LINE

[Sir Courtenay Ilbert, Clerk of the House of Commons and Viceroy of India’s Council.] Autograph Letter Signed to his daughter Joyce, written from SS Cedric, White Star Line, describing the holiday.

Author: 
Sir Courtenay Ilbert [Sir Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert] (1841-1924), Clerk of the House of Commons, 1902-1921; drafter of the ‘Ilbert Bill’ as Viceroy of India's Council
Publication details: 
25 November 1913. On letterhead of SS Cedric, White Star Line.
£35.00

Written while Clerk of the Commons. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Joyce Violet Ilbert (1890-1957) was the youngest of his five daughters. 8pp, 12mo. Two bifoliums. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ‘My Dear Joyce’ and signed ‘Yr. loving father | C. P. I.’ Begins: ‘I wish for my sake that you were on board the Cedric - for I miss my [?]-valet-secretary very much. If you were here, you would be hoping that the voyage would never come to an end’. They have had ‘almost perpetual sunshine since we left New York’. ‘The ship is extremely comfortable.

[1920s transatlantic ocean liner: RMS Transylvania, cruise ship with the Anchor Line.] Long Typed Letter from ‘Alex’ to his parents, written en route from Glasgow to New York, with account and diagrams of a sea rescue, and postcard of the liner.

Author: 
[1920s transatlantic ocean liner: TSS Transylvania (1925), cruise ship with the Anchor Line, requisi tioned by the Royal Navy in the Second World War, and torpedoed by the Germans in 1940
RMS Transylvania
Publication details: 
Letter from 'S. S. Transylvania' (en route from Glasgow to New York), 24, 26 and 29 November 1928. Postcard undated, but contemporaneous.
£180.00
RMS Transylvania

TSS Transylvania (the prefix stands for ‘Twin Screw Steamship’) was built in Glasgow for the Anchor Line and launched in 1925. She had three funnels, but two were redundant, only serving to render the ship more attractive to prospective passengers. In 1940 she requisitioned by the Royal Navy, and the following year she was torpedoed by the Germans, sinking with the loss of 36 lives. The letter is 13pp, 12mo; with neat single-space typing, on thirteen leaves.

[Samuel Plimsoll; Plimsoll Line] Autograph Letter Signed Samuel Plimsoll to Capt. H. Toynbee R.N., early meteorologist, whose career was dedicated to passing on his expertise. He introduced local weather-forecasting to the British Isles.

Author: 
Samuel Plimsoll [(1 1824 ? 1898) was a British politician and social reformer, now best remembered for having devised the Plimsoll line]
Publication details: 
[Headed] 28 Park Lane, W., 16 April 1890.
£180.00

Two pages, 12mo, fold mark, some foxing/mottling obscuring part of the subscription (Iam [?]), otherwise text is bold and clear. I thank you warmly for your kind letter with its enclosure - Your Speech at Cardiff is of much interest & the Society you advocate is doing valuable work. | I fear it will be impossible to me to attend your meetings as I expect to be out of London then. Should I find it possible [to get?] I will endeavour to be at the meeting.

[John Pye, line engraver.] Autograph Letter Signed, offering the artist William Carpenter his vote ‘at the forthcoming election for Sec[re]t[ar]y of the Artists’ Annuity Fund'.

Author: 
John Pye (1782-1874), line engraver, praised by Turner, promoter of professional associations and co-operative movements [William Carpenter (1818-1899), painter; Artists’ Annuity Fund, London]
Pye
Publication details: 
21 June 1839. 42 Cirencester Place, Fitzroy Square. [London]
£180.00
Pye

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.

[John Henry Robinson, RA, eminent line engraver noted for his portraits.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘J. H. Robinson’) to ‘Mr Cooke’ (the artist Edward William Cooke), on personal matters including Conrad Cooke’s health, and plans to meet.

Author: 
John Henry Robinson [J. H. Robinson] (c.1796-1871), RA, eminent line engraver noted for his portraits [Edward William Cooke (1811-1880), artist; his son Conrad William Cooke (1843-1926), engineer]
Publication details: 
16 April 1864; New Grove, Petworth [Surrey].
£65.00

See the entries for Robinson and Cooke in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, folded twice. Addressed to ‘My dear Mr Cooke’. Cooke’s ‘friendly note’ about the time he ‘proposed setting out for Deal’ was received on the Thursday, and the Robinsons are ‘glad indeed to hear that your dear Mother is again restored to her usual health’. The Robinsons think that ‘change of occupation & fresh air together, may have the desired effect both as regards yourself & your son Conrad’.

[Sinking of RMS Titanic, April 1912.] Long unpublished contemporary manuscript poem, signed by 'William Hall', titled 'Titanic', written within weeks of the sinking.

Author: 
RMS Titanic sinking, April 1912 [William Hall]
Publication details: 
No place [English]. Dated at end 'May 1912'.
£220.00

4pp., 4to. On three leaves. In fair condition, aged and creased. The poem, headed 'Titanic', is 64 lines long, divided into 15 stanzas (the first ten numbered), and is signed and dated at the end, following 'R.I.P.', 'William Hall | May 1912'. The verse is heartfelt and devout, in style something of a cross between Walt Whitman and William McGonagall. Apparently unpublished. The author is unknown, but the poem reflects the popular response to the celebrated maritime disaster.

[ Samuel Plimsoll of the 'Plimsoll Line'. ] Autograph Signature franking letter.

Author: 
Samuel Plimsoll (1824-1898), English politician and social reformer, Member of Parliament for Derby, and originator of the celebrated 'Plimsoll Line'
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£25.00

On 4 x 13.5 cm. strip of paper, cut from the front panel of an envelope. In fair condition, lightly aged. Addressed to 'John Head Esq | Ransome Sims & Head | Ipswich', with the underlined signature 'Samuel Plimsoll' at bottom left.

[Voyage to Australia, 1912.] Autograph notebook of H. A. Butcher of Wrexham, containing account of voyage to Australia from England, in 1912. With details of 'A few friends we met on the "Orama" during our voyage to Sydney ex London October 25 1912'.

Author: 
H. A. Butcher of Wrexham, Wales [SS Orama, 'Orient' line steam ship; Australia; Australiana]
Publication details: 
'[...] on The "Orama" during our voyage to Sydney [Australia] ex London [England] Oct 25. 1912'. [Disembarking at Melbourne, 2 December 1912.]
£280.00

96pp., 12mo (15.5 x 9.5 cm.), in 'Note Book for Pen or Pencil Writing'. Comprising the account of the voyage on 75pp. at the back of the volume, and the names and details of fellow passengers on 21pp. at the front. Built in 1911, SS Orama was torpedoed and sunk in 1917 while serving as convoy escort. In good condition internally, on lightly aged paper, in aged and worn card covers. The front section is described inside the front cover: 'A few friends we met on the "Orama" during our voyage to Sydney ex London October 25 1912', and the 21pp.

[Sir Joseph Paxton.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Joseph Paxton') to 'Mr. Smith', regarding the financing of a project, with reference to Sir Joshua Walmesley and 'the liberal party'.

Author: 
Sir Joseph Paxton (1803-1865), landscape gardener and architect, designer of the Crystal Palace, head gardener to the Duke of Devonshire at Chatsworth, Derbyshire [Sir Joshua Walmesley (1794-1871)]
Publication details: 
Chatsworth [Derbyshire]. 6 September 1848.
£220.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In very good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The letter begins: 'My dear Sir, | Having a day to spare, and having a little business in London, I left home by midnight mail yesterday, but unfortunately got into the smash that took place on the North Western line [i.e.

[Florida.] Printed guidebook, titled 'Into Tropical Florida. A Round Trip upon the St. Johns'.

Author: 
W. B. Watson, Manager, and C. B. Fenwick, Central Passenger Agent, De Bary Merchants' Line, Florida
Publication details: 
'Issued by the Passenger Department De Bary Merchants' Line. Undated [circa 1882].
£120.00

33 + [25] pp., including wraps. Stitched, in brown printed wraps. On aged and worn paper, with repair to front cover. The inside cover and 24 of the last 25pp. are filled with advertisements, many of them illustrated. The volume begins with a 21-page description of 'The State of Florida' from 'Jacksonville (Duval County)' to 'Lake Monroe', with illustrationss of various views. It is followed by two pages by 'W. B. Watson, Manager' and 'C. B. Fenwick, Central Pass. Agent', headed 'A First Class Line'; a page of 'Distances to Landings on St. Johns River'; and a two-page 'Hotel List'.

Copy of Autograph Letter Signed ('Frank H. Evans') from the banker and Liberal politician Sir Francis Henry Evans to the proprietor of the White Star Line Thomas Henry Ismay, complaining of the treatment of his sister-in-law on a transatlantic voyage

Author: 
Sir Francis Henry Evans (1840-1907) of Tubbendens, Orpington, Kent, banker and Liberal politician [Thomas Henry Ismay (1837-1899), founder of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company [White Star Line]]
Publication details: 
5 August [189]4.
£60.00

3pp., 12mo. An early sort of carbon copy. In very good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed to 'Thomas H Ismay Esq | Liverpool'.

Three glass slides of photographs relating to the wreck of the SS Schiller off the Isles of Scilly, 1875: 'Lifeboat in which Survivors came ashore', 'Digging the last graves' and 'A funeral'.

Author: 
[The wreck of the SS Schiller ('the Victorian Titanic'), off the Scilly Isles, 1875; German Transatlantic Steam Navigation Line]
Publication details: 
[1875.] Gibson & Sons, Penzance & Scilly Isles.
£320.00

Three striking unfamiliar photographs (the last two in particular excellent compositions) of a significant historical event. The three slides are bound in 8 cm glass squares, with none of the glass shattered, and the images themselves in good condition, clear and unfaded. Each mount carries the stamp of the photographers Gibson & Sons. With numbered labels carrying a shelfmark. Each mount titled in manuscript. ONE: ' Schiller" wreck. Lifeboat in which Survivors came ashore'.

Elegant ink drawings of fashionable young ladies, said to be unused illustrations by Edward Burney for his cousin Fanny Burney's 'Evelina'.

Author: 
Edward Burney (1760-1848), English artist, and cousin to the novelist Fanny Burney (1752-1840)
Edward Burney (1760-1848), English artist
Publication details: 
The first page of three drawings, young women posed separately,is dated in a contemporary hand '1815-16' and the other page, with four interacting figures is dated '1816-17'.
£1,200.00
Edward Burney (1760-1848), English artist

In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Dimensions are approximate. The three illustrations (1815-6), each 8.5 x 4 cm, form three panels on a 10 x 13.5 cm piece of paper.

Note in a secretarial hand Signed to Sir H[enry]. T[rueman]. Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, together with compliments slip.

Author: 
Sir Benjamin Baker
Publication details: 
The letter, 11 June 1901; the compliments slip 17 June 1901; both on letterhead '2, Queen Square Place, | Queen Anne's Mansions, Westminster, S.W.'
£26.00

English civil engineer (1840-1907), who built the Forth Rail Bridge and worked on the Metropolitan and District Railways of the London Underground. Both items one page, octavo, on grey paper. Both in good condition, stamped and docketed. The note, signed 'B. Baker', reads 'I am sorry to say the Glasgow University Jubilee will prevent me and I have no doubt others from beingn at Marlborough House on the 14th.' The slip reads 'With Sir Benjamin Baker's Compliments.'

Syndicate content