NAVAL

Diaries of Lieutenant Albert Smith, RN, 1867-1897 and 1914 to 1919, describing tours of East Africa and the Mediterranean, and giving a first-hand account of the sinking of HMS Victoria following its collision with HMS Camperdown, 1893.

Author: 
Lieutenant Albert Smith (1844-1928), RN [Royal Navy; Naval and Maritime; Collision of HMS Victoria with HMS Camperdown, 1893]
Publication details: 
1867-1919. From various locations in England, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
£950.00

Ten notebooks, nine of them 4to and the other folio, totalling in excess of a thousand pages. Not uniform. In original worn bindings, five with marbled boards and the others in full cloth. Internally all ten volumes are sound, with their texts neatly-written, clear and complete. Numbered 2 to 18 (lacking 1, 7, and 12 to 17). The dating of the diaries is as follows. ONE ('2'): 15 May 1867 to 1 September 1868. TWO ('3'): 4 September 1868 to 19 September 1870. THREE ('4'): 20 September 1870 to 7 September 1872. 'A diary written by "Albert Smith" G.M. & G.S.

[Printed 1921 prospectus.] The Cunard Steam Ship Company, Limited. Offer for Sale of £4,000,000 Seven per cent. Mortgage Debenture Stock at the price of £90 per cent. [With separate application form.]

Author: 
[Sir Alfred Booth, Chairman, The Cunard Steam Ship Company, Limited]
 The Cunard Steam Ship Company, Limited.
Publication details: 
The Central Stationery & Printing Co., Ltd., 19, North John Street, Liverpool. [The Cunard Steam Ship Company, Limited. 1921.]
£85.00
 The Cunard Steam Ship Company, Limited.

Folio, 3 pp; 8vo, 1 p. Bifolium. With the title lengthwise on reverse of second leaf, which also carries a table of 'The Fleets of the Cunard Company and of its Allied Lines' (both of vessels 'in commission' and 'building'). In small type. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Detailed prospectus quoting letter from 'the Chairman of the Cunard Company, Sir Alfred Booth, Bart'. Accompanying printed application form (8vo, 1 p). Both prospectus and application with the stamp of the Edinburgh stockbroker A. W. Banks.

Five documents on housing at H.M. Dockyard, Rosyth, Scotland: 'Report upon the House Accommodation available for Workers' (1911), and four mimeographed items, including 'Rules for the Superintendent of Rosyth Village' (1913) and tenancy agreement.

Author: 
Thomas F. Dewar and John Wilson [H.M. Dockyard, Rosyth, Scotland; Sir Alexander Gibb (1872-1958)]
Publication details: 
Report published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1911. The four mimeographed items dating from 1913 and 1914 [Rosyth, Scotland].
£320.00

All items clear and complete: good, on aged paper, with punch holes for ring binder. ITEM ONE: Printed 'REPORT upon the House Accommodation available for Workers employed at Rosyth and for their Families, and upon the Provision for Sickness and Accident' (London: H.M.S.O., 1911). By Thomas F. Dewar (Medical Inspector) and John Wilson (Architectural Inspector). Folio, 10 pp. Scarce: no copy in the British Library, and the only copies on COPAC at Oxford and the National Libraries of Scotland and Wales.

Two manuscript receipts from 1707, in French, for sums of money for the payment to Louis de La Rochefoucauld, Marquis de Roye, Lieutenant-General of the Galleys, of money for rations for the 'Tartane armée', authorised and countersigned.

Author: 
Louis de La Rochefoucauld, Marquis de Roye, lieutenant-general of the galleys [le Marquis de Roye Lieutenant General des galeres]
Louis de La Rochefoucauld, Marquis de Roye, lieutenant-general of the galleys
Publication details: 
France, 1707.
£180.00
Louis de La Rochefoucauld, Marquis de Roye, lieutenant-general of the galleys

Folio, 4 pp. Both on the same bifolium. All texts clear. On aged and worn paper, with chipping and fraying to extremities. Presumably part of a series of ongoing receipts, as the the first begins in the middle of the preamble '<...> commandement de Monsieur le Marquis de Roye Lieutenant general, | De la somme de deux cent cinquante neuf livres onze sols huit deniers [...]'. The receipts are neatly written out, with two long authorisations in the margins, each bearing the same illegible signature.

Six original black and white photographs, all captioned on the reverse and dated April 1940, showing the RAF South Cerney Aerodrome, Gloucestershire and its Airspeed AS.10 Oxford training aircraft.

Author: 
RAF South Cerney, Gloucestershire [Royal Air Force; Airspeed AS.10 Oxford training aircraft]
RAF South Cerney, Gloucestershire
Publication details: 
April 1940. RAF South Cerney, Gloucestershire.
£125.00
RAF South Cerney, Gloucestershire

The six small black and white photographs are all in good condition in a Kodac 'snapshot' card wallet. The captions, in pencil on the reverse and all dated 'April 40', read: [ONE] 'Aerodrome at South Cerney' [an aerial shot]; [TWO] 'Officers' Mess No 3 F.T.S. S. Cerney' [exterior of building]; [THREE] 'Oxfords at No 3 FTS' [three grounded planes]; [FOUR] 'Interior of Oxford' [instrument panel]; [FIVE] 'Interior of Oxford' [back of seats and instrument panel]; [SIX] 'Oxford at No 3 FTS' [grounded].

Letter, in the hand of a secretary, signed ('J W Croker') by John Wilson Croker, Secretary to the Admiralty, to Vice-Admiral Douglas, concerning 'Naval Occurences at Yarmouth', Captain Hawtayne of the HMS Quebec and Chaplain Forster of HMS Roebuck.

Author: 
John Wilson Croker (1780-1857), Secretary to the Admiralty, Irish author and politician [Captain Charles Sibthorpe John Hawtayne of HMS Quebec]
Letter, in the hand of a secretary, signed ('J W Croker') by John Wilson Croker
Publication details: 
Admiralty Office; 26 July 1810.
£125.00
Letter, in the hand of a secretary, signed ('J W Croker') by John Wilson Croker

Folio, 2 pp. Fair, on aged paper, with a few short closed tears to extremities, and carrying traces of previous mount on reverse. On behalf of the Lords of the Admiralty Croker grants the Admiral's request for leave of absence to two individuals following 'the Naval Occurrences at Yarmouth'. In same hand as letter on reverse: 'Captain Hawtayne Quebec Two Days | Mr Forster, Chaplain Roebuck One Month'.

Manuscript, on paper watermarked 1810, a detailed table titled 'Present <Stat>ement of His Majesty the King of Prussia's Army'.

Author: 
[The Prussian Army (Königlich Preußische Armee), 1810]
Present <Stat>ement of His Majesty the King of Prussia's Army
Publication details: 
[Circa 1810.]
£325.00
Present <Stat>ement of His Majesty the King of Prussia's Army

Landscape folio leaf (32.5 x 40.5 cm), 1 p. On paper watermarked 'JOHN HALL | 1810'. Neatly ruled to make a complex, detailed table, in three columns of 31 rows each. The table has a central vertical fold, with the left hand side of the reverse mounted on a leaf removed from an autograph album. In poor condition, with around an eighth of the total area of the paper and text lacking, mostly from the bottom right-hand corner. Despite the loss the table (presumably prepared for the British War Office) contains a mass of valuable information.

Part Printed, part Manuscript Passing Certification, that H.A. Norman is fully capable of filling the situation of a Lieutenant in His Majesty's Fleet. Signed by Three Captains.

Author: 
[Naval Examination]
Naval Examination
Publication details: 
Signed on board Bellerophon at Malta, 10 March 1837.
£125.00
Naval Examination

One page, folio, foxed, four small tears with no textual loss, fold marks, text legible and complete. It refers to the order for the examination being given by Admiral Sir Josias Rowley, gives details of his career in the Royal Navy (ship, entry, discharged, time, etc columnised), mention of certificates from his Captains (see #s9958-9962 in my inventory), statement of his competence, signed by three examining Captains naming their ships (Bellerophon , Samuel Jackson, Revenge, William Elliott, and Asia, William Fisher.

Reference in secretarial hand Signed G Trefusis (Captain, HMS Sapphire)

Author: 
Captain Hon. George Rolle Walpole Trefusis, Captain, Royal Navy
Captain Hon. George Rolle Walpole Trefusis
Publication details: 
No place given, 5 Jan. 1833.
£45.00
Captain Hon. George Rolle Walpole Trefusis

One page, c.18 x 11cm, trimmed, some foxing, but text clear and complete. As Commander of he Sapphire, he's certifying that H. A. Norman served as College Volunteer on the Sapphire from 10 Oct. 1832 to [15 Jan. 1833] with diligence, sobriety, etc.

Reference probably in secretarial hand Signed HJCodrington (Commander of the Orestes, later Admiral)..

Author: 
H.J. Codrington, sometime Admiral
H.J. Codrington, sometime Admiral
Publication details: 
[Orestes] At Sea, 30 April 1836
£56.00
H.J. Codrington, sometime Admiral

One page, 20 x 16cm, some staining, but text clear and complete. As Commander of he Orestes he's certifying that Henry A. Norman served as midshipman on the Sloop Orestes from 7 Dec. 1835 to the date hereof and conducted himself with diligence, sobriety & attention, and was always obedient to command.

Extensive manuscript list (cartographer's probate inventory?), in a late eighteenth-century hand, docketed 'Contents of Maps, Charts, &c in the largest Box, from No. 65 to No. 166', including references to maps by John Hamilton Moore.

Author: 
[John Hamilton Moore (c.1738-1807), Scottish cartographer and author; British map-making; Georgian maps; cartography]
Extensive manuscript list (cartographer's probate inventory?)
Publication details: 
English; circa 1790.
£950.00
Extensive manuscript list (cartographer's probate inventory?)

8vo, 6 pp. Two bifoliums sewn together. On laid paper with Britannia watermark. Text clear and complete. Neatly written out at approximately 38 lines to the page. On aged paper, with slight damage to the first bifolium, the leaves of which are detaching at the spine. Some of the items have been lightly scored through in pencil, but are still legible. The inclusion of such items as '149 Blank Silk Paper for copying Maps' would appear to indicate that the document is an inventory (for probate?) of a cartographer's stock. Last two entries read '165 Blank Sheets of Paper for copying Maps.

Two glass slides of Edwardian photographs of New Quay, North Cornwall, the first showing the harbour and the second a crowd around a horsedrawn lifeboat.

Author: 
[Edwardian photographs of harbour and lifeboat at New Quay, North Cornwall]
Publication details: 
[Edwardian.]
£28.00

The slides, apparently from a newspaper library, are both bound in 8 cm glass squares, with the black and white images themselves in good condition and unfaded. Each carries a manuscript caption in white ink on the black mount. The first slide - 'Harbour, New Quay' - shows a view down into the Harbour, with stone pier and fishing boats. The second - 'Lifeboat. New Quay, N. Cornwall' - shows a procession a distant view of a crowd of men and women in Edwardian dress on a beach before a large rock around a lifeboat being drawn away from the water by four horses.

Calling card of Admiral Sir Charles Napier, on which he has written 'Sir Chas Napier | Merchistoun'.

Author: 
Admiral Sir Charles Napier (1786-1860) [Charles John Napier], Royal Navy, of Merchiston [Merchistoun]
Calling card of Admiral Sir Charles Napier
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£65.00
Calling card of Admiral Sir Charles Napier

On piece of card, 4 x 7 cm. Aged and spotted. Reads 'Sir Chas Napier | Merchistoun', with the words centred as usual. Drawing or floor plan in pencil on reverse. From the Paterson papers.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Jno Colpoys') from Admiral Sir John Colpoys, Governor of Greenwich Hospital, to James Sykes Jnr, regarding arrangements following the death of 'Poor Georgina'.

Author: 
Admiral Sir John Colpoys (c.1742-1821), Governor of Greenwich Hospital [Spithead Mutiny, 1797]
Admiral Sir John Colpoys (c.1742-1821)
Publication details: 
3 June [1800].
£85.00
Admiral Sir John Colpoys (c.1742-1821)

12mo, 2 pp. Bifolium, with the reverse of the second leaf carrying the address ('J. Sykes Esqr: | 22 Arundel Street | Strand', with two postmarks and docketing by Sykes. Nineteen lines. Text clear and complete. On aged paper, with wear to second leaf. Sykes 'will not be surprized to hear' that on the previous day 'Poor Georgina [...] paid the Great Debt'. Colpoys has arranged for her funeral to be 'conducted - in a Decent Private manner', and for her to be buried 'in the Parish of Kensington where she Died - Mr.

Printed notice from the General Manager of the South Eastern and Chatham Railway's Managing Committee, headed 'Government Control of Railways. Free conveyance of traffic carried on behalf of the Admiralty or War Office'.

Author: 
Francis H. Dent, General Manager, South Eastern and Chatham Railway's Managing Committee [First World War; British Army; Royal Navy; War Office; Admiralty]
South Eastern and Chatham Railway. Printed Notice
Publication details: 
[London.] Dated in print 10 October 1916.
£95.00
South Eastern and Chatham Railway. Printed Notice

Folio, 1 p. Thirty-eight lines. Text clear and complete. On aged and creased paper, with spike-hole at head, with 'ack[nowledge]d 3/10/16' in manuscript. Giving instructions regarding the means by which 'all consignments conveyed by Passenger or Goods Trains over controlled Companies' Lines on behalf of the Admiralty or War Office, [...] be invoiced without charges'. 'The above instructions will also apply to Traffic with Irish Ports when conveyed by Controlled Companies' Steamboats.'

Manuscript Logs of Norman H. Jones's yachts 'Miggo II', 'Veronique' and 'Sylvia' (by his wife?), with photographs and other matter inserted, and including an entries describing the victory of 'Veronique in the 1934 Cowes/Weymouth Coastwise Race.

Author: 
[Norman H. Jones, Director, Rollason Aircraft and Engines Ltd, Claygate, Surrey; naval; maritime; yachting; yachts]
Manuscript Logs of Norman H. Jones's yachts 'Miggo II
Publication details: 
1930 to 1937.
£180.00
Manuscript Logs of Norman H. Jones's yachts 'Miggo II

Landscape 8vo, 85 pp. Sixty small photographs of boats and crews laid down with other matter (see below). Text clear. Apparently complete, but with two loose leaves at rear. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with slight wear to photographs and wear to the two loose leaves. Efficiently records dates and times of voyages, together with other relevant details. First six pages consist of the 'LOG OF THE MIGGO II', an 'Outdoor Cabin Cruiser | Built by Dauntless Coy Feb-Apl Leigh-on-Sea 1930. Launched April. Engine - Elto Quad 1929 model'.

Typed Letter Signed ('W. H. H. Southerland') to Carlton Chapman.

Author: 
W. H. H. Southerland [William Henry Hudson Southerland (1852-1933)], Admiral in the United States Navy [Carlton Chapman; Spanish-American War; Cuban Blockade]
W. H. H. Southerland, (1852-1933)], US Admiral, Letter
Publication details: 
16 January 1899. On letterhead of the Navy Department, Office of the Assistant Secretary, Washington.
£125.00
W. H. H. Southerland, (1852-1933)], US Admiral, Letter

4to, 1 p. Fifteen lines of typewritten text and seven-line autograph postscript. Text clear and complete. Good on lightly aged and creased paper. Concerning Southerland's involvement in the Spanish-American War, in which he commanded the gunboat Eagle in the blockade of Cuban ports. He is glad Chapman is pleased with the report. He will send 'the photograph of the ARGONAUTA and one of the SANTO DOMINGO'. He asks for them to be returned, as they are 'amongst the few small mementos I have of the war'. In the postscript he writes that he has 'an 8'' by 10'' photo.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Napier') to Brown ('Dear Sam').

Author: 
Admiral Sir Charles Napier (1786-1860), Royal Navy [Sir Samuel Brown (1776-1852); Sir Thomas Byam Martin (1773-1854)]
Letter bySir Charles Napier mentioning the Sea Wolf.
Publication details: 
16 April 1832; United Services Club, London.
£350.00
Letter bySir Charles Napier mentioning the Sea Wolf.

4to, 3 pp. Bifolium. Twenty-two lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with minor damage repaired with archival tape. Franked, with broken red wax seal and two postmarks, to 'Captain Saml Brown R.N.', at Inverleith House, Edinburgh. Despite the fact that Martin has 'given the Credit of every improvement in the Service', Napier happens to know 'that other people are deserving of more credit than him', and he wishes to 'bring forward some great names like yours' to 'the Lords & the Country' at the second reading of the Navy Officer Bill.

Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armaments, between the American, French, British, Italian and Japanese governments, signed by eleven of the plenipotentiaries, including three prime ministers (Macdonald, Briand and Wakatsuki).

Author: 
J. Ramsay Macdonald; Aristide Briand; Reijiro Wakatsuki; Charles F. Adams III; Dwight W. Morrow; [London Naval Conference, 1930; Treaty for the Limitation and Reduction of Naval Armaments]
Publication details: 
London; 27 April 1930.
£500.00

8vo, 34 pp + blank last page. Unbound and stapled. Fair, with central vertical fold, on slightly-aged paper, with light staining to the first and last pages. Signed on the first page by [three Americans] Henry L. Stimson; Charles F. Adams III; Dwight W. Morrow; [one French] Aristide Briand; [two British] J. Ramsay Macdonald; A. V. Alexander; [one Italian] Giuseppe Sirianni; [and all four Japanese representatives] Reijiro Wakatsuki; Takeshi Takarabe; Tsuneo Matsudaira and Matsuzo Nagai.

One Autograph Letter Signed ('E. Batsch'), three Typed Letters Signed (two 'Batsch.' and one 'Ernst Batsch'), all to Bower; with two typed book reviews by Batsch (one marked 'translation').

Author: 
Rear Admiral Ernst Batsch (1879-1948) of the Imperial German Navy [Sir Graham Bower KCMG [Sir Graham John Bower] (1848-1933)]
Publication details: 
All items between 1930 and 1932. The first two letters from Kurfuerstenstrasse Nr.81.b, Berlin, W.62; the last two from Enzianstrasse Nr.1, Berlin-Lichterfelde, W.
£650.00

An interesting correspondence, from one maritime expert to another, casting light on German naval attitudes in the period following the Great War. Batsch's father, Admiral Karl Ferdinand Batsch (1831-1898), is regarded as one of the founders of the German navy. Bower, who served for twenty years in the Royal Navy, retiring in 1884 with the rank of Commander, is best known as Imperial Secretary in South Africa at the time of the Jameson Raid. Following the First World War he established himself as an expert in international law relating to naval matters.

Autograph Letter, in the third person, to Captain Mason.

Author: 
Thomas Francis Bayard (1828-1898), Secretary to President Grover Cleveland [Lord George Hamilton]
Publication details: 
24 May 1894; on letterhead of the Embassy of the United States, London.
£56.00

12mo, 1 p. Thirteen lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged and foxed paper. Acknowledging 'Captain Mason's note of yesterday', and in response to the request of 'Lord George Hamilton and the Committee', 'Mr Bayard' states that he will 'respond with much pleasure to the toast of "the United States" tonight at the banquet to the Admiral and officers of N.SS Chicago'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('John Trotter') to Hay, with signed 'List of Payments made to Sir William Forbes of Hunter & Co. by the undermentioned partners of the East Lothian & Merse Whalefishing Company Since the 6th of March 1805'.

Author: 
John Trotter [The East Lothian & Merse Whale Fishing Company; James Hay, Writer to the Signet, Edinburgh; Sir William Forbes (1739-1806) of Pitsligo]
Publication details: 
6 April 1805; Dunbar.
£165.00

4to bifolium. Very good on aged paper. The letter covers the whole of the recto of the second leaf, the reverse of which carries the address and docketing: '6th. April 1805 | John Trotter - with List of payments to Sir Wm. Forbes & Co. on acct. of the whale fishing Cy.' Trotter quotes at length from a 'paragraph' in a letter he has received from William Forbes & Co, explaining why a credit 'does not appear in the annexed statement, as the receipt has not been delivered up to us'.

Regulations for the Entry and Examination of Naval Cadets.

Author: 
Examination of Naval Cadets, Admiralty, 1865 [Royal Navy]
Publication details: 
Admiralty, 6th February, 1865. [Printed by 'W. Woodward, The Hard, Portsea.']
£35.00

Printed on one side of a piece of grey paper, 22.5 x 16 cm. Text clear and complete. In fair condition: lightly-aged and with remains of stub adhering to the blank reverse, on which a clean closed tear has been unobtrusively repaired with archival tape. Nine regulations are listed, from 'I. No Person will be nominated to a Cadetship in the Royal Navy, who shall be under 12 or above 14 years of age at the time of his first Examination.' to 'IX. After having completed twelve months' instruction, exclusive of vacations, in the Training Ship, a Cadet will have to undergo the final examination.

Manuscript logbook, with diagrams, specifications and 'Diary of Way', of a First World War sailmaker in the Royal Navy's 3rd Cruiser Squadron.

Author: 
J. Ryan, AB, sailmaker [3rd Cruiser Squadron, Royal Navy; Battle of Dogger Bank, 1915]
Publication details: 
Government stamp: 'Supplied for the Public Service'. Diary entries dated from 29 July 1914 to demobilization on 31 May 1919.
£180.00

Landscape, with leaf dimensions 19 x 10.5 cm. The diary covers 48 pages at one end of the notebook, with the diagrams and specifications over 32 pp at the other end. In original sturdy brown leather binding, with brass clasp, empty wallet at front and pouch for pencil. Marbled endpapers. In good condition. Text clear and complete on lightly-aged paper. Binding worn and with split hinges. In pencil on fore-edge: 'J. RYAN.

Manuscript Itinerary headed "H.M.S. Mindful" at Buncrana June 1918.

Author: 
A member of the crew of H.M.S. Mindful, destroyer.
Publication details: 
25 June -14 Dec. 1918.
£400.00

Manuscript, 8 pages, 4to, chipped (with minor textual loss) and slightly stained, text clear. Convoy and anti-submarine activity. Usually one line description per day but there is a long description of action involved while on convoy duty, encounters with submarines, reinforcements, damaged ships, etc. Their first move was to leave Base on 27th June "in search of Submarine D.6. (overdue) and then carried on to Lamlash". [D.6.

Autograph Signature ('Roger Keyes').

Author: 
Sir Roger Keyes [Roger John Brownlow Keyes, 1st Baron Keyes] (1872-1945), British naval officer
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£18.00

On a leaf of pink paper (roughly 16 x 20 cm) removed from an autograph album. Firm signature, 6 cm long, with the initial 'R' blotted by Keyes. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The page bearing the signature is headed, in another hand, 'Famous Men Military and Naval'.

Autograph Signature ('W Gordon-Stables | MD - RN').

Author: 
William Gordon Stables (1840-1910), Scottish Royal Navy physician and writer of adventure stories
Publication details: 
Date and place not stated.
£20.00

On a piece of paper roughly 7 x 10 cm. Laid down on a piece of card. Fair, rucked and grubby, with traces of previous mount adhering to the reverse. Presmuably in response to a request for an autograph. Reads: 'I wish thee well | [signed] W Gordon-Stables | MD - RN'.

Regulations and Instructions relating to the Royal Marine Forces, when on shore.[Copy, from the 'Barrack Office' at Chatham, printed ] [Containing section on 'Infirmaries', and appendix on 'Vaccine Inoculation'.] With manuscript additions.

Author: 
Admiralty Regulations, Royal Marines, 1819 [Barrack Office, Chatham Division; Royal Navy; naval and military; vaccination; inoculation]
Publication details: 
[Undated.] In manuscript on front board: 'Admiralty Regulations 1819. Barrack Office Chatham Division'.
£450.00

4to: 120 + [19] pp. The last 19 unpaginated pages comprise the appendix, divided into 18 parts. Text clear and complete. On aged and foxed paper. Original boards rebacked in leather, with title on spine and new free endpapers. Title-leaf carries no date or printing details. In manuscript scored through on reverse: 'Adjutants Office by order | [signed?] T. G. Gascoigne | Adjutant', with crude drawings. The first section (pp.3-39) is headed 'BY the Commissioners for executing the Office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, &c.

Autograph Letter Signed to Messrs Charles Cox & Son, Royal Marine Agency Office, Buckingham Street, Strand, London.

Author: 
Major John Lodington, Royal Marines, Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of Dominica, the Earl of Huntingdon [Hans Francis Hastings (1779-1828), 12th Earl of Huntingdon; Windward Islands; West Indian]
Publication details: 
12 and 13 February 1824; Roseau, Dominica.
£650.00

8vo bifolium (leaf dimensions 30 x 18 cm): 4 pp. Fair, on aged paper with slight wear to extremities, and minor damage to the area around the breaking of the black wax seal, which adheres, with a clear impression of a crest, to the reverse of the second leaf. Damage to a couple of words: otherwise text clear and complete. Circular 'F' postmark in red ink. Docketed. An impassioned, anguished letter, long and unguarded, and unusual in the valuable light it casts on the state of West Indian colonial affairs. The first three-quarters of the letter from 12 February and the rest from 13 February.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W Beattie. MD.') to the editor of the 'Naval and Military Gazette'.

Author: 
William Beattie (1793-1875), Scottish physician and poet
Publication details: 
13 August [1858]; St James's Street, London, on embossed letterhead of the Conservative Club.
£56.00

16mo (11 x 9 cm) bifolium, 3 pp, 16 lines of text. Mourning border. Good, with slight discoloration to the external pages. He is sending a manuscript 'At the suggestion of the Author, an officer residing in Paris'. If 'on examination' the recipient considers it 'unsuitable for the pages' of the Gazette, he asks for it to be returned to him at 13 Upper Berkeley Street 'when your messenger happens to pass that way'. The author 'is a man of high character and well acquainted with Paris & the Parisians'.

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