An Englishman's Love Letters. Published in 1901 at the Sign of the Unicorn, London. Second printing. Printed by The Gresham Press. Hardcover wrapper, with string tie. All edges gilt. 71 pages.

Some quick literary history: In 1900, Laurence Housman (1865-1969), younger brother of poet A.E. Housman, published a volume entitled An Englishwoman's Love Letters. Initially published anonymously, the book caused a scandal due to its frankness. However, the excitement turned to disappointment when the public learned the author was not a woman but Housman. This is NOT that book.

One year later, in 1901, a parody entitled Another Englishwoman's Love-letters and written by Barry Pain, was published by T. Fisher Unwin. This is NOT that book either.

Also in 1901 appeared a volume entitled An Englishman's Love-letters: Being the Missing Answers to An Englishwoman's Love-letters. That work has been attributed to Thomas William Hodgson Crosland, an associate and friend of Oscar Wilde's lover Lord Alfred Douglas. No, this is NOT that book either.

We can't find a record online of this book, which was issued in 1901. It is another parody, with a cover that cleverly copies the binding of Housman's work. The content, however, is definitely satirical. For instance: "Darling Rosy, I got your letter and the stamps today. I went to Wilson minor and said to him you made eyes in church to my girl, then I bashed him on the jaw and while he was wiping his nose I said next time you will know better than to make eyes at a gentleman's lady in church if you do it again I will knock in the top of your fat head and there will be no Christmas vac for you he said that he was sorry and did I think that you would accept a bottle of scent from him (there are some awfully good bottles of scent at sixpence a time at Hawkems in the High Street)...."

Condition is nice. There are other pen/pencil marks and the pages are well-preserved. The front cover has scuff marks and the spine is tanned due to age.

This copy contains the bookplate of Fritz Ponsonby.

Frederick Edward Grey Ponsonby, 1st Baron Sysonby, GCB, GCVO, PC (1867 – 1935), known as Fritz, was a British soldier and courtier. Ponsonby was the second of three sons of General Sir Henry Ponsonby and his wife the Hon. Mary Elizabeth (née Bulteel). A member of a junior branch of the Ponsonby family, he was the grandson of General Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby and the great-grandson of Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough. Arthur Ponsonby, 1st Baron Ponsonby of Shulbrede, was his younger brother. His godparents were German Emperor Frederick III and Empress Victoria.

After attending Eton, Ponsonby received a commission in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry as a second lieutenant. He transferred to the Grenadier Guards and was promoted to lieutenant on 2 July 1892. He was promoted to captain on 15 February 1899, and served with the 3rd Battalion of his regiment in the Second Boer War. Wounded at the end of the war, he returned to the United Kingdom in April 1902. He was later promoted to Major and Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel and served in the First World War.

The bookplate in this volume contains a reference to the Grenadier Guards.

If you have any of the other three “English Love Letter" volumes, you need this one to complete the set!

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Our father was a bibliophile who collected rare books, letters, and ephemera for more than 60 years. For now and into the foreseeable future, we will be listing rare paper items from his estate.

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