Autograph Letters

12mo, 3 pp. Bifolium. Thirty-two lines. Very good, on lightly-aged paper, apart from the tearing away of the single-word answer to 'a very old riddle' in ancient Greek from Sir Thomas Browne, resulting in the loss of a few words of text from the reverse. Begins by thanking Shepherd for the unnecessary return of 'the Harper', followed by congratulations on his birthday. Hopes to amuse him with the riddle.

12mo, 2 pp. On bifolium. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged and foxed paper. Concerning the payment by Waterlow of a tithe on a property he purchased the previous May. From the Shepherd family archive.

Printer (d.1833). One page, c.7 x 3", signs of laying down, some marking but text decipherable. "Recd Jany 31, 1795, of Mr. John Stockdale by a Note at Ten Months) the Sum of Four Hundred & Seventeen Pounds 18/- for Printing & Hotpressing Perry's Pocket Dictionary, as per Bill delivered./ T. Bensley./ £417.18.0" Prob. William Perry's "General Dictionary of English Language" (Stockdale, London, 1795).

Letter One: 12mo, 4 pp. Bifolium. 75 lines of text. Clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Expresses regret at 'Morten Edens melancholy death, so young & so clever as he was'. 'There is great talk of Peace. We hardly know if to believe it - few will be sorry should the news prove to be true, as I think most of us have had enough fighting. Apparently refers to his sweetheart under a cypher. She has not written to him, but 'London gaieties have little time for correspondence'. 'The weather here is something awful - cold & wet, fogs & sleet.

12mo, 4 pp. Text clear and complete. Very good on lightly-aged paper, with thin strip from stub still adhering. Thanking her for 'sending me the acceptable autographs you have. Though seemingly scraps of paper they possess for the initiated a value, for I believe every individual to be possessed of a romance which opportunity and occasion bring to the fore and make of him a personage whose writing is worthy of preservation. The diamond in its mine is of no value, but when found, cut, and set in its golden framework, it is prized and esteemed'. Defends 'the collector' against criticism.

12mo, 4 pp. In bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. He has forgotten which letters he has sent her for her autograph collection, 'but I daresay some of the list written at the back of this are new to you'. He will send any she wants. Asks for any duplicates she may have to spare. The list covers the last two pages, and consists of 39 names, from 'Sir John Burgoyne, R.E.' to 'Count Zamorgski'.

12mo, 3 pp. Bifolium. Very good on lightly-aged paper. Giving his 'testimony in contradiction of the Statement made in the document which you read to me in reference to the late Miss Marshall of Axminster being kept by you as her professional adviser with little money at her disposal'. States that 'The general impression in the Town was directly opposed to this statement and that impression was sufficiently sustained by the success attendant upon applications to Miss Marshall for and to benevolent purposes'. Gives examples showing 'she was never in want of money'.

An interesting correspondence, from one maritime expert to another, casting light on German naval attitudes in the period following the Great War. Batsch's father, Admiral Karl Ferdinand Batsch (1831-1898), is regarded as one of the founders of the German navy. Bower, who served for twenty years in the Royal Navy, retiring in 1884 with the rank of Commander, is best known as Imperial Secretary in South Africa at the time of the Jameson Raid. Following the First World War he established himself as an expert in international law relating to naval matters.

12mo, 3 pp. In bifolium. 28 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. He is going to do Lanley 'a great favor' by assisting him 'to become acquainted with my friend Mrs. Bigelow Laurence [widow of Timothy Bigelow Laurence (1826-1869)] - who will be in England during the summer or autumn'. Reminisces about 'a book you and Casserly and I once planned at a breakfast table here', which was 'to consist of the best specimens of the skill and power of the Poets giving one chance to each'. To assist Lanley he is letting him know 'a woman who is a judge of poetry in its best sense.

12mo, 2 pp. 20 lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with slight creasing to corners. He is glad to have the autographs she has sent him. He is sending '28 of my duplicates'. His wife is 'very fairly well, but the heat tries her a good deal'. He himself enjoys the heat. 'The temperature here in the sun to-day was only 110 degrees - just the same as it was in the shade in Cairo when I was there last June!'

12mo, 3 pp. 39 lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with remains of stub from mounting adhering to one edge. Difficult hand. He thanks him for his reply to James's query 'in the local papers as to the family'. He is returning a book, apparently because the 'Authoress Mrs Traherne was also good enough to send me her book so that I am well supplied with copies of the volumes'. He finds that 'all the information from other sources [...] confirm [sic] the details of the history recorded in these Annals'.

12mo, 1 p. In a bifolium. Docketed by Stratford Canning on the reverse of the second leaf. Very good, on lightly-aged paper, with thin strip of stub from mount adhering to one edge. He 'cannot resist' staying there the next day, 'as Lady C. & I hope to bring our Daughter up to London on Tuesday', a day on which, if convenient, he will be 'most happy' to see Stratford Canning at the Foreign Office.

Letter One: 12mo, 12 p. Fourteen lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Asks to 'rescind' his promise to go with Robinson to the races, as 'One of those troublesome fellows whom we call clients, but who are sometimes called victims by the ignorant & vicious, has made an appointment for me this afternoon'. Letter Two: 12mo, 1 p. Asking Robinson to join him and two others at a dinner with General Burnett at the Union Club.

12mo, 3 pp. 42 lines of text. Clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Small ink stain at foot of reverse of blank second leaf (not affecting text). Interesting letter, revealing of the politics surrounding appointments within nineteenth-century Harvard. The 'Lectureship' having been 'carried throough', Everett repeats his 'very special request that in some way the Undergraduates may have an opportunity of attending the course - This I regard as vital'. Reports the view of 'Mr. Eliot' on the idea that Everett 'desired to be on the staff of instructors at Harvard'.

4to, 2 pp. Twenty-seven lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged and slightly creased paper. He cannot help Raffin find an American publisher for his book 'Mystery, Mirage and Miracle' (privately printed for the author in London in 1921), although he finds its style 'delightful', and its subject matter 'one which deeply interests me'. 'The book-market is in a very strained condition - a sort of transition period with all the publishers "sitting on the fence", and the public refusing to by any books except a few which have the luck to become fashionable'.

On one side of a piece of paper, 9.5 x 7.5 cm. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. Minor traces of stub in thin strip along one edge. Reads 'Elderfield | Decr 19 | Dear Madam | The Story you mean is in the Christmas number of the Monthly Packet for 1877 | Yours truly | [signed] C M Yonge'. Docketed on reverse in a contemporary hand 'Miss Charlotte M. Yonge Authoress of The Daisy Chain etc. etc. etc'.

12mo, 1 p. Nine lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with a neat cut (not affecting text) neatly repaired on reverse. The Registrar at the India Office has informed Lyall that Lane-Poole's name is 'on the list of those to whom the India Archaeological Reports are sent'.

12mo, 4 pp. In bifolium. 42 lines. Clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. He thanks him for the news of the 'progress of repairs &c at the Legation', and approves 'of your having ordered extra help to scrub the floors after all the mess which no doubt the workmen left behind them "more americano".' The former state of the 'kitchen flue [...] may account for the apparent inefficiency of the old Range'. He will return on the 'arrival of the next F.O. Bag on Monday'. Gives his travel plans.

12mo, 4 pp. Unbound bifolium pamphlet. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Divided into two sections: 'Experimental Physiology' ('From the Morning Post') and 'Anaesthetics and the Lower Animals' ('From "The Spectator."). Note at end of pamphlet reads 'London Anti-Vivisection Society, 180, Brompton Road, S.W. Price 1/2d., per post 1d., 12 copies 5d.; 1/6 for 50; 2/6 per 100 post free; to be had of Mr. R. SYDNEY GLOVER, Secretary, of whom also may be had (free) a Form of Petition to Parliament against Vivisection.

On both sides of card, 9 x 11.5 cm. 16 lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged card. Gives dates when they will be in Curzon Street. 'I do hope that we shall find you better. My little red book [possibly a pamphlet printed for private circulation, containing recollections of Gladstone] seems to satisfy everybody, which is an immense pleasure to me'. The book and photograph have delighted 'Agnes Jones' sister', and she has 'letters from Mr Gladstone & Mr Rathbone, & a leader - not a mere review - in the Manchester Guardian'.

12mo, 1 p. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper with remains of stub from mounting adhering to one edge. Reads 'We shall be very glad to accord Miss Rosamund hospitality on Saturday'. From a small archive of Lane-Poole material.

4to, 1 p. Twenty lines. Text clear and complete. On aged and lightly-creased paper. Responding to 'the kind note of his esteemed Country woman Mrs. Wallack'. He is 'gratified to learn, that Mr. Wallack will present to the Parisian public representations in the English language, of the best of our Tragedies & Comedies'. He wishes the Wallacks 'the most complete success, and will with pleasure attend the performances, when his health will permit him & his family to do so'. Two of Mason's family will take up Wallack's offer of tickets for the opening.

On the lower part of a letter, cut to form a rectangle, 11.5 x 18 cm. In good condition, with traces of stub from mounting along one edge, and a thin strip of paper, with Burgoyne's name in manuscript neatly laid down beneath the signature. Reads 'I have the honor to be | Your Excellency's | Most Obedient | Humble Servant | [signed] J. F.

According to the diarist Sir Edward Walter Hamilton, the second reading of the Divorced Wife's Sister Bill caused 'great excitement'. Due to clerical opposition, the Bill did not reach the statute book until 1907, and even then in a limited form. These seven items provide an interesting glimpse into the inner workings of the Victorian legislative process. All are clear and complete, and docketed by Dalhousie in red. All in fair condition, with various degrees of aging.

Letter: Foolscap (32 x 20 cm), 1 p. Text clear and complete. 4 lines. In poor condition: on aged paper with chipping and closed tears. Male recipient not named. Heard finds 'no Objection to the Prayer of the annexed Petition of the Right Honble Lord Rawdon that he and his Issue may take and bear the Surname and Arms of Hastings.' Petition: Foolscap (32 x 20 cm), 1 p. Text clear and complete, the body of the petition consisting of twenty lines. On aged, brittle paper, with closed tears along fold lines, and chipping to extremities.

8vo, 3 pp. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. In a difficult hand. Apparently relating to a proposed meeting and dinner for 'tous les trois' (including ''). It is curiously difficult to discover anything, either about Würtz or about the Commission.

12mo, 2 pp. With mourning border. 42 lines. Text clear and complete. On aged and worn paper, with slight chipping to extremities. Herbert has not yet received Wyatt's 'promised letter', but wants 'to say one word [...] about the lighting of the Wilton Chapel. The Gap must be brought to the centre of the Ceiling before the works are completed, as Mr. Olivier wishes to give Eveng. Lectures to the Servants on different occasions & I thought a Corona in the centre would light the whole [...] I can quite trust to yr. Taste to choose one.

12mo, 4 pp, in a bifolium, with postscript on reverse of a Commercial Bank of Scotland 'Paid-in Slip'. Text clear and complete on aged and worn paper. Difficult hand. A fluent and energetic letter. Regarding the queries concerning 'Strasburg, and other words', 'the German Authorities which I fancy you consulted [...] are in my Edinburgh house'. He suggests writing to the London booksellers Williams & Norgate. He is glad to learn that 'Lockhart is turned a golfer.

12mo, 2 pp. On bifolium. 12 lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Part of the leaf to which the item was attached in an autograph album adhering to blank part of reverse of second leaf. 'Miss Cross' has written to him again, 'desiring me to use my influence in obtaining an engagement for her. - She states she is "quite disengaged now" '. Sothern states that when she made a similar request on a previous occasion 'there was some little misunderstanding', so he considers it best to 'drop you a line'.

16mo (13.5 x 9 cm), 1 p. On recto of first leaf of bifolium. Good, on aged paper. Traces of brown paper mount adhering to reverse of second leaf. Reads 'You & the young Ladies will be welcome whenever it suits you best. After 2 oClock you will be least liable to Interruption.'