Every day Sophie Dupre presents two items from her large stock of signed photographs, autograph letters, autographs for sale, royal memoralbilia and antiquarian manuscripts.
The photographs are presented with the catalogue descriptions.
On this day... see what happened on your special day
May 12
ON THIS DAY
On this day in 1820 Florence Nightingale, was born in Florence. She came to prominence while serving as a manager of nurses trained by her during the Crimean War, where she organised the tending to wounded soldiers. She gave nursing a highly favourable reputation and became an icon of Victorian culture, especially in the persona of "The Lady with the Lamp" making rounds of wounded soldiers at night.
In 1925 Tony Hancock, the actor and comedian, was born in Birmingham. He was at the peak of his career during the 1950s and early 1960s, and had a major success with his BBC series Hancock's Half Hour.
NIGHTINGALE (Florence, 1820-1910, Nurse and Hospital Reformer)
Extraordinarly long Autograph Letter Signed in full to Mrs Constable saying that she is “sorry for your dilemma (about Caroline Nichols). I can of course only speak of the time she was with me. I understood that Mrs Jonas (her intermediate mistress) was a Jewish lady. I though it unwise of Caroline to take the place of Mrs Jonas unwise to take her. The Jewish ways of cooking & of eating are so different from ours. With regard to ‘sending up things badly served’, I can only say that during 15 months I, being an invalid, giving a great deal of trouble (such as this; that, at certain times of the day, I am obliged to have something, altho’ only little, every hour,) Caroline never once sent me up anything ‘badly served’ ... everything was quite remarkable in the cleanliness & nicety that my own maid threw a great deal upon her, which every maid I have previously had, always did for me herself, that, alluding to this & also to other things I stated that Caroline under provocation, had acted on the whole a straightforward & trustworthy ... altho’ her temper is not good, any temper less like ‘spiteful’ I have never known ... I saw her rarely, nothing like every day. But I think it often happens that a mistress confined to her bed as I unfortunately am, hears more instead of less, of her household troubles ... I would take Caroline back myself if she & I were disengaged at the same time. I had her from my good friend Mrs Sutherland ... which whom she lived about the same length of time, I think she did with me ...”, 6 sides 8vo., on mourning paper, 115 Park Street, 26th March 1864
38389
HANCOCK (Tony, 1924-1968, Comedian and Actor)
Fine Vintage postcard photo signed Showing him half length seated backwards on a chair with his arms folded on the back, 5½” x 3½”, no place, no date, circa 1965
38390
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