PARTY

See Birrell’s entry in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son of the editor of the economist Thorold Rogers, and written while Rogers was Secretary of the Liberal Publication Department, a position to which he was appointed in November 1891. 1p, foolscap 8vo on ruled paper. In good condition apart from two small burn holes. Folded once. Signed ‘A Birrell’. Twenty-four lines of text in a bold, forceful hand.

An extraordinary letter, rubbing the nose of a pro-Asquith Liberal in the muck on the eve of his leader Lloyd George’s landslide Coalition victory in the 1918 ‘Coupon Election’. Guest, who was Winston Churchill’s cousin, is described in his entry in the Oxford DNB as a ‘highly controversial’ figure who ‘knew where all the bodies were buried’, a useful attribute for someone who served as the Coalition Chief Whip from 1917 to 1921. The recipient Willoughby Hyett Dickinson (1859-1943), later an influential proponent of the League of Nations, began his career a Liberal MP.

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.

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’.

See Sidney Webb's entry in the Oxford DNB, now unaccountably placed within that of his wife. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son and editor of the economist Thorold Rogers [James Edwin Thorold Rogers] (1823-1890), for information regarding whom see his entry in the Oxford DNB. The three items in good condition, lightly aged. Each folded once. All three signed ‘Sidney Webb’; the first to ‘Sir’, the second to ‘My dear Rogers’, and the third to ‘Dear Rogers’. ONE: 22 September 1891. 4pp, 12mo.

See Arch’s entry in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son of the economist Thorold Rogers [James Edwin Thorold Rogers] (1823-1890), for information regarding whom see his entry in the Oxford DNB. At the time of this letter the 1892 general election was looming, and the recipient was Secretary of the Publications Department of the National Liberal Federation. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once.

From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son and editor of the economist Thorold Rogers [James Edwin Thorold Rogers] (1823-1890), for information regarding whom see his entry in the Oxford DNB. The three items in good condition, lightly aged. Each folded three times. All three signed ‘Arnold Morley’. ONE: 5 November 1891. 3pp, 12mo.

See the entries for Pollock, Peel and Baring in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. Addressed to ‘My dear Baring’. He begins by thanking him for his ‘introductions - & the kindness of your letter that enclosed them’.

On 11.5 x 7.5 cm leaf, with rounded outer edges, extracted from an autograph album. In good condition, lightly aged. Written at the head of the recto, the rest of the leaf being blank: ‘Sarah D Roosevelt - (Mrs James Roosevelt, Sen.) / mother of President Franklin D. Roosevelt / July 11th. 1934’. See image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Thomas Lloyd Humberstone (1876-1957) was an educationalist and prominent member of the Convocation of the University of London. The booklet referred to is his ‘The Public School Question’, which he printed himself in 1943. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads. ‘Dear Humberstone / Thanks for your booklet on the Public Schools which I have read with interest / Yours truly / F W Pethick Lawrence’.

1p, 4to. On somewhat worn and aged paper, cropped at head, and with traces of tape from mount to inner edge. Folded three times. Bold signature: ‘Thorez’. Having been informed of Hopkins’ request by the ‘secrétariat de notre Parti’, he will be very willing to grant him an interview, but asks if he can see the text of the questions in advance.

Hughes began as a journalist, writing the popular column ‘Sub Rosa’ in the Morning Leader, before descending from the Press Gallery onto the floor of the House of Commons. However short, the present item gives a faint echo of the verve for which he was renowned as a backbencher and after-dinner speaker. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Signed ‘Spencer Leigh Hughes’. Reads: ‘Dear Armstrong / Another lunatic! There are many about. I was lecturing in Scotland recently & had quite an ovation when I talked about the “British” parliament.’

4pp, 12mo. Fifty lines of neatly-written text, addressed to ‘My Dear Dale’. On bifolium. In good condition, with creases from being folded into a packet. Minuted by recipient at head of first page. He is sorry that his ‘continued absence abroad’ will prevent him from attending the formal opening of ‘the Committee of the Darlington Junior Liberal Club’. He describes the ‘several reasons to look forward to the opening day as a very auspicious one’.

See their entries in the Oxford DNB. Castle was a pioneer for woman in British politics and a champion of the welfare state; and Ashley, said to have been the first totally deaf democratic representative in the world, was a campaigner for the rights of the disabled.. Both items in good condition. The ANS is on a 16mo leaf of pink paper. On one side: ‘To Pip / who has lightened our load and brightened our lives for so many years. / Bless you! / Barbara Castle / 11. 7. 73.’ On the other: ‘To PIP THE POPular / With every good wish / Jack Ashley / P.S. And lots and lots of fun. / JA’.

Having made the first state visit to the United Kingdom by an American President, 26 to 28 December 1918, Wilson was in Europe at the opening of the Paris Peace Conference, which would result in the League of Nations and Treaty of Versailles. The present letter presents in forthright terms the Republican position on his activities in the aftermath of the First World War. 5pp, 12mo. On five leaves of letterheads of the Hotel Del Monte, California (‘Carl S. Stanley, Manager’). In postmarked envelope from the Hotel (stamps torn away), addressed to ‘Mr. P. A.

A neat item, providing an insight into the great statesman’s mercantile roots. See his entry in the Oxford DNB, together with those of his father the first baronet (Lancashire calico printer and politician) and the recipient Scott. 2pp, 4to. On watermarked laid paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded three times. The recipient is named as ‘David Scott Esqr’.

See entry in Oxford DNB on Edward Hugh John Neale Dalton, Baron Dalton (1887-1962). Thomas Lloyd Humberstone (1876-1957) was a prominent member of the Convocation of the University of London. Both signed ‘Hugh Dalton’. Both in good condition and lightly aged. ONE (21 September 1945): 1p, 4to. Folded twice. He has found Humberstone’s letter ‘most interesting’, and sends delayed thanks for his congratulations (on Dalton’s appointment as Chancellor). He will also be ‘requiring a cheque in due course’, and notes the ‘suggestion of a tax rebate’.

See Gould’s entry in the Oxford DNB, with that of Lady Lyte’s husband. The Lytes were Somerset neighbours of Gould. 1p, 12mo. In good condition. He is glad to hear that ‘Mr Logsdail has done the drawing for you for he would be able to do far more justice to it than I could possibly have achieved’. On the occasions when he is called upon to ‘put sentiment into a cartoon’ he is ‘always conscious of failure and it is well to know one’s limitations’.

See Gould's entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition. The two leaves of the bifolium on which the letter is written have been separated, and each bears minor evidence of mounting on the blank reverse. He thanks Ashford for allowing him to ‘look through your very interesting collection of autographs’, which ‘does equal credit to your energy and to the good nature of mankind in general’. He continues: ‘The pages of an autograph book always make me realise that people are not so crabbed and disagreeable to each other as pessimists imagine or profess to believe.

See both their entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition. He has ‘just read with much grateful pleasure’ the ‘very kindly reference’ to him in her ‘delightful book’ (presumably her second volume of reminiscences, ‘Leaves from the Notebooks of Lady Dorothy Nevill’, 1907). He is ‘just in the middle of it and enjoying it keenly’. The only fault he can find is that he will soon come to the end of it. It deserves great success and he hopes she will ‘give us more reminiscences’.

One page, 12mo, very good condition. He gives permission for 'Road to Tarbet' to be exhibited at Scarborough and Hull, on the understanding that you will take full responsibility for returning it to me in London when the Hull Exhibition ends.

Lithograph. Landscape, 51 x 76 cm. In fair though fragile condition and worthy of framing, although aged and with a few small holes repaired. Weakened folds mainly repaired on reverse.. A determined Redmond marches to the right of the picture, large green flag of 'IRISH INDEPENDENCE' over his right shoulder, in his left hand three chains, linked to the noses of Asquith (with 'HOME RULE' paper under his arm), Lloyd George (holding a 'BUDGET BILL') and Winston Churchill (carrying a 'HOME DEPARTMENT' paper), who follow submissively.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'My dear Lord, | I have fixed the Oath's Bills &c for Tuesday July 9. | Believe me | faithfully Yours | Kimberley'.

6.5 x 11 cm calling card, with the words 'The Governor of Massachusetts' printed at centred of one side. Above this Bullock signs 'Alexander H Bullock', and below it '1867'. On the reverse Bullock writes: 'For | Master | Walter G. Webster'. In good condition, lightly aged, with the reverse carrying traces of grey paper mount at the four corners.

In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Christmas card with unusual image of the three wise men (in Roman helmets) seen from behind, following the guiding star as it leads them across a Hawaian beach to the hut in which the birth of the messiah is occurring. Printed message in card in Hawaian and English. The reverse of the second leaf has nothing printed on it other than the publisher's slug, and at the head the prime minister has written 'Happy Christmas'. Beneath this, one above the other, are the five signatures: 'Harold Wilson | Mary Wilson. | Giles Wilson.

2pp, 18mo. On aged paper, with short closed tear to one edge. He has evidently sent her a present of a diary, and she write that it was 'very sweet' of him to remember her over Christmas, adding: 'I shall use your diary every day during the coming year.' She ends with her best wishes of the season and coming year.

3pp, 8vo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. A personal letter, sending congratulations and news on the birth of the recipients' son. Begins: 'Dear Julian and Susanne, | Nita and I would like to offer our sincere congratulations on the birth of your son and heir.

1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, margins cropped, laid down on leaf removed from album. Annotated in ink with year. Reads 'Lord Palmerston presente ses Complimens a Monsr de Harivel et se fera l'honneur de le recevoir au “Foreign Office” Vendredi prochain a trois heures'.

A total of 12pp, 12mo. On bifoliums. All addressed to 'Dear Shuttleworth'. In good condition, lightly aged. A curious feature of the four letters is that the handwriting of each differs from the others. ONE: 7 April 1880. Trevelyan condoles with Shuttleworth, who has lost his Hastings seat in the General Election. He states that he is 'so heartily disgusted' with Shuttleworth's constituents, adding 'The loss, most temporary I feel sure, to the House will be very sensible, and I shall sorely miss you as a friend.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, folded twice. The recipient is not named. Begins: 'Dear Sir | I am much obliged to you for your Pamphlet, & agree with you that there is a serious deficiency in the Bill in not securing a Practical Proof of Teaching Power.' He finds the recipient's pamphlet 'clear & decided as to the Evil', but not 'very explicit as to the remedy'.