OF

Six Autograph Letters Signed (all 'Halifax'), and one secretarial letter, from Charles Lindley Wood, 2nd Viscount Halifax ('Lord Halifax') to Canon Edward James Russell, regarding the English Church Union and the evils of 'Undenominationalism'.

Author: 
Charles Lindley Wood (1839-1934), 2nd Viscount Halifax ['Lord Halifax'], President of English Church Union and collector of ghost stories [Rev. Edward James Russell (1843-1911), Canon of Manchester]
Publication details: 
1900 (2), 1907 (4) and 1908 (1). Four from Hickleton, Doncaster, one from Garrowby, Bishop Wilton, York, one from 79 Eaton Square, London, and one from Harrowgate.
£180.00

The seven letters total 23pp, 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The third letter, written from Hickleton on 7 January 1907, is in a secretarial hand, Halifax being 'laid up with Influenza' and 'utterly good for nothing'; it carries an autograph postscript by Russell at the head of the first page. The first letter (14 July 1900) invites Russell to fill the 'vacancy on the list of Clerical members of our E.C.U. Council'; Russell's acceptance is acknowledged in the second, which also discusses charges of 'disloyalty'.

[Printed pamphlet.] An Address to Bachelors. By a Bird at Bromsgrove.

Author: 
'A Bird at Bromsgrove' [pseudonym of John Crane of Bromsgrove] [Grafton & Reddell, printers, Birmingham]
 An Address to Bachelors. By a Bird at Bromsgrove.
Publication details: 
The Seventh Edition, with Additions. Birmingham: Printed by Grafton & Reddell; for the Author. 1801.
£120.00
 An Address to Bachelors. By a Bird at Bromsgrove.

36pp., 18mo. With frontispiece (preceding half-title) of 'I. CRANE / BROMSGROVE', showing a crane and a carriage lamp, within a circular border reading 'To make the Watch go faster turn the Regulator to the right & Slower the Contrary'. Side stitched in original pink printed wraps. In fair condition, in worn and lightly-stained wraps. Nicely printed on wove paper with 'LLOYD 1795' watermark. Poem titled 'Introduction' on p.5, followed by the title poem on pp.7-36. No copy of this attractive edtion on either COPAC or WorldCat, nor of any other printed by Grafton & Reddell.

1910 manuscript diary of the purser of, first, HMS Cornwall (with much golf played) and, second, SS Balmoral Castle, describing the Duke of Connaught's voyage to the Union of South Africa, to open its first Parliament on behalf of King George V.

Author: 
[Purser's diary, Royal Navy Armoured Cruiser HMS Cornwall and SS Balmoral Castle; Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn; opening of first Parliament of the Union of South Africa, 1910; golf]
Publication details: 
19 January to 28 December 1910.
£850.00

99pp., in 'Army & Navy Octavo Scribbling Diary (with a week on an opening) for 1910'. Good, on aged paper, in worn boards, with some preliminary leaves torn out, and a few childish scrawls by Irene and Pauline Knott (grandchildren of the author?) at beginning and end (not affecting text) . The author is intelligent and well-educated, pious and with a keen interest in sport, but there are few clues regarding his identity: his family is from Staines, and he trained at the Royal Naval College, Osborne. The itineraries of the two ships mentioned in this diary are as follows.

Galley proofs of article on ‘Irish Fiscal Autonomy’ [by Erskine Childers].

Author: 
[Erskine Childers]
Publication details: 
[1912]
£2,200.00

The whole article, on eight long strips, with the appendixes on two folio sheets, numbered One to Ten, and each headed ‘Royal Econ. Soc. – Irish Fiscal Autonomy’. The article was published in The Fiscal Relations of Great Britain and Ireland. Papers read at the Congress of the Royal Economic Society, January 10th, 1912 (London: Royal Economic Society, 1912).

Manuscript diary of the purser of the Royal Navy Armoured Cruiser HMS Cornwall, describing Mediterranean and Baltic tours of duty (while Captain W. R. Hall was spying for Britain)

Author: 
[Purser's diary, Royal Navy Armoured Cruiser HMS Cornwall, under Captain (later Admiral Sir) William Reginald Blinker Hall (1870-1943), future Director of Naval Intelligence; golf]
Publication details: 
1 January to 17 December 1909
£380.00

Manuscript diary of the purser of the Royal Navy Armoured Cruiser HMS Cornwall, describing Mediterranean and Baltic tours of duty (while Captain W. R. Hall was spying for Britain), with descriptions of golf and other sports and recreations. 'Letts's No. 46 Indian and Colonial Rough Diary Giving Half a Page a Day. 1909'. 12mo, 161pp. Good, on aged paper, in worn boards. Diary proper consists of 210pp., with entries on three-quarters (159pp.) of them (few entries for periods of leave), preceded by two pages with lists of family birthdays and of books read.

Contemporary manuscript copy of a letter from Captain John Bower, 84th Regiment, to his father Alexander Bower of Kincaldrum House, Kinnettles, describing how he saved the life of the future Sir James Carmichael-Smyth while shark fishing off the Cape

Author: 
Captain John Bower (d.1800), 84th Regiment of Foot, eldest son of Alexander Bower of Kincaldrum House, Kinnettles, near Dundee [Sir James Carmichael-Smyth (1779-1838)]
Publication details: 
Letter 'dated Cape Town May 10th 1797', on paper also with watermarked date '1797'.
£120.00

2pp., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged laid paper. Bower begins by stating that he is sending 'a Copy of a Letter which I have received from Dr Carm Smyth [James Carmichael Smyth (1742-1821) of the Middlesex Hospital]'. Smyth's son (the future Sir James Carmichael-Smyth) is 'a very fine handsome young man Lieut in the Engineers come out a Passanger [sic] in the same ship with us'. Bower and Smyth 'wisely went into the Boat which was lashed to the Stern Gallery to fish sharks which were following the ship - the Boat suddenly canted round in the slings, upon which poor Smyth went plump into the sea'.

Autograph Letter Signed from Hon. Rosa Hood, Lady in Waiting to Queen Victoria, informing Mrs Gye of the Queen's response to her letter denying authorship of an article in the Church Journal. With autograph draft of response by Mrs Gye, signed 'Be'.

Author: 
Hon. Rosa Hood (d.1922), Lady in Waiting to Queen Victoria [Mrs Elizabeth Gye, wife of the manager of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Frederick Gye]
Publication details: 
Hood's letter: On letterhead of Osborne [Isle of Wight]. 8 January 1891. Mrs Gye's draft reply: without place or date.
£120.00

Both items good, on lightly-aged paper. Rosa Hood's sister Adelaide Fanny was the wife of Herbert F. Gye, and letter and reply are written informally. Hood's letter: 3pp., 12mo. She received Mrs Gye's letter that morning, 'and the Queen has read it' and is 'quite pleased with your reply'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W H D Longstaffe') from the Darlington historian and numismatist William Hylton Dyer Longstaffe to 'Dear Appleton' [the New England numismatist William Sumner Appleton], concerning Walter Hilton's 'Scale of Perfection'.

Author: 
William Hylton Dyer Longstaffe (1826-98), FSA, Darlington historian and numismatist [William Sumner Appleton (1840-1903), New England numismatist] [Walter Hilton; Scale of Perfection; Wynkyn de Worde]
Publication details: 
'Gd. 21 June 1875'.
£120.00

1p., 8vo. 23 lines. On discoloured aged paper. He thanks him for 'Cleveland': 'a decided improvement on the Tweddell press, as it sometimes has been'. He would not 'give any extravagant price' for the 'dull performance' of Walter Hilton [one of Wynkyn de Worde's editions of Hilton's 'Scale of Perfection'], 'but he is interesting, as I believe him to have been a Northern man. Walter de Helton was concerned in Appleby lands in 36 Edw. III. and Walter de Hilton was Rector of Moreby in 1369, and had a brother Wm.

Autograph Manuscript by the British parliamentary sketch-writer Sir Henry Lucy, titled 'Her Majesty's Ministers as Wage Earners. [originally 'Work & Wage in Downing St.'] By Henry W Lucy'.

Author: 
Henry W. Lucy [Sir Henry Lucy; Sir William Henry Lucy] (1842-1924), English journalist, parliamentary sketch-writer acknowledged as the first great lobby correspondent
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [Published in 'Youth's Companion', vol.73, London, 1899.]
£90.00

1p., 4to. The beginning of the article only: 21 lines of text, ending abruptly. Torn from notebook. Very good, on aged paper. A corrected draft, with the deleted original title reading 'Work & Wage in Downing St'. An interesting item, casting light on the working practices of a pioneer of parliamentary journalism. Begins: 'The keeness of competition for ministl office in Great Britain is certainly not inspired by sordid motive.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('John C Hamilton') from John Church Hamilton, son of founding father Alexander Hamilton, to the poet Col. George Pope Morris, regarding disputed points following the sale of his house [Undercliff, Bull Hill [Mt Taurus], NYS].

Author: 
John C. Hamilton [John Church Hamilton] (1792-1882), fifth child of founding father Alexander Hamilton (1755 or 1757-1804) [George P. Morris [George Pope Morris] (1802-1864), American editor and poet]
Publication details: 
New York; 4 July 1835.
£180.00

3pp., 4to. 74 lines of text. Originally a bifolium, but with the two leaves now separate. Good, on aged and lightly-worn paper. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'George P Morris Esq. | Cold Spring.' The reference in the letter to Morris having 'cut down the wood' around his property is ironic, given that he is most famous for the poem/song 'Woodman! Spare that Tree!' Hamilton begins by stating that he has seen 'Mr. Robinson', who will see Morris on the subject of buying Morris's house. Hamilton considers Morris's price of $8000 for his house 'very cheap'.

Typed Letter Signed ('Aug. Dietz'), with Autograph postscript, from the American philatelist August Dietz to Henry M. W. Eastman of Roslyn, NY, regarding a work he is preparing on Confederate stamps.

Author: 
August Dietz (1869-1963), American printer, philatelist, editor and publisher, authority on the postal history of the Confederate States of America [Henry Membry Western Eastman (1854-1924)]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of The Dietz Printing Company, Richmond, Virginia. 30 August 1919.
£180.00

2pp., 8vo. Good, on lightly-aged blue paper with brown border, with slight chipping to one corner. Eastman has purchased a 'Set of Fac-Simile Die-Proofs with the Autographed Card'. Presuming that Eastman is 'interested in Confederates', Dietz is enclosing 'the tentative Foreword' to 'a far more "pretentious" work - one upon which I have been engaged for many years': 'It "promises" to make over 400 pages octavo, and I am not yet through the Manuscript.

Autograph Letter Signed from Freeman Hunt, editor of the American Magazine and writer on economics, regarding his difficulties with the publishers (Derby & Jackson, New York) of his 'Lives of American Merchants', vol.2. With engraved portrait of Hunt

Author: 
Freeman Hunt (1804-1858), editor of 'The American Magazine' and author of fiscal conservative works on economics [Derby & Jackson, New York publishers; Sir William Pepperrell]
Publication details: 
New York. 12 August 1857.
£180.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. In a difficult hand, with the recipient's name indecipherable. He will not be able to insert the portrait of Sir William Pepperrell in his book (the second volume of his 'Lives of American Merchants'), as the 'publishers [Derby & Jackson, New York] are unwilling to pay for more than expense of printing and paper', and he has 'been at a good deal of expense already on that score'. The volume was published in 1858. The portrait, 'Eng[rave]d. by Wm. N.

Autograph Letter Signed to J. S. Armstrong, President, Commercial Bank of Cincinnati, announcing that the Bank of Kentucky have resolved 'to commence paying Specie'.

Author: 
James Hall (1793-1868), American judge and man of letters [J. S. Armstrong, President, Commercial Bank of Cincinnati; Bank of Kentucky]
Publication details: 
Louisville, Kentucky. 2 August 1838.
£80.00

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He sends 'by the Genl. Pike a package contg P31.563. of our notes for Crt of the Bank of Kenty. | That Bank resolved this morning to commence paying Specie on the 13th Inst'. Hall would himself be President of the Commercial Bank of Cincinnati from 1853 to 1865.

Autograph Letter Signed from the American historian John Bach McMaster to the military historian John Codman Ropes of Boston, regarding a list of works relating to the Duc d'Enghien.

Author: 
John Bach McMaster (1852-1932), American historian, Professor of American History at the University of Pennsylvania [John Codman Ropes (1836-1899), American military historian]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of The College, University of Pennsylvania. 12 January 1896.
£56.00

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of previous mounting on reverse. He acknowledges with 'great pleasure' the 'duplicate list of books relating to the execution of the Duc d'Enghien'. 'The pains you have taken to prepare it are very fully appreciated.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('F Barham Zincke') from the antiquary and radical Foster Barham Zincke to 'My dear Mr Flower' [Sir William Henry Flower], regarding the latter's five-month stay in Egypt.

Author: 
Rev. Foster Barham Zincke (1817-1893), English antiquary and radical pamphleteer, educated at Wadham College, Oxford [Sir William Henry Flower (1831-1899), Director of the Natural History Museum]
Publication details: 
Wherstead Vicarage, Ipswich. 28 May <1874?>.
£220.00

4pp., 12mo. Very good, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of stub adhering to margin. He has received Flower's 'catalogue'. 'I was sure you wd. be delighted with Egypt. It has so much to tell us about man & nature. The early stages of mans progress, & the variety of nature.' Zincke would like 'time to look into things & to think about them': he was in Egypt 'only as many weeks as you were months'.

Autograph Letter Signed from the geologist George Gibbs to Charles Sumner, abolitionist Senator from Massachusetts, regarding the French jurist Jean-Jacques Gaspard Foelix and Sumner's review.

Author: 
George Gibbs (1815-1873), American geologist and expert on Native American culture [Charles Sumner (1811-1874), abolitionist Massachusetts senator; Jean-Jacques Gaspard Foelix (1791-1853)]
Publication details: 
Greenwich, Massachusetts; 28 February 1836.
£150.00

2pp., 4to. Bifolium. 35 lines of text. Addressed, with postmark, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Chas. Sumner Esq. | Boston | Masstts.' Very good, on aged paper. Written while Sumner was lecturing at Harvard Law School, the year before his visit to Europe. Gibbs explains that he has made an arrangement by which Sumner can forward his periodical the Jurist 'to [the French jurist] Foelix &c. & receive others in exchange. Hudson the Proprietor of the Merchants News Room has an agent in Paris & one in Narn to whom he will transmit them.

Autograph Letter Signed ('H H Milman') from Henry Hart Milman, later Dean of St Paul's Cathedral, to Francis Cohen [later Sir Francis Palgrave], discussing his poem 'The Martyr of Antioch', the Rev. James Garbett and Milton's Adam and Eve.

Author: 
Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868), Dean of St Paul's Cathedral [Dean Milman] [Sir Francis Palgrave [born Francis Ephraim Cohen] (1788-1861); Rev. James Garbett (1775-1857), Prebendary of Hereford]
Publication details: 
St Mary's, Reading. 11 April 1822.
£65.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Francis Cohen Esq | King's Bench Walk | Temple | London'. Fair, on aged paper, with the narrow remains of a paper windowpane mount around the edges of the second leaf. Milman begins: 'I found Garbett so much occupied that until yesterday I have not had an opportunity of seeing him'. Garbett has promised to send Milman 'a detailed answer' to all of Cohen's questions, 'and is very much flattered by your favorable opinion'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. C. Hare') from Julius Charles Hare, Archdeacon of Lewes, to James Fraser, proprietor of 'Fraser's Magazine', complaining of Fraser's handling of his 'Vindication of Coleridge', with reference to Thomas De Quincey.

Author: 
Julius Charles Hare (1795-1855), Archdeacon of Lewes [James Fraser (c.1805-1841), London bookseller and publisher of 'Fraser's Magazine'; Samuel Taylor Coleridge; Thomas De Quincey]
Publication details: 
'Hurstmonceux Battle' [Sussex]; 2 December [1834].
£180.00

2pp., 4to. Bifolium. 21 lines of text. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of mount adhering to corners of verso of second leaf. Addressed, with red wax seal and postmark, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Mr Frazer [sic] | 215 Regent Street | London'. A significant letter, which shows Hare in conflict with Fraser over the publication his 'Vindication of Coleridge' a full year before the article appeared in the British Magazine (January 1835). The letter begins: 'I am very much annoyed at finding that you have put off my article for another month.

Manuscript of the United States Corps of Cadets anthem 'Benny Havens, Oh!', dated 'As sung by the U.S. Corps Cadets | 1864'. With explanatory introduction in manuscript, and with the '22nd. verse written at the beginning of the [American Civil] war'.

Author: 
Lieutenant Lucius O'Brien; Ripley Allen Arnold (1817-1853) [Corps of Cadets, United States Military Academy, West Point; Benny Havens (c.1787-1877)]
Publication details: 
[On West Point letterheads?] 1864.
£250.00

8pp., 12mo. On four bifoliums, placed inside one another to make a booklet. Each bifolium with embossed [West Point?] letterhead of a letter 'W' within a shield. A fair copy, with the title reading: 'Benny Havens, Oh! | as sung | by the | U.S. Corps Cadets - | 1864.' The twenty-two line introduction covers the whole of the second page.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Braybrooke') from Richard Griffin, Baron Braybrooke, politician and editor of Pepys's diary, to Rev. John Stevens Henslow, Cambridge Professor of Botany, discussing Lord Grenville's tree book and Dr Clarke's mulberry tree.

Author: 
Richard Griffin [formerly Neville], 3rd Baron Braybrooke (1783-1858), Whig politician and first editor of Samuel Pepys's diary [Rev. John Stevens Henslow (1796-1861), Professor of Botany at Cambridge]
Publication details: 
'A[udley] E[nd]'. 1 January [1832].
£120.00

3 pp, 4to. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of stub adhering to the blank reverse of second leaf. The year 1832 has been added in pencil in a contemporary hand. The letter is on paper watermarked 1831. Docketed at head 'Braybrooke Ld.' He begins by informing Henslow that Lord Grenville has lent him 'the Book in which his Notes upon the growth of Trees, during many years, had been made. He assures me that nothing worth your notice will be found among the MS remarks, but I am not of that opinion.

Autograph Manuscript Signed ('John Bowring') from Jeremy Bentham's literary executor Sir John Bowring to Professor James Pillans of Edinburgh University, asking him to assist 'M Mallar', who is reporting on 'the state of education in Scotland'.

Author: 
Sir John Bowring (1792-1872), polititian, diplomat and writer, literary executor of Jeremy Bentham [Professor James Pillans (1778-1864) of Edinburgh University]
Publication details: 
London. 10 August 1833.
£120.00

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with remains of stub to reverse. His friend 'M Mallar' has come to Great Britain, 'recommended by the French government for the official purpose of looking into the state of education in Scotland'.

Typed Poem Signed ('Theodosia Garrison') from the American poet Theodosia Pickering Garrison (Mrs. Frederick J. Faulks), titled 'Pessimism'.

Author: 
Theodosia Pickering Garrison [Mrs. Frederick J. Faulks] (1874-1944)
Publication details: 
'Theodosia Pickering Garrison, | 32 Nassau Street, New York City.' Undated [1909 or before].
£125.00

1p., landscape 12mo. Good, on aged paper. Garrison's name and address are typed in the top left-hand corner. Her signature is written boldly beneath the poem, which is eight lines long, in two stanzas. It reads 'Because I snatched a pebble from the way, | And thought it priceless till that day my eyes | Filled with a clearer light, and knew my prize | Was worthless, poorer than the common clay; | Because of this shall I go clamouring, | "Behold, there are no diamonds!" and say, | "Look as ye will, ye find but pebbles"? Nay!

Typed Letter Signed ('John Simon') from the British Chancellor of the Exchequer John Simon to J. J. Smith, regarding the exemption from military service of the only sons of widows.

Author: 
John Simon [John Allsebrook Simon] (1873-1954), 1st Viscount Simon, British politician, beginning as a Liberal and ending a Conservative, who served as Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary and Chancellor
Publication details: 
14 Great College Street, Westminster. 16 February 1916.
£120.00

1p., 8vo. Fair, on aged and lightly-worn paper. The letter begins: 'If the only son of a widow, upon whose earnings the mother depends, does not volunteer, he will, if unmarried, and of military age, be entitled to appeal for exemption from the Military Service Act. Mr. Walter Long expressly stated in the House of Commons that it was the intention of the authorities to exempt such cases.' Simon goes on to discuss the position of 'the Local Tribunal', and to point out the position of those who attest. He has added in pen: 'Appeal must be made before March 2nd'.

Two Autograph Letters Signed ('Diana Mosley') from Lady Diana Mosley [Diana Mitford] to the architectural historian Peter Reid, regarding the family home (Rolleston Hall, Burton-on-Trent) of her husband Sir Oswald Mosley.

Author: 
Lady Diana Mosley [Diana Mitford; née Freeman-Mitford] (1910-2003), wife of the leader of the British Union of Fascists Sir Oswald Mosley, one of the Mitford sisters [Peter Reid]
Publication details: 
On letterheads of Temple de la Gloire, Orsay, Essonne. 16 May 1972 and 13 August 1984.
£100.00

Both letters good, on lightly-aged paper. The second letter in envelope addressed by Mosley to 'Peter Reid Esq | 68 New Cavendish Street | London W1 M 7 LD [sic] | Angleterre'. Letter One (2pp., 12mo): She begins: 'My husband asked me to answer your letter. I think we have got photographs of Rolleston, but all such things are stored in Ireland, where we used to have a house. When I go through them (which one day I must) I will send you what I find.

Autograph Letter Signed ('John Horseman') from Rev. John Horseman, Rector of Heydon, Essex, university friend of Southey, to Rev. J. Brewster

Author: 
Rev. John Horseman (1775-1844), Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and Rector of Heydon, Essex [Rev. John Brewster, Rector of Egglescliffe, County Durham]
Publication details: 
Heydon [Essex]. 16 December 1813.
£70.00

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Fifteen lines of closely and neatly written text, with a slip of paper carrying an unsigned six-line note by Horseman neatly laid down at the foot of the text. The letter deals with personal matters, acknowledging the receipt of £23 13s 6d, thanking Brewster for his 'kind attentions', asking him to send whatever he may receive for 'the few old books, which you sent to Stockton's', to Mary Dixon, enquiring after family news, giving his own ('I enjoy the best possible health. My brother was here, lately; & as hearty as ever.').

Holograph Latin poem by the Rev. John Keate, Master of Eton College, written while a student at King's College, Cambridge.

Author: 
Rev. John Keate (1773-1852), DD, Headmaster of Eton College [King's College, Cambridge]
Publication details: 
Without date or place [Cambridge. Written between 1791 and 1797.]
£80.00

2pp., 12mo. On a leaf of wove paper with Britannia watermark. In fair condition, on aged paper with slight wear to extremities. In pencil at head 'Rev. J. Keate | Head Master of Eton'. Tipped in at the head is a slip of paper with an entry from a Victorian manuscripts catalogue describing the item, reading: 'KEATE (The Rev. John, D.D.). Head Master of Eton.

Autograph Letter Signed ('C. B. Tinker'), Typed Letter Signed ('C. B. T.') and Autograph Note Signed ('Tinker') from the Boswell scholar Professor Chauncey Brewster Tinker of Yale University to the Johnson scholar Charles McCamic.

Author: 
Chauncey Brewster Tinker (1876-1963), Professor of English Literature at Yale University, and authority on James Boswell
Publication details: 
All three on letterheads of 847 Memorial Quadrangle, New Haven. Autograph Letter. 22 October 1924. Typed Letter: 30 May 1928. Autograph Note: 7 June 1928.
£150.00

Autograph Letter: 1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. In envelope addressed by Tinker to McCamic at Wheeling, West Virginia. He thanks him for sending 'the book on Barber'. 'It enriches my working library, and I shall be frequently reminded of what I owe to your kindness and interest.' Typed Letter: 1p., 12mo. Fair, on lightly-aged paper with light rust stain from staple at head. McCamic's 'file of the British Magazine' is 'rare, if not unknown'.

Autograph Letter Signed from the New Hampshire almanac maker Dudley Leavitt ('Old Master Leavitt') to the bookseller Charles Norris of Exeter, New Hampshire, publisher of his 'Scholar's Review', discussing it and giving the text of an advertisement.

Author: 
Dudley Leavitt (1772-1851), New Hampshire almanac maker for over half a century, known locally as 'Old Master Leavitt' [Charles Norris (1782?-1847), bookseller and publisher, Exeter, New Hampshire]
Publication details: 
Meredith [New Hampshire]. 3 September 1811.
£160.00

2pp., folio. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Signed twice. In the body of the letter, consisting of twenty-two lines, Leavitt writes that he is forwarding to Norris 'the Register with such additions and corrections as appeared necessary'. He will insert any further information in a few weeks. Regarding 'the sitting of the Courts' he states: 'If the Legislature of this State altered none of the sitting last June, they are correct in your Register for 1811. I think there is no alteration.' As his 'local situation is such' that he cannot soon ascertain particulars, he suggests George Sullivan.

Holograph poem by the Harvard-educated lawyer George Stillman Hillard, Attorney General of Massachusetts, titled 'To the Friday Club'. With engraved portrait of Hillard.

Author: 
George Stillman Hillard (1808-1879), Harvard-educated lawyer, in partnership with Charles Sumner, writer on the law, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts [The Friday Club, Boston]
Publication details: 
Signed 'Geo. S. Hillard | April 1. 1859.'
£200.00

3pp., 12mo. A fair copy. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. The twenty-eight-line poem is arranged in seven four-line stanzas, with Hillard's firm signature and the date at the end. The poem begins with unintentional, but no less curious, sexual overtones: 'The rod of Aaron, severed long | From its ancestral bowers, | Felt in its veins the sap of youth, | And shone with buds of flowers. | The rigid staff, smoothworn and dry, | In living green was dressed.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Geo. S. Hillard') from the Harvard lawyer George Stillman Hillard (later District Attorney for Massachusetts) to W. W. Greenough, written from Paris in the 'Year of Revolutions' 1848, analysing the political situation there.

Author: 
George Stillman Hillard (1808-1879), Harvard-educated lawyer, writer on the law, United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts [William Whitwell Greenough (1818-1899), Boston merchant]
Publication details: 
Paris, France; 16 May 1848.
£320.00

4pp., 4to. Bifolium. Ninety lines of text. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with small hole on second leaf causing damage to a few words of text. Addressed with two postmarks (one French, one American) on the reverse of the second leaf to 'William W. Whitwell Esq | Boston. Mass. | United States of America'. A significant letter, written from Paris by an astute and cultured American jurist on the day following the demonstration of 15 May 1848.

Syndicate content