THORPE

[A Lancashire slaver and his coach.] Two itemised manuscript receipts for work on a coach from the London coachmaker Thomas Thorpe to the Lancashire slave trader William Atherton of Prescot Hall, one signed by Thorpe.

Author: 
Thomas Thorpe, London coachmaker [William Atherton (1742-1803) of Prescot Hall, St Helens, Lancashire, slave trader and owner of plantations in Jamaica]
Publication details: 
1799 and 1801. [Thorpe & Co., Coachmakers, 210 Holborn, London.]
£280.00

An indication of how slavers spent the fruits of their slaves’ labours. With the advent of slavery studies William Atherton has been the subject of a deal of interest, reflected on his Wikipedia page. Thorpe and Lee are listed as coachmakers at 210 Holborn in 1791; in 1803 the firm is named as Thorpe and Co at the same address. The two items are written out in a secretarial hand, each on a long strip made by cutting a folio leaf in half vertically. Both in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Each with slight damage from the breaking open of the wafer.

[ Sir Thomas Edward Thorpe, British chemist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('T. E. Thorpe') to 'Mrs. Green' [ Wilhelmina Maria Green ], offering encouragement and support for the publication of a scientific paper by her.

Author: 
Sir T. E. Thorpe [ Sir Thomas Edward Thorpe ] (1845-1925), British chemist, Principal of Somerset House Laboratory, and President of the British Association and Society of Chemical Industry
Publication details: 
'Headingley [ Yorkshire ]. 20 May 1885.
£50.00

The item is from the papers of the second wife of the geologist Alexander Henry Green (1832-1896), previously Miss Wilhelmina Maria Armstrong of Clifton. 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. An interesting letter, indicating a positive and encouraging response from a member of the Victorian scientific establishment to a female worker in the field. The letter begins: 'Dear Mrs. Green. | Enclosed are two notes from Dr. Armstrong relative to your paper. As I informed you I thought there was just a doubt whether the paper was exactly of a style for the Chem. Soc. Journ.

[ Jeremy Thorpe, disgraced Liberal Party leader. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Jeremy') to 'Peter' [ documentary-maker Peter Morley ], with 'Memorandum on suggested Programme for "This Week"', 'on the South African question', signed 'Jeremy Thorpe.'

Author: 
Jeremy Thorpe [ John Jeremy Thorpe ] (1929-2014), disgraced Liberal Party leader [ Peter Morley [ Franz Peter Meyer ] (1924-2016), television documentary maker; Apartheid; South Africa ]
Publication details: 
Both the letter and the memorandum on House of Commons letterheads. Letter dated 3 June 1960; memorandum undated.
£180.00

Both items in fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, and stapled together. Between 1960 and 1963 Morley was producer of ITV current affairs series 'This Week'. ONE: ALS from 'Jeremy' to 'My dear Peter'. 3 June 1960. 1p., 12mo. Enclosing the 'preliminary Memorandum', and giving his contact details at the Liberal Club. 'In Kenya I have very good contacts who cd lay on a private plane (gratis!) to investigate the re-emergence of mau mau. | In the Protectorate I think I cd arrange Transport.' He ends by opining that 'this scheme has possibilities'.

[ Rev. George Cornelius Gorham, Vicar of Brampford Speke, Devon. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('G. C. Gorham') to '- Thorpe Esqre | St. Edmunds' Hall | Oxford' [ i.e the antiquary Markham John Thorpe ], regarding the seals of Archbishop Cranmer.

Author: 
Rev. G. C. Gorham [ George Cornelius Gorham ] (1787-1857), Vicar of Brampford Speke, Devon, subject of 'one of the most celebrated legal actions of the century' [ Markham John Thorpe (1817-1863) ]
Publication details: 
'The Vicarage | Brampford Speke (Exeter) [ Devon ] | 2 Feb. 1856'.
£120.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. He has been informed by 'The Rev. Mr. Bedford' that Thorpe is 'very conversant with Archaeological matters', and asks whether he has 'met with a Seal fo Abp. Cranmer'. Gorham is 'getting drawings of four of his Seals, for probable publication'. Bedford 'thinks there is a drawing of one among the Ashmole MSS.' but Gorham does not remember seeing one there. He hopes to 'have 2 or 3 hours in Oxford on Monday, & will look for it'.

Engraved portrait by Augustus Fox [from painting by Nathaniel Drake].

Author: 
Thomas Gent (1693-1778), printer and topographer of York [Thomas Thorpe (1791-1851), London bookseller]
Publication details: 
Published by T. Thorpe, 38, Bedford Street, Covent Garden.' [1832]
£45.00

Dimensions of paper roughly eight inches by five; dimensions of print four and a quarter inches by three and a half. Good clean image, on paper aged and creased at extremities only. A wild-haired octogenarian Gent leans on a pile of books in a stone archway, holding open a copy of his History of Rippon (1733). Taken from Thorpe's edition of Gent's 'Life', published in 1832.

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