Travel and Topography

Coloured advertisement featuring cartoon by P. Webb.

Author: 
C. A. Stonehill, Inc., booksellers of New Haven, Connecticut [Charles Archibald Stonehill]
Publication details: 
Undated; 'PRINTED BY BROWN & BIGELOW, ST. PAUL, MINN., U.S.A.'
£45.00

Dimensions roughly nine inches by three and a half wide. Creased and somewhat aged, with traces of previous blue paper mount on reverse. The cartoon, which occupies just under the top half, shows three hillbillies watching a fourth chalk crosses onto a farmyard wall, with the caption 'Somebody told him 'bout a old age pension . . . he's practicin' to sign up fer it.' Beneath this 'ATTENTION! | C. A. STONEHILL, Inc. | Rare Books and Manuscripts | IS NOW LOCATED AT | 198 1/2 YORK ST. | SECOND FLOOR | NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT | Come In and Browse'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('D. Calcutta') to 'The Revd Dr Jones, Bedfont, Staines, Midd[lese]x', together with an 'Address to the Lord Bishop of Calcutta', taken from the London Record newspaper, 24 July 1845.

Author: 
Daniel Wilson (1778-1858), Bishop of Calcutta
Publication details: 
Letter dated 'Islington May 7 [1832]'.
£80.00

LETTER: Two pages, 12mo. Very good. Addressed on verso of second leaf of bifolium. Three postmarks (two in red and one in black ink) and red wax seal. Written after Wilson's appointment as Bishop, but before his departure from Islington, where he was Vicar of St Mary's. Addressing his 'dear friend' he excuses his silence, which is 'merely for the physical impossibility of answering a tenth part of the letters I receive'. His 'house has been over-full - IS now - I have not a bed free | At any time, however, I am to be found at Breakfast at 9 - & shall rejoice to see you'.

Engraving by Lewis, after Cooke, of 'CALAIS PIER'.

Author: 
Edward William Cooke (1811-80), marine painter; Charles George Lewis (1808-80), engraver
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£265.00

On India paper roughly three and a half inches by six and a half wide, mounted on a thick piece of wove paper ten inches by fourteen and a half. Cooke's name is engraved on the illustration, and printed on the mount are the title, Lewis's name and a double ruled border. Good clear impression. The mount is a tad grubby, with foxing to the extremities. Atmospheric representation of a populated pier snaking to the left, with a number of sailing ships and a row boat taking advantage of the low tide nearby. No reference found.

Autograph Note Signed (F Matania) to unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
Chevalier Fortunino Matania (1881-1963), Italian artist
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£78.00

One page, quarto. On lightly creased, aged paper with a few closed tears. Rust marks from paperclip at head. Reads 'Il triangolo della perfezione arte scienza ad amore | [signed] F Matania'.

Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
Edouard Servan de Sugny.
Publication details: 
Cessy, pres Gex, 15 Juillet 1850
£150.00

Author/translator of "La Muse ottomane ou chefs-d'oeuvre de la poésie turque" (Paris, 1853). Three pages, 8vo, good condition. He thanks his correspondent for a copy of "l'Anthologie arabe de M. Grangeret de Lagrange" [first published 1828]. He explains his great interest in the book and the excellent job done by the compiler. He praises his correspondent for enriching the book with Latin and notes which derive from their discussions.

Seven Autograph Letters Signed, one Letter in a secretarial hand Signed, and two Typed Letters Signed to Sir Henry Truman Wood, Secretary, Society of Arts.

Author: 
Fritz Bernhard Behr [High-Speed Mono-Rail System]
Publication details: 
February to November 1901; all on letterhead '5, Queen Anne's Gate, | London, S.W.'
£380.00

Anglo-German engineer (1842-1927), who administered 'a portion of the conquered territory for the German Government' following the Franco-Prussian War, and who, following his naturalisation as a British citizen in 1876, 'invented practically the mono-rail, now known as the High Speed Mono-Rail System, and obtained two acts of Parliament for the construction of the Manchester and Liverpool Electric Express Railway in 1901 and 1902' ('Who was Who'). No items by this important figure are present in the British Library Department of Manuscripts.

"Notes of a Walking Tour with my Twin Brother Ernest 27 July 1891"

Author: 
[ MOUNTAINEERING ] Cecil C. Baker, twin brother of Ernest Baker, presumably Ernest A. Baker, author of books on the Highlands, climbing, etc.
Publication details: 
[1891]
£450.00

Notebook, soft-covered, c.90pp., 12mo,covers almost detached, contents good. Contents as follows: Table columnised, 5pp., giving details of Dates, Proposed Itinerary, Result; List of things taken "Self" and "Ernest" from clothes to toothbrush to Baedeker to bovril malt (with comments on whether worn, lost, etc.).

[ In French ] Document Signed "Linant Bey", to "Son Excellence Cherif-Sacha Mininter de l'Interieur et President du Conseil des Ministres

Author: 
Linant Bey [ Louis Linant de Bellefonds ] [Linant Pasha ]
Publication details: 
[Printed heading] Ministere des Travaux Publics, [manuscript address] Cairo, 20 May 1869
£450.00

Minister of Public Works, with a key role in the building of the Suez Canal. The document, numbered No.39 top left corner, is three pages, folio, sl. damaged but text clear and complete. He reminds his correspondent that "Son Altesse le Khedive" has appointed him "ministere des travaux publics" four months previously. He discusses "le reglement" by which decisions were to be made and the situation he finds himself in, "ne sachant au juste sur quoi appuyer mes actes officielle, je ne puis plus longtemps rester dans la vague, qui empeche toute administration.

Autograph Note Signed "Jo Lambert" to "Mon cher Brulon". In French. WITH: an explanatory letter from "Brulon", Lambert's correspondent.

Author: 
Joseph Lambert
Publication details: 
["La marseille, 1864" in another hand], 9 September.
£650.00

French adventurer (esp. in Madagascar). One page, 8vo, good condition. Text as follows: Je vais m'embarquer dans un moment. Je vous ecrirai longuement de Messina ou d'Alexandrie. Je ne passe pas par Malta - je vous [?] d'Aden ce que vous me demandez. / Mes hommages respetueux a les Dames . . . [postscript] J'ai laisse les choses dans la meme etat je n'ai pas fait faire de nouvelles procurations [Orobin?] . . .

Autograph Letter Signed to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Richard Edward Dennett [CONGO FREE STATE]
Publication details: 
20 May 1916; on letterhead '3 PARLIAMENT HILL MANSIONS, | HIGHGATE ROAD, N.W.'
£56.00

Editor (1857-1921) of the manuscript newspaper 'Congo Mirror', who 'drew attention to irregularities in Congo Free State, 1886; [...] and accused Congo officials of murders and atrocities; with help he carried on the agitation until the Congo Reform Association was formed; in a series of letters to the African Mail entitled the Lower Congo he pointed out the injustice of the French rule and the concessionnaire system in Congo Francais' (Who's Who). Three pages, 12mo. On grey paper. Very good. Docketed in pen and green pencil.

Part of Document signed by "Lapie Directeur de Cabinet".

Author: 
Pierre Lapie.
Publication details: 
Paris, 28 March 1816
£200.00

Topographer and map-maker, author of "Atlas Universel de Geographie Ancienne et Moderne, precede d’un abrege de Geographie Physique et Historique" (author = Colonel au Corps Royal d’Etat-Major, Ancien Directeur du Cabinet Topographique du Roi, Chef de la Section Topographique du Ministere de la Guerre, Chevalier de Saint-Louis, Officier de la Legion-d’Honneur et Commandeur de L’Ordre Grec du Sauveur; et M. Lapie Fils, Captaine au Corps Royal d’Etat-Major, Ancien eleve de l’Ecole Polytechnique). Document, three pages, folio, some defects but clear and complete. In French.

Yr American; yn Cynwys Nodau ar Daith O Ddyffryn Ohio i Gymru golwg ar Dalaeth Ohio, Hanes Sefydliadau Cymreig yn America . . .

Author: 
B.W. Chidlaw, A.M.
Publication details: 
Llanrwst: Argraffwyd, Gan John Jones, 1840.
£800.00

48pp., 12mo, unopened save title, original green wrappers, chipped, good condition"Yr Ail Argraffiad" (Second edition - no record found of a "First"). The author, in a "Notice" (the only English in the work), says "I have disposed of my Book called "The American," to Mr. J. Jones Printer, Llanrwst, and grant to him all the right and Claim to the same. / B.W. Chidlaw, A.M. / Paddy's Run, Ohio. / Llanrwst Decr. 25, 1839. The purpose of the pamphlet is to encourage Welsh emigration to Ohio, Indiana and Illinois at an interesting time.

Autograph letter signed to John Wilson Croker, Secretary to the Admiralty

Author: 
Edward Sabine
Publication details: 
[1825]
£250.00

(1788-1883) Arctic explorer, soldier, astronomer and magnetic surveyor. Three pages, 8vo, good condition, date "1825" written in pencil. Text as follows: "Copies of my book have been ordered by the Board of Longitude to be sent to Members of the Board, and to Institutions, in different parts of the United Kingdom. Perhaps if the eleven copies, addressed as on the following page, are sent to you, you will have teh kindness to frank them to their several destinations. I shall call at the Admiralty myself with this note to spare you the trouble of writing an answer.

Manuscript Indenture (counterpart of Lease of Brown's premises at no. 342 Strand), on parchment, signed by Brown.

Author: 
Alexander Brown, nineteenth-century bookseller in the Strand, London [Smith and Guscotte, Solicitors, 19 Essex Street, Strand]
Publication details: 
26 July 1865, London.
£125.00

Fifty-two long lines of text, on one side of a single piece of parchment, roughly inches by. '[...] Between John Guscotte of No. 19 Essex Street Strand [...] and Alexander Brown of No. 342 Strand in the County of Middlesex aforesaid Book Seller'. A ten-year lease for a consideration of sixty pounds and yearly rent of one hundred and four pounds. Includes conditions relating to the upkeep of the premises, whitewashing of the walls, display of advertisements, etc.

Autograph Note Signed to an unknown correspondent

Author: 
Philip S. Robinson.
Publication details: 
17 Jan. (?) 1885
£200.00

Naturalist and miscellaneous writer. One page, 8vo. He says that he is about to leave for the Sudan and apologises for his discourtesy in not replying sooner. With: holograph list, 2pp., 8vo, of works by Robinson and key dates, events, and positions in his life, including a professorship in India, work for newspapers, authorship of a fishing brochure. His adventurous life was thought to have ended in the bush on Cuba where he was to have reported on the Spanish-American War.

Autograph Letters Signed (x 4) to (Charles) Buxton

Author: 
William E. Baxter.
Publication details: 
11 July-29 Aug. 1885
£250.00

Traveller in Spain and elsewhere, and author. 2-4pp., 8vo. He discusses extensively his work on "a Handbook on Russia & Great Britain in Central Asia", giving a resume of chapters and asking for copies to be sent to various places. "No question is more important at present". FOUR ITEMS,

Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mrs Matthews'.

Author: 
Daniel Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta
Publication details: 
25 September 1848; 'Bp's Palace | Calcutta'.
£56.00

English ecclesiastic (1778-1858). Two pages, octavo. Creased, and with one edge of verso adhering to leaf from autograph album. 'I hope you will excuse the great liberty I take in asking you to help me a little in finishing the Marbling, Enclosing, Ventilating &c of the Cathedral | I have been robbed of 20,000 by the Union Bank, so that I am compelled to solicit aid from the Congregation & kind friends in my extremity'. Signed 'D Calcutta'.

Autograph Postcard signed (surname difficult) to [Marin?]

Author: 
Charles [Robert? Robel? etc] [ AMUNDSEN ]
Publication details: 
[Printed heading] Societe de Geographie . . . ., no date [1913]
£80.00

Two sides of postcard, in French, in a difficult hand, probably sent in 1913, the year in which this French Societe awarded a medal to Amundsen (GRADE MÉDAILLE D'OR DES EXPLORATIONS - of the south), text clear and complete. He is discussing the arrangements for the visit of Amundsen, saying initially that they cannot be changed (date, hour, "sejour"). He refers to the receptions involving "les membres du gouvernement" ("sont ]prevues?] du 22 [jour?] de son arrivee . . . Peut-etre le 29 deviendra-t-il libre, maiscela depend ni de la Societe de Geo.

Autograph Letter Signed to [Sir William Henry] Maule.

Author: 
Charles Bathurst [Lidney; Lydney Park, Gloucestershire]
Publication details: 
Lidney | 7 April 1847'.
£23.00

Bathurst (1790-1863), an alumnus of Christ Church, Oxford, was Lord of the Manor of Lidney. One page, 12mo. Good, on creased, grubby and discoloured paper, with traces of mount adhering to reverse. Begins 'I send you a Pamphlet, which I dare say began in my brain in the cotyledonous or radicle state as early as when we bothered at Usk Sessions, one day or other you will perhaps read it'. Ends 'I am glad to find you are better than at the beginning of the Circuit'. There is no record of Bathurst's pamphlet in the BL.

Typed Letter Signed ('For the President') to 'A. Francis Stenart [sic], 79, Great King Street, Edinburgh'.

Author: 
The State Office of Statistics, Czechoslovakia
Publication details: 
10 October 1922; Prague. On the Office's letterhead.
£36.00

Two pages, folio. Good, but on discoloured and lightly creased paper, with remains of stub adhering to one edge of verso. In English, with illegible signature. Begins 'The State Office of Statistics appreciating fully the great importance of an exact information of the British publicity of the conditions in the Czechoslovakia has the honour to send you simultaneously her following publications.' Five items listed.

Typed Letter Signed to Sir Hilary Blood of the Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Edward Arthur Alexander Shackleton, Baron Shackleton
Publication details: 
31 December 1964; on his letterhead as 'MINISTER OF DEFENCE FOR THE ROYAL AIR FORCE'.
£36.00

British geographer and Labour politician (1911-94), son of the antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. One page, quarto. Very good. Folded three times. Docketed in red ink. He must decline the invitation to become a Fellow of the Society. 'It is certainly an honour and I would have liked to accept this invitation, but I have lately had to cut down on the membership of various societies since, as you can imagine, the subscriptions do mount up. This is frankly the reason, for I have become very well aware of the importance of the work of the Royal Society of Arts.'

Two autograph letters signed, both one page, 4to, to an unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
John Hawkins.
Publication details: 
Berkeley House, Little Hampton, 7 March (no year) and Bignor Park, near Petworth, 18 Oct. (no year).
£120.00

Miscellaneous writer and traveller in Greece and the Far East (1758?-1841), DNB. Two autograph letters signed, edges discoloured, texts clear and complete. (7 March) "Sir/ I yesterday received your new Catalogue in which I find two articles which I am desirous of having No 2634. Belon (Pierre) & 3440 Ranwolfs Travels. provided they are in pefectly good condition [underlined from "as"] [.] I possess a copy of the same edition of Belon, but it [superscript] being very much stained I should be glad to get another that is perfectly well preserved.

Autograph Note, Third Person, to Sir William Curtis, Lord Mayor of London.

Author: 
Edward Law, Lord Ellenborough
Publication details: 
St James's Square, 29 May 1815.
£56.00

Trimmed note laid down on card with added margin with Ellenborough's details (name and rand as Lord Chief Justice). "Lord Ellenborough presents his Comps. to Sir Wm Curtis & the Gentlemen of the Committee of the Corporation of London, & shall be very happy to have the honor of attending them at the opening of His Majesty's Statue at Guildhall on Saturday the 3d of June & afterwards at dinner, if his engagements of public business shall allow of his doing so." Text followed by place and date as above.

Autograph Postcard Signed to [George Kenneth] Menzies, [Secretary, Royal Society of Arts].

Author: 
Edward Alexander Cazalet [Anglo-Russian Literary Society]
Publication details: 
"Neva", Westgate-on-Sea, Thanet. | 21 Novr 1918.'
£26.00

English linguist and traveller (died 1923), founder (in 1893) and president of the Anglo-Russian Literary Society. One page, 16mo. Very good. Bearing the Society's stamp. 'I thank you for your kind invitation for the 28th Inst, of which I will be pleased to avail myself, if able to go to London. Has our old friend, your predecessor, resigned the Secretaryship, & is his address the Liberal Club as before? If you and any friends care for music, I enclose a Card.' Signed 'Ed. A. Cazalet'.

Three Autograph Letters Signed, Three Typed Letters Signed, to Sir Harry Lindsay and C. Buchanan-Dunlop of the Royal Society of Arts, together with three carbons of replies and a newspaper cutting.

Author: 
William Ernest Frank Ward [GHANA]
Publication details: 
1948-9; Ward's six letters on Colonial Office letterheads.
£45.00

English educationalist (born 1900) and authority on West Africa. Various formats from 12mo to quarto. Very good. Some items stamped or docketed. Mainly relates to a lecture to the Society by Ward, provisionally entitled 'Mass education in the colonies'. Letter of 1 November 1948: 'I am leaving for Beirut in a fortnight to attend the UNESCO conference, and am straining to get the next issue of 'Overseas Education' off to the press before I go.

Autograph Letter Signed to Colonel Alexander Ross, Aide-de-camp to the Earl of Cornwallis.

Author: 
Patrick MacDowall-Crichton, 6th Earl of Dumfries
Publication details: 
31 March 1786; Edinburgh.
£100.00

Scottish nobleman (1726-1803). Ross (1742-1827; DNB), with Dundas, negotiated the surrender of Yorktown on Cornwallis's behalf. Two pages, quarto. Text entirely legible, but in poor condition, on stained, discoloured paper frayed at edges. Competently repaired with archival tape. Some loss to second leaf of bifoliate caused by breaking of seal. Unusually entertaining request in favour of his nephew, Lieut McCulloch of Bengal.

Two Typed Letters Signed and one Autograph Card Signed to the Secretary, 'Dominions & Colonies Section', Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Captain Sir Cecil Hamilton Armitage [the Ashanti Campaign; the Gambia]
Publication details: 
The letters 31 August 1927 and 22 March 1928; the card, 2 July 1928; all three items 76 Jermyn St, St. James's (one letter on letterhead).
£125.00

British soldier and colonial official (1869-1933), Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Gambia Colony and Protectorate, 1920-7. All three items very good. Both letters one page, quarto; both bearing the R.S.A. stamp, and one docketed. All three items signed 'C. A. Armitage'. LETTER ONE: Thanks the R.S.A.

Early Kent Maps. (Sixteenth century).

Author: 
Grevile M. Livett, B.A., F.S.A., Honorary Canon of Rochester
Publication details: 
[1937;] 'Reprinted from "Archaeologia Cantiana," Vol. XLIX. Printed by Headley Brothers, Ashford, Kent.
£45.00

Offprint of pp.247-77. Small 8vo. 4 plates, 3 of them folding. Foxed, loose copy with closed tear and crease to first leaf. In original light-brown printed wraps, which have become detached.. Presentation copy, with inscription to 'Mr. Edward Lynam from the writer' on front wrap. Manuscript annotation in pencil, presumably by Lynam.

Typed Letter Signed to 'Miss J. Scott Rogers, | Acting Secretary, | Royal Society of Arts'.

Author: 
Julian Mockford [SOUTH AFRICA]
Publication details: 
11 September 1943; on letterhead of the 'OFFICE OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA, | Trafalgar Square, | LONDON, W.C.2.'
£28.00

South African author and journalist (1898-1950), Public Relations Officer at the South African High Commission. One page, octavo. Very good if somewhat grubby. Docketed and stamped. 'Herewith the translation by a colleague, as asked for in your letter dated September 9. I hope "Here are South Africans" does not bore you too much!'

Autograph Card Signed to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Colonel Sir Charles Edward Yate
Publication details: 
Postmarked 19 January [1918]; on letterhead '17, PRINCE OF WALES' TERRACE, | KENSINGTON, W.'
£25.00

British colonial administrator and politician (1849-1940). Dimensions of card four and a half inches by three and a half inches. Bearing postmark and stamp. Docketed and bearing the Society's stamp. Good, but with creasing and closed tears along foot of card, affecting signature. Reads 'May I ask you kindly to send me a spare copy of the Journal for September. 21st. 1917 no. 3383 - giving the concluding portion of Professor lecture on Architecture - also the next number if not concluded in that.' Signed 'Chas. E. Yate'.

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