Art and Architecture

Autograph Letter, third person, in French, to "Monsieur Disderi", French photographer

Author: 
Duke of Nemours [Le Duc de Nemours]
Publication details: 
Bushy House, Bushy Park, Teddington, SW, 28 Nov. 1866
£120.00

Two pages, 8vo, bifolium, blank second leaf laid don on stiff paper, c.21 x 27cm, good condition.. He asks Disderi de lui envoyer deux collections des huit vues de Claremont [an earlier refuge in England] & Weybridge qu'il a fait en avril dernier, et un exemplaire du groupe general sur la pelouse de Claremont." He doesn't want the latter mounted but "l'autre collection doit etre montee sur carton." He asks for a "note au compte" made out to him. Note@ Apparently Disderi pioneered the carte de visite.

Autograph Note in the third person to Simco. With priced list (by Simco?) of engravings on reverse.

Author: 
John Chamberlaine (c.1745-1812), antiquary [John Simco (c.1749-1824), London bookseller]
Publication details: 
Brompton. Friday Morng' [c.1812?].
£95.00

12mo, 1 p. On bifolium. Good, on aged paper. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Mr. Simco | Warwick St. | Golden Square.' Asking Simco to send a book 'by the Bearer', as well as ' a remittance upon his account of Holbein', as 'he has some large payments to make at the beginning of next week'.

Small archive of 22 Typed Letters Signed ('Frank Baines') and one Autograph Letter Signed, to G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, with documents including a draft speech by Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, with Baldwin's emendations.

Author: 
Sir Frank Baines (1877-1933), British architect, Director of Works, Her Majesty's Office of Works [Stanley Baldwin]
Publication details: 
1927 to 1928; on letterheads of the Director of Works, H.M. Office of Works, and 34, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, W.C.2. [London].
£450.00

The collection is in very good condition, on slightly aged and dusty paper. Several items bear the Society's stamp. An interesting and significant correspondence. The letters, in a variety of formats from 12mo to foolscap, are often long, and are written in an informal tone. Indicating Baines's deep involvement in the Society's affairs, they most significantly concern an appeal, organised by Baines on behalf of the Society, 'for the preservation of the cottage architecture of Great Britain', with the backing and involvement of Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin.

Autograph Letter Signed ('C Fane') to G. Joy, discussing the reform of the Court of Chancery.

Author: 
Robert George Cecil Fane (1796-1864), English Judge, as Commissioner of the Court of Bankruptcy [Court of Chancery]
Publication details: 
19 August 1844; Court of Bankruptcy.
£300.00

12mo, 3 pp. Thirty-three lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with traces of mount on reverse of second leaf, which is docketed 'C. Fane to G. Joy | 19 Augt. 1844'. A significant and interesting letter, on a topic later tackled by Dickens in 'Bleak House', by a judge who was an active member of the Law Amendment Society, and whose decisions, according to his entry in the Oxford DNB, 'were frequently the subject of comment', although 'very few of his judgments were reversed on appeal'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W Russell Flint') to L. Carpenter of Leigh-on-Sea, discussing his artistic development.

Author: 
Sir William Russell Flint (1880-1969), British artist
Publication details: 
8 July 1948; on his Peel Cottage, Campden Hill, letterhead.
£280.00

4to, 2 pp. Twenty-three lines of text, clear and complete. In fair condition, creased and lightly-worn. With stamped envelope addressed by Flint. In reply to a question from Carpenter ('I very, very freqently receive letters such as yours') Flint writes: 'Dont worry about not receiving art instruction in painting because I never had a lesson in my life.' He believes he inherited the skill he 'started with', but constant study of the works of masters & constant practice have brought me (with the aid of a kindly Providence) to my present position'.

66 albumen print photographs of Belle Epoque decorative mouldings [moldings] and other architectural features; with one drawing of an overmantel.

Author: 
Le Roy & Cie, Brussels, Belgium [architecture; architectural design; interior decoration; furniture; nineteenth century albumen print photography]
Publication details: 
Brussels, Belgium. Undated [Edwardian?].
£200.00

Stamped on front pastedown 'LE ROY & CIE. | DECORATION GENERALE | 58, Avenue Fonsny, 58 | TEL. SABLON 2061'. In a landscape 12mo (roughly 12 x 17 cm) album of 29 leaves, bound in coarse brown cloth. The majority of the photographs are in good condition though lightly aged, with around 20 showing varying degrees of damage involving staining and chipping. The album itself is worn and aged, in a binding heavily-worn at spine and corners, and with spotted and aged leaves.

Autograph Letter Signed ('E Herbert') to Wyatt, on the subject of 'the lighting of the Wilton Chapel'.

Author: 
Edward Herbert (d.1870?) [Thomas Henry Wyatt (1807-1880); Wilton House]
Publication details: 
Cairo. Feby. 18. 1864.'
£45.00

12mo, 2 pp. With mourning border. 42 lines. Text clear and complete. On aged and worn paper, with slight chipping to extremities. Herbert has not yet received Wyatt's 'promised letter', but wants 'to say one word [...] about the lighting of the Wilton Chapel. The Gap must be brought to the centre of the Ceiling before the works are completed, as Mr. Olivier wishes to give Eveng. Lectures to the Servants on different occasions & I thought a Corona in the centre would light the whole [...] I can quite trust to yr. Taste to choose one.

Sur une Collection d'Amulettes Chinoises. Dessins de Mlle Gilberte Zaborowska.

Author: 
Raphaël Blanchard and Bui Van Quy, authors; Gilberte Zaborowska, illustrator [Chinese metallic medical amulets]
Publication details: 
Extrait de la 'Revue Anthropologique'. Paris: Librarie Félix Alcan. Juillet-Août 1918.
£100.00

8vo: 42 pp (paginated 131 to 172). Stitched pamphlet. In original printed wraps, with title and illustration. Two photographic illustrations in text and forty-eight numbered illustrations by Zaborowska. Good, on aged paper, with light notes in blue pencil on pp. 144 and 145. Blanchard explains that Quy, a doctor from Hanoi, came to Paris to further his medical studies. He had a position under Blanchard 'au Laboratoire de Parasitologie'.

A Broadside for July, 1911. [No. 2. Fourth Year] ['Blow, Bullies, Blow (Halliards Chanty)' with three illustrations by Jack B. Yeats.]

Author: 
Jack B. Yeats; Cuala Press
Publication details: 
1911. E.C. Yeats at the Cuala Press, Churchtown, Dundrum, County Dublin.
£100.00

4to bifolium (27.5 x 18.5 cm): 3 pp. 300 copies only. In fair condition: a little grubby, with a couple of light folds and slight wear to extremities. Hand-coloured illustrations on first (7.5 cm square) and second (7 x 10 cm) pages; full-page black and white illustration ('Derby Day') on third page. Final page blank.

Ecce Mundus. Industrial Ideals and the Book Beautiful.

Author: 
T. J. Cobden-Sanderson [Hammersmith Publishing Society]
Publication details: 
Hammersmith: Hammersmith Publishing Society, 7 The Terrace. 1902. ['Printed at the Chiswick Press: Charles Whittingham & Co., Tooks Court, Chancery Lane, London. And sold by the Hammersmith Publishing Society, 7 The Terrace, Hammersmith.']
£250.00

8vo: [38] pp (unpaginated). In original quarter binding, with buff boards and vellum spine on which is stamped in black 'ECCE MUNDUS'. Good copy: internally tight and clean, in slightly-grubby and worn binding bumped at foot of spine and at one corner. Presentation copy, with autograph inscription by Cobden-Sanderson on the front free endpaper: 'To Mr. Wheatley [the bibliographer Henry Benjamin Wheatley] with the compliments of the writer'. With green leather and gilt bookplate of Alfred Sutro on front pastedown.

A Broadside for March, 1914. [No. 10. Sixth Year] [the poems 'Nora Creina' and 'The Tan-Yard Side' with three illustrations by Yeats.]

Author: 
Jack B. Yeats; Cuala Press
Publication details: 
1914. By E. C. Yeats at the Cuala Press, Churchtown, Dundrum, County Dublin.
£100.00

4to bifolium (27.5 x 18.5 cm): 3 pp. 300 copies only. Good, on aged paper with a light vertical fold. Hand-coloured illustrations on first (7.5 x 10 cm) and second (9.5 x 7.5 cm) pages; full-page black and white illustration ('The Metropolitan Regatta Dublin') on third page. Final page blank.

A Broadside for February, 1914. [No. 9. Sixth Year] [Hyde's poem 'I shall not die for thee' and Guthrie's poem 'Paternoster Callaghan' with three illustrations by Yeats.]

Author: 
Jack B. Yeats; James Guthrie; Douglas Hyde; Cuala Press
Publication details: 
1914. By E.C. Yeats at the Cuala Press, Churchtown, Dundrum, County Dublin.
£200.00

4to bifolium (27.5 x 18.5 cm): 3 pp. 300 copies only. Good, on aged paper with a light vertical fold. Hand-coloured illustrations on first (7 x 10 cm) and second (8 x 7.5 cm) pages; black and white illustration ('Drowned Sailor', 12 x 10 cm) alone on third page. Final page blank. The first poem is not ascribed, but is known to be by Hyde.

Note, in a secretarial hand, signed by Blomfield ('Reginald . Blomfield'), to Dollman.

Author: 
Sir Reginald Blomfield [Reginald Theodore Blomfield] (1856-1942), British architect and garden designer [John Charles Dollman (1851-1934), English illustrator; Frederick William Pomeroy (1856-1924)]
Publication details: 
7 November 1906; on letterhead of 1 New Court, Temple [London].
£33.00

12mo, 1 p. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. From the context of other items in the same collection, this letter relates to an 'Artists general Benevolent Banquet' (for which Dollman was acting as steward). Blomfield would be pleased to join Dollman, but has 'already promised my subscription to Pomeroy' (presumably acting as steward for a rival dinner). Addressed to Dollman at Hove House, Newton Grove, Bedford Park.

Autograph Letter Signed to Dollman.

Author: 
John Hassall (1868-1948), English illustrator
Publication details: 
10 November 1906; on letterhead of 88 Kensington Park Road, W. [London]
£56.00

8vo, 1 p. Nine lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged and lightly-spotted paper, lightly-creased and with small closed tears at edges of central crease. From the context of other items in the same collection, this letter relates to an 'Artists general Benevolent Banquet' (for which Dollman was acting as steward). Hassall writes that the previous year he 'got into trouble through giving subscriptions to stewards of other society's than the R[oyal]. I[nstitution].', so that 'if there's to be an R. I. table this year I must support it for all I'm worth'.

Autograph Note Signed to [J.C.] Dollman, artist [Artist's General Benevolent Fund etc]

Author: 
Byam Shaw, artist and illustrator
Publication details: 
62 Addison Road, Kensington, W [London], 1 May 1907
£56.00

Two pages (but large handwriting), 8vo, conjoined leaves, good condition. "I write to thank you most sincerely, for your kind letter about my picture. I think it was very kind indeed to trouble to write. I appreciate it very much."

Engraved armorial bookplate, designed by Charles Catton and engraved by Francis Chesham, for Lord Camelford.

Author: 
Thomas Pitt, 1st Baron Camelford (1737-1793), politician and art collector [Charles Catton the elder (1728-1798), R.A., painter; Francis Chesham (1749–1806), engraver; bookplates; ex libris]
Publication details: 
Undated [1770s?].
£35.00

Steel-engraving, on a piece of thick laid paper, 12.5 x 17.5 cm. Fair, on lightly-aged and foxed paper. Never mounted, and so with no glue staining or other marking to blank reverse. Depicts Camelford's armorial crest, flanked by two birds, with motto 'PER . ARDUA . LIBERI .' At foot, in copperplate, 'Camelford.', with 'C. Catton R.A. del. F. Chesham Sculp.'

Wyndham Lewis and Vorticism. The Tate Gallery. 6 July - 19 August 1956.

Author: 
Wyndham Lewis [Tate Gallery, 1956; Sir John Rothenstein]
Publication details: 
London: Tate Gallery, 1956.
£45.00

4to: 36 pp + 12 pp of prints on art paper. Stapled. In striking original printed red card wraps. With A4 addendum leaf loosely inserted. Good, with light stain to bottom outer corner. Important two-page introduction by Lewis, reviewing his career, followed by three-page essay by Rothenstein on 'Wyndham Lewis and Vorticism'.

Baxter Colour Prints Pictorially Presented.

Author: 
H. G. Clarke [George Baxter (1804-1867), Victorian engraver; Baxter prints; Maggs Brothers, booksellers, Conduit Street and Berkeley Square]
Publication details: 
London: Maggs Bros., 34 & 35 Conduit Street, W. 1920-1. [Printed by Courier Press, Leamington Spa. 1921.]
£220.00

4to. [iv] + 142 pp. Frontispiece and 136 plates, one in colour and the rest in black and white, with a further six illustrations at end in section entitled 'Tit-Bits of George Baxter'. A tight copy, in original worn quarter-binding, with black calf spine (with 6 cm split at head of rear hinge) and grey cloth bevelled-edged covers. Marbled endpapers split at hinges. The first and last few leaves have slight damp staining to the extremities. Text and plates printed on the same art paper, and consequently a heavy volume.

Autograph Letter Signed ('B. B. Woodward') to 'Dr Reynolds'.

Author: 
Bernard Bolingbroke Woodward (1816-1869), Librarian in Ordinary to the Queen, Windsor Castle
Publication details: 
2 June 1869; on embossed Buckingham Palace letterhead.
£38.00

12mo, 3 pp. Bifolium. Thirty-three lines of text. Good, on aged paper, with slight traces of glue from mount on blank reverse of second leaf. Apologising for not being able to join Reynolds' party, because of the visit of 'a gentleman' who 'is coming from the country to me on business of importance to me'. This is also disappointing to his daughter, who would have accompanied him. He hopes his 'excellent friends', Reynold's 'colleagues', will not suppose him 'indffierent to their invitation! Especially now that my renewed health has permitted me to accept <?>'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Walter'), in German, to 'Mein lieber Bert!'

Author: 
Walter Koschatzky (1921-2003), German art critic
Publication details: 
28 March 1939; on his letterhead as 'Direktor der Cöpenicker Boden Akt. Ges. Wolfsgarten u. der Erkner Berliner Vorort-Terrainges. mbH.'
£75.00

4to, 4 pp. Bifolium. 59 lines of text. Clear and complete. On lightly-aged paper, with 4.5 cm closed tears to the outer edge of central horizontal fold to both leaves. A large part of the letter would appear to concern washing machines, including a reference to a new one on the American market, called the 'Waterflex'. A few lines in English at end: 'Many thanks for your Birthday-carte. Sorry year it arrived 1 month to [sic] late.' Sends love to 'Dorothy', and reference in text to 'Kajitan': 'Das wird Dir bestimmt Freude machen. Das ist alles viel besser als die Politik.

Autograph Letter Signed and three Autograph Cards Signed ('jean Duranel' and 'J. Duranel'), to his patron Lawrence Ives, with two invitations to his shows and a paper cut-out.

Author: 
Jean Duranel (born 1946), French artist [Lawrence A. Ives]
Publication details: 
Between 1982 and 1992; France.
£100.00

All the items except the cut-out and the last card (in which he gives the price of a painting) are damp-stained, with part of the text of the letter illegible. One card in French. The first card, from 1982, thanks Ives for payment for 'watercolors'. The cut-out, in red paper, is roughly 10 x 10 cm. Intricately-cut, it depicts a long-leaved plant in a basket on legs. Although found with the other items, there is no indication that it is by Duramel. Ives made the news in 2000, when his extensive collection of paintings by L. S. Lowry was put up for sale.

Steel-engraving by Finden, from a painting by Pickersgill, of 'Mr. Murray, Publisher of Lord Byron's Works.'

Author: 
John Murray (1778-1843), British publisher; Henry William Pickersgill (1782-1875), English portrait painter; Edward Francis Finden (1791-1857), English engraver; Charles Tilt, English publisher
Publication details: 
Painted by H. W. Pickersgill, R.A. Engraved by E. Finden. [...] London, Published 1833, by C. Tilt, 86, Fleet Street.'
£56.00

India paper engraving (dimensions c. 22 x 16 cms) neatly laid down on piece of wove paper c. 29 x 22 cms. Very good, with the slightest spotting, and with minor creasing and staining to the extremities of the mount. A pensive Murray sits in an armchair, reading a manuscript.

Coloured lithographic dioramic print, captioned 'Spooner's Protean Views, No. 8. St. George's Chapel Windsor Castle. In which the scene changes to the splendid ceremony of the interment of King William the Fourth'.

Author: 
William Spooner, printseller, 377 Strand [diorama; dioramic print; King William IV; St George's Chapel, Windsor]
Publication details: 
Undated [circa 1837]. 'London W. Spooner 377 Strand'.
£150.00

Dimensions of print roughly 17.5 x 13.5 cm. On original grey paper windowpane mount (28 x 23 cm). Engraved label (2.5 x 11 cm) beneath the print, with a couple of remarque-style illustrations. The print itself is good, although a little aged and spotted; the margins and mount being rather more heavily affected. Attractive and unusual item, the image changing when held up to the light. Two soldiers are shown dwarfed by the high ceiling of the chapel, which is decked with brightly-coloured flags. When held to the light the chapel is filled with the mourning congregation. Scarce.

Final General Report on Hospital Construction and Management. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by His Excellency's Command.

Author: 
Professor H. B. Allen, M.D. [Sir Harry Brookes Allen (1854-1926)] [Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; medicine, architecture]
Publication details: 
[1891. Victoria.] By Authority: Robert. S. Brain, Government Printer, Melbourne.
£250.00

Folio (34 x 21 cm): 32 pp. With all eighteen foldout plans. Unbound and stapled. Text and plans clear and complete. In fair condition, with slight rust to staples and the last leaf (carrying Plan XVIII) loose. The report is addressed to 'The Honorable the Premier of the Colony of Victoria', and dated 'University of Melbourne, 2nd November, 1891. This is, as Allen sets out his aims in the first paragraph, explaining that he is submitting 'the Third and Final General Report concerning my visit to Great Britain and the Continent of Europe.

Seven Typed Letters Signed (one 'Charles Allom' and the other six 'Chas. C. Allom') to various secretaries (Wood, Menzies and Perry) of the Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Sir Charles Allom [Sir Charles Carrick Allom] (1865-1947), British architect and decorator, knighted for his work on Buckingham Palace
Publication details: 
1914, 1916, 1918 and 1921; all on letterhead of 15, George Street, Hanover Square, London W.
£165.00

All seven items 4to, 1 p. Each good, on lightly-aged paper. All bearing the Society's stamp, and six docketed. Letter Two to Sir Henry Trueman Wood, Three to Six to G. K. Menzies, and Seven to W. Perry. Letter One: 9 July 1914. Querying whether members of the Society can describe themselves as 'Fellows'. Letter Two: 22 March 1916. Being 'unable to get an earlier passage [to America] owing to cancellation of boats', he will be delighted to preside over a meeting.

A Catalogue of a Collection of Old and Modern Pictures and Drawings, Engravings, Prints and Books. [...] the late Sir Robert W. Dibdin, [...] the late James Duncan Campbell (Craignish) Esq.. C.M.G., [...] the late S. Morell, Esq. [...].

Author: 
Robinson, Fisher & Harding, London auctioneers [Sir Robert W. Dibdin; James Duncan Campbell; S. Morell]
Publication details: 
22 March 1934. Robinson, Fisher & Harding. L. C. Robinson, R. H. Hurlbatt. At their great galleries, Willis's Rooms, King Street, St. James's Square, S.W.1. [Barnard & Crannis, Ltd., Printers, 11, Baldwin's Place, Holborn, E.C.1.]
£75.00

8vo, 12 pp. Stapled pamphlet. Text clear and complete. On aged, worn and spotted paper. A total of 204 lots. Pencil notes to lots 4, 9 and 11, with slip indicating their purchase prices, totalling £10 12s 0d. Lot 179 ('Another Property') is given prominence: 'FRANCIS COTES, R.A. A PORTRAIT OF A LADY in White Dress with Green Sash and Pink Cloak, her hair dressed high and adorned with pearls, 3.4 length | 50in. x 40in. | Signed and dated 1788.' No copy in the British Library, on COPAC or WorldCat.

Sketchbook filled with pencil drawings by Wright of the English countryside, some captioned and two signed 'HBW'. Four pages finished in watercolour.

Author: 
Horace Boardman Wright (1888-1915), English artist from Beckenham, Kent [Royal College of Art; Royal Society of Painter-Etchers and Engravers]
Publication details: 
Dated by Wright: 'July 28th. 1904. [signed] H Boardman Wright | Technical Institute School of Art | Beckenham | Kent'. [Sketchbook by D. W. Richard & Co., 29 High Street, Croydon, Artist Colourmen and Picture Frame Makers.]
£250.00

Landscape sketchbook of eighteen leaves. Leaf dimensions roughly 17.5 x 13 cm. One leaf loose. A further leaf has been removed. Drawings on twenty-five pages and the rear pastedown. Bound in rough grey cloth with printed design on front board. Printed stationer's ticket (label) on front pastedown. Grubby, and with the inevitable pencil offsetting, but good and tight on good paper, lightly-aged but unaffected by damp or stain. Contains some charming images, showing the promise that would win Wright a scholarship to the Royal College of Art three years later.

Signed and limited lithograph ('lithographie originale de Luc Simon. Mourlot. Editeur'), with Autograph Note Signed ('luc simon [to which he has added the names of his wife and her children 'FRANCOISE | Aurelia | PALOMA | CLAUDE').

Author: 
Luc Simon (b.1924), French post-surrealist painter [Francoise Gilot; Paloma Picasso; Fernand Mourlot; Editions Mourlot]
Publication details: 
[Editions Mourlot, Paris.] In the form of a New Year's card for 1959. Note dated 31 December.
£175.00

Landscape bifolium card on good-quality paper. Leaf dimensions 18.5 x 27.5 cm. In good condition, on slightly-aged paper, with a couple of small light patches of coffee staining. Printed in black and yellow. Elaborate design showing a winged youth (something of a cross between Jack Frost and Mercury), with winged heels, clutching a bouquet of flowers, flying over a buiding of modern design surrounded by fir trees. Signed in pencil 'luc simon' in bottom right-hand corner, with the limitation 'H. C. 15/100' in pencil in the bottom right.

Autograph Signature, in roman script ('A. N. Roussoff').

Author: 
Alexandre Nicolaievich Roussoff [Alexandre Nicolaïevitch Roussoff or Volkoff-Muromsoff] (1844-1928), Russian artist and rival of Whistler
Publication details: 
Dated 'Cairo 1892'. On letterhead of the Cairo Continental Hotel.
£56.00

On piece of watermarked laid paper 12.5 x 13.5 cm. In fair condition: lightly-aged and creased. Clearly in response to a request for an autograph. Firmly written, with the signature 5.5 cm long. Reads 'A. N. Roussoff | Cairo 1892'. Roussoff famously wagered that he could produce a dozen pastels indistinguishable from those of Whistler. He lost the bet, and was 'obliged to take a course of mud baths after his defeat'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Bernard Partridge.') to 'Miss Smith'.

Author: 
Bernard Partridge [Sir John Bernard Partridge] (1861-1945), English cartoonist and illustrator, best-known for his work for 'Punch'
Publication details: 
24 January 1897 ('M.dccc.xc.vij: | jan: xxiv.'); on letterhead of 11 Marlborough Road, St John's Wood, [London] N.W.
£56.00

12mo, 3 pp. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Attractive red letterhead, in the Arts and Crafts style. The writings she referred to in a previous letter have not come. 'You probably forgot to enclose them. I expect to read some of the papers in the days when I look in the P[all]. M[all]. G[azette].' He asks her to give him 'an idea of what the publisher proposes to spend on the illustrations, and also the size of them, and the style - pen & ink, or "wash".' He has heard news of her 'from Welsh, Ethel Johnson's husband, who is with me at the Haymarket'.

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