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Manuscript Letter Rare (21 items)

Viereck, Collection of Manuscript Material by the author Georg Sylvester Viereck.

2. Viereck, George Sylvester / [Frederick Franklin Schrader] / [Mentioning of Oscar Wilde / Lord Alfred Douglas].

Collection of early Manuscript Material (which is a Manuscript Ballad / Poem), a two-page Manuscript Letter (which is a MLS mentioning Oscar Wilde, Lord [Alfred] Douglas, Viereck’s literary tastes etc.) and the personal copy of “House of the Vampire”, all by the controversial german-american author George Sylvester Viereck. The collection includes: 1. One six-page, hitherto unpublished Manuscript – Ballad [Poem], called “Die Ballade vom Sündigen Glück” [Translates: “The Ballad of sinful Pleasure”]/ 2. A lengthy and extremely insightful Two-Page Manuscript Letter, signed in New York, 1902, which accompanied and talks about the enclosed Six-Page Manuscript – Ballad [The letter and Poem was not conclusively but very likely addressed by Viereck to Frederick Franklin Schrader, then editor of the New York Dramatic Mirror and shortly thereafter co-founder with George Sylvester Viereck of “The Fatherland” / 3. The collection also includes Viereck’s personal copy of his publication “The House of the Vampire” with handwritten, manuscript entry of his name, address in New York City as well as a pasted statement on the endpaper by the author Viereck: “Concerning “The House of the Vampire” : This book went through several editions when it was first published and was dramatized. It played for eight weeks in New York and for two years on the road under the management of the Shuberts. Critics have compared it to such books as Dr.Jekyll and Mr.Hyde, Lady Into Fox, and Dorian Gray”]. The two-page letter is of great value and touches on Viereck’s admiration for Schrader and his “Blatt” [Newspaper]. Viereck is advertising himself to Schrader by introducing himself as a critical admirer with substantial references (Viereck details his working for numerous newspapers in America). Viereck mentions his secessionist tendencies and name-drops Oscar Wilde, Rosetti and Lord Douglas (whom he claims to know personally). This amazing, autographed/signed Manuscript-Material was created by Viereck directly during his transition from writer to propagandist and is an example of his early, bullish personality, which wants to be heard, which needs attention and it is here, in 1912, where his career begins to develop. This large Archive of manuscript material [8 pages in total] is stunning and unpublished (see partial Transcription of the original german material on our website). Viereck’s close friends included Nikola Tesla and even Theodore Roosevelt was among his acquaintances.

New York, Moffat, Yard & Company, 1902-1912. Play and Letters: 20.3 cm x 25.3 cm / Book: 13 cm x 19,5 cm. Pagination: Balld (Poem): 6 pages / Manuscript Letter (MLS): 2 pages / Book: 190 pages. Original Hardcover / Blue publisher’s cloth with gilt lettering on spine in protective collector’s mylar / The play protected in clear folder. The manuscript pages overall in excellent condition besides page IV of the play which has two abrasions with small parts of the text missing only. The book in excellent condition with only minor signs of external wear. Viereck’s usual vanity made him add the lovely littel note of critical success. The personal copy of this controversial author’s most interesting book is a unique possibility for each collector of unusual Vampire material. Extraordinary collection !

EUR 2.400,-- 

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Small Archive of personal correspondence between irish-american writer John Montague and irish artist Louis Le Brocquy plus many and related items

3. Le Brocquy, Louis / Montague, John / [Dupin, Jacques] / [Samuel Beckett].

Small Archive of personal correspondence between irish-american writer John Montague and irish artist Louis Le Brocquy plus many related items. The correspondence also includes John Montague touching on Samuel Beckett. The core of the collection includes 1. Extremely insightful and important, very personal manuscript-letter from John Montague to Louis Le Brocquy – Inside an envelope addressed by John Montague to Louis Le Brocquy at his french residence ‘Domaine des Combes’ with Louis Le Brocquy’s answer carefully tucked into the same envelope, treasured by John Montague. The densely filled, very personal 4-page-manuscript letter from John Montague, is dated Christmas 1981, written after “a sabbatical [..] on a long tour which led me as far as Los Angeles” and is a strong reflection of John Montague’s personal struggles, thoughts and influences as a writer; he talks about his ten years of teaching in the US “after O’Riada’s death led to a vacuum” and “enduring the semi-bourgeois limbo of Cork”. Montague speaks about the time “after the harness came off” and he “felt quite strange, and after thirty years my stammer returned in painful, nearly uncontrollable force”. Montague even touches on his fears about his health and continues “I clocked into a clinic for a rest cure….so far liver excellent, so it is not Sean or Brendan all over again (in any case, loving the stuff, as you do, I can’t overdrink; the tastebuds are against it)”. Montague dives into comparisons with Samuel Beckett: “″Did you realize that Sam Beckett was under analysis at the Tavistock Clinic for two years ? – The early Beckett is a smart alec; the break comes when he has to survive in post-war France and accept “his own darkness”. Montague also touches on his struggle with his mother “Isn’t it terrible that we spend up to nearly middle-[a]ge coping with the traumas of youth, with no way round it ? – I have cleared/cleaned/buried & forgiven my mother in my next book “The Dead Kingdom”….” – The letter continues to talk about books, “the Landslide Manuscript”, poetry and his work etc. etc. He mentions a Dupin “play” which “will travel in my Paris luggage”. Montague also touches on the subject of the Irish Troubles and writes “I have always, by the way, believed that 1916 may have been a mistake as Yeats said: “For England may keep faith – For all is said and done” / Montague speaks about “My own area of Tyrone is blessedly free from all but minor incidents” – Amazing document of confidence and trust between two irish landmark personalities. 2. Louis Le Brocquy’s answer to John Montague is dated “New Year’s Day 1981”[which should have been 1982]: A. Very personal manuscript Letter – a direct answer to Montague’s letter from “Christmas 1981” (1 sheet with both pages filled in ink and signed “Louis”) in which Le Brocquy reflects on the tense political situation with Northern Ireland and the overall worldwide tension of a looming war / Le Brocquy writes that he did have a “wild hope that when Charlie took office…that he and Thatcher might between them opted a ‘Rhodesian’ solution in the North” / Le Brocquy also writes about the eagerly awaited publication of “Selected Poems” of John Montague and he also asks John if “you thought of collecting Esteban’s and Dupin’s poems in French with your translations ?” – Le Brocquy offers to help with illustrations etc. – Both letters together in an envelope which suggests that John Montague received his letter to Louis le Brocquy back from the Le Brocquy-estate after Le Brocquy’s death. / Also included: B. A manuscript postcard with Le Brocquy’s “Girl in White” as a postcard-reproduction in which Le Brocquy suggests a project with John Montague and sends greetings to Montague’s wife Evelyn and the kids (in envelope from Carros,France) / C. In his function as chairman of Amnesty International, Le Brocquy sends a callout by Amnesty International to John Montague and kindly asks him to support the cause. He sends the callout to John by adding a few manuscript, personal lines of affection (in envelope from Carros,France).

France / Ireland, Carros / Cork, 1980-1981. A4. 4 pages on two sheets (main Montague-letter), 2 pages on 1 sheet (Le Brocquy – answer), 1 postcard, 1 manuscript-letter from Jacques Dupin to John Montague (25.10.1978) about a translation of “L’Éboulement” (Dupin also speaks about Louis le Brocquy in the letter), several pages of letters (mostly typed and signed) from other figures in irish and international literature and art. Original Envelopes. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Besides some ephemeral materials from personalities in Literature and Art, addressed to John Montague, the small collection includes several vintage photographs of John Montague, taken during his acceptance of a honorary Doctorate of Literature at UCC, Cork, as well as a Legislative Resolution by the State of New York (Senator Daly), recognizing and thanking the distinguished author and poet John Montague with this decree on May 26, 1987. Among the lesser interesting materials is a pamphlet titled “Ireland’s Literary Renaissance – 20th century Portraits” in which portraits by Louis Le Brocquy of John Montague and Thomas Kinsella are included. The pamphlet is accompanied by a letter from James White to John Montague in which he explains this being a publication that was released for an exhibition in Chicago and he apologises for the entries being “necessarily short but hopefully reasonably correct”. Provenance: From the private collection of John Montague’s papers in his recently sold West Cork Home.

EUR 2.800,-- 

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Levy, Archive / Collection of more than 300 letters, documents, ephemera

4. Levy, Arthur Joseph / Zangwill, Israel.

Archive / Collection of more than 350 items, letters, documents, ephemera, pamphlets, manuscript notes, receipts , manuscript letters from the private library of Providence (Rhode Island) lawyer, Arthur (Art) Joseph Levy. The collection includes an important, controversial typescript-essay (8 pages) on Israel Zangwill’s address before the American Jewish Congress at Carnegie Hall on October 14th, 1923 (″Watchmen, what of the Night ?”); with manuscript annotations and remarks on Israel Zangwill’s position “the hopes of Jewry for the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine are doomed to disappointment”. The collection includes a plethora of interesting letterheads of jewish organizations and also important documentation of Levy’s contribution to and support for the “Palestine Foundation Fund”, (receipt from Boston, Mass. June 1923). Levy, who was a graduate of Brown and Boston University Law School, practiced law in Providence, Rhode Island and led an active life as a member and leader of several Jewish civic organizations, such as the Jewish Family and Children’s Service, which he established and led for twenty years, Rhode Island Jewish Historical Society, the Temple Beth-El Brotherhood, the Miriam Hospital, the Touro Fraternal Association and the Jewish Home for the Aged of Rhode Island. He was also a prominent member of the American Bar Association, the Brown University Alumni Association and the Brown Club of Rhode Island. Highly regarded as a jurist, he was a member of the Commission to Consolidate State Laws, a member of the Advisory Committee of the Federal Tax Institute of New England and an editor of the Rhode Island Bar Journal. Included in this archive are a group of letters written during World War I discussing his role in the Jewish Welfare Board of the United States Army and Navy, an invitation to a fund-raising dinner for the Jewish Orphanage of Rhode Island, a group of documents and letters discussing the establishment of a Jewish country club in Providence, several documents from the early 1920s concerning the mostly Jewish fraternity Phi Epsilon Pi and several items relating to Levy’s personal life, such as personal letters, bills from clothiers and invitations to social events. (Main source of the description of this archive is the research of our colleague Greg Talbot from The Lawbook Exchange).

Providence (Rhode Island), Cambridge (Massachusetts), New York, 1917 – 1931. Octavo and A4. Two heavy folders with original documents. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear.

EUR 7.800,-- 

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The Life and Times of Sir Peter Carew - with two manuscript letters by historian George Oliver, Exeter

5. [Carew, Sir Peter / George Oliver (Historian) / John Carew Esq.] MacLean, John.

The Life and Times of Sir Peter Carew, Kt. (From the Original Manuscript) – With a Historical Introduction and Elucidatory Notes, by John MacLean. [Personal copy of John Carew Esq., with two unpublished manuscript letters by historian George Oliver, Exeter (Devon), tipped-in to the rear of the Volume, one longer manuscript entry to the rear in which George Oliver mentions that he has consulted the Inventory of Ottery Mohan House and that he has “made a few pencil notes in the margin” of the book (Oliver must have been sent the book and then returned it or it was his own copy and he gifted it to John Carew)/ George Oliver helped John Carew, Esq., a descendant of Sir Peter Carew, to identify some information form the original manuscript of John Hoker, to which Oliver must have had access. The letters deal with details of John Hoker’s [Hooker’s] Manuscript on Sir Peter Carew and details in John MacLean’s Biography of Carew. George Oliver’s correspondence with John Carew, a descendant of Sir Peter, is very interesting indeed and Oliver seems to study the original manuscript by Hoker for John Carew and reports his insight in the original manuscript of Hoker’s Manuscript on History, mentioning for example Carew’s death-notice: “This year died the worthy and Honorable Knight Sir Peter Carew at Ross in Leinster, and buried in the City of Waterford in Munster in Ireland, in all such honourable order…” (see detailed images on our website)].

London, Bell & Daldy, 1857. Octavo. Frontispiece portrait of Sir Peter Carew (Steel Engraving by J.J.Chant, being Plate I.), CXVIII, 317 pages plus 6 pages “List of Subscribers”. With several Plates: Plate II: Musical Notes: “By a Bank as I lay” / Plate III: Monument to Sir Peter Carew in St.Peter’s Cathedral, Exeter (Steel Engraving) / Plate IV: Folded Map of Kylkenny (Kilkenny) / Plate V: Pedigree of the Family of Carew (Large Fold – out Plate). Hardcover / Original publisher’s cloth with gilt lettering on spine and armorial emblemata on front board. With the armorial supralibro of the Carew Family to the binding’s front board: Arms of Carew: Or, three lions passant in pale sable / Manuscript-entry of previous owner John Carew on endpaper. Boards fragile and spine loosened. In protective Collector’s Mylar to give the slightly broken binding stability. A very rare publication with the beautiful, signed manuscript-letters by George Oliver, signed in the years 1857 and 1858. The letters are also of interest regarding the history of John Hoker [John Hooker / John Vowell] because George Oliver mentions Hoker’s entry “into the New Office of Chamberlain of Exeter at Michaelmas 1555 – having the fee of £4 by the yere & his Lyveries – MS. Hist. p.351”.

EUR 250,-- 

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Vere Foster, "Presentation Copy of "The Two Duchesses" with Autograph / Manuscript-Letter

6. Foster, Vere [Henry Louis / Lewis] / [Emily Albinia “Alba” Foster] / [Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire / Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire].

Amazing Vere Foster-Collection including Educational Materials and as a centerpiece the “Presentation Copy of “The Two Duchesses” with Autograph / Manuscript – Letter by Vere Foster to his niece, Emily Albinia “Alba” Foster. With a stunning, unpublished, two-page-letter, revealing several important details about the immediately favorable reviews and reception of the book [″in the Daily Telegraph”] and Vere Foster’s disdain about some criticism from one J.Donohue [which led to an alteration in the second edition of the book]. Vere Foster is also expecting a review to appear in the “Athenaeum” but reports “the Athenaeum has nothing yet”. Vere Foster apologizes to his niece for the delay in sending the book and explains that he had left 12 “parcels″£ with Blackie’s agent and gave instructions to send them but a few days later found they had been “untouched”. / The Two Duchesses – Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire / Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire – Family Correspondence of and Relating to Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire / Elizabeth, Duchess of Devonshire, Earl of Bristol (Bishop of Derby), The Countess of Bristol, Lord and Lady Byron, The Earl of Aberdeen, Sir Augustus Foster Bart, and Others, 1777-1859. [See Full list of items which are part of this collection, on our website under the topic “Libraries & Collections”].

First Edition. London / Glasgow and Dublin, Blackie & Son Limited, 1898. Octavo (15 cm x 22 cm). Pagination: Frontispiece, IX, [3], 497 pages with 18 Illustrations (including frontispiece and one Vignette of the two Duchesses opposite page 1). Hardcover / Original, publisher’s green cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Very good condition with some minor signs of wear only. This is an astonishing find for the Vere Foster Research Community and the letter gives significant insight into the importance the publication had for him, its reception as seen by Vere Foster and it solves the riddle why an altertaion was necessary for the second edition [which Vere Foster explains in a brief note to the reader at the beginning of the second edition]. The heartfelt inscription to his niece Albinia Foster is also of great importance and to our knowledge the only presentation-copy of this book on the international market for the several decades we can look back at auction records.

EUR 9.500,-- 

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Luke, The Fringe Of The East.

7. [Oriental Tour 1907 – 1908] – [Lukach, Harry Charles / Sir Harry Luke] / [Harry Pirie-Gordon] / [Anastas Hanania (Jordan)].

Oriental Tour of Harry Charles Lukach, together with Harry Pirie-Gordon in the years 1907 – 1908 – Reflected in a large collection of Manuscript Letters Signed (MLS / See complete List of Letters below) / The envelope with letters was kept by Luke within the Manuscript-Annotated publication “The Fringe Of The East” and was always part of Luke’s personal collection in this constellation, hence we did not separate it. The collection of manuscript letters report back home from Damascus and his wider trip through the middle east in the years 1907 – 1908. [These letters reflect the formative years of Sir Harry Luke during his Travels through the Middle East, prior to World War One and shortly before starting his career in the British Colonial Administration in the year 1911 as A.D.C. (Assistant District Commissioner) in Cyprus under High Commissioner, Sir Hamilton Goold-Adams, who succeeded Sir Charles King-Harman in 1911 / Including also a letter of Palestinian-Jordanian Lawyer Anastas Hanania to Luke].

[This item is part of the Sir Harry Luke – Archive / Collection]. Glasgow, Robert MacLehose & Co., Ltd., 1913. 22,5 cm x 15 cm. 267 pages. Original Hardcover. Harry Luke’s (Lukach) personal copy. With annotations and markings by Harry Luke. Split hinge, detached front board. Fair condition. Includes a large envelope with original letters Harry Luke sent home from his trip through the Near East / Levant.

EUR 28.000,-- 

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