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Author, Title, Summary Subject Price
[The first English travelling chess set.] P. M. Roget, M.D. [Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869), doctor, scientist, inventor and lexicographer, compiler of the celebrated ‘Thesaurus’]

[The first English travelling chess set, invented by Peter Mark Roget; TWO from Family archive] The Roget family copies of ‘The Economic Chess-Board, Being a Chess-Board provided with a complete set of Chess-Men,’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, and the biography by Joshua Kendall, ‘The Man Who Made Lists’ (2008). Roget’s travelling chess set was first marketed in April 1846 by De La Rue. Roget had parted company with the firm by October of the same year, moving to Longmans, while De La Rue continued to...

Social history £1,500.00 Chess
E.F. Benson, novelist

Autograph Letter Signed to B.[?] about Mapp and Lucia and satirical remarks involving Income tax.

Four pages, 8vo, foxed but text clear and complete. I am so forgetful for I have no recollection of saying I would send for Mapp & Lucia. But here it comes to you, with many regrets that I did not send it before. I hope it may amuse you (this is the American edition) and I haven't got an...

£280.00
John Carter, Bookman

Two Autograph Postcards Signed, one John Carter, the other John to Lord Ritchie of Dundee about Minding My Own Business etc.

Good condition. [1968] About an appointment. [obscured date] Well, yes, I suppose some of the fun & games of those days ought to be recorded before we're all dead. I must think about it. Percy Muir covered some of the ground in his Minding my own Business [title underlined], 1956, ch.8 [=...

£80.00
Perse School, Cambridge.

[Perse School Cambridge] The Perse School, Cambridge: Miscellaneous Papers, 1902-1934

The Perse School ('Cambridge's oldest surviving secondary school') was founded for one hundred boys in 1615 by the will of Stephen Perse, a Fellow of Gonville and Caius College.The material in the present collection dates from the ground-breaking headmastership of W. H. D. Rouse (1863-1950; see...

£500.00
Percy Muir, Bookman

One Autograph Letter Signed, Four Typed Letters Signed, and one Autograph Postcard Signed to Frank Marcham, Antiquarian Bookseller. With unsigned copy of one typed letter Marcham to Muir.

Total 5pp., 8vo, some chipping but texts clear and complete, signed variously, P, Percy Muir, Percy, PCM. (1939) Your letter cheered me up no end. It was just like being in the office & listening to you laying down the law in your usual style. | We hardly know there's a war on down here,...

Book Trade History £125.00
Samuel Plimsoll [(1 1824 ? 1898) was a British politician and social reformer, now best remembered for having devised the Plimsoll line]

[Samuel Plimsoll; Plimsoll Line] Autograph Letter Signed Samuel Plimsoll to Capt. H. Toynbee R.N., early meteorologist, whose career was dedicated to passing on his expertise. He introduced local weather-forecasting to the British Isles.

Two pages, 12mo, fold mark, some foxing/mottling obscuring part of the subscription (Iam [?]), otherwise text is bold and clear. I thank you warmly for your kind letter with its enclosure - Your Speech at Cardiff is of much interest & the Society you advocate is doing valuable work. | I fear...

£180.00
‘Henry Compton’ [stage name of Charles Mackenzie (1805-1877)], English actor noted for his Shakespearian comic roles [John Hollingshead (1827-1904), manager of Alhambra and Gaiety theatres in London]

[‘I am persuaded you have talent for Farce writing’: ‘Henry Compton’ (Charles Mackenzie), actor noted for his Shakespearian comic roles.] Autograph Letter Signed to J. Hollingshead, giving his ‘honest opinion’ of the farce he has sent him.

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. An interesting letter, linking two significant figures in the London theatre. Around the time of writing Hollingshead had given up his career in the clothing business to write full time, early on for Dickens at ‘Household Words’, then later for...

£100.00
[Tsingtao [Qingdao] during the Second Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945)] Malcolm H. Young, English agent at Tsingtao [Quingdao], China, during the Japanese occupation

[Tsingtao [Qingdao] during the Second Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945.] Ten long Autograph Letters Signed from Malcolm H. Young, English agent, to his sister Celia, describing conditions during Japanese occupation.

A good well-written correspondence, painting a good picture of the day-to-day life of an English expatriate in the occupied city. Letters are signed ‘Malcolm’ and (once) ‘Mac’. Young names himself in valedictions as Celia’s brother. He does not sign with his surname, which can however be deduced...

History £450.00
Carl Haag [Johann Carl Haag] (1820-1915), Bavarian-born orientalist watercolour painter and naturalized British subject, court painter to the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

[Carl Haag, Bavarian-born orientalist watercolour painter to the Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.] Autograph Letter in the third person to ‘Mr. & Mrs. Arbuthnot Guthrie’

As a naturalized British subject, resident in England from the 1850s to 1903, Haag has an entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Reads: ‘Mr. Carl Haag presents his compliments to Mr. & Mrs. Arbuthnot Guthrie, and very much regrets not...

£30.00
Chapman Cohen (1868-1954), English freethinker

[Chapman Cohen, English freethinker.] Printed pamphlet titled ‘God and Man. An Essay in Common Sense and Natural Morality. By Chapman Cohen.’

Only two copies of any edition of this title on JISC: at the BL and Glasgow University. Cohen’s obituary in The Times describes him as ‘outstanding as a forthright, witty and courteous debater and lecturer’. This item is 30pp, 12mo. Stitched into wraps with title printed on the front and...

£30.00