FAMOUS MEN & WOMEN:

FAMOUS MEN & WOMEN:
FAMOUS MEN & WOMEN: An unusual vintage signed 16.5 x 14.5 photograph by the 5^th Earl of Lonsdale (1857-1944) English peer and sportsman, founding member and first president of the National Sporting Club, who also donated the original Lonsdale Belts in 1909 for the boxing championship trophy, the image depicting him seated outdoors in a full-length pose accompanied by several dogs. Photograph by Stanley M. Ballance and signed by him in pencil to the lower mount. Signed ('With all the best of wishes from Lonsdale') by Lonsdale in dark fountain pen ink at the base of the image and dated 19^th September 1941 in his hand. With a small label neatly affixed to the upper right corner bearing the typed caption, 'Photograph of Lord Lonsdale presented to Mr. Gus Demmy'. The photographer's mount is further signed by over thirty other famous men and women from a variety of professions, including Joe Louis (1914-1981) American boxer, World Heavyweight champion 1937-49; Billy Conn (1917-1993) Irish-American boxer, World Light Heavyweight champion 1939-40, famed for his fights with Joe Louis; Jimmy Wilde (1892-1969) Welsh boxer, World Flyweight champion 1916-23; Nel Tarleton (1906-1956) English boxer, British Featherweight champion and one of only seven fighters to win two or more Lonsdale Belts outright, being the first to do so; Bruce Woodcock (1920-1997) English Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight boxer, British and Empire Heavyweight champion 1945-50 and European Heavyweight champion 1946-49; Johnny Dundee (1893-1965) American boxer, World Featherweight champion 1923 and the first World Junior Lightweight champion 1921-23; Joe Baksi (1922-1977) American heavyweight boxer; Johnny Addie (1902-1971) Italian-born American announcer at Madison Square Garden from 1948-71, calling virtually every major fight there in the period, including the 'Fight of the Century' between Ali and Frazier; Ray Arcel (1899-1944) American boxing trainer of the 1920s - 1980s who trained twenty world champions; Jack Curley (1876-1937) American sports promoter who managed several high-profile boxing events; Henry Cotton (1907-1987) English golfer, Open Championship winner 1934, 1937 & 1948, Joe Davis (1901-1978) English snooker and billiards player, World Snooker champion 1927-40, 1946; Tom Webster (1886-1962) English cartoonist and caricaturist, remembered for his sporting cartoons; Jack White VC (1896-1949) British Lance Corporal, Victoria Cross winner for his actions on the 7^th/8^th March 1917 on the Dialah River, Mesopotamia, during World War I; Quentin Reynolds (1902-1965) American journalist and World War II correspondent; Jack Buchanan (1891-1957) Scottish entertainer; Bud Flanagan (1896-1968) British Music Hall entertainer, a member of the Crazy Gang; Chesney Allen (1894-1982) English Music Hall entertainer, a member of the Crazy Gang, remembered for his double act with Bud Flanagan; Richard Hearn (1908-1979) English actor and comedian; George Formby (1904-1961) English actor, singer and comedian, and his wife and manager Beryl Formby (1901-1960) etc. The majority of signatures are in fountain pen inks, some also adding inscriptions to Gus Demmy. Some of the signatures are slightly faded and others (not included in the list above) are barely visible. Matted in off-white and framed and glazed in a plain black frame to an overall size of 23 x 20. Some corner creasing to the mount, just affecting some signatures, otherwise about VG