Autograph Letters

Autograph Note Signed ('S. R. Lushington') to unnamed Post Office official, and with official directions on reverse.

Author: 
Stephen Rumbold Lushington (1776-1868), English politician and administrator in British India
Publication details: 
21 August 1836; Norton Court, Feversham [Faversham], Kent.
£28.00

On one side of an irregular piece of paper, dimensions 13.5 x 18 cm. Ruckled, and with traces of glue from mounting on reverse. Signature clear and complete, but with minor damage to signature caused by removal from mount. Reads 'I request that you will be pleased to order that all Letters for me may be sent here.' Docketed on reverse (with slight cropping along right-hand edge), '21 Augt. 1836. Feversham Rt Hon S. Lushington M.P.', beneath which, 'Mr Johnson | to be attended t specially | 22 Augt.', and 'ansd 22nd Augt | DWP316 | Attended to | [signed] <?> Laurence | 23 Augt 1836.'

Autograph Signature ('Jules Benedict').

Author: 
Sir Julius Benedict (1804-1885), Anglo-German conductor and composer
Publication details: 
January 1866; on letterhead of 2, Manchester Square, W. [London].
£18.00

12mo: 1 p. Very good. Reads 'January 1866 | [signed] Jules Benedict'.

Autograph Signature with classical quotation.

Author: 
Samuel Warren (1807-1877), English novelist
Publication details: 
23 January 1866; 16 Manchester Square, W. [London].
£56.00

On one side of a piece of laid paper, dimensions 11.5 x 17.5 cm. Good, lightly creased with one small spot at head and a light thumbprint (Warren's?) in top right-hand corner. Clearly responding to a request for an autograph. Reads 'The Heavens declare the glory of God, and the Firmament sheweth His handy work. Ps. XX, I. | [signed] Samuel Warren | 16 Manchester Square | W. | 23d January 1866.'

Autograph Letter Signed 'To | the Revd: Doctor Shipley | Canon of Xt: Church | Oxford | by way of London'.

Author: 
Catherine Douglas (née Hyde), Duchess of Queensberry and Dover (1701-1777), aristocratic beauty and literary patron [Jonathan Shipley (1713-1788), Bishop of St Asaph]
Publication details: 
Ambresbury [Amesbury]; 22 January [13 February] 1755.
£180.00

4to: 3 pp. Bifolium. On neatly-repaired aged paper, with archival paper covering the two inner pages. Fifty-four lines of text, all clear and entire. Remains of black wax seal, with crest, on verso of second leaf, which carries the address and is docketed 'Maragna Mohammed'. A long letter in two parts, the second part beginning on the verso of the first leaf, which is headed 'now Febry: 13'.

Autograph Note in the third person, on the back of a note from J. H. Hall, Ruxley House, Bromley, Kent, asking for an autograph.

Author: 
Sir Henry Bartle Edward Frere [Bartle Frere], first baronet (1815-1884), colonial governor
Publication details: 
Hall's note, 4 December 1883, on Ruxley House letterhead; Frere's reply, 17 December 1883, Wimbledon.
£56.00

12mo bifolium, with the second leaf blank. Very good. Hall's request, on the recto of the first leaf, reads 'Mr. J. H. Hall presents his Compliments to Sir Bartle Frere G.C. Bart & would feel extremely obliged by the favour of his autograph to add to a collection.' Frere's reply, on the verso, reads 'Wimbledon Decr 17th. 1883. | Sir Bartle Frere presents his compliments to Mr. J. H. Hall; He has received Mr. Hall's letter of Decr. 4: desiring to have his Autograph -'.

Signature ('William P. Lennox') on frank to the Hon. Cecil Lawless.

Author: 
Lord William Pitt Lennox (1799-1881), English Member of Parliament and novelist
Publication details: 
9 December 1833; London. With red ink postmark.
£25.00

The front of a wove-paper envelope, 8 x 12.5 cm. Good. Reads 'London December | Ninth 1833 | Honble. Cecil Lawless | The Wick | Brighton | [signed in bottom left-hand corner] William P. Lennox'. The postmark, in red ink in the top right-hand corner, is circular, topped with a crown, and reads '9 DE 9 | 1833'.

Autograph Note Signed ('Roland L. Vaughan Williams') to autograph hunter A. Hall.

Author: 
Sir Roland Lomax Bowdler Vaughan Williams (1838-1916), English judge
Publication details: 
3 August 1892; on letterhead of St. George's Hall, Liverpool.
£23.00

8vo: 1 p. Very good. Letterhead with crest. Reads 'Dear Sir | I understand from my son that you do me the honour to wish to have my autograph It gives me great pleasure to comply with yr request. | your's faithfully. | [signed] Roland L. Vaughan Williams | A Hall Esqre'.

Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Stephen Lushington (1782-1873), English jurist, abolitionist, helped Lady Byron divorce the poet, and acted for Queen Caroline in her trial before the House of Lords
Publication details: 
2 April 1869; on letterhead of 18, Eaton Place, S.W. [London].
£25.00

12mo: 1 p. On recto of first leaf of bifolium. Very good. Shaky hand. Clearly responding to a request for an autograph. Reads '[signed] Stephen Lushington | April 2 69'.

Autograph Signature ('Napier of Magdala').

Author: 
Robert Cornelis Napier (1810-1890), 1st Baron Napier of Magdala, British army officer, Commander-in-Chief in India, 1870-1876.
Publication details: 
March 1884; place not stated.
£18.00

On piece of laid paper, dimensions 6 x 11 cm. Good. Clearly complying with a request for an autograph. Reads 'With much pleasure | [signed] Napier of Magdala | March 1884'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('S. C. Hall') to autograph hunter J. H. Hall.

Author: 
Samuel Carter Hall (1800-1889), Anglo-Irish author and journalist, editor of The Amulet and Art Union Monthly (afterwards Art Journal), said to be the model for Dickens's Pecksniff
Publication details: 
18 November 1883; on letterhead of Sussex Villas, 3, Sussex Place, Victoria Road, W., Kensington [London].
£56.00

8vo: 1 p. Very good. He has 'pleasure in complying' with his correspondent's request. 'You may have seen a book I have recently published - "Retrospect of a Long Life" - and have learned that I am in the 84th year of my age - born on the 9th May 1800. | I am thankful to God for good health and for many other blessings.'

Autograph Signature ('Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe'), written for autograph hunter J. H. Hall.

Author: 
Stratford Canning, Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe (1786-1880), English diplomat
Publication details: 
Without place or date (but after his ennoblement in 1852).
£28.00

On piece of paper, 11 x 17.5 cm. Lightly creased, and with a little spotting at head. Reads 'Autograph | of | Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe | given to Mr J. H. Hall | at his request.' It is curious that Canning should have thought it necessary to emphasize that the autograph was not unsolicited.

fragment of letter to unnamed correspondent, with engraving of Martineau's residence

Author: 
Harriet Martineau
Publication details: 
2pp, 16mo, 2 August 1856, Church Hill, Ambleside
£45.00

English economist and novelist. The letterhead engraving of 'The Knoll Ambleside' by W. Banks of Edinburgh is circular, around two inches in diameter,with printed signature. The fragment of text - comprising ten lines - is on the reverse. Creased, grubby and stained.

Autograph Note Signed ('John Murray') to 'my dear Williams'.

Author: 
Sir John Murray (1884-1967, 'the fifth'), member of a notable London firm of publishers
Publication details: 
4 June 1932; 'as from 50 Albemarle St W.1', on letterhead of Tithe Farm, Stoke Poges, Buckinghamshire.
£45.00

8vo: 1 p. Good, with creasing towards right-hand margin. 'Very many thanks, my dear Williams, for your most kind congratulations. I feel that my honour is some recognition of the publishing trade & I take it as such'. Murray was created KCVO in 1932, following his publication of the ninth and final volume of the letters of Queen Victoria.

Autograph ('A Helps') on order for copies of his 'Life of Las Casas' (1868).

Author: 
Sir Arthur Helps (1813-1875), English civil servant and author
Publication details: 
Undated (but post 1868); on Privy Council Office letterhead.
£25.00

12mo: 1 p. Good, with four fold lines. Helps held the post of Clerk of the Privy Council from 1860 until his death. In large letters beneath the oval blue Privy Council crest reads 'Life of | Las Casas | 2 copies for | [signature] A Helps'. The handwriting is bold and the signature is underlined with a flourish.

Autograph Letter Signed ('R Seeley') to [John Lucas] Tupper.

Author: 
Robert Benton Seeley (1798-1886; DNB), English publisher and author
Publication details: 
3 July 1871; 54 Fleet Street [London].
£56.00

12mo: 2 pp. Very good. Relates to the photographic series 'English Artists of the present day', published by Seeley with accompanying essays 'by J. B. Atkinson, S. Colvin, F. G. Stephens, T. Taylor, and J. L. Tupper'. He is sending 'a copy of No. 3. The other we count as a presentation copy.' 'The Woolner photo. will I hope not be thought so bad by those who have not seen Elliott & Fry's. I was glad to find this morning that it had not struck Mr.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Depping') to Mathieu Guillaume Therese de Villenave (1762-1846).

Author: 
Georges Bernard Depping [Georg Bernhard Depping] (1784-1853), Franco-German historian and geographer
Publication details: 
05/06/19
£90.00

12mo: 4 pp. 78 lines. Very good. A highly interesting letter, addressed by Depping to his collaborator on an edition of the works of Jean-Jacques Rousseau (8 vols, 1817) praised by Brunet as the most complete that had yet appeared. Written in French. Such is the strength of Depping's feeling that he cannot bring himself to address Villenave directly. He begins by stating that he hopes that evening to end an arrangement with Villenave which fills him with disgust (qui m'accable de degout).

Autograph Letter Signed ('A. Picard') to Georges Berger (1834-1910), Directeur général de l'Exploitation de l'Exposition de 1889.

Author: 
Alfred Picard (1844-1913), Vice-Président du Conseil d'État [Exposition Universelle de 1889; Paris Exhibition]
Publication details: 
24 April 1890; Paris. On letterhead of the Conseil d'État.
£150.00

8vo: 3 pp. Bifolium. Very good. Written in French. After an 'etude attentive de rapport de M.M. de Lacretelle et Millas et des autres documents en ma possession' on the Exposition's foreign returns he finds 'certaines lacunes et certains points douteux' concerning which he hopes Berger can enlighten him. He gives a list of seventeen officially-participating countries, each with the subsidy it has received in francs, complaining that 'huit de ces chiffres sont douteux'. This is followed by a similar list of six countries which did not participate officially.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Anne B. Procter') to 'My dear Mr Rathbone'.

Author: 
Anne Benson Procter (1799-1888, née Skepper), wife of the poet Bryan Waller Procter ('Barry Cornwall') (1787-1874), and mother of the poet Adelaide Anne Procter (1825-1864)
Publication details: 
18 December 1872; 32 Weymouth St, Portland Place, W. [London].
£35.00

12mo: 1 p. Very good. 14 closely-written lines. 'A friend of mine was asked by our dear old kind friend Chorley to assist in procuring for a Protege of his a musical education. I think the young person was originally introduced to him by Lady Devonshire. A sum was promised for two years, and the time is approaching for the payment to be made.' Asks if she can tell her 'anything about this'. 'You will be glad to hear I know that my husband is still well - His birthday the 21st. Novr. found him 84.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('F. d'Olincourt.') to 'Monsieur Bance, aine, Editeur & Proprietaire, rue Saint-Denis, No. 271, a Paris.' In French.

Author: 
F. Gigault d'Olincourt, Ingenieur Civil [Lithographie, Imprimerie et Librairie]
Publication details: 
23 Janvier 1839; Bar-le-Duc. On elaborately printed letterhead.
£100.00

4to: 2 pp. Eleven lines. Good, on lightly creased and discoloured paper. Column of printed advertisements in left-hand margin of first page, which is headed by a printed description of d'Olincourt's qualifications, enclosed in an engraving of a jumble of disparate items including a book-press, beehive, scientific instruments, laurel wreath and sailing mast. He has begun to publish an 'immense ouvrage d'architecture', and he hopes Bance will subscribe for a number of copies which he will be able to sell 'chez vos clients'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('P. Lorain | Professeur à la Faculté de Médecine de Paris') to unnamed male correspondent. In French.

Author: 
Paul Lorain (1827-1875), Medical Examiner and Professor of the History of Medicine and Surgery at the Faculté de Médecine de Paris
Publication details: 
18 July 1873; Assay le Rideau, Loire.
£45.00

8vo: 1 p. On grubby, creased, discoloured paper, with chipping and slight loss to extremities. In French. As a result of the bad state of his health he is forced to live far from Paris and will not be able to accept the invitiation of the British Medical Assocation. The writer will soon receive the replies of those of Lorain's colleagues who have also been invited.

Autograph Letter, in the third person, to the publishers Williams & Norgate.

Author: 
Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil (1830-1903), 3rd Marquess of Salisbury, British Conservative Prime Minister on three occasions
Publication details: 
25 January 1897; on letterhead 20, Arlington Street, S.W. [London].
£56.00

12mo: 1 p. Good. Purple receipt stamp in top left-hand corner. 'Lord Salisbury requests Messrs. Williams & Norgate to send him Harnack's "Die Chronologie der Altchristlichen Literatur bis Eusebius". Also another volume he published 3 or 4 years ago on the same subject - the "Geschichte".' One presumes that the present British Prime Minister is equally cultured.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. H. Mallock') to 'Mrs Nesbit'.

Author: 
William Hurrell Mallock (1849-1923), English author [Edith Nesbit]
Publication details: 
10 October 1879; 15 Savile Row, London.
£35.00

12mo: 1 p. On discoloured paper with wear at head and traces of previous mount adhering to blank reverse. He sent the publishers Chatto & Windus her novel the previous Monday, 'begging them to write to you on the matter, and giving your work my best recommendation'. He has not heard anything from them himself, but expects it will 'take a week or two, before they can give an opinion'. The recipient may be Edith Nesbit, although this is unlikely as Nesbit was her maiden name. She became Edith Bland in 1880. None of her works appear to have been published by Chatto & Windus.

Signed Fragment of letter ('V. Broglie'). In French.

Author: 
Jacques Victor Albert, Duc de Broglie [4th Duke] (1821-1901), French politician
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£45.00

Roughly 5.5 x 11.5 cm, with four lines (cropped at right) on recto, and four lines and signature on reverse. Ruckled and with stains from previous mounting on recto. Mentions his portrait by Gerand. He will thank her in person before leaving if he can.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Whitwell Elwin') to 'Miss Mayne'.

Author: 
Whitwell Elwin (1816-1900), English journalist, editor of the 'Quarterly Review'
Publication details: 
29 September 1856; Booton Rectory, Norwich.
£75.00

12mo, 1 p, 17 lines. Very good. He has been 'from home visiting here & there', and has returned to 'a mass of correspondence which is perfectly appalling'. He is sorry she 'sent back the book', as he meant her 'to keep it in perpetuity'. 'The recent work which finds most favour with the public is Lord Cockburn's Memorials. It is entertaining but not in all respects accurate. It is however worth reading & will serve to beguile a winter's evening.

Autograph Letter Signed to the English mineralogist and geologist William Phillips (1775-1828).

Author: 
Henry Kater (1777-1835), English physicist of German descent
Publication details: 
23 May 1823; Union Place, Regent's Park [London].
£80.00

12mo: 2 pp. Very good. Addressed to 'Mr. W. Phillips' on otherwise-blank second leaf of bifolium, which carries traces of previous mount. Acknowledges 'the obliging present' of Phillips's 'valuable work on mineralogy' (the influential 'Outline of the Geology of England and Wales', 1822, written with William Conybeare).

Autograph Signature ('Will. Trumbull.') on fragment of document.

Author: 
Sir William Trumbull (1639-1716), English politician, member of the first Whig Junto
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£25.00

On irregular piece of paper roughly 4.5 x 4.5 cm. Good, on lightly discoloured paper. With part of signature '[S]mith' below. Docketed on reverse 'Sir Wm. Trumbull Statesman Wm 3d'.

Autograph Signature ('Abram: Hume') on fragment of frank.

Author: 
Sir Abraham Hume (1749-1838), connoisseur
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£20.00

Paper dimensions roughly 2 x 5 cm. Good, although on discoloured paper, and mounted on piece of slightly larger discoloured paper docketed in pencil 'Sir Abm Hume'. Reads 'Free 274 | [signed] Abram: Hume'.

Autograph Signature ('Will: Yonge').

Author: 
Sir William Yonge (1693-1755), 4th Baronet, Whig politician and poet
Publication details: 
Without date [but docketed '1755'] or place.
£28.00

On piece of paper roughly 2.5 x 4.5 cm. Good, on lightly discoloured paper. Docketed on reverse '1755'.

Autograph Signature ('Thos Webster') on fragment of letter 'To the President & Council of the Royal Academy'.

Author: 
Thomas Webster (1800-1886), English artist
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£18.00

Paper dimensions 5 x 11 cm. Good. The foot of the last page of a letter with a mourning border. Reads '<...> consideration. | I am, Gentn. | Your obedt. St. | [signed] Thos Webster | To the President | & Council of the Royal Academy'.

Autograph Signature ('H Legge') on fragment of document.

Author: 
Hon. Henry Bilson-Legge (1708-1764), Treasurer of the Navy, 1749-1754
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£25.00

Dimensions of paper roughly 4 x 6.5 cm. Good, although with slight wear at left and small part of loop at beginning of signature crossing over a printed vertical line. Docketed in pencil 'Lord Treasurer'.

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