Military and Naval History

Panoramic Photograph entitled Egyptian Army Sports at Abbassia Cairo - April 1906, 28.5 x 15.7cms, partly laid down on somewhat grubby album leaf, 28 x 25cms. See Image for details.

Two pages, fol., bifolium (partly separated), aged, closed tears, text apparently complete. The text comprises columns headed as follows: Names; Subsisted From/To; [Days?]; Amount; Remarks. Example: [Serjeants] John Johnston; 15 Oct.1790/21 Jan.1791. Forty Five soldiers were invalids delivered to the Town Mayor of Portsmouth.

An interesting document, neatly laid out in black with red underlining on both sides of 29 x 42 cm leaf. Painted in black lengthwise near one edge is ‘Winchelsea / 1805’, and 1805 would be a good year for the document’s composition, with Britain fighting the Napoleonic Wars and in the midst of invasion fears around the time of the Battle of Trafalgar. 2pp, large folio. On thick laid paper watermarked either ‘VI’ or ‘IV’ (depending on which side you look from). In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, with closed tears and one nick (not affecting text) along central horizontal fold.

Three Pages, 12mo, bifolium, good condition. Dear Mr. a Beckett | I haved sent the circulars you forwarded to me to the under-mentioned Naval Officers, and hope some of them (they all reside in and about London) will respond[.] | Believe me | Yrs v. truly A| [squiggle] Markham. He begins his list of thirty (30) names of Admirals, Vice Admirals, Rear Admirals, Captains. creating separate lists of Active and Retired officers. SEE IMAGES of all three pages. Note: a.

Three pages, 12mo, bifolium, good condition. Docketed top left corner (see Image of first page). As the Artist & Printer are coming to see me here [underlined] on Monday forenoon next, with reference to tthe poster depicting a line of battle ships &c, will you kindly send me 'Nelson's' signal [England Expects] (which I sent to my Hartley) so as to be here at the same time? I received your letter last night, and at once wrote off to Admiral Fremantle, but he would only receive my letter this morning. I see his [underlined] is in today's Times.

The note was written in a momentous month for Wainwright. On 5 September 1945, on his release after three years in captivity following his surrender at Corregidor, Wainwright was promoted to four-star General. On 10 September he was presented with the Medal of Honor by President Truman at the White House. On 13 September a ticker-tape parade in New York City was held in his honor. And on 28 September he was named commander of the Second Service Command and the Eastern Defense Command at Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York.

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘Mr. J. G. Gillman / 50 High Street / Chislehurst, Kent / England’. Good firm signature, ‘W R Anderson’, with ‘Commander, U.S. Navy / Written following the Nautilus’s arctic transit, 3 August 1958: ‘Thank you for your letter and kind appreciation. The people of England have given us a truly wonderful welcome and we are all deeply appreciative.’ He asks him to accept the signature that he is attaching, for his autograph collection. See Image.

A scarce piece of naval ephemera. Six copies on COPAC: Chetham’s Library, Lambeth Palace, NLS, Oxford, Society of Antiquaries and BL. According to ESTC, the journals of the House of Lords state that it was ‘presented to the House on 17 January 1705, and ordered to be printed 5 February 1705’. In landscape on one side of a folio sheet of watermarked laid paper, folded into a two-page bifolium.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 13 x 6.5 cm piece of thin paper, apparently cut from the end of a letter for an autograph hunter. In good condition, lightly aged and creased, folded twice. Reads: ‘Francis Grenfell / Maj Genl / April 16 / 1892.’ See image.

TSS Transylvania (the prefix stands for ‘Twin Screw Steamship’) was built in Glasgow for the Anchor Line and launched in 1925. She had three funnels, but two were redundant, only serving to render the ship more attractive to prospective passengers. In 1940 she requisitioned by the Royal Navy, and the following year she was torpedoed by the Germans, sinking with the loss of 36 lives. The letter is 13pp, 12mo; with neat single-space typing, on thirteen leaves.

For the family see the entry on ?HOMFRAY, of Wollaston Hall, and The Hill, near Stourbridge; Broadwaters, Kidderminster; and The Hyde, Kinver, Staffordshire?, in H. S. Grazebrook, ?The Heraldry of Worcestershire? (1873). 1p, 8vo. Text clear and complete, on aged paper worn and chipped at edges, with one short closed tear. Previously folded into a packet. Endorsed. Reads: ?Sir / I have just rec?d yours enclosin [sic] a statement of the Half Pay which you say is 33? - 8s - [?]d & that there is only 12? . 15s due to me for 6 months.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 8vo. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Folded twice. A printed circular, completed in manuscript by a secretary for the ‘Earle of Hardwicke Kt’ (as Colonel of the Cambridge Regiment of Militia), and signed by Pulteney ‘Ja: Pulteney’. Note at head of page in a third contemporary hand: ‘Copied for Col. the Rt. Hon. Chas. Yorke - 14/7/7’.

Scarce: no other copy traced. The only similar material are the volumes for 1851, 1852 and 1853 in the Bishopsgate Institute. Stitched booklet. 16pp, 8vo. With card cover and frontispiece, both ornately engraved. Text and illustrations complete and undamaged, on aged paper worn at edges and with front cover detached. The cover carries the royal arms beneath the engraved words: ‘FIELD MARSHAL / His Royal Highness / The Prince Albert / K.G. K.T. G.C.B. K.P. G.C.M.G. &c. &c. &c. / Captain General and Colonel.’ At foot of page: ‘Honourable Artillery Company.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On piece of 8.5 x 4.5 cm laid paper cut. In fair condition, on aged paper with reverse bearing traces of glue from mount. Reads: ‘M. Power / M Genl. Comm[andin]g’. Endorsed on reverse: ‘M General / Sir Manley Power / K.C.B’. See Image.

A scarce piece of regimental ephemera: no copies found on JISC or WorldCat. 32pp, 16mo. Stitched into grey paper wraps, with the regiment’s Minerva and Mars device and the title printed on the cover, and with ‘For Private Circulation only’ at bottom left. Inscribed at top right ‘J W Mackay’. (For James Waite Mackay (fl.

See the entries for Barrow and Seymour in the Oxford DNB. On laid Whatman paper dated 1833. Having served for four years as Commissioner at Portsmouth, Seymour had sailed out to South America in 1833 as commander-in-chief, dying of ‘low fever’ at Rio de Janeiro two months before the writing of the present letter. 1p, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, folded twice. At top left: ‘Duplicate, / No 50.’ Initialed at bottom left: ‘J. P.’ Good firm and attractive signature ‘John Barrow’. Writing with regard to ‘the late Rear Admiral Sir Michael Seymour’s letter of the 16th.

A nice collection, which both by its content and arrangement indicates the huge esteem in which Nelson was held. The material is in good condition, lightly aged, most items laid down on leaves of gilt-edged paper extracted from an album. Mostly 12mo. This description is arranged under fifteen numbered entries. The manuscript material is at No. 14. ONE: Engraving. ‘Plan of a MANSION HOUSE, proposed for Lord NELSON.’ ‘Gent[leman’s]. Mag[azine]. Feb. 1799. Pt. I. p.97’. Engraved by Longmate from Arthur Brown.

A nice collection, which both by its content and arrangement indicates the huge esteem in which Nelson was held. The material is in good condition, lightly aged, most items laid down on leaves of gilt-edged paper extracted from an album. Mostly 12mo. This description is arranged under fifteen numbered entries. The manuscript material is at No. 14. ONE: Engraving. ‘Plan of a MANSION HOUSE, proposed for Lord NELSON.’ ‘Gent[leman’s]. Mag[azine]. Feb. 1799. Pt. I. p.97’. Engraved by Longmate from Arthur Brown.

One of the great figures of world history. On one side of 10 x 3.5 cm piece of wove paper, cut from the end of a letter, with blank reverse. In fair condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of glue at right (away from signature) and central horizontal fold (over signature). Evidently cut from the letter in response to a request for an autograph. Reads 'Your obedient servant / Wellington'. See Image.

See Don's entry in the Oxford DNB. He was Lieutenant Governor of Jersey between 1806 and 1814, and acting Governor of Gibraltar, 1814-1821 and 1825-1831. The two items are on different paper stock, but both relate to Don, and may be related. (While Don was acting Governor of Gibraltar, he is described as 'His Excellency the Lieutenant Governor' in the second item.) ONE: On one side of an 18.5 x 7.5 cm piece of laid paper. In good condition, with three folds and small pin-holes to one corner.

1p, foolscap 8vo. On an aged and worn piece of watermarked laid paper with some closed tears. Folded twice. Reads: ‘These are to Certify the Right Honble. the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. or whom else it may Concern that Mr. George Ross serv’d as Midshipman on Board His Majesty’s Ship Princess Amelia under my Command from the Twenty Seventh day of May 1778 to the Day of the Date hereof - During which Time he behaved with Diligence & Soberiety [sic] and always obedient to Command.

Incomplete. Part only of Hollond's First Discourse, [32]pp. [unnumbered], 9 x 23cm, unbound, some stitching, some staining sl. obscuring text, initial text faint, but all legible. Distributed in MS The (incomplete text covers pp.[2]-32 of The Naval Record Society printed text, concluding expected from poor men under. Numerous textual variants eg. [Naval Records text beholding; MS. beholden]. Apparently few copies of the MS version survive (see Naval Record Society text, p.lxxxii). Note: HOLLOND or HOLLAND, JOHN (fl.

See his entries in the Oxford DNB and History of Parliament, the former of which notes his ‘high reputation for courage’ and his presence ‘at Neerwinden and Landen in 1693, covering the retreat on 19 July, and saving William III from capture by the enemy’. 1p, 8vo. On aged and worn paper, with chipping to edges and pitting along a horizontal central line, but with both signatures clear and unblemished. The customary printed document, completed in manuscript. Records in a secretarial hand, the receipt of £25 by ‘Hen: Lumley Esqr. attor to the Rt.

A painting by Manet of the celebrated engagement between the Alabama and the Kearsarge was finished and exhibited before the end of 1864. It now hangs in the Philadelphia Museum of Fine Art. The present item is a steel engraving, dating from five years later, on a small 8vo piece of thickish wove paper. In good condition, on lightly aged paper, with slight discoloration and creasing to the blank edges. At the foot of the engraving is the name of the publishers, ‘Kelly, Piet & Co. Baltimore’ (it appeared in their 1869 book, ‘Memoirs of Service Afloat, during the War between the States.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, in which ‘deep professional commitment and mental toughness’ are said to be qualities whose possession he demonstrated ‘heroically’. Beatty’s aggressive tactics at the Battle of Jutland are often contrasted with Jellicoe’s more cautious approach. After the explosion of the Indefatigable and the Queen Mary, with the loss of 1283 officers and men, he came out with the celebrated understatement, ‘There seems to be something wrong with our bloody ships today’.

Macready's entry in the Oxford DNB states that he destroyed his diary and personal papers after the publication of his memoirs in 1924, and that of his father notes that he dealt with William Charles Macready's ‘copious and uninhibited diaries’ in similar fashion in 1914 - two years after the appearance of Toynbee’s edition. The present collection of eighteen items is in good condition, lightly aged, and folded for postage. All signed 'C F N Macready' and addressed to 'My dear Toynbee'. The text of the letters totals 35pp (compising 1p, 8vo; 25pp, 12mo; 9pp, 16mo).

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with negligible remains of windowpane mount adhering at edges of reverse of second leaf. Folded for postage. The item - an immediate artifact with the feel of history in the making - is unsigned and headed ‘Confidential’.

The present item gives the text of the poem described by Byron as 'the most perfect ode in the English language' before its first publication in the Newry Telegraph in April 1817. See Wolfe’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The source of the present item is unclear. It is a photographic facsimile, many decades old, on both sides of a 4to leaf. In fair condition, slightly creased on browned paper, with negligible loss to margin at head. With five creases from folding. Addressed to ‘John Taylor Esqe / at the Revd Mr. Armstrong’s / Clonoully / Cashel’.

An uncommon signature. During the 1794 invasion of Corsica, D’Aubant took over as Lord Hood’s second-in-command after Hood forced Major-General David Dundas to resign, but proved even more cautious, to the frustration of Nelson and others. 1p, landscape 8vo. Laid down on part of leaf from autograph album, captioned in Victorian hand, ‘General D’Aubant’. On discoloured paper, with deeper discoloration from glue from mount. Folded twice. Reads: ‘Genl D’Aubant presents his compliments to Mr Brown, and will call upon him at 12. next Thursday 8th July / Devonshe. place.’ See image.

For information about this brave and gallant man, who offered himself to be hanged in place of his fellow officers during the Nore Mutiny, see his entry in the Oxford DNB. The presence of these four items together may indicate a Victorian autograph dealer as the source, or perhaps a family member wishing to distribute keepsakes. Some with tantalizing fragments of surviving text. All four in good condition, some with fold lines. ONE: 14.5 x 6.5 cm. On one side: ‘[...] Ever your truly obliged and / Affectionate Friend / Edward O’Bryen’.