CAPTAIN

[USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear submarine.] Typed Letter Signed written from the vessel by its commander Captain W. R. Anderson, to J. G. Gillman, following its transit of the North Pole.

Author: 
Captain William Robert Anderson (1921-2007), United States Navy, commander of the world’s first nuclear submarine USS Nautilus, which he took under the arctic icecap, and a Democratic congressman
Nautilus
Publication details: 
20 August 1958. On letterhead of ‘U.S.S. NAUTILUS (SSN-571) / Fleet Post Office / New York, New York’.
£120.00
Nautilus

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘Mr. J. G. Gillman / 50 High Street / Chislehurst, Kent / England’. Good firm signature, ‘W R Anderson’, with ‘Commander, U.S. Navy / Written following the Nautilus’s arctic transit, 3 August 1958: ‘Thank you for your letter and kind appreciation. The people of England have given us a truly wonderful welcome and we are all deeply appreciative.’ He asks him to accept the signature that he is attaching, for his autograph collection. See Image.

[Parnell's 'bodyguard and aide-de-camp': Henry Harrison MP MC, member of the Irish Parliamentary Party.] Autograph Letter Signed, written within months of the death of Charles Stewart Parnell, on behalf of his widow Katharine ('Kitty O'Shea').

Author: 
Henry Harrison (1867-1954), close confidant of Charles Stewart Parnell and his wife Katharine (?Kitty O?Shea?), Irish Parliamentary Party MP in British House of Commons, decorated British Army captain
Publication details: 
19 December 1891; 10 Walsingham Terrace, West Brighton.
£100.00

Parnell had died around ten weeks before, on 6 October 1891. See Harrison's entry in the Oxford DNB: 'After the party broke in two in December 1890, Harrison campaigned with his chief in Ireland, constituting himself a bodyguard and aide-de-camp. After Parnell's death in October 1891 Harrison, young though he was, hastened to Brighton to put his services at the disposal of Parnell's widow. It was then that he heard from her a very different account of the circumstances surrounding her divorce from that given in court.

[Oxford University Cricket Club, 1922.] Autographs of the eleven, including future England Captain Greville Stevens, the Australian R. H. Bettington, R. C. Robertson-Glasgow and R. L. Holdsworth.

Author: 
Greville Stevens [Greville Thomas Scott Stevens; G. T. S. Stevens] (1901-1970), Oxford University Cricket Club, 1922; England captain [R. H. Bettington; R. L. Holdsworth; R. C. Robertson-Glasgow]
OUCC
Publication details: 
No date or place, but the same eleven that played at Oxford in May 1922.
£120.00
OUCC

On a 16.5 x 20 cm piece of faded and lightly-worn light-green paper, with small diagonal cuts at corners where the item was mounted in an album. The players’ names are neatly presented in a column (there is no other text on either side): ‘OUCC | Greville Stevens | R. L. H. Holdsworth | J. D. Percival | V. R. Price | R C Robertson Glasgow | P E Lawrie | M Patten | R H Bettington | T B Raikes | L. P. Hedges | R R P Barbour’. This is the same eleven which won a match at Oxford against the Free Foresters on 20 May 1922.

[Bruce Bairnsfather [Captain Charles Bruce Bairnsfather], cartoonist who created the First World War Fragments from France characters Old Bill, Bert and Alf.] Autograph Signature, with that of the baritone Kennerley Rumford (Clara Butt's husband).

Author: 
Bruce Bairnsfather [Captain Charles Bruce Bairnsfather] (1887-1959), cartoonist who created the First World War Fragments from France characters Old Bill, Bert and Alf, published in 'The Bystander'
Bruce Bairnsfather
Publication details: 
Without date or place [circa 1920].
£45.00
Bruce Bairnsfather

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. A bold, untidy and yet stylish signature, in exactly the state one would hope to find Bairnfather moniker. It gives the impression of having been sent post-haste from the trenches, scrawled in pencil on a piece of vertically-ruled paper torn out of a notebook, ruckled and grubby, and laid down on an unruckled and clean 15.5 x 9.5 cm leaf with rounded edges, torn from an autograph album. The signature ‘Bruce / Bairnsfather’ is across the head of the landscape page, with a jagged line (intended for the flourish?) by Bairnsfather across the foot.

[Rt Hon. Robert Gambier Middleton, Scottish Royal Navy officer who served under Nelson as Captain of HMS Flora.] Three Letters Signed, giving instructions to his midshipman on the Flora John Hawkins, one from Gibraltar.

Author: 
Rt Hon. Robert Gambier Middleton (1774-1837), Scottish Royal Navy officer who served under Nelson as Captain of HMS Flora, nephew of Admiral Lord Barham
Publication details: 
All three written from HMS Flora. ONE: ‘at Sea the 26 of June 1798’. TWO: ‘in Gibraltar Bay the 18th. July 1798’. THREE: ‘as Sea, the 28th. March 1800’.
£320.00

Providing a good view of the day-to-day practicalities of Nelson's navy. Middleton was the nephew of Admiral Lord Barham. In 1795 he removed from the Lowestoffe to the Flora, serving under the Nelson off Genoa in support of the Austrian Army, and during July 1796 at the occupation of Porto Ferrajo. All three 1p, foolscap, and somewhat discoloured and worn, the first and last with chipping at head, but all with text entire.

[Oxford University and Captain Henry Worsley Hill, Lieutenant Governor of the Gold Coast.] Copy by Hill of College of Arms pedigree showing his family’s consanguinity with William of Wickham and Nicholas Wadham. With ALS to the warden of New College.

Author: 
Captain Henry Worsley Hill (1799-1868), Royal Navy, first 'proper' Lieutenant Governor of the Gold Coast [William of Wickham; Nicholas Wadham; New College, Oxford; College of Arms, London]
Publication details: 
Hill’s letter dated 22 July 1850, from 3 Carlton Crescent, Southampton. The pedigree copied by Hill from the original made by the College of Arms, London, and dated 24 November 1845.
£320.00

Captain Hill was the son of Vice-Admiral Henry Hill (1775–1849). In 1845 Captain Hill married Amelia Jane Boyce (1821–1895), granddaughter of the Duke of Marlborough, with whom he had ten children. Hill’s letter is written on the back of the pedigree, and addressed to ‘The Revd / The Warden / New College / Oxford’. It reads: ‘Mr. Warden, / I have the honour of transmitting herewith for your information the Copy of a Pedigree which I have received from the Heralds Office shewing the consanguinity of my Family to William of Wickham the Founder of New College Oxford and of the College of St.

[Lord Fitzroy Somerset, later Lord Raglan.] Secretarial Letter, Signed by him, regarding the application to purchase a commission by Captain Thomas Monck Wilson, 59th Foot, on behalf of his son Charles.

Author: 
Lord Fitzroy Somerset, latterly Lord Raglan [Field Marshal FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan], Private Secretary to the Duke of Wellington, commander of British troops in the Crimean War
Publication details: 
'Horse Guards [Whitehall, London] / 1st August 1846'.
£90.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, on aged paper with nicks and small closed tears to extremities. Addressed to ‘Thos. M. Wilson Esqre / the Captain 59 foot’, and signed ‘Fitzroy Somerset’. The document is in a secretarial hand, only the signature being in Somerset’s autograph.

[Royal Navy, 1838.] Manuscript ‘Return of Treasure conveyed’ by HMS Dublin (Captain Robert Tait), flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Graham Hamond, Commander-in-Chief of the South American station. Signed by Ralph Barton, Senior Lieutenant.

Author: 
Royal Navy, 1838 [HMS Dublin (Captain Robert Tait), flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Graham Hamond, Commander-in-Chief of the South American station; Ralph Barton, Senior Lieutenant]
Publication details: 
Compiled to 31 March 1838. No place.
£180.00

The 1812 HMS Dublin was the third Royal Navy ship of that name. At the time of this document she was a 40-gunner, and the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief of the South American station Vice-Admiral Sir Graham Hamond (1779-1862). See the entries on Barton, Hamond and Tait in O’Byrne’s ‘Naval Biographical Dictionary’ (1849), and Hamond’s in the Oxford DNB. 1p, landscape foolscap 8vo. Aged and creased. Docketed on reverse: ‘Dublin / Treasure conveyed. / 31. March 1838. / E1/1 / Entd 2d. April. / W Let’.

[' there are 5 french frigates at sea escaped from Toulon': Captain Sir Peter Parker and HMS Menelaus (Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars).] Autograph Letter Signed from midshipman Robert Kennedy Thomson, describing his exploits to his mother.

Author: 
Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars; Captain Sir Peter Parker and the Menelaus] Lieutenant Robert Kennedy Thomson (fl. 1849) of Dalgarrock, Ayrshire, Scotland
Publication details: 
26 December [1812]. ‘H M. Ship Menelaus’. With ‘Ship Lre’ postmark from Portsmouth Dock’.
£220.00

Real Hornblower stuff: a breathless letter full of interesting content. The Oxford DNB entry for Sir Peter Parker the younger (1745-1814) gives the background: ‘in January 1812 he joined Sir Edward Pellew at Port Mahon, where he remained for the greater part of the year, attached to the in-shore squadron before Toulon. There he had more than one opportunity of distinguishing himself in a brilliant skirmish with the enemy's advanced ships.

[Conquest of Cayenne, 1809.] Manuscript Petition to King George III, signed by Thomas Sevestre, surgeon of HMS Confiance, asking permission to 'enjoy the Privileges' of a Portuguese order. With seal of Portuguese ambassador Sousa Coutinho.

Author: 
Conquest of Cayenne, 1809 [French Guiana conquered by the Portuguese under British leadership]; Sir Thomas Sevestre (1784-1842) [Sir James Lucas Yeo (1782-1818)]
Publication details: 
Certified correct in London on 31 March 1810.
£250.00

The Conquest of Cayenne - part of Britain’s strategy of using its naval power to attack French colonial interests in the Napoleonic Wars - is described in the fifth volume of William James’s ‘Naval History of Great Britain’ (1827). Britain was only able to contribute HMS Confiance, but its captain James Lucas Yeo was put in charge of the whole expedition, and he and his crew performed with distinction (see Yeo’s entry in the Oxford DNB).

[‘The Reefer’s pain’: Royal Navy, 1806.] Unpublished Autograph Poem ‘The Cockpit’, Signed by ‘J H Grose Assistant Surgeon’, HMS Captain, describing a midshipman's life, with reference to Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds and Thomas John Dibdin.

Author: 
J. H. Grose, Royal Navy Assistant Surgeon of His Majesty’s Ship Captain, 1806 [Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds; Thomas John Dibdin; Lord Nelson]
Publication details: 
3 February 1806. On board HMS Captain.
£280.00

An interesting and well-written poem, unpublished, casting light on the life of a midshipman in the Royal Navy in the year after Trafalgar. The author of this poem is frustratingly elusive (he was perhaps a member of the family of the antiquary Francis Grose, 1731-1791), but the 1787 Captain was a 74-gun third rater of some renown, having been captained by Nelson at the 1797 Battle of St Vincent. In the year following this poem she would act as one of the escorts for the expedition that left Falmouth and eventually attacked Buenos Aires.

[Admiral of the Fleet James Gambier, distinguished Royal Navy officer.] Navy Office document, signed by Gambier, John Henslow and Charles Hope, querying an account submitted by ‘Captain Stanhope / late of L’Achille’.

Author: 
James Gambier [Lord Gambier] (1756-1833), Royal Navy Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and First Naval Lord; John Henslow (1730-1815); Captain Charles Hope
Publication details: 
'Navy Office 20th March 1799.'
£220.00

See Gambier’s entry in the Oxford DNB. He served during capture of Charleston during American Revolutionary War, at the Glorious First of June, and commanded at Battle of Copenhagen and Battle of the Basque Roads. He was First Naval Lord, three times: 1795-1801, 1804-6 and 1807-8. Henslow was Surveyor to the Navy, 1784-1806, and Hope was Deputy Comptroller of the Navy, 1795-1801.

[Anthony Shepherd, Plumian Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge, after whom his friend Captain Cook named a group of islands.] Autograph Letter Signed, asking the recipient to consult ‘the Arundelian Mss’ with regard to Burnham Rectory in Norfolk.

Author: 
Anthony Shepherd (c.1721-1796), Plumian Professor of Astronomy at Cambridge, after whom his friend Captain Cook named a group of islands
Publication details: 
1 May 1767. Maddox Street [London].
£90.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which notes his unpopularity at his college Christ’s, which terminated his fellowship in 1783. According to Fanny Burney he was ‘dullness itself’. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, on lightly aged and browned paper. Folded for postage. Signed ‘A. Shephard Plume’s Profr. / Camb.’ The recipient is not named.

[CSS Alabama, Confederate sloop-of-war raider, Captain Raphael Semmes, sunk in 1864 by USS Kearsarge.] Steel engraving by Henry Bryan Hall of depicting seven of the ship's officers.

Author: 
[CSS Alabama, Confederate sloop-of-war, Captain Raphael Semmes, sunk in 1864 by USS Kearsarge] Henry Bryan Hall (1808-84), Anglo-American engraver; Kelly, Piet & Co., Baltimore publishers
CSS
Publication details: 
[1869.] Kelly, Piet & Co., Baltimore.
£220.00
CSS

A painting by Manet of the celebrated engagement between the Alabama and the Kearsarge was finished and exhibited before the end of 1864. It now hangs in the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Art. The present item is a steel engraving, dating from five years later, on a small 8vo piece of thickish wove paper. In good condition, on lightly aged paper, with slight discoloration and creasing to the blank edges. At the foot of the engraving is the name of the publishers, ‘Kelly, Piet & Co. Baltimore’ (it appeared in their 1869 book, ‘Memoirs of Service Afloat, during the War between the States.

[Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley, England cricket captain in the first Ashes series against Australia.] 15 manuscript items of banking correspondence between Darnley (8 signed items), his attorneys Wadeson & Malleson (6) and bankers Coutts & Co (1).

Author: 
Ivo Bligh (1859-1927), 8th Earl of Darnley, England cricket captain in the first ever Ashes series against Australia, 1882-3; his attorneys Wadeson & Malleson, London; his bankers Coutts & Co, London
Publication details: 
All items from 1901. The Earl of Darnley, Cobham Hall, Gravesend, Kent; Coutts & Co, 59 Strand, London, WC; Malleson & Co, 7 Devonshire Square, Bishopsgate Without, London, EC.
£420.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The correspondence dates from the year 1901, Bligh having acceded to the earldom on the death of his elder brother Edward on 31 October 1900, and the material consists of what is probably the first set of banking instructions, mainly relating to his ‘accession account’, with recipients of payments ranging from the Dowager Countess to Rochester Golf Club. 10pp, foolscap 8vo; 2pp, 4to; 10pp, 12mo. The fifteen items range in size from foolscap 8vo to 12mo. Four items (letters to Coutts from Wadeson & Malleson) are typed and the rest are in manuscript.

[‘I believe we shall do very well’: Nicholas Trant, hero of the Peninsular War.] Autograph Letter Signed to the British Envoy at Lisbon Charles Stuart, praising his Portuguese troops and describing the situation on the ground.

Author: 
Nicholas Trant (1769-1839), Irish officer in British Army who led Portuguese irregular troops during Peninsular War [Charles Stuart (1779-1845), Baron Stuart de Rothesay, Minister to Lisbon 1810-1814]
Publication details: 
1 May 1810. Oporto [Portugal].
£350.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB (which states of Trant’s capture of Coimbra in 1810 that ‘Napier described it as the most daring enterprise by any partisan force during the entire war’) as well as that of Stuart in the same work. A significant and vivat document, giving a good picture of the logistical and intelligence challenges faced by the British during the Peninsular War.

[Lieut-Col. John Stuart Bligh, 6th Earl Darnley, amateur cricketer.] Autograph Note Signed, giving ‘Mr. F. York’ permission to ‘take some photographic views’ of Cobham Hall, Gravesend. With stamped envelope, addressed in Autograph.

Author: 
Lieut-Col. John Stuart Bligh, 6th Earl of Darnley [formerly Lord Clifton] (1827-1896), amateur cricketer, father of the England captain Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley [F. York, London photographer]
Publication details: 
5 September 1868. On embossed letterhead of Cobham Hall, Gravesend.
£50.00

See his son Ivo Bligh’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: ‘Sir: / You are welcome to take some photographic views of this place: - you will please to ask to see the Houseeeper when you come. / I remain / Yours faithy / Darnley’. In worn envelope, self-stamped with pink penny stamp and two postmarks, one from Gravesend. Addressed in Autograph by Darnley to ‘Mr. F. York / Alfred Villa / Lancaster Road / Notting Hill London W.’

[Lord Auckland, Governor-General of India.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Auckland’) to ‘FitzGerald’ [William Vesey-FitzGerald, 2nd Baron FitzGerald and Vesey], rejoicing in the ‘mark of favor and distinction’ he has obtained for Captain Macgregor.

Author: 
Lord Auckland [George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland] (1784-1849), Whig politician and Governor-General of India
Publication details: 
6 October 1822; Kensington Gore [London].
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, on the first leaf of a bifolium, the blank second of which carries traces of mount. Folded twice. Begins: ‘My dear FitzGerald / I thank you very much for your obliging note - and I rejoice greatly that you have obtained for Capt Macgregor this mark of favor and distinction. India has no better soldier, nor has any political agent, placed in trying circumstances, shewn a better nerve or a sounder discretion’. FitzGerald’s ‘just notice of him’ will be ‘well appreciated’ by others.

[‘I feel rather as a brother than as a client’. Captain George Jones, RA, Librarian of the Royal Academy.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘George Jones’) to his close friend Sir Francis Chantrey, explaining his embarrassment at selling him a painting.

Author: 
Captain George Jones (1786-1869), RA, Librarian and acting President of the Royal Academy, and army officer, close friend and executor of J. M. W. Turner and Sir Francis Chantrey
Publication details: 
Without date or place, but before Chantrey's death in 1841, and probably from London.
£150.00

See the entries for Jones and Chantry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. An interesting letter of 39 lines with text intact, in poor condition, aged and with closed tears, and discoloration from tape used in repair, and ink blot to first page. The surname of the recipient is not given, but the close friendship between the two men (Jones published a memoir of Chantrey in 1849) puts Chantrey’s identity beyond doubt.

[Percy Chapman, cricketer] Signature only A.P.F. Chapman underlined. with signature Tennyson. See image

Author: 
A.P.F. Chapman [Arthur Percy Frank Chapman (1900 – 1961), Kent cricketer who captained the England cricket team between 1926 and 1931.
Cricket
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£25.00
Cricket

Page torn from album, 16 x 13cm, one rough edge left, corner clipped left. Tennyson would be a titled descendant of the poet.

[Captain George Richards, Royal Marines.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Geo. Richards'), sending his likeness and describing his service: '23 Actions' including 'the death of Nelson and Abercrombie', serving under Wellington in Peninsular War.

Author: 
Captain George Richards (d.1866), Royal Marines, meritorious British Army officer [Solihull, Warwickshire]
Publication details: 
16 September 1863. Solihull [Warwickshire].
£150.00

1p, 12mo. In fair condition, aged and creased. Folded twice. Written in a shaky hand, as explained by the text: 'My dear Sir / | Agreeable to promise I send my Likeness, I wish it was something worthy of your acceptance - suffice it to say the original saw the death of Nelson and Abercrombie. Served under Wellington in the Spanish peninsular War, attended his funeral, and from 1797 to 1814 was by Sea and Land in 23 Actions[.] I am well in health but cannot see what I write - My sincere love to Mrs. Macwey - God bless you'.

[Sir John Mills, Oscar-winning actor.] Typed Letter Signed ('John Mills') to Mrs Richard Eyre, daughter of Charles Royds, First Lieutenant to Scott of the Antarctic, regarding research on the film, in which Mills starred as Scott.

Author: 
Sir John Mills [born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills] (1908-2005), Oscar-winning English film actor [Richard Eyre; Scott of the Antarctic]
Publication details: 
24 November 1947; Fernacres, Fulmer, Bucks.
£120.00

2pp, 12mo. On grey paper with letterhead of his name. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight staining tape staining to two corners from mount. Addressed to 'Mrs Richard Eyre, | Bullsmead, | Maiden Newton, | Dorset.' The subject of the letter is the preparation for the 1948 British film 'Scott of the Antarctic', in which Mills starred in the title role. The recipient is the mother of the noted English director Sir Richard Eyre (b. 1943), whose father Charles Royds was Scott’s First Lieutenant.

[Rafael Sabatini, Anglo-Italian popular novelist.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Miss Greenwood', regarding a 'flagrant' cause for complaint, and the removal of his name from the 'author credits' of a film with an 'unutterable scenario'..

Author: 
Rafael Sabatini (1875-1950), Anglo-Italian author of romance and adventure novels
Publication details: 
On his letterhead, Clock Mill, Clifford, Hertfordshire. 23 July 1949.
£80.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Folded once. Signed 'Rafael Sabatini'. After thanking her for her letter of sympathy, he notes: 'In the past I have had plenty of cause for complaint, but nothing quite so flagrant.' He has been 'avenged by the Press, which described the unutterable scenario from which the film was made in terms similar to those which I employed when I requested that my name be removed from the “author credits”'. He ends with good wishes to her 'laudable enterprise'.

[Henry Bathurst, Bishop of Norwich.] Autograph Letter Signed ('H. Norwich'), to a relative of Captain George Nicholas Hardinge, Royal Navy hero, on receipt of an engraving of him, discussing naval 'merit' in the Napoleonic Wars.

Author: 
Henry Bathurst (1744-1837), Bishop of Norwich, 1805-1837, supporter of Catholic emancipation [Captain George Nicholas Hardinge (1776-1813), RN; Thomas Payne the younger (1752-1831), London bookseller]
Publication details: 
Norwich. 14 September 1813.
£120.00

1p, 4to. In fair condition, aged and worn; laid down on part of a leaf removed from an album. Bathurst's name written in two nineteenth-century hands at the head. The letter was evidently written on receipt of an engraving of Captain George Nicholas Hardinge (1776-1813) of HMS St Fiorenzo, adopted son of George and Lucy Hardinge, who was killed in a naval action off the coast of Ceylon.

[Sir William Gifford, Governor of Greenwich Hospital.] Conclusion of Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm: Gifford'), regarding a petition to the Queen from 'the Commissrs: and Directors of the Royal Hospital', and raising of funds for the 'House and Park'

Author: 
Sir William Gifford (c.1649-1724), Royal Navy officer, Member of Parliament, and Governor of Greenwich Hospital, 1708-1714
Gifford
Gifford2
Publication details: 
Without place or date [prior to 1708].
£750.00
Gifford
Gifford2

On one side of a piece of laid paper, top half torn off and missing, leaving the conclusion of the letter. Roughly 11 x 17.5 cm. Thirteen full lines of text, with two partial lines along the tear at the top edge. A frail item, in fair condition, aged and worn. See Gifford's entry in the History of Parliament. The letter, apparently addressed to an individual at the Admiralty or the Treasury, concerns a part of the tortuous process of raising finances for the conversion of the Queen's House into the hospital.

[Admiral Sir George Back, explorer of the Canadian Arctic.; his Arctic Mission; Ross] Autograph Letter Signed ('G Back') to 'Captain Maconochie' [Alexander Maconochie], regarding packing for a journey.

Author: 
Admiral Sir George Back (1796-1878), explorer of the Canadian Arctic, naturalist and artist [Alexander Maconochie (1787-1860), Scottish naval officer, Governor of Norfolk Island, penal reformer]
Publication details: 
8 February 1833. No place.
£280.00

1p., 12mo. Bifolium. Addressed on blank reverse of second leaf to 'Captain Maconochie'. In good condition, lightly aged. Begins: 'My dear Maconochie | I have not yet done packing - Have they sent the Books &c from the Ad[miralt]y.?' He next refers to 'the Almanack for 34', and his plans for the following day's 'Journey' [to Arctic - see NOte below]. From 1830 Maconochie was the first secretary of the Royal Geographical Society. In 1833 he became the first professor of Geography at the University College London.

[Captain Basil Hall, RN, Scottish explorer and author.] Autograph Note in the third person to 'Mr Dinwiddie', requesting 'a Ticket for the Caledonian Church on Sunday'.

Author: 
Captain Basil Hall (1788-1844), Royal Navy, Scottish explorer and author [William Dinwiddie of the Caledonian Church, London]
Publication details: 
'14 Conduit Street [London] | Wednesday' [no date].
£45.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of stub to inner margin. Reads: 'Captain Basil Hall R.N. presents his Compliments to Mr Dinwiddie, & if he can spare him a Ticket for the Caledonian Church on Sunday next the 4th. July, Captn. Hall will feel particularly obliged to Mr Dinwiddie. | 14 Conduit Street | Wednesday | Captn. Hall will be well contented with a Standing Ticket, should there be the slightest difficulty about another.'

[The Tank in the First World War.] Autograph Letter Signed from Captain R. B. Otter-Barry of the School of Musketry, Hayling Island, to marine artist W. L. Wyllie, writing during the First World War, and giving 'informatkon on tank fighting'.

Author: 
Captain Richard Briere Otter-Barry, School of Musketry, Hayling Island, Hampshire [William Lionel Wyllie (1851-1931), distinguished English marine artist; the British Army tank in the First World War]
Publication details: 
School of Musketry, Hayling Island, Hampshire. 24 March [no year, but around 1916].
£320.00

2pp., foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Addressed to 'Dear Mr. Wyllie'. Writing following a visit to the School by Wyllie (who from the context appears to have been doing war work to assist Otter-Barry), Otter-Barry begins by stating that he will be sending him a sketch, adding: 'I was sorry to see so little of you on the day you came over, but I was pretty well occupied & taxed with all these infernal staff people about.

[ Captain Edward Pelham Brenton, Royal Navy officer and naval historian. ] Autograph Signature ('Edwd P Brenton') to list of nine 'Plates not returned'.

Author: 
Captain Edward Pelham Brenton (1774-1839), Royal Navy officer involved in the 1809 capture of Martinique, controversial naval historian and charity worker
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£150.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with dog-eared corners at foot. Brenton's florid signature is placed at the foot of a numbered list headed 'Plates not returned'. The plates are all on maritime themes, and may be connected with his 'Naval History of Great Britain from the Year 1783 to 1822' (1823) or his 'Life and Correspondence of John, Earl of St. Vincent ' (1838): 'St. Vincent By Beechey | Howe | Battle of Trafalgar | St Johns New Fd Land | Scheldt | Algiers | Sir Charles Pole | Lord Duncan | Copenhagen'.

[ Margaret L. Woods, novelist and author. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('M. L. Woods.') to 'Mr Sladen' [ i.e. the author Douglas Sladen ], regarding a bereavement, 'Captain Christmas', Horace Annesley Vachell and the publisher John Lane.

Author: 
Margaret L. Woods [ Margaret Louisa Woods, née Bradley ] (1855-1945), novelist and poet [ Douglas Sladen [ Douglas Sladen [ Douglas Brooke Wheelton Sladen ] (1856-1947), author ]
Publication details: 
Southwold. 14 November [ 1914 ].
£90.00

2pp., 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged. She condoles with her over her 'sad loss last June. I had no idea of it, or I should have written to express my sympathy at the time. I was so much interested to meet your son, & hear how splendidly he had done.' On receiving Sladen's letter she wrote to her neice Betty Brichenough, and wonders if 'Captain Christmas', i.e. Danish sea captain and author Captain Walter Christmas (1861-1924), has heard from her. Fearing that she has mislaid Christmas's card she asks Sladen to write to him on her behalf.

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