GARDE

Letter: 1p., 8vo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. 34 lines of text. A playful (stoned?) communication. He thanks him for 'giving me the Sahara right up to the North African Coast', and explains his plans for making the area 'fertile by piping into it water from the Mediterranean'. He asks him to forward 'photocopies of this letter' to Alec Natas ('a very powerful electrician'), and to Linda Talbot. There are also references to 'Marion', Ivan Katzen, 'Lord Levy' and 'the Imperial Dentist, Sol Philips'.

Circa 20 items, two printed, others typescript and manuscript, various formats including: a. Autograph Letter en francais Signed "Jean Cocteau", 19 Dec. 1952, one page, c.20 x 30cm, to [Edward O. Marsh, translator and adapter], presumably a response to e. below, partly about translation and translators; b.

1p., 8vo. On wove paper. Lightly worn and aged. Text in two columns within ornate decorative border. Author's details at foot, above printer's slug. Thirty-five line poem, in five seven-line stanzas. First stanza: 'O! toi, ma France bien-aimée, | Pour toi, nous faison tous des voeux, | Oh! sois à jamais vénérée, | Élevons nos voix vers les cieux. | Oh! France, ma patrie!

A Christmas keepsake. Eight pages, 12mo. Unbound. Grubby but in good condition. INSCRIBED at head of title 'Having got through the Valley - R. H.' The usual French cynicism: 'Nothing can be such a bore | As: a locked door; | Or a banquet, without the least appetite for food; | Or a woman whom you have already, and finally, understood.' and 'To your spouse you owe fidelity by contract. | But discretion in infidelity is a debt of honour.' From the archive of Mark Bonham Carter.

English playwright, screenwriter and director, born 1946. 4 pages, folio bifoliate. On yellow paper. Stain at head of first page and somewhat creased, but in good condition overall. The contract is printed for Anthony Blond Limited by Frank Rook Ltd. The relevant passages are filled in in manuscript, including a description of the work to be published as a 'selection of poetry written by the author for inclusion in a volume provisionally entitled Blondbooks Poetry 2'. There does not appear to be any record of this book in the British Library catalogue.