COMMONWEALTH

[Harkness Fellowships.] Five Typed Letters Signed and one Autograph Letter Signed from Lansing V. Hammond of the Commonwealth Fund to Mark Bonham Carter, discussing the organization, cultural matters and death of his father William Churchill Hammond.

Author: 
[Harkness Fellowships] Lansing V. Hammond of the Commonwealth Fund of New York City [his father William Churchill Hammond (1860-1949), organist and choir master; Mark Bonham Carter (1922-1994)]
Publication details: 
ONE (ALS): 10 January 1948; on letterhead of the Hotel Durant, Berkeley. TWO to SIX (TLsS): 29 December 1948; 18 February, 9 June and 8 July 1949; 3 May 1950; all on letterhead of The Commonwealth Fund, 41 East Fifty-seventh Street, New York 22, N.Y.
£280.00

Lansing Van der Heyden Hammond (b.1906), son of the distinguished organist and choirmaster of Mount Holyoake College William Churchill Hammond, was for many years Director of the Commonwealth Fund Division of International Fellowships. For Bonham Carter, see his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present group of six items shed light on the 1940s administration of the Commonwealth Fund. They are in good condition, lightly aged and creased. The autograph letter is 1p, 12mo; the five single-spaced typed letters total 6pp, 4to. All six are signed ‘Lance’. ONE: ALS, 10 January 1948. 1p, 12mo.

[Sir Norton Knatchbull, parliamentarian and biblical scholar.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Norton Knatchbull') [to Sir Anthony St Leger?], repeating financial undertakings made regarding 'a covenant for securing of the land from Sr William Parkhurst'.

Author: 
Sir Norton Knatchbull (1602-1685) of Mersham Hatch, Kent, parliamentarian, Hebraist and biblical scholar [Sir William Parkhurst (d.1667), Warden of the Royal Mint; Sir Anthony St Leger (c.1605-1680)]
Publication details: 
'Munday night | Dec. 12. 1659'.
£220.00

This item appears to relate to the efforts of Sir William Parkhurst to raise money in order to pay fines and other demands made on him as a royalist by the Commonwealth. Parkhurst had served as Warden of the Royal Mint from 1623 until its seizure by Parliament in 1642, being deprived of his post the following year. By the time of the present letter his circumstances become so straitened that he was obliged to sell his family’s Kent estates, to which he had retired after the fall of Oxford in 1646.

[Sir Vivian Fuchs, Antarctic explorer.] Autograph Signature ('V. E. Fuchs | 1968') to illustration of the R. R. S. Shackleton, with anonymous typed note explaining why the picture was signed.

Author: 
Sir Vivian Fuchs [Sir Vivian Ernest Fuchs] (1908-1999),Antarctic explorer who in 1958 led the first expedition to cross Antarctica
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£45.00

8 x 12 cm illustration of a ship in polar waters, cut from book or periodical, with bold signature at bottom right: 'V. E. Fuchs | 1968'. Laid down on piece of white paper. In fair condition, but with slight bleeding of ink from signature towards foot of paper. Accompanying the item is an unsigned typed note by the recipient of the autograph, on a 4to piece of paper. It reads: 'Antarctic Crossing | The autograph of Sir Vivian Fuchs | The first crossing of the Antarctic continent was completed at 1.47 p.m. on 2 March 1958, after a 2,158 mile trek lasting 99 days from 24th Nov.

The Government of the Common-wealth of England, Scotland, & Ireland, And the Dominion thereto belonging [continued below]

Author: 
[ Oliver Cromwell ]
Publication details: 
London: Printed, by William du-Gard, and Henry Hills, Printers to His Highness the Lord Protector. MDCLIII (1653).
£400.00

[title continued] "As it was publickly declared at Westminster the 16. day of December 1653 . . . OLIVER LORD PROTECTOR of the said Common-wealth, took a Solemn Oath for observing the same." Wing (CD-ROM, 1996), G1456F ; Thomason, E.1063[5] Signatures: E2 F-L² chi¹. Issued separately and possibly also as part of a through-paged set. The last leaf bears "The oath taken by His Highness Oliver Cromwel, Lord Protector" signed (printed): O. Cromwell.

Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, 1921. ] Printed 'Report to the Governor [ of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Michael S. Dukakis ] in the Matter of Sacco and Vanzetti', with letter from the Governor's Press Office and photostat of pardon.

Author: 
[ Daniel A. Taylor, Chief Legal Counsel, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; the 1921 Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti; Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian-American anarchists ]
Publication details: 
Introduction by Daniel A. Taylor, Chief Legal Counsel, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Department, State House, Boston, dated 13 July 1977.
£135.00

[1] + 38pp., 4to. Stapled in brown printed wraps. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. In his introduction Taylor explains: 'The accompanying Report has been prepared under the auspices of the Office of the Governor's Legal Counsel in response to your questions: first, as to whether there are substantial grounds for believing - at least in light of the criminal justice standards of today - that Sacco and Vanzetti were unfairly convicted and executed, and, second, if so, what action can now appropriately be taken.

[ The Imperial Institute, London. ] Galley proofs of address by W. Martin Wood, with manuscript heading: 'On occasion of the reading of a paper on "the Imperial Institute & its advantages to India" by General Sir Orfeur Cavenagh K.C.S.I. [...]'.

Author: 
The Imperial Institute (established 1887), later Commonwealth Institute; East India Association; 1886 Colonial and Indian Exhibition; Sir Richard Temple; W. Martin Wood; Sir Orfeur Cavenagh
Publication details: 
'[...] before the East India Association. Sir Richard Temple in the chair'. [ The Imperial Institute, London. Circa 1887. ]
£80.00

Printed in a single column on one side of a piece of 64 x 15 cm piece of paper. Aged and worn, with a couple of holes at head causing loss to eight lines of text. Full heading in manuscript: 'On occasion of the reading of a paper on "the Imperial Institute & its advantages to India" by General Sir Orfeur Cavenagh K.C.S.I. before the East India Association. Sir Richard Temple in the chair'.

[Fayette County, Commonwealth of Virginia.] Manuscript attested copy of a grant of land from Beverley Randolph, Governor, to Richard Lee.

Author: 
[Beverley Randolph, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia; Richard Lee; Licking, Fayette County]
Publication details: 
[The Commonwealth of Virginia.] Original document dated 10 December 1790. Copy made in late nineteenth century.
£120.00

On one side of a piece of 40 x 32 cm paper. A printed form, completed in manuscript. Docketted on reverse: 'Richard Lee | 9240 acres | Copy Grant | Examd | fee 43 cents'. On aged high-acidity paper, with tears along crease lines repaired with archival tape. At foot, in manuscript: 'A Copy | attest | M M Foster RLO | By E. A. Macurdy D.R.' The grant is described over seventeen lines, the land referred to in the document being in the 'County of Fayette on the Main fork at Licking'.

[Fayette County, Commonwealth of Virginia.] Manuscript attested copy of a grant of land from Beverley Randolph, Governor, to Richard Lee.

Author: 
[Beverley Randolph, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia; Richard Lee; Licking, Fayette County]
Publication details: 
[The Commonwealth of Virginia.] Original document dated 10 December 1790. Copy made in late nineteenth century.
£120.00

On one side of a piece of 40 x 32 cm paper. A printed form, completed in manuscript. Docketted on reverse: 'Richard Lee | 9240 acres | Copy Grant | Examd | fee 43 cents'. On aged high-acidity paper, with tears along crease lines repaired with archival tape. At foot, in manuscript: 'A Copy | attest | M M Foster RLO | By E. A. Macurdy D.R.' The grant is described over seventeen lines, the land referred to in the document being in the 'County of Fayette on the Main fork at Licking'.

[Printed prospectus with 'Form of Application' completed in manuscript.] Prospectus of Commonwealth of Australia 4 1/2 Per Cent. 3 Years' War Savings Certificates.

Author: 
Commonwealth Bank of Australia; Commonwealth of Australia 4 1/2 Per Cent. 3 Years' War Savings Certificate; Lieut. J. Moss, Selborne Chambers, Howard Street, Perth
Publication details: 
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, 24th March, 1917.
£56.00

2pp., 4to. On worn and aged paper, unobtrusively repaired with archival tape. The prospectus is on one side of the leaf, headed in capitals 'Money obtained by the sale of war savings certificates will be used by the Commonwealth for war purposes only.' The reverse carries the 'Form of Application for Commonwealth of Australia 4 1/2 Per Cent. 3 Years' War Savings Certificate.' The form has been completed and signed by Lieutenant J. Moss, at Selborne Chambers, Howard Street, Perth, with an application for £875.

[British Colonies etc; booklet] The Royal School Series. Geography of the British Colonies, India, &c. With Maps.

Author: 
[Schoolbook]
Publication details: 
New Edition, London, Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1895
£120.00

Booklet, 42pp. (with 4pp. catalogue), 12mo, dec. papers wraps, sl. grubby and stained, contents good. COPAC and WorldCat appear only to list a microform of the First Ediiton (dated after 1881 by internal evidence).

Autograph Letter Signed ('Edw. Foss') from Edward Foss, author of 'The Judges of England', regarding the prosecutor of King Charles I, John Cook [Cooke], Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth. With page of extracts on Cook by the recipient.

Author: 
Edward Foss (1787-1870), legal writer and biographer, under-sheriff of London, 1827-1828 [John Cook [John Cooke] (c.1608-1660, Solicitor-General of the Commonwealth, prosecutor of King Charles I]
Publication details: 
Churchill House, Dover [Kent]. 15 December 1863.
£250.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium, with Foss's letter (33 lines) on both sides of the first leaf, and the page of extracts by the recipient (38 lines) on the recto of the second leaf. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with one corner of the first leaf cut away. The letter is addressed to 'My dear Sir', without any indication of the recipient's identity.

Syndicate content