11th Nov, 2020 10:00
Printed Books, Maps & Autographs, Lord Nelson, Scottish Topography, The David Smith Print Collection
Edward VIII's Abdication. Important letter from Samuel Hoare, 10 December 1936
Estimated at £2,000 - £3,000Abdication of Edward VIII. An important and historical Autograph Letter Signed, ‘Sam’, from Samuel Hoare, (1880-1959, First Lord of the Admiralty 1936-37 and Home Secretary 1937-39), Admiralty House, 10 December [1936], to Lord Beaverbrook ('Dear Max’), written on the day that King Edward VIII signed the Instrument of Abdication, Hoare announces 'I have not telephoned or come round today or yesterday as I was, on your advice, sitting back in the final acts of this tragic farce' and continues 'It was clear to me yesterday that the denouement was inevitable. I tried my best to the end to make renunciation possible, but the King would not move an inch. To what depths can folly descend!' Hoare further states 'In any case I am glad and grateful that another crisis brought us together again. It is almost a year to a day since my resignation. The first friendly word from outside came from you. I never forget these things nor shall I forget our talks of the last fortnight, and your manifest wish to help me in my career’, marked ‘Personal’ at head, short clean, marginal split to right edge of central fold only very slightly affecting one word of text, 2 pages, 4to
(Quantity: 1)
A letter of interesting content written on a pivotal day in the history of the British monarchy.
Max Aitken (1879-1964), 1st Baron Beaverbrook. Anglo-Canadian business tycoon, politician & writer, owner of the Daily Express and London Evening Standard newspapers.
In June 1936 Hoare became First Lord of the Admiralty and in November 1936 he was (with Duff Cooper, the then Secretary of State for War) sought out by Edward VIII to provide independent advice and counsel on the King's constitutional problems. Initially the King attempted to convert him into a champion of his cause hoping that Hoare would speak up in defence of his right to marry when the matter came up for formal discussion in the Cabinet. In the King's memoirs A King's Story (1951) he recounted this first meeting, ‘But I failed to win him as an advocate. He was sympathetic; but he also was acutely conscious of the political realities. Mr. Baldwin, he warned me, was in command of the situation: the senior Ministers were solidly with him on this issue. If I were to press my marriage project on the Cabinet I should meet a stone wall of opposition. I saw Mr. Duff Cooper at the Palace later the same day … He was as encouraging and optimistic as Sam Hoare had been pessimistic and discouraging.’
Hoare's second meeting with the King took place at the end of November, about which the King wrote, 'At this juncture, the scene shifted momentarily to Stornoway House where Max Beaverbrook, ever since his return from America, had worked feverishly to rally support for me in whatever quarters it might be found.....Mr. Baldwin was aware of what Max Beaverbrook was up to; and no doubt hoping to check the forces beginning to rally round my cause, he despatched Sir Samuel Hoare on Sunday, the 29th, to explain the attitude of the Government towards the King. The message which the First Lord of the Admiralty bore was ominous indeed. It was that the Ministers stood with Mr. Baldwin---"no breach exists: there is no light or leaning in the King's direction." Then the First Lord fired his second salvo. "The publicity," he said, "is about to break." Many Ministers, he added, were restless and dissatisfied over the failure of the Press to publish facts of a crisis already the talk of the rest of the world. He stressed Mr. Baldwin's desire that the Press, like the Cabinet, should form an unbroken front against the proposed marriage. It was an undisguised invitation for Max Beaverbrook to change sides. His answer was: "I have already taken the King's shilling, I am a King's man.”'
On 4th December the King learned of an earlier meeting between Beaverbrook and Hoare, of which he commented, 'So the day had not been all debits as far as I was concerned. From Stornoway House Max Beaverbrook, sensing the favourable upsurge in public opinion, had steadily hammered away on the theme of delay. I must not allow myself, he urged, to be harried and hurried into precipitous action. He had seen Sir Samuel Hoare again, and in conversation with him had formed the impression that many Ministers were troubled by the turn the crisis had taken, and would welcome a withdrawal of my request for advice on the morganatic marriage proposal. But I was wearied to the point of exhaustion.'
Finally during the morning of 10th December 1936 (the day Hoare wrote the present letter to Beaverbrook) the King signed the Instrument of Abdication.
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Auction: Printed Books, Maps & Autographs, Lord Nelson, Scottish Topography, The David Smith Print Collection, 11th Nov, 2020
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(ii) Proceed for damages for breach of contract.
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(c) If such arrangements are not made within seven days of the notification the Auctioneer is empowered to sell the lot without reserve by auction or by private treaty and to receive from the seller the normal selling commission and special expenses.
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10. All goods delivered to the Auctioneer's premises will be deemed to be delivered for sale by auction unless otherwise stated in writing and will be catalogued and sold at the Auctioneer's discretion and accepted by the Auctioneer subject to all these conditions. In the case of miscellaneous books, maps and other items, the Auctioneer reserves the right to extract and dispose of items that, in the opinion of the Auctioneer at his absolute discretion, have no saleable value and, therefore, might detract from the saleability of the rest of the lot and the Auctioneer shall incur no liability to the seller in respect of the items disposed of. By delivering the goods to the auctioneer for inclusion in his auction sales each seller acknowledges that he/she accepts and agrees to all the conditions.
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(b) The Auctioneer shall not be responsible for damage to or the loss, theft, or destruction of any goods not so insured because of the seller's written instructions whether caused by negligence or otherwise.
(c) Any liability of the Auctioneer for any claim arising from loss or damage of any kind in respect of goods whether caused by negligence or otherwise including any claims for compensation will be limited to the amount of insurance cover effected in accordance with the provisions of clause 11.a. above.
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13. In the case of the seller withdrawing instructions to the Auctioneer to sell any lot or lots, the Auctioneer may charge the seller a fee of 12.5% of the Auctioneer's middle estimate of the auction price of the lot withdrawn together with Value Added Tax thereon and any expenses incurred in respect of the lot or lots.
14. If, on collation, any named items in the catalogue prove defective, in text or illustration, the buyer may reject the lot provided he/she returns it within fourteen days stating the defect in writing. This however will not apply in the case of unnamed items, periodicals, autograph letters, manuscripts, music, maps, atlases, prints or drawings, nor in respect of damage to bindings, stains, foxing, marginal wormholes or other defects not affecting the completeness of the text, nor in respect of lack of list of plates, inserted advertisements, cancels or subsequently published volumes, supplements, appendices or plates or error in the enumerating of the plates, nor in respect of defects mentioned in the catalogue or announced at the time of sale.
15. The Auctioneer accepts no responsibility in connection with the commissioning of his staff to bid for any lots. Reserves, and commission bids given by telephone are accepted only at the sender's risk and must be confirmed in writing before the date of the sale. Lots will always be bought as cheaply as is allowed by other bids and such reserves as are on our books.
16. Buyers are advised that a storage charge of £1.00 per lot per day plus Value Added Tax at the current rate will be levied on all purchases not cleared within fourteen working days of the sale. After this period the buyer will be responsible for loss or damage.
17. Artist's Resale Rights ("Droit de Suite"). Lots marked with "AR" or another appropriate symbol and referenced as such in the catalogue are subject to the Artist's Resale Right law. The buyer agrees to pay the Auctioneer an amount equal to the resale royalty and the Auctioneer will pay such amount to the artist's collecting agent. Resale royalty applies where the Hammer Price is 1,000 Euro or more and the amount cannot be more than 12,500 Euro per lot.
The amount is calculated as follows:
Royalty For the portion of the Hammer Price (in Euro)
4.00% up to 50,000
3.00% between 50,000.01 and 200,000
1.00% between 200,000.01 and 350,000
0.50% between 350,000.01 and 500,000
0.25% in excess of 500,000
Invoices will be issued in Pounds Sterling. For the purposes of calculating the resale royalty the Pounds Sterling/Euro rate of exchange will be the European Central Bank reference rate on the day of the sale. Please refer to the DACS website www.dacs.org.uk for further details.
18. These conditions shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English Law.
Buyer's Premium :
The buyer's premium is 20%, except those lots asterisked (*) in the title for which Value Added Tax (VAT) will be added to the premium, resulting in a buyer's premium of 24% inclusive of VAT. Eligible items include manuscripts, prints, photographs, drawings, framed maps, paintings, pens and other objects which are subject to VAT at a rate of 20% on the buyer's premium as part of the Auctioneers Margin Scheme. VAT zero-rated items such as books, unframed maps and albums are not subject to VAT on the buyer's premium.
Live Auction Charges
An additional commission of 3% plus VAT (3.6% inclusive of VAT) on the hammer price is payable if you use the live auction bidding facility on the Dominic Winter Auctioneers website (dominicwinter.co.uk). This charge will be added to your invoice automatically.
An additional commission of 4.95% plus VAT (5.94% inclusive of VAT) on the hammer price is payable if you use the live auction bidding facility on the ATG Media website (the-saleroom.com). This charge will be added to your invoice automatically.
An additional commission of 3% plus VAT (3.6% inclusive of VAT) on the hammer is payable if you use the live auction bidding facility on the Invaluable website (invaluable.com). This charge will be added to your invoice automatically.
Payment (UK Buyers)
Payment is preferred by direct Bank Transfer to our bank account. Our bank details will be supplied to you with your invoice.
Payment can be made in cash at the Cashier's Office, either during or after the sale. Alternatively, you can pay by cheque (Pounds Sterling only), please allow 5 working days for the cheque to clear before collection of goods.
Credit or Debit Card payments will not be accepted by telephone unless by prior arrangement with the auctioneers. Card payments can be made in person at our premises but must be accompanied by relevant ID confirming address details. We do not accept payments by American Express.
Payment (Overseas Buyers)
Payment must be made by direct Bank Transfer to our bank account. Our bank details will be supplied to you on your invoice. No card payments will be accepted unless by special prior arrangements with the auctioneers. All transfers must state the relevant invoice number. The amount we receive must be the total due after currency conversion and the deduction of any bank charges (normally £7).
UK Shipping
We are not specialist shippers. Some items, such as framed & glazed or fragile goods, will require specialist handling and buyers will be asked to use Mailboxes or RF Shipping Ltd. (details below).
For non-fragile items and items of reasonably small size, we offer an in-house packing and shipping facility for UK buyers. When possible, purchases will be sent by either Royal Mail Special Delivery or DPD overnight service. The charge for this service is variable (£15 minimum per parcel) and will be added to your invoice. Please note shipments to the Highlands and Islands may require shipment by courier and may be more expensive. Please contact us for a quote before bidding.
For larger packages and fragile goods, we recommend Mailboxes, Pack & Send or RF Shipping Ltd who will collect fully paid-for purchases from us twice a week and liaise with the buyer direct. For more information please contact Sarah Ball by telephone on +44 (0)1285 860006 or email sarah@dominicwinter.co.uk. These companies will require payment direct for their services.
