[British Prime Ministers]--Gritten, W.G. Howard

Arthur James Balfour, seven letters signed, advising him against a political career and with his own attitude to tariff reform (“…I am not in a position yet to say what course the country ought to adopt: Nor do I think an attitude of hesitation at all unbecoming…”), 1899-1915; H.H. Asquith, one autograph postcard signed, 1921; David Lloyd George, four letters signed (also one facsimile), including detailed responses to Gritten’s proposed reforms to unemployment legislation, 1921-39; A. Bonar Law, five letters, 1910-1918; Stanley Baldwin, seven autograph letters signed, two typed letters signed, and one facsimile, mostly thanking him for gifts of books and discussing Classics, 1926-39; Ramsey MacDonald, two letters signed, one facsimile, 1931-33; Neville Chamberlain, 10 letters signed, including two after the outbreak of war (“…No-one can say how long the present conflict will last. Of one thing we can be certain, and that is that we shall carry on until we can be sure we have put a stop to the system of aggression and persecution which has made it impossible for any of the peoples of Europe to feel confidence or security…”), 1933-40; Winston S. Churchill, four typed letters signed, one with an autograph postscript, thanking him for letters and his work for the Conservative party, all with envelopes, 4 pages, Chartwell, Admiralty, and 10 Downing Street, 1935-1942; Anthony Eden, one autograph letter and one typed letter signed, 1922-1943; most with envelopes, together with related material, 54 items in total, some dust staining

John Gritten, Howard and Son: Rebels of a Kind (2012)

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate
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A good series of letters by 20th century Prime Ministers to Howard Gritten (1870-1943), Conservative MP for Hartlepool from 1918 until his death. Gritten was on the right of the party but was an independent voice and never achieved government office. He was a firm believer in Appeasement and supporter of Neville Chamberlain, and these letters reveal a particularly warm relationship between the two men, although he evidently also enjoyed discussing Latin literature with Baldwin.