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Lot 323
'Winston Churchill has rung up…..What can it mean??!!!' DU MAURIER DAPHNE: (1907-1989) British Author. Conclusion of an A.L.S., Daphne, four pages, 8vo, n.p., n.d. (mid-late 1930s?), [to Foy Quiller-Couch]. The first two pages of Du Maurier's letter are no longer present; in the larger remaining portion the author writes, in part, 'Now, what I really brew upon is this. I find myself in need of a butterfly, and I wonder whether there is any chance of your slipping away for one when the Guardsman's [her husband, Frederick Browning] leave is up…..Could we have put some eggs and a half-side of ham and a packet of tea in a basket, and streaked for Frenchman's creek? Or is it really un-furnished and would our aging bones suffer? I yearn to take the road again. Jeanne has a very good Inn in Wales (private sitting-room and there's a bathroom) with mountainous walks around it. Lundy is still unvisited. Dartmoor & Exmoor are by us untrodden. Write and tell me if there is any remote possibility. If not May, perhaps later on we can achieve it, but its time we set forth again. I have a feeling we are in for a hot dry summer….' Du Maurier also adds two postscripts, in the second stating 'Winston Churchill has rung up to speak to the Guardsman who is out. What can it mean??!!! Tell Mother!'. Some light staining and a number of large tears to the edges of the pages, slightly affecting a few words of text, but not the signature. FR Foy Quiller-Couch - daughter of British writer Arthur Quiller-Couch (1863-1944), and a life-long friend of Du Maurier. Indeed, Du Maurier was accompanied by Foy Quiller-Couch when she became inspired with the storyline for her novel Jamaica Inn. In 1930, apparently around the time of the present letter, the two ladies were staying at Jamaica Inn and went riding on Bodmin Moor. They became lost in bad weather conditions and apparently sheltered for some time in a derelict cottage on the moor but were eventually led back to Jamaica Inn by their horses. Du Maurier makes a reference to Frenchman's Creek in the present letter - situated at the estuary of Helford River in Cornwall, Frenchman's Creek was the choice of location for Du Maurier and Browning's honeymoon. It also served as the inspiration for her 1941 historical novel set in Cornwall during the reign of King Charles II. The novel was also later made into a film in 1944. Frederick Browning (1896-1965) British Lieutenant General of World War II, remembered for his important role with the First Allied Airborne Army during Operation Market Garden. Husband of Du Maurier from 1932. Winston S. Churchill (1874-1965) British Prime Minister 1940-45, 1951-55. Nobel Prize winner for Literature, 1953. Churchill and Browning encountered each other when the future Prime Minister served as a Major alongside Browning in the 2nd Battalion, Grenadier Guards, for a short period during World War I.
Lot 326
DU MAURIER DAPHNE: (1907-1989) British Author. T.L.S., Daphne, four pages, 8vo, Menabilly, Par, Cornwall, 24th August 1960, to 'My dear' (Foy Quiller-Couch). Du Maurier states that she has been invited to watch her correspondent unveil the Long Stone at Four Turnings ('Or rather, unveil the plaque that has recently been placed there for all the world to see - the Guardsman [her husband, Frederick Browning] and I have been wondering how many accidents will occur, when approaching motorists suddenly stop and stare….') and confirming that she will be present, 'bearing in my pocket a flask of brandy - knowing your fluttering heart on these occasions'. Du Maurier continues to write of the guests and nannies currently in her home, explaining that the children are as quiet as mice and commenting 'Nevertheless I notice the Guardsman has developed your father's good old strategy of murmuring something about matches and leaving the drawing-room for periods of time. It is an excellent dodge, but I myself mutter words about "catching the post" which stands in equal stead. (Also, I seem to think, a trick of your father's, but working even better for him because he could actually take a package down to the Post Office, whereas we have no such excuse but must wait for the Mail van to call.)' She also sends news of her current work, 'Branwell is safely at the printers, and I am having a quiet moment (when I can snatch it) going through Castle Dor and roughing down snatches of dialogue between Dr. Carfax and Monsieur Ledru where slight elaboration seems to be necessary (I feel it is taken to much for granted at present that the reader knows his Tristan) and I must say I enjoy myself seeing how I can keep the pair in character…..Still feel the 1914 war is an error, and would much prefer to set the story about 1860 (just after the railway line was finished between Plymouth and Penzance) and keep it there. Your father's fashion of telling the tale, and his dialogue, suits that period so much better….' A small tape stain appears to the head of the first and final pages, only very slightly affecting two words of text, but not the signature, otherwise VG Foy Quiller-Couch - daughter of British writer Arthur Quiller-Couch (1863-1944), and a life-long friend of Du Maurier. Indeed, Du Maurier was accompanied by Foy Quiller-Couch when she became inspired with the storyline for her novel Jamaica Inn. In 1930 the two ladies were staying at Jamaica Inn and went riding on Bodmin Moor. They became lost in bad weather conditions and apparently sheltered for some time in a derelict cottage on the moor but were eventually led back to Jamaica Inn by their horses. The work which Du Maurier refers to in the present letter is Castle Dor, a historical novel based around the legend of Tristan and Iseult, but set in 19th century Cornwall. The main characters are a Breton onion seller, Amyot Trestane, and the newly wed Linnet Lewarne. Published in 1961, Du Maurier completed the unfinished manuscript of Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch's last novel. Quiller-Couch's daughter, Foy, had given her blessing for Du Maurier to complete the work.
Lot 172
WAYNE JOHN: (1907-1979) American Actor, Academy Award winner. T.L.S., John Wayne, one page, 4to, Hollywood, California, 30th September 1960, to William H. Longenecker Jr. Wayne writes 'Since our “ad” appeared in Life Magazine, we have had many wonderful letters sent to us (among which I am including yours) to remind us when we see the writings of certain pseudo-sophisticates of our country, who would belittle the words: “honesty” - “courage” - “honor”, that there are still many, many people in America who appreciate our heritage and realize the price that was paid for our legacy' and continues 'Naturally, I make pictures for commercial reasons, but I hope this particular production will add to the literature of what America stands for'. A letter of good patriotic content, accompanied by a copy of Longenecker's letter to Wayne, relating to his performance as Davy Crockett in the film The Alamo. Slight traces of former mounting at the head of the page, not affecting the text or signature, otherwise VG
Lot 140
'Please, Dickie, please help me…' LAWTON TOMMY: (1919-1996) English Footballer. A remarkable series of six A.Ls.S., Tommy Lawton (and with his first name only), ten pages (total), 8vo, Woodthorpe, Nottingham, 4th May 1970 - 25th April 1971, all to Richard Attenborough ('Dear Dickie'). Lawton writes an interesting, and quite often poignant, series of letters to his friend, in part, 'Young Tommy has been invited to Leeds, but I will not allow him to leave his studies & school for two years. He's not making the same mistake as I did. If you want him - he is yours and believe me, Tommy is going to be very, very, good - with luck. Ability & potential are there. This is a sad letter for me to write, Dickie, after so many years. Could you let me have a loan of £250 to be repaid in the course of 1 year beginning from the above date. I would not ask, if it wasn't so urgent & lose your friendship, but all I need is time. Please, Dickie, please help me, & if you cannot see your way to do so, don't think too badly of me.' (4th May 1970; accompanied by a typed carbon copy of Attenborough's reply of 12th May 1970 stating, in part, 'I really was very distressed to receive your letter....The question of my lending you some money is a very difficult one. You may have read in the press that all my earnings have been taken over by a large company called Constellation Investments, the result of which is that the private cash available to me is extremely limited....I am, however, enclosing a cheque for £100 which I hope will go towards alleviating your present situation. I will leave the manner of its repayment to you. I am delighted to hear that you have such high hopes of your son....I am sure he would be immensely welcome at Stamford Bridge, bearing in mind his father's past connections! When the time comes....I could arrange a trial for him'.), 'What can I say to you and Sheila? Thank you?....Bless you, Dickie. This will be repayed (sic) many times over, but the most important thing....is that our friendship is not impaired. Tommy junior is yours. This is not a father telling about his son - I am his severest critic & tried to persuade him not to take to football - but - with the right guidance - he already has the ability plus character - he could be another Billy Bremner...' (16th May 1970), 'I am looking for another job & I see Adam Faith is opening in contract furnishing, which I am in, at the moment. No doubt you know him & would it be possible to put a word in for me please? Things are pretty tough, Dickie & what I would have done without you, God alone knows....' (1st June 1970; accompanied by a typed carbon copy of Attenborough's reply of 4th June 1970 stating, in part, 'I have today written to Adam Faith asking him if he would be good enough to get in touch with you....' and also including a typed carbon copy of Attenborough's letter to Adam Faith, also dated 4th June 1970, stating, in part, 'I don't know whether you will remember him, but the greatest centre-forward that I have ever seen playing for England was a man called Tommy Lawton. He, in fact, played for Chelsea for a number of years - where I came to know him - and has remained a friend of mine ever since. I received a letter from him this morning asking if I could possibly put him in touch with you since he had read that you were opening a Contract Furnishing Company. This is the business in which he is at present involved and he wondered if there might, by any chance, be an opportunity for him with you....'), 'My job has, unfortunately, fallen through & I am relying on S. Security. Dickie, do you think Dave Sexton could use me as a part-time Scout? It would be of great help to me at this moment. Had a reply from Adam Faith, thanks to you, but at the moment the business is only in Scotland....' (25th August 1970), 'Nottingham University Tutors want to do a film of me & we are looking in the archives for old film. Do you remember Chelsea v Dynamo, November 45? I seem to remember Chelsea had a film of the match & if we could manage to get excerpts from it, this would be a break-through. Do you think you could help, Dickie?' (29th December 1970, accompanied by a typed memo by Attenborough's secretary relating to the film and an A.L.S. by Roy Else, one of the Nottingham University tutors, to Attenborough, also relating to the film), 'I am happy to tell you that I am now in a job that will bring success for the future. I am enclosing my card (still present, the printed 12mo business card for Lawton as an area representative of Catesbys of Tottenham Court Road, contract manufacturers)....Thank you for everything Dickie. Would it be possible for 2 Cup Final Tickets please, so I can take my boss? It would be a great help to me'. (25th April 1971, accompanied by three typed carbon copies of letters from Attenborough's secretaries, Gladys Barnes and Maureen Goldner, to Lawton, stating, in part, 'I now have much pleasure in enclosing herewith your two tickets for the Cup Final. Perhaps you would be kind enough, when letting us have your cheque, to make this payable to Mr. Attenborough personally....' [4th May 1971], 'I am so sorry to worry you but we do not seem to have received a cheque from you in respect of the Cup Final tickets....Mr. Attenborough is at present in Wales filming, and we are wanting to clear the account on his behalf....' [26th May 1971], 'We have long since paid for all the tickets we had for Mr. Attenborough and his friends....your's is the only amount now outstanding. I am writing on my own initiative as I haven't mentioned this to Mr. Attenborough; I didn't want to worry him when he is so very busy with his new film. I would like to point out that we checked with your wife about the price of the tickets and were told that this was quite in order as they were to be a Firm's expense. Would it be better if we got in touch directly with your Firm?' [8th July 1971] and also including a typed carbon copy of a letter from Attenborough to Lawton dated 26th August 1971 and stating, in part, 'I understand that the two tickets that I had obtained for you for the Cup Final have still not been paid for. Had you asked for them from me as a present, I would, as previously, have been delighted to give them to you. However, my office understood that they were to be paid for by your Firm and, consequently, they were to be the most expensive. I am not a little hurt that you should have caused me this embarrassment'). Also including a few related items including a T.L.S. on behalf of Bruce Dunnet of Catesby's, one page, 4to, Tottenham Court Road, London, 27th April 1972, to Richard Attenborough, stating, in part, 'Last year, through Tommy Lawton's introduction, you were kind enough to procure tickets for the Cup Final. This letter is not a request for tickets. Tommy Lawton is in trouble. Would you care to phone me.....', annotated in pencil to the upper right corner, presumably in the hand of one of Attenborough's secretaries, 'find out position'. A largely moving series of letters with good association. Some light age wear, generally VG, 19 Richard Attenborough (1923-2014) English Actor & Film Director, Academy Award winner. Attenborough was a lifelong supporter of Chelsea FC and served as a Director of the club from 1969-82 and held the honorary position of Life Vice President from 1993-2008. For his role as Pinkie Brown in Brighton Rock (1947) Attenborough was required to improve his physical condition and therefore trained for a fortnight with Chelsea FC. It would have been at this time that he first met Lawton who played for Cheslsea between 1945-47, before making a shock move to Notts County.
Lot 325
DU MAURIER DAPHNE: (1907-1989) British Author. An excellent T.L.S., Daphne, four pages, 8vo, Menabilly, Par, Cornwall, 3rd June 1959, to 'My dear' (Foy Quiller-Couch). Du Maurier announces 'This slightly shilling little response (no longer present) to my screed is not much help' and continues to explain 'I would have liked a bit of guidance from a publisher's point of view, as to whether he felt, as I do, that there was some straying aside in Book II, because it is helpful to have the opinion of an expert. (Which I presume he is). You could be biased by family pride and feeling, and I could be reading thought into it your father did not have. Still, he, Mr. Bozman no doubt will bide his time and await more from us. This M.S. is not a thing that should be hurried into production. Having waited so long it can wait longer' and further writes 'I also looked again at the M.S. Stray memories recur. Did you not as a child go on an errand to Lantyan and have a peculiar feeling "I have been here before" and come over queer? And did not your father also have this experience? I'm sure you told me this riding once through Golant. Who lived at Lantyan in those days? And what do you think is the point of the bird-man Tregentil at Penquite? Could he be taken from life? Your father must have intended him to take some part in the story, but in the chapters we have he rather fades from view, in fact he is interesting only in so far as he is a lovely target for Dr. Carfax's prescriptions. I adored the suggestion of Tregentil walking for his health, and watching rooks…..This is genuine "father" vintage. But could echoes of your Doctor Cann have slipped into Carfax? It is always helpful to trace the "pegs" in a novel. When I say "pegs" it is my expression for characters - fictitious - in a tale who now and again become pegs on whom we hang remembrances of real people. The attributes of the living become mingled with the people we create. And then you project on to these "pegs" attributes that are imaginary, so that the living person, when encountered, is no longer the character he or she once was, but becomes invested with the fictitious attributes of the story. This can be vexing and sometimes a bit frightening! I would have loved to have discussed "pegging" with your father', continuing to explain 'For instance, Charlotte Bronte had a childhood and girlhood passion for the Duke of Wellington (as children today have for film stars) She wrote story after story in the Juvenilia about an imaginary son of the Duke of Wellington, who then became very Byronic (she got a passion for Byron) and finally this Duke of Zamorna so filled her imagination she could think of no one else. When she went to Brussels she pegged, in a sense, all these imaginary attributes on to Professor Heger, and finally Zamorna-Heger-Master-pupil relationship worked itself into a beautiful frenzy of imagination with Jane Eyre'. A letter of good literary content. About EX Foy Quiller-Couch - daughter of British writer Arthur Quiller-Couch (1863-1944), and a life-long friend of Du Maurier. Indeed, Du Maurier was accompanied by Foy Quiller-Couch when she became inspired with the storyline for her novel Jamaica Inn. In 1930 the two ladies were staying at Jamaica Inn and went riding on Bodmin Moor. They became lost in bad weather conditions and apparently sheltered for some time in a derelict cottage on the moor but were eventually led back to Jamaica Inn by their horses. The work which Du Maurier refers to in the present letter is Castle Dor, a historical novel based around the legend of Tristan and Iseult, but set in 19th century Cornwall. The main characters are a Breton onion seller, Amyot Trestane, and the newly wed Linnet Lewarne. Published in 1961, Du Maurier completed the unfinished manuscript of Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch's last novel. Quiller-Couch's daughter, Foy, had given her blessing for Du Maurier to complete the work.
Lot 438
Two letters on the delicate matter of his sexual health ALBERT VICTOR: (1864-1892) Duke of Clarence, eldest son of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. Prince Albert Victor, affectionately known as Eddy, was considered a suspect in the Jack the Ripper serial killings. A.L., (a large portion of the final page, including the signature, removed), three pages, 8vo, Marlborough House, Pall Mall, 21st November 1885, to Roche. The Prince states 'Just a line to let you know how I am' and continues 'I have felt very well all the time I have been away from Aldershot and have had no inconveniences at all. I have taken those capsules regularly, four a day. There is still a slight sign of glete, but so slight, that it is hardly percep[tive] and only when I get up of a morning'. He further informs his correspondent 'I have been careful about my diet and taken only a limited quantity of wine' and adds that he is about to leave for Windsor before returning to Aldershot on Monday, 'So if you wish, you can come and see me about 11.30, as I shall have arrived by then'. The removal of a portion of the final page slightly affects a few words of text, and may have been removed either in an effort to conceal the identity of the author on the subject of a delicate medical issue, or to provide a Victorian autograph collector with a specimen of the Prince's signature to be pasted into an album. Together with a second A.L.S., Edward, two pages, 8vo, Sandringham, Norfolk, 18th December n.y. (1886), also to Roche. The Prince asks his correspondent to send him some more capsules 'as I think I had better go on taking them for a bit', further explaining 'I still continue to have this tiresome glete which comes on at times, although at present it has stopped'. He further remarks 'It is very anoying (sic) as I really thought it had stopped for good. I am perfectly well in every other respect, and really do not see why this should go on as it does' and concludes by apologising for not having had more time to talk to Roche at the station 'and to thank you for all the trouble you have taken, which you may be sure I thoroughly appreciated'. With blank integral leaf. Two letters of remarkable content. G to VG, 2 Glete, or more commonly Gleet, is the discharge produced by one's genitalia as a result of an advanced case of a Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD). In his 1972 book Clarence - The Life of H.R.H. the Duke of Clarence and Avondale (1864-1892), which explores the theory of whether the Prince was Jack the Ripper, Michael Harrison dismisses the claims made by the British Physician Dr. Thomas E. A. Stowell (1885-1970) in an article entitled 'Jack the Ripper' - A Solution? for the November 1970 issue of The Criminologist that implicated the Prince in the Jack the Ripper murders. Stowell is said to have discovered evidence that Prince Albert Victor had not died of pneumonia during the influenza pandemic of 1889-92 but had, instead, died from health issues related to contracting syphilis. Stowell also stated that the Prince had become infected with the STD whilst in the West Indies. Harrison writes that he believes there would have been little chance of Albert Victor contracting syphilis whilst under the care of John Neale Dalton, the Prince's tutor, and that there is not 'the slightest evidence' that he did indeed have syphilis. The present two letters suggest otherwise, and support Stowell's statement.
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