ARCHAEOLOGIST

Sir Walter Elliot, Scottish orientalist, archaeologist, naturalist, and senior East India Company servant.] Autograph Letter Signed to the German orientalist Reinhold Rost, regarding books he donated to ‘the Library’, needing a ‘Pandit’ to read them.

Author: 
Sir Walter Elliot (1803-1887), Scottish orientalist, archaeologist, naturalist, and senior East India Company functionary [Reinhold Rost (1822-1896), German orientalist in England]
Publication details: 
11 November 1876; on letterhead of Wolfelee, Hawick, N[orth]. B[ritain]. (i.e. Scotland).
£50.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. Addressed to ‘R. Rost Esq Ph.D’ and ‘Dear Dr Rost’, and signed ‘Walter Elliot’. He thanks him for taking the trouble to ‘hunt out the books. I gave a large number in 1866 & some in subsequent years but it is difficult to recal [sic] to mind the details of transactions of so distant a date’.

[George Ebers, German Egyptologist and novelist.] Autograph Letter Signed, in German, with reference to Graf's arrival with antiquities from Venice, dinner with Winnels, and his fairy tale.

Author: 
Georg Ebers [Georg Moritz Ebers] (1837-1898), German Egyptologist and novelist [Theodor von Graf, Austrian dealer in antiquities]
Publication details: 
15 September 1883. Tutzing [Bavaria].
£100.00

2pp, 16mo. Twenty-eight lines of text, in purple ink. With contemporary English translation on both sides of a separate 16mo leaf. Both items in fair condition, on aged paper, with slight damage to corners from mounts. Trust the translation, the letter is addressed to a 'Dear friend', and begins: 'My friend Graf [i.e. the antiquities dealer Theodor von Graf] arrived yesterday from Venice and brought many most interesting antiquities - His visit prevented my writing to you - but then I hope to show you some of his treasures, next time we meet. He came early and stayed late.

[Stuart Poole [Reginald Stuart Poole], numismatist and Egyptologist.] Signed Secretarial Note, on behalf of the British Museum, declining to purchase ‘the coin of Egbert’.

Author: 
Stuart Poole [Reginald Stuart Poole] (1832-1895), numismatist and Egyptologist, Keeper of the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum
Publication details: 
7 March 1885; on embossed British Museum letterhead.
£45.00

1p, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, with slight wear at foot of gutter. Folded once for postage. The signature ‘Reginald Stuart Poole’ is large and expansive. The text, in another hand, reads: ‘Sir, / I regret to say that I cannot entertain the purchase of the coin of Egbert which you showed me the other day’.

[Sir Austen Henry Layard, archaeologist at Nimrud and Nineveh.] Autograph Letter Signed [to Lady Theresa Lewis]

Author: 
Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817-1894), archaeologist who excavated Nimrud and Nineveh, discoverer of library of Assyrian king Ashurbanipal [Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), author]
Publication details: 
'9 Little Ryder Street [London] / July 1/ 53 [1853]'. With his gilded crest as letterhead.
£35.00

See his entry and Lady Theresa Lewis's in the Oxford DNB. Addressed to 'My dear Madam' and signed 'A. H. Layard.' The recipient is not named, but the item is from the papers of Lady [Maria] Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), who lived in Kent House in Knightsbridge with her second husband Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), Bart, Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer, her first husband having been the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842). 2pp, 16mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, folded three times.

[Sir Austen Henry Layard, archaeologist at Nimrud and Nineveh.] Autograph Letter Signed [to Lady Theresa Lewis]

Author: 
Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817-1894), archaeologist who excavated Nimrud and Nineveh, discoverer of library of Assyrian king Ashurbanipal [Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), author]
Publication details: 
'9 Little Ryder Street [London] / July 1/ 53 [1853]'. With his gilded crest as letterhead.
£35.00

See his entry and Lady Theresa Lewis's in the Oxford DNB. Addressed to 'My dear Madam' and signed 'A. H. Layard.' The recipient is not named, but the item is from the papers of Lady [Maria] Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), who lived in Kent House in Knightsbridge with her second husband Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), Bart, Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer, her first husband having been the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842). 2pp, 16mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, folded three times.

[Sir Austen Henry Layard, archaeologist at Nimrud and Nineveh.] Autograph Letter Signed to Foreign Office civil servant Sir Thomas Villiers Lister, giving advice and information for a stay in Venice.

Author: 
Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817-1894), archaeologist who excavated Nimrud and Nineveh, discoverer of library of Assyrian king Ashurbanipal [Sir Thomas Villiers Lister (1832-1902) of the Foreign Office]
Publication details: 
24 February 1886. On letterhead of 1 Queen Anne Street, W. [London]
£100.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Fifty-six lines of neatly- and closely-written text. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and folded once for postage. Signed ‘A. H. Layard’ and addressed to ‘My dear Lister.’ He is sorry that Lister will be in Venice when he is absent, as he is not returning until May. ‘The Hotel de la Grande Bretagne is, I think, now the best in Venice - and very well situated.’ If Lister mentions his name he is sure the landlord ‘will do his best for you. The Grand Hotel is also good. I should not recommend Danieli’s.

[Lord Dunraven [Edwin Richard Wyndham-Quin, 3rd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl], Irish peer, politician and archaeologist.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Harnwell’.

Author: 
Lord Dunraven [Edwin Richard Wyndham-Quin, 3rd Earl of Dunraven and Mount-Earl (1812-1871), formerly Viscount Adare], Irish peer, Member of Parliament and archaeologist
Publication details: 
4 October 1869.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, and with a thin strip of discoloration from glue for mount along one edge. Folded for postage. Signed ‘Dunraven’. Begins: ‘My dear Mr Harnwell / I have kept your very interesting drawings & plates a long time. The Bridge must be a very striking object. The proofs of the ancient dwellings I fear I shd not have kept so long.’ Dunraven is ‘longing to see’ Bradford and will ‘get some copies of the photos’. It may be better to ‘get it photd [sic] on a larger scale’.

[William Roger Paton, Scottish classical scholar, translator of the Greek Anthology.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘W. R. Paton’) [to the editor of the Academy], regarding the reviewing of a book by Salomon Reinach.

Author: 
W. R. Paton [William Roger Paton] (1857-1921), Scottish classical scholar, translator of the Greek Anthology [James Sutherland Cotton (1847-1918), editor of the Academy, London; Salomon Reinach]
Publication details: 
25 August 1891; Grandholme, Aberdeen.
£60.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with spike hole to one corner. Folded once. From the context the recipient is clearly James S. Cotton, editor of the Academy. He explains that ‘Mr S. Reinach’ (the French archaeologist Salomon Reinach, 1858-1932) recently wrote to him to say that he would send him ‘a copy of his book Chroniques d’Orient if I would review it. I said I would with pleasure review it somewhere. Yesterday the book reached me addressed to me (probably owing to some mistake of the publishers) as “redacteur de l’Academy”’.

[[C. R. Cockerell [Charles Robert Cockerell], Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts.] Autograph Note Signed ('C. R. Cockerell') regarding the paying of a subscription.

Author: 
C. R. Cockerell [Charles Robert Cockerell] (1788-1863), architect, archaeologist and author, Professor of Architecture at the Royal Academy of Arts
Publication details: 
8 May 1848. No place.
£35.00

1p, 12mo. On a bifolium endorsed on second leaf '1848 | C R Cockerell R A | 8 May'. Reads: 'My Dear Sir | I hope you have recd. my subscription paid by cheque on London & Westymr. Bank. & forwarded to Mess. Drummond on the 14 Feby. 1848. | Your's truly | C. R. Cockerell'.

[Sir Austen Henry Layard, archaeologist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('A. H. Layard') to the orientalist W. B. Barker, sending a 'specimen' of his 'detestable handwriting', and calling him 'a fortunate man' for being satisfied with his position.

Author: 
Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817-1894), archaeologist who excavated Nimrud and Nineveh, discoverer of library of Assyrian king Ashurbanipal [William Burckhardt Barker] (c.1810-1856), orientalist]
Publication details: 
10 July 1837. Athenaeum Club [London], on club letterhead.
£125.00

2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount unobtrusively adhering at head of reverse. Folded twice. The salutation is to 'My dear Barker', and the name of the recipient is given at the foot of the first page as 'W. B. Barker Esqe'. He thanks him for his 'kind, but too complimentary note'. He is afraid that Barker's friend, who has clearly requested Layard's autograph, 'sets too much value upon a specimen of such detestable handwriting', but in this matter, 'as in anything else', he will be happy to oblige Barker.

[ James Forbes; India ] Autograph Letter Signed "Jam Forbes" to [ Claudius Rich ], traveller and antiquarian (Babylon etc).

Author: 
James Forbes (1749–1819), author of ‘Oriental Memoirs’ (seventeen years residence in India); father-in-law of Marc Rene de Montalembert.
Publication details: 
Paris, 20 March 1817
£280.00

Four pages, 12mo, very good condition. His correspondent's letter eventually reached him in Paris where he'd resided since the last August "in coinsequence of my son-in-law the Baron de Montalembert being appointed by the French Government Minister at the Court of Wurtemberg [...] but political reasons, and the difficulty of procuring a suitable house in that small capital have hitherto prevented our joining him." His daughter has to go through a "Municipal marriage" under the Napoleonic Code to establish her children's legitimacy.

[ John Disney, archaeologist. ] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. P. Duncan of New Coll:',

Author: 
John Disney (1779-1857), archaeologist [ Philip Bury Duncan (1772-1863) of New College, Oxford, Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum ]
Publication details: 
The Hyde. 27 March 1828.
£220.00

2pp., 4to. He begins by reminding Duncan that he recently wrote to him, 'in reply to your letter on the subject of your book respecting Portugal'. That letter was directed to Oxford, but as Disney has not heard from Duncan since, he wonders whether it might have miscarried. He is now writing to remind Duncan of his 'kind expressions in my behalf as a candidate on the list at the Athenaeum'.

[ Sir Cecil Harcourt Smith, archaeologist and Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum. ] Typed Letter Signed ('Cecil H. Smith.') to Sir Henry Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, describing arrangements for the judging of the Owen Jones prizes

Author: 
Sir Cecil Harcourt Smith (1859-1944), archaeologist and Director and Secretary of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1909-1924 [ Sir Henry Trueman Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. 24 October 1916.reg
£50.00

2pp., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. With the Society's oval date stamp. He is sending as promised 'a note of the arrangements agreed upon between us at our interview to-day'. Undertaking to provide space at the Museum 'for the purpose of receiving, arranging for judgment, and re-despatching the designs submitted for the Owen Jones prizes for industrial design. The judging will be done by your nominees, and all correspondence in connection with the matter will be in your hands'.

[ Rev. Robert Whiston, the inspiration for Trollope's 'The Warden'. ] Autograph Letter Signed and Autograph Note Signed (both 'Robert Whiston') to Richard Prall, Rochester solicitor

Author: 
Robert Whiston (1808-1895), Headmaster of Rochester Cathedral Grammar School [ King's School ], 1842 -1877, inspiration for Anthony Trollope's 'The Warden' [ Richard Prall (1802-67), solicitor ]
Publication details: 
Letter from Rochester [ Kent ]; 28 September 1872. Note from St. Margarets; 20 April 1877.
£150.00

Both items in fair condition, aged and worn. ONE: ALS. 28 September 1872. 4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. He is 'taking somewhat of a liberty', but having heard 'that you are parting with one of your Clerks', says 'a word in favour of a person in whom for many reasons I take a great interest, & of whom you & your Brothers may know something. | I mean Mr. Prothero for many years an Inmate of my House, & an Assistant Master in the School'. Prothero was 'for some years a Clerk in the County Court', but 'is obliged from paucity of business to leave it, & is now out of employment'.

[ Edmond-Frédéric Le Blant, archaeologist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Edmond Le Blant'), in French, to an unnamed recipient, discussing the practice of cremation, and listing periodicals to which he contributes.

Author: 
Edmond Le Blant [ Edmond-Frédéric Le Blant ] (1818-1897), French archaeologist and historian
Publication details: 
'Paris, rue Leroux, no 7'. 14 May 1874.
£120.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged paper with some wear at bottom edge. Addressed 'Monsieur'. After a reference to a newspaper article by the recipient and 'les journalistes Français', he communicates, on the subject of cremation, 'un fait que j'ai appris hier du rédacteur en chef d'un grand journal Suisse et qui n'a pas été rendu public par les gazettes', concerning an attack on those attempting a cremation in Berne.

Autograph Letter Signed to R. Hollingworth of the Glen, Gurnard, Cowes.

Author: 
Edward Boucher James (1819-1892), Vicar of Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight, and local historian
Publication details: 
30 March 1892; The Vicarage, Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight.
£25.00

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'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('S. Lane-Poole') to Miss Hollingworth.

Author: 
Stanley Lane-Poole (1854-1931), British orientalist and archaeologist, Professor of Arabic Studies, Dublin University
Publication details: 
16 June 1896; 3 Newnham Road, Bedford.
£38.00

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!'

Autograph Letter Signed ('Mortimer Wheeler') to Fred Behrens, editor of the Bradford Observer.

Author: 
Robert Mortimer Wheeler (d.1936), journalist, father of Sir Mortimer Wheeler (1890-1976), English archaeologist [Sir Jacob Behrens; Fred Behrens; Bradford Observer; Yorkshire Observer]
Publication details: 
7 June 1900; on letterhead of the Bradford Observer.
£23.00

12mo: 1 p. Twenty-one lines. Clear and complete. Fair: on lightly-aged and ruckled paper. He 'turned up at the Executive this afternoon rather in the hope of seeing you than in the expectation of being useful'. He had 'intended amongst other things supporting a meeting of the Committee sometime next week'. He is 'only just emerging from the influenza you gave me last time, which proved of a rather virulent order!' He has 'a visitor in the house & must consult the home arrangements'. 'The absence of Fred Byles (on holiday) ties me somwhat more closely than usual.

Autograph Letter Signed to Sir H[enry]. T[rueman]. Wood[, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts].

Author: 
Rev. Hugh John Dukinfield Astley
Publication details: 
10 June 1913; on crested letterhead 'THE VICARAGE, | EAST RUDHAM.'
£28.00

British archaeologist, anthropologist and numismatist (1856-1930). Two pages, 12mo. Very good. Docketed and bearing R.S.A. stamp. He is forwarding a cheque for his subscription of two guineas. 'My wife & I hope to be present at the Conversazione on the 17th., but I am hardly ever able to get to a meeting. | Do you think an architectural or archaeological Paper wd. be out of place on some evening?' Signed 'H. J. Dukinfield Astley'.

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