Search results

Author, Title, Summary	Subject	Price
Sir John Bowring (1792-1872), fourth Governor of Hong Kong, traveller, writer and economist [Lady Theresa Villiers (1775-1856), wife of George Villiers (1759–1827), son of Earl of Clarendon] [Sir John Bowring, fourth Governor of Hong Kong.] Playful Autograph Letter Signed to Lady Theresa Villiers, explaining how on receipt of her dinner invitation he wrote to her brother by mistake. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 5pp, 16mo, on two bifoliums of gilt-edged laid paper. In very good condition, lightly aged and folded once for postage. Signed ‘John Bowring’. Written in playful, mock-heroic style. Begins: ‘Many, many days ago my dear Mrs Villiers, did I put sackcloth on my...		£150.00
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911), botanist and explorer, Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew and Charles Darwin's closest friend [Thomas Villiers (1832-1902) of the Foreign Office] [Darwin's closest friend: Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, botanist and explorer, Director of the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to Thomas Lister, regarding seeds and an account of 'negro' handling of poisons. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient was the son of the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842) and his wife, born Lady Maria Theresa Villiers (1803-1865), and later Lady Theresa Lewis, wife of the Liberal politician Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863). Thomas Lister became an...	Natural History	£450.00
Sir Philip Francis (1740-1818), putative author of the celebrated political tracts ‘The Letters of Junius' (1769-1772) [Thomas Maurice (1754-1824), oriental scholar] [Sir Philip Francis, putative author of the celebrated ‘Letters of Junius’.] Autograph Letter Signed to the oriental scholar Thomas Maurice, offering support and information for his ‘plan’ [for 'Indian Antiquities'?]. As John Cannon writes in Francis’s entry in the Oxford DNB, ‘The authorship of the Junius letters has been the subject of innumerable publications of various merit’, with the case for Francis, first proposed by John Taylor in 1816, ‘far the most probable’. The present item is of double interest...	History, Literature	£500.00
Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd (1795-1854), author, judge and Radical politician, friend of Charles Dickens and framer of modern British copyright law [Sir Thomas Noon Talfourd, author, judge and Radical politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘T Davis Esq’ regarding the acting of Henry Thomas Betty, son of 'the young Roscius'. Talfourd’s entry in the Oxford DNB notes that he was ‘particularly loved’ by Dickens, and that he ‘provided the archetype of the idealistic Tommy Traddles in David Copperfield; his children Frank and Kate gave their names to two youngsters in Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby.’ The subject of the...	Law, Literature	£180.00
Thomas Hughes (1822-1896), author of the Victorian classic children's book 'Tom Brown's Schooldays', Liberal MP for Lambeth [Sir Spencer Cecil Brabazon Ponsonby-Fane of the Lord Chamberlain's Office] [Thomas Hughes, author of ‘Tom Brown’s Schooldays’.] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Spencer Ponsonby of the Lord Chamberlain's Office, introducing ‘Mr. Selway’, whom he advises him to consult about proposals for a theatre in Surrey Gardens. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. On first leaf of a bifolium of wove paper. Folded for postage. Signed ‘Tho. Hughes’. Begins: ‘My dear Ponsonby / Let me introduce the bearer, Mr. Selway, [i.e. William Robbins Selway (c.1822-1893) of Walworth] who was vice...		£220.00
W. H. Prescott [William Hickling Prescott] (1796-1859), celebrated American historian of Spain and the conquest of Mexico and Peru [Lady Maria Theresa Lewis (1803-1865)] [W. H. Prescott [William Hickling Prescott], celebrated American historian of the conquest of Mexico and Peru.] Two Autograph Letters Signed, written while in England to ‘Lady Theresa [Lewis]’ regarding a stay at Grove Mill House, Watford. Written during Prescott’s 1850 visit to England, where he was greatly feted and lionized. Both items in good condition, lightly aged and worn. Both folded for postage. Both to ‘Dear Lady Theresa’ and signed ‘Wm. H. Prescott’. See the Oxford DNB entry for the recipient Lady (Maria) Theresa Lewis...		£200.00
Abraham Hayward (1801-1884), Victorian man of letters and lawyer, whose translation of Goethe’s Faust was praised by Carlyle [Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), author] ['one of the Two Best Read Men in England': Abraham Hayward, author and translator.] Autograph Letter Signed to Lady Theresa Lewis, sending a gift of a ‘rarity’: a book limited to fifty copies. See Antony Chessell’s 2009 biography of Hayward (subtitled ‘one of the Two Best Read Men in England’ - the other was Macaulay), along with his entry and Lady Theresa Lewis's in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Addressed to ‘Dear Lady Theresa’ and...		£56.00
Abraham Hayward (1801-1884), Victorian man of letters and lawyer, whose translation of Goethe’s Faust was praised by Carlyle [Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863); William Busfeild Ferrand] ['one of the Two Best Read Men in England': Abraham Hayward, author and translator.] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir George Cornewall Lewis, regarding a memorandum to be published in The Times regarding a legal action with W. B. Ferrand. The interesting context of the present item is explained in a quotation from Antony Chessell’s 2009 biography of Hayward (subtitled ‘one of the Two Best Read Men in England’ - the other was Macaulay) subjoined to this entry. See also the entries for Hayward and Lewis in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo...		£120.00
Baron von Bunsen [Christian Karl Josias von Bunsen] (1791-1860), Prussian Ambassador to Court of St James’s [Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), author] [Baron von Bunsen [Christian Karl Josias von Bunsen], Prussian Ambassador to the Court of St James’s.] Autograph Letter Signed and Autograph Note Signed to Lady Theresa Villiers, the letter with reference to a young child's party. Written while Bunsen was Ambassador in London, 1841-1854. The recipient Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865) was the sister of the Liberal Foreign Secretary the 4th Earl of Clarendon, and successively the wife of the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842) and the Liberal politician Sir George...		£56.00
Cyril Coniston Clemens (1902-1999), founder of the International Mark Twain Society, the writer’s third cousin twice removed; E. V. Knox [Edmund George Valpy Knox, ‘Evoe’] (1881-1971), 'Punch' editor ['By consent of the Police? NO.': E. V. Knox, editor of 'Punch'.] Typed Card Signed from Cyril Clemens of the Internation Mark Twain Society, asking for Knox's 'definition of democracy', with carbon copy of Knox's reply. See Knox’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The two items are in fair condition, lightly aged and creased, each with a couple of lightly-rusted pin holes. Clemens’s plain card, with stamps and postmarks, is addressed to ‘E. V. Knox Esq / c/o Punch / London, England.’, and is signed ‘faithfully / C C...		£90.00