Autograph Letters

Autograph Letter Signed from the Victorian author Gertrude Mary Ireland Blackburne ('Gertrude M Ireland Blackburne'), to 'Mr. Parker', concerning autographs, including those of Charlotte Yonge and James Payne.

Author: 
Gertrude Mary Ireland Blackburne (b.1861), author, daughter of John Ireland Blackburne (1817-1893), M.P. for South-West Lancashire, 1875-1885 [James Payne; Charlotte Yonge; Richard Monckton Milnes]
Letter Signed from the Victorian author Gertrude Mary Ireland Blackburne
Publication details: 
15 September 1886; on letterhead of Roodee Lodge, Chester, Lancashire.
£85.00
Letter Signed from the Victorian author Gertrude Mary Ireland Blackburne

12mo, 4 pp. Bifolium. 32 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. In answer to a request for autographs, she has 'some duplicates somewhere, but tonight I send you only three cards', as she has 'no letters of Miss Yonge that I should like to part with'. She names the authors of the 'three signed postcards' (not present) as: James Payne ('Editor of Cornhill, author of many novels'), Charlotte Yonge and Richard Monckton Milnes, Lord Houghton.

Archive of material, mainly comprising 150 Typed Letters addressed to the English operatic tenor Stephen Manton [Stephen Manton Bradbury], from the British Broadcasting Corporation, between 1944 and 1952, and concerning his work for the BBC.

Author: 
Stephen Manton [Stephen Manton Bradbury] (1908-1970), operatic tenor, director of the Intimate Opera Company from 1944 [British Broadcasting Corporation; BBC]
Publication details: 
The letters, all on letterheads of the British Broadcasting Corporation [BBC], mainly from Broadcasting House, London, dating from between 1944 and 1952.
£350.00

For more information about Stephen Manton Bradbury, or Stephen Manton as he was known professionally, see his obituary in The Times, 8 September 1970. The collection is in good condition, on aged paper. The correspondence from various figures in various BBC music departments, both London and regional, and in a variety of formats from 4to down to 12mo, breaks down to the following number of items per year: 1944, 8; 1945, 5; 1946, 30; 1947, 34; 1948, 32; 1949, 22; 1950, 11; 1951, 15; 1952, 1.

Autograph Letter Signed to the Earl of Aboyne (later the 9th Marquess of Huntly) from 'A C <Dugend?>' of Aberdeen, concerning the uniforms of 'the Band of Music' (Aberdeenshire Militia?), and containing a 'detailed estimate' of the cost.

Author: 
George Gordon, 9th Marquess of Huntly [known as the Earl of Aboyne from 1795 to 1836] (1761-1853) [the Aberdeenshire Militia (later the 3rd Battalion, The Gordon Highlanders)]
Autograph Letter Signed to the Earl of Aboyne
Publication details: 
2 January 1799; Aberdeen.
£280.00
Autograph Letter Signed to the Earl of Aboyne

Both letter and estimate clear and complete; both good, on lightly-aged paper. Letter: 4to, 3 pp. Bifolium. Addressed, with faint circular 'ABER | DEEN' postmark in black ink, on reverse of second leaf, to 'The Right Honourable | The Earl of Aboyne | Montrose'. The letter is in two parts: the first (12 lines) on the recto of the first leaf, informs the Earl that 'The Buttons were sent by yesterdays Mail', and that, 'Some days since', he 'sent by the Mail Coach a pattern Coat as a Uniform for the Band.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Tho: Campbell'), in Italian, from the Scottish poet Thomas Campbell, to unnamed 'Carissimi Amici' [Dear Friends].

Author: 
Thomas Campbell (1777-1844), Scottish poet [Rudolph Ackermann; Woodburn]
Autograph Letter Signed ('Tho: Campbell')
Publication details: 
Monico [Monaco?]; September 1828.
£150.00
Autograph Letter Signed ('Tho: Campbell')

4to, 1 p. Twenty-lines. Text clear and complete. He has found 'il Barone' and is going to see 'Der Freishutz'. Monico is 'una gran bella citta', where he has seen 'molte belle cose'. He finds the Madonna of Rafael 'Divina'. A postscript concerns the print-seller Ackermann, as well as the art dealer Woodburn, and 'Cockerill'. The reverse carries a closely-written 30-line manuscript, in another hand, apparently in German, and followed by an indecipherable signature. It contains at least two references to 'Campball' [sic].

Autograph Letter Signed "F.O. Bower", botanist, to Dr. W.B. Crow [William Bernard Crow, biologist , etc., Author of 'A History of Magic, Witchcraft and Occultism']

Author: 
F.O. Bower [Frederick Orpen Bower FRS] (1855–1948), British botanist
F.O. Bower [Frederick Orpen Bower FRS] (1855–1948), British botanist
Publication details: 
2 The Crescent, Ripon, Yorks, 15 April 1932.
£125.00
F.O. Bower [Frederick Orpen Bower FRS] (1855–1948), British botanist

Two pages, 4to, several closed tears, two small hole, one stain, 1in. dia., on p.2. , text clear and complete. "I am much obliged to you for sending me a copy of your 'Proteus' No.6 - the Goethe Commemoration Number. It was a happy idea to concentrate on this centenary. My interest naturally centres on the 'Metamorphosis of Plants'. Had Goethe lived as a post Darwinian his keen insight would have led him to a rather different statement of his great synthesis. He would have accepted I am pretty sure a theory of segregation rather than a theory of metamorphosis.

Two Autograph Notes Signed to T.S. Strong about infected books

Author: 
Rowland Hill, Librarian
Publication details: 
[Printed headed] Memorandum from the Public Library, Museum, Art Gallery, and School of Science and Art, Tullie House, Carlisle, 10 & 11 June 1901.
£65.00

Both one page, c.21 x 17cm, small closed tear, some dusting, mainly good, texts clear and complete: [10 June] "Re. Infected Books | A few days ago one of your Clerks saw me in reference to the above, and said that it was Miss Strong's intention not to replace the books as they and numerous dresses were taken away by Sanitary Authorities.

Autograph Letter Signed ('John Hullah') from the English composer John Pyke Hullah to the organist Edward Francis Rimbault.

Author: 
John Hullah [John Pyke Hulla] (1812-1884), English composer for one of whose operas Charles Dickens wrote the libretto [St Martin's Hall, Long Acre; Edward Francis Rimbault (1816-1876), organist]
John Hullah [John Pyke Hulla]
Publication details: 
30 March 1868; on letterhead of 11 Devonshire Place, W., London.
£35.00
John Hullah [John Pyke Hulla]

12mo, 2 pp. Bifolium. 12 lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He would 'much like' to show him a song he has written for 'Exeter Hall', and proposes dinner the following day. In a postscript asks if he has 'learnt anything about R. J. S. Stevens'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('John Hullah.') from the English composer John Pyke Hullah to an unnamed male recipient.

Author: 
John Hullah [John Pyke Hulla] (1812-1884), English composer for one of whose operas Charles Dickens wrote the libretto [St Martin's Hall, Long Acre]
John Hullah [John Pyke Hulla]
Publication details: 
24 May [no year]; 20 St James's Place, London.
£35.00
John Hullah [John Pyke Hulla]

12mo, 1 p. 10 lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The recipient 'had better be in Town for the Choral Meeting on the 4th. June'. Gives details of when the recipient will 'generally find' Hullah there.

Letter, in the hand of a secretary, signed ('J W Croker') by John Wilson Croker, Secretary to the Admiralty, to Vice-Admiral Douglas, concerning 'Naval Occurences at Yarmouth', Captain Hawtayne of the HMS Quebec and Chaplain Forster of HMS Roebuck.

Author: 
John Wilson Croker (1780-1857), Secretary to the Admiralty, Irish author and politician [Captain Charles Sibthorpe John Hawtayne of HMS Quebec]
Letter, in the hand of a secretary, signed ('J W Croker') by John Wilson Croker
Publication details: 
Admiralty Office; 26 July 1810.
£125.00
Letter, in the hand of a secretary, signed ('J W Croker') by John Wilson Croker

Folio, 2 pp. Fair, on aged paper, with a few short closed tears to extremities, and carrying traces of previous mount on reverse. On behalf of the Lords of the Admiralty Croker grants the Admiral's request for leave of absence to two individuals following 'the Naval Occurrences at Yarmouth'. In same hand as letter on reverse: 'Captain Hawtayne Quebec Two Days | Mr Forster, Chaplain Roebuck One Month'.

Autograph Note Signed "The Blacksmith of Gretna Green" to unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
"The Blacksmith of Gretna Green".
Autograph Note Signed "The Blacksmith of Gretna Green"
Publication details: 
"Gretna Hall | April 10th 1852".
£56.00
Autograph Note Signed "The Blacksmith of Gretna Green"

Two pages, 12mo, some creasing and staining, and a few wards faded, but text readable and complete. A letter or spoof letter from (or purportedly from) "The Blacksmith of Gretna Green", with newspaper clipping attached giving the text of this letter and commenting on it.

Autograph Letter Signed to "Mr Crow" [W.B. Crow, author of "Contributions to the Principles of Morphology "], essentially reviewing Crow's book, but also givinf a Testament..

Author: 
Arthur H. Church, Chemist, Expert on Pottery and Stones
Arthur H. Church, Chemist, Expert on Pottery and Stones
Publication details: 
246 Iffley Road, Oxford, 2 April 1929.
£165.00
Arthur H. Church, Chemist, Expert on Pottery and Stones

Two pages, 4to, fold marks, four small closed tears. A difficult hand. He thanks Crow for his book, "Contributions to the Principles of Morphology", just published, suggesting that Crow must have enjoyed reviewing "older views", adding, "The Philosophy on which Biology has [?] based is much neglected ...I never came across any Botanist for example who thought the two [?] of Goethe, & his theory of meta-morphosis has been a great curse ... for 100 years. The mistake of [?] was, that we had no 'definitions' of a leaf to begin with. ...

Autograph Letter Signed ('Le Directeur | de Puymaurin'), in French, from Baron de Puymaurin, Master of the Paris Mint, to Messieurs les [?secretaries?] de la Chambre des Deputés

Author: 
Baron Jean Pierre Casimir de Marcassus de Puymaurin (1757-1841), Master of the Paris Mint, 1816-1830
Baron Jean Pierre Casimir de Marcassus de Puymaurin
Publication details: 
7 July 1825; Paris. On illustrated letterhead of 'Monnaie Royale des Medailles'.
£85.00
Baron Jean Pierre Casimir de Marcassus de Puymaurin

Folio, 2 pp. 31 lines. Text clear and complete. On aged paper, chipped at extremities. The elaborate letterhead features a circular engraving by Heuer of two classical female figures in front of a press.

Autograph Letter signed "W.H. Sykes", Indian Army officer, statistician etc, to "Wm. Brown".

Author: 
Colonel William Henry Sykes, FRS (1790-1872), Indian Army officer, politician, ornithologist and statistician.
Autograph Letter signed "W.H. Sykes", Indian Army officer
Publication details: 
28 Marine Sq[uare], Brighton, 24 August 1861.
£125.00
Autograph Letter signed "W.H. Sykes", Indian Army officer

Two pages, 12mo, minor staining, mainly good condition.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Bernard') from Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan-Howard, 16th Duke of Norfolk, to 'Arthur', concerning the sale of land in Sheffield and elsewhere.

Author: 
Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan-Howard (1908-1975), 16th Duke of Norfolk,
Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan-Howard (
Publication details: 
13 January 1938; on letterhead of Everingham Park, York.
£56.00
Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan-Howard (

12mo, 4 pp. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed to close relation or agent. He agrees to 'the two sales in Sheffield of £52,000 and £90,000', but does not consider 'under £200 an acre' a good price. He wonders 'whether Sandford is inclined to give a bit to get a deal through without much trouble'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('EVL') from E. V. Lucas to 'My dear <Reed?>', concerning his 'Shakespeare drawings'.

Author: 
E. V. Lucas [Edward Verrall Lucas] (1868-1938), author, authority on Charles Lamb, and chairman of the publishers Methuen & Co.
E. V. Lucas [Edward Verrall Lucas] (1868-1938), author
Publication details: 
Undated. On letterhead of the Savoy Hotel, London.
£56.00
E. V. Lucas [Edward Verrall Lucas] (1868-1938), author

12mo, 1 p. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. Lucas's handwriting is not straightforward, and the recipient's name is unclear. His 'Shakespeare drawings' are 'first rate'. Lucas retires 'into private life again' on the Monday, when 'O. S.' returns.

Autograph Letter Signed "R.L. Ellis" to R. Rothman, M.D., applying mathematics to a political economy issue.

Author: 
R.L. Ellis, English polymath (1817-1859), remembered principally as a mathematician and editor of the works of Francis Bacon.
R.L. Ellis, English polymath (1817-1859)
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£500.00
R.L. Ellis, English polymath (1817-1859)

Three pages, 8vo, good condition. He commences with a mathematical supposition (in formula terms) then proceeds with putting the suppositions of "the master" [Malthus, Ricardo or their like?) in mathematical terms, concluding a fall of price to "3/4d or one quarter", adding that "The suppositions he makes are incompatible with the ratio theory ...", doing sums which he concludes with the an answer he describes as "absurd".

Typed Letter Signed "F.S. van B. Stafford", to Dr. Eric Dingwall, "Assistant Honorary Keeper of the Printed Books, British Museum, London", about the corrupt practices of merchants in the colony. With related typescript.

Author: 
(Mrs) F.S. van B. Stafford [British Guiana; Guyana]
(Mrs) F.S. van B. Stafford [British Guiana; Guyana]
Publication details: 
Trent House, Main Street, Georgetown, B[ritish] G[uiana], 10 June 1947.
£225.00
(Mrs) F.S. van B. Stafford [British Guiana; Guyana]

One page, folio, fold marks, good condition. She has approached Dingwall as someone who could help make conditions in British Guiana better known in England. She refers to the enclosure of "Resolutions" from public meetings, identifying herself as the wife of a King's Counsel "who has acted as a judge on the Supreme Court Bench of this Colony." They need help to take on the merchants who are standing in the way of improving the standard of living. "The extreme poverty of the working classes of this Colony makes it imperative that steps be taken to bring down the cost of living . .

Autograph Letter Signed Wm. H. Dall, naturalist and explorer, to Mrs Geo. R. Parks [née Elizabeth Robins, author], 24 Iverna Gardens, Kensington, W [London] about Mrs Pennell and the Yukon.

Author: 
William Healey Dall, American naturalist, a prominent malacologist, and one of the earliest scientific explorers of interior Alaska.
Autograph Letter Signed  Wm. H. Dall, naturalist and explorer
Publication details: 
[Headed] Smithsonian Institution, United States National Museum, Washington, DC, 12 Feb. 1907.
£750.00
Autograph Letter Signed  Wm. H. Dall, naturalist and explorer

ELIZABETH ROBINS TRAVEL WRITER ALASKA YUKON EXPLORER SMITHSONIAN ARCTIC

Autograph Letter Signed Jack Pritchard, furniture designer, to Molly [Rosemary (Molly) Cooke], his future wife, a sprightly letter with eccentric presentation about a book she apparently published anonymously .

Author: 
Jack Pritchard, British furniture designer (1899–1992).
Autograph Letter Signed Jack Pritchard, furniture designer
Publication details: 
Pembroke College, Oxford, [1921]
£125.00
Autograph Letter Signed Jack Pritchard, furniture designer

FURNITURE DESIGNER AUTOGRAPH CAMBRIDGE UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN POETRY POEMS

Autograph Note, third person [Francis Bond Head, soldier] instructing Bank to stop subscription to Library.

Author: 
Sir Francis Head, known as Galloping Head, Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada during the rebellion of 1837 (1793– 1875) [Francis Bond Head].
Sir Francis Head,  known as Galloping Head,
Publication details: 
Croydon, 25 April [1860?].
£38.00
Sir Francis Head,  known as Galloping Head,

BOOK TRADE LIBRARIES MILITARY UPPER CANADA AUTOGRAPH

Signature (and subscription) only from letter, signed Lancelot Speed, book illustrator.

Author: 
Lancelot Speed (1860 – 1931), Victorian illustrator of books, usually of a fantastical or romantic nature
Lancelot Speed
Publication details: 
No place or date surviving.
£23.00
Lancelot Speed

Part of letter, 11 x 5cm, good condition, saying, yours try | Lancelot Speed.

Bold Signature only.

Author: 
Oliver Lodge, spiritualist and author
Oliver Lodge, spiritualist and author
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£23.00
Oliver Lodge, spiritualist and author

6.5 x 2.5cm, staining from having been laid down in an album (residual glue), but signature clear.

Signature (with another word) F.R. Wingate, Colonial Governor.

Author: 
Sir Francis Reginald Wingate, Bt. (1861-1953), Army officer & colonial governor
F.R. Wingate, Colonial Governor.
Publication details: 
No place or date surviving.
£23.00
F.R. Wingate, Colonial Governor.

Paper clipped from letter, c.8 x 2cm, tipped onto larger piece of paper, good condition.

Signature and subscription from Autograph Letter, signed W.B. Carpenter, zoologist etc.

Author: 
William Benjamin Carpenter MD CB FRS 813–1885), English physician, invertebrate zoologist and physiologist.
William Benjamin Carpenter MD CB FRS 813–1885), English physician
Publication details: 
No place or date surviving.
£25.00
William Benjamin Carpenter MD CB FRS 813–1885), English physician

Paper, 11 x 5cm, faint traces on reverse of its origin in an album, 99 in bottom corner in another hand (number in collection), mainly good. Believe me to be, Dr Sir, yours most sincerely WB Carpenter.

Signature only, cut from letter, "Yrs truly | Henry Barraud", artist.

Author: 
Henry Barraud (1811-1874), English portrait, subject and animal painter
Henry Barraud (1811-1874), English portrait, subject and animal painter
Publication details: 
No place or date survivung.
£23.00
Henry Barraud (1811-1874), English portrait, subject and animal painter

Paper, 11 x 3cm, formerly laid down in an album, some remnants of process on reverse, otherwise good condition.

Part of Autograph Note Signed,JB Owen, chemist, to unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
J.B. Owen, chemist
J.B. Owen, chemist
Publication details: 
No place or date given.
£23.00
J.B. Owen, chemist

Paper, 9 x 12cm, small closed tear, good condition, marked at top No. 296 in a collection, saying I wish you success in this & on this & every other [?] that you undertake.

Part of Autograph Letter Signed Caesar Hawkins, surgeon, to unknown correspondent.

Author: 
Caesar (or Cæsar) Henry Hawkins FRS (1798–1884), British surgeon.
Caesar (or Cæsar) Henry Hawkins FRS (1798–1884), British surgeon.
Publication details: 
31 Half Moon St, 21 July [no year].
£32.00
Caesar (or Cæsar) Henry Hawkins FRS (1798–1884), British surgeon.

Part of letter, 11 x 7cm, fold marks, slightly obscuring a letter or two, marked No. 100 in a collection. The item comprises to subscription and signature, as well, on the reverse, some text, I meant to have said that she might leave off both the [?Steel] & the alkaline drops, but if the irregularity of bowels from acidity should return, she may take the Drops without the [?Steel]. She will not do without the powders, but every fifth or sixth [rest lost].

Autograph Letter Signed B. Gilliat-Smith (diplomat and naturalist) to Lady Findlay, wife of diplomat, Mansfeldt Findlay, about books on fungi.

Author: 
B. Gilliat-Smith, diplomat and naturalist
B. Gilliat-Smith, diplomat and naturalist
Publication details: 
British Consulate, Copenhagen, 17 August 1918.
£38.00
B. Gilliat-Smith, diplomat and naturalist

Three pages, 12mo, minor defects, text clear and complete. I fear I quite forgot to send you the names of the books on 'fungi', and now I have not got them with me. But as the messenger is going up to Christiania I am sending you some rather crude pictures, which may be of some use pending the arrival of better books which I shall recommend shortly. | But for heaven's sake be careful! Some are so poisonous that no doctor can be of any use.

Autograph Note, Third Person, Charles D'Eyncourt , Tennyson's uncle, to the G.P.O., giving forwarding address.

Author: 
Charles (Tennyson) D'Eyncourt. Tennyson's uncle [Postal History]
Charles (Tennyson) D'Eyncourt. Tennyson's uncle [Postal History]
Publication details: 
6 June 1844.
£65.00
Charles (Tennyson) D'Eyncourt. Tennyson's uncle [Postal History]

Two pages, 12mo, bifoliate, section (presumed postal history or blank) from second leaf. Addressed to General Post Office, countersigned D'Eyncourt. Text of note: Mr. d'Eyncourt will be obliged to the officers of the G.P.O. to send his Letters to | No.1 John Street St James's Sqre | 6 June 1844. From 48 Dover Street in different hand at top of page. Verso of note is stamped No. [8527] Regd. June 7 1844 with notes by various employees of the GPO who were putting the request into effect.

Manuscript Letter, written for publication in a 'valuable periodical', signed by 'Uno dell'Antica Scuola', containing 'observations' for 'students of the Vocal Art'. ['The art of Vocalization', with especial reference to Italian opera.]

Author: 
'Uno dell'Antica Scuola' [Italian Opera; vocalisation]
Observations' for 'students of the Vocal Art'
Publication details: 
Undated. [England, 1880s?
£95.00
Observations' for 'students of the Vocal Art'

4to, 4 pp. Bifolium. 87 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with wear to extremities and a spike hole to one corner. Written in ink in a Victorian hand, and with three changes in pencil. Docketed at head 'The art of Vocalization'. Towards beginning writes that the subject is one which he has 'studied many years in close connexion with the most eminent Masters of Italy, most of whom I may rank among my personal friends, and the pith of whose conversations, added to my own experience I propose embodying in a few short essays upon the Formation of the Voice'.

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