CENTURY

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. A 17.5 x 9.5 cm rectangle of grey paper, torn from the conclusion of a letter, evidently in response to a request for an autograph. In good condition, lightly aged, with central vertical fold. Reads: ‘[…] part or else the picture will be gone. / Yours sincerely / F Brangwyn’. The ‘F’ of the signature is more lightly inked than the rest. See Image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The archives of the recipient are at Yale. Addressed to ‘Vere H. Collins Esq.’ and signed ‘Frank Swinnerton’. Written in Swinnerton’s distinctive minuscule hand. The central part of the letter has smudging from another letter lightly blotted over it (not near the signature), otherwise in good condition, lightly aged, and folded twice. He thanks him for sending a copy of his book ‘One Word and Another’. He has ‘already glanced through the book; but we have visitors here, with children, and I am writing an urgent article under great difficulties’.

See Kennington’s entry in the Oxford DNB. All six items in good condition, lightly aged. Previously pinned together, with Kennington’s letters folded for postage, and all three are 1p, 8vo, and signed ‘Eric Kennington’. ONE: Kennington ALS, 11 June 1956. Having conferred with Ackroyd’s clerk ‘Mr. Osborne’, he explains that he cannot give his attention to the portrait until September.

See the entries for Mrs Maurice’s sister Octavia Hill and their mother Caroline Southwood Hill in the Oxford DNB. Book: viii + 77 + [1]. 12mo. Errata slip between pp.56 and 57. In original green cloth, gilt. Good copy, lightly aged and worn, in original green cloth binding gilt. Bookplate of Queen’s College, London, on front paste-down, stamped ‘WITHDRAWN’. Presentation inscription on recto of front free endpaper: ‘Queens College Library / Presented by Mrs C. S. Maurice / 1931’.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, landscape 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with curling to inner edge. Central vertical fold. She thanks her for writing about ‘Broome Stages’, and is glad she enjoyed it. ‘You are quite right, it is a pleasure and an encouragement to hear that a book makes friends.’ She concludes, ‘Yes, I suppose the name did come from the Church: it gave me the idea, but it was pure chance, there is no association.’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Loose flowing signature, reading 'R Peel'. On a rectangle of paper, roughly 4.5 x 2.5 cm. Lightly discoloured and creased, with traces of glue on blank reverse from mount. See Image.

See his entry, and those of his father and brother, in the Oxford DNB. On rectangle of paper, roughly 8.5 x 3.5 cm. In good condition, lightly aged, with the 'Powell' of the signature slightly smudged, and traces of glue from mount on reverse. Reads '[...] and Love [...] / Yours truly / George Baden-Powell'.

See his entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2pp, 12mo. Closely-written in a neat and elegant hand, signed ‘Philip Schaff’. In good condition, on browned paper, folded twice for postage. Begins: ‘My dear Mrs. Reynolds: / Many thanks for your kind invitation in which Mrs.

See his entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica. Elegant signature, with final flourish curving backwards above the signature. Clearly in response to a request for an autograph, on 14 x 10 cm piece of cream paper. In good condition, lightly aged.

See his entry, and that of his daughter, in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In good condition, on lightly-worn grey paper. With two folds for postage. Reads: ‘My dear Scout [Silver?] / always send a stamp when you want an autograph / You will get more that way / Your friend, / Eden Philpotts’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both letters signed ‘B Jowett’. ONE: Autograph Letter Signed to ‘My dear Bramston’. 2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, but with discoloration (probably deliberate, since he is writing from Scotland) to letterhead. Strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded for postage. Begins by asking for his thanks, and those of ‘Lord Kerry’ (his student, see Abbott’s ‘Life and Letters’), to be sent to ‘Captain Egerton for his kind and hospitable invitation’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On a 17.5 x 12 cm piece of ruled paper, laid down on a piece of card. The high-acidity paper is browned, otherwise in good condition, with small nick to one edge. The signature ‘W. H. Hudson / June 27. ’20’ is beneath two lines written in a foreign language, a tentative reading of which is ‘Te semiron mulei moy / To dariau tis viden’. See Image.

A successful member of an English artistic family. See the Oxford DNB entries on his father Joseph Severn (who nursed John Keats in Rome in his final illness) and sister Mary Newton. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of glue from mount to inner margin, and details typed at head. Folded once. Reads: ‘Dear Mrs FitzSimon / I have much pleasure in sending an autograph of my dear friend Sir F. Leighton. I send also the portrait of Keats. It is photogravure by Hollyer from one of my father’s pictures / Yours sincerely / Walter Severn’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Smiles names the recipient as ‘P. V. de Montgomery Esq’ and signs the letter ‘S Smiles’. He thanks him for ‘the shawl, which has duly come to hand’, continuing, ‘We reached town last night, after a very pleasant ten days trip, not the least pleasant part of which was our very delightful visit to Rydal Mount’. He is sending a copy of ‘the last Edition of Stephenson [his biography of Robert Stephenson] for Mrs Montgomery. It is not a lady’s book, yet she may possibly be interested by it’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, the verso of the second leaf addressed, with two postmarks, to 'Mrs. William Smith / Park Street / Westminster'. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Annotations in pencil in a modern hand. He begins by apologising for not being able to 'come to your party on Monday', as he was 'forced to go to Bed[.] I always knock up the 2d or 3d Week of London - There is nothing in this World so fatiguing, and horrible as pleasure -'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 9 x 11 cm piece of Whatman wove paper. Somewhat worn and creased, with a small nick to one edge, and slight damage from erasure of note on reverse. Folded. Reads ‘Dear Sr / many thanks / yours truly / Sydney Smith / May 11 1844.’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Addressed to ‘A. [?]. King Esqr.’ and signed ‘Gambier Parry’. After thanking him for his note he assures him that he ‘had no thought one way or other about the immediate pub[licatio]n: or delay of the Pamphlet or Spirit Fresco.’ He thinks ‘it might be well to give one last look at it before it is actually published -’ (last two words both underlined twice).

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. All four items are signed ‘Edward J. Poynter’. The first is somewhat discoloured, with cut corners (not affecting text), the others are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: ALS to ‘My dear Robin’, 11 July 1874. 1p, 12mo. He has received ‘the four £10 notes’ and reports ‘the most tremendous thunderstorms’. TWO: ACS to ‘Mr. Gilkes’, 30 July 1890. He apologises for being unable to ‘attend the distributions of the School prizes’ that day. THREE: ALS to ‘Waterlow’, 5 November 1905. 1p, 12mo. ‘Your letter gives me the key to the memorial.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and folded twice for postage. One corner very slightly cropped. Signed ‘Tho. Hughes’. In response to a request for an autograph he writes: ‘My dear Madam / I have only just returned to town where I find your note, with the request contained in which I have much pleasure in complying & sending you my signature below, though it is not a good specimen as I have got hold of a rascally bad pen.’ See Image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘W. L. Wyllie.’ He is sorry that he will be unable to avail himself of ‘the kind invitation to dinner sent me by the Master of the Salters Company’. He is starting for Norway on the last day of the month, and will not return until the end of July.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. Good firm attractive signature ‘John Betjeman.’On irregularly-shaped corner (approximately 9 x 7 cm) torn from a letter on cartridge paper. Reads ‘[...] pho[...] / [...]ed to se[...] / [...] author in this [...] / never be too hope[...] / [...]urs faithfully, / [...]HELL-MEX and B. P. LIMITED. / [signed] John Betjeman. / [...]urn of post unless otherwise stated’. Perhaps something to do with Shell Guides(?)See Image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. Good firm signature ‘John Betjeman’ on 9 x 3 cm slip of paper. Laid down at the foot of one side of a 12mo leaf (extracted from an edition of his poems), at the foot of the Betjeman poem ‘Henley-on-Thames’. On the reverse, paginated 24, is his poem ‘East Anglian Bathe’. See Imagew

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, but lightly discoloured, with a large rectangle of sunning covering most of the lower part, and a neat crease at bottom right (not affecting the signature, which is partially sunned). Annotated in pencil by a later hand on the reverse. Betjeman’s handwriting is bad, so the following reading is tentative. ‘Dear Lady Jones, / I meant to write to you long ere this to tell you how grateful I was to you & Sir Roderick [Jones, her husband] for letting us [house?] this prize in your capacious drawing room.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Strip of glue from mount adhering to one edge of the blank reverse. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘J M Hare Esqr’. Reads: ‘Dear Sir / I have to acknowledge the receipt of the Patent you have kindly sent me, pray accept my thanks for your attention / I am dear Sir / Yrs faithfully / S. Morton Peto’. In Victorian hand at foot: ‘M P. Norwich 1851’.

See his entry, and that of George Doo, engraver, in the Oxford DNB. The four items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn The items of 1832 and 1838 are in the third person; those of 1837 and 1839 are signed, 'D. Wilkie' and 'David Wilkie' respectively. The 1832 letter, accepting a dinner invitation from 'Dr and Mrs Baillie', is 1p, 16mo; the other three items are each 1p, 12mo. In 1838 he writes to 'Capt Seymour' to ask for 'the present address of Sir William Knighton'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Wilkie was in a good position to assist Waagen, who was touring England making notes on significant art collections, for use in his ‘Kunstwerke und Künstler in England und Paris’ (3 vols, Berlin, 1837–39), which formed the basis for his influential ‘The Treasures of Art in Great Britain’ (translated by Lady Eastlake, 4 vols, London, 1854 and 1857). Wilkie had strong connections with Wellington. His 1822 painting ‘The Chelsea Pensioners reading the Waterloo Dispatch’ had been commissioned by the Duke, and was sold to him for the unheard-of sum of 1,200 guineas.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition. The letterhead describes the firm (‘formerly Walker and Cockerell’) as being ‘Process and General Engravers, Draughtsmen, Map Constructors Copper-plate Printers Collotypers and Photographers of Works of Art’. Signed ‘Emery Walker’. He is sending Wright ‘proofs of the plan from Coutts’ Bank’, and is sending a duplicate to ‘Mr. Fayle’, asking him ‘to let me have the lettering, that is, if he wishes on seeing the plan to vary it’. He is having ‘proofs of the title page from Messrs.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In 1787 he had been appointed equerry to the Duke of York, and he accompanied him to the Netherlands as Aide-de-Camp. The present item was written a three months before the Battle of Villers-en-Cauchies, at which Craufurd, at the head of two squadrons, is said to have captured three guns and a thousand men. 1p, 12mo. On watermarked laid paper. In good condition, lightly aged, with creases from having been folded into a packet. Docketed on reverse. Reads: ‘Major Craufurd’s Account. / Paid to the Russian Minister at Brussels for a Pellice for the Duke ..

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. All three items signed 'Linley Sambourne'. All three in good condition, lightly aged and worn, and all folded for postage. ONE: 10 April 1889. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Begins 'Dear Sir / Mr Furniss [Harry Furniss, Punch illustrator] has kindly written enclosed & I am sending a boy to you at / 5, Clarendon Place / Hyde Park'.

With Thomas Carlyle recognised by the Victorians as one of their two greatest historians. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On grey wove watermarked paper. In good condition, lightly creased and aged. Folded twice. Reads ‘Dear Miss Richardson, / I am extremely sorry that I have an engagement which will make it impossible for me to have the pleasure of dining with you on Wednesday fortnight / Very truly yours, / T B Macaulay’.