A CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THOMAS J. WISE AND MRS. M. BRUCE, with related material.
Seven autograph letters, signed: four from T. J. Wise to Mrs. M. Bruce, and three from Bruce to Wise. The letters from Wise are all on single sheets of Shelley Society letterhead, folded to small 8vo, addressed to 'Dear Madam', signed either 'Thos. J. Wise' or 'Th. J. Wise'. The correspondence is mainly business-related: Bruce was purchasing books from Wise, although in one letter she gives Wise some news about her son. The letters comprise: 1. Four pages, dated May 13th 1893: [a reply to Bruce's letter from day before]: '. . . I have sent you . . . a packet containing Ruskin's "Letters to Ward" vol. 1, "Letters to general correspondents" - & "Letters to a London Bibliopole" - in sheets. . . . These books are rather expensive, but that is in consequence of the very limited number that are printed. But you need not be alarmed at the price, as they will shortly become of considerable value by reason of their scarcity, and the very great interest of their contents. You shall have vol. 2 of "'Letters to Ward" when ready. Pray instruct your binders \ul not to cut the edges\ulnone of the "Letters to a London Bibliopole" when they are binding it. Binders are a bad lot, and if they are not closely looked after will utterly destroy a good book by wickedly cutting away the rough edges of the hand-made paper, and so for ever destroying the perfect beauty of the virgin leaves.' 2. One page, dated July 8th 1893: 'Herewith I have pleasure in handing you vol. 2 of Mr. Ruskin's "Letters to Wm. Ward". The cost of the vol. is 18/-'. 3. Two pages, dated Dec. 22 1893: 'I will with pleasure retain a copy of "Alaric at Rome" as you desire. Perhaps you will kindly advise me when you return to England'. 4. Three pages (last signature), dated June 13th 1894: 'I send the copy of "Alaric at Rome" herewith. I will with pleasure let you have due notice should I at any time print another poem by Mr. Swinburne. But I want to devote most of my attention to printing \ul Letters\ulnone - as it is of the greatest importance that these documents should be preserved in type for the use of students of a future generation.' The letters from Mrs. Bruce, all signed 'M. Bruce' are: 1. Single small 8vo sheet written on both sides, with light horizontal crease from folding, dated May 12th 1893: 'I . . . will gladly have the sheets of "Letters to a London Bibliopole" bound if you will kindly send them to me. I enclose cheque . . . ' 2. Single small 8vo sheet written on both sides on 'Gormyre, Stretford' letterhead, dated July 21 1893: 'I have taken the liberty of sending you "The City News" containing an article written by my son A. Oldham Lees. He, and a young friend of his, with three guides, were the first to ascend Mont Blanc this year . . . ' 3. Probably a draft letter, on a larger 8vo sheet, folded, 'Gormyre, Stretford' letterhead, undated, with three pages of closely written text, (sometimes crossed out or overscored), including information about her book collection: 'I don't know how it is that I am so fond of books. I have not any acquaintances who care to look at my treasures and my [good, kind?] old husband would not expend sixpence upon a book except to give me pleasure. He often says I fill the home with rubbish and I very often say I will never buy another book, then I see one that \ul I feel I must have\ulnone and am again seized with the fever of longing . . .' Interestingly this letter ends with Mrs. Bruce assuring Wise that she 'will make all enquiries and try to find you The Lover's Tale [title crossed out then repeated] The "Lover's Tale" 1883 and if I am so fortunate as to come across it in some unexpected quarter you shall have it by the next post.' [Wise produced a counterfeit edition of Tennyson's The Lover's Tale circa 1890]. Accompanying the letters are the sheets of Stray Letters from Professor Ruskin to a London Bibliopole and the copy of Alaric at Rome mentioned in the correspondence: 1. Arnold (Matthew) ALARIC AT ROME. A prize poem. A type-facsimile reprint of the original edition, Published at Rugby in 1840. Edited by Thomas J. Wise. Pp. x+12(including the facsimile title page, last blank)+[2](colophon, verso blank), coloured frontispiece with tissue guard; tall demy 8vo; cream papered boards, spine lettered in gilt, top fore-corner of lower board bruised; uncut; edges of leaves slightly foxed; printed for private circulation only, London, 1893. One of 30 copies thus? Todd 2d. *The limitation certificate on page [v] states 'the impression of this book is limited to a few copies for private circulation only', but Wise later recorded in the Ashely Library list of 1895 that there were five copies on vellum and thirty on Whatman paper. From the type set up for this legitimate facsimile edition, Wise also made some counterfeits of the original, omitting the prefatory material and the printer's imprint at the end. The counterfeit was a cornerstone of Carter and Pollard's typographical evidence in their Enquiry and pointed to Wise as the culprit. 2. Ruskin (John) STRAY LETTERS FROM PROFESSOR RUSKIN TO A LONDON BIBLIOPOLE. Pp. xvi+86+[2](colophon, verso blank), index; post 8vo; folded sheets, unsewn; outer sheets slightly soiled; privately printed (Not for Sale), London, 1892. Edition limited to 'a few copies'. Cook & Wedderburn XXXVII.638-641; Todd 210d (giving the number of copies as 7 printed on vellum and 33 on Whatman paper). Edited and privately printed by Thomas J. Wise. The 'London Bibliopole' was bookseller, author and publisher Frederick Startridge Ellis (1830-1901). Also accompanied by some loose ephemera: a. the printed prospectus for The bibliography of Matthew Arnold. Single sheet, printed on both sides, with 'Now Ready' stamped in red over the printed 'In the Press' at head of first page, edges slightly creased and split. b. The printed prospectus for Letters from John Ruskin, to The Rev. F. A. Malleson, M.A . . . Single sheet, folded to form four cr. 8vo pages (2 blank), with The Ashley Library device as colophon, accompanied by a separate facsimile of a Ruskin letter. c. An extract from a printed catalogue listing three of Wise's Ruskin items, the margins annotated in Wise's hand with notes about their availability and cost. *Mrs. Bruce was presumably Margaret Ann Bruce who lived at 'Gormyre' (341 Chester Road), Stretford. She apparently had an extensive book collection: the 'rubbish' her husband did not care for included 'Mr. Morris's Caxton's 'Golden Legend' that I got from Mr. Quaritch. . . . I suppose I must have 2000 or 3000 vols'. The collection:. Item #157742
Price: $6,500.00