Autograph – Rare (33 items)

Vere Foster, "Presentation Copy of "The Two Duchesses" with Autograph / Manuscript-Letter

3. Foster, Vere [Henry Louis / Lewis] / [Emily Albinia “Alba” Foster] / [Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire / Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire].

Amazing Vere Foster-Collection including Educational Materials and as a centerpiece the “Presentation Copy of “The Two Duchesses” with Autograph / Manuscript – Letter by Vere Foster to his niece, Emily Albinia “Alba” Foster. With a stunning, unpublished, two-page-letter, revealing several important details about the immediately favorable reviews and reception of the book [″in the Daily Telegraph”] and Vere Foster’s disdain about some criticism from one J.Donohue [which led to an alteration in the second edition of the book]. Vere Foster is also expecting a review to appear in the “Athenaeum” but reports “the Athenaeum has nothing yet”. Vere Foster apologizes to his niece for the delay in sending the book and explains that he had left 12 “parcels″£ with Blackie’s agent and gave instructions to send them but a few days later found they had been “untouched”. / The Two Duchesses – Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire / Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire – Family Correspondence of and Relating to Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire / Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire, Earl of Bristol (Bishop of Derby), The Countess of Bristol, Lord and Lady Byron, The Earl of Aberdeen, Sir Augustus Foster Bart, and Others, 1777-1859. [See Full list of items which are part of this collection, on our website under the topic “Libraries & Collections”].

First Edition. London / Glasgow and Dublin, Blackie & Son Limited, 1898. Octavo (15 cm x 22 cm). Pagination: Frontispiece, IX, [3], 497 pages with 18 Illustrations (including frontispiece and one Vignette of the two Duchesses opposite page 1). Hardcover / Original, publisher’s green cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Very good condition with some minor signs of wear only. This is an astonishing find for the Vere Foster Research Community and the letter gives significant insight into the importance the publication had for him, its reception as seen by Vere Foster and it solves the riddle why an altertaion was necessary for the second edition [which Vere Foster explains in a brief note to the reader at the beginning of the second edition]. The heartfelt inscription to his niece Albinia Foster is also of great importance and to our knowledge the only presentation-copy of this book on the international market for the several decades we can look back at auction records.

EUR 4.800,-- 

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Archive of Naval Captain, Lieutenant commander [LCDR] William Hamilton Porter Jr.'s Love Letters / Lucky BAg with American Football - Baseball Images and artwork by Howard Chandler Christy

4. Porter Jr., LCDR William Hamilton / [Howard Chandler Christy].

Archive of Naval Captain, Lieutenant commander [LCDR] William Hamilton Porter Jr.‘s Love Letters to his wife Amy Manning Porter and letters to his mother Barbara Hamilton Porter, from his service during and after graduating from United States Naval Academy Annapolis MD, 1914. The Collection includes not only the Yearbook of the Brigade of Midshipmen, called “Lucky Bag”, signed with nearly all Graduates and with numerous amazing photographic illustrations of sports like American Football, Lacrosse, early photographs of Basketball and Baseball – Teams, images of visits to Ireland etc., but the collection includes nearly 50 manuscript letters by LCDR Porter from the USS Alden, USS Columbia, writing back home to his wife Amy between 1916 and 1920, reflecting his first tour of duty and sending letters from Constantinople, Smyrna, Venice, Dalmatia, Split, Naples, Samsoun, etc. The collection is full of reports of life on ship and upcoming tours to Naples, Genoa and Villefranche, relationship to the captain, Porter’s view on politics etc. Telegram about “USS Alden and two Destroyers of the 26th Division to be designated by USADRA proceed to Manila”. / Fantastic archive of an Annapolis Graduate with amazing artwork by Howard Chandler Christy in the “Lucky Bag” and a collection of letters in all its complete scarcity of completeness. The collection also includes the original letter of “Washington Granite Monumental” to Porter’s wife upon Porter’s burial at Arlington National Cemetery (he died in 1937).

Baltimore (Maryland) / Annapolis / USS Alden etc., 1916-1920. Octavo. Lucky Bag [Vol. XXI [Volume 21] of the Annual of the Brigade of Midshipmen at Annapolis / Two Ringfolders with original letters, telegrams and some photographs. Excellent condition with some minor signs of wear only. Check out a large collection of high quality photographs on our website, depicting Baseball, Crew Rwoing, Handball, Basketball and Baseball at the Academy in Annapolis. Rare collection with the wonderful original signatures of nearly all Graduates who served with LCDR Porter.

EUR 780,-- 

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Small Collection / Small Archive of two very rich and personal, handwritten & signed letters on cards by Sendak, together with a wonderful collection of fourteen (14) loose gicleé prints

7. Sendak, Maurice (1928 – 2012).

Collection / Archive of two very rich and personal, handwritten & signed letters on cards by Sendak, plus a rare, multi-folded, advertising-leporello of Maurice Sendak’s publications, together with a wonderful collection of fourteen (14) loose gicleé prints of original drawings by Maurice Sendak in colour or black and white: ‘A Kiss for Little Bear’ x 2 (26.5 cm x 34.5 cm) / ‘Zlateh the Goat’ x 2 (24 cm x 30 cm and 37.5 cm x 30 cm) / ‘Mr. Rabbit and the Lovely Present’ x 1 (33.4 cm x 41.5 cm) / Lullabies and Night Songs’ x 2 (35 cm x 26.5 cm and 44.5 cm x 33.5 cm) / ‘Hector Protector’ x 1 (46 cm x 26 cm) / ‘In the Night Kitchen’ x 4 (50 cm x 36 cm) / Higglety Pigglety Pop x 2 (28 cm x 35.5 cm). The two cards are addressed to “Minnie” [that is “Minnie Kate”] and were written at Christmas 1986 and Christmas 1987. According to a colleague in the trade, who helped us to identify the recipient “Minnie”, Minnie Kate, together with her mother, maintained a long friendship with Maurice Sendak by sending him colored stones or rocks that they sourced from local beaches in the northwest of the United States (Washington Statel). Most of Maurice Sendak’s correspondence with Minnie Kate and her mother, is preserved at the Rosenbach Museum & Library, Philadelphia. Both cards are similar in content. One of the cards featuring Sendak’s art from the cover of Nutcracker and addressed to Minnie, reading in part “I worked all year on a picture-book – a Grimm tale (my first book in 8 years !!). I am in love with it and it gets published next year….my wild things celebrate their 25th anniversary. I hope i enjoy it all. Am hoping for a quiet year ahead illustrating a Grimm tale and staying put – I am tired of travelling and theatre projects. And look forward to creeping back into my old role as book illustrator” / “The rocks arrived while I was away working in England. They are wonderful, of course, and very much appreciated. Thank you again and again. My animals. I have but one. My darling Golden Retriever, Io, had to be put to sleep 2 weeks ago. She was 15 1/2 and I held her and stayed with her to the end. It is so sad, naturally, but the memory fills me with a kind of joy. I have a 3 1/2 year old German Shepherd named Runge after a German painter (19th century). It was anything but a lazy year – too full! This coming year will be lazy-ish”.

Letters: 4 pages on two cards / Gicleé prints: 15 sheets (unsigned). [New York], 1986 – 1987. Very good condition.

EUR 1.280,-- 

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Collection of Five (5) Manuscript Letters from Greek-American Philosopher, Raphael Demos

8. [Aiken, Henry David] Demos, Raphael.

Collection of Five (5) Manuscript Letters from Greek-American Philosopher, Raphael Demos to Philosopher Henry David Aiken. Besides very few personal matters (Aiken rented a Lice-infested house from Demos), the letters are lengthy and full of content regarding philosophical questions. Demos thanks Aiken for his “thoughtful comments about my article on ‘Society and the Individual’ and Demos reflects on Aiken: “Now as to your point that goodwill is addressed to me which is capable of joys and sorrows and not just an angel – I will distinguish between respect and goodwill. Angels, because rational, have intrinsic worth, and so claim respect certainly. Value and respectability don’t imply capacity for feeling. But goodwill does imply that the recipient is a striving, failing, succeeding, up-ended individual, who has sorrows & grip – not just an angelic being. While the Greek identify man with his rationality, it is noticeable that common sense proceeds otherwise; when the Radcliffe girls say their Professor is so human, they don’t mean he is intellectual, they mean the opposite – that he has non-rational impulses and feelings…..” / The collection of letters originates from the personal collection of Henry Aiken and also comes with a scathing letter from American Philosopher Arthur Edward Murphy in which Murphy writes to Aiken about Raphael Demos and does not hold back in his evaluation of Demos and his Philosophy: “I just saw your remarks re Demos in the Journal. Very well done ! I think Demos is not very bright, however, and it is perhaps better not to give him too much publicity. I don’t think he will convert any one except for those already suffering from dithers & blithers. And it is a waste to refute him. Intelligent people don’t have to be convinced. And bigots like R.D. can’t be convinced. Strictly speaking, before Demos creates an obligation in others… he ought to say in plain unemotional prose what he means by such concepts as ‘God’ & ‘evidence’. It is perfectly possible that if we knew how he uses these terms, we would agree that what he says is trivially true. This discussion is presumably in the domain of logic. But discussion on that domain when one of the parties refuses to make explicit the rules of his game can never terminate in illumination. Nevertheless, I think you handled him neatly & have done yourself no harm as general opinion is concerned. He is a perfect horrible example of retrogression. Ugh ! A perfectly low grade person morally & intellectually nonregarding as a seer & defender of orthodoxy…… Have you seen Lazerowitz’s [Morris Lazerowitz] paper in Mind on Universals. It is highly provocative. I would like to discuss it with you….”.

Westport Point (Massachusetts), c.1944 – 1967. Octavo. 13 pages of letters by Raphael Demos to Aiken / [Plus:] 1 page of a manuscript letter by Arthur Edward Murphy to Aiken about Demos. Very good condition with only minor signs of wear. Original Letters or anything published by Raphael Demos or Arthur Edward Murphy, are very rare !

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Collection of four very important and meaningful manuscript letters by Leopold II

9. Congo / Kongo – Leopold II of Belgium (1835-1909) – King of the Belgians and Owner / Absolute Ruler of the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908.

Collection of four very important and meaningful manuscript letters by Leopold II to his administrator and Foreign Minister of the Congo – Free-State, Baron Adolphe de Cuvelier (1860-1931) with a total of 16 pages filled with Leopold’s instructions on pressing issues regarding a warning about an imminent visit by the Rector of the Mill-Hill Missionaries [probably Herbert Alfred Henry Vaughan (1832 – 1903)] and Leopold’s qualification of the visit of being detrimental to the Congo Free State (″ne travaillent pas pour l’État”). Leopold continues in another letter to talk about the hostile positions of english officials (consuls) and missionaries (″que les consuls anglais et les missionnaires anglais se conduisent bien mal envers l’État”). Interestingly, Leopold also touches on the nuisance of the german press criticizing Belgian Railway Lines and he is of the opinion that this is all happening in order to force the german parliament [″Reichstag”] to finance the building of the Tanganyika Railway [between Dar es Salaam and Kigoma]: (″cherche à effrayer l’opinion [en] Allemagne à propos de mes chemins de fer afin d’obtenir du Reichstag des fonds pour la ligne allemande vers le Tanganika”.

16 pages of MLS, Manuscript Letters (signed) on 10 leaves of Leopold’s official stationery “Château de Laeken” and “Palais de Bruxelles”. Laeken / Brussels, Château de Laeken [Palace of Laeken], 1901 – 1906. The leaves with different sizes (13,5 cm x 9 cm) and (18 cm x 11,5 cm). Excellent condition. Unsigned. Tremendously rare to find original letters by Leopold II on the open market in which the Colonial Free State and the protection against inquisitive visitors is discussed in such clear and instructive fashion. Leopold’s correspondence with Adolphe de Cuvelier shows how he is very much trying to still protect and influence the narrative of his Colonial Slavery Outpost even in the final years of his life.

EUR 7.800,-- 

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Goldschmid - Entwicklung und Bibliographie der Pathologisch-Anatomischen Abbildung.

11. Medical Illustration in Dermatology – Goldschmid, Edgar / [Georges Sarton].

Entwicklung und Bibliographie der Pathologisch-Anatomischen Abbildung. [Mit Autograph: TLS – Mit einem zweiseitigen Brief an Dr.Krieg in Wien, der von Goldschmid den Entwurf eines Nekrologs zu Georges Sarton erhofft hatte und diesen in Form dieses Briefs bekommt (von Goldschmid voll signiert) / Typed Letter (two pages, signed) by Edgar Goldschmid; the letter being a draft of an obituary on Georges Sarton (in german)].

Leipzig, Karl W. Hiersemann, 1925. Quarto (25 cm x 31 cm). 301 Seiten text plus 44 fantastisch-farbige Tafeln in Lichtdruck mit den original-bedruckten Schutzfolien / 301 pages plus 44 fantastic colour-plates with their original tissue-guards. Originales Ganzleinen des Hiersemann-Verlags / Original publisher’s cloth. Sehr guter Zustand mit nur geringen Gebrauchsspuren. Offensichtlich Handexemplar von Dr.Krieg (Wien) mit Anmerkungen in Bleistift auf dem Vorsatz (″Bei G[oldschmid] zufragen”) und gelegentlich im Text mit Korrekturen und Anmerkungen neben den von Goldschmid verfassten Bibliographien, moeglicherweise fuer eine nie erschienene zweite Auflage. / Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Extremely important landmark-publication in medicine, focusing on the importance of colour-illustration in dermatological diagnostics. This being the personal copy of Dr.Krieg (Vienna), with some annotations in pencil, reflecting questions and additional suggestions to some of the bibliographical entries, possibly for a second edition of the work.

EUR 580,-- 

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Taylor, Collection of six (6) items/original, vintage and personal materials

12. Taylor, Tom / [Abraham Lincoln].

Exquisite collection of six (6) items/original, vintage and personal materials by/of Tom Taylor. The collection includes a 2 1/2 page, signed manuscript letter [MLS] by Tom Taylor to an unknown recipient , discussing a memorial he sent to Robert Browning’s patron, John Kenyon and mentioning former Prime Minister Lord Aberdeen [George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen]. The collection also includes two vintage 19th century cabinet photographs [Carte de Visite’s] of Tom Taylor, a later edition of Ballads and Songs of Brittany and two beautifully inscribed and signed presentation copies of his major works: 1. The first edition of Ballads of Brittany – London/Cambridge, MacMillan and Co.,1865 with many illustrations by Tissot, Tenniel etc. (This first edition is signed and inscribed by Tom Taylor to Emilia Ventana at Xmas 1864, before the publication of the book commenced) and 2. Tom Taylor’s Historical Dramas. London, Chatto & Windus, 1877. Signed and inscribed by Tom Taylor to Marie de Beauvoisier in March 1879.

London / Cambridge etc., Chatto & Windus / Routledge & Sons / etc., c. 1850-1879. Octavo. Ballads and Songs of Brittany (1865 edition): Frontispice, XXII, 239 pages / Ballads and Songs of Brittany (Later Routledge edition): XVI, 176 pages / Tom Taylor’s Historical Dramas: VIII, 466, 32 pages. / Manuscript Letter: 2 1/2 pages. Original Hardcover / The manuscript letter in a Folder, it includes an A4 manuscript leaf from a 19th century autograph-collector describing the letter by Taylor. / The two vintage cabinet photographs of Taylor included in the Folder with the autograph. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear.

EUR 1.480,-- 

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[Tey, Josephine Tey - John Gielgud Collection of stunning Association copies

16. [Tey, Josephine / Daviot, Gordon] / [Gielgud, John].

Josephine Tey – John Gielgud Collection of stunning Association copies of Plays which crucially defined both of their careers as writers and actors. The collection includes important, signed and inscribed association – copies of the two significant productions “Richard of Bordeaux” and “Queen of Scots”, both from John Gielgud’s personal library and with manuscript inscriptions to John Gielgud [and Laurence [Larry] Olivier] by Josephine Tey, aka Gordon Daviot, aka Elizabeth MacKintosh. The collection includes: 1. Gordon Daviot [Josephine Tey] – “Richard of Bordeaux – A Play in Two Acts” – With John Gielgud’s Bookplate (Ex Libris). The ultimate Association-copy, warmly and lengthy inscribed by Josephine Tey to John Gielgud. First Edition. London, Victor Gollancz, 1933 / 2. “Richard of Bordeaux” – Original Programme of “The Streatham Hill Theatre”, 1934. Signed by John Gielgud / 3. Gordon Daviot [Josephine Tey] – “Richard of Bordeaux” – Original File-copy with dustjacket and Publisher’s wrapper “The Play of the Year” at the New Theatre” – First Edition, 1933 / 4. Gordon Daviot [Josephine Tey] Gordon Daviot – “Richard of Bordeaux – A Play in Two Acts” – [Fifth Edition, 1933] – Special Cast, Producer and Production-Signed copy and inscribed to one “Eileen Grainger”, with the most interesting dedications in manuscript signatures – Signed and inscribed by lead actor and producer John Gielgud [Richard II], Signed and inscribed by leading Lady, actress Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies, Signed and inscribed by Gordon Daviot [Josephine Tey], Also beautifully signed and inscribed with a musical score by Shakespeare-composer and Musical Director for John Gielgud, Herbert Menges OBE ! / 5. “Queen of Scots – A Play in Three Acts” – The Ultimate Association-copy, inscribed by Josephine Tey to her producer: “John Gielgud – from ‘his Gordon Daviot’ / July 1934” / 6. Gordon Daviot – “Queen of Scots – A Play in Three Acts” – Association-copy, signed and warmly and lengthy inscribed by Josephine Tey to Laurence Olivier / 7. Gordon Daviot [Josephine Tey] – “Richard of Bordeaux” – A Softcover-Version of the Play in Fourth Impression, 1933 / 8. Josephine Tey – “The Daughter of Time” – First Edition, Second Impression (Second Printing). London, Peter Davies, July 1951 [The First Edition was in June 1951]. Original Hardcover with the slightly frayed original dustjacket in Mylar / 9. John Gielgud – “Early Stages” – New and Revised Edition. London, The Falcon Press, 1948. With pages of detail about the work of John Gielgud with Gordon Daviot [Josephine Tey] / 10. Jennifer Morag Henderson – “Josephine Tey – A Life” – With a Foreword by Val McDermid. Sandstone Press, 2015 //

London, Victor Gollancz, 1933 – 1948. Octavo. Hardcover / Original Publisher’s cloth. Very good condition with only minor signs of wear.

EUR 12.800,-- 

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[West Highland Line] / [Scottish Railway Line Glasgow to Mallaig]

19. [West Highland Line] / [Scottish Railway Line Glasgow to Mallaig] / [Rathad Iarainn nan Eilean – “Iron Road to the Isles”]

Massive Photographic Documentation of The Western Highland Line [Glasgow to Mallaig] in 900 [ninehundred] vintage Photographs, taken over a period of 30 Years by a Railway and Nature-Explorer and placed in four massive XXL Folders with extensive, beautiful and detaild annotations and explanations. The photographs range from smaller formats (10 cm wide x 15.2 cm high) to a huge amount of Extra-Large Vintage Photographs (39.2 cm wide x 29.4 cm high) and many even measure 40 cm x33 cm, filling entire leaves. Many of the photographs are impeccably applied inside these High-End-Archival-Folders with often numerous captions in the handwriting of the Photographer / Highland Explorer. An inexplicably stunning and absolutely unique documentation of the scottish landscape along the West Highland Line between the years 1974 – 2002. The images document Scottish rivers, Lochs and Roads, Mountains and Hills alongside the Railway-Lines but landscapes are also often shown without the Railway present. Besides the nature we also find photographs of architectural features like overpasses or industrial buildings and railway-track-imagery masterfully photographe, bordering on the abilities of a New Objectivity – photographer like Albert Renger-Patzsch. An important, maybe even singular photographic Impact-study of Railway to the Scottish Highlands. The anonymous photographer has injected himself occasionally in the images, beautifully showing his pitched tent and motorcycle in order let the viewer understand the dedication his travels have cost him. The masterful photographer also showcases his love for detail and artistry by ever so often partially and sparsely coloring Railway-Waggons or Locomotives within his black-and-white-photography, highlighting the technology in the vulnerable landscape, giving the whole collection an artistic and critical component of focusing the viewer on the object of his desire, yet contrasting how lost even a magnificent Locomotive and its carriages seems when vanishing in front of the majestic scottish landscape. The documentation is meticulous, often allowing for multiple vintage photographs on one page showing the same location during different times, exhausting all questions of functionality of the Railway opposed to the landscape with or without Railway in the shots. For the conservation-movement of the Scottish Highlands this collection is an unbelievable chance to preserve the memory of this landmark Railway-Line, connecting the extreme remote with the urban. For those who research the scottish landscape this is a unique opportunity to acquire the life’s work of one man’s obsession with “Railway and Landscape” in the Scottish Highland.

Scotland, 1974-2002. Oblong-Folio (44 cm wide x 36 cm high). Hardcover / Original Full-Leather Folders with stong, black cardboards and original tissue-guards. Excellent condition with only minor signs of wear. With hundreds of manuscript annotations on the photography, the photography-technique, film used and with extensive elaborations on each photograph in these albums. More images on request !

EUR 12.800,-- 

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King Edward VII - [Buckingham Palace] Colonel F.M. Wardrop, Original Coronation Luncheon-Invitation-Ticket-List for the Year 1902

20. [Buckingham Palace] Wardrop, Colonel F.M. [C.B. abd Military Attache to the British Embassy in Vienna (1900-1909) as well as Aide de Camp during the Egyptian War].

Original Luncheon-Invitation-Ticket-List, published in Book-Form with original Ivory-Head-Pencil by Johann Faber (Bavaria), attached on the occasion of King Edward VII’s Coronation Dinner at : “Hotel Belgravia / Buckingham Palace” – Original Ticket-Book: “List of Guests for Luncheon and Dinner – 1902 for King Edward VII’s Guests Colonel F.M.Wardrop, C.B., Colonel Commandant Johann von Belnay, Lieutenant-Colonel Ludwig Koch and Captain Adalbert Guilleaume”.

[London], Buckingham Palace / Hotel Belgravia, 1902. Oblong Octavo (14.6 cm wide x 11.8 cm high). 40 pages with partial perforation for detaching of Luncheon- and Dinner-Tickets. Hardcover / Original Royal Blue Publisher’s cloth with gilt lettering on cover and pencil-satchet attached to the binding. Some minor staining to the binding only. Overall in very good condition with only minor signs of wear. With the pencil included and the original elastic ribbon which allows the booklet to be closed. Wonderful example of the wealth of the Coronation-Event at the end of the Victorian and the beginning of the Edwardian Age (printed ticket-books for 4 attendees seem very luxurious indeed). Five tickets were used for Dinner at the Belgravia and each remaining stub was signed / monogrammed by Colonel F.M.Wardrop.

EUR 1.275,-- 

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