OF

[Princess Basma bint Talal of Jordan.] Typed Letter Signed to Lady Monckton, thanking her for sending’Comfrey roots’ for her family the ‘Royal Stables’.

Author: 
Princess Basma bint Talal (b.1951), daughter of King Talal and Queen Zein of Jordan, sister of Hussein of Jordan and paternal aunt of the current king Abdullah II [Lady Monckton]
Bint
Publication details: 
21 October 1986. On her royal letterhead.
£150.00
Bint

1p, 4to. Salutation and valediction in the princess’s autograph. Stylized signature with Roman lettering. Addressed to ‘The Viscountess Monckton of Brenchley’ at her estate in Maidstone, Kent. They are all ‘delighted’ with the ‘Comfrey roots’ which she sent as promised, and ‘look forward to seeing the results on the horses’. ‘My niece, Her Royal Highness Princess Alia was also pleased to receive her share for the Royal Stables’. The letter ends with the usual courtesies. See image.

[Gustav Adolf, Cardinal Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingfürs.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘G Card d’Hohenhohe’) in Italian, enclosing a book by ‘Signora Costanza’, and 3 letters of recommendation for a voyage [neither book not letters present!]

Author: 
Gustav Adolf, Cardinal Prince of Hohenlohe-Schillingfürst (1823-1896), German aristocrat and Roman Catholic cleric and friend of Franz Liszt
Hohenhohe
Publication details: 
5 May 1891; Rome.
£90.00
Hohenhohe

In fair condition, on lightly aged paper. Folded once. Signed ‘G Card d’Hohenhohe’, and with his embossed monogram. He is enclosing ‘il libro per la Signora Costanza’, together with the three letters of recommendation, which she may read before sealing. He ends with good wishes for the voyage. See image.

[Ethel Henry Bird, soprano, pianist and tutor.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Miss Atkins’, thanking her for returning an ‘old book’ that is ‘very valuable to me’.

Author: 
Ethel Henry Bird (d.1942), soprano, pianist and teacher at the Trinity College of Music, London
Publication details: 
30 September [no year]. On letterhead of 8 Longridge Road, Earl’s Court, S.W. [London.]
£45.00

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with unobtrusive grease stain stain to one blank corner. Folded twice. Good bold hand with large signature. ‘My dear Miss Atkins - / How very kind of you to return me my old book. It was very valuable to me, & I was wondering where it was - so I am very glad to have it back again. / Hoping we shall meet before long / With kindest regards & many thanks / Yours very sincerely / Ethel Henry Bird.’

[Douglas Sladen, author and poet.] Autograph Card Signed to Herman Hart, stating that he has written a letter of recommendation for him to 'Thring'.

Author: 
Douglas Sladen [Douglas Brooke Wheelton Sladen] (1856-1947), English author, poet and academic, Professor of History at the University of Sydney
Publication details: 
Undated. Card with letterhead of 32 Addison Mansions, Kensington, W. [London.]
£38.00

Plain 11.5 x 7.5 cm card, with letterhead in red. The card reads: ‘Dear Herman Hart / I can barely write even today with rheumaticky right hand. I have written to Thring to say that I propose you & have known you for years. It gives me great pleasure to do so / Yrs sincerely / Douglas Sladen’. On reverse, in contemporary hand, ‘Author of Japanese Marriage.’

[Cardinal Manning, second Archbishop of Westminster.] Autograph Letter Signed, as Rector of Lavington, asking the owner to lend him the key to the private chapel in Findon Church, so that he can make measurements for a new window for his own church.

Author: 
Cardinal Manning [Henry Edward Manning] (1808-1892), Roman Catholic prelate; second Archbishop of Westminster, 1865-1892 [Lavington and Findon, Sussex]
Publication details: 
2 May 1842. No place [Lavington, Sussex].
£50.00

At the time of writing Manning was rector of Lavington, Sussex. See his entry in the Oxford DNB, and also Edmund Sheridan Purcell, ‘Manning as an Anglican’ (1895). 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with a couple of creases. Folded twice. Signed ‘H. E. Manning.’ The recipient is not named. Begins: ‘My dear Sir / I am going to ask of you a favour by which you would greatly oblige me if you have no objection.

[Adolph Saphir, Hungarian Jew who became a Free Church of Scotland minister.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘A Saphir’), asking ‘Mr Maclaren’ to give his writings a ‘little impulse’ in Edinburgh.

Author: 
Adolph Saphir [Aaron Adolph Saphir] (1831-1891), Christian polemicist, a Hungarian Jew who settled in England as a Free Church of Scotland minister
Publication details: 
25 October [no year, but after 1880]. 57 Ladbroke Grove W. [London.]
£90.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition; with slight traces of mount on blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. He begins by explaining that he was ‘not able to call before leaving Edinburgh’, as he was ‘much harried at last’.

[W. H. Smith, newsagent and politician, the ‘Sir Joseph Porter’ of Gilbert and Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore.] Autograph Letter Signed to George Townsend Warner, discussing a request to fish in his private stream.

Author: 
W. H. Smith [William Henry Smith] (1825-1891), founder of the fortunes of the British chain of newsagents, Conservative politician, First Lord of the Admiralty [George Townsend Warner (1865-1916)]
Publication details: 
5 March 1891; on letterhead of 10 Downing Street, Whitehall. [London.]
£50.00

From the first Smith has been considered as the model of the ‘Sir Joseph Porter’ of Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘HMS Pinafore’, and Disraeli himself is said to have referred to him as ‘Pinafore Smith’. See Smith’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is signed ‘W. H. Smith’, addressed to ‘Mr Townsend Warner’, and headed ‘Private’. The recipient is the historian and Harrow housemaster George Townsend Warner (1865-1916), father of the novelist Sylvia Townsend Warner. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once.

[Sir Stanley Rous, association football referee and 6th President of FIFA.] Typed Note Signed (‘Stanley Rous’) to the BBC sports commentator Max Robertson.

Author: 
Stanley Rous [Sir Stanley Ford Rous] (1895-1986), Secretary of the Football Association, 6th President of FIFA, referee [Max Robertson [William Maxwell Robertson] (1915-2009), BBC sports commentator]
Rous
Publication details: 
26 May 1955; on letterhead of the Football Association, 22 Lancaster Gate, London W2.
£35.00
Rous

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight creasing to one corner. Folded once. In addition to the signature ‘Stanley Rous’, the salutation ‘Dear Max’ is written in Rous’s autograph. (Robertson’s full Wandsworth address is typed out at the head.) The note reads: ‘The enclosed translation of an article which appeared in a Continental newspaper has just been handed to me. I sent it on at once, in case it is of help to you.’ See image

[Sir Richard Airey: the man who issued the order for the Charge of the Light Brigade.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mrs. Gardiner’, describing the ‘escape by a miracle’ of ‘Gardiner’ after a dangerous fall from his horse.

Author: 
Sir Richard Airey [Richard Airey, 1st Baron Airey] (1803-1881), senior British Army officer, remembered for writing out the order for the Charge of the Light Brigade, and 1879-1880 Airey Commission
Publication details: 
29 June 1865; ‘Horseguards’ [Horse Guards, London.], on embossed government letterhead.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB: ‘Following Raglan's instructions, he wrote out the order which led to the fateful charge of the light brigade on 25 October 1854, but unfortunately in the heat of battle kept no duplicate. Subsequently, he had to request a copy from Lieutenant-General Lord Lucan, the cavalry division's commander, to whom the order was addressed and who strongly resented implications that he was at fault. In writing and in person Airey attempted to placate Lucan, reputedly arguing that “it is nothing to Chillianwallah”’.

[‘An Admiral with salt in his ears and his tongue’: Admiral of the Fleet Sir Varyl Begg, First Sea Lord.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mr Dean’, listing his ‘appointments as Captain & Admiral’.

Author: 
Sir Varyl Begg [Admiral of the Fleet Sir Varyl Cargill Begg] (1908-1995), First Sea Lord 1966-1968; Governor of Gibraltar 1968-1973; served with distinction in Second World War [Royal Navy]
Publication details: 
Undated [between 1964 and 1965]. On his letterhead as Commander-in-Chief, Far East, Phoenix Park, Singapore.
£100.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. See David Owen, who was minister for the navy when Begg was appointed Admiral of the Fleet in 1968, commented on his death that Begg was 'an Admiral with salt both in his ears and his tongue', who 'did not suffer fools gladly' (The Independent, 15 July 1995). 2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Begins: ‘Dear Mr Dean. / I have signed the photograph as you asked.

[Sir James Mackintosh, Scottish historian and politician.] Autograph Letter Signed thanking an unnamed peer for gaining him access to the Duke of Marlborough’s papers, and expressing a zeal for investigating the history of the Glorious Revolution.

Author: 
Sir James Mackintosh (1765-1832) of Kyllachy, Scottish historian and politician [Thomas Babington Macaulay]
Publication details: 
21 June 1813; Cheltenham.
£60.00

A prescient note regarding his projected history of the Glorious Revolution, in which Mackintosh expresses the desire to ‘leave the ground somewhat more clear to a successor of greater talents’. And this is indeed what he did: his history was not published during his lifetime, but his voluminous notes proved invaluable to Thomas Babington Macaulay in writing his great history. See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp., 12mo. Twenty-four lines of text. In fair condition, on lightly aged paper, with short closed tear to one edge. Signed ‘James Mackintosh’.

[Sir Edward Northey, Attorney General under Queen Anne and King George I.] Signed Autograph Receipt.

Author: 
Sir Edward Northey (1652-1723) of Epsom, lawyer and politician, Attorney General under Queen Anne and King George I
Northey
Publication details: 
9 December 1715. No place.
£50.00
Northey

See his entries in the Oxford DNB and History of Parliament. On 11 x 6 cm slip of paper, laid down on thicker paper cut from album. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: ‘9th Dececmr. 1715 / Receit in full / Edw Northey’. See image.

[Sir Ian Hamilton, British commander in the Gallipoli Campaign.] Autograph Letter Signed to George Townsend Warner, following consultation with Lord Roberts over a musketry matter and Harrow School.

Author: 
Sir Ian Hamilton [Sir Ian Standish Monteith Hamilton] (1853-1947), soldier, commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force in the First World War Gallipoli Campaign [George Townsend Warner]
Publication details: 
2 March 1901; on letterhead of 3 Chesterfield Street, Mayfair. [London.]
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is the Harrow housemaster George Townsend Warner (1865-1916), father of the novelist Sylvia Townsend Warner, referred to as ‘Townsend Warner / Historian’ in a pencil note to this letter. Signed ‘Ian Hamilton’. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with a few pin holes from attachment of a no-longer-present enclosure. Folded twice. Possibly concerning shooting practice for the Harrow army cadets.

[Major-General Abraham D’Aubant, who played a leading role in the 1794 invasion of Corsica, frustrating Nelson with his caution.] Autograph Note in the third person to ‘Mr Brown’.

Author: 
Major-General Abraham D’Aubant (d.1805), Colonel of His Majesty's Corps of Royal Engineers, who played a leading role the 1794 invasion of Corsica [Horatio Nelson; Lord Nelson]
D'Aubant
Publication details: 
8 July [no year]; Devonshire Place [London].
£180.00
D'Aubant

An uncommon signature. During the 1794 invasion of Corsica, D’Aubant took over as Lord Hood’s second-in-command after Hood forced Major-General David Dundas to resign, but proved even more cautious, to the frustration of Nelson and others. 1p, landscape 8vo. Laid down on part of leaf from autograph album, captioned in Victorian hand, ‘General D’Aubant’. On discoloured paper, with deeper discoloration from glue from mount. Folded twice. Reads: ‘Genl D’Aubant presents his compliments to Mr Brown, and will call upon him at 12. next Thursday 8th July / Devonshe. place.’ See image.

[Lord Derby disassociates himself from John Stuart Mill.] Autograph Letter in the third person [to Matthew Arnold], expressing a willingness to join in ‘any mark of respect’, as long as it does not imply ‘an agreement in Mr Mill’s political opinions'

Author: 
Lord Derby [Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby] (1826-1893), Conservative politician who served as Foreign Secretary and Colonial Secretary [John Stuart Mill; Matthew Arnold]
Publication details: 
13 May 1873; 23 St James’s Square [London].
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Mill had died on 8 May, and in his 2018 biography, Timothy Larsen gives an account of the controversy over the efforts to have buried in Westminister Abbey. (In any event by his own desire Helen Taylor had her husband buried at Avignon.) 2pp, 12mo. With thin mourning border. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded three times.

[Lord Albemarle, Whig politician.] Autograph Signature (‘Albemarle’) to a long secretarial letter to the surgeon William Barnard Boddy, describing in detail the state of his cataracts, and discussing possible treatment.

Author: 
Lord Albemarle [William Charles Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle] (1772-1849), Whig politician, Master of the Horse who travelled with Queen Victoria to coronation [William Barnard Boddy (1796-1884)]
Publication details: 
24 October 1845; Quidenham, near Kenninghall, Norfolk.
£120.00

An interesting item from a medical point of view, with a well-informed patient describing and discussing his condition, symptoms and treatment options. Three years after the writing of this letter the appropriately-named Boddy, who is addressed here as ‘W. Barnard Boddy Esqr / 3. Saville Row. Walworth’, published ‘Diet and Cholera’ (London, 1848). 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Fifty-five lines of closely-written text. The signature is large and shaky, and the use of an amanuensis is understandable in the light of the content of the letter.

[Lord Carnarvon [Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon], Conservative politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to E. Lovell, expressing a desire to attend an event, while explaining that this is unlikely.

Author: 
Lord Carnarvon [Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon] (1831-1890), Conservative politician, known as Lord Porchester from 1833 to 1849, who served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland
Publication details: 
4 April 1857; Torquay.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, aged and worn, with slight damage to one corner from removal from mount. Folded four times. Signed ‘Carnarvon’ and addressed to ‘E. Lovell Esr.’ If he possibly can he will ‘attend on the Wednesday’, but he doubts whether his ‘other business’ will allow this. ‘Wednesday is a less convenient day than Tuesday to me, but I sd. be very glad to attend if possible.’

[Lieutenant-General Sir John Hope, one of Wellington’s commanders in the Peninsular War.] Autograph Signature as Commander in Chief, Scotland: ‘John Hope / M. Genl. Commdg / in N. B.’

Author: 
Lieutenant-General Sir John Hope (1765-1836), Scottish soldier, British Army officer, one of Wellington’s commanders in the Peninsular War; Commander-in-Chief in Scotland, 1816-1819
Publication details: 
[Between 1816 and 1819; Scotland.]
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Between 1816 and 1819 Hope held the post of Major General Commanding in North Britain (i.e. Commander-in-Chief in Scotland). On 9.5 x 4 cm slip of wove paper, presumably the valediction cut from a letter. In good condition, lightly aged, with the reverse bearing a thin strip of grey paper from mount along thin strip at head. Reads: ‘John Hope / M. Genl. Commdg / in N. B.’ See image.

[Gerald Ford, 38th President of the United States.] Autograph Signature (‘Gerald R. Ford’) to full-colour ‘Official White House Photo by David Kennerly’.

Author: 
Gerald Ford [Gerald R. Ford; Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr.; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.] (1913-2006), 38th President of the United States, 1974-1977 [David Kennerly, photographer]
Publication details: 
Typewritten stamp on reverse: ‘PC 200495 Aug 29, 1974 / President Gerald Ford / Official White House Photo / by David Kennerly’.
£75.00

20 x 25 cm colour print. Suitable for framing. In good condition, with a few light dinks. Head and shoulders shot of Ford in jacket and tie, standing in front of an American flag, arms folded and with his trademark toothy smile. Large signature ‘Gerald R. Ford’ on a white stripe of the flag, downwards and slightly over Ford’s right shoulder. It was Lyndon Johnson who said of the subject of this photograph: ‘Jerry Ford is so dumb he can’t fart and chew gum at the same time’ (the word ‘fart’ being altered by the press to ‘walk’). See image.

[The man T. S. Eliot called ‘a great editor’: Sir Bruce Richmond, editor of the Times Literary Supplement.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to Orlo Williams, one a moving tribute to him and review of the TLS on his ninetieth birthday.

Author: 
Sir Bruce Richmond [Sir Bruce Lyttelton Richmond] (1871-1964), influential editor of Times Literary Supplement over thirty-five years, 1902-1937 [Orlo Williams [Orlando Cyprian Williams] (1883-1967)]
Publication details: 
3 January [1937]; on letterhead of Netherhampton House, Salisbury. [27 January 1961]; on letterhead of The Old Rectory, Islip, Oxford.
£120.00

Two charming and moving letters, each sent on a significant occasion: the first Richmond’s resignation from the editorship of the TLS in 1937, and the second his ninetieth birthday in 1961; and with the latter containing interesting reminiscences of the early years of the TLS. See his appreciative entry in the Oxford DNB. Both items in good condition, lightly aged, and both addressed to ‘Dear Orlo’. ONE: 3 January [‘1937’, the year added by Williams]. Signed ‘Bruce L. Richmond.’ 2pp, landscape 12mo. Folded twice.

[Cardinal Wiseman, Archbishop of Westminster.] Autograph Note in the third person proposing a meeting with ‘Mr Blackett’ [bookseller Henry Blackett of London firm Hurst & Blackett].

Author: 
Cardinal Wiseman [Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman] (1802-1865), Roman Catholic cleric, first Archbishop of Westminster on 1850 re-establishment of Catholic hierarchy in England [Henry Blackett]
Wiseman
Publication details: 
29 June 1857; Leyton. On his armorial letterhead with motto ‘Omnia pro Christo’.
£60.00
Wiseman

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is the publisher Henry Blackett (1825-1871) of the leading London firm Hurst & Blackett, and the meeting was evidently to discuss terms, possibly for Wiseman’s ‘Recollections of the Last Four Popes’, which the firm published in 1859. 1p, 8vo. Laid down on another leaf. In fair condition, lightly aged, on thin paper, and with discoloration from the glue used in laying the item down. Small red armorial letterhead.

[Graham Wallas, Fabian socialist thinker and a co-founder of the London School of Economics.] Autograph Signature to conclusion of Autograph Letter Signed [to A. G. L. Rogers].

Author: 
Graham Wallas (1858-1932), English socialist thinker, social psychologist, educationalist, a leader of the Fabian Society and a co-founder of the London School of Economics [A. G. L. Rogers]
Publication details: 
May 10 [no year]. 32 Great Ormond Street, W.C. [London.]
£28.00

See Wallas’s entry 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. 1p, 12mo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The conclusion of the letter only. Reads: ‘[...] extracts enclosed - / Edgeworth says he will look out for materials for you. / Sincerely / Graham Wallas / 32 Great Ormond St / W. C. / May 10 -’.

[Benjamin Stoddert Ewell, sixteenth president of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.] Autograph Note Signed (‘Benj. S. Ewell’) to ‘Mr. Walter G. Webster’, in response to a request for an autograph.

Author: 
Benjamin S. Ewell [Benjamin Stoddert Ewell] (1810-1894), Confederate army officer, civil engineer, and sixteenth president of the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia
Publication details: 
7 June 1872; on letterhead of the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia.
£150.00

William and Mary owes its survival to Ewell: he rebuilt it from ruins after the American Civil War, and every morning during several years of closure he is said to have rung the assembly bell to keep the memory of the college fresh. The present item is 1p, landscape 8vo. It is in poor condition, on brittle high-acidity paper, with significant chipping to all the edges except the bottom one, which has resulted in the loss of a few letters of text, and to the engraved illustration of the college in the letterhead. The letter reads: ‘Mr. Walter G.

[William Taylor Adams (‘Oliver Optic’), author and academic, member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.] Autograph Signature (‘William T Adams / “Oliver Optic”’, in attractive copperplate.

Author: 
William T. Adams [William Taylor Adams, pseudonym ‘Oliver Optic’] (1822-1897), academic, author of more than one hundred books, and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
Adams
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£30.00
Adams

Adams was the author of more than one hundred books. He was criticised by Louisa May Alcott for his use of slang and depiction of ‘low’ characters such as bootblacks, elements which make him sound like a proto-Mark Twain, and should attract renewed attention today. Without date or place. On 4.5 x 9.5 cm slip of wove paper. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering to blank reverse.

[Sir Charles Oman, military historian.] Three Autograph Letters Signed (all ‘C. W. C. Oman’), as Librarian of All Souls College, to ‘Mr Harlow’ of Rhodes House Library, regarding his proposal about ‘the long series of Cape Parliamentary proceedings’.

Author: 
Sir Charles Oman [Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman] (1860-1946), English military historian and Librarian of All Souls College, Oxford [Professor Vincent Todd Harlow, Keeper, Rhodes House Library]
Publication details: 
2, 7 and 21 June 1937. All three on the letterhead of the Library of All Souls College, Oxford.
£90.00

See Oman’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Each letter 1p, 12mo. Each folded once. All three in good condition, lightly aged. The correspondence concerns Harlow’s proposal, according to the letter of 2 June 1937, ‘that All Souls College should present to the Rhodes House Library the comparatively few yearly numbers of the Cape Parliamentary proceedings 1875-1910 which are not already in either the Bodleian or the Rhodes House shelves - keeping for the College the residuence, a broken set of about 200 volumes’.

[‘the Leap in the Dark’: Sir Frederick Pollock on the Second Reform Act.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Fred Pollock’) to Sir Thomas Baring on General Jonathan Peel’s resignation over the Second Reform Act, which he calls‘this downward movement’.

Author: 
Sir Frederick Pollock [Sir Jonathan Frederick Pollock] (1783-1870), 1st Baronet, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer and Tory Attorney General [Sir Thomas Baring (1799-1873); General Jonathan Peel]
Publication details: 
20 July 1868; on letterhead of Hatton, Hounslow.
£45.00

See the entries for Pollock, Peel and Baring in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. Addressed to ‘My dear Baring’. He begins by thanking him for his ‘introductions - & the kindness of your letter that enclosed them’.

[Daughter of a drug smuggler and mother of a president: Sara Roosevelt, mother of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.] Signed Autograph Inscription (‘Sara D Roosevelt’), proclaiming that she is ‘mother of President Franklin D Roosevelt’.

Author: 
Sara Roosevelt [Sara Ann Delano Roosevelt] (1854-1941), mother of President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the mother-in-law of Eleanor Roosevelt
Roosevelt
Publication details: 
11 July 1934. Place not stated.
£45.00
Roosevelt

On 11.5 x 7.5 cm leaf, with rounded outer edges, extracted from an autograph album. In good condition, lightly aged. Written at the head of the recto, the rest of the leaf being blank: ‘Sarah D Roosevelt - (Mrs James Roosevelt, Sen.) / mother of President Franklin D. Roosevelt / July 11th. 1934’. See image.

[Maurice Thorez, leader of the French Communist Party.] Typed Letter Signed (‘Thorez’), in French, to Roy Hopkins of the Foreign Press Association, London, agreeing to an interview but asking to see the questions in advance.

Author: 
Maurice Thorez (1900-1964), leader of the French Communist Party (Parti Communiste, Section Française de l’Internationale Communiste’)
Publication details: 
15 October 1936; Paris, on letterhead of the ‘Parti Communiste / Section Française de l’Internationale Communiste’.
£100.00

1p, 4to. On somewhat worn and aged paper, cropped at head, and with traces of tape from mount to inner edge. Folded three times. Bold signature: ‘Thorez’. Having been informed of Hopkins’ request by the ‘secrétariat de notre Parti’, he will be very willing to grant him an interview, but asks if he can see the text of the questions in advance.

[Lord Auckland, Governor-General of India.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Auckland’) to ‘FitzGerald’ [William Vesey-FitzGerald, 2nd Baron FitzGerald and Vesey], rejoicing in the ‘mark of favor and distinction’ he has obtained for Captain Macgregor.

Author: 
Lord Auckland [George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland] (1784-1849), Whig politician and Governor-General of India
Publication details: 
6 October 1822; Kensington Gore [London].
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, on the first leaf of a bifolium, the blank second of which carries traces of mount. Folded twice. Begins: ‘My dear FitzGerald / I thank you very much for your obliging note - and I rejoice greatly that you have obtained for Capt Macgregor this mark of favor and distinction. India has no better soldier, nor has any political agent, placed in trying circumstances, shewn a better nerve or a sounder discretion’. FitzGerald’s ‘just notice of him’ will be ‘well appreciated’ by others.

[Lady Pembroke, object of the affections of the insane King George III.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Eliz: Pembroke’) to her nephew the Hon. George Ellis, having received permission from the Queen to allow him to ‘cut a dash abroad’.

Author: 
Lady Pembroke [Elizabeth Herbert [née Spencer], Countess of Pembroke and Montgomery] (1737-1831), object of the affections of King George III during his first bout of insanity [Hon. George Ellis]
Publication details: 
'Saturday morning. 29th. June. [no year]'
£60.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that ‘During his periods of ‘madness’, George III imagined that he was married to Lady Pembroke. Apparently, 'his infatuation went back to the days when he was only seventeen and she, of the same age, was Elizabeth Spencer'. The king went so far as to make 'her handsome offers if she would be his mistress.’ [...] In 1804 the king suffered another attack of dementia and again announced his desire for Lady Pembroke. This situation aroused some amusement among younger courtiers since she was by this time almost seventy years old.” 1p, 12mo.

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