[Richard Cobden, Radical Liberal politician who led the fight to abolish the Corn Laws.] Three Autograph Items, including part of draft manuscript of account of his 1837 meeting in Egypt with Mehmet Ali.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. ONE: Autograph draft of conclusion of description of his meeting with Mehmet Ali (‘Mehemet Ali’). The ODNB states that in July 1836 Cobden produced a pamphlet ‘which analysed the Russo-Turkish dispute [...] attempting to play down the Turcophilia that was rife in Britain in the 1830s. In October Cobden embarked on a long tour, sailing via Lisbon, Gibraltar, and Malta to the eastern end of the Mediterranean, as far as Constantinople, meeting Mehmet Ali in Egypt, before returning via Greece in April 1837.’ The present text is the conclusion of the draft manuscript of the account he gave of that meeting and had published in Tait’s Edinburgh Magazine in November 1838. 1p, foolscap 8vo. The page is headed ‘20’ and carries ten lines of text, one and a half lines of which are deleted. Lightly aged, worn and creased. On reverse, in pencil, in a contemporary hand: ‘Cobden / M. S. S His work in Turkey’. The text reads (with deleted passage in square brackets): ‘Often in recurring to my interview with this extraordinary man, [- the spring-like elasticity of whose mind evinces its power in proportion as it is pressed -] and recollecting the eagerness of his enquiries upon practical subjects, - as well as the vehemence of manner with which he sustained his opinions - evincing the spring-like elasticity of mind which manifests its power in proportion as it is pressed - I think with pleasure of the refreshing & animating scene, not unmixed with regret that I shall probably never again have the opportunity of chatting with old Mehemet Ali’. TWO: Slip of paper cut from the beginning of a letter in the third person, with reverse blank. In fair condition, lightly aged. Reads: ‘Mr Cobden presents his compliments to Mr Cornwall Lewis, & begs to forward for presentation to the Lords of the Treasury, a memorial’. THREE: Printed form response with thick black border. 1p, 32mo. In fair condition, on discoloured paper. Reads (with manuscript text in square brackets): ‘[Mr & Mrs Cobden] return thanks for the favor of [Mr Smiths] kind enquiries. / [Midhurst 20 June 1856]’. (The word ‘return’ has been altered from ‘returns’.)