RES JUDICATÆ: A HISTORY

Res judicatae is a legal term for matters that have already been adjudged. The term was used as part of the title of a book by Augustine Birrell: Res Judicatae: Papers and Essays, London, 1892.

Augustine Birrell (1850-1933) was an English politician, an author, and a lawyer. Birrell's first book, Obiter Dicta, was not about legal matters. And except for one essay, "Authors in Court," neither is Res Judicatae. This book contains biographical essays and other papers by Birrell which were previously published in Macmillan's Magazine, the Reflector, Scribner's Magazine or the newspaper, the Speaker.

Birrell's book is the newest addition to My Sentimental Library Collection. Tracing the provenance of this copy, researching the players involved, and telling you all about it, has brought me hours of enjoyment. And hopefully, reading this post will bring you more than a few minutes of enjoyment.

Edwin B. Holden (1861-1906) was the first owner of my copy of Res Judicatae. He lightly pasted his bookplate to the front pastedown:

Edwin B. Holden was the seventh President of the Grolier Club, and the first to die in office. A lover of fine bindings and prints, Holden was a founding member of the Club Bindery and the Society of Iconophiles.

The Club Bindery was created in New York City in 1895 to offer American book collectors European-quality hand bookbinding. An inexpensive and interesting book to read about the Club Bindery is Fine Binding in America: the Story of the Club Bindery, by Elbert A. and Lawrence S. Thompson, Urbana, 1956.

About Holden, the Thompsons write:

Of the lesser bibliophiles of the age of Hoe, special mention should be made of Edwin Babcock Holden, the original guiding spirit of the Club Bindery. Had not Holden passed away at the early age of forty-four in 1906, he might well have become a collector whose shelves would have rivalled Hoe's....
________________

The Society of Iconophiles was created in 1895 to commission the best artists to engrave prints of New York City. Membership was limited to ten active members; but, in 1905, fifty associate members were elected to the society, who were permitted to buy the Society's engravings. An interesting but rather expensive book on the Society of Iconophiles –– copies are listed from $200 to $450 –– is the History of the Society of Iconophiles of the City of New York : MDCCCXCV : MCMXXX And Catalogue of Its Publications With Historical and Biographical Notes, Etc. New York, 1930. Only 186 copies of this book were printed.

In his book, Dictionary of American Book Collectors, New York 1986, Donald C. Dickinson devotes almost an entire page to Holden. Of Holden's library, Dickenson writes:

Holden's personal library consisted of first editions of British and American literature, French illustrated books, fine bindings, and early American printing. He had the second and fourth Shakespeare folios, the first folio of Spenser's Faerie Queene, and numerous first editions of Donne, Herrick, and Thackeray. He also owned examples from the Dove, Vale, and Daniel presses, as well as complete runs of volumes issued by the Grolier, Caxton, and Rowfant clubs. Although the Holden print collection was sold shortly after his death, the major portion of the library did not appear on the auction market until 1920. The sale prices were satisfactory, with Rosenbach, Drake, Hill, and Wells competing for the fine bindings and first editions. Holden's place in the history of American book collecting is closely associated with the Grolier Club. Through that organization, he promoted high standards in the graphic arts.

Now this intrigues me: The lot containing Res Judicatae was sold at auction on April 28, 1920. And exactly sixty-seven days later, on July 4, 1920, Augustine Birrell inscribed this book for Theodore Roosevelt's son, Kermit Roosevelt, and his wife Belle:

How did this book get from the auction house in New York City to Augustine Birrell's hands in London? Did Birrell assign A. S. W. Rosenbach, James F. Drake, Walter M. Hill, or Gabriel Wells to acquire the book and mail it to him? Or did one of the booksellers acquire the book for Kermit Roosevelt, who sent it to Birrell for his inscription?

Essays, particularly Birrell's essays, were quite popular near the close of the nineteenth century. And Augustine Birrell wouldn't be the first author who had to buy a copy of one of his own earlier works on the open market in order to give somebody a copy. My money is on Birrell.

Kermit Roosevelt (1889-1943) wasn't the first Roosevelt to acquire one of Birrell's books of essays. In March 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt's wife, Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt, sent the President a "little volume of Birrell's essays" which the President said he "enjoyed them hugely."

From: Letter from Theodore Roosevelt to Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt. March 15, 1906 Theodore Roosevelt Collection. Ms Am 1541.1 (0027). Houghton Library, Harvard University. http://www.theodorerooseveltcenter.org/Research/Digital-Library/Record.aspx?libID=o281376. Theodore Roosevelt Digital Library. Dickinson State University.
_____________________________

In 1894, Anna Roosevelt Cowles, Theodore Roosevelt's older sister, who he affectionately called "Bye," wrote that she met Augustine Birrell (Her husband was the Embassy Secretary in London). Roosevelt began his next letter to Bye with these words:

From: Google Books Letters From Theodore Roosevelt to Anna Roosevelt Cowles 1870-1915.
___________________________________

Meet Birrell he did. In May 1910, President Taft appointed Theodore Roosevelt as the special ambassador to represent the United States at the funeral of King Edward VII. During his brief stay, Theodore Roosevelt met Augustine Birrell for lunch:

From Google Books Theodore Roosevelt: His Life and Work
_____________________________

In his inscription to Kermit and Belle Roosevelt, Augustine Birrell calls them "two excellent critics," inferring that he corresponded with them about literary matters. He did. Their correspondence is in the Library of Congress:

From: Kermit Roosevelt and Belle Roosevelt Papers, LOC.
_____________________________

Although Kermit Roosevelt joined the British Army in 1917, I could find no record that he ever met Augustine Birrell. Nor does Birrell mention any of the Roosevelts in his autobiography, Things Past Redress, published posthumously in London in 1937. Kermit Roosevelt served in the British Army during WWII as well, but suffered bouts of alcoholism, depression, and malaria and was discharged. His cousin, FDR, managed to get Kermit a post in Alaska as a U.S. Army intelligence officer. But Alaska became Kermit's final resting place; he committed suicide by gun in 1943.

From: FindaGrave.com
_____________________________

Belle Roosevelt survived her husband by over twenty years, passing away in New York on March 30, 1968. Her home, 9 Sutton Place, New York, New York, was auctioned off in November 1968. As for the copy of Res Judicatae, it may have stayed in the family because it didn't resurface until 1992. Res Judicatae was listed for sale in the Nov.2, 1992 issue of AB Bookman's Weekly by Pharos Books, New Haven, Ct.

My copy of Res Judicatae appears next twenty years later in an auction in Amherst, N. H. in a lot with other books either by or belonging to the Roosevelts:

Less than a month later, Res Judicatae appears on eBay. And I submit the winning bid:

And that, my friends, is the history of my copy of Res Judicatae, the newest addition to My Sentimental Library Collection.

Memories of Things Experienced And Things Missed

R. L. S. is no stranger in my library. I have several books he wrote, including one in My Sentimental Library Collection that Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. formerly owned.

So when Lew Jaffe the Bookplate Junkie called about a copy of Across the Plains by Robert Louis Stevenson––one with an interesting association––I offered to trade him some of my bookplates for the book.

This book looks like it may have been dragged across the plains. But another cloth spine closely matching the cloth of the book is in the making:

This copy of Stevenson's book belonged to an American artist who became friends with Stevenson in France in the 1870s, a friendship that was to last a lifetime.

This artist designed a bookplate for the Stevenson Society of America:

In 1896, this artist designed a bookplate for the Rowfant Club:

On this bookplate, near the bottom right-hand corner, this artist inscribed his name:

And in his copy of Across the Plains, on the half-title page, this artist, Will H. Low (1853-1932), wrote a twenty-one line review of his friend's book:

Above his review, Low signed his name, dated it, "1892," and wrote, "from the publisher and R. L. S."

If trying to read Low's review is too hard for you, I have provided "a reading copy" below:

This is a book full of memories of things experienced and things missed. Thus on p.137 my little house in Montigny comes back to me and the memory of long talks in the leafy arbor, of canoeing on the Loing, of my reading the first R. L. S. in printed form, the essay on "Forest Notes" printed in the Cornhill for May (?) 1876 - and read at Montigny with an infinite sense of it being less engaging than the talk of my friend. True - in Across the Plains - I come to what I missed as I follow R. L. S. through the rain on his first day in New York laden with Bancroft's "History of the U.S." – for I was at Nantucket and though he searched he could not find me. The graver essays, The Christmas Sermon and Pulvis Et Umbra were first printed in Scribner's Magazine during the year 1888 and excited both interest and controversy, many holding that his doctrines were gloomy and hopeless. "The lights were turned down" R. L. S. wrote of them afterwards but I was far gone and came to Saranac none too soon. But with all their gloom they are illuminated by the ray of courage – and are by no means hopeless. This volume also contains the "Letter to a Young Gentleman about to Embrace the career of art," which read to me by the author led me to protest so strongly that R. L. S. insisted that I should answer it in print so that where published in Scribner's this essay had my rejoinder tacked on to it. I join to this the sheets of Scribner's containing this, and incidentally Stevenson's actions in the matter is responsible for my frequent appearance in print since those days. I find pasted in this book also a letter to the London Times, containing Rodin which R. L. S. must have sent me at the time it was written; for I was one of "the party of artists" mentioned in it, W. E. Henley and Theodore Robinson, the others who accompanied him on that occasion.
W. H. Low

I do not know if this Rodin letter has been otherwise published.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Low marked the paragraph about Montigny on P.137. Low later wrote about Stevenson and Montigny in his book, A Chronicle of Friendships, New York, 1908:

Low's article in Scribner's Magazine, "A Letter to the Same Gentleman,"published in response to Stevenson's article, "A Letter to a Young Gentleman," was three and a half pages long, was attached to the back of the half-title page, and caused damage to the edges of the half-title page. Low's article was no longer in the book when I received it. I acquired a copy of the September 1888 issue of Scribner's Magazine containing Low's article. And I will keep it alongside the book.

Stevenson's London Times article about Rodin is pasted on the free endpaper facing the half-title page:

Above the article, Low wrote, " Rec'd about September 1886."

The Rodin Letter was later published in Frederick Lawton's book, The Life and Work of Auguste Rodin, New York, 1907, and can be read at this link.

In addition to writing a review of Stevenson's book on the half-title page, Will H. Low added a few words to Stevenson's Dedication page:

I have gone crazy over Bourgets Sensations d'Italie; hence the enclosed dedication, a mere cry of gratitude for the best friend I've had over a new book for this ever so!
Monday Dec 7th 1891 R. L. S. to Sidney Colvin
Letters from Vailima read in proof May 16th '95

––––––––––––––––– About a year and half ago not knowing the reason of above dedication I was also very much "bowled over" by Sensations d'Italie
Will H Low

–––––––––––––––––

Will H. Low marked only one more page in his friend's book, and very fitting at that:

PROVENANCE Will H. Low: 1892 - ?
W.K. Bixby: ?- Sold on Feb 26, 1917, Anderson Galleries (bookplate on front pastedown).
Henry A. Colgate: 1917 - Sold on Feb 8, 1928, Anderson Galleries
Richard Sessler: ?-? (Note on top of half-title page). Related to Charles Sessler the Philadelphia bookseller?
Lew Jaffe: ? - Dec. 2012
Jerry Morris: Dec. 2012 - present

ADDENDUM: More on this book's provenance. Richad Sessler is probably Charles Sessler's son, J. Leonard "Dick" Sessler, who died in 1951. He was Lessing J. Rosenwald's main supplier of prints. In fact, a "Richard Sessler" is identified in the provenance record of some Fifteenth Century engravings Rosenwald acquired from him.

Twelve Blogs For Christmas: Contributions to Biblionotes: Ex-Libris

Tipped into my copy of About a Great Book, With Some Literary Autographs is this presentation sheet:

Except for one, each Christmas, from 1912 to 1932, Luther Brewer, at his Torch Press, privately printed a book "For the Friends of Luther Albertus and Elinore Taylor Brewer." I have over half of them in my library.

For Christmas 2012, I want to begin a similar custom to greet "all my bibliobuddies." But instead of greeting you with a book, each Christmas I will greet you with one essay from Contributions to Biblionotes.

The source for this first Christmas blog post comes by way of England, from Questor Rare Books, to be exact, and acquired in 2002:

What is Contributions to Biblionotes? And who is Walter Harris? And who is Mary Murray?  The answers to your questions will start to unfold when you read the notes below, which were posted one of my old Picture Trail photo albums:

And here is Jim Thorp's response:

In 2003, I contacted Barry Shaw, the former editor of the Bookdealer; but, complaining that his memory wasn't what it used to be, he couldn't recall if he published any of Walter Harris's twelve pieces.

And now, without further ado, here is the first of the "Twelve Blog Posts for Christmas." The first blog post is a piece on bookplates which Walter Harris wrote in 1953.  If you find the following pages too hard to read, keep scrolling down because I typed Walter Harris's piece in its entirety.

Merry Christmas to all my bibliobuddies! 

Ex-Libris

EX-LIBRIS by Walter Harris, 1953

The collecting of Book-plates as a hobby appears to be a thing of yesterday. Collecting began seriously in the middle of the last century but was probably keenest during "the Nineties" and the first two decades of this century. In those days, practically every Antiquarian bookseller - at least in London, had a box or two somewhere in his premises, and sales devoted exclusively to this subject were more or less a regular feature on some auction-rooms. Messrs Puttick & Simpson held one such sale in 1897 in which some individual plates realized several pounds each, whilst quite a large number reached a figure in the region of two pounds. Very few new buyers have come on the scene to replace those who have either passed on or given up collecting. And I doubt if at present there are more than a score of serious collectors in the whole of the country. The reason for the decline of collectors is rather puzzling, at least to me because I consider that Book-plates are a much more interesting proposition than, say, stamps, which support a live and flourishing business.

There are of course some rare and expensive plates but on the whole, prices are very low, and with such an extensive field from which to choose, it is rather surprising to find such a lack of interest. Judged from the artistic standpoint, the design of the earlier and many of the later Book-plates is much superior to that of stamps. The "Chippendales," for instance, are especially attractive, with their frills or borders of open shell-work, surrounding the shields, out of which spring slender flowering plants.

The Book-plate is no modern invention; it has its origin in the early sixteenth century. Albrecht Durer designed what is believed to be the first specimen, a portrait of his friend Baron Pirckheimer assigned by some authorities tot he year 1524. This particular plate is described by Bartech in his "La Peinture-Graveur." In England, the earliest engraved plate is assumed to be that of Sir Nicholas Bacon 1574, followed in 1585 by one of Sir Thomas Tresham.

Almost the first English reference to these tokens of ownership as "plates" occurs in Pepys's Diary, under the entry of July 1st, 1668. Pepys himself has five plates, comprising two of portraits, two heraldic, and one with his initials S.P. combined with the Admiralty crossed anchors. Two of the plates are very rare. The larger of the two portrait plates seems originally to have been engraved as a frontispiece to the privately-printed edition of his "Memoirs relating to the State of the Navy in England" 1690. Some first-class artists and designs engaged themselves in the production of these movable marks of ownership, including George Bickham, Thomas Bewick, Archibald Burton of Edinburgh, William Hogarth, William Henshaw, Mark Lambert of Newcastle (an apprentice of Bewick), Daniel and William Lizars, R. Mountaine, Cipriani, Kate Greenaway, Sherborn, Eve, Barrett, Barnett and many others.

The plates are usually classified under the generic headings laid down by Leicester Warren (Lord De Tabley) in his book, " A Guide to the Study of Book-plates," namely Armorial, Jacobean, Chippendale, etc. Practically all subsequently deceived classifications have been based on his general scheme.

Some very large collections have been formed in this country in days gone by; probably the best known and one of the largest was that of Sir Wollaston Franks whose collection of roughly 80,000 plates was bequeathed to the British Museum. The catalogue of the English and American examples alone forms three large octavo volumes, and is an invaluable book of reference for both collector and dealer. Another magnificent collection was formed by Mr. Julian Marshall. It contained 60,000 plates, comprising examples from England, America, France, Germany, Russia, China, Spain, and in fact specimens from practically every country in the world. Among them were most of the rarer examples (some unique), including the famous Durer woodcut, Scrope of Danby; all three varieties of the plate of Thomas Gore, the earliest about 1660, the second by Michael Burghere and the third by Faithorne.

The English collector usually, however, finds England a sufficiently wide field, and nowadays, although there is no great upward tendency in prices, it is becoming increasingly difficult to procure the finer specimens, which have always maintained a price. On the whole, modern designs are not nearly so interesting, but there is one artist whose work stands out alone, namely, C. W. Sherborn. He began as an apprentice to Robert Oliver, a goldsmith of Soho, in 1845. In 1852 he was admitted a Freeman of the City of London, by virtue of his services tot the Company of Goldsmiths. After spending three years in Geneva as a designer and goldworker, he returned to London where he still followed his calling, but gradually deviated toward another branch of art, engraving, etching and designing Book-plates. Throughout his career, on this special subject his work retained a wonderful excellence, some of the plates having a depth and tone of richness unsurpassed. A catalogue of his plates compiled by himself and Mr. G. H. Viner is given in a sketch of his life and works by his son. Mr. G. H. Viner himself has an exceedingly fine collection.

This being Coronation year, it is pleasing to look back on a similar event in 1902. In that year, by Royal permission, was published a set of three plates, to be sold for the benefit of King Edward's Hospital Fund. The largest plate contained the Royal Arms within the Garter, with supporters, crest and Imperial Crown, with E. R. at the sides, and the Union Badge below the Shield; inscribed "Royal Library, Windsor Castle." The third plate has the Royal Crest only, a lion statant guardant on an Imperial Crown, with the letters E. R. as before, and the inscription as in the second plate, on a scroll below. Only 50 sets were issued at the price of £8-8-0 per set, and must by now have become exceedingly rare.

There is a fair amount of literature on the subject of Ex-Libris, most of which is obtainable without much trouble and at reasonable cost.

Mostly Letters About Bookplates

Books are not the only things I collect. I collect autograph letters, and displayed some of them in my September 2011 blog post. What I did not display in that blog post were most of the letters I acquired in an eBay auction in September 2002:

The title of the eBay auction, "1920s Book Plate Collecting Letters Lot," is a misnomer. Of the nineteen letters in the lot, only three letters are from the 1920s. Twelve of the letters, however, are about bookplates, and hence my title, "Mostly Letters About Bookplates." I posted partial images of these letters on my website shortly after acquiring them. But today I will provide full scans of each letter and give you the "pleasure" of trying to read them. I will also tell you a little bit about the correspondents.

Nine of the twelve letters about bookplates are addressed to Miss Lydia M. Poirier (1873-1936), Librarian, Duluth Public Library, a bookplate collector who corresponded with both bookplate collectors and bookplate designers. The Poirier name might be familiar to you: Miss Poirier's father, Camille Poirier, was the creator of the Poirier Packsack. And Lew Jaffe posted the bookplate of one of Miss Poirier's brothers, Philip Azarie Poirier, in his blog post, Cowboys on Bookplates.

Miss Lydia M. Poirier posted a notice in Zella Allen Dixson's book, Concerning Book-Plates: a Handbook for Collectors, that she was willing to trade bookplates with other collectors.

This is one of Lydia M. Poirier's bookplates, but probably not the one she traded with the bookplate collectors in the early 1900s:

Miss Poirier was the Librarian at Duluth Public Library from 1899 to 1910, and sometimes had a rocky working relationship with the Library Board. For a brief period, the Board barred her from attending Board meetings. Miss Poirier resigned her position in February 1910 to run a school for girls in California. I believe she had the Berkeley bookplate engraved while she was in California. More on Miss Poirier later.

Bookplate collectors came from all walks of life in the early 1900s. Wilbur Macey Stone (1862-1941) was a mechanical engineer from New Jersey. He wrote a number of books about bookplates, children's books, and various other book-related topics. Miss Poirier sent Wilber Macey Stone some bookplates and purchased some of his books about bookplates, including one of the 350 copies of Some Children's Book-plates. Wilbur Macey Stone may have sent Miss Poirier this bookplate:

The image of this bookplate is courtesy of The Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Stewart Means (1852-1940) was the Rector of St. John's Episcopal Church in New Haven, Ct., and wrote a number of religious books. He sent Miss Poirier this bookplate:

I originally identified this letter writer as Lawthrie L. Bliss. Her real name is Caroline Seagrave Bliss (1867-1943). She was a member of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She too was listed in Dixson's book about bookplates. And here is her bookplate by E.D. French, which she offered to trade with Miss Poirier:

From: GRA 115, William Augustus Brewer bookplate collection, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

Albertine Randall Wheelan (1863-1954) was a "jack of all trades" and a master of almost every one of them. She was a bookplate designer, an illustrator, an artist, and even a costume designer on Broadway. She may have sent Mis Poirier this bookplate:

I originally identified this letter writer as Adalbert Balasser. His real name is Adalbert Balassa (1881-1963), and he worked in the banking industry in Chicago, eventually becoming President of a Savings and Loan Association.

The image of this bookplate is courtesy of The Rare Book & Manuscript Library of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

J Everist Cathell (?-1913), Rector of St. Paul's Parish in Des Moines, reportedly knew Abraham Lincoln, and went on the lecture circuit in the early 1900s, speaking about Lincoln and the Civil War. There is extensive feedback on Cathell's success as a lecturer in the Redpath Chautauqua Collection in Special Collections at the University of Iowa Libraries.

From reading his letter, I gather that Rev. Cathell may not have been a bookplate collector himself; whatever Miss Poirier sent him, he forwarded to Carl L. Bernhardt for his collection. Here is the bookplate Carl L. Bernhardt designed for J. Everist Cathell:

From: GRA 115, William Augustus Brewer bookplate collection, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

Emma Carleton (1852-1907) was a journalist and a poet. Her father was a bookseller, and his bookstore is displayed in her bookplate, which was included in Indiana Bookplates by Esther Griffin White.

I missed the boat on this one. For years I thought this note was from W. Price, the Editor of The Book-Lover to Anna L. Carleton. But just the other night, I happened to glance at this note while I had Emma Carleton's letter displayed on my computer screen. By golly! The handwriting was a match! Anna L. Carleton was actually Emma Carleton, and she was the author of this note. In the note, she mentions an article on bookseller plates that she wrote for The Book-Lover. Her article appeared in the Dec 1903 issue (Vol IV, No. 6).

C Valentine Kirby (1875-1947) wrote a book or two and a few articles about bookplates including this one. His circular is more than just an advertisement for his bookplate designs. Open it up and it is writing paper for corresponding with bookplate collectors.

Below is an image of the University Club bookplate he mentions in his letter.

Helen W. Foster acquired her A.B. from Vassar in 1901, her A.M. from Columbia in 1908, and then studied at universities in Munich and Berlin from 1908 to 1910. Afterwards, she worked in the Free Library of Newark, and the Hotel Clinton in East Orange, New Jersey.

Helen W. Foster married Frederick J. Gould. I should mention that her husband is not the English author by the same name. Likewise, it is unlikely that the Elsa Löwenthal who engraved her bookplate is the Elsa Löwenthal who married Albert Einstein. Miss Foster's Elsa was from Frankfurt, while Einstein's Elsa was from Berlin. But didn't Miss Foster study in Berlin? An interesting coincidence of names for sure!

Miss Foster's March 1910 letter is the last letter I have that was sent to Miss Lydia Poirier. Shortly after receiving the letter, Miss Poirier moved to California to become the headmistress of the Chandler School of Girls in Los Altos, California. By September 1912, Miss Lydia Poirier was assisting at the Library of the University of California at Berkeley. And by the next year, she was on the way home to Duluth.

A notice in the Jul 29, 1913 Duluth Herald:

In Dec 1915, she made a new home, so to speak.

Edward M. Goddard (1869-1936) was the librarian of the Vermont State Library, and most likely met Miss Poirier at one of the many American Library Association conventions they attended. He resigned his position in 1910 to work for an insurance firm in New Jersey where his uncle worked. I found nothing more of interest about the Goddards after their wedding until their deaths in 1936. Lydia and Edward Goddard died three months apart in 1936. Newspaper articles reporting his death called him "the best insurance man in the East."

The next two letters concern the bookplate that William Edgar Fisher (1872-1956) designed in 1920 for William F. Gable (1856-1921), store merchant and owner of Gables Department Store in Altoona. But first a little bit about each of them:

From Concerning Book-Plates by Zella Allen Dixson:

From Book-Plates of To-Day  edited by Wilbur Macey Stone

From A Magnificent Farce by A, Edward Newton:


Gable's Department Store:

1st Letter:

2nd letter:

Here is the bookplate William Edgar Fisher designed for William F. Gable:

The letter below is the last of the bookplate-related letters:

In the beginning of this letter, L. Averill Cole (1880-1971) admonishes George Wolfe Plank (1883-1965) for his delay in submitting bookplates for a bookplate exhibit in San Francisco. L Averill Cole was no stranger to exhibitions, exhibiting not bookplates, but fine bindings. As for Mr. Plank, Marianne Moore provides an impressive biographical essay on him in her blog.

A previous owner wrote the word "bookplate" near the top of the letter, probably because it was addressed to the bookplate collector, William F. Gable. But this letter does not mention bookplates. Its sender, L Averill Cole, writes about fine bindings, and thanks Gable for a vase he sent her.



This next letter is the only letter from this lot to appear in my September 2011 post:

In this letter, John Hyde Preston (1906-1980) the novelist responds to the prolific writer, Louis Untermeyer (1885-1977), thanking him for his comments about Preston's new book, The Liberals: A Novel, first published in 1938. Remember George Wolfe Plank? He illustrated a number of books and articles for Louis Untermeyer, including this one:

William F. Gable wasn't the only merchant who was represented in these letters. A. T. Stewart (1803-1876), the Father of the Department Store," wrote a letter inviting a Mr. Newcomb and a Mr. Lister to dinner. Alexander Turney Stewart was featured in Elbert Hubbard's Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Business Men.

A.T. Stewart had an enviable collection of paintings sculptures and other works of art. If you're only into books, Stewart's library begins at lot number 1014.

The Mr. Newcomb who received Mr. Stewart's letter is most likely Horatio Victor Newcomb (1844-1911). I have yet to identify the Mr. Lister who was also invited to dinner.

If you can read this next letter, you are very good!

Here is my "translation" of Mr. Bandinel's letter:

Bandinel's letter is undated, but he died in 1849, and his only son was a curate in Marshwood, Dorset, from 1847 to 1856. Marshwood is near Blandford so I believe this letter was written sometime between 1847 and 1849. Who was it written to? I don't have a clue!

Frances Starr (1886-1973) was one of Alan Dale's "Most Interesting People on the Stage." She appeared on Broadway, and in the movies and on TV. Remember the bookplate designer, Albertine Randall Wheelan? She was the costume designer for Rose of the Rancho, a play in which Frances Starr had one of the leading roles.

I have yet to positively identify the Mr. Nelson who Frances Starr wrote to. It could be the director/performer, Duane Nelson.

Frances Starr did not appear in any of Duane Nelson's plays. Nor did she appear in any of Lula Vollmer's plays. And there were no characters named Lydia and Mary in any of their plays that made it to Broadway. Now for a longshot: Lydia and Mary were characters in Pride and Prejudice. Did Lula Vollmer write a playscript based on Jane Austine's novel? A stage production was written in 1935, but not by Lula Vollmer.

From a Wikipedia article on Ogden Mills (1884-1937):

There is an interesting review of Ogden Mill's book, The Seventeen Million in the September 1937 issue of Forum and Century. After reading the review, I couldn't help thinking of the forty-seven percent who voted for Governor Romney in the last election.

This last letter may have been sent to the autograph collector who was the original owner of this lot of letters. If so, I thank him for providing hours of entertainment for me, and hopefully, for you.