OF

An important artefact: a folio page carrying an Autograph Rough Draft of the central passage of a lecture in which Owen – four years after the publication of Darwin's 'Origin of Species' – defends the theistic view of evolution. One of two folio pages in Owen's autograph on the same leaf, the other page carrying the beginning of the description of plates in Owen's 'Memoir on the skull and scapular arch of the Dinornis Robustus [Giant Moa]'. 2pp, folio. On the two sides of a leaf of aged and worn paper, with fraying and chipping at head and foot. Folded twice.

Piece of paper, 17 x 9.5cm, corners damaged without affecting text, sl. smudged, but perfectly legible, laid down on similar sized card. Please to admit the Bearers Mr Smeaton & Mr Watson to a Seat in the Gallery of theHouse of Commons. Coffin was a Member of Parliament from 1818 to 1826.

Black-bordered, three pages, 12mo, bifolium, fold marks, good condition. Text: I have not failed to lay before Her Majesty the Queen the purport of your letter of the 31st Ult. | Her Majesty was well assured that the University of Cambridge was not likely to be backward in any expression of Sympathy with Herself in Her overwhelming grief or to be wanting in any mark of respect for their Chancellor.

One page, 12mo, good condition. Text: I read the notice with the deepest feeling of sympathy, knowing how extreme, desperate, has been the pain & agony of this long illness & separation; and I have perceived & marvelled at, the courage with which you have borne your burden, the end of which cannot yet have been reached. But you have the prayers of [...] Note: Orlo Williams is described in one book as a gentle and musical civl servant, member of a coterie attached to 'The Times' (Tom Burns, 'The Use of Memory: Publishing and Further Pursuits', p.123).

Two pages, 12mo, bifolium. good condition. Text: Herewith I return the Proofs, corrected to the best of my ability. The speech is wonderfully well reported I think. | I have not touched any speech but my own. | Lady Edwardes joins me in kind regards to Mrs. Phillips & yourself; & I assure you we look back with pleasure to our stay under yur roof. [...] He is, perhaps, referring to his speech at the Church Missionary Society's Meeting in London, in May, 1860(?).

One page, 12mo, sl. grubby, and at one time torn in two and crudely repaired, text clear and complete. Mr. Brandreth has looked this up in Brit. Mus., and sent us this quotation. As it stands, we can make neither head nor tail of the passage; we cannot tell whether Newman is attacking or maintaining these tenets, some of which appear to be positive & some negative, and two of which seem to require the insertion of not [corrected to no] to make sense out of nonsense.

One page, 8vo, fold mark, good condition. Text: So sorry I forgot to tell you that the photograph is a copyright of Elliot & Fry. I do not know what we must do about it. But I find I have another large size [phrase inserted] photograph quite free for publication. It is ready for you here if you like to come.

One Page, obl. 8vo, closed tear and small loss of paper not affecting text, foxing, text legible and complete. Text: I send the little programmes I prepared for the 4 Lectures I had the honour of delivering at Buckingham Palace, and which you expressed a wish to see. Note: The 1860 Oxford evolution debate which he chaired took place in the previous June, the same month as he delivered these lectures to the Royal children.

See Long's entry in the Oxford DNB. On 7 x 17 cm piece of paper, laid down on slightly larger piece of thick paper cut from an album. In good condition, lightly aged. Three lines of text by Long in clerk's hand, reading 'Registred accordinge to Ex Art within [mentioned?] ye [?] day of July 1667[.] And to be paid in coarse [?] after 397338 16 1'. A good example of Long's neat signature, larger and underlined with a tight flourish, beneath the text and towards the right.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of a 12 x 11 cm piece of paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: 'Lincoln's Inn Fields | 23d. June 1829 | Sir Wm. Grant will have the honor of joining the Old Fish Dinner party on Saty. the 27th. of June.'

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering to blank second leaf of bifolium. Folded twice. He returned 'but very late from Brighton, and was afterwards very unwell, which added to a great deal of business', prevented him from finding for Adams 'an Autograph of my Brothers, which I promised you some time back'. He is now enclosing the autograph, but apologises that he has 'none of my Father's [i.e. William Pitt the elder] to send you, for among his letters, there are no copies preserved in his own hand writing.'

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'My dear Lord, | I have fixed the Oath's Bills &c for Tuesday July 9. | Believe me | faithfully Yours | Kimberley'.

1p, 4to. Aged and worn, with thin strip of mount adhering to one edge, and slight damage to one corner. The unnamed recipient is a member of William Pitt the Younger's Tory Ministry, and the letter is written at a time when the administration was preparing for a French invasion, the first French Army of England having gathered on the Channel coast.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item dates from 1807, the year in which Bathurst sold the celebrated Apsley House ('No. 1 London') to the Duke of Wellington's brother the Marquis Wellesley, who sold it on to the Duke ten years later. It is now the Wellington Museum. This item casts an interesting light on the initial sale. 2pp, 4to. Thirty-four lines of text. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded four times. He is disappointed that the unnamed male recipient (presumably Wellesley's agent) has not called on him.

Mansfield had already served in Vienna and Warsaw before being appointed French Ambassador in 1772. He held the post until 1778. See his entry in the Oxford DNB, where he is described as 'the leading British diplomat of his generation'. 2pp, 4to. In fair condition, aged, worn and a little creased. Folded three times. Biographical details in a tiny hand at top left of first page. Twenty lines of text.

Frank on 7 x 13 cm panel cut from front of envelope. In good condition, lightly aged, laid down on part of leaf from album, with the reverse carrying part of the frank to a letter from another unidentified individual, with free postmark from 1826. Byron's frank has the customary red-ink postmark at top right ('FREE | 8 DE 8 | 1826'), and is laid out by him in the customary fashion: 'Portsmouth December Seven | 1826 | The Honble. Mrs. Collingwood | Hawkhurst | Kent'. Byron's signature 'Byron.', at bottom left, is only underlined, and not enclosed within the two parallel lines as required.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Thirty lines of text. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Part of the second leaf of the bifolium, detached, is endorsed 'Duke of Hamilton 21 March 1822'. The recipient's identity is presumed from the reference in the letter to 'Mrs Robison'. He thanks him for his 'obliging note' and 'the drawing of the [Kullicum?] for smoaking segars', which is a 'very kind attention on your part'. As he is '[f]earfull lest some accident should happen', he has 'desired that the box may not be forwarded to London'.

32mo, 1p. On recto of first leaf of bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Traces of red wax seal adhering to corner of second leaf, with is endorsed 'Adml. Douglas 18 March 1809'. Addressed on reverse of second leaf, with part of postmark, to 'Herbt. Brace Esqr. | Temple'. Reads: 'Friday ye. 18 March | Adl. Douglas compliments; he expected long ago to have heard satisfactorily from Mr. Brace.' Douglas commanded HMS Stately in Elphinstone’s 1795 expedition to the Cape of Good Hope, and in the same year was present at the reduction of Ceylon.

See Knox's entry in the Oxford DNB, along with those of his father and three brothers. The school was in existence in various places and under various names between 1914 and 1965. Four items, in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Autograph Speech by Knox, headed 'BROOKFIELD SCHOOL'. Dated 19 July 1951. 3pp, 12mo. On three leaves held together with brass stud, with directions to the school on reverse of last leaf. Written in capital letters. Knox begins by noting the prizes: 'Difficult to think of anything else when one sees this table loaded with gifts.

43pp., 8vo. In good condition, on aged paper, with small label (with manuscript '7') on first page. In tasteful modern grey paper wraps with white printed label on front. Bell's presentation inscription, with the first line slightly trimmed at head, is on the title page: 'Lord Egerton | with the compliments of | Alexander Graham Bell' and '(Senate Document)'. Bell has also written, above the drop-head title (p.3): 'Suggestions by Alex. Graham Bell with regard to Defective Classes, Paper 31'. Bell's contribution, the longest in the volume, is on pp.31-37, with six tables in text.

Sir Colin Thornton-Kernsley is identified as author from the first of the pamphlet's seven appendices ('Eastern Command | List of officers principally concerned with plans for the mounting of Overlord'), where he is described as: 'Chairman: AQMG(Ops) Lt. Col. C. N. Thornton Kernsley MP-RA'.

A collection of 858 documents, dating from between 1860 and 1893, bearing a total of 800 autographs of British Members of Parliament (765 Members of the House of Commons and 35 Peers). The collection is in good condition, with the usual signs of age and wear, each item having been punch-holed by the collector (whom evidence suggests was a fellow-member) for insertion in a binder.

56 items, comprising an unbroken run of 53 issues from 1911 to 1963, together with the issues for 1967 and 1969, and a copy of the 'Report of the Buchan School Commission | July, 1951'. In two sturdy green cloth boxes ('Supplied for the Public Service'). All 56 items with stamps, shelfmarks and labels of the Board of Education Reference Library. The first eleven issues (ending in 1921) are more substantial than the rest, and are housed in the first box.

Presumably distributed in the streets (of London?) on the news of Nelson's victory. No other copy of the title has been traced, either on OCLC WorldCat or COPAC. Printed on one side of a 34 x 19.5 cm piece of paper, with cropped margins (text area 33 x 17.5 cm). The reverse of the leaf would appear to be blank, the leaf being laid down on a piece of grey paper removed from an album. Printed in double column, with a wavy vertical dividing rule down the middle, beneath the title 'Adm.

The present collection presents the shrewd impressions of 1840s North America (preceding Dickens' visit in 1842) of a highly educated and cultured British aristocrat, a poet who exchanged sonnets with Wordsworth (one letter contains a lukewarm critique of the 'Excursion' of 'dear Wordsworth', which Morpeth has found time to read on his trip, and another contains a six-line original poem by Morpeth, later published by his sisters as 'Indian Names'), and the letters record his impressions of the American literary and social scene and his favourable response to the continent's scenery.

One page, 12mo, neat hand, laid down on slightly larger paper, good condition. The ladies of the Children's Safety Committee gave me permission last Thursday to send to each member of the society ten invitation cards for the meeting of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, in the hope that they would kindly give them to such of their friends as take a real interest in the welfare of Children. May I suggest that you will either write your name on each card or enclose your own card, to secure the invitation from being passed over unheeded.

2pp, folio. On a single sheet. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, folded twice into the customary packet. The first page is headed with the king's scrawled signature ('George R.'), he being practically blind with cataracts at the time of signing. The document is countersigned at the end by three Lords of the Treasury: 'Sp Perceval | Wm Eliot | W Sturges Bourne'. The tax stamp is in its customary position in the left-hand margin of the first page.

2pp, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with strip of paper from mount adhering to one edge. The document has three horizontal fold lines, one of which has led to wear at along the foot of Dashwood's signature. An interesting assemblage of individuals. Of the six signatories three played a significant part in the American Revolution: King George III and his Prime Minister Lord North, with Charles Townshend, who was responsible for the unpopular 'Townshend Acts', taxing the colonies and leading to the Boston Massacre.

Four sets of travel instructions by George III, all in his autograph, none dated but seemingly relating to the same journey, taking in the Highfield House estate of General Sir William Augustus Pitt (c. 1728-1809), and also referring to Egham, Basingstoke, Winsdsor, Andover. A referring to the novelist Fanny Burney (1752-1840), narrows the date of at least one of the documents to between 1786 and 1790, the period during which Burney was a Keeper of the Robes. On four leaves, and totalling 5pp, ranging in size from 4to to long narrow 8vo (see descriptions below for dimensions).

The present document carries the signatures of three central figures on the British side during the American War of Independence: King George III, his Prime Minister Lord North, and Secretary at War Lord Barrington, along with the signatures of the Earl of Onslow, Jeremiah Dyson and John Lloyd, Deputy Auditor of the Imprest. 2pp, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Thin strip of paper from mount adhering to inner edge on first page.