COBHAM

[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.

[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.’

[ Sir Alan J. Cobham, English aviation pioneer. ] Circular printed letter in the form of a facsimile of a signed letter by him, thanking the recipient for making 'our Air Display a success'.

Author: 
Sir Alan John Cobham (1894-1973), English aviation pioneer, proprietor of the National Aviation Day Disply ('Cobham's Flying Circus')
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the National Aviation Day Display, National Aviation Displays Ltd. Grand Buildings, Trafalgar Square, London, W.C.2. Undated but with '1932 - 1933 - 1934 - 1935' across the head.
£35.00

Cobham started his National Aviation Day displays (known as "Cobham's Flying Circus") in 1932. These displays were a combination of barnstorming and joyriding by a team of skilled pilots in up to fourteen aircraft, ranging from single-seaters to modern airliners. The show toured the country, calling at hundreds of sites from regular airfields to fields cleared for the occasion. 1p., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, worn and ruckled. Nicely printed in black over a halftone red map of Great Britain and Ireland.

Autograph Letter Signed by 'C. Spence' of Cobham [of the Admiralty] to an unknown correspondent, mentioning the antiquary John Gough Nichols, and carrying the wax seal

Author: 
Charles Spence of the Admiralty, antiquary [John Gough Nichols (1806-1873), printer and antiquary, editor of the Gentleman's Magazine and of the Herald and Genealogist]
Publication details: 
Undated [1860s?].
£56.00

The letter is of 23 lines, written on the front and back of an opened envelope with the cancelled address of 'John Wickham Flower Esq, Park Hill, Croydon'. In good condition, on aged paper. The rear of the envelope carries a good impression of a red wax seal, and the letter begins: 'My dear Sir, I had written this letter having obtained my object through my friend the York Herald and I still send it on account of the Seal which was the counter seal of Richd Neville Earl of Warwick killed at the battle of Barnet'.

[ Sarony Virginia Cigarettes. ] Printed 'Travel Album' titled 'A Day on the Airway', with foreword by Sir Alan Cobham, containing complete set of 25 cigarette cards depicting a journey from Croydon Aerodrome to Amsterdam.

Author: 
[ Nicolas Sarony & Co., New Bond Street, London; Sir Alan Cobham; Imperial Airways; British aviation; Croydon Aerodrome; Amsterdam, Holland ]
Publication details: 
Issued by Nicolas Sarony & Co., New Bond Sreet, London, W.1. [ 1928 ]
£100.00

A charming and evocative production. Cards in very good condition; album in good condition, with light signs of age and wear. Initial note: 'This Travel Album is issued without charge to hold a complete set of twenty-five "A Day on the Airway" pictures, as issued with all packings of Sarony Virginia Cigarettes, plain or cork tipped.' The album comprises eight pages printed in black and green, on thick paper, stitched into black card wraps. Embossed on the front cover in faded gold is the title and an illustration of the plane (an Imperial Airways 'Argosy') flying in clouds.

Autograph Note Signed ('E Cobham Brewer. -') from Rev. Dr Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, compiler of 'Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable', thanking an unnamed correspondent for taking an interest in his work.

Author: 
Rev. Dr Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (1810-1897), compiler of 'Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'
Publication details: 
Ruddington, Nottingham. 25 January 1881.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Reads: 'Dear Sir | I have to thank you for the courtesy of your letter received by post this morning. It is always gratifying to an author when another takes an interest in what he has written'.

4 Autograph Letters Signed from John Stuart Bligh, 6th Earl of Darnley, and 8 Autograph Letters Signed, Autograph Card Signed, and 5 invitations from his wife Harriet Mary, Countess of Darnley, all to Rev. Charles William Shepherd of Trotterscliffe.

Author: 
John Stuart Bligh (1827-1896), 6th Earl of Darnley, of Cobham Hall, Kent, and his wife Harriet Mary (1829-1905) [née Pelham], Lady Darnley [Rev. Charles William Shepherd (1838-1920) of Trotterscliffe]
6th Earl of Darnley
Publication details: 
1853, 1855, 1889; from various addresses including the House of Lords and Cobham Hall, Gravesend, Kent.
£325.00
6th Earl of Darnley

The Earl of Darnley's four letters (all signed 'Darnley') total 27 pp in 12mo; Lady Darnley's eight letters (all signed 'H. Darnley') total 26 pp in 12mo. All items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Darnley's first letter, 16 September 1853 (12mo, 12 pp), is unusually blunt for the period, and revealing on the etiquette of the period. It begins: 'I trust that the change in your mode of addressing me was accidental, and I have therefore not imitated it, and have used one word which you omitted [presumably 'Dear'].

Three Autograph Letters Signed (all 'Clifton') from Edward Henry Stuart Bligh, Lord Clifton (later 7th Earl of Darnley) to Rev. C. W. Shepherd of Trotterscliffe, all concerning Kent natural history. With 15 page list of 'Funghi, East Kent'.

Author: 
Edward Henry Stuart Bligh (1851-1900), of Cobham Hall, Gravesend, Kent, successively Lord Clifton and (from 1896) the 7th Earl of Darnley [Rev. Charles William Shepherd (1838-1920) of Trotterscliffe]
Edward Henry Stuart Bligh (fungi)
Publication details: 
4 October 1889 and 22 August and 14 September 1891. All from Dumpton Park, Ramsgate, Kent.
£650.00
Edward Henry Stuart Bligh (fungi)

All 4to, with the letters totalling 22 pp, and the list of 'Funghi, East Kent' of 15 pp. All items clear and complete. Three leaves with light staining (one with short closed tear), otherwise all in good condition, on aged paper. All three in envelopes (lacking stamps), addressed by Clifton and with his seal in red wax. ONE. 4 October 1889. 4to, 12 pp. Begins: 'It seems a long time since we had a ramble on the Cuxton and Ralling hills from Cobham, and when I killed a viper; and I have been much amused at the apparent incredulity of a brother B.O.U. at the Dumpton Park rarities!

Autograph Letter Signed by 'C. Spencer' of Cobham [member of Lord Spencer's Family?] to an unknown correspondent, mentioning the antiquary John Gough Nichols, and carrying the wax seal

Author: 
C. Spencer of Cobham [John Gough Nichols (1806-1873), printer and antiquary, editor of the Gentleman's Magazine and of the Herald and Genealogist]
Autograph Letter Signed by 'C. Spencer' of Cobham
Publication details: 
Undated [1860s?].
£56.00
Autograph Letter Signed by 'C. Spencer' of Cobham

The letter is of 23 lines, written on the front and back of an opened envelope with the cancelled address of 'John Wickham Flower Esq, Park Hill, Croydon'. In good condition, on aged paper. The rear of the envelope carries a good impression of a red wax seal, and the letter begins: 'My dear Sir, I had written this letter having obtained my object through my friend the York Herald and I still send it on account of the Seal which was the counter seal of Richd Neville Earl of Warwick killed at the battle of Barnet'.

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