CHARLES

[George Cruikshank, ‘the modern Hogarth’, nineteenth-century caricaturist and illustrator, associated with Charles Dickens.] Six original engravings, including illustrations of raucous scenes of life in London.

Author: 
George Cruikshank (1792-1878), 'the modern Hogarth', nineteenth-century British caricaturist and illustrator, associated with Charles Dickens
Publication details: 
All six from Cruikshank’s ‘Comic Almanac’, 1845.
£60.00

The six items - all from Cruikshank’s ‘Comic Almanac’ for 1845 - are in fair condition, lightly aged, and have all been trimmed, with diagonals cut from the corners resulting in minor loss. The last has a small amount of loss to the bottom left-hand corner from removal from a mount. All six are signed in type by Cruikshank at bottom left. They are captioned: ‘Flying Artillery’ (gentlemen on bended knee, declaring their love to ladies, while Cupids shoot arrows from overhead), ‘The Day After - “St.

[Charles August, Crown Prince of Sweden.] Autograph Signature to document, as Danish prince Christian August of Augustenburg.

Author: 
Charles August (1768-1810), for less than a year Crown Prince of Sweden, previously Danish prince Christian August of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg
Publication details: 
1806. Friderichsteen.
£280.00

Not, one would imagine, a particularly common signature. In good condition, lightly aged. On 20 x 16.5 piece of watermarked laid paper: the lower half of a document dated in another hand to 1806. Another (illegible) signature at top right. The Crown Prince’s signature as ‘Attester’ is an excellent one, good and clear, reading ‘Christian August [lel?] Holstein’. He would serve as Crown Prince of Sweden between 15 July 1809 and 28 May 1810. After his death the line of succession would pass to the Frenchman Jean Bernadotte. See image.

[Sir Thomas Hastings, distinguished Royal Navy officer and gunnery instructor.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Sir Charles’, proposing that ‘Mr Stark’ [Charles Stark] give ‘mathematical instruction’ to the Lieutenants of Royal Marine Artillery.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Hastings (1790-1870), distinguished Royal Navy officer and gunnery instructor [Royal Marine Artillery]
Publication details: 
‘Excellent [i.e. HMS Excellent] Friday morning [no date, but watermarked 1838]’.
£180.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Whatman watermark of 1838. Sixty-nine lines of text, addressed to ‘My dear Sir Charles’ and signed ‘Thomas Hastings’. Begins: ‘I have been thinking that the difficulty of giving mathematics instruction to the Lieuts of R[oyal]. M[arine]. A[rtillery].

[Louisa Cornwallis, Marchioness Cornwallis.] Her Autograph Signature and votes for candidates for the Adult Orphan Institution, on its printed ‘Polling Paper for the Election of Three Contributary Wards’.

Author: 
Louisa Cornwallis [née Gordon] (1776-1850), Marchioness Cornwallis, wife of Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Marquis Cornwallis, daughter of 4th Duke of Gordon [The Adult Orphan Institution, London]
Publication details: 
Marchioness's vote on 25 November 1842. Election date 14 December 1842. At the House of the Adult Orphan Institution, St. Andrew’s Place, Regent’s Park [London].
£50.00

2pp, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight damage at head from breaking of the wafer, and small spike hole at centre. Addressed on reverse to ‘Most Noble / Marchioness Cornwallis / 12 Park Crescent’. The printed statement beside this has been completed in manuscript to show that the Marchioness has twelve votes. The other side of the leaf is headed: ‘Polling Paper / For the Electio of Three Contributary Wards, / On Wednesday, December 14th, 1842, / Between the hours of Two and Four o’Clock, / At the House of the Adult Orphan Institution, / St.

[Charles Richard Weld, author.] Printed notice of the election of ‘the Council and Officers of the Royal Society’ and ensuing dinner, signed by Weld, and addressed by him to W. Vaughan. With the Society’s seal in red wax.

Author: 
Charles Richard Weld (1813-1869), historian of the Royal Society, London [William Vaughan (1752-1850), West Indian slave owner and co-founder of West India Dock, London]
Publication details: 
‘From the Apartments of the Royal Society [in Somerset Place, Strand], November 21st. 1844’.
£90.00

Weld and Vaughan both have entries in the Oxford DNB. The notice is printed in copperplate on the recto of the first leaf of a 4to bifolium. In fair condition, aged and lightly worn, with short closed tear to one edge, and slight damage to the second leaf from the cutting of the seal, which is present on the verso, with a good impression, in red wax, together with two postmarks and the address, in Weld’s hand, to ‘W. Vaughan Esq - [F.R.S.] / 70 Fenchurch Street / [Royal Society.]’ The notice, signed ‘C. R.

[Tom Arnold, ‘Napoleon of Show Business’.] Eleven items, including six Signed and Typed communications to W. Macqueen-Pope; biography of Arnold by MP; ‘Memorandum of Agreement’ with MP; poster for Arnold’s ‘Cinderella’ at Glasgow Alhambra.

Author: 
Tom Arnold [Thomas Charles Arnold] (1897-1969), international impressario of everything from opera to rodeos, circus and seaside piers [W. Macqueen-Pope (1888-1960), theatre historian and press agent]
Arnold
Publication details: 
Arnold’s six communications between 1942 and 1959; two on his Shaftesbury Avenue letterhead, two others from the same address, and two from 112 Jermyn Street, London. Agreement: 15 April 1943. Poster: 1950 / 1951, Glasgow Alhambra.
£120.00
Arnold

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Eleven items, in fair overall condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. All six of Arnold’s communications are signed ‘Tom Arnold’. Arnold’s two TLsS are dated 2 October 1942 and 23 July 1959. In the second of these (1p, landscape 8vo) he thanks MP for a producing a piece of writing which ‘suits the mood’: ‘I appreciate your doing this, and the speed with which you tackled it for me.

[Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen, Austrian Field Marshal.] Unpublished manuscript of English translations from his ‘Principles of Strategy illustrated by the representation of the Campaign of 1796 in Germany’ (‘Grundsätze der Strategie’).

Author: 
Erzherzog Karl [The Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen] (1771-1847), Austrian Field Marshal, the first man to defeat Napoleon [Carl Ludwig Johann Joseph Laurentius von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen]
Publication details: 
In seven notebooks, none with place or date. [English or American? Early Victorian?]
£950.00

In 1809, at the Battle of Aspern, the author of this work, the Archduke Charles, became the first man to defeat Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1814 his ‘Grundsätze der Strategie, erläutert durch die Darstellung des Feldzuges von 1796 in Deutschland’ was published in three volumes in Vienna. A French translation appeared in 1841, but there is no record of an English one (although JISC does throw up a work with a similar title published by ‘A Kearsey’ in 1928, the only copy it lists being in the National Army Museum).

[Leslie C. Staples, Charles Dickens scholar, for many years editor of The Dickensian.] Autograph Note Signed, thanking theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope for a ‘truly wonderful afternoon’.

Author: 
Leslie C. Staples [Leslie Cyril Staples], Charles Dickens scholar, for many years editor of The Dickensian, and founder of the Uncommercial Travellers’ Club [W. Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian]
Publication details: 
11 June 1952; on letterhead of The Dickensian, The Dickens House (‘The Magazine of the Dickens Fellowship’), 48 Doughty Street, London WC1.
£25.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) 1p, 12mo. Signed ‘Leslie C Staples’. In fair condition, lightly aged, with some creasing to corners. Folded twice for postage. Presumably written following a meeting of the Fellowship at Drury Lane, where MP was press officer. ‘My dear Popie / I cannot say how grateful we all are for the truly wonderful afternoon you gave us yesterday. A million thanks’.

[Charles Dickens.] Typed Notes for ‘Dickens Fellowship Speech’ by W. Macqueen-Pope, championing Dickens as ‘the great man of the Middle Classes’, and suggesting a cabinet of his characters, with him as Prime Minister. With second copy.

Author: 
[Charles Dickens; The Dickens Fellowship] W. Macqueen-Pope [Walter James Macqueen-Pope] (1888-1960), theatre historian
Publication details: 
No place or date. [1940s? London.]
£120.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Three items: a page with a quotation from Dickens, and list of characters in MP’s autograph; and two copies of the speech. Text entirely legible throughout, but on worn and creased paper MP is not named as the author, but the item is undoubtedly his work: one of the two copies has autograph emendations in pencil. ONE: Typed Notes for ‘Dickens Fellowship Speech’. 2pp, 4to. Begins: ‘Comment on previous speaker’s points. / Dickens the great Englishman - more than that the great man of the Middle Classes.

['What are we to do with our “monstrous Regiment” of Women?': Sir Charles Trevelyan, Liberal politician.] Autograph Letter Signed, to W. A. Lock, giving his views on women and ‘German Immigrants’.

Author: 
Sir Charles Trevelyan [Sir Charles Edward Trevelyan] (1807-1886), Liberal politician and administrator in India, notorious for his response to the Irish potato famine
Trevelyan
Publication details: 
‘Treasury. / 8 Dec 1882’.
£220.00
Trevelyan

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin neat strip from windowpane mount adhering to edges. Folded twice for postage. Twenty-four hands of text in secretary hand, addressed to ‘W. A. Lock Esqre’, and signed in autograph ‘Sir C Trevelyan’. He thanks him for his ‘very interesting Letter’, and hopes he will ‘never think it necessary to make any excuse for writing to me [other such?]’. He has asked ‘Mr. Farr’ for ‘any observations he might have to offer on the early part of it; and his answer is enclosed’ (not present).

[Col. Charles Booth Brackenbury, R.A., military historian and Times correspondent.] Autograph Letter Signed to his editor J. T. Delane, on writing and reviewing after the Franco-Prussian war, with claim to have ‘started the Intelligence Department’.

Author: 
Col. Charles Booth Brackenbury, R.A. [C. B. Brackenbury] (1831-1890), military historian and British Army officer in Crimea, and war correspondent [John Thadeus Delane (1817-79), editor of The Times]
Publication details: 
10 April 1874; from Hill Street [Woolwich], on letterhead of Hill House, Woolwich, S.E.
£350.00

An excellent letter, casting light on the relationship between the editor of The Times and a senior correspondent. See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. Brackenbury’s states that ‘During the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 Brackenbury was the Times correspondent with the Austrian army, and was at the battle of Königgrätz (Sadowa) — riding with Benedek under fire at Chlum — and reported the naval battle of Lissa.

[Pamphlet.] Spiritualism and Insanity: An Essay describing the disastrous consequences to the Mental Health which are apt to result from a pursuit of the study of Spiritualism. By Dr. C. Williams, Author of Insanity: its Causes and Prevention, etc.

Author: 
Charles Williams (b.1858), LRCP, Assistant Medical Officer, the Warneford, Oxford [spiritualism]
Publication details: 
London: The Ambrose Co., Ltd., 55 & 57 Wigmore Street, W. [1909 or 1910]
£56.00

12mo, 53 + [iii] pp. Text clear and complete. Aged and worn, with loose original front cover, printed in green, remaining from the binding. Stamp of 'The Community of the Resurrection' on title-page. A few manuscript notes in light pencil. Scarce: five copies on COPAC, at the British Library, Oxford, Cambridge, the National Library of Scotland, and University of London, variously dated to 1909 and 1910.

[Lady Mary Jane Jemima Shelley [née Stopford], wife of Sir Charles Shelley.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mrs. Hollingsworth’, regarding their children and Wellington College.

Author: 
Lady Mary Jane Jemima Shelley [née Stopford] (1851-1937), wife of Sir Charles Shelley, 5th Baronet, and daughter of the Earl of Courtown
Publication details: 
29 March [no year, but circa 1897]. On letterhead of Avington, Alresford, Hampshire.
£56.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Folded once for postage. In good condition, lightly aged, with unobtrusive line of discoloration on blank reverse of second leaf. Signed ‘Mary. J. J. Shelley’ and addressed to ‘Dear Mrs. Hollingsworth’. With envelope with stamp torn away, addressed in another hand to ‘Mrs. Hollingsworth / The Glen / Gurnard / Cowes.’ She begins with instructions for filling in a form for 'Mrs. Acland', and ends with a reference to the recipient’s son, whose ‘two friends are still both at Wellington College’.

[Admiral Sir Charles Eden, Second Naval Lord.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Fanny’, with reminiscences of ‘Mrs Quilter’ who used to get him out of childhood ‘scrapes’.

Author: 
Admiral Sir Charles Eden (1808-1878), Second Naval Lord of the Royal Navy
Publication details: 
18 [January 1865]. 23 Prince’s Terrace, Hyde Park [London].
£56.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Large signature ‘Charles Eden’; addressed to ‘My dear Fanny’. Year and month added in pencil in another hand. He thanks her for her kind letter ‘and its enclosure from my dear, kind, old friend Mrs Quilter’. He will visit her later, but at present he has ‘several melancholy duties to attend to which prevent my leaving London’. He is also ‘wanted at the Admiralty next week - altho’!

[‘It is never desirable to say any thing on the subject’: Charles Greville, diarist.] Autograph Letter Signed regarding the desirability of allowing ‘poor Douglas’ (i.e. John Douglas of Newmarket Palace) to rest in peace.

Author: 
Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville (1794-1865), diarist [John Douglas (1774-1838) of Newmarket Palace]
Publication details: 
31 March 1839. Newmarket [Cambridgeshire].
£120.00

See Greville’s entry in the Oxford DNB, and Douglas’s in the History of Parliament, which explains the context: ‘Gambling losses, largely accruing from his turf accounting activities at Newmarket - Douglas laid the blame on ‘Peel and Huskisson ... tampering with the currency’, problems raising capital from his property and ‘keeping too large establishment of servants’ - had reduced his fortune’. 4pp, 4to. Bifolium. 44 lines of text. In good condition, lightly aged, with negligible remains of windowpane mount neatly adhering to reverse of second leaf. Folded three times for postage.

[ Arthur Hill Hassall, public health pioneer. ] Secretarial Letter, Signed 'Arthur. H. Hassall', to T. H. Huxley, presenting a copy of his 'The Narrative of a Busy Life', with the book and a manuscript copy of a letter from him to Lord Rayleigh.

Author: 
Arthur Hill Hassall (1817-1894), physician and microscopist, pioneer in the field of public health [ Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895), biologist; Lord Rayleigh and the Royal Society ]
Publication details: 
Letter from Hassall to Huxley: 3 Alpenstrasse, Lucerne (on cancelled letterhead of Corso dell'Imperatrice, San Remo), 23 September 1893. Copy Letter from Hassall to Rayleigh, same details. Book: Longmans, Green, & Co., London and New York, 1893.
£350.00

All three items in good condition, lightly aged, with the book in worn and spotted binding. ONE: Letter from Hassall to 'Professor Huxley', in the hand of 'an amanuensis' and signed by him. 3pp., 12mo. Tipped-in onto the half-title of Item Three below. He begins by explaining that he has 'directed Messrs. Longmans' to forward a copy of his book (which he describes as 'a brochure') to Huxley.

[‘I make no doubt will succeed in a very extensive degree’: Sir Robert Mends, distinguished Royal Navy officer.] Long Autograph Letter Signed to the British Envoy at Lisbon Charles Stuart, describing his Portuguese situation during the Peninsular War

Author: 
Sir Robert Mends (1767?-1823), distinguished Royal Navy officer in American War of Independence and Peninsular War [Charles Stuart (1779-1845), Baron Stuart de Rothesay, diplomat]
Publication details: 
‘His Majesty’s Ship Arethusa / Corunna 18th. August 1810’.
£450.00

See his entry and that of Stuart in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 4to. On bifolium. Sixty-six lines of neatly-written text, signed ‘R Mends’ and addressed ‘To / The Honble Chas. Stuart / His Majestys Envoy / Lisbon’. A vivid and substantial historical document.

[William Harrison Ainsworth, Victorian historical novelist and close friend of Charles Dickens.] Autograph Letter Signed, inviting ‘Mrs Barlow’ and her husband ‘Mr. Fred. Barlow’ to dinner on his daughters’ return.

Author: 
W. Harrison Ainsworth [William Harrison Ainsworth] (1805-1882), Victorian historical novelist and close friend of Charles Dickens
Ainsworth
Publication details: 
22 October [no year]. 5 Arundel Terrace [Brighton].
£45.00
Ainsworth

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Signed ‘W Harrison Ainsworth’. Signed ‘W Harrison Ainsworth’ and reads: ‘Dear Mrs Barlow / My Daughters return on the 30th. May[.] I therefore hope to have the pleasure of seeing you and Mr. Barlow at Dinner at a quarter after 9 o’clock on Saturday, 30th?’ See image.

[‘I am persuaded you have talent for Farce writing’: ‘Henry Compton’ (Charles Mackenzie), actor noted for his Shakespearian comic roles.] Autograph Letter Signed to J. Hollingshead, giving his ‘honest opinion’ of the farce he has sent him.

Author: 
‘Henry Compton’ [stage name of Charles Mackenzie (1805-1877)], English actor noted for his Shakespearian comic roles [John Hollingshead (1827-1904), manager of Alhambra and Gaiety theatres in London]
Publication details: 
‘16 Charing X [i.e. Charing Cross, London.] / April 3rd 1854’.
£100.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. An interesting letter, linking two significant figures in the London theatre. Around the time of writing Hollingshead had given up his career in the clothing business to write full time, early on for Dickens at ‘Household Words’, then later for Thackeray at the ‘Cornhill’. The farce that is the subject of the present letter is possibly ‘Birth Place of Podgers’, the only one known to have been published by Hollingshead, a New York edition of which appeared around 1858. 2pp, 16mo.

[J. C. Herries, Conservative politician and banker.] Autograph Letter Signed expressing a desire to be ‘enrolled among the Members of the Club for promoting the Authors of Science Literature & the Arts’.

Author: 
J. C. Herries [John Charles Herries] (1778-1855), Tory and Conservative politician and banker
Publication details: 
28 March 1824. 10 Great George Street [London].
£50.00

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with negligible remnants of windowpane mount adhering at edges of reverse (which has the catalogue entry for the item laid down on the reverse). Folded for postage. Reads: ‘Sir / In reply to the letter which I have had the honor of receiving from you I beg leave to communicate to you my wish to be enrolled among the Members of the Club for promoting the Authors of Science Literature & the Arts / I have the honor to be / Sir / Your obedient / humble Servant / J C Herries’.

[Edward Bulwer-Lytton [Lord Lytton], popular Victorian novelist and politician who declined the crown of Greece, friend of Charles Dickens.] Autograph Note Signed (‘E B Lytton’) authorising entry to the Gallery of the House of Commons.

Author: 
Edward Bulwer-Lytton [Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton; Lord Lytton] (1803-1873), Victorian novelist and politician who declined the crown of Greece, friend of Dickens
Bulwer
Publication details: 
8 May 1866. On embossed letterhead of the Carlton Club [London].
£50.00
Bulwer

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In very good condition. Folded twice. Clear and neat signature beneath slightly-smudged text. Written on the verge of his removal from the House of Commons to the House of Lords. Reads ‘[Admiral Buser?] to Gallery of H of C / Tuesday May 8th. 1866 / E B Lytton’. See image.

[Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd, dramatist, judge, and friend of Charles Lamb, dedicatee of Pickwick Papers.] Autograph Letter in the third person to ‘Mrs Walter’, presenting a copy of ‘a little dramatic poem’ (i.e. his celebrated play ‘Ion’).

Author: 
Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd (1795-1854), dramatist, judge, Radical politician, friend of Charles Dickens (dedicatee of Pickwick Papers) and Charles Lamb, advocate of copyright reform
Talfourd
Publication details: 
21 October 1835; Reading [Berkshire].
£320.00
Talfourd

It is hard to overestimate the impact of ‘Ion’ on Victorian audiences in Britain and America. According to Talfourd’s entry in the Oxford DNB, the play was ‘first performed at Covent Garden Theatre, London, on his birthday, 26 May 1836.

[Charles Vandeleur Creagh, Governor of North Borneo and botanist.] Autograph Note Signed, requesting a price list for ‘Teacher’s Patent Lantern Microscope’ from Manchester maker of optical instruments W. J. Chadwick.

Author: 
Charles Vandeleur Creagh (1842-1917), Governor of North Borneo and botanist who donated his collection of Borneo plants to Kew Gardens, London [W. J. Chadwick, Manchester maker of optical instruments]
Publication details: 
25 December 1890; on letterhead of Government House, Sandakan [North Borneo].
£80.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded three times. In order to mark the request as dealt with, the recipient has written a thin ink line across the page. Reads: ‘W J Chadwick Esqre / Sir / Please send me price list of your Teacher’s Patent Lantern Microscope / Yours truly / C. V. Creagh / Governor of North Borneo / Address / Sandakan / North Borneo / via Singapore’.

[Charles John Vaughan, Headmaster of Harrow School and Dean of Llandaff.] Autograph Letter Signed to W. S. De Winton, giving an analysis of the state of affairs regarding ‘Church Reform’.

Author: 
Charles John Vaughan (1816-1897), Headmaster of Harrow School and Dean of Llandaff [Wilfred Seymour De Winton of Haverfordwest; Church of England; Anglican; church reform]
Publication details: 
23 October 1885; Llandaff.
£65.00

Despite Vaughan’s final protestations, a fine analysis of the competing forces around the drive for reform of the Church of England. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is from the papers of the recipient, Wilfred Seymour De Winton (c.1856-1929) of Haverfordwest. 4pp, 12mo. On bifolium with mourning border. Signed ‘C. J. Vaughan’. Thirty-six lines of text. Begins ‘Dear Mr. de Winton, / I am interested by your letter.

['The most perfect ode in the English language': Charles Wolfe, Irish poet.] Photographic facsimile of Autograph Letter Signed to John Taylor, containing the text of his celebrated poem ‘The Burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna’.

Author: 
Charles Wolfe (1791-1823), Irish poet, of the family of General James Wolfe and Wolfe Tone, author of the celebrated poem ‘The Burial of Sir John Moore at Corunna’
Moore
Publication details: 
With facsimile of postmark dated 6 September 1816. No place (but from Ireland).
£120.00
Moore

The present item gives the text of the poem described by Byron as 'the most perfect ode in the English language' before its first publication in the Newry Telegraph in April 1817. See Wolfe’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The source of the present item is unclear. It is a photographic facsimile, many decades old, on both sides of a 4to leaf. In fair condition, slightly creased on browned paper, with negligible loss to margin at head. With five creases from folding. Addressed to ‘John Taylor Esqe / at the Revd Mr. Armstrong’s / Clonoully / Cashel’.

[‘The rudest man in Britain’ reduced to tears: Gilbert Harding, radio and television personality.] Producer Hugh Burnett's corrected proof of typescript of Harding’s celebrated interview with John Freeman in the BBC TV series 'Face to Face'.

Author: 
Gilbert Harding [Gilbert Charles Harding] (1907-1960), irascible British radio and television personality [John Freeman, interviewer on BBC programme ‘Face to Face’; Hugh Burnett]
Publication details: 
Undated, but BBC interview broadcast on 18 September 1960, and this item prepared for publication in 1964.
£75.00

The present item is producer Hugh Burnett's own copy, from his papers, of the transcript of John Freeman's interview with Harding, broadcast in the groundbreaking BBC television series 'Face to Face' on 18 September 1960, a few weeks before Harding’s death on 16 November 1960. Harding’s entry in the Oxford DNB states that, ‘in radio programmes such as The Brains Trust and Twenty Questions, and on television in What's my Line?, Harding became a great popular figure, especially of television in which he was probably the best-known performer in the country.

[Margot Asquith, Countess of Oxford.] Autograph Signature ('Margot Oxford') to Copy of Typed Letter to the Editor of The Times, regarding the plans of the University of London with regard to the preservation of Torrington Square, Bloomsbury.

Author: 
Margot Asquith [Emma Margaret Asquith, Countess of Oxford and Asquith, née Tennant] (1864-1945), wife of Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, author and socialite [University of London; Birkbeck]
Publication details: 
Without date or place. [Circa 1935.]
£120.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, long 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged. Headed ‘TORRINGTON SQUARE. / To the EDITOR of The TIMES’. Whether the letter was published or not, and if so whether it appeared in its entirety, is unclear. Clearly a carbon, but with her characteristic signature at end in black ink ‘Margot Oxford’. The forty-seven-line text has four autograph emendations.

[Adrian Stokes, RA, English landscape artist.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Adrian Stokes’), thanking ‘Mrs. Terrell’ for her congratulations on his election as an Associate of the Royal Academy.

Author: 
Adrian Stokes [Charles Adrian Scott Stokes] (1854-1935), RA, English landscape artist, husband of Marianne Stokes, part of St Ives artists’ colony, brother of Leonard Stokes and Sir Wilfred Stokes
Publication details: 
8 May 1910. On letterhead of Littleshaw, Woldingham, Surrey.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, and that of his brothers the architect Leonard Scott Stokes and the inventor of the ‘Stokes Gun’ Sir Wilfred Scott Stokes. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Signed ‘Adrian Stokes’. He has added the word ‘at’ above the letterhead, indicating that the residence is not his (it is in fact the house that his brother Leonard designed for himself).

[W. C. R. Watson, English botanist.] Two Autograph Cards Signed (both ‘W. Watson’), concerning botanical matters, one to F. O. Whitaker of Plumstead, and the other to C. G. Grinling of Woolwich.

Author: 
W. C. R. Watson [William Charles Richard Watson; William Watson] (1885-1954), English botanist, author of ‘Handbook of the Rubi of Great Britain and Ireland‘ (1958)
Publication details: 
TO GRINLING: No date (postmark of 6 September 1921); “The Meadows”, Saham Toney, Watton, Norfolk. TO WHITAKER: No date (postmark of 16 September 1929); 245 Southlands Rd, Bickley, Kent.
£50.00

Note to be confused with the Kew curator William Watson (1858-1925). Both cards are plain: the first with a self-printed stamp and the second with stamp affixed. Both in fair condition, lightly aged. ONE (to Grinling): He identifies the fungi he sent, adding a comment on bacteoles of mallow. Ends in the hope of attending ‘the Epping Forest foray this year’. TWO (to Whitaker). The previous Saturday he noted ‘Pyrus torminalis in the old rough lane between fences nearly opposite the Bull Inn on Shooters Hill (? Jack Wood Lane)’.

[Lord Albemarle, Whig politician.] Autograph Signature (‘Albemarle’) to a long secretarial letter to the surgeon William Barnard Boddy, describing in detail the state of his cataracts, and discussing possible treatment.

Author: 
Lord Albemarle [William Charles Keppel, 4th Earl of Albemarle] (1772-1849), Whig politician, Master of the Horse who travelled with Queen Victoria to coronation [William Barnard Boddy (1796-1884)]
Publication details: 
24 October 1845; Quidenham, near Kenninghall, Norfolk.
£120.00

An interesting item from a medical point of view, with a well-informed patient describing and discussing his condition, symptoms and treatment options. Three years after the writing of this letter the appropriately-named Boddy, who is addressed here as ‘W. Barnard Boddy Esqr / 3. Saville Row. Walworth’, published ‘Diet and Cholera’ (London, 1848). 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Fifty-five lines of closely-written text. The signature is large and shaky, and the use of an amanuensis is understandable in the light of the content of the letter.

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