THOMAS

[Sir Austen Henry Layard, archaeologist at Nimrud and Nineveh.] Autograph Letter Signed to Foreign Office civil servant Sir Thomas Villiers Lister, giving advice and information for a stay in Venice.

Author: 
Sir Austen Henry Layard (1817-1894), archaeologist who excavated Nimrud and Nineveh, discoverer of library of Assyrian king Ashurbanipal [Sir Thomas Villiers Lister (1832-1902) of the Foreign Office]
Publication details: 
24 February 1886. On letterhead of 1 Queen Anne Street, W. [London]
£100.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Fifty-six lines of neatly- and closely-written text. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and folded once for postage. Signed ‘A. H. Layard’ and addressed to ‘My dear Lister.’ He is sorry that Lister will be in Venice when he is absent, as he is not returning until May. ‘The Hotel de la Grande Bretagne is, I think, now the best in Venice - and very well situated.’ If Lister mentions his name he is sure the landlord ‘will do his best for you. The Grand Hotel is also good. I should not recommend Danieli’s.

[Lord Macaulay [Thomas Babington Macaulay], great British historian.] Autograph Signature ('Macaulay') to address on envelope to Lady Theresa Lewis

Author: 
Lord Macaulay [Thomas Babington Macaulay] (1800-1859), great British historian, a leading proponent of the ‘Whig interpretation of history’, essayist and poet, Liberal politician [Lady Theresa Lewis]
Thomas Babington Macaula
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£45.00
Thomas Babington Macaula

See his long and appreciative entry in the Oxford DNB, with that of the recipient Lady [Maria] Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), who lived in Kent House in Knightsbridge with her second husband Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bart, her first husband having been the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842). On front of 10.5 x 6.5 cm envelope. In fair condition, lightly aged, with the back flap torn at the tip. Reads: 'The / Lady Theresa Lewis / Kent House / Knightsbridge', with 'Macaulay' written below this at bottom left. See Image.

[John Ramsay McCulloch, Scottish political economist.] Autograph Letter Signed to the novelist Thomas Henry Lister, thanking him for sending details of a 'system' which will aid his work.

Author: 
John Ramsay McCulloch (1789-1864), Scottish political economist, editor of The Scotsman [Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842), novelist]
John Ramsay McCulloch,
Publication details: 
‘Stationery Office / 8 June 1838’.
£100.00
John Ramsay McCulloch,

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of brown paper mount at corners of the blank reverse. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘T. H. Lister Esq, / &c &c’ and signed ‘J. R. McCulloch’. Sending his ‘best thanks for the account you have sent me of the new system of [Registration?]: it is exactly the sort of thing that I wished for, and will be a most valuable addition to my work’. See Image.

[Lord Macaulay [Thomas Babington Macaulay], great British historian.] Two Autograph Letters Signed and Autograph Note in third person to Lady Theresa Lewis, with Autograph envelope, including one letter written within sixteen days of his death.

Author: 
Lord Macaulay [Thomas Babington Macaulay] (1800-1859), great British historian, a leading proponent of the ‘Whig interpretation of history’, essayist and poet, Liberal politician [Lady Theresa Lewis]
Thomas Babington Macaula
Publication details: 
ONE: ALS, ‘Albany [London] July 6. 1853’. TWO: AL, ‘Holly Lodge / December 8. 1859’. THREE: ALS, ‘Holly Lodge December 12. 1859’.
£450.00
Thomas Babington Macaula

See his long and appreciative entry in the Oxford DNB, with that of the recipient Lady [Maria] Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), who lived in Kent House in Knightsbridge with her second husband Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bart, her first husband having been the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842). All items in good condition, lightly aged, with the letters folded for postage. ONE (6 July 1853): 1p, 12mo. ‘Dear Lady Theresa, / I will breakfast with you on Monday, and, in order to do so, will postpone my departure from town till the afternoon of that day. / Most truly yours, / T B Macaulay’.

[Henry Hart Milman, historian, Dean of St Paul’s and Professor of Poetry at Oxford.] Autograph Letter Signed to the novelist Thomas Henry Lister.

Author: 
Henry Hart Milman (1791-1868), historian, Dean of St Paul’s and Professor of Poetry at Oxford [Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842), novelist]
Publication details: 
‘Cloisters [Westminster Abbey] / Decr 31st. 1841 -’.
£45.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. 2pp, 16mo. Signed ‘H H Milman’ and addressed to ‘My dear Mr Lister’ (the item is from the papers of Lister’s wife Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865; ODNB). He begins by congratulating Lister on the birth of his daughter ‘and the safety of Lady Theresa’.

[George Ticknor, Professor of French and Spanish at Harvard.] Autograph Letter Signed [to the novelist Thomas Henry Lister?], presenting a copy of Prescott’s ‘Ferdinand and Isabella’, ‘written by a friend in America’ and liked by Hallam and Southey.

Author: 
George Ticknor (1791-1871), Professor of French and Spanish at Harvard [William Hickling Prescott (1796-1859), American historian; Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842), English novelist]
Publication details: 
‘Brunswick Hotel [Jermyn Street, London] / May 26. 1838.’
£380.00

Signed ‘Geo. Ticknor’. The male recipient is not named, but the item is from the papers of the author Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), successively wife of the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842) and the Liberal politician Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), all of whom have entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of a bifolium, with a trace of glue from mount to the second leaf. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage.

[George Ticknor, Professor of French and Spanish at Harvard.] Autograph Signature and address of letter to Lady Theresa Villiers from cover of envelope.

Author: 
George Ticknor (1791-1871), Professor of French and Spanish at Harvard [Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), author]
George Ticknor
Publication details: 
With partial Boston postmark. No year [but between 1844 and ]
£80.00
George Ticknor

The recipient Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865) was successively wife of the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842) and the Liberal politician Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), all of whom have entries in the Oxford DNB. The present item is an 11.5 x 8 cm panel of light-brown paper from the front cover of an envelope. Part of a large Boston postmark is at the left, with a manuscript ‘2’ written over a few letters of the address. All in Ticknor’s hand, it reads: ‘Lady Teresa Lewis / South Place, / Knightsbridge / London, SW.’, with the signature ‘Geo: Ticknor’ at bottom left.

[Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London.] Five Autograph Letters Signed (all ‘B. London’) to Thomas Maurice of the British Museum, two with detailed criticism of Maurice’s poem on Pitt the Younger.

Author: 
Beilby Porteus (1731-1809), Bishop of London [Thomas Maurice (1754-1824), Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum, Anglican cleric and oriental scholar]
Publication details: 
1798, 1800 (2), 1806 and 1807 (the last apparently a mistake for 1806). The first from St James’s Square, the last from Clifton, the others from Sundridge [Kent].
£250.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. The five items are in good condition, lightly aged, with each on a 4to bifolium, and all folded for postage. In a neat and attractive hand. The text of each letter is on the first leaf, and the first two letters are addressed by Porteus on the reverse of the second leaf, each with broken seals in red wax. In Letters Four and Five Porteus lays out his objections to Maurice’s ‘Elegy on the late Right Honourable William Pitt’, published in 1806 under the name ‘T. M.’ ONE (St James’s Square, 10 April 1898): 1p, 4to. Addressed to ‘Revd. Mr Maurice / No.

[John Wilson, Scottish author, the 'Christopher North' of Blackwood's Magazine.] Three Autograph Letters Signed to the novelist Thomas Henry Lister, conveying Edinburgh dinner invitations.

Author: 
‘Christopher North’ [John Wilson (1785-1854)], Scottish literary critic and essayist with Blackwood’s magazine, Professor of Moral Philosophy at Edinburgh
Publication details: 
‘Tuesday Evening’, ‘Thursday’ and ‘Saturday’ [no dates, but all after 1825]. All three from 6 Gloucester Place [Edinburgh].
£90.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that he lived in Gloucester Place from 1825. The recipient is the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842), and the item is from the papers of his wife, Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865): both also have ODNB entries. The three letters are in good condition; each 2pp, 12mo, and on the first leaf of a bifolium, and all lightly aged and folded for postage, with slight damage from mount to the second leaves of each (all carrying the address in Wilson’s hand). All three with Wilson’s sprawling signature ‘John Wilson’.

[Sir Thomas Beecham, celebrated English conductor associated with the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic orchestras.] Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Beecham (1879-1961), celebrated English conductor associated with the London Philharmonic, the Royal Philharmonic, Liverpool Philharmonic and Hallé orchestras
Thomas Beecham
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£30.00
Thomas Beecham

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Beecham’s signature (‘Thomas Beecham’) on an otherwise-blank 12.5 x 5.5 cm piece of paper. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering to the reverse. The signature, which has no flourish, is tighter than usual, and rising slightly. See Image.

[Michael Sadleir, novelist, biographer and bibliographer.] Typed Letter Signed to V. H. Collins, apologising for a grammatical error, and informing him that he is ordering a copy of his book ‘The Choice of Words’.

Author: 
Michael Sadleir [Michael Thomas Harvey Sadleir, formerly Sadler] (1888-1957), novelist, biographer and bibliographer [Vere Henry Collins (1872-1966), author and literary stylist]
Publication details: 
12 August 1953. On letterhead of [Constable & Co.,] 10 Orange Street, London WC2.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with a crease, dogeared corner and small nick. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘Michael Sadleir’. He is grateful to Collins ‘for pointing out the careless grammatical mistake of mine in the SUNDAY TIMES review. It is only too easy to slip into a conversational style (for I think that what I meant was perfectly clear) when writing rapid condensations for a newspaper.

[‘Lord Wellington is in full pursuit of the French’: Col. Thomas Abernethie of the Royal Marines, 1811.] Autograph Letter Signed from Major Thomas Abernethie, Royal Marines, to Cox and Son, regarding a cask of madeira and news of the Peninsular War.

Author: 
Col. Thomas Abernethie (c.1759-1840) of the Royal Marines [Duke of Wellington; Peninsular War; Madeira Wine, Portugal]
Publication details: 
‘Lisbon 16 March 1811’.
£150.00

He receives the briefest of obituaries in the Gentleman's Magazine, July 1840: 'May 10. At Exeter, aged 81, Col. Thomas Abernethie, K.H. on the retired list of the Royal Marines.' 3pp, 4to. Bifolium. On aged and discoloured paper, with the usual damage to the second leaf from the breaking of the seal. Addressed on reverse of second leaf, with postmark, to ‘Messrs Cox & Son / 20 Bartletts Buildings / Holborn / London’. Signed ‘Thos. Abernethie’ and docketed ‘Maj: Abernethie / 16 March 1811’. Begins: ‘Gentlemen / I have requested a Cap.

[Sir Thomas Wyse, British Ambassador to Greece and husband of Napoleon's niece Princess Letizia Bonaparte.] Autograph Signature to valediction of a letter.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Wyse (1791-1862), Anglo-Irish diplomat, British Ambassador to Greece, husband of Napoleon's niece Princess Letizia Bonaparte
Sir Thomas Wyse
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£450.00
Sir Thomas Wyse

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 10.5 x 5 cm strip of paper, with thin mourning border, cut from the end of a letter. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with thin strip of glue from mount to one edge, and thin strip of paper laid down on reverse, with manuscript note 'Sir Thomas Wyse, Minister to Greece'. Strong stylish signature to valediction reading: 'I beg you to believe me / My Dear Lord / Sincerely Yrs. / Thos. Wyse'. Fragment of letter on reverse: '[...] truly at his discretion to go on [...]'.

[Jimmy Hill and Graham Leggat at Fulham F.C.] Autograph Signatures of the two men, on photograph of Jimmy Hill, later the presenter of 'Match of the Day'.

Author: 
Jimmy Hill [James William Thomas Hill] (1928-2015), footballer with Fulham F.C., Chairman of the Professional Footballers' Association and TV pundit; Graham Leggat (1934-2015), Scottish footballer
Jimmy Hill
Publication details: 
No date but between 1958 and 1961, the period when the two men?s careers overlapped at Fulham.
£35.00
Jimmy Hill

See Hill's entry in the Oxford DNB. Signed 'Jimmy Hill' across Hill's chest on a 10 x 14 cm black and white photograph of him in football shirt with stands behind. Captioned: 'Jimmy HIll / Fulham F.C. - Inside Right / With the Compliments of W. H. Smith & Son / Booksellers Newsagents Stationers'. On a 12.5 x 19 cm piece of shiny paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and ruckled, with traces of pink paper mount and glue adhering to the blank reverse. The signature of 'Graham Leggat' is written up the right margin. See Image.

[Author of the first million-seller: Hall Caine, the most popular novelist of his day.] Autograph List of Corrections ‘With Sir Hall Caine’s Compts’, to [Daily Telegraph propaganda?] articles entitled ‘Downfall of a Nation’ (revolutionary Russia).

Author: 
Hall Caine [Sir Hall Caine; Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine] (1853-1931), the most popular novelist of his day, author of ‘The Eternal City’, the first million-seller, with strong Isle of Man connections
Hall Caine
Publication details: 
No date or place. (Circa 1917)
£320.00
Hall Caine

See the description of Caine’s political views in his entry in the Oxford DNB. He began as a communist, but became a Christian Socialist, and a supporter of the Liberal Party on the mainland of Britain (he was a member of the Isle of Man House of Keys from 1901 to 1908) and a follower of the Church of England. The present item would appear to relate to the ‘impassioned propaganda’ that Caine published in the Daily Telegraph from September 1914 (ODNB). It is 1p, 4to.

[Sir Robert Howard, playwright and politician.] Two Autograph Signatures (both ‘Ro: Howard’) among extensive manuscript endorsements of Exchequer document regarding ‘Sr Thomas Player in repaymt. of Loane.’

Author: 
Sir Robert Howard (1626-1698) of the Receipt Office, royalist politician, playwright, poet and friend of John Dryden [Sir Thomas Player (d.1686) of Hackney]
Sir Robert Howard
Publication details: 
[Exchequer Office, Whitehall.] 20 May 1679.
£120.00
Sir Robert Howard

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB and History of Parliament. Howard was Auditor of Receipt from 1673 to his death. The document is damaged, with the lower part torn away, leaving an area 23cm high and the same wide, but with part of one lower corner torn away. The paper is aged, and there are chipping and closed tears to edges. Howard’s two signatures (both ‘Ro: Howard’) are both undamaged, and the item is of some interest. On the front is the printed form, completed in manuscript, with ‘Sr. Thomas Player in repaymt. of Loane./’ in manuscript in right-hand margin.

[Thomas Thorp, bookseller of Guildford and London; Bookplates.] Printed item: ‘A Catalogue of Books and Bookplates’ [1943 items and a further fifty-one pages of bookplates.]

Author: 
Thomas Thorp, bookseller of Guildford and London, established in 1883, closed 2003 [bookplates]
Publication details: 
Catalogue Number 406 [1930s]. ‘On Sale by - / Thomas Thorp / Strathfieldsaye, Guildown Road / Guildford, England / (Also of 93 St. Martin’s Lane, London, W.C.2)’. Printed by Robert Stockwell, Baden Place, Borough, London, S.E.1.
£80.00

See Sheila Markham’s interview with Thorp’s grandson Jim in ‘The Bookdealer’, April 1995, and the report ‘Now it’s the end of the Thomas Thorp story’, Surrey Live, 17 January 2003. 132pp, 8vo. Stapled. Pagination includes grey printed wraps, with title and first and last entries. On cheap discoloured paper, with slight wear to bottom corner of first few leaves; spine worn and chipped, covers detached. Undated, but with no item found dated later than 1929. Fifty-one pages (33-83) of bookplates in small print.

[Sir William Agnew, leading London art dealer and Liberal politician.] Autograph Note Signed inviting artist and sculptor John Macallan Swan to dine with ‘Mr Leslie and some few artists’.

Author: 
Sir William Agnew (1825-1910), proprietor of the leading London art gallery Thomas Agnew & Sons and Liberal politician [John Macallan Swan (1847-1910), RA, painter and sculptor]
Publication details: 
22 August 1905. On letterhead of 11 Great Stanhope Street, W. [London]
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin band of discoloration beneath the last line. Addressed to ‘J M Swan Esq R.A’. Reads: ‘My dear Mr Swan / Will you dine with me on Thursday June 1st. to meet Mr Leslie and some few artists? / I should be glad if you will. / Yours faithfully / Wm. Agnew’.

[J. H. Thomas, Welsh trade unionist and Labour politician.] Typed Note Signed, as General Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen, to the future Sir W. D. Ross, written on the eve of the 1919 national rail strike.

Author: 
J. H. Thomas [James Henry Thomas] (1874-1949), Welsh trade unionist and Labour politician, General Secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen during the 1919 nation rail strike [Sir W. D. Ross]
J. H. Thomas,
Publication details: 
22 September 1919. On ornate letterhead of The National Union of Railwaymen, Unity House, Euston Road, London, N.W.1.
£56.00
J. H. Thomas,

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In good condition, on lightly aged and creased cartridge paper. Folded three times. The letterhead is quite an impressive affair, with an engraving of ‘Unity House’ and lettering in a variety of styles. The letter is addressed to ‘W. D. Ross, Esq., / Oriel College, / Oxford.’ The ink on the ribbon appears to have been running out, as the latter part of the note is faded.

[Three Tory Statesmen, 1793.] Autograph Signatures of ‘Mornington’ [Marquis Wellesley, Wellington’s brother], ‘Bayham’ [Marquis Camden, Ireland connection] and ‘J. Th. Townshend’ [Viscount Sydney of St Leonards], on part of parliamentary document.

Author: 
Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley [as Earl of Mornington]; John Jeffreys Pratt, 1st Marquess Camden [as Viscount Bayham]; John Thomas Townshend, 2nd Viscount Sydney of St Leonards
Three Tory Statesmen, 1793.
Publication details: 
Dated at foot 'July 1793'.
£180.00
Three Tory Statesmen, 1793.

Richard Colley Wellesley (1760-1842), 1st Marquess Wellesley [as Earl of Mornington]; John Jeffreys Pratt (1759-1840), 1st Marquess Camden [as Viscount Bayham]; John Thomas Townshend (1764-1831), 2nd Viscount Sydney of St Leonards. See their entries in the Oxford DNB. On 5.5 x 15.5 cm strip extracted from a document, and laid down on 8 x 21.5 cm part of gilt-edged leaf from an album. In good condition, lightly aged on aged and creased mount. The signatures are written above one another: 'Mornington / Bayham / J. Th. Townshend'.

[Admiral Sir Thomas Sabine Pasley, Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard and Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth.] Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed ‘Major’, rescheduling an engagement cancelled for 'the best possible reason'.

Author: 
Admiral Sir Thomas Sabine Pasley, 2nd Bart (1804-1884), senior Royal Navy officer, Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard and Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth
Publication details: 
2 December 1872. On letterhead of Moorhill, Shedfield, Fareham, Hants.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. With thin mourning border. Extraction from an album has resulted in some wear to the border at the right of the page: otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ‘My dear Major’ and signed ‘Thos Sabine Pasley’. He is sorry the recipient ‘can’t come on Wednesday’, but he has ‘the best possible reason for not doing so’. He asks to be remembered ‘very kindly to your father on that day’. He asks if he can ‘come on Wednesday week’, as he has engaged a family (illegible) to meet him that day.

[Hanoverian London: T. Cecil, Thomas Mulcaster, William Adair.] Autograph Letter Signed by ‘T. Adair’, to William Adair, requesting ‘part of my Quarteridge’, with receipt for the same witnessed by Thomas Mulcaster.

Author: 
Hanoverian London: T. Cecil; Thomas Mulcaster; William Adair
Publication details: 
London, 7 April 1745.
£45.00

The writer is presumably a member of the prominent aristocratic family, but none of the parties has been positively identified. 1p, landscape 12mo. On laid paper. Letter signed ‘T Cecil’ and receipt signed ‘T. Cecil’. The The document reads: ‘Sr / I have just receivd yours, but sd. be obligd to you, if you cd not Send me forty Pounds, you wd. Twenty: as I am to go out of Town to morrow & have not money to Carry me, I have wrote a Receipt, & hope as it so [sic] pressing a thing, you’ll Comply, which will very much obilge Yrs. T Cecil / London April 7th: 1745 / Receivd Of Willm Adair Esqr.

[St Thomas Lunatic Asylum near Exeter, founded in 1795.] Printed bill, filled out in manuscript, for sum due by ‘Mr. Penny’ for ‘Board and Maintenance’, with Signed Autograph Note of receipt by treasurer John Mackintosh, and note on annual accounts.

Author: 
St Thomas Lunatic Asylum, near Exeter, founded in 1795 [John Mackintosh, Treasurer; James Penny, Exeter bookseller; William Seacombe]
Asylum
Publication details: 
‘Lunatic Asylum, near Exeter.’ Made out for the period between 6 May and 1 July 1811. Slug: ‘Trewmans, Printers, Exeter.’
£80.00
Asylum

An interesting piece of Exeter ephemera. See ‘Besley’s Exeter Directory for 1835’: ‘LUNATIC ASYLUM, St. Thomas. Founded in 1795. The expenses are defrayed by the board of patients whose friends can afford to pay for their maintenance, and by benefactions, legacies, &c.’ (In the entry ‘John Mackintosh’ is still listed as treasurer.) 1p, landscape 12mo. Addressed by Mackintosh on reverse to ‘Mr. James Penny / Bookseller / Fore St. / Exeter’. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-creased paper, with slight staining and damage from breaking open wafer.

[Sir David Chadwick, Indian Trade Commissioner.] Thirteen Signed Letters, eight Typed and five in Autograph, to Sir H. T. Wood and G. K. Menzies, Secretaries of the Royal Society of Arts, mostly regarding membership business.

Author: 
Sir David Chadwick [Sir David Thomas Chadwick] (1876-1954), British colonial civil servant, Secretary of the Imperial Agricultural Bureaux [Royal Society of Arts, London; Sir H. T. Wood; G. K. Menzies
Publication details: 
Between 22 December 1916 and 11 June 1930. Eight on London letterheads of: Indian Trade Commissioner, Department of Commerce and Industry, Government of India (5); and Imperial Agricultural Bureaux (3). Two from Beckenham, Kent.
£90.00

See his entry in Who Was Who. The thirteen items in good condition, lightly aged, most with RSA date stamp and annotations. A total of 12pp, 8vo, in autograph; and 5pp, 4to, typed. The first ten signed ‘D T Chadwick’ and the last three ‘David Chadwick’. The earliest letter, to RSA Secretary Sir Henry Trueman Wood on 22 December 1916, deals with the publication of Chadwick’s remarks ‘at the discussion on Prof. Todds paper before the Indian Section of the Society of Arts’.

[Myra Hess [Dame Julia Myra Hess], celebrated British pianist.] Autograph Letter Signed, explaining to ‘Miss Scott’ [musicologist Marion Scott] her reason for declining a dinner invitation.

Author: 
Myra Hess [Dame Julia Myra Hess], celebrated British pianist associated with Sir Thomas Beecham and Arturo Toscanini
Publication details: 
8 June 1928. On letterhead of 8 Carlton Hill, St John’s Wood, N.W. [London]
£65.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed to ‘Dear Miss Scott’ and with good clear signature ‘Myra Hess’. She regrets that it will not be possible for her to join Miss Scott for dinner. ‘I shall probably have to work, rehearse all day on Tuesday [corrected by Hess to ‘Wednesday!’] - so shall have to try & get a rest before 8.30 - (& probably have a scrambled egg at the last minute!!’ She ends ‘Forgive this in haste / Again thanking you’.

[Lord Fitzroy Somerset, later Lord Raglan.] Secretarial Letter, Signed by him, regarding the application to purchase a commission by Captain Thomas Monck Wilson, 59th Foot, on behalf of his son Charles.

Author: 
Lord Fitzroy Somerset, latterly Lord Raglan [Field Marshal FitzRoy James Henry Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan], Private Secretary to the Duke of Wellington, commander of British troops in the Crimean War
Publication details: 
'Horse Guards [Whitehall, London] / 1st August 1846'.
£90.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, on aged paper with nicks and small closed tears to extremities. Addressed to ‘Thos. M. Wilson Esqre / the Captain 59 foot’, and signed ‘Fitzroy Somerset’. The document is in a secretarial hand, only the signature being in Somerset’s autograph.

[Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, or his son Admiral Peregrine Osborne, 2nd Duke of Leeds, as Marquis of Carmarthen.] Drawn note (cheque), signed ‘Carmarthen P:’, directing his banker Sir Francis Child to pay £100 to William Vernon.

Author: 
Thomas Osborne (1632-1712), 1st Duke of Leeds, or his son Admiral Peregrine Osborne (1659-1729), 2nd Duke of Leeds [Viscount Osborne, Earl of Danby, Marquis of Carmarthen] [Sir Francis Child the elder
Publication details: 
'Febry. ye 9th. 1693/4'.
£600.00

See the entries on the two Dukes in the Oxford DNB, as well as that of Sir Francis Child the elder. Both Dukes are significant; the first was a leading Tory politician and one of the ‘immortal seven’ who invited William of Orange to England, and the second was a naval adviser to Peter the Great of Russia. The present item is signed ‘Carmarthan P:’, which would seem to suggest it is the signature of the 2nd Duke, Peregrine Osborne, but the Oxford DNB states that he became Marquis of Carmarthen a few months after the present item, on his father being made Duke of Leeds on 4 May 1694.

[‘Gray’s Desk on which he wrote the Elegy’: Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London auctioneers.] Letters and accounts from Sotheby’s to Mrs Sarah Turpin, relating to the 1915 sale of ‘Letters and Relics’ by Thomas Gray, including priced catalogue entries

Author: 
Thomas Gray (1716-1771), poet, author of 'Elegy written in a Country Churchyard' [Mary Antrobus; Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London auctioneers; Sarah Turpin, wife of organist Edmund Hart Turpin]
Publication details: 
Eleven items dating from 1914 and 1915. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, Auctioneers, 13 Wellington Street, Strand, London, W.C.
£450.00

A nice collection of ephemera, relating not only to one of England’s best-loved poets, but also to Sotheby’s auction practice during the Great War. The provenance of the Gray letters put up for auction by Mrs Turpin is given in a New York Times article of 27 June 1915 (‘To sell relics of Thomas Gray; many letters by the poet will also be put up at auction at Sotheby's’), which stated in a report on the forthcoming sale that the letters ‘were transmitted to the present owner, Mrs.

[‘F. Anstey [Thomas Anstey Guthrie], humorous writer and frequent contributor to Punch.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Anstey Guthrie’) to 'Mrs Sturgis', daughter of the novelist of George Meredith, explaining why he must decline an invitation to dine.

Author: 
‘F. Anstey’, pseudonym of Thomas Anstey Guthrie (1856-1934), humorous writer whose reputation was made by ‘Vice Versa’ (1882), and a frequent contributor to Punch [George Meredith]
Publication details: 
21 July 1891. On letterhead of 16 Duke Street Mansions, Grosvenor Square, W. [London]
£65.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is the novelist George Meredith's daughter Marie Eveleen (Mariette; 1871-1933), wife of Henry Parkman Sturgis (1847-1929), American-born banker and Liberal politician. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with slight spotting from blotting at the head of the page, and minor traces of glue from mount at corners of the blank reverse. Folded once for postage. Addressed to ‘Dear Miss Meredith’ and signed ‘Anstey Guthrie’.

[Tom Clarke, editor of the News Chronicle, as Director of Practical Journalism, King's College.] Typed Letter Signed ('Tom Clarke') to Morley Stuart of the Cambridge Daily News, regarding. his talk and journalism.

Author: 
Tom Clarke [Thomas Clarke (1884-1957)], editor, News Chronicle; Director of Practical Journalism, University of London King's College [Morley Stuart (c.1887-1949), editor, Cambridge Daily News]
Publication details: 
11 January 1937; on his letterhead, University of London King's College, Strand W.C.2.
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. He is pleased that Stuart is 'coming along on March 15 to talk to the journalism students, and tell them from a practical point of view what they have to expect when they make a start on a good provincial newspaper'. He agrees with Stuart's plan to 'emphasise that Fleet Street is not the only place in the world', his own view being that 'the best traditions of British journalism are still enshrined in the provincial press'.

Syndicate content