Search results

Author, Title, Summary	Subject	Price
William IV (1765-1837), King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1830-1837 (previously Duke of Clarence) [William IV, King of the United Kingdom.] Autograph Signature (as Duke of Clarence) on frank addressed by him to Dr Carmichael Smith. See the entry for the ‘Sailor King’ in the Oxford DNB. On 12 x 7 cm piece of paper, cut from the cover of a frank. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight smudging and a small patch of light discoloration at centre (away from signature). Set out in customary fashion, and addressed...		£45.00
Battle of Jutland (1916): Arthur Marsden (1883-1960), Royal Navy officer commanding HMS Ardent; Royal Naval College, Dartmouth: The Britannia Magazine [Royal Navy] [Battle of Jutland, 1916.] Eye-witness article titled ‘H.M.S. “Ardent” and the Jutland Action. / By A. M.’, i.e. Arthur Marsden, ship’s commander and one of two survivors of her sinking, in ‘The Britannia Magazine’ (Royal Naval College, Dartmouth). This is an extremely scarce item, not held by the Imperial War Museum, and significant for the five-page eye-witness account it contains (pp.29-33): ‘‘H.M.S. “Ardent” and the Jutland Action. / By A. M.’, i.e. Lieutenant-Commander Arthur Marsden, who was in command of the Ardent and one of only...		£280.00
Joseph Lancaster (1778-1838), pioneering Quaker educationalist who advocated the monitorial system [Joseph Lancaster, Quaker educationalist.] Printed ephemera: Handbill titled ‘ROYAL BENEVOLENCE.’, appealing for subscription to ‘a Fund to enable Schools in the country, for TEN THOUSAND POOR CHILDREN’. A scarce and fragile item: the only copy traced on WorldCat and Jisc is held by the Society Friends (Quakers). Lancaster’s entry in the Oxford DNB, which sums up his achievements: ‘his name was to survive in English educational history as one of the foremost pioneers of mass schooling and...	Education, History	£220.00
Joseph Lancaster (1778-1838), pioneering Quaker educationalist who advocated the monitorial system [Zachary Clarke of Downham (d.1815), Norfolk] [Joseph Lancaster, Quaker educationalist.] Lengthy conclusion to Autograph Letter Signed to Elizabeth Clarke of Downham, explaining that the 'very sedentary' nature of 'the cause' has sent him to the country for an 'excursion'. In the obituary of Zachary Clarke, husband of the recipient, in the Gentleman's Magazine for September 1815, it is stated that he also 'established a free school on Dr. Bell's system, and has since employed a teacher to superintend it'. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 8vo. Thirty-eight...		£180.00
Sir James Mackintosh (1765–1832) of Kyllachy, Scottish historian, jurist and Whig politician [Thomas Maurice (1754-1824), Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum, orientalist [The 'Apostle of Liberalism': Sir James Mackintosh, Scottish historian and Whig politician.] Three Autograph Letters Signed to Rev. Thomas Maurice of the British Museum, on topics including Anglican ordination and a visit to Christie's auction house. Although he later repudiated his position, Mackintosh is notable for having defended the French Revolution from Edmund Burke's strictures. See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. With regard to Maurice's oriental studies, it is worth noting that Mackintosh was Recorder of Bombay, 1804-1811...		£180.00
Roger McGough (born 1937), one of the celebrated ‘Liverpool Poets’ associated with the Beatles in the 1960s; presenter of the BBC Radio 4 programme ‘Poetry Please’ [Adrian Henri] [Roger McGough, one of the ‘Liverpool Poets’ and presenter of BBC Radio ‘Poetry Please’.] Autograph Letter Signed to Paul Furness giving information on the pubs and venues he was ‘associated with during those poetry-reading days’ in sixties Liverpool 1p, foolscap 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘Dear Paul Furness’ and signed ‘Roger McGough’. On the subject of Furness’s ‘fascinating pub study’, he names ‘the ones I was associated with during those poetry-reading days’: ‘O’Connors Tavern in Hardman Street...		£80.00
Sir Edward Grey [Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon] (1862-1933), First World War Foreign Secretary [Lady Jessie Ilbert [née Bradley] (1850-1924), wife of Sir Courtenay Ilbert (1841-1924)] [Sir Edward Grey [Viscount Grey of Fallodon, First World War Foreign Secretary.] Autograph Note Signed to Lady Ilbert, wife of the Clerk of the Commons. See the entries on Grey and Lady Ilbert's husband (who was Clerk of the Commons) in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. In an elegant hand. Reads: '15. 2. 15 / Dear Lady Ilbert / Many thanks: I shall be very glad to dine on Wednesday / Yours sincerely / E Grey...		£35.00
St John Ervine [pseudonym of John Greer Irvine (1883-1971)], Ulster playwright and novelist [St John Ervine [pseudonym of John Greer Irvine], Ulster playwright and novelist.] Typed Letter Signed to Miss Esther Boyer, declining to respond to a 'cub reporter'. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On worn and aged paper, with L-shaped closed tear at left-hand edge. Folded for postage. Addressed to her at Bebington in the Wirral. Loose, smudged signature ‘St John Ervine’. He thanks her for her ‘letter and its enclosure, which I return. If I were...		£56.00
The Abdication Crisis, 1936: Sir Osbert Sitwell [Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, 5th Baronet] (1892-1969) [King Edward VIII and Mrs Wallis Simpson; Abdication, 1936; Cavalcade] [The Abdication Crisis, 1936: Sir Osbert Sitwell.] Mimeographed copy, marked ‘Private’, of the unexpurgated version of the satirical poem ‘RAT WEEK. / by Osbert Sitwell’, the cause of a legal action with ‘Cavalcade’. See Sitwell’s entry in the Oxford DNB. In his 1999 biography Philip Ziegler describes how the ‘doggerel polemic Rat Week’ ‘excoriated’ the supporters of the Edward VII and Mrs Simpson: ‘Osbert realised that this diatribe, if published, might land him in a flurry of libel actions, but he could...	Literature, Royalty	£180.00
Tom Taylor (1817-1880), playwright, editor of Punch, Times art critic; Kate Josephine Crowe (1842-1917), actress, daughter of American-born actress Sidney Bateman (1823-1881), lessee of Sadler's Wells [Tom Taylor and Sadler’s Wells.] Autograph Letter Signed to Taylor from Kate Crowe ('Miss Kate Bateman'), regarding the address he has written for her to recite at the reopening of Sadler's Wells, with pencil notes on Lord Burleigh by Taylor. The present item is on a 12mo bifolium of light gray paper, with Kate Crowe’s letter on the two outer pages, and Tom Taylor’s unrelated pencil notes on the two inner pages. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. There is an engraved portrait of ‘Miss Kate Bateman’, with a long biographical...		£180.00