CROFTON

Thomas Crofton Croker, Irish antiquary.] The long first part of an Autograph Letter to ‘Mr. Croker’ [unidentified], regarding the life of the poet Thomas Moore, whom he claims exhibits a ‘love for falsification upon all matters’.

Author: 
[Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854), Irish antiquary] [Thomas Moore (1779-1852), Irish poet and friend of Lord Byron]
Croker
Publication details: 
‘3 Gloucester road / Old Brompton / Thursday’. Pencil note states ‘2 June’ [1853].
£280.00
Croker

An interesting letter regarding the man who was regarded as Ireland's national poet before the appearance of William Butler Yeats. See Croker’s entry, and that of Thomas Moore, in the Oxford DNB. The former contains a paragraph discussing the association between the two men, the conclusion of which explains the context of the present item: ‘At the end of his life Croker (by his own account) was working on a biography of Moore, whom he termed 'an actor—a hypocrite—a swindler—a sensualist and a habitual liar' (Irish Book Lover, 50).

[Royal General Annuity Society, London, S. J. Aldrich, Secretary.] Printed ‘Lady’s Ticket’ to the ‘Anniversary Festival’ with impressions of ten wax seals of eminent Victorians, with names and dates in contemporary manuscript, laid down on reverse.

Author: 
Royal General Annuity Society, London, S. J. Aldrich, Secretary; Sir Denis Le Marchant; Sir Edward Crofton; Sir Stratford Canning; Sir John Cunningham; Sir Edward Kerrision; Sir James Graham
Seals
Seals2
Publication details: 
Ticket to ‘Anniversary Festival’ of the Royal General Annuity Society, at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate Street (‘George Hudson, Esq., M.P. in the Chair’) dated 16 February 1848. Seals variously dated to 1847, 1848 and 1850.
£120.00
Seals
Seals2

Not only an interesting item of sigillography, but also a nice item relating to Victorian philanthropy. Eight red wax seals and two black, of varying sizes. Laid down in three rows on reverse of 15 x 11 cm card, tastefully printed in blue, red and gold, with facsimile of the signature of the Secretary, S. J. Aldrich. Originally ten seals were present, those that remain in good condition, most with good impressions of crests.

[Samuel Carter Hall, editor of the Art Journal.] Autograph Letters Signed and Autograph Note Signed to ‘Crofton’, i.e. Thomas Crofton Croker, the letter regarding ‘the Palatines’ and the note a ‘certificate’ at ‘the Antiquaries’.

Author: 
Samuel Carter Hall (1800-1889), Anglo-Irish journalist and author, editor of the Art Journal [Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854), Anglo-Irish antiquary, folklorist; George Godwin (1813-88), architect]
Publication details: 
The letter undated [circa 1843?] and the note 27 February [no year]. Neither with place.
£75.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. Each item 1p, 12mo, on a bifolium. Both in fair condition, lightly aged, and both folded twice for postage. Both addressed to ‘My dear Crofton’. LETTER: Signed ‘S C H’. Presumably while working on ‘A Week at Killarney’, the book he and his wife published in London in 1843, Hall asks for ‘one or two morsels about the Palatines’ (see ‘Killarney’, pp. 78-79, a peculiar race of strangers): ‘Why were they planted in Ireland? - when precisely? by whom precisely’. NOTE. Signed ‘S. C. Hall’. ‘Godwin tells me the certificate is not “up” at the Antiquaries.

[Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854), Anglo-Irish antiquary.] Autograph Letter Signed (to the editor of the Gentleman’s Magazine, John Bowyer Nichols), regarding mistakes in an article on Winchester House, London, with reference to Thomas Baylis F.S.A.

Author: 
Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854), Anglo-Irish antiquary [John Bowyer Nichols (1779-1863), part-editor of the Gentleman’s Magazine; Winchester House; Thomas Baylis FSA, of Pryor’s Bank, Fulham]
Publication details: 
‘Admiralty [London] / 23rd. March 1839.’
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, on lightly discoloured paper, with thin neat strip from windowpane mount adhering to edges. Sixteen lines in a neat and stylish hand. Signed ‘T. Crofton Croker’. The recipient is not named, but is clearly John Bowyer Nichols, editor of the Gentleman’s Magazine, in whose number for April 1839 appeared an article, with engraving, by ‘E. I. C.’, on ‘Winchester House, Broad-street, London.’ Croker begins his letter: ‘My dear Sir, / I return E. I. C’s account of Winchester House.

[ Inscribed by author to Thomas Crofton Croker. ] Regal Records: Or, A Chronicle of the Coronations of the Queens Regnant of England.

Author: 
J. R. Planché [ James Robinson Planche ], F.S.A. Author of the "History of British Costume," &c. [ Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854), Irish antiquary ]
Publication details: 
London: Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand. 1838. [ Bradbury and Evans, Printers Extraordinary to the Queen, Whitefriars. ]
£120.00

xiv + 170pp., 12mo. Engravings ('cuts') in text. In publisher's brown ribbed cloth binding, with design of sceptre and crown in gilt on spine. Tight copy, on dusty and aged paper, in binding worn at head of the spine. Autograph inscription on reverse of frontispiece: 'T. Crofton Croker Esqr. | from his sincere friend | The Author'.

[ Edward Loomis Davenport, American actor. ] Autograph Letter in the third person, to T. F. D. Croker, praising his 'Dramatic Register'.

Author: 
Edward Loomis Davenport (1816-1877), American actor [ Thomas Francis Dillon Croker (1831-1912), son of Irish antiquary Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854) ]
Publication details: 
'T[heatre] R[oyal]. D[rury] Lane | Mar 19 [ 1853 ]'.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on aged paper. In envelope with Penny Red stamp and postmarks (including one dated 21 March 1853), addressed by Davenport to 'J F. D. Croker Esq | 3 Gloucester Road | Old Brompton'. He thanks him for sending 'his Dramatic Register of 52 (& one also 51 while in Scotland)', and congratulates 'Mr C upon the very excellent style in which he has put the facts together'. Also present are a cutting relating to Davenport, from the New York Albion, 24 February 1855, and a small engraved portrait of 'MR.

[Thomas Crofton Croker, Irish antiquary.] Autograph Letter Signed ('T. Crofton Croker') to Sir Francis Palgrave, giving an excuse for not replying to a dinner invitation.

Author: 
Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854), Irish antiquary and civil servant [Sir Francis Palgrave (1788-1861), born Francis Ephraim Cohen, English historian]
Publication details: 
Admiralty [Whitehall, London]. 16 January 1827.
£120.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on aged paper, with a closed tear along a fold line unobtrusively repaired with archival tape. Addressed at foot to 'F. Palgrave Esqr' (he would not be knighted until 1832), beside which Palgrave has written: 'Mr. Crofton Croker. | Author of Fairy Legends of the South of Ireland &c.' The text of the letter reads: 'My dear Sir | I ought to apologize for not replying to your invitation for Wednesday evening last. - My excuse must be that I did not return to town until yesterday and that your note reached me on Friday at Brighton.'

Manuscript 'Duplicate' letter, signed by Byam and Taylor, to the widow of Brigadier General Crofton Vandeleur, Commander of HM Troops on the island of Antigua, expressing 'Respect, and Gratitude'.

Author: 
[Edward Byam, President of the Council; John Taylor, Speaker of the Assembly; Brigadier General Crofton Vandeleur (d.1806), Commander of HM Troops; Antigua, West Indies, 1807]
Publication details: 
Antigua [West Indies]. 20 April 1807.
£280.00

2pp., 4to. Bifolium. In good condition on aged paper, with 2 cm closed tear. Addressed to 'Mrs Crofton Vandeleur' and dated 'Antigua April 20th 1807.' Headed 'Duplicate', and in a neat secretarial hand, but with the genuine signatures of 'Edward Byam | President of the Council' and 'Jno. Taylor | Speaker of the Assembly'.

Two Autograph Letters Signed to [Thomas Francis Dillon Croker].

Author: 
Thomas Wright
Publication details: 
2 and [7] March, [1856]; both from 14, Sydney Street, Brompton.
£95.00

English antiquary and archaeologist (1810-77). The recipient (1831-1912), son of Thomas Crofton Croker, was an Irish antiquary. Both letters one page, 12mo. Both grubby, discoloured and stained. The first with closed tear to one corner. LETTER ONE (dated from postmark on accompanying envelope addressed to Croker, with Penny Red stamp): He has 'Fairholt's letter safe, and, though I cannot put my hand on it this moment, I will take care of it for you.

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