SCIENCE

[ Sir Waldemar Mordechai Wolff Haffkine, Russian bacteriologist described by Lister as a saviour of humanity. ] Two Autograph Letters Signed and an Autograph Card Signed (all 'W. M. Haffkine') [ to editor ], regarding his entry in Men of the Times.

Author: 
Sir Waldemar Mordechai Wolff Haffkine [ born Vladimir Aaronovich Chavkin ] (1860-1930), Russian bacteriologist described by Joseph Lister as a saviour of humanity
Publication details: 
All on letterheads of the Buckingham Palace Hotel [ London ]. All dating from July 1899.
£450.00

A Ukrainian Jew, Haffkine found his early career obstructed by his refusal to convert to the Russian Orthodox Church. He emigrated and worked at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, where he developed an anti-cholera vaccine that he tried out successfully in India. He is recognized as the first microbiologist to develop and use vaccines against cholera and bubonic plague. He tested the vaccines on himself. The three items in good conditon, lightly aged. ONE: ALS. 2pp., 12mo. He has been 'away from town', but now hopes to send 'a note on my work' within the week. 'It wd.

[Sir Roderick Murchison [ Sir Roderick Impey Murchison ], Scottish geologist, discoverer of the Silurian system.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to Lady Theresa Lewis, one describing her son's 'frolic' at Burnham Beeches, the other a court action.

Author: 
Sir Roderick Murchison [Sir Roderick Impey Murchison] (1792-1871), Scottish geologist who discovered the Silurian system [Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), author]
Publication details: 
ONE: '16 Belgrave Sq [London] / Monday Mng' [no date]. TWO: 'Friday Evng' [no date or place]
£165.00

See his entry and hers in the Oxford DNB. Both items in good condition, lightly aged, and both on bifoliums folded for postage. Both signed ‘Robert Murchison’ and addressed to ‘Dear Lady Theresa’. The subject of the first letter is Sir Thomas Villiers Lister (1832-1902), son of Lady Theresa Lewis by her first husband the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842). ONE (‘Monday Mng’): 3pp, 12mo. On his arrival at Burnham Beeches the previous afternoon he ‘found all the party sported with young Ladies in riding habits & your boy looking very well & in high spirits, but without a voice’.

[Astley Cooper [Sir Astley Paston Cooper], distinguished surgeon and anatomist.] Autograph Note Signed, requesting that the botanist and antiquary Dawson Turner vote for his nephew's membership of the Athenaeum club.

Author: 
Astley Cooper [Sir Astley Paston Cooper] (1768-1841), distinguished surgeon and anatomist [Dawson Turner (1775-1858), botanist and antiquary]
Astley Cooper
Publication details: 
‘Conduit St [London] / June 23rd / 1830.’
£80.00
Astley Cooper

The two men were both from Norfolk: see their entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo, on the recto of the first leaf a bifolium, the verso of the second leaf being addressed by Cooper to ‘Dawson Turner Esq / Yarmouth / Norfolk’, with postmark and ‘More to Pay 1d’ and ‘Post Paid’, and small seal with impression in red wax. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage, and minor traces of stub adhering to one edge. Reads: ‘Dear Sir, / You will greatly oblige me y voting for my Nephew Mr. Astley Cooper for the Athenaeum - / Yours very truly / Astley Cooper’. See Image.

['The Father of British Physiology': William Sharpey, Professor at University College, London.] Autograph Signature on engraved ticket to his lecture on ‘Anatomy & Physiology’, made out for the microscopist Bernard Piffard.

Author: 
William Sharpey (1802-1880), Scottish anatomist and phyisologist ('the father of British physiology''), friend of Charles Darwin [Bernard Piffard (1833-1916), entomologist]
Sharpey
Publication details: 
University College, London. The ticket is 'Renewed 1st Octr. 1861 Perpetual 1 Jany 1852 Session 1861-62.'
£100.00
Sharpey

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the Piffard papers. Signed ‘W Sharpey’ on ticket engraved in copperplate on one side of 15 x 10.5 cm card. In fair condition, a little worn and somewhat discoloured with age, and with short vertical crease to the left of the signature. Blind-stamped with ‘Treasury Seal’. The signature is at bottom right, with number of ticket (59) and the initials of the secretary ‘’ at bottom left. Attractively laid out, with text reading ‘University College, London. / Anatomy and Physiology. / William Sharpey, MD. / Professor. / Admit Mr.

[Henry Doubleday, pioneering Quaker horticulturalist of Coggeshall in Essex.] Five Autograph Letters Signed to the entomologist Bernard Piffard, discussing various topics in natural history, common acquaintances and personal news.

Author: 
Henry Doubleday (1810-1902), pioneering Quaker horticulturist of Coggeshall in Essex [Bernard Piffard (1833-1916), entomologist]
Publication details: 
Between 1860 and 1874. All from Epping [Essex].
£180.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the Piffard papers. A total of 10pp, 12mo. Aged and worn, with the first letter on creased grey paper, the second with one leading edge rolling inwards, and the last with a 2cm closed tear; but with text clear and entire. The recipient named as ‘B. Piffard Esq’. All signed ‘Henry Doubleday’. ONE: 14 July 1860. 2pp, 12mo. With reference to an excursion by Piffard to Maldon, and also stating that he ‘took a very fine female Deilephila Galei in our garden on Wednesday - it was at rest on a strawberry plant’. TWO: 7 March 1890. 1p, 12mo.

[C. Dudley Langford, chemist and mathematician whose discussion of ‘Langford pairing’ (Langford sequence) is of importance in computing.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to ‘Sir Richard [Dundas Hamilton]’, one about his health, the other about a theorem

Author: 
C. Dudley Langford [Charles Dudley Langford] (1905-1969), chemist and mathematician [Sir Richard Dundas Harington (1900-1981), 13th baronet]
Publication details: 
27 March and 2 October 1945; both from 16 Henrietta Street, Girvan, Ayrshire [Scotland].
£120.00

Langford trained as an industrial chemist and was a member of Royal Chemical Society. In later life he turned to mathematics, and published thirty articles in the Mathematical Gazette. One of these (‘Problem’) appeared in 1958 and concerned what came to be known as the Langford Sequence. Its significance is discussed by Martin Gardner, in his ‘Mathematical Magic Show’ (1978). Both items aged and creased, with closed tears, but with text complete and legible. Both are addressed to ‘Dear Sir Richard’ and signed ‘C Dudley Langford’. ONE: 3pp, 12mo. On two leaves.

[Christian Friedrich Schönbein, German-Swiss chemist who discovered and named Ozone and invented the fuel cell.] Autograph Signature with Manuscript (Autograph?) address.

Author: 
Christian Friedrich Schönbein (1799-1868), German-Swiss chemist who discovered and named Ozone and invented the fuel cell
Schonbein
Publication details: 
‘June, 1842’ and ‘Manchester’.
£280.00
Schonbein

The signature - ‘Schonbein / June, 1842’ - is on a 4 x 1.5 cm slip of greyish paper, laid down over the bottom left-hand corner of a 10 x 6 cm piece of the same, carrying the address ‘To the President of the Chemical Section of the [British] Association / Manchester’. The slip with the address is in its turn laid down on a piece of paper cut from a leaf of an autograph album. There is some difference between the handwriting of the signature, which is looser, and the address, which is more formal; and whether hte latter is also by Schönbein is unclear.

[French science in the early nineteenth-century.] Substantial collection of manuscripts, in French, with illustrations, describing aspects of science: chemistry (from Fourcroy), botany, physics, hydrostatics, mechanics, pneumatics, optics.

Author: 
French science of the early nineteenth century [Antoine François de Fourcroy; Jean-Antoine Nollet; Pierre Bulliard; Jean-Paul Marat; Hyacinthe Bonnet]
French Sciences
French Sciences2
Publication details: 
Undated, but circa the 1820s. [Paris, France.]
£3,500.00
French Sciences
French Sciences2

The anonymous author of this material is evidently a well-educated individual, and well-versed in the sciences. He has taken great care over the material, and it can be presumed that his intention was either to try for publication, or use it while lecturing.

[Thomas Lamb Phipson, editor of the Scientific Review and violinist.] Autograph Letter Signed to the meteorologist G. J. Symons, asking for advice on where to get a good rain-gauge.

Author: 
Thomas Lamb Phipson (1833-1908), scientific and musical writer and violinist, editor of the Scientific Review [George James Symons (1838-1900), British meteorologist]
Publication details: 
15 September 1868. 4 The Cedars, Putney, [London] S.W.
£45.00

C. A. Russell’s 2003 biography of Edward Frankland contains a thumbnail biography of Phipson, who ‘obtained a doctorate at Brussels in 1855, and after editing Cosmos in Paris, directed an analytical laboratory at Putney (at 4, The Cedars, almost on the site of Frankland’s earlier exploits at the now demolished College of Engineering). He became a Fellow of the Chemical Society in 1862 and was a prolific author of short papers as well as an accomplished amateur violinist’. See the short biographical notice in C. J. Bouverie, ‘The scientific and literary works of Dr. T. L.

[Walter Rosenhain, distinguished metallurgist of German-Jewish extraction, grew up in Australia, lived in England.] Six Typed Letters Signed, Two Autograph Letters Signed, and one Typed Note Signed to G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Walter Rosenhain (1875-1934), distinguished metallurgist born in Germany of Jewish extraction, who grew up in Australia and moved to England in 1897 [Royal Society of Arts]
Publication details: 
1915, 1924 (3), 1925 (3) and 1926 (2). The nine items on letterheads of the metallurgy department of the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex.
£250.00

See his entries in the Oxford DNB and Australian Dictionary of Biography. The recipient George Kenneth Menzies (1869-1954) was Secretary to the Royal Society of Arts between 1917 and 1935. The nine items are in good condition, lightly aged, and are folded for postage. Each bears the stamp of the RSA, some with manuscript docketting. Letters of 4 April and 18 September 1925 are in autograph, the rest typed; all nine are signed ‘Walter Rosesnhain’.

[Sir Alfred Charles Glyn Egerton, distinguished Welsh chemist.] Two printed offprints of lectures from the Proceedings of the Royal Institution: ‘Engine Knock and Related Problems’ (1928) and ‘Warmth and Comfort Indoors’ (1943).

Author: 
Sir Alfred Charles Glyn Egerton (1886-1959), Welsh chemist who pioneered the use of liquid methane as fuel [Royal Institution of Great Britain, London]
Publication details: 
Royal Institution of Great Britain, London. 1928 and 1943. The first printed by William Clowes and Sons, London.
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both of these items are scarce as separate printings: no trace of either crops up on JISC or WorldCat. Both are in good condition, with light wear. ONE: ‘Engine Knock and Related Problems.’ 15pp, 12mo. Stapled. Headed: ‘Royal Institution of Great Britain. / Weekly evening meeting. / Friday, May 25, 1928. / Sir Robert Robertson, K.B.E. M.A. F.R.S., / Honorary Secretary and Vice-President, in the Chair. / Alfred C. Egerton, M.A. F.R.S. M.R.I., / Reader in Thermodynamics, University of Oxford.’ TWO: ‘Warmth and Comfort Indoors’. 22pp, 12mo. Stapled.

[Sir Lyon Playfair, chemist and Liberal politician.] Printed offprint of synopsis of Royal Institution talk: ‘On the Food of Man in relation to his Useful Work.’

Author: 
Sir Lyon Playfair [Lyon Playfair, 1st Baron Playfair; Lord Playfair] (1818-1898), chemist and Liberal politician, born in India of Scottish extraction [Royal Institution of Great Britain]
Publication details: 
'Royal Institution of Great Britain. / Weekly Evening Meeting, / Friday, April 28, 1865.' [London.]
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The full lecture, fifty-four pages in length, was published for Playfair in Edinburgh by Edmonston & Douglas in 1865, with the subtitle ‘Lecture delivered at the Royal Society, Edinburgh, 3d April 1865, and Royal Institution, London, 28th April 1865.’ Although reset, the text of the present three-page synopsis does not appear to differ from the version printed on pp.431-433 of the ‘Notices of the Proceedings’, vol.4 (1862-1866). No other copy of this offprint has been traced. In very good condition, lightly aged.

[Rollo Russell, meteorologist, son of Lord John Russell and uncle of Bertrand Russell.] Autograph Postcard Signed.

Author: 
Rollo Russell [Francis Albert Rollo Russell] (1849-1914), meteorologist and scientific writer, son of Liberal Prime Minister Lord John Russell and uncle of philosopher Bertrand Russell
Russell
Publication details: 
No date, but with Haslemere postmark of 8 May 1895. In autograph: 'Dunrozel. Haslemere.'
£45.00
Russell

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 11.5 x 9 cm plain post card with printed half penny stamp. In fair condition, lightly aged, with dog eared corner and spike hole (through part of address on one side and blank space at bottom left on message side). Addressed by Russell to ‘The Secretary / Society of Arts / John St / Adelphi / London / W.C.’ Reads: ‘Dunrozel, Haslemere. / In reply I beg to say I shd like the Journal “supplied in a bound volume at the conclusion of the Vol. in Nov.” / J. A. R. Russell’.

[Francis Gerard, thriller and science fiction writer.] Two Typed Letters Signed to Eileen Cond, discussing his plans for writing, and work for the ‘delightful old boy’ Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, and his Anglo American Corporation of South Africa.

Author: 
Francis Gerard [Francis Edward Marie Gérard] (1906-1966), English thriller and science fiction writer who settled in South Africa, creator of ‘Occult Detective’ Sir John Meredith [ [Eileen Cond]
Publication details: 
12 March 1950; ‘P.O. Box 143, Westville, Natal [South Africa].’ 19 August 1955; Caroline Cottage, 1st Avenue, Inanda, Johannesburg.
£250.00

Good letters, the second with biographical content about a prolific yet elusive author. The recipient Eileen Margaret Cond (1911-1984) was an enthusiastic collector of autographs, with the ability to draw a more than perfunctory response from her targets. Both letters in good condition, on lightly aged paper folded for postage. Each bearing large stylized signature ‘Francis Gerard’ and addressed to ‘Dear Miss Cond’. ONE (12 March 1950). 1p, 4to.

[Sir James Paget, founder of scientific medical pathology.] Autograph Letter Signed to Charles Klugh on receiving his baronetcy, with printed card on his wife’s death, and newspaper cutting from The Times on his funeral.

Author: 
Sir James Paget (1814-1899), 1st Baronet, prominent English surgeon, considered with Virchow as one of the founders of scientific medical pathology [Charles Klugh]
Publication details: 
Letter: 27 September 1871; on letterhead of 1 Harewood Place, Hanover Square, W. Card: April 1895; 5 Park Square West. Newspaper cutting from The Times, 5 January 1900.
£180.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The three items are laid down on a leaf from an album, the letter on one side and the other two items on the other. The material is in good condition, lightly aged, with the letter slightly ruckled. LETTER: 1p, 12mo. Letterhead printed in red. Beneath the letter, on the album leaf, in a contemporary hand: ‘In reply to my congratulatory note upon his being made a baronet.’ Addressed to ‘Charles Klugh Esqr’ and signed ‘James Paget’. Reads: ‘My dear Mr. Klugh / By mistake, your note was not sent to me at Lucerne, and I have only lately received it.

[Russell John Reynolds, radiologist and inventor.] Two Typed Letters Signed to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, London, the first concerning the Röntgen Society and the second agreeing to become a Fellow of the Society.

Author: 
Russell John Reynolds (1880-1964), radiologist, inventor with his friend Sir William Crookes of a type of cineradiography (x-ray) machine [G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, London]
Publication details: 
ONE: 14 January 1926; on letterhead of the Röntgen Society, London. TWO: 9 July 1947; on his letterhead (‘Dr. Russell Reynolds’), 30 Welbeck Street, W1 [London].
£180.00

Despite the fact that Reynolds and Crookes’s X-ray apparatus is now in the Science Museum at South Kensington, Reynolds has no entry in the Oxford DNB, although Crookes’s entry can be consulted. The two items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn. Both folded several times. Both 1p, 4to, and both signed ‘Russell J. Reynolds’. ONE: Addressed to G. K. Menzies of the Royal Society of Arts. With recipient's red pencil tick.

[Sir Frank Stockdale, distinguished agronomist and colonial civil servant.] Family photograph album, with a few items of ephemera including his funeral service.

Author: 
Sir Frank Stockdale [Sir Frank Arthur Stockdale] (1883-1949), distinguished agronomist and mycologist, Colonial Office Agricultural Advisor
Publication details: 
Containing material from the 1920s to the 1940s. Most of the photographs and other material from England.
£500.00

Stockdale was for decades the leading figure in his field within the British Empire and later the Commonwealth, and his work undoubtedly saved countless lives, and increased the welfare of many thousands. See his appreciative entry in the Oxford DNB, in which he is described as 'in many respects ahead of his time'. The present collection comprises a family photograph album with 86 photographs inserted and loose, with a copy of his funeral service, and few other items. All the material is in good condition, with only light signs of age and wear.

[Travers Twiss, jurist; Queen's Advocate-General; scandal (Wikipedia)] Autograph Note Signed Travers Twiss to a Mr or Mrs Rowcliffe, promising to send some autographs.

Author: 
[Sir Travers Twiss QC FRS (1809 – 1897) was an English jurist].
Publication details: 
19 Park Lane [London], no date.
£56.00

One page, 12mo, black-bordered, backed by paper of similar size with evidence of having been laid down, and with MS note Dr. Travers Twiss | Vicar [sic] General | &c, good condition. Text: I am much obliged by your note & will take care not to forget my promise - on the first leisure morning I may have - to collect a few autographs & forward them to you. The scandal involved his marriage to a mistress who had been a prostitute [Wikipedia].

[Charles Hutton, mathematician, surveyor] Holograph Index (NOT published) to A Mathematical and Philosophical Dictionary (2 vols, 1815 edition). List of plates for vol.1 addressed to Rich[ar]d Murphy Esq | St peters street | Derby.. List of Plate

Author: 
Charles Hutton (1737 – 1823), mathematician and surveyor.
Hutton
Publication details: 
[1815]
£850.00
Hutton

A. List of plates in 'Vol.Ist', Holograph MS., one page, 4to, small stain, sl.chipped, text complete, addressed to a Richard Murphy of Derby on verso, text columnising No. of Plate, Title/subject, page number; B. List of plates in 'Vol.2nd', Holograph MS., 2pp. fol., bifolium, folded, aged but good condition, columns as List Vol.I. Note: a. This Index doesn't seem to have been published (the text on Google Books and the British Library copy have no such index); b. I haven't checked all the plates, but one reveals the engraver of the plates as 'Multow & Russell' (Plate XXXI); c.

[Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of radio: family correspondence.] 40 items to governess Millicent Goodsir ('Miss Unger') from Marconi's second wife Cristina [née Bezzi Scali], her mother and daughter: letters and cards in English, inscribed photographs.

Author: 
[Guglielmo Marconi [Marquis of Marconi] (1874-1937), inventor of radio, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics; his second wife Maria Cristina Bezzi-Scali, their daughter Elettra Giovanelli
Publication details: 
Most from 11 Via Condotti, Rome. 1914-1968.
£250.00

Forty items, in good condition, lightly aged and worn, with some of the photographs with evidence on reverse of having been mounted. Millicent Goodsir [née Unger] (1885-1983) was governess to Christina Bezzi Scali (1900-1994), daughter of Francesco, Count Bezzi Scali and his wife Anna (1879-1968). In 1927 Cristina became Marconi's second wife. Their only child was Maria Elettra Elena Anna Marconi (b.1930), who would marry Prince Carlo Giovannelli (1942-2016).

[Mary Caroline Hughes, artist, photographer and amateur scientist, wife of the Welsh geologist Thomas McKenny Hughes.] Autograph ms. of an original study by her of the poetry of John Keats.

Author: 
Mary Caroline Hughes [nee Weston] (1860-1916), artist, photographer and geologist, wife of the Welsh geologist Thomas McKenny Hughes (1832-1917) [John Keats]
Publication details: 
Undated, but written after her marriage in 1882.
£320.00

The last paragraph of McKenny Hughes’s entry in the Oxford DNB deals with his marriage, noting that his wife was ‘a keen amateur archaeologist, a botanist, and a distinguished artist, and under his tuition she became a valuable geologist’, and that the couple ‘travelled together on field excursions’, being accompanied on a trip to the Balkans by an armed guard. Six boxes of her papers are among the rest of those of the Hughes family in the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge. The present item is 64pp, 4to, mostly on the rectos of a ruled ‘Universal Exercise Book.

[ Andrew Cowper Lawson, Professor of Geology at the University of California. ] Two Autograph Field Notebooks of an American geologist, including notes of Californian surveys conducted with E. F. Davis and A. R. Whitman while studying under Lawson.

Author: 
A. C. Lawson [ Andrew Cowper Lawson ] (1861-1952), Professor of Geology, University of California; E. F. Davis [ Elmer Fred Davis ] (1887-1974); A. R. Whitman [ Alfred Russell Whitman ] (1881-1940)
Publication details: 
Mostly relating to the San Francisco Bay Area of California, but also to other parts of the state. Between 1912 and 1950.
£1,500.00

The two volumes contain a total of 239pp., 12mo, in ink and pencil, with entries dating from between 29 November 1912 and 28 March 1950. In fair overall condition, with light signs of age and wear. In two Keuffel & Esser notebooks, each in remains of brown calf binding, the first with 'MINING | TRANSIT BOOK | 363' stamped on front cover, and the second with 'Cross Section Book | 375 S'. In manuscript on cover of first volume: '19<...> Dec. | The Psilomelane D | of the Francis <....> | by | Don <...> | Under Prof. A. C. L <...>'.

[ Arthur Hill Hassall, public health pioneer. ] Secretarial Letter, Signed 'Arthur. H. Hassall', to T. H. Huxley, presenting a copy of his 'The Narrative of a Busy Life', with the book and a manuscript copy of a letter from him to Lord Rayleigh.

Author: 
Arthur Hill Hassall (1817-1894), physician and microscopist, pioneer in the field of public health [ Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895), biologist; Lord Rayleigh and the Royal Society ]
Publication details: 
Letter from Hassall to Huxley: 3 Alpenstrasse, Lucerne (on cancelled letterhead of Corso dell'Imperatrice, San Remo), 23 September 1893. Copy Letter from Hassall to Rayleigh, same details. Book: Longmans, Green, & Co., London and New York, 1893.
£350.00

All three items in good condition, lightly aged, with the book in worn and spotted binding. ONE: Letter from Hassall to 'Professor Huxley', in the hand of 'an amanuensis' and signed by him. 3pp., 12mo. Tipped-in onto the half-title of Item Three below. He begins by explaining that he has 'directed Messrs. Longmans' to forward a copy of his book (which he describes as 'a brochure') to Huxley.

[Sir Oliver Lodge, physicist, inventor and Christian spiritualist.] Typed Letter Signed to Rev. A. H. Sayers, declining to speal to the Monmouth Town League of Nations Union.

Author: 
Sir Oliver Lodge [Oliver Joseph Lodge] (1851-1940), physicist, inventor and Christian Spiritualist [Rev. A. H. Sayers of the Monmouth Town League of Nations Union]
Publication details: 
18 April 1928; on letterhead of Normanton House, Lake, Salisbury.
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed ‘To the Rev. A. H. Vayers’, but with the ‘V’ corrected in manuscript to ‘S’. Signed ‘Oliver Lodge’. Reads: ‘My dear Sir, / I am exceedingly busy, and a visit to Monmouth is quite out of the question. There are many others better qualified to speak for The League of Nations Union; and I trust you will have a successfull meeting.’

[Mary Carpenter, educationist, penal and social reformer in Bristol and India, abolitionist.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Miss Thompson’, following a meeting at the Bristol Social Science Congress.

Author: 
Mary Carpenter (1807-1877), educationist, penal and social reformer in Bristol and India, abolitionist [Bristol Social Science Congress, 1869]
Publication details: 
9 October 1869; Bristol.
£45.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. The ‘Congress’ she is referring to in the letter is the 1869 Bristol Social Science Congress. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: ‘Dear Miss Thompson / It gave me pleasure to see you at the Congress I feel sure you will have heard much here which will stimulate you to further work. / I enclose you my carte as a remembrance. / Yours truly / Mary Carpenter. -’

[W. C. R. Watson, English botanist.] Two Autograph Cards Signed (both ‘W. Watson’), concerning botanical matters, one to F. O. Whitaker of Plumstead, and the other to C. G. Grinling of Woolwich.

Author: 
W. C. R. Watson [William Charles Richard Watson; William Watson] (1885-1954), English botanist, author of ‘Handbook of the Rubi of Great Britain and Ireland‘ (1958)
Publication details: 
TO GRINLING: No date (postmark of 6 September 1921); “The Meadows”, Saham Toney, Watton, Norfolk. TO WHITAKER: No date (postmark of 16 September 1929); 245 Southlands Rd, Bickley, Kent.
£50.00

Note to be confused with the Kew curator William Watson (1858-1925). Both cards are plain: the first with a self-printed stamp and the second with stamp affixed. Both in fair condition, lightly aged. ONE (to Grinling): He identifies the fungi he sent, adding a comment on bacteoles of mallow. Ends in the hope of attending ‘the Epping Forest foray this year’. TWO (to Whitaker). The previous Saturday he noted ‘Pyrus torminalis in the old rough lane between fences nearly opposite the Bull Inn on Shooters Hill (? Jack Wood Lane)’.

[John Tyndall, distinguished Anglo-Irish physicist.] Autograph Letter Signed to John Symonds, reluctantly declining a dinner invitation, and praising Lady Morrison’s effect on one ‘whose intellectual side has won general renown’.

Author: 
John Tyndall (1820-1893), Anglo-Irish physicist [John Symonds of the Corporation of London]
Publication details: 
1 November [no year]. On embossed letterhead of the Royal Institution of Great Britain [London].
£95.00

See Tyndall’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. Written in purple ink with bold flowing signature. Addressed to ‘John Symonds Esq’ (in the 1870s Symonds was Chairman of the Library Committee of the Corporation of London). Reads: ‘My dear Sir / Most willingly would I permit your friendly letter to draw me towards you to day. But I am bound with a chain. / I was glad to learn that Lady Morrison was your niece. She is obviously drawing out the inherent tenderness of a nature whose intellectual side has won general renown.

[James Glaisher, aeronaut and meteorologist.] Two Unsigned Autograph Drafts: the first of Letter to ‘Mrs Wallis’ on ‘English legislation against Sunday trading’; the second with reference to the Fabian Society.

Author: 
James Glaisher (1809-1903), English aeronaut and meteorologist who made balloon ascents with Henry Tracey Coxwell (1819-1900) [Sunday trading; Fabian Society]
Publication details: 
Draft of letter to 'Mrs Wallis': 18 May 1900. 50 Great Russell Street, W.C. [London offices of the Photographic Society of Great Britain.] Other draft [Fabian Society] without date or place.
£80.00

See Glaisher’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The story of Glaisher’s balloon flights is travestied in the 2019 film ‘The Aeronaut’, with his co-pilot Henry Tracey Coxwell being replaced by the fictional female character ‘Amelia Wren’. The object of the ascents, made on behalf of the British Association between 1862 and 1866, was to carry out scientific observations in such matters as the variation in temperature and humidity of the atmosphere at high elevations.

[Oliver Zangwill, ‘the Father of British neuropsychology’.] Autograph Note Signed (‘Oliver.’) to ‘Bob’, describing steps he has taken and hoping that 'something is done'.

Author: 
Oliver Zangwill [Oliver Louis Zangwill] (1913-1987), ‘the Father of British neuropsychology’, Professor of Experimental Psychology, University of Cambridge
Oliver
Publication details: 
10 February 1969; on letterhead of ‘Professor O. L. Zangwill, The Psychological Laboratory, Downing Street, Cambridge.’
£50.00
Oliver

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, landscape 8vo. In good condition, folded once. Headed ‘Private & Confidential’. Reads: ‘Dear Bob, / I had a word with the V. C [presumably the Vice Chancellor of Cambridge University] this morning and am writing a letter to Sartain, which he should receive before the meeting of the G. B. on Wednesday. I hope something is done. / Yours ever / Oliver.’

[Felix Eugen Fritsch, Professor and Head of Botany, Queen Mary College, University of London.] Autograph Note SIgned F.E. Fritsch to Crow.

Author: 
Felix Eugen Fritsch (1879–1954), algologist, Professor and Head of the Botanical Department, Queen Mary College, University of London, from 1911-1948
Publication details: 
3 June 1929; on letterhead of the Department of Botany, East London College, Mile End Road, E1. [London]
£38.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is William Bernard Crow, and the work referred to in the letter is his University of London thesis, presumably written under Fritsch’s supervision. 1p, 4to. Aged and creased, with chipping to edges. Folded three times. Good firm signature at foot: ‘F. E. Fritsch’. He thanks him for the copy of his book on “Contributions to the Principles of Morphology”, which he hopes to read ‘when the present rush dies down’. He hopes he is ‘getting on well at Huddersfield’.

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