MANUSCRIPT

Artist, author, diplomat and horseman, present at Sir John Moore’s death in Corunna, knighted by the king of Sweden, historical painter to Tsar Alexander, British consul in Venezuela: see the entry on this renaissance man in the Oxford DNB. Both in good condition, with folds for postage. Both signed ‘R Ker Porter’. The recipient (known to her family as the ‘Queen Bee’) was the widow of the Hon. George Villiers, who resided with her family at Kent House, Knightsbridge, home of her brother the Earl of Morley.

1p, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, with slight wear at foot of gutter. Folded once for postage. The signature ‘Reginald Stuart Poole’ is large and expansive. The text, in another hand, reads: ‘Sir, / I regret to say that I cannot entertain the purchase of the coin of Egbert which you showed me the other day’.

Card by Gordon Fraser Fine Arts, Bedford, with nice colour reproduction of centre panel of the Master of Frankfurt 'Adoration' triptych. Signed by her 'Brigid', beside which, by him, '& Frederich.' In good condition, in worn stamped and postmarked envelope addressed to 'Mr. James Dandy. / Brook Lane, / Rixton, / Nr. Warrington. / Lancs.' See Image.

From the papers of Sarah Emmeline Hamilton, whose extensive collection of letters from her lover the poet Patric Hamilton is offered separately. Sail is a widely-respected poet. He has presented the BBC Radio 3 programme 'Poetry Now' and 'Time for Verse' on BBC Radio 4.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Written in the year in which Smith made his one return to America after becoming a British citizen in 1913. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. On grey paper. Reads: ‘Mr. L. Pearsall Smith regrets that he will be away from London on July 6th & will not be able to attend the Dinner of the Royal Literary Fund on that date.’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The item is from the Villiers papers, and the recipient is presumably the Theresa, wife of the Hon. George Villiers (1759-1827), daughter of Lord Boringdon and sister of the Earl of Morley. (See the entry on her son Thomas Hyde Villiers (1801-1832) in the History of Parliament.) 2pp, 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, folded once. Signed ‘Erskine’.

See the Oxford DNB entry for Samuel Butler, which describes his close friendship with Jones (‘It has been said that for twenty years they shared the favours (for a consideration) of the same woman, on different days of the week.’) and musical collaborations. Signed ‘Henry Festing Jones’. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and lightly creased paper. As he is ‘intending to be out of England by 1 July’, he asks him to ‘ask Lord Tennyson not to nominate me as Steward of the Royal Literary Fund & assure him that at the same time I am sensible of the honour he proposed’.

Biographical information relating to the deceased is to be found in Rev. George Crabbe, ‘Some Materials for a History of the Parish of Thompson in the County of Norfolk’ (Norwich, 1892): ‘John Baseley Tooke of Thompson, Esq., only son [of John Greene Basely [sic], sometime Mayor of Norwich’], an acting magistrate for Norf., assumed the additional surname of Tooke by royal lic. in Oct. 1802, pursuant to the will of Wm. Tooke, Esq., his great-uncle; b. 15th Mar. 1779; d. unmar. 12th Nov. 1841; bur.

According to her entry in the Oxford DNB: ' Also in 1941 she embarked upon what became the most substantial public work she ever undertook when she became chairman of the Red Cross Aid to Russia Fund. Of the £9,000,000 collected in Britain to help the USSR, ‘Mrs Churchill's Fund’, as it was popularly known, raised £6,700,000. In March–May 1945, at the invitation of the Russian Red Cross, she visited Russia to inspect many of the institutions equipped or otherwise helped by her fund.

On a 16.5 x 20 cm piece of faded and lightly-worn light-green paper, with small diagonal cuts at corners where the item was mounted in an album. The players’ names are neatly presented in a column (there is no other text on either side): ‘OUCC | Greville Stevens | R. L. H. Holdsworth | J. D. Percival | V. R. Price | R C Robertson Glasgow | P E Lawrie | M Patten | R H Bettington | T B Raikes | L. P. Hedges | R R P Barbour’. This is the same eleven which won a match at Oxford against the Free Foresters on 20 May 1922.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘H. P. Greene’. Truly atrocious handwriting. Apparently addressed to ‘Dear Miss Salt’, and beginning: ‘I’ll be proud.’ He gives a date which will ‘suit me best’, and asks to be informed ‘if there is anything special [?] like [?]’.

Towards the end of 1942, with America having been at war with the Axis powers for a year to Britain’s three, Eleanor Roosevelt accepted an invitation from Queen Elizabeth to travel to Britain in order to ‘study the British home front effort and visit US troops stationed there. [...] she spent almost a month inspecting factories, shipyards, hospitals, schools, bomb shelters, distribution centers, Red Cross clubs, evacuee centers and military installations in England, Scotland and Ireland’ (Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project, Columbian College).

Fox agreed to the film on condition that von Stroheim was limited to shooting 85,000 feet of film (around an hour and a half of screen time). The studio was pleased when he brought it in on time (he tied a thread around lead actor James Dunn’s genitals, and tugged on it every time he wanted him to show emotion) and on budget, but a screening left them appalled at the morbid content. Von Stroheim was sacked and the film was rewritten and renamed ‘Hello, Sister!’, with three-quarters of the original retained. It was a flop and von Stroheim chose never to direct again.

Lamartine is one of the greatest of French poets, and often counted as an early figure in that country's Romantic movement. His influence was extensive, from Verlaine and the Symbolists to Tolstoy. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ‘Mon cher collegue’, with good firm signature ‘Lamartine.’ He suggests that the recipient send to his notary in his home town of Mâcon all the documents relating to the estate of ‘Mlle Martin’. He has need of his advice and suggests a time for meeting.

Lamartine is one of the greatest of French poets, and often counted as an early figure in that country's Romantic movement. His influence was extensive, from Verlaine and the Symbolists to Tolstoy. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, in faded ink, on aged and lightly worn paper. Previously folded into a packet, but now laid down on brown-paper backing. Addressed to ‘Messierus Hubert’, with signature ‘Lamartine’. He has read with great interest the letter they sent him, and the petition which accompanied it.

See is noticed in her the entry for her father Derwent Coleridge in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, on grey paper. Folded once. In a vigorous and youthful hand, considering the fact that she would be dead in a few months. Reads: ‘Miss Christabel Coleridge presents her compliments to the Secretary of the Royal Literature [sic] Fund, but is compelled to decline the honor they have done her, as she is unable to travel to London. She will endeavour to send a small subscription later on’.

Something of an historic document. In February and March of 1814 Vincence had led the French delegation at the Congress of Châtillon peace conference, at which his counterpart was Lord Aberdeen, with the British Home Secretary Lord Castlereagh arriving partway through. On behalf of Napoleon, Vincence had led, with little success the subsequent negotiations with Russia, Prussia and Austria which resulted in Napoleon’s abdication and exile to Elba, by the signing of the Treaty of Fontainbleau, a month before the present letter, on 11 April 1814, which was ratified by Vincence.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once.Addressed to 'Dear Miss Lewis' and with good firm signature 'Alfred Parsons'. He will be very pleased to dine with her the following Friday, '& dance one set of Lancers after; I feel much complimented at being asked with the young people'.

For most of his life Palmer was Vicar of Holy Trinity Church, South Woodford. He was the father of the composer Geoffrey Molyneaux Palmer. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘A. Smyth Palmer’. He offers to supply a copy of his ‘Word-hunter’s Note-book’ at a cheaper price than it can be got from the publisher Trübner. ‘I am sorry I cannot help you to A.K.HB’s address - He is a clergyman (I think) of the Church of Scotland - probably “N. B.” [i.e. addressing the letter with this abbreviation for ‘North Britain’] would find him.’

A Ukrainian Jew, Haffkine found his early career obstructed by his refusal to convert to the Russian Orthodox Church. He emigrated and worked at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, where he developed an anti-cholera vaccine that he tried out successfully in India. He is recognized as the first microbiologist to develop and use vaccines against cholera and bubonic plague. He tested the vaccines on himself. The three items in good conditon, lightly aged. ONE: ALS. 2pp., 12mo. He has been 'away from town', but now hopes to send 'a note on my work' within the week. 'It wd.

2pp, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to one edge. Folded twice. Large heavily-smudged signature of the king ('George R.') at head of first page, which has the royal seal under paper in the left-hand margin. Signed at end of document ('By His Majesty's Command') by the Home Secretary and future Prime Minister: 'R Peel'.

This document, signed by George IV as Prince Regent, and by the former Prime Minister Lord Sidmouth as Home Secretary, relates to Matthias Maher (1798-1865), a Royal Navy officer who was twice tried at the Old Bailey on a charge of forgery. On the first occasion, 6 May 1818, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity; and removed to the criminal asylum in St George's Fields. Maher was found sound of mind – as the present document reveals by Sir George Leman Tuthill (1772–1835) and Edward Wright (c.1788-1859), the latter to die of disgrace in Australia.

1p, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse. Folded once.. A neatly-written letter of fourteen lines. The recipient is not named, but is Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool (1729-1808), whose country seat was Addiscombe Park in Surrey. Mansfield served in the First Pitt Ministry with Liverpool (then Lord Hawkesbury), the former as Lord President of the Council, and the latter as President of the Board of Trade.

An interesting letter, attacking the serving Tory Prime Minister Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (1770-1828), who had stood against the Duke of Sussex (noted for his liberal sympathies) in the election for President of the Royal Society of Arts. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded three times. The recipient is not named, but is identified in an endorsement on the reverse of the second leaf as 'Earl St Vincent'. Written in a hurried, untidy hand.

Novelist. One page manuscript, c.6 x 8, presumably from Miss Mitford's letter book (numbered p.247), poor condition but the text is clear apart from two or three words. The page comprises the conclusion of one draft letter with her full signature, all with a line through, and the first fourteen lines of a draft letter to Sir William Elford, banker, politician, and amateur artist, 1 Dec. 1810, thanking him for his flattering comments and obviously responding to his idea that her poetry has caused illness in him.

3pp, foolscap 8vo. On laid paper with watermark: 'GOLDING | & | SNELGROVE | 1811'. Aged and worn, with closed tears along folds, but with text complete and clear. The document includes two passages written in red ink which has faded but is still legible. The background to the present letter is given in Lambert's entry in the Oxford DNB: 'On 4 June 1813 Lambert was promoted major-general, and was appointed to a brigade of the 6th division. [?] Having been sent to America, he joined the army under Sir Edward Pakenham below New Orleans on 6 January 1815, with the 7th and 43rd foot regiments.

For biographical details of Dr R. E. S. Tanner, see the end of this description. Brown card folder (by The Parker File Co. Ltd, Rangoon), housing 105 items (confidential correspondence, memoranda, applications, advisory and information documents, reports, telegrams, newspaper cuttings) relating to Tanner's application and training for a Civil Affairs post in Burma, including material from the training course he undertook at the Civil Affairs Staff Centre, Wimbledon. The folder and its contents are in fair condition, lightly-aged and worn.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, and folded once for postage. Clearly responding to a request for an autograph. Boldly written, with the merest smudging to the surname: 'with compliments / of Stanhope A. Forbes / 5th March 1935'.

A document of some historical significance.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of 9 x 6 cm piece section from a letter and laid down on slightly larger and thicker piece of paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: '[...] / to subscribe myself / Your faithful Servant / W. Harrison Ainsworth. / Kensal Manor House, / Harrow Road. / March Four. 1843.' See IMage