GREENE

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘H. P. Greene’. Truly atrocious handwriting. Apparently addressed to ‘Dear Miss Salt’, and beginning: ‘I’ll be proud.’ He gives a date which will ‘suit me best’, and asks to be informed ‘if there is anything special [?] like [?]’.

In his obituary of Low’s partner Robin Waterfield (Independent, 12 February 2002), James Fergusson describes Low as a ‘Scottish Polish Jewish bouquiniste’. The recipient Andrew Block’s obituary in ‘The Private Library’ was subtitled ‘the doyen of booksellers’; his business was established in 1911. Plain orange-yellow card, with Reynolds Stone oval medallion letterhead. Signed ‘David’ in red ink. Addressed, with postmark and stamp, to ‘Mr. Andrew Block / 30, Barter Street / London W.C.1.’ He enquires whether the ‘coloured drawings on rice paper’ he is sending are ‘merely Chinese’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On strip of paper, roughly 10 x 3.5 cm, cut into an irregular rectangular shape. On one side is the valediction: ‘Yours very sincerely / Harry Plunket Greene’. On the other a fragment of three lines of the letter: ‘[...] I hope no [...] / started that things [...] / go on well. I am part[...]’. See image.

It is puzzling that Van Druten, one of the most successful British playwrights of the early 1930s, should not have an entry in the Oxford DNB. The present entertaining and informative letter is written from the A. J. C. Ranch in Coachella Valley, which Van Druten purchased with his then-lover Carter Lodge and the British actress Auriol Lee (it was named after the initals of their first names).

1p, 12mo. In good condition, on lightly aged paper. Folded twice, resulting in offset ink smudging. Reads: 'Dear Rylands, | I am writing to you in case Noel is away. I have asked Mr Greene to show you my letter to Noel, if this is should [sic] be so. Anything you could do to help, would be kind and good, I think.

Lady Cynthia Asquith was Barrie's personal secretary in his later years, and inherited the bulk of his estate, but not the rights to 'Peter Pan'. The letter is 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with small holes to one corner from staple. With red date stamp marking receipt. Begins: 'Dear Sir | Sir James Barrie directs me to express his regret at your letter having remained unanswered for so long – but he has been absent from London, and unable to attend to his correspondence.

On 6.5 x 12 cm slip of thin laid paper, cut from the end of a typed letter. Signature in blue ink. In fair condition, lightly aged, with tissue labels from mount adhering to the blank reverse. Reads: '[...] | Yours sincerely, | [Graham Greene] | Graham Greene. | The Lord Iddesleigh, | Pynes, | Exeter.'

1p., 4to. On a piece of watermarked laid paper. Aged, and with chipping and loss along the fold lines, which have been repaired on the reverse with (nineteenth-century?) tape. The words 'Cromwells Protector' in a later hand at the head of the reverse, which is otherwise blank. Accompanied by a autograph transcript (3pp., foolscap 8vo) by Beamont, 'Copied from the original Mar. 15, 1878', and an Autograph Letter (2pp., 12mo) from him to 'Miss Blackburne', on letterhead of Orford Hall, Warrington, also dated 15 March 1878. Beamont begins his letter: 'I return your paper with a transcript.

Totalling 5pp., 4to and 3pp., 12mo. The six items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with the first three in autograph and the last three (from Broadcasting House) typed. Hill begins the first letter (22 April 1963) with the assertion that he is 'taking heed' of Massingham's 'stimulating advice', and this sets the tone of the whole correspondence.

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Greene writes that he is returning Chamberlain's 'Copenhagen letter, together with a translation from the pen of C. E. Hablicht Esq. Swedish Consul at this port', to whom he 'applied for the purpose'. He has 'every disposition to be useful on all similar occasions'. The engraving of Greene, beneath which is a facsimile of his signature, and the words 'Postmaster Boston Mass.', is in good condition, lightly and neatly attached onto a paper mount. Greene was himself also a translator, from German, Italian and French.

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged paper. In reply to Allston's letter Greene assures him that 'Capt. Sturgis did not write the paragraph' Allston alludes to, 'nor did he contemplate the publication of his decision in a newspaper at the time he made it known to the gentleman who furnished me with the information'.