COMMONS

[Sir Courtenay Ilbert, Clerk of the House of Commons and Viceroy of India’s Council.] Autograph Letter Signed to his daughter Joyce, written from SS Cedric, White Star Line, describing the holiday.

Author: 
Sir Courtenay Ilbert [Sir Courtenay Peregrine Ilbert] (1841-1924), Clerk of the House of Commons, 1902-1921; drafter of the ‘Ilbert Bill’ as Viceroy of India's Council
Publication details: 
25 November 1913. On letterhead of SS Cedric, White Star Line.
£35.00

Written while Clerk of the Commons. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Joyce Violet Ilbert (1890-1957) was the youngest of his five daughters. 8pp, 12mo. Two bifoliums. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ‘My Dear Joyce’ and signed ‘Yr. loving father | C. P. I.’ Begins: ‘I wish for my sake that you were on board the Cedric - for I miss my [?]-valet-secretary very much. If you were here, you would be hoping that the voyage would never come to an end’. They have had ‘almost perpetual sunshine since we left New York’. ‘The ship is extremely comfortable.

[John Morley, Viscount Morley of Blackburn, Liberal politician and writer.] Two Autograph Letters Signed and an Autograph Note Signed to Lady Ilbert, wife of Sir Courtney Ilbert, Clerk of the Commons, regarding dinner arrangements.

Author: 
John Morley (1838-1923), Viscount Morley of Blackburn, Liberal politician and writer [Lady Jessie Ilbert [née Bradley] (1850-1924), wife of Sir Courtenay Ilbert (1841-1924), Clerk of the Commons
Publication details: 
ALS ONE: 19 December 1910; on embossed letterhead of United Service Club, Pall Mall. ALS TWO: 2 July 1911; on letterhead of Flowermead, Wimbledon Park, S.W. ANS: 5 July 1911; on letterhead of the Privy Council Office, Whitehall, S.W.
£60.00

See his entry, and that of Lady Ilbert’s husband, in the Oxford DNB. The three items in good condition, lightly aged, and folded for postage. ALS ONE (19 December 1910): 1p, 12mo. ‘I am sorry you have had domestic anxieties. They are the most poignant.’ He continues: ‘It would delight me to have a peaceful hour with you and Ilbert, without prejudice to Fisher and his wife.’ Signed ‘M.’ ALS TWO (2 July 1911): 2pp, 12mo.

[Michael McCartan, Irish nationalist MP in the British Parliament.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Miss Burgess', looking forward to the freedom of Ireland, and attacking 'Toryism' in Norwich.

Author: 
Michael McCartan (1851-1902), Irish nationalist, MP with the Irish Parliamentary Party in the British Parliament, anti-Parnellite
Publication details: 
23 August 1889. 5 Hopefield Terrace, Belfast [Ulster].
£120.00

3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Forty-eight lines of text. Addressed to 'Miss Burgess[,] Norwich' and with smudged signature 'Michael McCartan'.

[Royal Navy, 1704.] Printed House of Lords paper comprising Admiralty tables headed ‘A Monthly Account of Cruizers [Home-Convoys], from the First of January, to the First of November.’

Author: 
Royal Navy, 1704 [Admiralty: Monthly Account of Cruizers and Home Convoys; House of Lords; Parliament]
 Monthly Account
Publication details: 
Ordered to be printed 5 February 1705 by the House of Lords (Houses of Parliament, London). Covering period ‘from the First of January, to the First of November [1704]’.
£220.00
 Monthly Account

A scarce piece of naval ephemera. Six copies on COPAC: Chetham’s Library, Lambeth Palace, NLS, Oxford, Society of Antiquaries and BL. According to ESTC, the journals of the House of Lords state that it was ‘presented to the House on 17 January 1705, and ordered to be printed 5 February 1705’. In landscape on one side of a folio sheet of watermarked laid paper, folded into a two-page bifolium.

[Jo Grimond, Scottish Liberal Party politician.] Autograph Card Signed acknowledging receipt of twenty pounds from Hanson Books.

Author: 
Jo Grimond [Joseph Grimond, Baron Grimond] (1913-1993), Scottish Liberal Party politician
Grimond
Publication details: 
4 August [1978]. ‘Official Paid’ card printed with ‘House of Commons’.
£35.00
Grimond

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Philip Dosse (1925-1980), proprietor of Hansom Books, publishers of several arts magazines. Presumably acknowledging payment for a review in ‘Books and Bookmen’. On plain ‘House of Commons’ postcard. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with crease to one corner going through the final flourish of Grimond’s signature. Reads: ‘4 Aug / Many thanks for cheque for £20 already acknowledged / J Grimond’.

[Roman Catholicism and Victorian Britain.] Printed House of Commons paper: ‘Correspondence respecting the Duke of Norfolk’s Special Mission to the Pope.’

Author: 
[Roman Catholicism and Victorian Britain.] United Kingdom House of Commons; Duke of Norfolk; Pope Leo XIII
Publication details: 
Presented to the House of Commons by Command of Her Majesty, in pursuance of their Address dated August 11, 1890. [London: Printed for Her Majesty’s Stationery Office by Harrison and Sons, St. Martin’s Lane, Printers in Ordinary to Her Majesty.]
£30.00

10 + [1]pp, foolscap 8vo. Customary title printed at right angles on back cover, for folding into a packet. Disbound. Text complete, but printed on aged high-acidity paper, with chipping to extremities. Front page headed 'Miscellaneous. No. 2 (1890).' No physical copy on COPAC or WorldCat, only online reproductions.

[The Raj in the 1880s.] Collection of fourteen British parliamentary papers, relating to: transfer of government to Simla, railways, silver, finance (tax, accounts, loans, revenue and expenditure).

Author: 
[The Raj in the 1880s: British parliamentary papers relating to India]
Publication details: 
All fourteen items printed for the House of Commons in London in 1886: items 9, 12 and 14 by Eyre and Spottiswoode, the rest by Henry Hansard and Son.
£100.00

The present collection reflects the state of Kipling’s India during the high summer of the Raj. At the end of 1884 Lord Dufferin replaced the Earl of Ripon as Viceroy, and apart from a period of seven months between June of 1885 and January of 1886, when Lord Salisbury and the Conservatives were in power following the death of General Gordon, and Lord Randolph Churchill was Secretary of State, Gladstone and the Liberals were in power.

[Francis Horner, Scottish Whig politician, journalist and political economist; Slave Trade] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Harrison’, regarding ‘Stephen’s book’, a pardon for thieves, the Attorney General, ‘Thorpe’, and the General Assembly.

Author: 
Francis Horner (1778-1817), Scottish Whig politician, Member of Parliament and political economist, one of the founders of the Edinburgh Review [Harrison]
Publication details: 
1 April 1815. Taunton [Somerset].
£220.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. At the time of writing, a year and a half before his death, Horner was Member of Parliament for St. Mawes in Cornwall. 1p, 4to. Eighteen lines, neatly written. Addressed to ‘My dear Harrison’ and signed ‘Fra Horner.’ In good condition, lightly aged, with negligible remnants of windowpane mount adhering at edges of blank reverse. Folded for postage. He has received both of Harrison’s letters, and is ‘particularly obliged’ to him for ‘sending the copy of Stephen’s communication.

[John Cam Hobhouse (Lord Broughton), Whig politician and friend and executor of Lord Byron.] Autograph Note Signed authorizing entry to the gallery of the House of Commons.

Author: 
John Cam Hobhouse [Lord Broughton] (1786-1869), Whig politician and friend and executor of Lord Byron
Hobhouse
Publication details: 
9 May 1821.
£56.00
Hobhouse

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 13 x 8 cm piece of laid paper. In fair condition, but with small sections torn away on removal from mount, at corners and at centre of top and bottom edges, damaging the first two numerals of the year. Reads: ‘May nine - <18>21 / Please to admit the bearer & his friend to the gallery of the House of Commons. / John C. Hobhouse’. See image.

[William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal Prime Minister and the ‘Grand Old Man’ of Victorian politics.] Autograph Signature franking front panel of envelope.

Author: 
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), Liberal Prime Minister under Queen Victoria and the ‘Grand Old Man’ of Victorian politics
Gladstone
Publication details: 
Basingstoke postmark, 20 October 1864.
£28.00
Gladstone

Information regarding this major figure in British history is not far to seek. On 11.5 x 5.5 cm panel cut from front of envelope. In fair condition, with a few traces of glue at centre and short closed tear to right-hand edge; none of this anywhere near the signature. The letter is addressed in another hand: ‘The Solicitor General / Hackwood Park / Basingstoke’, with last word deleted. Signed in the customary manner at bottom left: ‘W E Gladstone’. Basingstoke postmark in blue, and cropped frank in red. See image.

[‘Another lunatic!’ Spencer Leigh Hughes, Liberal politician and journalist.] Autograph Note Signed to ‘Armstrong’ regarding a critic of his use of the word ‘British’.

Author: 
Spencer Leigh Hughes (1858-1920), Liberal politician, journalist (the 'Sub Rosa' of the Morning Leader) and engineer.
Publication details: 
20 November 1904; on letterhead of the Morning Leader, Stonecutter Street, London.
£38.00

Hughes began as a journalist, writing the popular column ‘Sub Rosa’ in the Morning Leader, before descending from the Press Gallery onto the floor of the House of Commons. However short, the present item gives a faint echo of the verve for which he was renowned as a backbencher and after-dinner speaker. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Signed ‘Spencer Leigh Hughes’. Reads: ‘Dear Armstrong / Another lunatic! There are many about. I was lecturing in Scotland recently & had quite an ovation when I talked about the “British” parliament.’

[Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, radical politician ruined by the Crawford Scandal.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Charles W. Dilke’) to fellow-MP Robert Bourke (the future Lord Connemara), regarding ‘Greek Papers’ being sent to the Commons from the Lords.

Author: 
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843–1911), radical Liberal politician and author, ruined by Crawford Scandal [Robert Bourke (1827-1902), 1st Baron Connemara, Conservative politician, Governor of Madras]
Publication details: 
20 May 1879; on letterhead of 76 Sloane Street, S.W. [London]
£50.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. Lurid claims of three-in-a-bed adulteries put a paid to Dilke’s political ambitions (he had been touted as a future prime minister), and rendered him the butt of musical hall jokes. 16mo, 2pp. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and folded once. ‘Dear Bourke / If you are in the House at 2 o’clock to-day I propose to ask you when the Greek Papers which were promised yesterday in the House of Lords are likely to be distributed to members of the House of Commons / Yrs. very truly, / Charles W.

[Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, radical politician ruined by the Crawford Scandal.] Autograph Card Signed (‘Charles W. Dilke’), explaining to an unnamed painter the reason he was not able to visit his studio.

Author: 
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke (1843–1911), radical Liberal politician and author, ruined by the Crawford Scandal
Publication details: 
26 March 1892; on letterhead of 76 Sloane Street, S.W. [London]
£38.00

See Dilke’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Lurid claims of three-in-a-bed adulteries put a paid to his political ambitions (he had been touted as a future prime minister), and rendered him the butt of musical hall jokes. The recipient is not named. On one side of a plain 11.5 x 9 cm postcard. In fair condition, lightly aged, with the two right-hand corners creased.

[Barbara Castle, Labour politician.] Autograph Note Signed to ‘Pip’, accompanying signed press photograph to him, the other side of the note carrying an Autograph Note from deaf Labour politician Jack Ashley.

Author: 
Barbara Castle [Barbara Anne Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, née Betts] (1910-2002), Labour politician [Jack Ashley [John Ashley, Baron Ashley of Stoke] (1922-2012)]
Publication details: 
Barbara Castle’s note dated 11 July 1973; no place. The ‘British Official Photograph’ dated on accompanying leaf to 1974.
£76.00

See their entries in the Oxford DNB. Castle was a pioneer for woman in British politics and a champion of the welfare state; and Ashley, said to have been the first totally deaf democratic representative in the world, was a campaigner for the rights of the disabled.. Both items in good condition. The ANS is on a 16mo leaf of pink paper. On one side: ‘To Pip / who has lightened our load and brightened our lives for so many years. / Bless you! / Barbara Castle / 11. 7. 73.’ On the other: ‘To PIP THE POPular / With every good wish / Jack Ashley / P.S. And lots and lots of fun. / JA’.

Printed facsimile of Autograph Letter Signed ('Palmerston') from the Liberal Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, requesting attendance in the House of Commons by Liberal Members of Parliament.

Author: 
Henry John Temple (1784-1865), 3rd Viscount Palmerston [Lord Palmerston], Liberal Prime Minister, 1855-1858, 1859-1865
Publication details: 
'Downing Street 20 November 1857'.
£85.00

4to, 1 p. Nine lines. Text clear and complete. On bifolium of paper watermarked 'J WHATMAN | 1855'. Aged and lightly-stained. Reads 'I have the Honor to inform you that Parliament having been called to meet on Thursday the 3d of December Business of great Importance will then immediately be brought forward, and I trust that it may be consistent with your Convenience to attend in your Place in the House of Commons on that Day'. From the papers of James Wyld (1812-1887), cartographer and Member of Parliament for Bodmin.

[William Ewart Gladstone ['The Grand Old Man'] (1809-1898), Liberal Prime Minister.] Autograph Signature ('W E Gladstone') on part of Autograph Letter Signed (to Mr Robson?).

Author: 
William Ewart Gladstone ['The Grand Old Man'] (1809-1898), Liberal Prime Minister under Queen Victoria
Gladstone
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£42.00
Gladstone

Fragment of letter in Gladstone’s autograph, with his signature, on both sides of 10 x 6 cm rectangle. In good condition, with one vertical fold. Five lines on recto read: ‘<...> It was most kind of you to send me the delightful pearl studs - & to write so friendly a letter. Lady Paget gave me a set’. Recto reads: ‘<...> & preserve your kind thought | With many thanks to you & Mrs Robson | Always | W E Gladstone’. See image.

[Stephen King-Hall; Friends of Hansard; Hansard Society] Circular Letter sent to Friend[s] of Hansard with what looks like a stamped signature of Stephen King-Hall. See image

Author: 
Stephen King-Hall [William Stephen Richard King-Hall, Baron King-Hall of Headley (1893 -1966), naval officer, writer, politician and playwright, member of parliament for Ormskirk from 1939 to 1945.]
Hansard
Publication details: 
[Printed heading] The Friends of Hansard, War-time address: | 804 Hood | Dolphin Square | London, S.W.!, [Date handwritten] 18.5.44. With list of Officers inc. Margaret Bond and King-Hall himself.
£220.00
Hansard

Typed (cyclostyled or similar?) Letter Signed as above, three pages, 12mo. very good condition, apart from small rusty hole where formerly stapled.

[William Ewart Gladstone ('The Grand Old Man'), Liberal Prime Minister.] Autograph Signature ('W Gladstone') as frank, on panel cut from front of envelope, addressed by Gladstone to the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Author: 
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), Liberal Prime Minister
Publication details: 
Date and place not stated.
£45.00

5.5 x 10 cm piece of paper, cut from the front of an envelope. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Immediate | The | Lord Archbishop of Canterbury | W Gladstone'. The signature is in the customary place, in the bottom left-hand corner.

[Charles Manners-Sutton [latterly 1st Viscount Canterbury], Speaker of the House of Commons.] Printed Circular, signed 'C. Manners Sutton', offering himself 'upon re-consideration' as a candidate to represent the University of Cambridge in Parliament

Author: 
Charles Manners-Sutton (1780-1845), 1st Viscount Canterbury, Tory politician, Speaker of the House of Commons, 1817-1835, son of Archbishop of Canterbury [Trinity College; University of Cambridge]
Publication details: 
29 October 1822; Trinity College [Cambridge].
£35.00

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with negligible traces from mount adhering to corners on blank reverse. A nice piece of Cambridge University ephemera. A crisply-printed circular, addressed to 'SIR', evidently sent to the electors for the University of Cambridge. Seventeen lines of text. He explains that when he first 'heard of the death of our late Representative, Mr.

[Spencer Perceval, the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated.] Autograph Rough Notes, titled 'Parliamentary | Miscellaneous', for a House of Commons debate on Customs and Excise duties, with reference to 'the Brandy act of last year'.

Author: 
Spencer Perceval (1762-1812), Tory Prime Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer [William Pleydell-Bouverie, 3rd Earl of Radnor [Lord Folkestone] (1779-1869); Customs and Excise duties]
Publication details: 
[Houses of Parliament. 1808.]
£500.00

On both sides of a 37 x 24 cm piece of paper (i.e. half a 'pinched post' folio leaf), with 1806 fleur-de-lys watermark. Folded twice, to make eight 24 x 9 cm panels (four on each side), in seven of which Perceval has written his notes in a close and neat hand. The eighth panel forms the outside of the folded paper, and on this Perceval has written 'Parliamentary | Miscellaneous'. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn.

[Lord Strabolgi, Labour Chief Whip in the House of Lords.] Typed reference, signed 'Strabolgi", for 'Mr. T. Avery Radford', his private secretary when 'Member for Hull'.

Author: 
Lord Strabolgi [Joseph Montague Kenworthy, 10th Baron Strabolgi] (7 March 1886 – 8 October 1953), Scottish peer and Liberal and later Labour politician [T. Avery Radford]
Publication details: 
On House of Lords letterhehad. 16 August 1935.
£35.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. At top of page: 'From: Lord Strabolgi.' Headed beneath the letterhead: 'TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN.' Reads: 'This is to certify that Mr. T. Avery Radford worked for me as my Private Secretary when I was Member for Hull, from 1919 to 1921. He performed his duties most efficiently, was entirely reliable and trustworthy, an a great help to me in my political work.

[Hugh Gaitskell, Leader of the Labour Party.] Typed Letter Signed to 'Rowe', sending Christmas greetings.

Author: 
Hugh Gaitskell [Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell] (1906-1963), Leader of the Labour Party
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Treasury Chambers, Great George Street, S.W.1. [London] 10 January 1951.
£56.00

1p., 4to. The salutation 'My dear Rowe,' and the valediction 'Yours sincerely | Hugh Gaitskell' are in Gaitskell's autograph, written in red ink; the rest of the letter is typed. Aged and worn, with discoloration and a small insect crushed onto a blank part. Reads: 'Many thanks for your kind Christmas note and good wishes.

[Mary Endicott Carnegie, American socialite, daughter of William Crowninshield Endicott and wife of Joseph Chamberlain.] Two Autograph Letters Signed ('Mary E. Carnegie') to journalist Collin Brooks

Author: 
Mary Endicott Carnegie (1864-1957), daughter of William Crowninshield Endicott and wife of Joseph Chamberlain [Collin Brooks (1893-1959), journalist]
Publication details: 
Both on letterhead of 41 Lennox Gardens, S.W.1. 28 December 1950 and 4 January 1951.
£90.00

Mary Endicott Carnegie was the daughter of William Crowninshield Endicott (1826-1900), Secretary of War in Grover Cleveland's first administration. She married the British politician Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914) in 1888 and moved to England. After Chamberlain's death she married William Hartley Carnegie (1859-1936), Sub-Dean of Westminster Abbey and Chaplain to the House of Commons. She was painted by Sir J. E. Millais and John Singer Sargent.

[Sir Henry William Lucy, celebrated Victorian political journalist.] Autograph Card Signed to Bristol printer and publisher J. W. Arrowsmith

Author: 
Sir Henry William Lucy [H. W. Lucy] (1842-1924), celebrated Victorian political journalist, parliamentary correspondent of Punch magazine [J. W. Arrowsmith [James Williams Arrowsmith] (1839-1913)]
Publication details: 
42 Ashley Gardens, Victoria Street, S.W. [London], on card with embossed letterhead of the House of Commons. 27 February [1900].
£40.00

In good condition, lightly aged. Written with purple ink. Addressed to 'J. W. Arrowsmith Esq | Publisher | Bristol.' The message begins, without salutation: 'Booking Office blocked with Copy. But I have had the "Modder River" taken out of turn. You will find a notice in tomorrow's "Punch"'. He announces that on the fifteenth of the following month he is 'to be a guest of the New Vagabond Club', and notes that Arrowsmith is a member, adding 'we may possibly meet'.

[Parliamentary expenditure in the Napoleonic Wars, including 'the Sum wanted for American Loyalists'.] 'Accounts and Estimates: Ordered, by The House of Commons, to be printed, 11 November 1813.'

Author: 
C. Arbuthnot [Charles Arbuthnot (1767-1850)], Joint Secretary to the Treasury [House of Commons; Houses of Parliament; Napoleonic Wars]
Publication details: 
'Ordered, by the House of Commons, to be printed, 11 November 1813.'
£320.00

6 + [1]pp., folio. Side stitched and unbound. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with light staining at foot of first page. The contents of the document are given as follows: '1. - Account of Sums advanced, for Public Services, from the Civil List Revenues, pursuant to Addresses, not being part of its Ordinary Expenditure. | 2. - Account of Sums advanced, for Public Services, from the Civil List Revenues, not being part of its Ordinary Expenditure. | 3.

[ Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Whig Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary. ] Autograph Signature ('G. Cornewall Lewis') to document authorising admittance to the House of Commons.

Author: 
Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), Whig politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary, who successfully argued against British intervention in the American Civil War
Publication details: 
Place illegible. 1 February 1850.
£30.00

A good firm signature, appended to a document in another hand, simply reading: 'Admit the Bearer to the House of Commons'. The illegible address and date are in the same hand. In fair condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount on blank reverse.

[ Anthony Wedgwood Benn, Labour politician: 'You shouldn't believe the rubbish you read in the press'. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Tony Benn') to 'Mrs Kingham', describing his 'life-style' and family.

Author: 
Tony Benn [ Anthony Wedgwood Benn, quondam Viscount Stansgate ] (1925-2014), Labour politician
Publication details: 
On House of Commons letterhead. 16 November 1979.
£35.00

1p., 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Obtrusive stamp at head giving the date of receipt as 28 November 1979, with this date queried in ink. Benn's signature underlined by the recipient in thin red ink. Reads: 'Dear Mrs Kingham: | Forgive the delay. | My life-style is that of a very hard-working M.P. with a wife who teaches & writes & 4 children educated at comprehensive schools. | You shouldn't believe the rubbish you read in the press.'

[ Sir Denis Le Marchant, as Joint Secretary to the Treasury. ] Autograph Note Signed ('Denis Le Marchant') to J. Blackburn, requesting him to insert an 'Address & the reply of Her Majesty' in the Globe newspaper.

Author: 
Sir Denis Le Marchant (1795-1874), Clerk of the House of Commons; Liberal MP for Worcester; Under Secretary of State for the Home Department [ Samuel Blackburn, editor of The Globe newspaper, London
Publication details: 
'Treasury | 9 August [ circa 1841 ]'.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed to 'J. [sic] Blackburn Esq'. Reads: 'My dear Sir, | If this Address & the reply of Her Majesty has not already appeared in the Globe, perhaps you will insert it.' Le Marchant was Clerk of the House of Commons from 1850 to 1871.

[ William Ewart, Radical politician and penal reformer, and Hansard. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('W Ewart') to 'Mr: Hansard', regarding the proof of his 'speech on Capital Punishment. With Autograph Note in response on reverse.

Author: 
William Ewart (1798-1869) of Mossley Hill, Liverpool, Radical politician and penal reformer [ Hansard, Printer to the House of Commons ]
Publication details: 
Otterington House, Northallerton. 24 July 1850.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He asks to be sent 'the proof of my speech on Capital Punishment for correction'. In a postscript he writes: 'Possibly one copy may have been sent already to my house in London. In that case, can you send another here, as I cannot easily make the Servant in London understand about the Paper.' On the reverse an initialled autograph note is written in red ink: 'Mr Ewart has sent us another letter since; will you have the kindness to send this in advance immediate | '.

[ Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Charles W. Dilke'), complimenting 'Bennett' on a speech, and alluding sarcastically to the Marquess of Lansdowne.

Author: 
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet (1843-1911), Radical and Liberal politician, whose career ended in disgrace [ Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice (1845-1927), 5th Marquess of Lansdowne ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 76 Sloane Street, S.W. [ London ]. 6 July 1906.
£65.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged paper. An amusingly sardonic missive, addressed to 'Dear Bennett'. He was not able to compliment him the previous night on his 'excellent speech', but is 'anxious to know what was the cryptic allusion to the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs who had experience of arming savages? I do not believe that Fitzmaurice ever did so, unless you intended the German use of the word “savages” for below-the-gangway Radicals?'

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