. P. were carried out under Jacobi. C. P.

2pp., 12mo. In envelope addressed by Stirling to 'C Lonsdale Esqre. | Bond Street'. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. 'Mrs. Stirling does not know how to thank Mr. Londsdale for his great kindness - not only now but always shewn to her by him. Mrs. Stirling remembers that she has the full store of the Midsummer Nights' [sic] Dream belonging to Mr. Lonsdale but she is warned by Mr. Lonsdale's Messenger that she must not now stop to thank Mr. Lonsdale fully, as she would wish.'

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with part of stub from mounting adhering to the reverse. The letter reads: 'Dear Flower, | Can you direct one of your subordinates to send me the documents relating to a young man entering your department? I have been asked to find out all about it & so venture to trouble you. Yours truly | Chrisr. Heath'. Docketted by Flower in the top left-hand corner: 'Schedules relating to Assistants - Attendants & Boy-Attendants sent | 8/vii/95.'

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged paper with light staining (affecting the signature). In a difficult hand. He is sending 'the addresses of the friends & relatives of the <?> Brownes, Bunny, & Cassidy', but 'cannot get those of <?> or Higginson'.

The five items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Item One: Autograph Letter Signed (with a crude drawing of Buckle sitting on a rope slung between the printed names of the two magazines). 1p., 4to. On Fleet Street letterhead of 'Ballet Publications Ltd.' Dated by Alport 14 February 1950. The letter concerns an article on the conductor Karl Rankl, and begins: 'Dear Erich | I have just spoken to Harewood [the Earl of Harewood, co-founder with Buckle of 'Opera' magazine].

2pp., 12mo. Very good on blue paper, with letterhead printed in red. He begins: 'I must write to tell you how very much indeed I enjoyed the course at Cambridge and particularly your lectures.