NINETEENTH

The present item dates from a year of turmoil for Boulanger. At the start of 1889 it had seemed likely that he would exploit his tremendous working-class support to become dictator, but by April a warrant had been issued for his arrest and he had fled first to Brussels and then to London, before setting in Victor Hugo style in Jersey. He would return to Brussels in 1891, to shoot himself dead at the grave of his recently-deceased mistress. Complete 12 x 9.5 cm white envelope. In fair condition, lightly aged, and with back flap torn.

From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son and editor of the economist Thorold Rogers [James Edwin Thorold Rogers] (1823-1890), for information regarding whom see his entry in the Oxford DNB. The three items in good condition, lightly aged. Each folded three times. All three signed ‘Arnold Morley’. ONE: 5 November 1891. 3pp, 12mo.

William and Mary owes its survival to Ewell: he rebuilt it from ruins after the American Civil War, and every morning during several years of closure he is said to have rung the assembly bell to keep the memory of the college fresh. The present item is 1p, landscape 8vo. It is in poor condition, on brittle high-acidity paper, with significant chipping to all the edges except the bottom one, which has resulted in the loss of a few letters of text, and to the engraved illustration of the college in the letterhead. The letter reads: ‘Mr. Walter G.

Adams was the author of more than one hundred books. He was criticised by Louisa May Alcott for his use of slang and depiction of ‘low’ characters such as bootblacks, elements which make him sound like a proto-Mark Twain, and should attract renewed attention today. Without date or place. On 4.5 x 9.5 cm slip of wove paper. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering to blank reverse.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Even towards the end of his life Bernard Shaw could remark that ‘he can still leave the next best tenor in England an immeasurable distance behind’. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of mount to inner margin. Folded once. Very nice embossed letterhead, printed in gold, brown, green and red, with bird perched on top of a treble clef, entwined with foliage and a twisted branch in the shape of the ‘R’ of ‘Reeves’. Reads: ‘Sir / This autograph with pleasure, according to your request / Yours faithfully / June 1872 / J. Sims Reeves’.

See the entries for Pollock, Peel and Baring in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. Addressed to ‘My dear Baring’. He begins by thanking him for his ‘introductions - & the kindness of your letter that enclosed them’.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. Both letter and invitation have been repaired with archival tape after being torn in half; otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Letter of 11 March 1904. 2pp, 12mo. She has ‘heard from Mr. Tierny’ that Miss Parker and her sisters ‘have very kindly offered to sing in the Anthem on the occasion of my daughter’s wedding. It is most kind of you to give your time in this way, and we are sure that the music will be a very great addition to the service.’ She hopes that the sisters will see her ‘in the Library after the service’.

In 1867 Starr was the first woman to win a gold medal for painting at the Royal Academy, having won a silver two years before. 2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of mount on blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. She has ‘just received the ticket for the lecture at the Associated Arts Institute’ which he sent, and is afraid she will not be able to use it herself: ‘as we are going to the Opera’. She wonders whether she ‘may be allowed’ to ‘give it to some friends who I think would like to come very much’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, on the first leaf of a bifolium, the blank second of which carries traces of mount. Folded twice. Begins: ‘My dear FitzGerald / I thank you very much for your obliging note - and I rejoice greatly that you have obtained for Capt Macgregor this mark of favor and distinction. India has no better soldier, nor has any political agent, placed in trying circumstances, shewn a better nerve or a sounder discretion’. FitzGerald’s ‘just notice of him’ will be ‘well appreciated’ by others.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that ‘During his periods of ‘madness’, George III imagined that he was married to Lady Pembroke. Apparently, 'his infatuation went back to the days when he was only seventeen and she, of the same age, was Elizabeth Spencer'. The king went so far as to make 'her handsome offers if she would be his mistress.’ [...] In 1804 the king suffered another attack of dementia and again announced his desire for Lady Pembroke. This situation aroused some amusement among younger courtiers since she was by this time almost seventy years old.” 1p, 12mo.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. There is a blue plaque at his house in Onslow Square, announcing that he lived there from 1851 to his death in 1867. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed to ‘Mon cher Monsieur’. He has returned home after several days in the country, to find his ‘garde manger si bien rempli des preuves de votre bon et bienveillant souvenir’.

Each of the two items attributed to Wright in pencil note on reverse. Both in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: On 11 x 17.5 cm piece of paper. At head: ‘Book Plate of Morrall A[?] vox stellarum vox Dei’. At foot: ‘M. J. Morrall’. (Unlikely to be the Brooklyn architect of this name active at this time.) Up left-hand margin: ‘Mr. Edward Morrall / Mayor 1885-6’. Down right-hand margin: ‘Presented to Mr Edward Morrall Quay House Bridgnorth’. Full achievement, from crest to motto, with colours indicated. TWO: On back of 9 x 11 cm printed ‘at Home’ card.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged, with paper from mount on reverse. Folded once. On 6 x 10 cm piece of paper, cut from conclusion of letter. Good firm signature. Reads: ‘[...] European troops / [...] quartered them. / Yours sincerely / Elphinstone’. See image.

See Glaisher’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The story of Glaisher’s balloon flights is travestied in the 2019 film ‘The Aeronaut’, with his co-pilot Henry Tracey Coxwell being replaced by the fictional female character ‘Amelia Wren’. The object of the ascents, made on behalf of the British Association between 1862 and 1866, was to carry out scientific observations in such matters as the variation in temperature and humidity of the atmosphere at high elevations.

On one side of a 42 x 52 cm piece of laid paper. Folded three times. In very good condition, lightly aged. A striking item in its austere way: very neatly written out, and perhaps suitable for framing. At head: ‘No. 2. Tableau des communes qui ont cessé d’être autorisées à planter du tabac.’ At foot: ‘Toutes les communes des arrondissements de Bethune et de St. Omer qui ont cessé d’être autorisées à planter, avaient volontairement renoncé à la culture. | Arras, le 21 Juillet 1834 | Le Directeur du Dépt du Pas-de-Calais, | [signature (‘Borrage?’, ‘Barrois?’)].

The tradition of this annual day of revels at Scotland's oldest university St Andrews is said to date back to the fifteenth century and is said to commemorate the visits of a lady Katharine Kennedy to her uncle, Bishop Kennedy of St Andrews, every Spring. 9 x 5 cm sepia photographic print of illustration, laid down on 10.5 x 6 cm piece of card, and clearly made in the nineteenth century. In fair condition, lightly aged. As part of the print, at bottom right: ‘Kate Kennedy pinxit / 1871’.

Six lines, in original envelope, very good condition. ‘Il Cardinale Antonelli’ presents his compliments to her, and ‘egli desidera dal [?] di prosperità’. See image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On strip of paper, roughly 10 x 3.5 cm, cut into an irregular rectangular shape. On one side is the valediction: ‘Yours very sincerely / Harry Plunket Greene’. On the other a fragment of three lines of the letter: ‘[...] I hope no [...] / started that things [...] / go on well. I am part[...]’. See image.

Printed in two columns in black and red on one side of a piece of paper seventeen and a half inches by eleven and a quarter wide. Foxed and with a few very small closed tears at points along crease lines. Thirty-six rules, listed under sections headed 'THE EXECUTIVE', 'GENERAL MEETINGS', 'MOTIONS', 'ELECTION OF MEMBERS', 'PAYMENT OF SUBSCRIPTIONS, &C.', 'HONORARY MEMBERS', 'ELECTION OF OFFICERS AND COMMITTEE', 'DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT', 'DUTIES OF THE SECRETARY', 'DUTIES OF THE AUDITOR', 'BOOKS, NEWSPAPERS, &C.', 'MISCELLANEOUS' and 'CLUB DINNER'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 16 x 10 cm rectangle cut from leaf of an autograph album. On lightly aged wove paper, with crease to one corner avoiding the writing. Boldly written: ‘W. Harrison Ainsworth / Dunsnow. / July 19th. 1855.’ Nothing else written on either side of the leaf. See image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 11 x 5.5 cm rectangle cut from the foot of a letter. In fair condition, aged and lightly creased, with traces of glue from mount adhering to the blank reverse. Folded once. Reads: ‘Yours in great haste, / most cordially / Thomas Moore’. See image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, tall 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged; folded twice. In the following transcription the manuscript parts are in square brackets: ‘By Command of the Commissioners for Executing the Office of Lord High Admiral of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, &c.

See the entries on the two men in the Oxford DNB. The document to which Stirling Maxwell refers in this letter can be read as ‘Dissent (No. III.)’ on pp.xiii to xxii of the parliamentary ‘Report of the Oaths Commission. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty.’ (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1867). There were five dissenters to the report: alongside Stirling Maxwell and Milman were Robert Lowe, Lord Lyveden, and Edward Pleydell Bouverie. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of glue from mounting to blank reverse of second leaf.

4pp, 12mo. Fifty lines of neatly-written text, addressed to ‘My Dear Dale’. On bifolium. In good condition, with creases from being folded into a packet. Minuted by recipient at head of first page. He is sorry that his ‘continued absence abroad’ will prevent him from attending the formal opening of ‘the Committee of the Darlington Junior Liberal Club’. He describes the ‘several reasons to look forward to the opening day as a very auspicious one’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The recipient’s name is uncertain (‘Knight Sladen’?) He is sorry that he is prevented from ‘coming to the Mansion House on Wedy’ by ‘the demands of practice’. The subject has his sympathy, ‘and, else, 2 Guineas if there is a subscription list & if small amounts be accepted’. He wonders whether his ticket might be used ‘by a patriotic sister & a friend!’ He asks him to simply send a post card ‘to say I may substitute their names for mine’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, but a little brittle and discoloured (unobtrusive repair to one corner with archival tape). The recipient is not named. Reads: ‘Dear Sirs / I shall be pleased to see your Ramblers June the 6th. Let me know details of them & numbers a week before. / Yours truly / Hubert Herkomer’.

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.

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.

See Dilke’s entry 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. ANS: 1p, 12mo. In good condition. Reads: ‘My dear Cavendish, / I’ve told them to send you the Revenue & Expenditure estimate of Cyprus for the current year. | Sincerely Yrs. / Charles W. Dilke’. GALLEY PROOFS: 104 lines of text, in the customary block, on one side of a 17 x 38 cm piece of good laid paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Headed ‘The Rt. Hon.

See his entry 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. The recipient is not named. 2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, on aged and lightly-worn paper. The letter begins: ‘Dear Sir, / I suppose a pamphlet is meant - called I think “Parliamentary Reform” - (but I’m not quite sure), written about 1878 & sold at Smith’s bookstall.