JOHN

[Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer, diplomat and brother of novelist Lord Lytton.] Autograph Letter Signed to assistant of New Bond Street bookseller John Andrews, disputing the account and describing another mistake.

Author: 
Sir Henry Bulwer [William Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer, 1st Baron Dalling and Bulwer] (1801-1872), Liberal politician, British Ambassador to United States and other countries [John Andrews, bookseller]
Publication details: 
No date or place, but certainly after February 1839, and from the smudged postmark apparently 1842. From France?
£60.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. (BBTI has John Andrews with bookshop and circulating library at 167 New Bond Street from before 1831 to 1857.) 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Extracted from an album, and with the gutter strengthened with archival tape. Otherwise in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. As a piece of business correspondence has a spike hole through the centre of both leaves, unfortunately also through the ?H? of the signature ?H L Bulmer?, which is little more than a scrawl, with corkscrew paraphe.

[Philar?te Euphemon Chasles, French critic.] Autograph Letter Signed, in French, [to Charles Wentworth Dilke, editor of the Athenaeum,] criticising John Payne Collier?s scholarship.

Author: 
Philar?te Euphemon Chasles (1798-1873), French man of letters [John Payne Collier (1789-1883), Shakespearean critic and forger; Charles Wentworth Dilke (1789-1864), editor of the Athenaeum]
Publication details: 
No date or place. [Circa 1842.]
£100.00

See the entries on Collier and Dilke in the Oxford DNB. The eight volumes of Collier?s edition of Shakespeare?s works were first published between 1842 and 1844, with the sonnets and other poems in the last volume. The Athenaeum carried a long review of vols.2 and 3 of Collier?s edition on 9 July 1842, and another dealing with the biographical element of the entire work on 2 March 1844. From this letter it is clear that Chasles intended to review the eighth and last volume containing the sonnets (and may well have done so). The present item is 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium.

[John Timbs, antiquary and author.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr Hogg', complaining of poor health and asking him to write prescriptions for him and his 'poor friend Bates'.

Author: 
John Timbs (1801-1875), antiquary and author
Publication details: 
‘40, Bartholomew Villas, / Kentish Town, / Jan. 17 1874’.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with thin strip of mount adhering to one edge. Folded for postage.

[Alaric Watts [Alaric Alexander Watts], poet and journalist, editor of the ‘Literary Souvenir’.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr Wauchope', assistant to the Bond Street bookseller John Andrews

Author: 
Alaric Watts [Alaric Alexander Watts] (1797-1864), poet and journalist, editor of the ‘Literary Souvenir’
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. (BBTI has John Andrews with bookshop and circulating library at 167 New Bond Street from before 1831 to 1857.) 1p, 12mo. Addressed on reverse of second leaf for delivery by hand ('wait') to 'Mr Wauchope / at Mr Andrews' / 167. New Bond St.'. In good condition, lightly aged, with unobtrusive central spike hole (for business correspondence) through both leaves. Reads: 'Dear Sir / Be so good as send me the vouchers of the Scrivener for 1827 agreeably with your promise, is there particular occasion for them today'.

[‘The Colossus of Roads’: Sir James Nicoll McAdam, Scottish builder and administrator of roads.] Autograph Signature cut from document.

Author: 
Sir James Nicoll McAdam (1786–1852), ‘The Colossus of Roads’, Scottish builder and administrator of roads
James Nicoll McAdam
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£45.00
James Nicoll McAdam

See his joint entry with his father John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836) in the Oxford DNB. On slip of paper roughly 11 x 6.5 cm, cut from document. In good condition, lightly aged, and laid down on part of brown paper leaf from an autograph album. (Part of an autograph by ‘[...] Perry’ is on the reverse.) Good large disciplined autograph ‘James Mc Adam’ (with the initial ‘J’ closely cropped at the head and left-hand side), beneath which is written, in a contemporary hand ‘The Colossus of Roads’. See Image.

[Katharine Bruce Glasier [née Katharine St John Conway], socialist and suffragist, wife of Scottish politician John Bruce Glasier.] Signed Autograph Inscription (as ‘Katherine o’ the Bruce’) on postcard with photographic of ‘The Waterfall, Earby’.

Author: 
Katharine Bruce Glasier [née Katharine St John Conway] (1867-1950), socialist and suffragist, wife of Scottish politician John Bruce Glasier (1859-1920) [Clough & Wells, Skipton photographers]
Katharine Bruce Glasier
Publication details: 
Undated [post 1922]. 'Real Photo Post Card | Printed in Great Britain', by 'Clough & Well's / Nile Series / Skipton'.
£90.00
Katharine Bruce Glasier

See her entry, and that of her husband, in the Oxford DNB. Black and white print postcard, on shiny paper stock. In good condition, lightly aged. Showing image of waterfall in thick foliage, with caption at foot ‘The Waterfall, Earby.’ Photographers’ details at bottom right.

[J. A. Fuller Maitland [John Alexander Fuller Maitland], music critic and musicologist.] Autograph Letter Signed, regarding a lecture the recipient is about to give on 'a subject which is especially dear' to him.

Author: 
J. A. Fuller Maitland [John Alexander Fuller Maitland] (1856-1936), influential music critic and musicologist, who championed the work of Purcell, Stanford and Parry
Publication details: 
21 November [1899]. On letterhead of 39 Phillimore Gardens, Kensington, W. [London]
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, landscape 12mo. On bifolium of grey paper. The letter is complete, on what appears to be the upper half of a 4to bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with stamp, postmark and remains of autograph address on reverse of second leaf, with traces of mount. Signed ‘J A Fuller Maitland’. Begins: ‘Dear Sir / Very many thanks for your book, the second copy of which has just come. I shall hope to be able to come & hear your lecture on a subject which is especially dear to me.

[ Erasmus Middleton, Evangelical clergyman. ] Autograph Letter Signed to Mrs Squire of Wragby full of pious sentiment.

Author: 
Erasmus Middleton (1739-1805), Evangelical Church of England clergyman and editor
Publication details: 
'B. Friars [ Blackfriars ], London, April 27th. 1785.'
£280.00

3pp., folio. Bifolium. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, 'To | Mrs. Squire, | Wragby, | near Lincoln.' In fair condition, aged and worn, with Middleton's seal cut away from the second leaf (without any loss to text) and a number of closed tears along creases. Seventy lines of neatly-written text. A letter filled with pious sentiment, beginning: 'Mr. Squire favored us To-day with a Call, and it gave us a peculiar Pleasure to see that he is so well recovered from that Fit of Illness in which my Brother & I saw him, notwithstanding the uncommonly severe Winter we have since had.

[Frederick, Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, First Lord of the Admiralty.] Autograph Letter Signed requesting a Royal Navy post for a 'young man', with autograph draft of Spencer's reply.

Author: 
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (1763-1827), second son of George III, Commander-in-Chief of British Army during Napoleonic Wars; George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758-1834)]
Publication details: 
ONE (Frederick's ALS): 'York House [London] February 6th 1798'. TWO (Spencer's Signed Autograph Draft of his Reply): 'Adm[iralt]y. [London] 6 Feb: 1798.'
£180.00

See the two men's entries in the Oxford DNB. Each of the two letters is 1p, 4to, with the Prince’s letter on the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium, and the Earl’s signed autograph copy of his reply on the recto of the second leaf of the same bifolium. Both leaves are discoloured and damaged, with wear and loss from infestation, but the two signatures and the area around them are good and clear. The document has been folded twice for postage. Strip of white tape along gutter of blank reverse of second leaf from mount. ONE (Frederick’s ALS): Fifteen lines.

[J. B. S. Haldane [John Burdon Stevenson Haldane], geneticist; Robert Edward Stevenson, Hollywood film maker (‘Jane Eyre’, ‘Mary Poppins’).] Autograph Signatures to paper recording a vote at the Cambridge Union, with circular notice of 1927 meeting.

Author: 
J. B. S. Haldane [John Burdon Stevenson Haldane] (1892-1964), geneticist; Robert Edward Stevenson (1905-1986), Hollywood film maker (‘Jane Eyre’, ‘Mary Poppins’), President of the Cambridge Union
J. B. S. Haldane
Publication details: 
Cambridge Union Society notice of meeting on 2 May 1927 ('Easter Term, 1927').
£56.00
J. B. S. Haldane

See the two men's entries in the Oxford DNB. Stevenson was president of the Cambridge Union in 1928. The material is in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Manuscript notice of vote. On one side of a piece of thick 8vo paper, with small nick at one top corner. At the head, one above the other, are the signatures: 'J. B. S. Haldane. / R. E. Stevenson / P. M. [Wright?]'. At the foot of the page, in a fourth hand: 'Ayes. 184. / Noes. 310.' TWO: Duplicated circular of typed notice. 1p, 12mo. Laid down on reverse of leaf carrying Item One. Headed: 'Cambridge Union Society / Easter Term, 1927.

[Frederick William Robertson, celebrated Victorian preacher and theologian, admired by Dickens.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Miss Smith’, playfully offering to assist her in her ‘atheistical’ and her sister in her’demonological investigations’.

Author: 
Frederick William Robertson (1816-1853), Anglican preacher and theologian, Oxford friend of Ruskin, admired by Dickens, patronized by Lord Shaftesbury and the Marquis of Lansdowne
Publication details: 
8 November [no year]; 60 Montpellier Road [Brighton].
£60.00

An amusing and entertaining letter from a man destined for ‘une triste vie et une triste ministère’ (see his entry in the Oxford DNB). 3pp, 16mo. Bifolium. Thirty-seven lines of text, neatly and closely written. In fair condition, worn and grubby. Folded twice for postage. Signed ‘Fred: W: Robertson’. Begins: ‘My dear Miss Smith / Could you but see the piles of books & papers that are as yet only partially disinterred from their temporary coffins you would conceive my dismay and despair at your question. I will become a disciple of Comte to please you.

[Edmond Holmes, educationalist and poet; and Admiral Sir Reginald Neville Custance.] Autograph Letters Signed from both men to Lt-Col. John Glas Sandeman, regarding Holmes’s pamphets on education.

Author: 
E. G. A. Holmes [Edmond Gore Alexander Holmes] (1850-1936), educationalist and poet; Admiral Sir Reginald Neville Custance (1847-1935), Royal Navy officer; Lt-Col. John Glas Sandeman (d.1922)
Publication details: 
ONE (Custance to Sandeman): 8 August 1911; on letterhead of 42 Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, W. [London] TWO (Holmes to Sandeman): 19 August [1911]; 'c/o Messrs Constable & Co / 10 Orange Street / Leicester Square / W. C. [London]'.
£120.00

See the entries for Custance and Holmes in the Oxford DNB. According to the latter: ‘On his retirement in November 1910, Holmes published What is and What Might Be (1911), a condemnation of the existing education system, which stressed competition rather than co-operation, emphasized visible results, and demanded the mechanical obedience of the child. The book attracted wide public attention. [...] Shortly before his retirement, he became involved in the furore over the so-called 'Holmes–Morant circular', a highly confidential memorandum which he had issued in January 1910 to inspectors’.

[‘Ulster Scot’ [Rev. J. C. F. Hood, Deputy Assistant Chaplain-General to the Forces.]] Newspaper cutting of letter to The Times from Hood, with Manuscript Letter from ‘Ulster Scot’ thanking him, and note [from W. Vance Packman] disputing facts.

Author: 
‘Ulster Scot’ [Rev. John Charles Fulton Hood (1884-1964), Deputy Assistant Chaplain-General to the Forces, husband of harpist Helen Patuffa Kennedy-Fraser; W. Vance Packman]
Publication details: 
Letter (‘Postmark: Belfast’) dated 30 October 1929. Newspaper cutting of Hood’s letter to The Times dated 28 October 1929. Undated anonymous note from 19 Sutton Court Road, Chiswick, London.
£150.00

Hood was married to the harpist Helen Patuffa Kennedy-Fraser (1889-1967), daughter of Marjory Kennedy-Fraser (1857-1930), the celebrated collector and singer of Hebridean songs. The two items are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Manuscript Letter Signed by ‘Ulster Scot.’ 1p, 8vo. Begins: ‘Dear Rev Sir / Glad to see you took up the “cudgels” on behalf of the “Ulster Scot.”’ The writer of the letter considers that the part played by this group ‘in building industry &c.’ was surpassed by their efforts ‘in cristainising [sic] and civilising the nations of the world’.

[William John Courthope, Professor of Poetry at Oxford.] Autograph Letter providing an autobiographical account for a reference work.

Author: 
William John Courthope (1842-1917), English author and historian of poetry, Professor of Poetry at Oxford
Publication details: 
9 December 1881. On embossed letterhead of the Education Department, Whitehall.
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. 32 lines, neatly written, including interpolations. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Folded for postage. No signature and with recipient not named. Begins: ‘Sir / On my return from the Continent I find your letter which I should have of course acknowledged at once if I had been at home. / If the following particulars about myself are of any use for the purpose of your book they are quite at your service’. A thumbnail autobiographical account follows, beginning: ‘I am the eldest son of the late Revd.

[Sir John Easthope (1784-1865), proprietor of Morning Chronicle, employer of Charles Dickens.] Autograph Note Signed 'J E', with full signature in frank, to Thomas Joseph 'Mummy' Pettigrew.

Author: 
Sir John Easthope (1784-1865), proprietor of Morning Chronicle, Whig politician, employer of Charles Dickens as a reporter [Thomas Joseph Pettigrew (1791-1865), doctor, antiquary and Egyptologist]
Publication details: 
'Barnet June five / 1831', with frank of 6 June 1831.
£45.00

See his entry, and that of Pettigrew, in the Oxford DNB. Easthope was a difficult employer, nicknamed ‘Blast-hope’. Dickens worked for him as a parliamentary reporter between 1834 and 1836. 1p, 12mo, on recto of first leaf of a bifolium. In fair condition, aged and discoloured. Reads: 'My dear Pettigrew / Will you please to leave out Lancaster letter which I'll send for tomorrow / haste / Yrs. / J E / Sunday'. The letter is addressed on the reverse of the second leaf, with slight loss to one corner from the breaking of the red wax seal. Black 'BARNET' postmark and customary frank in red.

[Sir John Barrow, geographer and author, Second Secretary to the Admiralty.] Autograph Letter in the third person to ‘Mr. Clowes’, regarding his ‘Art[icle]. on Egypt’.

Author: 
Sir John Barrow (1764-1848), geographer and author, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, 1804-1845
Publication details: 
'Tuesday' (no place or date).
£100.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Laid down by the four corners to piece of paper neatly cut down from a leaf of an album. Reads: 'Sir J. Barrow will thank Mr. Clowes to let him have the Art. on Egypt, as soon as set up, as he will have considerable alterations to make towards the

[Patric Dickinson, poet, and John Stanton Ward, artist.] Limited edition, signed by artist and poet: copy of 'Two Into One', 'Poems by Patric Dickinson / Drawings by John Ward'. With photographic print of study of Dickinson by Ward.

Author: 
Patric Dickinson [Patric Thomas Dickinson] (1914-1994), poet, translator, BBC radio broadcaster; John Stanton Ward (1917-2007), artist
Publication details: 
'Printed and Published by Geerings of Ashford Limited. A limited edition of 750 copies. No 31'.
£100.00

John Stanton Ward was a noted portrait painter, who resigned his membership of the Royal Academy in protest at the ‘Sensation’ show of 1997. See his obituaries in the Telegraph, Times, Guardian and Indpendent. Patric Dickinson has not received his due. A self-styled ‘poet and impresario of poetry’, Dickinson occupied a central position in the cultural landscape of post-war Britain.

[John Morley, Viscount Morley of Blackburn, Liberal politician and writer.] Two Autograph Letters Signed and an Autograph Note Signed to Lady Ilbert, wife of Sir Courtney Ilbert, Clerk of the Commons, regarding dinner arrangements.

Author: 
John Morley (1838-1923), Viscount Morley of Blackburn, Liberal politician and writer [Lady Jessie Ilbert [née Bradley] (1850-1924), wife of Sir Courtenay Ilbert (1841-1924), Clerk of the Commons
Publication details: 
ALS ONE: 19 December 1910; on embossed letterhead of United Service Club, Pall Mall. ALS TWO: 2 July 1911; on letterhead of Flowermead, Wimbledon Park, S.W. ANS: 5 July 1911; on letterhead of the Privy Council Office, Whitehall, S.W.
£60.00

See his entry, and that of Lady Ilbert’s husband, in the Oxford DNB. The three items in good condition, lightly aged, and folded for postage. ALS ONE (19 December 1910): 1p, 12mo. ‘I am sorry you have had domestic anxieties. They are the most poignant.’ He continues: ‘It would delight me to have a peaceful hour with you and Ilbert, without prejudice to Fisher and his wife.’ Signed ‘M.’ ALS TWO (2 July 1911): 2pp, 12mo.

[Alfred Webb [Alfred John Webb], Anglo-Irish Quaker nationalist, Irish Parliamentary Party MP in the British Parliament.] Autograph Letter signed to 'Miss Burgess' [of Norwich], listing and discussing Irish autographs he has procured.

Author: 
Alfred Webb [Alfred John Webb] (1834-1908), Anglo-Irish Quaker nationalist, anti-imperialist and anti-racist, Irish Parliamentary Party MP in the British parliament and Dublin printer
Publication details: 
18 January 1890. Lisnabin, Dartry-park, Rathmines, Dublin [Ireland].
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is from a collection of Irish nationalist autographs assembled by Miss Burgess of Norwich. 1p, 8vo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded for postage. Addressed 'To Miss Burgess' and signed 'Alfred Webb'. Date and location in another hand, the rest in Webb's autograph. Begins: 'Dear Madam, / Those autos. you have of our MP's are some of which I have most. Unfortunately others you want I have only of a private character, & I do not like cutting off the signatures.' He is sending those of J. E.

[John Wood, distinguished English actor, associated with Tom Stoppard.] His copy of the script of ?The Fantasticks / A Parable about Love / Words by Tom Jones / Music by Harvey L. Schmidt?, with autograph note by him and stage plans.

Author: 
John Wood (1930-2011), English actor associated with Tom Stoppard [?The Fantasticks?, musical by Tom Jones and Harvey L. Schmidt]
Publication details: 
Title page: ?Copyright 1959 by Tom Jones and Harvey L. Schmidt / Property of: Music Theatre Inc. / 119 West 57th Street/ New York 19, New York?. By ?the studio duplicating service / 434 west 43rd street, n.y.c. / LO 3-1225? [New York City, USA.]
£400.00

See Michael Coveney?s obituary in the Guardian, 10 August 2011, which states that Wood was ?one of the greatest stage actors of the past century?, and that he ?returned to the West End in 1961 as Henry Albertson in the whimsical off-Broadway musical The Fantasticks, at the Apollo?. 86pp, 4to. Each act separately paginated. Duplicated and bound with metal studs into black waxed-card wraps, with each page on the recto of a separate leaf. Title ?THE FANTASTICKS? printed on front cover, with details of the Studio Duplicating Service. In good condition, lightly aged, in lightly creased wraps.

[John Tricker Conquest, physician-accoucheur (man-midwife) and author of the standard textbook ?Outlines of Midwifery?.] Autograph Note in the third person to ?Mr. Bullock? regarding the procurement of his ?Letters to a Mother?.

Author: 
John Tricker Conquest (1789-1866), physician-accoucheur (man-midwife) whose ?Outlines of Midwifery? (1820) was a standard textbook in the first half of the nineteenth century
Publication details: 
?Finsbury Square [London] / Monday?. (In pencil in another hand ?Septr 1848?, and on paper with 1847 watermark.)
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium of grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. The subject is Conquest?s ?Letters to a Mother on the Management of Herself and her Children in Health and Disease?, published in 1848, which had reached a fourth edition by 1852. ?Dr. Conquest presents his compliments to Mr. Bullock & begs to say that the ?Letters? may be obtained at the publisher Longman & Co. Paternoster Row, & of Gladding Booksellers opposite Bunhill Fields City Road, & through any other bookseller.?

[John Baseley Tooke of Thompson, Norfolk.] Manuscript ‘Inventory and Valuation [by Samuel Elcock] of [...] the property [...] at his late Residence Southampton Row Bloomsbury Square London and at his late Chambers Mitre Court Buildings Temple.'

Author: 
John Baseley Tooke (1779-1841), solicitor of the Inner Temple, Lord of the Manor of Thompson, Norfolk [Samuel Elcock, London appraiser]
Publication details: 
'taken December 3rd. 1841’
£120.00

Biographical information relating to the deceased is to be found in Rev. George Crabbe, ‘Some Materials for a History of the Parish of Thompson in the County of Norfolk’ (Norwich, 1892): ‘John Baseley Tooke of Thompson, Esq., only son [of John Greene Basely [sic], sometime Mayor of Norwich’], an acting magistrate for Norf., assumed the additional surname of Tooke by royal lic. in Oct. 1802, pursuant to the will of Wm. Tooke, Esq., his great-uncle; b. 15th Mar. 1779; d. unmar. 12th Nov. 1841; bur.

[George IV and Home Secretary and future Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel.] Autograph Signatures of the King ('George R.') and Peel ('R Peel') to 'Warrant for the removal of John Raddon to the Criminal Lunatic Asylum in St Georges Fields'.

Author: 
George IV (1762-1830), King of Great Britain; Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), Prime Minister and creator of the British police force
George IV
Publication details: 
'Given at Our Court at Carlton House the Fifth day of February 1824, in the Fifth Year of Our Reign.'
£400.00
George IV

2pp, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to one edge. Folded twice. Large heavily-smudged signature of the king ('George R.') at head of first page, which has the royal seal under paper in the left-hand margin. Signed at end of document ('By His Majesty's Command') by the Home Secretary and future Prime Minister: 'R Peel'.

[The Fall of Fort Bowyer to the British, following the Battle of New Orleans, 1815.] Contemporary Manuscript Copy of Autograph Despatch from Major John Lambert to Earl Bathurst, describing the action.

Author: 
Sir John Lambert (1772-1847), British Army general in the Napoleonic Wars [Henry Bathurst (1762-1834), 3rd Earl Bathurst; Battle of New Orleans and Fall of Fort Bowyer, 1815]
Publication details: 
'Head Quarters Isle Dauphine | February 14th. 1815.' [On paper with Golding & Snelgrove watermark dated 1811.]
£450.00

3pp, foolscap 8vo. On laid paper with watermark: 'GOLDING | & | SNELGROVE | 1811'. Aged and worn, with closed tears along folds, but with text complete and clear. The document includes two passages written in red ink which has faded but is still legible. The background to the present letter is given in Lambert's entry in the Oxford DNB: 'On 4 June 1813 Lambert was promoted major-general, and was appointed to a brigade of the 6th division. [?] Having been sent to America, he joined the army under Sir Edward Pakenham below New Orleans on 6 January 1815, with the 7th and 43rd foot regiments.

[Sir Robert Howard, Restoration playwright and Royalist politician, part-proprietor of the Theatre Royal; associate of John Dryden.] Autograph Signature, as Auditor of the Exchequer, to draft.

Author: 
Sir Robert Howard (1626-1698), Restoration playwright, part-proprietor of the Theatre Royal; friend and associate of John Dryden, Royalist politician and Auditor of the Exchequer
Sir Robert Howard
Publication details: 
Dated in Latin 30 April 1685. [Exchequer, Westminster Hall, London.]
£56.00
Sir Robert Howard

On one side of an irregular piece of paper, roughly 18 x 9 cm, torn from the foot of a document. Heavily discoloured, but neatly laid down on a 19 x 13.5 cm piece of grey paper, with the typed caption: ‘Signture [sic] of: / Sir Robert HOWARD (1626-1698) P.C. / Auditor of the Excheq: and Dramatist / (part-author, with Dryden, of ‘The Indian Queen’ etc.)’. At the head: ‘pray pay this Order out of Customes’; and beneath this the Latin draft, with date and sum (but not the name of the payee). Howard’s signature, written large and bold, is at bottom left: ‘Exam[inatus] P[er]. Howard’.

[Sir John Betjeman, Poet Laureate, broadcaster and public figure.] Autograph Note begun in type to the proprietor of Books and Bookmen Philip Dosse.

Author: 
Sir John Betjeman (1906-1984), Poet Laureate and popular broadcaster and public figure [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of arts magazines including Books and Bookmen]
Sir John Betjeman
Publication details: 
No date or place [1970s]. On his compliments slip.
£56.00
Sir John Betjeman

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Philip Dosse, proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. See ‘Death of a Bookman’ by the novelist Sally Emerson (editor of ‘Books and Bookmen’ at the time of Dosse’s suicide), in Standpoint magazine, October 2018; and Michael Barber, 'What was Books and Bookmen?', Literary Review blog, 18 August 2023. On one side of a 14 x 10 cm compliments slip in red ink, which has 'Sir JOHN BETJEMAN' at top left, and 'With Compliments' centred.

[J. G. Cochrane [John George Cochrane], Scottish editor and first librarian of the London Library.] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir George Cornewall Lewis, providing information regarding the reburial of Louis XVI.

Author: 
J. G. Cochrane [John George Cochrane] (1781-1852), Scottish editor and bibliographer, first librarian of the London Library [Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), Liberal politician]
Publication details: 
‘London Library / October 3d/1851’.
£65.00

See his entry, and that of Lewis, in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. Eighteen lines of closely-written text. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. He was absent when Lewis’s letter came, but is now able to answer his query by reference to the ‘Biographie Universelle’. Addressed to ‘G. C. Lewis Esq. / Grove Mill / Watford’ and signed ‘J. G. Cochrane’. He reproduces over seven lines a statement which ‘seems distinct enough’, regarding the reburial of the body of Louis XVI. Should he come across a ‘more particular account’ he will let him know.

[J. G. Cochrane [John George Cochrane], Scottish editor and first librarian of the London Library.] Autograph Note Signed to the Earl of Clarendon, with list of books not returned to the Library by the Earl's brother-in-law Thomas Henry Lister.

Author: 
J. G. Cochrane [John George Cochrane] (1781-1852), Scottish editor, bibliographer, first librarian of the London Library [George William Frederick Villiers, 4th Earl of Clarendon; Thomas Henry Lister]
J. G. Cochrane
Publication details: 
‘London Library / June 21st.' [1842]
£100.00
J. G. Cochrane

See his entry, and those of Clarendon and Lister, in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of the Earl’s sister Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), who was married to Lister. (See their entries in the Oxford DNB.) 1p, 12mo. Cochrane’s note is on the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium, with the list of books on the recto of the second. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ‘Rt Hon The Earl of Clarendon’. Adopting a diplomatic approach, Cochrane writes: ‘My Lord, / Annexed is a list of the books had from the Library by Mr Lister, which have not been returned.

[John Masefield, Poet Laureate and children's writer.] Autograph Signature on inscription to 'Grace', on the back of part of a Book Token.

Author: 
John Masefield (1878-1967), Poet Laureate and children's writer
John Masefield
Publication details: 
31 August 1956. No date.
£90.00
John Masefield

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of a 9 x 12.5 cm piece of paper: formerly the first leaf of a bifolium card, the second leaf, which carried the actual book token, having been detached by perforation. In good condition, lightly aged, but with traces of mount at the corners of the reverse, which carries a colour reproduction of a painting by Leonard Richmond. The page with the inscription is a printed form, and Masefield has written 'For Grace.' and 'John Masefield. / August the 31st. 1956.' See Image.

['Death has taken a heavy toll': Sir Frank Dicksee, Victorian artist, President of the Royal Academy.] Autograph Letter Signed to the widow of fellow-Royal Academician John Macallan Swan, accepting on behalf of the RA committee the gift of a bust.

Author: 
Frank Dicksee [Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee] (1853-1928), Victorian artist, President of the Royal Academy [Mary Anne Swan (née Rankin), wife of John Macallan Swan (1847-1910), RA, painter and sculptor
Publication details: 
10 May 1926; on letterhead of Greville House, 3 Greville Place, Maida Vale, NW6 [London].
£60.00

See his entry, and Swan's, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Seventeen stylish lines with bold signature. On first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed to 'Dear Mrs Swan' and signed 'Frank Dicksee'. Her letter gave him great pleasure and he has just had the opportunity of placing her 'very kind offer before the Council [of the Royal Academy]'. 'I need hardly tell you they are delighted to accept this valuable gift.

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