ARMY

[William Sibbald, MD, Deputy Assistant-Inspector to Ceylon [Sri Lanka].] Manuscript translations [from Tamil?] of folk tales titled 'The Origin of the Kandelay Tank', 'Story of Manderapaudey' and 'The History of Santiraksen'. With fourth tale.

Author: 
[William Sibbald (1789-1853), Scottish British army physician [in the Peninsular, at New Orleans, Mauritius, and Maidstone, Kent] and Deputy Assistant-Inspector to Ceylon [Sri Lanka]]
Publication details: 
[Ceylon [Sir Lanka]?] One item on paper watermarked 1827, the other items undated.
£500.00

Sibbald was in Ceylon between 1818 and 1833. There is no indication that any of these four items have been published. One: 'The Origin of the Kandelay Tank'. 8pp., foolscap 8vo. On two bifoliums of paper with Gater watermark dated 1827. In good condition, on aged paper.

[Battle of Normandy, 1944.] 'Secret' British Army pamphlet titled 'OPERATION “OVERLORD” - 1944 | Report by AQMG (Ops) EASTERN COMMAND', describing 'the part played by Eastern Command in the preparations for and launching of the operation'.

Author: 
[Operation Overlord (Battle of Normandy), 1944] 'AQMG (Ops) EASTERN COMMAND' [i.e. Lieut.-Col. Colin Thornton-Kernsley (1903-1977)]
Publication details: 
[Operation Overlord, Eastern Command, 1944] On final page: 'D 53664-1 175 D/d E.C.2144 11/44 70'. '11/44' signifies the date of the pamphlet, November 1944, and '70' the number of copies printed.
£600.00

Sir Colin Thornton-Kernsley is identified as author from the first of the pamphlet's seven appendices ('Eastern Command | List of officers principally concerned with plans for the mounting of Overlord'), where he is described as: 'Chairman: AQMG(Ops) Lt. Col. C. N. Thornton Kernsley MP-RA'.

[Sir Charles Oman, military historian, and the English archers at Agincourt.] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'C. Oman') to George Townsend Warner, summing up the battle and giving a detailed description of the set up of the English archers.

Author: 
Sir Charles Oman [Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman] (1860-1946), military historian [George Townsend Warner (1865-1916), historian; Battle of Agincourt; archery; toxophily]
Publication details: 
One: 17 October 1902. On letterhead of 39 St Giles', Oxford. Two: 12 March [no year]. 39 St Giles, Oxford, on letterhead of New College, Oxford.
£100.00

Both letters annotated in pencil in contemporary hand 'To Townsend Warner Historian'. (Warner was a history master and head of the ‘modern side’ at Harrow School, and co-editor of one of the most popular British history textbooks of the period. His only child was the novelist Sylvia Townsend Warner.) Both letters in good condition, each with pin hole from former attachment.

[Captain George Richards, Royal Marines.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Geo. Richards'), sending his likeness and describing his service: '23 Actions' including 'the death of Nelson and Abercrombie', serving under Wellington in Peninsular War.

Author: 
Captain George Richards (d.1866), Royal Marines, meritorious British Army officer [Solihull, Warwickshire]
Publication details: 
16 September 1863. Solihull [Warwickshire].
£150.00

1p, 12mo. In fair condition, aged and creased. Folded twice. Written in a shaky hand, as explained by the text: 'My dear Sir / | Agreeable to promise I send my Likeness, I wish it was something worthy of your acceptance - suffice it to say the original saw the death of Nelson and Abercrombie. Served under Wellington in the Spanish peninsular War, attended his funeral, and from 1797 to 1814 was by Sea and Land in 23 Actions[.] I am well in health but cannot see what I write - My sincere love to Mrs. Macwey - God bless you'.

[ Viscount Cranbrook ] Autograph Letter Signed Cranbrook to Lady Strangford [ Emily Ann Smythe or Emily Anne Beaufort (1826–1887), illustrator, writer and nurse, presumably about scheme to make soldiers' wives nurses.

Author: 
Cranbrook [ Gathorne Gathorne-Hardy, 1st Earl of Cranbrook (1814–1906), Conservative politician ].
Publication details: 
[Embossed heading] 17 Grosvenor Crescent, SW, 26 March 1881.
£45.00

Three pages, 12mo, bifolium, large hand, good condition. Your object is excellent and the means appear to be well adapted to effect it. Short service must diminish the number of soldiers wives but [then?] ought the more readily to found a way to elevate and [?] for the advantage of their husbands & for the removal of a state of things which has not been creditable to the Service. My name in support of your scheme is at your disposal. I hardly know what kind of of pecuniary aid you require but shall be happy to contribute.

[Richard Lambart, 7th Earl of Cavan, head of the British Army in Egypt.] Autograph Signature ('Cavan') to part of manuscript document addressed to the Duke of York, Commander in Chief of the British Army.

Author: 
Earl of Cavan [Richard Ford William Lambart, 7th Earl of Cavan; in youth Viscount Kilcoursie] (1763-1837), Irish peer, Napoleonic era military commander, head of the British Army in Egypt
Publication details: 
1 March 1804; Cowes [Isle of Wight].
£35.00

On one side of 8 x 19 cm piece of paper, torn from the end of a document. In fair condition, lightly aged, with strip of paper from mount adhering to the reverse. Two folds. The signature 'Cavan' is between two horizontal lines. The rest of the document would appear to be in a secretarial hand, but the matter is not quite certain. It reads: '[...] | I have the Honor | to be | Sir | Your Royal Highness's | Most Obedt. Faithful | & Much Obliged | Humble Servt. | Cavan'. It is dated 'Cowes. | March 1st 1804' and addressed to 'His Royal Highness | The Duke of York'.

[British Army Regimental Colonels during the reigns of William and Mary and Queen Anne.] Contemporary Manuscript of Regimental Colonels in Britain, South Britain, North Britain [Scotland], Ireland, Gibraltar and Port Mahon (Minorca), with emendations

Author: 
British Army Regimental Colonels during the reigns of William and Mary and Queen Anne
Publication details: 
No date but circa 1715, and amended until the mid-1720s. No place [War Office, London?]
£280.00

The present early eighteenth-century document lists the heads of British Army regiments from the period of the Glorious Revolution to the accession of George I. Internal evidence suggests that it was compiled around 1715, and that it was amended until the mid-1720s. The care with which it was compiled, over a decade and in a number of hands, would appear to suggest some sort of official standing. It is on nineteen 18 x 7.5 cm leaves of laid paper, formed in ten bifoliums, now loose but originally bound together, and with traces of thread still present.

[General Sir William Napier, Irish soldier, historian of the Peninsular War.] Autograph Letter Signed ('W N') to 'Macdonald', declining to ask for rank of Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, with resentment towards Admiral Sir William Parker.

Author: 
Sir William Napier [General Sir William Francis Patrick Napier] (1785-1860), Irish soldier in British Army and military historian of the Peninsular War [Admiral Sir William Parker]
Publication details: 
'Rotterdam Dec 13' [on paper with watermark date 1830].
£100.00

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of tape from mount adhering along one edge. Endorsed 'Genl. Wm. Napier'. On wove paper with watermark 'CANSELL | 1830'. The letter - written with energy and some resentment - refers to Admiral Sir William Parker (1781-1866), who was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1815.

[General Sir James Simpson, Commander of British troops in Crimea after Lord Raglan's death.] Autograph Letter Signed ('James Simpson') to Lady Ann Cullum, making plans for dinner party, with reference to 'two Miss Lockharts', other guests, his dogs.

Author: 
General Sir James Simpson (1792-1868), commander of British forces in Crimea after Lord Raglan's death [Lady Ann Cullum (1807-1875), wife of Sir Thomas Gery Cullum (1777-1855) of Hardwick House]
Publication details: 
27 April [no year]; on letterhead of Horringer, Bury St Edmunds.
£56.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. From the Cullum papers, Simpson being a neighbour of the family. Having 'just come in from a longish walk', he is sorry to have missed Lady Cullum.

[12th (The Suffolk) Regiment of Foot.] Manuscript 'Assignment Offreckonings [sic]' to Messrs John, Nicholas & Brice Pearse, with Clothing Board certification, signed by 3 British Army Generals: William Picton, Sir William Fawcett, Sir David Dundas.

Author: 
General William Picton (c.1724-1811); General Sir William Fawcett (1727-1804); General Sir David Dundas (1735-1820); 12th (The Suffolk) Regiment of Foot; British Army; J. C. Pleydell
Publication details: 
'From 6th July 1800: | To 5th July 1801' With certification by three General Officers of the Clothing Board, from Horseguards [Whitehall, London], 18 November 1801.
£300.00

See E. A. H. Webb, 'History of the 12th (The Suffolk) Regiment, 1685-1913' (1914). Picton was the uncle of 'the illustrious Picton', Lt-Gen. Sir Thomas Picton (1758-1815), who was his sole executor and residuary legatee. The year of Picton's birth is variously reported, but the Monthly Magazine, December 1811, is among several sources reporting his death in Bond Street at the age of 87. 4pp, folio. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and with closed tears along the three fold lines. Endorsed on reverse of second leaf: '12th.

[Sir George Thomas Napier, distinguished soldier.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Geo. Napier') to 'Captn. Hamilton', regarding his request for a position, and quoting from a letter from Secretary at War Fox Maule.

Author: 
Sir George Thomas Napier (1784-1855), distinguished British army officer who served in the Peninsular War and commanded the army of the Cape Colony [Major-General William Craig Emilius Napie]
Publication details: 
Geneva. 11 July [1855].
£56.00

The letter must have been written in 1855, as Fox Maule (later Earl of Dalhousie) was appointed Secretary of State for War on 8 February of that year, and Napier died on 16 September. 4pp, 16mo. Bifolium with black border. Loss to part of second leaf caused by removal from mount, resulting in loss of a few words of text, otherwise in good condition. Begins: 'In consequence of a letter from my Son William of your regt. [i.e. the King's Own Scottish Borderers] stating your wish to be appointed a Paymaster to the Out Pensioners, I wrote to my friend Mr Fox Maule the Secy.

[Sir Edward Blakeney, Field Marshal.] Autograph Letter Signed ('E. Blakeney') to [Folington?], regarding Sir John Wilson and an application from 'Mr Ferrier' of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.

Author: 
Sir Edward Blakeney (1778-1868), Field Marshal in the British Army, Commander-in-Chief in Ireland [Royal Hospital, Chelsea; Sir James Wilson]
Publication details: 
Chelsea [Royal Hospital, Chelsea]. 16 January 1863.
£160.00

2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with strip of paper from mount adhering at foot of reverse. The recipient's name is not decipherable, but he appears to have been a royal equerry. Blakeney hopes that he 'got safe home last night', and thanks him 'for giving me the pleasure of your Company'. He is enclosing a letter from Sir John Wilson (1780-1856) 'who is forwarding an application from Mr Ferrier the Quarter Master of this Establishment in favour of an application to obtain admission into the Cambridge [?]'.

[Thomas Sutton, physician and medical writer.] Three Autograph Letters, one signed and two third person, to A. J. G. Marcet, with Autograph Copy of letter from Marcet, on a misunderstanding over a paper to the Medical and Chirurgical Society.

Author: 
Thomas Sutton (c.1767-1835), physician who first described delirium tremens [Alexander John Gaspard Marcet (1770-1822), Genevan-born physician to Guy's Hospital, London, and chemist]
Publication details: 
ONE:Greenwich; 11 September 1812. TWO: 17 September 1812. THREE: 26 September 1812. FOUR: Ruessell Square [London]; 25 September 1812.
£600.00

See the entries for Sutton and Marcet in the Oxford DNB. A strained exchange as a result of a misunderstanding over the presentation by Marcet to the Medical and Chirurgical Society of a paper by Sutton. (The following year Sutton would publish his 'Tracts on Delirium Tremens, on Peritonitis, and on Some other Internal Inflammatory Affections, and on the Gout'.) The shift between persons in Sutton's three letters is indicative of a cooling of tone, and in the final item Marcet comes close to accusing Sutton of lying.

[Donald Monro, Physician General to the Army.] Autograph Letter Signed ('D. Monro. | Physician to the Army.') [to Thomas Cadell the elder, London bookseller], proposing terms for a revised edition of his 'Account of the Diseases'.

Author: 
Donald Monro (1727-1802), Physician General to the Army, and medical author [Thomas Cadell the elder (1742-1802), London bookseller, successor to Andrew Millar (1705-1768)in the Strand]
Publication details: 
'Cox-Heath [Coxheath military camp near Maidstone, Kent] | Septr 21st – 1779.'
£450.00

The recipient is not named, but as the letter makes clear it is Thomas Cadell the elder (1742-1802), successor to the celebrated bookseller Andrew Millar (1705-1768) in the Strand. Millar was one of the booksellers concerned in the first edition of Monro's 'Account of the Diseases which were most frequent in the British Military Hospitals in Germany' ('London: Printed for A. Millar, D. Wilson, and T. Durham, in the Strand; and T. Payne, at the Mews-Gate.') The letter casts light on the relationship between author and publisher in the eighteenth-century London book trade. 2pp, 4to.

[John Gideon Millingen, army surgeon and author.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J G Millingen') to William Jerdan, editor of the Literary Gazette, asking him to publish W. R. Hamilton's obituary of his brother.

Author: 
John Gideon Millingen (1782-1862), army surgeon and author, brother of James Millingen, uncle of Julius Michael Millingen [William Jerdan, editor, Literary Gazette; William Richard Hamilton]
Publication details: 
Garrick Club [London]; 21 October 1845.
£200.00

For Millingen, his brother the archaeologist James Millingen (1774-1845), James's son Julius Michael Millingen (1800-1878), the antiquary and diplomat William Richard Hamilton (1777-1859), and the recipient the editor of the Literary Gazette William Jerdan (1782-1869), see the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount attached to the reverse of the second leaf, which is endorsed by Jerdan ('1847 | Dr Millingen | death of his brother in No 1501 –'), and has attached to it a printed slip with a biographical note.

[Robert Hamilton of Ipswich, Irish army physician and medical author.] Autograph Letter Signed ('R: Hamilton') to Sir Charles Brian Blagden, Secretary, Royal Society, praising that body in regard to a 'trifling performance' presented to its library.

Author: 
Robert Hamilton (1749-1830) of Ipswich, Irish army physician and medical author [Sir Charles Brian Blagden (1748-1820), medical officer in the Army and Secretary of the Royal Society, London]
Publication details: 
Ipswich; 10 February 1788.
£250.00

1p, 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip from mount adhering to reverse of second leaf, which is addressed, with broken seal in red wax, to 'Dr. Blagden | Secry. to the | Royal Society | London'. After thanking Blagden for the trouble he has taken 'in transmitting the thanks of the R: Socy. To me for the trifling performance I sent to the Library', Hamilton continues: 'I consider myself as honoured by its reception.

[George Nesse Hill, surgeon, Brunonian psychiatrist, asylum keeper.] Two Autograph Letters, one signed ('G N Hill | Secy'), one in the third person, to John Davy, military surgeon, brother of Sir Humphrey Davy, on the Medical Society of Chester.

Author: 
George Nesse Hill (1766-1831) of Alcaston Manor, Chester, Cheshire, surgeon, champion of Brunonian psychaitry and asylum keeper [John Davy (1790-1868), army surgeon, brother of Sir Humphrey Davy]
Publication details: 
[Chester.] 30 August and 30 October 1827.
£500.00

Bynum and Porter, in their 'Brunonianism in Britain and Europe' (1988), describe Hill – keeper at one point of two asylums – as a 'substantial figure [...] a champion of Brunonian psychiatry'. For the recipient John Davy (1790-1868), anatomist and physiologist, brother of Sir Humphrey Davy, see his entry in the Oxford DNB. Two letters, both in good condition, attached to one another along one edge, with thin strip from mount adhering. Both letters are bifoliums, and both have had the second leaf, trimmed along the fore-edge, resulting in each case to slight loss to the address.

[George IV as Prince Regent, and former Prime Minister Lord Sidmouth as Home Secretary.] Warrant, signed 'George P R' and 'Sidmouth', appointing 'George Philips Esqr. Captain in the York Chasseurs', with signatures of Robert Lukin and Thomas Butts.

Author: 
George IV as Prince Regent; Lord Sidmouth [Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth] (1757-1844), Prime Minister; Thomas Butts (1757-1845), patron of William Blake; Robert Lukin; York Chasseurs
Publication details: 
'Given at Our Court at Carlton House the Sixteenth Day of March 1815 In the Fifty fifth Year of Our Reign.'
£400.00

On one side of a 29 x 39 cm piece of vellum. In fair condition, with the usual discoloration found in vellum. A printed document, completed in manuscript, with a good example of George IV's signature as Prince Regent ('George P R') at top left. The royal seal has been removed from the space beneath the Prince Regent's signature. The signature of the Home Secretary ('Sidmouth') is at bottom right, somewhat faded. The document is a warrant appointing 'George Philips Esqr. Captain in the York Chasseurs', 'Commanded by Our Trusty and Welbeloved Major General Hugh Mackay Gordon'.

[Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Frederick') to 'Grenville' [William Wyndham Grenville, future prime minister], regarding war and 'opportunity of humbling France', Welch Fusiliers, Allerton, buying a town house.

Author: 
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (1763-1827), second son of George III, heir to George IV, reformer of the British Army [William Wyndham Grenville, Lord Grenville (1759-1834), Prime Minister
Publication details: 
Allerton Maleverer [sic]; 14 October 1787.
£250.00

An interesting intimate letter from the Duke of York, credited with having done more to reform the British Army than any other man, to the future Prime Minister Grenville, who at the time was Paymaster General of the Forces. Of particular note is the Duke's desire to go to war, 'for I am sure we never have had for these two Centuries so favourable an opportunity of humbling France'. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to reverse of second leaf. Folded three times. Sixty-one lines of text.

[Sylvester, Lord Glenbervie and Thomas Steele, Joint Paymasters General of the Forces.] Both men's Autograph Signatures, with seals, to document witnessed by P. George Craufurd and Harry Harmood, appointing their attorneys.

Author: 
Sylvester, Lord Glenbervie [Sylvester Douglas, 1st Baron Glenbervie] and Thomas Steele, Joint Paymasters General of the Forces; Patrick George Craufurd and Harry Harmood of Army Pay Office
Publication details: 
'this 26th. day of March In the Forty first Year of His Majesty's Reign, and in the Year of our Lord One thousand Eight hundred and One.'
£250.00

See the entries for Sylvester Douglas, 1st Baron Glenbervie (1743-1823), and Thomas Steele (1753-1823) in the Oxford DNB. The two men served as Joint Paymasters General of the Forces, 1801-1803. 2pp, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip from mount adhering to the reverse of the leaf. Embossed tax stamp at top left of first page. The signatures of 'Thos. Steele' and 'Glenbervie' are at bottom right, with the men's seals in red wax beside them (Steele's in fair condition, and Glenbervie's lacking a segment from chipping). Witnessed at bottom left by P.

[Lord Charles Somerset and George Rose, Joint Paymasters General of the Forces.] Both men's Autograph Signatures, with those of witnesses Henry Hallam, William Stewart Rose, Henry Wrottesley and [Mark?] Blyth, to document appointing attorneys.

Author: 
George Rose (1744-1818) and Lord Charles Somerset (1767-1831), Joint Paymasters General of the Forces; Henry Hallam, historian; William Stewart Rose; Henry Wrottesley; [Mark?] Blyth
Publication details: 
'this 8th. day of November one Thousand Eight Hundred and five, in the forty Sixth Year o f His Majesty's Reign'.
£200.00

For information about George Rose (1744-1818) and Lord Charles Somerset (1767-1831) see their entries in the Oxford DNB. The two men served as Joint Paymasters General of the Forces, 1804-1806. Rose, who was a close friend of Lord Nelson, was mocked by Cobbett for enriching his family at the public expense. The present document, witnessed by one of his second sons the poet William Stewart Rose (1775-1843), appoints his eldest son, the future Sir George Henry Rose, (1771-1855), as one of the two attorneys of his office.

[John Hiley Addington and Thomas Steele, Joint Paymasters General of the Forces.] Signatures of the two men, with their seals under paper, and signatures of Augustus Hill Bradshaw, William Wood, Thomas Gibbes, to document regarding payment in Ceylon.

Author: 
John Hiley Addington (1759-1818) and Thomas Steele (1753-1823), Joint Paymasters General of the Forces; William Wood; Thomas Gibbes; Augustus Hill Bradshaw (c.1769-1851) [Ceylon]
Publication details: 
'this third day of January, in the year of Our Lord One thousand eight hundred and three [1803], and the Forty third year of His Majesty's Reign'.
£300.00

1p, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse. Folded twice. Embossed tax stamp at head. Twenty-three lines of text in a secretarial hand, signed at foot by 'Thos. Steele' and 'J. Hiley Addington', both signatures accompanied by seals under paper. To the left of the signatures: 'Sealed and Delivered being first duly Stamped in the presence of | Wm. Wood'. (Wood was a cashier in the Army Pay Office.) At foot of page: 'Entered in the Office for Auditing the Public Accounts 10th.

[Charles Townshend, British politician behind the Townshend Acts.] Autograph Signature ('C Townshend') and seal, with signatures of Charles Bembridge, John Powell, Thomas Farraine, to document appointing Robert Digby deputy paymaster of Minorca.

Author: 
Charles Townshend (1725-1767), British politician behind the Townshend Acts in the American Revolution; Charles Bembridge; John Powell; Thomas Farraine [Admiral Robert Digby (1732-1815); Minorca]
Publication details: 
'the 12th. of June 1765 in the Fifth Year of the Reign of Our Sovereign Lord George the Third of Great Britain, France and Ireland King, Defender of the Faith, &c.'
£220.00

1p, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to edge on reverse. Folded once. Signed 'C Townshend' with good impression of seal in red wax at bottom right. Nineteen-line document in a secretarial hand, with tax stamp at head. At foot, by two members of the Army Pay Office, Horse Guards: 'Sign'd, Sealed and delivered, (being first duly stamp'd) in the presence of | John Powell | Chas: Bembridge'.

[Prince Antoni Pawel Sulkowski of Rydzyna, Polish aristocrat who served in the Napoleonic army.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Antoine Pl Sulkowski'), in French, to 'Mon Général'

Author: 
Prince Sulkowski [Antoni Pawel Sulkowski; Antoine Paul Sulkowski] (1785-1836) of Rydzyna, Polish aristocrat who served with distinction in the Napoleonic Army
Publication details: 
[Reisen?] 5 September 1818.
£350.00

At the age of 22 Sulkowski entered the Napoleonic army, taking part in the Peninsular War and the Invasion of Russia. After the death of Józef Poniatowski, he briefly took command of the Polish Corps. He returned to Rydzyna in 1815. 1p, 12mo. Laid down on part of leaf from album. In fair condition, aged and worn, with slight staining and a closed tear at foot. Biographical note in German at foot in nineteenth-century hand.

[Colonel Sir Anthony Coningham Sterling of the Highland Brigade, Scottish soldier and military historian.] First four pages of Autograph Letter to 'Maclean', describing his efforts to obtain a commission for Maclean's 'Young friend'.

Author: 
Colonel Sir Anthony Coningham Sterling (1805–1871), Scottish soldier who distinguished himself during the Crimean War and Indian Mutiny, author of 'The Highland Brigade in the Crimea'
Publication details: 
3 South Place, Knightsbridge. 1 November 1856.
£120.00

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Evidently incomplete: the first part only of a long letter. Begins: 'My dear Maclean | I have it not in my heart to put forward an excuse for very long silence, beyond an amount of employment the like of which I have never had thrown upon me before, for many years.' He hopes to see him, but leaves that night 'for the North on a tour of inspection'.

[The Fall of Fort Bowyer to the British, following the Battle of New Orleans, 1815.] Contemporary Manuscript Copy of Autograph Despatch from Major John Lambert to Earl Bathurst, describing the action.

Author: 
Sir John Lambert (1772-1847), British Army general in the Napoleonic Wars [Henry Bathurst (1762-1834), 3rd Earl Bathurst; Battle of New Orleans and Fall of Fort Bowyer, 1815]
Publication details: 
'Head Quarters Isle Dauphine | February 14th. 1815.' [On paper with Golding & Snelgrove watermark dated 1811.]
£750.00

3pp, foolscap 8vo. On laid paper with watermark: 'GOLDING | & | SNELGROVE | 1811'. Aged and worn, with closed tears along folds, but with text complete and clear. The document includes two passages written in red ink which has faded but is still legible. The background to the present letter is given in Lambert's entry in the Oxford DNB: 'On 4 June 1813 Lambert was promoted major-general, and was appointed to a brigade of the 6th division. […] Having been sent to America, he joined the army under Sir Edward Pakenham below New Orleans on 6 January 1815, with the 7th and 43rd foot regiments.

[Dame Vera Lynn, 'the Forces' Sweetheart'.] Autograph Signature from album ('"Sincerely Yours" | Very Lynn').

Author: 
Dame Vera Lynn [née Welch] (b. 1917), singer who entertained the British troops in the Second World War, known as 'the Forces' Sweetheart'
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£25.00

On one side of 9 x 14 cm leaf of cream paper. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Reads: "'Sincerely Yours' | Very Lynn". A good, firm underlined signature, in a large sloping hand, with the words 'Sincerely Yours' in single quotation marks.

[General Sir Kenneth Anderson, commander of British First Army during Operation Torch.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Kenneth Anderson'), discussing Kenya, the 'severe crisis' in Britain, conscription. With ANS from recipient Brigadier H. H. Dempsey

Author: 
General Sir Kenneth Anderson [General Sir Kenneth Arthur Noel Anderson, KCB, MC] (1891-1959), commander of British First Army during Operation Torch [Brigadier Harry Hamilton Dempsey CBE (1895-1973)]
Publication details: 
Dun Eaglais, Kippen, Stirlingshire [Scotland]. 14 February 1947. Dempsey's note dated 10 August 1960.
£400.00

Dempsey's obituary in The Times, explains how 'In April, 1945, he was appointed Brigadier I/C Administration, East Africa Command', holding the position into the following year, and retiring in December 1947 on account of ill health. For a full account of Dempsey's military career, see his entry in Catholic Who's Who, vol.35 (1952). In an eight-line Autograph Note Signed at the end of Anderson's letter, Dempsey states that Anderson 'had been my personal & immediate superior as G.O.C. in C., East Africa Command, when I was his Brigadier I/C Administration.

[The Tank in the First World War.] Autograph Letter Signed from Captain R. B. Otter-Barry of the School of Musketry, Hayling Island, to marine artist W. L. Wyllie, writing during the First World War, and giving 'informatkon on tank fighting'.

Author: 
Captain Richard Briere Otter-Barry, School of Musketry, Hayling Island, Hampshire [William Lionel Wyllie (1851-1931), distinguished English marine artist; the British Army tank in the First World War]
Publication details: 
School of Musketry, Hayling Island, Hampshire. 24 March [no year, but around 1916].
£320.00

2pp., foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Addressed to 'Dear Mr. Wyllie'. Writing following a visit to the School by Wyllie (who from the context appears to have been doing war work to assist Otter-Barry), Otter-Barry begins by stating that he will be sending him a sketch, adding: 'I was sorry to see so little of you on the day you came over, but I was pretty well occupied & taxed with all these infernal staff people about.

[ Presentation copy. ] Red Cross in Serbia 1915-1919. A personal diary of experiences by Elsie Corbett.

Author: 
Elsie Corbett [ British Red Cross in Serbia in the First World War ]
Publication details: 
Cheney & Sons Ltd, Banbury, Oxon. 1964.
£120.00

xiii + 186pp., 8vo. With map and 13 plates, several of them printed on both sides. In green cloth binding. No dustwrapper. Internally in good condition, lightly aged, in worn and spotted binding. The inscription, on the front free endpaper, is in Corbett's autograph, and reads 'To Nurse and Arthur | From Elsie Corbett'. Elsie Cameron Corbett (1896-1977) was the daughter of Archibald Corbett, 1st Baron Rowallan (1856-1933), and sister of a Governor of Tasmania.

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