OTTOMAN

[Richard Cobden, Radical Liberal politician who led the fight to abolish the Corn Laws.] Three Autograph Items, including part of draft manuscript of account of his 1837 meeting in Egypt with Mehmet Ali.

Author: 
Richard Cobden (1804-1865), English Radical Liberal politician and author, a leading figure in the fight to abolish the Corn Laws [Mehmet Ali [Muhammad Ali] (1769-1849), Ottoman governor of Egypt]
Publication details: 
The draft of the meeting with Mehmet Ali after his return from his travels in April 1837, and published in November of that year. One of the other items dated 18 April 1841, from 103 Westbourne Terrace [London]. Another from Midhurst, 20 June 1856.
£280.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. ONE: Autograph draft of conclusion of description of his meeting with Mehmet Ali (‘Mehemet Ali’). The ODNB states that in July 1836 Cobden produced a pamphlet ‘which analysed the Russo-Turkish dispute [...] attempting to play down the Turcophilia that was rife in Britain in the 1830s.

[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.

[Sir Henry Bulwer, diplomat and brother of the novelist Lord Lytton.] Autograph Letter Signed to Lady Theresa Lewis, explaining that he may find it difficult to attend her party, as he is dining at Buckingham Palace that night.

Author: 
Sir Henry Bulwer [William Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer, 1st Baron Dalling and Bulwer] (1801-1872), Liberal politician and British Ambassador to Spain, United States and Ottoman Empire [Lady Theresa Lewis
Publication details: 
No date. 36 Hertford Street [London].
£56.00

See his entry and hers in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, and folded for postage. Written in a not entirely straightforward hand (although very much much better than that of his brother the novelist Lord Lytton). Reads: ‘My dear Lady Theresa, / I am very much obliged by your kind remembrance of me and the very agreeable party to wh. you are so good as to invite me. / Very much indeed do I regret dining at Buckingham palace since I fear, [?], that I shall not be away in time to reach you at a decent time. If I can do so however you may quite see that I will. / Yrs.

[Marie Descorches, French revolutionary diplomat, formerly Marquis d`Escorches de Sainte Croix.] Two communications as ‘Préfet du Département de la Drome’: a Secretarial Letter Signed by him to Mayor of ‘Commune de Propiac’, and printed decree.

Author: 
Marie Descorches [Marie Louis Henri Descorches] (1749-1830; Marquis d`Escorches de Sainte Croix), French soldier and revolutionary diplomat, Ambassador to Poland and Ottoman Empire, Prefect of Drôme
DESCORCHES
Publication details: 
Both on revolutionary letterheads. Secretarial letter: ‘Valence, le 20 frimaire, an 12 de la République française. [i.e. 12 December 1803]’ Printed decree: ‘Valence, le 7 brumaire, an 12 de la République française. [i.e. 30 October 1803]’
£180.00
DESCORCHES

The two items are on variations of the revolutionary letterhead of the Prefect of the Drôme Department, with oval medallion illustration of a seated liberty with a phrygian cap on a stick, forearm leaning on the fasces and the words ‘Libérté’ and ‘Égalité’. The printed decree is in good condition, lightly aged, with slight foxing and discoloration. The secretarial letter is in fair condition, with darker patches of discoloration.

[Sir Stratford Canning, Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mr Lelane’ (sic, i.e J. T. Delane, editor of The Times), regarding the ‘hot water’ the ‘Sultan’ of Turkey finds himself in.

Author: 
Sir Stratford Canning [Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe] (1786-1880), diplomat, Envoy to the United States, Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire [John Thadeus Delane (1817-1879), editor of The Times]
Publication details: 
‘Grosvenor Square [London] / Friday Aug 19.’ No year, but seemingly written after his retirement in 1858.
£120.00

See his entry, and that of Delane, in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with neat remains of a windowpane mount adhering to the blank reverse of the second leaf. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr Lelane’ (sic) and signed ‘Stratford de R.’ Having heard that Delane was in town he writes to say that he was ‘gratified by the complimentary terms in which I was mentioned in the Times two or three days ago.

[Lord Lytton, diplomat; Ottoman] Autograph Letter Signed Henry L Bulwer, urging a speedy meeting.

Author: 
Henry Bulwer [William Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer (1801-1872), 1st Baron Dalling and Bulwer; Lord Lytton], diplomat, ambassador to Spain, United States, Tuscany, Ottoman Empire, brother of the novelist
Publication details: 
5 November [no year]. 8 James Street, Buckingham Palace [London].
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with neat ruled border from remains of windowpane mount. Folded twice for postage. Reads: ‘My dear Sir / I shall be at home tomorrow till two or will call on you any hour afterwds. do not delay the matter beyond this. / Yrs. very truly / H. L Bulwer’.

[Stratford Canning; Pasha of Janina; Mediterranean Fleet] Autograph Letter Signed Stratford Canning to Lt. General Sir George Berkeley about negotiations with the Pasha of Janina.

Author: 
Sir Stratford Canning [Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe] (1786-1880), diplomat and politician. Here Ambassador to Constantinople [Ottoman Empire].
Pasha
Publication details: 
Place seems to start Beyrouth, 25 October 1842. SEE IMAGE.
£280.00
Pasha

Two pages, 4to, in narrow frame of stiffer paper. I am happy to learn from yr correspondence with the Admiral that your negotiations with the Pasha of Janina have been quite successful.

[Henry Lytton-Bulwer, diplomat; Ottoman Empire; Corfu; Greece] Incomplete Autograph Letter (missing signature page) from [Henry Lytton Bulwer?] to [H.R.H. The Duke of Cambridge, C-in-C], about military/naval situation in the Greek Islands (Corfu).

Author: 
[Henry Lytton Bulwer [(William) Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer, 1st Baron Dalling and Bulwer (1801 -1872), Liberal politician, diplomat and writer.]
Bulwer1
Bulwer2
Publication details: 
Knebworth, Stevenage, Herts, 20 Dec. 1858.
£350.00
Bulwer1
Bulwer2

Incomplete (missing signature page at least), leaving 4pp., 4to, remnants of tipping on to something, minor stains around address, small hole causing minor loss, text clear, as follows: Sir, | beg your Royal Highness to accept my best thanks for the able, succinct & lucid memorandum which I have just had the honor to recieve [sic] & a copy of which I propose to forward the Mr.

[The Campaign in Mesopotamia, British Army, First World War.] Duplicated Typescript, apparently contemporary, of satirical poem by British soldier [by ‘A Tommy’] titled ‘Alphabet of Mesopotamia’.

Author: 
[‘A Tommy’; Mesopotamia Campaign, British Army, First World War; Iraq; Indian Army; Ottoman Turks]
Publication details: 
Without date or place, but apparently written in Mesopotamia in late 1916.
£220.00

This poem is said to be an earlier work by ‘A Tommy’, the pseudonymous author of the collection ‘If I Goes West’, published in London by Harrap in 1918. WorldCat has no entries to support a second claim: that the present poem was published in 1917, with the subtitle ‘Verses written by a “Tommy” who has fought, suffered and triumphed in Mesopotamia, and is still on active service there’.

[‘We are a sort of Brahmins’. Lord Napier, as British Ambassador to the Hague.] Long private Autograph Letter Signed (‘Napier’) to Sir George Elliot, discussing the ‘malignant atmosphere’ in Constantinople, Sir Hamilton Seymour, and diplomacy itself.

Author: 
[Lord Napier.] Francis Napier (1819-1898), 10th Lord Napier of Merchistoun and 1st Baron Ettrick, acting Viceroy of India [Admiral Sir George Elliot (1784-1863); Sir Hamilton Seymour (1797-1880)]
Publication details: 
‘The Hague / November 28th. 1860’.
£220.00

An excellent letter, in which a serving Victorian ambassador discusses the nature of diplomacy, and gives a vivid assessment of his former superior Sir Hamilton Seymour, whom he jokingly characterizes ‘the great Elchee’. See both men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 7pp, 4to. On two bifoliums. In good condition, lightly aged and with creases from folding into a packet. Minuted on reverse of last leaf. Addressed to ‘The Honble. George Elliot’ (he received his KCB in 1862) and headed ‘Private’.

[George Cornewall Lewis; the Crimean War] Autograph Note Signed G.C. Lewis to J.W. Wilkins thanking him for his essay on the Turkish Empire.

Author: 
George Cornewall Lewis [(806 – 1863), statesman and man of letters.]
Publication details: 
Kent House, 1 July 1853.
£45.00

Two pages, 12mo, an edge frayed, remnants of paper for tipping in album, minor stain, text clear and complete. Text: Pray accept my thanks for yr kindness in sending me your essay on the Turkish Empire, which I shall read with much pleasure, in reference to the important question now pending in that part of the world. The Crimean War commenced in October 1853.

[Ármin Vámbéry [Hermann Wamberger; Árminius Vámbéry], Hungarian Jewish traveller and authority on the Ottoman Empire.] Autograph Note Signed ('Armin Vambery') to 'Mr Blacket', asking 'how many pages of print are in the first volume'.

Author: 
Ármin Vámbéry [born Hermann Wamberger; also Árminius Vámbéry; Armin Vambery] (1832-1913), Hungarian Jewish authority on Ottoman Empire, made Honorary Commander of Royal Victorian Order by Edward VII
Publication details: 
'Wedesday' [no date]. On monogram letterhead combining the letters C and A.
£220.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: 'Dear Mr Blacket | I should wish to know in the course of the day how many pages of print are in the first volume.' Despite the spelling of the name, the recipient is presumably either Henry Blackett (1825-1871) of the publishers Hurst and Blackett, or one of the four of his sons to become publishers. There is no record of a book by Vámbéry being published by a Blacket or Blackett, but he may be referring to an essay or article published in a periodical or compilation, or an anonymous or pseudonymous work.

[Lord Salisbury's Foreign Office and 1897 insurrection in Crete.] Five Autograph Items by Sir Martin Gosselin of British Embassy in Paris, including drafts of private despatches to Salisbury on meetings with French Foreign Minister Gabriel Hanotaux.

Author: 
Sir Martin Gosselin, diplomat [Cretan insurrection of 1897; Lord Salisbury; Crete; Ottoman Empire; Gabriel Hanotaux; International Squadron; Admirals' Council; Great Powers; Greece]
Publication details: 
The five items written by Gosselin between April and November 1897, from the British Embassy in Paris.
£650.00

In January 1897 an insurrection by the Greeks in Crete led to the Ottoman Empire, of which it was still part, declaring war on Greece. The following month, as Turkish rule over the island crumbled, six 'Great Powers', including Britain, France, Russia and the Germans, despatched an 'International Squadron' of their ships to Cretan waters.

[Sir Samuel White, explorer, discoverer of Lake Albert.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Sam W Baker') to 'Mr. Warner' (headmaster of Newton College, Devon), on an attack of gout and his decision to 'resign the Presidentship' (of the College governors).

Author: 
Sir Samuel Baker [Sir Samuel White Baker] (1821-1893), explorer, big game hunter, Ottoman Empire Pasha, Governor-General of Equatorial Nile Basin, discoverer of Lake Albert [Newton College, Devon]
Publication details: 
Sandford Orleigh, Newton Abbot [Devon]. 13 July 1891.
£220.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with minor damage at head. Folded once. He begins by requesting with 'much respect' to be excused 'on your great day', and explains: 'I write this from my bed, where I am confined with that delectable complaint the gout, and the moment I can move I must be off somewhere, either to Bath, or Buxton, to go through a regular course -'. He complains: 'This country does not agree with one -; we arrived in England 1 May, and I have already had three attacks of gout. I was seven months absent and was entirely free from it.

[ Albert Howe Lybyer, presentation copy of offprint. ] Constantinople as Capital of the Ottoman Empire.

Author: 
Albert Howe Lybyer, Professor of History in the University of Illinois [ Rev. Robert Frew ]
Publication details: 
Washington: Government Printing Office, 1919. [ 'Reprinted from the Annual Report of the American Historical Association for 1916, Volum I, pages 371-388.' ]
£120.00

[4] + [18 pages paginated 371-388], 8vo. Stitched, in grey printed wraps. Aged and worn, with some light damp staining. Faded ink inscription at head of front cover: 'Rev. Robert Frew | with compliments | Alb. Lybyer'. Scarce.

[ Emily Anne Smyth, Lady Strangford, military nurse. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('E. Strangford') to 'Mr. Haverstock', asking for his assistance in finding a tutor for a Bulgarian refugee, and describing the sort of education she wishes for him.

Author: 
Emily Anne Smythe [ née Beaufort ], Viscountess Strangford [ Lady Strangford ] (c.1826-1887), military nurse in Bulgaria, illustrator and author
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 10 Chapel Street, Park Lane [ London ]. 27 September 1880.
£180.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. In businesslike fashion she appeals for his help, considering his 'large acquaintance of clergy & others': 'I want to find a place for a young man. Bulgarian 28 years old - where I can put him to live in the family & be taught daily.

[ Lady Strangford. ] Manuscript letter to her, in French, signed by the Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire [ Mahmud Nedim Pasha ], with Autograph copies in English and French of her reply.

Author: 
Lady Strangford [ Emily Anne Smyth (née Beaufort), Viscountess Strangford ] (c.1826-1887), military nurse and founder of hospitals [ Mahmud Nedim Pasha (c.1818-1883), Grand Vizier ]
Publication details: 
The letter from the Grand Vizier on letterhead of the Grand-Vézirat of the Sublime Porte, 14 October 1875. Strangford's draft and copy both undated.
£450.00

All in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The Grand Vizier's letter, addressed to 'The Lady Strangford' and written in a secretarial hand, is 1p., 8vo, on the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium; the autograph copy of Strangford's reply is on both sides of the second leaf of the same bifolium. The English copy of her reply is 2pp., 8vo, on a separate leaf.

[ Mehmed Fuad Pacha, statesman in the Ottoman Empire. ] Autograph Signature ('Mehmed Pacha').

Author: 
Mehmed Pacha [ Mehmed Fuad Pacha (Pasha) ] (1814-1869), statesman in the Ottoman Empire
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£100.00

On irregular strip of paper, roughly 1.5 x 4 cm. in dimensions. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. The son of a noted poet, Pacha began his career as a translator, before serving as a diplomat. He was instrumental in reforming the Tanzimat, and was an ardent Anglophile.

[ Inscribed copy of printed work. ] Three Letters on the Policy of England towards the Porte and Mohammed Ali.

Author: 
[ Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (1797-1879); Muhammad[a] Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha (1769-1849), Khedive of Egypt and the Sudan ]
Publication details: 
London: John Murray, Albermarle [ sic, for 'Albemarle' ] Street. 1840. [ London: Printed by Stewart and Murray, Old Bailey. ]
£130.00

63 + [1]pp., 8vo. Erratum slip after title-leaf. Disbound. In fair condition, on aged and lightly worn paper. Withdrawal stamp of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society at foot of title-page, with shelf-marks at top-right of same page. Cropped inscription at head of page: 'With Sir Gardner Wiklkinson's | Compliments, to Gordon Gyle Esqr.' Beneath the title, in another hand: 'by Sir Gardiner [sic] Wilkinson Knt'. Scarce.

[ Turkey and Bulgaria, bibliography. ] Copy of 'The Hampstead Public Libraries | Readers' Guide and Students' Review', featuring 'Special Lists on Turkey and Bulgaria'.

Author: 
The Hampstead Public Libraries (North London), 'Special Lists on Turkey and Bulgaria'
Publication details: 
Vol. I. No. 6. Autumn Number, 1908. Published at the Central Public Library, Finchley Road, NW. [ London ].
£100.00

56pp., 12mo. Stapled. In original printed wraps. Paginated 195-227 and c-cxx, with two pages including an index. In fair condition, aged and worn with rusted staples. Stamped on front cover 'COMPLIMENTARY COPY'. Four-page article on 'The Revolution in Turkey; and the Bulgarian Crisis', pp.195-198, and four-page 'List of Books relating to Turkey and the Young Turks', pp.224-227.

[Lord Palmerston.] Secretarial Letter Signed ('Palmerston'), informing the Turkish chargé d'affairs Edib Effendi that he has taken over as Foreign Secretary from the Earl of Aberdeen, and giving a time for a meeting to discuss 'any business'.

Author: 
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston [Lord Palmerston] (1784-1865), Liberal Prime Minister [Edib Effendi, Turkish chargé d'affairs]
Publication details: 
Foreign Office [Whitehall]. 6 July 1846.
£150.00

2pp., foolscap. In fair condition, on aged paper. The letter, no doubt sent to all the diplomatic missions, begins: 'I have the honour to acquaint you that The Queen has been pleased to accept of the Earl of Aberdeen's resignation of the Office of Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and to confide to me the Seals of that Department.' He names a day and time when he wil be 'happy to receive' him, 'in order to confide with you on any business upon which you may have received Instructions from your Court'.

Holograph poem (signed 'Julia S. H. Pardoe') by Julia Pardoe, apparently unpublished, beginning 'Fairyland! Fairyland! | That must be a pleasant spot'.

Author: 
Julia Pardoe [Julia S. H. Pardoe] (c.1804-1862), English poet, novelist, historian and traveller, author of 'The City of the Sultan' (1836) and 'The Beauties of the Bosphorus' (1839)
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£80.00

1p., landscape 16mo (8.5 x 13 cm). Good, on aged paper, with blank second leaf of bifolium bearing evidence of previous mounting. The poem is neatly written out, in a sensitive hand, and is eight lines long: 'Fairyland! Fairyland! | That must be a pleasant spot: | Silver rippled over the strand, | Murmurs in each cave & grot, | Jewelled fruits upon the trees, | Music floating on the air, | Perfumes breathing on the breeze -, | How I wish that I was there! | [signed] Julia S. H. Pardoe'.

Circular letter, in a secretarial hand, on behalf of the Committee of the Eastern Question Association, London, signed and completed by A. R. Dryhurst, and addressed by him to Thomas Redfern, regarding the publication of speeches by W. E. Gladstone.

Author: 
Alfred Robert ('Roy') Dryhurst (1859-1949), Secretary, The Eastern Question Association, King Street, Westminster [Thomas Redfern; William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal Prime Minister]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of The Eastern Question Association (Appointed by the National Conference), Committee Rooms, 27 and 28, Canada Building, King Street, Westminster. 26 May 1877.
£65.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Signed 'A R. Dryhurst'. The document begins: 'I am desired by the Committee to inform you that they have resolved to print the speeches revised by himself, which Mr. Gladstone delivered at the beginning and end of the debate on the Eastern Question.' The terms are then given, 'With the view of securing for them, the widest possible circulation'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. S. H. Pardoe') from the novelist Julia Pardoe to 'Mrs. Cooper', describing a 'severe accident' met with by her parents.

Author: 
Julia Pardoe [J. S. H. Pardoe; Julia Sophia Pardoe] (1804-1862), English novelist and poet, best-known for her accounts of her travels in the Ottoman Empire
Publication details: 
13 Upper Eaton Street, London; 'Wednesday' [no date, but before 1849].
£90.00

3pp., 16mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. She begins: 'I am sure you wil grieve to hear that my dear Parents have met with a severe accident, altho', thank God! we have every cause to hope that there wil be no latent results. They were knocked down by a horse, in attempting to avoid an Omnibus: both are cut on the head, & Mama is much bruised in several places.' 'Quiet and care' will restore them, she trusts. Her mother has asked her to write, as it will be impossible for her parents to keep the dinner engagement with Mrs Cooper.

Signature ('J. F. Burgoyne | Lt Genl.') on part of letter to Stratford Canning.

Author: 
Field Marshal Sir John Fox Burgoyne (1782-1871), English army officer [Stratford Canning (1786-1880), 1st Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe; Crimean War]
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£23.00

On the lower part of a letter, cut to form a rectangle, 11.5 x 18 cm. In good condition, with traces of stub from mounting along one edge, and a thin strip of paper, with Burgoyne's name in manuscript neatly laid down beneath the signature. Reads 'I have the honor to be | Your Excellency's | Most Obedient | Humble Servant | [signed] J. F.

Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
Edouard Servan de Sugny.
Publication details: 
Cessy, pres Gex, 15 Juillet 1850
£150.00

Author/translator of "La Muse ottomane ou chefs-d'oeuvre de la poésie turque" (Paris, 1853). Three pages, 8vo, good condition. He thanks his correspondent for a copy of "l'Anthologie arabe de M. Grangeret de Lagrange" [first published 1828]. He explains his great interest in the book and the excellent job done by the compiler. He praises his correspondent for enriching the book with Latin and notes which derive from their discussions.

Autograph Letter Signed to James Finn.

Author: 
Stratford Canning
Publication details: 
25 September 1867; Westbrook.
£85.00

Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe, British diplomat (1786-1880; DNB), for many years Ambassador to the Sublime Porte. The recipient, James Finn (died 1872), was British consul at Jerusalem from 1849–1858. 2 pages, 16mo. In good condition. He has sent his correspondent's 'memorandum respecting Abyssinia' to Lord Stanley, 'who is a better judge than I can presume to be of any advantage which might result from putting into practice the suggestions it contains'. He has 'a due sense of the confidence you have shewn me'. Signed 'Stratford de R.'

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