Literature

Please click on highlighted text to view a full description and / or a picture of the item. Please use your browser's back button to return to this list.


ABSE (DANNIE, born 1923, poet) GOOD DETAILED AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, as editor of Verse, to his fellow poet Terence Tiller, about his own poetry and that of Tiller, Manifold, Heath Stubbs, Dylan Thomas and Louis Adeane, with many perceptive comments about poetry in general, 2 full pages, quarto, receipt stamp 10 November 1949 £120††

ADDISON (JOSEPH, 1672-1719, essayist, poet and statesman) FINE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('J Addison'), to the youthful Lord [Warwick], expressing pleasure with The Tatler soon after the first number was published in London [12 April 1709], 2 pages, quarto, integral blank, one or two unobtrusive brown spots, Dublin Castle, 19 May 1709 £2,500

ALLINGHAM (WILLIAM, 1824-1889, Irish poet) FINE PORTRAIT OF WILLIAM ALLINGHAM READING, DRAWN BY HELEN ALLINGHAM ON THEIR HONEYMOON, 1874 £3,000

APOLLINAIRE (GUILLAUME, 1880-1918, French poet, prose writer and art critic) FINE LONG AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, WRITTEN FOUR MONTHS BEFORE HIS DEATH, in French, to Jacques Hautmont, about his own book, written in collaboration with André Rouveyre, Très plaisante histoire...de Perceval le Gallois, 7 pages, octavo, 202 Boulevard St Germain, 11 July 1918 Letters by Apollinaire of this quality only rarely appear for sale £2,250

AUBREY (JOHN, 1626-1697, antiquary) AUTOGRAPH BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES, evidently prepared for and sent to Anthony Wood, written on two sides of an oblong octavo slip, two small holes and tears with very slight losses of text, docketed 'from Mr Poore's collection', hinged to a folio leaf [no date, but probably 1689] £3,250

BAUDELAIRE (CHARLES, 1821-1867, French poet) IMPRESSIVE LARGE LITHOGRAPH PORTRAIT OF BAUDELAIRE, by Henry de Groux £900

BEERBOHM (Sir MAX, 1872-1956, caricaturist, critic, essayist and broadcaster) WONDERFUL IRONICAL AND WITTY AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Max Beerbohm'), to Filson Young, expressing his anticipation and reception of an article about him by Young, 4 pages, octavo, The Grand Hotel, Venice, 23 May 1911 £1,250

BEERBOHM (Sir MAX, 1872-1956, caricaturist, critic, essayist and broadcaster) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Max Beerbohm'), to Filson Young, 1 page, octavo, arrows in pencil, Villino Chiaro, Rapallo, 15 October 1911 £500††

BEERBOHM (Sir MAX, 1872-1956, caricaturist, critic, essayist and broadcaster) FINE CRAYON DRAWING OF THE ELDERLY BEERBOHM, by Kathleen Shackleton, 1953 £1,250

BENNETT (ARNOLD, 1867-1931, novelist, dramatist and essayist) AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT ABOUT HAROLD MUNRO'S 'TWENTIETH CENTURY POETRY', headed 'Books & Persons', signed at the head, heavily revised by Arnold, 2 closely written pages in Arnold's minute script, quarto, London, 6 December 1929 £750††

BRIDGES (ROBERT, 1844-1930, poet laureate and physician) GOOD AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Robert Bridges'), to [Stephen] Paget, about science and medicine, 7 pages, octavo, St. Columbs, Foxcombe Hill, Oxford, 14 March [no year, but 1905] £300††

BROWNING (ROBERT, 1812-1889, AND ELIZABETH BARRETT, 1806-1861, poets) IMPORTANT ALBUM AMICORUM OF THE BROWNINGS' ACQUAINTANCE IN ITALY, GEORGINA FORBES, their near-neighbour in Florence, c. 70 leaves with items written or pasted on them including loosely inserted items, octavo, 1858-1869 £5,500

BROWNING (ROBERT AND ELIZABETH BARRETT, poets) CHARMING PERSONAL ITEMS BELONGING TO EACH OF THEM, a hair pin and combined paper knife and book marker, from the sale of their effects at Sotheby's in May 1913, lot 1406 £2,850

BURNEY (FANNY, 1752-1840, novelist, Madame D'Arblay) FINE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Fd'A'), to her brother Charles ('Carlos'), 4 pages, quarto, integral address panel, postal markings, seal tear in blank area repaired, West Hamble near Dorking, 18 March 1798 £3,000

[BURNS (ROBERT, 1759-1796, poet)] FINE, RARE MAUCHLINE-WARE DOUBLE SNUFF BOX DECORATED WITH SCENES AND VERSES FROM BURNS, overall length 10½ inches, width 5½ inches, height, 3 inches, fine patination and condition, by Smith Boxworks, Mauchline, Scotland [c. 1820] £3,500

CAMPBELL (THOMAS, 1777-1844, poet) CHARMING AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to Mrs St John, sending a picture book for his four-year-old 'Sweet heart Caroline', asking her to explain to her other daughters ('the dear-loved young ladies') why he is favouring their sister separately on this occasion, to give Caroline a kiss and to tell her to remember her 'faithful Campbell'; he also writes that Brown cannot come to town for want of cash ('How can it happen that so small a man should get into such great difficulties'), informing her that he has sent off an issue of the New Monthly which has three 'sensible' letters from Algiers and commenting on the jocularity of the style of the author, presumably Mr St John ('much as he seems to enjoy them himself many of his jokes are very dull'), 2 pages, octavo, integral address leaf 'Mrs St John Algiers', small tear at intact wafer seal, pin holes, York Chambers, St James Street, London, 30 September 1835 £75††

CANETTI (ELIAS, 1905-1994, Austrian novelist, dramatist and essayist, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1981) REMARKABLE EARLY AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('CANETTI'), in German, to the historian C.V. Wedgwood, 4 pages, quarto, in pencil, with a typed translation and transcription, [Amersham: 'I feel smothered even in Amersham'], 18 June 1946 £2,500

CANETTI (ELIAS, 1905-1994, Austrian novelist, dramatist and essayist, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1981) GOOD AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Canetti'), to Veronica Wedgwood, translator of Auto-da-Fé, regretting that he cannot go to Electra with her because of the descent of some distant relatives, 1 page, small quarto, London, 30 November 1964 £400

CANETTI (ELIAS, 1905-1994, Austrian novelist, dramatist and essayist, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1981) FINE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED IN FULL ('Elias Canetti'), to the historian Veronica Wedgwood, translator of Auto-da-Fé, informing her of another offer from Italy for the translation of his book (probably Auto-da-Fé), reporting his unfortunate illness while on holiday in Cornwall, asking her not to tell his wife about this and making a veiled reference to a time they had spent together ('...I often think of our strange afternoon; perhaps you would have hated it, if the storm hadn't helped me. Or did you hate it anyway?...'), 2 pages, octavo, in pencil, Cornwall, Monday, no date or year £450

CARLYLE (THOMAS, 1795-1881, essayist and historian) REMARKABLE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('T. Carlyle'), to Captain D[avid] L[ester] Richardson, receiving his book [Literary Leaves] with immense enthusiasm, in comparison with his disenchanted reception of Pickwick which is revealed in this context for the first time in this letter, 4 closely written pages, quarto, integral address panel ('To Captain D.L. Richardson / Calcutta'), seal tear repaired, slight trace of former guard, 5 Cheyne Row, 19 December 1837 £2,850

CHATTERTON (THOMAS, 1752-1770, poet, literary hoaxer, committed suicide 25 August 1770) REMARKABLE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Thomas Chatterton'), TO HORACE WALPOLE, 1 page, small quarto, 8 April [17]69 £14,000

COLERIDGE (SAMUEL TAYLOR, 1772-1834, poet) REMARKABLE EARLY AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('S.T. Coleridge'), to his brother the Rev. George Coleridge, containing a fine and subtle exposition of his views about religion when only twenty-two years of age, 3 pages, folio, 30 March 1794 £3,250

COLERIDGE (SAMUEL TAYLOR, 1772-1834, poet) EMOTIONAL AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to Charles Augustus Tulk, 2 pages, quarto, slightly soiled and repaired down the fold and integral address leaf, small repair where opened, manuscript and stamped postal markings, Grove, Highgate, 15 March 1828 £2,000

COLETTE (SIDONIE GABRIELLE CLAUDINE, 1873-1954, French writer) AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT SIGNED ('Colette') to her collaborator as a playwright, Leopold Marchand, 3 pages, quarto, on light blue paper, with autograph revisions, last leaf deliberately cut across to remove signature possibly by the printing house and replaced with tape, no place, no date £850

COWPER (WILLIAM, 1731-1800, poet) FINE, LARGELY UNPUBLISHED AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Wm C'), to Samuel Rose, 4 pages, quarto including integral address panel, Weston Underwood, small repair where opened, intact seal, slight trace of former guard, manuscript and stamped postmarks, 11 November 1788 £2,850

COWPER (WILLIAM, 1731-1800, poet) WASH EN GRISAILLE PORTRAIT OF COWPER AFTER GEORGE ROMNEY, overall size including margins 10 x 8 inches, mounted on an album leaf with printed ephemera on the verso, 23 September 1808 £600

CRABBE (GEORGE, 1754-1832, poet) AUTOGRAPH DRAFT OF AN UNPUBLISHED POEM entitled 'The Tavern', comprising 53 lines in seven stanzas, 2 pages, octavo, blind-stamped armorial seal, Crabbe's name written at the end possibly by his son and namesake, trace of former hinge, no date £800††

DAY-LEWIS (CECIL, 1904-1972, poet laureate and novelist) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Cecil D.-L.'), to Nico Davies, naming two of his works ('...I'm very glad you liked A Time to Dance...Do you read detective novels - A Question of Proof, by Nicholas Blake (grandson of Saxton B.) is one of my less legitimate offspring: I think it would amuse you...'), mentioning Lionel Hedges, whom he knew at Cheltenham College where he is still teaching, providing information about himself ('...I have a wife, but not a beard: also two children [one of them being the future actor], the younger of whom - you'll be interested to know - is called Nicholas...') and arranging a time to meet in London 'to inspect the ravages of time', 2 pages, octavo, with the autograph envelope, Box Cottage, Bafford Lane, Charlton Kings, Glos, 17 April [postmarked 1935] £80††

In 1935, his last year as a teacher, Day-Lewis had just published A Time to Dance and A Question of Proof, his first detective novel, which he wrote under his pseudonym 'Nicholas Blake'.

DICKENS (CHARLES, 1812-1870, novelist) WATER-COLOUR DRAWING OF DICKENS'S COFFIN, by Byng Giraud, [c.14 June 1870] £1,500

DICKENS (CHARLES, 1812-1870, novelist and actor) GOOD AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Charles Dickens'), to an unnamed correspondent, refusing a request to read his manuscript, as he invariably does, 3 pages, octavo, two Chapman and Hall references at head,on black-edged stationery, Broadstairs, Kent, 13 September 1848 £950

DOBSON (AUSTIN, 1840-1921, poet) FINE PORTRAIT OF DOBSON, SIGNED BY BOTH THE SITTER AND THE ARTIST (Walker Hodgson), 1894 £1,350

DODGSON (CHARLES LUTWIDGE, 1832-1898, 'Lewis Carroll', author and mathematician) CHARMING AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Charles L. Dodgson'), to the lady-in-attendance on the Duchess of Albany, comparing the temperaments of the two children in her care, Princess Alice and Prince Charles Edward, 4 pages, octavo, autograph stamped envelope, Christ Church, Oxford, 12 June 1889 £5,000

DRINKWATER (JOHN, 1882-1937, playwright, poet and actor) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED AND TYPED LETTER SIGNED ('John Drinkwater'), to Lord Rennell, the former thanking him for his paper ('...Although I'm the smallest kind of a Greek in knowledge - though not in sympathy, I found myself reading your argument with excitement, and glad of your conclusions...'), and enclosing 'Garibaldi' [not with the letter] ('You will approve the theme in any case'); the latter saying that he is glad Rennell enjoyed 'Garibaldi' and looking forward to visiting him in Rome, 2 pages in all, octavo, North Hall, Mortimer Crescent, London, N.W.6, 20 December 1936 and 18 January 1937 £30††

DYER (Sir EDWARD, 1543-1607, poet and courtier) ATTRACTIVE DOCUMENT SIGNED ('By me Edward Dyer'). 1 page, oblong large octavo, indented at head, signatures of two witnesses, Stanhope's autograph docket on verso, 14 November 1598 £1,750

FORD (FORD MADOX, 1873-1939, English novelist, author of The Good Soldier) IMPORTANT TYPED LETTER SIGNED IN FULL, about his work and its reception, to Gerald Bullett of The Week End Review, 2 pages, quarto, Villa Paul, Cap-Brun, Toulon, 24 August 1933 £1,000††

GARCIA MARQUEZ (GABRIEL, b. 1928, novelist and winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982) IMPORTANT SERIES OF SEVEN LETTERS, in Spanish, to the writer and critic Alfredo Iriarte, openly and informally discussing his work and criticisms of it, 11 pages, folio, small quarto and octavo, La Habana in Cuba and Mexico City [no place on five of the letters], 3 January 1968, 1 April 1968, 2 March 1970, 4 June 1970, 31 July 1973, and two letters undated £6,500

GARRICK (DAVID, 1717-1779, actor) IMPORTANT RARE MEZZOTINT PORTRAIT OF DAVID GARRICK TAKEN AFTER HIS DEATH MASK, WITH EYES ADDED, BY ROBERT EDGE PINE, on wove paper, mounted to view, overall size of mount c. 20 x 14 inches, 4 April 1779 £2,500

GATTY (MARGARET, 1809-1873, children's writer) GOOD AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to Miss Thompson, thanking her effusively for her gift of sea water and flora which arrived just as she was filtering through charcoal and sand the sea water she possessed 'sadly disordered from deaths of mussels'; she particularly comments on the lilac sea anemones ("Anthea Cereus"...'my delight on seeing it was unmingled...'), other specimens ('Three cheers for that lovely "Ellan Naunisi" which is certainly a paradise in its way') and the stones, inviting her to stay, and vowing to settle her account with her, 3 pages, octavo, Ecclesfield, no date £100††

Mrs Gatty died at her home, Ecclesfield Vicarage on 4 October 1873.

GENLIS (Madame de, STEPHANIE-FELICITE DU CREST DE SAINT-AUBIN, 1746-1830, French writer) FINE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('D. Genlis'), in French, TO HER GRAND-DAUGHTER PAMELA FITZGERALD, 2 pages, quarto, integral address panel 'Pour Miss FitzGerald', 1 December 1812 £750††

GINSBERG (ALLEN, 1926-1997, American Beat poet) FINE WATER-COLOUR AND CRAYON PORTRAIT OF ALLEN GINSBERG, by Gordon Stuart, 1995 £2,750

GRANT (Mrs ANNE, 1755-1838, Scottish writer) LONG AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Anne Grant'), to Mrs Stuart at Barham, giving a full account of her life-style, needs and circumstances in her declining years, 4 pages, quarto, integral address panel, two small tears at black monogrammed seals, a few letters now on tabs under seals, Brae House, Edinburgh, 2 February 1827 £550

GRAY (DAVID, 1838-1861, Scottish poet) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to his fellow poet [John] Westland Marston, asking him for assistance with his rent because his funds are exhausted and he has 'to pass thro' another week of sickness and indisposition' before he returns to Scotland, stating that he thinks [Monckton] Milnes will assist him 'pecuniarily' in his journey home, and expressing the hope that Marston will forgive him 'this species of beggary', 3 pages, octavo, 66 Upper Stamford Street, 24 June 1860 £400††

Letters by David Gray are rare. He had gone to London earlier in the year because of Monckton Milnes's interest. Milnes urged his return, but on Gray's insistence that he wished to stay gave him some light literary work. Soon his health became troublesome and a severe cold (probably contracted in Hyde Park, where he spent his first London night) gradually settled on his lungs. He died on 3 December 1861. Milnes contributed the preface to his posthumous volume of poems, The Luggie and other Poems.

GREENE (GRAHAM, 1904-1991, novelist) and GELMAN (JUAN, Argentinian poet) DRAFT OF GREENE'S IMPORTANT LETTER ON THE SUBJECT OF 'THE PARADOXES OF ARGENTINA', 3 pages, folio, Gelman's letter to Greene addressed from Geneva, 21 August 1987 £2,000

GREENE (GRAHAM, 1904-1991, novelist) AUTOGRAPH LIST OF WRITERS, written by Greene on a manila folder headed 'Miscellaneous Not addressed to G.G.', no date £35††

HARDY (THOMAS, 1840-1928, novelist and poet) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to [Daisy] 'Margaret' [Gifford], expressing reservations about the verses he has written commemorating her sister, his cousin, Evelyn Hamilton Gifford, 1 page, small quarto, tipped into a copy of 'Late Lyrics and earlier', Max Gate, 26 July 1922 £800††

HARRIS (FRANK, 1854-1931, author) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to Edward Coyle, informing him that he is publishing his book on Oscar Wilde himself ('It's my best book so far & I am receiving enthusiastic praises of it'), mentioning particularly Mencken of The Smart Set who considers it the only picture of Wilde in existence, and discussing the distribution and telling him how to become a subscriber, 2 pages, octavo, with the original envelope, 3 Washington Square, New York, 15 June 1916 £165††

HARTE (BRET, 1836-1902, American writer) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to Miss Henniker, regretting that he cannot make a dinner date, 2 pages, octavo, trace of hinges, no date £55

HENRI (ADRIAN, born 1937, poet) FINE PORTRAIT IN OILS OF ADRIAN HENRI, a study by Peter Edwards, 1983 £850

HUGHES (TED, born 1930, poet, Poet Laureate) AUTOGRAPH DRAFT OF A FINE POEM entitled 'Playing with an Archetype,' 1 page, folio £1,500††

ISHERWOOD (CHRISTOPHER, 1909-1986, playwright and novelist) FINE PORTRAIT DRAWING BY MICHAEL AYRTON, with an excellent pencil portrait of Isherwood on the verso £2,000

JACOBS (WILLIAM WYMARK, 1863-1943, short story writer) AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT SIGNED OF HIS ARTLESS SHORT STORY 'KEEPING WATCH', signed in three places, 29 leaves, small quarto, no date [but c. 1913] £650††

JOHNSON (Dr SAMUEL, 1709-1784, critic, poet, conversationalist, lexicographer) AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF TWO SENTENCES FROM THE LIFE OF EDMUND WALLER IN LIVES OF THE ENGLISH POETS, comprising forty-one words, on paper, laid down, c. 2 x 5 inches £3,500

JOYCE (JAMES, 1882-1941, novelist, poet and playwright) FINE BRONZE UNIFACE MEDALLIC PORTRAIT OF JOYCE by Theodore Spicer-Simson, 1922 £1,250

KEYNES (Sir GEOFFREY LANGDON, 1887-1982, surgeon, literary scholar and bibliographer) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to Lady Gatty, thanking her for a print ('...a noble "Christmas card"...We have had a lively Christmas day here and at Bart's, with a truly pre-war blow-out in the middle...'), 1 page, octavo, 11 Arkwright Road, with the autograph envelope, 25 December 1946 £55††

KINGSLEY (CHARLES, 1819-1875, author and poet) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to an unnamed correspondent, regretting that since he is in the 'mid-agonies of packing' any attempt to find Lord Shaftesbury's speech will be as hopeless as previous attempts to find it; he also encloses a letter to the Medical Officer of the Bangor Union concerning Bangor, the adjacent villages and mountains asking that it be sent on to him, 4 pages, 12mo, light foxing, trace of former mounting, Eversley, 20 March 1854 £200††

KINGSLEY (Rev. CHARLES, 1819-1875, poet, novelist and writer) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, extolling the benefits of fishing, 3 pages, octavo, Eversley, 21 April 1858 £550

KIPLING (RUDYARD, 1865-1936, poet and novelist, awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature) IMPORTANT TYPED AND AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED WITH INITIALS, SUGGESTING A TRILOGY ON THE HISTORY OF MANKIND, TO RIDER HAGGARD, 2 pages, small folio, Bateman's, Burwash, 18 August 1923 £2,500

 

LARKIN (PHILIP, 1922-1985, poet and librarian) AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF HIS POEM 'HOW TO WIN THE NEXT ELECTION , 1 page, folio, filing holes [1970] £850††

LAWRENCE (DAVID HERBERT, 1885-1930, novelist and poet) REMARKABLY REVEALING AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('D.H. Lawrence'), TO OTTOLINE MORRELL, demonstrating his extraordinary misanthropy and contempt for the First World War, 4 pages, quarto, Porthcothan, St. Merryn, North Cornwall, 7 February 1916 £2,850

LAWRENCE (DAVID HERBERT, 1885-1930, novelist and poet) IMPORTANT AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('D.H. Lawrence'), to [Henry] Savage, celebrating life and child-birth, 4 pages, small quarto, 28 Percy Avenue, Kingsgate, Broadstairs, 'Friday', [18? July 1913] £3,500

LAWRENCE (FRIEDA, 1879-1956, wife of D.H. Lawrence, d. 1930) FINE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('F'), to Desmond [Hawkins], commenting on D.H. Lawrence's importance and value and recounting her displeasure that Lawrence loved humanity more than her, 3 pages, quarto, lined paper, filing holes, no place or date [but c. 1932] £1,000††

LEWIS (MATTHEW GREGORY, 1775-1818, author of the 'Monk') FINE LONG AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, containing a sustained attack upon the town of Kidderminster, to Lord Henry Petty, 4 full pages, quarto, Inveraray Castle, 10 September 1803 £1,800

LEWIS (MATTHEW GREGORY, 1775-1818, author of the 'Monk') FINE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to Sir Henry Petty, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, suggesting two new taxes to him, 4 pages, octavo, Barnes, Monday, no day, month or year [but 1806-1807, when Petty was Chancellor] £1,250††

LYTTON (EDWARD GEORGE EARLE LYTTON BULWER, 1803-1873, novelist, first Baron Lytton) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('E L Bulwer'), to Colonel D'Aquiler in Dublin, thanking him for his kind and spontaneous criticism of his book Athens, its Rise and Fall, 3 pages, quarto, 8 Charles Street, 4 June 1837 £480††

MACCAIG (NORMAN, born 1910, Scottish poet) AUTOGRAPH DRAFT OF A POEM, 'London to Edinburgh', comprising 17 lines beginning 'I'm waiting for the moment / when the train crosses the border...', 1 page, quarto, January 1989 £500††

MACHEN (ARTHUR, 1863-1947, Welsh novelist and essayist) FINE ETCHED STYLISED PORTRAIT OF ARTHUR MACHEN by Frederick Carter £550

MASEFIELD (JOHN, 1878-1967, poet laureate and novelist) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('John Masefield'), to an unknown recipient, thanking him for a 'most gracious and kindly gift', a copy of Hugh Conway's book A Life's Idylls, sent to him via Mr Haugh, the City Librarian of Oxford, 2 pages, octavo, Burcote Brook, Abingdon, 19 June [no year] £60

'Hugh Conway' was the pseudonym of Frederick John Fargus (1847-1885) who, like Masefield, had been a student on board the school frigate Conway. A Life's Idylls and other Poems (1879) contained the words of songs he had written as a clerk, and was the first work published under his pseudonym.

MEYERSTEIN (EDWARD HARRY WILLIAM, 1889-1952, poet) AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF HIS POEM 'THE TWO WORLDS', written on the inside of the upper wrapper of a copy of his Three Sonatas, signed with initials and inscribed to K and R Swan, comprising 20 lines, wrappers, slightly browned, number 79 of 150 copies, Bath, 1948 £120††

MEYERSTEIN (EDWARD HARRY WILLIAM, 1889-1952, poet) SIGNED COPY OF MEYERSTEIN'S IN TIME OF WAR, inscribed to 'Kathleen and Robert Swan with greetings for 1943 from E.H.W. Meyerstein', wrappers, slightly browned, tear along spine, The Richards Press, 1942 £60

MEYNELL (ALICE CHRISTIANA GERTRUDE, 1847-1922, poet, essayist and journalist) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Alice Meynell'), to Mrs Falk, thanking her for taking care of Olivia, her youngest daughter ('...Olivia is looking her old self, and better than before her illness. Your kindness has indeed done wonders...'), 2 pages, octavo, with the autograph envelope, 2A Granville Place, Portman Square, W., 4 June [postmarked 1913] £45††

MONTGOMERY (JAMES, 1771-1854, poet) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('J.Montgomery'), to the editors of James Thomson's Seasons and The Castle of Indolence, answering their proposal to prepare an introductory essay for their new edition ('...I will endeavour to satisfy you, and not dishonour myself by the performance...'), informing them of his intentions regarding his 'composition' ('...I presume that I shall be at liberty to introduce extracts from the poet's various works to illustrate the criticisms...They shall be of very moderate length, and without them mere prose strictures would be of little worth and less authority...') and congratulating them on the 'spirit and taste' of their publications, 1 page, quarto, slight browning, The Mount, Sheffield, 7 June 1841 £50††

MORGAN (Lady SYDNEY, 1783?-1859, novelist) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Sydney Morgan'), to Lady Louisa [Stuart], inviting her at short notice to an 'early Thé' and to hear the exquisite playing of an Italian pianist newly arrived in London, 2 pages, octavo, integral blank with traces of mounting, slight creasing, no date £120††

MULOCK (DINAH MARIA, 1826-1887, afterwards Mrs Craik, novelist and children's writer) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to an unnamed woman, regretting that having been out of town she has not been able to write anything about her Charity 'excellent as it doubtless is', and wishing it all success, 1 page, 12mo, blind-stamped with her initials, integral leaf with traces of mounting, Greenock, Scotland, 17 November 1864 £100††

MURRY (JOHN MIDDLETON, 1889-1957, author, critic and husband of Katherine Mansfield) GOOD AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to Lorine Pruette, defining the concept of a great man in relation to D.H. Lawrence and protesting that in his book he cannot be accused of patronising him ('The implication...is that I hold myself superior to Lawrence...that seems to me a fantastic impression...Lawrence was a great man: but a really great man...'), 1 page quarto, some wear, The Adelphi, 22 May 1931; together with a letter to Lorine Pruette from John Parks praising her for not shitting on Lawrence in her review of Murry's book and for not being taken in by Murry's stickiness and lies £120

NEWBOLT (Sir HENRY, 1862-1938, poet) PEN INK AND WASH CARICATURE OF NEWBOLT BY MAX BEERBOHM, 1914 £1,500

NORTON (Hon. CAROLINE, 1808-1877, poet and author) GOOD AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('C.N.'), to Lord Holland, thanking him for his kind letter about her son Fletcher [presumably at the time of the latter's death in Paris in 1859] and alluding to all the difficulties ('...I had still to arrange that difficult prose of destiny - money - and to see my own people & people of business - for Alas! one cannot "fly away & be at rest" like a Scriptural dove, but must have letters of credit &c...all is I think ready for Fletcher to take his holiday...I shall not forget that you cared enough to write to me about him...'), 4 pages, 16mo, slight trace of former mounting, very small hole in inner margin, Paris, no date, [but ?October 1859] £250††

OLIVIER (LAURENCE KERR, 1907-1989, actor and director, Lord Olivier of Brighton) FINE PORTRAIT BUST OF LAURENCE OLIVIER BY PETER LAMBDA (1911-1995), resin, with a dark brown convincingly bronze patination, on an ebonised wooden base, 21.5 inches (55 cms) high, [1951/1982] £4,250

PALMER (HERBERT, poet) GOOD LONG AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Herbert Palmer') ABOUT MODERN POETRY, to Derek Stanford, castigating Dylan Thomas, 4 pages, quarto, slightly worn, top half of the last page a little stained, mark from a paper-clip, 22 Batchwood View, St. Albany, 'Tuesday', no date £220††

PLATH (SYLVIA, 1932-1963, American poet) and HUGHES (TED, 1930-1998, poet) THEIR COPY OF WRITERS' AND ARTISTS' YEAR BOOK 1957, INSCRIBED BY SYLVIA PLATH IN THEIR JOINT NAMES AND ANNOTATED BY HER IN NUMEROUS PLACES, original cloth, dust-jacket a little worn, Adam and Charles Black, London, octavo, 1957 £4,850

POETRY. EARLY NINETEENTH-CENTURY SONNET FINELY ENGRAVED ON A SILVER MEMORIAL PLAQUE, THE REVERSE CONTAINING A LOCK OF HAIR AND PEARL, THE SUBJECTS OF THE POEM, c. 3¼ x 2¾ inches [undated or hallmarked, but early nineteenth-century] £1,500

POPE (ALEXANDER, 1688-1744, poet) FINE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY CAMEO RELIEF MEDALLION PORTRAIT OF POPE BY JAMES TASSIE (1735-1799), 27 mm high x 22 mm wide £850

POPE (ALEXANDER, 1688-1744, poet, translator of the classics, authority and consultant on gardens and grottoes) THE CELEBRATED AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, INCORPORATING THE DESIGN FOR HIS FAMILY FUNERARY MONUMENT, addressed to the sculptor [Francis] Bird, 1 page, quarto, no place [Twickenham], no date [Sherburn suggests ?1720] £6,250

PRIESTLEY (JOHN BOYNTON, 1894-1984, novelist, playwright and essayist) GOOD LITHOGRAPH PORTRAIT OF J. B. PRIESTLEY by Wyndham Lewis, head in profile facing right, 'signed' on the stone by the artist, framed and glazed, size of aperture 10 x 8 inches, overall size c.21 x 16 inches, 1932 £400

Lewis thought Priestley to have the typically 'tight and solid aggressiveness of the Yorkshireman'. This lithograph is from Thirty Personalities and a Self-Portrait, 1932.

PRINTING. FINE BRONZE MEDALLIC PORTRAIT OF JOHANN GUTENBERG, by Leon Julien Deschamps, c. 3 inches in diameter (75 mm), stamped 'bronze' on the rim, 'Biographical Dictionary of Medallists', vii, p. 217, good colour and patination, extremely fine, [1906] £500

PROCTER (BRYAN WALLER, 1787-1874, poet, known as 'Barry Cornwall') AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('B.W. Proctor'), to Reginald, evidently a boy, referring to himself in the third person as the 'strange man' whom Reginald had met at Mr Waller's house at Masongill, sending on his recollections of the meeting, including that Reginald had two black eyes not obtained in a fight ('It was asserted indeed that you had them by Inheritance'), the secrets entrusted to him about a white cat ('which was not the white Cat, I believe, of the faery tale') and that he is the historian of Boxer, for whom they might 'manufacture a fitting epitaph'; and also telling him that he, the unnamed guest, is sending him a battledore, three shuttlecocks and a book of stories, about the last of which his parents will speak to him, 4 pages, 12mo, small hole in inner margin, trace of mounting, 13 Upper Harley Street, Cavendish Square, London, 1 November 1849 £120††

QUENNELL (Sir PETER COURTNEY, 1905-1993, author and critic) WATER-COLOUR PORTRAIT OF PETER QUENNELL AND HIS TEDDY BEAR, by his mother Marjorie Quennell, 1912 £1,250

READE (CHARLES, 1814-1884, novelist and dramatist) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to Mr Anderson, thanking him for his letter, complimenting him on his address, and informing him of a forthcoming story by him, 1 page, quarto, foxed, trace of former mounts, deckle edge, 2 Adelphi Terrace, 20 November, no year £50††

READE (CHARLES, 1814-1884, novelist and dramatist) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to an unnamed neighbour, an amusing apology for his dog ('...the wild beast who governs and oppresses this house...I heard him but owing to the echoes of this spacious mansion could not divine where our Tormentor was...') and encouraging him to come and 'leather him', 3 pages, octavo, light browning, some marks from mounting, 20 December, no year £75††

ROBINSON (LENNOX, 1886-1958, Irish playwright) CRAYON PORTRAIT OF ROBINSON BY LAURA KNIGHT, 1925 £950

ROGERS (SAMUEL, 1763-1855, poet) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('S. Rogers'), to Henry [?Holland], begging leave to introduce Alexander Dobie, 'a Solicitor of eminence', to his notice and asking him to render any intelligence which he should have; he also describes his relationship with Mr Barnes who is involved ('...Politics, alas, which, as you know, have separated so many, have of late thrown us much asunder...'), sends his regards to Lady Augusta and mentions the artist Eastlake, 3 pages, octavo, St James's Place, 16 August 1840 £120††

ROLLAND (ROMAIN, 1866-1944, writer) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, in French, to the author of Le Bal du Comte d'Orgel, congratulating him on a masterpiece ('...in the classical, professional sense of the word...'), and playing on the notion that it deserves a master's degree, 2 pages, octavo, very faint foxing, 6 July 1925 £350††

ROUSSEAU ON WOMEN ROUSSEAU (JEAN-JACQUES, 1712-1778, French philosopher and author) AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT STUDY OF LES FEMMES DE LETTRES, from Roman to modern times, 12 pages, quarto, written down the right hand side of each page (some notes on left-hand side), small tear at head of third leaf partly damaging three words, some autograph revisions, no place or date [but 1746-1751] £3,000

SAND (GEORGE, 1804-1876, pseudonym of Amandine Aurore Lucie née Dupin, French writer, lover of Chopin) REMARKABLE FORTHRIGHT AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('George Sand'), in French, to Ferdinand Leroy, Prefect of the Indre, 5 pages, quarto, with a modern translation and the original envelope, Nohant, 24 October 1844 £2,250

SHAW (GEORGE BERNARD, 1856-1950, playwright, critic, Fabian) AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF HIS ARTICLE 'THE RECTORIAL CONTEST', 15 pages, quarto, written in pencil, with numerous autograph revisions throughout, signed at the end with initials, used as the printer's copy with one ink instruction to the printer and one request of Mr Somerville (also signed 'G.B.S.'), and a few light marks from the printer's fingers, dated from Scourie, Sutherland, 4 August 1925 £6,750

SHAW (GEORGE BERNARD, 1856-1950, playwright, critic, Fabian) AUTOGRAPH POSTCARD SIGNED WITH INITIALS, to Lady Simson: 'Magic & Witchcraft! Am I a conjuror? Go to Maskelyne. The Players are wonderful. Really a great achievement. The Carnegie people could not do better than subsidize you...I can bear your being in bed, but not in pain. Don't!...', with integral address, recipient's note, on the verso a photographic portrait of Shaw leaning on a fence, stamp and postmark, 29 April 1927 £275††

Lady Simson (d. 1957), the wife of Sir Henry Simson, was born Lena Ashwell. She was an actress and theatre manager who organised the Lena Ashwell Concerts at the Front between 1914 and 1920.

SHAW (GEORGE BERNARD, 1856-1950, playwright, critic, Fabian) ACERBIC AUTOGRAPH ANSWERS, written in reply to a second set of eight typed questions, each on a separate sheet, put to him by Ian Coster of The Sunday Dispatch, 8 pages, quarto, with the autograph envelope, paper-clip stains at the head of leaves, postmarked 8 December 1933 £1,250††

SHERIDAN (RICHARD BRINSLEY, 1751-1816, dramatist and orator) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('R.B. Sheridan'), to 'My dear Ironmonger' [?Richard Iremonger], asking him to forward an order to his valet George Edwards 'for the immediate sale of a sufficient quantity of grain to meet the taxes for God's sake take the management of this for me', as he is detained in town by political circumstances and the commands of the Prince, expressing his disappointment with Edwards ('...I am now confirmed in my opinion respecting him & his objects but that is between ourselves for the present...') for not selling the wheat to pay the taxes and selling all the timber unnecessarily, justifying his reaction ('...No man living that has known embarrassments ever steer'd more clear of asking or accepting pecuniary obligations from private friends than myself I know it to be the bane of cordial & confidential intercourse - but I am stung to the soul on the present occasion...'), and saying that he could raise £100 if necessary tomorrow, 2 pages, quarto, trace of former hinge, no place, Monday 25 September, no year £200††

SHERWOOD (Mrs MARY MARTHA, 1775-1851, author) AUTOGRAPH LETTER IN THE THIRD PERSON, to Mrs Stuart and Lady Northland, expressing her willingness to wait on them any evening in the current week if they will have the kindness to fix the day, 1 page, octavo, traces of mounting on verso, no place or date £150††

Manuscripts of Mrs Sherwood are rare.

SPENSER (EDMUND, 1552?-1599, poet) FINE EARLY SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY PORTRAIT SAID TO BE OF SPENSER, KNOWN AS THE 'KINNOULL PORTRAIT', [early seventeenth century] £22,500

STAFFORD (WILLIAM, born 1914, American poet) TYPESCRIPT WITH SUBSTANTIAL AUTOGRAPH REVISIONS OF HIS POEM 'AUTUMN', comprising 21 lines, six of them autograph and with other revisions and deletions, beginning 'Down the road old Mrs. Crew is raking / her widow lawn, wearing her loved-him hat. / Leaves have fallen all over town, / and it is time for that...', 1 page, quarto, no date £500††

STEELE (Sir RICHARD, 1672-1729, essayist and dramatist) GOOD MEZZOTINT PORTRAIT OF STEELE AFTER JONATHAN RICHARDSON, dark impression, mounted to view, one light crease at corner, framed and glazed, size of aperture c. 14 x 11 inches, overall size c. 21.5 x 17 inches, 1712 £450

STEELE (Sir RICHARD, 1672-1729, essayist and dramatist) CHARMING UNPUBLISHED AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Richard Steele'), to [Robert] Knight, formerly cashier and treasurer of the South Sea Bubble Company, 1 page, octavo, guarded down one edge, offsetting from the title of 'The Conscious Lovers', [London], 18 March 1722/3 £650††

SYMONDS (JOHN ADDINGTON, 1840-1893, poet and essayist) AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT OF HIS ESSAY 'THE PALACE OF URBINO', MARKED BY THE PRINTER AND ADDRESSED TO SIR LESLIE STEPHEN, 44 numbered leaves, large quarto, [1882] £2,000

TENNANT (STEPHEN, 1906-1987, 'Bright Young Person', artist, friend of Siegfried Sassoon) IMPORTANT LARGE BRONZE BUST OF TENNANT BY MAURICE LAMBERT, 1928 £5,500

TENNYSON (ALFRED, Lord, 1809-1892, poet) IMPORTANT AUTOGRAPH DRAFT OF HIS POEM 'TO THE QUEEN', comprising twelve four-line stanzas, with substantive autograph revisions, 3 pages, octavo, bound with blanks, red morocco, spine and dentelles by Riviere, upper cover detached, dated March 1851 £8,500

TENNYSON (ALFRED, Lord, 1809-1892, poet) FINE MEZZOTINT PORTRAIT OF TENNYSON, proof before lettering, by Sir Frank Short (1857-1945) after G.F. Watts (1817-1904), on Japan paper, size of platemark 16 x 11 inches, size of aperture 16.5 x 12 inches, overall size of mount 27.5 x 21 inches, [Robert Dunthorne at the Rembrandt Head, Vigo Street], undated [but 1903] £950

[THEATRE] AUTOGRAPH PROMOTIONAL PROPOSAL by the theatrical writer James Boaden (1762-1839) for a work to be called 'Memoirs of the British Stage by the author of the life of Kemble, with a letter to Thomas Hill saying the King is expecting him to write the book he is proposing, 3 pages, quarto, [15 March 1825] £150††

THOMAS (DYLAN, 1914-1953, poet) REMARKABLE AND HIGHLY DETAILED ELEVEN-PAGE AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Dylan'), TO HIS PARENTS, a wide-ranging report on his work and activities, 11 pages, quarto, on lined notebook paper, perforations down the left edges, Holywell Ford, Oxford, 12 January 1947 £3,250 plus VAT

TOLKIEN (JOHN RONALD REUEL, 1892-1973, writer) FINE LONG AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, written in his elegant calligraphic hand, to the American zoologist, George Lewis Hersh, concerning The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, 2 full pages, small quarto, Oxford, 30 August 1960 £2,500 plus VAT

[TOLKIEN (JOHN RONALD REUEL, 1892-1978, author and philologist)] AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED BY CECIL LEWIS ADDRESSED TO TOLKIEN, sending, as a stranger, information on the use of Siever's Schallanalyse theory in Germany, 1 page, quarto, faint foxing, Heidelberg, 5 July 1926 £50††

The writer of this letter, who signs himself as a member of Lincoln College, is thought to be the Cecil Lewis who was later a playwright and a friend of Charles Ricketts and wrote a biography of him.

Letters to Tolkien are uncommon.

TURNER (DAWSON, 1775-1858, botanist, antiquary and manuscript collector) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, to his fellow antiquary and collector, John Trotter Brockett, apologising for the delay in answering his letter and in paying for the copies of his new edition of Glossary [of North Country Words], the arrangements for the payment of which he outlines, congratulating him on the new edition, which is in many respects an improvement on its predecessor, announcing the forthcoming edition of his late tutor's glossary of the Ioanian tongue and regretting that Brockett had subscribed to it as he had meant to send him a copy, 2 pages, quarto, Yarmouth, integral address leaf, seal, postmark, 19 September 1829 £120††

WARREN (SAMUEL, 1807-1877, novelist) AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED ('Samuel Warren'), to the Hon. Stuart Knox, reminding him to come on Sunday at 6.30 pm 'military time' and telling him that the only other guest will be Mellish Q.C. 'by far the ablest member of the English Bar', 1 page, octavo, on mourning paper, integral blank with traces of mounting, 16 Manchester Square, 16 January 1869 £65††

WHITE (TERENCE HANBURY, 1906-1964, novelist) CORRECTED TYPESCRIPT OF AN EXTRACT FROM HIS DIARY, VIRTUALLY A SHORT STORY, AND THREE AUTOGRAPH LETTERS SIGNED, TO SIEGFRIED SASSOON AND HIS WIFE, 1938-1942 £850††

WOLFIT (Sir DONALD, 1902-1968, actor-manager) AUTOGRAPH CARD SIGNED 'D', to Miss Caryl Brahms, amusingly pleading business ('Ron can't leave the garden a lot before the flower show and the (?)moot of hedgehogs are fed nightly & watch their revels!' and mentioning a free-for-all TV show, 1 page, printed heading, Andover, 24 June 1967 £30††

WORDSWORTH (WILLIAM, 1770-1850, poet) IMPORTANT UNPUBLISHED AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, reminiscing about haunts shared with Coleridge at Alfoxden where they had written the Lyrical Ballads, to [?Thomas Hartree] Cornish, 4 pages, octavo, Bagborough [House, the home of Isabella Fenwick's sister Susan Popham], near Taunton, 20 May [1841] £2,000 plus VAT

WORDSWORTH (WILLIAM, 1770-1850, poet) FINE SET OF WORDSWORTH'S POEMS IN SEVEN VOLUMES INSCRIBED BY HIM 'To Louisa Susan Ricarda Fenwick from her affectionate Friend William Wordsworth Bath, March 23d 1847', seven volumes,, octavo, Edward Moxon, London, 1846 £2,250

WYCHERLEY (WILLIAM, 1640-1716, dramatist) GOOD MEZZOTINT PORTRAIT OF WYCHERLEY, after Peter Lely, by J. Smith, 1703 £450

ZOLA (ÉMILE, 1840-1902, novelist) FINE AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT 'PRÉFACE' TO HIS COMEDY LES HÉRITIERS RABOURDIN, SIGNED, MARKED UP FOR AND USED BY THE PRINTER, complete in itself, with numerous autograph deletions and revisions, 19 leaves, small quarto, dated 15 November 1874 £4,500