Music and Theatre

On leaf (roughly 10 x 15 cm) torn from autograph album. Good, on lightly aged paper. Signed 'Hugo Rignold' with another signature ('John <?> | <?>') in pencil above it. Docketed in pencil.

On piece of laid paper (roughly 13 x 11 cm). Aged and chipped. Reads 'Yours truly | Frank Barrington Foote'. Chipping to the outer edge, very close to the last couple of letters of the signature. Foote, who frequently sang with Adelina Patti at Covent Garden, ended his days destitute in New York City.

On one side of a piece of light-brown laid paper, dimensions roughly 240 x 125 mm. Text clear and entire, on lightly creased paper with chipping, short closed tears and loss to extremities. Crudely printed. A thirty-two line poem, arranged in four four-line stanzas, each with a different chorus. An excessively scarce piece of music hall ephemera. No other copy of this particular item, possibly produced for distribution to Hurley's music hall audience, is present on COPAC or anywhere on the web.

On a piece of laid watermarked paper roughly 11.5 cm square. Good firm underlined signature, about 8 cm long. On aged paper, with pin holes above and below, and a vertical fold about 1 cm above.

12mo: 1 p. Seven lines of text. On creased and lightly-aged watermarked wove paper. Regarding Sir Henry Bate Dudley's farce 'At Home', performed 'with universal approbation' at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, in 1813. 'Should the Box of the Prince Regent be disengaged on Monday next at Covent Garden Lady Landsdowne [sic] (the Dow-) is anxious to see "At Home" Could she have it?'

One page, 8vo, grubby but text clear and complete. He introduces a colleague from his Green Room, Frederick Mervin, whom he describes as a good fellow as well as an actor and singer of ability. He hopes his correspondent will make Mervin's "trip to the Colonies pleasant to him (presumably Australia) . "I hear all the news about you from your brother Alfie when I meet him. I trust this new venture will be hugely successful." Note: Lyster opened in Melbourne with a new company but died in Nov. 1880, presumably shortly after receiving this letter.

Dimensions of paper 3 x 8 cm. Good, firm signature, on lightly aged and spotted paper. The flourish beneath the signature (paraph) has been cropped.

Octavo: viii + 201 pages. Good and tight, on aged high-acidity paper, with some chipping and a little light staining at foot. A few pencil marks. In original printed grubby and chipped wraps cloth-taped to spine. Front wrap annotated in pencil. Four-page introduction entitled 'A PLAYWRIGHT'S WORKING LIBRARY.' Even considering the importance and interest of the theatrical collection, the high point is undoubtedly item 102: 'BLAKE, WILLIAM. ORIGINAL DRAWINGS IN WATER COLOURS and INDIA INK by the celebrated WILLIAM BLAKE (Pictor Ignotus).

Landscape 12mo: 1 p. Headed 'Stage and Film Decor.' He thanks her for her letter of 4 November. 'I eagerly await book. If you could spare me more than one [last three words underlined] I should be appreciative.'

8vo, 3 pp. Bifolium with dimensions of leaf 18.5 x 14 cm. Good, on slightly grubby and lightly creased paper. Small slip of paper mount adhering to one margin (not affecting text). Written in a bold and distinctive hand. He will not be able to make 'an appearance with "Lhada" [?]' as he is 'sorry to see that I am in Brighton the 22nd and 23rd of April, where I sing with Madame Donalda'.

Dimensions of paper 23 x 17 cm. White border of 0.25 cm. A little grubby and with slight silvering at base, but overall a very good impression. A striking head and shoulders shot, with a clean shaven young Wall, neatly dressed in evening wear with black bow tie, and wearing a white sailor's hat at an angle, staring straight at the camera, with glossy lips, eyebrows raised and deadpan expression. The words 'Max Wall' printed in bottom left-hand corner. The inscription reads 'To Peggy | Sincere good wishes | [signed] Max Wall | 1932'.

12mo, 2 pp. 12 lines of text. Creased and ruckled, with a little smudging. Difficult hand. Asking the recipient 'd'aller passer une soirée avec nous'. Laid down on a piece of paper which is attached to the blank reverse of the second leaf of the bifolium is a slip of paper (roughly 2 x 9 cm) carrying Eastlake's signature ('always truly yours | [signed] C. L. Eastlake').

The collection is in good condition, with items on lightly aged and creased paper. Letter One (12 September 1951, Onslow Gardens; 12mo, 1 p, in envelope): As Kyrle Fletcher 'may have seen', Speaight is engaged in a biography of William Poel, and is 'anxious to trace the letters he received from Shaw & which were sold about 1930'. Kyrle Fletcher has docketed the envelope with a precis of his reply. Card (postmarked 14 September 1951): Thanking Kyrle Fletcher for his 'letter & most useful suggestions'.

Undated. Dusty, but veryy good, on black vinyl with yellow label and triangular insert. In lightly worn, creased and grubby original sleeve printed in green and yellow, carrying a lengthy note by G. J. Ashton, beginning 'On this record you can hear parts of an actual sale of tobacco held on the floor of Tobacco Auctions Ltd., Salisbury, introduced by BOB CAGE. Mr. Cage, a native of Halifax, Virginia, has been auctioneering tobacco for over fifteen years in the United States and Rhodesia.

The collection as a whole is in good condition on aged paper. ITEM ONE: 90-page typescript headed 'II | ANTECEDENT', beginnning 'It has become a commonplace of musicology, at least in this country, that the first two decades of the Twentieth Century show an immense increase of creative activity in the composition of works of music by an astonishingly rich group of their [sic] young composers.

Thirty-six weekly issues. As poster, c.29 x 39cm, fold marks indicate possible use as a brochure, good condition. Information given on verso: Theatre, Nearest Tube, Eves. & Mats, Play, Description of Play. At the bottom information about "Official Ticket Agents for All London Theatres" and a line encouraging smoking (especially Abdullas). Information given on recto: Garges in Theatreland, Contractors to West End Theatres, the title "page", and two columns of "Theatre Notes". The only MS. annotations are: Issue for 2-7 Jan.

Two programmes, one made of silk or satin (1832), the other paper (1834), former worn at blue edges (main body cream, discoloured to yellowish, fold marks, 2 pinholes and one small hole, c.20.5 x 24cm, latter in good condition, fold marks, c.18 x 22cm. The former announces a production of "The Popular Farce of THE LIAR!" and "the Afterpiece of The Day after the Wedding, or, on 9 January 1832, the cats mixing professionals (Mr Abbott, Mr. Mildmay, Mr Balfour) and amateur (members of the Russell Family). The "Manager" adds a few words, including a special mention for Mr Balfour.

First edition. Original green wraps, title in red, 14pp, 8vo, wraps frayed and sunned (or grubby) at edges, contents good. Scarce: COPAC lists two copies (BL and NLS).

First edition. Original green wraps, title in red, 14pp, 8vo, wraps partially detached, frayed and sunned (or grubby) at edges, contents good. INSCRIBED by the author: "To Norman Morrow / With the compliments of the Author//". Morrow was a member of a family which involved itself in set design and related ativity for the Ulster Literary Theatre. Scarce: COPAC lists two copies (BL and Trinity, Dublin).

One page, c.10 x 13cm, creased and dulled but text clear and complete. "Mon cher ami/ Voila tout ce wue j'ai et prenez garde d'egarer ce scenario du second acte - je n'en ai pas d'autre copie et s'il la perdait, je ne pourrai jamais me rappeler un seul mot du contiens.- / Mille [?] tendres amitiés et remerciements de votre aimable billet -"

12mo, 2 pp. 22 lines of text. Very good on aged paper. Text clear and entire. Replying on behalf of 'Mlle Lia Duport, ma fille' (who accepts the 'offre flatteuse') and 'Mr. Alizard' (who has not yet returned from Brussells, where he is 'engagé au théâtre de la Monnaie'). If Alizard is available his fee will be the same as Duport's daughter's. States the reduced fee for which his daughter will sing alone, 'Dans le cas où Mr.

4to. 24 pages. In original brown printed wraps. In poor condition: paper frayed, worn and discoloured, front and back wrap separately detached. Number 97 of 350 copies. Pollock (1887-1964) was a novelist, poet and one of the founders of the Gate Theatre.

Letter: 12mo, 1 p. Grubby and stained. He 'did not mention the Planché-affair' in his letter of the day before. Asks for his name to be put down 'for a copy of the book' [French's edition of Planché's 'Extravaganzas']. The subscription form (12mo, 1 p), heavily worn and with loss to the extremities, is laid down on the reverse of the letter. On it Merivale gives his address as 'Barton Lodge, Kingston on Thames'.

12mo, 1 p. Text clear and entire, on lightly creased blue paper, with a thin docketed strip neatly cut away at the foot of the letter. Traces of cream paper mount adhering to the blank reverse. Presumably refers to the play 'Alone in London', which debuted at the Olympic Theatre in 1885. Buchanan trusts that Fenn 'will be present in production of my new play & Miss Jay's debut on Wednesday next'. He asks whether to send the stalls, 'or do you get them from the Office? It will be indeed disappointing if you do not come, this time.'

Original brown wraps, chipped, dusted and soiled, titlepage partly soiled and dusted, otherwise good. Scarce: COPAC lists copies at BL, NLS, Oxford, and NLW. AddAll only lists the 1971 reprint.

Original mauve wraps, sunned and creased, endpapers soiled, contents slightly marked but mainly good. INSCRIBED by Robert Lynd, author and nationalist, in Irish, Riobard ua Flynn. Scarce: COPAC lists copies at NLS, Cambridge, BL.

Bifolium (dimensions of the two leaves 14.5 x 22.5 cm), 4 pp. Printed on light-green paper. Lightly worn and creased with one short closed tear. Contains 14 photographs of riders engaged in impressive stunts, including riding through flame, riding upside down and in a pyramid formation. No trace of existence of the troupe appears to have survived. Although in costume, to the ignorant eye they do not look particularly Cossack, and their signatures are not written in Cyrillic. The names, which do not yield any clues either, include 'A Boulanoff' and 'N. Golouboff'.

On one side of a piece of green card, 9 x 11 cm. Perforated section at left, for name and address, 9 x 2.5 cm. Very good. Reads 'JEWISH AGENCY FOR PALESTINE | (British Section) | EAST LONDON COMMITTEES. | You are cordially invited to attend a presentation of NEW LIFE IN PALESTINE (A Film showing Palestine before and after the Riots) at the RIVOLI CINEMA, WHITECHAPEL, E.1 on SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 23RD, AT 2.30 P.M. Speakers: HARRY GOSLING, Esq., M.P., Mrs. I. M. SIEFF, (President, Federation of Women Zionists) Mr. MORRIS MYER will preside. Doors open, 2 p.m. ADMIT TWO. M.

4to, 1 p, 21 lines. On creased and lightly-foxed paper, with a couple of closed tears (not affecting text, which is clear and entire). May refer to the 1928 revival of van Druten's play 'Young Woodley' (previously banned by the censor), or (which is more likely) to his 'After All' (1929).

8vo (16.5 x 21 cm), 1 p. On lightly aged paper with a little chipping to one edge. Text clear and entire. Addressed to 'Dear France'. He apologises for 'a typewritten letter'. 'I fancy I have seen the house you mention. I believe my wife and I went and looked over it two years ago, and didn't think it would suit us.' He will nevertheless 'take an opportunity of going over it again soon'. Thanks France for letting him know about it. 'Hope you are having a nice tour.'