DOWNING

[William Frere, Master of Downing College, Cambridge.] Autograph Letter Signed to Captain Munby, ‘respecting a house at Yarmouth’.

Author: 
William Frere (1775-1836), Master of Downing College, Cambridge, jurist and editor
Publication details: 
Sergeant’s Inn [London], 7 February [paper watermarked 1819].
£50.00

2pp, 4to. Bifolium, annotated on second leaf ‘Mr Sargt. Frere’. Watermark: ‘STAINS & CO | 1819’. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘Captain Munby &c &c’, and signed ‘William Frere’. He apologises for not answering sooner ‘the communications I have been honored with from you respecting a house at Yarmouth’. He has been in London, where he has suffered ‘some uncertainty as to accepting or declining the offer’.

[The Archbishop of Westminster writes to the Prime Minister.] Envelope addressed in Autograph by Henry Edward Manning to William Ewart Gladstone in Downing Street.

Author: 
Cardinal Manning [Henry Edward Manning] (1808-1892), Roman Catholic prelate; second Archbishop of Westminster, 1865-1892 [William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), Liberal Prime Minister]
Publication details: 
Postmarked 15 January 1873. Envelope with printed address on flap: 8 York Place, W. [London]
£30.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. Empty 12 x 9.5 cm envelope. In fair condition, lightly aged and a little grubby, with ink from postmark on the reverse. Reads: ‘Private / The Right Honble / W. E. Gladstone / M P. / &c &c &c / Downing Street / S. W’. Two postmarks, one (‘W / 26’) over the envelope’s self-printed pink stamp. In a Victorian hand, at bottom left: ‘(Abp Manning)’.

[Anne Chamberlain, wife of British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.] Autograph Note Signed on her Downing Street calling card, thanking the recipient and ‘Major Cripps’ for ‘lovely carnations’.

Author: 
Neville Chamberlain’s wife Ann Chamberlain [Anne de Vere Chamberlain (née Cole), 1883-1967); Arthur Neville Chamberlain, British Prime Minister (1869-1940), widely condemned as an appeaser of Hitler]
Chamberlain
Publication details: 
No date, but calling card with printed address ‘Downing Street, / S.W.1.’ and so during her husband’s premiership, 1937 to 1940.
£80.00
Chamberlain

On 11.5 x 7.5 cm calling card. In good condition, lightly aged. The calling card is printed in copperplate font, with the name ‘Mrs. Neville Chamberlain.’ centred, and the address ‘10, Downing Street, / S.W.1.’ at bottom left. Two lines of the inscription are written above the name and the rest beneath. Reads: ‘Thank you so [sic] & Major Cripps so much for those more lovely carnations which I appreciated so much. / Anne Chamberlain’. See image.

[Catherine Gladstone, wife of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Cath Gladstone’), asking the editor of a newspaper to publish something of hers.

Author: 
Catherine Gladstone [née Glynne] (1812-1900), wife of Liberal prime minister William Ewart Gladstone
Publication details: 
‘Downing St. / Saturday.’ On cancelled letterhead of 21 Carlton House Terrace, S.W. [London]
£50.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB, where she is described as a ‘philanthropist’. 2pp, 12mo. With mourning border. A 4cm triangle of paper has torn away from the bottom of the letter, far below Mrs Gladstone’s slightly-smudged signature, otherwise in good condition, lightly aged and folded twice. Reads: ‘Downing St. / Saturday / Dear Sir. / You have often encourage me to appeal to you upon matters of charity. it will be very kind if you will give the enclosed [a] place in your Paper. / Yours truly / Cath Gladstone’.

[George Arbuthnot, civil servant, as Private Secretary to Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Charles Wood.] Autograph Letter Signed ('G. Arbuthnot') to unnamed editor, sending for publication a corrected copy of speech in reply to motion by Disraeli.

Author: 
George Arbuthnot (1802-1865), senior civil servant [Charles Wood (1800-1885), 1st Viscount Halifax, Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer]
Publication details: 
Downing Street [London]. 7 April 1849.
£50.00

According to his entry in the Oxford DNB, Arbuthnot 'served as private secretary successively to seven patronage secretaries; to the permanent head of the department, Sir Charles Spearman, and his successor, Sir Charles Trevelyan; to the prime minister, Sir Robert Peel; and to Sir Charles Wood, chancellor of the exchequer in Russell's administration'. The present item was written by Arbuthnot while holding the last position. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Laid down on part of a leaf from an album.

[ Lord Henry Petty, Chancellor of the Exchequer. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('H Petty') to the President of the Board of Trade Lord Auckland

Author: 
Lord Henry Petty [ Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne ] (1780-1863), Chancellor of the Exchequer [ William Eden (1745-1814), 1st Baron Auckland ]
Publication details: 
Downing Street [ London ]. 6 March [1806 or 1807].
£65.00

2pp., 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Should Auckland's statement become 'the subject of enquiry' it will be deemed 'perfectly satisfactory', there being 'no question as to the right of appointing a deputy, altho' there might be aas to the reduction of his salary, which was the circumstance referred to me'. The subject is one which must 'necessarily come within the view of the Committee of Finance, whose observations upon every public department it is my anxious wish that we may be enabled to anticipate'.

[ George William Spencer Lyttelton, private secretary to William Ewart Gladstone. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('G W Spencer Lyttelton'), on Gladstone's behalf, to 'Mrs B<owen?>' of the Midland Association for the Promotion of Kindness to Animals.

Author: 
George William Spencer Lyttelton (1847-1913), private secretary to British prime minister William Ewart Gladstone [ Midland Association for the Promotion of Kindness to Animals, Birmingham ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 10 Downing Street, Whitehall [London]. 10 December 1883.
£32.00

2pp., 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. In fair condition, aged, and with traces of mount adhering to the blank second leaf. He writes that Gladstone has asked him to thank her for sending 'the illustrated cards' issued by the Association, 'and to say that they appear to him to be suitable for the very good purpose you have in view'.

[Violet Attlee, wife of the Prime Minister Clement Attlee.] Autograph Note Signed ('V H A') at head of Autograph Letter from Downing Street secretary E. J. Sayer, apologising for a mistake.

Author: 
Violet Helen Attlee [née Millar] (1896-1964), Countess Attlee, wife of Clement Attlee (1883-1967), 1st Earl Attlee, Labour Prime Minister; Elizabeth Sayer, later Cooper, Downing Street secretar
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Prime Minister. Sayer's apology: 30 March 1950. Violet Attlee's reply on the same day.
£65.00

1p., on 20.5 x 8.5 cm slip, headed by the Prime Minister's official letterhead. Sayer's apology is headed 'Mrs Attlee', and she writes that she feels she 'must apologise in writing for the mistake I made over the arrangements for giving your two seats to the Misses Trevor', hoping that it did not cause inconvenience and promising not to do the like again. Violet Attlee's reply, headed 'Miss Sayer', is at the head of the letter: 'Please don't worry. It is quite a relief to me to find that somebody besides myself makes mistakes! | W H A 30/3'.

Autograph Letter Signed from the Member of Parliament for Norfolk Thomas de Grey of Merton Hall near Thetford, regarding the supply of 'a pipe of Port and a Hogshead of Calcavalla [sic]', and 'a Hogshead of Sherry'.

Author: 
Thomas de Grey (1717-1781) of Merton Hall near Thetford, Member of Parliament for Norfolk from 1764 to 1774 [fine wine]
Publication details: 
'Merton' [i.e. Merton Hall, near Thetford, Norfolk]. 15 December [no year].
£80.00

2pp., 4to. Bifolium. Fair, on aged paper. De Grey begins: 'You have very much obliged me by accepting a small Present of Game, and many of my neighbours as well as myself will rejoyce in your Correspondent supplying me with a pipe of Port and a Hogshead of Calcavalla, [sic] if a Hogshead of Sherry could be procured without any additional trouble, it would add to the Obligation'.

Printed paper on 'Occupation', giving the position on 'annexation' and 'settlement' of a 'civilised State' in international law, with a section on 'The West African Conference of 1884-1885', and a reference to 'the original uncivilised inhabitants'.

Author: 
[Thomas Joseph Lawrence (1849-1920), Fellow and Tutor of Downing College, Cambridge, and authority on International Law; The West African Conference of 1884-1885]
Publication details: 
Without date or place. [Cambridge. 1890.]
£150.00

A significant document, providing a clear exposition of the late-Victorian colonialist position on the two branches of occupation: annexation and settlement. Untraced. T. J. Lawrence of Downing College is the probable author, as the section on 'annexation' also features in his 'Handbook of Public International Law' (1890). 1p., 8vo. Printed in landscape on one side of a piece of unwatermarked laid paper. In fair condition, lightly-aged and creased. The document begins: 'Occupation in International Law applies only to territory not previously held by a civilised State.

Autograph Letter Signed to [Dorothy] Owston-Booth.

Author: 
Ishbel Macdonald (1903-1982), hostess at Downing Street of her father the British Prime Minister Ramsay Macdonald
Publication details: 
30 September 1936; on letterhead of Upper Frognal Lodge, Hampstead, NW3.
£56.00

4to, 1 p. On cream paper with letterhead printed in green. Fair, on lightly spotted and creased paper. She cannot make an appointment for an interview 'for various reasons [...] The chief reason being that I do not give interviews'. Owston-Booth was a contributor to the Windsor Magazine.

Autograph Signature ('W E Gladstone') on frank, addressed to Guillemard at 11 Downing Street.

Author: 
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), British Liberal Prime Minister [Sir Laurence Nunns Guillemard (1862-1951)]
Publication details: 
Without date.
£25.00

The front cover of the envelope, 9.5 x 12 cm, cut away and laid down on a ruled piece of paper cut from an autograph album. A little grubby, but good. Reads 'L N Guillemard Esq | 11 Downing St. | [signed] W E Gladstone'. Signature approximately 4.5 cm long, and underlined.

Typed Letter Signed ('R. L. S. Bruce-Mitford') to Miss Robin Place.

Author: 
R. L. S. Bruce-Mitford [Rupert Leo Scott Bruce-Mitford] (1914-1994), archaeologist and art historian [T. D. Kendrick [Sir Thomas Downing Kendrick]; the British Museum]
Publication details: 
14 October 1947; on letterhead of the Department of British and Medieval Antiquities, British Museum, London.
£28.00

4to: 1 p. 22 lines. Text clear and entire on lightly aged and creased paper, with one 1.5 cm closed tear (not affecting text). Congratulating Place on her 'Assistant Principalship'. He considers she was 'very wise to take the opportunity'. He has discussed 'the house-key question with the Keeper [T. D. Kendrick]', who regards Saturday afternoons 'as a sacred time reserved for peaceful work, undisturbed by ones colleagues'. Consequently 'it would be rather difficult to accommodate you as a helper on Saturdays and after your week's work at the ministry'.

Science at Cambridge, by Dr. Monckman. (Of Downing College.)

Author: 
[Dr James Monckman of Downing College, Cambridge; Bradford]
Publication details: 
Cambridge - Deighton, Bell & Co., Trinity Street. Bradford - Honorary Secretaries of the Scientific Association, - Mr. J. Skelton, Crossley Hall; Mr. Wm. Pickles.' [J. Green, Printer, &c., 311, Manchester Rd., Bradford.] [1888]
£95.00

8vo: 16 pp. Unbound and stitched. On brittle, discoloured paper chipping at extremities and with the first and last leaves detached from one another. All but the first four pages consisting of a 'list of Original Papers, published by resident members of the University during the years 1886 and 1887', compiled to indicate the 'extent to which the country is indebted to the endowments of the University'. Including works by J.J. Thomson, Francis Darwin, George Darwin. Scarce: no copy in the British Library and the only copy on COPAC at Cambridge University Library.

Two Autograph Letters Signed ('M Asquith' and 'Margot Asquith'), both to the Editor of the London Daily Graphic Harold Edward Lawton.

Author: 
Margot Asquith [Emma Alice Margaret Asquith] (1864-1945), Countess of Oxford and Asquith
Publication details: 
3 and 8 December 1920; the first on letterhead of 44 Bedford Square, London W.C.1, and the second on letterhead of The Wharf, Sutton Courtney, Berkshire.
£100.00

Both items written in pencil and good, on lightly aged paper, with their stamped and postmarked envelopes addressed by Asquith. Both envelopes with traces of brown paper mount adhering to reverse, and both docketed by the Graphic's editor 'To me Harold Lawton'. Letter One (12mo, 4 pp, headed 'Private'): Amusingly outraged letter regarding a visit by 'two gentlemen' of whom Asquith 'had no sort of knowledge'. Graphic journalists, they assured Asquith 'that nothing wd. be written about me without my seeing it first [last five words underlined in red]'.

Thirty-one secondhand booksellers' catalogues (one a duplicate).

Author: 
Bickers; Alfred Cooper; W. Downing; T. Gladwell; W. George; Kerr & Richardson; C. Lowe; Uriah Maggs; J. Mathews; J. Neale; Parry & Hales; W. Paterson; Reeves & Turner; J. Roche; H. Sotheran; H. Young
Publication details: 
1880-1882; London, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool, Manchester.
£450.00

all octavo, in worn nineteenth-century binding, with front hinge loose, lacking spine. New endpapers. All items good, on aged paper with occasional foxing. An invaluable collection, providing a snapshot of secondhand bookselling in provincial Victorian England within an extremely short timescale. Several of the booksellers are not represented in the British Library collection, and others are only represented by catalogues of a later date. Of note are the two catalogues published by Sotheran's Manchester arm, the existence of which is not mentioned in Andrew Block's 'Short History' (1933).

Manuscript debenture, signed 'Macclesfield' and 'Walpole'.

Author: 
George Parker (c.1697-1764), 2nd Earl of Macclesfield, astronomer; Robert Walpole (1701-1751), 2nd Earl of Orford (as Baron Walpole)
Publication details: 
3 November 1741; [Whitehall].
£56.00

Two pages. On piece of paper roughly five inches by nine wide. Aged and with a few nicks, but good overall. Seven lines, beginning 'Debentur Carolo Duci St. Alban Magro Austrag Dni Rs [...]'. 'Letter Money' in margin. Various docketings cross-wise on reverse, including signature of 'Jno: Bidleson' ('John Bidleson Atto. Int. J Dawson') and sums totalling £343 2s 6d.

Autograph Letter in the third person to 'Mr. Amory'.

Author: 
Nicholas Vansittart, 1st Baron Bexley
Publication details: 
Downing Street | January 22d. 1821.'
£30.00

English Chancellor of the Exchequer (1766-1851). One page, 4to. Formal letter in the third person. Very good, with remains of brown-paper stub adhering to the verso of the blank second leaf of the bifoliate. 'Mr. Vansittart presents his Compliments to Mr.

Autograph Note Signed to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Henry Dundas, Viscount Melville
Publication details: 
Downing Street | Saturday. 12. O Clo | 2. 3. 1799'.
£65.00

Scottish advocate and statesman (1742-1811). One page, quarto. Bifoliate on good laid paper watermarked 1798. Grubby and somewhat ruckled, and with small printed notice neatly pasted in bottom right-hand corner. 'My Dear Sir | I have your letter, and should be glad to see you before you see Lord Liverpool or any other Person. Will you dine with me tomorrow. | Yours sincerely | Henry Dundas'.

Autograph Letter Signed by Primrose to R. F. Ford, together with fragment of letter in Primrose's hand [as Peel's secretary?], signed by Peel.

Author: 
[11 DOWNING STREET, WHITEHALL] Arthur Wellesley Peel, 1st Viscount Peel, and Sir Henry William Primrose
Publication details: 
Primrose's letter, 25 November 1873, and the fragment undated; both on letterhead '11, Downing Street, | Whitehall.'
£45.00

Peel (1829-1912) was a Liberal politician and Speaker of the House of Commons. Primrose (1846-1923) was a Privy Councillor, Secretary to Gladstone and Speaker of the House of Commons. Both items are 3 pages, on 16mo bifoliates. Both are creased and discoloured. Between 1873 and 1874 Peel was Patronage Secretary to the Treasury. The exchange apparently concerns an election or by-election in Exeter.

Autograph fragment signed to an unnamed correspondent,

Author: 
Sir Robert Peel (1788-1850), Tory prime minister
Publication details: 
without date or place, but docketted in pencil "D[ownin]g. S[tree]t. 1812".
£25.00

A piece of laid paper, 4 inches by 2. "<...> humble Servant / Robert Peel". Grubby and with minor discoloration from previous mounting.

Note signed to Blundell Maple,

Author: 
Sir Stafford Henry Northcote, 1st Earl of Iddesleigh
Publication details: 
July 1885, with letterhead 10 Downing Street, Whitehall.
£25.00

Conservative politician (1818-87). 2 pp, 12mo. In the handwriting of an amanuensis. "I have promised Mrs Moncrieff, the writer of the enclosed letter, to mention the name of Silas to you. / If you could see your way to meeting her wishes, I should feel grateful to you on her behalf. I am not personally acquainted with Mr. Silas." Signed "Iddesleigh". Creasing from paperclip, and with four pieces of gummed paper adhering to the recto of the blank second leaf.

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