WORLD

This archive records the day-by-day response to the Great War of a cultured and intelligent English newspaper editor operating outside the Fleet Street hegemony. It charts his change of opinion from initial optimism (8 August 1914: 'The instinct is to strike - it is nature's own law.

Each of the three printed on both sides of a piece of paper, 21.5 x 14.5 cm, the last two printed in black and red. The condition of these scarce, ephemeral items, is poor. They are damp-stained, with the first two complete, but with numerous closed tears, and the third with fraying and loss to the margins, resulting in a little loss to the illustration, but with the whole text still legible. ITEM ONE (coded AI-049-3-44) [March 1944?]: Text on one side, headed 'The Way Of All Flesh', begins 'When pretty Joan Hopkins was still standing behind the ribbon counter of a 5 & 10 cts.

4to, 346 pp. Divided into two sections, each on different printed forms, bound together in contemporary red calf 4to half- binding (with ticket of Smith & Lane, Printers, 15 Bridge St, Sydney. Text clear and complete, on aged and foxed paper. Binding worn and stained. Part One: 5 April 1915 to 31 January 1916. 4to (leaf dimensions 30 x 25 cm), 252 pp. Part Two: 1 February to 14 June 1916. 4to (leaf dimensions 32 x 25 cm), 94 pp. In a variety of hands, the second section being described as being kept by 'The officers of s/s 'Clan Macrae''.

An interesting correspondence, from one maritime expert to another, casting light on German naval attitudes in the period following the Great War. Batsch's father, Admiral Karl Ferdinand Batsch (1831-1898), is regarded as one of the founders of the German navy. Bower, who served for twenty years in the Royal Navy, retiring in 1884 with the rank of Commander, is best known as Imperial Secretary in South Africa at the time of the Jameson Raid. Following the First World War he established himself as an expert in international law relating to naval matters.

The spelling (e.g. 'honor') is American, the latest date mentioned is in 1942, and there is no indication that the document has ever been published. 58 pages, on one side each of fifty-eight A4 leaves (each roughly 26 x 20 cm), paginated 26 to 83. Punch holes for a binder at the head of each leaf.

The six works by 'Joubert' listed on COPAC appeared between 1904 and 1906, and it is reasonable from the context to assume that these five items date from the same period. All five items clear and complete, with all text on one side only of A4 leaves. The first four in fair condition, on aged paper, and in worn brown card bindings. The fifth item unbound and with the first and last leaves worn and grubby. Occasional minor manuscript corrections, amounting to no more than a dozen.

12mo, 1 p. On aged and creased paper. He has autographed the picture sent by Livingstone, and is returning it.

Stapled pamphlet. 8vo, 27 pp, including full-page photograph of Mussolini embracing a man in Nazi uniform (Himmler?). Fair: internally clean and tight; some marking and wear to covers. Inscribed on title-page to 'Eric Underwood Esq with the sincere regards of Perry Belmont'. (Underwood is perhaps the English-born Australian nutritionist, 1905-1980.) Curious, digressive, energetic attack on fascism, with sections on the Teutonic Order, 'Oath-bound organisations' (Freemasonry) and 'Gangsters'.

4to, 2 pp. 36 lines of text. Clear and complete. Good, on aged paper, with slight wear at on the reverse. Written as Comptroller of the Royal Household to Poynter as President of the Royal Academy. He is returning Poynter's letter, which he has shown the Queen, and reassures him that he has 'nothing [...] to fear about the contents of it ever being divulged'. The Queen has told Probyn to tell Poynter 'how very sorry she is to see how the business has worried' him. It concerns a plaster bust of Kitchener which the Royal Academy Council accepted as an exhibit.

Thirteen pages, paginated [i] + 1-12, on one side each of thirteen leaves, each roughly 37.5 x 16.5 cm. Each page laid out for 55 lines in the text point size (the point size for quotations is smaller). Unbound and attached by a staple in the upper inner corner. Good, with first and last leaves a little grubby and upper two corners dogeared. The first page, headed 'SEPTEMBER 4, 1951 | VOLUME V - BOOK II', is unpaginated, and carries the chapter title and sixteen-line synopsis. The following twelve pages, paginated 1-12, are each headed 'Vol. V - Bk. II - Chap. XVIII - On the Eve'.

Landscape, with leaf dimensions 19 x 10.5 cm. The diary covers 48 pages at one end of the notebook, with the diagrams and specifications over 32 pp at the other end. In original sturdy brown leather binding, with brass clasp, empty wallet at front and pouch for pencil. Marbled endpapers. In good condition. Text clear and complete on lightly-aged paper. Binding worn and with split hinges. In pencil on fore-edge: 'J. RYAN.

A valuable eyewitness account of an historic event. H.M.S. Revenge was the flagship of Admiral Freemantle, and it was to its quarterdeck that Admiral Ludwig von Reuter would be brought in 1919, after issuing the order to scuttle the entire German fleet at Scapa Flow. The text of both items is clear and complete. Both good, on lightly-aged and spotted paper. Letter One (1918): Foolscap (32 x 20.5 cm), 4 pp. In manuscript at head of first page: 'Use this where you like, Dad! Tho' be careful of showing who wrote it.

4 pages, 8vo. Creased and grubby but in good condition overall. Interesting letter in difficult hand. Opens by sending his deepest sympathy: 'I can sympathise having as you know been personally damaged by a falling branch last Xmas.' 'Officially we have given up contradicting the <?> prevalent rumours of Russian Troops moving through Great Britain. The Germans may hear of the rumours - may believe them: [^ that may do good;] but there is no truth in them at all. Barring a few Russian reservists who were in this country no Russian troops have been sent to France.

Both letters lightly creased and spotted, but good overall. Letter One (8vo, 8 pp): In stamped, addressed envelope. Begins by asking whether Haydon would consider acting as co-executor to his estate with his wife Flora. Outlines his financial situation and discusses the executor's duties. Turns to 'the naval situation', Haydon's letter on the subject being 'so guarded that it might be nailed up in Trafalgar Square without helping the enemy'.

An attractive and delicate piece of ephemera, dusty and slightly tarnished, but in very good condition overall. Skilfully manufactured and giving a convincing metallic appearance. 15 cm wide from opposing points of the star, which is of gold card overlaid with silver silver card, both types embossed in a pattern of pearls of different sizes radiating out from the centre, over which sits the Reichsadler, of embossed black card, 6 cm high by 7 cm wide, crowned, with wings outstretched, orb and sceptre in its talons.

Part two only (any other part missing). 101pp, 8vo, carbon copy, describing the day to day life of a soldier in India during the Ist WW, 24 March -7 Sept. 1915, duties, leisure activities, fellow-soldiers, rations, the market, inspections, letter-writing, "Telegram to say short rifles on the way", games, Boards, "Today [4 May] the final list was made out for men going to the Persian Gulf" (men from his company listed), parades, marches, [12 May] farewell to Persian party, replacements for Persian party, (little about "natives"), "boots from Cawnpore", trip to Dimond Harbour, and so on.

Typescript, with manuscript corrections and additions, 230pp., 4to, cloth binding, signs of wear but mainly good. A series of humorous stories set in Mesopotamia during the First World War and based on the writer's experiences in that Theatre Amara, Baghdad, etc. (A letter enclosed in the book reveals that he was still serving in India in 1923.)

Explorer (1856-1933), and commander of Prisoner of War Camp during the Great War. Three pages (with the third, including the signature, written crosswise), 12mo. In very good condition. He has been away and apologises for not replying to her 'kind invitation' sooner. He is disappointed not to be able to accept, as he should have liked to have had 'a chat with you & your husband'. Signed 'Henry de Windt'.

One page, folio. Very good on lightly creased paper. Headed 'FIGHTING FUND' and listing the members of the 'PROVISIONAL COMMITTEE' (including Lampson as Honorary Secretary, and the Duke of Westminster and Earl of Malmesbury). Communication of twenty-seven lines, with decided proto-fascistic overtones.

Manuscript, 8 pages, 4to, chipped (with minor textual loss) and slightly stained, text clear. Convoy and anti-submarine activity. Usually one line description per day but there is a long description of action involved while on convoy duty, encounters with submarines, reinforcements, damaged ships, etc. Their first move was to leave Base on 27th June "in search of Submarine D.6. (overdue) and then carried on to Lamlash". [D.6.

All three items good. Item One: Prospectus and application form, headed 'The Anti-German League. Introduction by the Founder.' Three pages, in a bifolium. Leaf dimensions 27.5 x 21.5 cm. Printed in blue. The 'Introduction' covers the first two pages, flanked by columns bearing the words 'Lest We Forget.' and 'MOTTO: "Everything German Taboo." ' It includes the headings ' "Made in Germany" - The Mark of the Beast' and 'The Alien Menace'.

Four 8vo diaries kept by F.C. Poyser, the first of which gives details of all the ships Poyser served on from 1905 to 1926, including names of captains, dates, voyages, distances, cargoes. During the First World War he served on six vessels OHMS. He gives the occasional diagram of convoys, lists the cargoes and their quantities (horses, mules, oats, flour, boats, lorries, ambulances, aeroplanes, etc.), gives destinations (Canada, Australia, South Africa, India, Ceylon).

64 pages, 16mo. In original printed wraps. In poor condition. Ownership inscription at head of front wrap. The two binding staples rusted, and the wraps in particular grubby, torn and worn. Photograph of 'Private JENKIN THOMAS' in what appears to be World War I uniform on front wrap. Illustration of the 'SINKING OF THE "TITANIC." ' on page 9; photograph of 'WILLIAM HERBERT HARRIS, A.L.C.M.' on page 47.

12mo, 3 pp, 26 lines. Good, with tiny pin holes at head and foot of both leaves of the bifolium, and one corner roughened by removal of mount. Buckmaster has learnt that Meade is 'contemplating leaving [his] work in this Office', and would 'greatly regret any such step' as Meade's work is 'of great assistance and is much appreciated by all of us in this room'. While Buckmaster realises that there is little opportunity for advancement, he feels that 'we all do render considerable service to the state'.

Dimensions 14 centimeters by 9 centimeters. In good condition, although grubby and with creasing to one corner and ink from postmark along one edge. Sepia photograph of airborne balloon with a tangle of guyropes and mass of people beneath it. Hangars in background. The airship pioneer August von Parseval (1861-1942) worked in partnership with the engineer Hans Bartsch von Sigsfeld and the businessman August Riedinge. The "Dragonballoons" (Drachenballone), which he designed for military observation, are predecessors of the present-day blimp.

Dimensions of paper roughly. Creased, with fraying to extremities, closed tears, and some staining and fading due to damp. A careful production, detailing the fortification to the towns of Bilstein (north-east of Cologne), Junkermuehle and Nassenstein, in black, yellow, red and green, with attractive lettering. 'References' are to 'barbed wire entanglements', 'main roads', 'Woods', 'stream', 'bye Roads' and 'Bridges'. Pencil additions include position of 'SNIPERS'. Ascribed at foot to 'Cpl. A. Hunter' and dated 'February 1919'.

Landscape 12mo (leaf dimensions 12 x 16 cm): 27 pp. Stitched with no jacket as issued. Covers a little grubby, but a good copy of a scarce item. Title page and twelve delightful full-page pochoir illustrations by Arnoux, all hand-coloured: 'En temps de Paix', 'Premier contact', 'Le sous-lieutenant', 'Les Indiens', 'Black-Watch', 'Le capitaine et l'infirmiere', 'Les Irlandais', 'Le Major', 'La Mascotte', 'Ship ahoy!!', 'Le bon Ecossais' and 'God save the King'.

3 pages, 8vo. On three leaves of paper, all creased, discoloured and worn, with a few tears and pin holes. Lively, humorous, and well-written account of the army career of a skiver. 'Behold me then the next time in the trenches a Lewis Gunner, my-self to be about to kill Bosches in neat little trenches of 47. As a matter of fact I did not kill one as I never fired the gun but we had one or two thrilling times. [...] January 1st. 1917 I became a member of the now famous Tank Corps.

Interesting item with contemporary resonances. ITEM ONE: dimensions eight and a half inches by fourteen and a half inches. Around fifty lines of text. Clean, but heavily folded. States that 18 months previously Maude and the British Army had come 'not as conquerors but as deliverers'. Describes the progress of the war and states that despite Maude's death the promises he made in a proclamation to the citizens of Baghdad will be kept. Announces eight undertakings (e.g. 'Fifth, that the routes to the sacred places will be thrown open once again for organized pilgrimages').

The author is obscure, but the letter is addressed to 'Sir Rennell' [Sir James Rennell Rodd (1858-1941), diplomat and author]. 2 pages, 16mo, creased but in good condition. A florid missive beginning 'In this tempest of egotism and hate which has plunged us all into Teutonic darkness, you will not have forgotten, my dear Sir Rennell, the lines of Coleridge: | [...]'.