NINETEENTH

Autograph Letter Signed from the animal painter Gourlay Steell ('the Scottish Landseer') to eccentric art patron John Christie of Cowden

Author: 
Gourlay Steell (1819-1894), animal painter, 'the Scottish Landseer' [John Christie (1822-1902) of Cowden, art patron and eccentric; William Brodie (1815-1881), Scottish sculptor]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 4 Palmerston Place, Edinburgh. 1 November 1881.
£120.00

4pp., 12mo. Thirty lines. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with traces of mount at head of second page. Steell is enclosing 'a catalogue of the most recent works of the kind you desire', and points out that 'the short biographical sketches of deceased Scottish artists, in connection with our catalogue, was only printed [last word underlined] by Messrs. Constable'. He ends by offering his 'warmest wishes for the married couple' - in 1881 Christie's seventeen-year-old daughter Alice married Robert King Stewart, KBE, of Murdostoun Castle, Lanarkshire.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Helen F. Martin') from the English actress Helen Faucit Martin, Lady Martin, to Mrs Paget, arranging a visit.

Author: 
Helen Faucit Martin [born Helena Faucit Saville] (1817-1898), Lady Martin, English actress, wife of Sir Theodore Martin (1816-1909)
Publication details: 
31 Onslow Square. 27 May [no year].
£35.00

2pp., 16mo. Bifolium. On monogrammed letterhead. In fair condition, with traces of glue from mount still adhering. She proposes a date for a meeting, adding: 'Will Miss Paget come in the evening & bring a young friend with her if she pleases?'

Autograph Letter Signed ('Newcastle') from Henry Pelham Fiennes Pelham-Clinton (1811-1864), 5th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, declinging an invitation, and complaining of the effect of his public duties on his private affairs.

Author: 
Henry Pelham Fiennes Pelham-Clinton (1811-1864), 5th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne
Publication details: 
Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire. 14 April 1855.
£35.00

4pp., 12mo. 26 lines. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressing an unnamed male correspondent, he begins by declining his correspondent's 'kind invitation' to his visit his house, 'on the ground that has already compelled me to refuse similar hospitality on that occasion from Mr. Wright and others'.

Autograph Note Signed ('E Cobham Brewer. -') from Rev. Dr Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, compiler of 'Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable', thanking an unnamed correspondent for taking an interest in his work.

Author: 
Rev. Dr Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (1810-1897), compiler of 'Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable'
Publication details: 
Ruddington, Nottingham. 25 January 1881.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Reads: 'Dear Sir | I have to thank you for the courtesy of your letter received by post this morning. It is always gratifying to an author when another takes an interest in what he has written'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Georg Henschel') from Sir George Henschel, the baritone and pianist, to Lady Thompson, asking her to extend the hospitality to 'Mr. and Mrs. Koecher (and the Misses Koecher)'.

Author: 
Sir George Henschel [born Isidor Georg Henschel] (1850-1934), German-born British baritone, pianist, conductor and composer
Publication details: 
25 Gloucester Road, Regents Park, NW [London]. 15 June 1881.
£40.00

2pp., 12mo. On bifolium. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with strip of tape from previous mounting adhering at the foot of the recto of the second leaf. He asks her to send 'cards for your afternoon Friday' to 'our dear friends Mr. and Mrs. Koecher (and the Misses Koecher)', who would 'enjoy every minute'. He gives the Koecher's address as de Keyser's Royal Hotel, Blackfriars, and ends by conveying his wife's love.

Manuscript receipt, signed ('Arch Forbes') by the war correspondent Archibald Forbes, for £50 from the London publishers Henry S. King & Co., for the right to publish an edition of 1000 copies of his 'Soldiering and Scribbling'.

Author: 
Archibald Forbes (1838-1900), British war correspondent, born in Scotland [Henry S. King & Co., 65 Cornhill, London publishers]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. 27 June 1872.
£56.00

1p., landscape 12mo. In good condition, on aged paper. Signed by Forbes over a purple one penny Inland Revenue stamp. Reads: '£50 : 0 : 0 | 27th. June 1872. | Received of Messrs: Henry S. King & Co. of 65 Cornhill London, the sum of Fifty Pounds in payment for the right to publish an edition of 1000 copies of "Soldiering and Scribbling" | [signed] Arch Forbes'. The book was published by the firm in the same year as the receipt.

Autograph Letter Signed from the American critic and biographer Eugene Parsons to C. J. Caswell,

Author: 
Eugene Parsons (1855-1933), American author and critic, biographer of George Washington and editor of Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Publication details: 
3612 Stanton Avenue, Chicago. 21 November 189<2>.
£120.00

4pp., 12mo. Worn and stained on four leaves with wear to extremities resulting in slight loss of text, and with at least one leaf lacking. Parsons begins by informing Caswell that he is sending him a copy of the Examiner containing his article on 'Tennyson's Literary Career': 'It was sent to the Editor only a few days after the poet's death when I knew nothing about the title or contents of the new book of poems.' He discusses his plans to insert the article when he republishes his pamphlet (Parsons' 'Tennyson's Life and Poetry' appeared in 1892, with a revised edition the following year).

Manuscript letter from 'the undersigned ladies and gentlemen of the "Delia" company', at the Tyne Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne, to Frank Rothsay, signed by sixteen individuals on presenting him with a token of appreciation of his management.

Author: 
Frank Rothsay, Victorian actor-manager of the Tyne Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne, and the Borough Theatre, Stratford
Publication details: 
Tyne Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne. 5 October 1889.
£80.00

1p., foolscap 8vo. Stained, worn and creased, but a unique memento of a Newcastle institution and Grade I listed building, founded in 1867 as the Tyne Theatre and Opera House, and now bearing the euphonious name of the Mill Volvo Tyne Theatre.

Autograph Card Signed ('Geo R Sims') from the dramatist George R. Sims thanking Thomas Hutchinson for a letter, with reference to a visit to Liverpool.

Author: 
George R. Sims [George Robert Sims] (1847-1922), English dramatist and author [Thomas Hutchinson]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 12 Clarence Terrace, Regent's Park, NW [London]. 7 September 1900.
£30.00

The letterhead includes a facsimile of Sims's signature. Six lines, on one side of the card. Addressed at foot to 'Thos Hutchinson Esq.' Fair, on aged paper, with strip of gummed paper from mount at head of blank reverse. He sends 'a thousand thanks' for Hutchinson's 'kind letter on Sep 2', which he would have answered earlier, had he not been 'away at Liverpool'. He concludes: 'Your good wishes lay upon my table to welcome me home.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('Louisa Parr') from the Victorian novelist Mrs Louisa Sarah Ann Parr (pseudonym 'Mrs. Olinthus Lobb'), regarding the translation into French by the neice of the unnamed female recipient of her novel 'Dorothy Fox'.

Author: 
Louisa Sarah Ann Parr [née Taylor] (c.1848-1903), Victorian novelist under the pseudonym 'Mrs. Olinthus Lobb'
Publication details: 
18 Upper Phillimore Place, Kensington. 27 July 1872.
£40.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium, with leaf dimensions 18 x 11cm. The letter appears complete, in good condition on lightly-aged paper, but a rectangle of about 5.5 x 11cm. (perhaps carrying the recipient's name) has been torn from the bottom of the second leaf.

Printed satirical circular 'To the Ratepayers of this Borough', from 'Wm. Buster, Junr.', concerning his supposed election as a Poor Law Guardian.

Author: 
'Wm. Buster, Junr.', pseudonym [English Poor Law Guardians]
Publication details: 
'Dated, May 1, 1851, Castle Villian.'
£95.00

1p., 12mo. In small type. On aged and creased paper. Signed in type: 'Beggar and Flames! | Gentlemen, | If I am not your Bum Bailiffe, [sic] | For any dirty work, | WM. BUSTER, JUNR.' The circumstances surrounding this spoof are unclear. It begins: 'In fact, I feel it a duty devolving upon me, to return you my sincere thanks for the honour you have done me, in electing me one of your Guardians.' The next paragraph concerns 'the slanderous assertion, which certain persons have industriously circulated, detractive of this honour, in fact, that I am the nominee of my own workman'.

Ten manuscript business letters, seven in English and two in French, from six different British wine merchants, to the French cognac house Messrs. Otard Dupuy & Co., placing orders, reporting news of the Brandy trade in Britain and shipping.

Author: 
[Messrs. Otard Dupuy & Co, French cognac house founded in 1795 by Jean-Baptiste Antoine Otard [later with Léon and Jean Dupuy], based in the Château des Valois (Château de Cognac), Cognac, Charente]
Publication details: 
From Aberdeen, Exeter, London, Liverpool , Stockton, Sunderland. Between 1828 and 1859.
£250.00

The ten items total 19pp., 4to. Each is a bifolium, with the address and postmarks on the reverse of the second leaf. Each is docketed by Otard Dupuy. All ten are in excellent condition, on lightly-aged paper. The six firms are: Bevan & Smith, Liverpool, two letters (both 1850); Christopher Bushell & Co., Liverpool (1859); John Currie, two letters, both in French: London (1828) and Stockton (1828); A. Leveau, three letters: Aberdeen (1849), Exeter (1850) and Sunderland (1850); William Strachan & Co, London (1828); George Wildes & Co., London (1828).

[Printed booklet for children, with illustrations.] The Bunch of Violets.

Author: 
Anonymous [James Burns, 17 Portman Street, Portman Square, London; Levey, Robson, and Franklyn, 46 St Martin's Lane, London]
Publication details: 
London: James Burns, 17 Portman Street, Portman Square. 1840. [Printed by Levey, Robson, and Franklyn, 46 St Martin's Lane, London.]
£250.00

19pp., 32mo. Stitched. In pink printed wraps. Lightly-aged, in worn wraps. The front cover duplicates the only different element being the central vignette. On the rear wrap is a list of twelve children's books, 'Just published, uniform in size with the present', 'The Series to be continued.' Stock engraving at head of first page, showing old man with stick at cottage door, admonishing three children, one of them crying. Final engraving shows man with hat and stick on tired horse, with accompanying dog in foreground and foliage in background.

Manuscript Memorandum of Agreement between J. Hain Friswell and the London publisher Henry S. King, setting out the terms of publication of Friswell's 'The Better Self'. Signed 'J. Hain Friswell'.

Author: 
James Hain Friswell (1825-1878), English essayist and novelist [Henry S. King & Co., publishers, 65 Cornhill, London]
Publication details: 
22 October 1874.
£56.00

1p., foolscap 8vo. On laid paper, with red embossed tax stamp in top left-hand corner. In fair condition, lightly-aged. The memorandum is seventeen lines long, and begins: 'Memorandum of an Agreement made this twenty second day of October One thousand eight hundred and seventy four. Between Mr J. Hain Friswell of Fair House, Bexley Heath, Kent, of the one part and Messrs. Henry S. King & Co. of 65 Cornhill London publishers of the other part. | The said Mr J. Hain Friswell has written a Work entitled "The better self" which he herby assigns to Messrs. Henry S.

Three Autograph Letters Signed and an Autograph Note Signed (all 'David Murray') from the Scottish painter Sir David Murray to 'Mr. Mann'.

Author: 
Sir David Murray (1849-1933), RA, Scottish painter [James Coutts Michie (1859-1919)]
Publication details: 
Three of the four items on letterhead of 1 Langham Chambers, Portland Place, London; the fourth from the Old Red Lion Hotel, Bolton Abbey, Skipton, Yorkshire. 1898, 1899, 1901 and 1905.
£220.00

All four items in fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. All written in Murray's distinctive wavy hand. Letter One: 15 December 1898. 3pp., 12mo. He begins by asking Mann to 'send the proceeds for the enclosed cheque into the proper hands to discharge my debt for the pencils'. He 'had to run down by night mail on Sunday night & back on Monday night, to attend the funeral of my dear old friend James Muir who died after a very short illness'. He expresses sympathy for 'Poor Brough'.

Manuscript Victorian directions for a servant in a large establishment, giving twenty instructions, primarily regarding cleaning.

Author: 
[Directions for a nineteenth-century English servant; Victorian domestic service]
Publication details: 
Without date or place. [England, 1860s?]
£60.00

4pp., 16mo. Bifolium. On piece of watermarked laid paper. The first page reads: 'Not to call out to any of the servants but to go up to them when wanted or to ring the call bell. | Care about curtains & chairs - wear white cotton gloves to touch them with | Open shutters gently so as not to disturb the family. | Dont talk loud or laugh loud. - where there are many servants the noise is disagreeable & never allowed.' Towards the end: 'In setting your candle down see that there is nothing over it - such as a picture frame or ornament of any kind -'.

Autograph Letter Signed from 'William Kay', on board 'H.M.S. Tauranga at Sea', to someone (male) to whom he is very affectionate, Louie ("son"??), describing a journey to Australia, with 'a lot of young Blue Jacket Boys on board'.

Author: 
William Kay [HMS Tauranga, Auxiliary Squadron of the Australia Station; Lou Blane; bluejackets]
Publication details: 
'H.M.S. Tauranga at Sea' [undated, but presumably on HMS Tauranga's maiden voyage to Australia, 1890].
£220.00

13pp., 12mo. On three bifoliums and a last single leaf. On aged and worn paper. A semi-literate, but spirited epistle. Little is to be discovered concerning the identity of the writer. Addressed to 'My Darling Son' and signed 'good bye, be good, ever yours and yours alone William Kay', but with a few hints that the letter may not in fact be from a father to his son. Kay begins by stating that he is going to fulfil his promise and write 'a long letter'.

[Victorian satire in form of mock Act of Parliament.] Cap. CCXXXVIII. An Act for the Reform and Regulation of Female Apparel and to Amend and Refrenate the Customs relating to Crinoline and other Artificial Superfluities and the Profusion thereof.

Publication details: 
'This proposed Act is Published by WILLIAM CONEY, 61, Wardour St., Oxford St., London and Sold by all Booksellers. [Session 1859]
£220.00

4pp., folio. Bifolium. On worn and aged paper. Nicely printed, with royal crest at head of first page, above the words 'ANNO VICESIMO SECUNDO & VICESIMO TERTIO | VICTORIAE REGINAE.' The full title reads: 'An Act for the Reform and Regulation of Female Apparel and to Amend and Refrenate the Customs relating to Crinoline and other Artificial Superfluities and the Profusion thereof, with the Powers, Provisions, Clauses, Regulations and Directions, Fines, Forfeitures and Penalties to be observed, applied, practised and put in execution for securing the proper observance of the same.

[Printed temperance pamphlet poem, one of 'New Series of Penny Tracts'.] Poor Betsy Rayner: The Power of Kindness. By Mrs. Sewell, Author of "Mother's Last Words," "Our Father's Care," &c., &c.

Publication details: 
Seventh Edition. Fortieth Thousand. London: Jarrold and Sons, 12, Paternoster Row. [Jarrold and Sons, Printers, Norwich.]
£50.00

16pp., 16mo. Unbound and stitched. On worn and aged paper, with loss to bottom outside corner of title leaf; spine strengthened with contemporary gummed paper. On reverse of title is a page of advertisements for 'Household Tracts for the People'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('R. S. Lauder') from the Scottish historical painter Robert Scott Lauder to the Liverpool painter W. G. Herdman, regarding to the sending to Edinburgh of one of his pictures, with another by his brother James Eckford Lauder.

Publication details: 
35 Upper Charlotte Street, Fitzroy Square, London. 23 January 1847.
£65.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with thin strip from mount adhering to blank reverse. Addressed to 'W. G. Herdman Esqr. | Liverpool'. If his brother's picture ('Mr J. E. Lauder') and his own 'are not by this time sent off'', he would like this done immediately, 'as they must be in Edinh. by the 1st of Feby.'

Autograph Letter Signed from the Scottish engineer James Thomson to 'Miss Jaffé', regarding an introduction to Professor Carey Foster.

Author: 
James Thomson (1822-1892), Scottish engineer [George Carey Foster (1835-1919), English chemist and physicist]
Publication details: 
Oakfield House, Hillhead, on letterhead of the University of Glasgow. 27 July 1879.
£60.00

2pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He regrets that 'too much time has elapsed' since her letter to 'our Mary': 'I wished to write sooner but I have missed doing so through great pressure of various urgent engagements'. He is enclosing (not present) 'an introduction to Prof. Carey Foster, which I hope may be useful unless you have already got the advice you wanted'. The recipient is probably a member of the family of Sir Otto Jaffe (1846-1929), Lord Mayor of Belfast.

Autograph Letter Signed ('John S. Pakington') from the British Conservative politician John Somerset Pakington, 1st Baron Hampton, to General Sir Robert Gardiner, Governor of Gibraltar, discussing his 'printed but unpublished Report' on the 'Rock'.

Author: 
John Somerset Pakington (1799-1880), 1st Baron Hampton [Lord Hampton] British Conservative politician [General Sir Robert Gardiner (1781-1864), Governor of Gibralar, 1848-1855]
Publication details: 
Eaton Square [London]. 1 March 1856.
£150.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium on mourning paper. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He writes to thank Gardiner for sending him 'a copy of your printed but unpublished Report to His Majesty's Government on the danger of governing Gibraltar as a Colony'. Gardiner's report 'forms an appropriate termination' to his 'administration of the affairs of the "Rock," & I shall read it with the interest and attention due to your long Experience in that Fortress'. He ends by sending his compliments to Lady Gardiner.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Ll Jewitt') from the antiquary Llewellynn Jewitt to 'Mr Doxey' [the numismatist the Rev. John Smith Doxey], regarding an article for his journal 'The Reliquary'.

Author: 
Llewellynn Jewitt [Llewellynn Frederick William Jewitt] (c.1816-1886), antiquary, illustrator, engraver, natural scientist, author of The Ceramic Art of Great Britain (1878) [Rev. John Smith Doxey]
Publication details: 
Winster Hall [High Peak, Derbyshire]. 26 August 1874.
£65.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The manuscript of Doxey's article is 'safe to hand' and Jewitt is 'much pleased [both words underlined twice] with the plates & coins. It is very nice indeed.' The article is too late for the next number, 'the difficulty being the engravings'. 'If you dont mind I think I should like to give your article the "place of honour" - ie the opening article - in the following number'.

Autograph Letter Signed from the satirist Percival Leigh to 'My dear Brooks' [fellow 'Punch' contributor Shirley Brooks], regarding his writing, the nature of the joke, the unsuitability of his Hampshire surroundings to literature, and other matters.

Author: 
Percival Leigh (1813–1889), satirist, the first writer to carve his name into the 'Punch' table [Charles William Shirley Brooks (1816-1874), editor of 'Punch' from 1870 to his death]
Publication details: 
Shirley Warren, near Southampton. 28 July 1865.
£120.00

4pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He considers the cut excellent, and is grateful to Brooks for having 'managed so well' with his article. 'Many such an article of mine has been sacrificed, though absolutely a pretty good one, and comparatively to that which stood in its place, superexcellent. But such is my luck. By the by, don't measure the quantity of all that I do by what appeareth.' He reports that 'Fred is much amused with the verses on the Queen's first baby. I said that there are two men here besides himself who understand a joke.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Emma Albani Gye') from the Canadian soprano Dame Emma Albani to 'Mrs. Blois', accepting an invitation to tea.

Author: 
Dame Emma Albani Gye [née Marie Louise Cécile Emma Lajeunesse] (1847–1930), Canadian soprano
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Southmoor, Dean Park, Bournemouth. 'Friday' [no date].
£40.00

2pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with a couple of unobtrusive creases. 'We shall be very pleased to come to tea with you on Sunday - I hope you will not mind if we are a little late - I shall be so glad to see Mrs. Arkwright also. With kind regards and many thanks | Believe me | Yours very sincerely | [signed] Emma Albani Gye'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Syd Smirke') from the architect Sydney Smirke, advising 'Mr. Lloyd' [William Watkiss Lloyd?] not 'to be made instrumental in dunning', in a case involving Saunders & Co. and 'Sir Robert' [his brother Sir Robert Smirke?].

Author: 
Sydney Smirke (1798-1877), English architect, younger brother of Sir Robert Smirke (1780-1867) [William Watkiss Lloyd (1813-1893), antiquary]
Publication details: 
Grosenor St [London]. 5 March [1859].
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with minor water staining and a couple of spike holes. An intriguing communication, beginning: 'I would not, if I were you, allow myself to be so worried.' Smirke feels that, as 'Mess: Saunders & Co have not been backward in representing themselves as Principals in the matter', and as they 'are as largely as - or more largely, interested' than Lloyd himself 'in obtaining a payment, they had better themselves address Sir Robert'.

Autograph Letter Signed from the Scottish painter Thomas Faed inviting a fellow-painter to his studio, and expressing concern that his paintings may get 'massacred [...] in the hanging'.

Author: 
Thomas Faed (1826-1900), RSA, Scottish painter
Publication details: 
24a Cavendish Rd, St John's Wood [London]. 3 April [post 1876].
£80.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Watermarked 'JOYNSON | 1876'. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with minor staining from mount at foot of second leaf. Written in a hasty, untidy hand. The recipient appears to be 'My dear Hornby', 'Horley' or 'Howley'. Faed writes that he is 'slaving away chopping and changing sometimes worse and sometimes better (I hope) on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. 7th.

Printed handbill address by James Haughton Langston to the 'Freemen of the City of Oxford.'

Author: 
James Haughton Langston (1796-1863) of Sarsden House, Chipping Norton, Whig MP for New Woodstock, 1820-1826, and for Oxford, 1826-1834 and 1841-1863
Publication details: 
[Oxford, 1832?]
£60.00

1p., 4to. Worn and aged. The item has been laid down and cropped to 23 x 19.5cm, with only the top part of Langston's surname is present at the bottom of the leaf. In heavily-inked type. The item reads: 'FREEMEN | OF THE | City of Oxford. | Gentlemen, | I want words to express my acknowledgements to you for your generous conduct towards me this day; and I am proud to find, that the longer the Contest continues the better I stand on the Poll.

The Popular Family Tales of Mrs. Craik

Author: 
[Mrs Craik]
Publication details: 
London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co (earliest published work in BL 1890).; Glasgow: Thomas D. Morison[after 1887, her year of death]
£350.00

430pp., 8vo, “Biographical Sketch,” unsigned, p. 5–6,bookplate (Presentation), bokseller's label (both inside front cover), very dark red smooth cloth, spine blocked in gold., sl. worn, corners bumped wear to edges of spine, eps foxed, pages stained (mainly sides), ow good. Copy in Parish Collection, Princeton; none listed on COPAC, WorldCat. or Woolf.

Two Victorian stained glass windows, each with a central panel relief in white glass paste and grisaille, each with an image from Steuben depicting Esmeralda, from Victor Hugo's 'Hunchback of Notre Dame', dancing with, and nursing, her goat.

Author: 
[Victorian stained glass window; Charles de Steuben (1788-1856); Victor Hugo (1802-1885), author of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1831)]
Publication details: 
[British, c.1850?]
£300.00

Each wIndow is 22 x 20 cm, with a central 16 x 14 cm panel of white glass, surrounded by a border made up of eight pieces (2 x 2cm corner squares with stars in orange glass, connected by 2 x 14cm rectangular purple panels). Each window has a set of two metal loops at head, for hanging. Metal frame rusted on both, and two border panels cracked on one, otherwise in good condition, with both white glass reliefs undamaged. The two housed in a contemporary silk-lined black leather box with brass clasps.

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