1851

[Sir Wentworth Dilke [Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 1st Baronet], Leading Commissioner of the Great Exhibition.]

Author: 
Sir Wentworth Dilke [Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 1st Baronet] (1810-1869), Leading Commissioner of the Great Exhibition of 1851,
Publication details: 
'76 Sloane Street [London] / 3. October 1856.'
£45.00

See his entry, with those of his father and son (all three named Charles Wentworth Dilke) in the Oxford DNB. With regard to the present item the ODNB states: 'His deep involvement in the project [i.e. the 1851 Great Exhibition] is demonstrated by his massive bequest of exhibition material now held at the Victoria and Albert Museum.' 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with a crease to one corner. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to 'Henry Maudsley Esq' and signed 'C Wentworth Dilke'.

[[Act of Parliament; establishment of the Science Museum, etc.] [Printed] An Act for releasing the Lands of the Commissions for the Exhibition of 1851, upon Repayment of Monies granted in aid of their Funds. [12th July 1858]

Author: 
[Act of Parliament; establishment of the Science Museum, etc.]
Publication details: 
Eyre and Spottiswoode, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, 1858.
£250.00

Four pages, sm. fol., bifolium. damaged at join not affecting text, removed from bound volume. Whereas the Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 have purchased Lands at Kensington Gore with a view to secure adequate space in the Metropolis for Institutions connected with Science and Art [...].

[[Act of Parliament; establishment of the Science Museum, etc.] [Printed] An Act for releasing the Lands of the Commissions for the Exhibition of 1851, upon Repayment of Monies granted in aid of their Funds. [12th July 1858]

Author: 
[Act of Parliament; establishment of the Science Museum, etc.]
Publication details: 
Eyre and Spottiswoode, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, 1858.
£250.00

Four pages, sm. fol., bifolium. damaged at join not affecting text, removed from bound volume. Whereas the Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 have purchased Lands at Kensington Gore with a view to secure adequate space in the Metropolis for Institutions connected with Science and Art [...].

[The first census of the British Empire.] Two documents printed for Earl Grey at the Colonial Office: Major Graham's 'Memorandum' of 'suggestions' on how to take a colonial census; and a letter from Grey instructing colonial governors to prepare one.

Author: 
Major George Graham (1801-1888), Registrar General of England and Wales, 1842-1879; Earl Grey [Henry George Grey, 3rd Earl Grey (1802-1894)] [Sir Frederick Peel (1823-1906), Liberal MP]
Publication details: 
[HMSO, London.] The Major Graham document, dated from the General Register Office [Somerset House, London], 7 December 1848. The Grey circular dated from Downing Street, 20 January 1849.
£320.00

Two printed documents: the first carrying Major Graham's 'Memorandum' of 'suggestions respecting the mode of taking a Census in each of our Colonial Posssessions', together with his observations on the making up of 'Statistical Abstracts', a specimen 'Form of Return' and a covering letter; the second a circular letter from Earl Grey, instructing colonial governors 'to cause a Return of the Population of the Colony under your Government to be prepared'. For the background to these two documents, see A. J.

[ First Oxford University Commission, 1850-1852. ] Various Autograph Drafts of the response of Rev, Dr Richard Harington, Principal of Brasenose College, to the recommendations of the Report of the Commissioners to both Houses of Parliament.

Author: 
Rev. Richard Harington D.D. (1800-1853), Principal of Brasenose College [ First Oxford University Commission, 1850-1852; Archibald Campbell Tait (1811-1882), Archbishop of Canterbury ]
Publication details: 
[ Brasenose College, University of Oxford. 1852. ]
£450.00

The Law Magazine, in its issue of August-November 1852, praised the report as 'most valuable' and 'meritorious', noting among the obstacles to its completion 'the resolute and dogged refusal of information on the part of many, intimately connected with the University', including Harington's college Brasenose. The Spectator discussed the report on 29 May 1852, and reproduced all 47 recommendations on 5 June 1852.

[ Thomas Wilkinson Wallis, wood carver ('the Grinling Gibbons of the 19th century'). ] Eight autograph items: six journal fragments, including eight pages on the 1851 Great Exhibition; description of his 'Trophies of Spring'; letter to his daughter.

Author: 
Thomas Wilkinson Wallis (1821-1903), wood carver ('the Grinling Gibbons of the 19th century'), sculptor and painter of Louth in Lincolnshire [ The Great Exhibition, 1851 ]
Publication details: 
The letter to his daughter dated from Louth [ Lincolnshire ], 18 October 1884. Description of carving from 1851. Fragments from journal dealing with events in 1837, 1851, 1862 and 1866.
£1,800.00

Thomas Wilkinson Wallis was the greatest wood carver of Victorian England. Born in impoverished circumstances in Hull, by 1844 he had established his own business in Louth Lincolnshire, and for the 1851 he submitted seven carvings, 'of which ‘Trophy of Spring’ was awarded a medal. It was his most intricate carving, it took him 8 months to complete and was considered to surpass the work of Grinling Gibbons.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Granville') from Liberal Foreign Secretary Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, to a 'Baron', stating his position on whether Louis Napoleon's 'mischievous motions' will bring about war in Europe.

Author: 
Granville George Leveson-Gower (1815-1891), 2nd Earl Granville, Liberal Home Secretary, 1851-1852 [Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (1808-1873), Napoleon III, Emperor of the French; France]
Publication details: 
Bruton St [Mayfair, London]. 20 February 1852.
£90.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Of great interest, as giving the informal position of the British Home Secretary on what was at the time the most important problem facing him. Granville would only last as Foreign Secretary for a week after writing this letter, as Russell's Liberal Government would fall on 27 February. Ironically, his elevation to the post of Foreign Secretary the previous Boxing Day had been due to Russell forcing Palmerston's resignation over his unauthorized recognition of Louis Napoléon's coup d'état. The letter is addressed to 'My dear Baron'.

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