LORD

[Lord Macaulay [Thomas Babington Macaulay] (1800-1859), great Victorian historian, poet, Whig Member of Parliament.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Miss Richardson', declining a dinner engagement.

Author: 
Lord Macaulay [Thomas Babington Macaulay] (1800-1859), great Victorian historian, proponent of the ‘Whig interpretation of history’, poet, Member of Parliament, a great influence on Winston Churchill
Publication details: 
'Albany [London] June 17. 1851'.
£45.00

With Thomas Carlyle recognised by the Victorians as one of their two greatest historians. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On grey wove watermarked paper. In good condition, lightly creased and aged. Folded twice. Reads ‘Dear Miss Richardson, / I am extremely sorry that I have an engagement which will make it impossible for me to have the pleasure of dining with you on Wednesday fortnight / Very truly yours, / T B Macaulay’.

[Florence Nightingale and her charity the Nightingale Fund, established in 1855.] Printed Circular of facsimile of an ALS by Samuel Carter Hall, on the proposed dissolution of the Fund, with manuscript letter announcing a meeting of the trustees.

Author: 
[Florence Nightingale and her charity the Nightingale Fund, established in 1855.] S. C. Hall [Samuel Carter Hall] (1800-1889), editor of Art Journal; Lord Herbert of Lea [Sidney Herbert] (1810-1861)]
Publication details: 
Facsimile letter as a circular from 'Office of the Nightingale Fund. / 5 Parliament Street / May 19. 1857.' Actual manuscript letter: 22 March 1858; on letterhead of Lord Herbert's town house, 49 Belgrave Square [London].
£120.00

See the entries on Nightingale, Hall and Herbert in the Oxford DNB. The Nightingale Fund was established in the Crimea on 29 November 1855, to raise money for the training of nurses. As a result of discussions held at the time of this circular the money from the Fund was used to set up the first nursing school, the Nightingale Training School, at St Thomas’s Hospital in 1860. ONE: Printed circular in form of a facsimile ALS from ‘S. C. Hall / Hon. Sec.’ 1p, 8vo. On first leaf of a bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Twenty-four lines of text.

‘The Golden Treasury’: compiler Francis Turner Palgrave discusses his reasons for omitting living poets from the anthology, and discusses the possibility of a ‘Silver Treasury’, in an Autograph Letter Signed to the poet Jean Ingelow.

Author: 
Francis Turner Palgrave (1824-1897), compiler, with his friend Alfred Tennyson, of the celebrated poetry anthology ‘The Golden Treasury’ (1861) [Jean Ingelow (1820-1897), poet]
Publication details: 
24 March 1866. On embossed letterhead of the Privy Council Office [Whitehall].
£450.00

An excellent letter, casting light on one of the milestones of the English poetic canon. See his entry, and hers, in the Oxford DNB. ‘The Golden Treasury of the Best Songs and Lyrical Poems in the English Language’ appeared in 1861, and it remains, as J. W. Mackail wrote in the original DNB, 'one of those rare instances in which a critical work has substantive imaginative value, and entitles its author to rank among creative artists'.

[The Peace with Ireland Council (London), 1921.] Printed handbill titled ‘The Voice of the Churches on Ireland’.

Author: 
The Peace with Ireland Council, London, founded by Lord Henry Cavendish Bentinck, with Basil Williams as treasurer and Margaret Buckmaster as honorary secretary
Publication details: 
[1921.] Published by the Peace with Ireland Council, 30a Queen Anne’s Chambers, Westminster, S.W.1 and printed by the Caledonian Press Ltd., 74 Swinton Street, Gray’s Inn Road, W.C.1.
£80.00

The Peace with Ireland Council was founded in November 1920 by Lord Henry Cavendish Bentinck, following a meeting at the House of Commons by a group concerned at the deteriorating situation in Ireland following the introduction of the Black and Tans, and spurred on by the treatment of former MP Annan Bryce and his wife Violet. Among those involved were the historian Basil Williams, who acted as treasurer, and the suffragette Margaret Buckmaster (daughter of Lord Buckmaster) who served as honorary secretary. From the Sylvia and Robert Lynd papers.

[The Peace with Ireland Council (London) and the Black and Tans, 1921.] Printed handbill titled ‘Irish Reprisals / Auxiliary Divisions Record / Indictment by Sir John Simon / To the Editor of The Times’.

Author: 
Sir John Simon; The Peace with Ireland Council, London, founded by Lord Henry Cavendish Bentinck, with Basil Williams as treasurer and Margaret Buckmaster as honorary secretary [The Black and Tans]
Publication details: 
[1921.] Published by the Peace with Ireland Council, 30 Queen Anne’s Chambers, S.W.1; and printed by the Caledonian Press Ltd. (T. U.) 74 Swinton Street, London, W.C.1.
£80.00

The Peace with Ireland Council was founded in November 1920 by Lord Henry Cavendish Bentinck, following a meeting at the House of Commons by a group concerned at the deteriorating situation in Ireland following the introduction of the Black and Tans, and spurred on by the treatment of former MP Annan Bryce and his wife Violet. Among those involved were the historian Basil Williams, who acted as treasurer, and the suffragette Margaret Buckmaster (daughter of Lord Buckmaster) who served as honorary secretary. From the Sylvia and Robert Lynd papers.

Printed pamphlet: ‘Some Suggestions concerning the Future Welfare of Ireland / An Address delivered before the Literary and Scientific Society of the Queen’s University. Belfast, on February 23rd. 1911. By the Right Hon. Lord MacDonnell of Swinford,

Author: 
[Proportional Representation in Ireland, 1911; Electoral Reform] The Right Hon. Lord MacDonnell [Antony Patrick MacDonnell] (1844-1925); Independent Newspapers, Ltd., Dublin
Publication details: 
1911. Dublin: Independent Newspapers, Ltd., 110 and 111 Mid. Abbey St.
£100.00

From the papers of Sylvia and Robert Lynd. Scarce: copy in NLI, and three on JISC (LSE, Oxford and Cambridge), but not in BL. 30pp, 12mo. Stapled in wraps of shiny paper, with title and publication details on front cover (which is part of pagination). Text clear and complete, but in poor condition, aged and worn, with heavy creasing around spine. MacDonnell advocates ‘the adoption of proportional representation and the transferable vote’, which ‘would involve a radical, but simple representation of the electoral map of Ireland’.

Irish troubles; Col. Albert Brassey, British Army Officer, rower, and Conservative Member of Parliament.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘B. Hobbie Esq’, regarding ‘the agricultural distress’, with reference to ‘the Irish troubles’.

Author: 
Col. Albert Brassey (1844-1918), British Army officer, rower, and Conservative Member of Parliament for Banbury 1895-1906, brother of Earl Brassey and Lord Apethorpe
Publication details: 
17 May 1887; on letterhead of Heythrop [Hall], Chipping Norton.
£65.00

See his brothers’ entries in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Folded once. In good condition, lightly aged, with slight rust spotting at head of last page. Erroneous attribution to Earl Brassey in small type at the head of the first page. Addressed to ‘B. Hobbie Esq’ and signed ‘Albert Brassey’. He doubts whether you will be able to attend the public meeting at Oxford on 28 May.

[Alaric Watts [Alaric Alexander Watts], poet and journalist, editor of the ‘Literary Souvenir’.] Autograph Letter Signed, requesting the Hon. Spencer Ponsonby to place a letter to Lord Clarendon, applying for a post at the London Library.

Author: 
Alaric Watts [Alaric Alexander Watts] (1797-1864), poet and journalist, editor of the ‘Literary Souvenir’
Publication details: 
'12 Bridge Road | St. John's Wood / March 11th. 1857'.
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, with slight wear at top left-hand corner of second leaf (not affecting text). Biographical details added in small type at head of first page. Addressed to ‘The Honbl Spencer Ponsonby’ and signed ‘Alaric A. Watts.’ Begins: ‘Dear Sir / May I trespass so far upon your kindness as to ask you to place the enclosed letter [not present] to Lord Clarendon. It is on the subject of the London Library of which his Lordship is the President’.

[Lord Balfour [A. J. Balfour; Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl Balfour], Conservative Prime Minister.] Autograph Signature ‘Arthur James Balfour’ for collector.

Author: 
Lord Balfour [A. J. Balfour; Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl Balfour] (1848-1930), Conservative politician, Prime Minister 1902-1905; Foreign Secretary who issued the 1917 Balfour Declaration
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£25.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On piece of paper, roughly 12 x 7.5 cm, laid down on 14 x 9 cm plain postcard, with contemporary printed heading on reverse (‘A half penny stamp to be placed here.’, and so on). In good condition, lightly aged. Good firm signature at head of paper, with ‘Autograph’ in a contemporary hand at the foot, with wide space between.

Tennyson forgery: manuscript document presenting itself as a letter from Alfred Lord Tennyson to the wife of William Ewart Gladstone, agreeing to a visit as long as he can smoke his pipe.

Author: 
Tennyson forgery: Alfred Lord Tennyson, one of the greatest of English poets, Poet Laureate to Queen Victoria
Tennyson forgery
Publication details: 
Stated to have been sent from 'Aldworth / Oct 25 - 76'. [25 October 1876]
£180.00
Tennyson forgery

An apparent forgery of a letter the text of which is quoted in Hallam Tennyson’s 1897 memoir of his father. 1p, 12mo. On discoloured wove paper. Aged, and with repair with archival tape at extremities on reverse. Folded twice for postage. Reads: ‘Aldworth / Oct 25 - 76 / My dear Mrs Gladstone / On Monday then - if all be well. As you are good enough to say that you will manage everything rather than lose my visit - you must manage that I may have my pipe in my own room whenever I like? / Yours ever / A Tennyson/’.

[Lord Beresford [William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, 1st Marquis of Campo Maior], Commander in Chief of Portuguese army in Peninsular War.] Two copy letters to Duke of Wellington; apparent autograph draft of letter, 1809; one other item.

Author: 
Lord Beresford [William Carr Beresford (1768-1854), 1st Viscount Beresford, 1st Marquis of Campo Maior], Commander in Chief of the Portuguese army during the Peninsular War [Duke of Wellington]
Publication details: 
Copy Letters dated 16 March (Elvas) and 25 May 1812 (Fuente Guinaldo). Probable draft letter: 'Abranles July 4. 1809'. Other item 6 May 1809..
£250.00

Four interesting Peninsular War items, from a collection of Beresford material. In 1813 the Duke of Wellington described Beresford as ‘the ablest man I have yet seen in the army’. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The four items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn (but see descriptions of Items One and Three), and folded for postage. ONE: Apparent Autograph Draft of Letter. ‘Abranles July 4. 1809’. 2pp, 4to. On laid Whatman paper. Reverse somewhat grubby with glue stains (from display in an album?) at foot of reverse of leaf.

[Lord Byron; pamphlet; presentation copy] Byron's Tomb and other Poems.

Author: 
William Simpson
Publication details: 
No date but authorial inscription dated October 1949 and [1949] bottom of fr. cover.
£250.00

Pamphlet, 16pp., 8vo, sl. grubby, inside cover, sl. strained, with a number 'R30668' at bottom. Only one copy recorded on WorldCat (none on COPAC) with inaccurate publishing data (Print Book, English, [1953?]Publisher: [Notts. Newspapers], [Hucknall, Notts.], [1953?]). See Images of front cover of pamphlet.

[Major-General Sir Noel Galway Holmes, Irish soldier in British Army.] Four signed letters to him, typed and in autograph; from Major-General Macan Saunders, Robert Fellowes, Sir William Heseltine, Sir Alan Lascelles. John Michael Avison Parker.

Author: 
Robert Fellowes [Lord Fellowes], Sir William Heseltine, Sir Alan Lascelles; Major-General Macan Saunders [Major-General Sir Noel Galway Holmes, Irish soldier; Sir John Michael Avison Parker]
Fellowes
Publication details: 
Items dated from between 1938 and 1981. Four items on letterheads of Buckingham Palace, London. One item on the letterhead of the Head Quarters, Lahore District.
£150.00
Fellowes

Seven items in good overall condition, lightly aged and worn. See the obituary of the recipient Major General Sir Noel Galway Holmes (1891-1982) in the Daily Telegraph, 29 December 1982. ONE: Robert Fellowes (b.1941), Baron Fellowes [Lord Fellowes], Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II. TLS to NGH (‘Dear Sir Noel’). 15 December 1981; on letterhead of Buckingham Palace. 1p, 12mo. Signed ‘Robert Fellowes’. He has been commanded by the Queen to thank him, ‘and all survivors from the XVIIIth The Royal Irish Regiment, for your Christmas card’.

[Sir George Sinclair, 2nd Baronet, Scottish Whig politician, schoolfriend of Byron, interrogated by Napoleon Bonaparte.] Autograph Letter Signed to James Cockell, editor of the Mirror of Parliament, regarding copies of parliamentary speeches by him.

Author: 
Sir George Sinclair (1790-1868), 2nd Baronet, Scottish Whig politician and author, friend of Bryon’s at Harrow, personally interrogated as a spy by Napoleon Bonaparte
George Sinclair
Publication details: 
‘62 St James’s Street / June 23. 1832 -’.
£90.00
George Sinclair

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. It was in October of 1806 that a sixteen year-old Sinclair was arrested as a spy near Jena, and brought before Napoleon, who examined him and ordered his release. 1p, 16mo. On heavily aged, creased and worn paper with light staining above the signature, and strip torn away at bottom left. Addressed on reverse to 'The Editor of the / Mirror of Parliament.' Signed ‘George Sin Clair [sic]’. He thanks him for his kindness ‘in sending yesterday for a copy of the remarks which I made as to the [Prussian?] loan’.

[San Juan Island, Washington State.] Printed paper: 'Correspondence respecting the Island of San Juan. Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty. 1860.'

Author: 
San Juan Island, Washington State; Lord John Russell; Lord Lyons; General Lewis Cass; Captain Pickett; Captain Bazalgette; Assistant-General Pleasonton
Publication details: 
'Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of Her Majesty. 1860.' and 'London: Printed by Harrison and Sons.'
£45.00

The correspondence concerns the need to prevent a 'collision between the American and British authorities on the island' (the American General Harney is quoted as saying that 'he is satisfied that any attempt of the British Commander to ignore this right of the territory will be followed by deplorable results out of his power to control'). [2] + 4 + [1]pp, foolscap 8vo. Stabbed as issued. On discoloured and worn paper, with slight chipping at head of first leaf. Last page (back cover) printed crosswise in the customary fashion (for folding into a packet).

['Be fair to yourself - Be decent to yourself': Lord Leverhulme [William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme], soap manufacturer, industrialist and philanthropist.] Signed Typescript of his reflection on 'Vision and Service'.

Author: 
Lord Leverhulme [William Hesketh Lever (1851-1925), 1st Viscount Leverhulme], soap manufacturer, industrialist and philanthropist
Publication details: 
No date or place. [Circa 1919?]
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. Eighteen lines of typed text, under the heading ‘VISION AND SERVICE.’ Undated, but certainly written after 1918, since the document is responding to changes since ‘the pre-war world of yesterday’. The final reference to a ladder, echoes a passage in Leverhulme’s 1919 tract ‘The Six-hour Day and other Industrial Questions’. Large bold signature at bottom right: ‘Leverhulme’. The signature and its environs are in good condition, on a document of aged and worn paper, with tearing to a central horizontal fold repaired with archival tape.

[Lord St Helens [Alleyne Fitzherbert, Baron St Helens], diplomat, Ambassador to Russia and Chief Secretary for Ireland.] Autograph Letter Signed from St Petersburgh to General Bentham, introducing 'Mr. Vaxel', who is coming to study in England..

Author: 
Lord St Helens [Alleyne Fitzherbert, Baron St Helens (1753-1839], diplomat, Ambassador to Russia, Chief Secretary for Ireland, for whom Mount St Helens is named [General Bentham]
Publication details: 
'St. Petersburgh 26th. Jany. 1802.'
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. For the context see Irina and Dmitri Gouzevitch, ‘Travelling interchanges between the Russian Empire and Western Europe / The Travels of Engineers during the First Half of the Nineteenth Century’, in Simões, Carneiro and Diogo eds, ‘Travels of Learning / A Geography of Science in Europe’ (Boston, 2003). 1p, 8vo. Nineteen lines of closely-written text. On aged and worn paper. The item has been torn away from a mount, resulting in damage to the two outer corners, with the area immediately to the right of the signature ‘St Helens’ lacking.

[Lord Ullswater [James William Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater], Speaker of the House of Commons.] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Courtenay Ilbert, Clerk of the Commons, regarding telegrams he has ready to send after the Prime Minister’s ‘intimation’

Author: 
Lord Ullswater [James William Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater (1855-1949)], Conservative politician, Speaker of the House of Commons, 1905-1921 [Sir Courtenay Ilbert (1841-1924), Clerk of the Commons]
Publication details: 
18 August [no year, but during his tenure as Speaker]. On letterhead of Campsea Ashe High House, Wickham Market.
£45.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 16mo. Eighteen lines. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, on lightly aged paper. Folded once. Addressed to ‘Dear Ilbert’ and signed ‘James W Lowther’. He has ‘prepared a series of telegram [sic] to all the news agencies and to the Clerk of the Works at Westminster’, and will dispatch them as soon as he receives ‘any intimation from the P.M’. He has another telegram ready for the London Gazette. ‘I think we can reasonably expect that, with 48 hrs notice, all M Ps and the staff would have sufficient notice’.

[Lord Simon [John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon], Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord Chancellor.] Autograph Letter Signed to Joyce, daughter of Sir Courtenay Ilbert, regarding arrangements for her wedding.

Author: 
Lord Simon [John Allsebrook Simon, 1st Viscount Simon] (1873-1954), Liberal Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Chancellor [Sir Courtenay Ilbert, Clerk of the Commons]
Publication details: 
4 June 1912. On letterhead of 'Headquarters: / The London Scottish, / 59, Buckingham Gate, / London, S.W.' [During the British enquiry into the Titanic sinking, at this venue.]
£35.00

A tenuous Titanic item: at the time of writing Simon, as solicitor-general, was representing the Board of Trade at the British enquiry into the sinking, at the address on the letterhead. See his entry and Ilbert's in the Oxford DNB. Joyce Violet Ilbert (1890-1957) was the youngest of Sir Courtenay's five daughters. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. Written in pencil. Signed ‘John Ilbert’.

[Lord St Helens [Alleyne Fitzherbert, Baron St Helens], diplomat, Ambassador to Russia and Chief Secretary for Ireland.] Autograph Letter Signed to Charles R. Broughton, authorizing a charge on refunded Land Tax as retired Foreign Ministers.agent.

Author: 
Lord St Helens [Alleyne Fitzherbert, Baron St Helens (1753-1839], diplomat, Ambassador to Russia, Chief Secretary for Ireland, for whom Mount St Helens is named [Charles R. Broughton]
Publication details: 
‘Grafton Street [London] / 2 May 1810’.
Upon request

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 8vo. Sixteen lines of closely-written text. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with short closed tears along the five creases from the folding of the item into a packet. Docketed on the reverse of the leaf: ‘May 2d 1810 / Lord St Helens / Authy to charge Agency at the rate of 1 P Ct on Monies recovered on accot of Land Tax refunded to Foreign Ministers &cr.’ Signed St Helens.

[Lord Brassey [Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey], Liberal party politician and Governor of Victoria.] Autograph Letter Signed quoting three ‘maxims’ that he uses.

Author: 
Lord Brassey [Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey] (1836-1918), Liberal party politician, Governor of Victoria in Australia and yachtsman
Publication details: 
18 December 1911. On two letterheads of Sand Hill, Winslow, Bucks.
£45.00

See his entry, and that of his father the civil engineer, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On separate letterheads. The recipient is not named and there is no salutation (though the letter is complete). Signed ‘Brassey’. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Begins: ‘I have two maxims for [hourly?] use. / I do the little I can do and leave the rest to thee / What thou livest live well. The rest commit to Heaven / Nor should the last message of the greatest sailor since the world began ever be forgotten / England expects that every man this day will do his duty’.

[Lord Canning [Charles John Canning, Earl Canning], Governor-General and first Viceroy of India.] Autograph Letter Signed to Lord Fitzgerald, as Under-Secretary to Lord Aberdeen at the Foreign Office, concerning Baron Brunow.

Author: 
Lord Canning [Charles John Canning, Earl Canning (1812-1862)], Governor-General and first Viceroy of India [Lord Fitzgerald [William Vesey Fitzgerald (1783-1843)], Anglo-Irish politician]
Publication details: 
'F. O. [Foreign Office, Whitehall] Nov 11. 41 [1841]'.
£120.00

Showing signs of the early stirrings of the Great Game. See Canning's entry, and that of Fitzgerald, in the Oxford DNB. At the time of the letter Canning was serving in his first governmental appointment, as Under-Secretary to Lord Aberdeen in the Foreign Office, in Peel’s administration, while Fitzgerald was President of the Board of Control. The ‘Baron Brunow’ referred to in the letter is Russian Ambassador in London, Philipp Graf von Brunnow (1797-1895). 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of a bifolium. Docketed on second leaf, ‘Lord Canning / respecting Baron Brunow Novr 11/41’.

[Lady Salisbury [Georgina Gascoyne-Cecil, Marchioness of Salisbury, wife of Conservative prime minister Lord Salisbury.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Miss Faithfull'

Author: 
Lady Salisbury [Georgina Gascoyne-Cecil, Marchioness of Salisbury, née Alderson (1827-1899)] wife of Conservative prime minister Lord Salisbury [Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury]
Publication details: 
25 November [no year, but between 1887 and 1892]. On letterhead of Hewell Grange, Bromsgrove.
£45.00

Lady Salisbury is referred to in her husband’s entry in the Oxford DNB as ‘a buoyant and forceful woman who could share his intellectual interests and encourage and facilitate his career’. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Written in a good firm hand. Addressed to ‘Dear Miss Faithfull’ and signed ‘G Salisbury’.

[Earl Grey [Henry George Grey, 3rd Earl Grey], Liberal politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to Tom Taylor, editor of Punch, praising a performance of his play ‘The Ticket-of-Leave Man’.

Author: 
Earl Grey [Henry George Grey, 3rd Earl Grey], Secretary of State for War in two Liberal administrations [Tom Taylor (1817-1880), playwright and editor of Punch]
Publication details: 
2 June [no year, but 1863, and on paper watermarked with that date]; on letterhead of 13 Carlton House Terrace.
£65.00

See the entry for Grey and Taylor in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Begins: ‘Dear Mr Taylor - / I am just come home from seeing “the ticket of leave man,” & before I go to bed I must thank you for an evening of very great enjoyment.’ It pleased him ‘to see so good a play, not taken from the French, but really English, [the play was in fact adapted from the French] & teaching the public what is true instead of encouraging a popular delusion of the day’.

[Sir John Taylor Coleridge, judge and editor of the Quarterly Review.] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir John Wither Awdry, asking for clarification. On reverse of part of letter from the Lord Chancellor Lord Cranworth.

Author: 
Sir John Taylor Coleridge (1790-1876), judge and editor of the Quarterly Review [Robert Monsey Rolfe, Lord Cranworth (1790-1868), twice Lord Chancellor; Sir John Wither Awdry (1795-1878), judge]
Publication details: 
'April. 19. 1855 / P[rivy]. C[ouncil].'
£56.00

Coleridge was the nephew of the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. See his entry, and that of Cranworth, in the Oxford DNB. The letter relates to Palmerston’s first ministry. 1p, 16mo (cut down to a 12 x 10 cm piece of wove paper). In fair condition, lightly aged and discoloured, with traces of glue from mount adhering to one edge of blank reverse. Signing himself ‘J. T C’, Coleridge writes: ‘My dear Awdry / I have been with the Chancellor in consequence of the above - & promised to send him a minute in writing - where we have had trouble. Can you help me with your recollection. / In haste.

[Lord Sligo [Howe Peter Browne, 2nd Marquis of Sligo], Governor of Jamaica.] Autograph Letter Signed with regard to payment for a theatre box 'for the remainder of the season'.

Author: 
Lord Sligo [Howe Peter Browne (1788-1845), 2nd Marquis of Sligo, previously Viscount Westport and Earl of Altamont], Anglo-Irish peer, Governor of Jamaica, abolitionist
Publication details: 
'Mansfield St [London] June 6th [1824?]'
£45.00

Sligo was appointed Governor of Jamaica in 1834. His efforts on behalf of the recently-emancipated slaves (including the financing of two schools) caused him to become unpopular with the plantation owners, and he was effectively ousted in 1836. 2pp, 12mo. Twenty-one lines of text. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded for postage. Small square of paper with engraving of the family crest laid down at the foot of the second page. Addressed to ‘My Dear Sir’ and signed ‘Sligo’. The Marquis’s handwriting is somewhat opaque.

[Laurence Olivier, distinguished English actor, star of stage and screen.] Autograph Signature on publicity photograph.

Author: 
Laurence Olivier [Laurence Kerr Olivier, Lord Olivier] (1907-1989), distinguished English actor, star of stage and screen, one of the greatest actors of the twentieth century
Olivier
Publication details: 
No date or place (1930s). Stamp on reverse of The Photo Repro Co., Photo House, 10 St Martin’s Court, London WC2.
£35.00
Olivier

Olivier’s luminous achievements are well described in his entry in the Oxford DNB. An 8 x 11 cm photographic image, printed in black and white on an 8.5t x 13.5 cm card, with the actor's autograph signature mostly on the blank area beneath the image: ‘L Olivier’. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. An attractive image of the head of the young thespian, staring moodily to his right, hair slicked back, with part of white shirt and smart dark jacket just visible. Not present among the 114 portraits of Olivier in the National Portrait Gallery inventory.

[Lord Moulton [John Fletcher Moulton], mathematician, Liberal politician and Cambridge Apostle.] Autograph Letter Signed, thanking ‘Mrs Earle’ for one of the letters which have 'given me most pleasure in my life’.

Author: 
Lord Moulton [John Fletcher Moulton, Baron Moulton (1844-1921)], mathematician, judge, Liberal politician and Cambridge Apostle
Publication details: 
24 May 1894. Deleted and thus indecipherable ‘S.W.’ London address.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Signed ‘J Fletcher Moulton’. Begins: ‘Dear Mrs Earle / Just at the worst moment of the fight your inspiring letter came to cheer me.’ He hopes he will be deserving of the ‘kind things’ she writes: ‘I could truthfully say things at least as kind in return but I fear my epistolary style does not lend itself thereto so I shall trust that you will take these as said.’ He ends by saying that he will retain the letter ‘as one of those which has [sic] given me most pleasure in my life’.

[Sir Frederick Lugard, Governor of Hong Kong, Governor-General of Nigeria.] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Edwin Arnold, having promoted the interests of Arnold’s recommendation, and with generous references to him.

Author: 
Sir Frederick Lugard [Frederick John Dealtry Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard; Lord Lugard] (1858-1945), Governor of Hong Kong, first Governor-General of Nigeria [Sir Edwin Arnold, author of 'Light of Asia']
Publication details: 
1 August 1903. On letterhead of the Junior Army & Navy Club, St James’s Street, S.W. [London]
£120.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo, with last page written crosswise. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Addressed to ‘Dear Sir Edwin’ and signed ‘F D Lugard’. He regrets to inform him that there is ‘no present vacancy in Northern Nigeria’, but that he has ‘written to the c.o. on behalf of Mr Trayler whom you recommend, & I hope he may obtain an appointment in another Colony if no vacancy occurs in N. Nigeria’.

[Lord Halifax [Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax], Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer.] Autograph Note Signed, requesting a book of the secretary of the London Library.

Author: 
Lord Halifax [Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax (1800-1885)], Liberal politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord John Russell
Publication details: 
8 November 1877. ‘Hickleton’ [Hickleton Hall, Yorkshire] On letterhead of Howick, Lesbury, Northumberland.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged, with one dog-eared corner. Reads: ‘To the / Secretary of the London Library. / St James’s Sq / Sir / Be good enough to let me have the book of which I enclose the title / Yours / Halifax’.

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