9 BRITISH LEGION – DEIGHTON, E. Lonsdale (compiler). The British Legion Album in aid of Field- Marshal Earl Haig’s appeal for ex-service men of all ranks. 1922–23 the world’s most notable collection of autographs An extraordinary, unique, and unequalled album of autographs from hundreds of the leading political, military, and cultural figures of the early 20th century, a vast project diligently assembled to raise money for the young British Legion, encompassing figures as diverse as Churchill, Lloyd George, Mussolini, Elgar, Jan Smuts, Kipling, Yeats, Baden Powell, Gustav Holst, Vaughan Williams, and A. A. Milne. The British Legion was founded in 1921 to support former servicemen, under the presidency of Field Marshal Haig. The project was undertaken by the autograph collector E. Lonsdale Deighton to raise funds for the charity, in the tradition of autograph sales to support the Red Cross which had occurred during the war. Deighton spent about 18 months soliciting contributions. The album was specially bound by the leading British bookbinder Zaehnsdorf. Haig handwrote a lengthy foreword noting that each signature represents “the depth and the sincerity of their respect, and gratitude, towards the dead; towards fallen comrades of ours, who dying left homes and dear ones destitute; towards those gallant lads who fell on the threshold of life”. Funds were raised for the Legion firstly through the issue of a facsimile edition of the album published by Cassell & Company and sold for five shillings, and afterwards through the album’s raffle in a ballot, where it was advertised as “the world’s most notable collection of autographs” and was said to be insured for £25,000 (over a million pounds in today’s money). The winner of the ballot was Fred Hotine, an accountant from Watford, who soon afterwards consigned it for sale at Sotheby’s, promising a portion of the proceeds as a further donation to the fund. There it raised only £350, a serious disappointment. The album contains 527 inscriptions, signatures, and other entries by a wide range of public figures, with notable contributors including: Royalty: the future Edward VIII and George VI; King Albert and Queen Elizabeth of the Belgians; King Victor Emmanuel II and Queen Elena of Italy; King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie of Spain. Statesmen: British prime ministers H. H. Asquith, David Lloyd, Andrew Bonar Law, Stanley Baldwin, and Winston Churchill; French presidents Alexandre Millerand, Raymond Poincaré, and Georges Clemenceau; Italian dictator Benito Mussolini; US presidents Warren Harding and William Howard Taft; prime minister of Canada William Lyon Mackenzie-King; prime minister of Australia Stanley Melbourne Bruce; prime minister of New Zealand William Ferguson Massey; prime minister of South Africa Jan Smuts. Military: Field Marshall Earl Haig; Marshal Joffre; Marshal Foch; General Pershing; Admiral Beatty; Air Marshal Sir Hugh M. Trenchard; Field Marshal Plumer; Field Marshal Allenby; Field Marshal French; and 23 recipients of the Victoria Cross. Writers: Robert Bridges; Thomas Hardy; J. M. Barrie; Rudyard Kipling; Walter de la Mare; Joseph Conrad; Arthur Conan Doyle; H. Rider Haggard; W. B. Yeats; John Buchan; John Galsworthy; G. K. Chesterton; George Bernard Shaw; A. E. Housman; Jerome K. Jerome; A. A. Milne.
Also included are artists (William Orpen, William Heath Robinson, Christopher R. W. Nevinson, John Collier); composers (Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, Maurice Ravel, Giacomo Puccini, Ralph Vaughan Williams); and various others including Robert Baden-Powell, Guglielmo Marconi, Flinders Petrie, Lords Beaverbrook and Rothermere, Ernest Rutherford, Millicent Garrett Fawcett, Commander Frank Wild and 11 other members of the Shackleton–Rowett expedition, and George Mallory and five other members of the 1922 Mount Everest expedition. Large quarto (311 × 238 mm). Original vellum by Zaehnsdorf, spine and front cover lettered in gilt, top edge gilt, others uncut; with original blue cloth jacket and blue folding morocco box, lettered in gilt. With 136 leaves of autographs, each with facing leaf of names and titles, most with tissue guards. In fine condition. £125,000 [153684]
9
9
9
9
9
9
9
LEADERSHIP
8
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter maker