RADICAL

[Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd, author, judge and Radical politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘T Davis Esq’ regarding the acting of Henry Thomas Betty, son of 'the young Roscius'.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd (1795-1854), author, judge and Radical politician, friend of Charles Dickens and framer of modern British copyright law
Talfourd
Publication details: 
‘Serjeants’ Inn [London], 20 May, 1841’.
£180.00
Talfourd

Talfourd’s entry in the Oxford DNB notes that he was ‘particularly loved’ by Dickens, and that he ‘provided the archetype of the idealistic Tommy Traddles in David Copperfield; his children Frank and Kate gave their names to two youngsters in Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby.’ The subject of the letter is the actor Henry Thomas Betty (1819-1897), son of ‘the young Roscius’ Henry Betty (1791-1874), whose entry in the ODNB also see. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, and with slight traces of mount on reverse. Folded for postage. Begins: ‘My dear Sir, / Mr.

[Thomas Hughes, author of ‘Tom Brown’s Schooldays’.] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Spencer Ponsonby of the Lord Chamberlain's Office, introducing ‘Mr. Selway’, whom he advises him to consult about proposals for a theatre in Surrey Gardens.

Author: 
Thomas Hughes (1822-1896), author of the Victorian classic children's book 'Tom Brown's Schooldays', Liberal MP for Lambeth [Sir Spencer Cecil Brabazon Ponsonby-Fane of the Lord Chamberlain's Office]
Publication details: 
19 March 1872. No place.
£220.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. On first leaf of a bifolium of wove paper. Folded for postage. Signed ‘Tho. Hughes’. Begins: ‘My dear Ponsonby / Let me introduce the bearer, Mr. Selway, [i.e. William Robbins Selway (c.1822-1893) of Walworth] who was vice Chairman of my Committee in Lambeth, & is one of the most influential & trustworthy men in the South of London’. Selway wishes to see Ponsonby ‘about a building in the Surrey Gardens which certain persons are proposing to convert into a Theatre’.

[Horne Tooke [John Horne Tooke], radical and philologist, tried for treason in 1794.] Autograph Signature on receipt for ‘the third volume of EPEA PTEROENTA, or, The Diversions of Purley’.

Author: 
Horne Tooke [John Horne Tooke, born John Horne] (1736-1812), radical clergyman and philologist, Member of Parliament and supporter of John Wilkes, tried for treason in 1794
Publication details: 
31 January 1794. ‘No. 370.’
£120.00

See his long entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of a 12.5 x 6.5 cm piece of laid paper, embossed with a tax stamp. In fair condition, lightly aged and discoloured. Very neatly written and set out: ‘Jan 31 . 1794 / No. 370. / Received of Wm. Phillips / fourteen shillings for the third volume of / EPEA PTEROENTA, or, The Diversions / of Purley. John Horne Tooke / £2. 2. 0’. See Image,

[Edward William Cox (‘Serjeant Cox’), lawyer and publisher.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Rev P Tuckwell’ (in fact the ‘radical parson’ William Tuckwell), regarding his education at the College School, Taunton, and future plans.

Author: 
Edward William Cox (1809-1879), ‘Serjeant Cox’, lawyer and publisher [William Tuckwell (1829-1919), ‘radical parson’ and headmaster of the College School, Taunton]
Publication details: 
9 February 1865; 1 Essex Court, Temple [London].
£50.00

See the entries for Cox and Tuckwell in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. On bifolium blind-stamped with the device of the Conservative Club. Addressed to ‘Rev P [sic] Tuckwell / College School / Taunton’, and signed ‘Edwd Wm Cox’. In good condition, on aged paper. Folded twice for postage. He begins: ‘Dr Sir / It gives me very great pleasure to aid the fund of the College School. After its long hybernation 43 years ago, I was the first pupil received on its revival. & within its walls I obtained the larger portion of my education, following the then master, (Rev H Forster) to Oxford.

[Thomas Burt, trade union leader and Radical Member of Parliament.] Autograph Letter Signed to A.G.L. Rogers, Secretary of the Liberal Publication Department, regarding a piece of parliamentary legislation on the question of mining.

Author: 
Thomas Burt (1837-1922), trade union leader and Radical Member of Parliament; General Secretary, Northumberland Miners' Association [A. G. L. Rogers, Secretary, Liberal Publication Department]
Publication details: 
2 June 1892. On House of Commons letterhead.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Under Gladstone Burt served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, 1892-1895. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son of the editor of the economist Thorold Rogers, and written while Rogers was Secretary of the Liberal Publication Department (a sort of public relations department), a position to which he was appointed in November 1891. 2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. Signed 'Thos Burt'. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage.

[Sir Edward Baines, editor of the Leeds Mercury and Liberal MP.] Autograph Letter Signed to James Silk Buckingham, regarding whether the latter’s son might lecture in Yorkshire, and Buckingham’s ‘immense service’ to ‘the Total Abstinence cause’.

Author: 
Sir Edward Baines (1800-1890), editor of Leeds Mercury, Liberal Member of Parliament, nonconformist, abolitionist [James Silk Buckingham (1786-1855); his son Leicester Silk Buckingham (1825-1867)]
Publication details: 
15 March 1853; Leeds.
£65.00

An interesting letter linking two similar individuals (like Baines, Buckingham had also served as a Yorkshire Member of Parliament, in his case for Sheffield as a radical between and 1835; and both men were newspaper proprietors). See the entries for Baines, with those for Buckingham and his son, in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Addressed to ‘J. S. Buckingham, Esq’ and signed ‘Edw Baines’. He begins by saying that he will try and promote Buckingham’s ‘son’s introduction to this part of the country, as a Lecturer’. (According to L.

[Thomas Burt, trade union leader and Radical Member of Parliament.] Three Autograph Letters Signed and one Secretarial Letter Signed to A.G.L. Rogers, Secretary of the Liberal Publication Department, regarding the composition of publicity leaflets.

Author: 
Thomas Burt (1837-1922), trade union leader and Radical Member of Parliament; General Secretary, Northumberland Miners' Association [A. G. L. Rogers, Secretary, Liberal Publication Department]
Publication details: 
2 June 1892; and 2 and 11 February, and 11 October, 1893. The first two on House of Commons letterhead; the third on letterhead of the Reform Club, Pall Mall; the fourth from Cromer, on letterhead of the Board of Trade [Whitehall, London].
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Under Gladstone Burt served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, 1892-1895. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son of the editor of the economist Thorold Rogers, and written while Rogers was Secretary of the Liberal Publication Department (a sort of public relations department), a position to which he was appointed in November 1891. The four items, all addressed to ‘Dear Mr Rogers’ and signed ‘Thos Burt’, are all bifoliums in good condition, folded for postage. ONE (2 June 1892): 2pp, 12mo.

[Thomas Bywater Smithies, temperance and animl welfare campaigner.] Autograph Letter Signed to W. Allan, who is offering to distribute his periodical gratis.

Author: 
Thomas Bywater Smithies (1817-1883), temperance and animal welfare campaigner
Publication details: 
16 March 1861. On letterhead of 13 Barnsbury Square, London.
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded for postage. Signed ‘T. B. Smithies’ and addressed to ‘W. Allan Esq / 17 South Grove East’. The subject is Smithies’s monthly ‘improving paper’, the ‘British Workman, and Friend of the Sons of Toil’, which he had launched in 1855, and which Allan is clearly offering to distribute gratis.

[Laurence Housman, writer, artist and radical activist, brother of the poet A. E. Housman.] Typed Card Signed to Rev. A. H. Sayers of the Monmouth Town League of Nations Union, confirming that a car should be sent to collect him.

Author: 
Laurence Housman (1865-1959), writer, artist and radical activist, brother of the poet A. E. Housman and illustrator Clemence Housman [Rev. A. H. Sayers of the Monmouth Town League of Nations Union]
Housman
Publication details: 
9 November 1936; Longmeadow, Street, Somerset.
£45.00
Housman

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The postcard, with stamp printed on it, has the typed address: ‘The Rev. A. H. Sayers, / Orchard Close, / Monmouth’. Aged and worn, with a dog-eared corner and minor rust spotting from a paperclip. Stylised signature. Reads: ‘Many thanks for your offer to send a car to meet me at Severn Tunnel Junction, on November 20th. I will look out for it. / Yours / L Housman’. From the Sayers papers, with other material indicating that Housman was giving a talk for the Union. See image.

[‘I must speak as a full pacifist’: Laurence Housman, writer, artist and radical activist.] Three Typed Letter Signed to Rev. A. H. Sayers regarding a talk he is to give to the Monmouth Town League of Nations Union, and his book ‘The Unexpected Years

Author: 
Laurence Housman (1865-1959), writer, artist and radical activist, brother of the poet A. E. Housman and illustrator Clemence Housman [Rev. A. H. Sayers of the Monmouth Town League of Nations Union]
Publication details: 
3 and 5 November 1936 and 22 February 1937; all three from Longmeadow, Street, Somerset.
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. All three letters 1p, 8vo. The third letter in good condition, lightly aged; the first two in fair condition, on creased and chipping cartridge paper, with a few spots of rust from a paperclip. All three folded for postage. All three signed ‘Laurence Housman’. ONE (3 November 1936): Begins: ‘Dear Mr. Sayers, / I am rather perturbed to find that the meeting I am asked to speak at is the Annual of the League of Nations Union. The request for me to speak came from the Peace Pledge Union, and no indication was given that it was not a Peace Pledge meeting.

[Thomas Mann, trade unionist and communist.] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both ‘Tom Mann’), as Secretary of London Reform Union, one endorsing a ‘scheme’ which will reduce the death rate; the other about ‘Douglas’ and a meeting of the Stepney Branch

Author: 
Tom Mann [Thomas Mann] (1856-1941), trade unionist, socialist and communist [A. G. L. Rogers]
Publication details: 
12 and 30 May 1993; both on letterhead of London Reform Union, Granville House, 3 Arundel Street, W.C. [London].
£90.00

See the entry for Thomas Mann in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son and editor of the economist Thorold Rogers [James Edwin Thorold Rogers] (1823-1890), for information regarding whom see his entry in the Oxford DNB. The second letter in good condition, lightly aged and folded once; the first in fair condition, folded three times with a number of short closed tears along creases. Mann is writing in his capacity as Secretary of the London Reform Union (for whose ‘Object’ see the end of this entry). ONE: 12 May 1893. 2pp, 4to.

[Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, radical Liberal politician and central figure in the Crawford Scandal.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Charles W. Dilke’) regarding his 1878 pamphlet ‘Parliamentary Reform’, mentioning W. H. Smith and Prof. W. A. Hunter.

Author: 
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843–1911), radical Liberal politician and author, ruined by the Crawford Scandal [Professor William Alexander Hunter (1844-1898) of University College; W. H. Smith]
Publication details: 
7 December [no year, but post 1878]. On House of Commons letterhead [Westminster].
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Lurid claims of three-in-a-bed adulteries put a paid to Dilke’s political ambitions (he had been touted as a future prime minister), and rendered him the butt of musical hall jokes. The recipient is not named. 2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, on aged and lightly-worn paper. The letter begins: ‘Dear Sir, / I suppose a pamphlet is meant - called I think “Parliamentary Reform” - (but I’m not quite sure), written about 1878 & sold at Smith’s bookstall.

[Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, radical politician ruined by the Crawford Scandal.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Charles W. Dilke’) to fellow-MP Robert Bourke (the future Lord Connemara), regarding ‘Greek Papers’ being sent to the Commons from the Lords.

Author: 
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843–1911), radical Liberal politician and author, ruined by Crawford Scandal [Robert Bourke (1827-1902), 1st Baron Connemara, Conservative politician, Governor of Madras]
Publication details: 
20 May 1879; on letterhead of 76 Sloane Street, S.W. [London]
£50.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. Lurid claims of three-in-a-bed adulteries put a paid to Dilke’s political ambitions (he had been touted as a future prime minister), and rendered him the butt of musical hall jokes. 16mo, 2pp. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and folded once. ‘Dear Bourke / If you are in the House at 2 o’clock to-day I propose to ask you when the Greek Papers which were promised yesterday in the House of Lords are likely to be distributed to members of the House of Commons / Yrs. very truly, / Charles W.

[Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, radical politician ruined by the Crawford Scandal.] Autograph Card Signed (‘Charles W. Dilke’), explaining to an unnamed painter the reason he was not able to visit his studio.

Author: 
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843–1911), radical Liberal politician and author, ruined by the Crawford Scandal
Publication details: 
26 March 1892; on letterhead of 76 Sloane Street, S.W. [London]
£38.00

See Dilke’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Lurid claims of three-in-a-bed adulteries put a paid to his political ambitions (he had been touted as a future prime minister), and rendered him the butt of musical hall jokes. The recipient is not named. On one side of a plain 11.5 x 9 cm postcard. In fair condition, lightly aged, with the two right-hand corners creased.

[Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, radical politician ruined by the Crawford Scandal.] Autograph Note Signed to ‘Cavendish’ on ‘the Revenue & Expenditure estimate of Cyprus’; and galley proof of memoir by ‘MELIORIST’, containing personal recollections.

Author: 
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843–1911), radical Liberal politician and author, ruined by the Crawford Scandal ['Meliorist']
Publication details: 
Dilke's note dated 21 January 1880 and on Foreign Office letterhead [Whitehall, London]. The galley proofs without date or place, but dating from Dilke's death in 1911, and probably from London.
£56.00

See Dilke’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Lurid claims of three-in-a-bed adulteries put a paid to Dilke’s political ambitions (he had been touted as a future prime minister), and rendered him the butt of musical hall jokes. ANS: 1p, 12mo. In good condition. Reads: ‘My dear Cavendish, / I’ve told them to send you the Revenue & Expenditure estimate of Cyprus for the current year. | Sincerely Yrs. / Charles W. Dilke’. GALLEY PROOFS: 104 lines of text, in the customary block, on one side of a 17 x 38 cm piece of good laid paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Headed ‘The Rt. Hon.

[Frederick Burnaby, adventurer, balloonist, Times war correspondent, British Army intelligence officer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Fred Burnaby'), requesting that 'Edward' accept an article by a female mountaineer, and referring to Randolph Churchill

Author: 
Frederick Burnaby [Colonel Frederick Gustavus Burnaby] (1842-1885), adventurer, balloonist, Times war correspondent, British Army intelligence officer [Randolph Churchill]
Publication details: 
15 October 1884. On letterhead of the Grand Hotel, Birmingham.
£320.00

Burnaby is the beau idéal of the Victorian military adventurer. 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded twice. A hurried letter, with a couple of deletions. Written a few months before Burnaby's death. He explains that a 'mutual friend' has asked him 'to submit to you the enclosed article – on mountaineering – She does not wish her name to be mentioned – hence I must not divulge it.' Should the article not be wanted he asks for it to be returned to him at Somerby Hall, Oakham, 'in the course of the next two or three days'.

[George Holyoake, radical editor who coined the terms 'secularism' and 'jingoism'.] Autograph Letter Signed ('G. J. Holyoake') to 'Watson'

Author: 
George Holyoake [George Jacob Holyoake] (1817-1906), radical editor who coined the terms 'secularism' and 'jingoism'
Publication details: 
25 March 1900. Eastern Lodge, Brighton.
£56.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn. Folded twice. Only the conclusion of the letter is in Holyoake's hand. It carries an unusually large and bold signature. In reply to a letter of Watson's he states that he was not aware of the 'paper in the Westminster Gazette [...] until four days after its appearance'. He asks him to send 'the Leader referring to its appearance which you mention', and commends Watson's son for bringing it to his notice. Holyoake does not know if the matter has 'been mentioned elsewhere in Newcastle'.

[Richard Carlile writes from Dorchester Gaol following his conviction for blasphemous libel.] Original number of Carlile's 'The Republican', as issued from press in original blue covers, containing various pieces relating to his imprisonment.

Author: 
Richard Carlile (1790-1843), publisher and writer, leader of the Rotunda Radicals, disciple of Tom Paine, lover of Elizabeth Sharples (1803-1852), suffragist
Publication details: 
[The Republican, London.] 18 January 1822. No. 3. Vol. V. Printed and Published by R. Carlile, 55, Fleet Street.
£280.00

A nice artefact, a number of Carlile's celebrated radical journal 'The Republican' (espousing not only republicanism but also atheism, abolitionism and birth control) as it appeared from the press. For information on Carlile - described by E. P. Thompson as a 'Showman of Free Thought' - and his 'moral wife' the suffragist Eliza Sharples, see their entries in the Oxford DNB. For publishing various 'blasphemous' works by Thomas Paine, Carlile was fined £1500 and sentenced to three years in Dorchester Gaol.

[Richard Carlile, leader of the Rotunda Radicals.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to 'Mr. Teague', i.e. John Teague, Keeper of the Giltspur Street Compter where Carlile was incarcerated, regarding editing proofs and having his head cast by phrenolog

Author: 
Richard Carlile (1790-1843), publisher and writer, leader of the Rotunda Radicals, lover of Elizabeth Sharples (1803-1852), suffragist [John Teague (1779-1841), Keeper of the Giltspur Street Compter
Publication details: 
'Compter Decr. 29. 1834'. [Giltspurt Street Compter, London]
£450.00

For information on Carlile - described by E. P. Thompson as a 'Showman of Free Thought' - and his 'moral wife' the suffragist Eliza Sharples, see their entries in the Oxford DNB. At the time of writing Carlile was in prison for refusal to pay the church rates. The proofs Carlile asks to be allowed to receive in the first letter are presumably those of his journal 'The Gauntlet'. The phrenologist 'Mr. Hohn' referred to in the second of the letters - the 'Mr. Holme' of the accompanying slip - is the German-born physician and phrenologist John Diederick Holm (d.1856).

[Mary Stocks (Lady Stocks), author and supporter of women's suffrage and social reform.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Mary Stocks') to J. Samson of the Royal Society of Arts, regretting that she is 'too senile' to chair a meeting.

Author: 
Mary Stocks [born Mary Danvers Brinton; Lady Stocks] (1891-1975), writer and worker in fields of women's suffrage, welfare state and social work; linked to Strachey, Wedgwood and Ricardo families
Publication details: 
31 August 1973. On letterhead of 'The Lady Stocks', Aubrey Lodge, Aubrey Road, W8 [London].
£60.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with pin hole to one corner. Folded twice. The surname in Stock's signature underlined in green. She is 'greatly honoured' by Samson's invitation, '& it is a thing I should have loved to do. But the sad fact is, I am getting too senile to be sure of being able to keep a discussion in hand as a competant [sic] chairman should'. The letter concludes: 'I fear I am a bad example of an 82 year-old in view of what Sybil Thorndike does at 90!'

[Thomas Hollis, radical political philosopher, benefactor of Harvard.] Autograph Presentation Inscription ('Ex dono Tho. Hollis') on loose leaf from John Owen's 'Communion with God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost'. With title and one other loose leaf

Author: 
Thomas Hollis (1720-1774), English political philosopher, benefactor of Harvard and other American colleges
Publication details: 
Title-leaf of second edition, 1700. 'Printed for William Marshall, and Sold by him at the Bible in Newgate-Street'.
£350.00

The three leaves are worn, aged and stained. Two of the leaves carry the four pages of 'The Epistle to the Reader', by the editor Daniel Burgess, and at the head of the first of these pages is the ownership inscription: 'Ex dono Tho. Hollis'. The third leaf is the title, and the title-page has two ownership signatures at the head, neither of them legible. Sotheby sold the united library of Hollis, Thomas Brand Hollis and John Disney in 1817.

[John Stuart Mill, philospher and economist.] Autograph Signature ('J. S. Mill') with valediction to letter.

Author: 
John Stuart Mill [J. S. Mill] (1806-1873), philosopher, political economist, and civil servant, a leading figure in the history of classical liberalism
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£125.00

On 2 x 11 cm slip of paper cut from the end of a letter. In fair condition, lightly aged, with small tape stain from mount at the edge to the left of the signature. Reads: 'very truly yours | J. S. Mill'. On the reverse, in Mill's autograph, are the words: 'the Government for a pecuniary'. Mill is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of classical liberalism, and one of the leading English-speaking philosophers of the nineteenth century.

['Edna Lyall' [Ada Ellen Bayly), novelist and feminist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Ellie Bayly') to her 'Aunt Agnes', regarding the publication of her novel 'Knight Errant', family birthdays, and her father's seal.

Author: 
'Edna Lyall', pen-name of Ada Ellen Bayly (1857-1903), novelist and feminist
Publication details: 
27 February 1887. On letterhead of 6 College Road, Eastbourne.
£45.00

3pp, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Begins: 'My dearest Aunt Agnes | Thank you very much indeed for your last letter. I send with this the announcement of my new book "Knight Errant", & if it would not trouble you to pass on the cards to any likely readers I should be very grateful.' She gives news of her children Amy and Maurice, and is enclosing 'a list of all the children of the family & their birthdays' (not present).

[Thomas 'Clio' Rickman, Quaker pamphleteer and friend of Thomas Paine.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Clio') regarding a common acquaintance, and naming his 'great friends' who have died.

Author: 
Thomas 'Clio' Rickman (1760-1834), Quaker publisher of political pamphlets, friend and biographer of Thomas Paine
Publication details: 
1 February 1831. No place.
£250.00

1p, landscape 12mo. In fair condition, aged and worn, laid down on part of a leaf from an album. The letter begins in lighthearted fashion, but soon turns sombre, with a list of Rickman's friends who have recently died. Reads: 'My dear Sir! Truth will out – The lady has been trying Bargain Tea all entire at 8s/. - this pleases me – so look to it! - I am confined to my room not so ill in health but I have lost great friends – Mrs. Hobson my best, dead – Mrs Thos. Rickman, dead – Mr. Gray dead, & some living ones have flown off, & all this cuts me up! - God bless you, & yours! | Clio'.

[The Cato Street Conspiracy, 1820; Arthur Thistlewood and Lord Liverpool.] Printed handbill: 'Conspiracy | A Particular Account of the Treasonable Plot formed, for the destruction of His Majesty's Ministers!!!'

Author: 
The Cato Street Conspiracy, 1820; Arthur Thistlewood (1774-1820); Lord Liverpool, Prime Minister
Publication details: 
Pollock, Printer, North Shields. No date [March 1820].
£1,200.00

For information regarding the conspiracy to murder Lord Liverpool and his entire cabinet, see Thistlewood's entry in the Oxford DNB. A rare item, with no other copy found either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC, and intended for distribution in the streets of the North-East of England as the sensational news of the Conspiracy broke. In small print apart from the heading (which is in the usual mixture for the period of typefaces and point sizes, with fancy rules), on one side of a 42 x 13 cm strip of laid paper.

[C. E. M. Joad, philosopher on 'The Brains Trust'.] Typed Letter Signed ('C E M Joad') to BBC producer Hugh Burnett, suggesting changes to the next in a series of talks he is giving.

Author: 
C. E. M. Joad [Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad] (1891-1953), philosopher on the BBC radio programme 'The Brains Trust' [Hugh Burnett (1924-2011), BBC producer]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 4 East Heath Road, Hampstead, N.W.3. 14 August 1951.
£35.00

Joad's rise and fall are admirably described in Jason Tomes' entry on him in the Oxford DNB. The present letter was written after the disgrace which followed his 1948 conviction for fare-dodging. Not only was Joad dropped from the programme which had made him a nationwide celebrity, 'The Brains Trust', as a result, but his well-founded hopes of a peerage were dashed. It is interesting to note from the present letter that Joad continued to work for the BBC after his disgrace. The letter is 2pp, landscape 12mo. In fair condition, aged and creased, with two punch-holes at head.

[Sir William Molesworth, Radical politician and journalist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('W Molesworth') to 'Merivale' [i.e. Herman Merivale] of the Colonial Office, about a report on 'exploring Central Africa' and other matters.

Author: 
Sir William Molesworth (1810-1855), Radical politician associated with John Stuart Mill, co-founder of London Review, editor of Westminster Review [Herman Merivale (1806-1874), civil servant, etc
Publication details: 
Office of Works [London]. 8 December 1853.
£150.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded once. Endorsed on reverse of second leaf. At the time of writing Molesworth was serving as First Commissioner of Works in Lord Aberdeen's coalition government. (In the year of his death Aberdeen would appoint him Colonial Secretary.) The letter begins: 'My dear Merivale | Last November I moved for the enclosed return and since then I have spoken to ]Pal?] [i.e. Viscount Palmerston?] about it who promised that it should be made.

[George Dyer, poet and English Jacobin, writes to the Earl of Buchan following a visit to his seat, Dryburgh Abbey, Berwickshire.] Substantial Autograph Letter Signed ('G Dyer'), discussing the preparation of his volume of poems and other topics.

Author: 
George Dyer (1755-1841), poet and radical, leading English Jacobin, in circle of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Godwin, Lamb; David Steuart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan (1742-1829), Scottish antiquarian
Publication details: 
Cambridge. Undated, but written shortly before the publication of his poems in 1801.
£2,000.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin stub from mount neatly adhering. A long, closely written letter of 116 lines, including eight-line postscript at head of first page. Addressed by Dyer on reverse of second leaf: 'To Lord Buchan | Dryburgh Abbey | Berwickshire | Scotland.' Buchan has annotated the reverse of the second leaf: 'George Dyer | Characteristic | while I reasoned with George Dyer in my Library at Dryburgh Abbey on the Economy of Nature and the Providence of God, I said Heaven itself will one day bear witness to my Words.

[Emilia Francis, Lady Dilke, and her adulterous husband Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke.] Autograph Signatures ('Charles W. Dilke' and 'Emilia F. S. Dilke'), made together for an autograph hunter after the Crawford Scandal.

Author: 
Emilia Francis, Lady Dilke [née Strong] (1840-1904), English author, art historian, feminist and trade unionist; her second husband Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843-1911), Radical Liberal politician
Publication details: 
Dated by Lady Dilke 'Newham | 10 June | 1891'.
£120.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Charles W. Dilke. | Emilia F. S. Dilke | Newnham | 10 June | 1891'. Written after the celebrated Crawford Scandal of 1886, which resulted in Dilke losing his seat in parliament, and becoming a music-hall figure of fun as a result of the revelations of his adulterous behaviour.

[ Edward Carpenter, gay Socialist poet and philosopher. ] Autograph Card Signed ('Edwd. Carpenter') to the wife of the geologist A. H. Green, suggesting locations in Wales for her to visit while recuperating.

Author: 
Edward Carpenter (1844-1929), Socialist poet and freethinker, proponent of the rights of homosexuals
Publication details: 
Paris. 20 July [ 1889 ].
£45.00

A plain 'Carte Postale', with the address, with three postmarks, on one side (coloured lilac), reading 'Mrs. A. H. Green | Rosa House, Church Walks | Llandudno | N. Wales | Angleterre'. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with central horizontal crease. He is sorry to hear of her 'continuing illness', and hopes 'the air of Wales' will do her good. 'Dolgam is a farm-house about 2 or 3 miles below Capel Curig towards Bettws[sic]-y-Coed. I can quite recommend it. Mrs. Jones is (or was) the landlady. The air is probably not so bracing as some places as it lies in a sheltered hollow.

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