LOUISA

[Lady Knightley [Louisa Mary Knightley], Anglican churchwoman and Conservative suffragist.] Autograph Letter Signed to ?Phoebe?, asking her to design a bookplate for volumes presented to her by the Girls? Friendly Society, Peterborough Diocese.

Author: 
Lady Knightley [Louisa Mary Knightley, n?e Bowater] (1842-1913), prominent Anglican churchwoman and Conservative suffragist [Girls? Friendly Society, Peterborough Diocese]
Publication details: 
9 June 1904; on letterhead of Fawsley Park, Daventry.
£50.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo, with the first page also bearing the conclusion of the letter and signature ?L M Knightley?, cross-written. On bifolium of grey paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded for postage. She begins by asking for a favour, explaining that she has had ?a most lovely present from my G. F. S.

[Countess of Elgin and Kincardine [Mary Louisa Bruce, née Lambton], Vicereine of India.] Autograph Letter in the third person to Sir Cuthbert Sharp, as Lady Mary Lambton, hailing him as a friend of her deceased father.

Author: 
Countess of Elgin and Kincardine [Mary Louisa Bruce, née Lambton] (1819-1898), Vicereine of India, 1862-1863, daughter of the Earl of Durham [Sir Cuthbert Sharp (1781-1849), historian]
Publication details: 
22 October 1844; Lambton Castle [County Durham].
£56.00

See her husband’s entry, and those of her father the Earl of Durham, and Sir Cuthbert Sharp, in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with small closed tear to blank area at foot of second leaf. Folded for postage. Laid down on leaf removed from album. Begins: ‘Lady Mary Lambton presents her Compliments to Sir Cuthbert Sharp, and begs to express her grateful sense of the kind message, conveyed to her through Mrs. Brodie, concerning Sir C. Sharps small pamphlet -’.

[Louisa Cornwallis, Marchioness Cornwallis.] Her Autograph Signature and votes for candidates for the Adult Orphan Institution, on its printed ‘Polling Paper for the Election of Three Contributary Wards’.

Author: 
Louisa Cornwallis [née Gordon] (1776-1850), Marchioness Cornwallis, wife of Charles Cornwallis, 2nd Marquis Cornwallis, daughter of 4th Duke of Gordon [The Adult Orphan Institution, London]
Publication details: 
Marchioness's vote on 25 November 1842. Election date 14 December 1842. At the House of the Adult Orphan Institution, St. Andrew’s Place, Regent’s Park [London].
£50.00

2pp, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight damage at head from breaking of the wafer, and small spike hole at centre. Addressed on reverse to ‘Most Noble / Marchioness Cornwallis / 12 Park Crescent’. The printed statement beside this has been completed in manuscript to show that the Marchioness has twelve votes. The other side of the leaf is headed: ‘Polling Paper / For the Electio of Three Contributary Wards, / On Wednesday, December 14th, 1842, / Between the hours of Two and Four o’Clock, / At the House of the Adult Orphan Institution, / St.

[Louisa Starr, artist, the first woman to win a Royal Academy gold medal for painting.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Louisa Starr') to ‘Mr. Potter’ of the Associated Arts Institute, apologising for not being able to attend a letter.

Author: 
Louisa Starr [laterly Louisa Canziani] (1845-1909), British painter, the first woman to win a Royal Academy gold medal for history painting [Associated Arts Institute, London]
Publication details: 
13 November [no year]; 14 Russell Square [London].
£80.00

In 1867 Starr was the first woman to win a gold medal for painting at the Royal Academy, having won a silver two years before. 2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of mount on blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. She has ‘just received the ticket for the lecture at the Associated Arts Institute’ which he sent, and is afraid she will not be able to use it herself: ‘as we are going to the Opera’. She wonders whether she ‘may be allowed’ to ‘give it to some friends who I think would like to come very much’.

[A. C. Swinton of Land Nationalisation Society, friend of Alfred Russel Wallace.] Three Autograph Letters Signed to the 'Misses Shore' [poet Louisa Catherine Shore and sister], on their brother in Australia, spiritualism, other topics inc. Wallace

Author: 
A. C. Swinton (d. c.1905) [Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913), naturalist, co-conceiver with Darwin of Theory of Evolution; Louisa Catherine Shore (1824-1895), poet; her sister Arabella Susanna Shore]
Publication details: 
ONE: 31 December 1891; The Vine, Sevenoaks, Kent. TWO: 14 August 1893; Parkfield, Haslemere.
£500.00

The context is explained in Wallace's 'Island Life' (1880), in which he discusses 'a fragment of a well-formed stone axe' that his 'friend A. C. Swinton, Esq.' found, 'while working in the then almost unknown gold-field of Maryborough, Victoria, in January, 1855'. Later in the book Wallace refers to the brother of the recipients of the letter, 'Mr. Mackworth Shore', i.e. Mackworth Charles Shore, as 'one of the discoverers of the gold-field, before any rush to it had taken place'. See the Oxford DNB entry on one of the two recipients of the letter, Louisa Catherine Shore.

[Louisa Stuart Costello, Anglo-Irish miniature painter.] Autograph Letter Signed ('L. S Costello') to 'Miss de Witte', discussing 'Yankee' and Scandinavian poetry, and enclosing a 'trifle' to help a family the recipient is helping.

Author: 
Louisa Stuart Costello (1799-1870), Anglo-Irish miniature painter, travel writer and author, friend of Sir Francis Burdett
Publication details: 
'Friday Evg'. No place or date.
£65.00

4pp, 16mo. Bifolium on light-green paper. In good condition, lightly aged. The letter begins: 'My Dear Miss de Witte | Of course I found the Yankee Poems directly after You were Gone – too carefully put by. Do not put mine away too carefully – as I want You to really read them. (Poetry of France) The sad lines of Marguerite d'Ecosse (in the notes at the end) are original & perhaps will stroke You – as the mournful Subject did me.

[Louisa May Alcott, American author.] Front panel of envelope, bearing the address, in her autograph, of 'Mrs Peter Taylor', i.e. the abolitionist Clementia Taylor.

Author: 
Louisa May Alcott (1832-1888), American author of the novels 'Little Women', 'Little Men' and 'Jo's Boys' [Clementia Taylor[née Doughty] (1810-1898), abolitionist and supporter of women's suffrage]
Publication details: 
Boston postmark, 2 November [1880]. Endorsed 14 November 1880.
£220.00

Front panel of envelope, 7.5 x 10.5 cm. On thin paper. Aged, worn and creased, with fraying and loss to edges. Two circular Boston postmarks in black ink at top right. Endorsed at top left 'Nov. 14. 80.' In contemporary hand [Clementia Taylor?] at bottom left: 'May Allcott [sic]'. The address, in Alcott's autograph, one word of which is cropped, reads: 'Mrs Peter Taylor. | 22 Marine Par[ade] | Brighton | England'. Clementia Taylor [née Doughty] (1810-1898) was an abolitionist and supporter of women's suffrage.

[Princess Victoria of Schleswig Holstein, granddaughter of Queen Victoria.] Autograph Signature ('Victoria of Schleswig Holstein').

Author: 
Victoria of Schleswig Holstein [Princess Helena Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein; Victoria Louise Sophia Augusta Amelia Helena] (1870-1948), granddaughter of Queen Victoria
Publication details: 
Dated by her to 2 August 1902.
£25.00

Written within one of three red rectangular squares on a page on one side of a leaf detached from 'The Meredith Birthday Book'. In good condition, lightly aged. The Princess's inscription reads 'Victoria of Schleswig Holstein Aug. 2. 1902', and the rest of the page is blank. The word 'Victoria' is underlined, and the upper part of the flourish to the 'V' extends over the top of the rectangle, and the date projects into the margin. On the reverse to the leaf are printed quotations from Meredith for the days 4 to 6 May.

[Lady Louisa Hardy, wife of Sir Thomas Hardy, Captain of HMS Victory at Battle of Trafalgar.] Autograph Letter in the third person to 'Mr Lahee' (the auctioneer Samuel Lahee), concerning Hardy's consent to requirements in a new house

Author: 
Lady Louisa Emily Anna Hardy (1788-1877), wife of Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy (1769-1839)], Royal Navy officer, Captain of HMS Victory at Battle of Trafalgar [Samuel Lahee]
Publication details: 
9 Queen Street, Mayfair [London]. 15 October [no year].
£250.00

Hardy is immortalised in Nelson's dying request 'Kiss me, Hardy.' Lady Hardy was the daughter of Admiral Sir George Cranfield Berkeley (1753-1818). 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with parts of red wax seal and traces of glue from mount on reverse of second leaf, which is addressed 'To | Mr Lahee | 65. New Bond Street'. Folded once.

[Louisa, Duchess of Buccleuch, regarding charity work for the Mahdist War.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Miss Christison', asking on behalf of the Princess of Wales for her assistance in relation to a charity for British troops in Egypt and the Sudan.

Author: 
Louisa, Duchess of Buccleuch [Louisa Montagu Douglas Scott; previously Lady Louisa Jane Hamilton] (1836-1912), wife of William Scott, 6th Duke of Buccleuch and 8th Duke of Queensberry (1831-1914)
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Dalkeith House, Dalkeith [Scotland]. 6 April 1885.
£45.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. Writing with regard to the Mahdist War, she has been asked by the Princess of Wales to 'start a Sub-Committee to H. R. H's. Branch of the National Aid Society (Soudan & Egypt)', and is 'anxious to know' whether the recipient can help her 'by allowing your name to be placed on the General Committee the object of which is to collect funds to secure some further provisions for the health & comfort of the British Troops, more especially the Sick & Wounded, in that trying climate'.

[ Mrs Molesworth, children's writer. ] Autograph Signature ('Louisa Molesworth') on valediction to letter.

Author: 
Mrs Molesworth [ Mary Louisa Molesworth, née Stewart; M. L. S. Molesworth; 'Ennis Graham' ] (1839-1921), English children's writer
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£25.00

On one side of a 2.5 x 11 cm slip of paper, cut from the end of a letter. Reads 'Yours very sincerely | Louisa Molesworth'.

[ Laura Starr Canziani, English artist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Laura Canziani') to the wife of the physician Sir W. H. Allchin, regarding an invitation and her husband's return from Paris.

Author: 
Louisa Starr Canziani [ Louisa Canziani ] (1845-1909), artist, the first woman to win a gold medal for history painting at the Royal Academy (1867) [ Sir William Henry Allchin (1846-1912), physician ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 3 Kensington Palace Green, W. [ London ] 12 June [ no year ].
£40.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. She apologises for having missed Mrs Allchin's 'party at the Prince's Hall', as she had to meet her husband 'in Paris on his way home from Italy, and we were detained there longer than we had expected'. She had hoped that they both could have attended the party, but they were 'detained there longer than we had expected'. Louisa Starr married the civil engineer and industrialist Enrico Canziani (1848-1931) in Dover in 1882.

[Louisa Baldwin (née Louisa Baldwin), one of the 'Macdonald Sisters', mother of Stanley Baldwin and aunt of Rudyard Kipling.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Louie') to her brother Rev. Frederic William Macdonald, discussing the naming of his fourth child.

Author: 
Louisa Baldwin [née Louisa Macdonald] (1845-1825), wife of industrialist Alfred Baldwin (1841-1908), mother of Stanley Baldwin and aunt of Rudyard Kipling [Rev. Frederic William Macdonald (1842-1928)]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. 15 April 1874.
£235.00

A characteristic letter by one of the celebrated 'Macdonald Sisters'. (Louisa Baldwin was the youngest of the four. Her eldest sister Alice was Rudyard Kipling's mother; the next oldest Georgiana married the Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones; and the third Agnes married the president of the Royal Academy Edward Poynter.) 8pp., 12mo. On two bifoliums, both with mourning borders and the Baldwin crest as letterhead. In good condition, lightly-aged.

Ten loose uncoloured india-paper proofs of the steel engravings of illustrations (from designs by the Marchioness of Waterford) accompanying the poem 'The Babes in the Wood', published in London by Joseph Cundall.

Author: 
[Joseph Cundall (1818-1895) of 12 Old Bond Street, London publisher and photographer; Louisa Anne Beresford [née Stuart], Marchioness of Waterford (1818-1891), watercolour painter and philanthropist]
Publication details: 
London: Joseph Cundall, Mdcccxlix. [1849.]
£320.00

Each proof is on 29 x 23 cm paper, and each is laid down on a piece of 38 x 31.5 cm card. In good condition, on lightly-aged and spotted paper, with wear and bumping to mount. The first engraving The Spectator for 23 December 1848 carried an advertisement by Cundall for 'ILLUSTRATED WORKS BY LADY AMATEURS', at the head of which was 'THE BABES IN THE WOOD. Illustrated with Ten Original Designs, Etched on Steel. | Colombier 8vo. price 1l. 1s.; or Coloured after the Drawings, 2l. 2s.

Autograph Letter Signed, in the third person, from 'Mrs Harford', guest of Mrs Martin of Camden, Chiselhurst, asking 'Mr Wilson' to procure her a ticket 'to see the preparations in the Abbey' [for the coronation of Queen Victoria?].

Author: 
Mrs Harford (possibly Louisa Harford, née Louisa Hart Davis, wife of John Scandrett Harford) [Mrs Frances Martin (d.1863) of Camden, Chislehurst, wife of John Martin (d.1832), MP for Tewkesbury]
Publication details: 
'Chislehurst [Kent]. | June 22 [1838?].'
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Considering the fact that Mrs Harford states that she is staying at the home of Mrs Martin, and that Mr Martin died in 1832, it seems probable that the letter refers to the preparations for the coronation of Queen Victoria, which occurred on 28 June 1838. The letter reads: 'Mrs Harford understanding that people are admitted to see the Preparations in the Abbey & thinking it probable that Mr Gillen may have been employed in the decoration, will be very much obliged to Mr Wilson if he could procure her a Ticket to see them.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Louisa Parr') from the Victorian novelist Mrs Louisa Sarah Ann Parr (pseudonym 'Mrs. Olinthus Lobb'), regarding the translation into French by the neice of the unnamed female recipient of her novel 'Dorothy Fox'.

Author: 
Louisa Sarah Ann Parr [née Taylor] (c.1848-1903), Victorian novelist under the pseudonym 'Mrs. Olinthus Lobb'
Publication details: 
18 Upper Phillimore Place, Kensington. 27 July 1872.
£40.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium, with leaf dimensions 18 x 11cm. The letter appears complete, in good condition on lightly-aged paper, but a rectangle of about 5.5 x 11cm. (perhaps carrying the recipient's name) has been torn from the bottom of the second leaf.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Spencer') from George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer to an unnamed recipient [his agent?], requesting him to engage 'Mrs. Hope's house' and 'the stables at Mr. Wrights'.

Author: 
George John Spencer (1758-1834), 2nd Earl Spencer [Thomas Hope (1769-1831), connoisseur, and Hon. Louisa Hope (d.1851), his wife]
Publication details: 
'Spencer House Saturday [no date]'.
£38.00

1p., 12mo. On aged and lightly-spotted paper. Reads: 'My dear Sir, | Mrs. Hope's house will do & I shall be obliged to you to engage it for me, from the Saturday before the show for a week & the stables at Mr. Wrights also. | Yours most truly, | [signed] Spencer'. Mrs Hope is probably the Hon. Louisa Hope (d.1851), wife or widow of the connoisseur Thomas Hope (1769-1831), and one of the wealthiest women of England. If this is the case the letter was written before her second marriage in 1832 to her cousin Viscount Beresford.

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