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(1) Postcard from Thomas James Wise of Heath Drive, Hampstead, London to [Stewart Marsh] Ellis of Kent Gardens, Kew, Surrey, 18 Sep 1931. 'I should like to be identified as a descendant of the Wises who published some of the Shakespeare Quartos!'.
(2) Letter from Mrs Frances Louise Wise of Heath Drive, Hampstead, London to [Stewart Marsh] Ellis of Kent Gardens, Kew, Surrey, 31 Aug 1932. Arranging a meeting at the theatre. 'Tom is still improving, he hobbled into the library yesterday ...'. Autograph, with signature.

Papers of Andrew Wilson, 1809, comprise a letter to [W L Mansel], Bishop of Bristol and Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, requesting that 'his Lorship will accept of this copy of the only stereotyped Greek Testament in the world, as a small memorial of A.W.'s sense of his Lorship's partiality to the art of Stereotype Printing'.

Letter from Josiah Tucker of Gloucester to Dr [William] Heberden, 11 Nov 1775. Asking Heberden's brother to call on 'Cadell in ye Strand' [i.e. Thomas Cadell the elder, publisher] to enquire about the fate and non-appearance of 800 copies of Tucker's Address and Appeal to ye Landed Interest [discussing possible independence for the American colonies], sent with a presentation list, ten days before. 'I pressed Cadell to be as expeditious as he co[ul]d, in order that the pamphlet might be published at least some days before Mr Burke was to make his famous motion ... The cold, or whatever is ye name of this new disorder, so rife at London, now begins to spread at Glocester [sic]: but I think, at present, it chiefly attacks young people. Another epidemic disorder, Electioneering, has attacked all ranks universally; and spares neither age, nor sex. What is most remarkable in this case is, that many of those, who were formerly notorious Jacobites, are now fierce Republicans: so that, form maintaining, that one Family has an indefeasible right to ye Throne, on ye extinction of that Family, we are to have no Throne at all'. Autograph, with signature.

Papers of Robert Ridgill Trout (1878-1969), including: material created or collected by Ridgill Trout relating to his support for the theory that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford wrote the poetry and plays attributed to William Shakespeare, including a biography of Edward de Vere, an examination of the Cornwallis Manuscript, copies of the Shakespeare Authorship Review featuring articles by and about Ridgill Trout and photographs, 1967-1969; typescript draft of work, Twenty Earls and Shakespeare by Ridgill Trout, espousing his support for the theory that Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford wrote the poetry and plays attributed to William Shakespeare, c1967; typescript draft of Robert Ridgill Trout's work, Twenty Earls and Shakespeare. The background of the Historical Plays with the life story of Edward de Vere (a different, more lengthy and later work than Twenty Earls and Shakespeare held in MS862/2) giving a detailed history of the De Vere Family and espousing his support for the theory that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, wrote the poetry and plays attributed to William Shakespeare, c1967; material compiled by Robert Ridgill Trout during his career as a bookseller and valuer, including valuation catalogues for books, incunabula and manuscripts held by the Wellcome Foundation and in the library of Sir William Dugdale, an auction catalogue, and miscellanous notes and sale advertisements concerning books and manuscripts, 1921-1939.

Manuscript volume containing the minutes of the sub-committee of the House of Lords for printing the Rolls and Journals of Parliament, 9 Mar 1767-30 May 1777.

Manuscript account of expenses occurred by Dr Thomas Hume for the printing by John Stockdale's firm of Odes of Anacreon, translated by the poet Thomas Moore, 1800. The discharged account bears a note 'Settled in full November 11th 1800', and the signature of Thomas Hume. With a duplicate receipt for £181.18.0 signed by John Stockdale.

Letter from Sir John Sinclair of Whitehall to Messrs Cadell and Davies, booksellers, Strand, 15 Jun 1795. Asking whether the octavo or quarto size would be the more convenient for reprinting the Agricultural reports of 1794.

Written in another hand with Sir John Sinclair's own signature. With a black seal bearing Sinclair's coat of arms.

A draft reply (dated [16] Jun 1795) is written on the second leaf.

Thirteen letters, 1854-1857, by John Lothrop Motley to his publisher John Chapman concerning the first edition of The Rise of the Dutch Republic.

Letter from John Edward Masefield to the 'Bookmen of the United States of America', [1941-1967]. Introducing Mr Edmond Segrave, editor of The Bookseller, representing the National Book League.

Papers of Alexander Macdonald, 1881, comprise a letter to John Salkeld, bookseller asking him to forward J Godkin's 'Land War in Ireland'.

Letter from Baldassarre Boncompagni-Ludovisi, 1856, [To Augustus De Morgan], asking him to make arrangements with Mr Ashbee for making facsimiles of pages in early printed books.

2 letters from Oonagh Lahr of 9 Wilton Road, Muswell Hill, London to Mr Lewin. (1) Concerning the death of her father, Charles Lahr, 25 Aug 1971. (2) Discussing the book trade and arranging to meet Mairin Mitchell, 2 Sep 1971.

Personal correspondence of Charles Lahr, 1925-1970, including references to Lahr's family and politics, and business correspondence relating to the Blue Moon Press and ordering books. Correspondents include: Rhys Davies; Guy Alfred; Pearl Binder; Hugo Dewar; Christopher Grieve; Oswell Blakeston.

Papers of Charles Lahr, documenting many of Lahr's activities, especially during the 1920s and 1930s. These include his involvement in the publishing business, and bookselling activities. Most of the correspondence is related to social and family matters. There are various typescripts related to the activities of the Blue Moon Press available, some of them with manuscript corrections and signed by the authors. A file of newspaper cuttings consisting mainly of reviews of published works provides additional information on the publishing activities in London at the time. Most of the correspondence lack important details such as dates or clear identification of writer. Some of the correspondence has been annotated for Ms Oonagh Lahr before she handed the collection to the University of London. Some of the annotations were written in pencil on the same documents while other notes are attached with the originals. Where these give added information to that in the documents, these notes have been kept with the originals. Some of the photographs have notes written on their reverse identifying some of the persons featuring in them. This was also done by Ms Oonagh Lahr.Esther Lahr clearly played a significant role in the running of both the bookshop and the various publishing ventures in which Charles Lahr engaged. Correspondence addressed to her is listed in a separate section of this catalogue.

Letter from Jean Ingelow of 15 Holland Park, [London] to Mr Strahan [publisher], [c1860-1897]. 'I hope ... that none of the chapters [of one of her books] copied by hand will be printed at all till after my return when I hope to correct them myself. I leave the whole matter of the American payment to you ...'.

Autograph with signature.

Letter from James Hanley to Frank Hollings, bookseller, offering to sell manuscript of his first novel Drift and also the manuscript of Captain Bottele, 6 Nov 1933.

The collection, 1936-58, comprises general correspondence files containing letters dealing with a wide variety of matters that affected the publishing house. Many deal with the ephemeral day to day matters of Duckworth, such as the canvassing and selection of manuscripts, and the depression of the book trade as a result of the rise of Fascism, while other issues are broader responses to the politics of the time. The files contain considerable correspondence between the publisher and its authors although this is often of an ephemeral nature.

Many of the firm's records were destroyed as a result of enemy action in 1942 and in a fire in 1953, meaning that there are no records of sales or any accounts of the firm, beyond some invoices and receipts from the 1950s. An earlier fire in 1929 destroyed many of the records of the firm, and the general correspondence occasionally makes reference to the firm's inability to consult their early correspondence in response to enquiries.

A second deposit of files made in August 1998 (reference MS959B) contains files of press-cuttings and journal reviews, c1970s-80s, relating to books published by Duckworth as well as 'Author Files' and papers of former Managing Director, Colin Haycraft. ncludes files on Penelope Fitzgerald, A. N. Wilson, Nicholas Kaldor, Brian Redhead, A.L. Rowse, Ernie Wise, Michael Dummett, Kenny Everett, Kenneth Dover, A. J. Ayer, Mary Beard, John Toshack, Francis Wyndham, Jack Trevor Story, John Vaizey, Ronald Dworkin, Quentin Crisp, Herbert Butterfield, Louis Blom-Cooper, Roy Porter, Geoffrey Grigson, John Sparrow, Rachel Kempson, and Isaiah Berlin.

Papers of Augustus de Morgan, 1852, comprise a letter to John Chapman, discussing the regulation of prices by the book trade and moves toward an open market.

Letter from Esmond Samuel de Beer of 31 Brompton Square, London to [Dr John Henry Pyle] Pafford, 11 Apr 1971. Concerning de Beer's edition of the letters of John Locke.

Letter from George Chalmers of the Office for Trade, Whitehall to T Cadell, Esq, publisher, 17 Feb 1821. Referring to Chalmers's work Caledonia.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Thomas Campbell to [? Henry Thomas, Lord] Cockburn, 22 Apr 1809. 'I have put to press my farrago [Gertrude of Wyoming (1809)] and if Bensley can print it fast enough I shall be out in a few weeks but they compose almost as slowly as myself - You will think it odd ... that I have not seen Marmion [published 1808] but in a random glance at some pages - When you come to town we shall settle every thing about its merits'. The 3 remaining lines of the letter have been scored out.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from John Burn of Orton, [Westmorland] to Thomas Cadell [the elder] Esq, 'bookseller, Strand, London', 26 Mar 1792. 'I have by the coach this day sent you Barry's Justice [i.e. E Barry Present practice of a justice of the peace (1790)] & in the margin have marked the vs & pages in our Justice [i.e. R Burn The justice of the peace and parish officer (1755 and many susbequent editions)] from which he has copied. I may safely say there is not one hundred pages, put the whole together of his 4 volumes, which is not copied from my father...'.

Autograph, with signature. Franked: 'Appleby'[-in-Westmorland].

Notes from 1874 on the Woodcuts, Initials and other ornaments of early printed books with reference to the Italian and French renaissance.

6 letters from Richard Doddridge Blackmore of Gomer House, Teddington, [Middlesex] to Blackmore's publishers, Messrs Smith, Elder and Co of 15 Waterloo Place, Pall Mall, London, 1876-1879. Mainly concerning the publication and sales of Blackmore's novel Erema (1877). All letters are autograph, with signatures (except the last, from which the signature appears to have been cut away).