From Book Lore: A Monthly Magazine of Bibliography November 1886 [London]. The Chinese thirst for knowledge in 2013 now manifested by their massive book digitising programmes. Not adepts in the art of war? - the view from 1886.

    The Chinese aptitude for rapidly acquiring knowledge is not so well recognised as it deserves. These patient, plodding people, with their cool, calculating minds, and simple tastes, are more than a match for European workers, no matter what business or profession they elect to follow. A correspondent of the Daily News, writing on the Chinese Question, which is at present forcing itself to the front in North Australia, states that on a recent occasion he took the chaplain's Celestial class, and found that their "hunger and thirst after knowledge, and the startling rapidity with which they got on, was something fearful to contemplate."

The Chinese have libraries in every town and most villages and their reading is of a solid and substantial character. Novels and religious works are everywhere excluded ; the former as too frivolous, and the latter as raising undesirable controversies between sects, which are as numerous there as anywhere else. It seems to us that we have much to learn from the inhabitants of the Flowery Land, adepts in everything except, unfortunately for them, the art of war.

A record of a book that sold about 5 years ago - current whereabouts unknown.

The Girls of Radcliff Hall, by 'Adela Quebec'- i.e. Lord Berners. Berners  took the title from the name of the notorious lesbian novelist Radclyffe Hall. A roman a clef, privately printed about 1935. It sold for £1400.

Foreword by the "Bishop of Brixton" 8vo., original printed wrappers. 100 pages. 'Well of Loneliness' spoof. Printed in a small edition possibly as low as 100. Very uncommon as copies were reputedly destroyed by a few of those in his coterie who were parodied and it was cheaply produced - it has the appearance (probably intentional) of under counter erotica / smut of the time. Cecil Beaton was especially incensed by his portrayal and wanted the whole edition pulped, but it is said that he deserved his treatment by Berners. Grey printed wraps slightly soiled, spine slightly faded and slightly rubbed; overall about very good  with no chips or nicks. 

Signed presentation from the author to Lady Harrod. The inscription reads: "To Billa with love from the Authoress and Gerald Berners. Xmas 1940.' Wilhelmine 'Billa' Harrod was married to the economist Roy Harrod and co - authored the Shell Guide to Norfolk with  John Betjeman, to whom she had been briefly engaged. Berners was a close friend of Billa and she often stayed at his country house near Oxford - 'Farringdon.' He stayed with the Harrods in Oxford particularly at a time when he had according to Mark Amory his biographer 'a mania for teashop life...' Billa would accompany him to endless tea rooms.  Billa and Berners are both the basis for characters in Nancy Mitford's 'The Pursuit of Love' -- Fanny Logan and Lord Merlin, respectively.

Blue airmail folded letter from Wood's Hole, Mass, USA 16 July 1964. About 100  handwritten words. About an invitation to speak at the unveiling of a plaque for George Moore in Dublin. Mention of Monk Gibbon and Austin Clarke...'You are benefiting a generation who will look back to George Moore and George Russell as inspiring figures.'

Beatrice Elvery, Lady Glenavy (1881 - 1970). Irish artist and literary host,friend of Katherine Mansfield on the fringes of Bloomsbury and in the circle of Shaw, Lawrence and Yeats. She modelled for Orpen and painted 'Éire' (1907) a landmark painting promoting the idea of an independent Irish state.

Clovelly-Kepplestone was a private boarding school for girls in Eastbourne, Sussex. It flourished from 1908 until 1934 and was familiarly known to staff and pupils as "Clo-Kepp". There is a very comprehensive piece on it at Wikipedia. The annual school magazine of which we have the 1930 issue has a frontis of the charismatic Miss Frances Browne the 'principal' of the school. The magazine is of a high order full of news of old girls and poetry, essays and humour from past and present Clo-Keppians.

The following P. G. Wodehouse parody is a good example. The brief was to write a piece with the context of rain outside, a man and wife inside and an unexpected visit by a friend. The 3 subjects were Wodehouse, Edgar Wallace and John Buchan. The Buchan comes soon but the Wallace only on demand.The authors are given as Phyllis Inglis (née Kay) C-K and O.G.C. 

A 4 page flier / brochure for the New Burlington Galleries October 1938 exhibition. 60 preparatory sketches paintings and studies by Picasso. List of patrons (including Virgina Woolf, McKnight Kauffer, E M Forster and organisers (E L T Mesens, Herbert Read etc.,) Quotes on back page from newspapers about the bombing at Guernica. Mesens again! Patrons mainly the great and the good among British writers, poets and bohemians inc Ruthven Todd ('the Reverend Todd.')

Late surrealist poem found in 1945 magazine Piano Jazz, published by The Jazz Sociological Society, Neasden, London. Toni del Renzio (Antonino Romanov del Renzio dei Rossi di Castellone e Venosa 1915 - 2007) was part of the small club of British surrealists most of whom seem to have fallen out with one another. Roger Cardinal in his Guardian obituary notes:

"Del Renzio was also something of a poet, and one evening in 1944, E.L.T. Mesens and his followers sabotaged their enemy's reading at the International Arts Centre - objects were thrown, and del Renzio and Ithell (Colquhoun) had to duck behind a piano." Take it away Toni--

Piano of tumultuous melody pouring through the milky way in staccato spurts of harsh lyricism alight with the ecstasy of the blues and the stomp and the rag beautiful twists of primitive innocence more marvellous than civilisation.

Piano of mercury and arsenic flowers dissolve in the promises of reefers and alcohol which steadies and firms the sensitive hands of love long-fingered with desires hollow-palmed with hopes slender-wristed with the sending practice of the boogie surprise.

Piano of fireflies sinking in the dark warm swamp of memory where the images of what was are convulsed into the shaking outline of what must be and what will be when the gutted lie in streamers across the barricades of the night and in the distance can be heard the feminine song of a well-licked clarinet.

Skeleton piano of terrors and fears.

Iron piano of inescapable fates fanning paths of hazard.

Stone piano of social neglect beneath the skies of benevolence and other hateful qualities.

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24 page pamphlet, published by the National Book League, London 1966.  The favourite books of such diverse celebrities as John Lennon, Julie Christie, J. Paul Getty, Joyce Grenfell, Philip Larkin, Harold Pinter, Margery Allingham, Joan Sutherland, etc. John Lennon had chosen some interesting books. he has divided them into up to the age of 11 (Alice, Wind in Willows), teens (Brave New World, Animal Farm, 1984, Sartre, Steinbeck, Thurber), from the age of 20 (De Sade, Heller, A.A. Milne, Alan Watts), current reading (Thomas Stanley, Pre-Roman Britain).

Harold Pinter chose 2 Becketts, a Donne, a Dostoyevsky, a Joyce, and Kafka's The Castle. Philip Larkin  plumped for Barbara Pym.

One of many Nescafe cake recipes (John Bull magazine, London  1958). Instant coffee is still used for cake flavouring...in fact in some kitchens that is what is now kept for.

Below that is the actual editorial matter which would have compelled Nescafe to advertise - to the right it shows 3 early coffee houses including the Turk's Head in Cambridge - so popular that nearby pubs suffered. One Cambridge professor declared that a man could pick up more useful knowledge in a coffee-house than at university - a claim I have heard made for the original Peet's in Berkeley!

Coffee Log

One swiss roll, Nescafé mocha icing, browning or brown colouring, chopped pistachio nuts, sprig of holly or a robin. Beat in sufficient browning to make the Nescafé mocha icing similar in colour to tree bark. Cut a slice off the swiss roll and mash it with a fork, form into shape of a small stumpy branch. Place on top of the swiss roll near to one end fixing it with a little icing. Spread the surface with icing and cover the round joins at each end of the roll with icing. Mark with a fork to resemble tree bark. Decorate with pistachio nuts and holly or a robin.

  MOCHA ICING.–2 level teaspoonfuls Nescafé, 2-3 oz. margarine, 2 level tablespoonfuls cocoa, 8 oz. icing sugar, 2 tablespoonfuls hot water. Beat all the dry ingredients to a cream gradually adding the water.

Scott Fitzgerald wrote this list (found in a literary journal -no longer sure which) when he was broke in about 1936. His friend/ lover Sheilah Graham (she described herself as "a woman who loved Scott Fitzgerald for better or worse until he died") wrote in College of One:

He expected to realize $25 from nine autographed Mencken books (some firsts); $5 from Tarkington's Seventeen (autographed); $5 from Dos Passos” Three Soldiers (with autographed card); two books by Charles Norris (autographed), $15; $2 from Jurgen(autographed); $3 from Emperor Jones (first). “400 books,” he wrote, “range 10c to $1.50, average 40c. Probable value of library at forced sale $300.

He seemed better when we were back in Hollywood. The books he loved were still in his apartment...

It appears that Scott in the end did not need to sell them -- although most of the authors he was trying to sell are no longer seriously collected, with his association the 400+ books would probably now fetch a million dollars or more. Who knows?

A slightly  bloodthirsty story (to our squeamish modern taste) but with an amazing moment of suspense straight out of Kipling or Conrad. A real life account - the author was almost certainly Lieutenant Colonel J. W. Wray. The manuscript was in an envelope with 3 other chapers addressed to him at 'The Croft, Guildford' and he is known to have written With rifle and spear : reminiscences of Lt.-Col. J.W. Wray. Copac gives his dates as 1851-1924 and record this book as being published by The General Press, Ltd.,. They estimate the date as 1925. Certainly these accounts mention rifles and spears, Wray was a dedicated game hunter. The manuscripts came from a couple of very old soldiers Basil and Russell Steele.

No copies of the book are available and it has not been digitised. Web archives reveal he was in the 108th Foot Regiment and he was a member of the Northumberland and Northern Counties Club. Punch mentions him and his wife in 1916 - the victim of a Pooter like misprint: 'Mrs. Wray entertained the recruiting staff, numbering £21, to tea at Brett's Hall, Guildford, on Thursday.' They add 'Sterling fellows obviously'.

The photo, supplied merely to give atmosphere, is actually of Franz Ferdinand von Österreich-Este in Rajasthan 1892, Wray's adventure is probably from a decade later. The game of "fly loo" needs reviving, especially with global warming - a game for very hot days, played for high stakes.

Typed pages from the working papers of Aytoun Ellis's for his book Essence of Beauty. Published by Secker in 1960. A litre of brandy?

Fragrant waters have been in use for thousands of years, Theophrastus mentioning them nearly 400 years before the Christian era.
Oldest of all, if one excepts rose-water from this category, is HONEY WATER (which) there seems little doubt, was used in this country from an early date but it was in the reign of JAMES II that it really became popular, George Wilson making it for the King to such a formula as the following:

Not sure where I got this (junk shop in Munster Road, Fulham?) but it shows a young girl, presumably Jewish (see the Star of David outline behind her head and the style of hair - echoes of the world of George Eliot's novel Daniel Deronda.)  Could it be by Blake or Flaxman? Possibly it is a print that has been hand-coloured. The clouds are dramatic and somewhat foreboding...info welcomed.

Part of a collection of press cuttings. This incident is (so far)  UBI  i.e. unknown by internet probably because it is from the defunct UK newspaper The Daily Herald (1960). The sum quoted for the final value of distilled essence of tuberose lilies would now be about £40,000,000. Distilled essence of tuberose lilies is restricted to very high end perfumery due to the expense….

Obtained from the poet and writer Jeremy Reed and unpublished in this form. Transcribed from his  handwritten  purple ink manuscript. Probably from about 2008/9. [Somewhere we have more of this inc writings about new bohos such as Pete Doherty.Will find. Wilde's attitude is reminiscent of a later writer Norman Douglas who told Elizabeth David 'Always do as you please and send everybody to hell and take the consequences. Damned good rule of life...']

Bohemians / New Bohemians / Jeremy Reed

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The original  1995 theatre programme for the short-lived Albery Theatre's production of Cell Mates signed by cast member Stephen Fry. The play also starred Rik Mayall. It has 36 pages.

Fry's involvement - or rather, almost immediate non-involvement - in the production was the focus of much media rumpus at the time, although he now recalls the episode with philosophical good humour. The whole episode is covered elsewhere in some detail and the playwright Simon Gray later published an account of events in his diary, Fat Chance.

Peter Baron was the pseudonym of thriller writer Leonard Worswick Clyde (1906 Nov 21 - 1987 Nov 16). He wrote 4 now scarce crime / detective novels. The dust jacket pictured is from his 1927 novel 'Who?' The artist of this striking jacket is unknown and very little is known about Worswick Clyde. Hubin's Bibliography of Crime Fiction, 1749-1975 lists the following:

Who? [1927]
Jerry The Lag (US: Murder In Wax) [f|1928]
The Poacher [1929]
The Opium Murders [f|1930]

An odd and weirdly topical collection. [Beadle collection- paranoia, revenge and general weirdness] called Alternative Inphormation Unlimited (USA). 45 loose printouts hole-punched and contained in a store-bought plastic ring binder. Publications from the late 80s and early 90s by an organisation called Alternative Inphormation Unlimited and concern wire tapping and other forms of telephone exploitation and subversion.

Each paper is several pages in length and many are illustrated with technical diagrams. All publications state that they are sold 'FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY'. Alternative Inphormation Unlimited's slogan was 'Keeping You Informed of Big Brother.' Contents read thus:

  Answering Machine Hacking - How it's done and how to stop it; AT & T & BOC Routing Codes!!!; Beige Box - How to build and use a lineman's handset; Black Box - Complete schematics and instructions; Blue Box - Uses and applications; Blue Box - C64 home computer; Brown Box - Why pay Ma Bell for extra services such as a 3 way calling and touch tone service?; Bug Detection on Home Telephones; Bull Shitting the Operator; Call Forwarding Box; Call-Waiting Phone Tap; Cellular Telephones and Tapping Cellular; Clear Box; CNA List - Customer name & address no's used by Ma Bell. Those secret No's revealed; Converting a Tone Dialler into a Red Box; Dial 900 §'s For Free - How to; Free Phone Calls to Any Point in the World!; Gold Box; Illegal Access Code and How to Get Them!; Infinity Transmitter; Legendary Ether Box! - Snatch phone calls out of thin air! The ultimate wireless phone tap!;Listening In!!; Miniature FM Transmitter; Monitoring Phone Calls with a TVRO; Obtaining Unlisted Phone §'s; Pay Telephones; Phantom Phone Phucker!; Phone Phucking - The art of; Phone Phreaks Guide to Loops; Phone Utility for the C64/128 - The amazing rainbow box program!! the only program you'll ever need to make free long distance phone calls; Poorman's Voice Changer! - $30 device better than $250 units; Red Box - Complete guide to; Red Box - Build a; Remote Pay Phone Phreaking; Silver Box Phone; Snooper Extension Phone; Taping Telephone Conversations; Telephone Ear Piercer! The ultimate defence tactic for obscene fone calls!; Tons of Tones - The complete guide as used by Ma Bell!!; Two Minute Bug; Voice Controller; Voice Paging - Free; War Games Autodialler; Watergate Surveillance Package! Taps and Bugs.

In June 2011 at auction in Los Angeles someone paid $15000 for a self-help book annotated by Michael Jackson. It was The 48 Laws Of Power by Robert Greene (Viking 1998) a book that can usually be bought on Amazon for $10.  Bonham's catalogue entry goes thus:

"... a number of pages with passages underlined and annotated in various pens by Michael, providing an insight into his view of the world, with comments such as 'Make yourself respected, a God Demands Worship' and 'No more talking silence is more powerful', and 'you create your own circumstances even in the manner in which you are treated and looked upon', and 'deer are special because they hide if they walked the streets like dogs no one would care' + 'the moon comes every night so people don't care to look to the heavens Haleys Comet,the fact it comes once in a lifetime makes it important...'

A useful work, somewhat cynical and ruthless for a self help book with ideas taken from Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, Gracian, Talleyrand, Bismarck and also various 'con artists.'

It is really for one aspiring to wealth and fame and it is odd that Michael was so inspired by it. The author has gone on to write the 50th Law (10 lessons in Fearlessness) with the rapper named 50 cent.

MJ's lawyer Bob Sanger is on record as saying '..he loved to read. He had over 10,000 books at his house.' At one session in an LA bookstore he spent $6,000 on books and allowed anyone in his entourage to take books. Marvellous man. I like to think that was in Book Soup, my favourite LA shop.