Search results

Author, Title, Summary Subject Price
Sir George Sinclair (1790-1868), 2nd Baronet, Scottish Whig politician and author, friend of Bryon’s at Harrow, personally interrogated as a spy by Napoleon Bonaparte

[Sir George Sinclair, 2nd Baronet, Scottish Whig politician, schoolfriend of Byron, interrogated by Napoleon Bonaparte.] Autograph Letter Signed to James Cockell, editor of the Mirror of Parliament, regarding copies of parliamentary speeches by him.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. It was in October of 1806 that a sixteen year-old Sinclair was arrested as a spy near Jena, and brought before Napoleon, who examined him and ordered his release. 1p, 16mo. On heavily aged, creased and worn paper with light staining above the signature, and strip...

History £90.00 George Sinclair
Stan Barstow (1928-2011), working-class Yorkshire novelist and playwright, author of the novel ‘A Kind of Loving’, which was made into a ‘kitchen sink’ film

[Stan Barstow, working-class Yorkshire novelist and playwright, author of ‘A Kind of Loving’.] Typed Letter Signed to Paul Furness, discussing the literary group in The Fenton pub in Leeds, connected with the BBC radio programme 'The Northern Drift'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, foolscap 8vo. Thirty lines of text. Signed ‘Stan Barstow’. One of a number of letters to Furness by writers, responding to his enquiry about socialist authors and British pubs. Barstow begins by discussing ‘The Fenton in Woodhouse Lane, Leeds’, which had ‘...

£100.00
HMS Alfred [originally HMS Asia] (1811), a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy

[HMS Alfred [originally HMS Asia] (1811), a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy.] Manuscript statement of ‘Armament of H. M. Ship Alfred June 26th. 1833.-’

Launched at Frindsbury in 1811 as HMS Asia, played an active role in the War of 1812: in the bombardment Fort McHenry, and the attack on New Orleans, and sharing in the proceeds of the capture of the American vessels in the Battle of Lake Borgne in 1814. She was renamed HMS Alfred in 1819. By...

£250.00
William Manning (1763-1835), Governor of the Bank of England, West Indian merchant, slaveowner, Tory MP, father of Cardinal Manning [Francis Freeling (1764-1836), Secretary of the General Post Office]

[William Manning, Governor of the Bank of England, West Indian merchant, slaveowner.] Autograph Letter Signed to Francis Freeling of the Post Office, regarding a 'communication' indicating 'the delusion which prevails in the public mind' on a subject

See his entry, and Freeling’s, in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. Aged and worn, with nicks and closed tears around the edges, but not near the valediction ‘Yours very faithfully / W: Manning.’ Addressed to ‘Francis Freeling, Esqr.’ Begins: ‘My dear Sir, / Your Letter of yesterday I have just received...

£50.00
Henry Livings (1929-1998), working-class Lancastrian playwright, screenwriter and actor in the first 'Carry On' film and the 'Coronation Street' television series

[Henry Livings, working-class Lancastrian playwright, screenwriter and actor.] Typed Letter Signed to Paul Furness, discussing the pubs he has frequented.

Livings’s entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica notes that his farces ‘convey serious truths’ with ‘both a dazzling comic flair and an unexpected force and profundity that is heightened by his use of colloquial language’. 1p, foolscap 8vo. Twenty-two lines of text. In fair condition, lightly aged...

£80.00
Jacob Schwartz [Jake Schwartz] (b. 1899, fl. 1960), New York dentist who turned to bookselling and founded the Ulysses bookshop in London, dealing largely in James Joyce and the Modernists

[Jacob Schwartz, American-born proprietor of the Ulysses Bookshop in London, dealer in James Joyce and the Modernists.] Autograph Letter Signed

Several James Joyce scholars have turned their attention to Schwartz, an early dealer in his books and manuscripts, as well as publisher of a couple of pirated editions. See William S. Brockman, 'Jacob Schwartz - The Fly in the Honey' in Joyce Studies Annual, Summer 1998. 1p, 4to. On the Ulysses...

£80.00
John Adams-Acton (1830-1910), English sculptor [Tom Taylor (1817-1880), playwright and editor of Punch]

[John Adams-Acton, English sculptor.] Letter in a Secretarial Hand, Signed by him, inviting the editor of Punch Tom Taylor to visit his studio, with a list of six works to be seen there, including a bust of the prime minister Gladstone.

See his entry, and that of Taylor, in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Only the sculptors heavily inked signature ‘John Adams-Acton’ is in his hand, the rest more lightly written by an amanuensis. Addressed ‘To, Tom Taylor Esqr.’ Begins: ‘I...

£56.00
Joseph Peter Thorp (1873-1962), journalist and typographer [Sir Evelyn Wrench [Sir John Evelyn Leslie Wrench] (1882-1966), imperialist and biographer]

[Joseph Peter Thorp, journalist and typographer.] Two Autograph Letters Signed: one with personal news to Sir Evelyn Wrench (and with note by Wrench), the other to ‘Miss Wrench’, filled with information about printing.

Two good substantial letters, filled with personal and professional content. See the entries for Thorp and Wrench in the Oxford DNB. Both letters in brown ink in Thorps calligraphic hand. ONE (to Sir Evelyn Wrench): 2pp, 8vo. On cream paper with brown italic letterhead. In good condition,...

£120.00
Lady Catharine Long (1797-1867), novelist and religious writer, daughter of Horatio Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford

[Lady Catharine Long, novelist and religious writer.] Latter part of Autograph Letter Signed [to Mr. Harris], discussing her view of the state of the soul after death, and Mrs Jervoise’s ‘troubled married life’.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Twenty-three lines of text. In fair condition, lightly aged, but with slight creasing at head of leaf. Folded twice. Financial calculations written lengthwise underneath signature, with light smudging. The surviving letter begins, with regard to the...

£90.00
Lady Eastlake [Elizabeth, Lady Eastlake, née Rigby] (1809-1893), author, wife of painter Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, President of Royal Academy and first Director of the National Gallery [Richard Ford]

[Lady Eastlake [Elizabeth, Lady Eastlake], author, wife of Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, President of the Royal Academy.] Autograph Letter Signed to the widow of the travel writer Richard Ford, offering a gift of 'early strawberries & grapes'.

A jaunty missive. Lady Eastlake and her husband have separate entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo. Eighteen lines. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed to 'Dear Mrs Ford' and signed 'Eliz Eastlake'. A 'kind friend in the country' is insisting on sending her 'early...

£45.00