DIPLOMAT

[Sir Robert Ker Porter [‘Reynhold Steinkirk’], historical painter to Tsar of Russia, British consul in Venezuela; botany] Two Autograph Letters Signed to the Hon. Mrs Villiers, regarding the procurement in Venezuela of the ‘rarest seeds’.

Author: 
Sir Robert Ker Porter [pseudonym ‘Reynhold Steinkirk’] (1777-1842), Anglo-Irish artist, diplomat and author, historical painter to Tsar Alexander I of Russia, British consul in Venezuela [Villiers]
Publication details: 
ONE: 1 April 1830; Esher [England]. TWO: 18 October 1830; Caracas [Venezuela].
£380.00

Artist, author, diplomat and horseman, present at Sir John Moore’s death in Corunna, knighted by the king of Sweden, historical painter to Tsar Alexander, British consul in Venezuela: see the entry on this renaissance man in the Oxford DNB. Both in good condition, with folds for postage. Both signed ‘R Ker Porter’. The recipient (known to her family as the ‘Queen Bee’) was the widow of the Hon. George Villiers, who resided with her family at Kent House, Knightsbridge, home of her brother the Earl of Morley.

[Sir Henry Bulwer, diplomat and brother of the novelist Lord Lytton.] Autograph Letter Signed to Lady Theresa Lewis, explaining that he may find it difficult to attend her party, as he is dining at Buckingham Palace that night.

Author: 
Sir Henry Bulwer [William Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer, 1st Baron Dalling and Bulwer] (1801-1872), Liberal politician and British Ambassador to Spain, United States and Ottoman Empire [Lady Theresa Lewis
Publication details: 
No date. 36 Hertford Street [London].
£56.00

See his entry and hers in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, and folded for postage. Written in a not entirely straightforward hand (although very much much better than that of his brother the novelist Lord Lytton). Reads: ‘My dear Lady Theresa, / I am very much obliged by your kind remembrance of me and the very agreeable party to wh. you are so good as to invite me. / Very much indeed do I regret dining at Buckingham palace since I fear, [?], that I shall not be away in time to reach you at a decent time. If I can do so however you may quite see that I will. / Yrs.

[Sir Thomas Wyse, British Ambassador to Greece and husband of Napoleon's niece Princess Letizia Bonaparte.] Autograph Signature to valediction of a letter.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Wyse (1791-1862), Anglo-Irish diplomat, British Ambassador to Greece, husband of Napoleon's niece Princess Letizia Bonaparte
Sir Thomas Wyse
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£450.00
Sir Thomas Wyse

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 10.5 x 5 cm strip of paper, with thin mourning border, cut from the end of a letter. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with thin strip of glue from mount to one edge, and thin strip of paper laid down on reverse, with manuscript note 'Sir Thomas Wyse, Minister to Greece'. Strong stylish signature to valediction reading: 'I beg you to believe me / My Dear Lord / Sincerely Yrs. / Thos. Wyse'. Fragment of letter on reverse: '[...] truly at his discretion to go on [...]'.

[Sir Edward Malet, diplomat.] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Robert Head, regarding a dinner engagement at ‘Countess Brockdorff’s’.

Author: 
Sir Edward Malet [Sir Edward Baldwin Malet, 4th baronet] (1837-1908), British diplomat, Consul-General in Egypt, 1879-1883 [Sir Robert Garnett Head (1845-1907), 3rd Baronet, of Rochester]
Publication details: 
14 January 1893; on letterhead of the British Embassy, Berlin.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, and folded once for postage. With the item’s worn envelope, with ‘British Embassy, / Berlin.’ printed on the damaged flap, addressed by Malet to ‘Sir Robert Head Bt. / 97 Zimmer Strasse’, and initialed by him at bottom-left, ‘R B Malet’. The letter, which is signed ‘Edward B Malet’, begins: ‘Dear Sir Robert Head, / My wife will be very happy to take you and Lady Head to Countess Brockdorff’s on Monday at 3 1/2.

[Elihu Burritt, ‘The Learned Blacksmith’, American abolitionist, Abraham Lincoln's consul to Birmingham, England.] Autograph Letter Signed, agreeing to give a lecture in Shrewsbury, while urging that it be delivered in a ‘neutral place’.

Author: 
Elihu Burritt (1810-1879), ‘The Learned Blacksmith’, American abolitionist and temperance campaigner, appointed consul to Birmingham, England, by Abraham Lincoln
Publication details: 
‘35 Exchange / Birmingham [England] March 22 / 1857’.
£150.00

See Merle Curti’s 1937 edition of Burritt’s letters and journals, titled ‘The Learned Blacksmith’. He was in England from 1846 to 1853. 2pp, 12mo. On a bifolium. 33 lines of text. In fair condition, lightly worn and spotted, with minor traces of mount at one edge. Folded once for postage. The recipient is not named, and the letter is signed ‘Elihu Burritt’. He has mislaid the letter the recipient sent a few days before, inviting him to deliver a lecture, ‘in behalf of your cause, sometime in the beginning of May, I think’.

[Sir Stratford Canning, Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mr Lelane’ (sic, i.e J. T. Delane, editor of The Times), regarding the ‘hot water’ the ‘Sultan’ of Turkey finds himself in.

Author: 
Sir Stratford Canning [Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe] (1786-1880), diplomat, Envoy to the United States, Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire [John Thadeus Delane (1817-1879), editor of The Times]
Publication details: 
‘Grosvenor Square [London] / Friday Aug 19.’ No year, but seemingly written after his retirement in 1858.
£120.00

See his entry, and that of Delane, in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with neat remains of a windowpane mount adhering to the blank reverse of the second leaf. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr Lelane’ (sic) and signed ‘Stratford de R.’ Having heard that Delane was in town he writes to say that he was ‘gratified by the complimentary terms in which I was mentioned in the Times two or three days ago.

[Sir Charles Stewart Scott, diplomat, British Ambassador to Russia.] 'Private & most Confidential' Autograph journal of ‘Charles: S: Scott’, largely written while an attaché in Paris (Franco-Austrian War, 1859), also in Dresden and Copenhage.

Author: 
Sir Charles Stewart Scott (1838-1924), diplomat, British Ambassador to Russia, 1898-1904 [Franco-Austrian War (Second Italian War of Independence), 1859; American Civil War; Princess Alexandra]
Publication details: 
The first three-quarters from Paris, 18 June to 16 November 1859. The last quarter from Dresden and Copenhagen, 1860 to 1863.
£2,500.00

The papers of Sir Charles Stewart Scott (an Ulsterman: see his entry in the Ulster Dictionary of Biography) are held by the British Library. The present journal, described by its writer as ‘Private & most Confidential’, covers the very start of his career, from Paris in 1859 to Copenhagen in 1863.

[Sir Edward Malet, British diplomat.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mrs. Vaughan Williams’, explaining why he cannot accept her invitation, and sending tickets to ‘some tableaux vivants’ at the house of the Princesse Caraman-chimay.

Author: 
Sir Edward Malet [Sir Edward Baldwin Malet] (1837-1908), diplomat, successively Consul-General in Egypt, and British Ambassador to Belgium and Germany
Publication details: 
2 April 1884, on letterhead of the ‘Legation d’Angleterre’ (British Embassy in Brussels).
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. An area torn away at the head of the first leaf (with the loss of one word of text) has been skilfully repaired with archival paper; otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. He apologizes for being unable to ‘come to your at home tomorrow as I can not go to any parties till after the funeral of the Duke of Albany’. He asks her to ‘accept and make use of’ tickets ‘for some tableaux vivants which are to take place tomorrow night at the house of the Princesse de Caraman-chimay.

[Sir Claude MacDonald, soldier and diplomat in the far east; Japan] Two Autograph Letters in the third person to the Lord Mayor of London [Sir John Charles Bell], accepting luncheon invitations, one to meet ‘Prince Fushimi of Japan’.

Author: 
Sir Claude Macdonald [Colonel Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald (1852-1915), soldier and diplomat, British Minister to China and Korea, Consul-General to Japan [Prince Fushimi Sadanaru (1858-1923)]
Publication details: 
One on 8 March 1907; from 43 Augusta Gardens, Folkestone [Kent]. The other without date, but from May 1907; on letterhead of the United Service Club [London].
£90.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both items 1p, 12mo, and both in good condition, lightly aged, with slight evidence of previous mounting on the blank reverses. Both folded once for postage. Both letters during the tenure as Lord Mayor of London of Sir John Charles Bell (1843-1924). ONE (8 March 1907): ‘Sir Claude Macdonald has the honour to accept the kind invitation of the Lord Mayor to Luncheon on March 13th.

[Lord Lytton, diplomat; Ottoman] Autograph Letter Signed Henry L Bulwer, urging a speedy meeting.

Author: 
Henry Bulwer [William Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer (1801-1872), 1st Baron Dalling and Bulwer; Lord Lytton], diplomat, ambassador to Spain, United States, Tuscany, Ottoman Empire, brother of the novelist
Publication details: 
5 November [no year]. 8 James Street, Buckingham Palace [London].
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with neat ruled border from remains of windowpane mount. Folded twice for postage. Reads: ‘My dear Sir / I shall be at home tomorrow till two or will call on you any hour afterwds. do not delay the matter beyond this. / Yrs. very truly / H. L Bulwer’.

[J. L. Motley, American historian of the ‘Dutch Republic’.] Autograph Letter Signed to the editor of the Times of London, J. T. Delane, discussing his failing health and hope for a review of his latest (and perhaps last) work.

Author: 
J. L. Motley [John Lothrop Motley] (1814-1877), American historian of the ‘Dutch Republic’, and diplomat in Europe under Lincoln who helped prevent European intervention in the American Civil War
Publication details: 
‘Villa Meissonnier / Cannes / 3 Jany ’74’.
£90.00

A poignant letter. See Delane’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, with neat thin strip from Victorian windowpane mount adhering to edges of second leaf. Folded for postage. 32 lines, closely written. Presumably with reference to his ‘Life and Death of John of Barneveld’, Motley begins: ‘My dear Delane / Just before leaving England ten days ago in search of health (a fugitive very hard to catch) I begged Murray to send you a copy of a work which was to come out almost immediately.

[Henry Lytton Bulwer; Lady Blessington Circle] Autograph Note Signed Hy LB to Lady Blessington [Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (née Power;1789 – 1849), Irish novelist, journalist, and literary hostess], accepting an invitation.

Author: 
Henry Lytton Bulwer [(William) Henry Lytton Earle Bulwer, 1st Baron Dalling and Bulwer (1801 – 1872), Liberal politician, diplomat and writer.]
Publication details: 
No place or date. Address panel gives just The Countess of Blessington, so perhaps delivered by hand. See image
£45.00

One page, bifiloium crdudely repaired at margin, fold marks, wear and tear at edges, but text clear: My dear Lady Blessington | I shall have great pleasure in accepting your very kind invitation.

[‘There never was a better father and never one more loved’: Lord Napier while British Ambassador to the Netherlands.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'the Honble. George Elliott', praising his father the Second Earl of Minto on his death..

Author: 
Lord Napier [Francis Napier (1819-1898), 10th Lord Napier of Merchistoun and 1st Baron Ettrick, acting Viceroy of India [Admiral Sir George Elliott (1784-1863), son of the Second Earl of Minto]
Publication details: 
8 August 1859. The Hague [Holland].
£60.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, with slight discoloration along central fold. Large bold signature ‘Napier’. Addressed to ‘The Honble. George Elliott’, with salutation to ‘My dear Elliott’. As he does not know where Elliott’s sister Lady Dunfermline is ‘residing at this moment’, he is placing in Elliott’s hands ‘for transmission’ a letter from the wife of the Turkish ambassador at the Hague. He expresses to Elliott’s family his sympathy at the loss of their father.

[‘We are a sort of Brahmins’. Lord Napier, as British Ambassador to the Hague.] Long private Autograph Letter Signed (‘Napier’) to Sir George Elliot, discussing the ‘malignant atmosphere’ in Constantinople, Sir Hamilton Seymour, and diplomacy itself.

Author: 
[Lord Napier.] Francis Napier (1819-1898), 10th Lord Napier of Merchistoun and 1st Baron Ettrick, acting Viceroy of India [Admiral Sir George Elliot (1784-1863); Sir Hamilton Seymour (1797-1880)]
Publication details: 
‘The Hague / November 28th. 1860’.
£220.00

An excellent letter, in which a serving Victorian ambassador discusses the nature of diplomacy, and gives a vivid assessment of his former superior Sir Hamilton Seymour, whom he jokingly characterizes ‘the great Elchee’. See both men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 7pp, 4to. On two bifoliums. In good condition, lightly aged and with creases from folding into a packet. Minuted on reverse of last leaf. Addressed to ‘The Honble. George Elliot’ (he received his KCB in 1862) and headed ‘Private’.

[Sir James Craufurd [Sir James Gregan-Craufurd], diplomat. Autograph Letter in the third person, in French, to 'M. Dulau' [London foreign-language bookseller] ordering books required for 'le cours historique qu'il a commencé avec ses enfans'.

Author: 
Sir James Craufurd [Sir James Gregan-Craufurd] of Kilbirney, Stirling, 2nd Baronet (1761-1839), diplomat, British Ambassador to Denmark
Publication details: 
22 August 1806. Rushbrook Hall near Bury St. Edmunds.
£35.00

See his obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine, September 1839. B. Dulau & Co. was a firm of foreign language booksellers in Soho Square, London, founded by a Benedictine monk, Armand Bertrand Dulau, who had fled France during the revolution. 2pp, 4to. Thirty-two lines of text. In good condition, lightly aged, with stub from mounting adhering to one edge, and negligible damage at a corner. The letter begins: 'Sir James Craufurd prie M.

[Sir Robert Hamilton Bruce Lockhart, diplomat, author, secret agent.] Autograph Letter Signed ('R. H. Bruce Lockhart.') to Lloyd Humberstone, describing his book 'Your England' as a tribute to the 'broad-minded, tolerant, and humane' English.

Author: 
R. H. Bruce Lockhart [Sir Robert Hamilton Bruce Lockhart] (1887-1970), diplomat, author and secret agent [Thomas Lloyd Humberstone, Secretary, University of London]
Publication details: 
16 August 1935. On letterhead of 30 Douglas Crescent, Edinburgh, 12.
£45.00

1p, landscape 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He thanks him for his letter containing 'kind words about my book, Your England'. He did not expect anyone to agree with all he wrote in it. His aim in writing was 'to pay a tribute to the English who are the most broad-minded, tolerant, and humane of all the numerous peoples among whom I have lived.'

[Sir Robert Hamilton Bruce Lockhart, diplomat, author, secret agent.] Autograph Letter Signed ('R. H. Bruce Lockhart.') to Lloyd Humberstone, describing his book 'Your England' as a tribute to the 'broad-minded, tolerant, and humane' English.

Author: 
R. H. Bruce Lockhart [Sir Robert Hamilton Bruce Lockhart] (1887-1970), diplomat, author and secret agent [Thomas Lloyd Humberstone, Secretary, University of London]
Publication details: 
16 August 1935. On letterhead of 30 Douglas Crescent, Edinburgh, 12.
£45.00

1p, landscape 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He thanks him for his letter containing 'kind words about my book, Your England'. He did not expect anyone to agree with all he wrote in it. His aim in writing was 'to pay a tribute to the English who are the most broad-minded, tolerant, and humane of all the numerous peoples among whom I have lived.'

[Lord Salisbury's Foreign Office and 1897 insurrection in Crete.] Five Autograph Items by Sir Martin Gosselin of British Embassy in Paris, including drafts of private despatches to Salisbury on meetings with French Foreign Minister Gabriel Hanotaux.

Author: 
Sir Martin Gosselin, diplomat [Cretan insurrection of 1897; Lord Salisbury; Crete; Ottoman Empire; Gabriel Hanotaux; International Squadron; Admirals' Council; Great Powers; Greece]
Publication details: 
The five items written by Gosselin between April and November 1897, from the British Embassy in Paris.
£650.00

In January 1897 an insurrection by the Greeks in Crete led to the Ottoman Empire, of which it was still part, declaring war on Greece. The following month, as Turkish rule over the island crumbled, six 'Great Powers', including Britain, France, Russia and the Germans, despatched an 'International Squadron' of their ships to Cretan waters.

[British Embassy Medical Officer in Cold War Moscow and Bucharest.] Unpublished typed account by T. V. Humphreys of his journeys around Romania and Russia during five years of service, also describing medical aspects and 'Soviet methods of medicine'.

Author: 
Col. Thomas Victor Humphreys (b.1922), O.B.E., M.B., B.Ch., B.A.O, Royal Army Medical Corps, British Embassy Medical Officer at Moscow and Bucharest [USSR; Soviet Union; Iron Curtain; Russia; Romania]
Publication details: 
December 1952 to January 1953. Romania and the USSR (Russia). Russian locations: Moscow, Leningrad, Peterhof, Tsarskoe-Selo, Gatchina, Pavlovsk, Kharkov, Kiev.
£1,250.00

Biographical details regarding Humphreys are hard to come by. He features in two Times reports of the indisposition of the pianist Cyril Smith in Moscow in 1956 (8 May and 9 June). On his award of the OBE in the 1958 New Years Honours List he was described as 'lately First Secretary and Medical Officer at Her Majesty's Embassy in Moscow'. On his retirement in 1987 he was described as 'Col. T. V. Humphreys, O.B.E., M.B., B.Ch., B.A.O.

[Sir Stratford Canning [Lord Stratford de Redcliffe], diplomat.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Stratford de R.') to Lord Monteagle, giving his 'dog-latin' inscription for the tomb of the Duke of Wellington's brother Lord Wellesley ('Duke of Hindostan').

Author: 
Sir Stratford Canning [Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe] (1786-1880), diplomat and politician [Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley; Thomas Spring Rice [Lord Monteagle of Brandon]]
Publication details: 
'Gr: Sq:', i.e. Grosvenor Square, London. 4 August 1861.
£50.00

The four-line Latin poem in this letter by Lord Stratford de Redcliffe (better known as Sir Stratford Canning and cousin of Prime Minister George Canning) is apparently unknown, and certainly unpublished. The letter is 3pp, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice.

[Sir Edward Thornton, diplomat, as British Ambassador to Russia.] Autograph Signature ('Edwd. Thornton') to secretarial document, to T. W. Smyth of the West Hartlepool Shipowners Society, regarding 'excessive quarantine' at Russian Black Sea ports.

Author: 
Sir Edward Thornton (1817-1906), British Ambassador to the United States, Russia, and Ottoman Empire, Count of Cacilhas in the Portuguese nobility [ T. W. Smyth; West Hartlepool Shipowners Society]
Publication details: 
St Petersburg [Russia]. 17 September 1884.
£50.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with slight traces of glue from mount along inner edge of reverse of second leaf, which is endorsed and carries pencil notes. Folded once. Signed by Thornton, with the rest of the document in the hand of a secretary. The recipient is named as T. W Smyth Esq | West Hartlepool Shipowners Society'.

[Giuseppe Antonio Taruffi, Italian author, diplomat and chess player.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Taruffi'), in English, to 'a matchless Nobleman', regarding individuals including 'Canon Ghigiotti', 'Valiani, & Corallis', and 'the strangest varlet'..

Author: 
Giuseppe Antonio Taruffi (1715-1786), Italian author, diplomat and chess player
Publication details: 
Vienna. 18 April 1768.
£250.00

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Written in a clear and attractive hand. The recipient is not named. Begins: 'My dear & ever-honoured Friend! | Some business of great importance kept me nine days absent from this Capital. At my return I found your most obliging Letter of the 7th. instant, & was exceedingly delighted with your Kindness. You are indeed a matchless Nobleman.' He asks if the recipient is acquainted with Prince Charles of [Cunandia?], adding: 'I swear you knew the strangest varlet that ever was. It is pity.

[Sir Robert Liston of Millburn Tower, Scottish diplomat, Ambassador to the United States.] Autograph Letter Signed ('R. Liston.') to Lady Wedderburn, expressing grief on the death of his wife the botanist Henrietta Liston, Lady Liston.

Author: 
Sir Robert Liston (1742-1836), Scottish diplomat, ambassador to the United States, 1796-1800; his wife the botanist Henrietta Liston, Lady Liston [Lady Frances Wedderburn-Webster] (1793-1837)]
Publication details: 
Millburn [Millburn Tower, Ratho, Scotland]; October 1828.
£250.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. Written in response to a letter of condolence on the death of his wife. (See his entry in the Oxford DNB: 'On 27 February 1796 he married Henrietta [Henrietta Liston Lady Liston (1751–1828)], botanist, daughter of Nathaniel (d.

[Ivan Maisky, Soviet Union Ambassador to the United Kingdom during the Second World War.] Autograph Signature ('I. Maisky').

Author: 
Ivan Maisky [Ivan Mikhailovich Maisky] (1884-1975), Soviet Union Ambassador to the United Kingdom during the Second World War
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£100.00

On 6 x 7.5 cm slip of paper, laid down on a piece of card. In good condition, lightly aged. A good firm and large signature, reading 'I. Maisky'.

[ Count Friedrich Waldburg-Truchsess, Prussian soldier and diplomat associated with Beethoven and Napoleon. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Waldburg-Truchseß'), in French, congratulating 'Monsieur le Colonell Na<meyr?> and his wife on the birth of a son

Author: 
Count Friedrich Waldburg-Truchsess [ Friedrich Ludwig Truchseß Graf von Waldburg ] (1776-1844), Prussian soldier and diplomat associated with Beethoven and Napoleon Bonaparte
Publication details: 
[ The Hague, Netherlands. 14 March 1832. ]
£150.00

Waldburg-Truchsess appointed Beethoven Kapellmeister to the King of Westphalia when serving as the King's Chamberlain, and was one of the four Commissioners responsible for supervising Napoleon's exile in Elba. The letter is written on the eve of his return from the Hague, where he had been Prussian ambassador since 1827. 1p., 8vo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged paper with wear along one edge, and damage to second leaf caused by breaking of seal (not present).

[ Baron von Bunsen, Prussian diplomat. ] Autograph Note Signed ('Bunsen') to 'Mrs. Alexander', regarding 'Mr Gobah' letting her house.

Author: 
Baron von Bunsen [ Christian Karl Josias von Bunsen ] (1791-1860), Prussian diplomat, scholar, and theologian who supported the German constitutional movement
Publication details: 
[ London? ] 'Friday 19/6 [ 19 June, no year ]'.
£40.00

1p., 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Friday 19/6 | Dear Mrs. Alexander | One word to-day: Mr Gobah takes the house, on your terms. Pray, send the Inventory. More to-morrow. | Ever yrs | Bunsen'. Presumably written during Bunsen's long residence in London.

[ John Spencer Smith, diplomat, politician and writer. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. S. Smith. | president de la Société Linnéenne, vice prés. de celle des Antiqq. de Normandie, &c.'), in French, presenting two of his works to 'Mr. N[érée]. Boubée'.

Author: 
John Spencer Smith (1769-1845), FRS, British diplomat, politician and writer, President, Société Linnéenne de Normandie; Vice-President, Société des Antiquaires de Normandie; Nérée Boubée (1806-1862),
Publication details: 
'Caen rue des Chanoines 3'. 2 August 1835.
£45.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Addressed on reverse (with 'R.S.V.P.') to 'Monsieur N. Boubée | correspondant de la société linnéenne de Mormandie | Paris'. (Nérée Boubée, naturalist, Professor at the University of Paris.) He offers him two works: he is the 'compilateur' of the first, which is titled 'Souvenirs de Bayeux', and 'editeur-annotateur of the second, 'la biographie de Bochart', of which 'le texte est l'oeuvre d'un de mes fils'). It may be that in his reading of the two Boubée encounters 'quelques passages susceptibles d'être cités dans l'Écho du monde savant'.

[ William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick, politician and diplomat. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('W Hill') [ to Rev. Daniel Lysons ], inviting him to breakfast, and describing 'the pressure of business' [ at the legation at Naples ].

Author: 
William Noel-Hill, 3rd Baron Berwick (1773-1842) [ born William Hill ], British politician and diplomat [ Daniel Lysons (1762-1834), antiquary ]
Publication details: 
'Tuesday Eve | Novr <32?>'.
£150.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged. Note in contemporary hand on reverse of second leaf: 'Honble. Wm. Hill | Brirtish Minister at Naples to Revd Danl Lysons'. He has received Lysons's 'two notes & enquired at the time if your servant waited for my answers & was told that the servant was gone saying no answers were required'. Nevertheless he wishes to assure Lysons that 'we shall be ready for you on Monday but I trust you will have the goodness to excuse my joining your Breakfast party afterwards.

[ Bernard Gilliat-Smith (1883-1973), Romany scholar. ] Autograph Letter Signed (in full and as 'B G S') from Constantinople, including references to the hanging of the 'head eunuch', 'the new Selamlik' and 'prisoner solders' at the Seraskerat.

Author: 
Bernard Gilliat-Smith (1883-1973), Romany scholar and linguist [ Gypsy Lore Society ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Club de Constantinople, Pera [ Turkey ]. 30 April 1909.
£550.00

4pp., 12mo. Aged and worn with closed tears along fold lines. At the time BGS was in the consular service in Istanbul. The recipient (perhaps R. A. Scott Mafie) is not named, and the salutation is in Romany. The letter begins: 'I am about to feast the eve of tomorrow which is the eve of the next day by imbibing a large quantity of Whisky and Soda, first to see how much will be required to produce the desired effect. I am also streaming with a cold in the head due to a hammam last night. The Kurdish youth has left for his country: - many Kurds have been arrested & shot since you left.

[ Grenville Murray, journalist and diplomat. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('E C Grenville : Murray'), a letter of introduction to his solicitors, who are to arrange the valuation of the property of 'the late Count Duke of Aragon'.

Author: 
Grenville Murray [ Eustace Clare Grenville Murray ] (1824–1881), journalist and diplomat, illegitimate son of Richard Grenville, 2nd Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (1797-1861)
Publication details: 
B.2. Albany, Piccadilly [ London ]. 29 December 1868
£120.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, aged and worn. Reads: 'My dear Sir | Allow me to introduce to you Messrs.

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