History

Autograph Signature on fragment of typed letter.

Author: 
Stefan Osusky
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£45.00

Prominent Czechoslovak diplomat, one of the founders of free Czechoslovakia (1889-1973). Slip of paper, 1 inch by 4½ inches, creased and grubby and glued to a piece of neatly-docketed blue card. Signed in blue ink beneath typewritten 'I remain, dear Doctor Esdaile, | Yours sincerely.'

One Autograph Letter Signed, one Autograph Card Signed, one calling card bearing unsigned Autograph Note, and one obituary from an unnamed newspaper.

Author: 
Sir Philip Montefiore Magnus, Bart.
Publication details: 
Card to C. H. Grinling of Red Roofs, Peaslake, Surrey: 15 December 1928; letter: 13 June 1930; both fromTangley-Hill, Chilworth, Surrey; calling card and newspaper cutting without place or date.
£30.00

Educationalist and biographer of Kitchener and Edward VII. All items are in good condition, but bear traces of rust from paper clips. The card is 1 page, 12mo, with printed letterhead, and carries two stamps and postmark on reverse. He is going to London the next day and will stay till Thursday. He will be happy to see Grinling on Sunday or Monday if convenient and he will try to be at home. The letter is 1 page, 8vo. In it he thanks his correspondent for the 'interesting papers which I will return'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Charles Stuart (later Baron Stuart de Rothesay), Ambassador to Paris.

Author: 
William Richard Hamilton, Minister at Naples.
Publication details: 
20 July 1824; Naples.
£120.00

For Hamilton (1777-1859), Treasurer of the Royal Institution and one of the Trustees of the British Museum, see Boase's 'Modern English Biography'. He was secretary to Lord Elgin in Constantinople, recovered the Rosetta Stone from the French and aided in collecting and removing the Elgin Marbles from Athens. 3 pages, 16mo. Creased but in good condition. Begins by saying that a few years ago Stuart introduced Charles Rothschild to him, 'but it was probably at the request of his brother, as he has now asked me to introduce him to you'.

6 Typed Letters Signed to Mrs Theodora Roscoe.

Author: 
Sir Arthur Bryant
Publication details: 
1945-1950; the first three from The White House, East Claydon, near Bletchley, Bucks, the next two from 18 Rutland Gate, London, and the last one from Smedmore House, near Wareham, Dorset.
£50.00

English historian and biographer of Pepys (1899-1985). All six letters are 1 page, 8vo. In poor condition: creased, frayed and discoloured, with ruststains from a paperclip. All six are signed 'Arthur Bryant' and three are addressed to Mrs Cecil Roscoe, presumably the recipient's husband's name. Two of the letters are addressed to Roscoe at the Society of Women Journalists, Stationers' Hall. In the first letter Bryant says he would be pleased to address the Society. He might however be forced to cancel, 'owing to my absence from the country on Service duty'.

40 Autograph Letters Signed to him from various "old shipmates", mostly senior naval figures; with 9 portrait photographs, a photograph of the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert and the seal in red wax of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich.

Author: 
Captain Charles Dickson Inglis, R.N.
Publication details: 
between 1858 and 1898; from various locations.
£450.00

Captain Charles Dickson Inglis, R.N. (born c.1835; fl. 1898), is best known for his offer in 1887 to buy South Georgia in the Falkland Islands for the purposes of sheep-farming. This collection of his correspondence is neatly bound in a crude octavo volume, and is preceded by a manuscript index by him. Items in good condition overall, with minor discoloration and spotting, mainly caused by the glue used in mounting the photographs. All the letters are 8vo and smaller, several of them being cropped at the head, but with the cropped strips loosely inserted.

Autograph Signature on fragment of letter.

Author: 
Henry Hobhouse
Publication details: 
No date; Basseterre, Guadaloupe.
£20.00

English historian and archivist (1776-1854; DNB) who superintended the publication of the 'State Papers of Henry VIII'. Fragment of letter, 2 inches by four, in good condition, on laid paper signed 'H. Hobhouse' beneath part of salutation 'Yr obed. Sert.' with 'Basseterre | Guadaloupe' beneath.

Autograph Letter Signed to [Cuthbert Sharp].

Author: 
Sarah Otway Cave, Baroness Braye
Publication details: 
12 July 1844; 14 Great Stanhope Street, May Fair.
£100.00

Sarah, late heiress of Sir Thomas Cave, Bart., of Stanford Hall, Leicestershire, and then wife of Henry Otway, became Baroness Braye in her own right in 1839. She died in 1862, aged ninety. 3 pages, 8vo, the first page with a mourning border. In good condition with the reverse of the second leaf attached to a docketted piece of paper.

Autograph Letter Signed to Dr [?] Dewar.

Author: 
Lyon Playfair, 1st Baron Playfair
Publication details: 
17 November 1873; on blue blindstamped letterhead of the Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall, S.W.
£75.00

Victorian chemist and politician who presided over a government enquiry into the working of the civil service known as the Playfair Scheme. 2 pages, 8vo, in good condition though creased, and with remains of blank conjugate leaf adhering to large sheet of blank paper. 'My dear Dr Dewar | Many thanks for your kind congratulations. I am not yet in Office [of Postmaster General, to which he was elected in this year] - not I believe for ten days more, so I am unable to do more than send your letter to the Secy. The former P[ost]. M[aster]. G[eneral]. still rules.'

Autograph Signature on frank to Philip W. Bagenal.

Author: 
Randolph Churchill
Publication details: 
3 October 1886, with red postmark reading 'OFFICIAL PAID | 3 | OC 4 | 86 | LONDON W'.
£30.00

English statesman (DNB), father of Sir Winston Churchill. One page, 16mo, front of envelope, glued to blank reverse of printed vellum fragment of Royal Humane Society document dated 17 August 1896. In good condition though grubby. Addressed to Bagenal at St Stephens Club Westminster.

Autograph Note Signed to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Palmerston
Publication details: 
Broadlands, 11 October 1836.
£45.00

British Tory Prime Minister (DNB). One page, 16mo, on mourning paper, creased but in good condition. The foot of the leaf, which would have borne the recipient's name, has been neatly torn away. 'My dear Sir, | We shall be very glad to see you on Monday, & the Three oclock Train will bring you here in good Time | Yrs Faithfully | Palmerston'.

two typed letters signed to Malcolm Mackenzie of the Empire Art Council

Author: 
David Eccles, later Viscount Eccles
Publication details: 
both 1p, one large and one small 8vo; the first (on Minister of Works letterhead), 25 April 1952; the second (on House of Commons letterhead), 1 June 1953
£50.00

In the first letter Eccles thanks Mackenzie for his congratulations on Eccles' 'scheme for forming a national collection of works of art'. Any help the EAC can give will be welcome, 'as the need for pictures and works of art for Government buildings, both at home and overseas, is really great'. In the second letter he thanks him for his telegram of congratulations 'on the Coronation decorations. Everyone in the Ministry of Works has tried hard to produce something worthy of the Queen and of our contemporary art'. Two items,

autograph letter signed to W. D. Cooke

Author: 
Lord Cleveland on Battle Abbey, Sussex
Publication details: 
4pp, 8vo, Battle Abbey, 11 November 1869
£100.00

Is not sure whether he can find a ground plan of the Abbey before his alterations, but provides a detailed description of them, e.g. 'I took down some parts which were not old but added by Sir Godfrey Webster, built very badly of brick & cemented over to look like stone, and have rebuilt it of stone with a slight alteration so as to render it more in character'. He refers in detail to the rebuilding of the library 'which is 76 feet long is substantially the same building as the former one erected by Sir Anthony Brown after the dissolution of the monastery and its cession to him'.

autograph letter signed to Major William Owen Lanyon, C.M.G. [later Sir William Owen Lanyon, Administrator of the Transvaal]

Author: 
Earl of Carnarvon
Publication details: 
4pp, 8vo, 30 August 1875, no place, on mourning letterhead with blindstamped Carnarvon crest
£100.00

Henry Howard Molyneux Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon, British statesman who made Canada a confederation but failed to create a federation of South Africa; Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. Interesting matter relating to South African affairs. He encloses (not present) a passage of Lanyon's from the Government Gazette.

autograph letter in the third person to the artist Shirley Slocombe

Author: 
Duchess of Leeds
Publication details: 
3pp, 16mo, 11 August 1904, on letterhead 11 Grosvenor Crescent, S.W.
£20.00

She 'cannot apologise enough for having left his letter of May 29th so long unanswered'. It was supposed to be answered 'on her return from Italy' but was mislaid. She hopes Slocombe will 'forgive the unintentional rudeness'.

one printed and manuscript legal document signed,

Author: 
Edward Stanley, 12th Earl of Derby (died 1834)
Publication details: 
24/02/29
£50.00

One page, 8vo. Giving licence to his tenant Richard Finlow of Liverpool to transfer the freehold of a property in Bootle to John Plumbe of Bootle, painter. The property is "on the marsh at Bootle [...] adjoining the new Road leading from Sand Hills to Bootle afsd. called Derby Road". Signed "Derby". Slight discolouration and with holes from pinning, but in good condition overall.

Autograph note signed to "Clarke".

Author: 
John Wilson Croker.
Publication details: 
Gosport, 11 Dec. 1846.
£35.00

Politician and essayist (1780-1857). One page, 8vo, good condition, saying "My carriage will meet you at the Gosport Station tomorrow, Saturday, a 1/4 past 3.

ALS, 1p, 4to to Clement Shorter, editor of the Sphere newspaper

Author: 
Viscountess Lee of Fareham (see husband's DNB entry) on Chequers, the British Prime Ministers' country house
Publication details: 
30 October [no year, but between 1917 and 1921], on Chequers letterhead
£45.00

Says that Chequers has been "thoroughly photographed twice since our alterations" (1910 and 1917), but that she would be glad to allow Shorter to have other photographs taken. Country Life does not give the Lees copies of these photographs, but does sometimes allow other newspapers to reproduce them. "I remember very well the luncheon at Lord Curzon's about a year ago - Would you care to come to see Chequers before we leave?" The Lees acquired Chequers in 1909, the Chequers Estate Act was passed in 1917 and the couple left in 1921.

small seal in red wax

Author: 
Roxburghe family
Publication details: 
probably mid nineteenth-century
£20.00

Oval seal, around a centimeter and a half tall, containing the Roxburghe family crest. Reasonably crisp impression on neatly cut remains of blue envelope stuck to slip of card.

Autograph Letters Signed (x 3) to “Smith”.

Author: 
Albert Way.
Publication details: 
No date.
£120.00

Antiquary (1805-1874). 2pp. ea., 8vo, damp-staining and other marksbut text still legible. He is returning some “cuts” lent by the Sussex Society and enclosing “eight blocks for the Catalogue of the Chichester Museum”. He wants his correspondent to follow up on a “cut”. In another letter, he makes suggestions for the improvement of a “proof of the Ark” and requests a book. In the other letter, he says that he is sending “the continuation ofChichester Catalogue” and someone else will send “the greater part of thewoodcut blocks”. He asks for a “cut” to be sent to the printer. 3 items,

Autograph Letter Signed to Cuthbert Sharp, antiquary.

Author: 
Prince Alexander Labanoff.
Publication details: 
Paris, 18 April 1845.
£125.00

Writer on Mary, Queen of Scots, etc. In French. Two pages, 8vo, laid down, sl. stained but mainly good condition. He regrets not being able to visit Sharp but gives him a preview of some of his work on Mary, Queen of Scots which was about to be published [not traced]. Attached: an autograph note (in French) signed by Labanoff also in which he listsa book and manuscript he has left with Sharp which he hopes will be useful. He asks for the address of Sir Thomas Phillips[sic] ("ou loge") because he is to visit him at midday (!).

Autograph Letters Signed (x 4) to John Wilson Croker, Capt. Basil Hull, the Attorney-General and Archdeacon Singleton

Author: 
Henry Hardinge
Publication details: 
1826-1843
£120.00

Viscount, soldier, G.-G. of India. (Croker) asks for assistance for lady whose sons died on naval duty. (Hull) he has passed on his note about forgery to Peel. (Attorney-General) asks him to look at a Bill he wants to go before the House. (Singleton) he discusses the circumstances of the death of Huskisson (run over by a train) and other business including "O.G. Mahon", Lord Westmeath's speech ("coarse invective agt the D of W and so grossly indecent"), Shiel's speech, O'Connell ("influence greatly declined"), General O'Neill and other matters. Four items,

Autograph Notes Signed (x 2), one page each, 4to, to Sir Robert Wilmot

Author: 
Richard Rigby
Publication details: 
19 Dec. 1760 and 1 April 1761
£120.00

Politician (1722-1788). He died "leaving half a million of public money" (quoted in DNB). The signatures appear by the superscription, one is initialled. (1760) He has heard that there are "letters in Town from Ireland which say, That Volumes are writing there against transmitting a money Bill". He wonders if Wilmot has heard anything. (1761) He would "be glad our Letters & Bills and all our business was despatched in due time" since he wishes to make up a party with some Ladies to play at Loo. 2 items,

A large quantity of letters.

Author: 
Edward J. Stanley
Publication details: 
1853-1866.
£400.00

Baron Stanley of Alderley, statesman (1802-1869). 22 ALSs and ANSs (“S” or “Stanley”)and 1 AL, third person, 1-4pp., all 8vo except one (4to), to (S. Lucas), political journalist and author, mainly 1853, some undated or n.y., some not mentioning Lucas but almost certainly to him. Stanley is a contributor and more to a journal of which Lucas ispresumably the editor. Their brief, since Stanley was a Whig politician,was presumably to support the Whig cause. (See, however, the ALS toDisraeli described below.) He discusses the articles he is preparing or hasprepared (subjects including: J.W.

Autograph Letter Signed and Typed Note Signed to Henry Polak, formerly Gandhi's right-hand man in South Africa

Author: 
Salvador de Madariaga,
Publication details: 
1948
£150.00

Spanish author. Two pages, 4to. He writes concerning the World Unity Movement of which Polak is a sponsor, criticising the Chairman, James Avery Joyce. With: a TLS, 2pp., 4to, from Joyce to Polak referring to a note he has received from de Madariaga (copy enclosed) and describing his difficulties in finding a speaker. He also asks for his expenses from an American trip which de Madariaga found offensive.

Autograph Letters Signed (x 2) to an unknown correspondent and A.B. Bagley.

Author: 
Edward Law, Earl of Ellenborough.
Publication details: 
19 Sept. 1830 and (30 Oct. 1841).
£100.00

Governor-General of India. 5 & 2pp., 8vo. Some illegible. (1830) he asks himself whether the "Board" should reply to "the Statements and Assumptions of the . . . Secret Committee in the subject of the Secret Letters relating to the Treaty with . . .(?)". He continues on the theme, concluding that ther documents in question had been perused by Lord Clare, the intended successor of Sir John Malcolm" (Governor of Bombay). (1841) he is trying to arrange a meeting.

Autograph Note Signed to a fellow M.P.(name illegible).

Author: 
Randolph S. Churchill.
Publication details: 
26 June 1885,
£45.00

Statesman, father of Winston (1849-1895). One page, 8vo, good, saying that, although he agrees with a Bill, his official position will not allow him to put his name to it.

Autograph Note Signed to “Gentlemen”

Author: 
Jacob Bright.
Publication details: 
15/08/81
£30.00

Politician (1821-1899). 2pp., 8vo, reporting that Gladstonehas given their “resolution” a positive response and that expressions of“strong feeling” from the north create a good effect in Parliament.

Autograph Letter Signed to “Yates”.

Author: 
Algernon Borthwick
Publication details: 
3 July (n.y.).
£30.00

Ist Baron Glenesk, newspaper proprietor (1830-1908), 4pp., 8vo, stained but not obscuring text, giving his reason for not seeing Yates’s “representation”, and planning a pre-luncheon conversation about Napoleon, Palmerston and the like. He is pleased to be given a place in Yates’s “Gallery”.

Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed correspondent,

Author: 
Richard Monckton Milnes.
Publication details: 
n.o date, [early 1847?],
£30.00

Lord Houghton, poet and politician (1809-1885). 2pp., 8vo, damp-staining not obscuring text, inviting his correspondent and wife to the debate on the occupation of Cracow at the House of Commons, giving directions for a meeting afterwards.

Autograph Note Signed to “Leveson Gower” (E.F. Leveson-Gower, politician),

Author: 
Lord Kimberley,
Publication details: 
23/03/00
£25.00

Statesman (1826-1902). One page, 8vo, good, confirming a dinner appointment.

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