MOUNTAIN

[Thomas George Bonney, geologist, Alpine mountaineer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('T G Bonney'), urging a lady to abandon 'matters far too difficult and complicated' for her, to be 'useful to others in a less ambitious but more practical sphere'.

Author: 
T. G. Bonney [Thomas George Bonney] (1833-1923), geologist and Alpine mountaineer, President of the Geological Society of London and the Alpine Club
Publication details: 
8 October 1904. On letterhead of 23 Denning Road, Hampstead, N.W. [London]
£120.00

See Bonney's entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The recipient is not named. It is unfortunate that the subject of the letter is not stated. Against the charge of misogyny, it should be noted that Bonney 'had the reputation of being a hard teacher, but also a generous man', and that he could equally well have written in the same way to a man he considered equally ill-equipped for a theological task.

[ Le Comité de Montagnards d'Ecosse. ] Manuscript 'Chopy' [Copy] of communication in French to 'Le Premier Gentilhomme de la Chambre du Roi', regarding the presentation of a volume of Ossian's poems 'en langue celtique' to the King of France.

Author: 
[ Comité de Montagnards d'Ecosse, 1815 [ Committee of the Mountaineers of Scotland; ]; nineteenth century Scottish mountain climbing ]
Publication details: 
'Paris le 27 December 1815'.
£320.00

1p., 8vo. Headed 'Copy' and with a Britannia watermark implying an official origin. On aged and worn paper with chipping and loss at head and tail. Reads: 'Monsieur | Le Comité de Montagnards d'Ecosse ayant deputé My Lord , Les Colls. Macdonall et Mackenham et Mr James Hamilton pour faire l'hommage a Sa M. Le Roi de France d'un exemplaire original des Poesies d'Ossian en langue celtique L'Ambassadeur d'Angleterre profitte de l'intervention de Mr. Le Premier Gentilhomme de la Chambre pour faire connaitre cette intention a Sa Majesté et prier S. Exce.

Autograph Letter Signed from Epaphras Hoyt to 'the Commissioners of Canals, in Massachusetts', giving the results of his 'surveys and levels, in the valley of Deerfield River', and discussing the possibility of a tunnel through the Hoosac Mountain.

Author: 
Epaphras Hoyt (1765-1850) of Deerfield, Massachusetts, Major-General of the Massachusetts Militia and writer on military matters [Hoosac Tunnel]
Publication details: 
Deerfield, Massachusetts; 20 September 1825.
£1,250.00

4pp., 4to. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. An important document, not least for the fact that its author discusses the building of a 'tunnel 4 or 5 miles through the [Hoosac] mountain', anticipating the commencement of the construction of the Hoosac Tunnel by 23 years. The letter is closely and neatly written, with the first page headed 'The following Results of my surveys and levels, in the valley of Deerfield River, are respectfully submitted to the Commissioners of Canals, in Massachusetts. | Viz.

Autograph Letter Signed ('James Bryce') from James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce, former President of the Alpine Club, to E. W. Hallifax, endorsing 'a protest [...] raised against the ruin wrought in Switzerland by the construction of tourist railways'.

Author: 
James Bryce (1838-1922), 1st Viscount Bryce, British Liberal politician and author, President of the Alpine Club, London, 1899-1901 [E. W. Hallifax, master, Mill Hill School]
Autograph Letter Signed ('James Bryce') from James Bryce
Publication details: 
20 November 1905; on letterhead of Hindleap, Forest Row, Sussex.
£135.00
Autograph Letter Signed ('James Bryce') from James Bryce

12mo, 4 pp. 41 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with slight discoloration to edges. 'It was high time that in England, whence so many mountain climbers and tourists go to the Alps, a protest should be raised against the ruin wrought in Switzerland by the construction of tourist railways up the slopes of the mountains'. Deplores the 'irretrievable harm' already done to 'some of the noblest landscapes in the world, [...] easily accessible from the populous cities of Central and Western Europe, such as those on the shores of the Lake of Lucerne'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Cor<dier>'), 'A Monsieur <Jukeur?> opticien - rue de Conde Paris'.

Author: 
Joseph Cordier (1775-1849), French engineer, in charge of work on the Simplon Pass in 1800
Publication details: 
Without date or place [Paris].
£45.00

12mo bifolium: 1 p. 11 lines of text. Address and docketing on second leaf. Good, but with 1 cm hole in first leaf of bifolium, possibly caused by breaking open of blue wafer, which still adheres. Hole causing loss to two words, including latter part of signature. Asks the recipient 'de remettre a Mr. Pousin conducteur des ponts et chaussees, un double demi metre en Cuivre et un metre en cuivre avec quatre petites roulettes pointilles'. He will pay for the order in a few days time.

Syndicate content