NINETEENTH

[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.

[Algernon Blackwood, celebrated ghost story writer.] Typed Card Signed to ‘Miss Cond’ [autograph collector Eileen Cond], thanking her for a card that has enchanted him.

Author: 
Algernon Blackwood [Algernon Henry Blackwood] (1869-1951) English ghost writer, one of the most celebrated and prolific in the history of the genre of supernatural fiction [Eileen Lond]
Blackwood
Publication details: 
15 December 1959; Savile Club, 69 Brook Street, W1 [London], with Paddington postmark.
£150.00
Blackwood

Blackwood’s entry in the Oxford DNB quotes H. P. Lovecraft’s opinion that he was the author of ‘some of the finest spectral literature of this or any age’. On post card with printed stamp. In good condition, lightly worn, on light-brown card. Addressed to ‘Miss Cond, / Deer Park, / Honiton.’ Apart from the signature, Blackwood has added quotation marks and dealt with two typing mistakes in autograph. Good firm signature. Reads: ‘Savile Club, 69 Brook St, W. 1.

[Robert Machray, Anglican Archbishop of Rupert’s Land.] Autograph Letter Signed to his friend ‘Conoin’, written within days of his consecration at Lambeth, and just before his departure for Canada.

Author: 
Robert Machray (1831-1904), Scottish-born Anglican Archbishop of Rupert’s Land, Canada, 1865-1904 [Conoin]
Publication details: 
Harrogate [England]. 8 July 1865.
£150.00

Written within days of his consecration at Lambeth on 24 June 1865. See his entries in the Oxford DNB and Dictionary of Canadian Biography. The former states that his diocese ‘covered 2 million square miles of territory, with headquarters at Winnipeg, then a hamlet with a population of 150. To assist him in the administration of the diocese he had only eighteen clergymen. In 1866 he made a difficult tour of inspection of the Native American missions’. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Signed ‘R. Rupert’sLand’ and addressed to ‘My dear Covoin’. With embossed letterhead featuring a bishop’s mitre.

[Robison, Reed & Shuttleworth, Georgian dry goods merchants.] ‘General statement of the concern of Messrs. Robison Reed & Shuttleworth from June 1st., 1803 to December 1st., 1804.

Author: 
Robison, Reed & Shuttleworth, Georgian dry goods merchants; William McRae; Napper & Co., London callico printers; John Serrell [carpenter?]
Publication details: 
[Robison, Reed & Shuttleworth, merchants.] Manuscript ‘General statement of the concern of Messrs. Robison Reed & Shuttleworth from June 1st., 1803 to December 1st., 1804.’ On a single extremely large piece of paper.
£180.00

This is a document which would certainly repay investigation. No record of this firm of merchants has been discovered, or even of where they traded. Robison is a Scottish name, and there is an undated reference to a ‘James Robison, merchant in Dumfries’; most Shuttleworth’s hail from the north-east of England, and there is mention of a John Shuttleworth in Manchester in 1820. Other clues in the document suggest a London location: in 1793 Napper and Co.

[Victorian London: Somers Town.] Printed pamphlet of ‘“The Hall of Light.” / Somers Town Blind Aid Society’, giving ‘Report, 1898’, statement of accounts, press reports, list of officers and so on.

Author: 
Somers Town Blind Aid Society [Somers Town, London; Mrs. Alec Tweedie]
Publication details: 
‘LONDON, 14th March, 1899.’ Somers Town Blind Aid Society.
£56.00

A nice item of Victorian charitable ephemera. The Society (later the Hepburn Starey Blind Aid Society) was instituted in 1864, and according to p.5 of the present item the phrase ‘Hall of Light for the Blind’ was ‘Given to Somers Town Blind Aid Society by a Blind Chinese Christian lad’. No copy of this item, or of any other material relating to the Society found on either WorldCat or JISC. 24pp, 12mo. Stitched. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. The front cover is laid out in decorative fashion: ‘“The Hall of Light.” / Somers Town / Blind Aid Society.

[Mary Caroline Hughes, artist, photographer and amateur scientist, wife of the Welsh geologist Thomas McKenny Hughes.] Autograph ms. of an original study by her of the poetry of John Keats.

Author: 
Mary Caroline Hughes [nee Weston] (1860-1916), artist, photographer and geologist, wife of the Welsh geologist Thomas McKenny Hughes (1832-1917) [John Keats]
Publication details: 
Undated, but written after her marriage in 1882.
£320.00

The last paragraph of McKenny Hughes’s entry in the Oxford DNB deals with his marriage, noting that his wife was ‘a keen amateur archaeologist, a botanist, and a distinguished artist, and under his tuition she became a valuable geologist’, and that the couple ‘travelled together on field excursions’, being accompanied on a trip to the Balkans by an armed guard. Six boxes of her papers are among the rest of those of the Hughes family in the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge. The present item is 64pp, 4to, mostly on the rectos of a ruled ‘Universal Exercise Book.

[Pratap Singh, Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir.] Autograph Signature ‘Pratap Singh / Maharaja’ on fragment of letter.

Author: 
Pratap Singh (1848-1925), Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, ruler of an Indian salute state under the British Raj
Publication details: 
8 June 1893; on letterhead of The Palace Srinagar [Jammu and Kashmir, India].
£100.00

Singh was deposed by the British in 1889, with accusations of misgovernment, disloyal dealings with the Russian Empire, and a plot to murder his brothers and the British Resident, but as this was deemed contrary to the 1846 Treaty of Amritsar he was reinstated, but with a new ruling council was forced upon him, under the supervision of the Resident. Two slips of paper cut from a letter for display in an album. Both somewhat discoloured and a little ruckled. All the writing is in the same ink, but it is not clear whether the text of the letter is in a secretarial hand.

[Reading Cooperative Society Limited.] Large illustrated poster, in three colours, with 1913 ‘Members’ Calendar’ and information on the Society, from ‘Women’s Guild’ to ‘Artificial Teeth’.

Author: 
Reading Cooperative Society Limited [Co-operative Wholesale Society’s Printing Works, Longsight, Manchester]
Publication details: 
‘Members’ Calendar’ for 1913 [printed in 1912]. Co-operative Wholesale Society’s Printing Works, Longsight, Manchester.
£120.00

Reading Cooperative Society Limited came into existence in the 1860s, as ‘Reading Industrial Co-operative Society’. A nice piece of ephemera from the high-tide mark of the co-operative movement. No other copy has been traced. 50 x 68 cm. A striking and attractive production in six columns, printed in red, olive-green and grey-black, and black, with border of raspberry leaves, calendar split between the outer edges. Large illustration of ‘Llandudno and the Great Orme’ beneath the heading ‘Each for all, & all for each.

[John Philip Newman, Chaplain of the United States Senate.] Autograph Signature of ‘John P. Newman / Chaplain of the Senate.’

Author: 
John P. Newman [John Philip Newman] (1826-1899), Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church of America, Chaplain of the United States Senate
Publication details: 
17 August 1869. [Washington, D.C.]
£50.00

In addition to his pastoral duties, Newman was a noted orator and lecturer. In 1870 eleven thousand people crammed into the Salt Lake City Tabernacle, to hear him debate the question of polygamy with Orson Pratt, and transcripts of the debate were carried throughout the American papers. On a 14 x 7 cm slip of wove paper. The reverse bears traces of glue from its display in an album, and there is slight loss and a short closed tear at the foot from its removal. The signature and text are firm and clear: ‘John P. Newman / Chaplain of the Senate. / Aug 17 - / 69.’

[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.

[Abbé Jean Nicholas Voyaux de Franous (1760-1840), founder of St Mary’s Church, Cadogan Street, ‘the father of Roman Catholicism in Chelsea'.] Autograph Letter Signed regarding 'a place in the Chapel' for 'Miss Harvey'.

Author: 
Abbé Jean Nicholas Voyaux de Franous (1760-1840), founder of St Mary’s Church, Cadogan Street, ‘the father of Roman Catholicism in Chelsea'
Publication details: 
Dated 9 April 1837.
£50.00

According to the Victoria County History, Jean Nicholas Voyaux de Franous (1760-1840), a Frenchman, is ‘traditionally seen as the father of Roman Catholicism in Chelsea’. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Signed ‘Abbé Voyaux de Franous’ and addressed to 'Dear Madam'. Indisposition is the cause of his delayed response. He was without ‘the least idea that Miss Harvey was without a place in the Chapel and gave immediate orders to have her accommodated with one.

[Sir Edward Mortimer Archibald, British Consul in New York.] Autograph Signature to Manuscript document acknowledging the Albion Society of New York’s ‘Resolution of Condolence’ on the death of Princess Alice.

Author: 
Sir Edward Mortimer Archibald (1810-1884), British Consul in New York from 1857 to 1883, born in Nova Scotia [Albion Society of New York; Princess Alice]
Archibald
Publication details: 
9 January 1879; British Consulate General, New York.
£60.00
Archibald

2pp, foolscap 8vo. On grey laid paper with mourning border, brittle and lightly creased, with chipping and closed tears to edges. Addressed in Archibald’s hand to ‘The President of the Albion Society of New York’, and signed ‘E M Archibald / HM Brit Consul Genl’.

[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].

[Lauriston E. Shaw, Dean of the Guy’s Hospital Medical School, London.] Letter of recommendation for ‘Mr A. K. Matthews M.R.C.S LRCP’.

Author: 
Lauriston E. Shaw [Lauriston Elgie Shaw] (1859-1923), physician, Dean of the Guy’s Hospital Medical School, London.
Publication details: 
1 January 1895; on letterhead of the Medical School, Guy’s Hospital, London, S.E.
£45.00

3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘Lauriston . E . Shaw / Dean of the Medical School & Asst Physician to Guy’s Hospital’. Begins: ‘Mr A. K. Matthews M.R.C.S LRCP has been known to me as a student at Guy’s Hospital during the last five years.

[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.

[J. W. Robertson Scott, journalist and author on rural affairs, founding editor of ‘The Countryman’.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Walters’ [John Cuming Walters (1863-1933], speculating whether the Birmingham Daily Gazette is ‘into Radical hands’.

Author: 
J. W. Robertson Scott [John William Robertson Scott] (1866-1962), English journalist and author on rural affairs, founding editor of ‘The Countryman’ [Birmingham Daily Gazette; H. J. Palmer]
Publication details: 
13 January 1888. Acocks Green, Birmingham.
£56.00

An interesting letter casting light on the Victorian provincial press. Scott’s entry in the Oxford DNB states that, while he was living in Birmingham, ‘H. J. Palmer offered him a staff appointment on the Birmingham Gazette; but he had to leave when he stipulated that, as a Liberal, he should write nothing in support of the Conservative cause. He was working again as a freelance when, in 1887, he was invited by W. T. Stead to join him on the Pall Mall Gazette. He worked for six years on that paper under Stead and then Edward T. Cook.’ 4pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged.

[Printed pamphlet.] Shakespeare’s Handwriting / Facsimiles of the Five Authentic Autograph Sigatures of the Poet / Extracted from Sidney Lee’s ‘Life of William Shakespeare’. With cutting from 'The Academy' regarding the play 'Sir Thomas More'.

Author: 
[Sir Sidney Lee; William Shakespeare]
Shakespeare
Publication details: 
London / Smith, Elder & Co., 15 Waterloo Place / 1899. [Magazine cutting from 'The Academy', London, 1899.]
£80.00
Shakespeare

Now scarce. Among the six copies listed on JISC, only three (BL, Cambridge, NLW) are in the deposit libraries. Unpaginated 12mo pamphlet, w Iith page of contents, four pages of ‘Explanatory Note’ and three pages of facsimiles, on six leaves of shiny art paper, stitched into grey printed wraps with title on cover and two pages of advertisements at rear. In fair condition, lightly aged, in grubby wraps with tiny nick lost from bottom corner of front wrap.

[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.

[Michel Kovatchévitch [Kovatchevitch], Paris-based Slav actor and author.] Typed Letter Signed, in French [to English theatre historian W. Macqueen-Pope], requesting information for his book on the Anglo-American black actor Frederick Aldridge.

Author: 
Michel Kovatchévitch [Kovatchevitch] (1891-1961), Paris-based Slav actor and writer in French on the theatre [W. Macqueen-Pope, theatre historian; Ira Frederick Aldridge, Anglo-American black actor]
Publication details: 
4 May 1956; on his letterhead, 36 Rue de la Clef, Paris.
£120.00

From the Macqueen-Pope papers. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB.) 2pp, 4to. Signed ‘Michel Kovatchévitch’. On aged and worn paper. Folded twice for postage, with closed tears at edges of vertical fold, and nicks and creasing along one edge. He is working on a biography of Frederick Aldridge, ‘tragédien noir de langue anglaise (1807-1867)’, and asks for help in establishing the date of his debut, ‘dans le rôle d’Othello, au Royalty Theatre’.

[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).

[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.

[Queen's College, Westminster, London; the first institution in the world to award academic qualifications to women.] The first volume from the College?s own archive; containing around 340 pieces of unique ephemera.

Author: 
Queen's College, Westminster, London; founded by F. D. Maurice, the first institution in the world to award academic qualifications to women
Publication details: 
Queen?s College, 43 & 45 Harley Street, W. [Westminster; London] Items dating from between 1853 and 1912.
£3,500.00

A unique and irreplaceable item in the field of women?s education: the earliest archives of the first institution in the world to award academic qualifications to women (or, as Mrs Alec Tweedie put it in 1898, ?The first College open to Women?), founded in 1848 by theologian and social reformer Frederick Denison Maurice. Consisting of around 340 different pieces of printed ephemera, dating from between 1853 and 1912. Laid down in a nineteenth-century album, with cloth spine and marbled boards, of 102pp, folio. Openings numbered 1-52, with leaf 43/44 lacking.

[Lady Elizabeth Craven, Margravine of Anspach.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Elizabeth. M of B. A & B | Ps. Berkeley -') to coachbuilder 'Mr. Thomas', regarding the delivery of 'a well seasond [sic] Carriage' to Brandenburg House, Hammersmith.

Author: 
Lady Elizabeth Craven, Margravine of Anspach [Brandenburg-Anspach-Bayreuth] [née Lady Elizabeth Berkeley; also Princess Berkeley] (1750-1828), travel writer and society hostess [Thomas, coachbuilder]
Publication details: 
4 June 1800; no place [Brandenburg House, Hammersmith].
£120.00

For Lady Craven's colourful life see her entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 8vo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Folded four times. Begins: 'Mr. Thomas, I will thank you to send my Carriage by a Western Waggon, immediately here - directed to Hr. S. Highness The Margravine of Anspach Brandenburg house, near Hammersmith, and I hope as I have waited so long for it that it will be a well seasond [sic] Carriage - & reasonable in Price, which if it is, and finish'd to my Satisfaction, you may depend ont that it will not be the last by many which you will make'.

['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).

[Sir Stafford Northcote, Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer.] Autograph Letter Signed to barrister C. H. Bellenden Ker, regarding the drafting of clauses to an Act of Parliament, relating to ‘banking Companies’.

Author: 
Sir Stafford Northcote [Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh] (1818-1887), Conservative politician; Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1874-1880 [Charles Henry Bellenden Ker (c.1785-1871)]
Publication details: 
‘Board of Trade [Whitehall] / June 21. 1849’.
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient was a barrister and legal reformer. 2pp, 12mo. Signed ‘Stafford H. Northcote’ and addressed to ‘H. Bellenden Ker Esq’. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin neat strip from windowpane mount adhering to edges. Folded twice for postage. A few tiny calculations in another hand (Northcote’s?) at foot of second page. Twenty lines of neatly written text.

[Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854), Anglo-Irish antiquary.] Autograph Letter Signed (to the editor of the Gentleman’s Magazine, John Bowyer Nichols), regarding mistakes in an article on Winchester House, London, with reference to Thomas Baylis F.S.A.

Author: 
Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854), Anglo-Irish antiquary [John Bowyer Nichols (1779-1863), part-editor of the Gentleman’s Magazine; Winchester House; Thomas Baylis FSA, of Pryor’s Bank, Fulham]
Publication details: 
‘Admiralty [London] / 23rd. March 1839.’
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, on lightly discoloured paper, with thin neat strip from windowpane mount adhering to edges. Sixteen lines in a neat and stylish hand. Signed ‘T. Crofton Croker’. The recipient is not named, but is clearly John Bowyer Nichols, editor of the Gentleman’s Magazine, in whose number for April 1839 appeared an article, with engraving, by ‘E. I. C.’, on ‘Winchester House, Broad-street, London.’ Croker begins his letter: ‘My dear Sir, / I return E. I. C’s account of Winchester House.

[William Jerdan, editor of ‘The Literary Gazette’.] Autograph Letter Signed (to the annual’s editor Thomas K. Hervey?), regarding the reviewing of ‘Friendship’s Offering’ and ‘Mr Kennedy’s Volume of genuine poetry’.

Author: 
William Jerdan (1782-1869), Scottish journalist and antiquary, for thirty-four years editor of ‘The Literary Gazette’ [Thomas K. Hervey, editor of ‘Friendship’s Offering?]
Publication details: 
‘Grove House Brompton 20. Oct.’ [no year]
£80.00

An interesting letter, casting light on the workings of Victorian literary criticism. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The subject of the letter, ‘Friendship’s Offering’, was one of the four great nineteenth-century London ‘gift books’, appearing between the 1820s and the 1840s, for some of the period at least under the editorship of Thomas K. Hervey. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin neat strip of windowpane mount adhering to edges. Folded four times for postage. Thirteen lines of text. Signed ‘W. Jerdan’, with recipient (‘Dear Sir’) not named.

[‘The best private Collection in the Kingdom’: William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale.] Autograph Letter Signed regarding excavations at Moresby Hall, Cumbria, and his ‘collection of Statues in Roman & Greek antiquities’.

Author: 
William Lowther, 2nd Earl of Lonsdale (1787-1872), styled Viscount Lowther, 1807-1844, Tory politician [Moresby Hall, Cumbria]
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Signed ‘Lonsdale’. Recipient (‘Dear Sir’) not named. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin neat strip of windowpane mount at edges. Folded twice for postage. He has received the recipient’s letter, and is ‘sorry on different accounts the excavations have not arrived at a better success.

[Lord Stanhope, historian, antiquary and Tory politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to the editor of The Times, J. T. Delane, bewailing the state of Paris following the Franco-Prussian War, criticising French typography, and praising ‘Dr. Russell’.

Author: 
Lord Stanhope [Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope] (1805-1875) [styled Viscount Mahon between 1816 and 1855], historian and Tory politician [John Thadeus Delane (1817-79), editor of The Times]
Publication details: 
‘Chevening [Chevening House, Sevenoaks, Kent] | Oct. 14. [1870]’ No year, but with 1869 watermark.
£120.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin neat strip from windowpane mount adhering to the outer edges. Folded twice for postage. Writing during the Siege of Paris, he begins by thanking him ‘for the specimen of the present Paris printing. Alas how different is this blurred & blotted mass of types from the beautiful pages of typography which that brilliant city afforded!

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