Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi: Being the 26th and 27th Chapters of Saint Matthew's Gospel from the Latin Text.

GILL, Eric

Limited edition; 4to; original cream buckram and dust jacket. Edition of 250 copies, this being number 57. Printed in red and black, wood-engraved title vignette and illustrations by Gill. A fine copy, end papers uncut and unopened dust jacket very slightly soiled and frayed at edges and wear to the extremities. Loosely inserted are a group of four wood-engravings from "Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi", comprising St. Mary Magdalen (Physick 349), on japon, inscribed by the artist in lower margin "Evan from Eric"; The Kiss of Judas (351), on wove paper with partial watermark, inscribed by the artist in lower margin "Evan from Eric", spot within image; The Carrying of the Cross (352), on laid paper, initialed by the artist and marked "proof" in lower margin; and an unsigned example of The Crucifixion (353). The wood-engravings come from the collection of Evan Gill, the younger brother and biographer of the artist.

The Magus.

FOWLES, John

First American edition,; 8vo; original green cloth and dust jacket with painting by Tom Adams. Inscribed by the author on the front free end paper to Denys and Monica Sharrocks - 'Denys and Monica much love, John.' From the collection of Denys and Monica Sharrocks, thence by descent. Denys Sharrocks was for half a century John Fowles' closest friend. They first in September 1952 when both were teaching at the Anargyrios and Korgialeneios School in Spetsai. Their time there and their friendship was documented in The Magus, in Fowles' own two-volume Journals and in the biography by Eileen Warburton. Although Denys Sharrocks and his wife Monica were frequently working abroad they often met up with John and Elizabeth Fowles at the at Underhill Farm, Lyme Regis, and at the Sharrocks' home in Shropshire. Monica Sharrocks and Liz Fowles became very close friends and the couples often went on holiday together. These visits and holidays are documented in Fowles' Journals. Meetings and visits between the Fowles and Sharrocks continued until Elizabeth's death in 1990. Denys and Monica were present at Belmont House, Lyme Regis, when Liz Fowles died. Following Liz Fowles' death, the long-standing friendship began to wane, especially after John married Sarah Smith in 1998. The publication of volume 1 of the Journals in 2003, with its controversial content, led to an abrupt end to the friendship. In 2004 Denys donated over 300 letters written by Elizabeth and John Fowles to him and Monica to the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin. The center already had a major collection of John Fowles material, the bulk of which was acquired direct from the author in 1991. In a long letter of 2004 to Dr Thomas F Staley, Director of the Harry Ransom Center, concerning the letters, Eileen Warburton writes: 'Outside of Fowles' own diaries, their letters are the most valuable John Fowles related documents in existence...The sixty letters written all or in part by John Fowles is the largest intact collection from John Fowles to anyone other than Elizabeth herself'. She further states that the Sharrockses are of tremendous importance to an understanding of who Fowles was, as a writer and person and that the letters completely transformed her understanding of his life and work. Very good, marks to boards and spine faded, in a very good dust jacket, with wear to the extremities.

Manuscript Diary of a Camping Trip in France in 1926

HARTLEY, A.W.

Manuscript diary; contemporary white pictorial buckram lettered in black; 16 by 12.5 cm. Signed by A.W. Hartley on the title page. holiday in France in the summer of 1926. Starting from Paris, the
10th Finchley Scout Group heads to the Pyrenees for a series of mountain hikes, eventually reaching the Pics d'Enfer on the Spanish border: "no less than twenty lakes could be seen with water of a wonderful colour, and with ice floes on their surface." Upon their return to Paris, the troop visits "the grave of the Unknown Warrior," where they lay a wreath in memory of the French scouts killed in the Great War, and unknowingly commit a diplomatic faux pas, marching through the Arc de Triomphe while flying the Union Jack. (This was the first time since the Napoleonic era that a foreign flag had passed under the arch, with the exception of the German occupation.) The scouts ascend the Eiffel Tower and wander conspicuously around the nightclubs of Montmartre, with comic results: "We caused an immediate sensation. . . . We received a number of invitations out to dinner and on to a place called 'Le Rat Mort' (Dead Rat), all of which were politely declined in our best French." Visits to Versailles and Notre-Dame followed. "probably the best camp we have ever had." The text is illustrated with line drawings and a series of landscapes rendered in a sepia wash, and well as a panoramic water colour of the Pyrenees. There is also a cartoon of the scouts going to Montmartre in a
taxi. A lovely survival. Fine just a little toning to the end papers.

The Chester Play of The Deluge with an Autograph Letter signed "David Michael" from David Jones to Gordian Gill

JONES, David

Limited edition; 4to; original red buckram and pictorial dust jacket printed on pale blue paper, 10 large wood-engraved illustrations by David Jones. One of 275 copies, with an Autograph Letter signed "David Michael" from David Jones to Gordian Gill in fine stylised lettering with a small drawing of Christ on the cross at foot loosely inserted in envelope, presentation inscription to Evan Gill from John Garland on the limitation page. David Jones' most significant work for the Golden Cockerel Press with a charming letter from him to Gill's adopted son, "do one picture each day and when you are old you will be very happy... when I come down you shall teach me how to paint instead of Mr Gertler. Very good, spine very slightly faded and light browning to end papers. The dust jacket is very good, with spine chipped at head, sunning to spine and head of panels, light surface soiling. From the collection of Evan Gill, with his bookplate to front pastedown.

Chinese Labour Record of Service

South Africa: Rose Deep Limited

Manuscript record of Chinese immigrant workers in the Rose Deep Gold Mine near Johannesburg, 996 pages, large 4to.; original half leather binding, title in gilt on upper cover. The manuscript chronicles the service of 874 Chinese immigrants, dating from February 1905 to January 1908. Each miner has a full page listing: registration number, name and surname, amount earned, moneys advanced, remittance to China, number of shifts worked, number of working shifts in month, leave, sickness, accidents, desertion, unlawful absence, deaths, repatriation, total shifts lost, and remarks as to conduct and character. After the Anglo-Boer War, production on the gold mines of the Witwatersrand was very low due to a lack of labour. The British government was eager to get these mines back working as quickly as possible as part of their overall effort to rebuild the economy. Much of the local labour had returned to farming and the Governor Lord Milner reluctantly agreed with the assent of the British government to import Chinese coolies, each on a three-year contract, that terminated with compulsory repatriation. The mines had become unpopular with Africans due to attempts to reduce wages in order to maximise profits. Some mines experimented using whites as unskilled labour but these experiments were unsuccessful as they tended to demand higher wages. On the 19th of June 1904, the first Chinese labourers thus arrived at the Witwatersrand. Between 1904 and 1910, there were almost 64,000 Chinese working on the Witwatersrand gold mines, near Johannesburg. Most of these contractors were recruited from the Chinese provinces of Zhili, Shandong and Henan. This measure was very successful in increasing the production of gold from mining but in the long run it faced stiff resistance from white labour that considered the Chinese unfair competition in terms of skilled and semi-skilled jobs. Chinese labour in the South African Mines met appallingly dangerous condition, a lack of sanitation, good food and welfare. Herbert Hoover, who would become the 31st U.S. president, was a director of Chinese Engineering and Mining Corporation (CEMC) when it became a supplier of coolie labour to South African mines. The first shipment of 2,000 Chinese workers arrived in Durban from Qinhuangdao in July 1904. Almost all the Chinese labour was entirely recruited and shipped by CEMC. When the living and working conditions of the labourers became known, public opposition to the scheme grew and questions were asked in the British Parliament. The scheme was abandoned in 1911. The mass importation of Chinese to work on the gold mines contributed to the fall from power of the Conservative government in the Britain. However, it did stimulate to the economic recovery of South Africa after the Anglo-Boer War by once again making the mines of the Witwatersrand the most productive gold mines in the world. Little is known about the lives of the Chinese men who actually worked in the Witwatersrand gold mines and this is a rare document which sheds light on this largely forgotten page in Imperial history. Spine lacking and worn.