OF

An excellent slice of Georgian London history. See his entry, and Hook’s, in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Fifty-five lines of text. On bifolium. In fair condition, on discoloured and lightly-worn paper, with closed tear at foot of gutter. Also present is a typed transcript. The letter concerns a proposed three-day ‘excursion to the Medway’. Hook has engagements that will interefere, but Thompson undertakes to land him ‘safe at the Tower by seven o’clock on Saturday’.

See his joint entry with his father John Loudon McAdam (1756-1836) in the Oxford DNB. On slip of paper roughly 11 x 6.5 cm, cut from document. In good condition, lightly aged, and laid down on part of brown paper leaf from an autograph album. (Part of an autograph by ‘[...] Perry’ is on the reverse.) Good large disciplined autograph ‘James Mc Adam’ (with the initial ‘J’ closely cropped at the head and left-hand side), beneath which is written, in a contemporary hand ‘The Colossus of Roads’. See Image.

See Taylor’s entry, and that of Princess Sophia’s brother William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh (1776-1834), in the Oxford DNB. Bagshot Park was the residence of her brother the duke (Silly Billy’), to whom she was very much attached. The siblings were not entirely accepted by the Royal Family due to the unequal nature of their parents’ marriage. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Taylor, who is not named but is clearly the recipient, has marked the letter as ‘Private’. Good firm signature ‘Sophia Matilda’.

This forgotten case of identity fraud predates the celebrated Titchborne case by more than a decade.

In a letter to ‘John O’London’s’ in 1921, Fletcher boasted of having ‘written (and published) seventy-three novels, twelve volumes of collected short stories, and fifteen historical and topographical works, the last-named mostly of considerable length’. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Annotated by recipient with date of response. Addressed to ‘Mr D. Webster.’ and signed ‘J. S. Fletcher.’ He thanks him for ‘the two Chichester pamphlets duly to hand’, noting that one was ‘The Accompt Cleared’ by Roger L’Estrange.

1p, 12mo. On blue-grey paper with matching stamped, postmarked envelope with typed address to ‘Mr. James Butt / 23 Hartop Rd. / St. Marychurch / TORQUAY’. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Good large signature: ‘Isobel Baillie’. In response to his enquiry, she reports that she has ‘several good pupils who could make satisfactory Sacred Records’, but she would like him to hear them first.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘Dear Hyman’ and signed ‘C. B. Oldman.’ He begins by thanking him for his ‘kind congratulations’ (on his promotion to at the British Museum, following the retirement of Sir Henry Thomas): ‘I have been laid up with a bad cold over Christmas otherwise I should have written before’. Hyman’s latest catalogue interested him very much, and he hopes that ‘the fact that I don’t buy much nowadays will not deter you from sending me future issues.

See his entry, and that of his son, in the Oxford DNB. Hornby served as Superintendent of the Royal Naval Hospital and Victualling Yard at Plymouth between 1832 and 1838. This item is 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium with thin mourning border. Fifty lines, neatly and closely written. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight damage and a few closed tears around gutter. Folded for postage. Signed ‘Phipps Hornby’, and with recipient (‘My dear Sir’) unnamed. Pencil note giving note by recipient at head of first page, giving prices for butter and cheese ‘for the Year 1834’.

Sentiment Thanks for your good wishes | Sincerely yours | Oscar Slater | 23/4.27. Image (= portrait) appears to be a drawing extracted from a newspaper or periodical. Backing paper, 8 x 11.5, portrait and text (slightly overflowing) on laid down pink paper, c.9.5 x 6cm. SEE IMAGE. Note: a. Oscar Joseph Slater (8 January 1872 – 31 January 1948) was the victim of a notorious miscarriage of justice in Scotland.

3pp., folio. Bifolium. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, 'To | Mrs. Squire, | Wragby, | near Lincoln.' In fair condition, aged and worn, with Middleton's seal cut away from the second leaf (without any loss to text) and a number of closed tears along creases. Seventy lines of neatly-written text. A letter filled with pious sentiment, beginning: 'Mr. Squire favored us To-day with a Call, and it gave us a peculiar Pleasure to see that he is so well recovered from that Fit of Illness in which my Brother & I saw him, notwithstanding the uncommonly severe Winter we have since had.

The eight letters total 10pp., 4to., of which 3pp. are typed and 7pp. in autograph. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. De Rome's reputation was enlarged towards the end of his life, with the British Film Institute mounting a thrusting retrospective season, with an accompanying DVD and a penetrating documentary by David McGillivray, 'Peter de Rome: The Grandfather of Gay Porn' (2007). For more information on Alderman, who acted in de Rome's films 'Scopo' (1966) and 'The Second Coming' (1970), and who had been J. R.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with small strip of discoloration at head of first page and traces of previous mount on discoloured blank reverse of second leaf. He thanks Lanyon for his ‘renewed kindness’ durimg his ‘recent visit to Belfast’, and extends an invitation to ‘a party of a few friends we are about to have on the 5th of May’. With respect to Lanyon’s visit, ‘and to the earlier call I hope you will make on my wife (who is generally not in from her drive till 5.0)’, he makes him a street plan (on lower part of second page).

One page, 8vo, strip on left edge from origins in an album(?), fair condition, completely legible if hasty. Text: I will let you off now - but you had better let me ask Gunning whether he has further occasion for you.| I think too that an attempt to murder is as bad as murder - But inasmuch as punishment is not to revenge [underlined] but to deter [underlined]; as long as murder is punishable with deat you have all the security that you can have against attempts to murder. | JK.

See the two men's entries in the Oxford DNB. Each of the two letters is 1p, 4to, with the Prince’s letter on the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium, and the Earl’s signed autograph copy of his reply on the recto of the second leaf of the same bifolium. Both leaves are discoloured and damaged, with wear and loss from infestation, but the two signatures and the area around them are good and clear. The document has been folded twice for postage. Strip of white tape along gutter of blank reverse of second leaf from mount. ONE (Frederick’s ALS): Fifteen lines.

1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘The Right Rev. Eyre Chatterton, D.D., / President, Indian Church Aid Association, / Westminster Chambers, / 5, Victoria Street, S.W.1.’ (‘My dear Bishop Chatterton’) and signed ‘Burdwan’. He is ‘indeed very interested to know’ that Chatterton is holding a meeting, 'at the Lord Mayor's invitation', at the Mansion House in London, ‘on behalf of the Anglo-Indian Schools in India, which are controlled by the Indian Church Aid Association’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, foolscap 8vo, on recto of first leaf of bifolium. Docketted in customary style, lengthwise on reverse of second leaf: ‘Earl of Longford / War Office 29 June 68 / Army Chaplain’s Bill’. Addressed to ‘John Graham Esq / &c &c / 3 Westminster Chambers’. Small tight signature 'Longford', good and uncrowded, on creased and worn paper. Folded into packet. The rest of the document is written hurriedly in the under-secretary’s hand.

An amusing and entertaining letter from a man destined for ‘une triste vie et une triste ministère’ (see his entry in the Oxford DNB). 3pp, 16mo. Bifolium. Thirty-seven lines of text, neatly and closely written. In fair condition, worn and grubby. Folded twice for postage. Signed ‘Fred: W: Robertson’. Begins: ‘My dear Miss Smith / Could you but see the piles of books & papers that are as yet only partially disinterred from their temporary coffins you would conceive my dismay and despair at your question. I will become a disciple of Comte to please you.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is clearly part of a draft of an intended biographical entry, penned by Romanes himself in his close and distinctive hand. On one side of a cm piece of laid paper with the reverse blank. Reads: ‘His extensive treatise entitled “Darwin and after Darwin,” which is now being published in successive volumes, is an outgrowth of the lectures delivered in both capacities.

See Christian's entry in the Oxford DNB. (He was the newly-created Downing Professor of the Laws of England at Cambridge from 1788 to his death.) 1p, landscape 8vo. On one half of a 4to leaf that has been torn in two. In fair condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of tape at the right-hand edge, and two punch holes at the left-hand edge of Manington's side. ONE (Christian): Conclusion of autograph draft legal document, numbered '(9)' and signed at bottom left 'Ed. Christian'. With several deletions. Relates to 'Jno Hutchings & Son', who deny 'Combin[ation] & Confederacy &c'.

See the entries for Stanley and Smith in the Oxford DNB, the former drawing attention to Stanley’s ‘execrable handwriting’. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Nineteen lines of text. Addressed to ‘My dear “Dictionary” ’, and signed ‘A P Stanley’, but with much of what comes in between only deciperable with effort: ‘[...] salutation [...] addressing [...] Could you do anything for the enclosed? I know nothing beyond what the writer says of himself - & Duckworth’s recommendation of him which I also enclose.

Two pages, oblong 12mo, pencil markings, grubby in parts, text clear and complete.Down with a touch of Influenza, busy with letters & work, I'd no time to answer you. I hadn't time to think of any article. I've written Peace messages to Moscow, New Yor, Paris, Plymouth & Melbourne; so, you see, I've not been standing idle in the market place. | I was very, very sorry to hear of your father's (Bob) death. All in all, he was a grand generous lad. Too fond of Ulster, maybe, but none the worse of that same. | My sympathy to you, dear lass.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. 32 lines, neatly written, including interpolations. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Folded for postage. No signature and with recipient not named. Begins: ‘Sir / On my return from the Continent I find your letter which I should have of course acknowledged at once if I had been at home. / If the following particulars about myself are of any use for the purpose of your book they are quite at your service’. A thumbnail autobiographical account follows, beginning: ‘I am the eldest son of the late Revd.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of brown paper mount adhering to the blank reverse of the second leaf. Folded twice for postage. Signed ‘Spenser Wilkinson.’ Begins: ‘Dear Mr. Bryan, / I am glad to hear from you again, for you seemed lost. My wife went to Beauchamp Place long ago to call on Mr. Bryan but found that you had left & could not learn your address.’ He accepts with pleasure the invitation to lunch with him and Colonel Durand, ‘whose book I read with much interest’.

See Binney’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. The present item is only the first part of the letter, and hence unsigned, but the author is undoubtedly Binney (the text ends with a reference to ‘my preface to Dr Cheever’s “Incidents & Memories of the Christian Life,” published by Collins of Glasgow’). In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. The recipient is not named, but the subject of the letter is a proposal for Binney to prepare for English publication a work by ‘the blind eloquent American’ (i.e. William Henry Milburn).

A spirited and characteristically-forceful letter, casting interesting light on the social side of London legal practice in the Victorian period. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 8vo. On Bifolium with thin mourning border. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with some nicking and light creasing at edges. Begins: ‘D[ea]r Aspinall, / I suppose from my not having heard from you no one knows of a case in point. So, unless you tell me there is some precedent - of danger, I’ll recommend my secretary to take his chance.

See his entry, and that of Pettigrew, in the Oxford DNB. Easthope was a difficult employer, nicknamed ‘Blast-hope’. Dickens worked for him as a parliamentary reporter between 1834 and 1836. 1p, 12mo, on recto of first leaf of a bifolium. In fair condition, aged and discoloured. Reads: 'My dear Pettigrew / Will you please to leave out Lancaster letter which I'll send for tomorrow / haste / Yrs. / J E / Sunday'. The letter is addressed on the reverse of the second leaf, with slight loss to one corner from the breaking of the red wax seal. Black 'BARNET' postmark and customary frank in red.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with pinholes to one corner. Signed ‘Julius Harrison’. Begins ‘Dear Boosey, / From the recent batch sent, I return the enclosed which I fancy may all be useful in the English market. / I am struck with the “Flowers in the Valley” as a possible Alto lead number. Please see my remarks thereon.’ He explains that he is ‘trying to find an Alto lead piece for Cleethorpes Festival next July’, and could include the ‘Flowers’ if it were ‘published in C as soon as possible’.

1p, 8vo. On recto of first leaf of a bifolium. The reverse of the that leaf and recto of the second leaf carry the printed prospectus and order form for Clarke’s 1896 volume, ‘Festival Hymns, Including Three Offertory Hymns for Festival Use, Sung in S. Paul’s Cathedral, also in Exeter, Truro, and other Cathedrals, at Choral Festivals’, in which Clarke is described as ‘Vicar of Thorverton, Devon, Hon. Sec. Exeter Diocesan Board of Education’. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice for postage. Signed ‘S Childs Clarke’. The recipient is not named.

Written while Clerk of the Commons. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Joyce Violet Ilbert (1890-1957) was the youngest of his five daughters. 8pp, 12mo. Two bifoliums. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ‘My Dear Joyce’ and signed ‘Yr. loving father | C. P. I.’ Begins: ‘I wish for my sake that you were on board the Cedric - for I miss my [?]-valet-secretary very much. If you were here, you would be hoping that the voyage would never come to an end’. They have had ‘almost perpetual sunshine since we left New York’. ‘The ship is extremely comfortable.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both items in good condition, lightly aged. The first on thinner paper and lightly creased. Both folded for postage. Each addressed to 'My dear Francis' and signed 'Julius Harrision' ONE (27 May 1935): 2pp, 4to. He is supervising examinations at Worcester, and discusses arrangements. 'My people left Stourport for Worcester many years ago, but I rather fancy that Worcester will be too far from Birmingham to stay there. I shall, I think, stay in Birmingham itself.' He will be 'away down the Mediterranean until the 14th.