Unique and Poignant 1st July 1916 Attack, 1st Day of the Battle of the Somme, Letter, Photographs and Documents Relating to 62033 Private later Acting Sergeant Walter Keeble 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment. Walter went over the top on July the 1st 1916, taking part in perhaps the most memorable days action undertaken by the British Army. Advancing over Mash Valley near Ovilliers he is caught between two German lines, wounded on the 2nd he is left lying out with no food and little water until his rescue on the 7th. His account contained in what appears to be an uncensored letter to his wife written on the 12th July from Northampton Hospital describes his experiences "No food or water only rain water that I caught in my helmet" "The best bit of luck was I had no rifle or else I should not have been here now". "I think my poor old Batt. was wiped out" In fact the 2nd Battalion had around 650 casualties on the 1st July 1916. Together with small framed photographs of Walter, contemporary group postcard photo of his unit, letter from his Lieut J.Kenneth Grayson etc and a photographic medallion with a small colour tinted photograph him in uniform and his wife on the reverse. Interestingly a photograph of him and his wife, probably taken towards the end of the war shows her wearing the medallion! Surely an almost unique record of endurance, particularly unusual in being recorded first hand just a week later. All items contained in a modern file.
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Important Collection of Girl Guide /Boy Scout Ephemera, Photographs etc, contained in four Albums spanning the years 1930-1933-1947. The first volumes in the form of diary with ephemera and photographs relates to the Weston-Super-Mare area and provides a detailed record of Guide and Brownie activities. The Second Album is a record of a Scouters & Guides Summer cruise to Rotterdam, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Finland and Norway with very good photographs of the enthusiastic response by all the local Scout and Guide Associations,(perhaps because the Chief Scout Baden Powell accompanied the cruise and is photographed on a number of occasions. The third Album "My book of Guide events 1943-1945 is full account with numerous photographs, cuttings and ephemera eg Ranger Conference, London October 1944 together with an index . The fourth Album is again a full record of what appears to be the Somerset branch with notes, cuttings and some very good photographs, album has the initials F.M.B. on the cover as has Album "3" Very nice condition.
Sketches of Female Nudes by Battle of Britain Pilot Sergeant W B Holroyd, the pencil sketches were all produced in the 1930’s. All signed in the top corner by Holroyd. 20 in total. Wilfred Barwell Holroyd joined the RAFVR about April 1937 as an Airman u/t Pilot. Called up on 1st September 1939, he did not take the usual training course but appears to have served with 81 (Communications) Squadron in France, flying Tiger Moths. The squadron was withdrawn to Andover in May 1940 and was disbanded there on 15th June. Holroyd joined No. 37 Course at 3 FTS South Cerney which began on 11th July 1940, but he was transferred to No. 35 Course for advanced training only. He arrived at 6 OTU on 31st August 1940 and after converting to Hurricanes was posted to 151 Squadron at Digby on 21st September. He moved to 501 Squadron at Kenley on 19th October 1940. He ferried one of three Spitfires from Exeter to 501's base at Colerne on 24th April 1941, the start of the squadron's re-equipment. Holroyd also had the squadron's first Spitfire accident, when he made a belly-landing in R7141 on 15th May with undercarriage trouble. On 24th July he damaged a Me109 over Brest. Commissioned in July 1941, his subsequent service is currently undocumented until he was released from the RAF in 1946 as a Flight Lieutenant. Holroyd died in 1996
A 1923 pressing of R.U.R (Rossums Universal Robots) by Karel Capek adapted for the English stage by Nigel Playfair, published by the Oxford University Press. Original owners written on first page, character cuttings retrospectively glued on certain pages, blank label painted over the character list as is common with this edition. Slight tearing and marks to the spine of the book but largely in good condition, paper back. With associated newspaper cuttings.
A first edition copy of One Man's Initiation by John Dos Passos published by George Allen & Unwin Ltd in 1920 with original dust jacket, though with slight rip to the bottom of the jacket on the spine alongside an English first edition copy of Leninism by Joseph Stalin published in 1928 by George Allen & Unwin without a dust jacket. Both generally in good condition with expected marks in places, though bindings in good order.
THE BEATLES' FIRST! - A scarce 1964 original German compilation, presented in great condition. The record is in Ex+ condition; very clean throughout there are perhaps one or two very light, minor and wispy surface markings. Extremely bright, crisp and sharp labels. The sleeve is in Ex condition with a light crease on the bottom right/left corner (depending on viewing from the front or reverse), running roughly diagonally/
THE BEATLES - WITH THE BEATLES - A very clean 2nd UK pressing of the 1963 album (mono PMC 1206). The 'Recording First Published', 'Parlophone Co Ltd.' record is in Ex+ condition with just one or two very light and wispy markings. Dominion credit for the track Money. -1N/-1N matrix endings. The sleeve is in clean Ex condition with some rather light wear on the reverse top right hand side where the catalogue number is.
JOHN, GEORGE & RINGO PHOTOS - 5 x 35mm b/w negative of a photograph taken of John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr on a train from New York to Washington, D.C. during the Beatles first U.S. visit in February 1964. The photographs were taken by photographer Eve Bowen and are to be sold with copyright. Also includes an A4 size prints recently taken from the negatives.
NELSON HORATIO: (1758-1805) British Admiral during the Napoleonic Wars, the victor of the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805.A.L.S., Nelson & Bronte, one page, 4to, Merton, 13th May 1802, to Robert Brent ('My Dear Sir'). Nelson commences his letter 'I feel and so does Lady Hamilton very much obliged by your kind present of seeds' and continues 'I saw Mr. Nepean yesterday & mentioned your name, he said he had every disposition and that you had seen Mr. H. Addington on the subject'. In concluding Nelson writes 'Lady Hamilton desires me to present her kind compliments to you and Mrs. Brent….' With integral address leaf in the hand of Emma Hamilton, addressed by her to Robert Brent Esq at Bulstrode Street, Manchester Square, London. Letters by Nelson in which he refers to his mistress are desirable, and the present example is enhanced by her holograph address. Neatly mounted and with two small areas of paper loss to the integral address leaf, evidently caused by the breaking of the original seal. About VG Sir Evan Nepean (1752-1822) British Politician and Colonial Administrator who served as First Secretary to the Admiralty 1795-1804. Henry Addington (1757-1844) 1st Viscount Sidmouth. British Prime Minister 1801-04. Addington is best known for obtaining (less than two months before the present letter) the Treaty of Amiens which represented an unfavourable peace with Napoleonic France and marked the end of the Second Coalition during the French Revolutionary Wars. Emma Hamilton (1765-1815) Lady Hamilton. English Mistress of Lord Nelson and wife of Sir William Hamilton. The present letter is not published in The Dispatches and Letters of Vice Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson edited by Nicolas (Volume V, January 1802 - April 1804), although Nelson had corresponded with Robert Brent in January 1802 in a letter (also unpublished by Nicolas) promising his assistance and assuring Brent that he would see Nepean on his next visit to London, and commenting 'Nothing shall be wanting on my part'.
DU MAURIER DAPHNE: (1907-1989) British Author. An excellent, revealing T.L.S., Daphne du Maurier, three pages, 8vo, Menabilly, 28th April 1962, to Mr. Staniland. Du Maurier announces that she thinks Ronald Bryden's article was rather good and remarks 'I agree with most of it; the escapist books of what I should call my “prime” (not the prime of Miss Jean Brodie, but not all that far removed from it) must seem incredibly naïve to the present-day reader, or even those of ten years ago', further adding 'Heaven knows they were none of them written with tongue-in-cheek any more than was my grandfather's Trilby, but I think it would be fair to say that his books and mine are something of a phenomina, (sic) and I was astounded at my own success in the 1940s as he was in the 1890s'. Du Maurier continues to reflect, 'Analysed, the books are nonsense, but I think this could be said of other novels by much more significant authors' and confesses 'It is true to say I never consciously “lifted” a plot from any other writer's book. I never read “Dr. Syn”, but I admit the affinity of Jane Eyre to Rebecca. The stories came from within myself, and so were written - their popularity with such a wide audience was peculiar, but it happened'. The author also states that she feels Bryden has been class conscious and knows little of how writers such as herself actually live ('Heavens, if he could see some of my grubby shirts…and dished up left-overs for supper') and writes 'as to disliking tourists, I hate all people on sight when I want to be alone…' and concludes her letter 'Yes, of course I used the word mullion. I thought when you first wrote, you meant I used the word instead of “million”. viz: “I have sold a million copies of Rebecca”! Thank you for championing my cause (I cant spell, amongst my other faults, should the word have two n's?) and its consoling to learn that subscription for each title was 40,000 copies. But these days it's a crime to sell well, and to be popular even worse. In thirty years time the pendulum may swing, and as a grand old lady of literature - an English Colette aged 85 - perhaps Ronald Bryden may come to a hut in Menabilly woods (if they haven't been cut down) and pay homage to me. That will be the day'. A letter of remarkable content with fine references to Du Maurier's works including Rebecca. VG Meaburn Staniland (1914-1992) English Editor, Author and Antiquarian Bookseller who worked at Penguin Books in the 1960s and 1970s. Ronald Bryden (1927-2004) Playwright, Broadcaster and Theatre Critic who was literary editor of The Spectator in the 1960s. George du Maurier (1834-1896) Franco-British Cartoonist and Author whose most famous work was the novel Trilby (1894). One of the most popular books of its day, the work focuses on the heroine Trilby O'Ferrall, a half-Irish girl working in Paris as an artist's model and launderess, with whom all of the male characters in the book are in love.
![[WILDE OSCAR]: (1854-1900) Irish Playwright and Novelist. DOUGLAS ALFRED (1870-1945) English Author & Poet, the intimate fri](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/ecab18eb-2fa1-4f5b-b8df-a7e800baa2c3/0f61623e-d5c5-4c86-faac-48f28dc9c714/468x382.jpg)
[WILDE OSCAR]: (1854-1900) Irish Playwright and Novelist. DOUGLAS ALFRED (1870-1945) English Author & Poet, the intimate friend and lover of Oscar Wilde. A.L.S., Alfred Douglas, one page, 8vo, Paris, 18th April 1930, to [Patrick] Braybrooke. Douglas informs his correspondent of his imminent travel plans, explaining that he will return to Hove on Tuesday but won't be in London immediately, 'but shall be pleased to see you if you come down any day to lunch'. Together with an interesting selection of A.Ls.S. and T.Ls.S. by various other individuals, all with content relating to either Wilde or Douglas, including Arthur Ransome (1884-1967) English Author & Journalist, remembered for his Swallows and Amazons series of Children's books. Ransome became embroiled in a libel suit with Douglas following his work Oscar Wilde - A Critical Study, 1912. Ransome won the suit, although refused all interviews regarding it. T.L.S., Arthur Ransome, one page, 4to, Cartmel Fell, Windermere, 31st August 1928, to Patrick Braybrooke, stating, in part, 'The only suggestion I have to make is that you should take the letter as a warning to leave the subject alone. You will find that it is impossible to write on Wilde (whatever may be your intention) without becoming involved in an embittered and exceedingly unpleasant controversy'; Shane Leslie (1885-1971) Irish-born Diplomat and Writer, cousin of Winston Churchill. A.L.S., Shane Leslie, one page, 4to, Westbourne Terrace, London, 4th July 1930, to [Patrick] Braybrooke, expressing his pleasure at having read his correspondent's monograph on Oscar Wilde and commenting 'It is always difficult for Catholics to know how to touch the difficult question of his life and death. You have done this admirably and said exactly what should be said in words and sentences which would have brought balm in Reading Gaol'; Marie Stopes (1880-1958) British Author who founded the first birth control clinic in Britain. Daughter of Charlotte Carmichael Stopes (1840-1929) British Scholar, Author and Campaigner for women's rights. T.L.S., Marie C. Stopes, one page, 4to, Hindhead, Surrey, 7th June 1930, to Patrick Braybrooke, stating that she had sent her correspondent's book Oscar Wilde - A Study to The Times and received a reply which she continues to quote, in part, '….”Oscar Wilde: A Study” by Patrick Braybrooke has not been bought by the Library, and is not being circulated by us.' and continues 'I thought you might like to know to get your publisher to find out about it', further adding 'I am particularly interested in Oscar Wilde as my Mother, who died last year, left among her correspondence about a dozen interesting letters from Wilde to herself about suffrage and various women's interest'; Christina Foyle (informing Braybrooke that his 'Lord Alfred Douglas' is selling well, 1931), Perceval Deeley (Chairman of the publishers Burns, Oates & Washbourne Ltd), W. H. Wagstaff (Honourable Secretary of The Royal Society of Literature) etc. The majority of the letters are neatly laid down, causing some slight wrinkling and minor age wear to some. Generally G, 8 Patrick Braybrooke (1894-1956) English Literary Critic who published Oscar Wilde: A Study in 1930 and The Life and Work of Lord Alfred Douglas in the following year, being the first biography of Douglas.
JOHN PAUL II: (1920-2005) Pope of the Catholic Church 1978-2005. Book signed, a hardback edition of Crossing the Threshold of Hope, First Edition published by Jonathan Cape, London, 1994. Signed (Johannes Paulus II) in blue ink to the title page and dated 1995 in his hand. Accompanied by the dusk jacket. Rare in this form. VG The signature was obtained personally by the vendorin Papua New Guinea on 17th January 1995 when the Pope performed the beatification of Blessed Peter ToRot (1912-1945). Accompanied by a colour printed brochure entitled Blessed Peter ToRot - A Martyr of the Church.
HASTINGS WARREN: (1732-1818) English Statesman, first de facto Governor-General of India 1772-85. A.L.S., Warren Hastings, two pages, 4to, Newport, Isle of Wight, 4th October n.y., to William Sharp Jnr. Hastings thanks his correspondent for their letter, notes and gifts, and further apologises for not having replied sooner, before re-stating 'Again, Sir, let me thank you for your civilities, & to assure you that I feel myself highly gratified in having inspired such favourable sentiments in the breast of a man whose goodness of heart is evident from the zeal which he has shewn for a character wch. he believes to merit the goodwill of every virtuous man…' With tears along the central fold and a small portion of paper loss to the lower left section of the letter slightly affecting two words but not affecting the signature, with minor staining and age wear. G
WHISTLER LAURENCE: (1912-2000) British Artist and Poet. A.L.S., Laurence Whistler, two pages, 8vo, Lyme Regis, Dorset, 18th July 1960, to [Neville] Braybrooke. Whistler states that he had read in the Sunday Times about his correspondent's collection of juvenilia and continues 'Some years ago I began an anthology of “First Fruits” - the first verses ever written by poets (& others)', further explaining 'Mr. de la Mare promised to put his in it - but he lost it, and it only returned to me after his death, without his contribution alas! So there's very little in it….But I had….Robert Graves's….If you would care to have these, and anything else that's any good, I could send them to you'. In concluding Whistler remarks 'When I say “good” they are, of course, very childish, being not merely juvenilia, but literally remembered “first fruits”'. Together with a T.L.S., Laurence Whistler, two pages, 8vo, Lyme Regis, Dorset, 15th August 1960, also to [Neville] Braybrooke. Whistler writes 'Looking through First Fruits again, I see that it has too many “works” by amateurs to be worth sending…' and adds that he has therefore elected just to send some extracts and continuing to provide brief quotations from Andrew Young, Robert Graves ('Who did that?/ Said the grown-up cat./ I not,/ Said the dot'), Edith Oliver, as well as one of his own, written at around the age of ten years. Also including a T.N.S., Laurence Whistler, on one side of a plain postcard, Lyme Regis, Dorset, 19th August 1960, also to Neville Braybrooke, forwarding a further recommending another contribution from First Fruit which had been submitted by C. Day-Lewis. Some light overall age wear and a few minor paperclip rust stains, G to about VG, 3 Neville Braybrooke (1923-2001) English Poet, Writer, Editor, Literary Critic and Publisher. Son of Patrick Braybrooke (1894-1956) English Literary Critic. Whistler's letters were written in connection to Neville Braybrooke's research, which extended over some thirty years, into an anthology of juvenilia by writers who would later become famous. The book was published with the title of Seeds in the Wind: Early Signs of Genius in 1989.
![[BRAYBROOKE PATRICK]: (1894-1956) English Literary Critic, a relative of G. K. Chesterton and author of the biographical stu](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/ecab18eb-2fa1-4f5b-b8df-a7e800baa2c3/cf134286-da3a-4d17-b854-a7ed01079959/468x382.jpg)
[BRAYBROOKE PATRICK]: (1894-1956) English Literary Critic, a relative of G. K. Chesterton and author of the biographical study Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1922) as well as The Life and Work of Lord Alfred Douglas (1931) and The Amazing Mr Noel Coward (1933), the latter two both being the first biographies to tackle their subject. A hardback bound folio scrapbook previously belonging to and compiled by Patrick Braybrooke containing over 80 A.Ls.S., T.Ls.S. etc., by various writers, novelists, artists, academics and other famous individuals, most laid down to the pages (some in multiples), and a few loosely inserted, all written to Braybrooke in the 1920s and 1930s, including Edmund Dulac, Oliver Lodge, Compton Mackenzie, Edmund Gosse, Ernest Raymond, John Drinkwater, John Masefield, Hugh Walpole, Anthony Hope Hawkins, E. F. Benson, Beatrice Webb, Gilbert Frankau, Ian Hay Beith, Thomas Moult (in part, ‘I do not suppose that our books on Barrie will clash in any way, so you need not be concerned at all’), A.P. Herbert, E. V. Lucas, Arnold Bennett (in part ‘I like the article, and see nothing in it which ought to be eliminated. But I am bound to say that my gloom about old age is very much less than the average gloom about that affair’), Hilaire Belloc, Eden Phillpotts (in part, ‘A week or two ago Percival Hinton of Birmingham published a bibliography of my half century of work. There are over 150 items & my activities are represented by such diverse literary creations that you would find any real examination & review of them all a most tedious & unfruitful business. Nobody cares twopence (sic) about my books & such a work as you contemplate would, I fear, only waste your time’), Robert Hichens (in full, ‘I know nobody of your name. It was merely a coincidence my choosing it for one of my characters’), Owen Seaman, Edgar Jepson, William Leonard Courtney, Rebecca West (in part, ‘I must confess that I am slightly shocked by your letter. Are you not the Mr. Patrick Braybrooke who wrote to the Daily Graphic proving, or should I say arguing, that the activities of women should be restricted to the exercise of their more cow-like domestic functions; and that, when they disobey this decree, they produce work that is, in the eyes of the male, deplorably worthless? How then does it happen that you write to me tempting me from the exercise of the cow-like functions of domesticity, calling me out of the kitchen, where I might be producing my famous curry of pate de foie gras (for which I assure you I am famous) in order that you may bring down the level of the world’s intelligence by reporting my feminine, and therefore, worthless views? I am deeply shocked; I would not for the world give you the interview you ask….’), Victor Whitechurch, W. B. Maxwell, Max Pemberton, Sidney Low, Aylmer Hunter-Weston, Geoffrey Moss (referring to his novel Sweet Pepper having been banned), Ernest Benn, William Godfrey, William Temple (as Archbishop of Canterbury), Philip Gibbs, Upton Sinclair, Wilfrid Meynell, Cyril Joad etc. Together with a second hardback bound scrapbook containing various press cuttings, a few letters and other pieces of printed ephemera relating to or of personal interest to Braybrooke. Generally G, 2
POETS: Small selection of T.Ls.S. etc., by various poets including Cecil Day-Lewis, Clifford Dyment (2; in the first referring to letters received from Joe Ackerley at the time he was editor of The Listener until a few years before his death and remarking 'I shall be most glad to let you see them and to print any of them you should wish. The only problem is: where are they?' and in the second sending eight letters (no longer present) of Ackerley's and providing some explanatory notes, particularly regarding his introduction to the writer, 'I was nervous and shy about Joe at first, but he had so much consideration, kindness and charm that it wasn't possible to be shy for long and soon….we were friends'), Charles Causley (A.L.S., in part, 'I don't think I ever had a letter from Joe Ackerley; just some rejection slips & some acceptances!....Was the book of mine you liked Figgie Hobbin? I've written a rhyming story for children, & am currently doing a book of poems with drawings by Barbara Hepworth. Exciting prospect! And intimidating…', 1971), Norman Nicholson (regarding Joe Ackerley and stating, in part, 'He published some of my very earliest verse - poems which I've now discarded. Then The Blackberry and Egremont, two of the first poems which might be described as typically Nicholson for that time. Often there were encouraging remarks or a line or two of criticism. Then, suddenly, just at the time I began to get my verse accepted everywhere, anything that I sent to The Listener came back by return post without any word of explanation. I never discovered the reason for this!' and also commenting on his own work and forthcoming publication, 1971) etc. All of the letters are written to Neville Braybrooke and date from the late 1960s - early 1970s. G to VG, 7 Neville Braybrooke (1923-2001) English Poet, Writer, Editor, Literary Critic and Publisher who edited The Letters of J. R. Ackerley (1975). Son of Patrick Braybrooke (1894-1956) English Literary Critic. J. R. Ackerley (1896-1967) British Writer and Editor of The Listener, the BBC's weekly magazine. Ackerley published many emerging poets and writers who would later become successful and influential in Great Britain. Ackerley was openly homosexual, a rarity at a time when homosexuality was socially ostracized and forbidden by law.
![[FLEMING IAN]: (1908-1964) British Author, creator of James Bond.A small selection of three printed Telegrams (received copie](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/ecab18eb-2fa1-4f5b-b8df-a7e800baa2c3/8c1b3e8a-b8b3-46bb-f951-d58a60d6fc03/468x382.jpg)
[FLEMING IAN]: (1908-1964) British Author, creator of James Bond.A small selection of three printed Telegrams (received copies) sent by Ian Fleming, each one page, oblong 8vo, sent from London and received in Germany, n.d. (1950s, one bearing a date stamp at Berlin of 17th March 1951), to [Anthony] Terry. The telegrams read, in full, 'Grateful regular supply atticus paragraphs cabled or airmailed stop British angle desirable but unessential stop pungency newxworthiness fundamental = Fleming' (17th March 1951), 'Congratulations really splendid showing Sunday = signed Fleming' and 'Your recent coverage been splendid thanks = Fleming'. Each with multiple file holes at the left and/or upper margins, and with a few creases and very minor tears, not affecting the text, about VG, 3 Anthony Terry (1913-1992) British Journalist, a former European Editor of The Sunday Times who was first hired in 1949 by Fleming (at the time the Foreign manager for the newspaper). Terry's obituary in The Independent stated that he was 'one of the paper's most valuable assets, a one-man listening post, a fastidious checker of facts, a burrower into dark corners and a traveller who never complained of fatigue'.
THOMPSON HENRY: (1820-1904) British Surgeon and Polymath, assisted in the founding of the Cremation Society of Great Britain (1874), becoming its first president. A.L.S., Henry Thompson, four pages, 12mo, Wimpole Street, London, 10th April 1879, to Ernest Gambart. Thompson enquires if a dinner invitation is still acceptable to his correspondent, continuing, 'I have engaged Tadema for that evening, and now I wish to know if you have any friends here that it will be particularly agreeable to you to meet & I shall be really much obliged if you will name any two or three, that I may have the pleasure of adding them to my list.' VG Ernest Gambart (1814-1902) Belgian-born English Art Publisher and Dealer. Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) Dutch Painter. Alma-Tadema had met Gambart in 1864, when the latter arranged an exhibition in London and promoted the artist's work whilst Alma-Tadema remained in Belgium. The painter finally moved to London in 1870, and when he fell ill and his doctors were unable to diagnose the medical problems, Gambart advised him to consult with Henry Thompson.
MURDOCH IRIS: (1919-1999) Irish-born Writer and Philosopher. A.L.S., Iris Murdoch, two pages, 8vo, Steeple Aston, Oxford, 15th November n.y., to [Neville] Braybrooke. Murdoch thanks her correspondent for their letter and interesting suggestion and continues 'Inspired by it, I made a search for some early poetry which I haven't seen for years, but could find nothing! I fear I may have destroyed all my early efforts', further remarking 'If anything turns up in the near future (& if I feel I could bear its publication, which is doubtful) I'll let you know'. Together with a second A.L.S., Iris Murdoch, on one side of a plain postcard, St. Anne's College, Oxford, n.d. (16th July 1961), also to Neville Braybrooke. Murdoch thanks her correspondent for having sent her a copy of The Idler and remarks 'I have started reading it & with great pleasure!' Hand addressed by Murdoch to the verso. Also including a third A.L.S., Iris, two pages, 8vo, Hamilton Road, Oxford, 7th November n.y., also to Neville [Braybrooke]. Murdoch informs her correspondent 'I much enjoyed visiting your local shop, a real second hand bookshop! There aren't so many now' and further writes 'I think I can't provide a juvenile contribution - I haven't any suitable archives and have only (for another request) found in a school magazine a poem so terrible that I would rather burn it!' Some very light age wear and creasing, predominantly to the first letter which also has a small, neat split to the edge of one fold, not affecting the text or signature. G to VG, 3 Neville Braybrooke (1923-2001) English Poet, Writer, Editor, Literary Critic and Publisher. Son of Patrick Braybrooke (1894-1956) English Literary Critic. Two of the present letters were written in response to Neville Braybrooke's research, which extended over some thirty years, into an anthology of juvenilia by writers who would later become famous. The book was published with the title of Seeds in the Wind: Early Signs of Genius in 1989.
![[FLEMING IAN]: (1908-1964) British Author, creator of James Bond. A small selection of four printed Telegrams (received copie](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/ecab18eb-2fa1-4f5b-b8df-a7e800baa2c3/f81e8ea2-a843-4dd0-f16c-cad82ba361c6/468x382.jpg)
[FLEMING IAN]: (1908-1964) British Author, creator of James Bond. A small selection of four printed Telegrams (received copies) sent by Ian Fleming, each one page, oblong 8vo, sent from London and received in Germany, n.d. (1950s, one bearing a date stamp at Berlin of 29th March 1951), to [Anthony] Terry. Fleming informs Terry of the good work he is producing, the telegrams reading, in full, 'Congratulations splendid show Empire News signed Fleming', 'You led all papers except Newcastle today splendid = Fleming' (29th March 1951), 'Thanks excellent suntimeser et your leakages led Glasgow prominent elsewhere today = Fleming' and 'Greatly impressed your fine coverage this year stop any news Stanbury regards = Fleming'. Each with multiple file holes at the left and/or upper margins, and with a few creases and very minor tears, not affecting the text, G to about VG, 4 Anthony Terry (1913-1992) British Journalist, a former European Editor of The Sunday Times who was first hired in 1949 by Fleming (at the time the Foreign manager for the newspaper). Terry's obituary in The Independent stated that he was 'one of the paper's most valuable assets, a one-man listening post, a fastidious checker of facts, a burrower into dark corners and a traveller who never complained of fatigue'.
NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS: Patrick White (1912-1990) Australian Writer, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, 1973. T.L.S., Patrick White, one page (folding air mail stationery), 4to, Castle Hill, New South Wales, 18th June 1962, to Neville Braybrooke. White states that he is surprised that his correspondent has not heard from his London agent regarding The Letters, explaining 'I wrote to her New York counterpart….and she agreed to send The Letters to London because, she said, “its particularly British tone” would make it difficult to sell in the States. (For thirty years I have been trying to work out why we can understand “peculiarly American” stories and they can't understand ours.)' and also remarking 'Sorry I can't produce any juvenilia of interest, at the moment I am taken up with the theatre. I have a play opening in Sydney next month, one in Adelaide in September and am working on a third….'; William Golding (1911-1993) British Novelist, Nobel Prize winner for Literature 1983. Brief T.L.S., William Golding, one page, 4to, Bower Chalke, Salisbury, Wiltshire, 29th September n.y., to [Neville] Braybrooke. Golding writes, in full, 'I'll see if I can find anything by me. What do you want? Juvenilia which is amusing because it is incompetent or the stuff that shows promise?'; J. M. Coetzee (1940- ) South African Novelist, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, 2003. T.L.S., J M Coetzee, one page (folding air mail stationery), 4to, Department of English, University of Cape Town, 7th July 1988, to Neville Braybrooke. Coetzee declines his correspondent's invitation to contribute to an anthology, remarking 'Unfortunately, and much to my regret, I have not preserved any of my juvenile work'; Harold Pinter (1930-2008) English Playwright, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, 2005. T.L.S., Harold Pinter, one page, 4to, London, 2nd March 1999, to Neville Baybrooke (sic). Pinter thanks his correspondent for their letter and comments 'I remember the party in 1973 well, particularly Henry Reed falling down. The speech I made about Reggie's cricket was impromptu. There is no copy….Reggie….gave me my first employment on BBC Radio in, I think, 1950'; Doris Lessing (1919-2013) British Novelist, Poet & Playwright, Nobel Prize winner for Literature, 2007. Brief T.L.S., Doris Lessing, one page, 4to, Langham Street, London, 2nd December n.y., to [Neville] Braybrooke. Lessing thanks her correspondent for writing and remarks 'No, I haven't kept anything at all I wrote when young. It seems to me most writers would be very happy to forget their beginnings'. Some creasing and age wear to the majority of the letters, and some with small tears and areas of paper loss to the edges, none of which particularly affect the text or signatures, FR to G, 5 Neville Braybrooke (1923-2001) English Poet, Writer, Editor, Literary Critic and Publisher. Son of Patrick Braybrooke (1894-1956) English Literary Critic. Some of the present letters were written in response to Neville Braybrooke's research, which extended over some thirty years, into an anthology of juvenilia by writers who would later become famous. The book was published with the title of Seeds in the Wind: Early Signs of Genius in 1989.
DOWDING HUGH: (1882-1970) British Air Chief Marshal, Commander of RAF Fighter Command during the Battle of Britain. A.L.S., Hugh Dowding, two pages, 8vo, Tunbridge Wells, 6th May 1956, to Lord Beaverbrook. Dowding informs his correspondent that 'Muriel has asked me to send you the enclosed [not present] to thank you for your perfectly beautiful flowers. It is the first letter that she has been able to write.' He continues, 'She has now reached the stage when they can get her out of bed for an hour twice a day… she is still weak & a bit dejected by all that she has gone through', adding 'there is no reason why she should not be perfectly fit & well again provided that the paralysed internal organs recover their tone.' Concluding, 'The Brook Hospital is rather a wonderful place. They mostly get 'hopeless' brain and spine cases. They have about the best X ray apparatus & operators in the country & the two principal surgeons, Knight & Northcroft are just about at the top of their professional tree.' Two file holes to the left edge, very slightly affecting one word of text, otherwise VGLord Beaverbrook (1879-1964) Canadian-British Business Tycoon, Minister of Aircraft Production 1940-41Muriel Dowding (1908-1993) British Animal Rights Activist. Hugh Dowding's second wife.Brook General Hospital, London (in use 1896-1995).Geoffrey Knight (1907-1994) British Consultant Neurosurgeon, pioneering of Psychosurgery. George Northcroft (1911-1996) Neurosurgeon.
WATKINS VERNON: (1906-1967) Welsh Poet & Painter, a close friend of Dylan Thomas. Small series of three A.Ls.S. and two T.Ls.S., Vernon Watkins (and two with his first name only), six pages (total), 8vo, Pennard Cliffs, near Swansea, October 1954 - November 1961, to various correspondents including Neville Braybrooke and John Lehmann. Watkins writes about his poems, reviews and other literary subjects, in part, 'I would prefer an alternative to the sentence you have put at the beginning….I do not like to 'protest' 'as a poet'. Poets have to work hard, and protest is a relaxation. Tentatively I have typed an alternative sentence….If this won't do, or if it's too late, it doesn't matter, but I would prefer to do without 'protest'' (21st October 1954, to John Lehmann), 'Thank you very much for the magazine and for printing my poem and letter so well. Both turn out to be just what I wanted to say….Honestly I don't feel I have time for reviewing, and I don't remember enough about Heine's life….Erich Heller has no judgement about Heine. His pronouncements about him when we talked in a friend's house were so stupid that I secretly put Heine in his chair and imagined him talking about Heller….Heller is good on Goethe….but Heine is altogether too much for him. I never have enough time….It's because my poems - the few I write - take endless revision' (18th November 1954, to John Lehmann), 'I am sorry about not being able to do the review. My real point is that I don't do reviewing….Also, when writing about poetry I like nothing to come between me and the poetry itself. I might one day do a short study of Heine's poetry; I have translated some of it….but to write about it through the medium of another person's book I don't want to do' (22nd November 1954, to John Lehmann). Some creasing and light overall age wear, G, 5 John Lehmann (1907-1987) English Poet and Man of Letters. Lehmann served as managing director for Leonard and Virginia Woolf's Hogarth Press from 1938-46 before establishing his own publishing house. Neville Braybrooke (1923-2001) English Poet, Writer, Editor, Literary Critic and Publisher. Son of Patrick Braybrooke (1894-1956) English Literary Critic. Heinrich Heine (1797-1856) German Poet, Journalist, Essayist and Literary Critic, known for his early lyric poetry. Erich Heller (1911-1990) British Essayist, known for his critical studies in German language philosophy and literature of the 19th and 20th centuries.
DU MAURIER DAPHNE: (1907-1989) British Author. A good A.L.S., Daphne Browning, four pages, 8vo, Fowey, Cornwall, 21st January n.y. (1943), to Miss. [Dorothy] Horsman. Du Maurier sends her correspondent some proofs (no longer present) and comments 'On the very last page, in the proof, the writing goes down to the bottom of the page. I always think it looks better, when a book finishes, to have half a page blank; do you see what I mean? And do you think it looks better to have the words "The End" - or is that rather old fashioned and unnecessary?' Du Maurier further refers to the word 'killiq' which occurs from time to time within the book, stating 'I am uncertain whether I have spelt it correctly, or if it should be singular or plural. It is a small fish, like a large sardine! But perhaps you have an Irishman handy who could tell you the correct spelling!' In concluding the author asks Horsman if she will let Mr. Gollancz know that she will be in London during the first week of February 'and would love to have my annual lunch with him, if he will name a day' and in a lengthy postscript, signed with her initials DdM, again refers to the proof which she has corrected, as well as another that was sent to her by the printer, and remarking 'I would like a final proof for myself, please, if there will be such a thing, because I want to have it very specially bound for someone when I am up in London'. A letter of good content relating to Du Maurier's seventh novel. A couple of small pinholes to the upper left corner of each page, only very slightly affecting a few words of text, and two very small tears to the right edge of each page, only very slightly affecting one word of text, otherwise VG Dorothy Horsman had been employed by Victor Gollancz as his secretary whilst at Ernest Benn Ltd. When Gollancz founded his own publishing house in 1927 Horsman followed, joining him as a production manager. She has been described as 'a tower of strength, working early and late and dealing calmly and with immense efficiency, until her retirement in 1961, with every detail of the production, as she did with the thunderstorms that frequently broke over her head'. Horsman later became a director and when Gollancz became ill in 1943, in the same year as the present letter, she was appointed joint assistant managing director. The present letter relates to Du Maurier's seventh novel, Hungry Hill, which was published by Gollancz in 1943. The historical novel, of which 33 editions have been printed, is based on the family and history of the Irish ancestors of Du Maurier's friend Christopher Puxley.
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