BABA

Between 1916 and circa 1966. 'Chu Chin Chow' was a hugely-popular extravaganza based on 'Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves', which, produced and directed by the Australian actor-manager Oscar Asche (1871-1936), premièred in London in 1916, and ran for five years and 2238 performances (more than twice as many as any previous piece), followed by numerous productions and revivals worldwide, as well as two British feature films. The phenomenal success of the piece may be gauged from the fact that it earned Asche alone £200,000.

13pp., 8vo, paginated 41-53. Stapled, in brown printed wraps. On aged and worn paper, with rusted staples. Largely unopened. A learned exposition, with quotations in the original, beginning: 'It is now possible for me to supplement my Arabic text of Ali Baba by printing in full the only other original version so far known. I shall add some further information which I have gathered on the identity of the scribe of the Bodleian MS. and various notes on the text of that version.' No copy in the British Library, and a total of six copies on OCLC WorldCat and COPAC.

2pp., 12mo. On leaf of speckled paper, with monogrammed letterhead in red. The letter reads 'My dear Friend, | Your letter off the 12th Instant was duly to hand this morning & I thank you for it. | The photograph you mentioned in your letter is not received & I believe it has not been enclosed inn the letter trhough oversight. | Kindly send the picture & oblige, | With best wishes, | Your sincere Friend | [signature] A. R. P. S. D. | Anand Roa Powar [sic] | Maharajah of Dhar'.

12mo, 2 pp. Letter on one leaf and Morier family tree on another. Clear and complete. Seventeen-line letter and detailed family tree. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. With original envelope, with stamp and postmark, addressed by Sealy to 'Lieut-Commander H. C. Lukach RNVR | Chief Secretary's Office | TROODOS | Cyprus'. After a brief reference to the 'Morier stuff', most of the letter relates stamp collecting ('Salonikas' and 'Long Island overprinted on Turkish').