English Literature and History [ Sotheby's, auction catalogue, sale date: 13 July, 2000 ]

Sotheby's, London, auction catalogue for the sale held on 13th July, 2000. Laminated wrappers, 4to,. 168 pp, plates (some colour), ills. 276 lots. Among the highlights noted were the following: The archive of the philosopher and historian Sir James Mackintosh; A collection of letters and working filmscripts relating to Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove"; Illuminated pedigree presented by Robert Cooke to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester; Important collection of family correspondence of Sir Laurence Olivier; Books and scripts of the actor Denholm Elliott; Papers of Guy Johnson, Superintendant of Indian Affairs in New York in the War of Independence; Collections of first editions by Ian Fleming, William Golding and Vladimir Nabokov; Fine collection of works by W.B, Yeats, some inscribed; Fine autograph letters signed by John Evelyn, Joseph Addison, James Boswell, Samuel Johnson,; Horace Walpole, Charles Dickens, C.S. Lewis, Ted Hughes, and others. From the introduction "[T]he philosopher and historian Sir James Mackintosh (1765-1832)...was one of the best known public figures of his age, and his social circle in London included practically everyone of any intellectual distinction, especially in the fields of literature and politics. A genial, amiable and very eloquent man, he was generally well liked, but inevitably attracted some enmity. Among much else in these extensive and revealing papers, it is interesting to see letters by the likes of S.T. Coleridge, Samuel Parr, William Godwin and James Mill, sending him effusive expressions of admiration when he could be of service to them, but expressing very different sentiments on other occasions, usually behind his back. The papers throw extensive light on Mackintosh's own political and philosophical thinking, as well as on his personal life. The correspondence involving so many of his contemporaries increases the significance ot the archive for the historian of intellectual life in general in this turbulent and revolutionary period. Very Good.