CENTURY

Autograph Manuscript headed 'Proposed Porson Scholarship is open to Freshmen only - Examination in the October term, exclusively Classical. | Objections to the Grace for accepting this Foundation.'

Author: 
William Gilson Humphry [sometimes misspelt 'Humphrey'] (1815-1886), biblical scholar, Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
Publication details: 
21 October 1846; Trinity College, Cambridge.
£85.00

4to (26.5 x 22 cm), 2 pp, 30 lines of text. On discoloured and lightly creased and stained paper, with some chipping to extremities, but with text clear and entire.

Autograph Letter in the third person to 'Mr Twining'.

Author: 
Richard Westmacott (1799-1872), English sculptor
Publication details: 
31 January 1862; 1 Kensington Gate.
£56.00

12mo, 2 pp, 18 lines. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper. 'Mr. Westmacott presents his Compts and has to acknowledge Mr Twinings polite letter'. Its delivery has been delayed 'owing to its incorrect address', 'Mr W. having left Wilton <& Co.?>. (and quitted the practice of his profession) for some years'. As for 'Engravings and Photographs' of Westmacott's works, 'very few were made'. Most of these were 'ill done', although he does name one with which he was satisfied. Consequently Westmacott cannot 'assist Mr. Twining in his object'.

Autograph Note Signed ('Dorothy Nevill') to 'Mr <Descou?>'.

Author: 
Lady Dorothy Nevill [Lady Dorothy Fanny Nevill, née Walpole] (1826-1913), hostess and horticulturist
Publication details: 
Friday 18th' [no date]; on embossed letterhead of Dangstein, Petersfield.
£28.00

12mo: 1 p. 8 lines of text. On aged paper somewhat grubby around signature at foot. Asks when he will be 'able to come to us to meet the d[uke] of Wellington'. They are 'at liberty any time between the 4th and 11th of January'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('M. F. T.') to his printer Thomas Brettell, 25 Rupert Street, Haymarket, London.

Author: 
Martin Farquhar Tupper (1810-1889), English poet [P. T. Barnum; John Leech; Thomas Brettell; Henry William Pickersgill]
Publication details: 
Undated, but docketed 'Jan. 31 1851'.
£75.00

12mo: 2 pp. 28 lines. Good, on lightly aged paper, with unobtrusive small spike hole and traces of mounts adhering to four corners. Interesting animated letter between a Victorian author and his printer. Relates to Tupper's 'A hymn for All Nations; translated into thirty languages; nearly fifty versions; the music composed expressly by S. Sebastian Wesley.' (1851). Asks his printer to 'Attend to Hymn as within' (not present). 'We cannot help all this trouble'. Tupper has written to Dr Gavassi, but has had no answer: 'get Rossetti's as soon as you can.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Forshall') to Bishop Coleridge.

Author: 
Josiah Forshall (1795-1863), Keeper of Manuscripts and Secretary of the British Museum [William Hart Coleridge (1789-1849), bishop of Barbados and the Leeward Islands]
Publication details: 
B[ritish]. M[useum]. Oct: 2. 1848.'
£35.00

12mo: 2 pp. 11 lines of text. The Bishop's note has reached him 'just as I am about to set out for Cambridge to spend the week there'. When he returns he will 'search for any papers we may have relative to Dr. Walker'. He will let him 'know the result of my enquiries'.

Autograph Draft of Letter to his publishers Messrs Petter & Galpin [George William Petter and Thomas Dixon Galpin, associates of John Cassell].

Author: 
George Cruikshank (1792-1878), English graphic artist
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£85.00

12mo (18 x 11 cm): 1 p. 15 lines of text. On aged paper with one light stain at centre. Corner on reverse tipped in onto card mount. No signature. Introducing 'Miss Napier who has just returned from the Cape of Good Hope - She has one or two M.SS which she wishes to submit to your notice [...] you will kindly assist the lady in her literary efforts'. Miss Napier's address is given as '4 Beech View Villas, South Penge Park | Penge Surrey SE.' It is perhaps significant that Sir George Thomas Napier (1784-1855) was Governor of the Cape of Good Hope from 1837 to 1843.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Cor<dier>'), 'A Monsieur <Jukeur?> opticien - rue de Conde Paris'.

Author: 
Joseph Cordier (1775-1849), French engineer, in charge of work on the Simplon Pass in 1800
Publication details: 
Without date or place [Paris].
£45.00

12mo bifolium: 1 p. 11 lines of text. Address and docketing on second leaf. Good, but with 1 cm hole in first leaf of bifolium, possibly caused by breaking open of blue wafer, which still adheres. Hole causing loss to two words, including latter part of signature. Asks the recipient 'de remettre a Mr. Pousin conducteur des ponts et chaussees, un double demi metre en Cuivre et un metre en cuivre avec quatre petites roulettes pointilles'. He will pay for the order in a few days time.

Bill, in French, for work 'imprime pour le Citoyen Duprat, par Crapelet' [i.e. printing 'Memoire sur la reunion de l'artillerie et du genie, adresse au premier consul de la republique francaise' by 'A.A.'

Author: 
Charles Crapelet (1762-1809), French printer based in Paris, father of the printer Georges-Adrien Crapelet [Jean-Louis Duprat, Professeur a l'Ecole centrale du departement du Tarn]
Publication details: 
9 Nivose an 9e [30 December 1800]
£100.00

On one side of piece of laid paper roughly 16 x 19.5 cm. Good, though lightly aged, and with a few small pin holes in one corner (not affecting text). 12 lines. Headed 'imprime pour le Citoyen Duprat, par Crapelet, 9 Nivose an 9e'. The first of four entries reads 'Memoire sur la reunion de l'artillerie & du Genie [published in Paris in 1800 by Duprat], contenant cinq feuilles & demie in-8o. Cicero, tirees a 500 exempl. a raison de 24th la feuille'. Second entry gives cost of 'Remaniement de toutes les feuilles & corrections extraordinaires'.

Typed Letter Signed ('Richard. O. Gross') to K. W. Luckhurst, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Richard Oliver Gross (1882-1964), English-born New Zealand sculptor
Publication details: 
20 June 1949; on his letterhead from 7 Marie Avenue, Hillsborough, Auckland, New Zealand.
£38.00

4to, 1 p, 8 lines. Lightly creased and with a little smudging from a carbon and some minor paperclip staining (none of which affects the signature). He is sending 'a short article [not present] - "Art in the Post War World", and a copy of an address to "The Auckland Society of Arts." ' He believes 'that countries like New Zealand, cut off from the inspiration and example of what is best in European Art, are prone to be dazzled by Materialistic Efficiency; even when linked with the best technical flavourings through Art in industry.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('Carl Haag') to Mrs Grant Morris.

Author: 
Johann Carl Haag (1820-1915), Bavarian watercolour painter who settled in England and became a leading orientalist
Publication details: 
7 November 1884; on letterhead of Ida Villa, Lyndhurst Road, Hampstead, London N.W.
£38.00

8vo, 1 p, 8 lines. Folded twice. Good, on lightly discoloured paper. Informing the Morrises of 'our safe arrival', and thanking them for 'the very amiable hospitality we have enjoyed'. 'Mrs. Haag in this moment feels a little the fatigue of the journey but will ere long use a leisure hour to write to you.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('Thos. H. Wyatt') to the connoisseur and print collector the Rev. Charles Henry Middleton (1828-1915); with manuscript 'resolution'.

Author: 
Thomas Henry Wyatt (1807-1880), English architect
Publication details: 
19 May 1881; on embossed letterhead of the Art Students' Home, 4 & 5 Brunswick Square, London W.C.
£100.00

12mo, 2 pp, letter of 8 lines, resolution of 9 lines. Good, on lightly spotted paper with small pin holes to top inner corner. He is appending 'a copy of a resolution agreed to at a Meeting of Committee held this afternoon at No 1 Station St., the Baroness Burdett-Coutts presiding'. The resolution, on the recto of the second leaf of the bifolium, thanks Middleton, 'for services rendered to the Art Student Home, & for the constant interest he has displayed in advancing its welfare'.

Catalogue of an Interesting Collection of Autograph Letters, selected from the Portfolios of Several Distinguished Amateurs [...] Family of George the Third [...] Some curious Shaksperian Papers [...] Oxford, Cambridge, Eton, and Winchester Scholars.

Author: 
Puttick and Simpson, London auctioneers [autographs; sale catalogues; Shakespeare; George Washington]
Publication details: 
Messrs. Puttick and Simpson, Auctioneers of Literary Property and Works of Art, At their House, No. 47, Leicester Square, W.C.; 23 March 1864.
£80.00

Octavo: ii + 51 + [1] pp. Stitched and unbound. Grubby, and with loss to final leaf, affecting a couple of lots and an advertisement, from removal of label. 521 lots. Postmarked penny red postage stamp. Letters of Burns, Byron, Coleridge, Frederick the Great, Haydn, Rousseau, Voltaire. The high point of the sale undoubtedly three letters from George Washington to Sir Edward Newenham.

The Collection of Autograph Letters and Historical Documents formed by Alfred Morrison (Second Series, 1882-1893). The Blessington Papers.

Author: 
[Alfred Morrison (1821-1897), English collector of autograph material; Marguerite, Countess of Blessington; Alfred Guillaume Gabriel, Count D'Orsay; Gore House]
Publication details: 
Printed for Private Circulation. 1895. [London: Printed by Strangeways & Sons, Tower Street, Cambridge Circus, W.C.]
£100.00

Quarto: ii + 234 pp. In original grey boards and cloth spine, with chipped white label. Unopened. Good, with slightly discoloured endpapers. Extensive transcriptions from the Countess of Blessington's correspondence, the writers ranging from Mrs Abell ('Napoleon's pet English child at St. Helena') to Nathaniel Parker Willis.

Le Gout des Manuscripts. Discours inaugural prononce a Bale le 28 juin 1956 [...] devant la Societe suisse d'amateurs d'autographes.

Author: 
Theodore Besterman
Publication details: 
Geneva: Societas Bibliographica, 8 rue Verdaine [1956.]
£75.00

12mo: 45 pp. In original light-green printed wraps. Very good on lightly aged paper, with some sunning to wraps. Inscribed by the author "For Mary | with love & all good wishes for Christmas and the New Year, especially the show' | Th." Besterman attempts to demonstrate that the taste for autographs, 'tres loin d'etre malsaine, est au contraire pure et bienfaisante'.

At Private Sale, November, 1859. Catalogue of the Entire Private Collection of Autograph Letters, &c. gathered during several years, with much care and expense, by Mr. T. H. Morrell. [..] nearly every Prominent Character in the Revolutionary War [..]

Author: 
T. H. Morrell [Bangs, Merwin & Co, auctioneers; autograph collecting; auction catalogues; Declaration of Independence; American Presidents]
Publication details: 
New York: Bangs, Merwin & Co., At the Trade Sale Rooms, 13 Park Row. 1 November 1859.
£150.00

Octavo: 28 pp. Stabbed. In original blue printed wraps. Advertisements on back. On browning high-acidity paper, in chipped and worn wraps with damp staining to edges at rear. 298 items. Items 95-141: 'Signers of the Declaration of Independence and Presidents of the United States.' Scarce: no copy on COPAC, which does record one copy of a catalogue of a sale of Morrell's books by the same firm in 1866, and two copies of a catalogue of a further sale in 1869.

Autographs and Manuscripts. Catalogue of a Selection of Important Historical, Literary and other Autographs, being the second portion of a Collection for Sale.

Author: 
M. M. Holloway, London autograph dealer [autographs; sale catalogues]
Publication details: 
London: M. M. Holloway, 25 Bedford Street, Strand, W.C. 1862.
£60.00

Octavo: 52 pp. Stitched and unbound. Good, if a tad grubby. In alphabetical order from Queen Adelaide to the Duchess of York, but lotted 236 to 553. Tastefully printed, and including letters of Charles I, Coleridge, Dr Johnson, Samuel Richardson, Rossini, Sir Walter Scott, Laurence Sterne and Horace Walpole.

Autograph Note Signed to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Jonathan Mawson Denwood (born c.1853?; died c.1931?), English writer in the dialect of his native Cumbria
Publication details: 
72 Kirkgate, Cockermouth; 8 August 1931.
£30.00

One page, quarto. Good, on lightly aged paper. Some offsetting and smudging from Denwood's folding of letter. Reads '72 Kirkgate | Cockermouth | Aug 8 - 1931 | Jonathan. Mawson. Denwood | Dear Sir, | I send you autograph. I cannot write further At the moment I can scarcely hold a pen.'

[Catalogue 550] A Selection of Books, Manuscripts, Engravings and Autograph Letters remarkable for their Interest & Rarity, being the five hundredth catalogue issued by Maggs Bros [...].

Author: 
Maggs Brothers [booksellers' catalogues]
Publication details: 
London: Maggs Bros, 34 & 35 Conduit Street, W. 1928.
£100.00

[viii] 237 pp., fol.m, original grey and red printed wraps, numerous plates and illustrations in text, some staining of cover around spine, a few pencil markings, top of spine damaged, mainly good condition. It includes Cortes, "Carta de Relacion" (1522), other important Americana, and the first edition of "Don Quixote".

Autograph Card Signed [to Rev. E. J. F. Davies].

Author: 
Edward Hutton (1875-1969), British writer on travel and Italy
Publication details: 
21 April 1934; Rome.
£10.00

One page, on back of printed postcard. Very good. Photograph of the Via Appia on reverse. Reads 'Dear Sir | In reply to your request I have pleasure in sending you this'.

[Catalogue 555] A Selection of Books, Manuscripts, Bindings and Autograph Letters remarkable for their Interest & Rarity, being the five hundred and fiftyfifth catalogue issued by Maggs Bros [...].

Author: 
Maggs Brothers [booksellers' catalogues]
Publication details: 
London: Maggs Bros, 34 & 35 Conduit Street, W. 1931.
£100.00

Folio: iv + 237 pp. In original grey and red printed wraps. Numerous plates and illustrations in text. Grubby and spotted, in heavily-worn wraps. One plate slit along fold and repaired with tape. Presentation copy, inscribed 'With Compliments from E U Maggs'. Covetable items, accurately described, from a complete set of Addison and Steele's 'Spectator' (£105) to the first edition of both volumes of Wordsworth's 'Lyrical Ballads' (£185). Contains 'twenty-four autograph letters signed [by Charles Dickens] on "The Village Coquettes" to John P. Hullah, the musical composer' (£650).

Katalog 1: Autographen.

Author: 
Christian M. Nebehay, Austrian dealer in autographs
Publication details: 
Wien 1. (Vienna, Austria) Annagasse 18. [1950s?]
£50.00

Quarto: 40 pp. In original printed wraps, decorated with various facsimiles. Facsimiles in text, and portrait of Beethoven on rear inner wrap. Good, on browned paper. Sections on painters, writers, poets, architects, sculptors, musicians. Nods towards the American market, with some entries in English and Dollar conversions. Together with Nebehay's attractive bifoliate trade card, carrying a photograph of his premises.

Typed Invoice (docked in manuscript 'Copy') from Francis Edwards Ltd to Wreden.

Author: 
William P. Wreden; Francis Edwards Ltd, London booksellers
Publication details: 
6 December 1954; on Francis Edwards letterhead ('Booksellers since 1855') in red and black ink.
£30.00

One page. Dimensions of paper roughly six and a half inches by eight wide. Spotted, aged and creased, and with some closed tears. Addressed to Wreden at 'Box 56, Palo Alto, Cal., U.S.A.' For '3 reg'd bookpost parcels', and headed 'Hodgson's Sale 25th Nov. 1954'. Lots 204 and 205 purchased for a total of £27 9s 9d, including an apparent commission of 15% on an item under ten pounds, and 10% on one over that sum. Items ('French Documents & Autograph Letters' and 'Autograph Letters from Lord Brougham and contemporaries') described in nine lines.

Autograph Note Signed (' "Winifred Graham" | (Mrs. Theodore Cory)') accompanying Typed Letter Signed ('Winifred Cory') to the Rev. E. J. F. Davies.

Author: 
Winifred Graham (Matilda Winifred Muriel Graham Cory, 1873-1950), author of more than eighty books, and opponent of the Mormon religion
Publication details: 
Both on letterhead 'ST. ALANS, | HAMPTON-ON-THAMES'; both dated 7 January 1931.
£50.00

Both items one page, 12mo. Both on creased, aged paper, with some paperclip spotting. In the typed letter (which is in slightly worse condition than the other item) she explains that she is enclosing her autograph on a separate sheet. '[I]n case you care to have it My Mother, Mrs. Graham, (I write under my maiden name) thought you might like to have Sir Philip Gibbs' autograph, [^the celebrated author,] so she has asked me to send you a card she received from him the other day. [not present] You certainly have a wonderful collection!' The autograph reads 'Jan: 7th.

Autograph Note Signed ('C. P. Scott') to unnamed male correspondent [Rev. E. J. F. Davies].

Author: 
Charles Prestwich Scott (1846-1932) Liberal politician and editor of the Manchester Guardian, 1872-1929
Publication details: 
3 April 1931; on embossed letterhead The Firs, Fallowfield, Manchester.
£30.00

One page, 12mo. Very good: lightly aged and creased. 'You are welcome to my autograph for what it is worth.' From the collection of the Rev. E. J. F. Davies.

Autograph Note Signed ('Mary W. Findlater') to unnamed female autograph hunter.

Author: 
Mary Williamina Findlater (1865-1963), Scottish novelist and poet
Publication details: 
27 October 1901; Mount Stuart, Torquay, England.
£10.00

One page, 16mo. Good, on lightly aged grey paper, with previous paper mount adhering to reverse. Reads 'I have pleasure in sending you the Autograph you desire'.

Spaziergange im Reiche des Autographen. Ein Anregung zum Autographensammeln. Mit einer Titelzeichnung von Hans Thoma und 58 anderen Abbildungen.

Author: 
Professor Dr. Eugen Wolbe (1873-1938), Studientrat [autograph collecting; autographs]
Publication details: 
Berlin: Richard Carl Schmidt & Co. 1925.
£120.00

Quarto: 196 + xii pp. 58 facsimiles in text, but lacking frontispiece. No dustwrapper. In original cloth binding, decorated on the front board in yellow, grey and black. Good, with spotting to edges and boards. Concentrating exclusively on German autographs. Wolbe was removed from his teaching post by the Nazis in 1933.

Autograph Note Signed to the autograph hunter Rev. E. J. F. Davies.

Author: 
Ralph David Blumenfeld (1864-1948), newspaper editor
Publication details: 
15 December 1930; on letterhead of the Daily Express.
£10.00

One page, 12mo. Very good, with light paperclip spotting. 'Certainly. I am glad to comply with your request.'

[No. 36.] Catalogue of Interesting, Choice and Rare Historical Documents and Autograph Letters, [...] And a Choice List of Modern Names [...] George Cattermole [...] Charles Dickens [...] William Cowper [...] Lord Nelson. [...]

Author: 
Samuel J. Davey [booksellers' catalogues; George Cattermole; Charles Dickens; William Cowper; Isaac Newton; Lord Nelson]
Publication details: 
London: On Sale by Samuel J. Davey, 47, Great Russell Street, Opposite the British Museum, W.C. 1892.
£80.00

Quarto: 50 + [2] pp. Fold-out frontispiece giving eighteen examples of handwriting from items in the catalogue. In original orange printed wraps. Good, though a tad dusty, and in worn and faded wraps with some glue staining to back and wear to spine. Well printed, with lengthy extracts from most items. A scrap of paper which acts as a bookmark has the words "Listed Walpole entries to W.S. Lewis || Nov 1953" in Winifeed Myers [?] hand (from her reference library). The first item is 'A Series of Pencil Sketches by George Cattermole, illustrating Dickens' Works' (£60).

Autograph Note Signed ('John Oxenham') to 'Master M. Bull'.

Author: 
John Oxenham' (William Arthur Dunkerley, 1852-1941), British journalist, poet and novelist
Publication details: 
London; 28 July 1913.
£10.00

One page, 12mo. Very good, on lightly aged paper mounted on piece of card. Reads 'London | July 28/13 | Master M. Bull | I append autograph as requested | Yours truly | John Oxenham'.

Autographs and Manuscripts. Catalogue of a Selection of Important Historical, Literary and other Autographs, being the Third Portion of a Collection for Sale.

Author: 
Holloway & Son (M. M. Holloway) [autographs; sale catalogues; Thomas Jefferson]
Publication details: 
London: Holloway & Son, 25 Bedford Street, Strand, W.C. 1864. [G. Norman, Printer, Maiden Lane, Covent Garden.]
£60.00

Octavo: 53 pp. Stitched and unbound. Complete in itself, in alphabetical order, but lotted 554 to 846. Good, though grubby, and with the outer leaves somewhat creased. Includes letters and documents by Burns, Charles I and II, Maria Edgeworth, Frederick the Great, Garrick, Lady Hamilton, Handel, Dr Johnson, Southey, Wordsworth. The high spot is a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Earl of Buchan, described over one page.

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