Archives. Fine Books. ARCHIVES FINE BOOKS PTY LTD 40 CHARLOTTE STREET, BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND, 4000

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1 Archives Fine Books Shortlist No. 8 Signatures, Inscriptions, Illustrations and Bookplates. (for Sam) ARCHIVES FINE BOOKS PTY LTD 40 CHARLOTTE STREET, BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND, archivesfinebooks@gmail.com

2 This short list was first suggested by a much appreciated previous employee Sam Colwell who has an eye for illustration, a nose for quirky connections and an ear for puns. Before she left us for a career in publicity copywriting she started collecting books for a short list that were illustrated by artists renowned for other illustrations. These include Quentin Blake, renowned for his illustrations for books by Roald Dahl, but here penning illustrations for word historian Gillian Edwards. Ronald Searle is famous for his St. Trinian s illustrations, but here has provided POW camp illustrations for Russell Braddon s story of the famous mentalist duo The Piddingtons. Searle also collaborates with Irwin Shaw on Paris! Paris! Finally Laurence Housman, best known for Winnie the Pooh, brings to life the characters in E.H. Shepard s Victoria Regina. Then we have a number of books signed or inscribed by authors with whom we previously had little or no familiarity. Dudley Barker has inscribed three of his first editions to his mother, and we have a novel by H. C. Danby inscribed to Ronnie that we tantalisingly speculate is the same Ronald Belbin on the dedication page. Canadian poet E.F. Dyck has penned a slightly blue inscription on the title-page of Odpoems Et, and Elizabeth Goudge wishes an unnamed recipient best wishes in a slightly cramped hand. And finally we offer a collection of books that have nothing in common except they bear interesting bookplates or the bookplates of interesting people. From American neurologist Dr Theodore H. Weisenburg, whose bookplate shows a brain in a specimen jar, to the elaborate bookplate of Fred T. Wimble, the first manufacturer of printer s ink in Australia, we found these bookplates and their owners variously interesting, amusing and striking. We hope you enjoy browsing this slightly longer Shortlist (18 items altogether) and we dedicate it to Sam and to all collectors of quirk. 2.

3 1. [Bookplate] COUES, Professor Elliot. Handbook of Field and General Ornithology. London: Macmillan and Co., Octavo, dark green cloth, gilt title on spine, pp [6] (including Index), numerous illustrations. Corners bumped, small chip from head of spine, front joint starting at the head, small (1cm) spot on front cover (possibly insect damage), bookplate of Harry Forbes Witherby on the front paste-down, and bookplate of Athol Mardon Douglas on front free endpaper. Good. $45. Harry Forbes Witherby ( ) was a noted British ornithologist, author, publisher and founding editor (in 1907) of the magazine British Birds. His bookplate has a pheasant at its centre enclosed by an oval with the motto, What s hit is history What s missed is mystery. Athol Mardon Douglas was a midtwentieth century zoologist at the Western Australia Museum. His bookplate shows a crown floating above a heart that rests on a bar with wings over a scroll that reads Forward. 2. [Bookplate] FULTON, John Farquhar (Ed.) Selected Readings in the History of Physiology. Illinois: Charles C. Thomas, Octavo, marine blue boards, pp. [xx] colophon (design details and publisher s statement). Lacks illustrated dust-jacket, extremities a little worn, small evidence of insect on top edge, bookplate of Theodore H. Weisenburg M.D. on front paste-down, ink stamp on front free endpaper reads Johnson Foundation University of Pennsylvania, otherwise clean throughout. Good. $45. Dr Theodore H. Weisenburg was Editor in Chief of the Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry from shortly after the inception of the journal in 1919 until his death in He was an extensive contributor to neurologic and psychiatric literature and for many years was editor of the Transactions of the American Neurological Association. He contributed greatly to the advancement of neurology in the United States and to the recognition of neurology abroad. His bookplate is appropriately an illustration of a brain in a specimen jar sitting atop a textbook with other medical tools alongside. 3.

4 3. [Bookplate] LANDOR, Walter Savage, Esq. Imaginary Conversations of Literary Men and Statesmen. London: James Duncan, Second series, second volume. Octavo, full blue leather, five raised bands and gilt tooling on spine, double gilt border on front and back boards, all edges marbled, red marbled endpapers, pp [x] Joints and extremities worn, head and tail of spine bumped, corners a little rounded, bookplate with crest on front paste-down is laid over with the tipped in bookplate of Alice. G. E. Carthew, foxing first and last blanks and on pp , otherwise clean throughout. Good. $45. I ve not been able to turn up a great deal of information about Miss Alice G.E. Carthew, apart from the fact that she left bequests to the Victoria and Albert Museum (Albrecht Dürer) and to the National Gallery (Blake, later transferred to the Tate) in Her bookplate is an illustration of a penguin on a rock rising out of the sea, facing towards other sea-birds in the sky. 4. [Bookplate] MORTON, H. V. In search of Ireland. London: Methuen & Co., Octavo, Green boards with gilt clover motif at the centre of the front board, gilt title on spine, map endpapers, pp. xiii [Advertisement]. Corners sharp, head and tail of spine gently bumped, rear joint just starting, 2mm chip on spine, it appears the endpapers have been reattached, clean throughout. Bookplate of Nancy and Norman Clark attached to first blank depicts a curious cat atop a pile of three books peering in between the covers. Very Good. $25. 4.

5 5. [Bookplate] PRESCOTT, William H. Biographical and Critical Miscellanies. London: George Routledge and Sons, [n.d.] The Library Edition. Octavo, brown boards with gilt emblem on front board and title on the spine, dark brown endpapers, pp [4] Advertisements Bumped and bruised, slight marking to the front board, bookplate of Fred T. Wimble on the front pastedown, title page and last page heavily foxed, otherwise very clean throughout, some unopened pages towards the end. Good. $49.50 When Fred T. Wimble made his first batch of ink in Melbourne in 1868, he was the first to produce an Australian manufactured printers ink. His elaborate bookplate shows a tree bearing blossom and fruit growing out of a book opened across a map of Australia on a globe that stands atop a marble slab with an ink swirl and a palette scraper. Two hands are clasped at the base of the globe, as though encirlcing with human arms. His motto reads Printer s ink maketh progress and I make printer s ink. 6. [Illustrated] BRADDON, Russell. The Piddingtons. London: Werner Laurie, Sketches by Ronald Searle. Ocatvo, green boards, photographic dust jacket, 238pp, with black and white illustrations of Changi and photographs of Lesley and Sidney Piddington and the Tower of London experiment. Unclipped jacket worn and rubbed along back joint, detached at the front, chipped at head and tail of spine, corners bumped, previous owner stamp to front free endpaper, slight tanning to first few leaves, otherwise clean throughout. Good/Fair. $24.50 The Piddingtons were an Australian husband and wife mentalism team who performed as The Piddingtons and gave one of the most famous stage and radio telepathy acts of modern times. Together with author Russell Braddon, Sidney had developed a mentalism act to raise the morale of fellow prisoners in the Changi Prisoner of War Camp. On his return to Australia he met and married Lesley Pope and taught her the tricks. To this day magicians are only able to hazard guesses as to the general principles at work behind the success of their act; the actual mechanics remain a mystery. Russell Braddon is also responsible for the great Aussie sci-fi classic The Year of the Angry Rabbit. British artist and satirical cartoonist Ronald Searle is best remembered today as the creator of St Trinian s School and for his collaboration with Geoffrey Willans on the Molesworth series. 5.

6 7. [Illustrated] EDWARDS, Gillian. Hogmanay and Tiffany. Geofrey Bles: London, First edition. Illustrated with pen drawings by Quentin Blake. Octavo, olive brown boards with gilt illustration by Quentin Blake on front board and gilt title on the spine, hot pink dust-jacket designed by Quentin Blake, pp [6] Very Good. $ Hogmanay and Tiffany was Edwards follow-on from her successful Uncumber and Pantaloon: Some words with Stories. Award winning cartoonist, illustrator and writer of children s stories, Quentin Blake is now best known for his illustrations for books written by Roald Dahl. 8. [Illustrated] HOUSMAN, Laurence. Victoria Regina. London: Jonathan Cape, Illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard. Octavo, blue boards, illustrated dust-jacket, top edged dyed blue, 471pp. Dust jacket a little foxed, price clipped, spine slightly darkened, blue dye consistent if a tad dulled, a few fox marks to the other edges, clean throughout. Very Good. $25. Shepard is best known for his illustrations of Winnie the Pooh. No anthropomorphic characters here, but an array of mighty and humble characters from the reign of Queen Victoria, and just one abandoned toy (p.229). 9. [Illustrated] SEARLE, Ronald and SHAW, Irwin. Paris! Paris! London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, First edition. Octavo, green boards, pictorial dust-jacket illustrated by Searle, 211pp. In Almost Fine condition with just a hint of a lean to the spine and in a Fine, unclipped jacket. $ The text and illustrations presented here were each worked on independently of the other. This is reflected in the layout, with Shaws chapters interspersed with Searle s poignant and satirical views of the city and its people. 6.

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8 10. [Inscribed] BARKER, Dudley. A Pillar of Rest. London: Cassell and Company, First edition, inscribed on the title page, For Valerie, with love from Dudley. Octavo, black boards with gilt title on spine, illustrated dust-jacket, pp [3] Jacket moderately foxed with slightly sun darkened spine, and minor wear to head and tail of spine, the book in fine condition except for slight foxing to edges of leaves (no interior foxing). Almost Fine/Very Good. $45. Barker ( ) was a prolific essayist, biographer, and novelist. After obtaining a BA in journalism from the University of Oxford, Dudley Barker became a reporter and editor at the London Evening Standard and the Daily Herald. During World War II, he served in the Royal Air Force and at the end of the conflict he worked as an associate editor. In 1935 he began publishing novels as well as essays on major contemporary writers such as John Galsworthy, Arnold Bennett and G. K. Chesterton. In 1960, without ceasing to publish under his name, he also began to publish detective fiction under the pen name Lionel Black. 11. [Inscribed] BARKER, Dudley. Green and Pleasant Land. London: Heinemann, First Edition, with type-written note on William Heinemann letterhead signed Arnold and inscribed on the title page For Mother, with all my love dear, from Dudley. Octavo, dark blue boards, illustrated dust-jacket in blue, yellow, black and cream, 283pp. Unclipped dust-jacket with small chips and tears at corners and head and tail of spine, minor foxing on top edge, one small stain (.5cm) to the edge of the leaves, otherwise Fine. $65. The type-written note on Heinemann letterhead reads, Dear Dudley, Here is the very first copy from the Press, and I hope you like it. We had better meet pretty soon and discuss and special things to do about getting a press. Yours in great haste, Arnold. The name Arnold has been signed in blue ink. It is addressed to Dudley Barker, Flat 7, 3, Palmeira Square, Hove, Sussex. 12. [Inscribed] BARKER, Dudley. Palmer. The Rugeley Poisoner. London: Duckworth, First edition, inscribed on the title page, To my dear Mother, With love, from her son, Dudley Octavo, orange boards with black title on spine, 192pp. Lacks dustjacket, spine is faded and shows two small chips, two more chips at the foot of the front joint, half title and title page lightly foxed, touch of age toning but otherwise clean throughout. $45. William Palmer, described by Dickens as the greatest villain that ever stood in the Old Bailey (The Demeanour of Murders, 1856), was in the habit of taking out life insurance on family members, people in 8.

9 his employ and on frail friends, and then being in their company when they died. A forger and a gambler besides, it seems Palmer took greater and greater risks over time as the deaths of those around him began to be investigated. In the end he was convicted of murdering his friend John Parsons Cook, though some scholars maintain the evidence today would be considered weak and circumstantial. 13. [Inscribed] BARKER, Dudley. The Voice. London: Heinemann, First edition, inscribed on the title page, For Mother, with all my love, dear, Dudley. Octavo, rose boards, dust jacket, pp [8] Unclipped jacket in very good condition except for minor chips at the head and tail of spine, some tiny tears at the corners, and a slight crease on the inside flap. Minor foxing on edges of the leaves, otherwise clean throughout. $75. Taking as its starting point the funeral of a popular singer, this novel presents a frightening picture of mass hysteria. 14. [Inscribed] DANBY, H.C. Sleeping Dogs Laugh. London: Jarrolds, [n.d.]. Octavo, black cloth covers showing wear and some insect damage, head and tail of the spine are bumped and frayed, lacks dust jacket, interior clean except for inscriptions and occasional fox marks, 299pp. Good. $45. Danby s first novel Clang on the Anvil (1946) was followed a year later by his second and last Sleeping Dogs Laugh (1947, 1948) so I m placing Mr Danby in the minor British authors league. An inscription on the front free end-paper reads, To Ronnie, With fondest love, from Cis [?], my sincere thanks for our happy Friendship, and, The compliments of H.C. Danby. The page 4 dedication reads For Ronald Belbin. Could Ronald Belbin be the Ronnie in the inscription? Could he be the same Ronald Belbin ( ) who moved here in 1983 and, according to his headstone in Beaudesert, Queensland, was a distinguished British Journalist whose wisdom and warmth touched all who loved him? According to The JIMBOOMBA TIMES, a small country newspaper circulating in Queensland, Australia had a regular page called BELBIN S BEAT containing chatty news items put together by ex-fleet Street (London, England) journalist Ron Belbin who sadly died in May Ron covered Scotland for the NEWS OF THE WORLD newspaper before moving to London as assistant news editor in He turned out scoop after scoop including the sensational inside story of love triangle farmer Maxwell Garvie murdered by his wife and her lover in Ron emigrated to Queensland in I currently have no way of verifying the provenance of this book but I enjoy letting my mind hover over the possibilities suggested by the late Ronald Belbin s proximity. 9.

10 15. [Inscribed Poetry] DYCK, E.F. Odpoems Et. Saskatchewan: Coteau Books, First edition. Inscribed by the author on the title page. Octavo, paperback, tan covers with title in red and illustration by Bill Johnson, 76pp. Cover slightly marked, a little dull, top 1cm of spine missing (no loss of text), corners gently bumped, clean throughout. Very Good. $35. According to The 49th Shelf.com, E. F. Dyck was writer-in-residence with the Festival of Words (Moose Jaw) and in he directed a Writing for Your Life Program for CMHA(SK). He currently edits TRANSITION, a magazine for, by, and about persons with lived experience of mental illness. The inscription in this volume reads, To learn of symbols/get Woman to your rooms. E F Dyck. 16. [Inscribed Poetry] GOUDGE, Elizabeth. Songs & Verses. New York: Coward McCann, First edition. Octavo, pale green illustrated boards and matching dust-jacket, 56pp. The dust-jacket is chipped and tanned, the boards are age-toned along the upper edges and spine, most noticeably where the jacket is chipped. Otherwise fine and clean throughout. Very Good/Good. $45. A book of poems gleaned from Goudge s novels, plus some that were published in this volume for the first time. The inscription reads, With best wishes from Elizabeth Goudge Christmas [Signed Poetry] FIELD, Sara Bard. Darkling Plain. New York: Random House, Octavo, orange boards with gilt title on front board and spine, dust jacket shows red text on metallic flecked paper with a small black print of two buildings rising out of a landscape, repeated on title page, flat signed on front free endpaper, pp [16] colophon. The price clipped dust jacket is sun-darkened on the spine, has a 1cm and a 3cm tear, and shows a narrow 3cm teacoloured stain on the front, together with eight very small dark marks, similar in size to the metallic flecks. The book itself is in fine condition with some very light age-toning to the endpapers. Very Good. $

11 Sara Bard Field ( ) turned to poetry after some very active years in the suffragist movement including an automobile tour across the United States from September to December Field had been selected by suffragist leader Alice Paul to take a petition with 500,000 signatures to President Woodrow Wilson. She completed the journey on December 6th and presented the petition to the president in Washington D.C. Field turned to poetry after the death of her son in Her first collection of poetry, The Pale Woman, was published in She followed the collection with the epic poem Barabbas in 1932, for which she earned a gold medal from the Book Club of California. Her second collection of poetry, Darkling Plain, was published in [Signed Poetry] PRICE, Harriet. Poems. Great Britain: Morland, First edition. Small octavo, green boards, gilt title, pp. viii Boards, particularly the spine, show flecking from insect damage, front endpaper separated along the gutter but still firm, flat signed Harriet Price at the foot of the front pastedown, occasional foxing. Good. $15. Terms & Conditions All items are guaranteed as described and are subject to prior sale. We accept all major credit cards except Amex and Diners and money orders are also accepted. We can provide EFT details on request. All prices are in Australian dollars. Postage & handling and insurance is extra Returns Policy Returns are accepted within 10 days of receipt if the book is not as described. Please or call us if you plan to return your material. A full refund will be issued after the receipt of the book (in original condition). Postage and Handling Within Australia $8.50 for items up to 500gr (using Australia Post). Additional charges apply for heavier items. Please us if you require a quote for a courier, overseas postage/freight and/or insurance: archivesfinebooks@gmail.com 11.