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Autograph letter signed. Devonshire Terrace, June 28, 1849. Single sheet folded in half to form four written pages of 4 1/2 by 7 inches (7 x 4 3/8 inches), window mounted. Usual folds but in generally excellent condition.
Addressed to Dickens' erstwhile publisher Edward Chapman, this remarkable letter encourages him to accept a manuscript, the author of which is unnamed. It reads: "Devonshire Terrace. Twenty-eighth June 1849. Dear Sir, I have a manuscript in my possession—written by a man who is known in literature—which will make a little book of about 150 pages. The idea is perfectly new, I will confess (for I have read it) and extremely well treated. The foundation of the story (with an excellent title) is the illustration of certain simple truths in natural history, and it suggests, to people young and all, a variety of pleasant and instructive considerations. I have no doubt whatever that it is a meritorious performance; and, if I were a publisher, I should be very sanguine of its success. With judicious reatment, I really believe it might sell for some time. I have promised the author my best endeavours to call attention to this piece, and I am in a condition to dispose of it. I want fifty pounds down, but I have not the least idea of driving a hard bargain, and getting that, irrevocably, and not putting the copyright out of the author's power, in the case of the publisher being well paid, would consent to any reasonable arrangement whatever.
If you think that—supposing your opinion approached near to mine you would take such a work on such a condition, you shall have the manuscript to read. It is dedicated to — Owens, or I would tell you beforehand exactly what the idea is, and so give you another means of forming a judgement as to the expediency of entertaining the scheme. But time presses and I want to get the business off my hands. All that I have said of the thing, I am perfectly convinced it deserves. I have a very strong belief that it would be an extremely creditable undertaking, with a good sound prospect of success. Faithfully yours, Charles Dickens.
[To:] Edward Chapman, Esquire."
The letter was written during the publication of David Copperfield by Bradbury and Evans, Dickens having moved his publishing affairs from Chapman and Hall several years earlier over a dispute about the profits from A Christmas Carol. Dickens would return to them in 1858, after Bradbury and Evans refused to print a statement by Dickens about his much-publicized and highly controversial separation from his wife Catherine. This letter demonstrates that Dickens remained in cordial contact with Edward Chapman during his split with Chapman and Hall.
This letter was owned by Thomas Guinzburg, the president of Viking Press and the son of its founder, Harold Guinzburg.
Für Doyle New York Versandinformtation bitte wählen Sie +1 2124272730.
NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle will present an auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on Friday, April 11, 2025 at 10am. The sale includes an extensive collection of illustrated books and fine bindings, many from a private collection purchased at auction in the 1970s and off the market until the present time. Here are copies of the first edition of Nerciat’s erotic classic Le Diable au Corps, and an early and curiously illustrated edition of the exceedingly naughty Academie des Dames. From the same collection comes a splendid Levitzky binding with batik endpapers on a work illustrated by Georges Barbier, with an original watercolor by the master. Many finely bound sets are featured in the sale, most notably an exceptionally luxurious set of Charles Dickens, one of 15 copies bound in sixty volumes, in superb red levant morocco with onlays.
As usual, the sale includes a selection of interesting maps and atlases, such as a copy of Turgot’s 1734 bird’s eye plan of Paris, and a finely colored celestial map by Andreas Cellarius. Additionally, there is a sizable group of globes and instruments in the auction, including a pair of 15-inch library globes and a 20-inch celestial globe by Cary, as well as three English pocket globes, a “dissected” paper globe, and a collection of rare pocket-sized navigational instruments and sundials, notably an exquisite 17th century silver “Butterfield” type sundial by the Parisian instrument maker Pierre Sevin.
One lot that bears special note is the Latin grammar owned by the young Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, used by him while studying for his baccalaureate examination. In this, the artist has penned hundreds of tiny ink sketches, ranging from studies of horses to caricatured faces. Toulouse-Lautrec was 16 to 17 years old at the time, and his genius was just starting to declare itself, evident in the precocious studies of horses in this work, which make the annotations far more compelling than mere juvenalia.
Also, in the auction are selections of Americana, travels and voyages, and a wide range of early printing. In this last category, a complete copy of Graevius’s great 1722 work on Venice is offered, the Splendor Magnificentissimae Urbis Venetiarum Clarissimus with the two large folding plates of the city and all the double-page views of piazzas and palazzos.
The Collection of President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford
Property from the Collection of President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford offers approximately 75 lots of signed books and memorabilia relating to the political career of President Ford and watches, jewelry, and decorative items owned by and gifted to the Fords. Of note is Gerald Ford’s copy of the Official Report of the Warren Commission, of which he was a member, inscribed to him with appreciation from President Lyndon Johnson and each member of the commission. It was John “Jack” Ford who brought George Harrison to the White House, the first of the Beatles to visit, and offered in the sale are two inscribed books on Eastern thought. Of the jewelry, President Ford’s Omega and Piaget watches are offered, as is a sapphire ring that belonged to First Betty Ford. Among the gifts presented to the Fords on their world travels are jewelry items and keepsakes from Jordan and Oman, several in high karat gold. View Lots
Order of Sale
Lots 1–8 Sports and mountaineering
Lots 9–45 Americana
Lots 46–57 Travel
Lots 58–73 Maps and atlases, globes and instruments
Lots 74–114 Antiquarian books and manuscripts
Lots 115–120 Economics and the World Wars
Lots 121–163 Literature (including literary autographs)
Lots 164–178 Color plate books
Lots 179–189 Library sets
Lots 190–215 Fine bookbindings: English, French and Russian
Lots 216–220 Fore-edge paintings
Lots 221–233 Curiosa
Lots 234–249 Limited Editions Club
Lots 250–261 Private press and fine printing
Lots 262–276 Illustration and children's books
Lots 277–280 Applied Art
Lots 281–306 Books on Fine Art and Livres d'artistes
Lots 307–318 American autographs
Lots 319–340 American Presidential documents and signatures
Lots 340–End Property from the Collection of President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford
Terms & Conditions
SHOW MORESale Notice
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Entschuldigung, es gab eine Fehlermeldung bei der Sendung Ihrer Anfrage. Bitte versuchen Sie es zu einem späteren Zeitpunkt noch einmal.
Autograph letter signed. Devonshire Terrace, June 28, 1849. Single sheet folded in half to form four written pages of 4 1/2 by 7 inches (7 x 4 3/8 inches), window mounted. Usual folds but in generally excellent condition.
Addressed to Dickens' erstwhile publisher Edward Chapman, this remarkable letter encourages him to accept a manuscript, the author of which is unnamed. It reads: "Devonshire Terrace. Twenty-eighth June 1849. Dear Sir, I have a manuscript in my possession—written by a man who is known in literature—which will make a little book of about 150 pages. The idea is perfectly new, I will confess (for I have read it) and extremely well treated. The foundation of the story (with an excellent title) is the illustration of certain simple truths in natural history, and it suggests, to people young and all, a variety of pleasant and instructive considerations. I have no doubt whatever that it is a meritorious performance; and, if I were a publisher, I should be very sanguine of its success. With judicious reatment, I really believe it might sell for some time. I have promised the author my best endeavours to call attention to this piece, and I am in a condition to dispose of it. I want fifty pounds down, but I have not the least idea of driving a hard bargain, and getting that, irrevocably, and not putting the copyright out of the author's power, in the case of the publisher being well paid, would consent to any reasonable arrangement whatever.
If you think that—supposing your opinion approached near to mine you would take such a work on such a condition, you shall have the manuscript to read. It is dedicated to — Owens, or I would tell you beforehand exactly what the idea is, and so give you another means of forming a judgement as to the expediency of entertaining the scheme. But time presses and I want to get the business off my hands. All that I have said of the thing, I am perfectly convinced it deserves. I have a very strong belief that it would be an extremely creditable undertaking, with a good sound prospect of success. Faithfully yours, Charles Dickens.
[To:] Edward Chapman, Esquire."
The letter was written during the publication of David Copperfield by Bradbury and Evans, Dickens having moved his publishing affairs from Chapman and Hall several years earlier over a dispute about the profits from A Christmas Carol. Dickens would return to them in 1858, after Bradbury and Evans refused to print a statement by Dickens about his much-publicized and highly controversial separation from his wife Catherine. This letter demonstrates that Dickens remained in cordial contact with Edward Chapman during his split with Chapman and Hall.
This letter was owned by Thomas Guinzburg, the president of Viking Press and the son of its founder, Harold Guinzburg.
Für Doyle New York Versandinformtation bitte wählen Sie +1 2124272730.
NEW YORK, NY -- Doyle will present an auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on Friday, April 11, 2025 at 10am. The sale includes an extensive collection of illustrated books and fine bindings, many from a private collection purchased at auction in the 1970s and off the market until the present time. Here are copies of the first edition of Nerciat’s erotic classic Le Diable au Corps, and an early and curiously illustrated edition of the exceedingly naughty Academie des Dames. From the same collection comes a splendid Levitzky binding with batik endpapers on a work illustrated by Georges Barbier, with an original watercolor by the master. Many finely bound sets are featured in the sale, most notably an exceptionally luxurious set of Charles Dickens, one of 15 copies bound in sixty volumes, in superb red levant morocco with onlays.
As usual, the sale includes a selection of interesting maps and atlases, such as a copy of Turgot’s 1734 bird’s eye plan of Paris, and a finely colored celestial map by Andreas Cellarius. Additionally, there is a sizable group of globes and instruments in the auction, including a pair of 15-inch library globes and a 20-inch celestial globe by Cary, as well as three English pocket globes, a “dissected” paper globe, and a collection of rare pocket-sized navigational instruments and sundials, notably an exquisite 17th century silver “Butterfield” type sundial by the Parisian instrument maker Pierre Sevin.
One lot that bears special note is the Latin grammar owned by the young Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, used by him while studying for his baccalaureate examination. In this, the artist has penned hundreds of tiny ink sketches, ranging from studies of horses to caricatured faces. Toulouse-Lautrec was 16 to 17 years old at the time, and his genius was just starting to declare itself, evident in the precocious studies of horses in this work, which make the annotations far more compelling than mere juvenalia.
Also, in the auction are selections of Americana, travels and voyages, and a wide range of early printing. In this last category, a complete copy of Graevius’s great 1722 work on Venice is offered, the Splendor Magnificentissimae Urbis Venetiarum Clarissimus with the two large folding plates of the city and all the double-page views of piazzas and palazzos.
The Collection of President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford
Property from the Collection of President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford offers approximately 75 lots of signed books and memorabilia relating to the political career of President Ford and watches, jewelry, and decorative items owned by and gifted to the Fords. Of note is Gerald Ford’s copy of the Official Report of the Warren Commission, of which he was a member, inscribed to him with appreciation from President Lyndon Johnson and each member of the commission. It was John “Jack” Ford who brought George Harrison to the White House, the first of the Beatles to visit, and offered in the sale are two inscribed books on Eastern thought. Of the jewelry, President Ford’s Omega and Piaget watches are offered, as is a sapphire ring that belonged to First Betty Ford. Among the gifts presented to the Fords on their world travels are jewelry items and keepsakes from Jordan and Oman, several in high karat gold. View Lots
Order of Sale
Lots 1–8 Sports and mountaineering
Lots 9–45 Americana
Lots 46–57 Travel
Lots 58–73 Maps and atlases, globes and instruments
Lots 74–114 Antiquarian books and manuscripts
Lots 115–120 Economics and the World Wars
Lots 121–163 Literature (including literary autographs)
Lots 164–178 Color plate books
Lots 179–189 Library sets
Lots 190–215 Fine bookbindings: English, French and Russian
Lots 216–220 Fore-edge paintings
Lots 221–233 Curiosa
Lots 234–249 Limited Editions Club
Lots 250–261 Private press and fine printing
Lots 262–276 Illustration and children's books
Lots 277–280 Applied Art
Lots 281–306 Books on Fine Art and Livres d'artistes
Lots 307–318 American autographs
Lots 319–340 American Presidential documents and signatures
Lots 340–End Property from the Collection of President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford
Terms & Conditions
SHOW MORESale Notice
Katalog
Stichworte: Charles Dickens, Famous Author, Brief, Manuskript, Book