CHARLES

2pp, 4to. On leaf tipped-in onto a piece of light-green card from an album, at head of which is attached a printed slip: 'BARENTIN C. L. F. de P. | Born 1738. Died 1819. | KEEPER OF THE SEALS TO LOUIS XVI.' The letter is undated, but the year '1789' has been added in pencil in a nineteenth-century hand. (That same year, following the Storming of the Bastille, Barentin was dismissed by the king.) Nineteen lines of closely-written text. Addressed at bottom left of first leaf to 'M le P Gl' (Monsieur le Procureur général?).

All three 1p, landscape 12mo. All in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: 9 December 1974. He thanks him for 'the invitation […] But as I'm teaching full-time here now, this would be very difficult to arrange as far as schools visits would be concerned. (I asked the Arts Council to take my name off the schools list, but they don't seem to have done so).' He suggests a 'reading during the holiday break, perhaps. One aimed principally at adults, I mean.' The 'London Poetry Secretariat/Arts Council link-up' might 'provide some kind of subsidy'.

The present letter dates from the time of the appearance of the first volume of Napier's 'History of the Peninsular War' (1828-1840), and in it Napier criticises the recently-published rival 'Story of the Peninsular War by the late Marquess of Londonderry; with continuation by G.R.

2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with fold lines. Annotated up one margin: 'Writer of Travels &c'. Andersson writes: 'Dear Mr. Blackett, - | I enclose a literal translation of a paragraph extracted from one of the best Swedish newspapers, by which you will see that the King has honoured me with a medal. If you think that this paragraph may be of any use to you when advertising the 2d. Edition of “Lake Ngami”, it is quite at your service. Of course you may put it any [sic] language you may think proper. | Yours faithfully | Chs. J. Andersson.' Apparently a scarce autograph.

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. She asks Adams to inform her 'what day has been fixed for the Committee in the Vane Estate Bill' (in which she clearly has a family interest), continuing: 'When the Duke of Marlborough saw Mr Adam with Lord Redesdale last night he understood that Tuesday next was the day on which he was to be present in order to give his consent to the Bill; he has since heard from Mr. Wagstaff to say that Friday or the following Monday will be the earliest day on which the Bill can be committed.

1p, 4to. In fair condition, aged and worn, in worn windowpane mount removed from album, with several folds. The recipient is not named. Begins: 'Sir/ | I received yours of the 19th and should have answered it by return but I having also written on that day was the answer to it – I now ask can you send it down by the Mail either on the Saturday or Sunday the 23 or 24 if not all the play the 2 first Acts. I wish to have the parts written out quick as possible or I shall not be able to get it played on the Monday the 2nd of May'.

[7]pp, 8vo, paginated [161]-167. Preceded by photographic plate of 'The Shackleton Memorial' (on the outside of the Royal Geographical Society, London), on art paper. Stitched into blue printed wraps. In good condition, lightly aged. Begins: 'At the invitation of the Memorial Committee the company assembled in the Hall of the Society at 3 p.m. On Saturday 9 January 1932. | The Most Honourable the MARQUESS OF ZETLAND, Chairman of the Memorial Committee, addressing the President of the Society, said: | […]'.

The four items are in good condition, lightly aged. Both letters signed 'Emily Shackleton'. ONE: ALS, 26 April 1922. 2pp, 4to. On paper with mourning border. Written three months after Shackleton's death (5 January 1922), of a heart attack, while moored at South Georgia with the Shackleton-Rowett Expedition. She begins by thanking Mrs Gray for her 'kind letter' and 'the Rosemary'.

2pp, 16mo. Bifolium, with the letter on the recto of the first leaf, and a long postscript on the recto of the second. In good condition, lightly aged, folded twice. A friend of Charles Dickens and his circle, and physician to Queen Victoria's uncle Prince Leopold, Quin founded the London Homeopathic Hospital in 1849. The letter invites Quin to 'dine with us on Tuesday the 23rd. Inst at a quarter before seven o' clock'. The pith is in the two postscripts: 'P.S.

Catherine Macready was the author of 'Leaves from the Olive Mount' (1860, dedicated to her father), 'Cowl and Cap; or, The Rival Churches' (1865) and 'Devotional Lays' (1868). She worked among the Cheltenham poor, died on a voyage to Madeira, and was buried at sea. 2pp, landscape 8vo. Aged and worn, and folded several times. Tipped in onto part of a leaf of thick paper removed from an album. A pencil note at the head of the first page of the poem states: 'My Sister Anne Saumarez', and another pencil note at the end of the poem reads 'Kate Macready'.

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of mount adhering to one edge, folded several times. 'Mrs. Macready' in a contemporary hand at the head of the page. Written in a neat hand the letter reads: 'Mrs. Macready presents her compliments to Mr. Kenneth, - any Letters directed to Mr. Macready Theatre Royal Birmingham will find Mr. Macready until Saturday Morng. 24th Inst.'

[8] + 200pp, 8vo. In light-brown wraps with title repeated on front cover. Worn, on aged paper, with the upper back few leaves dogeared, and spotting at foot of first few leaves. The present proof must in some regard differ from the published version, whose various listings on COPAC give it 200pp, rather than the 199pp here. Lewis's two-page 'Introductory' concludes with a vivid picture of the Inklings: 'The first two chapters had been read aloud by the author to Professor Tolkien and myself.

A highly interesting letter from a leading Victorian dramatic critic (Thomas describes himself in the letter as 'For five & twenty years [...] theatrical critic of the Daily news & the Graphic', who has 'served under at least thirteen editors') to a leading actor-manager (Hare was knighted in 1907), on the subject of alleged editorial pressure on Fleet Street's theatre critics. 4pp, 8vo. On four leaves. Aged and worn, but with text complete and clear.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn, with traces of mount to blank reverse of second leaf. After explaining his reasons for being unable to keep an appointment with Chepmell that morning, Reeve writes: 'I have been to Black & White twice but have not been able to find the Editor in.

Two Air Mail letters, both in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Both letters are addressed to Beloe (author of the 1960 Beloe Report - education at The Hill House, Queen's Road, Richmond, Surrey. The subject of the two letters is a letter from George Washington to Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie, Belvoir, 7 March 1754, beginning ''Honble. Sir | If the Vessel you Honour hir'd of Colo. Eyre has not left York'. The letter is now at Mount Vernon. ONE: Hotson's letter, signed 'Leslie Hotson'. 29 January 1955. 1p., 12mo.

1p, 12mo. On unwatermarked laid paper. In fair condition, aged and spotted, with stub from mount adhering. In a seventeenth-century hand, and simply consisting of the poem and its title 'The Earle of Rochester on Sr Car Scroope'.

Charles Chilton's 'Journey into Space', BBC Radio.Byron Rogers, writing in the Sunday Express, 12 March 1989: 'On a budget of £180 a week a genius called Charles Chilton wrote and produced the best science fiction drama ever.'Chilton writes in his autobiography: 'It is difficult for a generation reared on television to realise how important radio was and how much it was talked about and reviewed in the press. […] By Episode 10, Journey into Space numbered between five and six million weekly listeners.

No other copy of the present document, which was privately printed by Her Majesty's Stationery Office for Grey, as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, has been discovered. It certainly pre-dates the first publication of the dispatch in 1851. The dispatch is of high significance, being Grey's own explanation of the 'details' of a highly-significant 'measure' in the history of the Australian constitution. [12]pp, foolscap 8vo.

3pp., foolscap 8vo. On a bifolium of laid paper. In fair condition, aged and worn. The first poem, 'Balooning [sic]', covers both sides of the first leaf. No evidence has been discovered that this poem was ever published, but it is inspired by the exploits of 'Mr. Green' in a humorous essay titled 'Ballooning', which appeared in Charles Dickens's 'Household Words' on 25 October 1851. The choice of two phrases ('pipes & backy' and 'Mounted Meershaums') is given in the present manuscript, these variants perhaps suggesting that this item is authorial rather than a transcription.

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. With Cruikshank's splendid sprawling signature. Addressed to 'C. Le Motte Esq' and beginning: 'Sir, | Professor Wheatstone did not lay the wire across the Thames as he proposed to do, on account of the “Trawling” in that River and also finding some trouble in obtaining permission from the Lord Mayor – as “Conservator of the Thames” - In 1840 he had all the plans and apparatus ready – and in 1844 he in company with the Member for Swansea [i.e.

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. A gentle, humorous and characteristic letter to a friend, featuring two self-portraits. (Hemy and Cope had been elected to the Royal Academy on the same day, 4 May 1910.) The letter begins with some doggerel by Hemy, dressed up by him as a quotation from a '16 Cent[ur]y song': 'My youthful years are past | My dining days are done | My life it may not last | For me there's no more fun.

All three letters with their seals in red wax, the first two intact and the third damaged. All addressed to 'Mrs Evelyn | St Clere'. Gossipy, energetic and characteristic letters. The references to Lady Frederick Campbell date the letters to before her death in a fire in 1807. ONE: Letter written on 'Monday', and signed 'H Stanhope'. 5pp., 12mo. Bifolium and single leaf, the latter acting as the envelope, with text on one side and address with seal on the other. The letter begins: 'You will think I fear my dear Mrs Evelyn there is no end to my eternal scribbles.

Five black and white prints, all laid down on mount and in glass frame. Later prints (1940s) rather than the early silver gelatin ones. Each with manuscript caption at foot of mount, and Negative Number written in manuscript on reverse of frame. Each print in excellent condition. All five behind glass in worn plain black frames. From the papers of Charles Chilton, the creator and producer of the influential BBC Radio series 'Journey into Space' (1953-1958), which numbered among its admirers Stephen Hawking and Colin Pillinger.

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly creased. Reads: 'Dear Charles | I spoke to Walter Shenson about your script. The Beatles have decided they do not want to do a Western after all, so he is returning the script to us. It is as simple as that.' Shenson had produced the Beatles' films 'A Hard Day's Night' (1964) and 'Help' (1965).

A significant document in the history of BBC Television, casting valuable light on production practices and internal procedure in the years following the end of the BBC's television monopoly. From the papers of distinguished producer Charles Chilton (1917-2013), best known for his radio series 'Journey into Space' and association with the Goon Show. The present item relates to the first of the BBC Television Training Courses.

On one side of a 38 x 24 cm piece of wove paper with watermarked date 1828. In fair condition, lightly worn and creased. The engraving is roughly 21 cm square, and shows three figures gathered around a table, their arms tangled as they reach forward to sign a document.

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to 'Leicester Buckingham Esq'. Bentley writes that the matter of Buckingham's life of Mary Queen of Scots is 'just now brought to [his] attention'. 'If you are passing this way any day between 12 and 2 o'C you will be sure to find me, or my son, who will be able to discuss the subject with you'. He finds that he 'paid to Mr Wageman for a copy of the Miniature of the Queen executed for yuou at your desire, £3 . 3. 0', and asks to be sent this.

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Addressed to 'Dear Dr.' and written in a neat and close hand. He gives a 22-line transcription of 'the extract [] from my vol[um]e. on Lead, p.177, published in 1870', headed 'Refining or Cupellation'.

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Charles W. Dilke. | Emilia F. S. Dilke | Newnham | 10 June | 1891'. Written after the celebrated Crawford Scandal of 1886, which resulted in Dilke losing his seat in parliament, and becoming a music-hall figure of fun as a result of the revelations of his adulterous behaviour.

1p., 12mo. In fair condition. He has 'from week to week been purposing a visit to you to express my gratitude & sincere thanks for your kindness to me & the cure you accomplished'. He can only write his thanks, having been overwhelmed by 'the arrears of work that followed my illness', and leaving for Paris the following day.