ACADEMIC

[Sir John Robert Seeley, Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge.] Autograph Letter Signed, declining to write ‘the article Colonies’ for ‘the Encylopaedia of Messrs Chambers’, as too little time is allowed for its writing.

Author: 
J. R. Seeley [Sir John Robert Seeley] (1834-1895), Liberal historian and essayist, Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge [Messrs Chambers & Co, publishers]
Publication details: 
26 April [no year]. On letterhead of 7 St Peter’s Terrace, Cambridge.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. Nine lines. In good condition, on lightly aged grey paper. Folded once. Addressed to ‘Dear Sir’, and signed ‘J R Seeley’. He states that ‘it will be quite impossible for me to undertake the article Colonies for the Encyclopaedia of Messrs Chambers, as the time you allow for the preparation of it is altogether too short’.

[William Taylor Adams (‘Oliver Optic’), author and academic, member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.] Autograph Signature (‘William T Adams / “Oliver Optic”’, in attractive copperplate.

Author: 
William T. Adams [William Taylor Adams, pseudonym ‘Oliver Optic’] (1822-1897), academic, author of more than one hundred books, and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives
Adams
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£30.00
Adams

Adams was the author of more than one hundred books. He was criticised by Louisa May Alcott for his use of slang and depiction of ‘low’ characters such as bootblacks, elements which make him sound like a proto-Mark Twain, and should attract renewed attention today. Without date or place. On 4.5 x 9.5 cm slip of wove paper. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering to blank reverse.

[Sir Arthur Bryant defends himself against an attack by fellow Pepys scholar Edwin Chappell.] Eight Autograph Letters Signed and one Typed Letter Signed (all 'Arthur Bryant') to Chappell, on questions of Pepys scholarship.

Author: 
Sir Arthur Bryant [Sir Arthur Wynne Morgan Bryant] (1899-1985), historian and biographer of Samuel Pepys [Edwin Chappell (1883-1938), Pepys scholar and maritime historian; Samuel Pepys]
Publication details: 
From: The White House, East Claydon, Bucks (3); 97 Swan Court, Manor Street, London (3); Portmeirion and Madeira. Between 6 January 1932 and 22 November 1933.
£350.00

Nine letters (eight ALsS and one TLS) totalling 16pp, 12mo, in close and neat autograph; and 2pp, 4to, typed. One from 1932 and the other eight from 1933. All signed 'Arthur Bryant'. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with slight rust-staining from paperclips to a couple of the letters. An interesting correspondence, in which Bryant gives an assessment of Pepys, and describes his approach to writing his biography. In one long letter (5 May 1933) Bryant describes his wider approach to the writing of history.

[William Walrond Jackson, Rector of Exeter College, Oxford.] Autograph Letter Signed [to Professor George Frederick Armstrong], explaining the reasons for declining his application for a 'Professorial Fellowship' at Exeter College.

Author: 
W. W. Jackson [William Walrond Jackson] (1838-1931), Rector of Exeter College, Oxford, 1887-1913 [George Frederick Armstrong (1842-1900), Regius Professor of Engineering at Edinburgh University]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Exeter College, Oxford. 24 October 1895.
£35.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged.

[ Neville Rogers, editor of Shelley. ] Typed Letter Signed ('Neville') to 'Marjorie', gossippy and satirical, esp. about Nancy Cunard, with offprints of two of his articles ('Shelley and the West Wind' &'Lauro de Bosis'), inscribed to the recipient

Author: 
Neville Rogers (1909-1985), academic, editor of the works of Percy Bysshe Shelley [ Nancy Cunard (1896-1965), poet, patron and eccentric ]
Publication details: 
Letter dated from 5 Beaumont Street, Oxford; 11 February 1954. Inscription to 'Lauro de Bosis' (1963) dated from Waltham, Massachussetts, 10 March 1964. Inscription to 'Shelley and the West Wind' (1956) undated.
£220.00

The three items in good condition, with light signs of age and wear. LETTER: 2pp., 8vo. A splendidly waspish missive. Topics include: her 'letter to Mickie' ('masterly diplomacy'); 'dear Miss Massey, wounded on active service for the BIS' (with references to 'Mrs.

[ James Galt & Co. Ltd., Manchester booksellers. ] Typed Note to E. Vale of Nant Ffrancon, signed on behalf of the firm by B. E. Stevenson, regarding books ordered, on elaborate coloured letterhead.

Author: 
James Galt & Co. Ltd., Manchester academic booksellers and stationers, established 1836 [ B. E. Stevenson; E. Vale of Nant Ffrancon, Wales ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of James Galt & Co. Ltd. Grove House Works, Plymouth Grove, Manchester 13. Undated [ 1930s? ].
£28.00

1p., 4to. In good condition. The large and unusual letterhead is the point of interest: it is roughly 17 x 11.5 cm, and mostly taken up with an illustration, printed in red, yellow, green, blue, orange and black, depicting an idealised scene in a Victorian bookseller's shop, with a young lady with bonnet and parasol, two schoolboys in top hats with Eton collars and a bespectackled master in mortar board and robes, the last of whom is examining a book shown to him by an elderly bookseller.

Typed Letter Signed ('Arthur') from the science-fiction writer Sir Arthur C. Clarke, sendng personal news to Arthur Bourne of the Academic Press Inc., including that he is 'happily retired with theh completion of my last and best novel.

Author: 
Sir Arthur C. Clarke [Sir Arthur Charles Clarke] (1917-2008), English science and science-fiction writer [Arthur Bourne of the Academic Press Inc, British science journalist]
Publication details: 
'Leslie's House', 25 Barnes Place, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka. 7 November 1978.
£320.00

1p., 12mo. Air mail letter on blue paper, addressed to Arthur Bourne, Academic Press Inc. (London) Ltd, 24-28 Oval Road, London, NW1 7DX, England. In good condition, lightly aged and creased. Clarke begins by thanking Bourne for his letter, and informing him that he has 'sent a card of thank [sic] to Dr. Allan Cottey'. 'I am now happily retired with the completion of my last and best novel "The Fountains of Paradise" (Playboy January and February - HBJ; Gollancz, January). I expect to be back in England in August to attend the World S. F.

Eleven Autograph Letters Signed from the historian of France Professor Douglas Johnson to Alan S. Baxendale, mainly about their joint article 'Uganda and Great Britain'. With typescript of the article, memorial pamphlet on Johnson, and other matter.

Author: 
Professor Douglas Johnson (1925-2005) of the University of Birmingham, Scottish historian of France [Alan S. Baxendale, historian and civil servant; Uganda]
Publication details: 
Mostly on letterheads of the School of History, University of Birmingham. Dated items from 1963, apart from one from 2004.
£280.00

Nineteen items, in good condition, on lightly-aged paper, arranged in the following description into seven sections: ONE. Nine Autograph Letters Signed (two more are in sections Two and Three below) from DJ to ASB. Totalling 3pp., 4to; 15pp., 12mo (12 of them landscape); 5pp., 16mo. Four dating from 1963, one from 2004, and the other four undated (but apparently also from 1963). One signed 'Douglas', another 'D. J.', and the other seven signed in full. All but one, which is addressed to 'Alan', addressed to 'Baxendale'. Eight on letterheads of the School of History, Birmingham University.

[Printed poster.] Ordo Baccalaureorum Determinantium. In Universitate Oxon. per Quadragesim. Ann. 1805. Collectoribus Dno Mackensie, ex Aede Christi. Dno Hudson, è Coll. Magd.

Author: 
'Scheme of Determining Bachelors in Oxford (Lent 1805)' [The Clarendon Press, Oxford University]
Ordo Baccalaureorum Determinantium
Publication details: 
E Typographeo Clarendoniano. [1805.]
£125.00
Ordo Baccalaureorum Determinantium

On one side of a piece of laid paper, 55 x 44 cm. Good, on lightly-aged paper. 131-box table giving the tutors (and their colleges) over twelve weeks for each of eleven subjects from 'Nat. Phil.' to 'Ling.' Among the many tutors the following only in capitals: 'Ds HEWITT ex Aede Christi', 'Ds HANMER ex Aedi Christi', 'Ds JOYCE e Aul. S. Edm.', 'G. C. AGAR ed Aede Christi', 'Ds MACDONALD ex Aede Christie', 'Ds MACKENSIE ex Aede Christi', 'Ds CRAWLEY e Coll. Pemb.', 'Ds HUDSON e Coll. Magd.' and 'Ds G. BOWYER, Bart. ex Aede Christi'.

[Printed pamphlet by Adam Crooks, Minister of Education.] Centennial Exhibition Philadelphia, 1876. Educational Institutions, Province of Ontario, (Canada.)

Author: 
Adam Crooks, Minister of Education, Education Department, Ontario, Canada.
Centennial Exhibition Philadelphia, 1876. Educational Institutions
Publication details: 
Toronto: Printed by Hunter, Rose & Company. 1876.
£85.00
Centennial Exhibition Philadelphia, 1876. Educational Institutions

8vo, 23 pp. In original yellow printed wraps. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper; wraps worn and with slight loss to a couple of corners. Red label on rear cover: 'Education Department. Reference Department.' Library stamp and shelf marks on front cover and title page. Signed in type at end: 'ADAM CROOKS, | Minister of Education.

The Rules and Constitutions for Governing and Managing the Maiden-Hospital, founded by the Company of Merchants, and Mary Erskine, in Anno 1695.

Author: 
[The Maiden Hospital; the Company of Merchants of the City of Edinburgh; the Mary Erskine School; the Merchant Maiden Hospital; Robert Fleming and Company]
The Rules and Constitutions for Governing and Managing the Maiden-Hospital
Publication details: 
Edinburgh: Printed by Robert Fleming and Company, 1731.
£125.00
The Rules and Constitutions for Governing and Managing the Maiden-Hospital

12mo, xi + [vi] + 46 pp. Stitched as issued, in original marbled-paper wraps. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The title leaf is followed by a nine-page preface, taking the pagination to p.xi. The page following p.xi (on the verso of the leaf) is blank, and this is followed by three unpaginated leaves carrying a six-page 'Act of Parliament in Favours [sic] of the Maiden Hospital, Founded by the Company of Merchants and Mary Erskine.' This 'Act', which precedes the 46 pages of the 'Rules and Constitutions', would not appear to be present in all copies.

Typed Note Signed by Carl Van Vechten to 'Miss Lucha', thanking her for a copy of the Gertrude Stein number of the Academic Observer.

Author: 
Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964), American author and literary executor of Gertrude Stein [Margaret Lucha; the Academic Observer]
Typed Note Signed by Carl Van Vechten
Publication details: 
15 April 1937; on Van Vechten's 101 Central Park West, New York, letterhead.
£280.00
Typed Note Signed by Carl Van Vechten

8vo, 1 p. Typed and signed in light-blue, beneath green letterhead, and with 'CARL VAN VECHTEN' 'watermark' at centre of page. Text clear and complete. On lightly aged paper, worn and dogeared at extremities. He thanks her for the copy of 'the Academic Observer (Gertrude Stein number) which intererested me so much that I am writing to ask if I may have another copy for a friend of mine, Please.' Autograph note explains that the 'friend' is one 'who also collects Steiniana'. Docketed in pencil on reverse: 'Miss Mallory | Keep this until I call - someday I will. | [signed] M. Lucha'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Thos Dick Lauder') to William Mitchell of Parsons Green.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Dick Lauder of Fountainhall (1784-1848), Deputy Lieutenant of Moray and Haddington, Scottish writer and academic
Publication details: 
7 January 1840; The Grange House.
£75.00

4to, 3 pp. Bifolium. 61 lines of text; clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Having recovered from 'the surprise which I received from the communication made to me today by our mutual friend Sir James Gibson Craig', his 'first idea was to go directly to Parsons Green to give full vent to my gratitude' for Mitchell's generosity. The rest of the letter gives fulsome expression Lauder's his feelings at 'the generous - the magnificent gifts' (unspecified) which Mitchell is 'dispensing - with so little parade'.

Autograph Note Signed ('G O Trevelyan') to the publisher Alexander Macmillan

Author: 
Sir George Otto Trevelyan (1838-1928), politician and author [Alexander Macmillan (1818-1896), publisher]
Publication details: 
Undated [after 1864]; Wallington, Newcastle.
£25.00

12mo, 1 p. Four lines of text. Good, on aged paper with watermarked date '<...>864'. 'If the "Macaulays" have not gone yet, would you send them here, directed to me.' Trevelyan was nephew of the historian Thomas Babington Macaulay, of whom he published a biography in 1880.

Studi d'Indianistica in Italia dal 1911 al 1938. [Indian studies in Italy from 1911 to 1938.]

Author: 
Giulia Porru [India; Indian studies in Italy; Italian bibliography]
Publication details: 
Pubblicazioni della R. Universita degli Studi di Firenze Facolta di Lettere e Filosofia. - III Serie - Volume X. Firenze [Florence] - Felice le Monnier - Editore - MCMXL-XVIII'.
£85.00

4to: viii + 257 pp. In original grey printed wraps. Internally tight, on lightly-aged and foxed paper. Wraps spotted and worn, with chipping to extremities. The preface describes the work as 'una bibliografia descrittiva degli studi di Indianistica fatti in Italia nel periodo che va dal 1911 al 1937.' A descriptive bibliography of Indian studies in Italy, 1911 to 1937. Scarce in Britain: COPAC lists copies at the British Library, Oxford and SOAS.

Scenes from an unfinished drama, entitled Phrontisterion, or, Oxford in the 19th century.

Author: 
[Henry Longueville Mansel, Dean of St Pauls; University of Oxford; J. Vincent, publisher]
Publication details: 
Oxford: Printed and published by J. Vincent, and G. Bell, Fleet Street, London. Fourth edition, 1852.
£100.00

English philosopher (1820-71). 24 pages, 12mo. Very good, neatly bound in brown cloth binding. Bound in are the original grey printed wraps, affected with foxing, and with very slight damage from glue to front wrap. The rear wrap carries an advertisement of 'BOOKS LATELY PUBLISHED | BY J. VINCENT OXFORD.', including 'NINEVEH: the Best Newdigate for Years; therefore not recited in the Theatre, Oxford, July 3, 1851. 12mo. 1s.' A brilliant satire on academic reformers and German philosphers. Copac only lists copies of the third, fourth and fifth editions.

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