[Rarebooks] Offering: Autographs and Letters, including Kenneth Grahame on Dragons

[Michael John Thompson]

Here:
 
[ https://www.thompsonrarebooks.com/cat.php?id=374 ]( https://www.thompsonrarebooks.com/cat.php?id=374 )

All items are priced in US Dollars. Thanks for looking.

1.  BELL, Robert Anning, RA . AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED. ON BOOKPLATES. Dated July 2nd, 1902. One Leaf Folded to make 4 Pages, Signed in Full. AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, Dated July 2, 1902. On the artist's letterhead, return address Upper Cross, East Hagbourne, Berks - Didcot Station. To a collector of booDiscusses recent bookplates designed by Bell, with descriptions. "Dear Sir, The above is my present address, I have left Liverpool for some time.... lists 18 bookplates with descriptions. ... Ends with the note "Thank you for the plates you enclosed - I do not collect but am glad to share them - I enclose two or three in return - but please Do Not Set Any Collectors on me - Yours very truly R.A. Bell". folded for mailing. Very good.
¶ Robert Anning Bell RA (1863-1993), arts & crafts style illustrator of books, now best known for his excellent and striking Bookplate Designs.         $250.00

2.  GRAHAME, Kenneth. AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED [ALS], ON DRAGONS. One Leaf, dated 27th June 1913. AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, One Leaf, dated 27th June 1913. On the author's embossed letterhead addressed "Boham's, Blewbury, Didcot, Berkshire". 70 words, Signed in full "Kenneth Grahame". Addressed "Dear Sir", it goes on with "It was very kind of you to take the trouble to write to me so pleasantly about the Dragon, & I am glad indeed to know that he has an appeal for you, & also for your young Canadian friend, who, coming from the new world, is probably not familiar with Dragons & their many admirable qualities. With many thanks, Yours very truly, Kenneth Grahame". Light browning, a very nice example.
¶ Recipient unknown, but obviously sent by Grahame as a reply to an admirer who had written concerning the chapter "The Reluctant Dragon" in Grahame's book THE GOLDEN AGE (first published 1900). Grahame's letters are uncommon in the trade; when the do appear they are often brief and of little substance, this letter concerning Dragons is quite remarkable and very pleasing.         $1,500.00

3.  MACHEN, Arthur. SIGNATURE SHEET FROM THE CAELEON EDITION OF HIS WORKS, SIGNED. London: Martin Secker 1922. One leaf, folded to make 8 pages, unsewn and unused, from Volume One of THE CAERLEON EDITION OF THE WORKS OF ARTHUR MACHEN. Comprises 8 leaves: half-title leaf, (blank), the title page for Volume One (The Great God Pan, The Inmost Light, & The Red Hand), Limitation page (unnumbered), Signature Leaf Signed by Machen in Full, (blank), Contents leaf, (blank). Obviously, an extra, unused group of sheets that Machen signed and were not bound or used. Fine Condition.         $150.00

4.  MASEFIELD, John. TYPED LETTER SIGNED. One page, Undated. One page, typed, Signed in Full "J. Masefield". On the author's letterhead addressed "Pinbury, Cirencester". A short Note, to a Mr. Kernahan: "Dear Mr. Kernahan, Many thanks for your letter. I am sorry to be unable to help, ut it is not possible for me to examine into the case which you write to me about. With all good wishes, Yours sincerely, J. Masefield". Undated. Folded for mailing, small stains; very good.
¶ John Masefield (1878-1967),English poet and writer, Poet Laureate of Great Britain from 1930 until his death in 1967. Beloved for his children's books The Midnight Folk (1927)and The Box of Delights (1935). The recipient is possibly Coulsan Kernahan (1858-1943, an accomplished author who wrote several successful thrillers.         $150.00

5.  NOYES, Alfred. TYPED LETTER SIGNED, To E.H. Visiak, dated March 8th, 1921. TYPED LETTER SIGNED, 1 leaf, 112 words, dated March 8th, 1921 on the author's notepaper embossed with his return address "85, Cadogan Gardens, S.W." in black ink, signed in full "Alfred Noyes". To E.H. Visiak. "Dear Visiak, The two books have just reached me here and I have been reading them with very great interest. I seems to me that you have a very original vein of your own; and there are many things in both books which i should like to discuss with you some day. It will be a real pleasure to me to get the other volume of which you speak. I have a real admiration for the Flying Dutchman motif which you develop so vividly in many of these poems and I am wondering whether the later work is to be your Tanhäuser. With best remembrances, Yours sincerely, Alfred Noyes.".
¶Alfred Noyes [1880-1958], English poet, short-story writer and playwright, author of over 30 books. Perhaps best known today as the author of the poem "THE HIGHWAYMAN" ( The wind was a torrent of darkness among the gusty trees; the moon was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas....) E.H. Visiak was the pseudonym of Edward Harold Physick (1878-1972); the author of 5 books of poems 1910-1919 (mostly nautical and weird) and the fantasy novels The Haunted Island (1910) & Medusa: A Story of Mystery (1929).         $250.00

6.  SHIEL, M. P. [Matthew Phipps]. PRINCE ZALESKI. First Edition, Signed by the Author. The Bibliographer's Copy. London: John Lane, Vigo Street. 1895 First Edition (& 1st printing). Octavo, original purple cloth with an art-nouveau design in white by Aubrey Beardsley on the front panel, 'Keynote' design on spine and rear panel, spine titled in gilt, front panel titled in white. Decorated title page, also by Beardsley. 163 pp + 7 pp catalogue of Books in The Keynotes Series + 16 pp catalogue 'List of Books in Belles Lettres' dated 1895 at rear. This copy is SIGNED BY SHIEL on the half-title leaf. Covers moderately discoloured, and rubbed, spine darkened, head & heel of spine slightly pushed and with a trace of wear; a very good copy, quite nice and certainly much better than usually encountered. Formerly, Shiel bibliographer Reynold Morse's copy, with his "Ex-Libris RM" bookplate on the front paste-down. A cornerstone book rarely found signed or inscribed.
¶ Queen's Quorum No. 19. Collects three short stories featuring Prince Zaleski, a decadent occult detective inspired by Poe (through Eugene Sue). Issued in Lane's decadent Keynote's series and appropriately packaged with Beardsley's designs, Shiel's literary reputation rests firmly upon this book and Shapes in the Fire (1896), considered to be two of the most important works of the English decadent movement.         $1,500.00

7.  SHIEL, M.P. [Matthew Phipps]; ARMSTRONG, Fytton [John Gawsworth]. THRILLS: TWENTY SPECIALLY SELECTED NEW STORIES OF CRIME, MYSTERY AND HORROR. The Realm of Redonda Copy. London: Associated Newspapers Ltd No Date [1936] First Edition, First Impression. Large crown octavo, original black cloth titled and decorated in green on spine & front panel, decorated endpapers. 320 pp. With 12 b/w illustrations by Norman Keene. Anonymously edited by Terence Ian Fytton Armstrong (a.k.a. John Gawsworth), this is the editor's own copy, with his signature "John Gawsworth" on the front free endpaper and the Realm of Redonda bookplate on the front paste-down. Contains the first appearance in print of A CASE FOR DEDUCTION by M.P. Shiel and Fytton Armstrong, a Shiel / Gawsworth collaboration. Spine slightly leaned; a very good, clean copy, lacking the very scarce dust jacket. Very Good. Hardcover.
¶ Also includes works by E.H. Visiak; John Gawsworth (!); E.H.W. Meyerstein; L.A.G. Strong; Edgar Jepson & others.         $225.00

8.  SHIEL, M.P.; MACHEN, Arthur, Richard Middleton; & Others. THE PLAIN-DEALER; Incorporating The Bookseller and Collector. A Magazine Devoted to Literature, Book-Collecting, Bibliography and the Arts. Volume 1, No. 1. London 1933 First Edition (& 1st printing). Octavo, original printed wrappers, stapled at spine. [32] pp, including covers. This copy is INSCRIBED BY M.P. SHIEL at his contribution "HOW TO BE HAPPY" on p. 28: "M.P. Shiel / For F.A." "F.A." Is Terence Ian Fytton Armstrong. a.k.a. "John Gawsworth". Staples rusted and pulled (actually pulled out, they're not present anymore), worn & frayed at edges; a good copy. Rare.
A great between-the-wars book collecters journal, Edited by Edmund Nicolls andAndrew Block. This issue includes "MY FIRST BOOK: ELEUSINIA" by Arthur Machen, as well as the Shiel article mentioned above, "Belgian Sketches" by Richard Middleton, "The Complete Bibliomaniac" by Stephen Graham, plus notes on the book trade, auctions, & bookshops, contemporary ads, a full-page cartoon "William Caxton remainders his Canterbury Tales in sheets to the first Foyle"., etc., etc.         $250.00

9.  TODD, Ruthven. TYPED LETTER SIGNED. 1965. 1 page, 4to. Dated 5 November 1965, return address Pension Eolo, Galilea, Mallorca, Spain. Approx 225 words. Signed in full "Ruthven Todd". To Mr. Whitton, about teaching creative writing: "Some of my pupils, notably Joe Langland and W.D. Snodgrass, have turned out to be good poets, but I am sure they wood have done so in any case, without my interference." Folded for mailing, very good.         $125.00

10.  VISIAK, E.H. [pseudonym of Edward Harold Physick, 1878-1972]. AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED To John Gawsworth (Terence Ian Fytton Armstrong), 17 July 1956. AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED, Dated 17 VII 1956, on the author's printed letterhead, return address "21 Adelaide Crescent, Hove, Sussex". 80 words, signed in initials ""E.H.V.". "My Dear John, You may have wondered at my silence about my Milton proofs. The explanation is thatthe publication has been postponed until february, and this has given me the chance of working over and adding to the whole book, with much retyping, alas! - expensive both to pocket and no less failing eyesight. Yet well worth while. I hope very much that you are better. I have been all engrossed - but not forgetting my old friend and helper, As Ever, E.H.V." Folded once for mailing, near fine.
¶ E.H. Visiak (pseudonym of Edward Harold Physick 1878-1972); the author of 5 books of poems 1910-1919 (mostly nautical and weird) and the fantasy novels The Haunted Island (1910) & Medusa: A Story of Mystery (1929). Visiak was a scholar, critic and authority on John Milton, the book in question is most likely Visiak's work THE PORTENT OF MILTON: Some Aspects of His Genius (1958).         $200.00
 
Here:
 
[ https://www.thompsonrarebooks.com/cat.php?id=374 ]( https://www.thompsonrarebooks.com/cat.php?id=374 )


 
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Michael John Thompson, Antiquarian Bookseller
5275 Jerow Road
Hornby Island, BC
Canada V0R 1Z0
Ph: 250-335-1182
http://www.ThompsonRareBooks.com

Past President of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of Canada.
Rare books and associated material bought and sold and appraised.