Letters to the Editor

MADAM – I recently submitted a bid online to an auction house in the US. I registered my bid which was accepted by the auction house, but in their reply they stated the actual amount of the buyer’s premium and taxes and then provided the total sum which I would be charged if successful.

MADAM – I am mortified to find myself at the cusp of ending one of London’s oldest and favourite art and antiques fairs, unless someone would like to take it on?

MADAM – Fernando Autori was a famous Italian opera star in the early 20th century. Alongside that he was one of the top caricature artists of his era. His UK opera career linked him into Gilbert and Sullivan and the cream of show business and high society.

MADAM – I have been intrigued by the correspondence begun by Peter Card regarding the correct nomenclature of bicycles.

MADAM – In Fairs & Markets (ATG No 2395), Gallops Architectural Salvage and Reclamation wondered what a legend on its plaque said.

MADAM – I find that making a priority issue of the BADA logo is a classic systemic issue of misdirected priorities within the trade.

MADAM – Further to Mr Adam’s letter in ATG No 2393, and Mr Lewis’ letter in ATG No 2392, the facts that I supplied in my letter about the history of the Ordinary Bicycle and its incorrect renaming are entirely accurate.

Blissfully unaware of the BADA logo controversy, the big Ordinary Bicycle debate, a notorious novel, football bribery in 1904 and the Pepys family, here is Gunna admiring the front cover of ATG No 2392 featuring another handsome canine (picture posted on Instagram by owners, dealership Leslie & Baggott).

MADAM – It was counsel for the crown Mervyn Griffith-Jones, and not the 'Lady Chatterley’s Lover' trial judge Sir Laurence Byrne in R v Penguin Books Ltd, November 1960 (see Books Supplement, ATG No 2393), who asked the jury in his opening remarks: “Is it a book that you would wish your wife or your servants to read?”

MADAM – The recent offering in Wiltshire of a gold pocket watch presented to the then FA Cup-winning manager of Manchester City, Tom Maley, in 1904 is perhaps a reminder that corruption in the football world is not a new phenomenon.

MADAM – I take great issue with the recent letter on Penny Farthings written by Peter W Card (ATG No 2391).

MADAM – I believe I can shed some light on the story regarding the Gilbert Rae’s embossed tin sign (Letters, ATG Nos 2389 & 2391) – also pictured below.

MADAM – David Southwell (Letters, ATG No 2392) makes a good point but there are reasons for auctioneers refusing credit cards.

MADAM – In Letters, ATG No 2390, Nicholas Oddy raises the question of the origin of the term ‘white-glove sale’ (an auction in which all lots are sold).

MADAM – As a collector, not a dealer, of fine-quality bracket clocks and live steam engines, I do not have unlimited funds and therefore have to sometimes sell one item in order to acquire another for my collection.

MADAM – With regard to Peter Card’s letter (ATG No 2391) regarding the use of the term ‘Penny Farthing’ instead of ‘Ordinary Bicycle’, it is the same as the term ‘Hoover’ when referring to a vacuum cleaner of any manufacture.

MADAM – I was interested to see the reference to the Canning Jewel (News, ATG No 2390).

MADAM – Robert Vince asks an interesting question of the tin-printed Gilbert Rae show-card (Letters, ATG No 2389).

MADAM – I have noticed an increasing penchant for editors, advertisers and auction companies to use the term ‘Penny Farthing’ in the pages of ATG when in fact they should be using the term ‘Ordinary Bicycle’, or, if there is a need to be more descriptive, ‘High Bicycle’.

MADAM – Having collected advertising for over 50 years, I recently sold this rare Gilbert Rae’s tinplate sign (below) which I always believed to be one of only a handful that still exist.