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THBWWI Scrapbooks Plus Early Aviation Report
About Seller
6270 Este Ave.
Cincinnati , OH 45232
United States
With offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Denver, Cowan’s holds over 40 auctions each year, with annual sales exceeding $16M. We reach buyers around the globe, and take pride in our reputation for integrity, customer service and great results. A full-service house, Cowan’s Auctions specializes in Am...Read more
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About Auction
LiveDec 18, 2017 - Dec 19, 2017
Cowan's Auctions dawnie@cowans.com
View Full Catalog (298)
- Lot Description
Binder with "sticky" pages for photos. First page has three images (at least one a postcard) and a business card for J. Melville, Pianoforte Tuner & Repairer, Kentish Town, N.W. We presume the images are of him, since the notebook is set up as a kind of memorial to a fallen son. One photograph is as a child; in the other two he is in uniform. The next pages have documents relating to his effects and remaining pay due to his relatives. It appears John Gordon Melville died 1 Aug. 1917, as a private in the 26th Bttn. Royal Fusiliers. There is also a Will - clearly filled out by a soldier, on a piece of paper 3.5 x 5.5 in. on 4 July 1917. He left a few pounds to Ruth and Ethel Earthy and the rest to his sister, Renee Melville, plus an identification tag with "J. Melville / 66291" (his military ID No.). There are other documents, such as programs from the dedication of war memorials in 1920, 1929, etc., and a newspaper clipping about war cemeteries. Another note informs his sister that Melville is buried south of Ypres, and that later the Graves Registration may try to locate it. One letter is from Melville's former employer, Payne Limited, wanting information so they can honor their employees who died. "Altogether eight of our boys fell in the horrible business, including one of my own Sons."
The end encloses seven letters from Jack to his mother and others. There is a loose letter on BEF YMCA letterhead, with only "Wednesday 8:30 am" for a date, and signed "Jack." The last item is a photo of a cemetery marker for Renee Muriel Melville, who died in Feb. 1926, at the age of 36, and a marker for John, listed as "Killed at Ypres Aug. 1, 1917, aged 33 years."
"Tabulated List of Aircraft on hand at Stations abroad, when received and at time armistice was signed, divided between United States and French Planes" and "Aviation, History of U.S.N. Aviation Activities . Foreign Service." Altogether 21 pages, typed, on "onion skin" paper. And a folder marked "Confidential, Intelligence and Planning Division / Aviation Force, Foreign Service." 40 pp, typed. In manila folder, string-bound. plus a 4 x 5.75 in. typed "military pass, Imperial Navy, Sea Flying Detachment." For Karl Michael Amschler, with his service record from 1914 to 1918.
Scrapbook, 9.5 x 11 in.,dark brown cloth, cloth tape on spine, "Scrap book" in gilt on front. Typed sheet affixed to front pastedown with: "This book contains a few odd scraps of paper etc., collected at random while serving in France during the Great War. The period covered was 1915-6-7-8. Total Four Years. Two Months. Colin ? Macdougall. Private." Included are: a drawing of a village; a uniform tab with "29" embroidered on it; a menu from the Metropol Motel, Calais; leather tab from German service boot, according to typed label 19th Batry, Bavarian Army; AOC Sports programme - "Fourth Annual - Somewhere in France, July 14, 1918;" copy photo of rifle stands used by German snipers; his membership card to a rowing club; postcards of "The Hospital in which I spent the last few days of my Service, Invalided home March 5, 1918."; postcards of "The stage on which most of the Programmes in this book were carried out, I played in thie 'theatre' orchestra for THREE years."; copy of a funeral program with note: "The Officer to which this notice refers, invented a new kind of gun, but died of the Influenza before it was finished..."; several theatre programs and another sports day program; a postcard with a dozen (presumed) German POWs with long note: "These Postcards were another concoction of the British Intelligence Dept, Photos were taken, as illustration, addressed to the relations of the men concerned and sent to Germany so that the old women would show and tell the neighbours that the Prisoners were being well treated. These cards also induced many Germans to surrender when 'fed up'." Amusingly, one of the theatre program is headed "A.O.D. Workshops Entertainers Second (and last?) Season Programme of Opening Concert, October 14th 1916." Clearly, (and maybe the not-so-amusing aspect) it would not be their last. Another program was for a benefit for the family of a policeman who froze to death. As he said, 'a few odd scraps...," but an interesting view of things other than fighting going on.
10.5 x 11.5 in. binder, applied sheet with "Scrapbook" on front, string-bound. Front pastedown with note: "Pop / With loving wishes for your birthday, and very many of 'em. from: Son. / October, 1952." Begins with school reports for H. Solaini for first terms in 1867 and 1869. There are items such as Cunard Line tags for August 1934 and 1950. Several pages later we find newspaper photos from the Wallasey News for November 1914 of soldiers probably heading off to the European front. A number of subsequent items relate to the "Great War," such as "Cavalry Section Sergeant's Mess Concert in August 1916, signed by over a dozen men, programs and tickets from Paris venues.
There are also WWII items, such as a newspaper article giving a translation of leaflets dropped over Germany and an information sheet from the British War Office - "If the Invader comes / What to do - and how to do it." This includes information such as: "...if parachutists come down near your home,...they will not know where they are, they will have no food, they will not know where their companions are...DO NOT GIVE ANY GERMAN ANYTHING. DO NOT TELL HIM ANYTHING. HIDE YOUR FOOD AND YOUR BICYCLES. HIDE YOUR MAPS... IF YOU HAVE A CAR OR MOTOR BICYCLE, PUT IT OUT OF ACTION WHEN NOT IN USE. IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO REMOVE THE IGNITION KEY; YOU MUST MAKE IT USELESS TO ANYONE EXCEPT YOURSELF." and so on. At the end are a few photographs of troops in 1941.
The scrapbook seems to relate to the Solaini family. There is a change of address card for the Solaini Bros., Architects, Surveyors & Valuers, Liverpool. Another page has 10 business cards from what seem to be relatives and close associates, including a Solaini Brothers card. There is a newspaper clipping about Mr. and Mrs. H.F. Solaini's fiftieth wedding anniversary (1937). There is an card for a 25th wedding anniversary, dated 1942, from the same son as put together the scrapbook, clearly the next Solaini generation. A number of pages are devoted to HRH Elizabeth and the royal family: the death Queen Victoria, Edward's abdication, the death of King George, Elizabeth's marriage, taking the throne, the birth of Charles, etc.
Provenance: The Alan Culpin Collection of World War I ArtVariable. The label is releasing from the front, but is still in good condition. A few pages have pulled out of the string tie, and the right edges frayed. But overall very good.Condition
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Eliminate the Hassle of Third-Party Shippers: Let Cowan's Ship Directly To You!
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