Book Trade History

Substantial printed Invoice with manuscript list of Swinburne's works - approximate cost (heading of list).

Author: 
George H. May, second-hand bookseller [Algernon Charles Swinburne]
Bookseller's Invoice with manuscript list of Swinburne's works
Publication details: 
9 Royal Arcade, Old Bond Street, W., London, [189-]
£180.00
Bookseller's Invoice with manuscript list of Swinburne's works

Three pages, 4to, small closed tears on folds, text clear and complete. Two lists of Swinburne's works, titles and prices columnised: The first, two pages, 36 titles, in the hand of George H. May perhaps but with a few additions in another hand, from Queen Mother & Rosamund ([£]8) to Cleopatra (added note Camden 1866; [£]5.5) to August Vacquerie (at 15s) to Grace Darling(at 5gns). An unnumbered title The Children of the Chapel is added in pencil in the alternative hand. Total £49.12.6.

The Valuable Private Library of Lucius L. Hubbard of Houghton, Michigan. Consisting almost wholly of Rare Books and Pamphlets relating to American History. [partially priced and named]

Author: 
Lucius L. Hubbard [Lucius Lee Hubbard (1849-1933)] [Merwin Sales Company, New York auctioneers; Americana; auction catalogues; United States history]
[Catalogue] The Valuable Private Library of Lucius L. Hubbard of Houghton
Publication details: 
[1914.] New York: The Merwin Sales Company, 16 East 40th Street. [S. L. PARSONS & CO., Inc., Printers, 45 Rose St., New York.]
£250.00
[Catalogue] The Valuable Private Library of Lucius L. Hubbard of Houghton

8vo, 345 pp. Frontispiece and 26 plates. Small blue accession stamp ('134149') on reverse of title. Bound in green buckram with leather label. Fair, on aged paper and occasionally-discoloured paper. A tight copy, on worn and stained binding. 2451 lots with unusually full descriptions. Two page 'Prefatory' describing the 'widespread interest' that has been 'displayed in the announcement of the dispersal of Mr. Hubbard's extensive and well-chosen collection of books relating to America'. 'To suggest [...] that Mr.

Speech of Sergeant Talfourd on Literary Property delivered in the House of Commons, on the 18th of May, 1837.

Author: 
Sergeant Talfourd [Thomas Noon Talfourd] (1795-1854), English judge and writer [Copyright Bill, 1837]
Speech of Sergeant Talfourd on Literary Property
Publication details: 
[1837.] London: Published by Sherwood and Co., Paternoster-row. [Bradford , Red lion-ct. Fleet-st.]
£185.00
Speech of Sergeant Talfourd on Literary Property

8vo, 16 pp Disbound. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with the final page a little discoloured. Ownership inscriptions of 'Charles Hall Hemphill' and 'James | May 1837'. A significant work: a milestone in the history of copyright law. According to the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica, this speech introducing Talfourd's Copyright Bill 'was considered the most telling made in the House during that session'. No copy listed on COPAC, and WorldCat lists three copies (all foreign).

Autograph Letter Signed H.F. Lee, miscellaneous writer, to Willis P. Hazard, publisher, about the publication of her works

Author: 
Hannah Farnham Sawyer Lee (1780-1865), American miscellaneous writer
Autograph Letter Signed  H.F. Lee, writer, to Willis P. Hazard, publisher
Publication details: 
Mount Vernon Street 67, Boston, 9 Sept.1859.
£450.00
Autograph Letter Signed  H.F. Lee, writer, to Willis P. Hazard, publisher

Three pages, 4to, one inch close tears along fold (marks), some marking but text clear and complete, except loss of letters through a hole where the seal was taken off. . . . [It] gives me pleasure that my books have passed into your hands - Though I have not used your references to Publishers here I feel confidence in your arrangements & above all in the sympathy of taste which your letter evinces.

Three catalogues of publications by the Religious Tract Society ('Illustrated Gift Books', 'The "Pen and Pencil" Series' and general catalogue for September 1906) together with three ephemeral items relating to the Society.

Author: 
[The Religious Tract Society; Victorian booktrade]
Three printed catalogues of publications by the Religious Tract Society
Publication details: 
The general catalogue dated to September 1906, another item from 1899, and the rest undated. [London: Paternoster Row.]
£125.00
Three printed catalogues of publications by the Religious Tract Society

All items unbound. Texts clear and complete. On aged and dusty paper, with some spotting and one item creased at extremities. ITEM ONE: General catalogue (4to, 68 pp). In original yellow printed wraps. ITEM TWO: Catalogue of 'Illustrated Gift Books' (12mo, 12pp). Numerous vignettes. The front page, bearing an engraving of a seagull, headed in red 'Sold by W. EARDLEY, Crewe'. ITEM THREE: 'The "Pen & Pencil" Series.' (12mo, 10pp). Illustrations, including one of the Bishop's Rock Lighthouse. ITEM FOUR: Handbill advertisement (8vo, 4 pp) for 'The Annotated Paragraph Bible'.

Valuable Works Lately Published, or in course of publication, by Treuttel and Würtz, and Richter, 30, Soho Square.

Author: 
Treuttel and Wurtz, and Richter [Treuttel et Würtz; Wuertz], foreign booksellers in London
Valuable Works Lately Published , , ,  by Treuttel and Würtz, Printed Catalogue
Publication details: 
July, 1833. [ Treuttel and Würtz, and Richter, 30, Soho Square.]
£56.00
Valuable Works Lately Published , , ,  by Treuttel and Würtz, Printed Catalogue

12mo, 16 pp. Unpaginated. Unbound and unstitched. Stabbed as issued. Fair, on lightly aged and worn paper. Extensive descriptions of 62 items, from 'The Mother's Manual; or Illustrations of Matrimonial Economy' to 'History of Russia, and of Peter the Great. By General Count Philip de Segur'. Five items 'In the Press' on the last page. Scarce: no copy in the British Library or on COPAC.

Autograph Note, Third Person, to W. Bentley, identified in a note, with riposte by Bentley.

Author: 
Richard Phillips, author and publisher of the Monthly Magazine (and Paine's Age of Reason
Richard Phillips, author and publisher , Autograph Letter Signed
Publication details: 
Bank [London], Tuesday Morning, c.1792.
£85.00
Richard Phillips, author and publisher , Autograph Letter Signed

One page, 4to, dingy paper, fold marks, text clear and complete. Mr Phillips sent a few days since an enrgaving [sic] to Mr Bentley relative to 'Man as he is Vol 4 [Robert Bage, Man As He Is (1792)- he now wants Mr Bentley's reply, as he wishes to [?] out what is become of the Volume. Bentley adds WB never Saw Man as he is, nor Woman as She Should be.---. The note added in a different hand, Note from Richard Phillips afterwards Sir Richard to Mr. W. Bentley & Mr. Bentley's reply written by himself.

Manuscript Letter, signed 'Spotttiswoode & Co., to Hudson, regarding copies of his 'The Second War of Independence in America'.

Author: 
Spottiswoode and Co., Printers & Lithographers, New-Street Square, London [Eduard Maco Hudson, American historian]
Spottiswoode and Co., Printers & Lithographers, Letter
Publication details: 
28 November 1867; on Spottiswoode and Co. letterhead.
£56.00
Spottiswoode and Co., Printers & Lithographers, Letter

12mo, 2 pp. Bifolium. Nineteen lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. They have '300 Bound Copies' of the book 'on hand', 'the remainder have been sold, producing £3. 1 6'. States the cost of shipping the books to Hudson.

A Catalogue of a Library of Books, [...] Prints, Books of Prints, Paintings, [...] and miscellaneous Articles, the Property of a Gentleman, removed from Southampton. [priced by auctioneers for proprietor]

Author: 
J. C. & S. Stevens, auctioneers, 38 King Street, Covent Garden [Victorian book auction catalogue; Alexander Hoyes of Bittern Grove, near Southampton]
Publication details: 
Which will be sold by auction, by Messrs. J. C. & S. Stevens, at their Great Room, 38, King Street, Covent Garden, On Thursday, the 18th day of July, 1844. [Alfred Robins, Printer, 101, Long Acre.]
£125.00

8vo, 8 pp. Unbound. Text clear and complete. On aged paper with wear to extremities. According to the title-page the sale contains 'The Encyclopaedia Britannica, Johnson's Poets, Scott's Works, Swift's ditto, Annual Register, British Theatre, and other Works, in various branches of Literature; Prints, Books of Prints, Paintings, Mahogany Cabinets, Antiquities, Gold Repeater, Grand Piano-Forte, by Zeitter'.

Printed notice of relocation, and advertisement for new publications.

Author: 
James Blackwood & Co., London publishers and wholesale stationers
Publication details: 
[Circa 1910.] London: James Blackwood & Co., 12/14 Heneage Lane, Bevis Marks, E.C.
£45.00

4to, 4 pp. Bifolium. Nicely printed with vignette of flowers and ribbons on first page. Fair, on aged paper. The firm, boasting establishment in 1849, is described on the first page as 'late of Lovell's Court, Paternoster Row, E.C.', where the announcement is made 'that they have Transferred their Business to the Above Address'. Six new editions of works are advertised on the following two pages, with details given of contents. The last page advertises 'Blackwood's Diaries for 1911' and 'Blackwood's New Series of Scribbling Diaries'.

Catalogue of Books published by James Blackwood & Co., Publishers & Wholesale Stationers.

Author: 
James Blackwood & Co., Publishers and Wholesale Stationers [trade catalogues]
Publication details: 
[Circa 1910.] London: James Blackwood & Co., 8. Lowell's Court, Paternoster Row, E.C. [amended in manuscript to '12/14 Heneage Lane. E.C.']
£75.00

12mo, 24 pp. Unbound. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with rusting to staples. Hundreds of titles, in such series as 'The Unique Library', 'Choice Readings. Books suitable for presents, etc.', 'Universal Library of Standard Authors', 'Blackwood's Edition of the Poets', 'Library of Thoughtful Books' and 'Choice Books for Young Persons'.

Typed Letter Signed, in English, to R. W. C. Vail of the Roosevelt House Library and Museum, with typed invoice.

Author: 
Edouard Champion, Paris bookseller, publisher and autograph dealer, 'Seul Agent (France, Belgique, Suisse) du British Museum'
Publication details: 
Both items dated 11 July 1924, and both on his letterhead.
£125.00

Both items fair, on lightly-aged paper. Both with list of Champion's publications down the left-hand margin, and with the list continuing in the letter to the blank second page. Letter: 4to, 1 p. He is sending 'a few documents which I have so far collected' relating to the Marquis de Chamilly. 'It is a long time since I last heard from the ROOSEVELT MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION, and am always at your entire disposal.' Invoice: Landscape 8vo. 12mo, 1 p. Containing five Chamilly letters, totalling 268 francs.

Autograph Note in the third person to Simco. With priced list (by Simco?) of engravings on reverse.

Author: 
John Chamberlaine (c.1745-1812), antiquary [John Simco (c.1749-1824), London bookseller]
Publication details: 
Brompton. Friday Morng' [c.1812?].
£95.00

12mo, 1 p. On bifolium. Good, on aged paper. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Mr. Simco | Warwick St. | Golden Square.' Asking Simco to send a book 'by the Bearer', as well as ' a remittance upon his account of Holbein', as 'he has some large payments to make at the beginning of next week'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Edw. Baines') to 'Robt. <Scarbrow?>'.

Author: 
Sir Edward Baines [Edward Baines junior] (1800-1890), nonconformist English newspaper editor and Member of Parliament
Publication details: 
3 Queen Sq | 1st. June <year?>.
£45.00

12mo, 2 pp. In bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Difficult hand. He has not considered the question carefully, but his impression is that 'the Monopoly of the printing of the Holy Scriptures in Scotland and Ireland might cease by the Kings Printers not only without injuring but with benefit to the public'.

Ten catalogues (five of the first firm and five of the second) of autograph letters, manuscripts, historical documents.

Author: 
Myers & Co. (Booksellers) Ltd.; Winifred A. Myers (Autographs) Ltd.
Publication details: 
Myers & Co. (Booksellers) Ltd., 102, New Bond Street, London, W.1: 1941, 1955 (2), 1956 (2). Winifred A. Myers (Autographs) Ltd., 80, New Bond Street, London, W.1: 1958, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1965.
£100.00

The ten items are all in the same 12mo format, each stapled and in coloured printed wraps. Page range between 56 and 106. Internally good, with occasional chipping to the high-acidity paper wraps. Rusting staples. A total of c.4500 items, catalogued in detail by a pioneer in the field and a President of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association. Containing a mass of information about a wide range of individuals ans subjects, from 'Musicians' to 'Prime Ministers', George Gissing to George III, Lord Byron to Florence Nightingale, and Robert Browning to Napoleon Bonaparte.

Autograph Letter Signed and franked (both 'Js Stuart Wortley') to the London booksellers Messrs Ridgeway.

Author: 
James Stuart-Wortley [James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie] (1776-1845), 1st Baron Wharncliffe, Conservative politician [James Ridgeway, Piccadilly bookseller]
Publication details: 
5 September 1835; Wortley.
£28.00

12mo, 1 p. Bifolium. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with traces of minor traces of stub adhering to one edge. Franked, with remains of red wax seal, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Messrs. Ridgeway | Piccadilly. | [signed] Js Stuart Wortley'. Giving instructions for the sending of newspapers to Wighill Park, Tadcaster, and to Wortley.

Typed Letter Signed ('G. R. Hall Caine') to Sir Thomas Moore of Hatchards bookshop, regarding 'the rehabilitation of this business'.

Author: 
Gordon Ralph Hall Caine [G.R. Hall Caine](1884-1962), Chairman and Managing Director, Argosy & Sundial Libraries Limited, of London and Liverpool [son of the novelist Hall Caine (1853-1931)]
Publication details: 
23 June 1947; on Argosy & Sundial letterhead.
£95.00

8vo, 1 p. Text clear and complete. On creased and lightly-aged paper. He is glad that Sir Thomas appreciates 'the seriousness of our position', and the reasons for asking Hatchards 'to release Mr. Edgeley to us for approximately six months in order to enable him to concentrate mainly upon the rehabilitation of this business'. Not a minor matter; according to one source the firm had '2,217 branches and 1.3 million books in circulation by 1934'.

Manuscript transcript of 'the entry of the Hunting Journal of 1816. [18]17', addressed to Triphook, giving costs for printing '20 Copies of Belvoir Hunt'.

Author: 
[Robert Triphook, London bookseller (d.1868); Belvoir Hunt; hunting; printing]
Publication details: 
Undated [1818?].
£56.00

Landscape 8vo, 1 p. On aged and discoloured paper, with four spike holes. Neatly written out, in a contemporary hand. Addressed on reverse to 'Mr. R. Triphook'. Pencil annotations on both sides. Headed 'The following is the entry of the Hunting Journal of 1816. 17 -'. First item (of six): 'Setting Press & Printing 20 Copies of Belvoir Hunt 1816.17 13 Sheets & 1/2 Demy, Pica & long Primmer with Tables fine ink. @ 83/. Pr Sheet } 56. 0. 6'. At foot of page: '1817-18 - furnished by R.

Autograph Letter Signed ('G : A Galignani'), in Italian, to Twining. With signed receipt by Galignani, in Italian, for '18 Lezioni'.

Author: 
Giovanni Antonio Galignani (1757-1821), Paris bookseller and publisher of English works [Richard Twining (1772-1857), tea merchant]
Publication details: 
Letter: 'Venerdi mattina' (docketed with date 8 November 1796). Receipt dated 21 January 1797.
£800.00

Letter: 12mo, 1 p. On bifolium. Text clear and complete. On aged and ruckled paper. Slight damage to second leaf caused by breaking open of wafer. Addressed to 'Illustrissimo Signore'. Having 'un affare di qualche importanza alle nove', he would like to give Twining his lesson (presumably in Italian) the following morning at 8 o'clock. He hopes that coming half an hour early does not cause any inconvence. Receipt: on one side of a slip of paper, 7 x 19.5 cm. Headed 'Memorandum del Signor Twining'. For '18 Lezioni la prima delle quali fa data li 15 Novembee', and signed 'Galignani'.

Autograph Note Signed "RBL" to [Frederick or his son, William?] Shoberl

Author: 
Rosina Bulwer-Lytton, novelist
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£280.00

One page, 12mo, chipped, discoloured andf oxed but text clear and complete, if eccentrically presented: "My Dear Sir | Not at all the same idea - Roses and Thorns are very Namby Pamby and I meant keep the Tares and the wheat. [Space with "To Lady Lytton" written in large and different hand - recycling?] and will answer for its being a better because a higher - and more sensible title | In Great Haste | Yours very Truly | RBL". She has written the address on the reverse ("Mr | Shoberl Esq | 20 Great Marlboro'".

Autograph Letter Signed to "Dr [John?] Bowring". 5 Millman Street, London.

Author: 
Thomas Dick Lauder.
Publication details: 
Relugas, 15 June 1830.
£250.00

Author (see DNB). Six pages, 4to, with hole and chip causing small loss of text, some staining, pahes attached at margin, obscuring a word or two, text clear. Profuse thanks for his "kind letter from the canal" and a later note and present. He enjoyed his short visit, regretting the loss of a day when he attended "the wrangling of a dull county meeting". More on his enjoyment of his company, and hope that he'll fulfil his promise to visit again. He goes on: "A change . . .

Autograph Letter, in the third person, to Ridgway.

Author: 
Edward Law (1790-1871), 1st Earl of Ellenborough [James Ridgway (1755-1838), London bookseller]
Publication details: 
16/07/35
£35.00

12mo, 1 p. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with remains of stub adhering to blank second leaf of bifolium. Ask for the Morning Post to be sent to Euston Square, and 'the Standard discontinued'. He will require the Morning Post the following day.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J A Stuart Wortley') to Ridgway, bookseller..

Author: 
James Stuart-Wortley [James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie] (1776-1845), 1st Baron Wharncliffe [James Ridgway (1755-1838), London bookseller]
Publication details: 
26 September 1812; Wortley Hall, Sheffield.
£38.00

4to, 1 p. Fair, on aged paper, with the remains of a stub adhering to the blank reverse. Concerning the insertion of an advertisement in a number of newspapers.

Autograph Note in the third person, with signature ('Wrothsley') on frank.

Author: 
Sir John Wrothsley [Wrottesley; James Ridgeway, bookseller, Piccadilly, London]
Publication details: 
9 September 1835 [Doncaster].
£28.00

12mo, 1 p. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with thin strip of stub adhering to the reverse of the second leaf. Reads 'Sir John Wrothsley requests Mr. Ridgway will direct his Newspapers [corrected from 'Letters'] Post Office Scarborough. The frank reads 'Doncaster September ten 1835 | Mr. Ridgway | Piccadilly | London | [signed] Wrothsley'. Divided circular Doncaster postmark in black, and frank ('FREE | 11SEP11| 1835') in red.

[38 & 39 Vict.] Canada Copyright. [Ch. 53.] An Act to give effect to an Act of the Parliament of the Dominion of Canada respecting Copyright. [2d August 1875.]

Author: 
Canada Copyright Act, 1875 [British Act of Parliament, 1875, respecting Canadian copyright]
Publication details: 
London: Printed by George Edward Eyre and William Spottiswoode, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty. 1875.
£75.00

8vo, 9 pp. Disbound. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Headed with the royal crest. The last seven pages carry the 'Schedule'. The British legislature had refused to ratify the 1872 Dominion of Canada bill that enshrined a fixed-royalty principle for Canadian publishers to re-print British copyrighted works. This act only allowed Canadian republishing of books that had gone out of print.

Stamped Autograph Receipt Signed ('R C Dallas') for an advance from his publishers Cadell & Davies.

Author: 
Robert Charles Dallas (1754-1824), English writer [Cadell & Davies, London booksellers]
Publication details: 
23/12/00
£65.00

On a piece of paper 7.5 x 18 cm. Neatly mounted (windowpane mount) on leaf of paper 27 x 23 cm. Neatly written out by Dallas, and reading 'Received Decr. 23d. 1800 the sum of Ten Pounds on account from Messrs Cadell and Davies. | [signed] R C Dallas. - | £10.-.-' On the right a blind-stamped government two pence stamp, 'FOR RECEIPTS'. Dallas published several works with Cadell & Davies, and the receipt may possibly relate to his 'Annals of the French Revolution' (1800), or his 'Natural History of Volcanoes' (1801).

Twenty-two bookseller's catalogues

Author: 
James Coleman, Genealogical & Topographical Bookseller, of High Holborn and Tottenham
Publication details: 
22, High Street, Bloomsbury, London, W.C.: 1867, 1873 (2), 1874; 9, Tottenham Terrace, White Hart Lane, Tottenham, N.: 1881, 1882 (4), 1883 (4), 1884 (2), 1885 (2), 1886 (4), 1887. S. and J. Brawn, printers.
£300.00

All items octavo, stitched and unbound. Page range between 16 and 32. Each catalogue carrying an illustration on the front cover. The condition of the collection is variable. All items on aged paper: some dogeared or with closed tears, and a handful with damp and other staining. Several catalogues annotated in a contemporary hand, and one with an entry cut out. Coleman's speciality was 'Heraldry, Genealogy, Topography', and the first three catalogues are headed 'Pedigrees!

Autograph Letter Signed ('Julian B. Arnold') to Raffin, commenting on the state of the American book trade.

Author: 
Julian Biddulph Arnold, author, and son and biographer of Sir Edwin Arnold (1832-1904) [Alain Raffin]
Publication details: 
20 September 1921; 5132 Kimbark Avenue, Chicago, Illinois [on cancelled letterhead].
£85.00

4to, 2 pp. Twenty-seven lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged and slightly creased paper. He cannot help Raffin find an American publisher for his book 'Mystery, Mirage and Miracle' (privately printed for the author in London in 1921), although he finds its style 'delightful', and its subject matter 'one which deeply interests me'. 'The book-market is in a very strained condition - a sort of transition period with all the publishers "sitting on the fence", and the public refusing to by any books except a few which have the luck to become fashionable'.

Autograph List of 'Publications by Prebendary Havergal. All on sale by local booksellers. J. Jones. & Jakeman & Carver'. With publication details of his 'Herefordshire Words & Phrases'.

Author: 
Francis Tebbs Havergal (1829-1890) Prebendary of Hereford, author and antiquary
Publication details: 
Undated [after 1887].
£175.00

On one side of a piece of foolscap (33 x 20.5 cm). Text clear and complete. On aged paper, with wear to extremities and slight loss to bottom right-hand corner. Three items are listed: 'Description of Ancient Glass at Credenhill' (1884), 'The simile of ancient glass in Bristol Church representing St George in full military costume' and '[Herefordshire] Words & Phrases' (1887). Havergal adds nine lines of annotation to the last item, beginning: '- see Prospectus - issued to Subscribers only at 2/6. present price 4/- issue very small - only 300 copies which will soon be sold out.

Autograph draft of letter to the Editor of the Daily Chronicle, rebutting in strong terms the claim that Knowles was editor of the Contemporary Review.

Author: 
Alexander Strahan [Alexander Stuart Strahan] (1833-1918), English publisher [Sir James Thomas Knowles (1831-1908); Alfred Tennyson]
Publication details: 
14 February 1908; on letterhead of Oakhurst, Ravenscourt Park, W.
£150.00

12mo (17.5 x 11 cm): 5 pp. On two bifolium letterheads and half of a third. The text of each page is clear and complete on aged and lightly-spotted paper, but gaps between the various sections indicate that the draft is incomplete. Begins 'Sir | I see that in your obituary notice of Sir James Knowles inn today's paper you say that he was the Editor of the Contemporary Review from 1870 to 1877. | This is news to me. I was the Editor and proprietor of the Contemporary Review all these years, and I think I ought to know the facts of the matter.

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