ARMY

Signed Letter in secretarial hand to the Quartermaster General, Horse Guards.

Author: 
Sir William Schaw Cathcart, 10th Baron and 1st Viscount and Earl Cathcart
Publication details: 
Salton Hall January 27 1810'.
£125.00

Scottish soldier and diplomat (1755-1843). Four pages, octavo. Good, though grubby on discoloured paper, and a little frayed about the edges. Concerns 'the Subject of Issues which are made by the Barrack Department in North Britain to the Forces stationed in this Part of the United Kingdom, but which are not sanctioned by The King's Warrant'. '[...] | I conceive the Establishment of Regimental Schools to be highly conducive to the good of His Majesty's Service, and peculiarly so in the case of 2d.

Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Henry [Trueman] Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Sir George Duff-Sutherland-Dunbar
Publication details: 
12 November 1915; on War Office letterhead.
£23.00

British soldier and historian (1878-1962). One page, quarto. Very good. Bearing the Society's stamp. '[...] I will be permitted by my duties to have the honour of attending at the Royal Society of Arts on the 17th. Instant at 4.30 pm in order to receive the Medal awarded to me by the Society. | I have also to acknowledge with thanks the kind invitation of the Council to attend in the Council Room before the Meeting [...]'. Signed 'G Duff Sutherland Dunbar'.

Original manuscript, in a variety of eighteenth-century hands, containing twelve army lists. Giving ranks of regiments, names of officers, dates of commission, pay, expenses, and other information.

Author: 
Twelve manuscript eighteenth-century British Army Lists [Hanoverian; military history]
Publication details: 
Apparently written between c.1718 and c.1756.
£850.00

Stitched 4to notebook, in original brown calf half-binding, with grey paper boards. 71 pp of text, with a further 19 pp blank, across 45 leaves of watermarked laid paper. Leaf dimensions roughly 19 x 15 cm. In good condition: internally clean and tight, on lightly aged paper. In worn boards. Ruled with red lines. Neatly written and entirely legible.

Autograph Note Signed ('D. Lysons.') to unnamed publisher.

Author: 
Sir Daniel Lysons (1816-1898), English army officer
Publication details: 
11 January 1893; on letterhead of 22 Warwick Square, London S.W.
£56.00

12mo, 1 p. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Large bold signature. He has 'no present intention of publishing any book on [his] career'. It may be that the correspondence planted a seed, as three years after the writing of this note Lysons published 'Early Reminiscences' (John Murray, 1896).

Printed circular letter from Auchinleck 'To all officers whether belonging to the Staff or to the Services who are working in Headquarter Offices in this Command'. Consisting of a celebrated (and spurious) quotation from Wellington, and two cartoons.

Author: 
Field Marshal Sir Claude John Eyre Auchinleck, Commander in Chief, Middle East Command [Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington; military history; Second World War; British Army]
Publication details: 
01/05/42
£75.00

A celebrated and scarce piece of Second World War ephemera. Printed on one side of a piece of paper 33.5 x 21.5 cm. Text and illustrations clear and complete. In good overall condition, on lightly-aged and creased paper with small damp stain to top left-hand corner and repair on reverse to small closed tear. The text consists of a supposed 'Extract from a letter written by The Duke of Wellington from Spain, about 1810.

[Drop-head title:] LETTER, No. 1. To the Editor of the Naval & Military Gazette. [LETTER, No. 2. To the Editor of the Naval & MIlitary Gazette. "The Duke and the Storming of Towns."] [LETTER, No. 3. (Confidential.) 26th August, 1839.]

Author: 
W. D. B. [Naval and Military Gazette; Duke of Wellington; Birmingham Riots of 1839]
Publication details: 
Dated 'W. D. B. | 4th September, 1839.' Printer not stated.
£120.00

12mo (leaf dimensions 22.5 x 14 cm): 12 pp paginated [3] to 14. Lacking (presumed) title-leaf. Unstitched, and consisting of one sheet of paper, 45 x 28 cm, folded twice to make four leaves; and one half sheet, 22.5 x 28 cm, folded to make two leaves. Text clear and entire, on heavily aged and spotted paper chipped at extremities. In an attempt to defend a perceived attack on his honour, W. D. B. prints, with commentary, three letters written by him to the editor of the Naval and Military Gazette, only the first of which was published (6 August 1839).

Four mid-eighteenth-century printed forms relating to English county militia: 'A Protection', 'Summons for Absentees or other Offenders', 'Mittimus on Refusal to Pay the Penalties', 'A Certificate of a Militia Man changing his Place of Abode'.

Author: 
[the county militia in eighteenth-century England; Hanoverian English magistracy; warrant; Justice of the Peace]
Publication details: 
The 'Summons' dated '175[ ]' and therefore from the 1750s, the other three items dated '17[ ]' and so eighteenth century. Three of the four 'Printed by J. TOWERS, near Air-Street, Piccadilly.'
£225.00

All four items well printed on one side of a piece of watermarked laid paper. All four lightly-aged but good. None of them filled in. The third item more dusty than the rest. Item One (15.5 x 20.5 cm): Headed 'No. VII. A PROTECTION.' To be signed by one of the 'Deputy Lieutenant, | Captain, | Commanding Officer.' Exempting the bearer, as a militia man, 'from doing any Highway Duty, commonly called Statute Work'.

Original watercolour illustration, with measurements, captioned 'Drill Motions', and docketed 'Drill Motions at Bunhill Fields'.

Author: 
[the Honourable Artillery Company; Bunhill Fields; the City of London; military drill manual; the British Army]
Publication details: 
Anonymous and undated. [Circa 1810?]
£200.00

On one side of a piece of wove paper roughly 28.5 x 24 cm. On aged, somewhat grubby paper, with 6 cm closed tear repaired with tape on reverse. Full-length diagrammatic depiction of a British army officer in uniform of the Napoleonic period (black boots with spurs, tight white breeches, green jacket with yellow trim and black hat with red plume), holding his sword horizontally in front of his face. A set of thirteen numbered angles are projected from the tip of the blade, some bracketed 'all these are strait in Front'. Others are described as 'flat'.

A series of engravings, drawn and engraved by W. Grainger for the 'Royal Encyclopedia', each headed 'An exact representation of the Manual Exercise, according to modern Military Discipline, See Treatise on Military Affairs.'

Author: 
William Grainger, engraver; Charles Cooke, bookseller, Paternoster Row [Hanoverian British army; eighteenth-century military history; commands; discipline; musketry; firearms]
Publication details: 
London: 'Published as the Act directs, by C. Cooke No. 17 Paternoster Row May 28 1790'.
£200.00

Four plates, each roughly 39.5 x 22 cm. Good, clear impressions. The first two plates have a little light staining in the margins, and the first has some light foxing. The other two in very good condition, and the set good overall. An attractive series, each plate containing twelve main engravings, mainly of an infantryman with his musket in various positions, but also of an officer with sword. Begins with 'Dress to the Right' and ends with 'Sword Salute'. Mains numbered series begins '1st. Poise Firelock' and ends '35th. Shoulder Firelock'. Occasional smaller engravings in the background.

The Duties of a Soldier, illustrated and enforced in a Sermon, preached at the Consecration of the Colours of the Somerset Light Dragoons, On Wednesday, the 6th. of August, 1794, in the Church of St. Mary Magdalen, Taunton.

Author: 
Rev. John Gardiner, Curate of the Church of St Mary Magdalen, Taunton, and Rector of Brailsford, &c. in the County of Derby [Somerset Light Dragoons; British Army]
Publication details: 
Published at the Request of the Corps. Taunton: Printed by J. Poole; sold by Him, and E. and S. Hassums; Sold also by Messrs. Rivingtons, St. Paul's Church Yard; Stockdale, Piccadilly; Richardson, Cornhill; and J. Downes, Temple-Bar, London. 1794.
£250.00

4to: 37 pp. Unbound. Stitched as issued. Text clear and entire on discoloured paper worn at the extremities. Central closed tears to the last four leaves, the closed tear to the last leaf being repaired with archival tape on the blank reverse. A production over which the author has taken great care, he having added two autograph footnotes, one of three lines and the other of two, on p.34. Note on p.37: 'The extraordinary length of this Discourse, being more than double that of Sermons usually printed, is the reason for its being sold at the additional price of one half. [i.e.

Handbill entitled 'The Recruiting Officer's Speech.'

Author: 
The Recruiting Officer' [evangelical Christianity; handbills; Salvation Army; George Brimmer, London printer; G. and I. Offer, booksellers; ephemera]
Publication details: 
[c. 1818] London: Printed by G. Brimmer, 15, Water-lane, Fleet-street; and sold by G. and I. Offer, Postern Row, Tower Hill, and J. Higham, 6, Chiswell Street.
£150.00

On one side of a piece of unwatermarked wove paper, 32 x 25 cm. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper. Attractively produced within a decorative border, with the title in gothic script and the text beginning in a single column before splitting into two. Printer's and publishers' details at foot, with advertisement of five works published between 1815 and 1817.

Three Autograph Letters Signed (all three 'W. Elwin') to historian Alexander William Kinglake (1809-1891).

Author: 
Whitwell Elwin (1816-1900), English journalist, editor of the 'Quarterly Review'
Publication details: 
1875, 1883, 1887; all three from Booton Rectory, Norwich.
£250.00

All three letters 12mo, and closely written. All three with rusted pinholes at head. A valuable correspondence, in which one of Victorian England's leading critics describes his response to the work of one of the age's foremost historians. LETTER ONE (1 page, 26 lines, good): He thanks Kinglake for sending his 'new volume' [of 'The Invasion of the Crimea']. 'I am reading it with great delight. The work to me is unique both in military & literary history.

The Irish Library. 1908-9. Vol. 2. The Fenian Movement: The Story of the Manchester Martyrs.

Author: 
F. L. Crilly [Justin McCarthy; Ireland; Irish; Eire; Fenian Movement]
Publication details: 
London: John Ouseley Ltd., 15 & 16 Farringdon St., E.C.
£150.00

8vo, 94 + ii pp. Stapled and in original green and white printed wraps. Advertisements on wraps, prelims and final leaf. Frontispiece portrait of Justin McCarthy (with transcription of a letter by him to Ouseley facing it) and double-sided plate (between pp. 32 and 33) carrying seven illustrations. A scarce item (no copy at British Library): chipped and worn on aged high-acidity paper. Described by the author as a 'narrative of probably the most powerful and far-reaching conspiracy the world has ever known'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Roberts') to 'Mr. Pibworth'.

Author: 
Frederick Sleigh Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts [Lord Roberts of Kandahar] (1832-1914), English soldier
Publication details: 
22 October 1909; on letterhead of Englemere, Ascot, Berkshire.
£45.00

12mo, 2 pp. Good, with minor staining and head, and traces of previous mount to blank second leaf of bifolium. He is sorry to learn that the 'Private Secretary, Mr. Harold Roberts' has rheumatic fever, 'a most painful disease' which 'usually lasts some time'. 'The poor lad will get over it, and ere long be quite himself again'. Lady Roberts is sending the boy 'some flowers'. When he is 'stronger, and would care to read', Roberts will send him 'a copy of my "Forty-one years in India".'

Circular letter, printed in facsimile of Wellington's handwriting; dated, addressed, and with the gaps filled in in Wellington's hand to Robert Aberdein.

Author: 
Arthur Wellesley (1769-1852), 1st Duke of Wellington, Anglo-Irish soldier and politician, the vanquisher of Napoleon Bonaparte [Robert Henry Aberdein (died 1860), Coroner for East Devon]
Publication details: 
31 July 1851; London.
£56.00

12mo, 3 pp. Good. Folded twice and with the blank verso of the second leaf of the bifolium a little grubby. A formal letter in the third person, declining to present a petition to the House of Lords, on the grounds that 'The Duke has no relation whatever with [Honiton]'. The date, and the words 'Mr Aberdein', 'Honiton', ', which he retains' and 'Robert Aberdein Esq' are in Wellington's hand.

Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed secretary of state.

Author: 
Colonel James Francis Erskine, of the Regiment of Swiss Chasseurs
Publication details: 
7 March 1783; 'Kensington gravell Pitts'.
£125.00

Erskine, who died in 1806, was the grandson of the 27th Earl of Mar. 3 pages, 8vo. In very good condition. The letter, addressed to 'your Excellency', concerns 'The Honble. Captain Cunningham who had resigned a Troop of Dragoons on the Irish Establishment to go upon Service with the same rank in my unfortunate Regiment of Swiss Chasseurs'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Leslie Rundle') to 'My dear General'.

Author: 
Leslie Rundle [Sir Henry Macleod Leslie Rundle] (1856-1934), British army officer
Publication details: 
31 July 1904; on letterhead of Government House, York.
£56.00

12mo, 3 pp. Good on lightly-aged paper. He has 'written to the necessary authorities' about his correspondent's son. 'Of course it will largely depend on which Slade [Lt-Gen. Frederick George Slade (b.1851), C.B.] says about him, as I do not know your son personally - though his record reads an exceptionally good one.' He is sorry to hear about his correspondent's brother's death: 'he was always very kind' to Rundle.

Indian Army Corps. Narrative of Events from 20th-30th November 1914.

Author: 
Indian Regiments in the First World War.
Publication details: 
[1914]
£95.00

Printed handbill, 2pp., 8vo, edge attached to card, bottom edge curled but text complete. At the top the words "N.B. This narrative of events is not to be taken into the trenches". Obviously an account of a German atttack dealt with and returned by Indian regiments, issued in this form for morale-boosting. Laid down on reverse printed Christmas greetings from Sir John French, Xmas Day, 1914 (a "Special Order of the Day"). Two items,

Autograph Note Signed ('Charles Oman') to unnamed correspondent.

Author: 
Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman (1860-1946), British military historian and Member of Parliament
Publication details: 
1 April 1930; on embossed letterhead of the House of Commons Library.
£25.00

One page, 12mo. Good but with paperclip spotting at head (not affecting text). Three-line quotation clearly sent in response to a request for an autograph. 'Broadmindedness, so called, is generally no more than the silly fear of being thought narrow-minded - | [signed] Charles Oman'.

Autograph Letter Signed to autograph collector 'Miss <Lull?>'.

Author: 
General Sir Francis Thomas Lloyd (1838-1912), British soldier
Publication details: 
9 October 1907; on letterhead of The Lawn, Walmer.
£40.00

Two pages, 12mo. Very good, on lightly creased paper. He is sending five autographs to add to her collection and is 'sorry not to have those of distinguished men of later dates but I am quite out of the service now'. Wonders if she knows his 'very dear friend General Nicholson who is living now at St. Andrews. He and his wife are among our dearest friends.' He 'saw the Godfreys last week - both well.'

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'.

Printed 'Regulations for the Admission of Gentlemen Cadets into the Royal Military College, near Bagshot. January 1st, 1852.' With one other printed item and four manuscript items relating to John Miller Dickson's attempt to join the British army.

Author: 
William Dickson; John Miller Dickson; General Henry Shadforth [Royal Military College, Bagshot; British army; military history]
Publication details: 
The printed 'Regulations' 1852; the other printed item is dated 1851; the four manuscript items between 1852 and 1854.
£125.00

The collection is in good condition, with occasional light creasing. The 'Regulations' ('ON HER MAJESTY'S SERVICE') consist of four pages printed on a folio bifolium. The other printed item, in facsimile handwriting, dated '15.11.51' (and dated in manuscript 'Horse Guards 1st.

Document Signed. In French.

Author: 
Bide de la Grandville, French military commander
Publication details: 
Lille, 8 Dec. 1733
£100.00

One page 8vo, some defects, but text clear and complete, body of letter in secretarial hand. De la Grandville asks the magistrates of the town o Lille to provide 140 "fournitures des lits, et de les faire places a la Citadelle pour cazerner les miliciens engage pour l'armee d'Italie, etant necessaire de separer des bataillons qui sont en garrison dans la ville . . ."

Autograph Signature ('Edward Lugard') on fragment of document.

Author: 
General the Rt Hon Sir Edward Lugard, GCB (1810-98)
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£20.00

Dimensions of paper roughly one centimetre by six wide. Close-cropped but clear and entire. On aged paper with traces of glue from previous mount on reverse.

Official circular in secretarial hand, with autograph signature, to Captain Brock, Assistant Quarter Master General, Brighton.

Author: 
Sir Robert Brownrigg
Publication details: 
Horse Guards 31st. May 1808.'
£185.00

British soldier and statesman (1759-1833); Governor of Ceylon, 1811-20; conqueror of the Kingdom of Kandy, 1815. Two pages, large octavo. In his capacity as Quarter Master General, Brownrigg informs Brock that 'the Establishment of Entrenching Tool Carts, and Tools attached to the several Regiments in Great Britain, shall cease on the 24th of June next, and that the Horses, Harness, and Carts used for carrying the Tools shall be forthwith Sold by Publick Auction.' Gives instructions for delivering over the 'Horses, Carts, and Harness'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Major General Sir John Murray.

Author: 
Charles Arbuthnot
Publication details: 
Docketed '25th Septr 1811'.
£95.00

Arbuthnot (1767-1850) was a diplomat and statesman; Murray (c.1768-1827) was a soldier. Three pages, quarto. Good, but creased and grubby on discoloured paper. Rust stain from paperclip and traces of previous mount on blank verso of second leaf of bifoliate. He has received Murray's letter.

Autograph Letter Signed to 'My dear Lady Honora'.

Author: 
Kenneth Alexander Howard, 1st Earl of Effingham
Publication details: 
No 56 Jermyn Street | April 15th 1838'.
£36.00

General and courtier (1767-1845). Three pages, 12mo. Folded twice. Good, but on discoloured, lightly creased paper. Difficult hand. Regarding the 'Talents & Acquirements' of a certain 'Captain Spiller'. 'I am much obliged to you for your kind Enquiries after Lady Howard, she is now on her Road to Yorkshire from Bath, where she has recently been.' Signed 'Howard'. Postscript: 'I only came to Town on Tuesday Evening. I will mention Captain Spiller to Lord Morpeth in the hopes that it may be of some avail.'

Typed Letter Signed to G[eorge]. K[enneth]. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Lieutenant-Colonel John Herbert Boraston [Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig; Earl Haig]
Publication details: 
27 June 1919; on letterhead 'G[eneral]. H[ead]. Q[uarters]. The Forces in Great Britain, | Horse Guards, | London, S.W.1.'
£45.00

English soldier and military historian (1885-1969). One page, quarto. Folded twice. Good, but with minor discoloration and some ink smudging along one edge (not affecting text). Bearing the Society's stamp. Replying, as Haig's private secretary, to a letter electing Haig a fellow of the Society. 'Sir Douglas Haig has asked me to thank you very much for your letter of the 25th instant and will be glad if you will convey to the Council and members of your Society his great appreciation of the honour they have done him.

Fragment of Autograph Letter Signed to 'Lt Colonel Buchanan - 9th Regiment'

Author: 
George Robert Gleig
Publication details: 
Without date or place, but docketed in pencil 'Garrison Chapel Portsmouth Oct. 1874'.
£28.00

Scottish 'Chaplain-General of the Forces' (1796-1888) and military historian. On piece of paper roughly 4 1/4 by 4 inches. Folded once. Very good. Reads 'Sincerely yours - | G. R. Gleig. | Lt Colonel Buchanan - | 9th Regiment' and on reverse '<...> the music of the Te Deum with which I was so greatly pleased, when I heard it sung by your Choir - You have got together an admirable body <...>'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Colonel Alexander Ross, Aide-de-camp to the Earl of Cornwallis.

Author: 
Patrick MacDowall-Crichton, 6th Earl of Dumfries
Publication details: 
31 March 1786; Edinburgh.
£100.00

Scottish nobleman (1726-1803). Ross (1742-1827; DNB), with Dundas, negotiated the surrender of Yorktown on Cornwallis's behalf. Two pages, quarto. Text entirely legible, but in poor condition, on stained, discoloured paper frayed at edges. Competently repaired with archival tape. Some loss to second leaf of bifoliate caused by breaking of seal. Unusually entertaining request in favour of his nephew, Lieut McCulloch of Bengal.

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