NAVY

Autograph Note Signed to Edward Webber (editor?).

Author: 
Henry Napier.
Publication details: 
London, 16 April 1847.
£45.00

Naval officer and historian (1789-1853). One page, 8vo, fold marks and discoloration, text clear and complete. "Sir/ In reply to your note of yesterday I beg to say that my portrait would be misplaced amongst the "Portraits and Memoires [sic] of Eminent Naval & Military Personages" [title underlined], besides which I have not the facilities which you require. With acknowledgements for the intended honour".

Autograph Letter Signed [to R. Byham of the Ordnance Office].

Author: 
Admiral Sir Edward Campbell Rich Owen
Publication details: 
Windlesham Bagshot | 14 July 1835'.
£120.00

English admiral who 'while in command of the "Immortalite" captured and destroyed many French gunboats and privateers, 1802-5' (DNB).Two pages, 12mo. Good though grubby, and with blank second leaf of bifoliate cut down to a stub. Thanks Byham for 'all your kindness'. 'I shall have an opportunity of expressing my good wishes & those of Lady Owen to Mrs. Byham & yourself whenever you can seize a moments holiday'. Gives directions. '[...] At the 24th.

Autograph Letter Signed to B. Nice Esq'.

Author: 
Sir William Laird Clowes
Publication details: 
26 January 1904; on letterhead 'VILLA JULIUS | DAVOS | SWITZERLAND'.
£30.00

English naval historian (1856-1905). One page, 12mo. Poor: grubby and stained and with a small hole (not affecting text). Written in failing health the year before his death. Reads 'Dear Nice; | I answered this at the time of its reception. | Perhaps you may see your way to adopting the suggestion, which has my very cordial support. | I am a poor worm, almost unable to work, but hoping to benefit from warmer weather when it comes. | Yrs sincerely | Wm Laird Clowes'.

Thirty-four Autograph Letters Signed to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Vice-Admiral Sir (Henry) Percy Douglas
Publication details: 
1935-8; on letterheads including 18 Dealtry Road, Putney, and 34 Waterloo Mansions, Dover.
£180.00

British sailor (1876-1939), hydrographer of the Royal Navy (1924-32), inventor of the Douglas Protractor and the Douglas-Appleyard Arcless Sextant. Various formats from 12mo to octavo. Very good, some docketed and/or bearing the Society's stamp. Relating to the business of the Society, and in particular to a lecture by Douglas involving film of the Manchester Ship Canal.

Four Typed Letters Signed to W. Perry and A. W. Luckhurst, Royal Society of Arts; and Typescript of 'Notes of Sir Philip Devitt's Speech at Southampton, 25th March, 1938.'

Author: 
Sir Philip Henry Devitt
Publication details: 
Letters: 18 January 1935; 14 and 17 March and 23 May 1938; on letterhead of 'THE DEVITT & MOORE NAUTICAL COLLEGE, LTD.'
£85.00

British mariner (1876-1947), 'Sole Partner of Devitt and Moore' (Who's Who). All five items very good. The four letters all one page, quarto. The typescript: seven pages, quarto. Three letters docketed and bearing R.S.A. stamp. LETTER ONE: He has received the letter informing him that 'any day about 12.30 will suit Captain Steele for the presentation of the Thomas Gray Memorial Shield. I presume that you have duly received the sheild and that it has been engraved and is being sent to H.M.S. "Worcester" [...]'.

Autograph Letter Signed [to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts].

Author: 
Engineer-Captain William Richard Apps
Publication details: 
18 April 1914; 'The Hawthorns, | Bishop's Waltham, | Hants.'
£28.00

British military and naval architect (1862-1947). One page, quarto. Very good. Docketed and bearing R.S.A. stamp. He has not answered sooner as he 'has been away from home'. 'I thank you for the matter supplied & I regret that at present I am unable to put myself forward for election but trust that should circumstances permit me to do so at some future time I may then receive the kindly consideration of the Council.' Signed 'W. R. Apps'.

Britannia; or, The moral claims of seamen stated and enforced. An essay, in three parts.

Author: 
Rev. John Harris
Publication details: 
London: Thomas Ward and Co., 1837. Second thousand.
£45.00

8vo. Pages: half-title, xix + 195. Ownership inscription of 'Chrisr. Cole 1837' at head of title. Modern rebacking with new endpapers, but retaining original blind-stamped boards. Paper heavily foxed. Binder's ticket of John Gardner, Borough Green and paper wallet containing long cutting on Chartism at rear. An impassioned appeal for the alleviation of the condition of the English seaman.

Autograph Letter Signed "Taprell Dorling" to [Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Captain Taprell Dorling (" Taffrail ")
Publication details: 
Marlings, Woking, Surrey, 17 May 1937
£75.00

Author. One page, 8vo, fold mark, good condition. "in your letter of November 2nd last, you were kind enough to say that you would take the necessary steps for my election to the Royal Society of Arts if I decided to reconsider my original inability to accept your Council's invitation. / I should be pleased now to join in due course if you would put my name forward."

Autograph Letter Signed to Joshua Sharpe.

Author: 
Edward Blakeney
Publication details: 
Mahon the 8th. November 1753', Mahon, Minorca.
£125.00

The recipient Joshua Sharpe (c.1716-86) was a solicitor of Lincoln's Inn, and counsel for various American colonies before the Board of Trade and Privy Council. His brother Horatio was Lieutenant Governor of Maryland. Two pages, folio. Grubby, frayed and worn, with some closed tears and minor fraying and loss to extremities, and minor loss to text. Appears to concern the investigation into a case brought against an English ship by the owners of the Spanish vessel Sancta Barbara ('Patron Joseph de la Torre').

Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. W. Blanchard'.

Author: 
William Devayne [the Committee of the General United Society for supplying His Majesty's Sea and Land Forces with Extra Cloathing]
Publication details: 
Dover Street | the 8th. Feb[ruar]y. 1794.'
£85.00

One page, 4to. Very good, though on discoloured paper, and with traces of grey-paper mount adhering to blank reverse and minor damage at foot affecting one word. Reads 'I am favored with your Letter of the 1st. instant, enclosing One Guinea subscribed by Rudston Calverley Rudston Esqr.

Autograph Letter, signature and significant part of date missing

Author: 
John Duncombe
Publication details: 
-1667
£250.00

Commissioner (Office of the Master General of the Ordnance). Duncombe is instructing a Mr Sherborne of the Tower of London to go to Chatham, Gravesend and Woolwich to see "how many gunnes are mounted & of w[ha]t nature". He expects a report the following morning. The barbarian who cut the signature off also cut off the date, but this letter could well predate the Dutch raid up the Thames Estuary in June 1667 which particularly affected the fleet at Chatham, and indicate preparations.

Autograph Letter Signed to [?] Slade (perhaps Frederic William Slade (1801-63), son of Sir John Slade).

Author: 
Count Guglielmo Di Ludolf
Publication details: 
Gloucester Place | December 5th. 1831'.
£150.00

Neapolitan Minister in London (died 1839). 2 pages, 16mo. In good condition, although creased and grubby. Crabbed handwriting. Formal letter, written in the third person. States that he received from Slade, in 1826, 'Two hundred and odd Pounds sterling as part of Prize money for the capture of in 1806, allowed to the Crews of Two Sicilian gallys the Vespa, the , and a gun Boat No. 12. who acted in conjunction with the British forces'. Complains that 'Mr. Slade did not send to C.

Telegram to [Charles?] Tarleton.

Author: 
Charles William de la Poer Beresford, Baron Beresford
Publication details: 
Handed in at Portsmouth B', and bearing stamp from Uxbridge, Harefield, 26 November 1909.
£35.00

Naval officer and Conservative politician (1846-1919), nicknamed 'the member for the navy'. Dimensions roughly 5 1/2 inches by 9 inches. In poor condition: browning and with several closed tears. Reads: 'From the older Charlie to the younger Charlie may all good luck attend you fighting for tariff reform national defence and relief of the unemployed Beresford'.

Letter in secretary's hand, signed in autograph.

Author: 
Sir Francis Thornhill Baring, 1st Baron Northbrook, as Paymaster General
Publication details: 
7 March 1837; Treasury Chambers.
£100.00

1 page. 4to. In good condition. Concerning three accounts forwarded to the Board of the Treasury from the Accountant General of the Navy ('Two for Subsistence of Seamen belonging to Revenue Cruizers in the Naval Hospitals in Christmas Quarter last, and the other for their maintainence in Sick Quarters'), the Treasury Commissioners 'have authorized the Board of Customs to ay the Sum of £405. 10. 5. in discharge thereof to your account at the Bank of England, or at the Pay Office Whitehall, and I am to desire you will carry the amount to the Credit of Navy Services'. Signed 'F T Baring'.

Autograph Letter Signed "Charlie Beresford" to "Maurice" [prob. Sir John Frederick Maurice, see DNB].

Author: 
Charles Beresford, Lord Beresford
Publication details: 
Somerby Hall, Oakham, 29 [March] 1888.
£100.00

Admiral (see DNB). 4 pages, 8vo, small piece of tape masks the month and another word, ow good and clear. His correspondent's letter to him has depressed him because it underates the "immense appriacation we as Seamen have for the patriotic line you have lately taken up." He is "delighted" with Maurice's book [prob. "Military History of the Campaign of 1882 in Egypt" published this year, 1888]. "I quite agree with you in all you say & consider your views the real statesmanlike Views of that immensely important point.

Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr Wilson'.

Author: 
George Ernest Manwaring
Publication details: 
18 November 1931; London Library, St. James's Square, S.W.1.
£30.00

1 page, 8vo. Grubby but in good condition. 'In case you have not already seen it, I beg to enclose you a leaflet relating to my new book. | I shall be grateful for any help that you can give it.' Signed 'G. E. Manwaring'. The book was 'My Friend the Admiral. The life, letters, and journals of Rear-Admiral James Burney' (Routledge, 1931).

Autograph Note Signed to Mrs <Swanthwaite?>.

Author: 
Vice-Admiral Sir Percy Scott
Publication details: 
Monday' [no date]; on letterhead of the United Service Club, Pall Mall, S.W.
£25.00

British naval officer and inventor (1853-1924; DNB). 1 page, 16mo. In good condition. Attached to larger piece of card, docketed with a brief biography. 'I shall be delighted to come tomorrow at 4. pm. | Yours sincerely | Percy Scott'.

4 Autograph Letters Signed to his barrister, Richard Williams of Lincoln's Inn Field.

Author: 
Lieutenant General Sir Charles Hastings
Publication details: 
22 April 1802, 24 November 1803, 26 December 1803, and 'Wednesday'; all from Harley Street.
£120.00

English soldier, father of Frank Abney Hastings (1794-1828; DNB). The condition of these items is not good: the paper being discoloured, brittle and flaking. A series of intemperate communications. Letter 1 is one page, 8vo, of a bifoliate addressed and docketed on the reverse of the second leaf. It reads: 'I have taken a copy of the enclosed, which I send you, that you may get it written fairly, and signed. I shall be easier when it is done'. Letter 2 is 1 page, 8vo, with the remains of the second leaf of the bifoliate docketed.

Autograph Letter with illegible signature, to 'Frederick'

Author: 
HYDROGRAPHIC DEPARTMENT, ADMIRALTY, 1903
Publication details: 
25 September 1903; on letterhead, 'Hydrographic Department, Admiralty, London, S.W.', with oval Admiralty blind stamp of anchor at head.
£25.00

1 page, 16mo. Creased and discoloured, with holes and loss caused by pin, and with strip at foot loose and neatly reattached with archival tape. Stamped in blue 'HYDROGRAPHIC DEPARTMENT | 28 SEP. 1903'. Reads 'Dear Frederick | I see by the paper on Labuan sent over here that you have had a chart showing where Tanjong Batu &c is situated - Can you let me have this | Yours sincerely | '. Docketed in red at foot 'Chart Herewith Decr. 26/9'. Docketed on rerverse in blue pencil.

Autograph Signature on fragment of letter.

Author: 
Sir Henry Keppel, Admiral of the Fleet.
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£35.00

For Keppel (1809-1904) see the DNB. On a slip of paper, 1 inch by 2¾, probably cut from a letter. Grubby and creased, and docketed in ink 'Admiral Keppel'. Mounted on a long slip, together with the signature of his brother 'Edwd. S[outhwell]: Keppel' (b. c. 1801), Rector Of Quidenham, Norfolk, on a piece cut from another letter, 1¼ inches by 3. This second signature is in better condition and is preceded by "Dear Sir | Yours very truly'. Two items,

40 Autograph Letters Signed to him from various "old shipmates", mostly senior naval figures; with 9 portrait photographs, a photograph of the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert and the seal in red wax of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich.

Author: 
Captain Charles Dickson Inglis, R.N.
Publication details: 
between 1858 and 1898; from various locations.
£450.00

Captain Charles Dickson Inglis, R.N. (born c.1835; fl. 1898), is best known for his offer in 1887 to buy South Georgia in the Falkland Islands for the purposes of sheep-farming. This collection of his correspondence is neatly bound in a crude octavo volume, and is preceded by a manuscript index by him. Items in good condition overall, with minor discoloration and spotting, mainly caused by the glue used in mounting the photographs. All the letters are 8vo and smaller, several of them being cropped at the head, but with the cropped strips loosely inserted.

Signature only ("Althorp") with slight remains of Treasury document.

Author: 
John Charles Spencer.:
Publication details: 
17/04/06
£45.00

Viscount Althorp and third Earl Spencer 1782-1845. Signatures of Althorp, W. Wickham (see DNB) and J. , as Treasury officials, remains of documents (slight) indicate the grant of a pension to "Anne Thompson".

Fragment, signed by an amanuensis,

Author: 
John Jervis, Earl of St Vincent
Publication details: 
18 February 1807, Mortimer Street.
£50.00

English Admiral of the Fleet (1735-1823). The upper part of a letter on one 4to leaf. Recto: "Mortimer Street / the 18th of February 1807 / Sir / I have the honor to acknowledge the Receipt of your Letter of the 10th Instant reporting the account communicated by Lieutenant Batt, of <...>". Verso: "I have the honor to be / Sir / Your most obedient / humble Servant / St. Vincent". Grubby and with loss to one corner.

one formal autograph letter in the third person to Mr [?] Handley,

Author: 
John Jervis, Earl of St Vincent
Publication details: 
13 June 1817, Rochetts
£50.00

English Admiral of the Fleet (1735-1823). One page, 12mo. "Lord St. Vincent will thank Mr Handley to convey the inclosed, to Mr. Willan, as soon as possible / Rochetts / 13th. June 1817".

Autograph Letter Signed, 2pp., 8vo, to "Admiral" (Sir John Fisher)

Author: 
Lord Burnham (Edward Levy-Lawson)
Publication details: 
21/11/07
£45.00

Edward Levy-Lawson, Newspaper proprietor (1833-1916). He describes a variety of physical ailments to which he is prey but concludes that "My suffering has not diminished my belief in one popularly known as 'Jack Fisher'. . .". Burnham's relationship with Fisher is perhaps explained by his Newspaper, The Daily Telegraph's, support of a "strong navy" policy.

Autograph Letter Signed to "Lanyon"

Author: 
F. Beauchamp Seymour, admiral
Publication details: 
"Narcisssus", Port Royal, n.d.
£30.00

2pp., 8vo, chipped, not affecting the text. He expresses a liking for a photograph and tells of a "job" involving the "Immortalite".

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