Catalogue for the auction of
Cricket, Wisden Cricketers’ Almanacks,
Football & Sporting Memorabilia
Held on Friday, Saturday & Sunday
22nd, 23rd & 24th March 2024
Lot 1003
Estimate: £30/50
Hammer: £80
Pelham Francis ‘Plum’ Warner. Middlesex, Oxford University & England 1894-1920. Early colour postcard of Warner reproduced from the original artwork by ‘Spy’ for the ‘Vanity Fair’ Series issued by Raphael Tuck & Sons, no. 1707, with printed title to lower margin and humorous caption to right edge. Nicely signed in ink to the image by Warner. The postcard is addressed to Warner at Lord’s Cricket Ground, postmarked 1904, with handwritten request for Warner’s autograph with a request that he sign and return the card, signed ‘W. Reginald Bray’. Very small pin hole to top portion of the image. Minor wear to extremities, small adhesive marks to verso, otherwise in good condition.
W. Reginald Bray was an English eccentric who became known as ‘The Autograph King’, amassing a collection of autographs numbering over 15,000. His exploits extended to testing the limits of the British postal system by having himself wrapped and delivered through the post! He lived most of his life in Forest Hill and died in Croydon in 1939.