EMPLOYMENT

[ Victorian campaign for a national system of labour exchanges. ] Printed pamphlet: 'A National Labour Bureau with Affiliated Labour Registries, and the Evidence given thereon before the Royal Commission on Labour.'

Author: 
E. T. Scammell, Honorary Secretary of the Exeter and District Chamber of Commerce [ Victorian campaign for a national system of labour exchanges ]
Publication details: 
Published by A. Wheaton & Co., Booksellers, Fore Street, Exeter. 1893.
£120.00

16pp., 8vo. Stapled pamphlet. Aged and worn, with all text intact. Dedicated 'To | Nathaniel Lewis Cohen, Esq., | Founder of the First | Free Labour Registry | in England.' The text begins: 'A National Labour Bureau, with Affiliated Labour Registries, | Is one of the pressing needs of the time.

[ John Player & Sons, tobacco manufacturers. ] Six substantial ledgers of itemised and audited accounts of the firm's Dublin plant ('Summary of Stock. No. 1', 'Private Ledger No. 2', 'Private Journal No. 5 [6]', and two 'Impersonal Ledger').

Author: 
John Player & Sons [ Player's ], tobacco and cigarette manufacturer, based in Nottingham, now part of the Imperial Tobacco Group: the firm's Dublin cigarette manufacturing plant, 1924-1960
Publication details: 
John Player & Sons, Dublin, Ireland. The ledgers dating from between the firm's foundation in Ireland in 1924 and 1960.
£2,500.00

Six substantial ledgers (the heaviest 37 x 41 x 8 cm, and the widest 39 x 52 x 3 cm), containing itemised accounts providing a mass of information regarding the tobacco industry and economic history in Ireland, and one of Dublin's notable employers, whose sales in the 1950s were in the tens of millions. (On 9 December 2004 the Irish Times described the closure of the plant as marking 'the end of an era'. The firm's first Dublin factory, at 56-75 Botanic Road, was constructed by G. & T. Crampton in 1923, and is now the Botanic Business Centre.

[ The Original Society of Papermakers, Maidstone. ] 72 printed items

Author: 
The Original Society of Papermakers, Maidstone, Kent [ James Bourke and R. Robertson, Secretaries ]
Publication details: 
Mainly printed by R. W. Burkitt, Maidstone, Kent. Three dating from 1901, the other 69 from between 1920 and 1929.
£450.00

An interesting collection of material relating to trades unions in the paper industry, and a scarce survival. The University of Birmingham, which holds a small collection of pre-twentieth-century material relating to the Original Society of Papermakers, notes that 'Few records have survived, including papers kept by chance and found within later correspondence'.

[ Richard Oastler, factory reformer. ] Autograph Letter Signed to his daughter Maria, wishing her a happy new year from the Fleet Prison, and describing the meal he has eaten there.

Author: 
Richard Oastler (1789-1861), abolitionist, factory reformer ('The Factory King') and Tory radical
Publication details: 
'The Queen's Prison [i.e. the Fleet Prison ] | Jany. 1. 1843.'
£150.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, with slight damage to corners caused by removal from album. For the context of the letter, see Oastler's entry in the Oxford DNB, which explains that he was nearing the end of a three and a half year sentence at the Fleet Prison, for 'debts accumulated during his stewardship at Fixby', the charge being a 'Pretext', his 'campaign against the new poor law' having proved 'incendiary'. The letter begins: 'Maria! | This comes from thy own Papa, to wish thee a Happy new Year.

[ Pamphlet. ] The Socialist Propaganda and The Drink Difficulty.

Author: 
James Whyte [ United Kingdom Alliance, Manchester and London ]
Publication details: 
United Kingdom Alliance. Manchester: 16, Deansgate. London: 15, Gt. George Street. 1894.
£56.00

31pp., 12mo. Disbound without covers. On aged and discoloured paper. Begins: 'Certain of the propagandists of Socialism teach their disciples that the economic condition of the industrial classes would be no whit improved by the total abandonment on their part of harmful drinking and other wasteful practices, inasmuch as the money thereby saved would, by the operation of an "iron law," inevitably be deducted from wages or added to rent. Is this sound doctrine? Let us see.' Scarce: no copy in the British Library.

[ Pamphlet. ] Why Men Strike or, Strikes and how to get rid of them. A Lecture by Dr. Edward McGlynn.

Author: 
Dr. Edward McGlynn [ The Anti-Poverty Society, New York ]
Publication details: 
London: William Reeves, 185, Fleet Street, E.C. [ Circa 1889. ]
£80.00

14 + [2] pp., 12mo. Disbound without covers. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. 'Delivered under the auspices of the Anti-Poverty Society at the Cooper Institute, New York, on Sunday, March 3, 1889, for the benefit of the Street-Car Drivers and Conductors out of employment through the late strike.' Scarce: the only copy on COPAC in Oxford.

[ Pamphlet. ] The Facts about the Unemployed. An Appeal and a Warning. By One of the Middle Class.

Author: 
'One of the Middle Class' [ 'H. H. C.' ]
Publication details: 
London: The Modern Press, 13, Paternoster Row, E.C. and W. L. Rosenberg, 261, East Tenth Street, New York City. 1886.
£65.00

16pp., 12mo. Disbound without covers. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Signed in type at the end 'H. H. C.' At foot of reverse of title: 'The Writer will be glad to hear from anyone who agrees with his conclusions.' Scarce.

[ Pamphlet. ] Wrongs that require Remedies, Being the first of four Lectures delivered in the West End of London during June, 1887, by H. H. Champion.

Author: 
H. H. Champion [ Henry Hyde Champion (1859-1928), socialist and journalist ] [ The Aberdeen Standard ]
Publication details: 
Aberdeen: Published at the Aberdeen Standard Office. 1893.
£45.00

15pp., 12mo. Disbound without covers. In good condition, on aged paper. The second page (reverse of title) carries a list of 'Pamphlets by the same Writer, on Labour Questions. Now Ready (Sept., 1893.)' and is headed: 'NOTE - This Pamphlet contains the substance of an address to an audience of wealthy people in St. James's Hall, Piccadilly, in the middle of the London Season in the Jubilee year.' Scarce. For more on Champion, see his entry in the Oxford DNB.

[ Pamphlet. ] An Eight-Hour Law.

Author: 
H. H. Champion [ Henry Hyde Champion (1859-1928), socialist and journalist ] [ The Aberdeen Standard ]
Publication details: 
Aberdeen: Published at the Aberdeen Standard Office. 1893. [ 'Printer: JAMES BLAIR, 15 St. Nicholas St., Aberdeen. ]
£45.00

[16]pp., 12mo. Disbound without covers. In good condition, on aged paper. Scarce. For more on Champion, see his entry in the Oxford DNB.

[ Pamphlet. ] The Position of the Agricultural Labourer in the Past and in the Future. By an Agricultural Labourer.

Author: 
'An Agricultural Labourer' [ also 'A. W.' ]
Publication details: 
London: William Reeves, 185, Fleet Street, E.C. Publisher of Works on Land, Labour, Capital, &c
£80.00

63pp., 12mo. Disbound without covers. In fair condition, on aged paper. Signed in type at end 'A. W.' First page of text headed: 'The state of the Farm Labourers and Labourers generally, and their wants, adn theh neeed there is of an alteration in the present Land System.'

[ Robin Wallace, British artist in the Second World War. ] Ten items including three Typed Letters Signed from Arnold Palmer of the Committee on the Employment of Artists in Wartime, Pilgrim Trust Grant, and the War Office and Ministry of Labour.

Author: 
Robin Wallace (1897-1952), English landscape artist [ Arnold Nottage Palmer (1886-1973), artist and arts administrator; the Committee on the Employment of Artists in Wartime, Pilgrim Trust Grant ]
Publication details: 
Palmer's three letters on letterheads of the Committee on the Employment of Artists in Wartime, Pilgrim Trust Grant, The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London. Also items from the War Office and Ministry of Labour.
£200.00

Wallace, a well-known painter of landscapes and still life subjects in oil and water-colour, was born at Kendal in the Lake District and studied in Kensington at the Byam Shaw and Vicat Cole School of Art. He exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1922, and at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters, the Royal Institute of Watercolour Painters, and with the Lake Artists' Society. He was a full member of the Royal Society of British Artists. The present collection casts an interesting light on the efforts of a good English artist to be of use to the war effort. Ten items.

[Female labour in Victorian factories; printed pamphlet.] Lord Brougham on Factory Legislation. Reprinted, by kind permission, from the "Examiner" of May 2nd, 1874.

Author: 
F. H. A. Hardcastle; Lord Brougham [Henry Peter Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778-1868)] [Vigilance Association for the Defence of Personal Rights; Anthony John Mundella, Factory Bill, 1874]
Publication details: 
Vigilance Association for the Defence of Personal Rights. ['Frederick Bell & Co., Steam Printers, King's Road, Chelsea.'] [1874.]
£50.00

4pp., 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, disbound, with evidence of side stitching and damage at foot of spine.

[Female suffrage; printed pamphlet.] Nineteenth Annual Report of the Society for Promoting the Employment of Women, in connexion with the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science, April, 1878.

Author: 
[Society for Promoting the Employment of Women, London] [women's suffrage; Victorian feminism]
Publication details: 
[Society for Promoting the Employment of Women, London.] Office: 22, Berners Street, Oxford Street. [1878.]
£200.00

29pp., 8vo. Containing: list of officers (pp.3-4) 'Rules' (p.5), 'Annual Report' (pp.6-18), 'Donations and Subscriptions' (pp.19-22, headed by 'Her Majesty the Queen' with a £50 donation and ten guinea subscription), list of 'Life Members or Donors of £5 and upwards' (pp.23-28), and 'Cash Account, March 25th, 1878' by the auditor Joseph Biggs (p.29). Topics in the report include 'Plan Tracing Office, | 42, Queen Anne's Gate', 'China Painting', 'Engraving on Wood', 'Clerks and Book-Keepers' and 'Commercial School for Girls, | 41, Regent Square'.

[Printed pamphlet.] Association of Technical Institutions. Paper read at the Annual General Meeting, Friday, 26th February, and Saturday, 27th February, 1937, on "Some Aspects of Education for the Printing Trades".

Author: 
J. Cameron Smail, O.B.E., F.R.S.E. (Heriot-Watt College, Edinburgh) [H. Schofield, Principal, Loughborough College, and Hon. Sec., Association of Technical Institutions]
Publication details: 
Copies may be obtained from the Honorary Secretary, Principal H. Schofield, M.B.E., Ph.D., B.Sc., A.R.C.Sc., Assoc.M.Inst.C.E., M.I.Mech.E., Loughborough College, Loughborough. [Echo Press, Ltd., Loughborough.] [1937.]
£30.00

21pp., 8vo. In beige printed wraps. In good condition, on lightly aged paper, with slightly rusted staples, in worn and chipped wraps. With shelfmarks, stamp and label of the Board of Education Reference Library, London.

[Printed parliamentary paper.] Employment of School Children Committee. Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on the Employment of School Children, appointed by H.M. Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department [Chas. T. Ritchie].

Author: 
[Employment of School Children Committee; British parliamentary report, 1901; Houses of Parliament; child labour]
Publication details: 
Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of His Majesty. London: Printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office, by Wyman and Sons, Limited, Fetter Lane, E.C. 1901.
£50.00

25pp., foolscap 8vo. Stitched. On worn and aged paper. With shelfmark, stamp and label of the Board of Education Reference Library, London. Title-page headed in manuscript: 'OUT OF PRINT'.

[Printed parliamentary paper.] Employment of Children Act Committee. Report of the Departmental Committee on the Employment of Children Act, 1903, appointed by His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department [H. J. Gladstone].

Author: 
[Employment of Children Act; British parliamentary report, 1903; House of Commons; child labour; street trading]
Publication details: 
Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of His Majesty. London: Printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and Spottiswoode, Ltd., Printers to the King's Most Excellent Majesty. [10 September 1910.]
£50.00

23pp., foolscap 8vo. Stitched. On aged and worn paper, with short closed tear to first leaf at foot of spine. Shelfmarks, stamp and label of the Board of Education Reference Library, London. Purple stamp on reverse of first leaf: '10 SEP 1910'. Divided into three sections: Warrants of Appointment; Majority Report; Minority Report. The 'Majority Report' section under the following main headings: Origin and Course of Inquiry; General Results of the Investigation; Remedies and Recommendations; Summary of Recommendations and Conclusions. A large part of the document discusses 'Street Trading'.

[Printed item.] A Classification of Vocational Tests of Dexterity.

Author: 
Amalie E. Weiss Long and T. H. Pear [Medical Research Council, Industrial Health Research Board (Formerly The Industrial Fatigue Research Board)]
Publication details: 
Report No. 64. London: Printed and Published by His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1932.
£80.00

iii + 71pp., 8vo. Stapled. In pink printed wraps. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Numerous sections under three main headings: Discussion of Skill; Vocational Psychology; Psychological Tests of Skill and Manual Dexterity. Five copies on COPAC, but uncommon nevertheless.

[Industrial Fatigue Research Board, Medical Research Council and Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, London.] Printed item: 'Reports of the Industrial Fatigue Research Board. No. 10. - Preliminary Notes on the Boot and Shoe Industry.'

Author: 
[J. Loveday, 'Investigator to the Board', Industrial Fatigue Research Board, Medical Research Council and Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, London] [S. Munro]
Publication details: 
'(Boot and Shoe Series No. 1.)' London: Printed and Published by His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1920.1
£80.00

32pp., 8vo. Stitched. In pink printed wraps. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. With label, stamps and shelfmarks of the Board of Education Reference Library. Divided into four sections: 'Historical Sketch, by J. Loveday, B.A.', 'Description of Processes, by J. Loveday and S. H. Munro', 'Daily Records of Output, by J. Loveday and S. H. Munro' and 'An Experiment with Best Pauses, by J. Loveday'. Five copies on COPAC, but uncommon nevertheless.

[The Factory and Workshop Act, 1901.] Large printed Government 'abstract', headed 'WORKSHOPS. | FACTORY AND WORKSHOP ACT, 1901.' and mainly consisting of an 'Abstract | As prescribed by the Secretary of State, of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1901.'

Author: 
[The Factory and Workshop Act, 1901.]
Publication details: 
'Form 4. | (January 1902.)' 'may be obtained, either directly or through any Bookseller, of Eyre & Spottiswoode, East Harding Street, Fleet Street, E.C.; or Oliver & Boyd, Edinburgh; or E. Ponsonby, 116, Grafton Street, Dublin'.
£180.00

Printed on one side of a piece of 76 x 55 cm paper. In good condition, lightly-aged. At head of document the words 'Official Notice' and the royal crest. Folded into a 22 x 9.5 cm packet, docketted on reverse 'Statutory Notice | and | Workshop and Factory Acts'. The document begins with 'Notices. | To be filled up and signed by the Occupier.', followed by the 'Abstract', in two columns of small type, under the sub-headings 'Sanitation", 'Accidents', 'Employment and Meal Hours', 'Holidays', 'Outworkers', 'Piece Work.

Printed handbill headed 'Tradesmen wanted. Join the Royal Engineers of the Territorial Army Field Force and make use of your technical knowledge.' With 'Rates of Pay during Training or on Service' for twenty-one trades.

Author: 
[The Royal Engineers of the Territorial Army Field Force; London Divisional Engineers, Duke of York's Headquarters, King's Road, Chelsea, London; British Army]
Publication details: 
The Headquarters, London Divisional Engineers, Duke of York's Headquarters, King's Road, Chelsea. [1940s.] Printed by 'W. W. S. & CO., LTD.'
£95.00

1p., 8vo. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with slight wear and few short closed tears. An interesting artefact, reflecting the postwar British manpower shortage. The heading is all in block capitals, with 'TRADESMEN WANTED' across the top.

[Printed pamphlet.] Abstract of the Coal Mines Regulation Acts, 1887 to 1896; General Rles and Special Rules [...] Messrs. John Brown & Co.'s (Limited) Aldwarke Main Collieries, Swallowwood Seam, Rotherham. [With 'Bye-Laws'.]

Author: 
[Messrs. John Brown & Co.'s (Limited) Aldwarke Main Collieries, Swallowwood Seam, Rotherham; Committee for Yorkshire; coal mining; Victorian coal industry]
Publication details: 
No. 046. Jenkinson, Marshall & Co., Stationers, Printers, Paper & Twine Merchants, &c., Surrey Street and Tudor Street, Sheffield. Dated 9 August 1888, and amended in manuscript to 7 February 1902.
£165.00

The 'Abstract' and 'Bye-Laws' total 45pp., 12mo, attached in one unbound pamphlet. Complete, but aged and dusty: an item that certainly saw duty in its colliery. The 'Abstract' is 41pp., 12mo, paginated 1-40; with a single page headed 'Timbering in Mines. | Special Rules' on a leaf tipped in after p.38. The title-page is headed 'Published under the direction of the Committee for Yorkshire.', and the full title includes: '[...] General Rules and Special Rules to be observed by the Owners, Agents, Managers, Under-Managers, Under-Viewers, Enginewrights, Deputies, and Work-people of Messrs.

Printed satirical circular 'To the Ratepayers of this Borough', from 'Wm. Buster, Junr.', concerning his supposed election as a Poor Law Guardian.

Author: 
'Wm. Buster, Junr.', pseudonym [English Poor Law Guardians]
Publication details: 
'Dated, May 1, 1851, Castle Villian.'
£95.00

1p., 12mo. In small type. On aged and creased paper. Signed in type: 'Beggar and Flames! | Gentlemen, | If I am not your Bum Bailiffe, [sic] | For any dirty work, | WM. BUSTER, JUNR.' The circumstances surrounding this spoof are unclear. It begins: 'In fact, I feel it a duty devolving upon me, to return you my sincere thanks for the honour you have done me, in electing me one of your Guardians.' The next paragraph concerns 'the slanderous assertion, which certain persons have industriously circulated, detractive of this honour, in fact, that I am the nominee of my own workman'.

[Printed pamphlet.] Parish of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Wages and Pauperism, being a report as to the occupations and earnings of recipients of out-door relief and their dependants.

Author: 
Gladstone Walker, Clerk to the Guardians of the Parish of Newcastle-upon-Tyne [Pauperism; Poverty; Indigence]
Publication details: 
Gladstone Walker, Clerk to the Guardians of the Parish of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. November 1915.
£120.00

23pp., 8vo. Stapled pamphlet. Text complete, but a frail survival: on aged paper, with first leaf loose, and with chipped and frayed remains of printed front wrap attached with gummed paper to last leaf, and lacking rear wrap. With stamp and shelfmarks of the Board of Education Library. Excessively scarce: no copy in the British Library, and the only copy on COPAC or Worldcat at the London School of Economics. A pamphlet on 'Industry and Pauperism' followed in 1916.

Autograph Letter Signed ['G Shaw Lefevre'] from George John Shaw-Lefevre, later 1st Baron Eversley, regarding working conditions of miners.

Autograph Letter Signed ['G Shaw Lefevre'] from George John Shaw-Lefevre
Publication details: 
21 March 1892; on letterhead of 18 Bryanston Square.
£56.00
Autograph Letter Signed ['G Shaw Lefevre'] from George John Shaw-Lefevre

12mo, 1 p. Ten lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. He does not have 'sufficient information' to give an opinion on the question his unnamed correspondent refers to, 'namely whether a 5 days a week system would be preferable to Miners to an uniform 8 hours a day work'. The question is 'quite new' to him, and he 'must reserve an opinion till I know more about the subject'. Later in 1892 Shaw-Lefevre would be appointed First Commissioner of Works in Gladstone's government.

[Printed British 1944 'Notice for posting' by the Baking Trade Board (England and Wales), on 'Proposal to vary minimum rates of wages for workers employed in the south western district'. [Including table of 'Proposed General Mimium Time Rates'.]

Author: 
G. H. Tregear, Secretary, Baking Trade Board (England and Wales) [Office of Trade Boards; Second World War]
Printed British 1944 'Notice for posting' by the Baking Trade Board
Publication details: 
'3/44' [i.e. March 1944]. 'Issued by order of the Trade Board' [i.e. the Baking Trade Board (England and Wales)].
£56.00
Printed British 1944 'Notice for posting' by the Baking Trade Board

Printed on one side of a long sheet, equivalent to two leaves of landscape 4to on top of one another. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The opening paragraph lays out the purpose of the notice: 'The Baking Trade Board (England and Wales) hereby give notice that they propose to vary for certain classes of workers in certain areas the minimum rates at present operative in the trade and set out in the Trade Board's Notices BK. (SW.) and BK. (19).

Interim Report of the Central Committee on Women's Employment

Author: 
Central Committee on Women's Employment
Publication details: 
London: HMSO, `915.
£56.00

42pp., folio, unbound as issued, stabbed, some marking of titlepage, contents fair, ex lib with small stamps on title.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Harold Butler') to 'Harlech'.

Author: 
Harold Beresford Butler (1883-1951), Deputy Director (1920-1932) and Director (1932-8), International Labour Office; British Minister to USA (1942-6) [William Ormsby-Gore (1885-1964), Baron Harlech]
Publication details: 
11 June 1938; on letterhead (in English and French) of the International Labour Office, League of Nations.
£38.00

8vo, 2 pp. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He is 'sorry' that Harlech has 'left the Colonial Office, upon which you have produced such a profound and salutary effect'. From the point of view of the I.L.O.

Printed Indenture of Apprenticeship, in two identical parts.

Author: 
Apprentice's Indenture [Apprenticeship; London; printed ephemera]
Publication details: 
[circa 1810] London: 'Sold by COLES, KNIGHT and DUNN, Stationers, No. 21, Fleet Street. Printed by W. SMITH, and Co. King Street, Seven Dials.
£26.00

A bifolium, with the text printed landscape on the recto of the two leaves, each of which are 21 x 33.5 cm. On laid Britannia paper watermarked 'G. PIKE | 1809'. The first two words in gothic script, nine-line marginal note in italic, and the rest in roman. Thirty-three lines of text, with spaces for manuscript insertions. Neither of the two parts (presumably one for the master and the other for the apprentice's family) has been filled in. Prepared for completion in the 1810s ('in the Year of our Lord 181[gap]').

Three Typed Letters Signed (all 'J T. Walker'), and one Autograph Note, to Sir Henry Trueman Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts. Together with 19 newspaper cuttings relating to unions and strikes in Australia.

Author: 
James Thomas Walker (1841-1923), Australian banker, born in Scotland [unions and strikes in Australia; William Morris Hughes (1862-1952), Prime Minister of Australia; Wharf Labourers Union]
Publication details: 
Two letters of 16 March 1916 and one of 24 March 1916; all three on letterhead of Yaralla Chambers, 109 Pitt Street, Sydney; autograph note of 21 March 1916, from Sydney, New South Wales.
£180.00

The letters and note are good, on lightly aged paper; the third letter with closed tear at foot of both leaves, affecting Walker's signature. Two of the three letters are docketed and bear the Society's stamp. The cuttings good on aged high-acidity paper. Letter One (4to, 1 p): He cannot afford the Society's subscription, due to 'the immensely increased taxation by the Federal Government, and by the State Governments in N.S. Wales and Queensland (not to mention donations to various War Funds)'.

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