HANOVERIAN

[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.

[Henry Francis Cary, translator of Dante, poet, author and Assistant Librarian at the British Museum.] Autograph Letter Signed [to the novelist Thomas Henry Lister], expressing thanks for the placing of one of his sons in a good situation.

Author: 
Henry Francis Cary (1772-1844), translator of Dante, poet, author and Assistant Librarian at the British Museum [Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842), novelist]
Publication details: 
‘Brit. Museum. [London] / Decr 11th. 1837’.
£45.00

See Cary's entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. The recipient is not named, but the item is from the papers of Lady Maria Theresa Lewis, and the letter is written to her first husband, the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842), whose father Thomas Lister of Armitage Park was a childhood friend of Cary's (see his 1847 biography by his son).

[Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London.] Five Autograph Letters Signed (all ‘B. London’) to Thomas Maurice of the British Museum, two with detailed criticism of Maurice’s poem on Pitt the Younger.

Author: 
Beilby Porteus (1731-1809), Bishop of London [Thomas Maurice (1754-1824), Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum, Anglican cleric and oriental scholar]
Publication details: 
1798, 1800 (2), 1806 and 1807 (the last apparently a mistake for 1806). The first from St James’s Square, the last from Clifton, the others from Sundridge [Kent].
£250.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. The five items are in good condition, lightly aged, with each on a 4to bifolium, and all folded for postage. In a neat and attractive hand. The text of each letter is on the first leaf, and the first two letters are addressed by Porteus on the reverse of the second leaf, each with broken seals in red wax. In Letters Four and Five Porteus lays out his objections to Maurice’s ‘Elegy on the late Right Honourable William Pitt’, published in 1806 under the name ‘T. M.’ ONE (St James’s Square, 10 April 1898): 1p, 4to. Addressed to ‘Revd. Mr Maurice / No.

[‘you are much too young & handsome to be convenient’: Edward Jerningham, high-society poet and playwright, protégé of Horace Walpole.] Unsigned Autograph Letter, flirting with unnamed male recipient, and giving details of his relation Lady Stafford.

Author: 
Edward Jerningham (1737-1812), high-society poet and playwright, protégé of Horace Walpole on whom Sheridan is said to have based the character of Sir Benjamin Backbite in ‘The School for Scandal’
Publication details: 
1798. No other details.
£280.00

Jerningham’s entry in the Oxford DNB, states that he died unmarried, ‘despite habitual flirtations with young actresses’; the present letter indicates that the members of the other sex were not exempted from his attentions. 2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, on a leaf of laid watermarked paper, folded for postage. Twenty-six lines of text. Dated ‘1798’ at top right, with ‘From Edward Jerningham the Poet’ above it. Unsigned, but in Jerningham's distinctive hand.

[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 [...]'.

[Astley Cooper [Sir Astley Paston Cooper], distinguished surgeon and anatomist.] Autograph Note Signed, requesting that the botanist and antiquary Dawson Turner vote for his nephew's membership of the Athenaeum club.

Author: 
Astley Cooper [Sir Astley Paston Cooper] (1768-1841), distinguished surgeon and anatomist [Dawson Turner (1775-1858), botanist and antiquary]
Astley Cooper
Publication details: 
‘Conduit St [London] / June 23rd / 1830.’
£80.00
Astley Cooper

The two men were both from Norfolk: see their entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo, on the recto of the first leaf a bifolium, the verso of the second leaf being addressed by Cooper to ‘Dawson Turner Esq / Yarmouth / Norfolk’, with postmark and ‘More to Pay 1d’ and ‘Post Paid’, and small seal with impression in red wax. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage, and minor traces of stub adhering to one edge. Reads: ‘Dear Sir, / You will greatly oblige me y voting for my Nephew Mr. Astley Cooper for the Athenaeum - / Yours very truly / Astley Cooper’. See Image.

[‘The most fashionable place in London’: The Clarendon Hotel, Bond Street; Foreign 'Great and Good@] Around 180 entries in the hotel guestbook, on extracted leaves, the greater part of them signatures of ‘Nobility and Gentry, and Foreigners of rank’.

Author: 
‘The most fashionable place in London’: The Clarendon Hotel, Bond Street [Georgian England]
Publication details: 
The Clarendon Hotel, Bond Street, London. The entries all said to date from 1831.
£1,200.00

The Clarendon Hotel was once - as ‘Routledge’s Popular Guide to London’ stated in 1862 - ‘the most fashionable place in London’, and the present collection of autograph signatures from its guestbook, all of them said to date from 1831, bear witness to the fact that - as ‘Gilbert’s Visitor’s Guide to London’ (1851) states - it was ‘frequented by the Nobility and Gentry, and Foreigners of rank’. Its reputation had been made during the Regency period, and in 1820 ‘Leigh’s New Picture of London’ stated that it ‘and Jaquiers are now one hotel’.

[Sir Gerard Conyers, Lord Mayor of London and Governor of the Bank of England.] Autograph Signature to Printed Annuities Receipt, completed in manuscript to pay him £50 as assignee to an executor.

Author: 
Sir Gerard Conyers (1649-1737), Lord Mayor of London and Governor of the Bank of England
Conyers
Publication details: 
2 October 1716. [Bank of England, London.]
£56.00
Conyers

Conyers is curiously absent from the Oxford DNB. The present item is a frail survival. It is the customary form, printed under the heading ‘Annuities, 3700 l. per Week.’ Completed in manuscript with date, amount and record of payment to ‘Sr Gerard Conyers - Asignee of ye Execr. of S. [Leshieuller? Lechienller?] & Attorney to Jno. Burkin, Esqr Assignee of ye same’. Signed at bottom right ‘Gerard Conyer[s]’ and with the signature of ‘Witness E Clarke’ at bottom left. On aged, creased and worn paper, with one hole from wear, and the last letter of Conyer’s surname worn away. See Image.

[Hanoverian London: T. Cecil, Thomas Mulcaster, William Adair.] Autograph Letter Signed by ‘T. Adair’, to William Adair, requesting ‘part of my Quarteridge’, with receipt for the same witnessed by Thomas Mulcaster.

Author: 
Hanoverian London: T. Cecil; Thomas Mulcaster; William Adair
Publication details: 
London, 7 April 1745.
£45.00

The writer is presumably a member of the prominent aristocratic family, but none of the parties has been positively identified. 1p, landscape 12mo. On laid paper. Letter signed ‘T Cecil’ and receipt signed ‘T. Cecil’. The The document reads: ‘Sr / I have just receivd yours, but sd. be obligd to you, if you cd not Send me forty Pounds, you wd. Twenty: as I am to go out of Town to morrow & have not money to Carry me, I have wrote a Receipt, & hope as it so [sic] pressing a thing, you’ll Comply, which will very much obilge Yrs. T Cecil / London April 7th: 1745 / Receivd Of Willm Adair Esqr.

[The man whose name became synonymous with bank notes.] Autograph Signature of Abraham Newland, Chief Cashier of the Bank of England, to part of receipt for annuities, witnessed by ‘R Ettie’.

Author: 
Abraham Newland (1730-1807), Chief Cashier of the Bank of England, whose name became synonyous with banknotes
Newland
Publication details: 
July 1789. [Bank of England, London.]
£50.00
Newland

An interesting autograph in economic history. Newland’s entry in the Oxford DNB states that ‘His signature on Bank of England notes became so familiar that they were known as Abraham Newlands. His fame in this respect was commemorated in several popular jingles’. A good firm signature, ‘A Newland’, with that of the witness ‘R Ettie’, at the foot of printed form, completed in manuscript, paying Newland £33 15s 0d as assignee to an executor.

[St Thomas Lunatic Asylum near Exeter, founded in 1795.] Printed bill, filled out in manuscript, for sum due by ‘Mr. Penny’ for ‘Board and Maintenance’, with Signed Autograph Note of receipt by treasurer John Mackintosh, and note on annual accounts.

Author: 
St Thomas Lunatic Asylum, near Exeter, founded in 1795 [John Mackintosh, Treasurer; James Penny, Exeter bookseller; William Seacombe]
Asylum
Publication details: 
‘Lunatic Asylum, near Exeter.’ Made out for the period between 6 May and 1 July 1811. Slug: ‘Trewmans, Printers, Exeter.’
£80.00
Asylum

An interesting piece of Exeter ephemera. See ‘Besley’s Exeter Directory for 1835’: ‘LUNATIC ASYLUM, St. Thomas. Founded in 1795. The expenses are defrayed by the board of patients whose friends can afford to pay for their maintenance, and by benefactions, legacies, &c.’ (In the entry ‘John Mackintosh’ is still listed as treasurer.) 1p, landscape 12mo. Addressed by Mackintosh on reverse to ‘Mr. James Penny / Bookseller / Fore St. / Exeter’. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-creased paper, with slight staining and damage from breaking open wafer.

[Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey, Scottish judge and literary critic, editor of the Edinburgh Review.] Autograph Signature on envelope sealed in red wax, and Autograph address to James Gibson Craig.

Author: 
Francis Jeffrey (1773-1850), Lord Jeffrey, Scottish judge and literary critic, editor of the Edinburgh Review [Sir James Gibson Craig (1765-1850), lawyer and politician]
Jeffrey
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£35.00
Jeffrey

See his entry, and Craig’s, in the Oxford DNB. 13 x 9 cm envelope, with seal (no impression of any kind) in red wax over the broken flap. In good condition, lightly aged. On the front of the envelope, in Jeffrey’s hand, ‘To / James Gibson Craig Esqre / 7. North St Andrew Street’. Beneath this, at bottom left and between the customary lines is the signature ‘F. Jeffrey’.

[Commodore George Johnstone, first Governor of West Florida.] Two Manuscript Letters to him from his bank Sir Robert Herries & Co., the first providing an 'account current' and the second reporting the delivery of a 'Chest of plate' to 'Mr. Maxwell'.

Author: 
Sir Robert Herries (c.1731-1815), Scottish merchant and founder of a London banking house [Commodore George Johnstone (1730-1787), Royal Navy officer and first Governor of West Florida. 1763-67]
Publication details: 
ONE: 19 February 1781. TWO: 1 October 1782. Both from St James’s Street, London.
£250.00

Two Manuscript Letters from the London banking house Robert Herries & Co. to the former Governor of West Florida George Johnstone, the first ‘with Account Current’ and the second regarding delivery of ‘the plate to Mr Maxwell. Both items in good condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: 2pp, 8vo. On the inner sides of a bifolium, with the reverse of the second leaf bearing the address (with postmark) ‘Commodore Johnstone / M. P. / Portsmouth’, and endorsement ‘Sir Robert Harries [sic] & Co. / 19th Feby. 1781. / with Account Current. / Balance due the Governor / £697 .. 18/3’.

[Regency London: maritime history.] Bill of Sale of the ship Maria (Deptford) by Richard Gardner for £830 to merchant John Ladd and mariner Gabriel Ford, printed on parchment paper, and completed in manuscript with signatures.

Author: 
Regency London: maritime history; Richard Gardner, ship owner; the Maria of Deptford; John Ladd, merchant; Gabriel Ford, mariner
Publication details: 
Dated 17 August 1816 and March 1817. Printed at top right: ‘Sold by W. G. & W. H. Witherby, Stationers, No. 9, Birchin-Lane, London.’
£180.00

An interesting artefact of maritime London in the Regency period. The bill is printed on one side of 34 x 47 cm piece of mock-parchment paper, and has been completed in manuscript, with signatures. Folded three times into a packet, with ‘Bill of Sale / Gardner to Ladd & Ford’ written on the blank reverse. Aged and discoloured, with 8.5 cm closed tear from one edge and nicking to others.

[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, British naval hero.] Collection of contemporaneous material relating to him, including a range of related illustrations and magazine accounts, as well as manuscript poems and other matter.

Author: 
Lord Nelson [Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson; Admiral Lord Nelson], British naval hero whose victories include the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805, in which he died
Nelson
Publication details: 
Earliest item from 1799; several items from 1805. Mostly printed in London.
£850.00
Nelson

A nice collection, which both by its content and arrangement indicates the huge esteem in which Nelson was held. The material is in good condition, lightly aged, most items laid down on leaves of gilt-edged paper extracted from an album. Mostly 12mo. This description is arranged under fifteen numbered entries. The manuscript material is at No. 14. ONE: Engraving. ‘Plan of a MANSION HOUSE, proposed for Lord NELSON.’ ‘Gent[leman’s]. Mag[azine]. Feb. 1799. Pt. I. p.97’. Engraved by Longmate from Arthur Brown.

[Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 1796.] Appointment of John McKenzie ‘to Command His Majesty’s Gun Boat the Morwelham’, signed by Sir Philip Stephens, James Gambier, Sir William Young, and Secretary to the Board Evan Nepean.

Author: 
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 1796 [signed by Sir Philip Stephens, James Gambier, Sir William Young, and by Evan Nepean, Secretary to the Board of Admiralty; John McKenzie of the Morwelham]
Publication details: 
16 September 1796. [The Admiralty, Whitehall, London.]
£280.00

1p, foolscap 8vo. On piece of wove paper with Britannia watermark. Lightly aged and in fair condition, but with some creasing and nicking at the head. Folded three times into a packet. A printed document, completed in manuscript.

[Lord Nelson [Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson], British naval hero.] Collection of contemporaneous material relating to him, including a range of related illustrations and magazine accounts, as well as manuscript poems and other matter.

Author: 
Lord Nelson [Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson; Admiral Lord Nelson], British naval hero whose victories include the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805, in which he died
Nelson
Publication details: 
Earliest item from 1799; several items from 1805. Mostly printed in London.
£850.00
Nelson

A nice collection, which both by its content and arrangement indicates the huge esteem in which Nelson was held. The material is in good condition, lightly aged, most items laid down on leaves of gilt-edged paper extracted from an album. Mostly 12mo. This description is arranged under fifteen numbered entries. The manuscript material is at No. 14. ONE: Engraving. ‘Plan of a MANSION HOUSE, proposed for Lord NELSON.’ ‘Gent[leman’s]. Mag[azine]. Feb. 1799. Pt. I. p.97’. Engraved by Longmate from Arthur Brown.

[George Hardinge, judge, poet, author and Member of Parliament.] Autograph Receipt Signed George Harding.

Author: 
George Hardinge (1743-1816) of Pyrton, Wiltshire, English judge, poet, author and Pittite Member of Parliament
Hardinge
Publication details: 
4 May 1792. Place not stated.
£56.00
Hardinge

See his entries in the Oxford DNB and History of Parliament. The present item is on one side of a 21 x 8.5 cm piece of wove paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with one fold. Minor traces of two red wafers from previous mounting on blank reverse. Written out by Harding in his attractive hand (he was a stylish fellow: his obituary in the Annual Register stated that ‘no one had a finer choice of words and few a more graceful delivery’), the note reads: ‘Received May 4th.

[?Billy Blue?: Admiral Sir William Cornwallis, as Commander-in-Chief of the East Indies Station.] Manuscript Copy of letter to Philip Stephens, Secretary to the Admiralty, suggesting five ?additional Lieutenants?.

Author: 
Sir William Cornwallis (1744-1819), distinguished Royal Navy admiral, nicknamed ?Billy Blue?, brother of the Marquis of Cornwallis [Sir Philip Stephens (1723-1809), Secretary to the Admiralty]
Publication details: 
?Crown [i.e. HMS Crown], in Santa Cruz Bay. / Teneriffe 12th March 1789 -?.
£100.00

See his entry, and that of the recipient, in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, foolscap 8vo. Laid-paper bifolium with ?I TAYLOR? Britannia watermark. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice into a packet. Reverse of second leaf docketed: ?12 March / Copy / to Philip Stephens Esqr / Duplicate - left at Santa Cruz / Triplicate. sent by the shop from Port Praya Bay 24th. March 89.? See the ODNB: ?When his brother Earl Cornwallis was appointed governor-general of Bengal, Cornwallis was sent out as commodore and commander-in-chief in the East Indies in October 1788?.

[Sir Digby Dent, Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy.] Autograph certification to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty that ‘Mr. George Ross’, who ‘serv’d as Midshipman on Board His Majesty’s Ship Princess Amelia’ is ‘fitly Qualified for Preferment’.

Author: 
Sir Digby Dent (1739-1817), Rear Admiral of the Royal Navy, under whom Nelson served as a midshipman on HMS Seahorse, and whose son acted as the best man at Nelson’s wedding
Dent
Publication details: 
‘on board the said Ship [Princess Amelia] at Spithead this 27th Day of June 1778’.
£220.00
Dent

1p, foolscap 8vo. On an aged and worn piece of watermarked laid paper with some closed tears. Folded twice. Reads: ‘These are to Certify the Right Honble. the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. or whom else it may Concern that Mr. George Ross serv’d as Midshipman on Board His Majesty’s Ship Princess Amelia under my Command from the Twenty Seventh day of May 1778 to the Day of the Date hereof - During which Time he behaved with Diligence & Soberiety [sic] and always obedient to Command.

[Sir Charles Adam, Admiral of the Royal Navy and Lord of the Admiralty.] Manuscripts (presumably both Autograph) giving itemised lists of fees incurred in 'two appeals' by ‘Captn. Chas. Adams - Royal Navy’ and ‘William Adam Esr.’

Author: 
Sir Charles Adam (1780-1853), Admiral of the Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars, Lord of the Admiralty and Member of Parliament, son of William Adam (1751-1839) of Blair Adam, Kinross
Publication details: 
Items in Captain Charles Adam’s list dating from November 1805 and March 1807. Items in William Adam’s list dating from July 1805, January and December 1806 adn July 1808. [Kinross, Scotland?]
£50.00

Sir Charles Adam was great-grandson of the architect William Adam, and his father (also William Adam) was a friend of Sir Walter Scott. See the entries for Charles Adam and his father in the Oxford DNB. William Adam had a son - Charles’s brother - named William George Adam (1781-1839), but the reference to ‘Wm. Adam Esqr. Senior and Junior’ appears to suggest the father. Each of the two items is 1p, 4to. They are on different paper stock. Both in good condition, lightly aged. Both endorsed with modern note in pencil: ‘enclosed in Spottiswoode to W. A. - 23 July 08’. ONE: ‘Captn. Chas.

[John Venn, Anglican cleric, abolitionist and central figure in the Clapham Sect of social reformers.] Autograph Signature to the conclusion of a letter.

Author: 
John Venn (1759-1813), Church of England clergyman and abolitionist, a central figure in the Clapham Sect of social reformers
Venn
Publication details: 
‘Clapham 10 Sepr. 1810’.
£56.00
Venn

Venn features in the Oxford DNB article on his father Henry Venn (1725-1797). In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Two rectangles cut from a letter, laid down on one side of a 14 x 5.5 cm piece of thicker paper. The first rectangle, 12.5 x 2.5 cm, carries the conclusion of the letter: ‘[...]ain are truly I am my dear / your ever faithful & affect Friend / J Venn’. At the foot of the slip, in pencil in a Victorian hand: ‘X (Son of “Complete duty of Man”). Beneath this slip is the second one, 9 x 1.5 cm, which gives the date: ‘Clapham 10 Sepr. 1810’.

[Marsden Squares: William Marsden, orientalist and numismatist, First Secretary to the Admiralty who broke the news of Trafalgar.] Autograph Signature to printed Admiralty 'Circular' directing ships' captains to send information on 'Coasts and Ports'

Author: 
William Marsden (1754-1836), Anglo-Irish orientalist, numismatist, and linguist, and Royal Navy official, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, 1795-1804, First Secretary, 1804-7 [Marsden Square mapping]
Publication details: 
London. ’ 'Printed by G. Roberts, Admiralty Office.' Undated, but issued during Marsden's tenure as First Secretary, 1804-7.
£320.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that ‘it fell to him in October 1805 to wake Lord Barham, as first lord of the Admiralty, with the news of victory at Trafalgar and the death of Nelson’. The present document is an interesting artefact in the history of data collection: Marsden’s important innovation, the system of information-gathering known as ‘Marsden Squares’ or ‘Marsden Square mapping’. 1p, folio, on recto of first leaf of bifolium, the second leaf being blank. Discoloration and wear along outer edge, and patches of light staining to leaves at head and foot.

[Marsden Squares: William Marsden, orientalist and numismatist, First Secretary to the Admiralty who broke the news of Trafalgar.] Autograph Signature to printed Admiralty 'Circular' directing ships' captains to send information on 'Coasts and Ports'

Author: 
William Marsden (1754-1836), Anglo-Irish orientalist, numismatist, and linguist, and Royal Navy official, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, 1795-1804, First Secretary, 1804-7 [Marsden Square mapping]
Publication details: 
London. ’ 'Printed by G. Roberts, Admiralty Office.' Undated, but issued during Marsden's tenure as First Secretary, 1804-7.
£320.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that ‘it fell to him in October 1805 to wake Lord Barham, as first lord of the Admiralty, with the news of victory at Trafalgar and the death of Nelson’. The present document is an interesting artefact in the history of data collection: Marsden’s important innovation, the system of information-gathering known as ‘Marsden Squares’ or ‘Marsden Square mapping’. 1p, folio. Discoloration and wear along inner edge, otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice into a packet. All printed, except for Marsden’s firm signature.

[William Marsden, orientalist and numismatist, First Secretary to the Admiralty who broke the news of the victory at Trafalgar.] Autograph Signature ‘Wm Marsden’ to printed Admiralty circular, sent to HMS Kemphaan.

Author: 
William Marsden (1754-1836), Anglo-Irish orientalist, numismatist, and linguist, and Royal Navy official, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, 1795-1804, First Secretary, 1804-7; HMS Kemphaan; Trafalgar
Publication details: 
London. ‘Admiralty Office, 7 July, 1800.’ 'Printed by G. Roberts, Admiralty Office.'
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that ‘it fell to him in October 1805 to wake Lord Barham, as first lord of the Admiralty, with the news of victory at Trafalgar and the death of Nelson’. 1p, folio. Discoloration and wear along gutter, otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice into a packet. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, the second leaf being blank, apart from one word of docketing in manuscript ‘Kemphaan’.

[William Marsden, orientalist and numismatist, First Secretary to the Admiralty who broke the news of the victory at Trafalgar.] Autograph Signature ‘Wm Marsden’ to printed Admiralty circular, sent to HMS Staunch.

Author: 
William Marsden (1754-1836), Anglo-Irish orientalist, numismatist, and linguist, and Royal Navy official, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, 1795-1804, First Secretary, 1804-7 [HMS Staunch; Trafalgar]
Publication details: 
London. ‘Admiralty Office, 7 July, 1800.’ 'Printed by G. Roberts, Admiralty Office.'
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that ‘it fell to him in October 1805 to wake Lord Barham, as first lord of the Admiralty, with the news of victory at Trafalgar and the death of Nelson’. 1p, folio. Discoloration and wear along gutter, with two leaves half detached from head; otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice into a packet. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, the second leaf being blank, apart from one word of docketing in manuscript ‘Staunch’.

[William Marsden, orientalist and numismatist, First Secretary to the Admiralty who broke the news of the victory at Trafalgar.] Autograph Signature ‘Wm Marsden’ to printed Admiralty circular, sent to HMS Steady.

Author: 
William Marsden (1754-1836), Anglo-Irish orientalist, numismatist, and linguist, and Royal Navy official, Second Secretary to the Admiralty, 1795-1804, First Secretary, 1804-7 [HMS Steady; Trafalgar]
Publication details: 
London. ‘Admiralty Office, 7 July, 1800.’ 'Printed by G. Roberts, Admiralty Office.'
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that ‘it fell to him in October 1805 to wake Lord Barham, as first lord of the Admiralty, with the news of victory at Trafalgar and the death of Nelson’. 1p, folio. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice into a packet. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, the second leaf being blank, apart from one word of docketing in manuscript ‘Steady’.

[‘Nor will I lose a farthing for all the Generals in the Kings dominions’.] Autograph Letter Signed from future Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Dashwood, concerning prize money for the Danish ship the Venus, captured by him at the Battle of Copenhagen, 1807

Author: 
Sir Charles Dashwood (1765-1847), Royal Navy Vice-Admiral who served during the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and War of 1812 [Battle of Copenhagen, 1807]
Publication details: 
‘Franchise [HMS Franchise], Spithead / 16th Feby. 1808.’
£250.00

See his long obituary in the Gentleman’s Magazine, December 1847. This letter, which concerns the prize money for the capture of the 36-gun Danish fifth-rater the Venus, captured by Dashwood at the Battle of Copenhagen, 1807. 2pp, 4to, on the first leaf of a bifolium, the reverse of the second leaf is addressed, with two postmarks, to ‘James Sykes Esqe / Arundle St / London’, and docketed ‘C. Dashwood / 16 Feb 1808 / Recd 17 do’. In good condition, lightly aged, with slight damage to second leaf from breaking open of the wafer. Folded for postage.

[Old South Sea House and the Harvey family of Chigwell.] 113 manuscript items from the papers of William Peacock, John Read and James Swaine, attorneys tto William and Mary Harvey family, landlords, including 100 receipts, some itemized.

Author: 
Old South Sea House (Company of Merchants Trading to the South Seas), Threadneedle Street, London; Sir Eliab Harvey; William Harvey of Chigwell, Essex [The South Sea Bubble, 1720; Charles Lamb]
Publication details: 
Three receipts from 1735 and ninety-six from between 1742 and 1757. The Old South Sea House, Threadneedle Street and Bishopsgate Street, London. [Chigwell, Essex.]
£800.00

This collection of 113 items, dating from the middle of the eighteenth century, relates to a notable London landmark. Until the end of the nineteenth century the Old South Sea House, headquarters of the South Sea Company (Company of Merchants Trading to the South Seas and other Parts of America), stood on the corner of Threadneedle Street and Bishopsgate Street. A young Charles Lamb worked here for nearly six months in 1792, and wrote the first of the ‘Essays of Elia’ about the place.

[Admiral Sir Richard Rodney Bligh, Royal Navy officer in American War of Independence.] Autograph Letter Signed to the Admiralty, regarding ‘Her Majesty’s Sloop the Wasp under my Command’.

Author: 
Admiral Sir Richard Rodney Bligh (1737-1821), GCB, Royal Navy officer who saw service in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars [HMS Wasp]
Publication details: 
‘Wasp, Portsmouth 1st. Decr. 1775.’
£180.00

Bligh’s entry in the Oxford DNB does not note his service on HMS Wasp, to which he was appointed in October 1774. According to one authority the ship ‘saw service out of Passage, County Cork, Ireland from [November 1774]. In October 1775 [Bligh] brought sixty volunteers from Ireland into Plymouth, and in June 1776 sailed from Portsmouth to Plymouth with money for the dockyard artificers.

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