VADIM ROGER: (1928-2000) French film director whose works include And God Created Woman (1956) starring his first wife Brigitte Bardot. Signed 7 x 9.5 photograph of Vadim standing outdoors in a half-length profile pose, with a garland of white flowers around his neck, alongside his second wife, the Danish actress Annette Stroyberg, who also wears a garland of white flowers. Photograph by Agence Dalmas of Paris and bearing their credit stamp to the verso. Signed by Vadim in bold, dark fountain pen ink with his name alone to a clear area at the head of the image. Signed photographs of Vadim are surprisingly rare. About EX
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BOGART HUMPHREY: (1899-1957) American actor, Academy Award winner for Best Actor in 1951 for his role as Charlie Allnut in The African Queen. Vintage signed and inscribed 8 x 10 photograph, the appealing Warner Bros. First National Pictures publicity portrait depicting Bogie seated in a half-length pose and holding a tobacco pipe in his hands. Signed in dark fountain pen ink to a largely clear area of the background, 'To Sammy Miller, good luck, Humphrey Bogart'. Some light surface and corner creasing and some light, minor staining close to, but not affecting, the signature and inscription. G
GAGARIN YURI: (1934-1968) Soviet cosmonaut, the first human to journey into outer space, travelling on Vostok 1, 12th April 1961. Signed colour 4 x 6.5 photograph of Gagarin in a head and shoulders pose wearing his uniform and various medals. Signed in black fountain pen ink with his name alone to the lower white border. A couple of tiny, minor smudges only very slightly affect the signature. A couple of slight corner creases and a few minor chips to the extreme edges and corners, about VG
HEIFETZ JASCHA: (1901-1987) Russian-born American violinist. The personal printed oblong 12mo Visiting Card of Heifetz and his wife, unsigned, featuring their printed name ('Mr. and Mrs. Jascha Heifetz') to the centre, and address at Park Avenue (New York; lightly struck through in ink) to the base, with three lines of text in the hand of Jascha Heifetz, 'Think you will find this show quite exceptional and his work very exciting'. One light paperclip indentation and a couple of minor creases, otherwise about VGHeifetz moved into a large penthouse apartment at 630 Park Avenue in 1935 at which time he was still married to his first wife, the American silent film actress Florence Vidor (1895-1977)
GAGARIN YURI: (1934-1968) Soviet cosmonaut, the first human to journey into outer space, travelling on Vostok 1, 12th April 1961. A good vintage signed and inscribed 3.5 x 5 photograph of Gagarin in a head and shoulders pose wearing his spacesuit and helmet. Signed in blue fountain pen ink to a light area of the image, with an inscription in Cyrillic to Maria Ivanovna Urakova, and dated 28th February 1964 in his hand. An engaging signed image with an interesting association. One very light, extremely minor corner crease, VGMaria Ivanovna Urakova - screenwriter of a documentary chronicling Gagarin's journey into space.
MIRO JOAN: (1893-1983) Spanish painter. An excellent, lengthy and early A.L.S., Miro, three pages, 4to, Barcelona, 7th April 1934, to [Christian] Zervos, in French. Miro states that he has received his correspondent's letter, article and photograph, explaining that he did not answer sooner 'parce que j'ai du me rendrer a Montrois pour verifier d'apres le dessins.....les dates exactes, et vous donner de la facon la plus exacte possible, les renseignments que vous m'aviez demande a Paris' (Translation: 'because I had to go to Montrois to check according to the drawings….the exact dates, and to give you in the most exact way possible, the information that you had asked me for in Paris') and continuing to write concerning Zervos's article, and offering some advice, 'Votre article est tres, tres bien, vous avez tres bien compris mes inquietudes, il est en meme temps ecrit avec un grand courage. Je l'ai lu maintes fois attentivement et en suis tres emu. Vous en remercie de tout Coeur. Il faudrait toutefois rectifer, quelques dates, il m'etait tres difficile de les preciser lors de notre entretien chez vous. J'estime que ces donnees doivent etre tres exacter, d'autant plus qu'elles seront repandues a l'etranger, ou l'on se servira de ce numero de "Cahiers d'Art" lorsque l'on voudra ecrire quelque chose d'important sur moi. a) J'ai commence l'etude de la peinture a l'age de 14 ans, mon premier professeur a ete Urgell, et plus tard Pasco. b) Je cesse de peindre de 1910 a 1912 - a partir de cette date je m'adonne entierement a la peinture et frequente a Barcelone certaines academies etc. et passe mes vacances a Montrois, je frequente les academies jusqu'a 1914, et desormais je travaillerai seul. c) arrive a Paris pour le premiere fois en mars 1919, et c'est a partir de cette date que je travaille tantot a Barcelone tantot a Montrois, tantot a Paris. d) qouique la plupart de reproductions n'auront pas de titre, il ne faudrait cependant pas negliger d'en mettre a celles que vous citez dans votre article et aux plus representatives pour mieux le comprendre. e) ces tableaux ont ete faits l'hiver et le printemps 1933. f) Je trouve aussi que c'est mieux que vous supprimiez ce passage. Comme vous voyez toutes les rectifications sont tres necessaires et tres importantes, je vous demande de faire l'impossible pour y etre a temps' (Translation: 'Your article is very, very good, you have understood my concerns very well, it is at the same time written with great courage. I have read it carefully many times and am very moved by it. Thank you wholeheartedly. However, it would be necessary to rectify a few dates, it was very difficult for me to specify them during our interview with you. I consider that this information must be very exact, especially since they will be spread abroad, where people will use this number of “Cahiers d'Art” when they want to write something important about me. a) I started studying painting at the age of 14, my first teacher was Urgell, and later Pasco. b) I stop painting from 1910 to 1912 - from this date I devote myself entirely to painting and attend certain academies etc. in Barcelona and spend my holidays in Montrois. I attended the academies until 1914 and from then on I would work alone. c) arrived in Paris for the first time in March 1919, and it was from this date that I worked sometimes in Barcelona, sometimes in Montrois, sometimes in Paris. d) although most of the reproductions will not have a title, you should not neglect to put one to those you quote in your article and to the most representative ones to better understand it. e) these paintings were made in the winter and spring of 1933. f) I also think it is better that you delete this passage. As you see all the corrections are very necessary and very important, I ask you to do the impossible to there in time'). Miro also asks his correspondent if they have decided to go ahead with an exhibition, and to let him know the exact date of the opening as soon as they know it, and further enquiring if invitations will be sent, in which case Miro will provide some addresses, additionally writing 'J'ai reflechi a ce que votre femme me demande d'apporter de nouveaux tableaux. Il me semble que cette nouvelle serie faudrait la montrer ensemble, ce serait une erreur que d'en exposer quelques specimens au prealable. Ce qui serait peut-etre tres bien, ce que, du moment ou "Cahiers d'Art" est consacre a toute mon oeuvre, vous exposiez aussi, dans une piece a part quelques toiles anciennes. En etant fait simultanement a l'apparition de "Cahiers d'Art" cela n'aura nullement l'air d'une retrospective, qu'il faut a tout prix eviter.......ca restera tres intime et n'aura pas l'air pretentieux d'une exposition rue de la Boetie. Et suivrait en meme temps la trajectoire qui se termine en 1933' (Translation: 'I thought about your wife asking me to bring new paintings. It seems to me that this new series should be shown together, it would be a mistake to exhibit a few specimens beforehand. What would perhaps be very good, since “Cahiers d'Art” is devoted to all my work, you also exhibit, in a separate room, a few old paintings. By being done simultaneously with the appearance of “Cahiers d'Art” it will in no way seem like a retrospective, which must be avoided at all costs….it will remain very intimate and will not have the pretentious air of an exhibition on rue de la Boetie. And at the same time it would follow the trajectory which ends in 1933'). Miro concludes by asking if Zervos has seen Pierre Matisse, explaining 'Je lui ai ecrit deux lettres en reponse a la sienne ou'il me faisait part de l'accord avec [Henri] Matisse et il ne m'a point repondu. Je lui demandais s'il m'autorisait a ecrire a Matisse pour lui demander de s'entendre avec lui pour les mensualites de maniere a ce que ce fut Pierre qui ces versat en toute sa totalite. Je crois que du moment ou Pierre est, pour ainsi dire, le marchand officiel, pourrait trouver des moyens pour regler les mensualites…..' (Translation: 'I wrote him two letters in response to his where he informed me of the agreement with [Henri] Matisse and he did not answer me. I asked him if he would authorise me to write to Matisse to ask him to come to an agreement with him for the monthly payments so that it was Pierre who would pay them in full. I believe that since Pierre is, so to speak, the official merchant, he could find ways to settle the monthly payments….'). A letter of fine content. Some very light, extremely minor age wear, VGChristian Zervos (1889-1970) Greek-French art historian, critic, collector, writer and publisher who founded the magazine Cahiers d'art and also ran an art gallery.Pierre Matisse (1900-1989) French-American art dealer, the youngest child of Henri Matisse. The Pierre Matisse Gallery was opened in New York in 1931 and represented many European artists including Miro, Marc Chagall, Alberto Giacometti and Jean Dubuffet amongst others.
ENGLAND FOOTBALL: A multiple signed First Day Cover by various England footballers and managers who represented the England national football team, some of them associated with England's World Cup victory in 1966, comprising Alf Ramsey, Bobby Charlton, Geoff Hurst, Tom Finney (signed twice) and Trevor Brooking. All have signed with their names alone to clear areas. The cover was issued to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's silver jubilee and is post marked at Edinburgh, 15th June 1977. A few light, minor creases to the upper edge, otherwise VG
GAYNOR JANET: (1906-1984) American actress, the first Academy Award winner for Best Actress in 1927/28 for her roles as Diana in Seventh Heaven, Angela in Street Angel and Indre in Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans. Signed 8 x 10 photograph, the original vintage 20th Century Fox publicity portrait by Frank Powolny (and bearing his credit stamp to the verso) depicting the actress in an appealing head and shoulders pose. Signed by Gaynor in blue ink with her name alone to the image. One very small, extremely minor tear to the left white border, VG
APOLLO-SOYUZ: Signed commemorative cover by the three Apollo crew members of the Apollo-Sozuz mission (1975) individually, comprising Tom Stafford (Commander), Vance Brand (Command Module Pilot) and Donald 'Deke' Slayton (Docking Module Pilot), and further signed by Gerald R. Ford (1913-2006) American President 1974-77. The cover features a colour cachet in honour of the joint space mission and the United States Navy Recovery Force and is post marked at Kennedy Space Centre, July 1973. Signed by each of the astronauts in black inks and by Ford in bold blue ink, each with their names alone to clear areas. Matted in dark blue above a printed caption and framed and glazed in a plain black frame to an overall size of 11.5 x 12.5. VGApollo-Soyuz was the first crewed international space mission, carried out jointly between the United States and the Soviet Union in July 1975. During the first crew exchange the crews were read a statement from Soviet Premier Leonid Brezhnev and received a telephone call from American President Gerald Ford.
EINSTEIN ALBERT: (1879-1955) German-born theoretical physicist, Nobel Prize winner for Physics, 1921. An impressive, large signed 17.5 x 23 silkscreen print by Einstein, the image being a well-executed line portrait of the scientist by the artist Joseph Scharl, 1946. Signed (‘A. Einstein’) by Einstein with his name alone to the lower left corner and also bearing the facsimile signature and date of Scharl. Matted in white and framed and glazed in a modern frame to an overall size of 26 x 36. A highly attractive signed image, effective in its confident and bold lines. Rare and desirable in this form. About EX Joseph Scharl (1896-1954) German-born American expressionist painter and graphic artist. Labelled a ‘degenerate’ artist by the Nazi Party, Scharl found it impossible to work in Germany and his immigration to the United States in 1939 was sponsored by Einstein. Scharl was not only supported financially by Albert Einstein, whom he had first met in Berlin in the 1920s, but also in the realisation of various exhibition projects. Scharl often visited Einstein, whom he painted several times, in Princeton and the two engaged in friendly correspondence from 1941 onwards. The years 1944-46, when the present portrait was created, marked the peak of Scharl’s fame in America. When Scharl passed away in 1954, a few months before his friend’s own death, Einstein gave the eulogy at the artist’s funeral.
RENOIR PIERRE-AUGUSTE: (1841-1919) French painter. A.L.S., Renoir, two pages (written to the first and third sides of the feint ruled bifolium). 8vo, Cagnes-sur-Mer, January 1909, to a lady, in French. Renoir writes a charming letter from his retreat on the French Riviera, commencing ‘Coco a recu le chemin de fer electrique dont il est tres fier. Quoiqu'il ne sache pas le faire marcher. Je lui avait predit que electrique etait de trop. Mais emballe par ce mot magique il n'a rien ecoute’ (Translation: ‘Coco received the electric railway of which he is very proud. Although he doesn’t know how to make it work. I told him that electric was too much. But carried away by this magic word he didn’t listen to anything’), further informing his correspondent that his family are all well, and hoping that she will survive the cold weather, and also writing ‘Nous avons un temps superbe qui va tout a fait a mes rhumatismes……Je pense souvent a vous car la solitude a cela de bon c'est que l'on peut par les pensees etre avec ceux qui vous plaisent. Ma femme et moi la brulle vous souhaitons un tas de bonnes choses’ (Translation: ‘We have superb weather which is helping my rheumatism……I often think of you because the good thing about solitude is that you can, through your thoughts, be with those you like. My wife and I wish you a lot of good things’). VG Claude Renoir (1901-1969) French ceramicist, the third and last son of Renoir. Affectionately named ‘Coco’ within his family, the young Claude was the subject of a number of paintings by his father.
VOLTA ALESSANDRO: (1745-1827) Italian physicist and chemist, a pioneer of electricty and power who is credited with inventing the electric battery and was also the discoverer of methane. An exceptional, lengthy A.L.S., Alessandro Volta, four pages, 4to, Como, 20th January 1775, to a revered colleague, perhaps Carlo Barletti, in Italian. Volta writes an excellent letter of scientific content having received a paper providing the conjectures and details of a discovery made by a professor from Reggio, and detailing his opinion of their work, 'I read with pleasure the paper containing the aforementioned conjectures, which, moreover, seemed to me to be no more than conjectures. To tell the truth, the author's idea of relating electrical phenomena to chemistry is beautiful, it is great and should lead to truth, but such a conception is singularly contrary to me, although I came close to it in my first dissertation "de viribus attractivis fluidi elettrici" which I hope to be able to send you, and in the second "Novus"..... in which I was quite ready to bring into play the mutual forces of the particles of the bodies, these forces not being different from the chemical affinities which, they too, are not mechanical forces..... But I must confess that I would not know how to proceed, not knowing if the author wants to establish three different substances: the volatile elemental fire, the fixed fire, and the electric fire which holds from one and the other, or if he reduces these differences to modifications of one and the same substance. I must make another observation on this subject.....the phenomena do not fit in with the hypothesis....for example the author seems to want to conclude that friction causes the electric fluid to pass from one of the two bodies in which it abounds, to one that possesses little of it.....this is openly contradicted by the facts. Before I had any experience of it I was inclined towards such a hypothesis, believing that glass receives fluid from the hand......because glass by nature lacks electric fluid, and that on the contrary sulphur and resins give fluid to the hand because they are saturated with it. I explained this opinion to Professor P. Maria, who did not agree with me. I myself have since abandoned it for the reasons he gave me and even more so because of my own experiments on silk.....glass does not always receive fluid when rubbed, nor from all bodies. If its surface is made rough, glass will give fluid to the hand or cloth that rubs it, and, even without making it rough, I have observed that it gave fluid if it was rubbed against the back of a living cat......a silk ribbon (I have experienced this several times) will give fluid to a piece of wood or metal that is very smooth, and it will then receive fluid from these same pieces if some rough part is rubbed against it. In short, it is proven that the rough or smooth surface of the same body, combined with other circumstances which do not ensure that this body is more or less full of electric fluid, changes the effects completely. Our burnt woods, in particular, sometimes give and sometimes receive the fluid..... If the author, by saying that friction causes the fluid to pass from a body that has too much of it to one that lacks it, meant a surplus or a lack that is not natural and inherent to the body, but results from the very act of friction; if he meant, I repeat, a surplus or a lack relative to the inequality, resulting from friction itself, in the mutual forces of the particles of the body being rubbed, by setting in motion especially the particles of the surface, by giving them new positions and making them present a new face; if he meant that one can give more or less vigour to the attractive forces of the particles that make up the surface. ...the author would not otherwise be contradicted by the facts exposed, he would even be approaching the explanation I gave in my dissertation. It would then be fairly easy to explain that friction animates the affinities, i.e. brings them into play, but it should be added that it animates them by alternating them, i.e. by strengthening or weakening them with respect to their primitive state.....' Autograph letters of Volta with such fine scientific content are extremely rare and highly desirable. A few very small, extremely minor holes caused by the iron gall ink, otherwise EXCarlo Barletti (1735-1800) Italian physicist, chair of experimental physics at the University of Pavia from 1772. Provenance: The present letter is understood to have been a part of the Fatio Collection, which was sold by Maison Charavay of Paris in January and June 1932, at which time it was acquired for the Gentili Collection, which was subsequently sold in Geneva in 1956.
NEHRU JAWAHARLAL: (1889-1964) Indian anti-colonial nationalist and statesman who served as the first Prime Minister of India 1950-64. The personal printed oblong 12mo Visiting Card of Nehru, unsigned, featuring his printed name to the centre and address as Allahabad, India, to the base, with two words in his hand above the address, Anand Bhawan, being the residence of the Nehru family. VGAnand Bhawan was purchased by Motilal Nehru in the 1930s as a family residence. Today it serves as a historic house museum having been donated to the Indian government in 1970 by the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru.
BUÑUEL LUIS: (1900-1983) Spanish Filmmaker. A reference for many Film Directors and the leader in the avant-garde surrealism cinema. Rare signed book `Luis Buñuel´, to the half-title page, being the soft cover First Edition of Buñuel, edited by Pierre Seghers in 1962, 5 x 6 original trade cover, 224 pages, in French. The Ado kyrou work is an early critical study of the pioneering and influential Spanish Director, who made films in nearly every genre over his 50 year career. including experimental films, musicals, comedies, crime, documentary and westerns. The book contains illustrations with numerous photographs throughout. G to VGThe present signed book provenance is from the collection of noted cinephile French collector Pierre Goulliard.
MADAME ROLAND: (1754-1793) Born Marie-Jeanne Philipon, also known as Manon Roland de la Platiere. French Revolutionary salonniere and Writer. She was the first Girondin to be arrested during the reign of terror and guillotined. Very rare A.L., signed with a small flourish, two pages, 8vo, in French. Manon sends a letter full of spicy comments, stating in part `Si j´étais dans une disposition caustique, je vous dirais que je vous fais passert trois lettres: d´une bégueule, l´autre d´un pédant, la troisieme d´un cadet de famille. Mais a la campagne on est pacifique, on pardonne aux sots; et partout on plaint les malheureux cadets. Silence donné! J´y consens, et c´est prudent; car je pourrais en dire long sur cette niece qui exhorte a pousser sa tante et qui pourrait si bien le faire elle même. J´imagine que vous n´attendrez plus rien de toute cette…´ ("If I was in a caustic disposition, I would tell you that I pass you three letters: one from a prude, the other from a pedant, the third from a cadet. But in the countryside we are peaceful, we forgive fools; and everywhere people pity the unfortunate cadets. Silence given! I consent to it, and it is prudent; because I could say a lot about this niece who urges to push her aunt and who could so well do it herself. I imagine that you will expect nothing more from all this..") Madame Roland, known as "Madame", says before concluding `Adieu, le soleil m´a fait mal a la tête,…. et je pleure comme un enfant. J´ai encore le coeur et l´esprit tous neufs pour les romans´ ("Goodbye, the sun gave me a headache,…. and I cry like a child. I still have a brand new heart and mind for novels..") Overall age wear and small creasing, otherwise G
CHER: (1946- ) American Singer and Actress. Academy Award winner. Signed 8 x 10 photograph, the pomotional Universal City Studios image depicting Cher standing, in a three-quarter length pose, in a scene of Peter Bogdanovich´s film Mask (1985). Cher received the 1985 Cannes Film Festival award for Best Actress for her role as a drug addict biker with a teenage son with severe physical deformity. The film reached number two at the box office and is considered Cher´s first critical and commercial success as a leading actress. Signed in bold black ink to a clear area of the image. VG
YOURCENAR MARGUERITE: (1903-1987) French-American Novelist. First woman ever elected to the French Academy. An excellent contant T.L.S., `Marguerite Yourcenar´, a bold black ink signature, three pages, on three sheets, 4to, Petite Plaisance, NorthEast Harbor, Maine, 5th January 1966, to Helene Abraham, in Paris, in French. A very interesting literary content letter, being a beautiful and lengthy dissertation on the theme of Jenny de Vasson's book, through which Yourcenar approaches many aspects of the human personality, referring to multiple main figures of the literature of all times, to the role of the woman in different periods, and stating in part `Le livre de Jenny de Vasson est depuis Juin dernier sur ma table, je l´ai lu et relu et abondamment annoté... Rien de plus enrichissant qu´un tel recueil. Une femme que nous aurions pu connaitre durant notre adolescence, que nous avions peut-être coudoyée dans quelque rue de Paris en 1918 ou 1919, mais dont nous ne savions rien, pas même le nom, devient tout à coup une amie et nous prouve une fois de plus combien grandes et variées sont ces richesses secrètes des êtres qui presque jamais n´affleurent à la surface.... Elle nous touche là même où ses opinions diffèrent en tout des notres. Ses vues sur la femme et sur l´amour nous scandalisent presque parce qu´elles sont à l´opposé de ce que nous tenons désormais pour naturel et raisonnable; mais j´avoue que sa ferme adhésion à ce qui nous semble des préjugés m´a fait réfléchir à nos préjugés tout contraires, et me demander si l´image que nous nous faisons aujourd´hui de la femme n´est pas aussi incomplète que celle que s´en faisait Jenny de Vasson´ (Translation: "Jenny de Vasson's book has been on my table since last June, I have read and re-read it and annotated extensively... Nothing is more enriching than such a collection. A woman whom we might have known during our adolescence, whom we had perhaps rubbed shoulders with in some street in Paris in 1918 or 1919, but of whom we knew nothing, not even the name, suddenly becomes a friend and proves to us once again how great and varied are these secret richness of beings which almost never surface.... She touches us even where her opinions differ in everything from ours. Her views on women and on love almost scandalize us because they are the opposite of what we now consider natural and reasonable; but I admit that her firm adherence to what seems to us to be prejudices made me reflect on our very contrary prejudices, and ask myself if the image we have today of women is not as incomplete as the one that Jenny de Vasson made of it") Further Yourcenar refers to specific parts of the work, saying `...il y a cette merveilleuse rencontre de la fillette de treize ans avec Dante, et plus tard le contact intelligent avec Goethe. Là même où elle se butte, contre Shakespeare, qu´elle aime peu, contre Pascal et Stendhal qu´elle juge trop sur leurs seuls défauts...´ (Translation "...there is this wonderful meeting of the thirteen-year-old girl with Dante, and later the intelligent contact with Goethe. The very place where she comes up against, against Shakespeare, whom she doesn't like, against Pascal and Stendhal, whom she judges too much on their only faults...") and further continues referring to Rimbaud, Shaw, Dostoievsky, Chekhov, Proust, Romain Rolland and many more authors. Further again, Yourcenar refers to the role of women only some decades earlier and how de Vasson could make such a so fine analysis despite her remoteness from large cities and even from people, and states in part `C´est à peu près ce que Proust, avec une extrême subtilité, a dit de sa mère et de sa grand.mère, et l´on voit comment les errements politiques de la France depuis plus d´un siècle avaient d´une part découragé ces bons esprits de toute action civique, et comment, de l´autre la Charité restait pour eux une vertu théologale, unie à la Foi quíls n´avaient plus...´ (Translation: "This is more or less what Proust, with extreme subtlety, said about his mother and his grandmother, and we see how the political errors of France for more than a century had on the one hand discouraged these good spirits from any civic action, and how, on the other hand, Charity remained for them a theological virtue, united to the Faith which they no longer had...") Before concluding this lengthy and very interesting content letter, Yourcenar states `Je me suis souvent demnandé en lisant ces Carnets ce que leur auteur serait devenue si au lieu de mourir à quarante-huit ans en 1920 elle était morte à soixante-huit ans en 1940, ou à soixante-treize ans en 1945. Mais peut-être a-t-il mieux valu pour elle que tant de dissonnances ne soient pas venues briser ce qui semble à distance un accord presque parfait...´ (Translation: "I have often wondered while reading these Notebooks what their author would have become if instead of dying at forty-eight in 1920 she had died at sixty-eight in 1940, or at seventy-three in 1945. But perhaps it was better for her that so many dissonances did not break up what seems from a distance an almost perfect agreement...") The three sheets are joined to the upper left corner. VG Jenny Marie Nannecy Girard de Vasson (1872-1920) De Vasson was one of the first notable women photographers in France. During her relatively brief career, she created over 5,000 images. In her will, she requested that all her writings, drawings, and everything that could be linked to an artistic activity, be destroyed after her death. She omitted to mention her photographs, because she considered them to be memories, not creative works. A large number were destroyed, however, during World War II
FRANCK CESAR: (1822-1890) Belgian-born French composer and pianist of the Romantic period. A.L., unsigned, to the recto and verso of his personal printed oblong 12mo Visiting Card, featuring his printed name ('Cesar Franck, Professeur au Conservatoire de Musique, Organiste de Ste. Clotilde') to the centre and address at Boulevard St. Michel (Paris) at the base, n.p., n.d. (c.1879), to Auguel (?), in French. Franck writes, in full, 'Je n'ai pas en le plaisir de vous voir aujourd'hui mais cela ne me donne aucune inquietude sur votre compte. Vous savez que nous repetons avec orchestre mardi et mercredi matin ou commencera par les Beatitudes ayez donc la bonte d'etre au trocadero a 9 heures' (Translation: 'I haven't had the pleasure of seeing you today, but that doesn't give me any cause for concern. You know that we are rehearsing again with an orchestra on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, starting with the Beatitudes, so please be at the Trocadero at 9 o'clock.'). VGFranck became organist at the Basilica of St. Clotilde, Paris, in 1858 and retained the position for the rest of his life. He was appointed a professor at the Paris Conservatoire in 1872. Les Beatitudes (Op. 25) was written by Franck over a period of a decade from 1869-79 and is an oratorio scored for orchestra, choir and eight soloists. It is one of Franck's larger compositions, at almost two hours, and was first performed, in a reduced form, at a private performance in Franck's home in Paris on 20th February 1879.
REED OLIVER: (1938-1999) English actor. Signed 8 x 10 photograph of Reed in a half-length pose in costume as the werewolf Leon Corledo from the British horror film The Curse of the Werewolf (1961), which represented Reed's first starring role and was made by Hammer Film Productions Ltd. Signed by Reed in bold dark fountain pen ink with his name alone to the base of the image. EX
NICHOLSON JACK: (1937- ) American Actor. Three times Best Actor Academy Award winner. Signed 10 x 8 photograph by Nicholson, the image showing the actor in a close-up portrait pose, in his role as R.P. McMurphy in a scene from Milos Forman´s awarded film One Flew Over the Cuckoo´s Nest (1975), which gave him his first Best Actor Oscar. Signed in bold blue ink to the right clear border of the image. Neatly mounted on card. VG
FRANÇOIS I: (1494-1547) King of France 1515-1547. First King of France from the Angouleme branch. He succeeded his cousin and father-in-law Louis XII. A Patron of the arts who initiated the French Renaissance and attracted Italian artists to France, including Leonardo da Vinci, whose Mona Lisa was bought by King Francis. A rare L.S. 'Francoys', a clean signature, one page, 4to, Saint-Germain en Laye, 13th January 1529, in French. The letter refers to the Court trial against Louis Berquin and Antoine Papillon, Protestants, accused of heresy. The King insists, urging the judges to close the court case as soon as possible, stating in part `De par le Roy, A nos amiz et féaux...pour vacquer à toute diligence à l´expédition des procès de Berquin et Papillon... que cette affaire preine fin. Cy vous prions et néanmoins mandons et commandons tres expressement...que vous ayez a entendre incontinant à l´expédition et jugement des dits procès de sorte que les dits Berquin et Papillon n´ayent plus occasion soy retirer par devers nous pour avoir justice´ Countersigned at the base by Robertet `Robertet´. Addressed to the verso, also bearing a clerk contemporary annotation. Transcription included. Two very small areas of paper loss to the upper and bottom right corner, none of them affecting the text. Very small overall minor age wear, very slightly uneven left edge as a result of a former binding. G This letter evokes a dramatic episode during the reign of Francis I. The trial and execution of the Protestant Louis Berquin (1490-1529) who was burned with his books in a public square. Berquin, a scholar, had joined the Reform party. Having accused the theologians of the Sorbonne of heresy, he was imprisoned for the first time in 1526. The King ordered the sentence to be suspended and thus saved Berquin's life. But he would be arrested again a few years later, preaching reform with Antoine Papillon who translated Martin Luther and introduced his writings.
O'NEILL EUGENE: (1888-1953) American playwright, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, 1936. An interesting A.L.S., Eugene O'Neill, to two sides of a correspondence card, Le Plessis, Saint-Antoine-du-Rocher, 19th September n.y. (1929), to [Maurice] Bourgeois. O'Neill informs his correspondent that he has signed the papaers that they had sent, explaining 'I have put down as my address care of the American Play Co. It is possible I may have to return to America before long and that address will always reach me. Moreover, since the agreement between us for "The Hairy Ape" translation was made through that agency my contract with them requires that all royalty payments should be made to them for me and cannot be made directly to me'. O'Neill continues to confirm that he will be happy to pay his share of the business expenses that have been incurred, and further writes 'As for the matter of an advance royalty, as you say I should have spoken sooner. But it was to your advantage and protection as well as mine to ask for one. But of course, if it is not customary, that explains matters. I think it should be made customary though, since it is such a general rule in other countries and is such a good protection for dramatists and translators'. The playwright also expresses his regret at not being able to get to Paris as he has to complete some work which must be sent to New York, and concludes his letter by remarking 'I certainly hope with you that "The Ape" may succeed and make some money. All I meant was that it is the sort of play, as results elsewhere have proved, that it is a big gamble as far as reaching any wide public is concerned. It is either liked very much - or not liked at all'. A letter of good content to O'Neill's young French translator. One heavy vertical fold to the centre, otherwise about VGThe Hairy Ape, O'Neill's expressionist play of 1922, was translated by Maurice Bourgeois and the first French production was staged at the Theatre des Arts in Paris in 1929. However, the work involved for Bourgeois took its toll on his mental health and newspaper reports of the time (under headlines including 'Dramatist Goes Mad') stated 'Bourgeois......went mad following the dress rehearsal.....his friends believe that the highly emotional title role of the play he translated played a part. At all events, Bourgeois went into a dressing room of the theatre after the play and put on the rough clothes and cap of the hairy ape......A director of the theatre found him wandering about the corridors in those clothes, and on speaking to him Bourgeois became violent and smashed up furniture. He then climbed on to the roof and walked about there.......finally, at 1.30 in the morning, they called in the police'.
DEIGHTON LEN: (1929- ) British author, best known for his spy novels including The IPCRESS File (1962). Small correspondence collection of six T.Ls.S., Len, and one photocopied letter, eight pages (total), mainly 4to, London and Dundalk, Co. Louth, 1966-75, all to Tom Maschler. Deighton writes on a variety of subjects, including his own works, in part, 'Thank you very much for the super edition of Billion Dollar Brain....As always it is a beautiful piece of work' (15th December 1966), 'I was a little disappointed that you had not gone along with any of my suggestions re adverts in the small circulation technical magazines that I listed. Especially since the cost involved would have been so minute. When I left NY last week BOMBER was listed as a candidate for the BS list....Its selling 2,000 a week. Jay says if it was on the list it would be climbing......Confidentially Jay Iselin has complications with that job at Harper. If he stays on after Jan 1st it will be in an altered structure (and capacity). I hope he stays, as I got to like him very much as far as one can in such a short time. However monolithic organisations (like Newsweek) breed organisation men and publishers must be mavericks - like you! And perhaps me too' (16th November 1970), 'Could you oblige by reacting to this chap with your usual sympathy and understanding - no perhaps you'd better be nicer than that - joke - oh boy! I've probably screwed this fellows chance of literary fame even before its started' (n.d., although 1975 and accompanied by a few related letters etc.), 'Tony Godwin has sent me his editorial notes. How he did it in the time is quite fantastic - twenty closely typed pages. I have been stupid enough to leave myself without a proper copy of the MS and am working from a Xerox of the draft but Anton is coming here soon and will bring one with page numbers that correspond with Tony G's notes. I'm hoping that by the time your editor is ready, I will have fixed Tony G's too, so that he will have a master copy.....The only major suggestion of Tony's is to scrap the first chapter - I think this is a good idea' (12th November 1975). The photocopied letter dates from December 1970 and points to a rift between writer and publisher over BOMBER, in part, 'Noting as I do the virtual absence of adverts and remembering that [this] brings no advantages to the writer you might conclude that you have a very very dissatisfied writer here; You would be correct'. Some light creasing and age wear, G, 7Tom Maschler (1933-2020) British publisher who, from 1960, was head of the publishing company Jonathan Cape for more than three decades. Maschler was also instrumental in establishing the Booker Prize in 1969.
GRIEG EDVARD: (1843-1907) Norwegian composer and pianist. A very fine AM.Q.S., Edvard Grieg, one page, oblong 12mo, 7 x 4, n.p., dated 31st May 1892 in his hand. Gried has cleanly penned a four bars of music, which he entitles to the heading `Strygekvartet op.27´, which corresponds to his string Quartet nº 1, in G minor (1877-78). Grieg also adds the musical tempo above the quotation `Presto´. Very small ninor remnants of former afficxing to the verso, otherwsie, VG The String Quartet No. 1 in G minor, Op. 27, is the second of three string quartets written by the composer. The first, in D minor, was an early work, now lost, written in the early 1860s at the request of his teacher, Carl Reinecke, while the third quartet, in F major, remained incomplete at the composer's death.
LIVERPOOL EARL OF: (1770-1828) British Prime Minister 1812-27. A good, large D.S., Liverpool, one page (vellum), large oblong folio, n.p., 13th September 1809. The partially printed document, completed in manuscript, is a Deputy Lieutenant's Commission addressed to Francis William Cobb and states, in part, 'His Majesty's Lieutenants are thereby authorized and impowered to appoint Deputy Lieutenants for their respective counties, and the Warden of the Cinque Ports, Two Ancient Towns and their Members.......And whereas by one other Act of Parliament made in the 48th Year of the Reign of his said present Majesty, intituled "An Act for enabling His Majesty to establish a permanent Local Militia Force, under certain Restrictions, for the Defence of the Realm". amongst other Things the Mayors, Jurats or other Magistrates. for the Time being........shall and may Act as Deputy Lieutenants for the Purposes of this Act, and the said Warden was thereby authorized to appoint any other Persons qualified in the Manner directed by the said first recited Act, to act in like Manner as Deputy Lieutenants......In pursuance therefore of the said recited Acts, I the said Robert Earl of Liverpool, with His Majesty's Approbation, have nominated, constituted, and deputed, and by these Presents, DO nominate, constitute and depute you the said Francis William Cobb to be one of my Deputy Lieutenants.....you having delivered into the Clerk of the Peace. of the Town and Port of Dovor a specific Description, in writing, signed by yourself. of a sufficient Qualification for holding this Commission......to act, do, execute and perform, all and every Act and Acts, Powers, Matters and Things, in the said Acts of Parliament contained, which on the Parts and Behalfs of Deputy Lieutenants.....may or ought to be done, acted, executed, and performed, and that in all Things according to the true Intent and Meaning of the same'. Signed by the Earl of Liverpool at the foot alongside a good red wax seal. With a further affixed small blind embossed paper seal and blue revenue stamp. A few minor folds and light age wear, otherwise VGFrancis William Cobb (1781-1871) English brewer, banker, shipping agent, coal merchant; the third member of his family to serve as Deputy Lieutenant of Dover.
BECKETT SAMUEL: (1906-1989) Irish novelist and playwright, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, 1969. A.L.S., Sam, to the verso of a vintage picture postcard of a memorial cross at Jouarre, Ussy, 6th February 1958, to Deryck [Mendel]. Beckett thanks his friend for their letter and remarks that he was pleased to hear about the Biennale, continuing 'What about the sack mime instead? Less cumbersome, and good opportunity to get it working, Is this a silly idea? Probably. Think it over'. Beckett also informs his friend that he will be in Paris next week ('Hope you will come for a taste of carrot one day') and further writes 'Sorry about Dublin. Hope your dancers were not too desolated. Well out of that Jesuits' close stool' before concluding with a reference to his lover and future wife, Suzanne Dechevaux-Dumesnil, a pianist, 'Suzanne is off gallivanting in Vienna. Opening this evening'. VGDeryck Mendel (1920-2013) British ballet dancer, choreographer, actor and director, a friend of Beckett. The playwright wrote the short play Act Without Words I in 1956 for Mendel and the dancer first performed the mime at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 3rd April 1957.In the present letter Beckett offers Mendel the chance to stage his second short mime play Act Without Words II which featured two men in sacks, one of whom (amongst other activities) nibbles on a carrot which he then promptly spits out in disgust.
SKYLAB 4: Signed commemorative cover by all three crew members of Skylab 4 (1973) individually, comprising Jerry Carr (Commander), Ed Gibson (Science Pilot) and Bill Pogue (Pilot), the cover featuring a colour sticker commemorating Skylab 4 issued by the Philatelic Society of Pittsburgh. Post marked at Pittsburgh, 3rd November 1974. Signed by all three astronauts with their names alone to clear areas of the cover. Very slightly irregularly trimmed to the edges, GSkylab 4 was the third crewed Skylab mission and placed the third and final crew aboard the first American space station.
NICOLAS I: (1841-1921) King of Montenegro 1910-18, the country's first and only King. A.L.S., Nicolas, two pages, 4to, Paris, 5th June 1891, to General [Joseph Brugere], in French. The Prince informs his correspondent that he is obliged to leave Paris now that the Princess is well on her way to recovery, and continues to make a request of Brugere, explaining 'le Dr Poirier, qui est venu a Cettigne pour consulter la Princesse et qui la soigne actuellement a Paris aspire au titre de Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur. Le Dr Poirier est Professeur agrege, Chef des travaux anatomiques, Chirurgien de vos hopitaux. Je sais d'ailleurs par lui que, depuis plusieurs annees deja, il est presente en premiere ligne par le Doyen de la Faculte de Medecine. Or, je serais tres heureux, etant personnellement tres reconnaissant a Mr. Poirier, d'etre pour quelque chose dans l'honneur qui lui est reserve, ne fut-ce que pour en avancer le moment de quelques mois' (Translation: 'Dr Poirier, who came to Cettigne to see the Princess and who is now treating her in Paris is aspiring to the title of Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur. Dr Poirier is an Associate Professor, Head of Anatomy and Surgeon at your hospitals. I know from him that, for several years now, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine has been putting him in the front line. Now, I would be very happy, and I am personally very grateful to Mr. Poirier, to have a hand in the honour which has been reserved for him, if only to bring the time forward by a few months') and further remarking 'Le Dr Poirier est commander de Mon Ordre - et une distinction (Je ne sais laquelle) lui a ete recemment conferee par l'Empereur de Russie, en recompense des soins donnes a des membres de la Famille Imperiale' (Translation: ' Dr. Poirier is a Commander of My Order - and a distinction (I do not know which) was recently conferred upon him by the Emperor of Russia, as a reward for the care given to members of the Imperial Family'). With several contemporary pencil annotations in the margins of the first page, one in the hand of Brugere and asking what the state of the request is and whose initiative it is, and another in the hand of Colonel Chamion stating that there is no related file from the Ministry of the Interior. Some very light, extremely minor age wear and one ink blot to the lower right corner of the first page, VGJoseph Brugere (1841-1918) French Divisional General. Milena of Montenegro (1847-1923) Queen comsort of Montenegro 1910-18, as the wife of Nicholas I.
THATCHER MARGARET: (1925-2013) British Prime Minister 1979-90. Two different signed commemorative covers by Thatcher, one issued on the centenary of Winston S. Churchill’s birth and post marked at St. Lucia on 30th November 1974, and the other issued as a First Day Cover by Norfolk Island on the occasion of the Royal wedding between the then Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer, post marked 22nd July 1981. Both are signed by Thatcher with her name alone to clear areas. Together with a blue ink signature (‘Margaret Thatcher’) on a white 6 x 4 card (one minor corner crease). VG, 3
WELLS H.G.: (1866-1946) English writer, remembered for his science fiction novels. A good A.L.S., H. G. Wells, one page, small 4to, Easton Glebe, Dunmow, n.d. (annotated 1916 in another hand at the head), to Huntly Carter. Wells writes in response to Carter's letter in which the journalist had posed some questions to Wells, asking what his opinion of the industrial situation regarding Labour, capital and the nation as a commercial entity was, as well as the best policies to be followed. Wells answers by stating, in part, '1a Labour will be after some fool's grievance about the C[onscience] O[bjectors] or suchlike, under the guidance of Fenner Brockway, Ramsay MacDonald & so forth......Labour will be unaware that there is an economic problem. Labour will be sheep in a narrow road. 1b. Capital will be scrambling back towards the old conditions in a stupid instinctive way under cover of an Irish row. 1c. Nonsense! Do you mean economic? 2a. 2b. 2c. Think hard. But this is Utopian'. Some very light, extremely minor age wear and a few very small pinholes to the upper left corner, otherwise VGHuntly Carter (1862-1942) British author, journalist and critic of the performing and visual arts.Fenner Brockway (1888-1988) British socialist politician, humanist campaigner and anti-war activist who served as Chairman of the Independent Labour Party (1931-33) and then as its General Secretary (1933-39).James Ramsay MacDonald (1866-1937) Scottish politician who first belonged to the Labour Party. British Prime Minister 1924, 1929-35.
ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS: Small selection of three signed colour 8 x 10 photographs by various actors, all of them Academy Award winners for Best Supporting Actor, comprising Mark Rylance (for his role as Rudolf Abel in Bridge of Spies, 2015), Sam Rockwell (for his role as Officer Jason Dixon in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, 2017) and Daniel Kaluuya (for his role as Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah, 2020). Each of the images depict the actors in poses with their Oscar statuettes and all are signed with their names alone to the images (Rylance with his first name only). Ink annotations in the hand of collectors to the verso of the Rockwell and Kaluuya photographs indicate where and when the signatures were obtained in person. VG to EX, 3
DONITZ KARL: (1891-1980) German Grand Admiral of World War II who briefly succeeded Adolf Hitler as head of state, serving as President of Germany from April – May 1945. Knight's Cross winner with Oak Leaves. A.L.S., Donitz, one page, 4to, Aumuhle, Schleswig-Holstein, 24th August 1979, to Hans Rossbach, the aviation philatelist, in German. Donitz thanks his correspondent for their letter and confirms that he is ready to sign the 100 commemorative covers and asks 'Please specify the size of the signature (name only, with or without first name? With or without date?)' as well as enquiring as to how much he will be paid. A few very light, extremely minor creases, VG
MANDELA NELSON: (1918-2013) South African anti-apartheid activist, the first President of South Africa 1994-99. Nobel Peace Prize winner, 1993. A press sheet comprising 25 identical postage stamps issued in 1981 to commemorate Nursing in Ciskei and featuring an image of Cecilia Makiwane. Signed by Mandela in black ink to the upper white border and dated 2nd August 1996 in his hand. About EXCecilia Makiwane (1880-1919) African nurse, the first African registered professional nurse in what would become South Africa, and an early activist in the struggle for women's rights.
MCDANIEL HATTIE: (1895-1952) American actress, Academy Award winner for Best Supporting Actress in 1939 for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind, thereby becoming the first African American to win an Oscar. A good vintage signed and inscribed 8 x 10 photograph of McDaniel seated in a full-length pose holding a bunch of roses in her lap and with various other large flower arrangements in the immediate background. Signed by McDaniel in bold blue fountain pen ink to the head of the image, 'Love & Success to "Annabel" from Hattie McDaniel' and dated 20th July 1940 in her hand. Rare. VG
MARIE LOUISE DUCHESS OF PARMA: (1791-1847) Austrian Archduchess, the second wife of Napoleon I. Empress of the French 1810-14. A very fine multiple signed L.S., `Marie Louise´, two pages, folio, Palace of St. Cloud, 29th May 1813, to the Emperor Napoleon I, in French. Also signed at the base, above and alongside the Empress, by the Duc de Feltre (1765-1818) in his capacity as Minister of war, and by Jean-Jacques-Régis de Cambaceres (1753-1824) in his capacity as Archchancellor of the Empire On the partially printed document of the Ministry of war, with the printed heading "Rapport A Sa Majesté l´Empereur et Roi" (Translation : "Report to His Majesty the Emperor & King"). Marie Louise, as Empress, sends a request to Napoleon referring to a musician of the infantry regiment stating in part `Le nommé Chetiveau, musicien au 22 Régiment d´Infanterie m´a adressé une demande à l´effet d´obtenir l´autorisation de quitter le service. Ce jeune homme expose, et des certificats authentiques contatent que son père avait 5 enfants; que l´aîné sést enrolé volontairement et qu´ensuite il a été employé comme officier de santé dans les colonies, où il a été assassiné par les nègres. Le 2º, aspirant de Marine, a péri en chassant une péniche anglaise après laquelle il a vait été envoyé.... Chetiveau ajoute qu´il est conscrit de 1806, qu´il a fait 3 campagnes en Espagne et au Portugal, qu´au moment où il était appelé à faire partie de l´armée, il allait obtenir un emploi dans les Doaunes qui l´aurait mis à portée d´être utile à son père qui est vieux et infirme et qu íl soutenait avant son départ...´ (Translation: "The man named Chetiveau, musician in the 22nd Infantry Regiment, sent me a request to obtain authorization to leave the service. This young man explains, and presents authentic certificates stating that his father had 5 children; that the eldest enlisted voluntarily and that he was then employed as a health officer in the colonies, where he was assassinated by the Negroes. The 2nd, a midshipman, perished while chasing an English barge after which he was sent.... Chetiveau adds that he was conscripted in 1806, that he served in 3 campaigns in Spain and Portugal, that at the time when he was called to be part of the army, he was going to obtain a job in the Doaunes which would have put him within reach of being useful to his father who is old and infirm and whom he supported before his departure..") paper bearing two large waterwarks, one to each page, the first bearing the Emperor´s profile portrait with the text "Napoleon, Emperuer et Roi", and the second bearing an eagle with the text "Empire Français 1811", and to the With blank integral leaf. Few very small tears to the upper front page edge. Cleanly inlaid. G to VG Henri Jacques Guillaume Clarke (1765-1818) Marshal of France in 1816, one of six created under King Louis XVIII from 1815-24. Duc de Feltre and Minister of War under Napoleon. jean Jacques de Cambaceres (1753-1824) French Noble, Lawyer and Statesman during the French Revolution and French Empire. Co-Author of the Napoleonic code, which still is at the base of the French and many other countries civil law.
RUNDSTEDT GERD VON: (1875-1953) German Generalfeldmarschall of World War II, Knight's Cross winner with Oak Leaves and Swords. D.S., von Rundstedt, three pages, 4to, Headquarters (Paris), 5th October 1943, in German. The partially printed document, completed in typescript, is a recommendation for the award of the German Cross in Silver to Generalleutnant Rene Eberle and states that he had been Commander of Fortress Engineering on the Mediterranean front and handled the difficult conditions there superbly, that he was responsible for effective planning and was energetic and creative in his abilities, and as the front conditions on the Mediterranean changed rapidly he adapted to them promptly, and carried the main responsibility for the engineering fortifications of this important sector. Rundstedt has signed the document to the first page, indicating his approval of the award ('Einverstanden!') which would officially be granted to Eberle on 21st March 1945. The document is countersigned by Rudolf Schmetzer (1884-1952) German Generalleutnant who submitted the recommendation, and also bears several pencil annotations etc., one in the hand of Bodewin Keitel (1888-1953) German General of World War II, Chief of the Army Personnel Office 1938-42. Four file holes to the left edge (one only very slightly affecting Rundstedt's signature) and a few small pinholes to the upper left corner, otherwise VGRene Eberle (1891-1945) Austrian Generalleutnant, Inspector of Fortifications 1944-45.
TERESHKOVA VALENTINA: (1937- ) Soviet cosmonaut, the first woman ever to fly in space during her solo mission on Vostok 6 (1963). Signed 8 x 10 photograph, the cardstock image depicting Tereshkova in a close-up head and shoulders pose wearing her space helmet. Signed in bold blue ink to a light area at the head of the image, also adding the mission name Vostok 6 in her hand beneath her signature. About EX
KOMAROV VLADIMIR: (1927-1967) Soviet cosmonaut, commander of Voskhod 1 (1964) and pilot of Soyuz 1 (1967). A rare vintage signed colour 4 x 6 postcard photograph of Komarov in a head and shoulders pose wearing his uniform and various medals. Signed in black ink with his name alone to a light area of the image. The signature is a touch light in places, although legible. Signed photographs of Komarov are rare as a result of his tragic death at the age of 40 during the Soyuz 1 mission, thereby becoming the first human to die in a space flight. VG
FUENTES CARLOS: (1928-2012) Mexian novelist. Small correspondence collection of two T.Ls.S. and two A.Ls.S., Carlos Fuentes (and one with his first name only), each one page, 4to, various places (Paris, London etc.), 1968-92, all to Tom Maschler. The earliest letter is dated shortly after Jonathan Cape Ltd. had published A Change of Skin in 1968 to mixed reviews, and Fuentes eloquently responds by writing 'I have now seen the Observer and Sunday Times Reviews. What can I say? My mental health forces me to bannish (sic) the English critics from my head. I have come to believe that if, for one instant, I wrote a single line that would please them, I would be prostituting myself. I really wonder why a novel that has had such good critical notices in Italy, the USA and Latin America fails so miserably in Britain.....Once I have bannished (sic) Britannia Literaria from my head, what really hurts me is that your great courage and sympathy and conviction in publishing this book have met with this reception. I cannot tell you how sad this makes me feel. But all this is not important. What is important is your friendship, your warmth and intelligence' (1st November 1968). Although Cape did not publish any further works by Fuentes, his friendship with Maschler did endure, as reflected in the later letters, 'I am going to be in Mexico until mid-February and was remembering our old project to see a bit of the country together. If your travels between now and February bring you near Mexico, do please hop over' (7th September 1969), 'My mother, a rather imperious (and capricious) 84 year old dowager, has decided that this is the last summer she will be able to travel in Europe. We are taking her tomorrow for two weeks (or more) in Spain & Italy, which makes it impossible to go to you in France' (5th August 1992), 'Sorry about the numerous changes and delays - it has not been a peaceful summer - Oaxaca and its Gods are angry for forsaking them' (19th August 1992). Together with a few carbon typed copies of letters from Maschler and his secretary to Fuentes and also including a postcard with two amusing pen and ink caricatures, one of Harold Wilson. Some light age wear, generally VG, 5Tom Maschler (1933-2020) British publisher who, from 1960, was head of the publishing company Jonathan Cape for more than three decades. Maschler was also instrumental in establishing the Booker Prize in 1969.
HUGO VICTOR: (1802-1885) French novelist, poet and dramatist. A remarkable, lengthy A.L.S., Victor, four pages, 4to, n.p., 2nd November 1829, to Charles Nodier, in French. Hugo writes an impassioned letter, commencing by stating that much of him wishes he had not read La Quotidienne yesterday, and continuing ‘Car c'est une des plus violentes secousses de la vie que celle qui deracine du coeur une vieille et profonde amitie. J'avais perdu depuis longtemps l'habitude de rencontrer votre appui pour mes ouvrages. Je ne m'en plaignais pas. Pourquoi donc auriez-vous continue de vous compromettre dans une amitie publique avec un homme qui n'apporte a ses amis qu'une contagion de haines, de calomnies et de persecutions? J'ai vu que vous vous retiriez de cette melee, et, vous aimant pour vous-meme, j'ai trouve cela bien. Peu a peu, du silence et de l'indifference pour moi je vous ai vu passer a l'eloge, a l'enthousiasme, a l'acclamation pour mes ennemis, meme pour les plus ardents, les plus amers, les plus odieux. Rien que de simple encore en cela; car, apres tout, ce n'est qu'une chose personnelle a moi, et mes ennemis peuvent fort bien avoir de l'esprit, du talent et du genie. Cela est tout simple, dis-je, et loin de moi l'idee de m'en plaindre un seul instant. Je ne vous en aimais pas moins, et (vous auriez tort de ne pas me croire, Charles) du fond du coeur. Je n'avias pas prevu, de la ma tranquillite parfaite, que c'etait une transition naturelle, irresistible peut-etre pour vous-meme, a une guerre contre moi. Vous en voila donc aussi, L'attaque d'hier est sourde, obscure, ambigue, j'en conviens, mais elle ne m'en a pas moins frappe au coeur, elle n'en a pas moins eveille brusquement, comme une secousse electrique, plus de vingt personnes qui sont venues s'en affliger avec moi. Et quel moment avez-vous pris pour cela? Celui ou mes ennemis se rallient de toutes parts plus nombreux et plus acharnes que jamais, ou les voila ourdissant sans relache et de toutes mains un reseau de haines et de calomnies autour de moi, le moment ou je suis place seul entre deux animosites egalement furieuses, le pouvoir qui me persecute, et cette cabale determinee qui a pris poste dans presque tous les journaux. Ah! Charles! dans un instant pareil j'avais droit du moins de compter sur votre silence. Ou bien, est-ce que je vous ai fait quelque chose? Pourquoi ne me l'avez-vous pas dit? Ce n'est pas que je reclame contre votre critique. Elle est juste, serree et vraie. Il y a singulierement loin des Orientales a Lord Byron: mais, Charles, n'y avait-il pas assez d'ennemis pour le dire en ce moment? Vous vous etonnerez sans doute, vous me trouverez bien susceptible. Que voulez-vous? Une amitie comme la mienne pour vous est franche, cordiale, profonde, et ne se brise pas sans cri et sans douleur. Puis, je suis fait comme cela. Je ne m'occupe pas des coups de stylet de mes ennemis; je sens le coup d'epingle d'un ami. Apres tout, je ne vous en veux pas, dechirez cette lettre, et n'y pensez plus. Ce que vous avez voulu rompre est rompu, j'en souffrirai toujours, mais qu'importe! Si quelqu'un m'en reparle, je vous defendrai comme je vous ai defendu hier. Mais, croyez moi, c'est une chose bien triste pour moi, et pour vous aussi, car de votre vie, Charles, jamais vous n'avez perdu d'ami plus profondement et plus tendrement et plus absolument devoue’ (Translation: ‘Because it is one of the most violent shocks of life, that which uproots an old and deep friendship from the heart. I had long since lost the habit of receiving your support for my works. I wasn’t complaining about it. Why then would you continue to compromise yourself in a public friendship with a man who only brings to his friends a contagion of hatred, slander and persecution? I saw that you were withdrawing from this melee, and, loving you for yourself, I found it good. Little by little, from silence and indifference for me, I saw you pass to praise, to enthusiasm, to acclamation for my enemies, even for the most ardent, the most bitter, the most odious. Nothing but simple in this; because, after all, it is only a personal thing to me, and my enemies may very well have wit, talent and genius. It’s quite simple, as I said, and far be it from me to complain about it for a single moment. I loved you no less, and (you would be wrong not to believe me, Charles) from the bottom of my heart. I did not foresee, from my perfect tranquillity, that it was a natural transition, irresistible perhaps for you yourself, to a war against me. So here you are too. Yesterday’s attack is dull, obscure, ambiguous, I agree, but it no less struck me in the heart, it no less suddenly awakened me, like an electric shock. More than twenty people came to grieve with me. And what time did you take for this? The one where my enemies are rallying everywhere, more numerous and fiercer than ever, where they are snarling relentlessly and with all hands hatching a network of hatred and slander around me, the moment when I am placed alone between two equally furious animosities, the power that persecutes me, and this determined cabal that has taken up posts in almost all the newspapers. Ah! Charles! In a moment like this I had the right at least to count on your silence. Or did I do something to you? Why didn’t you tell me? It’s not that I’m complaining about your criticism. It is fair, tight and true. It is singularly far from Les Orientales to Lord Byron: but, Charles, were there not enough enemies to say so at this moment? You will no doubt be surprised, you will find me very touchy. What do you want? A friendship like mine for you is frank, cordial, deep, and does not break without tears and without pain. Then, I am made like that. I don’t mind the stilettos of my enemies; I feel the pinprick of a friend. After all, I don’t blame you, tear up this letter, and think no more about it. What you wanted to break is broken, I will always suffer from it, but what does it matter! If anyone talks to me about it again, I will defend you like I defended you yesterday. But, believe me, it is a very sad thing for me, and for you too, because in your life, Charles, you have never lost a friend more deeply and more tenderly and more absolutely devoted’). A letter of astonishing content marking the dramatic end of what had been a solid ‘father and son’ relationship between the two writers. Some very light, extremely minimal age wear, VG Charles Nodier (1780-1844) French author and librarian who introduced a younger generation of Romanticists to the conte fantastique, gothic literature and vampire tales. Hugo and Nodier had enjoyed a strong friendship (the former declaring it as a ‘friendship of brothers’) since 1823 when the critic devoted an article to Han d’Islande, Hugo’s first novel, likening Hugo to Walter Scott. The novelist was a regular attendee of Nodier’s soirees and together the two men made a memorable trip to Reims in 1825 to attend King Charles X’s coronation. However, dissensions erupted in 1829 (the year that Hugo published his collection of poems Les Orientales, inspired by the Greek War of Independence) with the publication by Nodier of an article in La Quotidienne about an edition of the poems of Lord Byron and Thomas Moore. It is this article which gave rise to the present celebrated breakdown letter. Carefully composed, Victor Hugo displays all of his eloquence and sets the tone from the outset. No use of ‘Mon cher Charles’, or ‘Cher ami’, but instead ‘Et vous aussi, Charles!’
[BEATLES THE]: BLAKE PETER (1932- ) English pop artist who co-created the sleeve design for the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Signed colour 6 x 4 Royal Mail PHQ postcard featuring a colour image of a First Class postage stamp incorporating the album cover design from Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Signed by Blake in bold black ink with his name alone to a clear area at the upper edge. VG
PERRY KATY: (1984- ) American singer and songwriter. Signed colour 8 x 10 photograph of Perry in a head and shoulders pose with violet dyed hair. Signed in bold black ink with her first name to a clear area of the image, also adding a doodle of a smiling face and love heart alongside her signature. EX
JOURDAN JEAN BAPTISTE: (1762-1833) Marshal of France. An excellent and very good content A.L.S., `Jourdan´, three pages, small 4to, Paris, 16th August 1799, to General Ernouf, in French. An interesting content letter where Jourdan alerts about the internal and external dangers that threaten the Homeland. Jourdan referring to the internal matters, states in part `La situation de Paris n´est pas rassurante, celle des départements ne l´est pas d´avantage. Partout le royalisme, aidé par ses auxiliaires les fripons, lève la tête avec audace. Déjà plusiuers départements sont en insurrection, et on peut prédire sans être fort habile, que la guerre civile va éclater sur toute la surface de la République. Que de maux menacent notre malheureuse patrie! Et cependant on s´occupe encore à comprimer ce qu´on appelle les Jacobins, et les anarchistes, on crée des conspirations anarchiques, et bientôt les hommes destitués du 30 Priarial vont être reconnus innocents, et ceux qui les ont déplacés considérés comme conspirateur´ (Translation: "The situation in Paris is not reassuring, nor is that of the departments any more. Everywhere royalism, aided by its auxiliaries the rascals, raises its head audaciously. Already several departments are in insurrection, and we can predict without being very clever, that civil war will break out across the entire surface of the Republic. How many evils threaten our unfortunate homeland! And yet we are still busy suppressing what we call the Jacobins, and the anarchists, we are creating anarchic conspiracies, and soon the men deposed from 30th Priarial will be recognized as innocent, and those who displaced them considered as conspirators") Jourdan further refers to the external threatens, saying `Au dehors notre situation est tout aussi alarmante. Mantoue n´est que trop au pouvoir de l´ennemi, une nouvelle colonne russe est arrivée à Larie, une autre colonne se rend en Italie, et une troisième se dirige sur Manheim. L´archiduc fait dans le moment actuel un mouvement sur sa droite et va réunir sur le Bas-Rhin une armée de soixante mille hommes qu´il commandera en personne. Les troupes qui ont fait le siège de Mantoue se portent sur le flanc droit de Massena, les Anglais et les Russes nous menacent... enfin tout annonce de grandes manoeuvres militaires...´ (Translation: "Our external situation is just as alarming. Mantua is only too much in the power of the enemy, a new Russian column has arrived at Larie, another column is going to Italy, and a third is heading towards Manheim. The Archduke is currently making a movement to his right and will gather on the Bas-Rhin an army of sixty thousand men that he will command in person. The troops which besieged Mantua are moving to Massena's right flank, the English and the Russians are threatening us... in short, everything indicates major military maneuvers...") Jourdan concludes referring to his personal position, his hopes and fears, saying `Je suis désespéré de voir la République à deux doigts de sa perte et j´en suis d´autant plus désespéré que les divisions qui règnent dans les premières autorités du gouvernement rendent l´action trop faible pour résister aux attaques des hommes de l´extérieur et de l´intérieur. Dans une circonstance aussi difficile je me trouve dans l´impossibilité de sauver ma patrie.... de manière que je me suis imposé silence afin de ne pas me trouver compris dans quelque conspiration fabriquée ad hoc pour perdre quelques républicains énergiques. Je me suis donc réduit au rôle d´observateur, et connaissant mon attachement à la République et au désir de la servir, tu peux juger combien ce rôle passif doit être pénible pour moi...´ (Translation: "I am desperate to see the Republic on the verge of its loss and I am all the more desperate since the divisions which reign in the first authorities of the government make the action too weak to resist the attacks of men from outside. and from the inside. In such a difficult circumstance I find myself unable to save my homeland... so I have imposed silence on myself so as not to find myself included in some conspiracy fabricated ad hoc to ruin some energetic republicans. I have therefore reduced myself to the role of observer, and knowing my attachment to the Republic and the desire to serve it, you can judge how painful this passive role must be for me...") Three months after the present letter was written, Napoleon Bonaparte executed his coup d´etat of 18th Brumaire, and although Jourdan was initially against the coup, he will soon support Bonaparte and will be appointed Marshal few years later. Small overall minor creasing, otherwise G Jean Ernouf (1753-1827) French General, Chief of Staff of the Danube army.
GREENE GRAHAM: (1952- ) First Nations Actor. Signed 8 x 10 colour photograph, the image showing Greene in a half-length pose, in costume in his role as "Kicking Bird" in a scene from Kevin Costner´s award-winning film Dances with Wolves (1990) for which Greene was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award. Signed in bold blue ink `Graham Greene´, to a clear area of the image. VG
HENRY IV: (1553-1610) King of France 1589-1610 and King of Navarre 1572-1610. First French Monarch of the House of Bourbon. Assassinated. A very fine A.L.S., `Votre bon oncle Henry´, one page, 4to, Fontainebleau, 23rd October, n.y., to his nephew the Prince of Piedmont, in French. The King states `Mon neveu envoyant vers mon frère le Duc de Savoye… Je lui ay comandé vous vysyter de ma part et vous rafrechyr les assurances que je vous ay fet doner par luy mesmes de la bone volonté que vous porte´ (Translation: `My nephew, sending to my brother the Duke of Savoy... I ordered him to visit you on my behalf and to update you with the assurances that I asked to be given to you by himself of the good will I forward to you´) A small area of paper loss to the left border as a result of the opening, although not affecting the text or signature. G to VG Henry IV probably addresses the present letter to Victor Amadeus I (1587-1633) Prince of Piedmont 1605-30 and Duke of Savoy 1630-37. In 1619 he married Christine Marie of France, a daughter of King Henry IV and Marie de´ Medici.
BARLOW JOEL: (1754-1812) American poet, diplomat and politician who supported the French Revolution and was an ardent Jeffersonian republican. A rare series of manuscript notes, unsigned, in the hand of Barlow, one page, 4to, n.p., n.d. (c.1795-1800). The notes are headed Polysophic Society and are divided into four sections, the first labelled Literature and including 'philosophy, Government Legislation.....Law of nations. History. Georgraphy', the second labelled Physics, Geology, Medicine and featuring 'Mathematics, Astronomy.....Optics, Agriculture, Anatomy.......Mechanics, Zoology, Botany', the third labelled Arts & Trades, featuring 'Architecture.......drawing, Painting, Engraving, Engineering' and the final section named Normal School alongside which Barlow writes, 'In which will be taught languages & the elements of all the arts & sciences contemplated in the establishment of the P.S. This branch of the Institution is to be considered as an university, & is to be established on a more extensive & useful plan than has yet been realised in any part of the world. It is intended to be made the centre of instruction for the people of the United States'. With an autograph statement at the foot of the page signed by Samuel Olmstead of New York, a previous custodian of the manuscript notes, 'I certify that the above is the writing of Joel Barlow'. Together with an A.L.S., Samuel G. Olmstead, three pages, 4to, New York, n.d. (c.1855-60), to a gentleman, providing a testimony and biographical details for Joel Barlow, in part, 'Mr. Barlow was a remarkable man. He was considered as the best poet of his time.......Seven years before the adoption of our Federal Constitution he advoacted its formation & predicted that it will be adopted throughout the world, thus forming one great Brotherhood.......He described in most graphic language the Electrical Telegraph 36 years before Morse who invented it thought of it. He predicted the improvements in Arts & Science......with all the vividness & accuracy of the Historian. He was a Democrat in politics of the same school with Jefferson.......Such in short was Joel Barlow. One of the best men.......which this country has produced.' A few small ink blots and a small scorch hole to Barlow's manuscript, not significantly affecting the text, otherwise VG, 2By 1800 Barlow had come to view education as the most eligible way to protect America from the corruption and cynicism he saw subverting the Revolution in France and urged that a national institute similar to the one France had created with the Constitution of 1795 be established. Barlow’s proposed ‘Polysophic Society’ would serve four functions: expanding scientific knowledge, exploring the resources of the United States, teaching people how to communicate this knowledge to others, and furnishing schools with trained teachers by paying part of their salaries.
[POTEMKIN MUTINY]: RAKOVSKY CHRISTIAN: (1873-1941) Bulgarian-born socialist revolutionary, Bolshevik politician and Soviet diplomat and statesman, a lifelong collaborator of Leon Trotsky. Rakovsky organised rallies in support of the Battleship Potemkin revolt and carried out a relief operation for the crew of the Potemkin as the ship sought refuge in Constanta. A significant and interesting A.L.S., Dr. Christian Racovski, four pages, 8vo, Constanta, 3/16 July 1905, to an editor, in French. Rakovsky has headed the letter Affaire "Potemkine" and writes following the publication of an article, which contained some errors, based on an interview Rakovsky had given, writing, in part, '1. Il est inexact que Matustchenco (et non Mastutchenco comme il est ecrit) ait ordonne de tirer sur l'escadre de Krieger et que les autres matelots revolutionnaires aient refuse. Tout le monde etait tombe d'accord de ne pas tirer sur l'escadre avec (sic; avant) que celle ci commence les hostilites. Et cela se comprend puisque les matelots de Potemkine tenaient non pas a la destruction de l'escadre de Krieger mais a son adhesion a la cause revolutionnaire. 2. Je est inexact que Matustchenco au dernier conseil qui traita la question de la reddition ait eu a repprocher quelque chose au membre du comite......de Potemkine. La scene des matelots revolutionnaires pleurant n'a jamais existe. Nous avons examine longtemps les possibilites de la continuation de la lutte, malheureusement ces possibilites n'existaient plus et c'est la camarade Matustchenco lui meme qui a ma proposition de se maintenir encore durant deux jours dans les eaux roumaines pour que je puisse durant ce temps obtenir des instructions et des informations plus precices de la part du comite central du Parti democrate socialiste russe (qui) m'a repondu: il nous est impossible. Pour nous maintenir ici il nous fandra tenir sous pression 16 chaudieres or nous ne possedons que 50 tonnes du charbon. D'un autre cote nous fornir charbon de Constanta, etait absolument impossible. Voila la veritable cause de la reddition, Sans cela les matelots malgre les fatigues enormes de douze jours de luttes - beaucoup des matelots surtout ceux occupes dans les machines et dont la plupart entraient aussi dans le comite n'avaient pas dormi - seraient retournes en Russie et precisement en caucase pour continuer la lutte' (Translation: 1. It is not true that Matustchenco (and not Mastutchenco as it is written) ordered the firing on Krieger's squadron and that the other revolutionary sailors refused. Everyone had agreed not to fire on the squadron before (with) it began hostilities. This was understandable, since the Potemkin sailors were not interested in destroying Krieger's squadron but in joining the revolutionary cause. 2. It is not true that Matustchenco, at the last council which dealt with the question of surrender, had anything to reproach the member of the Potemkin committee. The scene of the revolutionary sailors crying never existed. We examined for a long time the possibilities of continuing the struggle, unfortunately these possibilities no longer existed and it was Comrade Matustchenco himself who made my proposal to remain for two more days in Romanian waters so that during this time I could obtain more precise instructions and information from the Central Committee of the Russian Democratic Socialist Party (which) replied to me: it is impossible for us. To keep us here we will have to pressurise 16 boilers and we only have 50 tonnes of coal. On the other hand, it was absolutely impossible for us to get coal from Constanta. This is the real reason for the surrender, without which the sailors, despite the enormous fatigue of twelve days of fighting - many of the sailors, especially those working in the engines, most of whom were also members of the committee, had not slept - would have returned to Russia and precisely to the Caucasus to continue the fight'). A letter of good content relating to one of the most famous events in the First Russian Revolution. Together with Ivan Beshoff (1884-1987) Russian naval officer, a crew member of the Potemkin and participant in the mutiny on the battleship in 1905. Blue ink signatures, in both Cyrillic and Roman script, to the base of an 8vo white card with a lightly mounted newspaper photograph above the signatures, the image depicting Beshoff standing in a three-quarter length pose and waving one hand at the foot of some aircraft steps. VG to EX, 2Afanasi Matushenko (1879-1907) Russian socialist revolutionary and non-commissioned officer in the Russian Black Sea fleet who was the ringleader of the mutiny on the Potemkin.The Mutiny on the Battleship Potemkin, a pre-dreadnought battleship built for the Imperial Russian Navy's Black Sea fleet, ocurred on 27th June 1905 during the Russian Revolution and the Russo-Japanese War. The crew mutinied over mistreatment by their officers and, after killing the Captain and some of the officers, the ship sailed for eleven days before finding refuge in Constanta, Romania. Vladimir Lenin, leader of the Bolshevik Party, called the 1905 Revolution, including the Potemkin mutiny, a 'dress-rehearsal' for his successful revolution in 1917. The communists seized upon it as a propaganda symbol for their party and unduly emphasised their role in the mutiny. The actions on board the Potemkin may also have led to Tsar Nicholas II's decision to end the Russo-Japanese War, and accept the October Manifesto, as the mutiny demonstrated that his regime no longer had the unquestioning loyalty of the military and navy. The events of the mutiny later formed the basis of Sergei Eisenstein's famous silent film Battleship Potemkin (1925).
YUSUPOV FELIX: (1887-1967) Russian Aristocrat, also known as Prince Yusupov, Count Sumarokov-Elston. Best known for his participation in the assassination of Grigori Rasputin, 1916. A.L.S., `Prince Youssoupoff´, one page, oblong 8vo, Paris, Rue Pierre Guerin 38 bis, 29th December 1944, in French. Yusupov acknowledges the receipt of a sum as a loan, stating `Je soussigné déclare avoir reçu en titre de prêt de Monsieur J. Fasanes demeurant 12 rue Bauves à Sarcelles, la soome de 10,000 fr (dix mille francs) remboursables à sa premiere demande´ (Translation: "I, the undersigning, declare to have received as a loan from Mr. J. Fasanes residing at 12 rue Bauves in Sarcelles, the sum of 10,000 fr (ten thousand francs) repayable at his first request") Paper with Bellegarde Velin watermark. Overall creasing with few stains. F
CARTER HOWARD: (1874-1939) English archaeologist and Egyptologist, discovered the Tomb of Tutankhamun in 1923. An excellent group of three typescript manuscripts, unsigned, by Howard Carter, with many annotations, additions and corrections in his hand, being the text for three lectures (two on the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb and a third on the subject of colour), forty-eight pages (total), small 4to, n.p. (London?), n.d. (c.1924, 1930 & 1934). The first typescript manuscript commences 'We had almost given up in dispair (sic), and would have done, were it not for the fact that in nearing the tomb of Ramses VI (sic) we found a very intriguing buried heap of flint boulders which suggested the proximity of a tomb. Why had they been placed there?......They were of a kind usually selected by the Ancient Egyptians for filling in the entrance of a tomb, but there was nothing of the kind underneath them......In October, 1922, I returned to Luxor to make this final effort.....I set my Egyptian staff to work, about 120 men and boys in all.....When in four days we made the discovery which surpassed our wildest hopes. How well I remember that fourth day. I arrived early in the morning on the scene of the action......the work of clearing continued feverishly throughout the rest of the day......then, with ill-suppressed excitement, I watched the descending steps, one by one, as they were revealed, Our work progressed, and at the level of the twelfth step there was disclosed the upper part of a doorway, blocked, plastered and sealed. It was a thrilling moment for an excavator, alone, save for his native workmen, after years of unproductive labour, on the threshold of what might prove to be a magnificent discovery. Amything, literally anything, might lie beyond that sealed door and it needed all my self control to keep from breaking down the blocking of that doorway, and investigating then and there......I sent a runner into Luxor with a cable telling Lord Carnarvon, then in London, the good news. Little knowing that had I gone a few centimetres deeper in that excavation, the name of Tut.ankh.Amen upon the seals of that doorway would have told me the secret - that almost ephemeral king, Tut.ankh.Amen......had made his grave in the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings' and continues 'The decisive moment had arrived. With almost trembling hands I made a tiny breech in the upper left hand corner.....A lighted candle was then applied, the ever necessary test and precaution against possible foul gasses, and then, widening the hole a little, I inserted the candle and peered in.......gradually ones eyes became accustomed to the dim light, details of the room within emerged slowly, strange animals, statues and gold - everywhere the glint of gold. For the moment - an eternity it must have seemed to others standing by - I was amazed, when Lord Carnarvon, unable to stand the suspense any longer, inquired anxiously, "Can you see anything?" it was [all] I could do to answer, "Yes, wonderful things"'. The second typescript manuscript is entitled The Royal Burial and Innermost Treasury and dated May 1930, and states, in part, 'Our work in the Antechamber was finished.....We were ready at last to penetrate the mystery of the sealed door.....When a hole sufficiently large was made to see in, an astonishing sight was revealed, for there, within a metre of the doorway, stretching as far as one could see, and blocking the entrance of the chamber, stood what to all appearances was a wall of gold. We were at the entrance of the actual Burial Chamber of the King, and that which barred our way was the side of an immense gilt shrine, built to cover and protect the sarcophagus......before us, was one of the Great Golden Shrines beneath which Kings of Egypt were laid.......a surprise awaited us, for an open door, leading eastwards from the Burial Chamber, led to yet another chamber......this proved to be the Innermost Treasury. From where we stood, a glance sufficed to tell us that there within this small chamber lay perhaps the greatest treasures of the tomb'. Interspersed between the text of both manuscripts are a number of pages detailing the slides which Carter used to illustrate his lectures, including images of the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings, the excavations, the discovery of the tomb, the more important objects found in the antechamber (including a painting of a hunting scene, Carter noting in his own hand that 'Such scenes are naturally the works of a Court painter - doing homage to the young monarch. For such a slender youth, un-armed, save for the bow and arrow, to attack a group of fierce lions & lionesses, is hardly tenable'), the coffins, the raising of the lid of the sarcophagus, and much more. The final, third typescript manuscript is for a lecture entitled Colour which Carter delivered at the Victoria and Albert Museum on 17th October 1934 and commences 'The normal visual apparatus of the eye enables us to distinguish not only differences of form of objects looked upon, but difference in character of the light received from them, which we name colour. Form is intellectual; colour emotional. Colour is the property of form, that is to say, only decorative. Colour does not define an object, but it instils a sensation and a feeling. Thus, in art and ornamental design, form is perhaps more important than colour, but excellence in both is the most important' and continues with a fascinating discussion of colour from artistic and scientific perspectives, also making a reference to the Valley of the Kings, and quoting Sir Joshua Reynolds. The manuscripts are contained together within a limp bound ring leaf binder and a few of the pages are loose. A wonderful series of manuscript lectures, particularly for their first-hand accounts of the most famous discovery in the history of Egyptology. Some light staining and minor age wear, otherwise generally VGIn 1924 Howard Carter made a tour of Great Britain, France, Spain and the United States of America, delivering a series of illustrated lectures on the excavation of Tutankhamun's tomb. In New York and other American cities Carter's meetings were attended by large and enthusiastic audiences, sparking American Egyptomania, and President Calvin Coolidge requested a private lecture.
SKYLAB 2: Signed commemorative cover by all three crew members of Skylab 2 (1973) individually, comprising Charles Conrad (Commander, and previously the third man to walk on the Moon as part of the Apollo XII mission), Joe Kerwin (Science Pilot) and Paul Weitz (Pilot), the Project Skylab cover featuring a Colorano 'Silk' Cachet image and with printed text alongside. Post marked at Cape Canaveral, 25th May 1973. Signed by each of the astronauts in black inks with their names alone to clear areas of the cover and further annotated and signed by Weitz to the verso, 'From my personal collection, Paul Weitz'. Accompanied by a typed statement of provenance signed by Weitz, further confirming that the signed cover originated from his personal collection. VG, 2Skylab 2 was the first crewed mission to link up with Skylab, the first American orbital space station.
ALCOCK JOHN: (1892-1919) English pilot, a Captain with the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force who, with navigator Arthur Whitten Brown, completed the first successful non-stop transatlantic flight, June 1919. An extremely rare A.L.S., Jack (and also 'signed' Capt. J. Alcock in the address panel at the head), two pages (written to the first and third sides of the feint ruled bifolium), Kedos, Ouchak, Turkey, 11th September n.y. (1918), to Captain S. H. Gaskell ('Dear Old Buster'). Alcock writes from the Turkish Prisoner of War camp where he was being held and acknoweldges receipt of his friend's letter ('after all these long months of waiting'), further stating 'Well old bean I was delighted to hear of the successes of my machine, as regards its unfortunate end, I was very relieved to hear that it was no fault of the machine but of some "B" "F" who I should like to meet. Starbuck seems to have been nuts on her, I wish he had been able to have done a little work with it. Hick & Piper arrived here last May & told me of her first trials which bucked me up a lot. Do you happen to know what the Admiralty are doing about her? Well old dear you might let me have news of the R.A.F. re rank, pay & uniform etc. Do you happen to know if I was promoted to Flt. Com. about March or later? as I had a letter from old Ashford (e) dated March 1st congratulating me on my promotion & honour. Before I forget, let me congratulate you on your escape from being my shipmate on the last stunt, also on your Greek honour (what do you call it). I was very surprised at the few they dished out'. Alcock concludes his letter in reasonably high-spirits given his situation, although also demonstrates a hint of the loneliness he must have been experiencing, 'Your sister Violet kindly wrote me a long letter which I received a few days ago. I hope she carries on with the good work for we simply live for the mail. Well old boy, look after yourself & give seaplanes a trial, you will be better off. Love from the "Boys" to all the "Boys" & tell them to write. Send lots of snaps!'. With address panel in Alcock's hand to the final page. Autograph letters of Alcock are extremely rare owing to his tragically early death at the age of 27 following an air crash. Some very light, minimal age wear, about VGOn 30th September 1917 Alcock was piloting a Handley Page bomber on a raid against the Turkish capital Constantinople, when one engine failed. The aircraft managed to limp on for more than 100 kilometres before the other engine quit and it had to be ditched in the sea near Suvla Bay. Alcock and his two crew members swam for about an hour to reach the Ottoman army-held shore, only to be promptly captured. This ended Alcock’s participation in World War I and he spent the next fourteen months as a prisoner of war in Turkey. He was finally released on the Armistice of 11th November 1918, exactly two months to the day after the present letter was written.Alcock was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross 'For the great skill, judgment and dash displayed by him off Moudros.....in a successful attack on three enemy seaplanes, two of which were brought down in the sea', which had occurred earlier on the same fateful day of 30th September 1917.
VOSKHOD 2: Vintage signed colour 5 x 3 photograph by the two crew members of the Voskhod 2 mission (1965) individually, comprising Pavel Belyayev (Commander) and Alexei Leonov (Pilot), the image depicting them outdoors in head and shoulders poses together, each wearing their military overcoats and caps. Signed by each in blue fountain pen inks to the white border, with Belyayev adding the date 22nd March 1965 in his hand, just days after the mission landing. VGIt was during the Voskhod 2 mission that Alexei Leonov became the first person to conduct a spacewalk, leaving the spacecraft in a specialised spacesuit during an EVA that lasted twelve minutes.
[KENNEDY JOHN F.]: (1917-1963) American President 1961-63. GUS (1911-1997) Gustave Erlich. French cartoonist, illustrator and caricaturist. Small selection of four original pen, ink and blue pencil cartoons drawn and signed ('Gus') by Gus, each one page, oblong folio, n.p., February - April 1961. Each of the single panel cartoons feature John F. Kennedy, one showing the young statesman sat on the knee of French President Charles de Gaulle with the caption 'Mon cher John, vous etes maintenant un grand garcon' (Translation: 'My dear John, you're a big boy now'), another depicting him stood in a boxing ring opposite Uncle Sam, wearing boxing gloves, with the caption 'Le Nouveau Manager - Mon petit gars, si serait de toi un champion' (Translation: 'The New Manager - My boy, if I could make you a champion'), and another of Kennedy at his desk welcoming astronaut Alan Shepard home, with the caption 'Kennedy recoit le premier homme de l'espace Americain' (Translation: 'Kennedy receives America's first spaceman'). Each with various pencil and ink annotations and stamps etc., to the rectos and versos, relating to their publication in the French daily newspaper Paris Jour. Some light age wear and minor faults, generally about VG, 4
DIANA: (1961-1997) Princess of Wales, the first wife of King Charles III (when Prince of Wales). A good signed and inscribed colour 5.5 x 7 photograph by the Princess, the image depicting her standing outdoors in a full-length pose, alongside her husband the Prince of Wales, in the wild flower meadow at Highgrove House, Gloucestershire, on 14th July 1986. The Princess holds the young Prince William in her arms and Prince Charles holds Prince Harry in a similar fashion, the two young brothers wearing identical outfits. Photograph by Tim Graham (uncredited). Signed and inscribed by Diana in fountain pen ink to the upper and lower borders of the photographer's mount, 'To Doreen & Malcolm, with love from the four of us, Diana' and dated 1988 in her hand. Framed and glazed in the original dark green leather presentation frame by Andrew Soos of London and featuring the gilt stamped heraldic badge of the Prince of Wales, incorporating a plume of three ostrich feathers, to the head. 7 x 9.5 overall. VG
NAPOLEON I: (1769-1821) Emperor of the French 1804-14, 1815. An excellent content and fine L.S., `Nap´, a bold ink signature with paraph, one page, 4to, Saint Cloud, 28th April 1806, to Prince Eugene Beauharnais, in French. Napoleon writes to his adopted son Eugene Beauharnais, expressing openly that he is not fully satisfied with Marshal Marmont´s memoir, and states in part `Mon fils, vous trouverez ci-joint des observations sur le mémoire du Général Marmont dans lequel il y a de bonnes choses, mais il ne remplit pas encore mon but´ (Translation: "My son, you will find attached observations on the memoir of General Marmont in which there are good things, but it does not yet fulfill my goal") Napoleon further refers to the maps he ordered years ago to make, including the banks of rivers in the Venice area and close to Austrian borders, saying `Je désire apprendre qu´on ne perd pas de temps, et que les travaux de Palmanova sont en grande activité. Il y a six ans que j´ai ordonné qu´on levât la carte de Milanais jusqu´à l´Adige. ... faites d´abord lever les bords de l´Isonzo...´ parce que le temps peut venir où nous serons obligés de reprendre les anciennes frontières vénitiennes´ (Translation: "I want to learn that no time is wasted, and that the Palmanova works are in great activity. Six years ago I ordered the Milanese card to be raised up to Adige... first raise the banks of the Isonzo...") Napoleon explains immediately after the reasons of his concerns, and seems to be foreseeing the future Germany military Campaign, fearing the Austrian response now that Prussia is about to sign a coalition treaty with Russia and stating `...parce que le temps peut venir où nous serons obligés de reprendre les anciennes frontières vénitiennes. Faites faire ce travail dans le moins de temps possible, car comme c´est là que se proteraient les premiers coups, il sera bon d´avoir des cartes´ (Translation: "...because the time may come when we will be obliged to take back the old Venetian borders. Get this work done in as little time as possible, because as this is where the first blows will occur, it will be good to have maps...") The present letter is in the hand of Napoleon´s secretary Claude Meneval (1778-1850) Eugene de Beauharnais (1781-1824) French Prince, son of Josephine de Beauharnais and stepson of Napoleon. Viceroy of Italy 1805-14 and Grand Duke of Frankfurt. Napoleon considered him his adopted son, and used to address his letters to him as "my son". Historians consider him one of Napoleon´s most able relatives.Auguste Marmont (1774-1852) Marshal of France. Duc de Raguse.
BEATON DAVID: (c.1494-1546) Scottish Cardinal who served as Archbishop of St. Andrews 1539-46. Beaton was the last Scottish Cardinal prior to the Reformation. An extremely rare L.S., d[avid] Card[ina]lis S[anc]ti Andree, one page, folio, Paris, 17th July 1542, to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, in Latin. Beaton writes to Farnese in relation to Alfonso Salmeron and Paschase Broet, the Apostolic nuncios to Ireland and the disturbances they have witnessed there, commenting that there is 'still so much cruelty from the English and the barbarian people themselves, and fierceness, from whom I have saved [them] and they have escaped unscathed. [It is] astounding all that I have been able to see' and adding that he will continue to write with reports to Farnese. With integral address leaf. Some very light, minor water staining to the right edge, only very slightly affecting a few words of text, which remain perfectly legible. About VG Alessandro Farnese (1520-1589) Italian Cardinal and Diplomat. Grandson of Pope Paul III and appointed as his principal secretary in 1538, managing most of the papal business until 1549. Alfonso Salmeron (1515-1585) Spanish Biblical Scholar, a Catholic Priest, and one of the first Jesuits. Paschase Broet (1500?-1562) French Catholic Priest, one of the first Jesuits. In late 1538 King Henry VIII of England was excommunicated by Pope Paul III and the constitutional position of the lordship of Ireland remained uncertain. In the autumn of 1541 Pope Paul III sent Salmeron and Broet as Apostolic nuncios to Ireland. Before leaving they met with Cardinal Beaton at Lyon who discouraged them from going to Ireland with stories of the dire state of the Church there. After leaving France they reached Edinburgh on 3rd December 1541. Although warmly received by King James V, he, and everyone else they met agreed with Beaton and also discouraged them from going to Ireland. Nevertheless, Salmeron and Broet made the short crossing on 23rd February 1542. The title of King of Ireland had been re-created in 1542 by King Henry VIII and the English began establishing control over the island. The situation in Ireland proved to be worse than previously thought and Broet wrote 'in a short while we found matters just as we had been told, if not worse'. Bishops who remained faithful were turned out of their dioceses and went on the run. Monasteries and friaries were all in ruins. Pope Paul III's original instructions had stated that if their lives were in danger then they were return and therefore in the summer of 1542 they travelled back to Scotland where the people there were surprised to see them return alive.
DUVIVIER JULIEN: (1896-1967) French film director. A.L.S., Julien Duvivier, two pages, 4to, n.p., n.d. ('Lundi 6', c.1938/39), to a friend, in French. Duvivier states that he hasn't received any news from his friend and continues, in part, 'Je suis en bagarre feroce avec Lauran au sujet de La fin du jour. Il veut le sortir au Colisee. Moi je ne veux pas. Devant les menaces, ils sont hesitants. Mais ils ont des contrats signes. Si le film sort dans cette salle je ne leur ferai pas le prochain prevu dans mon contrat......En ce qui concerne le film lui-meme, j'ai fait encore des petites coupures. On enregistre la musique le 10.....La copie definitive ne sera guere prete avant la premiere semaine de Mars. "La Grande Valse" sort dans ce meme debut de Mars au Marignan.....Ce que je vais tourne n'est pas encore decide.....Les bons scenarii sont rarissimes' (Translation: 'I'm in a fierce fight with Lauran over The End of the Day. He wants to take it out at the Coliseum. Me, I do not want. Faced with threats, they are hesitant. But they have signed contracts. If the film is released in this theater I will not make the next one provided for in my contract......As for the film itself, I still made small cuts. We recorded the music on the 10th.....The final copy will hardly be ready before the first week of March. “La Grande Valse” comes out at the beginning of March at the Marignan.....What I am going to shoot is not yet decided.....Good scenarios are extremely rare') and in a postscript mentions having telephoned Jean Gabin and that they had dinner together. Some creasing and with an area of paper loss to the lower left corner, not affecting the text or signature, otherwise about VGDuvivier refers to his drama film La Fin du jour (1939) and his biographical film The Great Waltz (1938) which was very loosely based on the life of Johann Strauss II.
PICASSO & HIS CIRCLE: PICASSO PABLO: (1881-1973) Spanish painter, a co-founder of the Cubist movement. An extraordinary collective illustrated A.L.S. by Picasso and his circle of friends, four pages, 8vo, Cafe de Flore, Paris, 15th January 1936, to Paul and Nusch Eluard, in a mixture of French, Spanish and Catalan. The scene for this meeting of great artistic talent is set at the head of the first page in the hand of Yvonne Zervos, 'l'heure de la soupe a l'oignon, Mercredi, 15 Janvier 1936, Cafe Flore' (Translation: 'Time for onion soup.....') beneath which Picasso writes 'Recuerdos a la blanquita, Picasso' (Translation: 'Regards to the white girl, Picasso'), and over the four pages follows a wonderful series of autograph sentiments and messages to Paul and Nush Eluard, beginning on the first page with Luis Fernandez 'Viva tu madre chiquita!! Ole, Ole, caramba!!......Baxant de la font del gat una noia, una noie, baxant de la font del gat una noia y Eluard si pregunta com se diu Marieta, Marieta, si pregunta com se diu marieta del ull vin! Com vos deia Fontanellas lo rei esta molt fotut! Lo qui gui a ens ha sigut es un manso sense equellas.....Fernandez' (written in multiple passages to the first and fourth sides of the bifolium in Catalan, roughly translated as 'Long live your little mother!! Ole, Ole, dammit!!......A girl coming down from the cat's fountain, a girl, a girl coming down from the cat's fountain and Eluard if you ask what Marieta's name is, Marieta, if you ask what Marieta's name is from the eye wine! As Fontanellas told you, the king is very fucked up! The one who guides us has been a meek man without them', and signed twice), Roberta Gonzalez 'Yo tambien, Roberta Gonzalez' (Translation: 'Me too'), Esther Fernandez her signature followed by the sentence 'Ne pas oublier la tarjeta postal con una vaca espanola' (Translation, from a mixture of French and Spanish, 'Don't forget the postcard with a Spanish cow'), Julio Gonzalez 'Ballen la Gardana, J. Gonzalez' (Translation from Catalan 'They dance the Gardana'), and also signed a second time with his name alone to the first page, Yvonne Zervos 'Los abrazo a los dos, Yvonne, Cafe Creme' (Translation: 'Hugs to you both....'), Jaime Sabartes 'mas recuerdos, J Sabartes' (Translation: 'More memories....'), Christian Zervos 'Un gros baiser a (?) malgre le rouge. Christian' (Translation: 'A big kiss to the (?) despite the red.....') and also with two further messages across other pages, 'On aimerait quand meme que vous soyiez avec.....de Flore chez Graff avec un arriere petit de gratinee Zervos, Man Ray attendez-moi!....... J'espere que vous reverrez la seine et la reste' (Translation: 'We'd still like you to be with .....de Flore at Graff with a little gratinee Zervos, Man Ray wait for me!...... I hope you'll see the Seine and the rest of it again') and '......Prononcez bien Vendredi les oveilles amies vous enconteront et moi je penserai aux bons moments passes a Vicozere, Chris. Zervos' (Translation: '.......Get the pronunciation right Friday, the friendly ears will greet you and I'll be thinking about the good times at Vicozere'), to the second page Yvonne Zerbos writes a further message, ‘Nous pensons toujours a vous vous etes, toujours avec nous. Man est tres triste!!!!! nous aussi Yvonne. Vendredi criez tres fort........Cafe Crème. Monte la dessus et tu verras Montmartre et le cafe Flore’ (Translation: ‘We are always thinking of you, you are always with us. Man is very sad!!!!! us too Yvonne. Friday shout out loud........Cafe Crème. Go up there and you'll see Montmartre and the cafe Flore’), as does Luis Fernandez once more in Catalan ‘Vina Ros! Puja aqui dalt!.....Bona nit tinguem!! estiguem bonets!!.....’ (Translation: ‘Come Ros! Get up here!.....Have a good night!! let's be nice!!.....’), alongside which Dora Maar has drawn an exquisite pen and ink image of an eye with two teardrops falling from the corner, adding the words ‘Devinez de qui?’ (Translation: ‘Guess who?), which is followed by a second greeting signed by Jaime Sabartes ‘Saluda a los del centro excursionista de Catalunya a la lliga regionalista......y todos los que encuentre por la Ramblas’ (Translation from Catalan: ‘Say hello to those at the hiking centre from Catalonia to the regionalist league…..and everyone you find on the Ramblas’), the third page features entries by Leonor Fini ‘Vous aimez toujours et les gros porcs tendres……..? Vous en avez vu des noirs en Espagne? Leonor’ (Translation: ‘Do you still like big, tender pigs……..? Have you seen any black ones in Spain?’) and also signed by Fini with her first name only to the right margin of the first page, Man Ray ‘C'etait triste de rentrer tout seul lundi soir de V- Beziers! Je vous embrasse tous les deux, et j'espere vous trouverez des bons amis et amies! Affectueusement, Man’ (Translation: ‘It was sad to come back alone on Monday evening from V- Beziers! Love to you both, and I hope you find some good friends! Affectionately….’), and at the foot of the page Pablo Picasso has drawn and signed a pen and ink image of a winged love heart, also incorporating the horns of a bull, and with a Cupid’s arrow piercing through the centre from right to left, signing his name (‘Picasso’) in bold black ink beneath. A series of ink hatched lines also appear beneath the drawing, partially obscuring the signature of Dora Maar. The page concludes with a series of ten question marks in the hand of Roberta Gonzalez, and with her signature beneath. The letter ends with a final message signed by Yvonne Zervos at the foot of the fourth page, ‘Cora et Elfe vous embrasse chaque jour je forme au voeux pour que vous soyiez tous les deux tres heureux la-pas!!! Yvonne. Pikina aux vins de France fabrique par Picon et cie’ (Translation: ‘Cora and Elfe kiss you every day and I hope you're both very happy! Yvonne. Pikina with French wines made by Picon and company’). Accompanied by the original envelope hand addressed by Christian Zervos to the Eluards in care of the home of Josep Maria Sert in Barcelona, and further annotated and signed by Man Ray with his initials to the verso, ‘avec la salive de C.Z. (M.R.)’ (Translation: ‘With the saliva of C.Z…..’). A truly exceptional and magnificent autograph letter, beautifully enhanced by the drawings (which could indeed be interpreted as ‘self-portraits’) in the hands of Pablo Picasso and his lover, Dora Maar. Some very light, extremely minor age toning, VG OWING TO LIMITATIONS IMPOSED BY THE SALEROOM THE COMPLETE DESCRIPTION FOR THIS LOT CAN NOT BE DISPLAYED.Please contact IAA Europe directly for further information.
GAUGUIN PAUL: (1848-1903) French Post-Impressionist painter. A rare and very interesting lengthy Autograph Manuscript draft article by Gauguin, four pages, folio, n.p., n.d. [late 1889], in French. The draft article is untiltled, although would later be published as "Huysmans et Redon". Gauguin responds in this article to Huysmans's writing on visual arts, stating in part `Huysmans est un artiste, son mouvement d´impulsion se traduit dans une expulsion en littérature. Beaucoup de peintres voudraient être musiciens ou litérateurs. Lui voudrait être peintre. Il l´aime la peinture. A différentes époques des critiques ont paru de lui.... Depuis il s´est fait un grand changement en lui car il a soif d´art et ne craint pas de marcher sur ses erreurs. Nous l´en félicitons´ (Translation"Huysmans is an artist, his impulse movement translates into an expulsion in literature. Many painters would like to be musicians or men of letters. Huysmans would like to be a painter. He loves painting. At different times critics have appeared about him... Since then a big change has taken place in himself because he is thirsty of art and do not fear to walk on his own errors. we do congratulate him for this") Further Gauguin criticises the terms on which Huysmans has written about Odilon Redon and disputing Huysmans's understanding of other artists ancient and modern including Francesco Bianchi, and referring to Rembrandt and Rapahel, states in part `Je ne vois pas en quoi Odilon Redon fait des monstres - Ce sont des êtres imaginaires. C´est un rêveur, un imaginatif.... Voyez l´oeuvre de Rembrandt de Raphael et quelle relation intime entre tous ses modèles femmes et hommes et son portrait...´ (Translation: "I don't see how you can say that Odilon Redon makes monsters - They are imaginary beings. He is a dreamer, an imaginative.... See the work of Rembrandt, Raphael, and what an intimate relationship between all his female and male models and his portrait..."). Further again, Gauguin refers extensively to Gustave Moreau `...Son mouvement d´impulsion est bienloin du coeur, aussi il aime la richesse des biens matériels...´ (Translation "...His impulsive movement is very far from his heart and he loves the richness of material wealth..." and refers also to Puvis de Chavanne with some unconnected notes at the end `Coco de mer - Coco a deux parties qui s´entrouvent comme le sexe femelle d´où sort un énorme fallus qui va se piquer en terre pour germer. Les habitants l´ont considéré lontemps comme le fruit défendu de l´arbre de la science du mal et du bien´ (Translation "...Coconut in two parts which open like the female genitalia, from which emerges an enormous phallus which embeds itself in the earth to germinate. The inhabitants have long considered it as the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil") An extremely interesting thoughts by Gauguin, saying in differents parts of his manuscript `...Je veux dire par là que le peintre ne opeut illustrer un livre et vice versa. Il peut décorer son livre oui, y ajouter d´autres sensations qui s´y rattachent... De la laideur - Question brûlante et qui est la pierre de touche de notre art moderne et de la critique.... D´un volcan vous en refroidissez la lave et d´un sang bouillonant vous en faites une pierre. Fût-elle un rubis ...mais on veut des rubis et on les vend aux trafiquants de diamants! En somme Gustave Moreau est un beau ciseleur. En revanche Puvis de Chavannes ne vous sourit pas... La simplicité la noblesse ne sont plus d´époque. Que voulez-vous éminent critique d´art, ces gens là seront un jour de leur époque....´ (Translation: "By this I mean that the painter cannot illustrate a book and vice versa. He can decorate his book yes, add other sensations attached to it... Of ugliness - A burning question and which is the touchstone of our modern art and criticism.... Of a volcano you cool the lava and from boiling blood you make a stone. Was it a ruby...but we want rubies and we sell them to diamond traffickers! In short, Gustave Moreau is a great engraver. On the other hand, Puvis de Chavannes does not smile at you... Simplicity and nobility are no longer of the times. What do you want, eminent art critic, these people will one day be of their time...") A letter of excellent contant and association. Extremely small tears to the bottom edge of the second page, otherwise G to VGIn the present letter, Gauguin criticises the art criticism of the "decadent" critic Karl-Joris Huysmans. These typically combative notes, attacking the taste of the great literary champion of the Impressionists, were written when Gauguin was back in Paris after his fraught sojourn with Van Gogh in Arles, and was beginning to turn his mind to Tahiti. At the heart of his argument is the figure of Odilon Redon, who was in fact a friend of both men. Huysmans had written some of the first positive reviews of Redon's art, which had played a vital role in establishing him in the art world. Both Redon and Gauguin had exhibited in the 8th Impressionist exhibition of 1886, and by the late 1880s Redon was one of the few artistic contemporaries of whom Gauguin spoke with unambiguous respect. Gauguin is responding to a chapter of Huysmans's "Certains" on Redon entitled "Le Monstre" (1889). To Huysmans, Redon was an artist of fantasy, creating distorted monsters to express modernity - a visual equivalent of contemporary decadent and symbolist literature. Gauguin refutes this, claiming that Redon's imagination is an expression of nature. This article was dated by Guérin, who notes that it was first published in Les Nouvelles littéraires, 7th May 1953. Interestingly, the manuscript shows significant differences from the published text, with a number of important sentences silently omitted or re-ordered. Karl-Joris Huysmans (1848-1907) French Novelist and art Critic. A founding member of the Academy Goncourt and an early advocate of Impressionism.Odilon Redon (1840-1916) French Painter. Best known for his Dreamlike works inspired by Japanese art.Gustave Moreau (1826-1898) French artist, an important figure in the Symbolist movement.Pierre Puvis de Chavannes (1824-1898) French painter.
DE GAULLE CHARLES: (1890-1970) French General and statesman who led the Free French Forces during World War II. President of the French Republic 1959-69. A rare printed 8vo copy of a war date speech delivered by General de Gaulle at a reception given at Grosvenor House in London on 4th May 1943 by the Comite National Francais, comprising eight pages of French printed text, signed ('C. de Gaulle') by de Gaulle in dark fountain pen ink with his name alone at the conclusion. The speech, delivered in the aftermath of Operation Torch, states, in part, 'Si nous avons tenu a feter aujourd'hui nos camarades plus recemment arrives de France c'est d'abord parce que c'est leur tour de recevoir l'hommage du a leur courage et a leur resolution. Mais c'est aussi parce que, en leur personne, nous saluons les plus recents temoins de l'union inebranlable, une fois pour toutes etablie, entre les Francais Combattants et la masse des Francais captifs........la masse immense des Francais , dans sa misese et dans son combat, est moralement rassemblee autour de la France Combattante, nous nous sentons animes d'une merveilleuse confiance et plus resolus que jamais a poursuivre notre chemin, quoiqu'il en coute et quoiqu'il arrive........Eh bien, nous nous sentons tres forts et tres surs de nous, malgre toutes les difficultes du monde, parce que les braves gens que voila nous apportent l'encouragement et les ordres de la France.......dans cette guerre mondiale, comme dans toutes les tragedies humaines, les evenements ne sont jamais simples, Une sorte de diabolique genie reussit perpetuellement a les rendre decevants et compliques. En effet, ce drame effrayant et passionne met en oeuvre des hommes, des hommes avec leur courage et leur grandeur, mais aussi avec lesurs faiblesses et leurs mediocrites. C'est-a-dire que la politique at la strategie de la guerre ne sont qu'une perpetuelle concurrence entre le bons sens et l'erreur......C'est pourquoi je me sens aujourd'hui oblige d'evoquer clairement devant vous la grande affaire de l'unite de l'Empire Francais, qui est actuellement au centre de la politique et de la morale de cette guerre. J'en parlerai ici d'autant plus franchement que cette affaire interesse d'abord essentiellement les Francais et que notre peuple a le droit de connaitre comment agissent en la matiere ceux qui sont responsables devant lui......On sait que la France Combattante, qui n'a pas cesse un seul jour d'etre fidele a l'effort, a l'honneur et aux alliances, qui a remis dans la guerre une grande partie de l'Empire, qui prodigue sur tous les champs de bataille le courage de ses soldats, de ses marins, de ses aviateurs, qui sert d'inspiratrice et de guide a la resistance nationale, qui entretient des relations suivies avec toutes les Nations Unies et qui meme, j'ose le dire, contribue a animer l'esprit de guerre dans tout le camp de la liberte, fut officiellement ecartee de l'enterprise des Allies en Afrique du Nord Francaise.....La France Combattante etait neamnoins presente pour prodiguer aux Allies, lors de leur debarquement, le concours direct de ses amis, pour hanter l'esprit et eveiller la conscience de ces troupes francaises a qui une politique asservie a l'ennemi ordonnait de lutter coute que coute contre les Anglo-Saxons, en attendant que les Allemands aient eu le temps d'accourir, enfin pour fournir, au Fezzan, en Libye du Nord, en Tunisie et sur les mers, un concours appreciable et. je crois, assez glorieux a la bataille d'Afrique contre l'Axe........Une tentative fut faite d'imposer d'abord une autorite francaise qui demeurat a la fois hors de Vichy et hors de la France Combattante. Cette tentative ne put reussir. Nous pouvons dire que nous nous y etions attendus. Il nous a toujours paru que, dans le drame d'aujourd'hui, les grandes actions ne peuvent aboutir qu'appuyees sur une grande mystique. Or il n'y a actuellement que deux mystiques parmi les Francais: la Croix de Lorraine pour presque tous, le vieux Marechal pour quelques uns......En meme temps une dure bataille s'etait engagee en Tunisie, ou l'ennemi avait delbarque et ou de braves troupes francaises, secouant a la vue de l'Allemand la torpeur ou Vichy les avait longtemps maintenues, s'engageaient spontanement, presque sans armes, pour couvrir le deploiement des puissantes forces americaines et britanniques. Je rends ici un ardent hommage a ces vailants soldats, ainsi qu'a leurs chefs, les generaux Juin. Koetz, Barre, qui surent, dans une situation moralement et materiellement aussi confuse que possible, n'ecouter que leur devoir et prendre leurs responsabilites. Une nouvelle solution fut enfin adoptee pour le poste de Haute-Commissaire, puis de Commandant en Chef civil et militaire, en vertu d'une election par quatre hauts fonctionnaires demeures cependant fideles a Petain........Car c'est un fait, d'ailleurs infiniment emouvant et reconfortant, qu'en Afrique du Nord apparait maintenant au jour la volonte nationale. En depit d'une oppression acharnee de deux ans et demi, du flot epais de mensonges et chimeres qu'avait repandu Vichy et d'une obstruction continue de la part de certaines autorites, notre Algerie, notre Maroc, notre Tunisie, notre Afrique Occidentale, s'eveillent peu a peu l'appel de la Nation........Tout est pret pour que l'unite de l'Empire soit demain un fait accompli. Il reste a la consacrer, a la rendre feconde.......Car c'est bien de la France qu'il s'agit. Son Empire n'apartient a personne, sinon a elle-meme. Parceque cette Nation fut trahie et parcequ'elle est crucifiee, serait-ce une raison pour disposer de ses territoires, de ses soldats, par des arrangements opportunistes ou des combinaisons de commodite, alors qu'elle est soulevee par la vague des ardeurs sacrees et des fureurs vengeresses? Non!.......Il ne saurait y avoir discordance entre le combat mene en dehors du sol national et celui que livrent ses fils sur les champs secrets et multiples de la resistance interieure........Nous sommes prets a nous rendre a Alger immediatement et sans delai, pourvu que nous en soit laissee la possibilite physique. Nous ne voyons pas de raisons pour que cela soit differe davantage. Nous en voyons au contraire pour que soit hate un aboutissement qui doit porter au maximum l'effort de guerre francais, faciliter celui des Allies et exalter la confiance du monde dans les principes pour lesquels tant d'hommes souffrent et meurent aujourd'hui. C'est ainsi que prendra son sens profond et son efficience la grandiose entreprise interalliee d'Afrique du Nord, que le President Roosevelt et Monsieur Winston Churchill ont, avec tant d'audace et de methode, decidee et mise en oeuvre. C'est ainsi que les alliances et les amities de la Nation Francaise trouveront un nouvel et decisif aliment. C'est ainsi que la France pourra redresser davantage ses armes et ses esperances, en attendant le jour ou, sa liberation accomplie, et la victoire remportee, elle sortira, une fois de plus, de ses douleurs et de ses ruines, pour rependre son oeuvre et son rang dans l'equipe des grandes nations' (Translation: 'If we are keen to celebrate our comrades who have recently arrived from France today, it is first and foremost because it is their turn to receive the tribute due to their courage and resolve. But it is also because, in their person, we salute the most recent witnesses of the unbreakable union, once and for all established, between the French Combatants and the mass of captive Frenchmen........'OWING TO LIMITATIONS IMPOSED BY THE SALEROOM THE COMPLETE DESCRIPTION FOR THIS LOT CAN NOT BE DISPLAYED.Please contact IAA Europe directly for further information.

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