NOTTINGHAM

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[ Benjamin Webster, actor-manager and dramatist. ] Corrected Manuscript (possibly autograph) of 'The Unfortunate Youth! a Farce in One Act. by B. Webster Esqre.' [ Retitled 'The Unfortunate Boy! or Always in for it.' ]

Author: 
Benjamin Webster [ Benjamin Nottingham Webster ] (1797-1882), English actor-manager and dramatist
Publication details: 
'T. R. H.' [ i.e. Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London ]. Undated [ 1840 ].
£800.00

68pp., 4to. In fair condition on lightly aged and worn watermarked laid paper. Sewn into brown paper wraps with 'The Unfortunate Youth. | T. R. H.' on cover. The title on the title-page is retitled in pencil 'The Unfortunate Boy! or Always in for it.' Possibly in Webster's hand, but with what may be the initials of the transcriber following the 'FINIS' on the final page. The text of the play is on the rectos, with occasional writing on versos. Emendations in ink and pencil, including additional dialogue.

[ Sir William Martins, Gentleman Usher. ] Autograph Letter in the third person to actor-manager Benjamin Webster, asking him to arrange a performance of a farce at the Adelphi Theatre 'at the rather earnest wish of a former Lord Chamberlain'.

Author: 
Sir William Martins (c.1787-1874), Gentleman Usher to the Sword of State [ Benjamin Webster [ Benjamin Nottingham Webster ] (1797-1882), actor-manager; Adelphi Theatre, London ]
Publication details: 
St James's Palace [ London ]. 16 February [ no year, but on paper watermarked 1844 ].
£45.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condiion, on aged and worn paper. Marked 'Private', and written with an urgency suggesting the involvement of royalty behind the request. The letter begins: 'Sir William Martins presents his Compliments to Mr Webster and at theh rather earnest wish of a former Lord Chamberlain entreats Mr Webster, if it be practicable to allow the Farce of "Powder & Ball" to be played at the Adelphi one evening this Week either Wednesday Thursday or Friday'. He will 'explain further' and writes 'in case he should not be fortunate enough to meet Mr Webster at the Theatre'.

[ Henry Kemble, actor. ] Long Autograph Letter Signed to 'Seymour', entirely written in verse, giving a humorous account of his activities in provincial theatre.

Author: 
Henry Kemble (1848-1907), English actor
Publication details: 
Theatre Royal Nottingham, 21 September 1871.
£600.00

8pp., 12mo. Text complete on aged and worn paper. A charming and high-spirited description of life in the provincial theatre in Victorian England, in better than average verse showing the influence of Byron's humorous poetry.

[ Phyllis Hartnoll, theatre historian. ] Correspondence with her agent W. T. Macqueen-Pope, impressario Jack Hylton and actress Freda Jackson regarding her translation of 'The Lady of the Camellias', together with two versions of the translation.

Author: 
Phyllis Hartnoll (1906-1997), theatre historian [ Jack Hylton (1892-1965), impressario; Freda Jackson (1907-1990), actress; W. Macqueen-Pope ]
Publication details: 
Correspondence dating from 1948, except for single items from 1947 and 1950. Hartnoll's letters either from Hobbits, Nether Westcote, Kingham, Oxon, or on Oxford University Press letterheads. Other correspondence from various London addresses.
£950.00

An interesting collection, giving an insight into theatre practices in post-war Britain. Hartnoll is commissioned by the actress Freda Jackson, then at the height of her popularity, to produce an adaptation of the play, Jackson gets impressario Jack Hylton and producer Anthony Hawtrey on board, and there is the inevitable falling out between the actress and the author, with Macqueen-Pope, who is acting as Hartnoll's agent, playing the mediator, as matters become acrimonious.

[ George W. Lovell, English playwright. ] Two Autograph Letters Signed (all 'Geo W Lovell') to Benjamin Webster, both concerning the manuscript of his play 'The Wife's Secret'.

Author: 
George William Lovell (1804-1878), playwright and novelist [ Benjamin Webster [ Benjamin Nottingham Webster ], English actor-manager, lessee of the London theatres the Haymarket and the Adelphi ]
Publication details: 
6 Mornington Crescent [ London ]. 'Thursday Morning' and 'Friday Eveng' [neither with date, but both circa 1846].
£80.00

Both items in good condition, on aged paper. Lovell begins the first letter (3pp., 12mo) by expressing disappointment at not having heard from Webster yet 'with the M.S.', and offers to 'save [him] any trouble in explanations' by calling on him. If that is not acceptable he asks him to 'let me have the copy with your notes upon it & I will work at once. And if you have any thing more agreeable in the way of criticism to communicate it will put me in better spirits'.

[Printed pamphlet.] East Midland Educational Union. Constitution and Examination Arrangements. Approved January, 1930.

Author: 
[East Midland Educational Union, 14 Shakespeare Street, Nottingham]
Publication details: 
[East Midland Education Union, 14 Shakespeare Street, Nottingham.] January 1930.
£40.00

21pp., 16mo. Stapled. In veryy good condition, on aged paper; with pencil shelfmark (of the Board of Education Reference Library) and small rust mark on cover. Scarce: no copy in the British Library or on COPAC.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. Howitt') from the English author William Howett [to the editor of the Literary Gazette William Jerdan?], requesting a favourable review [of his 'Popular History of Priestcraft'].

Author: 
William Howitt (1792-1879), English poet and author, originally a Quaker, friend of Elizabeth Gaskell and advocate of spiritualism [William Jerdan (1782-1869), editor of the Literary Gazette]
Publication details: 
Nottingham. [1833.]
£56.00

1p., 16mo. On aged paper, with minor damage on removal from album. He requests 'the favour of an early notice in your journal, of the accompanying little volume if it be fortunate enough to meet your approbation'. The work has 'no object but to serve true religion & true liberty'. In a postscript he requests a 'copy of the paper containing the notice'. Howitt practised as a chemist in Nottingham between 1822 and 1836, when he moved to Esher, Surrey.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Newcastle') from Henry Pelham Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, 5th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, to Samuel Newham, Secretary, Nottingham Subscription Library, regarding

Author: 
Henry Pelham Fiennes Pelham-Clinton (1811-1864), 5th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne [Samuel Newham (1796-1875), Secretary, Nottingham Subscription Library and chessplayer]
Publication details: 
17 Portman Square, London. 18 February 1852.
£65.00

3pp., 12mo. 20 lines. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Having been elevated to the Dukedom in the previous January, he writes to infom Newham that he was not aware that his father the 4th Duke 'was a Patron and Proprietor of the Nottingham Subscription Library. The share in the Library, being part of the personal Estate in Notts: does belong to me, and I shall be very glad to continue on the list of your Proprietors'. He will give directions for the annual subscription to continue to be paid.

Signed Letter ('C. Bradlaugh'), in a secretary's hand, by the freethinker and Liberal Member of Parliament Charles Bradlaugh, to Frank Harris, editor of the Fortnightly Review.

Author: 
Charles Bradlaugh (1833-1891), Liberal Member of Parliament for Northampton, freethinker and founder of the National Secular Society [Frank Harris (1856-1931), editor of the Fortnightly Review]
Publication details: 
8 January 1891; on letterhead of 20 Circus Road, St John's Wood, London.
£85.00
Charles Bradlaugh (1833-1891), Liberal Member of Parliament

12mo, 1 p. Fifteen lines. Text clear and complete. Very good on lightly-aged paper. The valediction ('Yours sincerely | C. Bradlaugh') in Bradlaugh's hand, the rest in a secretary's. Addressed to 'F. Harris Esq'. Docketed by Harris: '18 or 20th of Feb. or March. Length unlimited: but more valuable short.' Bradlaugh is working on the article, but 'must not send it' before the report is presented to parliament, which Lord Derby assures him 'will be within fourteen days of the Reopening of the House'. He asks about length and deadline.

Autograph Letter Signed from 'M. McSweeney', of the American Association in London, to the English dramatist Benjamin Nottingham Webster, regarding a proposed celebration of George Washington's birthday.

Author: 
M. McSweeney of the American Association in London [Benjamin Nottingham Webster (1797-1882), English dramatist; George Washington]
Publication details: 
11 February 1859; on letterhead of the American Association in London, 14 Cockspur Street.
£35.00
Autograph Letter Signed from 'M. McSweeney', of the American Association

12mo, 1 p. Eight lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Asking if Webster requires a seat at a celebratory dinner for George Washington, 'Tickets not to exceed one Guinea'.

Poor Richard's Almanack, for the year 1848. Leap Year. Containing, in addition to all that is requisite in an Almanack, A list of all the fairs in England and Wales, and advertisements for three hundred and thirty-two Heirs-at-Law.

Author: 
Richard Allen, editor [almanack; almanacks; ephemerides; ephemeris]
Publication details: 
Illustrated edition. 1848. London: W. Strange, 21, Paternoster Row. Heywood, Manchester; Philip, Liverpool; Webb and Co. Leeds; Guest, Birmingham; Allen, Nottingham; Allen, Leicester. [Nottingham: - Printed by R. Allen, 57, Long Row.]
£100.00

12mo, 32 pp. In original pink printed wraps. Unbound and stitched. Text clear and entire. Tight, but grubby and dogeared, and with closed tear and creasing at head of recto of front wrap. Densely printed in a variety of point sizes, with frontispiece and twelve wood-cuts (one for each month). Contains advertisements, 'Borough Regulations', a 'Gardener's Calendar', 'Table of the Sun's rising and setting' and other matter. Neat ownership signature of 'Mrs. Paterson' at head of recto of front wrap, and twelve others of her signatures at the head of each month.

Fragment of printed advertisement.

Author: 
George Burbage (died 1807), eighteenth-century Nottingham printer, bookseller and stationer
Publication details: 
Undated.
£50.00

One page. On leaf roughly nine and a half inches by seven wide. Aged, with frayed edges, and with slight loss to head, affecting decorative border, and extensive loss at foot, involving several lines of text. Begins 'G. BURBAGE, PRINTER, BOOKSELLER and STATIONER; ON THE LONG ROW, NOTTINGHAM, TAKES this Method to acquaint the PUBLIC, that he has just laid in an entire new Assortment of STATIONARY [sic] GOODS, - Also a neat COLLECTION of PAPER HANGINGS for ROOMS, CEILINGS and STAIR CASES: [...]'.

Letters to Eminent Hands; to wit Andrew Lang, Bret Hart, Edna Lyall, F. Anstey, George Moore, Grant Allen, Phil Robinson, Rhoda Broughton, Robt. Louis Stevenson, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, W. S. Gilbert.

Author: 
i' [iota] (Joseph William Gleeson White, 1851-1898), English writer on art and founder of the 'Studio' magazine [Art Workers Guild; Arts and Crafts Movement]
Publication details: 
Derby, Leicester, and Nottingham: Frank Murray, 1892.
£180.00

Small 8vo. Pages: x + 74. In original cream printed wraps. One of two hundred copies of the 'Small Paper edition'. In the 'Moray Library'. Internally sound and clean. Light spotting and wear to wraps. Minor foxing to endpapers. Trenchant observations on an interesting selection of late-Victorian authors.

Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Henry Trueman Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Frank Clowes (1848-1923), Principal, University College Nottingham, and Professor of Chemistry and Metallurgy
Publication details: 
6 January 1915; on letterhead 'THE GRANGE, | COLLEGE ROAD, | DULWICH.'
£23.00

One page, 12mo. Good. Docketed and bearing the Society's stamp. Concerns 'Sir Alexander Redler's being brought up by Crookes for election to the Athenaeum by the Committee under Rule II [...] you [...] intimated that you knew Redler & that I need not descant on his virtues: he is a most clubbable man & I trust you may be able to support him'.

Autograph Letter Signed to E. J. Wheatley.

Author: 
Henry R. Potter [David Love, the Nottingham poet]
Publication details: 
Wymeswold Sat[urda]y AM.'
£50.00

Possibly the Henry R. Potter, of the Office of Works, who corresponded with Gladstone in 1885 and 1894. 4 pages, 16mo. In good condition: neatly folded twice, with traces of stub along one edge of verso of second leaf of bifoliate. Apologises for 'the numerous omissions of which I have been guilty' in his lecture. His only excuse is that he 'submitted the lists to two or three persons resident in Nott[ingha]m and consequently, as I concluded, conversant with its "Notables" '.

Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. Maitland'.

Author: 
Erminia Rudersforff
Publication details: 
Monday morning'; on letterhead '15, Marlborough Road, | St. John's Wood, | N.W.'
£75.00

Anglo-German soprano vocalist, mother of Richard Mansfield. 2 pages, 16mo. Grubby and creased, but in good condition overall. Written in purple ink in a small tight hand. She wonders whether the Maitlands have 'set me down by this time as the most illmannered and ungratefull of all beings', or if they know what she has been doing since they sent her 'the information about Liverpool'. After the evening they spent together she 'had the children home, your kind information came and I discussed the matter with Harry'.

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