DAVID

From the papers of Sir John David Rees, who served as Resident on three occasions between 1895 and 1898. For information on Rees, (see his obituary in The Times, 3 June 1922. The present eulogy should be evaluated in the light of another document among the Rees papers (offered separately), in which he states that 'Native rajas are unfit to be members of the House of Lords; even if they are found fit they will be of no use.' 4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn, with closed tear at head of gutter.

At the time of writing Finlay was Secretary to Government of India (Finance and Commerce Department, and Rees was Additional Member of Governor-General of India’s Council.In January 1897 the Madras region was in the grip of famine, and there was widespread disquiet in the province on rumours of an announcement in the forthcoming budget of the Government of India of the lowering of a financial subsidy.

ONE: Lady Wenlock's letter to 'My dear Mr. Rees'. 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. 'I am sure you could hardly be more glad that [sic] I was when I heard this appointment was satisfactorily settled. I was miserable at the prospect of you & Mary going on in the same routine here for months without this desireable [sic] change'. After all Rees's wife has 'gone through' it is particularly important for her to have a 'thorough change': it is inevitable that she should 'suffer from just now after so much sorrow & fatigue'.?>

[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.

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed 'To | The Honourable J. D. Rees C.I.E.'. He begins by tendering his 'sincerest congratulations' on Rees's 'election to His Excellency the Viceroy's legislative Council'. Rees has 'already given ample proof' of his 'innate love, wisdom and vigor [...] in the way of Indian progress and prosperity', and his 'well-merited elevation has thrown open […] more abundant opportunities to initiate measures of reform for Indian well being and stability'.

For information on Knowles see his entry in the Oxford DNB, and Priscilla Metcalfe's monograph (OUP, 1980). 1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. The handwriting is not entirely straightforward. He sends 'a thousand thanks' for Rees's 'admirable' article 'on Hindoo marriages', for which he is enclosing a cheque for twenty pounds. He hopes Rees approves of the title.

On Lord Connemara's resignation on 8 November 1890 after four years as Governor of Madras, the Madras Mail commented (4 December 1890) that his administration was 'a bright epoch in the annals of Madras'. The present letter, written a month after his resignation, is addressed to 'J D Rees Esq C.I.E.' 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and ruckled, with traces of glue from mount on blank reverse of second leaf.

1p., foolscap 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Tipped in onto a leaf extracted from an album. The document is in a secretarial hand, but is signed by Macpherson as 'Offg: Secretary to the Government of India'. It reads: 'No. 20. His Excellency the Governor General, under the authority rested in him by section 10 of the Indian Councils Act, 1861 (24 & 25 Vict., C. 67), and section 1 of theh Indian Councils Act, 1892 (55 & 56 Vict., C. 14), has been pleased to nominate Mr.

The three items are ruckled through removal from an album, and two have a layer of glue over one page. ONE: 5 September 1897. 4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. No signature: the first part of the letter only. The fourth page cancelled with blue pencil.

For information on Rees see his obituary in The Times, 3 June 1922. 2pp., foolscap 8vo. On the rectos of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with the second leaf tipped in onto a leaf extracted from an album. From Rees's papers, and written during Lord Lansdowne's viceroyship, 1888-1894, and Lord Rosebery's premiership, 1894-1895; hence in 1894. An extract from the corrected draft of an untraced newspaper or magazine article, showing marked antipathy to the native Indian population, their rights and aspirations.

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight staining at head of second leaf. Addressed to 'The Honble. Mr. J. D. Rees, C.I.E.' A long letter, beginning with an expression of pleasure at Rees's 'appointment as an additional Member of the Viceregal Legislative Council'. His wife and 'Chota Sheriff' join him in sending congratulations. He refers to a conversation in which it was 'casually wished' that Rees would 'become connected with the Viceregal Govt. though not by such an appointment as the present one.

1p., 4to. Bifolium. On aged and creased paper. Carnegie's letter is on the recto of the first person, with Spencer's instructions regarding the response as customary diagonally on folded over outer corner of the reverse. Spencer was First Lord of the Admiralty between 1794 and 1801. Carnegie begins by addressing 'Lord Spenser [sic]', and stating that he 'is sorry to trouble his Lordship again about Mr Moodie, whom he had the goodness to put on the list of Marine Expectants at Sir David's request'.

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight glue staining on blank reverse of first leaf. The letter begins: 'My dear Mr Rees. | I beg to congratulate you & myself on your elevation to a membership of the Viceregal Legislative Council – you on your well-earned elevation – myself on the pleasure of your companionship while at Calcuttah. [sic]' He is pleased to note that Rees's 'youth & the fact of your being comparatively a junior have not been regarded insuperable obstacles or unpardonable crimes'.

1p., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with traces of stub adhering to blank reverse. The letter begins: 'Mr Moir presents compts to Mr Marshall and returns best thanks for the two copies of the Pledge of Friendship, one of which he delivered as directed to H. M. who requests me in his name to return his acknowledgements. | Mr M.

The Indian Famine of 1896-1897 began in Bundelkhand early in 1896, and quickly spread to other areas including the United and Central Provinces, and the Bombay and Madras Presidencies. Over two years the famine affected an area of 307,000 square miles, and the mortality, both from starvation and accompanying epidemics, was very high, with around one million people dying as a result. The eighteen items in the present collection are from the papers of the Indian civil servant and author J. D. Rees, and are tipped-in and laid down on leaves from one of his albums.

1p., 4to. Written in purple ink. Aged, worn and creased, with slight damage from glue and stub adhering to blank reverse. Addressed 'To | The Hon'ble J. D. Rees, C.I.E., | Resident, Travancore & Cochin'. Pillai is 'preparing a series of Readers in Prose and Poetry for use in the classes of our Indian High Schools', having 'thought it fit to secure for the Indian Student the flowers of modern thought culled from the best productions of the eminent living authors, both European and Indian'.

2pp., folio. In fair condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering the reverse of the leaf, which carries the title, date and slug. The information is arranged in a table with 16 entries: six 'Official Members' and ten 'Non-Official Members'. Columns for 'No.', 'Name', 'Date of Nomination', 'Date of expiry of term of office', 'Province or body represented'. A mixture of English and Indian individuals. Some notes in small print at foot. From the papers of Sir J. D. Rees, who as 'J. D.

2pp., folio. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with stub adhering to margin on reverse of leaf. An artefact of the Great Game, from the papers of Sir J. D. Rees. Printed beneath the letterhead are the words: 'READ the following paper: -', with the word 'paper' deleted. A manuscript table, certified as a 'True Extract' with the signature of the Chief Secretary of the Government of Madras ('Order 15th. January 1894 No. 27. | Communicated to Mr.

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and browned paper, with traces of mount adhering on reverse. He complains that he is being blamed for his work, when the skin has been sent to him was in a 'rotten', 'putrefied' and 'decomposed' state: 'I tried my best with it. If the skin were given to me soon after it was stripped the hair cannot wear out […] With all my best possibility with it I could not rectify the smell. The mistake is not on me but it is in the condition when it was given to me.' He boasts that he is 'known here as one who could do a best work. If not gentlemen will not engage.

6pp., folio. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of stub adhering to inner edge of reverse of last leaf.

3pp., folio. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Excessively scarce: no copy of this item (nor of anything else by Row) on either OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC. The poem is a capable effort, two hundred numbered lines long, arranged in fifty quatrains.

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly aged paper, with traces of grey paper mount adhering to the blank reverse of the second leaf. The letter is signed 'Osman. Jah.', but in the whole letter only the word 'Osman.' and its underlining flourish, would appear to be in the future Nizam's handwriting, the rest having been written by an amanuensis. The book which is the subject of the letter is presumably Rees's 'Lord Connemara's Tours in India, 1886-1890', which had appeared earlier in 1892.

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with slight spotting to extremities. A candidate for the recipient of the letter is David Thomson, whom Doyle wrote was 'photographing me writing at my table' in South Norwood on 18 November 1891, and had Conan Doyle write to him and other friends about asking at a library for "Micah Clarke" (revealed in his letter of 26 Feb. 1889, to Mary Doyle).

36 items, in fair overall condition, with some evidence of age and wear. ONE: Manuscript tables of trials, presumably in Torrens's autograph, apparently of Vacheron Constantin chronographs. 8pp. in landscape 8vo, with a final page folding out to large 4to. With additions in red ink and pencil. On nine leaves, wrapped in grey paper and stitched together. In fair condition, aged and worn. On front cover in pencil: ''Dr. Torrens | Dr. Torrens'. Dated at head of first page 25 April 1912, with heading: 'Best Vacheron trial movt.

2pp., 8vo. He will send copies of his reports to 'Dr. Henslow at an early date'. He continues: 'I very much regret that your most admirable work is meeting with so little encouragement and will do what I can by giving you my name for your publication under the titles of "Plants generally" & "Plants in Classifying Groups'. He concludes by discussing his 'Paper on Peach yellows', which 'seems to have been quite opportune here as our edition of 1000 is nearly exhausted.?>

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Sir | I beg to thank you for a copy of your Greek Anthology which I shall deposit as your gift in the Hall Library of this Society.' Macgregor is not named, but the item comes from a batch of his papers. His 'Translations from the Greek Anthology' was published without date in London by Nissen and Parker. Macbride oversaw the move (completed in 1822) of Magdalen Hall from alongside Magdalen College to the site of the defunct Hertford College, after which it was renamed in 1874.

Three items, aged and somewhat creased. Scott-Elliot's book was privately printed by Douglas in 1897. Aaron Marshall Elliott was founder of the Modern Language Association and founding professor of Romance Languages at Johns Hopkins University. ONE: ALS from 'David Douglas' to Elliot. 2 October 1900s. 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium.

1p., 8vo. On aged and worn paper. Laid out in the usual style, with printed text completed in manuscript. Records a payment of £12 10s 0d to the 'Ministers and Elders Of the French Church of St Martin Orgars of London as Assigned by Margin', and signed at foot by 'James Eynard Minister', 'David Durand Minister', and elders 'Jno Bonnet', 'Matthew Clarmont', 'Philip Rigail' and 'Peter De Visme junr'.

1p., 8vo. In poor condition, aged and worn, with loss to edges and holing around the signature. Begins (with manuscript text in square brackets): 'The [-9] Day of [ffebry] <...> | Received by me [Daniel Malthus] | [Execd as P Margin] | Of the Right Honourable Robert Earl of Northampton, One of the Four Tellers of His Majesty's Receipt of Exchequer, the Sum of | [Fifty Pounds] | [...]'. The annuity has been raised on 'Rates and Duties upon all Wines imported into Great Britain, and for raising a certain Sum of Money for the Service of the year 1745'. According to T. R.

55pp., 8vo. Stapled into printed grey-card wraps. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, in aged and worn wraps with rusted staples. The author (employing a pseudonym?) writes with journalistic energy. The title is sarcastic, the author's opinion being that 'Wilson and Lloyd-George could, by supporting Clemenceau, have clipped Germany's wings for generations, if not for ever, but refused to do so'. Foreword by 'R.