CHESTERTON

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[ J. A. Spender, editor of the Westminster Gazette. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. A. Spender') to 'Mr. Murdoch', regarding his admiration for G. K. Chesteron, but puzzlement that, as a 'Mediaevalist', he should wish to stand as a Liberal candidate.

Author: 
J. A. Spender [ John Alfred Spender ] (1862-1942), editor of the Westminster Gazette, 1896-1922 [ J. Gordon Murdoch; G. K. Chesterton [ Gilbert Keith Chesterton ] (1874-1936)]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Chantry Place, Marden, Kent. 19 July 1925.
£56.00

1p., 8vo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Headed 'Private'. He has 'sincere admiration for Mr. Chesterton as a writer, but he is avowedly a "Mediaevalist" & an opponent of Liberalism & the Liberal party, which he believes to be corrupt & hypocritical'. In consequence it 'puzzles' him that Chesterton 'should be nominated as a Liberal candidate, & with every respect for his zeal, honesty & ability, I really don't know what I could say about him from that point of view.'

[ Rev. H. S. McClelland supports G. K. Chesterton's candidacy for the Rectorship of the University of Glasgow. ] Manuscript tribute titled 'In Praise of G. K. C.', signed 'H. S. McClelland.'

Author: 
Rev. H. S. McClelland [ Henry Simpson McClelland] (1882-1961) of Trinity Congregational Church, Glasgow [ G. K. Chesterton [ Gilbert Keith Chesterton ] (1874-1936), journalist and author ]
Publication details: 
[ Glasgow. 1925. ]
£56.00

1p., 4to. On aged and browned paper, chipped at extremities, but with the 30 lines of text intact.

[ 'Mrs. Cecil Chesterton' on her brother-in-law G. K. Chesterton. ] Typescript of an article ('sketch') titled 'G. K. C. IN FLEET STREET. | by | Mrs. Cecil Chesterton.'

Author: 
'Mrs. Cecil Chesterton' [ Ada Elizabeth Chesterton, née Ada Eliza Jones ] (1869-1962), journalist and sister-in-law of the writer G. K. Chesterton [ Gilbert Keith Chesterton ] (1874-1936)
Publication details: 
Without place or date, but after the demise of the 'New Witness' in 1923, and before G. K. Chesterton's death in 1936.
£80.00

3pp., 4to. In fair condition, on aged, worn and browned paper. Ada Chesterton worked with her brother-in-law while assistant editor of the 'New Witness'. Her admiration for his talents was fully reciprocated, G. K. Chesterton describing his sister-in-law as 'brilliant'. It begins: 'Very much has been written and said of G. K. C. the poet, the pamphleteer, the genius of paradox, who holds the attention of his listeners by his dazzling sleight of words. I am going to write of him from a different angle - G. K. C. the journalist as he is known and gauged in Fleet Street.

[Maurice Baring, novelist and poet.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. Wheeler', regarding the practicalities of a plan for a new London theatre.

Author: 
Maurice Baring (1874-1945), novelist and poet [Wheeler; the London stage; theatre; theatrical]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 6 North Street, Westminster [London]. 5 July 1910.
£80.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. He found Wheeler's letter on his return from a trip abroad, and is 'most interested to hear that there is a scheme on foot for another theatre'. As far as 'financiers who are likely to be theatrical patrons', those known to him will probably already know any Baring might suggest. He concludes: 'Personally I believe the old Court Theatre plan was the best & in fact the only possible way of getting those kind plays done.'

[Hilaire Belloc on the Pyrenees.] Typed Letter Signed ('H Belloc.') to Mrs Strutt, giving details of two examples of 'a perfectly quiet and small place in the Pyranees [sic] which other people don't yet know'.

Author: 
Hilaire Belloc [Joseph Hilaire Pierre René Belloc] (1870-1953), poet and author
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Reform Club, Pall Mall. 22 June 1925.
£140.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The letter carries a few autograph emendations and postscript. With envelope addressed to Mrs Strutt at 12 Somers Place, London. Belloc was an accomplished travel writer, and had published his classic book 'The Pyrenees' in 1903. He writes that he is giving her 'two addresses', 'only in each case you must write to the people before going there and the sooner the better, because the Season in these high places is very short'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('H Belloc') from a sixteen-year-old Hilaire Belloc to his childhood sweetheart Minna Hope, describing in detail how 'matters' have 'come to a scarcely endurable crisis'.

Author: 
Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953) [Minna Hope, wife of the diplomat Sir Nicholas O'Connor]
Publication details: 
13 October 1886. On letterhead of The Oratory, Edgbaston, Birmingham.
£350.00
Hilaire Belloc letter  to his childhood sweetheart Minna Hope

12mo, 6 pp. Bifolium and single leaf. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged and lightly-creased paper. Closely and neatly written. An important and revealing letter, written while Belloc was still at school.

'Storyteller' magazine, containing the article 'Arctic Hunter' by Edward Shackleton

Author: 
Edward Shackleton [Arctic hunting; polar exploration; Eskimos; G. K. Chesterton; Hermann Goering]
Publication details: 
Vol. I. No. 6: April 1937. London: The Amalgamated Press, Ltd.
£180.00
 Article 'Arctic Hunter' by Edward Shackleton

4to, 112 pp. Stapled. In original printed wraps. Fair, on aged and lightly-discoloured paper. In creased, worn and discoloured wraps. 'Arctic Hunter' by Shackleton covers pp. 33-38. With four photographs (three captions: 'A Herd of Musk-Oxen', 'An Arctic Switch-Back' and 'Eskimos in their Hunting Kayaks'). Shackleton's article reads as an original not an extract. Begins 'THE Arctic is thought by many to be a dead and sunless world, largely devoid of life.

Signed Autograph Manuscript testimonial ('Philip Gibbs') on behalf of G. K. Chesterton's candidacy for the Rectorship of the University of Glasgow.

Author: 
Sir Philip Gibbs [Sir Philip Armand Hamilton Gibbs] (1877-1962), writer and journalist [G. K. Chesterton; Glasgow University]
Publication details: 
Undated [1925].
£45.00

8vo: 2 pp. Fifty lines. Text clear and complete, on two pieces of aged and spotted paper, with rust spots from paperclip. Untitled. Begins: 'I should like to see Chesterton as Lord Rector of a university which stands for Liberal thought. Some people, limited in imagination and hostile to unconventional character, would as soon give their votes to a modern Don Quixote who by some miracle has acquired the corporeal structure of his own Sancho Panza.

Typed Letter Signed ('Ian Hay Berth') to J. Gordon Murdoch, on the subject of G. K. Chesterton's candidacy for the Rectorship of the University of Glasgow.

Author: 
Ian Hay' [Major John Hay Beith] (1876-1952), Scottish soldier and author [G. K. Chesterton; University of Glasgow]
Publication details: 
13 July 1925; on letterhead of 21 Bruton Street, Berkeley Square, W.
£35.00

4to, 1 p. Text clear and complete. On lightly-aged paper with minor spotting to extremities. He thanks him for his letter. 'The main drawback to my accepting your most interesting invitation is that my political views are not those of Mr G. K. Chesterton, so I am very much afraid that a literary contribution from me might prove more of a hindrance than a help. I am so sorry.' Murdoch edited the magazine 'G.K.C.' which campaigned on behalf of Chesterton's unsuccessful candidacy. (Sir Austen Chamberlain was elected Rector.)

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. J. Bell.') to J. Gordon Murdoch, regarding G. K. Chesterton's candidacy for the Rectorship of the University of Glasgow.

Author: 
J. J. Bell' [John Joy Bell] (1871-1934), Scottish journalist [G. K. Chesterton; Glasgow University]
Publication details: 
28 August 1925; St Leonards Cottage, St Andrews, on cancelled letterhead of 1 Oakfield Avenue, Hillhead, Glasgow.
£35.00

12mo, 1 p. Twelve lines. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He has had Murdoch's letter 'lying by me in the hope that I might meet someone here who knew G.K.C., or knew his work well enough to tell me something of interest - for, alas, I must confess to ignorance'. As he has not been 'fortunate', he abandons 'hope of contributing to your Rectorial Magazine'. Murdoch edited the magazine 'G.K.C.' in support of Chesterton's unsuccessful candidacy.

Autograph testimonial on behalf of G. K. Chesterton's candidacy for the Rectorship of the University of Glasgow.

Author: 
Alfred George Gardiner [A. G. Gardiner] ['Alpha of the Plough'] (1865-1946), English essayist and journalist
Publication details: 
Undated [1925].
£95.00

Two foolscap (32.5 x 20.5 cm) pages. Seventy-three lines of text. On two pieces of aged paper, with wear at head and foot. Text clear and complete. A witty and light-hearted endorsement of Chesterton's candidacy, beginning 'Rumour reaches me that my name & my past misdeeds h[ave]. b[ee]n astonishingly flung into the Rectorial arena. Things that I said in my haste or my leisure long years ago about the candidates [Chesterton, Chamberlain and Webb] h[ave]. b[ee]n. dragged into the light to exalt this one & prejudice that. [...] Mr. Chamberlain's presence is sufficient & Mr.

Typed Letter Signed to J. Gordon Murdoch, on behalf of Gilbert Murray, regarding G. K. Chesterton's candidacy for the Rectorship of Glasgow University.

Author: 
Lucy Mair [Lucy Philip Mair] (1901-1986), social anthropologist [Gilbert Murray; G. K. Chesterton; Glasgow University]
Publication details: 
3 September 1925; on letterhead of Yatscombe, Boar's Hill, Oxford.
£35.00

Landscape 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Murdoch appears to have been 'misinformed as to Professor Murray having promised to write an article in support of Mr. G. K. Chesterton.' Murray is 'unable to undertake any more writing' as he is 'extremely busy at present'. According to Mair's entry in the Oxford DNB, from 1922 to 1927 she was employed by Gilbert Murray as his secretary-assistant in League of Nations affairs. Murdoch is not named, but the item comes from a batch of his correspondence relating to Chesterton's unsuccessful 1925 candidacy for the Rectorship of Glasgow University.

Autograph Letter Signed [to his bookseller (James Stoddart Bain?)].

Author: 
Maurice Baring [Oscar Wilde]
Publication details: 
Florence | Lung'Arno della Borsa 2. bis | March. 31. 1893'.
£95.00
Maurice Baring [Oscar Wilde]

English man of letters (1874-1945), associated with G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc. Two pages, octavo. A frail item in poor condition: on grubby, discoloured, frayed paper, with slight loss to text and several closed tears. Line of text on fold worn but still legible. Precocious pronouncements from a nineteen-year-old.

Autograph Letter Signed to Mark [Bonham-Carter].

Author: 
Barbara Bentley [née Hastings], widow of Nicolas Bentley
Publication details: 
30 August 1978; on Nicolas Bentley's Shepton Mallet letterhead.
£100.00

Barbara Hastings, daughter of the jurist Sir Patrick Hastings, married Nicolas Bentley (1907-78) in October 1934. In the 1940s she wrote a series of children's books which he illustrated. Two pages, octavo. good, but folded twice and with some creases. An important letter, in which she describes the circumstances of her husband's death. She is very grateful for his letter. 'It was an enormous pleasure to have you here with Kenneth and Billie [bookseller Kenneth Bredon and his wife], but do you know I think it was that dreadful fire that killed poor Nick - indirectly.

Autograph Letter Signed to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Lance Sieveking
Publication details: 
Highgate | over the Week End | Sunday'.
£45.00

Author and radio producer (1896-1972), 'tall, goodlooking godson of G. K. Chesterton', and friend of Aleister Crowley and E. M. Forster. Two pages, 12mo. Folded once. In good condition, with slight loss at head. A somewhat camp missive: 'My Dear Boy, | (What lovely yellow paper you use!) I am overwhelmed with disappointment - but I cannot dive on Monday. Could you possibly make it Tuesday? I should love to - and am only sorry you did feel that the other evening was a failure - and that you feel I affect you like you say. I will try not to now I know. | Lance'.

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