Published by 'London July 4 / Upper Montagu st. W', 1879
Manuscript / Paper Collectible Signed
See his entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Taylor's in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, and folded once. In worn envelope with Penny Red stamp and postmark, and slight loss around flap. The envelope was no doubt retained because it was addressed by Delaunay to 'Sir Tom Taylor / Lavender Sweet [sic] / Wandsworth'. A neatly laid written and laid out communication, addressed to 'Cher Monsieur Taylor' and signed 'Yours truly / L Delaunay / de la Comedie française'. He regrets that he and his wife cannot accept Taylor's 'très cordiale invitation', as they accepted a similar one ten days before from 'Mr. & Mrs William Spottiswode' [sic]. He concludes with the thought that it would have been 'bien agréable de faire plus ample connaissance avec un homme d'un esprit aussi fin et aussi distingué'.
Published by '76 Fulham Rd / Brompton London / May 4 - 77 ', 1877
Manuscript / Paper Collectible
See his entry and Taylor's in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. Sixteen lines of closely-written text. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Begins: 'My dear Mr. Taylor / Would you allow me to introduce a friend of mine Mr. Knewstube to you. He is a friend of Rossetti's [sic] and a former pupil.' It 'occurred to' Wills that if Taylor 'liked them' [sic], he 'might perhaps help him to a market for his pictures (watercolor) should you know a likely buyer - as I am sorry to say he has a large young family and has had a long & sad struggle - That his pictures have real merits may be indicated by the fact that one of his heads is on the line in the Academy & another well placed' (meaning that Knewstub has a well-placed picture in the Royal Academy summer exhibition). Knewstub has been 'several times so lucky in this particular, his pictures do not seem to sell even fairly'.
Published by 'Margutta House. / 103. Marylebone Road / March 28th', 1873
Manuscript / Paper Collectible
See his entry, and that of Taylor, in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Only the sculptors heavily inked signature 'John Adams-Acton' is in his hand, the rest more lightly written by an amanuensis. Addressed 'To, Tom Taylor Esqr.' Begins: 'I address you as a representative of the press to solicit you to pay my studio a visit.' He lists the names of five 'public and distinguished men' whose busts he can show, beginning with 'The Right Honble W. E. Gladstone - Premier' and including 'Isaac Holden Esqr. / Of Bradford - Inventor of the Combing Machine'. There is also a 'Medallion full length Portrait, Miss Duncan Morison'. These works are going to the Royal Academy on the following Wednesday, 'but it would be a source of pride and satisfaction to me, if you would favour me with an inspection of my Studio before I part with them'.
Published by On letterhead of the Local Government Act Office 8 Richmond Terrace Whitehall; 30 January ?, 1864
Manuscript / Paper Collectible
3pp., 8vo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with remains of stub along one edge. Second leaf inserted into a paper windowpane mount. Written in a hurried and difficult hand. Taylor writes that he wishes to have a portrait put into a case 'by the workman you employ for such work'. He gives instructions, concluding 'The portrait I think the most satisfactory that has yet been taken of me.' The National Portrait Gallery possesses an albumen carte-de-visite of Taylor ('1864 or before') by John & Charles Watkins.
Published by 2 June no year but and on paper watermarked with that date; on letterhead of 13 Carlton House Terrace, 1863
Manuscript / Paper Collectible
See the entry for Grey and Taylor in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Begins: 'Dear Mr Taylor - / I am just come home from seeing "the ticket of leave man," & before I go to bed I must thank you for an evening of very great enjoyment.' It pleased him 'to see so good a play, not taken from the French, but really English, [the play was in fact adapted from the French] & teaching the public what is true instead of encouraging a popular delusion of the day'. Taylor has been 'very lucky too' in his actors, and 'the whole play is capitally got up, & I do not know that I ever enjoyed one more'. Good firm valediction: 'Very faithfully / Grey'.
Published by near Thirsk; 23 March, 1850
4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on aged paper, with remains of stub along one edge. Written in a difficult hand. Taylor begins: 'Dear Mr Mewburn, I shall not be at Sessions [as a barrister on the northern circuit] any more. I have just accepted an appointment as legal Assistant Secretary to the Board of Health, and I enter on the duties of the place on Monday. The salary is £500 per: an: to begin with, with the prospect of increase. I think the work will suit me, and I am sure that the situation will be one of increasing responsibility and duties every day more onerous & useful.' He hopes this step will meet with Mewburn's approval, and asks to be remembered 'most affectionately to all at Larch field'. He concludes 'My vacations in future will be short - but I hope, nevertheless, to be able to spend the first of them, or part of it, in Darlington.'.
Published by Lavender Sweep Wandsworth; 18 March, 1874
4pp., 12mo. On aged paper, with minor traces of gum from mount. Taylor begins: 'My dear Charles Neville | I was glad to receive your letter, for it showed that the seed I had taken pains to sow had not fallen, as most seed so sown in the theatre does fall, upon an ungrateful soil. I am very glad for your own sake, as well as that of fthe play, that your impersonation of William the IIId has made such a good mark, and a mark of the right kind - as a presentation of a historical personage of note in distinctive character.' Neville has 'much to learn - especially in the very difficult point of modulation of the voice, which shd. be as flexible & transparent to shroud the thought through it, as a robe of India muslin to shroud the form.' He urges Neville to 'work at this night & day', and to 'not be satisfied till you have tamed your rebellious organ'. He should 'always take good advice, & be grateful for pains bestowed upon you by those whose advice & instruction are disinterested, sound, and founded on a high conception of your art.'.
Published by 10 July ?. Home Office Whitehall. On letterhead of the Secretary of State Home Department, 1872
Manuscript / Paper Collectible Signed
See his entry, those of his sons Philip and Robert, and that of Taylor, in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on discoloured and lightly-worn paper. Addressed to 'My Dear Mr Taylor' and signed 'Alfred P. Graves'. He begins by enquiring after the state of the recipient's health, before giving details of when Parliament 'will probably be up': 'Otherwise I have no political news to interest you. But here is a really funny Irish story which will I am sure be more welcome.' A story about 'Jarvie' and an 'Old Prude' follows, with several deletions, under the heading 'A Fact.' ('O Driver. How can such a disgrace be allowed as for people to bath in full sight of the high road.') He has also got 'a surprising treble anagram' of 'Livingstone' for him, which he 'would like to see in Punch'. Postscript concerns a possible introduction to editor of Punch Shirley Brooks. From Taylor's papers. Note: "In 1869, he entered the Civil Service as clerk in the British Home Office, where he remained until he became an Inspector of Schools in 1874." [Wikipedia].
Published by Addressed by Kate Crowe: '7 Taviton St. Gordon Sqr. London W.1 / Oct. 1st. ' Taylor's notes without date or place, 1879
Manuscript / Paper Collectible
The present item is on a 12mo bifolium of light gray paper, with Kate Crowe's letter on the two outer pages, and Tom Taylor's unrelated pencil notes on the two inner pages. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. There is an engraved portrait of 'Miss Kate Bateman', with a long biographical footnote, on pp.160-161 of 'The Reminiscences of J. L. Toole', ed. Hatton (1889). That footnote states, with regard to the subject of this letter: 'Miss Bateman appeared on the first night of the reopening of Sadler's Wells under the management of [her mother] Mrs. Bateman, in Rob Roy, as 'Helen MacGregor,' and spoke the opening address on that occasion, written by the late Tom Taylor.' See also the entries on Kate's mother Sidney Bateman, and on Tom Taylor, in the Oxford DNB, the former stating that after purchasing the lease of Sadler's Wells, Mrs Bateman 'virtually rebuilt it to meet the fire code requirements, and opened on 9 October 1879 with a revival of a dramatic version of Rob Roy, featuring her daughter Kate as Helen Macgregor'. With regard to the present item, Crowe's letter is attributed, in a late nineteenth-century hand, to 'Kate Browne / - actress', there being no such person. (According to the ODNB Sidney Bateman died at 7 Taviton St.) The confusion may arise from Crowe's stylized signature to the letter, 'Kate Crowe'. She writes: 'My dear Mr. Taylor / I send the first rough copy just recd. I also send the M S S & notes in case you have not got them with you. It is not to be printed on this glaring, ugly paper. I have studied the Address. It has been a real labour of love. My mother proposes giving copies to the audience after the play is over. I am not going to let any body see it - & it wd. be very kind of you to keep it under double lock & key! / What a Help it will be to that first night. / All best remembrances from us all.' Taylor's notes, written crosswise on the centre pages, are headed: 'The Lord of Burleigh / (Version for the Northamptonshire Agricultural Society's Annual Review)'. They comprise a heavily-reworked poem, possibly intended for Punch. For the context, see the long article 'The Lord of Burleigh and the Farmer's Daughter', in the Saturday Review, 27 September 1879.
Published by On government letterhead; undated c., 1866
4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The first page headed 'Act III', and the whole tightly-written and filled with deletions, interpolations and marginal notes, providing a valuable insight into the creative process of one of Victorian England's most successful dramatists. The last page breaks off: 'Handeside confesses his own desperate attachment. Markham '. 'A Sister's Penance' was a great success, with 83 performances at the Adelphi between 26 November 1866 and 2 March 1867.