MANUSCRIPT

[ Emily Anne Smyth, Lady Strangford, military nurse. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('E. Strangford') to 'Mr. Haverstock', asking for his assistance in finding a tutor for a Bulgarian refugee, and describing the sort of education she wishes for him.

Author: 
Emily Anne Smythe [ née Beaufort ], Viscountess Strangford [ Lady Strangford ] (c.1826-1887), military nurse in Bulgaria, illustrator and author
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 10 Chapel Street, Park Lane [ London ]. 27 September 1880.
£180.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. In businesslike fashion she appeals for his help, considering his 'large acquaintance of clergy & others': 'I want to find a place for a young man. Bulgarian 28 years old - where I can put him to live in the family & be taught daily.

[ Fanny Davies, concert pianist. ] Autograph Letter Signed to unnamed party, sending a lithograph on the recommendation of the critic J. A. Fuller Maitland, who is singing in her 'little choir'.

Author: 
Fanny Davies (1861-1934), English pianist, dedicatee of Edward Elgar's 'Concert Allegro' [ J. A. Fuller Maitland [ John Alexander Fuller Maitland ] (1856-1936), music critic ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 52 Wellington Road, St. John's Wood N.W. [ London ]. 13 February 1910.
£50.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, on lightly aged paper. Begins: 'Dear Sir | Mr. J. A. Fuller Maitland, who is singing in my little choir is also most kindly helping me by suggesting the right people to sing! & has told me to use his name & send you one of the enclosed lithographed letters which will speak for itself.' She concludes in the hope that he will 'help by singing'.

[ George Julian Harney, Chartist and journalist. ] Two Autograph Letters Signed ('G. J. Harney' and 'G. Julian Harney') to the bookseller Bertram Dobell, assessing the character of George Augustus Sala, and bemoaning the state of his health.

Author: 
G. J. Harney [ George Julian Harney ] (1817-1897), Chartist and journalist [ Bertram Dobell (1842-1914), London bookseller and literary scholar; George Augustus Sala (1828-1895), journalist ]
Publication details: 
The first from 27 St Mary's Grove, Richmond-on-Thames, Surrey.,21 August 1895. The second with placve not stated, 12 September 1895.
£500.00

Dobell is not named, but the second letter contains a reference to the recipient's wife 'Mrs. Dobell'. Both letters 2pp., 12mo, and both in good condition, on lightly aged paper. ONE: 21 August 1895. Signed 'G. J. Harney.' He makes an order of books from the library of George Augustus Sala, of whom he 'cannot profess to be an admirer': 'clever, versatile, a typical journalist; but not of the stuff of Cobbett, Wooler, Hone (before he became a melancholy mad religious crank) or Hetherington – or Hunt (John).

[ Lord Glasgow. ] Autograph Note Signed ('Glasgow'), to the Hon. Sec. of the Naval and Military Relief Exhibition, Edinburgh, sending his best wishes but declining to take part in its fund.

Author: 
George Frederick Boyle, 6th Earl of Glasgow [ Lord Glasgow ] (1825-1890), Scottish peer and Member of Parliament
Publication details: 
21 Chapel Street, Belgrave Square, London S.W. 20 April 1889.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. 'While wishing all good success to the proposed Naval & Military Relief Exhibition', he is sorry that he does not feel able to 'take part in the <?> fund'.

[ Lord Cairns, twice Lord Chancellor of Great Britain. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Cairns'), offering to try to gain 'Rowcliffe' a place on the Surrey Bench.

Author: 
Hugh McCalmont Cairns, 1st Earl Cairns [ Lord Cairns ] (1819-1885), Irish jurist and Conservative statesman, twice Lord Chancellor of Great Britain [ William Rowcliffe (1840-1922), lawyer ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 5 Cromwell Houses, S.W. [ London ] 10 April 1880.
£80.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Headed 'Private'. Reads: 'I shd. be glad to see you on the Surrey Bench before I leave office, if you still wish it, & if I can accomplish it. The first of these ifs you can answer. Please let me have a line.' The recipient was presumably the lawyer William Rowcliffe (1840-1922).

[ Arthur Chenevix Trench, publisher in firm of Kegan Paul, Trench & Co. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('A Chenevix Trench') to Rev. A. P. <Brown?>, regarding misprints in his father's works, and making 'young Bliss' into a 'good business man'.

Author: 
Alfred Chenevix Trench (1849-1938), London publisher, with Charles Kegan Paul (1828-1902), in the firm of Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., son of Richard Chenevix Trench (1807-1886), Archbishop of Dublin
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., Publishers, 1 Paternoster Square, London. 17 October 1889.
£40.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He is obliged for Brown's letter, 'pointing out misprints in my father's works. | Such communications are always valuable.' He is happy to say that 'young Bliss is working very well, & we shall make a good business man of him'.

[ Charlotte Helen Sainton, contralto. ] Autograph Note Signed ('Charlotte H Sainton') to an unnamed recipient, stating her terms and agreeing to 'introduce Miss Gabriel's songs'.

Author: 
Charlotte Helen Sainton [ Charlotte Helen Sainton-Dolby; nee Dolby ] (1821-1885), contralto, singing teacher and composer
Publication details: 
Belvedere Mansion, Brighton. 5 November [ no year, on paper watermarked 1862 ].
£120.00

1p., 12mo. On bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly aged paper. She thanks him for his note and states that her 'terms will be ten guineas, and I shall be very happy to introduce Miss Gabriel's songs &c &c'.

[ Agnes Giberne, author and astronomer. ] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mrs Ranks'

Author: 
Agnes Giberne (1845-1939), prolific British author and astronomer, who helped set up the British Astronomical Association
Publication details: 
Abergeldie, Eastbourne. 1 September 1880.
£50.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Abergeldie, Eastbourne, 'is at present my permanent address. We are not likely to return to Clifton, but shall probably settle down in Eastbourne, - though not in this house.' She thanks her for her invitation to Dalston: 'If I find it possible, when in London, to get there, I will write to let you know.'

[ Hugh Foss, Bletchley Park codebreaker ] Draft Autograph Letter UNSIGNED with substantial corrections, all in Foss's hand, to a "Miss Kaye" thanking her fopr a "pleasant evening's dancing".

Author: 
Hugh Foss [ Hugh Rose Foss ] (1902-1971), British cryptanalyst, a Bletchley Park codebreaker [Japanese; Chelsea Reel Club (for Scottish country dancing); German Enigma Code; Japanese Naval Codes ]
Publication details: 
No place or date. Written on notepaper with printed heading "Hon. Secretary, London Fencing Club."
£90.00

Foss was a distinguished cryptanalyst, and his career is described in his entry in the Oxford DNB. At Bletchley Park during the Second World War he was the first person to decode a day's worth of the German Enigma Code (in 1940); and heading the Japanese Naval Section in Hut 7 (between 1942 and 1943). His wife Alison (née Graham, 1908-1979) inspired his interest in Scottish country dancing in the early 1930s. He was Vice-President of the Chelsea Reel Club on its formation in 1935; and became Chairman in 1938.

[ Hugh Foss, Bletchley Park codebreaker. ] Draft of Autograph Letter Signed ('Hugh Foss') as Vice Chairman, Chelsea Reel Club: a circular regarding 'the first meeting of the new season', including the meeting's 'Agenda' in six numbered parts.

Author: 
Hugh Foss [ Hugh Rose Foss ] (1902-1971), British cryptanalyst, a Bletchley Park codebreaker [Japanese; Chelsea Reel Club (for Scottish country dancing); German Enigma Code; Japanese Naval Codes ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 37 Robyns Way, Sevenoaks, Kent. Undated. [ Shortly before 'the Ball at Chelsea Town Hall on Friday, 29th October, 1937'. ]
£220.00

Foss was a distinguished cryptanalyst, and his career is described in his entry in the Oxford DNB. At Bletchley Park during the Second World War he was the first person to decode a day's worth of the German Enigma Code (in 1940); and heading the Japanese Naval Section in Hut 7 (between 1942 and 1943). His wife Alison (née Graham, 1908-1979) inspired his interest in Scottish country dancing in the early 1930s. He was Vice-President of the Chelsea Reel Club on its formation in 1935; and became Chairman in 1938. While at Bletchley he taught a regular class on the subject.

[ Thomas Fisher, artist and antiquary. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Thos Fisher') to <J. T. Home?>, regarding 'plates of [Chinese?] symbols'

Author: 
Thomas Fisher (1772-1836), artist and antiquary
Fisher
Publication details: 
19 September 1825. Place not stated [ London? ].
£80.00
Fisher

1p., 4to. In fair condition, somewhat aged and worn. The letter reads: 'My dear friend | On examining your plates of symbols I find no perceptible [corrected from 'practicable'] difference between Nos 154 & 155; although the former is described as a dog and the latter as a hairy shaggy dog. Is the fact so? Excuse the freedom of yours | very sincerely | Thos. Fisher'. Fisher's letter may be connected with Robert Morrison's 'Dictionary of the Chinese Language' (1815-1823), which has a symbol for 'A hairy, shaggy dog.'

[ William Sowerby, artist and botanist. ] Autograph Signature ('Wm. Sowerby | Secty') as Secretary, Royal Botanic Society of London, on communication to 'The Proprietors of "Scientific Roll"'.

Author: 
William Sowerby (1827-1906), Secretary, Royal Botanic Society of London, artist and botanist [ [ Alexander Ramsay, editor of the 'Scientific Roll' ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Royal Botanic Society of London, Gardens, Regent's Park, London. 24 January 1883.
£120.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. A somewhat grand and expansive printed form, completed in manuscript by Sowerby. He thanks the 'Gentlemen' who are 'The Proprietors of "Scientific Roll"' for 'the continuation, as published, of The "Scientific Roll"'. From the papers of Alexander Ramsay, editor of the 'Scientific Roll'.

[ Thomas Burnham, Northampton bookseller of the Georgian period. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Thos. Burnham'), regarding an 'ingenious Catalogue', 'Stewarts Athens' and 'Mr. Hayes's Account'.

Author: 
Thomas Burnham (fl. 1790-1819), Northampton bookseller [ Burnham & Birdsall ]
Publication details: 
Northampton. 18 January 1809.
£120.00

1p., 8vo. In fair condition, on aged paper with small spike hole at head. He thanks the unnamed recipient for his 'obliging letter' and 'ingenious Catalogue', and 'would have acknowledged the receipt sooner' had he not been waiting for 'an opportunity of conveying the same free of expence'. The recipient is 'welcome' to the copy of 'Stewarts Athens' at his 'own price' of two guineas. Burnham has 'adjusted Mr. Hayes's Account with the balance of onepound [sic] ffifteenshillings [sic]', and begs 'to thank that Gentleman for the same'.

[ 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'.

[ The Wesleyan Conference, Sheffield, 1875. ] Autograph Letter Signed from Stephen P. Harvard to 'Mr. Walker', reporting on doings at the Conference.

Author: 
Stephen P. Harvard (d.1905), Wesleyan Methodist minister and author [ The Wesleyan Conference, Sheffield, 1875; Rev. Walker of Liverpool ]
Publication details: 
Carver Street, Sheffield. 12 August 1875.
£180.00

Regarding the Sheffield Wesleyan Conference of 1875 see the article in the Spectator, 14 August 1875, 'The Wesleyan Ultramontanes', and the long review of the conference minutes in the London Quarterly, no.45, vol.89. The present item is 2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. An interesting gossipy letter from a committee member at the conference, satirising two of the others present as 'Mr. Pepys in Conference' and 'Those who approve'. 2pp., 12mo.

[ Thomas George Bonney, geologist after whom Lake Bonney in Antarctica is named. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('T. G. Bonney') to an unnamed lady, contesting that domestic service is a 'state of slavery'.

Author: 
T. G. Bonney [ Thomas George Bonney ] (1833-1923), geologist after whom Lake Bonney in Antarctica is named, President of the Geological Society of London
Publication details: 
23 Denning Road, N. W. [ London ]. On letterhead of the Athenaeum club, Pall Mall. 13 October 1904.
£220.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. A tantalizing extract from a correspondence. He begins: 'I doubt whether domestic service, as a rule, is quite the state of slavery you depict, but, as I said before, the question which you ask me is less simple than you appear to think and I can only say that every employer is bound to remember that those he (or she) employs has wants, bodily and spiritual, very similar to his own.' He concludes the letter, and the correspondence, by apologising that he 'cannot continue to write on the subject'.

[ Rev. George Cornelius Gorham, Vicar of Brampford Speke, Devon. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('G. C. Gorham') to '- Thorpe Esqre | St. Edmunds' Hall | Oxford' [ i.e the antiquary Markham John Thorpe ], regarding the seals of Archbishop Cranmer.

Author: 
Rev. G. C. Gorham [ George Cornelius Gorham ] (1787-1857), Vicar of Brampford Speke, Devon, subject of 'one of the most celebrated legal actions of the century' [ Markham John Thorpe (1817-1863) ]
Publication details: 
'The Vicarage | Brampford Speke (Exeter) [ Devon ] | 2 Feb. 1856'.
£120.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. He has been informed by 'The Rev. Mr. Bedford' that Thorpe is 'very conversant with Archaeological matters', and asks whether he has 'met with a Seal fo Abp. Cranmer'. Gorham is 'getting drawings of four of his Seals, for probable publication'. Bedford 'thinks there is a drawing of one among the Ashmole MSS.' but Gorham does not remember seeing one there. He hopes to 'have 2 or 3 hours in Oxford on Monday, & will look for it'.

[ Richard Slate of Preston, Congregational minister. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('R. Slate') to Samuel Walker Alliot, regarding collecting and exchanging of nonconformist letters, with printed notice listing wanted 'Wesleyan Presidents'.

Author: 
Richard Slate (1787-1867) of Preston, Congregational minister, biographical writer and temperance campaigner
Publication details: 
Autograph Letter: Preston [ Lancashire ], 25 November 1863. Printed text undated.
£120.00

For information on Slate, see his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is a 12mo bifolium, with the two-page autograph letter to Alliot on the first leaf, and the printed notice on the recto of the second. In good condition, lightly aged. He thanks Alliot and names the authors of three letters he would like, adding: 'I take it for granted they are letters similar to Dr. Buntings, which I have enclosed and not mere autographs. Walter Griffith's letter (which I will send when I hear from you) is quite equal to Dr. Bunting's but longer.

[ The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Canterbury, Kent. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Saml. Webb.') from Samuel Webb to Manchester philanthropist John Fernley

Author: 
Samuel Webb of the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel [ St Peter's Methodist Church ], Canterbury, Kent [ John Fernley (1796-1873), Wesleyan Methodist and philanthropist of Manchester and Southport ]
Publication details: 
Canterbury [ Kent ]. 13 October 1838.
£120.00

The Chapel was erected in 1811 and still stands, albeit with unsympathetic internal alterations dating from the 1990s. Kelly's Directory of 1889 describes it thus: 'The Wesleyan Methodist Chapel (situated in St. Peter's Street) is a handsome building, with portico, erected in 1811, and provides accommodation for 960 persons. Ministers are elected at the Annual Wesleyan Conference.' 2pp., 4to. Bifolium. Addressed, with two postmarks, on reverse of second leaf, 'To J. Fernley | Manchester | Care of the Rev. J.: Rigg, | Wesleyan Minister, | Oldham St. | Manchester'.

[ Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Charles W. Dilke'), complimenting 'Bennett' on a speech, and alluding sarcastically to the Marquess of Lansdowne.

Author: 
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet (1843-1911), Radical and Liberal politician, whose career ended in disgrace [ Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice (1845-1927), 5th Marquess of Lansdowne ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 76 Sloane Street, S.W. [ London ]. 6 July 1906.
£65.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged paper. An amusingly sardonic missive, addressed to 'Dear Bennett'. He was not able to compliment him the previous night on his 'excellent speech', but is 'anxious to know what was the cryptic allusion to the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs who had experience of arming savages? I do not believe that Fitzmaurice ever did so, unless you intended the German use of the word “savages” for below-the-gangway Radicals?'

[ Neville Bulwer-Lytton, 3rd Earl of Lytton, British military officer, Olympian and artist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Neville Lytton') to Digby la Motte, describing the 'magnificent' appearance at a Bach concert of Sir Claude Phillips.

Author: 
Neville Bulwer-Lytton (1879-1951), 3rd Earl of Lytton, British military officer, Olympian (Real Tennis) and artist [ Sir Claude Phillips; Richard Alexander Streatfeild ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Crabbet Park, Poundhill, Crawley, Sussex. 18 March 1911.
£65.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. He apologises for being unable to 'get out of' his 'other engagement' after his committee the following next Wednesday, and asks for 'another opportunity of coming to see you.' He continues: 'I saw Streatfield [sic] from afar the other night at Bach's mass in B. Minor. He was magnificent in evening dress next to Claude Phillips even more magnificent.' He concludes: 'I expect you Wednesday afternoon at Rossetti Studios, Flood St.

[ The Oxford Architectural Society. ] Bookplate of the Society, by the wood-engraver Orlando Jewitt, on mount signed by secretaries John Portal and Robert Wilmot.

Author: 
Orlando Jewitt [ Thomas Orlando Sheldon Jewitt ] (1799-1869), architectural wood-engraver [ The Oxford Architectural Society; The Society for promoting the Study of Gothic Architecture
Publication details: 
[ Executed for the Oxford Architectural Society. ] Inscription on mount dated 'A: A: May 1850.'
£180.00

A scarce piece of Oxford ephemera. The Society for promoting the Study of Gothic Architecture was founded in 1839; renamed the Oxford Architectural Society in 1848; renamed the Oxford Architectural and Historical Society in 1860; merged with The Oxfordshire Archaeological Society in 1972 to become The Oxfordshire Architectural and Historical Society. In good condition, printed in black ink on a 15 x 11 cm piece of white India paper, laid down on a 22 x 18.5 cm grey card mount. At the foot of the design, in tiny letters, is engraved 'O. JEWITT. | DEL.

[ General Sir Robert Gardiner of the Royal Artillery. ] Autograph Signed Certificate ('Robert Gardiner'), with his seal of office in black wax, appointing 'The Revd Dr. Rudge [...] Chaplain to His Royal Highness The Prince Leopold'.

Author: 
General Sir Robert Gardiner (1781-1864), Royal Artillery, Master Gunner, St James's Park, and Principal Equerry to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, 1816-1831 [ James Rudge of Limehouse ]
Publication details: 
Claremont. 6 August 1820.
£180.00

1p., foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The document is signed at the end 'Robert Gardiner', beside his seal in black wax. It reads: 'These are to certify, that The Revd Dr. Rudge, is appointed Chaplain to His Royal Highness The Prince Leopold – to have, hold and enjoy the said office, together with all rights, privileges and advantages, thereunto belonging. | Claremont, August the Sixth – One thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty. | Robert Gardiner'.

[ The Lancashire Cotton Famine, 1861-1865. ] Autograph Letter from 'John Whittaker | "A Lancashire Lad."' to J. B. Langley

Author: 
John Whittaker of Wigan, journalist [ pseudonym 'A Lancashire Lad' ] [ The Lancashire Cotton Famine, 1861-1865; Wigan Standard newspaper ]
Publication details: 
'"Standard" Office | Wigan | May 27th. 1862.'
£150.00

For the background to this letter see William Otto Henderson, 'The Lancashire Cotton Famine 1861-65' (1934) and Angela V. John, 'By the Sweat of their Brow' (2013). Between 14 April and 16 October 1862 Whittaker published a dozen letters on the 'Lancashire Distress' in the London Times, under the pseudonym of 'A Lancashire Lad'. Edwin Waugh, in his 'Home Life of the Lancashire Factory Folk During the Cotton Famine' (1867), describes Whittaker as 'one of the first writers whose appeals through the press drew serious attention to the great distress in Lancashire during the Cotton Famine.

[ John Winter Jones, Principal Librarian of the British Museum. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Winter Jones.') to 'Mr. Jefferies', regarding his 'New Testament of 1538'.

Author: 
John Winter Jones (1805-1881), Principal Librarian of the British Museum, 1866–1873, and first President of the Library Association
Publication details: 
British Museum [ London ]. 11 March 1864.
£56.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In fair condition, lightly aged, but with central spike hole through both leaves, from which a horizontal closed tear has been made through the fore-edges (not affecting signature or its immediate surrounds). The note is hurried, and reads: 'I find that we have the New Testament of 1538. I will therefore return your copies at once if you will be so good as to say by what mode they shall be forwarded to you.'

['I am alive': Edmund Haviland-Burke corrects an 'unpleasant' error in Walford's 'County Families'. ] Autograph Letter Signed from 'E. Haviland-Burke' to Robert Hardwicke, publisher of Edward Walford's 'County Families of the United Kingdom'.

Author: 
Edmund Haviland-Burke (1836-1886), MP for Christchurch, great-grandnephew of Edmund Burke [ Robert Hardwicke (1822-1875) ]
Publication details: 
Union Club [ London ]. 6 April 1864.
£50.00

The letter is addressed to Hardwicke, as publisher of the second edition of Edward Walford's 'County Families of the United Kingdom' (1864), a footnote to whose entry on 'HAVILAND-BURKE, Edmund, Esq.' states that he 'Died whilst these sheets were at press.' 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn, with small square torn from a corner of the first leaf, causing loss to one word of text. Annotated: 'Burke | Answered'. Haviland-Burke writes with impressive self-control: 'Sir | My attention has been drawn towards the mention of my name in a Book called the “County Families” by Mr.

[ Ernest Hawkins, Canon of Westminster. ] Autograph Letter Signed, writing in affectionate terms ('My dear') to an unnamed recipient, about 'your little manual'.

Author: 
Ernest Hawkins (1802-1868), Canon of Westminster, missionary society administrator and ecclesiastical author
Publication details: 
'79 Pallmall [sic] [ Pall Mall, London ] | July 3. 1851'.
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Begins: 'My dear | Our Jubilee bustle - & subsequently four days spent at Oxford on a College Election have prevented my attending to your little manual - The last corrections which you made - are now sent to the Printer - & a revise shall be sent in a day or two.' He ends by expressing relief at the 'improving accounts of your poor brothers family'.

[ Augustine Birrell, author and politician. ] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Frank T. Marzials, giving an assessment of the character of Victor Hugo on reading Marzials's biography.

Author: 
Augustine Birrell (1850-1933), author and Liberal Party politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland, 1907-1916 [ Sir Frank Thomas Marzials (1840-1912); Victor Hugo ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 3 New Square, Lincoln's Inn. 12 September [1888].
£45.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium on grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. He writes that Marzials is 'some days too late' with his 'kind offer', as both Birrell and his wife have read 'with great pleasure' Marzials's book on Victor Hugo. 'It was a difficult task. (I mean the Life, not the reading of it) I am no judge on such a subject – being a very stay at home sort of fellow, but anyhow you succeeded in pleasing me. What a sensible, <?>, shrewd sort of fellow he was in what way may be called ordinary things.

[ Oldham Street Methodist Chapel, Manchester. ] Forms of application for permission to 'erect a chapel' and 'sell trust property', signed by the trustees, with Autograph Letter Signed from John Bedford and copies of letters from Edwin H. Tindall.

Author: 
[ Oldham Street Methodist Chapel, Manchester; Edwin H. Tindall; John Bedford (1810-1879) of Charlton, President of the Methodist Conference, 1867]
Publication details: 
[ Oldham Street Methodist Chapel, Manchester, Lancashire. ] 1875 (letters) and 1879 (forms of application). Tindall's second letter from 18 Acomb Street, Manchester. Bedford's letter from 2 George Street, Carlisle.
£250.00

See S. Taylor and J. Holder, 'Manchester's Northern Quarter' (English Heritage, 2008), which refers to 'the construction in 1781 of a Methodist Chapel, in a grand Georgian-Gothic style on Oldham Street, which replaced the earlier chapel on Birchin Lane'. This is said by Taylor and Holder to have been replaced, 1855-1856, by the Methodist Central Hall, which still stands. The dramatic changes being proposed in the present collection would appear to have been contemplated in the face of a new and large working class congregation.

[ John Weale, writer on architecture, and London bookseller and publisher. ] Autograph Letter Signed to the architect Samuel Huggins, regarding stocktaking, Huggins's 'advertisement' and 'the Soane Museum'.

Author: 
John Weale (1791-1862), writer on architecture, and London bookseller and publisher, initially with George Priestley [ Samuel Huggins (1811-1885), Liverpool architect and writer ]
Publication details: 
59 High Holborn, London. 13 December 1861.
£80.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with the blank second leaf tipped-in onto a leaf from an album. His only excuse for 'the long delay' is 'that all my time has been occupied in taking stock, which necessarily has been a most irksome job'. It will be the following month before he can 'put forth an appendix to my Catalogue, as it will be necessary for me to wait the coming event of something, that I may, or may not be engaged in.' He will have time 'to consider & reconsider' Huggins's 'advertisement'.

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