GARDENING

[‘Now do you understand why authors leave the country?’: Beverley Nichols, novelist and poet.] Typed Letter Signed to ‘Mr. Bryon’, regarding an interview, and conclusion of Typed Letter Signed joking about heavy correspondence.

Author: 
Beverley Nichols (1898-1983), novelist and poet, author of more than sixty books, writer on gardens and gardening
Publication details: 
ONE (TLS to 'Mr. Bryon'): 6 June 1934; on letterhead of Six New Street, Westminster, S.W.1. TWO (conclusion of TLS): without date or place.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The first letter, and probably the second, were written around the time when his ‘Down the Garden Path’ (1932) and its two sequels had made Nichols wildly popular, eliciting several parodies. ONE (TLS to ‘Mr. Bryon’): 1p, 12mo. Discoloration along top part of outer edge, otherwise in good condition. Folded once. Good clear signature ‘Beverley Nichols’. He thanks him for sending the interview. ‘I think it is admirably written, and expresses my views very clearly.’ TWO (conclusion of TLS): 1p, 12mo. Twenty-nine lines of text. In good condition, lightly aged.

[Richard Westmacott, sculptor, Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy.] Autograph Letter Signed to the gardener Edward William Cooke, insisting on paying for flowers, and reporting that his 'poor mangy-looking wall is now pretty well covered'.

Author: 
Richard Westmacott (1799-1872), sculptor and Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy, son of Sir Richard Westmacott (1799-1872) [Edward William Cooke (1811-1880), marine artist and gardener]
Publication details: 
'W. / 1 K[ensington]. G[ate]. [Hyde Park, London] / Thursday'. No date.
£45.00

See his entry, and those of his father and Cooke, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 16mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with dab or red wax to one corner, and part of another corner torn away, presumably in breaking open the seal. Folded diagonally for postage. Addressed to 'My dear Mr Cooke' (the recipient's identity is beyond doubt) and signed 'Richd Westmacott'.

[The Chelsea Physic Garden, London.] Printed invitation ‘at the Opening of the Garden’, and Laboratory andn Lecture Rooms by Earl Cadogan, made out to Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Sir William Thiselton-Dyer, and his wife.

Author: 
The Chelsea Physic Garden, London [Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer (1843-1928), botanist, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]
Chelsea
Publication details: 
At the Opening of the Chelsea Physic Garden, London, 25 July 1902.
£180.00
Chelsea

See Thiselton-Dyer’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Printed on one side of a 10 x 13 cm piece of paper, and made out in manuscript to ‘Sir William Thistleton [sic] Dyer (and Lady)’. Text size in good condition, lightly aged, with the blank reverse of the card with slight damage from mounting. The recipient has written in a close hand in red ink at top left: ‘accepted. / 18. 7. 02.’ The text reads: ‘The Chelsea Physic Garden.

[George Sinclair, gardener to the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey.] Parts of two Autograph Letters Signed to different seedsmen, both with good content, one relating to the subscription to Sinclair’s ‘Hortus gramineus Woburnensis’.

Author: 
George Sinclair (1786-1834), Scottish horticulturalist, gardener to the Duke of Bedford at Woburn Abbey who conducted experiments under Sir Humphrey Davy
Publication details: 
One dated by recipient 1816, the other undated but also from 1816. Places not stated, but the undated letter from Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire.
£280.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Large fragments, both with interesting content, from the beginning of letters to unnamed seedsmen (both addressed to ‘Dear Sir’, but the two docketed by different individuals, suggesting different recipients). Neither has the signature present (presumably supplied to autograph hunters for placement in Sinclair’s ‘Hortus gramineus Woburnensis’, described in the ODNB as‘an expensive folio volume containing dried specimens of the grasses’). Both items in good condition, lightly aged, and with creases from having been folded up.

[Lord Morpeth to Sir Joseph Paxton, regarding ‘overflowings’ from the Duke of Devonshire’s garden.] Autograph Letter Signed to gardener and creator of Crystal Palace Sir Joseph Paxton, requesting cuttings on behalf of William Tighe Hamilton of Dublin

Author: 
Lord Morpeth [George William Frederick Howard, 7th Earl of Carlisle (1802-1864; styled Viscount Morpeth, 1825-1848)] [Sir Joseph Paxton (1803-1865), gardener and architect of Crystal Palace]
Publication details: 
‘Castle Howard Oct 30 /43’ [1843].
£120.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr Paxton’ and signed ‘Morpeth’. Much of the letter comprises a twenty-three line quotation from a letter Morpeth has received ‘from a great friend of mine in Dublin, Mr Hamilton’ (After the transcription of Hamilton’s letter Morpeth gives his name as ‘William Tighe Hamilton Esqre [1807-1886] / Donnybrook / Dublin’.

[John Mitford, editor of the Gentleman's Magazine.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J Mitford') to a family member, regarding Sir Thomas Gery Cullum, his gardening activities at Hardwick House, and the preparation of his Gentleman's Magazine obituary.

Author: 
John Mitford (1781-1859), cleric and editor of the Gentleman's Magazine [Lady Ann Cullum (1807-1875), wife of Sir Thomas Gery Cullum (1777-1855), 8th Baronet of Hardwick House]
Publication details: 
22 February 1855. Benhall [Benhall Vicarage, near Saxmundham, Suffolk.].
£250.00

See Mitford's entry in the Oxford DNB. At the time of writing he had been retired for five years from the editorship of the Gentleman's Magazine, a post he had held for seventeen years. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of mount adhering to the blank reverse of the second leaf. Folded twice. Forty-four lines in a close hand.

[William Shenstone of the Leasowes, poet and landscape gardener.] Autograph Ownership Inscription on flyleaf of book: 'Guillaume Shenstone du College de Pembroke en Oxford'.

Author: 
William Shenstone (1714-1763) of the Leasowes, poet and landscape gardener
Publication details: 
[Pembroke College, Oxford.] 1734.
£200.00

On one side of what is clearly a fly-leaf removed from a book. In fair condition, aged and worn, skilfully placed in a windowpane mount of cream paper, to which a white stub still adheres. Written in a small hand at the head of the recto: 'Guillaume Shenstone | du College de Pembroke | en Oxford. | 1734.'

[Rider Haggard writes to Rudyard Kipling's wife.] Autograph Letter Signed ('H . Rider Haggard') to 'Mrs. Kipling', discussing in detail the flowers he has sent her.

Author: 
H. Rider Haggard [Sir Henry Rider Haggard] (1856-1925), author of adventure novels including 'King Solomon's Mines' and 'She' [Caroline Starr Balestier Kipling (1862-1939), wife of Rudyard Kipling]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Ditchingham House, Norfolk. 13 December 1909.
£320.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, with one central vertical fold, and patch of small holes at head of second leaf. Interesting letterhead, with image of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Someone (probably Mrs Kipling) has written 'orchid' on the first page. The letter begins: 'Mr dear Mrs. Kipling, | I sent you a few flowers today by post, also (by rail to Etchingham) a Cypripedium Insigne, a Blush Rambler & a Lady Gay rose. The Cyp: Insig: is very fairly hardy but I should not stand it in too violent a draught.

[John Evelyn of Wotton House, Surrey, seventeenth-century diarist, writer and gardener.] Autograph ownership inscription of book, with shelfmarks, reading: 'Catalogo Evelyni inscriptus. | Meliora Retinete.'

Author: 
John Evelyn (1620-1706) of Wotton House, Surrey, diarist, writer and gardener
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£250.00

On one side of 14 x 2 cm slip of paper, cut from the flyleaf of a book. Aged and with contemporary blotting to one corner. The slip is neatly placed in a paper windowpane mount. Reads: 'Catalogo Evelyni inscriptus. | Meliora Retinete' Two shelfmarks deleted: 'N. 16' and 'J: 231'. A good brief description of Evelyn's book collecting is given in his entry in the Oxford DNB. As there are four catalogues of his books, identifying the work to which the two present shelfmarks are assigned should not present any difficulty.

[ Margaret Armstrong, Lady Armstrong, gardener. ] Autograph Letter in the third person to 'Messrs Carr' [ of the Newcastle Daily Journal ], asking them to insert a notice of the death of 'Mr. John Pratt', one of her family's servants at Jesmond Dene.

Author: 
Margaret Armstrong [ née Margaret Ramshaw ], Lady Armstrong (1807-1893), gardener, wife of William George Armstrong (1810-1900), 1st Baron Armstrong [ Algernon Percy, 4th Duke of Northumberland ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Jesmond Dene, Newcastle on Tyne. 26 December 1865.
£40.00

Margaret Ramshaw of Bishop Auckland married the industrialist William George Armstrong (1810-1900), 1st Baron Armstrong, in 1835. She played an important role in the design of the gardens at Jesmond Dene, the couple’s house in Newcastle, and later at Cragside, which is now a National Trust property. 2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice, and with traces of mount on blank second leaf.

[ Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ] Autograph Note Signed ('W. T. Thiselton Dyer') informing an unnamed party where to get information regarding 'the Establishment' from.

Author: 
Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [ Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer ] (1843-1928), British botanist, third director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Publication details: 
Kew, on embossed letterhead of 'Royal Gardens Kew'). 2 January 1886.
£80.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He refers him to 'the Post Office Directory' for a 'list of our scientific staff', and to 'the Official Guide which is on sale at all the Gates' for 'the principal facts as to the objects etc. of the Establishment', and concludes: 'The other information you ask for is embodied in our annual report which is not at present issued'.

[ Printed periodical. ] The first number of 'The Gardening World'.

Author: 
[ Brian Wynne, FRHS, publisher of 'The Gardening World', London ]
Publication details: 
'No. I. - 1884.' London: 'Printed by Thomas Harper Meredith, and Published by Brian Wynne, at the Office [ of the Gardening World ], 17, Catherine Street, Covent Garden, in the Parish of St. Paul's, County of Middlesex. Saturday, September 6, 1884.'
£80.00

16pp., large 8vo (36 x 26.5 cm). In fair condition, aged and worn, and on rag paper rather than newsprint. Illustrations throughout. Advertisements at front and back. An editorial gives the aims of the paper, and includes the following: 'Who can doubt but that in the United Kingdom there are at the present moment fully one million of adult persons deeply imbued with a love for gardening. [...] Who, twenty years ago, would have believed that over 100,000 readers of gardening papers were possible?

[ The English garden. ] Manuscript plan of unnamed garden, with bloom calendar table showing the blooming patterns of more than a hundred flowers.

Author: 
[ The English garden; gardening; ecology ]
Publication details: 
Place not stated [ England ]. 1928.
£120.00

The table or bloom calendar is in a makeshift table, ruled out in pencil over 2pp., folio. It is in poor condition, heavily-aged, divided into two sections along central horizontal fold line, and with slight loss to text from chipping.

[ James Lothian, Scottish gardener. ] Autograph Letter Signed to Daniel Mctaggart of Kilkerran, sending a book on the 'Potatoe question'.

Author: 
James Lothian (1817-1871), Scottish gardener, author of the first English book on the cultivation of Alpine plants [ Daniel McTaggart [ Mactaggart ] of Kilkerran, Argyll, Scotland
Publication details: 
No place. 19 June 1854.
£56.00

2pp., 16mo. Bifolium. Addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'Daniel McTaggart Esq: of Kilkeran [sic]'. In fair condition, on lightly aged paper. He is sending him 'Keith' (i.e. a book by George Skene Keith), which contains 'some facts bearing on the Potatoe question'. He has other works on the same matter, but they are 'out', with the exception of 'Vol: 2 of the Gardener which I send down'. In his opinion 'Works on Forrest [sic] trees and Landscape Gardening throw no light on either disease or Longivity [sic] of Plants.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. C. Loudon') from the Scottish botanist John Claudius Loudon to the bookseller 'Mr. Jones', of the firm Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, Finsbury Square, London.

Author: 
J. C. Loudon [John Claudius Loudon] (1783-1843), Scottish botanist, garden designer and editor [Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, booksellers, Finsbury Square, London]
Publication details: 
Bayswater House; 28 May 1818.
£280.00

2pp., 4to. On a bifolium, with the main text on the recto of the first page, and the postscript with the address on the verso of the second. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Tipped-in onto leaf removed from an autograph album. The book he enquired after on the previous day was 'any spanish work translated into french or English Interlineally for a beginner in that language'. He has seen German and Italian books 'so translated', and will be grateful if Jones can suggest a Spanish one.

Manuscript Letter, with price list, from the nurserymen Thomas Bunyard & Sons of Maidstone, Kent, to the naturalist Rev. Charles William Shepherd of Trotterscliffe. With list of plants by Shepherd.

Author: 
Thomas Bunyard & Sons, The Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent, Victorian 'Nurserymen, Seedsmen and Florists' [Rev. Charles William Shepherd (1838-1920) of Trotterscliffe, near Maidstone, Kent, naturalist]
Thomas Bunyard & Sons
Publication details: 
18 February 1869; on letterhead of The Nurseries, Maidstone [Kent].
£95.00
Thomas Bunyard & Sons

12mo, 2 pp. Bifolium. With two pages of lists of plants by Shepherd. Good, on aged paper. In remains of original envelope. The letterhead advertises that the firm also has a branch at Ashford. Begins: 'We can supply you with the shrubs &c you kindly enquire about at the Prices named on other side - your orders for which will have our careful attention'. Three are marked with a cross, being 'very critical trees to move' for which the firm 'can undertake no responsibility as to their success'. Prices given for fifteen types, from 'Spruce Trees - 4 ft.

[Printed Victorian botanical handbill advertisement.] American Blackberry Rooted Cuttings, Kittatinny Variety. Imported by D. C. Lowber, 35, Chapel Walks, Liverpool. [Including text on 'THE AMERICAN BLACKBERRY.']

Author: 
D. C. Lowber [originally of New Orleans], Liverpool Merchant [American Blackberries, Kittatinny Variety; botanical ephemera]
American Blackberry Rooted Cuttings
Publication details: 
[Circa 1875.] D. C. Lowber, 35, Chapel Walks, Liverpool.
£28.00
American Blackberry Rooted Cuttings

12mo, 4 pp. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Attractive engraving of a blackberry cutting. The second page is headed 'THE AMERICAN BLACKBERRY', and begins 'There is scarcely a more wholesome fruit than this, and one that has been more improved by judicious cultivation on the American side of the water.' The text, which continues to the last page and is signed in type by Lowber, contains two quotations from 'Rev. E. P. Roe, one of the most celebrated small fruit culturists on the banks of the Hudson'. In manuscript at foot of third page: '15/- per doz.

Six documents including Signed Articles of Agreement for Johnson ('of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew') to perform Government 'service as Gardener in India'; with two testimonials and letters from Mary, Countess of Minto, and Cecil Allanson.

Author: 
John Thomas Johnson, Assistant Curator of the Botanical Gardens, Calcutta, India [Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; Mary, Countess of Minto]
 Royal Botanic Gardens
Publication details: 
1904-1935.
£150.00
 Royal Botanic Gardens

The collection in good condition, with all but one of the six items carrying ring-binder punch holes. Item One, Articles of Agreement: Foolscap bifolium, 3 pp. Dated 16 September 1904. Printed seventeen-point agreement in the form of a manuscript facsimile. Signed by Johnson, Sir John Edge and Sir Stewart Colvin Bayley, and witnessed by 'W. Watson | R[oyal]. G[ardens] Kew' and 'Frank R. Marten | India Office'. Items Two and Three both with mourning border on letterhead of Minto House, Hawick. Item Two, Mary Countess of Minto ('M Minto') to Johnson. 4to: 1 p. 14 September 1914.

Autograph Note Signed ('Dorothy Nevill') to 'Mr <Descou?>'.

Author: 
Lady Dorothy Nevill [Lady Dorothy Fanny Nevill, née Walpole] (1826-1913), hostess and horticulturist
Publication details: 
Friday 18th' [no date]; on embossed letterhead of Dangstein, Petersfield.
£28.00

12mo: 1 p. 8 lines of text. On aged paper somewhat grubby around signature at foot. Asks when he will be 'able to come to us to meet the d[uke] of Wellington'. They are 'at liberty any time between the 4th and 11th of January'.

Typed Letter Signed ('Juliette') to 'Dick' [Frank Richard Cowell, b.1897], together with carbon of typed reply.

Author: 
Juliette Huxley [Lady Marie Juliette Baillot] (1896-1994), wife of the English scientist Julian Huxley (1887-1975) [Frank Richard Cowell]
Publication details: 
Letter, 27 January 1966; on letterhead 31, Pond Street, Hampstead, N.W.3. Reply, 29 January 1966.
£125.00

Juliette Huxley's letter is 4to: 2 pp. Good, though lightly creased and attached to the other items by a paperclip. The correspondence mainly concerns a book by Cowell's eventually published under the title 'The garden as a fine art: from antiquity to modern times' (1978). She begins by describing Mary Wellesley: 'quite a character [...] lives in a small house off St. James's Palace, and entertains by candlelight.

Autograph Note Signed to 'Mr. W<?>'.

Author: 
Walter George Frank Phillimore, 1st Baron Phillimore of Shiplake
Publication details: 
26 September 1907; on letterhead 'THE COPPICE | HENLEY ON THAMES'.
£25.00

Judge, ecclesiastical lawyer and international jurist (1845-1929). One page, 12mo, in self-sealing stamped addressed envelope with postmark. In very good condition. 'Many many thanks for the tree-plants. They have arrived in beautiful and your directions shall be carefully followed.' Signed 'Walter G. F. Phillimore'.

3 Autograph Letters Signed and 1 Autograph Card Signed [to his publishers?]

Author: 
James Britten
Publication details: 
The letters, 21 and 31 May and 29 July 1883, all from Isleworth; the card, 20 [month?] 1890, stamped '18, WEST SQUARE | SOUTHWARK, S.E.'
£125.00

Botanist and Roman Catholic propagandist (1846-1924). All but the second letter, which is addressed 'Gentlemen', are addressed 'Dear Sirs'. The letters are all 12mo, and embossed at the head of the first leaf 'NOX VENIT QUANDO NEMO POTEST OPERARI'. In letter 1 (1 page) he asks that his 'Collecting book of Flowering Plants' be sent to him: he will mention it in his 'Journal of Botany' for June.

Typed Letter Signed to F. R. McQuown.

Author: 
Ian William Beresford Nye
Publication details: 
15 September 1964, on letterhead of the British Museum (Natural History), Department of Entomology.
£35.00

Entomologist (1924-), author of the monumental 'Generic names of moths of the world' (6 vols, 1975-91). The recipient is the author of several works on gardening. 1 page, 8vo. In good condition, but creased and with one closed tear and with sellotape stains at head and foot. He thanks his correspondent for the letter of 10 September enclosing a caterpillar, and compliments him on its preservation. '[I]t is in perfect condition for determination. It is very difficult to preserve the green coloration, as in life.' He identifies the specimen as a cabbage moth.

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