BOWYER

[John Mitford, editor of the Gentleman's Magazine.] Autograph Letter Signed, giving permission to print verses, and discussing an individual ('Lang') who was 'very unfit for the British Museum'.

Author: 
John Mitford (1781-1859), cleric and editor of the Gentleman's Magazine [The British Museum, London]
Publication details: 
1 April 1847. No place.
£60.00

See Mitford's entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 32mo. On first leaf of bifolium. Text complete on somewhat grubby and worn paper. The recipient (‘My dear Sir’) is not named, and the letter is signed ‘JMitford’. Closely written, with the result that a few word are difficult to decipher, unfortunately including the name of the subject. It reads: ‘My dear Sir / I can see no objection to you printing the lines that I return, as I presume they are but little known. / I think [Lang?] was a very good sort of Man, as well as a very [clear?] [shrewd?] one . .

[The Fall of Fort Bowyer to the British, following the Battle of New Orleans, 1815.] Contemporary Manuscript Copy of Autograph Despatch from Major John Lambert to Earl Bathurst, describing the action.

Author: 
Sir John Lambert (1772-1847), British Army general in the Napoleonic Wars [Henry Bathurst (1762-1834), 3rd Earl Bathurst; Battle of New Orleans and Fall of Fort Bowyer, 1815]
Publication details: 
'Head Quarters Isle Dauphine | February 14th. 1815.' [On paper with Golding & Snelgrove watermark dated 1811.]
£450.00

3pp, foolscap 8vo. On laid paper with watermark: 'GOLDING | & | SNELGROVE | 1811'. Aged and worn, with closed tears along folds, but with text complete and clear. The document includes two passages written in red ink which has faded but is still legible. The background to the present letter is given in Lambert's entry in the Oxford DNB: 'On 4 June 1813 Lambert was promoted major-general, and was appointed to a brigade of the 6th division. [?] Having been sent to America, he joined the army under Sir Edward Pakenham below New Orleans on 6 January 1815, with the 7th and 43rd foot regiments.

[Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854), Anglo-Irish antiquary.] Autograph Letter Signed (to the editor of the Gentleman’s Magazine, John Bowyer Nichols), regarding mistakes in an article on Winchester House, London, with reference to Thomas Baylis F.S.A.

Author: 
Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854), Anglo-Irish antiquary [John Bowyer Nichols (1779-1863), part-editor of the Gentleman’s Magazine; Winchester House; Thomas Baylis FSA, of Pryor’s Bank, Fulham]
Publication details: 
‘Admiralty [London] / 23rd. March 1839.’
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, on lightly discoloured paper, with thin neat strip from windowpane mount adhering to edges. Sixteen lines in a neat and stylish hand. Signed ‘T. Crofton Croker’. The recipient is not named, but is clearly John Bowyer Nichols, editor of the Gentleman’s Magazine, in whose number for April 1839 appeared an article, with engraving, by ‘E. I. C.’, on ‘Winchester House, Broad-street, London.’ Croker begins his letter: ‘My dear Sir, / I return E. I. C’s account of Winchester House.

[John Mitford, editor of the Gentleman's Magazine.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J Mitford') to a family member, regarding Sir Thomas Gery Cullum, his gardening activities at Hardwick House, and the preparation of his Gentleman's Magazine obituary.

Author: 
John Mitford (1781-1859), cleric and editor of the Gentleman's Magazine [Lady Ann Cullum (1807-1875), wife of Sir Thomas Gery Cullum (1777-1855), 8th Baronet of Hardwick House]
Publication details: 
22 February 1855. Benhall [Benhall Vicarage, near Saxmundham, Suffolk.].
£250.00

See Mitford's entry in the Oxford DNB. At the time of writing he had been retired for five years from the editorship of the Gentleman's Magazine, a post he had held for seventeen years. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of mount adhering to the blank reverse of the second leaf. Folded twice. Forty-four lines in a close hand.

[The Fall of Fort Bowyer to the British, following the Battle of New Orleans, 1815.] Contemporary Manuscript Copy of Autograph Despatch from Major John Lambert to Earl Bathurst, describing the action.

Author: 
Sir John Lambert (1772-1847), British Army general in the Napoleonic Wars [Henry Bathurst (1762-1834), 3rd Earl Bathurst; Battle of New Orleans and Fall of Fort Bowyer, 1815]
Publication details: 
'Head Quarters Isle Dauphine | February 14th. 1815.' [On paper with Golding & Snelgrove watermark dated 1811.]
£750.00

3pp, foolscap 8vo. On laid paper with watermark: 'GOLDING | & | SNELGROVE | 1811'. Aged and worn, with closed tears along folds, but with text complete and clear. The document includes two passages written in red ink which has faded but is still legible. The background to the present letter is given in Lambert's entry in the Oxford DNB: 'On 4 June 1813 Lambert was promoted major-general, and was appointed to a brigade of the 6th division. […] Having been sent to America, he joined the army under Sir Edward Pakenham below New Orleans on 6 January 1815, with the 7th and 43rd foot regiments.

[ Weeden Butler, cleric, author and schoolmaster. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Weeden Butler') to Messrs Nichols and Son, printers and publishers of the Gentleman's Magazine, asking whether they intend to publish a review he has sent them.

Author: 
Weeden Butler the younger (1773-1831), English cleric, author and schoolmaster in Chelsea who taught Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Publication details: 
Chelsea, 26 July 1821.
£180.00

1p., 8vo. Bifolium addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'Messrs: Nichols & son, | No. 26, | Parliament Street, | Westminster.' (Delivered by hand, with word 'Wait.' at bottom left of address.) In fair condition, lightly aged. Written in a bold hand, the letter reads: 'Gentlemen, | I lately sent you by post a careful review of Baron D'Ordre's “Exiles of Parga,” & offered to correct a proof for you. Have you any intention to print the same?

[ William Curtis, Tory politician and banker who coined the phrase 'the three Rs'. ] Autograph Letter in the third person to 'his friends Mess Nichols & Son' [ i.e. John Nichols and John Bowyer Nichols ], conveying directions for bookbinding.

Author: 
Sir William Curtis (1752-1829), banker and Tory politician, who coined the phrase 'the three Rs' [ John Nichols (1745-1826), printer and editor of the Gentleman's Magazine; John Bowyer Nichols ]
Publication details: 
Lombard Street [ London ]. 9 April 1823.
£120.00

1p., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn. Frank on reverse of damaged second leaf to 'Mess Nichols & Son | Parliament Street | Printers | W Curtis'. Seventeen lines of directions to ' his friends Mess Nichols & Son', regarding the binding of legislative works, beginning with 'two Statute books of Geo the Fourth'. Regarding 'an odd, abridgment of some of Geo 3d' he writes: 'it is probable there may be more, if so begs Mess N & Son would get them & bind them, if not it will hardly be worth the expense of binding the one'.

[ Henry Charles Hoare of Fleet Street, London banker. ] Autograph Letter Signed [ to John Bowyer Nichols, editor of the Gentleman's Magazine ], correcting biographical details [ in an obituary of Sir R. C. Hoare ].

Author: 
Henry Charles Hoare (1790-1852) of Fleet Street, London banker, father of Sir Henry Ainslie Hoare [ John Bowyer Nichols (1779-1863), printer and editor of the Gentleman's Magazine ]
Publication details: 
Fleet Street [ London ]. 11 September 1838.
£120.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged. Handwriting practice in a nineteenth-century hand on the blank reverse of the second leaf. He 'must beg to correct' Nichols's 'intended Paragraph' (in the Gentleman's Magazine obituary of Sir Richard Colt Hoare) on the question of 'my Father's Christian names'. He has written 'Hugh Henry', 'which must be reversed to Henry Hugh'. He proceeds to give a transcription of how 'the paragraph will run': 'The Baronetcy devolves on his eldest Half-Brother Henry Hugh Hoare Esqr. the head of the eminent banking house in Fleet St.

[ William Henry Black, antiquary. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('W. H Black') to John Bowyer Nichols, editor of the Gentleman's Magazine

Author: 
William Henry Black [ W. H. Black ] (1808-1872), antiquary [ John Bowyer Nichols (1779-1863), printer and editor of the Gentleman's Magazine ]
Publication details: 
6 Pratt Street [ Camden Town, London ]. 7 November 1834.
£75.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium on grey paper. Aged and worn. Addressed on reverse of second leaf by Black, with his initials, to 'J B Nichols, esq | 25 Park Street.' An interesting glimpse of the editorial workings of the Gentleman's Magazine and Georgian periodical publication in general. Black complains that he has been 'waiting some days for the concluding sheet (as I suppose) of that part of which contains the Ferrar, - the end of the quarto MS. copy'.

[ John Gough Nichols, printer and antiquary. ] Autograph Letter Signed to unnamed recipient, requesting information on the architect James Elmes.

Author: 
John Gough Nichols (1806-1873), printer and antiquary [ James Elmes (1782-1862), architect and surveyor; Society of Antiquaries of London ]
Publication details: 
25 Parliament Street [ London ]. 21 May 1862.
£40.00

1p., 12mo. In fair conditon, on aged and worn paper. Headed in another hand 'Answered'. Reads: 'My dear Sir, | Many thanks for your kind note. If you could bring with you tomorrow evening to the Antiqs. [i.e. Society of Antiquaries ] the dates when the late Mr James Elmes became Surveyor of the Port of London, & when he resigned that office, you would further oblige me.'

Fifteen Autograph Letters Signed from artist and poet Bowyer Nichols to his aunt Emily Mary Nichols, daughter-in-law of John Bowyer Nichols, with dozens of sketches and caricatures in letters and on 24 pieces of paper.

Author: 
Bowyer Nichols [John Bowyer Buchanan Nichols] (1859-1939), English artist and author [his aunt Emily Mary Nichols (nee Ade), wife of Robert Cradock Nichols, son of John Bowyer Nichols]
Publication details: 
The letters mostly from Southgate House, Winchester, Eagle House, Wimbledon, Winchester College; dating from between 1871 and 1875.
£500.00

All items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The letters total 49pp, 16mo and 8vo.. All are complete except the last, which lacks the last part. They are liberally adorned with sketches. Mostly addressed to 'My dear Aunty' and signed in a variety of ways, from 'J. Bowyer B. Nichols' to 'BBN'. The first letter, dated 4 December 1871, sets the tone, showing Bowyer Nichols to be a precocious and spirited twelve-year-old. It begins: 'Will you send me, if you can find it, that poem about Sally Porter and Charlie Church?

[ John Britton, antiquary. ] Proofs of the title-page and dedication page of his 'Memoir of John Aubrey, F.R.S.', corrected in autograph.

Author: 
John Britton (1771-1857), antiquary and topographer [ John Aubrey; John Bowyer Nichols ]
Publication details: 
On title-page: 'London: Printed for the Wiltshire Topographical Society, By J. B. Nichols and Son, 25, Parliament Street. 1845.'
£180.00

The two pages are on the rectos of a 4to bifolium. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, and with two horizontal creases. Four minor proof directions by Britton to title-page, together with the words 'Wood Cut'; and the emendation of 'Marquis' to 'Marquess' in the dedication. The title differs in minor ways from the published version: 'Memoir of John Aubrey, F.R.S.

[ Cadell & Davies, London booksellers. ] Autograph Note Signed from 'S. Cadell' to 'Mr Lawless' [ the firm's assistant Robert Lawless ], instructing him to deliver copies of Pope's Homer to 'Mr Nichols' [ John Bowyer Nichols ].

Author: 
S. Cadell [ John Bowyer Nichols (1779-1863), printer and publisher; Robin Lawless (1724-1806), Irish-born assistant to the London booksellers Cadell & Davies [ Thomas Cadell & William Davies ] ]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [ London, pre-1806. ]
£56.00

On one side of a small rectangle of laid paper, with one corner snipped off. In fair condition, aged and worn, with spike hole not affecting text. Reads: 'Mr Lawless | Deliver Mr Nichols Ninety Popes omer 4 Vol. | S. Cadell'. Although clearly a member of the firm, the identity of the writer is unclear, the descriptions of Cadell & Davies material at the Huntingdon and Yale not yielding any information.

[Printed pamphlet by the Society of Art Masters, London.] Paris Exhibition, 1900. International Congresses On Instruction in Drawing. Special Report prepared for the Society of Art Masters.

Author: 
Walter Wallis, A.R.C.A. (Lond.) Chairman of the Society for the year 1899-1900, Head Master, School of Art, Croydon [Society of Art Masters, London]
Publication details: 
London: Printed by J. B. Nichols & Sons, Parliament Mansions, Orchard Street, Victoria Street. 1901.
£60.00

16pp., 8vo. Stitched. In grey printed wraps. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with creasing to wraps and front cover crossed through in red ink. Shelfmarks, stamp and label of the Board of Education Reference Library, London. Scarce: no copies on COPAC or OCLC WorldCat.

[James Thompson, proprietor and editor of the 'Leicester Chronicle'.] Autograph Letter Signed to the printer and antiquary John Gough Nichols, regarding a Camden Society report, Sir Bernard Burke and a subscription edition by 'Mr Potter'.

Author: 
James Thompson (1817-1877), county historian and editor and proprietor of the 'Leicester Chronicle' [John Gough Nichols (1806-1873), printer and antiquary and editor of the Gentleman's Magazine]
Publication details: 
Chronicle Office, Leicester. 20 May 1856.
£75.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. He begins: 'You would see that we found room for an extract from the Camden Society report in last week's Chronicle'. He asks Nichol to 'find space for the enclosed letter in the Gentleman's Magazine'. He is 'acquainted with the pedigree in question', but does not think that 'Sir Bernard Burke's statements are in all cases to bee relied upon'. The letter continues: 'I do not know whether you are in Mr Potter's secrets.

[P. S. King, London Parliamentary Bookseller.] 36 items from his papers, including correspondence from individuals including the Bishop of Chichester, Sir Charles Bowyer Adderley, Sir Edward Cholmley Dering, William Knight and other public figures.

Author: 
P. S. King [Philip Stephen King] (1819-1908), London Parliamentary Bookseller of 12 Bridge St, Westminster and other addresses[William Knight, Sir Charles Bowyer Adderley; Sir Edward Cholmley Dering]
Publication details: 
Mainly from London and Westminster. Dating from between 1855 and 1907.
£450.00

The notable London firm of P. S. King & Son, 'Publishers, Parliamentary and General Booksellers, Bookbinders and Printers', was in existence for more than a hundred years, having been established, according to its own account, in Parliament Street in 1819, and still active until 1941, when it became P. S. King and Staples, under which name it traded for around six years. (An advertisement for the Staples Press Limited in The Times, 14 February 1946, lists, among incorporated companies: 'P. S.

Autograph Letter, in the third person, from Lord Stafford [George Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland and 2nd Marquis of Stafford] to 'Mr. Nichols' [John Bowyer Nichols], regarding a work by 'Mr. Dallaway'.

Author: 
George Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland and 2nd Marquis of Stafford (1758-1833), hugely-wealthy English nobleman [John Bowyer Nichols (1779-1863), proprietor of Gentleman's Magazine]
Publication details: 
27 April 1831.
£75.00

1p., 4to. Bifolium, addressed on reverse of second leaf by Stafford to 'Mr. Nichols | 25. Parliament St. | Westminster'. Very good, on lightly-aged paper, with seal cut away from second leaf and thin strip of stub along one edge. The letter reads: 'Lord Stafford received from the late Duke of Norfolk a Copy of Mr. Dallaway's work, & has since subscribed to one by Mr. Dallaway & Mr. Cartwright - if the volume referred to by Mr. Nichols is an additional work Lord Stafford will be happy to have it. | Ap. 27.

Eighteen Autograph Letters Signed from artist and poet Bowyer Nichols [John Bowyer Buchanan Nichols] to his aunt Emily Mary Nichols, daughter-in-law of John Bowyer Nichols, with dozens of sketches and caricatures in letters and on 27 pieces of paper.

Author: 
Bowyer Nichols [John Bowyer Buchanan Nichols] (1859-1939), English artist and author [his aunt Emily Mary Nichols (nee Ade), wife of Robert Cradock Nichols, son of John Bowyer Nichols]
Publication details: 
The letters mostly from Southgate House, Winchester (11), Eagle House, Wimbledon (4), Winchester College (2); dating from between 1871 and 1875.
£1,800.00

All items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The letters total 33pp., 12mo; and 31pp, 16mo; with nine on 12mo bifoliums, seven on 16mo bifoliums and two on single 16mo leaves. Nine are on Southgate House letterheads, and two on Winchester College letterheads. All are complete except the last, which lacks the last part. Mostly addressed to 'My dear Aunty' and signed in a variety of ways, from 'J. Bowyer B. Nichols' to 'BBN'. The first letter, dated 4 December 1871, sets the tone, showing Bowyer Nichols to be a precocious and spirited twelve-year-old.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J Nichols') from the printer John Nichols, editor of the 'Gentleman's Magazine', to an unnamed male recipient.

Author: 
John Nichols (1745-1826), printer and antiquary, editor and proprietor of the 'Gentleman's Magazine', father of John Bowyer Nichols (1779-1863); Samuel Carte (1652-1740), antiquary and clergyman]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. 26 July 1825.
£60.00

1p., 12mo. 21 lines. On aged paper, with remains of grey paper mount adhering to the reverse, and short closed tears to top and bottom right-hand corners, the latter through the signature. Nichols writes that he 'forgot the Principal Thing' he meant to say on putting 'the hasty Letter [...] in Mr Parcel', which is to thank him 'for the Offer of Mr Carte's Letters'. He will 'certainly make an opportunity of introducing from them any Extracts' that his recipient will 'point out', or, if he will lend him the volume, it will be 'carefully returned'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm. Salt') from the antiquary and book collector William Salt to the editor of the Gentleman's Magazine John Bowyer Nichols, making editorial comments and enclosing a list of 'Buckler's Engravings'.

Author: 
William Salt (1808-1863), antiquary whose book collection is now the William Salt Library in Stafford [John Bowyer Nichols (1779-1863), printer and editor of the Gentleman's Magazine]
Publication details: 
Sandgate, Kent; 11 August 1843.
£120.00

Letter: 2pp., 4to. 28 lines of text. List: 1p., on a 12mo strip. Both letter and list in very good condition, neatly placed in windowpane mounts on the two leaves of a bifolium. Salt is 'just finishing the List of Manuscript Erdeswick's' and will bring it to Nichols when he returns to London. He wonders whether Nichols has 'nearly come to the end of the Book in your reprint? I do not think you will make your first sheet answer satisfactorily - without printing the whole or part of it over again - but of course you will be the best judge of that'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J H Markland), to the printers 'Messrs Nichols & Son | 25 Parliament Sq.'' by the antiquary and book collector James Heywood Markland

Author: 
James Heywood Markland (1788-1864), antiquary and book collector [John Bowyer Nichols]
James Heywood Markland (1788-1864), antiquary and book collector
Publication details: 
Whitehall Place; 10 July 1834.
£56.00
James Heywood Markland (1788-1864), antiquary and book collector

12mo, 2 pp. Bifolium, addressed on reverse of second leaf. Fair, on aged paper. He does not think he received 'Part II of Collectanea Topog. & Geneal.' 'As I believe that receipts are taken on delivery of that Work be so good as to send me any memorandum of the fact - if you do not possess it perhaps the Part may not have been left at my House'. Docketed, with details of the receipt, at head of first page.

Receipt, signed 'B Nichols, 25 Parliament Street', for a guinea subscription to Forby's 'Vocabulary'. Countersigned by Fletcher.

Author: 
John Bowyer Nichols and Son, Printers and Booksellers; John Kitson; Simon Wilkin, Norwich bookseller; Josiah Fletcher, Norwich bookbinder [The Gentleman's Magazine]
Publication details: 
11 December 1829. On printed company letterhead.
£25.00

On one side of a piece of wove paper roughly 10.5 x 17.5 cm. Good. Printed in top left-hand corner: 'To J. B. Nichols and Son. Printers and Booksellers. 25, Parliament Street, Westminster. ***Office, 10, King Street, Westminster.' Asks that the 'Subscription to Forby's Vocabulary 1 1 0' be paid to him or to 'Mr Wilkin, Bookseller, herewith'. Countsigned crosswise 'Received for S. Wilkin | [signed] Josiah Fletcher | Jan 25/30'. Docketed on reverse. BBTI has Wilkin as a bookseller in Norwich from before 1821 to 1830; and Fletcher as a binder and printer there from around 1820 to 1835.

Prospectus, with extensive list of subscribers annotated in manuscript, for the second part of Lipscomb's 'History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham'.

Author: 
George Lipscomb [John Bowyer Nichol; The Gentleman's Magazine]
Publication details: 
J. B. Nichols and Son, 25, Parliament-street.' [London.]
£65.00

Four paginated pages of small type in a quarto (25 x 20 cm) bifolium. Attractively printed on paper watermarked 'T EDMONDS | 1834'. Unbound. Good: lightly aged and creased. On the first page the author announces the publication of the second part, 'with great regret for the delay which has unavoidably intervened in the publication, from causes impossible for him to have forseen'. The succeeding three pages consist of the double-column list of subscribers, headed by 'Patron.

Liverpool Fire Prevention. An Act For the better protection of Property in the Borough of Liverpool from Fire. [ROYAL ASSENT, AUGUST 24th 1843.] 6 Vict. - Sess. 1843.

Author: 
Liverpool Fire Prevention [Act of Parliament, 1843; British Fire Brigade]
Publication details: 
London: J. B. Nichols and Son, Printers, 25, Parliament-street. [1843.] [Radcliffe, Town Clerk, Liverpool. Burke and Venables, 44, Parliament Street, Parliamentary Agents.]
£150.00

Folio: ii + 59 + [1] pp. Unbound. Stitched as issued. Text clear and entire, but in poor condition: on creased, discoloured and stained paper, with wear to extremities. Begins 'WHEREAS fires in warehouses in the borough of Liverpool have of late years been of frequent and alarming recurrence, and have been attended with considerable loss of life and property.' 124 clauses, followed by seven pages of 'Schedules referred to by the foregoing act'.

Two Autograph Letters Signed ('Charles Spence') to the printers John Bowyer Nichols and his son John Gough Nichols.

Author: 
Charles Spence of the Admiralty, Devonport [John Bowyer Nichols (1779-1863); John Gough Nichols (1806-1873)]
Publication details: 
Both dated 11 November 1852.
£75.00

Letter One (12mo: 4 pp, to 'My dear Mr Nichols', good, on discoloured paper): Explains that he has given 'a note of introduction to a most particular friend of mine Mr Lawrence of Ipplepen near Totnes and Launceston Cornwall'. Lawrence 'was a great friend of the late Mr Arundel of Landulph' and is 'a great friend of Mr Bray of Tavistock'. He is 'a man of ancient Cornish descent & from its first families'. Spence thinks Nichol will find Lawrence 'a valuable West Country Correspondent, well up in County history and nothing loth in the pursuit of antiquarian lore[.

On the earliest specimens of mezzotinto engraving. In a letter to Sir Henry Ellis, K.H., F.R.S., &c.

Author: 
Hugh W[elch]. Diamond, F.S.A.
Publication details: 
London: 1838 ['J. B. Nichols and son, 25, Parliament-street.'].
£125.00

PRESENTATION COPY of offprint 'FROM THE | ARCHAEOLOGIA, | VOL. XXVII. p. 405-409.' Four leaves, 8 pages, 4to. In good condition, although grubby and worn and with creasing to inner edge. Presentation inscription to top right-hand corner of title. Disbound: paginated in manuscript and with slight offsetting to verso of last leaf. No copy of this offprint in the British Library. The author Dr Hugh Welch Diamond (1809-86) was editor of the photographic journal, and a pioneer of psychiatric photography.

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