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
March 07
On this day in 1896 Gilbert & Sullivan's last operette "Grand Duke" premiered in London
A BOX OFFICE MIX UP
GILBERT (Sir William Schwenk, 1836-1911, Librettist of Gilbert & Sullivan)
Very fine pair of long Autograph Letters Signed to Giffard, the first saying that he is “very much indebted to Mr & Mrs Maxwell Lyte for the trouble they have taken to ascertain the truth in a matter which, as you say, very nearly concerns the credit of the Savoy Theatre. Unfortunately Carte is in New York - which perhaps accounts for your friends letter having remained unanswered ... He will be at the theatre on Wednesday when I will thoroughly investigate the matter. I have no doubt whatever but that Mr Maxwell Lyte has been made the victim of a deliberate fraud, & indeed I may say that for some weeks past we have had reason to believe that one of our employés in the box office has been swindling us, but we have been unable to get any proof upon which we should have been justified in acting ... no pains shall be spared to punish the offender ...”, in the second he has got to the bottom of the matter and says that he finds “the facts connected with Mr Maxwell Lyte’s grievance to be as follows: I should explain that a Mr Potts (Box book keeper) resides in the booking office by day & a Mr Finch ... by night. Mr Maxwell Lyte informed Mr Potts that he would not use his balcony seat & requested Mr Potts to sell it for him. Mr Potts ... marked the box plan with a red cross ... intended to convey to his subordinate ... on duty during the performance, the fact that that seat would not be occupied ... When Mr Ballard applied for a seat, Finch offered him 102 but as Potts had the voucher & counterfoil in his possession, Finch had to give Mr Ballard a pencil voucher ... But Finch did not tell Potts of this transaction & Potts seems to have believed that the seat had not been sold. (Potts, I find, was under sentence of dismissal for other acts of carelessness) ... There was gross...
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