GREAT

Four interesting and evocative letters. The identity of the writer is not known. All but the third letter are addressed to 'Dearest Nonna', who appears to be married to 'George' and living in Viareggio. ONE: 30 December 1916. 2pp., 4to. 'This place is simply a nest of intrigues and I wish I had some of your dear familys clever brains to sort things out a bit & put them right. I loathe the double-faced dealing necessary to combat intrigues and am afraid I may lose my temper one day & tell them what I think of them - & that wd be fatal.

After the February Revolution and abdication of Tsar Nicholas II, Kerensky, as Minister of War, was the dominant figure in the provisional government that held power until overthrown by the Bolsheviks in the October Revolution. According to Semion Lyandres, 'The Fall of Tsarism', along with Lev Stepanovich Tugan-Baranovskii and G. N. Tumanov, Captain G. A. Iakubovich 'belonged to the troika of Kerenskii's most trusted military aides during his tenure in the Provisional Government'. 4pp., foolscap 8vo. First page headed: 'Council of Peasants' Delegates. | 24th. May 1917.

Both letters 1p., 4to. Both on bifoliums with second leaf docketed. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: London; 18 February 1766. He begins with reference to the sending of two bills to 'Mr. Fairholme', then turns to the question of a receipt for 'Rob: Minto', which he provides, with its own signature, at the end of the letter. He then states that as a result of 'Mr Pringles Letter' he has 'lost hopes of Lord Nisbet'. Finally he says that he has 'had a Letter of form from Billie notifying Widderburn's Death'. TWO: London; 18 April 1776. Docketed 'Great Seal'.

All three items in good condition, lightly aged and worn, and all in envelopes addressed by him to her at 48 Hogarth Road, South Kensington (the third 'Earls Court'). ONE: 10 June 1916. 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. He begins by expressing a desire to visit the family, and then gives directions for the use of field glasses which he is sending his father. 'They are German I am sorry to say, but the best.' TWO: 28 December 1917. 2pp., 12mo. He found her 'beautiful drawing' on his return home, and 'Auntie Gertrude will see it today. - I was thirteen days at sea, the ship having to go up to Halifax.

Three strips of paper, each with a single column of text in small print: 47 + 55 + 30 cm. Complete article, paginated to 3. The second strip has the running title 'National Guard - A Visit to Flanders - 2'. Aged and creased, and with a corner torn away from the third strip, resulting in loss of text to six lines and the running title, Two minor manuscript corrections.

[20]pp., 8vo. In grey printed wraps. Disbound. In good condition, but with stitching cut away and leaves loose. A collection of poems, flashily printed in gold, red and green, on shiny art paper. Covers printed in gold, red and blue. Frontispiece illustration of the subject of the collection. Scarce: only one copy on OCLC WorldCat.

24pp., 8vo. With frontispiece and seven plates. In grey printed wraps. Disbound. In good condition, with light signs of age and wear. The only copy on COPAC at Aberdeen, and now scarce.

48pp., 8vo. Disbound. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Dedication, on reverse of title, from 'The Catholics of Birmingham' to 'The Liberal Protestants of Birmingham'. Now scarce.

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Heavily creased and worn. A large number of Norton's productions are listed on the front and back pages. Eleven eight-line stanzas. The poem, which does not mention Bradford once, begins: 'On the 21st of August, | In the year nineteen-sixteen, | A great munition works in Yorkshire | Was a busy, lively scene.

The company, founded in 1887, operated a broad gauge railway network in the Argentine provinces of San Luis, San Juan and Mendoza, and was taken over on a lease by the Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway in 1907. It features in three studies: Colin M. Lewis, 'British Railways in Argentina 1857-1914: A Case Study of Foreign Investment' (1983); H. R. Stones, 'British Railways in Argentina 1860-1948' (1993); and Winthrop R. Wright, 'British-Owned Railways in Argentina – Their Effect on Economic Nationalism, 1854-1948' (1974).

For more information on Marshall Hall's illustrious career, see his entry in the Oxford DNB. Fifteen items, the collection in fair overall condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: Ten original photographic portraits of Hall, ranging in size from 14 x 9 cm. (carte-de-visite by 'The Biograph Studio | 107 Regent St, W.') to 29 x 21 cm (on mount stamped '185 Piccadilly W1', the studio of Kohler & Sons). Eight of the ten are mounted on paper or card, with printed photographers' details, and three of these are signed (two photographs by Carl Vandyk, both signed in pencil by 'C.

1p., folio. On wove paper with watermark of 'MONCKTON | BASTED MILL | KENT'. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Pinholes to top corners, the item presumably having been displayed on a noticeboard. One word has been added in a contemporary hand (details given below). An historic piece of Great War ephemera, of which no other copy has been traced, with no copies at the Imperial War Museum, on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC.

Three documents, all in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, each of the total of six leaves with three (later?) punch holes to the inner margins of the leaves. On the same browned thin wove paper. The source of these items is uncertain, but they appear to date from the first decades of the twentieth century. ONE: 'Disposition of Troops in the Canal Defences, 15th January, 1915.' 4pp., folio. Beginning with: 'G.O.C., Canal Defences. - Major-General A. Wilson. | Chief Staff Officer, Canal Defences. - Br.-General A. H.

On one side of a 20 x 15 cm piece of vellum. Main text in black ink. Sonnet titled 'A Great Advocate', with author's name 'Edward Marjoribanks' at foot. From the papers of Sir Edward Marshall Hall, and presumably produced for his widow, possibly by the author. (Hall's widow is said to have claimed that on reading this poem he appeared to her in a vision - the Halls were keen spiritualists - directing that Marjoribanks write his biography. The book was published in 1929.) Title, capitals of octave and sestet, and author's name in red ink. In very good condition.

[4]pp., 8vo. On shiny art paper. Stitched with red, white and blue ribbon into cream card wraps. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The front cover of the wraps has the signature of 'E. Marshall-Hall' at its head, and is illustrated with a spoof coat of arms, featuring three nurses, beneath the heading 'The P.U.O.'s. (Pierrots of Unknown Origin)'. Inside the front cover is a page of spoof advertisements, with in-jokes about the performers, as well as one clearly referring to Marshall Hall: 'I will cure you of the Swearing Habit in 9 days.

According to his long obituary in The Times, 13 June 1929 ('Central Asian Politics'), Yates's 'studies of the affairs of the Indian borderland, Central Asia, and the Middle East were probably excelled by few retired officers of the Indian Army in wealth of detail and personal knowledge of events and personalities spread over the last half-century'. See also his long entry in Who Was Who. The three items are in fair condition, on aged and worn paper with rusting from paperclip. They carry the stamp and docketing of the Society. The card - signed 'A. C. Yate (Lt..

15pp., 8vo. Stapled. With stamp on cover of the 'Secretary – National Party, | 23 Kilvert's Buildings, | Withy Grove, | Manchester.' In good condition, lightly aged and worn. List at front of 27 'Members of both Houses of Parliament and other public men' who issued the 'original Manifesto', from 'Colonel Lord Ampthill, G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E.' to 'Lt.-Col. Lord Stafford, D.S.O.' Headings include 'Failure of the old Party System' and 'Aims of the National Party'.

The two volumes folio, 20 pp, and folio, 18 pp. Both in the same neat hand and in uniform original bindings of green boards, with green cloth spines and white decoratively-cut paper labels on front covers, each carrying a description of the contents addressed to 'Königin Adelheid von Großbritannien'. The first account book (1844-1845) has part of the second leaf (pp.2-3) torn away; and the second (1847-1848) is lacking the fourth leaf (pp.9-10).

16pp., 16mo. Stapled pamphlet. Aged and worn, with rusted staple. Inside the front cover are quotations from Hodge and his predecessor as Minister of Pensions G. N. Barnes. Initial note: 'The following pages contain a general and necessarily brief description of the system followed by the Pensions Ministry.

1p. 12mo. On grubby and creased paper, with rust mark from paperclip. Reads: 'My dear Alfred Montgomery | Thank's [sic] for yours received this morning. I have a vacant place at my dinner table for Monday next New Years day, so I hope to see you here at 8 o'clock and personally to wish you every sort of blessing for the coming Year. I remain | Yours most sincerely, | George.'

1p., 4to. On aged and worn paper. The letterhead features a photographic portrait of Dutt. Written the day after the General Election, in which Dutt came third in the Sparkbrook constituency, with fewer than two thousand votes. As Shields is leaving in the morning, he feels compelled to write to him 'to express what we all feel about the wonderful way you have handled the press job. It has been masterly, and every other constituency might well be jealous of us.' He ends with 'Millions of thanks, cheers and congratulations'. From the Jimmy Shields papers.

4pp., 16mo. Bifolium. A scarce piece of First World War ephemera, on creased and aged paper. The certificate has been made out in order to enroll 'Dorothy Marion Cameron Bower' into 'Detachment [8] in the County of [Westmorland]', but has not been signed by her. The first page carries the conditions of use, the second a declaration by the signatory, and the third the permit itself, with facsimile signatures of Arthur Stanley, Chairman, and Louis Pearson, Hon. Secretary, and the actual signatures of Henry Gandy, County Director, and John Mason M.D, Commandant.

Thomas Wilkinson Wallis was the greatest wood carver of Victorian England. Born in impoverished circumstances in Hull, by 1844 he had established his own business in Louth Lincolnshire, and for the 1851 he submitted seven carvings, 'of which ‘Trophy of Spring’ was awarded a medal. It was his most intricate carving, it took him 8 months to complete and was considered to surpass the work of Grinling Gibbons.

5pp., 8vo. On five foolscap leaves, with duplicate copy of p.4 present. In good condition, lightly aged.

5pp., 8vo. On five foolscap leaves. In good condition, lightly aged. The report is single-spaced, and factual rather than polemical, describing the 'network of buying stations' (run by 'non-European intermediaries (African or Syrian)') maintained by the 'European firms that buy and export practically the whole crop', and the recommendations of the 1938 Nowell Report.

5pp., folio. Duplicate typescript on three leaves. In fair condition, on aged paper. The first article, produced on the eve of Indian independence, begins: 'Moscow radio broadcast an account of a lecture given by Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences Zhukove on "The Situation in India" at the Polytechnical Museum in Moscow.' It proceeds with a summary of Zhukov's lecture, the view he expounds including the following: 'Britain's new policy derives from the economic changes which took place in India during the years of the Second World War.

3pp., 8vo. In fair condition, single-spaced, on three leaves of aged and worn paper, held together with a small rusted pin. Designed to clearly state the party line. Begins: 'If we want to understand what is going on, we must understand the Background.' Sections titled 'The Background' and 'The Attitude of Britain' follow. A key section reads: 'But whatever people think - the Russian Government decided that the time was ripe to take control of the Baltic. They were not frightened of Finland or the Finns - but they were apprehensive of Finland in conjunction with the great powers.

The three items are each 4pp., 4to, in bifoliums, and uniform in design. Each carrying a number of articles in small print. Each on aged paper and with wear to margin along outer edge, but with text clear and undamaged. No. 5 includes articles titled: 'Referendum Results', 'Poland's National Day', 'Polish-British Relations', 'Poland's Independence and Freedom Secured | M. Bierut speaks to Democratic Party Congress', 'A Polish Economic System'. No. 14 has in it articles on 'Mr. Byrnes v.

From the papers of Lieutenant Colonel William Otter Gibbs (1883-1960), Sixth Tank Battalion. Duplicated Typed Circular headed 'SPECIAL ORDER No. 15 | by | Major-Genl. H. J. ELLES, CB, DSO, Comdg. Tank Corps in the Field. | 13th August, 1918.' With facsimile signature of 'H. J. Elles. | Major-General, | Commanding Tank Corps in the Field.' 1p., landscape 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper.

Both letters are 3pp., 12mo, and both bifoliums. In good condition, on lightly aged paper. An interesting couple of letters, with Larkin advising the engraver on how to extract payment from the publishers, while stressing in both letters that he does not wish his own name mentioned. The first letter begins: 'The Printer has had the Woodcut and printed it, so you can go ahead!