OF

See his obituaries in The Times, Burlington Magazine and elsewhere. Casting light on the process of reopening the British Museum in the wake of the Great War. From the papers of the recipient, Wilfred Seymour De Winton of Haverfordwest and Cardiff. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly worn and creased. Signed ‘R. L. Hobson’ and addressed to ‘Dear Mr. de Winton’. He has been ‘back at the Museum about 3 weeks & most of that has been spent in helping to get ready for the public some of the more accessible galleries’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The postcard, with stamp printed on it, has the typed address: ‘The Rev. A. H. Sayers, / Orchard Close, / Monmouth’. Aged and worn, with a dog-eared corner and minor rust spotting from a paperclip. Stylised signature. Reads: ‘Many thanks for your offer to send a car to meet me at Severn Tunnel Junction, on November 20th. I will look out for it. / Yours / L Housman’. From the Sayers papers, with other material indicating that Housman was giving a talk for the Union. See image.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded three times. In order to mark the request as dealt with, the recipient has written a thin ink line across the page. Reads: ‘W J Chadwick Esqre / Sir / Please send me price list of your Teacher’s Patent Lantern Microscope / Yours truly / C. V. Creagh / Governor of North Borneo / Address / Sandakan / North Borneo / via Singapore’.

Pauer, who had studied piano with Mozart’s son, gave daily recitals during the Great Exhibition of 1862, and was later appointed Professor at the newly-formed Royal College of Music (later the Royal College of Music), also working at Cambridge University. 2pp, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: ‘Dear Miss Alain / I do not see any chance of being able to arrange for the lessons you desire to take. I need not tell you that I am sorry that I cannot fulfil your wish. / In haste yrs truly / E Pauer’.

See his long but strangely-cagey entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Signed ‘Frederic Harrison.’ The recipient is not named. The letter begins: ‘Madam, I am obliged to you for your interesting letter[.] I do not enter an argument because it is founded on a few sentences which give a very imperfect idea of what I said on Sunday last.’ He does not dispute many of her assertions and, as for ‘the usefulness of larger landlords’, he has ‘repeatedly urged it in my addresses’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 25 March [no year]; 12 St James’s Place [London]. 3pp, 12mo. On a bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with thin strip cut from top of first leaf (not affecting text). Signed ‘A W Kinglake’. The recipient is not named. Presumably writing during his period as Member of Parliament for Bridgewater, between 1857 and 1869, he begins ‘My dear Sir / I shall make a pint of being present at the discussion of the Bill which threatens to make Charities liable to local assessment’.

Despite Vaughan’s final protestations, a fine analysis of the competing forces around the drive for reform of the Church of England. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is from the papers of the recipient, Wilfred Seymour De Winton (c.1856-1929) of Haverfordwest. 4pp, 12mo. On bifolium with mourning border. Signed ‘C. J. Vaughan’. Thirty-six lines of text. Begins ‘Dear Mr. de Winton, / I am interested by your letter.

See his long entry in the Oxford DNB, which sums up his achievements as ‘very substantial’ and ‘a source of enduring inspiration to others’. 1p, 16mo. On bifolium with thin mourning border. In good condition, folded twice. Written in his characteristically-inky hand, and signed ‘Shaftesbury’. Reads: ‘Dear Mr Rowley / I did not forget your request. I trust that, by the blessing of God, your [fears?] are [removed?]. / Yours tr[ul]y / Shaftesbury’. Seee image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. At the foot of the second page, in another hand (no doubt that of the recipient) are written Doyle’s details in red ink. Signed ‘D. A. Boyle’ and addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Dean’. He is returning the photograph he has sent, ‘endorsed in the way you ask’, but his wife agrees with him that ‘the photo you have got hold of is a very bad one so I am sending you another - also enclosed - which I hope you will use for your collection and destroy the other’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Sixteen closely- and neatly-written lines. After thanking him for his ‘kind and seasonable letter’, he states that he is ‘not much affected by rude abuse in parliament or through the press’ as he is ‘pretty well hardened in that respect’, and that he ‘may possibly have an opportunity’, in his own ‘proper place’, ‘of explaining & vindicating’ his position, for the purpose of which he asks Allan ‘for somewhat more particular information in regard to monumental inscriptions in Christian communities’.

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair, condition on lightly aged and discoloured paper. Folded twice. Signed ‘J. S. Brownrigg’. He will makes sure that the points raised by De Winton are fully considered at a ‘good meeting’ the following Monday of ‘our Standing Committee and the Committee of the Church Parliamentary Party’. While one of the points will be ‘easily met by moving the exclusion of Clause 17’, he is afraid that ‘a new Committee elected under the provisions of the Bill would be hardly better than the present governing Body in Welsh Counties’.

Rieu was the son of Charles Pierre Henri Rieu (1820-1902) of Geneva, Keeper of Oriental Manuscripts at the British Museum, and elder brother of Emile Victor Rieu (1887-1972), both of whom have DNB entries. In 1947 he had privately printed (as’J. L. R.’) a ‘Chronicle of the Rieu Family now settled in England’. 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded twice. Signed ‘J. L Rieu / Commissioner in Sind’. An nice sidelight on the workings of the Raj. He has been asked for a letter by ‘Mr. Mansing Ramsing’, on behalf of his son ‘Mr. Bhojraj M.

An interesting letter, in which a knowledgeable contemporary gives an extremely critical opinion of Victorian restoration as it pertains to churches in Wales. Freeman’s entry in the Oxford DNB describes how in his youth he had contemplated a career as an architect, and as a historian he showed ‘an interest in field archaeology and architecture, with the ability to sketch buildings and their features’. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Signed ‘Edward A Freeman’.

An excellent letter, in which Caine evaluates his wartime activities, criticises those of others, and gives his opinion of the the standing of the man of letters in the England of his time. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. A long letter: forty-two lines in Caine’s distinctive close hand, with the first two pages on the rectos of the leaves, and the third page written lengthwise on the verso of the first leaf. Signed ‘Hall Caine’ and addressed to ‘My dear Sladen’.

The 1880 'Balliol Masque' indicates Jowett's standing, and the pronunciation of his name: 'First come I. My name is Jowett. | There's no knowledge but I know it. | I am Master of this College, | What I don't know isn't knowledge.' See Jowett’s entry, and those of Lucas and Russell, in the Oxford DNB, which states regarding Jowett that by the end of his life he had become ‘synonymous with Balliol, which he turned into the leading college in the first university in the United Kingdom at the height of its world power’. 1p, 12mo. In good condition. Folded twice.

Barnett’s entry in the Oxford DNB accepts his ‘greatness’ and discusses its nature. 1p, 16mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The subject of this letter is William Tourell, Superintendent of the East London Shoeblack Brigade, a charity of which Barnett was treasurer. The letter begins: ‘Dear Maud. / My Friend Towrell [sic] is dying of cancer. He is taking violet leaves & somehow the disease seems arrested. The doctor says he had better go on taking these leaves as they may be doing good’.

An interesting and empassioned letter, highlighting one aspect of the debate over the class inequalities present in mid-Victorian England. See Thorold’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 8pp, 12mo. On two bifoliums. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Signed ‘A. W. Thorold’. The recipient is not named. He begins by stating that his speech at Islington lasted twenty-five minutes, as opposed to the report in the journal he has sent him, which ‘could be easily spoken in two’, and does not give a ‘fair notion of its point and aim’.

A scarce item, of which no other copy has been traced. 9pp, 8vo. Disbound from a volume, and paginated in manuscript 57-65. In good condition, lightly aged. Printed in lithograph in facsimile of a manuscript document. Begins by explaining the purpose of the dispatch in true Gladstonian style: ‘I find that the impulse which has been given in every other part of the Civilized World to plans of Railway communication has been felt in many of the British Colonies.

Both items are scarce: no copy of the first and only two copies of the second on OCLC WorldCat and JISC (at Manchester and Glasgow). Both are in good condition, lightly aged. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. ONE: Printed ‘Circular’ headed in manuscript ‘Banking Companies’, and dated from Downing Street, 30 May 1846. 1p, 8vo. Paginated in manuscript 67. Thirty-two lines of small print, in a copperplate font. At foot of the page (not in Gladstone’s hand): ‘/sd/ Grey [last word deleted] W. E. Gladstone’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of 19 x 5.5 cm piece of laid paper. In good condition, lightly ruckled and with traces of mount on reverse. Clearly cut from a letter for an autograph hunter. Reads: ‘Captain Wynguard who has [...] is fit to succeed to that situation. / I am, Dear Mr Harrison, / Yours most sincerely / Frederick / Colonel 2d. L. Gds.’ The ‘2’ of ‘2d.’ looks like a ‘1’, but the signature is certainly his.

The printed item is excessively scarce: no copy on OCLC WorldCat or JISC. Transcriptions of both items are to be found in The Journal of the Legislative Council of the Province of New Brunswick, 20 January to 26 March, pp.26-28. The two items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. ONE: Manuscript ‘Circular’ headed ‘Banking Companies’ and dated from Downing Street, 4 May 1840. 1p, 8vo. Paginated in manuscript 15. On W. Horsington paper with watermark date 1839.

All three items are scarce, with no copies on OCLC WorldCat or COPAC. Both in good condition, lightly aged. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. ONE: Printed ‘Circular’, headed in manuscript ‘Immiration / W. Indies & Mauritius’, and dated from Downing Street, 23 October 1846. Paginated in manuscript 93. At foot of page (not in Grey’s hand): ‘/sd/ Grey’.

An interesting indication of the Victorian approach to transparency in government. A scarce item: no other copy traced. Dispatch with ‘Circular. / Private.’ in the margin. Headed in manuscript ‘Publication of Colonial Papers. / (Parliamentary Papers)’. At end in manuscript (not Grey’s handwriting): ‘/sd/ Gray’. In good condition, lightly aged. 4pp, 8vo. Disbound from volume, and paginated in manuscript 175-178. Printed in copperplate font.

Two interesting items from the period leading up to the American Civil War. Both items are scarce: no other copy of either traced. In good condition, lightly aged. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript.Both printed in copperplate font. ONE: Printed ‘Circular’ dated from Downing Street, 16 October 1850. Headed in manuscript ‘Colonial Emigrants from United States’. In manuscript at end (not in Grey’s hand) ‘/sd/ Grey’. 2pp, 8vo. Paginated in manuscript 239-240.

Both items scarce: no other copies traced. In good condition, lightly aged. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. ONE: Copy of letter from W. L. Maberly to ‘H. Merivale, Esq., / &c. &c. &c. / Colonial Office’, dated from General Post Office, 14 December 1850. 2pp, 8vo. Paginated in manuscript 257-258.

Scarce: no other copy traced. 1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript 37. Printed ‘Circular’ dated from Downing Street, 16 December 1842. Headed in manuscript ‘Crime in the high Seas’. At bottom, in manuscript (not Stanley’s hand): ‘/sd/ Stanley’. Twenty-nine lines in copperplate font.

Important items, reflecting the state of affairs regarding movement of West Africans to the British West India colonies in the period immediately following the abolition of slavery. Both items excessively scarce: no copies traced on either OCLC WorldCat or COPAC. In good condition, lightly aged. The two items disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. ONE: Printed ‘Circular’ dated ‘Downing Street, / 25th. February 1843.’ Lithographic reproduction of manuscript text, headed in real manuscript ‘Emigration from the W. Coast of Africa’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. All three letters 1p, 8vo. The third letter in good condition, lightly aged; the first two in fair condition, on creased and chipping cartridge paper, with a few spots of rust from a paperclip. All three folded for postage. All three signed ‘Laurence Housman’. ONE (3 November 1936): Begins: ‘Dear Mr. Sayers, / I am rather perturbed to find that the meeting I am asked to speak at is the Annual of the League of Nations Union. The request for me to speak came from the Peace Pledge Union, and no indication was given that it was not a Peace Pledge meeting.

A very nice piece of musichall ephemera: a signed self-caricature by one of its leading lights. See Robey’s entry in the Oxford DNB. On a 7 x 8.75 cm piece of card, cut from a plain printed postcard. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of the four paper label mounts on reverse. On the front, which is entirely plain apart from Robey’s writing, is his Autograph Inscription, in a close hand with stylized signature: ‘Good luck. Geo Robey.’ This is at the foot of the page, beneath a well-executed self-caricature in blue and red ink.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, landscape 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and with slight creasing to one edge. Folded once. In his view de Winton’s ‘investigation will certainly successfully appease Lord Cross, & avert the indignation of the Northerners. It certainly most satisfactorily justifies your suggestion.’ He ends in the hope that ‘we are now fairly well advanced towards the completion of our Scheme.’