CENSORSHIP

On aged and worn paper, with some staining at head. A somewhat grand memorial of English censorship. The license is printed in engraved copperplate beneath the royal crest on a 31.5 x 21 cm piece of watermarked laid paper.

Jeffrey Richards, in his 'Imperialism and Music: Britain, 1876-1953' (2001), pp.272-274, discusses this piece at some length, beginning: 'There was a late entry in the imperial cycle, the now-forgotten The Song of The Drum, written by Fred Thompson and Guy Bolton, which opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on 9 January 1931. It starred Derek Oldham as Captain Anthony Darrell, Bobby Howes as comic relief Chips Wilcox, Peter Haddon as silly-ass "Goofy" Topham and Marie Burke as glamorous spy Countess Olga von Haulstein.

Stapled printed pamphlet. 11 + [1]pp., 16mo. In good condition, on lightly aged paper with rusted staples. A page of officers, headed by the Archbishop of Westminster as President, and Rt Rev. Abbot Upson as Vice-President, is followed by Burke's five-page report, and then three pages of balance sheets for the organisation, 'Focus', general funds, 'Penny-a-Day' Fund, and 'Fatima' Fund. No other copy traced, either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC.

32pp., 8vo. Disbound. On aged and worn paper, with title leaf detached. Hargreaves begins the pamphlet by stating his case: 'The real issue involved is, not whether the "impersonality" of the Press, as illustrated by the management of the Times, is fair and acceptable to a few prominent politicians, but whether it is useful and beneficial to the community at large.

1p., 16mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn, with slight damage to second leaf, which is addressed to 'Miss Walters' and carries a small seal in red wax. The letter reads: 'My dear Miss Walters | I am so much obliged that I know not how to thank you as I wish. Your works are beautiful, & will be a most valuable present to our poor Moravians. Accept my sincerest thanks, & believe me ever | My dear Madam | Yr much oblig'd & affecte | H M Bowdler'.

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with slight loss at the head of the second leaf affecting a couple of words of text. The letter begins: My dear Sir, | I have on different occasions interfered to prevent gross abuses at the Theatre to which you call my attention, and have I believe to a certain degree procured their correction. But thhere is great reason to fear that by attempting too much more may be lost than gained.

1p., folio. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with slight staining to blank reverse. Fairly written out on a piece of Britannia laid paper. 'Lord Chamberlain's Office | 10th. November 1849. | The Lord Chamberlain thinks it right to draw the attention of the Manager of the Theatre Royal Covent Garden to The Queen's Proclamation of the 6th. Instant, in which Her Majesty, for the Reasons therein stated, earnestly exhorts that the Public Day of Thanksgiving, the 15th. Instant be reverently and devoutly observed'.

Forster's main objection is that the National Service questionnaire, sent out by the Society of Authors 'at the suggestion of the Ministry of Labour', asks members to 'give general particulars of their political opinions' (see Hansard, 25 May 1939). Four items. ONE. Priestley's letter, addressed to 'My dear Forster' by 'J. B. Priestley'. 1 p, 4to. Twenty lines. Fair, on aged paper.

Two pages, grubby but text clear and complete, with obscure stamp (information about acknowledgment?). The order from the Paper Control forbidding the publication of the Channel Islands Review is a real hardship to Refugee Islanders also to some of the 9,000 serving soldiers and seamen many of whom have wives, children and relatives in the occupied islands. | As the Review was only supplied on order and copies were passed on to friends the quantity of paper used must have been very small.

8vo, 24 pp. In original grey printed card wraps. Disbound. Text clear and complete on aged paper. Wraps with some damage at spine caused by disbinding. Compliments slip loosely inserted, bearing a simple pencil sketch of a face in profile. A few light pencil annotations.

12mo, 3 pp, 26 lines. Good, with tiny pin holes at head and foot of both leaves of the bifolium, and one corner roughened by removal of mount. Buckmaster has learnt that Meade is 'contemplating leaving [his] work in this Office', and would 'greatly regret any such step' as Meade's work is 'of great assistance and is much appreciated by all of us in this room'. While Buckmaster realises that there is little opportunity for advancement, he feels that 'we all do render considerable service to the state'.

On one side of a piece of foolscap paper (dimensions x cm). Forty-four lines. Text clear and complete. On aged paper with a little rusting from a paperclip. Letterhead includes names of the Council's officers in left-hand margin, including around sixty 'Vice-Presidents' (twenty ticked off), including E. M. Forster, Bertrand Russell, Aldous Huxley and H. G. Wells.

8vo: [ii] + 70 pp. Internally sound and tight, on lightly-aged paper. In worn contemporary burgundy quarter-binding with heavily-worn spine, recased with repair to rear endpapers. COPAC lists an entry for a copy in Cambridge University Library described as 'Probably the Lithographic facsimile by H.J. Bellars. London, reprinted 1861'.

All five items in good condition, with a little rust spotting from a staple. A little wear to the edge of item two, not affecting text. Four of the five stamped with Horton's call sign '2AHN'. Item One: a printed leaflet (4to, 2 pp), dated GENERAL POST OFFICE, | London | March, 1939.', headed 'B | EXPERIMENTS IN WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY | [...] | AUTHORITY FOR SENDING AND RECEIVING | SUMMARY OF CONDITIONS OF ISSUE | NOTE. - All sending stations must also be equipped for reception'. Item Two: Typewritten copy of Horton's 'Application for Experimental Licence 25th.

The extract from the 'Parliamentary Debates' is 8vo, 12 pp (paginated 402-423), stapled and in original blue printed wraps. Grubby and dogeared, with light staining at head. Bound in at the front is Adams's 'Circular', which is a 4-page 8vo bifolium, printed by 'E. H. Williams (T. U.) Printer, 232 Devons Road, Bow, E.' Good, on lightly aged paper. Printed at the head of Adams's pamphlet is 'N.B. Copies of this Circular were seized by the police in a raid on the room occupied by Mrs.

8vo. 95 pages. In poor condition: high-acidity paper browning and fraying at extremities (but with no loss to text), staples rusting, signatures separating, original printed grey wraps laid down onto nonce card dustwrapper. A reprint of the only issue of a journal that was suppressed by government censorship on its appearance in April 1915. No copy of this issue in the British Library.