JOHN

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. An 11.5 x 7 cm piece of paper, cut from the front of an envelope. In fair condition, laid down on a piece of grey paper cut from an album. Faint franking postmark in red ink. Laid out in Palmerston’s neat and stylish hand in the customary way, and reading: ‘London February Twenty 1826 / Peter Legh Esqr. Junr / Haydock Lodge / Warrington’, with the signature ‘Palmerston’ at bottom left. See image.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, on lightly-browned paper. Folded four times. The recipient is not identified. Signed ‘Henrietta E. V. Stannard’ and addressed to ‘Dear Lady’. She thanks her for ‘the kind help you have provided for my old lady’. The ‘very generouos responses’ she has met with have exceeded her expectations, and she hopes that her ‘dear old friend’s future comfort and independence are now assured, for the rest of her life’.

The East India Company has come under renewed scrutiny in recent years as ‘the world’s first multinational’: an early model of the acquisition of hegemony by means of transnational non-governmental corporations. 2pp, foolscap 8vo. On bifolium of thick laid paper, whose head has been cut into the customary wave. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice into the customary packet. On the recto of the first leaf is the long printed form ‘Indenture’ with blank parts completed in manuscript. Red wax seal under paper at bottom right.

Despite Vaughan’s final protestations, a fine analysis of the competing forces around the drive for reform of the Church of England. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is from the papers of the recipient, Wilfred Seymour De Winton (c.1856-1929) of Haverfordwest. 4pp, 12mo. On bifolium with mourning border. Signed ‘C. J. Vaughan’. Thirty-six lines of text. Begins ‘Dear Mr. de Winton, / I am interested by your letter.

See the entries for Baines and Reynolds in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed to ‘The Rev. H. R. Reynolds, D.D.’, and signed ‘Edw. Baines.’ The letter dates from between 1861, when Lord John Russell was created Earl Russell, and his death in 1878. Begins: ‘My very dear Friend, / I have just been shaking hands with Earl Russell. I was standing with the mob of M.

Weyman was, as his entry in the Oxford DNB states, ‘one of the most popular and skilled of the historical romance novelists of the cloak and dagger school’. Oscar Wilde recommended his novels as reading for convicts. The present item is on an 11 x 9 cm piece of watermarked laid paper. In good condition. A neat attractive two-line inscription for an autograph collector, underlined and sloping upwards. Reads: ‘Stanley J. Weyman | Nov. 2. 1899’. See image.

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair, condition on lightly aged and discoloured paper. Folded twice. Signed ‘J. S. Brownrigg’. He will makes sure that the points raised by De Winton are fully considered at a ‘good meeting’ the following Monday of ‘our Standing Committee and the Committee of the Church Parliamentary Party’. While one of the points will be ‘easily met by moving the exclusion of Clause 17’, he is afraid that ‘a new Committee elected under the provisions of the Bill would be hardly better than the present governing Body in Welsh Counties’.

An evocative artefact of a bygone age of well-read men with substantial libraries. See Coleridge’s entry in the Oxford DNB (in addition to his achievements he was the great-nephew of the poet). 3pp, 12mo. On a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Signed ‘Coleridge’ and addressed to ‘My dear Dickenson’. Coleridge’s hand is not an easy one, and the following rendition is in parts tentative. He begins by stating that he is touched ‘not a little’ by Dickenson’s letter, not having forgotten ‘old days in Harley Street & [St George’s?] Square’. He grieves at ‘the necessity you mention [i.e.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item was probably written around the time of his 1904 edition of the diary of Sir John Moore. 3pp, 12mo Thirty-three lines of text on bifolium of grey paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded once. Annotated in red ink at head of first page: ‘Sir Frederick Maurice on Sir John Moore (HLO had sent him a copy of a letter of Sir J. Moore, fr. among the family Autographs.)' Addressed to ‘Oldham’ and signed ‘F. Maurice’.

The printed item is excessively scarce: no copy on OCLC WorldCat or JISC. Transcriptions of both items are to be found in The Journal of the Legislative Council of the Province of New Brunswick, 20 January to 26 March, pp.26-28. The two items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. ONE: Manuscript ‘Circular’ headed ‘Banking Companies’ and dated from Downing Street, 4 May 1840. 1p, 8vo. Paginated in manuscript 15. On W. Horsington paper with watermark date 1839.

Both items scarce: no other copy of either traced. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. In good condition, lightly aged. ONE: ‘Copy’ of letter to ‘The Right Honorable Lord John Russell’, signed in type ‘J. CAMPBELL, / T. WILDE.’ 2pp, 8vo. Paginated in manuscript 27-28. Printed in copperplate font. Begins: ‘My Lord, / We have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Vernon Smith’s letter of the 3d inst.

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.’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. Nine lines. In good condition, on lightly aged grey paper. Folded once. Addressed to ‘Dear Sir’, and signed ‘J R Seeley’. He states that ‘it will be quite impossible for me to undertake the article Colonies for the Encyclopaedia of Messrs Chambers, as the time you allow for the preparation of it is altogether too short’.

The present item gives the text of the poem described by Byron as 'the most perfect ode in the English language' before its first publication in the Newry Telegraph in April 1817. See Wolfe’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The source of the present item is unclear. It is a photographic facsimile, many decades old, on both sides of a 4to leaf. In fair condition, slightly creased on browned paper, with negligible loss to margin at head. With five creases from folding. Addressed to ‘John Taylor Esqe / at the Revd Mr. Armstrong’s / Clonoully / Cashel’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 13 x 8 cm piece of laid paper. In fair condition, but with small sections torn away on removal from mount, at corners and at centre of top and bottom edges, damaging the first two numerals of the year. Reads: ‘May nine - <18>21 / Please to admit the bearer & his friend to the gallery of the House of Commons. / John C. Hobhouse’. See image.

The present item is producer Hugh Burnett's own copy, from his papers, of the transcript of Stevenson's interview with Freeman, broadcast in the groundbreaking BBC television series 'Face to Face' on 22 July 1959. The single-spaced typed transcript was produced for inclusion in Burnett's book 'Face to Face / Edited and introduced by Hugh Burnett' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1964), and is marked up with printing instructions in pencil and red ink, with a few proof corrections in pencil and green ink. 2pp, foolscap 8vo, on two leaves.

See the entries for Long, Forbes and Burgess in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of tape from mount along one edge. Signed ‘Edwin Long’. Begins: ‘Dear Sir Richard / I have just had a chat about your kind enquiry with my friend Burgess, who knows everybody’. While Burgess ‘says Stanhope Forbes is the best man coming on & that he has painted some very good portraits’, from what Long himself remembers of his work, it seems ‘very black’. He concludes: ‘Why not give it to Burgess? he is painting capitally just now & I know he would be very pleased.’

The present item is producer Hugh Burnett's own copy, from his papers, of the transcript of John Freeman's interview with Harding, broadcast in the groundbreaking BBC television series 'Face to Face' on 18 September 1960, a few weeks before Harding’s death on 16 November 1960. Harding’s entry in the Oxford DNB states that, ‘in radio programmes such as The Brains Trust and Twenty Questions, and on television in What's my Line?, Harding became a great popular figure, especially of television in which he was probably the best-known performer in the country.

See the entries for Warner and Macqueen-Pope in the Oxford DNB. Such was the popularity of Warner’s portrayal of George Dixon, that the Queen told him it had become part of ‘the British way of life’, and he was carried to his grave by six real officers from Paddington Green Police Station. LETTER: 1p, 4to. Folded twice. In good condition, lightly aged. Signature ‘Jack.’ and salutation to ‘My dear Popie’ in Warner’s hand; the rest typed. Letterhead with his name. He is sending ‘the long promised photos’, delayed because he ‘had to get some new prints of the “pipe” one.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. In the following transcript, the parts in Masefield’s autograph are in square brackets, and the first printed sentence (‘I [...] letter.’) has been scored through: ‘PINBURY PARK, / CIRENCESTER. / Dear [Sirs,] / I thank you for you letter. / [I shall be obliged if you will send me No 98 of your list / Du Maurier. Trilby / London, 1895.] / With all good wishes, / Yours sincerely, / John Masefield.’ (Note that this ‘signature’ is printed.) See image.

A scarce piece of political ephemera, from the turbulent days of 1970s Britain. The only other copy traced at the British Library, where it is tentatively dated to 1977.

See the account of his life in the entry for his father the serjeant-at-law John Humffreys Parry (1816-1880) in the Oxford DNB. Signed ‘faithfully yours / Edward Parry / April . 1930’, across the headline of a 22 x 21 cm. cutting of a newspaper article, with text in three columns, the headline reading: ‘BREACH OF PROMISE / THE LAW, THE LADY, AND SEX EQUALITY/ By His Honour SIR EDWARD PARRY’. In good condition, on browning high-acidity paper. Folded once and with one crease. Begins: ‘Marriage is not the gilt-edged security that it was. Its stock is not rising.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On brittle, discoloured paper, cropped at foot. Signed (‘J. Oxenford’). The recipient is not named, but is clearly the editor of the Athenaeum. Reads: ‘Sir/- / In the name of Mr. C. A. Feiling and myself, I beg leave to thank you for the very handsome and prominent notice of our “German Tales” which appeared in the Athenaeum of the 30th. ult. - You will confer a further obligation by letting the gentleman who wrote the article [know] how much we feel indebted to his kindness.’

Pye was an active figure in nineteenth-century British art. According to his entry in the Oxford DNB he was the engravers’ ‘best spokesman’, hoping ‘to raise the fortunes, status, and public profile of engravers by means of professional association and co-operation’. He was the author of a number of works, including 'Patronage of British Art' (1845). His collection of prints after Turner was acquired by the British Museum in 1869, and the proofs of Turner's ‘Liber Studiorum’ followed in 1870. His notebooks are in British Library.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Lord Dickinson [Sir Willoughby Dickinson] (1859-1943), was a Liberal and then Labour politician and early advocate of the League of Nations.1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with short nick to one edge. Folded twice. He thanks him for the morning’s note, and is ‘adopting your suggestion to put down a Motion in the Lords’. He hopes that Dickinson will ‘add the weight of your name and influence in a letter to the Times’. He would like ‘the League of Nations Union would take the matter up’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient, the educationist Thomas Lloyd Humberstone (1876-1957), was a prominent member of the Convocation of the University of London. Both items in fair condition, on lightly aged paper, the second with slight loss along one edge due to removal from mount. Both signed ‘Simon’. ONE: 17 January 1948. 1p, 12mo. Folded once. ‘I do not for a moment believe that the adverse vote carried at a depleted meeting of the General Committee represents the broad view of the Club [clearly the National Liberal Club] as a whole, but I have to take things as I find them.

Harper was the first Anglican Bishop of Christchurch and the first Primate of New Zealand, and he oversaw the building of the ill-fated cathedral at Christchurch. See his entry in the Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. The signature appears to read ‘Hë [for ‘Henricus’?] Christchurch’, and the letter is addressed to ‘Rev. T. Scudamore Cunningham / Lymm Cheshire’. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded twice. Fifty-seven lines of closely and neatly written text.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Begins: ‘Dear Curzon, / I have sent, with great pleasure, a fiver to the Literary Fund in honour of your chairmanship; but not [last word underlined] as a successful man of letters.’ He explains that had he been dependant on his books for a livelihood, he would ‘long ago have starved, and, by the Grace of the present Government, I may yet be a burden to the Royal Literary Fund.’ Curzon has minuted the letter at the head of the first page: ‘Hon J Fortescue £5’.

The present item is producer Hugh Burnett's own copy, from his papers, of the transcript of John Freeman's interview with Thomson, broadcast in the groundbreaking BBC series 'Face to Face' on 4 February 1962. This single-spaced typed transcript was produced for inclusion in Burnett's book 'Face to Face / Edited and introduced by Hugh Burnett' (London: Jonathan Cape, 1964), and is marked up with printing instructions in pencil and red ink, with a few proof corrections in green ink. 1p, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged. Emphasizing Thomson’s unthreatening ordinariness.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Mill had died on 8 May, and in his 2018 biography, Timothy Larsen gives an account of the controversy over the efforts to have buried in Westminister Abbey. (In any event by his own desire Helen Taylor had her husband buried at Avignon.) 2pp, 12mo. With thin mourning border. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded three times.