ENGLISH

Corrected Autograph Manuscript of part of the poem 'A Day at Tivoli', by the Victorian writer John Kenyon.

Author: 
John Kenyon (1784-1856), poet and patron, who encouraged his cousin Elizabeth Barrett's marriage to Robert Browning
Publication details: 
Without date or place [the poem published in 1849].
£450.00

2pp., 4to. 35 lines of verse. On a leaf of laid paper with watermark 'J WHATMAN | TURKEY MILL'. Paginated 13-14. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. The first page begins with the line 'The shrouding soil, and give it back to air,' and the second page ends with the line 'Won it's [sic] dark truth, and Gaspar fed on such.' The verses in this manuscript are published on pp.19-21 of 'A Day at Tivoli: with other Verses' (London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster-row, 1849).

Holograph document by John Roby, consisting of a ballad from his 'forthcoming "Traditions of Lancashire"', beginning with the line 'Maiden, braid those tresses bright', preceded by an Autograph Note Signed ('Jn Roby') by Roby, for Mrs. Thelwall.

Author: 
John Roby (1793-1850), English banker, poet and author, best-known for his 'Traditions of Lancashire' (1829) [Henrietta Cecil Thelwall, wife of the noted radical John Thelwall (1764-1834)]
Publication details: 
The document dated 'Rochdale 11th. December 1828'.
£450.00

4pp., 4to. On two loose leaves of Whatman paper, each watermarked 1827. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. The document begins with the following note, dated and signed by Roby: 'The following ballad from my forthcoming "Traditions of Lancashire," though not of much value in itself, may yet acquire some, from its connexion with, and introduction into Mrs. Thelwall's elegant volume of Scraps.' (The implication that the two leaves have been removed from Mrs Thelwall's album is supported by pagination from 12 to 15.) Sixty-four lines, divided into sixteen four-line stanzas.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. S. H. Pardoe') from the novelist Julia Pardoe to 'Mrs. Cooper', describing a 'severe accident' met with by her parents.

Author: 
Julia Pardoe [J. S. H. Pardoe; Julia Sophia Pardoe] (1804-1862), English novelist and poet, best-known for her accounts of her travels in the Ottoman Empire
Publication details: 
13 Upper Eaton Street, London; 'Wednesday' [no date, but before 1849].
£90.00

3pp., 16mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. She begins: 'I am sure you wil grieve to hear that my dear Parents have met with a severe accident, altho', thank God! we have every cause to hope that there wil be no latent results. They were knocked down by a horse, in attempting to avoid an Omnibus: both are cut on the head, & Mama is much bruised in several places.' 'Quiet and care' will restore them, she trusts. Her mother has asked her to write, as it will be impossible for her parents to keep the dinner engagement with Mrs Cooper.

Autograph Letter Signed ('F Greville') from the diarist Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville to an unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville (1794–1865), Clerk to the Privy Council, and political diarist
Publication details: 
'Grosv[eno]r Place | Saturday [no date]'.
£56.00

1 p, 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, and still tipped-in onto leaf removed from album. Arranging a time at which to call on him. According to the Oxford DNB Greville moved from Grosvenor Place to Lord Granville's house in Bruton Street in 1849.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm. Melmoth') from the writer William Melmoth the Younger to the attorney Joseph Sharpe

Author: 
William Melmoth the Younger (c.1710-1799), translator of Pliny and Cicero, and author of 'Fitzosborne's Letters' (1748, 1749)
Publication details: 
Bath; 15 January 1767.
£180.00

1 p, 4to. Nine lines, in a neat and close hand. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, and still tipped-in onto a leaf from an autograph album. Addressed, with two postmarks, on reverse of second leaf of bifolium, to 'Mr. Jos. Sharpe, | at his chambers in | Lincolns Inn | London'. He wrote to Sharpe five weeks previously, sending a lease for his perusal, 'and likewise to authorise you to deliver up my sister's plate upon Mr. Argile paying you ye. <?> I agreed to take.' If the latter matter is still unsettled, he instructs Sharpe to apply to Argile's attorney 'to settle it forthwith'.

Autograph Manuscript of the American actor and poet John Howard Payne, either an original poem or a translation, entitled 'Ode the Sixteenth. | The Herb Rue'.

Author: 
John Howard Payne (1791-1852), American actor and playwright, best-known for his song 'Home, Sweet Home'
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£165.00

2 pp, 4to. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with slight wear to extremities. On one leaf, with both sides ruled with red borders. In Payne's neat and distinctive hand, and attributed to him in pencil at head.

Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'T: Dibdin') from the playwright and song-writer Thomas Dibdin to his publisher John Whitaker of Button & Whitaker of St Paul's Churchyard, discussing work and finances; with an autograph cheque signed by Dibdin.

Author: 
Thomas Dibdin [Thomas John Dibdin] (1771-1841), dramatist, song-writer, author of pantomime 'Mother Goose' and song 'The Snug Little Island' [Button & Whitaker, music publishers, St Pauls Churchyard]
Publication details: 
The two letters: 'Weston Green 10th: July [1812]' and 'Johnsons Coffee House | Monday Evg: [July 1812]'. Cheque: 'London September 19th: 1817'.
£320.00

All three items are on stubs, within a card wallet. All good, on aged paper. Letter One: 'Weston Green 10th: July'. 1 p, 4to. On bifolium, with verso of second leaf addressed to 'Mr: Whitaker | St: Pauls Church Yard | London', with two postmarks (one 'KINGSTON - T | 12'), and docketed 'Mr; T.

Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'A Henry Savage Landor') from the traveller Arthur Henry Savage Landor to 'Mr Roper' of Boston [the inventor Sylvester H. Roper?].

Author: 
Arnold Henry Savage Landor (1865-1924), English painter, explorer and writer, born in Florence, discoverer in Tibet of sources of Indus and Brahmaputra rivers [Sylvester H. Roper (1823-96) of Boston]
Publication details: 
First Letter: 'Saturday' [1 December 1888]; on lettherhead of the Somerset Club, Boston. Second Letter: 'Sunday' [6 January 1889]; 2 Walnut Street [Boston].
£165.00

Both items in very good condition, on lightly-aged paper, each with slight trace of paper label at spine. Letter One: 3 pp, 12mo. Docketed at head of first page '1 Dec/88.' and 'The Explorer of Thibet [sic]'. He thanks him 'for the Card of the St Botolph Club' and will try to go there the following day. He has 'so many things to do' that he is not sure he will be able to stay there long. Letter Two: 4 pp, 12mo. Docketed beneath address '6 January 89.', and beneath signature 'The traveller in Thibet [sic]'. Thanking him for the 'note and cheque', and hoping that the sketch arrived safely.

Autograph Letter Signed from Jane Hood, wife of the poet Thomas Hood, to 'Mrs Elliot', wife of the family doctor, Robert Elliot of Camberwell, containing news of the poet and his work, money troubles and family affairs, at the end of their lives.

Author: 
Jane Hood [née Jane Reynolds], (1791-1846), wife of the poet and humorist Thomas Hood (1799-1845)
Publication details: 
'Wednesday' [1844 or 1845); 'Devonshire Lodge | New Finchley Road | St Johns Wood'.
£280.00

4 pp, 12mo. Bifolium. 73 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Hood returned to England from Ostend in 1840, moving into Devonshire Lodge after trying other lodgings. A fine letter, informative, energetic and moving. Jane begins by thanking Mrs Elliot for the 'kind present to my Tom [the couple's son Thomas Hood the younger (1835-1874)]': 'I only wish you could have seen the happy boy - how proud he was - and indeed is, of his new appearance - he sends his love & best thanks. I am sorry to say he does not yet write a readable letter'.

Typed Letter Signed ('Hector Charlesworth') from the Canadian writer Hector Willoughby Charlesworth to the English diplomat Ernest Francis Gye, concerning Mme Albani, the latter's mother,

Author: 
Hector Charlesworth [Hector Willoughby Charlesworth] (1872-1945), Canadian writer [Dame Emma Albani (1847-1930), Canadian soprano; Ernest Frederick Gye (1879-1955), diplomat]
Publication details: 
On his Toronto letterhead; 1 June 1945.
£90.00

1 p, 4to. 20 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged and creased paper. In response to a letter from Gye states that he did not hear Albani sing 'until her last two Canadian tours when she was approaching 50', when he 'thought her best in her singing of Mozart, which revealed her rare vocal finesse'. Charlesworth was told by the 'late Edwin R. Parkhurst, a Toronto music critic, 30 years my senior who had heard her frequently in his younger days in London', that 'these appearances gave no adequate idea of how glorious her voice had been in the seventies'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Boaden') from the playwright and biographer James Boaden to William Hayley, regarding an edition of Randolph's works 'honour'd by the handwriting of Pope'.

Author: 
James Boaden (1762-1839), biographer and playwright [William Hayley (1745-1820), poet and biographer, friend of William Cowper and patron of William Blake; Alexander Pope; Thomas Randolph]
Publication details: 
Warren Street, London; 30 April 1804.
£180.00

1 p, 4to. Bifolium. Sixteen lines, neatly written. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'W. Hayley Esqre.' He begins by thanking him for 'the kind memorial' (a volume of music?); the gift expresses Hayley's 'sense of common civility' and acquaints Boaden 'with a composer of great merit'. 'I tried the effect of his divine art yesterday, Sunday, and could not but wish to hear it from the organ at Chichester'. The rest of the letter concerns 'the subject of Randolph, and the copy of his works honour'd by the hand-writing of Pope'.

Signed copies of two long Typed Letters from James Agate to Montague Shearman, regarding the 'Controversy' surrounding Noel Coward's 1931 play 'Cavalcade', forwarded with two covering notes by Agate's secretary Alan 'Jock' Dent to E. F. Gye.

Author: 
James Agate (1877-1947), critic [Alan Dent [Alan 'Jock' Dent; Jock Dent] (1905-1978), journalist; Montague Shearman (1886-1940), art collector; Ernest Frederick Gye (1879-1955), diplomat; Noel Coward]
Signed copies of two long Typed Letters from James Agate
Publication details: 
The copies of Agate's letters to Shearman, 5 and 6 November 1931; Dent's notes to Gye of the same dates; all four items on letterheads of 25 Palace Court, London, W2.
£145.00
Signed copies of two long Typed Letters from James Agate

A total of 8 pp, 4to, all on Palace Court letterheads. Dent's notes both signed 'Jock Dent.', and the copies both signed 'James Agate'. Two important, energetic and vivid letters by Agate, totalling 6 pp, 4to, defending Coward's play and his position on 'the intellectual and the popular', against the 'pseudo-intelligentsia' of the barristers Shearman and 'Jack' St John Hutchinson (1884-1942).

54 of John Carter's original engravings, from his own drawings, for his 'Views of Ancient Buildings in England' (1786-1793).

Author: 
John Carter (1748-1817), English architect and draughtsman
John Carter (1748-1817), English architect and draughtsman
Publication details: 
All 54 captioned as 'Engrav'd & Pub'd' by John Carter between January 1786 and January 1791, successively at Wood Street and College Street, Westminster; and Hamilton Street, Hyde Park Corner; from drawings made by him between 1766 and 1785.
£450.00
John Carter (1748-1817), English architect and draughtsman

All 54 are printed on paper 12 x 9 cm. Each is captioned and numbered in roman numerals, with the first as III and the last as XCVII. Carter published his 'Views of Ancient Buildings in England' between 1786 and 1793, and the six volumes contained a total of 120 views. Those LACKING from this collection, in arabic numerals, are 1, 2, 6-10, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 26, 36-38, 43, 48, 53, 57-59, 63-66, 69-71, 73, 75, 76, 78, 81-84, 90-94, 96, and 97-120.

Autograph Letter Signed from 'Fanny Goode' [Frances Goode], sister of the composer Sir Henry Bishop, regarding her brother's final days and death.

Author: 
Fanny Goode [Frances Goode], sister of Sir Henry Bishop (1786-1855), English composer, best known for writing the tune to 'Home Sweet Home']
Fanny Goode [Frances Goode], sister of Sir Henry Bishop
Publication details: 
Undated. 13 Cambridge Street, Hyde Park.
£75.00
Fanny Goode [Frances Goode], sister of Sir Henry Bishop

4 pp, 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The unnamed recipient appears to have been named as executor in a prvevious will of Sir Henry Bishop. Opens in dramatic style: 'I was very greatly surprised to receive a letter from you this morning, dated from Brighton, as my poor Brother, Sir Henry Bishop, had not the slightest idea that you were still an inhabitant of this world, having heard of your death some time since, in consequence of which, he made another will similar to the one in your possession, but changing the executors'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('F. Anstey') from the humorist Thomas Anstey Guthrie to the Editor of 'The Academy', responding to a request for comment on a list of suggested members for an 'Academy of Letters'.

Author: 
F. Anstey [Thomas Anstey Guthrie] (1856-1934), humorist [James Sutherland Cotton (1847-1918), editor of the 'Academy', 1896-1903]
Autograph Letter Signed ('F. Anstey') from the humorist Thomas Anstey Guthrie
Publication details: 
8 November 1897; on lettehead of 16 Duke Street Mansions, Grosvenor Square, London.
£56.00
Autograph Letter Signed ('F. Anstey') from the humorist Thomas Anstey Guthrie

12mo, 1 p. Text clear and complete. Marked up for publication, with the first sentence deleted. On aged and stained paper. He 'can only say that your list seems to me as representative as any that could be drawn up', and that he does not 'feel in a position to offer any criticism upon it'. The edited version of Anstey's letter appeared with others in 'The Academy' in November 1897, in a piece with the opening sentence: 'We have received a large correspondence in response to our request for comment on the list of suggested members for an ACADEMY OF LETTERS published last week.'

Autograph Letter Signed from the publisher of 'The Athenaeum' John Francis, declining to buy back issues of the magazine from Miss Emily Cole of Teignmouth.

Author: 
John Francis (1811-1882), publisher of 'The Athenaeum', 1831-1882 [Miss Emily Cole (c.1819-1894) of Teignmouth, daughter of the lawyer and autograph collector Robert Cole, FSA]
John Francis (1811-1882), publisher of 'The Athenaeum'
Publication details: 
5 February 1875; on letterhead of the Athenaeum Office, 26 Wellington Street, Strand, London.
£45.00
John Francis (1811-1882), publisher of 'The Athenaeum'

12mo, 1 p. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. He is 'unable to make an offer for the back Vols of The Athenaeum - our stock in house being sufficient to meet demands'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('John Foster Fraser') from the English travel writer Sir John Foster Fraser to H. W. Massingham of the Daily Chronicle, describing his career and qualifications while applying for journalistic work.

Author: 
Sir John Foster Fraser (1868-1936), English travel writer [Henry William Massingham (1860-1924), editor of 'The Nation', 1907-1923]
Sir John Foster Fraser
Publication details: 
3 January 1896; The Author's Club, 3 Whitehall Court, SW, London.
£180.00
Sir John Foster Fraser

12mo, 4 pp. 61 lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. An impressive letter applying for work. He does not expect Massingham (addressed as 'W. H. Massingham') to remember their meeting 'in the Lobby' when he was 'chief reporter on The Sun', while at the same time holding 'a Parliamentary engagement on the staff of the C. N.' Gives details of his subsequent employment, including joining the editorial staff of the 'Manchester Guardian' ('principally to look after their weekly paper which was in a sad way.

Autograph Letter Signed ['A. C. Benson'] from Arthur Christopher Benson [to Thomas Lloyd Humberstone].

Author: 
A. C. Benson [Arthur Christopher Benson] (1862-1925, Master of Magdalen College Cambridge, and author of the words to 'Land of Hope and Glory' [Thomas Lloyd Humberstone (1876-1957), educationist]
Publication details: 
28 February 1904; on letterhead of Mustians, Eton, Bucks.
£38.00

12mo, 2 pp. Twelve lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He is sending 'a copy of my little book' and asks his correspondent to 'treat it as confidential'. He will accept the 'copy of the Year-book', although he is 'no longer a schoolmaster'. Humberstone is not named, but the item is from his papers.

Autograph Signature of the English soprano Flora Marion Woodman ('Flora M. Woodman').

Author: 
Flora M. Woodman [Flora Marion Woodman] (d.1981), popular British soprano of the 1920s and 1930s
English soprano Flora Marion Woodman
Publication details: 
Undated.
£25.00
English soprano Flora Marion Woodman

On neat rectangle of grey paper, roughly 14.5 x 5 cm, laid down on piece of pink paper removed from autograph album. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Firm, bold signature: 'Flora M. Woodman./'

The Diary of the late George Bubb Dodington, Baron of Melcombe Regis: From March 8, 1748-9, to February 6, 1761. With an Appendix, containing some curious and interesting Papers; which are either referred to, or alluded to, in the Diary.

Author: 
George Bubb Dodington (1691-1762), Baron of Melcombe Regis [Henry Penruddocke Wyndham (1736-1819), Whig politician and topographer]
Publication details: 
Dublin: Printed by William Porter, for Messrs. Price, Moncrieffe, Exshaw, Jenkin, Wilson, Walker, Beatty, Burton, White, Byrne, Whitestone, Cash, Heery, and Marchbank. 1784.
£100.00

First Dublin edition. 12mo, xiv + 346 pp. Good tight copy on lightly-aged paper. In original worn tree calf binding, with remains of red label gilt on spine and no free endpapers. Subtitled 'Now first published from his Lordship's original manuscripts. By Henry Penruddocke Wyndham.' Wyndham had inherited Dodington's papers from a relative, whose will requested him 'not to print or publish any of them, but those that are proper to be made publick, and such only, as may, in some degree, do honour to his memory'.

The Universal Letter-Writer; or, New Art of Polite Correspondence: Containing A Course of Interesting Original Letters, [...] With a new plain and easy Grammar of the English Language. [...] Likewise, The Complete Petitioner, [...].

Author: 
Rev. Thomas Cooke, A.B. 'One of the Authors of the New Royal and Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences.'
Publication details: 
Gainsborough: Printed by and for Henry Mozley. 1812.
£180.00

Full title: 'The Universal Letter-Writer; or, New Art of Polite Correspondence: Containing A Course of Interesting Original Letters, on the Most Important, Instructive, and Entertaining Subjects, which may serve as copies for inditing letters on the various Occurrences in Life. With a new plain and easy Grammar of the English Language. To which are added, Forms of Mortgages, Letters of License, Bonds, Indentures, Wills and Powers, Letters of Attorney, &c. &c. &c.

[Printed pamphlet.] The Commercial Travellers' Benevolent Institution, for the Relief of Aged and Necessitous Members and Widows of Members. Instituted 1849.

Author: 
[Leonard Courtney, Secretary, and J. M. Longley, Treasurer, The Commercial Travellers' Benevolent Institution (Inst. 1849]
The Commercial Travellers' Benevolent Institution
Publication details: 
[1907. The Commercial Travellers' Benevolent Institution, 11 Ironmonger Lane, Cheapside, E.C.]
£38.00
The Commercial Travellers' Benevolent Institution

12mo, 10 pp. Text clear and complete. On aged and worn paper, with pin holes and a spike hole. Includes list of the 'Board of Management for 1907', accounts, 'Statement of Accounts, December 21st, 1901, to December 20th, 1906. Compiled by Mr. J. M. Longley, Treasurer and Chairman of the Finance and General Purposes Committee.' Also 'Report Presented at the Half-Yearly General Court, 27th Dec., 1906.' The 'Result of Poll', 'December Election, 1906', by Courtney, contains lists naming 'Successful Candidates' and 'Unsuccessful Candidates'.

[Book.] Euthanasia: or, Medical Treatment in Aid of an easy Death. By William Munk, M.D., F.S.A.

Author: 
William Munk, M.D., F.S.A., Fellow and late Senior Censor of the Royal College of Physicians [euthanasia; pain relief]
Euthanasia: or, Medical Treatment in Aid of an easy Death. By William Munk
Publication details: 
London: Longmans, Green, and Co. and New York: 15, East 16th Street. 1887.
£120.00
Euthanasia: or, Medical Treatment in Aid of an easy Death. By William Munk

12mo, vii + 105 pp. In original cloth quarter-binding of brown spine and blue boards, gilt. Fair, on aged paper, in patchy worn binding with foxed endpapers. With the ownership inscription of the Great Yarmouth solicitor Frederick John Dowsett (author of 'Both Sides of Jewish Character', Westminster Review, 1888). An important and scarce early work in the nineteenth-century resurgence of interest in the subject in the West.

5 items: J. E. Beale 'Blackmore Doll's Pattern'; 'Dolls And How To Make Them' by Winifred M. Ackroyd; two different copies of 'A Dolls' House Designed and Built by the late Mr. T. Batty of Drighlington, Near Bradford', June 1985 Sasha Dolls booklet.

Author: 
[Dolls and dolls' houses; Winifred M. Ackroyd; T. Batty of Drighlington, near Bradford; J. E. Beale, Bournemouth (The Blackmore Fashion Co.); Sasha Dolls Ltd, Stockport]
Dolls and dolls' houses
Publication details: 
Pattern from the 1920s? Ackroyd's book from the 1930s? The Batty book from 1948? Sasha catalogue June 1985.
£180.00
Dolls and dolls' houses

All items in good condition, on aged paper. ITEM ONE: 'Blackmore Doll's Patterns | One-Piece Dress, Bonnet, Petticoat, Bodice, Chemise and Drawers.' By J. E. Beale, Ltd. Doll Department, Bournemouth. [1920s]. Pattern in pieces of brown paper, in envelope printed with instructions and illustrations. The envelope also contains an illustrated advertisement for the Blackmore catalogue, on blue paper. ITEM TWO: 'Dolls And How To Make Them' by Winifred M. Ackroyd. At foot of title-page: 'To my fellow workers of the W.V.S. (Girlington Hospital Supplies Depot).

Christmas illustration by Quentin Blake, for his own personal use, with an autograph inscription signed by him ('Q').

Author: 
Quentin Blake (born 1932), English children's book illustrator [Montague Shaw, Faber and Penguin]
Quentin Blake (born 1932), English children's book illustrator
Publication details: 
Undated [1970s?]; sent from his address 23 Gledhow Gardens, London SW5.
£250.00
Quentin Blake (born 1932), English children's book illustrator

Reproduction of black and white drawing in Blake's inimitable style. 4to (34 x 29.5 cm). Good, with a little light creasing. Reproduction of black and white drawing in Blake's inimitable style. Depicts anthropomorphic bear, pig, chicken, squirrel and hedgehog in a line from largest to smallest, all with party hats, smiles on their faces and forepaws and other front limbs aloft. Blake's address, as part of printed piece, written upwards along left-hand margin.

Corrected autograph draft of poem by E. L. Blanchard, entitled 'Phantasmagoria', signed by him 'ELB'.

Author: 
E. L. Blanchard [Edward Litt Laman Blanchard] (1820-1889), playwright and theatre producer, writer of pantomimes for Drury Lane Theatre over 37 years
Corrected autograph draft of poem by E. L. Blanchard
Publication details: 
Dated by Blanchard to November 1862.
£225.00
Corrected autograph draft of poem by E. L. Blanchard

12mo, 1 p. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Docketed by Blanchard in top left-hand corner: 'Sent to Sat.

Four Typed Letters Signed and two Autograph Cards Signed from the Hampstead poet Frederick Grubb (one in full, four 'Fredk G' and one 'Comrade G') to the critic Derek Stanford, including a virulent attack, and with two other items signed by Grubb.

Author: 
Fred Grubb [Frederick Grubb] (born 1930), English poet [Derek Stanford (1918-2008), English writer; 1960s Hampstead coterie]
Fred Grubb [Frederick Grubb] (born 1930), English poet
Publication details: 
1973 and 1974; most from 243 Haverstock Hill, Hampstead.
£320.00
Fred Grubb [Frederick Grubb] (born 1930), English poet

All items clear and complete, on aged paper. Letters totaling: 4to, 1 p; landscape 8vo, 5 pp. The two cards carry long messages, written in red ink in Grubb's close, neat hand; one is standard size, the other 27 x 13.5 cm. Five envelopes are stapled to their letters. Grubb ('one of the last survivors of the famous 1960s Hampstead coterie of writers, actors and critics') writes entertainingly in an emphatic, energetic manner marvellously evocative of the 1970s London literary scene.

Typed Letter Signed Ambrose Grant, other pseud. James Hadley Chase, to Mrs Dribble, about More Deadly that the Male.

Author: 
[James Hadley Chase] Ambrose Grant, pseud. Rene Lodge Brabazon Raymond, crime novelist
Ambrose Grant, other pseud. James Hadley Chase
Publication details: 
[Headed] The Camp, Little Kimble, Nr. Aylesbury, Bucks., 5 Feb. 1947.
£120.00
Ambrose Grant, other pseud. James Hadley Chase

One page, 12mo, good condition. Thanks you very much for writing to me about my boo. It is always nice to hear from oone's readers and I am delighted to learn that both you and your husband found an hour's excitement in this otherwise rather dreary world. | Your good wishes are appreciated. Norte: Apparently Raymond/Chase/Grant only published More Deadly than the Male under the pseudonym Ambrose Grant so letters signed so may well be scarce.

Photograph of Dame Peggy Ashcroft at her country home Vine Cottage, from the collection of Jill Balcon (taken by her?), with an inscription by Balcon.

Author: 
[Dame Peggy Ashcroft [Edith Margaret Emily Ashcroft] (1907-1991); Jill Balcon [Jill Angela Henriette Balcon] (1925-2009), actress]
Dame Peggy Ashcroft
Publication details: 
Undated (1980s?).
£45.00
Dame Peggy Ashcroft

Colour photograph in grey card wallet frame. Dimensions of photograph 13 x 18 cm. Dimensions of frame 18 x 23 cm. In good condition. A head and shoulders shot of a smiling old Ashcroft in overcoat outdoors in the countryside. Captioned by Balcon on frame at foot of photograph 'Peggy Ashcroft at Vine Cottage (called by her "The Tiny Palace")'. Part of Balcon's own collection.

Signed bromide print of photograph by Mark Gerson of the actress Jill Balcon with bust of Cecil Day-Lewis.

Author: 
Mark Gerson (b.1921), photographer [Jill Balcon [Jill Angela Henriette Balcon] (1925-2009), actress]
Jill Balcon with bust of Cecil Day-Lewis
Publication details: 
'London. Mark Gerson. AIBP/ARPS'. Circa 1961.
£75.00
Jill Balcon with bust of Cecil Day-Lewis

Black and white matt bromide print photograph in card frame with covering flap. Dimensions of photograph 20 x 25 cm. Dimensions of frame 25.5 x 32 cm. A head and shoulders shot of Balcon, staring across the photograph from the right, left hand at right shoulder, with the bust of Day-Lewis facing her from the left. Inscription in pencil on frame beneath photograph: 'London. Mark Gerson. AIBP/ARPS'. Photograph and inscription in excellent condition; frame aged and worn.

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