Art and Architecture

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[Fred Walker & Thackeray] Album of work by Frederick Walker, Social realist painter and illustrator, described by Sir John Everett Millais as "the greatest artist of the century" (Wiki).

Author: 
[J.G. Marks, prob.] Frederick Walker; W.M. Thackeray
Publication details: 
[1861-1871]
£3,000.00

The volume contains proofs of Walker's contributions to various periodicals, with other items by Walker. WITH letters/text/drawings (details below) by Thackeray relating to his The Adventures of Philip (Cornhill Magazine, 1861-2, serial), with relevant proofs.Marks states in his introductory comment to his "List of Illustrations" that "Those [illustrations] against which no owner's name appears have been supplied by the author." On that basis, several illustrations in this album belong to Marks's own collection (eg.

[ Printed pamphlet; Walter Crane ] On the Study and Practice of Art: An Address delivered by Walter Crane, to the Art Students of the Municipal School of Art, and the Municipal Technical School, Manchester, Saturday, March 4th, 1893.

Author: 
Walter Crane [ Municipal School of Art, Manchester ]
Publication details: 
Manchester: "Manchester Guardian" Printing Works, Blackfriars Street, 1893.
£180.00

19pp., 12mo. Stapled. In grey printed wraps. Internally in good condition, on lightly-aged paper; in wraps with stamp and label of the Education Department Library. Marginal headings include: 'Motives for following an Artistic Career', 'Primal Important of Facility of Hand', 'Triumph of Commercialism', 'The Worship of the Ugly', 'Art: Pictorial, Creative, Pot-boiling' and 'Decorum in Decoration'. Uncommon: only four copies recorded on OCLC WorldCat.

[Tony Sarg; railway posters] Three Autograph Letters Signed to 'Miss Manook'.

Author: 
Tony Sarg [ Anthony Frederick Sarg (1880-1942), known professionally as Tony Sarg, a German American puppeteer and illustrator]
Publication details: 
London, 1911-1913.
£250.00

ITEM ONE: 20 May 1911, on letterhead '3, Linnell Close, | Hampstead Garden Suburb, | London, N.W.'; ITEM TWO: 23 Dec. 1912, Granville House, Arundel St., Strand, London, EC..' ITEM THREE: 11 January 1913, 'Granville House. | Arundel St. Strand. | London E.C. ITEM ONE: 3 pages, 12mo. Very good, though slightly discoloured. 'Your very closely written letter would have melted any artist's heart and I did the little sketch [not present] in seperate [sic] envelope with great pleasure, particularly as the object of your collection is to cheer you up in your old age.

[New York World's Fair 1939.] Collection mainly consisting of publicity and administrative material: press releases, information bulletins, contracts, contact lists, photographs, plans, coloured panorama, book, newspapers, pamphlets, questionnaire.

Author: 
New York World's Fair 1939 [Grover A. Whalen (1886-1962); Frank Monaghan; Bayard F. Pope]
Publication details: 
New York World's Fair 1939, Main Office, 24th Floor Empire State Building, 350 Fifth Avenue, New York City, N.Y. Produced between 1938 and 1940.
£3,000.00

Attended by 44 million people, the New York World's Fair was an enormous enterprise, with a vast number of exhibits and pavilions from all over the world spread out over 1216 acres of the Flushing Meadows/Corona Park district. The fair's official 'theme' was 'the demonstration of "a happier way of American living through a recognition of the interdependence of man, and the building of a better world of tomorrow with the tools of today"'.

[Sir William Beechey, English portrait painter.] Autograph Note Signed ('Mr. Beechey'), in French.

Author: 
Sir William Beechey (1753-1839), English portrait painter
Publication details: 
'16th. May [no year]'.
£32.00

On 7 x 11 cm slip of paper. In fair condition, aged and creased. The note, all in Beechey's hand, and probably addressed to a bookseller, reads: 'Monsieur - | De Regno Laconico, de Piraeeo. 1687. 2to. | Mr. Beechey | 16th. May'.

[Lumb Stocks RA.] 125 prints from his collection, by eminent London engravers (including the Findens, Heath, Cousen), mostly engravers' proofs on India paper, many before the letters, including presentations, and eighteen from J. M. W. Turner.

Author: 
Lumb Stocks RA (1812-1892), English steel engraver [J. M. W. Turner; John Martin; John Baylis Allen; John Cousen; Charles Rolls; David Roberts; George Cattermole; A. E. Chalon; Finden; Charles Heath]
Publication details: 
Publishers (all London): Art Union of London; Baldwin & Cradock; P. & D. Colnaghi; Fisher, Son & Co.; Hamilton, Adams; Hurst, Robinson & Co.; Robert Jennings; Longmans; W. Marshall; William Pickering; John Sharpe; Whittaker. Between 1826 and 1863.
£2,500.00

For a full list of named engravers, artists and publishers, see below. Lumb Stocks was, as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography points out, 'one of the most influential exponents of steel line engraving, and his death left the Royal Academy without an engraver in its ranks'. He bequeathed his collection of prints to the British Museum;; the present collection was retained by the family, and purchased from the estate of Harold Carpenter Lumb Stocks (1884-1956), organist of St Asaph Cathedral.

[Charles Fairfax Murray.] Autograph Letter Signed ('C. F. Murray') to 'Fisher' [barrister Richard C. Fisher?] regarding his purchase of the Bellini Crucifixion, now in the Louvre, with reference to Duveen. Rodolphe Kann, von Bode, Volpi, Bonacossi.

Author: 
Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919), art connoisseur and artist [Sir Joseph Duveen; Rodolphe Kann; Wilhelm von Bode; Elia Volpi; Alessandro Contini Bonacossi]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 'Via Marsilio Ficino 12 | Firenze'. 24 September 1913.
£950.00

A significant letter, filling gaps in the provenance of Bellini's Crucifixion, now in the Louvre. All that has been known hitherto about the painting's provenance is that at the beginning of the twentieth century it was in the Paris collection of the banker Rodolphe Kann, and that before the Second World War it was owned by the Florentine dealer Alessandro Contini Bonacossi, from whose heirs it was acquired by the Louvre in 1970.

[The Campden Hill Club, London.] Three manuscript volumes, comprising minute book, day book and visitors book to the Club's exhibition at Leighton House, with signature of Duncan Grant, Roy Plomley and others.

Author: 
The Campden Hill Club, London [Sir Miles Fletcher de Montmorency (1893-1963), Chairman, writer and art historian; Byan Shaw; Vicat Cole; Leighton House, Kensington]
Publication details: 
The Campden Hill Club, London. Minute Book, 1946-1958; Day Book, 1956-1972; Leighton House Visitors book, 1958-1976.
£850.00

The Campden Hill Club was founded in 1907, 'in affectionate memory of Byam Shaw, and as a tribute to his teaching', and comprised, according to the Studio magazine in 1922, 'mainly of past and present students of the Byam Shaw and Vicat Cole School of Art, with which it keeps closely and stimulatingly in touch'. The three items are in good condition, on lightly-aged paper, in worn bindings. ONE (Visitors Book, 1958-1976): 190pp., 4to. Ruled notebook bound in red cloth, with 'Visitors' stamped in gilt on the front cover.

[Sir Hubert von Herkomer, painter.] Five illustrated items designed by him for his private Wagnerian theatre: invitation to 'The Sorceress'; prospectus, libretto and invitation card for his 'Pictorial-Music-Play' 'An Idyl'; and Christmas card.

Author: 
Sir Hubert von Herkomer (1849-1914), German-born British painter admired by Van Gogh [Joseph Bennett; Edward Dalziel (1817-1905), wood engraver; Dorothy Dene (1859-1899), actress; Lululaund, Bushey]
Publication details: 
The Herkomer Theatre [on the Lululaund Estate], Bushey, Hertfordshire. 1889 and 1890. [Items printed by Novello, Ewer, and Co. of London, and R. and R. Clark of Edinburgh.]
£1,150.00

In addition to his pioneering cinematographic work, Herkomer was a theatrical innovator. As Lynda Nead points out in her 'The Haunted Gallery' (Yale, 2007), it was shortly after the opening of his art school that 'he and his students created an auditorium, modelled on Wagner's Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, for public performances of plays, written, directed and, indeed, performed by Herkomer'. See also M. A. K. Taylor, 'The New Stagecraft' (1953); J. Stokes, 'Resistible Theatres' (1972); and L. M. Edwards, 'Herkomer: A Victorian Artist' (1999). These five items all relate to the project.

[Samuel Cousins, engraver.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Saml. Cousins'), accepting an invitation from Edward William Cooke to dine with him and 'meet the President and Council of the Royal Academy'.

Author: 
Samuel Cousins (1801-1887), engraver associated with the Royal Academy [Edward William Cooke (1811-1880), RA, marine gardener and engraver]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 24 Camden Square, London NW. 20 February 1865.
£40.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. He writes 'My dear Sir | I have the pleasure to accept your kind Invitation to Dine with you on the 4th March [amended from '28 Inst'] to meet the President and Council of the Royal Academy.' For more information about both men, see their entries in the Oxford DNB.

[John Henry Batchelor, illustrator.] Autograph Letter Signed ('John H. Batchelor') to an unnamed recipient, discussing his work and terms.

Author: 
John Henry Batchelor (born 1936), MBE, English artist and 'arguably the world's foremost technical illustrator' and 'the world's premier stamp illustrator'
Publication details: 
15 St Johns Road, Boscombe, Bournemouth.
£56.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with water staining to a couple of words. Written in a stylish, calligraphic hand. He begins by thanking the recipient for a letter and postal order, before continuing: 'In case you are interested, I also do paintings of antique weapons. An example of my work can be seen in the August 1962 issue of "Guns Review".' He explains that such illustrations can be in either black and white or full colour, and concludes: 'If you have a particular favourite I shall be pleased to quote.'

[William Etty, artist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm Etty.'), addressed both 'To Messrs Taylor and Sibley' and 'To the Curators of the St Martins Lane Academy', regarding his room there.

Author: 
William Etty (1787-1849), English painter [William Benjamin Sarsfield Taylor (1781-1850), Irish artist, curator of the St Martin's Lane Academy; Charles Sibley, artist]
Publication details: 
14 Buckingham Street, Strand [London]. 28 February 1839.
£80.00

1p., 4to. Aged and creased, mounted in windowpane on leaf removed from album. He writes: 'Gentlemen, | I beg leave to inform you, that I shall not have occasion for the Room I have taken at the St. Martins Lane Model Academy, after Michaelás Day next in the present year.' For more information on the Academy, see Sibley's 'Origin, Progress, and Present Condition of the Fine Arts in Great Britain and Ireland' (1841).

[Joseph William Allen, landscape painter.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. W. Allen') to his pupil the artist Edward John Cobbett

Author: 
Joseph William Allen (1803-1852), landscape painter, President of Society of British Artists and drawing master of City of London School [his pupil Edward John Cobbett (1815-1899); Liscard Hall]
Publication details: 
'Liscard Hall. | near Egremont | Cheshire.' Undated.
£120.00

2pp., 4to. Aged and creased, mounted in windowpane on leaf removed from album. Liscard Hall was built for the former Mayor of Liverpool and slave-ship captain Sir John Tobin. Allen writes that since arriving there he has 'painted too little subjects', and that he has 'a wish' to 'leave them behind me - but not unframed - size of Pictures 16in: x 12in:' If Cobbett does not have 'two tolerable frames of that size' he asks him to order two: 'I do not require the "best double distilled - extra hyper - superfine" - but something tolerably good looking'.

[Artist] Autograph Note Signed to Maurice Codner, portrait painter, about his election [presumably to the Royal Society of Portrait Painters of which Codner was secretary from 1945]

Author: 
Allan Gwynne-Jones Allan Gwynne-Jones (1892 – 1982), English artist.
Publication details: 
[Headed] Eastleach Turville, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, 15 Dec. [no year].
£35.00

One page, 12mo, good condition. "Thank you very much for your kind letter & I am delighted that you have elected me. | Gunn had telephoned to me with the good news which was very considerate of him. [...]"

[Henry Lamb, artist] Three Christmas Cards to Robert Lynd, essayist, and Sylvia Lynd, poet

Author: 
Henry, Lamb, English artist of the Camden Town Group
Publication details: 
One dated 1948, another1950, one undated.
£180.00

Three cards (bifoliums), 15 x 12.5cm, 11.5 x 18cm, 10 x 12.5, inscribed by Lamb either below image on front or on inside blanks. Images, two b & w, one faintly purple background, presumably by him, are: Madonna and child (inscribed page[3] "With love from | Henry Lamb"); Carol Singers (inside "Best wishes from | Henry Lamb") ; children and teenagers playing cards (under image on front "With love to you both | from | Henry Lam.| Xmas/48"). Image available on my website.

[Edward Smith, engraver.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Edwd. Smith') to the London book and print seller John Martin, stating his terms for engraving 'the Game Keeper after W. Hunt'.

Author: 
Edward Smith (c.1780-c.1849), Scottish engraver, based in London [John Martin, bookseller, and printseller, of the London firm of Rodwell & Martin]
Publication details: 
3 College Street, Camden Town. 28 March 1831.
£150.00

1p., 4to. In very good condition, neatly placed within a windowpane mount. Addressed at head to 'Mr. John Martin'. Laying out, in detail, the 'Terms on which I agree to engrave the Game Keeper after W. Hunt'. The terms are described over twelve lines, beginning: 'The Engraving to be 7 by 5 inches in my best manner, the charge to be seventy Guineas, one third to be paid on the Etching, the remainder on delivery of the work, which I undertake to do in about four months.'

[William Strang, Scottish painter and etcher.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm Strang') to an unnamed female recipient, regarding a meeting of the Art Workers' Guild.

Author: 
William Strang (1859-1921), Scottish painter and etcher, President of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers [The Art Workers' Guild]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 7 Hamilton Terrace, NW [London]. 20 January 1916.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on aged paper. The letter reads: 'Dear Madam | Thank you for your reminder about reading the paper tomorrow night. | I will be at the Guild before 8, and get the slides.' Strang was Master of the Art Workers' Guild.

[William Strang, Scottish painter and etcher.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm Strang') to 'Daffarn', regarding an engagement with him and his 'friend Watson'.

Author: 
William Strang (1859-1921), Scottish painter and etcher, President of the International Society of Sculptors, Painters, and Gravers
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 7 Hamilton Terrace, NW [London]. 2 April 1907.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on aged paper. The letter reads: 'Dear Daffarn | I will be in any time in the afternoon after 2.30 on Friday, & will be pleased to see you and your friend Watson. | The work goes on slowly but I think I will finish in time.'

[Thomas Webster, RA.] Autograph Note in the third person to 'Mr. Gotta'.

Author: 
Thomas Webster (1800-1886), RA, English genre painter and etcher [Royal Academy of Arts, London]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Cranbrook, Staplehurst. 10 May 1877.
£35.00

1p., 16mo. On bifolium. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-spotted paper. The note reads: 'Mr. Webster in reply to Mr. Gotta's note desires to say, with his compliments, that his Picture, in the Royal Academy, is engaged.'

[Sir John Charles Robinson, museum curator.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J C Robinson') to an unnamed male recipient

Author: 
Sir John Charles Robinson (1824-1913), museum curator and art collector [Museum of Ornamental Art; Burlington Fine Arts Club; Royal Society of Painter Etchers; Victoria and Albert Museum; Henry Reeve]
Publication details: 
10 York Place, Portman Square [London]. 2 July 1870.
£56.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Docketted by recipient 'Mr. Robinson on my Spanish portraits.' A pencil note identifies the writer as 'Hy Reeve', perhaps the journalist Henry Reeve (1813-1895).

[Peltro William Tomkins, drawing master to the royal family.] Autograph Letter Signed ('P W Tomkins') to 'Gentlemen' [booksellers] regarding 'Dr Clarkes Plates' and the desire of the bearer of the letter to be employed as an engraver.d

Author: 
Peltro William Tomkins (1759-1840), engraver and draughtsman, drawing master to the family of King George III
Publication details: 
53 New Bond Street [London]. 14 March 1809.
£60.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, on aged paper, laid down on a grey-paper mount. The letter is addressed 'Gentlemen'. In the first paragraph he explains that having received their letter, he sent 'Dr Clarkes Plates [...] to the Writing Engravers but have not as yet received them back'. He has sent the bearer of the present letter to find out when they will be done, and he has been told to tell them the answer he receives. The second paragraph reveals that the bearer of the letter is himself an engraver: 'I understand that he applied to you for the engraving of one of your Portrait Plates.

[Niccolò Schiavonetti, printmaker.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Nichs. Schiavonetti') to 'Mr. Scott', sending '4 sorts of french paper', and giving instructions on how it is to be prepared.

Author: 
Niccolò Schiavonetti [Nicholas Schiavonetti] (c.1771-1813), printmaker, brother of Luigi Schiavonetti (1765-1810)
Publication details: 
Brompton; 15 April 1811.
£80.00

1p., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged paper with damp stain along one edge. Addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'Mr. Scott'. He is sending 'by Bearer 4 sorts of french paper, 2 sheets of each, which you will be so good as to see that it is properly prepared before it is used - The grand Eagle with the watermarks will require a great deal of brushing with a hard brush as I think that many of the specks will brush off they being chiefly superficial'.

[Martin Hardie, art historian and curator.] Two Typed Letters Signed to the artist and critic Eric Hesketh Hubbard, discussing the loan and delivery of drawings.

Author: 
Martin Hardie (1875-1952), art historian and Victoria and curator at the Albert Museum [Eric Hesketh Hubbard (1892-1957), artist and critic]
Publication details: 
First letter: on letterhead of Rodbourne, Tonbridge, Kent. 3 October 1943. Second letter: from Rodbourne. 10 October 1943.
£70.00

The two items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. ONE: 1p., 4to. Regarding the loan by him to Hubbard of drawings, and delivery options for them. TWO: 1p., 12mo. 'You vanished very suddenly after our Meeting and I did not have the chance of discussing arrangements with you. Will you please let me know what time it passes through Tonbridge on the following Monday.' He hopes to bring two more pictures 'straight to Albany from Charing Cross, arriving about mid-day? If you are not to be there I will take them to the Royal Academy and deliver them in the afternoon.'

[Major Herman Armour Webster, American engraver.] Autograph Letter Signed ('H. A. Webster') to 'Mr. Barry'.

Author: 
Major Herman Armour Webster (1878-1970), American etcher, draughtsman and lithographer
Publication details: 
Paris. 28 October [no year].
£40.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. He apologises for the 'very short letter' and 'long delay in answering'. He reports that 'the rings came in your order but I have not had a chance to use them and will not have now until next Spring or Summer'. He is sending money as requested. 'My three plates of the trees came very nicely - one has just gone to the "Studio" so you may see it there later on.' He will write again when he has time for 'a rational note'.

[John Hassell, artist and engraver.] Autograph Note Signed ('J Hassell'), arranging to offer 'something interesting' to an unnamed employee of the London printseller 'Mr Boydell' [either John Boydell or his nephew Josiah Boydell].

Author: 
John Hassell (1767-1825), watercolour painter and engraver [John Boydell (1720-1804), artist and London printseller; his nephew Josiah Boydell (1752-1817)]
Publication details: 
'Thursday Morng [no date] | 11 Clements Inn'.
£50.00

1p., landscape 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-stained paper. The note reads: 'Dr Sir, | I shall do myself the pleasure of waiting upon you the beginning of the week, when I hope to have something interesting to shew you for Mr Boydell - believe me | Dr Sir | Yrs truly | J Hassell'.

[John Henry Robinson, engraver.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. H. Robinson') to an unnamed male recipient, discussing his engraving of the Marchionness of Abercorn, and pointing out that the plate belongs to the printseller F. G. Moon.

Author: 
John Henry Robinson (c.1796-1871), engraver [Sir Francis Graham Moon (1796-1871), London printseller and publisher]
Publication details: 
20 Spring Street [London]. 23 February 1842.
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged paper, with slight creasing and chipping at head. In answer to an enquiry, he states regarding 'the Portrait of the Marchioness of Abercorn' that 'though Mr Moon & I have not yet completed our arrangements I consider that the Plate is his property & not mine as you appear to have been informed'. He concludes by thanking him 'for the favorable opinion you are pleased to express both of the plate in question & the engraving'.

[John Wallis Shores, engineer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Frank Short') to the curator Sydney Pavière, regarding prints which he is sending him.

Author: 
Frank Short (1851-1935), artist [Sydney Pavière (1891-1971), curator]
Publication details: 
56 Brook Green, W6 [London]. 8 December 1926.
£56.00

1p., landscape 12mo. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. The first paragraph reads: 'Dear Mr Pavière, | I will look carefully at the prints you send in (as, indeed, & of course, at all of them), and hope you may be successful at the election. The whole of the members will this year, at last, express their opinon on the candidates work, but the final decision rests, as it must under the charter, with the Council.' In the second paragraph he expresses pleasure that 'you are interesting your gallery in prints'.

[Frederick William Fairholt, artist and antiquary.] Autograph Letter Signed ('F. W. Fairholt') to unnamed male recipient, reporting that he has done an engraving for him, and commenting adversely on the increasing 'taste for hard words'.

Author: 
Frederick William Fairholt (c.1813-1866), artist and antiquary
Publication details: 
11 Montpelier Square, Brompton. No date.
£45.00

2pp., 16mo. Bifolium. 21 lines of text. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. As Doubleday has not 'sent the last', he has 'done your 3rd Cut of "glorious Apollo" from the print alone endeavouring to give the antique style as faithfully as I could.' He thanks him for his 'bit about the "archaic" term', and is certain 'that that [last word underlined] - like many other derivations from Greek & Latin roots, are most frequently used improperly[. T]he taste for hard words is certainly on the increase among all classes - from the advertising tailor upwards.'

[William Pengree Sherlock, watercolour artist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('W P Sherlock') to an unnamed recipient, sending his 'last little Effort' in engraving, as proof of his abilities.

Author: 
William Pengree Sherlock (b.1775), watercolour artist and engraver, son of the artist and engraver William Sherlock (1738-1806)
Publication details: 
Cumberland Place, Shepherd's Bush. 21 July 1817.
£120.00

1p., 4to. Good, on aged paper. The letter begins: 'Sir | I shew to you my last little effort which is a Copy from Vertues large Print after the Picture by Holbein now hanging in the Council Chamber of Bridewell Hospital'.( A note at the foot of the page reads: 'The above was engraved for the Purpose of Illustrating Pennant Walpole &c'. He notes that the print (not present) was 'engraved as the companion to the last Print I sent you.

[William Skelton, engraver.] Autograph Letter Signed ('W. Skelton') to William Aynton, requesting that he be allowed to send him 'a few of my engraved Portraits', for distribution to 'the Noblemen & Gentlemen, Members of the Athenaeum Club'.

Author: 
William Skelton (1763-1848), English engraver [William Aynton; the Athenaeum, London club]
Publication details: 
1 Stafford Place, Pimlico. 3 September 1831.
£80.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged paper, with traces of mount adhering to the blank reverse. In an apparent attempt to drum up business, Skelton writes:: 'In consequence of your suggestion I presume to request the favor of you to receive a few of my engraved Portraits, to present to the Noblemen & Gentlemen, Members of the Athenaeum Club, and shall be gratified if the enclosed may prove acceptable.'

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