HOUSE

6 + [1]pp, folio. Stab stitched. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with punch-hole at inner margin. An official copy, with 'Northbrook Society' at top right of first page. On four leaves, with the details printed on reverse of last leaf for folding into the customary packet: 'Dated 15th October 1914.

7pp, 32mo. On two bifoliums, stitched together. In good condition, lightly aged. Signed 'Agnes Strickland'. A nice letter with interesting content. Begins: 'Feeling all the kindness of most friendly invitation so sensibly as I do, it gives me the greater regret to be compelled to forgo the pleasure you offer me, of joining my friends Mr. & Miss Mackinnon in your charming home on the 8th of Octr.

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with two smudges on second page. Folded once. With reference to her letter 'to Mr. Somerset of March 11th. re the portrait of Charles II (as Prince) in academic robes', he has had the picture by William Dobson photographed and encloses a copy (not present). He discusses Charles's dress in the picture in some detail, adding that 'The portrait (27 x 28 1/2 inches) has been in my possession since 1918 when it was bought at Christie's Nov. 29 lot.

See Anna Gurney's entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient and her husband had spent some time in Rome in 1842, and in 1838 had befriended the Alpinist Henriette d'Angeville at Geneva. 4pp, 4to. Bifolium with mourning border and watermark year 1840. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of glue from label on outsides of gutter. The letter begins: 'My dear Lady Cullum | I think You & Sir Thomas may be home by this time & I must wish to enquire how you both are after your long wanderings.

24pp, 4to. Stapled pamphlet. Aged, and with spotting to covers, creased closed tear at foot of spine, and slight loss to bottom out corner of back cover. With one vertical fold. The cover is printed in black, with a charming cartoon by 'C. F.' in red ink of five happy birds singing and flying around with musical scores in wings, with one bird on box with conductor's baton tapping a music stand.

An interesting collection of material relating to the preparations for the historic first Secret Session in the House of Lords, from the papers of Neville Digby Bosworth Smith (1886-1964) of the Privy Council Office. The material dates from the five days preceding 25 April 1916, when the House of Lords having voted in favour of the measure, it held a secret session to debate a motion regarding conscription following the passing of the Military Services Act 1916. (For a contemporary account of the parallel proceedings in the other house, see Sir C. P.

1p, 8vo. In fair condition, creased and aged. The only piece of Waithman's autograph is his signature at the foot: 'R Waithman'. The rest of the document, apparently in Holste's hand, reads: 'Henry Holste of 22 Bush Lane Merchant, maketh Oath and saith, that he has been resident in London above Fourteen years, and that from the first day of January 1812 to the first day of September 1823. he has not been out of England for a single day | Henry Holste. | Sworn at the Mansion house this Twenty fifth day of August. One thousand eight hundred and Twenty five | R Waithman | Mayor'.

1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. The only piece of Waithman's autograph is his signature at the foot: 'R Waithman'. The rest of the document, apparently in Schmidt's hand, reads: 'John Schmidt Native of Hamburg residing at No 77 Westmoreland place City Road, Merchant maketh Oath & saith that he first arrived in London in the Year 1795. and has continued to reside here up to the present time with the exception of a few Months, but that he has not left England for a single day since the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight. - | J. Schmidt.

3pp, 16mo. Bifolium. Aged and ruckled, with light damp staining. No salutation, but apparently complete. From the papers of Lady Ann Cullum (1807-1875), wife of Rev. Sir Thomas Gery Cullum of Hardwick House. ]Begins: 'I am very sorry, that I could not keep my promise to day to call upon You, - Believe me that it was impossible, but I cant leave Carlsbad without telling You at least how glad I waws to have made Your acquaintances.

For Lady Craven's colourful life see her entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 8vo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Folded four times. Begins: 'Mr. Thomas, I will thank you to send my Carriage by a Western Waggon, immediately here - directed to Hr. S. Highness The Margravine of Anspach Brandenburg house, near Hammersmith, and I hope as I have waited so long for it that it will be a well seasond [sic] Carriage - & reasonable in Price, which if it is, and finish'd to my Satisfaction, you may depend ont that it will not be the last by many which you will make'.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. From the Cullum papers, Simpson being a neighbour of the family. Having 'just come in from a longish walk', he is sorry to have missed Lady Cullum.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. Written in his usual difficult hand. He begins by stating that her note was forwarded to him from Knebworth. The letter continues: 'I had previously requested my Sol[icito]r.

Arthur Sidgwick's long entry in the Oxford DNB concludes with the following assessment: 'a university liberal of rare consistency and stamina: a progressive bridging Victorian and Edwardian generations, and pre-eminent among the male dons who made a place for women's higher education in Oxford'. At the time of the present letter he was nearing the end of a 'brilliant' undergraduate career at Cambridge, with the winning of many prizes: 'In 1863 he was second in the first class of the classical tripos and fourteenth senior optime in mathematics, and was also president of the union.

Four items, all in good condition, lightly aged, the three letters with stubs and labels used in mounting in an album. In addition to the pleasant picture they paint of the court gathered around the blind king in the last year of his kingdom's existence (with an interesting reference to the new palace he had built his wife at Marienburg), the three letters indicate a surprisingly cordial state in nineteenth-century Anglo-German relations.

See the separate entries on the Gibsons in the Oxford DNB, which notes 'her eclectic salons, attended by diplomats, writers, politicians, and, after 1848, European exiles. Regular guests included Dickens, Thackeray, Hugo, Lady Morgan, the Disraelis, Cobden, and Louis Napoleon'. (Dickens wrote part of his last novel, 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood', at the Gibsons' London house.) The present item is from the papers of Arethusa's mother Lady Ann Cullum (1807-1875), wife of Rev. Sir Thomas Gery Cullum (1777-1855) of Hardwick House. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium.

5.5 x 10 cm piece of paper, cut from the front of an envelope. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Immediate | The | Lord Archbishop of Canterbury | W Gladstone'. The signature is in the customary place, in the bottom left-hand corner.

Scudamore's entry in the Oxford DNB does not refer to the financial difficulties which he describes in this interesting letter, surprising in the light of his royal patronage and success as an author. 3pp, 4to. Bifolium, addressed on reverse of second leaf, with postmark and seal in black wax, to 'The | Revd. Sir Thomas Cullum | Bart | Hardwick House | Bury St Edmunds'. Forwarded, in another hand, to 'Sir T G C | No 3 | Porto del Popolo | Rome'. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor trace of mount adhering. Folded four times.

An interesting item in the field of Victorian Egyptology. The subject is what Owen describes here as 'one of the oldest Statues of an Egyptian Notable in the British Museum'. Its current Museum Number is EA103, and it has been in the Museum since 1835, but the details of its acquisition are unclear. In his translation Birch calls the sitter 'the Royal Scribe, Amenhelp', but the current BM description begins: 'Scribal statue of Amenhotep son of Hapu: of black grano-diorite. Hieroglyphic texts are inscribed on the papyrus unrolled on his lap and on the statue plinth.

See Clarke's entry in the Oxford DNB. The present letter, signed 'Charles Mansfield Clarke', was written (from Caston, where Clarke's son-in-law Walter Patridge was rector) a few weeks after the death on 3 July 1856 of Clarke's wife of fifty years, Mary Anna (née Squire), by whom he had two sons and five daughters. Lady Clarke's own husband had died a year and a half before, on 26 January 1855. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of mount on reverse of second leaf. Folded once.

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.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf, one corner of which has been slightly damaged by the opening of the wafer. Folded twice. The letter begins: 'Mme. Goldschmidt presents her best Compliments to Lady Cullum and begs to express her sincere thanks for the most beautiful flowers she received this morning from Lady Cullum and which certainly do “enliven” her drawing room at the Hotel'.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Tipped-in onto a piece of paper cut from an album owned by the Cullum baronets of Hardwick House, with whom - other papers reveal - Mackinnon was associated, possibly as land agent. The letter, in Peabody's shaky hand, reads: 'Mr Peabody presents his Compliments to Mr Mackinon [sic] and regrets that owing to an attack of gout he was unable to avail himself of Mr: Mackinnon's [sic] kind invitation for the evening of the 29th. Ulto. - - Mr Peabody returns to Scotland in a few days to be absent for the season.

An amusing unpublished jeux d'esprit by Martineau, revealing a lighthearted aspect of her character. 1p, 16mo. Bifolium, addressed by Martineau on reverse of second leaf 'To | Lady Cullum.' In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once.

See Donaldson's entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that he was 'greatly beloved by his friends, who included N. C. Thirlwall and W. H. Thompson. The diarist Henry Crabb Robinson spoke enthusiastically of the charm of his conversation.' 3pp, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. No salutation or valediction, and the recipient is not named, but the item derives from the papers of Sir Thomas Gery Cullum and his wife Lady Anne Cullum, of Hardwick House.

Three excellent and characteristic long letters, neatly and closely written, in the first of which he describes 'the little tide of misfortune' which has befallen him, including shipwreck and indisposition; in the second he gives a vivid account of a visit to Wakefield by the temperance campaigner Father Mathew; and in the last he explains is reluctance to dissect the body of a bird she has sent him, exclaiming: 'I never do things by halves in Natural History'. Along the way there are references to 'my little roman owls' and 'my lions and my lion cubs'.

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with negligible traces from mount adhering to corners on blank reverse. A nice piece of Cambridge University ephemera. A crisply-printed circular, addressed to 'SIR', evidently sent to the electors for the University of Cambridge. Seventeen lines of text. He explains that when he first 'heard of the death of our late Representative, Mr.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. She sends her thanks for 'the playbill': 'You know already how much I liked it, as I remember admiring it when I was in the shop.' She will 'value it highly' and will thank him personally: 'you may be sure I shall be looking in again one of these days'.

An interesting correspondence on theatre matters, from one of Canada's most influential critics and designers to 'a favourite poet', the English verse dramatist Christopher Fry. Whittaker discusses, among other matters, mutual acquaintances including Sir John Gielgud and Leonard White, past productions of Fry's plays, a 1998 meeting with the playwright at his West Dean home, and a reading he organises of Fry's 'A Ringing of Bells' at the Toronto Arts and Letters Club. The eight letters are in good condition, lightly aged.

An interesting document relative to London social history, and a nice piece of Dickensiana. George Johnson is said to have established his celebrated restaurant Johnson's Alamode Beef House at 21 Clare Court, Drury Lane, in the 1780s, although the present letter states that it was licensed around 1805 . In 1824 a twelve-year-old Charles Dickens – employed in a nearby blacking warehouse as a result of his father's imprisionment for debt – himself experienced an incident which he later made use of in 'David Copperfield'.

Pepys's house at Brampton is the subject of an article by Chris Partridge in the Observer, 30 May 2004, which states that 'The first earl, Edward Montagu, was Pepys's cousin and patron, giving him the political clout to further his career in the Navy Office. In 1927 the then earl gave the Pepys House Trust a 100-year lease at a peppercorn rent, and it has been open to the public ever since. All three items in good condition, lightly aged. Drinkwater's second letter and Chappell's draft reply pinned to one another. ONE: Drinkwater to Chappell, 31 May 1933. TLS. 2pp, 4to.