NOON

On 7 x 11 cm rectangle cut from front of envelope. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with glue from mount adhering to reverse, which is docketed in pencil: 'Serjt Talfourd | Readng | Berks'. The frank reads, with the words in square brackets not in Talfourd's hand, unlike the rest: '[Shrewsbury March] Twenty three | [The Very Revd.] The Dean | Hereford | [signed] T N Talfourd'.

8vo, 16 pp Disbound. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with the final page a little discoloured. Ownership inscriptions of 'Charles Hall Hemphill' and 'James | May 1837'. A significant work: a milestone in the history of copyright law. According to the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, this speech introducing Talfourd's Copyright Bill 'was considered the most telling made in the House during that session'. No copy listed on COPAC, and WorldCat lists three copies (all foreign).

Landscape 12mo, 1 p. Fair, lightly-aged and with a punch-hole to the top left-hand corner. 'You will be grieved to learn that Walton excised my boy's sigmoid on June 19 and that he died of acute ileus on June 23.'

The three items are good, on aged paper. Letter One: Undated. Signed 'B Pollock'. 4to, 1 p. In pencil. Headed 'please forgive stationery'. On reverse is a cancelled carbon page of autobiographical typescript. He is travelling to London and asks for the addresses of a couple of doctors. 'I have had very slight bleeding from the prostate, but this has become much greater in the last 24 hours. Pulse and temperature quite normal, some constipation, no pain. I dont know whether my walks should be reduced'. Letter Two: Dated 26 August 1943.

4to, 1 p. Nineteen lines. Text clear and complete. On aged paper with slight staining, and punch hole to top left-hand corner. Pressing the claims of his son Michael ('also a Bart's man') for a post at Noon's hospital. 'He has done very well at Bart's, is a Fellow of the College, missed M.Ch. (Cambridge) by a few marks just before the war, was Harold Wilson's Assistant for the first two years and has been Squadron Leader in the Air Force in charge of the surgical wards at a big hospital at Hoylake since.'

Both items good, on lightly-aged paper, each with a punch-hole to the top left-hand corner. Letter One: 12mo, 1 p. Concerning 'the Committee' and two surgeons. Letter Two: 4to, 1 p. Twenty-three typed lines and a four-line autograph postscript. Possibly relating to the Royal College of Physicians. Discussing his concerns 'about our means of getting C's in the Region'.

12mo, 2 pp. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with two punch-holes to the top left-hand corner. Noon 'won't regret' employing Michael Harmer. 'Please give me news of yourself; I hear nothing but vague, disturbing rumours'.

4to, 1 p. Nine lines of text. Good, on lightly-aged and creased paper, with punch hole to top left-hand corner. Explaining why it is impossible for him to accept the invitation of the Norwich Medico-Chirurgical Society.

12mo, 2 pp. Twenty-one lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with punch-hole to the top left-hand corner. As a colleague of Horder's father (senior surgeon and the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital) Noon has offered a 'collection of aphorisms', which Horder feels will be 'of the greatest value, indeed it is exactly what I want'. He asks for Noon's memories of 'personal dealings': 'These are especially useful in the early days, when of course my own memory does not serve.' Concludes: 'We all thought he'd have another 10 years ahead, so it has been a sad shock.'

12mo, 2 pp. Good, on aged paper, with two punch-holes to top left-hand corner. Describing the qualities of his former 'chief assistant Mr Colin Craig who has taken up your Lowestoft appointment', including the comment 'I would be quite happy for him to operate on myself or one of my family'.

12mo, 2 pp. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with slight smudging in a couple of places. Thanking Noon for his 'generous gift to the Restoration Fund'. Describing the 'response' and urging Noon to 'interest patients & friends, particularly grateful medicos'.

Both good, on aged paper. Letter One: 12mo, 1 p. With stamped envelope. Thanking Noon for the 'notes & very instructive X-ray of your case of syringomyelia', about which 'Shattock', who is 'pulling up the W. O. Collection', is 'very keen'. Letter Two: 12mo, 2 pp. Thanking him for 'two very welcome additions to the W. O. Collection': 'You have no idea of how much an X-ray enhances the value of a specimen - we get an opportunity of comparing the shaddow [sic] with the real thing'.

4to, 1 p. Seventeen lines of text, clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with small area lacking in top left-hand corner. Concerning Hedley Atkins, who, '[a]s a Guy's man', Ogilvie is keen to have replace him on the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons, from which he is retiring after sixteen years. The condition with which Ogilvie is related, Ogilvie's Syndrome, was first reported by him in 1948.

Five of the nine items in 4to, and the rest 12mo. All texts clear and complete. Collection in good condition on lightly-aged paper. Occasional minor traces of brown-paper mounts, and most items with punch-holes to top left-hand corners. A cordial correspondence between two colleagues. Several letters relate to Noon's soon Charles, training under Ross to be a surgeon. On 26 June 1952 (12mo, 3 pp) Ross writes discussing the son's failure in an examination..

12mo, 2 pp. Good, on lightly aged paper, with traces of a paper stub neatly adhering to the blank bottom right-hand corner of the verso. Apologising for his 'long neglect of the subject of your last notice - the Mill Hill Medal. The truth is I am scarcely able to find strength and spirits for the work I have to do, and so am constantly involved in difficulties as to time like those to which extravagant people fall into as to money'. He hopes 'to be able to enjoy the pleasures of our anniversary dinner', although he does not feel he deserves them.