PHILANTHROPY

A total of 416pp, 4to, in two volumes. Drophead title to vol. 1: ?Memoir of Priscilla Gurney. | 1st. Part.? Drophead title to vol.2: ?Memoir of P. G. | Part second.? Written in a close and neat hand. The volumes are paginated to 263 and 299, but taking into account blank pages they in fact contain 203 and 213pp of actual text respectively. Most of the main body of the text is written on the rectos, with additional material written in a closer hand lengthwise up the versos.

See his entry, and that of Ross, in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. On blue paper. Folded twice for postage. Ross is not named, the letter being addressed to him as ‘The Provost, / Oriel College, / Oxford.’ Bold signature: ‘Nuffield’.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘My dear Mrs Cowan’ and signed ‘Burdett Coutts -’. Thirty lines of text. The ‘blind system’ appears to have been a form of education for the blind, possibly involving a precursor of braille. (An advertisement by ‘A Lady, who has the care of a Blind Child’ in the Medical Times, 25 March 1876, offers ‘First-class education given under the blind system.’).

A nice item of Victorian charitable ephemera. The Society (later the Hepburn Starey Blind Aid Society) was instituted in 1864, and according to p.5 of the present item the phrase ‘Hall of Light for the Blind’ was ‘Given to Somers Town Blind Aid Society by a Blind Chinese Christian lad’. No copy of this item, or of any other material relating to the Society found on either WorldCat or JISC. 24pp, 12mo. Stitched. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. The front cover is laid out in decorative fashion: ‘“The Hall of Light.” / Somers Town / Blind Aid Society.

See his long entry in the Oxford DNB, which sums up his achievements as ‘very substantial’ and ‘a source of enduring inspiration to others’. 1p, 16mo. On bifolium with thin mourning border. In good condition, folded twice. Written in his characteristically-inky hand, and signed ‘Shaftesbury’. Reads: ‘Dear Mr Rowley / I did not forget your request. I trust that, by the blessing of God, your [fears?] are [removed?]. / Yours tr[ul]y / Shaftesbury’. Seee image.

2pp, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. The content is remarkably sprightly and the handwriting firm. The letter begins: 'My dear Russell, | Telephone: no good. So I guess that you are holiday-making. | Lord Drogheda is my close friend & collaborator. His wife Joan is a pianist[.] I have heard her only when she gave her services. But she appears to practice daily, like a professional trooper.' He has advised her to 'play chamber music.

2pp, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. The content is remarkably sprightly and the handwriting firm. The letter begins: 'My dear Russell, | Telephone: no good. So I guess that you are holiday-making. | Lord Drogheda is my close friend & collaborator. His wife Joan is a pianist[.] I have heard her only when she gave her services. But she appears to practice daily, like a professional trooper.' He has advised her to 'play chamber music.

For information on Tait, see her entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. Aged, worn and lightly stained. The fact that Tait was able to produce a lithographed circular for such a minor purpose indicates her resources. The only words in the document in Tait's genuine autograph are the interpolated 'now & in Jan'. The circular reads: 'My dear Sir | I am very anxious to secure the election of Harriet Amelia Johnson to St Ann's School Brixton. Her father who was well known to us died this year leaving a widow and three children unprovided for.

1p, 4to. Bifolium addressed on reverse of second leaf – with twopenny stamp, postmark and Peabody firm stamp - to 'Messrs Rennoldson & Farley | Newcastle on Tyne'. (The recipients Rennoldson & Farley were Timber Merchants, Commission Merchants, and Coal Exporters. In fair condition, lightly aged, with closed tear to second leaf. Other than Peabody's signature the document is in a secretarial hand. It reads: 'Gentlemen, | We have received your letter of 26th inst and Enclosures, which latter we return herewith, together with Messrs [Dumeau, Sherman?] & Co's draft on us for £220 duly accepted'.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with the reverse of the blank reverse of the second leaf tipped-in onto a card mount. Written in a not altogether straightforward hand. He begins: 'I sleep at Birmingham Monday – hope to be in Halifax in the course of the afternoon. | Dont for one moment think of sending your carriage – as Mr Stansfield wishes to meet me and carry me off on my way to you, to some school gathering. | I believe it is certainly not a church one'.

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. He is 'deeply grieved' at the news of Howard's grandfather: 'I could wish, as you all do, his life spared a few years longer but when you tell me of his serious state and suffering, I feel we must be prepared for the worst and not desire a lingering death.' He asks for his 'sympathy and regret' to be conveyed to the whole family.

2pp., small 4to. Printed in black and red ink on the rectos of the two leaves of a bifolium. The heading and the words 'Tickets 15s. each' at the foot of the page in gothic type, the rest in roman. The names of 23 'Patronesses' given in two columns on the first page, beginning with 'The Countess of Ancaster' and ending with 'Mrs. Alfred Scott-Gatty'. The names of 24 'Steward' in a column on the second page, beginning with 'Harold Bompas, Esq.' and ending with 'Roland Vaughan Williams, Esq.' At foot of second page: 'Tickets can be procured from the Hon. Mrs.

On 3 x 11 cm. slip of paper, cut from the end of a letter. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Reads 'Yrs very sincerely | Emma de Vesci'. Fragment of letter on reverse: '[...] random of all the monies you have sent to Messrs. Puget & Bainbridge. I [...]'. Lady de Vesci founded the Abbeyleix Baby Linen Society, a co-operative supplying affordable children clothes.

The Civil Service Life-Boat Fund (now the Lifeboat Fund) was founded by a group of civil servants wishing to donate a single lifeboat to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. In 1866 they issued an appeal for £300 to government offices and raised the sum within a year. Since then the charity has supplied the RNLI with more than fifty lifeboats, which have saved nearly five thousand lives. The present two volumes, for 1892 and 1897, are uniform in heavily-worn halfbindings with black cloth spines and marbled boards.

On 7 x 11 cm. piece of paper cut from end of letter. In fair condition, on aged paper. Good firm signature. Reads 'Yours most | sincerely | Catherine Marsh'. Writing on reverse, in large hand, reads: 'hear of Mrs Walter Fry's sad accident -'.

1p., 16mo. In fair condition, on lightly aged and ruckled paper. His return to London having been delayed, he regrets that he 'lost the tea-party'. He would be 'glad to know what is due on the account'.

One page, 12 x 13cm, tipped on to part of an album leaf (blue). Text: "To the Members of the | Philanthropic Club. | In Grateful Rememberance | From Their Obliged | and Grateful Servant, | George Peabody | Jan. 7th. 1860." Perhaps it accompanied a gift. NOte: Informsation about the Philanthropic Club would be welcomed.

2pp., 4to. Bifolium, with the lower part of the second leaf lacking, and only part of Brownlow's franking of the address present, together with his broken seal in red wax. Frank reads: '<...> Febry eighth 1834 | <...> Massingberd Esqre | Ormsby | Spilsby | <?> | Brownlow'. In fair condition, on lightly aged and ruckled paper, with folds strengthened with archival tape. He writes regarding the award of the Honorary Medallion of the Royal Humane Society to 'Rd.

Letter: 1p., 12mo. In good condition. Written in a difficult hand, regarding 'Tickets' for a 'really remarkable Show'. Photograph: 9 x 6 cm. Sepia. In good condition, laid down on paper removed from album. Depicts Burdett-Coutts, in Victorian finery with bustle and veil, seated at a table, with gloved right hand pressed to her cheek (not found on Google images)..

English quaker philanthropist, son of Joseph Rowntree and author of 'Poverty, A Study of Town Life' (1901). Signed 'B S Rowntree' beneath typed 'Yours sincerely,'. Docketed in pencil in another hand, "B.S. Rowntree (chocolate)".. Fragment of around one inch by three inches.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on aged paper. In response to Scott's application, he explains that, 'being much connected with two Counties (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire), I am anxious to give my assistance to the leading charities & other public objects in both, & also to contribute to local objects in places with which I am specially connected by residence, property, or otherwise'. Unfortunately he finds it impossible 'to comply with the numerous applications which I receive for contributions to Churches, Schools, &c., in places with which I have no such connection'.

According to Smiles's entry in the Oxford DNB, he was 'prominent in the negotiations for the amalgamation of the Leeds and Thirsk Railway [by which he was employed] with the North Eastern, which was effected in 1854 and abolished his own office. Thereupon he left Leeds for London on being appointed secretary to the South Eastern Railway (11 November). He held the post for twelve years, in the course of which he successfully arranged for the extension of the line from Charing Cross to Cannon Street (1858–9).

24pp., 12mo. Stapled. In grey printed wraps. With stamp, shelfmark and label of the Board of Education Library, otherwise in good condtion, on lightly-aged paper. No copy in the British Library, or on COPAC.

12pp., 12mo. Stapled. In grey printed wraps. With stamp, shelfmark and labels of the Board of Education Reference Library, otherwise in good condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Scarce: no copies in the British Library or on COPAC. Both duplicated items are 1p., 8vo, on a separate leaf, and both reproduce manuscript. Both are in good condition. The first, in portrait, is headed 'Cripple Schools' Dinners Sub-Committee. | Rules for Helpers during Dinner Hour. 12-1.30 p.m.' Listing eight rules, including: '5.

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. Addressed to 'Hugh Wortham, Esq., | 75 Courtfield Gardens, | London, S.W.5, England'. Signed in green ink. He has received Wortham's book (probably 'The Delightful Profession: Edward VII, A Study in Kingship', published that year). He is 'still in the midst of a rather big book', but once he has finished it, he will send his comments on Wortham's.

1p., 12mo. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. Reads 'My Dear Mrs. Buchanan, | Many thanks for kindest New Year's greetings: - | A Happy New Year to you and yours | Faithfully yours | Erasmus Wilson'.

2pp., 4to. On both sides of the first leaf of a bifolium, with the reverse of the second leaf cut down by a third, and carrying a red wax seal and three postmarks, with the address by Gurney to Waddington in Rouen. After explaining that he has been away in Yorkshire, he expresses regret that 'our efforts respecting Edwd Cherry have so terminated - it is however clear that the maintenance of fhis wife and family is an overwhelming duty to him'. He has himself made payments in London, and understood that 'our Friends in Rouen were to pay for the room &c'.

On slip of paper, 2 x 9 cm, cut from a letter for an autograph hunter. In good condition, on lightly-creased paper.

2pp., 12mo. The final leaf of the letter only. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. A poignant letter, given its author's early death. Regarding 'the Shelter' Mackirdy writes that 'Lady Brassey the Duchess of St Albans Lady Radnor & others have been giving big dinner parties etc for me & I only go in order to meet people who will help with the Shelter. I am not very strong and have such heavy work that now I find I simply cannot indulge my own tastes & enjoy my firends if I am going to do definite work.

3pp., 4to. In bifolium. Good, on aged and lightly-creased paper. 'Mrs. de Morgan' in manuscript at the foot of the first page, and 'No 5' at the head. The first page carries the circular letter from 'Edwd. West, Secy.', engraved in copperplate. In sending the balance sheets he notes that 'the income is scarcely equal to the expenditure which is necessary for obtaining for the Society public support'.