WILLOUGHBY

[Nicholas Murray Butler, American diplomat, winner of Nobel Peace Prize, President of Columbia University.] Typed Letter Signed to Sir Willoughby Dickinson, discussing ‘the work of the World Alliance’, in which he is ‘greatly interested’.

Author: 
Nicholas Murray Butler (1862-1947), American diplomat and educator, winner of a Nobel Peace Prize, President of Columbia University [ Sir Willoughby Hyett Dickinson, British politician; Carnegie]
Publication details: 
22 June 1926; on his letterhead as 'Directeur' of 'Dotation Carnegie pour la Paix Internationale', Paris.
£150.00

Butler had been Taft’s running mate in the 1912 United States presidential election. Such was his standing in the US that The New York Times printed his Christmas greeting to the nation every year. He shared the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize with Jane Addams. The present item is not untainted by the pompous circumloctions what one critic described as Butler’s ‘interminable miasmas of guff’. 2pp, 4to. On aged and creased paper, with slight damage to extremities but with text completely intact. Signed ‘Nicholas Murray Butler’.

[The growing First World War pensions crisis discussed by a member of the government.] Autograph Letter Signed from William Hayes Fisher [the future Lord Downham] to Willoughby Hyett Dickinson, discussing the problem ‘full of difficulty’.

Author: 
William Hayes Fisher [Lord Downham] (1853-1920), Conservative politician, President of Local Government Board and Minister of Information in Lloyd George's War Cabinet [Sir Willoughby Hyett Dickinson]
Publication details: 
25 October 1915. 13 Buckingham Palace Gardens, S.W. [London.]
£90.00

See Fisher’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Earlier in 1915 he had joined the Asquith government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board, and he would retain this post until June of 1917, when Lloyd George would promote him to the cabinet as President of the Local Government Board. The recipient Willoughby Hyett Dickinson (1859-1943), later an influential proponent of the League of Nations, began his career as a Liberal MP. He was knighted in 1918, and elevated to the peerage as Baron Dickinson of Painswick in 1930, the same year in which he joined the Labour Party.

[‘Our Government will stand in a sad position amongst the nations’: Sir Edward Fry on non-ratification of the London Declaration concerning the Laws of Naval War.] Autograph Letter Signed to W. H. Dickinson, on the ‘disgrace’ that would result.

Author: 
Sir Edward Fry (1827-1918), judge and zoologist, Lord Justice of Appeal [Sir Willoughby Hyett Dickinson [latterly Lord Dickinson] (1859-1943), Liberal and then Labour politician]
Publication details: 
25 February 1911. On letterhead of Failand House, Failand, near Bristol.
£80.00

See Fry’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Dickinson was an influential proponent of the League of Nations. The present item concerns the London Declaration concerning the Laws of Naval War, an international code of maritime law, following on from the second Hague Conference. Great Britain, as the world’s chief naval power, had felt that such a court should be governed by defined principles, and had convened an international concerence in London in 1908. The Declaration that was issued three years later comprised 71 articles. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once.

[Sir Frederick Lugard [Lord Lugard], Governor of Hong Kong, Governor-General of Nigeria.] Typed Letter Signed (‘Lugard’) to ‘Dickinson’ (Lord Dickinson), regarding ‘Kenya settlers’ and a matter of ‘British honour’.

Author: 
Sir Frederick Lugard [Frederick John Dealtry Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard; Lord Lugard] (1858-1945), soldier, explorer, Governor of Hong Kong, first Governor-General of Nigeria [Sir Willoughby Dickinson]
Publication details: 
5 January 1933. On letterhead of Little Parkhurst, Abinger Common, near Dorking, Surrey.
£100.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Lord Dickinson [Sir Willoughby Dickinson] (1859-1943), was a Liberal and then Labour politician and early advocate of the League of Nations.1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with short nick to one edge. Folded twice. He thanks him for the morning’s note, and is ‘adopting your suggestion to put down a Motion in the Lords’. He hopes that Dickinson will ‘add the weight of your name and influence in a letter to the Times’. He would like ‘the League of Nations Union would take the matter up’.

[‘A deliberate attempt was made to overthrow the Government’: Lloyd George’s Chief Whip lays into a Liberal on the eve of the ‘Coupon Election’ following the end of the Great War.] Long Typed Letter Signed from Frederick Guest to W. H. Dickinson.

Author: 
Frederick Edward Guest [Freddie Guest] (1875-1937), politician, sportsman and promoter of aviation, Chief Whip in Lloyd George's Coalition Liberal Party [Sir Willoughby Hyett Dickinson (1859-1943)]
Publication details: 
26 November 1918. On embossed letterhead of 12 Downing Street, S.W.1. [London.]
£150.00

An extraordinary letter, rubbing the nose of a pro-Asquith Liberal in the muck on the eve of his leader Lloyd George’s landslide Coalition victory in the 1918 ‘Coupon Election’. Guest, who was Winston Churchill’s cousin, is described in his entry in the Oxford DNB as a ‘highly controversial’ figure who ‘knew where all the bodies were buried’, a useful attribute for someone who served as the Coalition Chief Whip from 1917 to 1921. The recipient Willoughby Hyett Dickinson (1859-1943), later an influential proponent of the League of Nations, began his career a Liberal MP.

[The Royal Aid in Bristol, 1666.] Two Manuscript Assessments of 'three moneths Royall Aide mony' (land and goods) for 58 individuals, each signed by four mayors of Bristol: John Willougby, Walter Sandby, Sir John Knight and John Lawford.

Author: 
[The Royal Aid in Bristol, 1666.] Mayors of Bristol: John Willougby of the Society of Merchant Venturers; Walter Sandby; Sir John Knight; John Lawford
Publication details: 
Both Bristol, 1666.
£850.00

Ainsworth's 'Thesaurus' (1752) neatly defines 'The Royal Aid, or subsidy money' as 'tributum quod regi ex plebiscito in sumptus belli, &c. praestatur'. It was a one-off household tax, set by assessors and collected locally. (For further information see M. J. Braddick's 2013 paper 'Resistance to the Royal Aid and Further Supply in Chester, 1664–1672'.) The present two documents are each laid out in identical fashion, the two carrying different assessments for 'Land' and 'Goods' for the same 58 individuals.

[ Gordon Gyll of Wraysbury, author and translator. ] Autograph Letter in the third person to the editor of the Cambridge Chronicle, urging at length a review of his 'Tractate on Language'.

Author: 
Gordon Gyll [ Gordon Willoughby James Gyll ] (1818-1878) of Wraysbury, Buckinghamshire, author and translator of Cervantes etc[ Sir John R. Somers Vine (1847-1929), editor of the Cambridge Chronicle ]
Publication details: 
7 Lower Seymour St, Portman Square, London, on embossed letterhead of the Royal Institute of Great Britain. 13 February 1881.
£180.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of stub at inner edge. A shameless plug for his book 'A Tractate on Language, with Observations on the French Tongue' (1860), closely written over four pages. As 'an old Oxford man', he 'shd feel obliged if the Editor wd give some notice of his work a "Tractate on Language" - in his weekly paper'. He had 'caused a Copy to be transmitted to him, & he trusted that if the book did not command a detailed review some observations wd be made about it - & in a note sent at the time he expressed a desire to have any paper in wh.

Two numbers of 'Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine', containing 'Adventures in the North of Ireland: the demon of the mist', G. W. Hemans; 'Evils of the state of Ireland', William P. Alison; 'A glance at the state and prospects of Ireland', Macleod Wylie

Author: 
[ Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine; William Pulteney Alison (1790-1859), Scottish physician; George Willoughby Hemans (1814-1885), architect; MacLeod Wylie, hymnologist ]
Publication details: 
ONE: No. 252, October 1836. William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh; and T. Cadell, London. TWO: No. 264, October 1837. 'Theodore Foster's Edition' and 'New American Edition'. New York: William Lewer, Publisher, Broadway, Corner of Pine-street.
£50.00

Both numbers are in the distinctive Blackwood's printed covers, with illustration of George Buchanan. Both are good tight copies, on lightly-aged paper, in worn and aged wraps. All articles are anonymous, and attributions are from the Wellesley Index. ONE: No. 252, October 1836. Unopened. Several advertisements bound in front and back. 144pp., 8vo, paginated [2] + 437-578. Hemans' piece, paginated 459-467, is the second in the volume, and Alison's, paginated 495-514, is fourth. The volume also contains work by George Croly, D. K. Sandford, John Wilson, John Eagles and Alfred Mallalieu.

[ Harriet Willoughby, daughter of Whig politician Charles James Fox. ] Autograph Signature ('H Willougby') on part of letter.

Author: 
Harriet Willoughby (1786-1856), illegitimate daughter of Whig politician Charles James Fox
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£100.00

On 8 x 18 cm piece of paper cut from the end of a letter. In fair condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'And now my dear Mary Anne adieu With kind Regards to Mr T & love to yourself I remain ever | Your's sincerely & affectionately | H Willoughby | I shall leave directions With Mr Hyman to forward the Papers during my absence'.

[ Gerrit, Count Schimmelpenninck. ] Autograph Signature ('Count Schimmelpenninck') as frank, addressed to 'Baron Willoughby de Eresby | Lord Chamberlain of England'.

Author: 
Gerrit, Count Schimmelpenninck (1794-1863), Dutch statesman [ Peter Robert Drummond-Burrell, 2nd Baron Gwydyr, 22nd Baron Willoughby de Eresby (1782-1865), Lord Great Chamberlain of England ]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [ London, between 1846 and 1852. ]
£45.00

The signature is part of a frank, and is on an 8 x 13 cm piece of grey paper cut from the front of an envelope. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Reads: 'To/ | His Lordship | Baron Willoughby de Eresby | Lord Chamberlain of England | &c &c | 142 Piccadilly | Count Schimmelpenninck'. Schimmelpenninck was Dutch envoy in London between 1846 and 1852.

[Captain Willoughby Trevelyan of the East India Company.] Autograph Letter Signed to London merchant banker Thomson Hankey, regarding a mistake in receiving his pay, a 'family remittance from India' and 'the Mess Wine'.

Author: 
Major-General Willoughby Trevelyan (1805-1871), East India Company's Service, third son of Rev. Walter Trevelyan
Publication details: 
Crescent, Bath. 25 August 1844.
£40.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on aged paper. Small square cut away from second leaf of bifolium, not affecting text. Docketed: 'Pay Receivable 2 Monday in Augt.' and '663. | Captn. W. Trevelyan | 25 Aug: 1844 | Recd. 26 - - | Ansd 27 -'. The letter begins: 'My dear Thomson | There appears to be some mistake; what I wished to know was, "when my Pay was due at the India House", commencing from the 20th May last - my Pay certificate was included amongst the Papers I left at your House - the sum you mention recoverable on the 29th Inst.

[Althea Willoughby, English artist.] Two Autograph Letters Signed and one Autograph Note Signed to the publishers Ingpen and Grant regarding her designs for woodcut engravings for Alexander Somerton's 'Glades of Glenbella'.

Author: 
Althea Willoughby (1904-1982), English artist, designer of posters for London Transport, 1933-1936 [Ingpen and Grant, London publishers]
Publication details: 
All three from 20A Alfred Place, SW7 [London]. 14 April, 10 July and 2 August [1929].
£120.00

Each item is 1p., 12mo, the note being the last of the three. All written in green ink, the first on green paper, and the other two on pink paper. The three in very good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Written in an attractive, calligraphic hand. ONE: She writes that she is enclosing 'four rough designs [not present] for the woodcut frontispiece to the "Glade [sic] of Glenbella', and asks to be informed by return of the firm's choice, and she will 'get on with it at once'. She ends with a query about galley sheets. TWO: Docketted with brief pencil accounts.

Autograph Letter Signed ('T. W. Holderness') from Sir Thomas William Holderness to Sir Henry Marshman Havelock-Allan, regarding his appointment as Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India, and his predecessor 'poor Ritchie' [Sir Richmond Ritchie]

Author: 
Sir Thomas William Holderness (1849-1924), member of the Indian Civil Service and Permanent Under-Secretary of State for India [Sir Henry Marshman Havelock-Allan (1830-1897); Sir Richmond Ritchie]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the India Office, Whitehall. 24 October [1912].
£65.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Tipped in onto a leaf removed from an album. Holderness's predecessor Sir Richmond Ritchie (1854-1912) had died ten days before the writing of the letter, as a result, according to the Oxford DNB, of the undermining of his health by 'unremitting hard work [...] over several years'. Holderness begins the letter: 'It is very good of you to congratulate me on succeeding to poor Ritchie's responsibilities.

Typed Letter Signed ('Hector Charlesworth') from the Canadian writer Hector Willoughby Charlesworth to the English diplomat Ernest Francis Gye, concerning Mme Albani, the latter's mother,

Author: 
Hector Charlesworth [Hector Willoughby Charlesworth] (1872-1945), Canadian writer [Dame Emma Albani (1847-1930), Canadian soprano; Ernest Frederick Gye (1879-1955), diplomat]
Publication details: 
On his Toronto letterhead; 1 June 1945.
£90.00

1 p, 4to. 20 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged and creased paper. In response to a letter from Gye states that he did not hear Albani sing 'until her last two Canadian tours when she was approaching 50', when he 'thought her best in her singing of Mozart, which revealed her rare vocal finesse'. Charlesworth was told by the 'late Edwin R. Parkhurst, a Toronto music critic, 30 years my senior who had heard her frequently in his younger days in London', that 'these appearances gave no adequate idea of how glorious her voice had been in the seventies'.

Typed Letter Signed ('Willoughby de Broke') and Autograph Letter Signed ('W. de B.') to Ormsby-Gore, concerning his desire to 'write a history of the Die-Hard affair'.

Author: 
Richard Greville Verney, 19th Baron Willoughby de Broke (1869-1923) [William George Arthur Ormsby-Gore (1885-1964), 4th Baron Harlech; The Parliament Act, 1911]
Publication details: 
17 and 30 December 1913; both on letterhead of Compton Verney, Warwick.
£150.00

Text of both letters clear and complete, on aged, grubby paper. The 'Diehards' were a group of right-wing Conservative peers who attempted unsuccessfully to thwart Liberal legislation to limit the right of veto of the House of Lords over Commons legislation. (See G. D. Phillips, 'The Diehards: Aristocratic Society and Politics in Edwardian England', Cambridge, Mass., 1979.) TYPED LETTER: 17 December 1913. 4to, 1 p. He is going to try to write the history of the affair '[b]efore things fade altogether from my memory', and asks if OG has 'any papers, or letters, or diaries'.

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