HACKNEY

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded three times for postage. The letter concerns the Hackney Choral Association. Begins: ‘My dear Sir, / I am much obliged by the kind note just received, though I am sorry we shall not have the pleasure of your company on Monday.

See the entries for Prout and Cummings in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The second leaf of a bifolum, the first presumably carrying the commencement of the letter. The present fragment, in a good firm hand, reads: 'in the way he desires but if you can do so, you will not only be assisting a most deserving young man, but I shall regard it as a personal kindness. / I am, my dear Cummings, / Yours very cordially, / Ebenezer Prout. / Dr. W. H. Cummings.'

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB and History of Parliament. Howard was Auditor of Receipt from 1673 to his death. The document is damaged, with the lower part torn away, leaving an area 23cm high and the same wide, but with part of one lower corner torn away. The paper is aged, and there are chipping and closed tears to edges. Howard’s two signatures (both ‘Ro: Howard’) are both undamaged, and the item is of some interest. On the front is the printed form, completed in manuscript, with ‘Sr. Thomas Player in repaymt. of Loane./’ in manuscript in right-hand margin.

8.5 x 14 envelope. In fair condition, aged and creased. Torn open, with slight loss to flap. A nice Mark Twain artefact, and something of a puzzle, as he does not appear to have been in England at the time. There does not appear to be any connection between Twain and William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst (1835-1909), 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney, whose London address was 88 Brook Street, Grosvenor Square.

An interesting letter regarding the early cultivation of bananas in London. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight nicking to one edge. Neatly written over nine lines. Reads: 'Sir Everard Home is much obliged to Messrs. Laddiges for a present of some very fine Bananas, which were quite ripe, and had a flavour Sir Everard had no idea that they ever could acquire in this Climate. He mentioned yesterday to Mr Eyton with astonishment who said they had fruited at Kew, but not He believed to such perfection'.

Printed on one side of a 50.5 x 32 cm leaf of wove paper. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, folded three times. In relatively small print. Underneath the title, by 'Charles T. Ritchie': 'The following instructions for Carriages have been prepared and published in the "London Gazette" of 13th May, 1902, by direction of His Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, and will be strictly carried out by Police'. Eight 'Regulations to be observed on the day of the coronation' follow.

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He thanks him for his congratulations on 'the honour His Majesty has conferred upon me', adding 'The kind and generous way in which the announcement has been received by our friends has been most gratifying to my Wife and myself.'

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on aged paper. Reed was a collector of autographs, and has written his accession mark in a small hand at the foot of the first page. Headed by Cardwell 'Private'. He begins: 'Lt. Jordan, having so far committed himself, as to be undergoing imprisonment under the sentence of the High Court of Justice in India, and his antecedents having been far from uniformly favourable, - His Royal Highness asked me to concur in a recommendation which he proposed to submit to the Queen that Lt. Jordan's services be dispensed with.

Both items in good condition, on aged and lightly-creased paper. Both written in a close and somewhat shaky hand, and addressed to 'Respected Sir'. Letter One: 8 July 1874. 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Bicknell explains that the 'widow of a bookseller, (R. G. Ibbett, who, for many years, dealt in original and rare works, in the City of London,) has in her possession the Psalms and Hymns of Dr. Isaac Watts, in his own handwriting (bound). This MS. was shown (together with a well-executed oil-painting of the Doctor,) to the late Dr.

1p., 8vo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with traces of previous mounting along two edges. Headed, in a contemporary hand: 'Given to Mrs. Richards by Miss Calhoun Fanshawe'. 22 lines of verse, in couplets. Signed in the bottom right-hand corner, apparently at a later date than the rest of the text: 'William Sothbey | Sepr 26 - 1804'. The extract - possibly written out by Sotheby for an acquaintance - begins: 'Sweet Isle!

ONE: Autograph translations by Proud. 14pp., 12mo. Unbound, stitched into a booklet of laid watermarked paper, with deckled edges. In very good condition, neatly and closely written on lightly-aged paper. Upwards along the inner margin of the first page Proud has written: 'Translation by R. P. Anno. 1802.' The translation of 'On Gardens, | From the Latin of Lord Bacon's Essays &c' covers the first 12pp., paginated 1-12; the 'Laus Mortuli. Translated at Hackney near London from a Lat. Epigram of Virgil, abt. the year 1752. by R. P.' covers the last two pages, and is unpaginated.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. 40 lines. In fair condition, creased and with minor damage to second leaf from previous mounting. Addressing Reed as 'Dear Charles', Curwen explains that when asked who he would like as chairman for a forthcoming meeting, 'it was natural I should mention you, because of our old regard'. He is sorry that his 'friends' applied 'again - after your declining'.

Broadsheet, 8 pp. A single sheet, folded twice and unopened. No stapling. Text clear and complete, on aged and spotted paper (not high-acidity newsprint), with wear and chipping to extremities. Articles include 'The American Elections' by Henry George; ''The Crofter Revolt', and 'The "Pall Mall Gazette" Panic'. Also 'Metropolitan Constituencies No. I. - Hackney'. Scarce: no copy at the British Library (Colindale) and the only run on COPAC at the University of London.

Excessively scarce, with no copy in the British Library and the only copy on COPAC at Cambridge, where it is tentatively dated to 1823. 8vo: 80 pp. Followed by five leaves (pp.373-382) from 'The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle' for 1839, in which an anonymous review of Reed's two books features on pp.378-382. Interleaved (all blank). In simple contemporary blue-grey half-binding with cloth spine and corners and marbled boards. Tight copy on aged paper in worn binding. Neat contemporary repair to blank reverse of title. The circumstances of this publication are as follows.

2 vols, 12mo. Vol.1: viii + 264 pp. Vol.2: viii + 336 pp. Complete, with all the engravings of sheet music listed in the contents (vol.1: five two-page plates and one four-page plate, with one more piece of music 'printed with the letterpress'; vol.2: one two-page plate). Both volumes good and tight, on lightly-aged and spotted paper. In worn contemporary half-calf binding, marbled boards, with the first volume rebacked. Each volume with bookplate of Frederic Perkins, Chipstead Place, Kent.

Originally on a piece of paper roughly 405 x 315 mm, with the dimensions of the print roughly 295 x 250 mm. In poor condition: torn and stained and laid down on a piece of thin card, and with the extremities of the margins chipped. Loss to top-left and bottom-right corners. The loss to the top corner includes a corner of the print (roughly 40 x 20 mm), but this only features the sky. A scarce item, with the caption continuing 'The Balloon ascended at 3 O clock in the afternoon and descended safe near Tilbury Fort in Essex at 20 Minutes past four'.

Campaigner against slavery and colonial exploitation in Africa (1874-1940) and Liberal MP for North Hackney, 1923-24. All four items one page, quarto. All in good condition, though on somewhat discoloured paper. Two items docketed in pencil and two bearing the Society's stamp. ITEM ONE: He hopes to be present at Dr. Max Horn's lecture, and wants to know whether the Society is 'publishing the lecture by Mr. Wilson Fox on Imperial Resources'. He thinks he should join the Society, 'if not now soon after the war', and asks to be sent the conditions of membership.

English high-churchman and writer (1813-72), co-editor of the 'Christian Remembrancer' and one of the founders of the 'Saturday Review'. Three pages, 12mo. Grubby, and with two small closed tears at head of first leaf of bifoliate, and one small closed tear at head of second leaf; remains of grey-paper mount on verso of second leaf. There was a meeting of 'several clergy of this archdeaconry' at his house that morning: 'There were I think ten or twelve present. We agreed to nominate Messrs. Bageley & Toogood on Wednesday'.