BRITISH

[Sir Charles Travis Clay, Librarian of the House of Lords, antiquary and genealogist.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Charles Clay’) to the mediaevalist Austin Lane Poole, regarding his work on the entry on the Percy family in the Complete Peerage.

Author: 
Sir Charles Clay [Sir Charles Travis Clay] (1885-1978), antiquary and Librarian of the House of Lords [Austin Lane Poole (1889-1963), British mediaevalist, son of historian Reginald Lane Poole]
Publication details: 
26 February 1942; on House of Lords Library letterhead.
£56.00

2pp, 4to. 34 lines of closely-written text. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed to ‘Mr. Poole’. After expressing a hope that they will be meeting Poole now that they are both on the council of the Royal Historical Society, he explains that he is writing in relation to his redrafting of ‘the early part of Percy for the Complete Peerage’, noting that ‘the present draft is certainly alarming’. He is taking it ‘down to 1245’ and finds it ‘full of snags’. He has ‘just finished a draft of Jocelin, Agnes de Percy’s husband’, and L. C.

[Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, R.A., sculptor and medallist.] Autograph Note Signed (‘J. E. Boehm’), thanking Lord Wolseley for a 'Norfolk jaquet'

Author: 
Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm (1834-1890), R.A., sculptor and medallist, born in Austria but settled in England, who depicted Queen Victoria on coins and designed a number of London statues [Lord Wolseley]
Publication details: 
19 September 1885; on letterhead of The Avenue, 76, Fulham Road, S.W.
£45.00

Boehm had executed a bronze bust of Wolseley two years before. It may be that the present letter is in response to congratulations from Boehm on his forthcoming elevation to the viscountcy, with occurred 28 September 1885. 1p, 12mo. Folded once. In good condition, with unobtrusive folds to two corners. Reads: ‘Dear Lord Wolseley | Many thanks for your kind note & the Norfolk jaquet which arrived safely this morning | Yours sincerely & obliged | J. E. Boehm’.

[Lord Beaverbook, owner of the Daily Express, Fleet Street press baron.] Typed Note Signed (‘Max Aitken’) to the educationalist T. Lloyd Humberstone, enquring into ‘the situation regarding the Bedford estate’.

Author: 
Lord Beaverbrook [Max Aitken, 1st Baron Beaverbrook] (1879-1964), Fleet Street press baron, owner of the Daily Express and other titles [T. Lloyd Humberstone, educationalist]
Publication details: 
8 May 1948. On House of Commons and 121 Fleet Street letterhead of ‘The Hon. Max Aitken, D.S.O., D.F.C., M.P.’
£40.00

See Beaverbrook's entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Thomas Lloyd Humberstone (1876-1957) was an educationalist and prominent member of the Convocation of the University of London. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Addressed to Humberstone at 15 Gower Street, London. After apologizing for the delay in replying, due to his absence, he simply states: ‘I am inquiring into the situation regarding the Bedford estate.’ Possibly written in reference to the Senate House development, in which Humberstone took a keen interest.

[Lord Esher [Lionel Brett, 4th Viscount Esher], architect and town-planner.] Typed Letter Signed and Autograph Note Signed to the lutenist Desmond Dupré, discussing costs and options for new house.

Author: 
Lord Esher [Lionel Brett; Lionel Gordon Baliol Brett, 4th Viscount Esher (1913-2004), British architect and town-planner [Desmond Dupré (1916-1974), English lutenist]
Publication details: 
Both items on his letterhead, Wellington Park, Oxon, and New Town House, Hatfield, Herts. ANS: 22 October 1952. TLS: 28 October 1952.
£90.00

Dupré is thinking of retaining Brett as architect in the rebuilding of a house on an attractive site, and the two items deal with the practicalities. Both signed 'Lionel Brett', and both in fair condition, lightly aged. ONE: TLS. 2pp, 4to, Folded three times. Forty-two lines of text. Addressed to Dupré at The Lodge, Windlesham, Withyham, Sussex. Deals firstly with ‘the estimate for demolition’, with comments ‘On the technical side’, before moving on to the question of ‘salvage materials’.

[Lord Roberts [Field Marshal Earl Roberts of Kandahar], British Boer War commander.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Roberts.’), sending condolences to ‘Mrs. Tierney’, mentioning his time at 'Mills School' with Tierney and cricketer Alfred Torrens.

Author: 
Lord Roberts [Frederick Sleigh Roberts; Field Marshal Earl Roberts of Kandahar, V.C.] (1832-1914), British Army commander during Second Boer War [Alfred Torrens (1831-1903), cricketer]
Publication details: 
18 March 1903; on letterhead of 47 Portland Place, W. [London]
£56.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium, folded once. In good condition. 29 lines of text. He thanks her for her kindness, ‘in the midst of your great sorrow’, in writing to inform the Robertses of her husband’s death. ‘We have often talked of you both, and wondered where you were living.’ He had thought it was ‘somewhere in the valley of the Thames, at least I thought you told me so when last I met you both walking in Regent Street - some 10 years ago’. After a brief comment on Tierney’s ill health, he recalls how ‘He, Alfred Torrens, and I sat next to each other at Mills School.

[F. Carruthers Gould [‘FCG’, Sir Francis Carruthers Gould], British caricaturist and cartoonist.] Autograph Letter Signed to Lady Maxwell Lyte, stating that he is ‘always conscious of failure’ when attempting to ‘put sentiment into a cartoon’.

Author: 
F. Carruthers Gould [Sir Francis Carruthers Gould; 'FCG'] (1844-1925), British caricaturist and political cartoonist [Lady Frances Lyte (d.1925), wife of Sir Henry Maxwell Lyte (1848-1940)]
Publication details: 
19 November 1916; Upway, Porlock [Somerset].
£35.00

See Gould’s entry in the Oxford DNB, with that of Lady Lyte’s husband. The Lytes were Somerset neighbours of Gould. 1p, 12mo. In good condition. He is glad to hear that ‘Mr Logsdail has done the drawing for you for he would be able to do far more justice to it than I could possibly have achieved’. On the occasions when he is called upon to ‘put sentiment into a cartoon’ he is ‘always conscious of failure and it is well to know one’s limitations’.

[F. Carruthers Gould [‘FCG’, Sir Francis Carruthers Gould], British caricaturist and cartoonist.] Autograph Letter Signed, telling Montague B. Ashford that the examination of his autograph collection has brought home to him mankind's good nature.

Author: 
F. Carruthers Gould [Sir Francis Carruthers Gould; 'FCG'] (1844-1925), British caricaturist and political cartoonist [Montague B. Ashford, autograph collector]
Publication details: 
21 June 1903; on letterhead of 3 Endsleigh Street, Tavistock Square, W. C. [London].
£35.00

See Gould's entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition. The two leaves of the bifolium on which the letter is written have been separated, and each bears minor evidence of mounting on the blank reverse. He thanks Ashford for allowing him to ‘look through your very interesting collection of autographs’, which ‘does equal credit to your energy and to the good nature of mankind in general’. He continues: ‘The pages of an autograph book always make me realise that people are not so crabbed and disagreeable to each other as pessimists imagine or profess to believe.

[Gertrude Ward, Matron at Eton College, who trained under Florence Nightingale.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Miss Wright’, discussing their forthcoming meeting at Eton.

Author: 
Gertrude Ward (c.1862-1950), Matron at Eton College, who trained under Florence Nightingale at St Thomas’s Hospital, London
Publication details: 
3 October 1903; on letterhead of ‘Eton College, Windsor.’
£75.00

Gertrude Ward trained under Florence Nightingale at St Thomas’s Hospital in London (see below), after which she became a district nurse, and then sister at the Medical Mission, Zanzibar. She was appointed to the position of Matron at Eton in 1901. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium, folded twice. In good condition. Nineteen lines of text. Signed ‘Gertrude Ward.’ She confirms the day of an appointment, but wishes to change the hour, as ‘unfortunately another UMCA Candidate has arranged to come at 3.30 on that day’.

[Harriet Parr, Victorian novelist encouraged by Charles Dickens.] Autograph Note Signed to ‘Miss Cameron’, regarding the return of ‘Fanny’ and the recipient’s forthcoming garden party, ‘one of my chief pleasures of the Season’.

Author: 
Harriet Parr [pseudonym, ‘Holme Lee’] (1828-1900), prolific British nineteenth-century author, admired and encouraged by Charles Dickens
Publication details: 
2 July [year not stated]; Whittle Mead [Shanklin, Isle of Wight].
£35.00

1p, 12mo. On laid paper, folded once. Informing her that ‘Fanny’ will be returning in a few days, and that ‘we shall be very happy to come to your Garden Party on Thursday 10th. which is one of my chief pleasures of the Season’.

[Henry Westmacott, sculptor, brother of Sir Richard Westmacott.] Signature to Autograph Receipt for payment for ‘Monument to the Memory of Col[one]l. Campbell - including cases - Inscriptions - &c’.

Author: 
Henry Westmacott (1784-1861), sculptor who worked on Nelson’s tomb in St Paul’s Cathedral, brother of Sir Richard Westmacott (1775-1856), and member of British sculpting dynasty
Publication details: 
Dated 18 February 1814. No place.
£35.00

On one side of slip of laid paper, with watermark date ‘1811’. Dimensions: 18.5 x 7.5 cm. In good condition, folded three times. Good firm signature. Reads: ‘Received Feby: 18th: 1814. of Mrs. Campbell One Hundred & fifty Pounds for a Monument to the Memory of Coll. Campbell - including cases - Inscriptions - &c | £150 | Henry Westmacott.’ For Westmacott's work on Nelson's tomb, see the Archaeological Journal, 1894, vol. 51 (2nd series no. 1), p.161..

[F. Carruthers Gould [‘FCG’, Sir Francis Carruthers Gould], British caricaturist and cartoonist.] Autograph Letter Signed to Lady Dorothy Nevill, praising her ‘delightful book’, with its ‘very kindly reference’ to him.

Author: 
F. Carruthers Gould [Sir Francis Carruthers Gould; 'FCG'] (1844-1925), British caricaturist and political cartoonist [Lady Dorothy Nevill (1826-1913), society hostess and writer of memoirs]
Publication details: 
3 November 1907; on letterhead of 3 Endsleigh Street, Tavistock Square, W. C. [London].
£35.00

See both their entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition. He has ‘just read with much grateful pleasure’ the ‘very kindly reference’ to him in her ‘delightful book’ (presumably her second volume of reminiscences, ‘Leaves from the Notebooks of Lady Dorothy Nevill’, 1907). He is ‘just in the middle of it and enjoying it keenly’. The only fault he can find is that he will soon come to the end of it. It deserves great success and he hopes she will ‘give us more reminiscences’.

[‘Theatre Royal Darwar’, 1858: British amusements during the Indian Mutiny.] Seven items relating to the ‘Corps Dramatique’ of ‘Mrs. Comfit’: four handbills and three manuscript items, incl.2 poems and drawing of castigating Englishwoman. See Image.

Author: 
‘Theatre Royal Darwar’, ‘Opera Comique d’Arwar’, ‘Mrs. Comfit & Co’ [Dharwar, Bombay Presidency, India [now Dharwad, Karnataka]; Indian Mutiny; the Raj; East India Company; British India]
darwar
Publication details: 
Three of the eight items dated to 1858, and with the same date on one of the mounts; all from Dharwar, Bombay Presidency, India [now Dharwad, Karnataka].
£750.00
darwar

An interesting and evocative collection of ephemeral material, casting light on the social activities and entertainments of the British in India in the last months of the Indian Mutiny, also the year of the dissolution of the East India Company. No other record of this amateur ‘Corps Dramatique’, or of its conductor ‘Mrs. Comfit’, has been discovered.

[Frederick Burnaby, adventurer, balloonist, Times war correspondent, British Army intelligence officer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Fred Burnaby'), requesting that 'Edward' accept an article by a female mountaineer, and referring to Randolph Churchill

Author: 
Frederick Burnaby [Colonel Frederick Gustavus Burnaby] (1842-1885), adventurer, balloonist, Times war correspondent, British Army intelligence officer [Randolph Churchill]
Publication details: 
15 October 1884. On letterhead of the Grand Hotel, Birmingham.
£320.00

Burnaby is the beau idéal of the Victorian military adventurer. 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded twice. A hurried letter, with a couple of deletions. Written a few months before Burnaby's death. He explains that a 'mutual friend' has asked him 'to submit to you the enclosed article – on mountaineering – She does not wish her name to be mentioned – hence I must not divulge it.' Should the article not be wanted he asks for it to be returned to him at Somerby Hall, Oakham, 'in the course of the next two or three days'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('John Murray') from John Murray II to the Edinburgh publishers Bell & Bradfute, concerning his account with them for Thomas Thomson's 'System of Chemistry'.

Author: 
John Murray II (1778-1843), London publisher [Bell & Bradfute, Edinburgh publishers]
Publication details: 
11 July 1810; London.
£65.00

4to, 1 p. Fourteen lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. He has been 'extremely unwell', and is sending '3 bills for the account of Thomsons Chemistry £1100'. 'I trust that you will not be dis-satisfied with this as I can assure you conscientiously that I could not afford to give them shorter.' Reference to Longmans, and to his anxiety, 'as you left the settlement to my own conscience'.

[Hong Kong; natural disaster] Typed Letter Signed, cover for instructions etc (3 pp) J. B. Keenan, to C. A. A. Nicol, enclosing 'our instructions in the event of a civil disturbance or natural disaster eg Typhoon', map and 'warning signals'.

Author: 
Major J. B. Keenan, Royal Artillery, Camp Commandant, Land Forces Hong Kong [C. A. A. Nicol (1921-2012), Special Branch, Malayan Union Police Force and Royal Malaysian Police]
Publication details: 
Letter from Camp Office, Headquarters, Land Forces Hong Kong, British Forces Post Office 1; 18 October 1973.
£250.00

Totalling 4pp., sm.fol. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. The letter (1p., 8vo) is a circular, and in it Keenan writes: 'Do not be alarmed at the sudden appearance of these instructions. Rather accept them as a fact that some one has your interests at heart'. The instructions (2pp., 8vo) are headed 'APPX 3 TO ANNEX D | CAMP HOLF SOP NO 2 | INSTRUCTIONS TO FAMILIES'. Divided into 13 sections, under the headings: Introduction; Wardens; Precautions; Children; Shopping; Special Warning Procedure; Leave; Finally.

[Indian Students' Department, East India Association, London.] Six yearly issues of the printed 'Report on the Work of the Indian Students' Department', variously by C. E. Mallet, N. C. Sen and Thomas Quayle, from between July 1912 and 31 March 1922.

Author: 
Indian Students' Department, East India Association, London (C. E. Mallet, N. C. Sen and Thomas Quayle) [Office of the High Commissioner for India]
Publication details: 
London: His Majesty's Stationery Office [the last published by the Office of the High Commissioner for India]. Six items: a run of four from July 1912/June 1913 to July 1915/June 1916; with: 1 April 1920/31 March 1921 and 1 April 1921/31 March 1922.
£450.00

From the papers held at the headquarters of the National Indian Association and the Northbrook Society, 21 Cromwell Road, London (referred to in the report for 1912/1913 as 'The House in Cromwell Road' and 'The London Bureau' and 'still to a large extent the headquarters of the Student's Department'; and in the report for 1914/1915 as 'Mr. Arnold's Bureau', referring to 'Mr. T. W. Arnold, C.I.E., the Educational Adviser in London'). For the context see F. H. Brown's article 'Indian Students in Great Britain' (with 'Discussion'), Asiatic Review, July 1925, quoting Sir Charles E.

[Solomon J. Solomon] Autograph signature with part subscription, Yours faithfully | Solomon J. Solomon.

Author: 
Solomon Joseph Solomon (1860 – 1927), painter
Publication details: 
[Headed Notepaper in red] White Cliffe, Birchington, Thanet, no date.
£25.00

One page, 16mo, very good contion. Text as above.

[ Anthony Panizzi; British ] Autograph Note Signed A Panizzi to unnamed correspondent, explaining that he can't meet up.

Author: 
Antonio Panizzi [Sir Antonio Genesio Maria Panizzi (1797 -1879), Anthony Panizzi, librarian of Italian birth and an Italian patriot, Principal Librarian of the British Museum from 1856 to 1866.]
Publication details: 
British Museum, Dec13 . night,
£35.00

Two page, 12mo, fold marks, good condition. Text: I thank you by post [underlined] for you invitation, in order you may get my answer sooned. | I am in town & not likely to go out of it any more than the monument. I have not been well & have been obliged to shut & live by rule. I suppose that owing to that I am better, but I must not presume too much, and, with great reluctance, I must beg to be excused from being with you on Monday next. With many thanks believe me [...].

[ Carl Haag, painter ] Autograph Letter Signed Carl Haag to Sir Richard Temple, administrator in British India and a British politician, about Temple's stay in Brittany, other [un]interesting matters, including (briefly) current work.

Author: 
Carl Haag [ (1820-1915), Bavarian-born painter who became a naturalized British subject and was court painter to the duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.]
Publication details: 
[Headed] Rother Thurm, Oberwesel a/Rh, 12 October 1897.
£45.00

Two pages, obl. 8vo, fold marks, closed tear along fold, remnants of sellotape, some marking, text clear and complete. He appreciates Temple's enjoyment of Brittany, and his and his description of prehistorical remains so enticing that it makes me wish to visit the same spot. He is holding a letter addressed to Temple. He then reveals what his wife is doing (visiting their son). I am now doing a little work in the studio for it is probable that we may prolong our stay till after the end of Oct. when we hope to see you in full possession of your usual good health.

[ George Hooper, artist ] Three substantial Autograph Letters Signed George Hooper and George to Brom [ John Bromfield Gay Rees, Welsh artist ] about his experiences in galleries in Englsnd and on continent.

Author: 
George Hooper, artist
Publication details: 
One from his Redhill address (18 April 1935), the second from a Hotel in Amsterdam (16 June 1935) and the third from Urbino , 17 August 1935. All with original envelopes.
£220.00

LETTER ONE (April): Three pages, 12mo, good condition. He discusses their respective illnesses, him recuperating at Minehead. The district round about Minehead is very stimulating, & inspiring. Watchet, a romantic port near by, immediately took my fancy. I tried to do some watercolours here but my efforts met with indifferent success. I learned later that Watchet is the traditional place from which Coleridge's 'Ancient Mariner' sailed. A fellow artist ('Scott') 'assailed' him when he was 'back to school', saying, he was down at Chelsea , & there was quite a group of artists there now.

[ Augustus John, artist; Welsh Art ] Autograph Note Signed Augustus John to Capt. Levy [Mervyn Levy, Welsh artist] about contributing something to a Welsh Exhibition.

Author: 
Augustus John, artist [Augustus Edwin John (1878 – 1961), Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher]
Publication details: 
33 Tite Street \ SW3, | Flaxman 9123 |11 Feb. 1947
£200.00

One page, 12mo. fold marks, very good condition. Text: Thank you for yoyr letter inviting me to contribute to a Wesh Exhibition you are organising. I hope I may be able to find something for this purpose.

[ Ramsay Muir, historian, thinker] A very substantial Autograph Letter Signed Ramsay Muir to Davis, responding at length to criticisms of his recent publication [perhaps British History a survey of the history of all the British peoples (1929)]

Author: 
Ramsay Muir [John Ramsay Bryce Muir (1872–1941), historian, Liberal Party politician and thinker ].
Publication details: 
Park Lodge, Buxton, 13 Dec. [no year given]
£450.00

Four pages, 4to, fold marks, good condition, closely written, pages joined at top. He thanks Davis for writing at such length. But as you still attribute to me ideas wh[ich] I repudiate, you must put up with a rejoinder.

[Thomas George Knox, Irish soldier and diplomat] Autograph Letter Signed Thomas George Knox to Mrs. Smith

Author: 
Thomas George Knox [Sir Thomas George Knox (1824–1887), Irish soldier and diplomat, consul-general in Siam from 1868 to 1879.]
Publication details: 
Biarritz, 17 Dec. [1880]
£56.00

Four pages, 8vo, bifolium. He apologises for being too busy to reply sooner, and goes on to discuss the affairs of the Club [British Club in the venue de Palais, Biarritz]. It was decided to build a new Club on a large scale on the site of the lodge on the right as you enter to Palais grounds. It is to cost £8000 of which they say £5000 is promised - They go to work at once. Of the success or otherwise of the undertaking I say nothing. He then describes the circumstances in which a Lt Col. Frederick [West?] was blackballed, but who thought Knox was the principal offender.

[Herbert B. Edwardes; British India] Autograph Letter Signed Herbert B. Edwardes to the Revd G. Phillips D.D. | President of Queens Coll[ege]

Author: 
Herbert B. Edwardes [Major-General Sir Herbert Benjamin Edwardes (1819–1868), administrator, soldier, and statesman active in the Punjab region of British India].
Publication details: 
5 Grand Parade, Eastbourne, Sussex, 27 June 1860.
£180.00

Two pages, 12mo, bifolium. good condition. Text: Herewith I return the Proofs, corrected to the best of my ability. The speech is wonderfully well reported I think. | I have not touched any speech but my own. | Lady Edwardes joins me in kind regards to Mrs. Phillips & yourself; & I assure you we look back with pleasure to our stay under yur roof. [...] He is, perhaps, referring to his speech at the Church Missionary Society's Meeting in London, in May, 1860(?).

[Sir James Craufurd [Sir James Gregan-Craufurd], diplomat. Autograph Letter in the third person, in French, to 'M. Dulau' [London foreign-language bookseller] ordering books required for 'le cours historique qu'il a commencé avec ses enfans'.

Author: 
Sir James Craufurd [Sir James Gregan-Craufurd] of Kilbirney, Stirling, 2nd Baronet (1761-1839), diplomat, British Ambassador to Denmark
Publication details: 
22 August 1806. Rushbrook Hall near Bury St. Edmunds.
£35.00

See his obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine, September 1839. B. Dulau & Co. was a firm of foreign language booksellers in Soho Square, London, founded by a Benedictine monk, Armand Bertrand Dulau, who had fled France during the revolution. 2pp, 4to. Thirty-two lines of text. In good condition, lightly aged, with stub from mounting adhering to one edge, and negligible damage at a corner. The letter begins: 'Sir James Craufurd prie M.

[Meredith Frampton, 'the forgotten genius of British art'.] Autograph Letter Signed , thanking portraitist Maurice Codner for 'a most enjoyable evening'.

Author: 
Meredith Frampton [George Vernon Meredith Frampton], English artist, 'the forgotten genius of British art' [Maurice Frederick Codner (1888-1958), portraitist]
Publication details: 
16 May 1938. On his letterhead, 92 Carlton Hill, NW8 [London].
£30.00

Alistair Sooke, on the BBC website, makes the case that 'Meredith Frampton is the forgotten genius of British art'. See Frampton's entry in the Oxford DNB, and also those of Codner and of Frampton's father Sir George Frampton, who executed the celebrated statue of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens (not modelled on his son, who was eighteen when it was made). 1p, 4to, in fair condition, aged and worn. Folded once. Writing to 'My dear Codner', he apologises for 'keeping you up till such a late hour last night'.

[Ronnie Tritton, War Office Publicity Officer.] Two Autograph Letters Signed ('T' and 'R.') [to his wife Andrina], written during the 'Phoney War', writing with evocative immediacy about Claridge's, the Savoy, and a host of friends and acquaintances.

Author: 
Ronnie Tritton [Ronald Edward Tritton] (1907-1990), War Office Publicity Officer 1940-1945 [his wife, née Andrina Frances Schweder; Savoy Hotel, London; The Phoney War, Second World War]
Publication details: 
One: 12 September 1939. On letterhead of White's [gentleman's club in St James's Street, London]. Two: 'Wed.' [no date, but 1939]. On letterhead of the Savoy Hotel, London.
£56.00

Tritton was educated at Winchester College, and in later life held the office of High Sheriff of Essex. He served as War Office Publicity Officer between 1940 and 1945 (the first civilian to hold the post). The present items exhibit the candour and evocative immediacy for which his wartime diaries were praised on their publication in 2012. Two long letters to 'Darling', both 2pp, 4to. Both in good condition, lightly aged, and folded twice. ONE (signed 'R.'): Thirty-eight lines of text. He is writing her a second letter of the day, prompted by boredom and the want of something else to do'.

[John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, general who commanded the Walcheren Campaign of 1809.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Chatham') to Rev. Dr H. Adams, sending an autograph of his brother William Pitt the Younger [not present].

Author: 
John Pitt (1756-1835), 2nd Earl of Chatham, British general who commanded the disastrous Walcheren Campaign of 1809; elder brother of William Pitt the Youngerq
Publication details: 
13 April 1829. Charles Street [London].
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering to blank second leaf of bifolium. Folded twice. He returned 'but very late from Brighton, and was afterwards very unwell, which added to a great deal of business', prevented him from finding for Adams 'an Autograph of my Brothers, which I promised you some time back'. He is now enclosing the autograph, but apologises that he has 'none of my Father's [i.e. William Pitt the elder] to send you, for among his letters, there are no copies preserved in his own hand writing.'

[John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley, Liberal politician after whom Kimberley in South Africa is named.] Autograph Note Signed ('Kimberley') to an unnamed peer.

Author: 
John Wodehouse (1826-1902), 1st Earl of Kimberley [Lord Kimberley], politician who held office in every Liberal administration from 1852 to 1895, and after whom Kimberley, South Africa, is named
Publication details: 
27 June 1867. On House of Lords embossed letterhead.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'My dear Lord, | I have fixed the Oath's Bills &c for Tuesday July 9. | Believe me | faithfully Yours | Kimberley'.

[E. V. Knox, editor of Punch.] Untitled Autograph Essay criticising parenting in 'the age of the child', and 'old men' behaving like 'toddlers'.

Author: 
E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox; pen-name 'Evoe'] (1881-1971), editor of Punch, 1932-1949, essayist, poet and humorist
Publication details: 
Without place and date. [London, 1930s or 1940s?]
£120.00

See Knox's entry in the Oxford DNB, along with those of his father and three brothers. 8pp, 4to. Paginated and complete; on eight leaves held together with a rusting paperclip. In fair condition, aged and creased. A fair copy, with occasional emendations. There is no indication that this essay was published. A polished piece of writing by an accomplished essayist, lightly humorous but with serious intent, Knox's aim being to put forward the view that modern childhood is more self-indulgent than that of previous generations, and results is the self-deceit of adults who have never grown up.

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