ARISTOCRACY

[Mary Berry, diarist, close friend, with her sister Agnes, of Horace Walpole.] Autograph Letter Signed to Lady Georgiana Agar-Ellis, explaining confusion over accepting an invitation.

Author: 
Mary Berry (1763-1852), diarist and close friend, with her sister Agnes, of Horace Walpole, whose papers her family inherited [Lady Georgiana Agar-Ellis, latterly Countess of Carlisle (1783-1858)]
Publication details: 
‘tuesy / 8 May’. No place.
£90.00

See 2pp, 16mo. On first leaf of a bifolium, with the reverse of second leaf addressed ‘To the / Lady Georgiana Ellis / Spring Garden [sic]’, and with torn corner of second leaf beneath red wax seal. Folded twice for postage. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. ‘I have a thousand apologies to make for not having already said that my sister & I should have much pleasure in dining with you on the 19th. The truth is, that she thought I had done it & I thought she had - We are ashamed of ourselves’. The second part of the letter is difficult to decipher.

[The Abdication Crisis, 1936: Sir Osbert Sitwell.] Mimeographed copy, marked ‘Private’, of the unexpurgated version of the satirical poem ‘RAT WEEK. / by Osbert Sitwell’, the cause of a legal action with ‘Cavalcade’.

Author: 
The Abdication Crisis, 1936: Sir Osbert Sitwell [Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, 5th Baronet] (1892-1969) [King Edward VIII and Mrs Wallis Simpson; Abdication, 1936; Cavalcade]
Sitwell
Publication details: 
Undated, but circa 1936. On paper watermarked 'BELFAST BOND / MADE IN CANADA'.
£180.00
Sitwell

See Sitwell’s entry in the Oxford DNB. In his 1999 biography Philip Ziegler describes how the ‘doggerel polemic Rat Week’ ‘excoriated’ the supporters of the Edward VII and Mrs Simpson: ‘Osbert realised that this diatribe, if published, might land him in a flurry of libel actions, but he could not resist having a few copies made and distributed to his closer cronies; Mrs. Greville, Lady Aberconway, Lady Cholmondeley and Philip Frere among them.

[Princess Frederica of Hanover [Friederike Sophie Marie Henriette Amelie Therese], Anglo-German aristocrat.] Autograph

Author: 
Princess Frederica of Hanover [Friederike Sophie Marie Henriette Amelie Therese] (1848-1926), wife of Luitbert Alexander George Lionel Alphons von Pawel-Rammingen (1843-1932), Anglo-German aristocrats
Princess Frederica of Hanover
Publication details: 
‘Xmas 1909.’ No place.
£50.00
Princess Frederica of Hanover

Written on both sides of an 11.5 x 9 cm card, which has her armorial crest printed in black and gold at the top right of the first page. In a large flowing hand reads: ‘For my dear little Godchild Fredericà Taylor with affte. xmas Greetings / from her loving God-mother / Fredericà / Xmas 1909.’ See Image of verso (signature).

[‘The most fashionable place in London’: The Clarendon Hotel, Bond Street; Foreign 'Great and Good@] Around 180 entries in the hotel guestbook, on extracted leaves, the greater part of them signatures of ‘Nobility and Gentry, and Foreigners of rank’.

Author: 
‘The most fashionable place in London’: The Clarendon Hotel, Bond Street [Georgian England]
Publication details: 
The Clarendon Hotel, Bond Street, London. The entries all said to date from 1831.
£1,200.00

The Clarendon Hotel was once - as ‘Routledge’s Popular Guide to London’ stated in 1862 - ‘the most fashionable place in London’, and the present collection of autograph signatures from its guestbook, all of them said to date from 1831, bear witness to the fact that - as ‘Gilbert’s Visitor’s Guide to London’ (1851) states - it was ‘frequented by the Nobility and Gentry, and Foreigners of rank’. Its reputation had been made during the Regency period, and in 1820 ‘Leigh’s New Picture of London’ stated that it ‘and Jaquiers are now one hotel’.

[Harrow School in Georgian times.] Anonymous Manuscript Notebook, containing lists of boys' names under various headings ('Monitors', 'Upper VI' and so on), compiled under headmastership of George Butler.

Author: 
Harrow School in Georgian Times [George Butler (1774-1853), headmaster from 1805 to 1829, and later Dean of Peterborough]
Harrow
Publication details: 
Circa 1818. Harrow School, Middlesex.
£450.00
Harrow

This item is a nice artefact of one of England?s foremost public schools. The great rival of Eton, Harrow numbers among its alumni seven prime ministers, including Churchill. This notebook comprises lists of boys and their positions and classes in a particular term. The paper stock, watermark and handwriting all indicate that its composition is contemporaneous with the schooling of those named. It is the work of one person, almost certainly one of the school?s masters, and its loose and hurried nature indicate that it was intended for personal use, or as an aid in future writing.

[Earl of Abercorn [James Hamilton, 8th Earl of Abercorn].] Autograph Letter Signed to soliciting a vote ‘at the approaching election of the Peers of Scotland’.

Author: 
Earl of Abercorn [James Hamilton, 8th Earl of Abercorn (1712-1789); also Baron Mountcastle, Viscount Hamilton, Viscount Strabane], Anglo-Irish peer of Scottish descent
Publication details: 
10 March 1768; London.
£75.00

Abercorn was characterized by Walpole as ‘his taciturnity, the Earl’. His entry in the Oxford DNB describes him as ‘a patron of the arts, a builder, and the consolidator of the family's property and influence’. 1p, 4to. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, with verso of second leaf docketed and with 1884 date stamp. In good condition, lightly aged. An excellent example of Abercorn’s bold hand and signature. Reads: ‘London March 10. 1768.

Edward VII's socialist mistress 'Daisy' Greville, Countess of Warwick, argues for the abolition of the aristocracy as hereditary landowners. ] Corrected Typescript, signed 'Frances E Warwick.', of an article titled 'We Must Go'.

Author: 
Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick [ Frances Evelyn Greville, Countess of Warwick, née Maynard ] (1861-1938), campaigning socialist and mistress of Edward VII
Publication details: 
Without date or place. [ Published in the Daily Chronicle, 12 April 1917, under the title 'Why the State should Own the Land', and reprinted in the journal 'Land Values', May 1917. ]
£300.00

[1] + 8pp., 4to. On one side each of nine leaves, held together with a brass stud. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with the first page (carrying only the title and with pencil note 'Ordered') detached.

[ Emily, Lady Peel, wife of Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Baronet. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Emily Peel') to an unnamed recipient,

Author: 
Lady Emily Peel [ Emily, Lady Peel ] (1836-1924), wife of Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Baronet, and daughter of daughter of George Hay, 8th Marquis of Tweeddale
Publication details: 
Geneva [ Switzerland ]. 7 August 1886.
£45.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Aged and worn, with small closed tears at edges of folds. She would 'very much like to see Mr letters to me in proof [...] As regards Lord Dallings "Peel" I cannot give you any information as I have certainly never seen the work'.

[ Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Westminster') to the Earl of Gainsborough, regarding the 'competency for the situation of House Steward' of Charles Seammen.

Author: 
Richard Grosvenor (1795-1869), 2nd Marquess of Westminster [ Charles George Noel (1818-1881), 2nd Earl of Gainsborough ]
Publication details: 
Grosvenor House, W. [ London ] 15 July 1867.
£38.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, but with damage at head of outer sides caused by removal from grey paper mount. While Seammen worked for him he found him to be 'good tempered, obliging & trustworthy - He left me last year owing to an illness which, at the time, precluded his having the same efficient control over the Household that he had hitherto exercised'. He explains the reason for making 'a change', and is sending 'an excellent Character with him, of 14 years, from Lord Ravensworth'.

Two Autograph Letters Signed ('Souhesk') from James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk [previously Sir James Carnegie of Kinnaird and of Pittarrow], advising John T. Baron of Blackburn on the publication of his poems.

Author: 
James Carnegie (1827-1905), 9th Earl of Southesk [Sir James Carnegie of Kinnaird and of Pittarrow], Scottish nobleman [John T. Baron of Blackburn, autograph hunter]
Publication details: 
Both letters on letterhead of Kinnaird Castle, Brechin, N.B. 25 and 29 June 1883.
£100.00

Both letters in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Letter One (25 June 1883): 6pp., 12mo.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Bernard') from Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan-Howard, 16th Duke of Norfolk, to 'Arthur', concerning the sale of land in Sheffield and elsewhere.

Author: 
Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan-Howard (1908-1975), 16th Duke of Norfolk,
Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan-Howard (
Publication details: 
13 January 1938; on letterhead of Everingham Park, York.
£56.00
Bernard Marmaduke Fitzalan-Howard (

12mo, 4 pp. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed to close relation or agent. He agrees to 'the two sales in Sheffield of £52,000 and £90,000', but does not consider 'under £200 an acre' a good price. He wonders 'whether Sandford is inclined to give a bit to get a deal through without much trouble'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Onslow' [Earl of Onslow]) to an unnamed male recipient on servants

Author: 
William Hillier Onslow (1853-1911), 4th Earl of Onslow, British Conservative politician and Governor of New Zealand, 1889-1892.
Autograph Letter Signed ('Onslow' [Earl of Onslow]) to an unnamed male recipient
Publication details: 
23 June [no year]; 'by Richmond to Whitehall', on cancelled Clandon Park letterhead.
£38.00
Autograph Letter Signed ('Onslow' [Earl of Onslow]) to an unnamed male recipient

12mo, 2 pp. Twenty-two lines. Text clear and complete. Regarding his footman Alfred McCloud, who has obtained with the recipient 'as Messenger'. I have taken no steps to fill his place till now & in the middle of the London Season it may be very inconvenient to be without a footman'. His butler is 'taking immediate steps to secure a man', but he would 'be glad to know how far you could meet my convenience in waiting for A. McCloud until I am suited'.

Autograph Letter Signed [to Sir Cuthbert Sharp].

Author: 
George Sholto Douglas, 17th Earl of Morton
Publication details: 
25 December 1838; Dalmahoy.
£35.00

Scottish aristocrat (1789-1858). Sharp (1781-1849) was an antiquary of some note. Three pages, 12mo. In poor condition: folded twice and with considerable staining along the folds. Attached, by verso of second leaf of bifoliate, to larger piece of paper.

Facsimile of Autograph Letter Signed, sent as circular to town clerks of Scottish Burghs.

Author: 
John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquis of Bute
Publication details: 
Mount Stuart | Rothesay.' [no year, but 1897 or after]
£25.00

Scottish nobleman (1847-1900) and author. Two pages, folio. Folded twice. First leaf of a bifoliate. On very good paper watermarked 'J WHATMAN | 1897'. Very good, but second (blank) leaf of bifoliate somewhat grubby. Facsimile signature 'Bute'. Long letter announcing the completion of his 'Arms of the Royal and Parliamentary Burghs of Scotland' (Blackwood, 1897) and appealing for information for his forthcoming 'Arms of the Baronial and Police Burghs of Scotland' (Blackwood & Sons, 1903).

Coloured advertisement for 'Burke's Colonial Gentry'.

Author: 
Sir Bernard Burke, C.B., LL.D., Ulster King of Arms [Burke's Peerage; English genealogy]
Publication details: 
1890 [1891]. [London.]
£45.00

8vo: 1 p. A bifolium (leaf dimensions roughly 270 x 185 mm), on thin wove paper, with the printed page on the recto of the first leaf, the rest being blank. Very good, on lightly aged paper. Attractive item printed in red, blue, black and gold. Text reads 'Vol I in the Press. Burke's Colonial Gentry. A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Principal Families residing in the British Colonies by Sir Bernard Burke, C.B., LL.D., Ulster King of Arms.

Typed Letter Signed ('Violet Astor') to 'Miss Morland', as 'Chairman, Middlesex Hospital Rose Day Committee'.

Author: 
Violet Astor, Lady Astor of Hever [née Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound] (1889-1965), wife of John Jacob Astor
Publication details: 
14 June 1932; on letterhead of The Middlesex Hospital, W.1.
£35.00

4to: 1 p. On grubby, aged paper, with crease to one corner. Laid down on a leaf removed from an autograph album. Thanking the recipient for 'selling Roses in the Middlesex Hospital Area' on 'Alexandra Rose Day'. 'The total sum collected in our Area amounted to £680. 10s. 6d. which is most satisfactory, and I do hope you will feel rewarded for your trouble and fatigue by this very gratifying result.' Docketed at foot 'Viscount Astor'.

Knight & Rumley's Crests of the Nobility & Gentry of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland, Designed principally for the use of artists

Author: 
[Knight & Rumley]
Publication details: 
F.G. Moon, 320 Threadneedle Street, London, 1 Feb. 1827
£150.00

27 full page plates of Crests with 12 per page, one page of Helmets and of Crowns, Coronets, with a full index of the Gentry and Nobility at the end of the book. Bound in original boards, grubby and chipped, with original title labe on front, recently rebacked, foxing, new tissue guards, images good. Dedicated by permission to Edward Lodge, Esq, Norroy, King of Arms, F.S.A.

Autograph Letter Signed to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Edward Arthur Donald St George Hamilton Chichester, 6th Marquis of Donegall
Publication details: 
16 March 1938; '8. Westminster Gdns. | S.W.1.', on deleted letterhead 'ST. ERMIN'S, | WESTMINSTER.'
£26.00

Irish peer (1903-75) and war correspondent. Two pages, octavo. On blue paper. Very good. Docketed and stamped and with staple holes to one corner. 'In reply to your letter of March 4th. I write to say that Art being one of my chief interests in life. I would appreciate very much being elected to Fellowship of the Royal Society.' Signed 'J. Donegall'. Postscript, on verso of second leaf of bifoliate, explains that the delay in replying is 'owing to absence in America' and ends 'Do you wish me to find any sponsors?'

Autograph Note Signed ('Dorothy Nevill') to 'Mr <Descou?>'.

Author: 
Lady Dorothy Nevill [Lady Dorothy Fanny Nevill, née Walpole] (1826-1913), hostess and horticulturist
Publication details: 
Friday 18th' [no date]; on embossed letterhead of Dangstein, Petersfield.
£28.00

12mo: 1 p. 8 lines of text. On aged paper somewhat grubby around signature at foot. Asks when he will be 'able to come to us to meet the d[uke] of Wellington'. They are 'at liberty any time between the 4th and 11th of January'.

Autograph Note in the third person to autograph collector 'Mr. Barker'.

Author: 
Arthur William de Brito Savile Foljambe, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (1870-1941), 1st Governor-General of New Zealand
Publication details: 
27 November 1908; 44 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW. [on embossed House of Lords letterhead].
£30.00

Two pages, 12mo. Very good. A formal letter written in the third person. 'Lord Liverpool presents his compliments to Mr. Barker and in answer to your [sic] letter regrets that his father has been dead two years and therefore he cannot comply with Mr. Barker's request for his signature.'

Printed Exchequer Receipt, with Manuscript insertions, and Autograph Signature.

Author: 
William Bouverie, 1st Earl of Radnor of the Second Creation (1725-76)
Publication details: 
09/07/70
£50.00

One page. Dimensions of paper roughly thirteen inches by eight. Very good on aged paper, with slight loss at head and small closed tear (neither affecting text). Headed 'Annuity for Life, 1746.' '[...] Received the [19] Day of [July] 17[70] by me [William Earl of Radnor Asse. to Robert Lord Romney] Of George Grenville, junr. Esq; One of the Four Tellers of His Majesty's Receipt of Exchequer, the Sum of [Three hundred pounds] in full for [Six] Months Annuity, due the [fifth] Day of [July] last past, of [£600] per Annum, during the Life of [me William Earl of Radnor] [...]'.

Autograph Letter to the Duchess of Beaufort.

Author: 
Frederick William Hervey, 5th Earl and 1st Marquis of Bristol
Publication details: 
St. James's Square | June 23rd. 1853'
£35.00

English aristocrat (1769-1859). Apparently cropped, but with no loss to text. Dimensions of paper roughly four inches square. Grubby and lightly stained. Docketed in pencil. A formal letter in the third person. Reads 'Lord Bristol presents his Compliments to the Duchess of Beaufort, & sends her Grace the enclosed Paper which came directed by mistake to him this Morning -'.

Facsimile of Autograph Letter Signed, sent as circular to town clerks of Scottish Burghs.

Author: 
John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquis of Bute
Publication details: 
Mount Stuart House | Rothsay' [no date, but post 1893 and pre 1897].
£25.00

Scottish nobleman (1847-1900) and author. Long letter appealing for information for use in the forthcoming 'Arms of the Royal and Parliamentary Burghs of Scotland' (Blackwood, 1897). Two pages, folio. Folded twice. First leaf of a bifoliate. On very good paper watermarked 'J WHATMAN | 1893'. Very good, but second (blank) leaf of bifoliate somewhat grubby. Facsimile signature 'Bute'. Postscript asks for reply to be sent to Bute's collaborator on the book, 'J[ames]. R[obert]. N[icholson]. Macphail Esqr. 53, Castle Street, Edinburgh'.

Autograph Letter Signed to unnamed male noble correspondent.

Author: 
Granville Leveson-Gower, 1st Marquis of Stafford and 2nd Earl Gower
Publication details: 
Trentham July ye 10th. 1771'.
£38.00

English aristocrat and Whig politician (1721-1803). One page, quarto. In poor condition: grubby, discoloured and creased. Reads 'My Lord | Mr: Boothby of Ashbourne (who yr: Lordship may possibly know something of from his living in the neighbourhood of <?> forest has sollicited me much to apply to yr: Lordship for leave of Absence for his son who is a lieutenant in Ld: Drogheda's regiment to settle some family affairs, the time he wishes to have him with him [sic] is a month or two, if not unreasonable.

Autograph Card Signed [to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts].

Author: 
Jean Elmslie Henderson, Viscountess Dunedin
Publication details: 
8 March [1938]; on crested letterhead '42, LOWER SLOANE STREET, | S.W.1.'
£23.00

Scottish aristocrat and translator (died 1944). Dimensions roughly four and a half inches by three and a half inches. Very good, but with two small staple holes (not affecting text). Docketed and bearing red date stamp. Reads 'Dear Sir - | I have your letter of March 4th - I enclose £3. 3 & agree to your request to nominate me | yours truly | J E Dunedin'.

Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mrs. Ford'.

Author: 
Emily Anne Smythe, Viscountess Strangford
Publication details: 
25 November [no year, but presumably before 1869, the date of her husband's death]; on letterhead '58, Great Cumberland Place, | W'.
£45.00

English writer (died 1887), traveller in the Middle East, and philanthropist. Four pages, 16mo. Good, but with traces of grey-paper mount adhering to verso of second leaf of bifoliate, to which adheres a cutting relating to the circumstances of Lady Strangford's marriage. She has been in bed for ten days, and although 'still in a state of great weakness - and non-writingness', writes to apologise for Lord Strangford's mistake: 'as he was expecting to be accosted by a lady much of your size he answered accordingly with an enquiry for her husband.

Autograph Letter in the third person to the City [of London] Remembrancer.

Author: 
Sir Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquis of Lansdowne
Publication details: 
Berkley [sic] Sq[uar]e. | May 12th.' [no year, but post 1809].
£24.00

Aristocrat and politician (1780-1863). Two pages, 4to. Grubby, stained and creased. Several folds. Remains of mount adhering to one edge, and with small piece of glued paper at foot of verso. Formal letter in the third person. 'The Marquis of Lansdowne presents his compliments to the City Remembrancer, & will be happy to present the petition of the Corporation of the City this day as requested. The House of Lords in consequence of the event of yesterday is to meet this day at two oclock, & may possibly adjourn soon afterwards.

Autograph Note in the third person to 'Mr Collins'.

Author: 
Robert Shapland Carew, First Baron Carew of Castle Boro
Publication details: 
Woodstown | Waterford | Oct 10' [no year but post 1823].
£40.00

Irish aristocrat (1787-1856). One page, 12mo. In good condition, but with slight staining at head and traces of grey-paper mount on reverse. 'Lord Carew has this day received Mr Collins letter - | Mr. Holmes shall have every facility of engraving from Lord & Lady Carews Portraits, on his calling here.'

Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mrs Mellersh' [wife of the historian H. E. L. Mellersh?].

Author: 
Gerald Wellesley, 7th Duke of Wellington
Publication details: 
14 October 1925; on letterhead '11, TITCHFIELD TERRACE, | REGENTS PARK, N.W.8.'
£25.00

The seventh Duke was born in 1885 and died in 1972. Two pages, 4to. In good condition although creased and dusty. He thanks the Mellershes for their hospitality during a lecture at Cheltenham. He also thanks Mellersh for 'the cutting from the "Echo": 'There are a good many inaccuracies in it some of which are fairly [rather] misleading, but I do not think it is worth while putting in a correction. They give me a very large space which is very kind of them.'

Autograph Signature, address and seal on fragment of envelope.

Author: 
John Robert Townshend, 3rd Viscount Sydney
Publication details: 
Postmark 'FOOTSCRAY | DE 14 | 1840'.
£35.00

Sydney (1805-1890) became 1st Earl Sydney in 1874. The front part of an envelope, dimensions roughly 3 inches by 8 inches. In good condition, but with traces of previous mounting on otherwise-blank reverse. Circular crested seal in red wax, roughly 1/2 inch in diameter. Reads 'H M S. | The Secretary to the Board of Ordnance | Pall Mall | London | Sydney'.

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