MANUSCRIPT

Autograph Letter Signed ('L M. Hawkins') to Richard Twining (tea merchant and East India Company) at Isleworth.

Author: 
Laetitia Matilda Hawkins [Laetitia-Matilda Hawkins] (1759-1835), English novelist from Twickenham; daughter of Sir John Hawkins, biographer of Dr Johnson [Richard Twining (1749-1824), tea merchant]
Publication details: 
11 December 1811; 'Riverside Twickenham | Friday morn'.
£150.00

4to, 3 pp. Bifolium. Good, on aged paper. Thirty-nine lines of text. Good impression of red wax seal depicting Alexander Pope. In breaking open letter a 7 cm closed tear made to second leaf, and a small part of leaf torn away, and now under seal, with loss to three words of valediction. Slight glue staining from mount at head of verso of second leaf, which carries address and Twining's docketing.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Arthur Phillips') to W. N. de Mattos.

Author: 
John Arthur Phillips (1822-1887), mining engineer and metallurgist [Lyon Playfair, Baron Playfair (1818-1898), chemist]
Publication details: 
25 January 1853; on letterhead of 8 Upper Stamford Street, Blackfriars.
£75.00

12mo, 1 p. Text clear and complete. On lightly-aged paper with some creasing and a short closed tear at foot. He sent his report (on 'Wurlich's patent ') to Dr Playfair on 15 December of the previous year. 'With him therefore is all the delay.' Docketed by de Mattos on reverse, including 'Read at Board on 27th Jany 1853'.

Autograph Note in the third person to Simco. With priced list (by Simco?) of engravings on reverse.

Author: 
John Chamberlaine (c.1745-1812), antiquary [John Simco (c.1749-1824), London bookseller]
Publication details: 
Brompton. Friday Morng' [c.1812?].
£95.00

12mo, 1 p. On bifolium. Good, on aged paper. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Mr. Simco | Warwick St. | Golden Square.' Asking Simco to send a book 'by the Bearer', as well as ' a remittance upon his account of Holbein', as 'he has some large payments to make at the beginning of next week'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('James Ramsden') to 'Mr Thompson'.

Author: 
Sir James Ramsden (1822-1896), civil engineer and first mayor of Barrow in Furness
Publication details: 
6 August 1882; on letterhead of Furness Abbey, Lancashire.
£56.00

12mo, 2 pp. On bifolium. In fair condition, lightly-aged and creased. Discussing arrangements for a meeting with Thompson before 14 August, the date of the 'Furness general meeting', after which he is going on 'a months cruise'.

Autograph Prices Current (Published Annually.) Being a Complete Alphabetical and Chronological Record of all Autograph Letters, Documents & Manuscripts, Sold by Auction in London, with the Date and Place of Sale, Name of Purchaser, and Price [...].

Author: 
Edward Hugh Courville (died 1920), A. J. Herbert, eds. A.G.E. Phillips, contrib. [Autograph Prices Current]
Publication details: 
Six vols [all published]: 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1921, 1922 [covering years 1914 to 1922]. First vol: London: E. H. Courville, 25 Rumsey Road, Brixton, S.W. [1916]. Sixth vol: London: A. J. Herbert, 1, Barton St., Westminster, S.W.1.[1922].
£200.00

The six vols are uniformly octavo, in original blue cloth gilt. Good, on lightly-aged paper. In worn, spotted binding, with gilt on spine dulled. Each volume opens with several leaves of advertisements for dealers (ranging from Maggs and Quaritch to James Tregaskis and Frank Hollings) and a preface by the editor (that of 1918 describing as the 'outstanding features of the past season [...] the two sales of the Alfred Morrison Collection and the two 'Red Cross' sales'). Still a valuable reference tool, with many of the entries including a precis of the item or quotation from it.

The first sixteen volumes of 'The Autograph Collectors' Journal', retitled, from vol.5 no.4 (Summer 1953), 'Manuscripts'.

Author: 
National Society of Autograph Collectors; The Manuscript Society
Publication details: 
Vol.1, no.1 (Chicago: The Norman Press, 'Published by The National Society of Autograph Collectors', October 1948) to vol.16 no.4 (Chicago: 'Published Quarterly by the Manuscript Society', Fall 1964).
£450.00

Sixteen vols, the first seven quarto and last nine octavo. Index to vols.1-11 loosely inserted. Good (apart from issue for Summer 1957 which has slight damp damage), crudely bound in eight volumes of blue cloth, with titles in neat manuscript on white label on spine (one of the bindings stained and two in a lighter shade of blue with titles stamped in gilt). Well produced and profusely illustrated, with informative and scholarly articles, advertisements, and sections on 'the auction market' and 'manuscripts in the news'.

Sammlung historisch-beruehmter Autographen, oder Facsimile's von Handschriften ausgezeichneter Personen alter und neuer Zeit.

Author: 
Ad. Becher [German autograph collecting; autographs; facsimiles]
Publication details: 
Erste Serie. [all published] Stuttgart: Ad. Becher's Verlag. 1846.
£60.00

Quarto. Not paginated, but consisting of around 240 leaves containing approximately 280 numbered and well-executed facsimiles. In original brown cloth decorative binding. On aged paper in worn binding, with front board detached with first seven leaves. No letterpress, apart from title and alphabetical index. Apparently published in England under the title 'A Collection of three hundred Autograph Letters of Celebrated Individuals of all Nations, from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century. [...]'. COPAC only lists a copy at Aberdeen.

Viking with a Loose Shelailleigh. Tales from Irish America. [playscript]

Author: 
Peter Dee [Peter Rogers Dee] (1939-1999), New York playwright and poet
Publication details: 
[Unpublished typescript.] [Circa 1992.]
£100.00

Photocopy of word processor typed print-out. 8vo, [ii] + 53 pp. Good. In plastic binder. Title carries Dee's address. Second page lists the twelve sections of the play. Loosely inserted is a photocopy of a long review, with photograph, from the East Hampton Star, 26 March 1992, of 'a dramatic reading' of the play at Canio's Books, Sag Harbor. The play was not published, and there are no copies of this item on WorldCat or COPAC.

Small collection of material relating to 'Music Today', comprising two advertisements, the programme for the inaugural concert, and a Typed Letter Signed from Hamilton to V. W. A. Conn, with the autograph draft of Conn's letter to Hamilton.

Author: 
Iain Hamilton (1922-2000), Scottish composer, chairman of the 'Music Today' contemporary music programmes, held in the Royal Festival Hall Recital Room [Samuel Beckett]
Publication details: 
All items dating from 1960.
£165.00

For more information relating to this influential series of concerts, see 'Pursuit: The Uncensored Memoirs of John Calder' (2001). Seven items, including two duplicates. Text of all items clear and complete. In fair condition, but with one side of a duplicate advertisement heavily sunned (see below). ONE: Typed Letter Signed ('Ian Hamilton') from Hamilton to Conn (husband of the poet Jeanne Conn), 12 February 1960. 4to, 1 p. Eighteen lines. Responding to Conn's criticisms, explaining reasons for cutting short discussion and cancelling part of the programme, and giving future plans.

The Entermores. A Play by John Cowper Powys.

Author: 
John Cowper Powys [Paul Roberts]
Publication details: 
Written by Powys circa 1905. Roberts' transcript 'for a public reading of the play at the Powys Society's Annual Conference', 28 August 1994.
£150.00

8vo, [iii] + 66 pp. Computer printout in plastic binder. Text clear and complete. Creasing to first four leaves, otherwise in very good condition. On title-page: 'ACTING COPY ONLY'. Note by 'C. W.' on next page: 'This version of the script is taken from Paul Roberts' unedited first draft transcription for a public reading of the play at the Powys Society's Annual Conference, at the Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, at 7.30pm on Sunday, 28th August, 1994. | Where words have still not been deciphered in the transcript, temporary ones have been inserted.

Autograph Letter Signed ('C Fane') to G. Joy, discussing the reform of the Court of Chancery.

Author: 
Robert George Cecil Fane (1796-1864), English Judge, as Commissioner of the Court of Bankruptcy [Court of Chancery]
Publication details: 
19 August 1844; Court of Bankruptcy.
£300.00

12mo, 3 pp. Thirty-three lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with traces of mount on reverse of second leaf, which is docketed 'C. Fane to G. Joy | 19 Augt. 1844'. A significant and interesting letter, on a topic later tackled by Dickens in 'Bleak House', by a judge who was an active member of the Law Amendment Society, and whose decisions, according to his entry in the Oxford DNB, 'were frequently the subject of comment', although 'very few of his judgments were reversed on appeal'.

Autograph Signature ('P. B. Du Chaillu').

Author: 
Paul Du Chaillu [Paul Belloni Du Chaillu] (1835-1903), French-American traveller and anthropologist
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£28.00

In pencil, on strip of paper roughly 2.5 x 13 cm. Laid down on piece of card. On lightly-aged and creased paper, with small tear close to the right of the signature.

Autograph Letter Signed and franked (both 'Js Stuart Wortley') to the London booksellers Messrs Ridgeway.

Author: 
James Stuart-Wortley [James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie] (1776-1845), 1st Baron Wharncliffe, Conservative politician [James Ridgeway, Piccadilly bookseller]
Publication details: 
5 September 1835; Wortley.
£28.00

12mo, 1 p. Bifolium. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with traces of minor traces of stub adhering to one edge. Franked, with remains of red wax seal, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Messrs. Ridgeway | Piccadilly. | [signed] Js Stuart Wortley'. Giving instructions for the sending of newspapers to Wighill Park, Tadcaster, and to Wortley.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. M. Bucknall') to MacLehose

Author: 
W. M. Bucknall [William Miles Bucknall], Librarian to the Board of Trade [James MacLehose (1811-1885), Glasgow bookseller and publisher]
Publication details: 
10 January 1861; on Board of Trade letterhead.
£35.00

12mo, 4 pp. Bifolium. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Discussing 'Mr Sterling's Pamphlet on Banks', which MacLehose has sent him ('a work so difficult to obtain elsewhere'). While not recognising 'the existence of any really national Banking System', he considers Sterling's 'remarks most judicious'. Mentions the Banking Act of 1844, before concluding with a reflection on credit. Bucknall published his 'Catalogue of the Library of the Board of Trade' in 1866.

Legal agreement, in French, between Drummond and the Marquise de St. Aulaire, for the leasing by Drummond of the Chateau de Courbeton. Signed by both parties ('Mise De St. Aulaire' and 'Jas Drummond').

Author: 
James Drummond (1767-1851), Viscount Strathallan; Marie Madelaine de St. Janvier, Marquise de Beaupoil de St. Aulaire [Chateau de Courbeton, Seine et Marne, France]
Publication details: 
28 November 1822; Paris.
£85.00

8vo, 1 pp. A long document, closely written in a clerical hand. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with slight loss to one corner. Stamped for tax. Signed twice by both parties, and initialled by them on a couple of occasions. Following the defeat of Napoleon, the broken state of the French economy allowed many wealthy Britains to live there. Drummond is described as 'Mr. Jacques Drummond Ecossais Logé ce jour à Paris, Rue St. Honoré No., hôtel Meurice'.

Manuscript transcript of 'the entry of the Hunting Journal of 1816. [18]17', addressed to Triphook, giving costs for printing '20 Copies of Belvoir Hunt'.

Author: 
[Robert Triphook, London bookseller (d.1868); Belvoir Hunt; hunting; printing]
Publication details: 
Undated [1818?].
£56.00

Landscape 8vo, 1 p. On aged and discoloured paper, with four spike holes. Neatly written out, in a contemporary hand. Addressed on reverse to 'Mr. R. Triphook'. Pencil annotations on both sides. Headed 'The following is the entry of the Hunting Journal of 1816. 17 -'. First item (of six): 'Setting Press & Printing 20 Copies of Belvoir Hunt 1816.17 13 Sheets & 1/2 Demy, Pica & long Primmer with Tables fine ink. @ 83/. Pr Sheet } 56. 0. 6'. At foot of page: '1817-18 - furnished by R.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Thos Dick Lauder') to William Mitchell of Parsons Green.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Dick Lauder of Fountainhall (1784-1848), Deputy Lieutenant of Moray and Haddington, Scottish writer and academic
Publication details: 
7 January 1840; The Grange House.
£75.00

4to, 3 pp. Bifolium. 61 lines of text; clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Having recovered from 'the surprise which I received from the communication made to me today by our mutual friend Sir James Gibson Craig', his 'first idea was to go directly to Parsons Green to give full vent to my gratitude' for Mitchell's generosity. The rest of the letter gives fulsome expression Lauder's his feelings at 'the generous - the magnificent gifts' (unspecified) which Mitchell is 'dispensing - with so little parade'.

Autograph Manuscript laying out requisites for voyage (to Iceland?). Manuscript, in another hand, for Alpine voyage. Long itemised receipt in German by A. Petersen.

Author: 
Rev. Charles William Shepherd of Trotterscliffe, of Trinity College, Cambridge ornithologist and traveller; A. Petersen [Iceland; Switzerland; Alpine]
Publication details: 
[1860s?]
£220.00

Item One: 12mo, 4 pp. On aged and foxed paper with slight wear causing loss to a couple of words of text. On two folded 4to leaves, with two pages written by Shepherd in German on the reverse. The list is undated, and the intended location is not named, but the voyage is a major one. Divided into sections including 'Saddles &c', 'Guns & Rods', 'Books' (beginning with 'Shakespeare - Ingoldby - Golden Treasure'), 'Food &c. Fortnum & Mason' (including two gallons of brandy and two quarts of whiskey).

Autograph Signature ('Edward Bradley') on portion of letter to Lady Huntly.

Author: 
Edward Bradley [pseudonym 'Cuthbert Bede' ('Cuthbert M. Bede, B.A.')] (1827-1889), English novelist
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£28.00

Text on both sides of a piece of paper 6 x 11 cm. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with a couple of glue marks from previous mounting on reverse. The bottom part of the letter, cut away for the signature. Side with signature reads '<...> yet heard from the Bp. of Petebro on that point. I have to write hastily for our 3.45 post. | Believe me dear Lady Huntly yours very sincerely obliged | [signed] Edward Bradley'. Reverse reads '<...> of the Dining room and Study - & some of the bedrooms - and also paint the whole of the outside of the house.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. T. Headley') to George R. Graham, editor of Graham's Magazine.

Author: 
Joel Tyler Headley (1813-1897), American clergyman and author, Secretary of State of New York [George R. Graham (1813-1894), Philadelphia publisher]
Publication details: 
New York April' [no date].
£125.00

4to, 1 p. Bifolium. Addressed, with postmark, on reverse of second leaf. Good, on aged paper. In a hurried hand, with numerous corrections. Relating to the publication of 'articles of poetry from a lady'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('G Denman') to his cousin Elphinstone, giving details of family history.

Author: 
George Denman (1819-1896), judge and politician [Sir Howard Craufurd Elphinstone (1829-1890), army officer]
Publication details: 
Undated. On letterhead of Stony Middleton, Sheffield.
£45.00

4to, 4 pp. Text clear and complete. On aged and grubby paper. Begins 'Our Uncle i.e. my uncle & yr gt uncle Thomas Elphinstone was born at Higher Efford, 3 miles from Plymouth he died on the 13th. of March 1821 at the age of 57'. Includes information told him by Milly Holloway. Describes a couple of the 'pranks' of 'Uncle Tom'. The connection between the two individuals and their families is not noted in their entries in the Oxford DNB.

Two manuscript menus, in the hand of Richard Twining the elder, and annotated by him, the first for 'the Dinner at Mr Gogle's at Frankfort in 1781'; and the second for 'Dinner [Desert] at Monsr. Roquette's Augt 1: 88'. With autograph note by his son.

Author: 
Richard Twining (1749-1824), tea and coffee merchant; his son Richard Twining (1772-1857) [eighteenth-century gastronomy; culinary; menus]
Publication details: 
Menus: 1781 and 1788. Note by Richard Twining the younger, 1850s.
£180.00

Unusual items, providing a first-hand glimpse into eighteenth-century European gastronomy, by one whose business was intimately connected with it. Texts of both items clear and complete. Both on aged, creased and worn paper. Item One: On one side of a piece of laid paper, 17 x 21 cm. Central vertical fold to make two sections, each with a square drawn in the centre, surrounded by names of foods.

Autograph Note Signed ('Geo W McCrary') to Evarts.

Author: 
George Washington McCrary (1835-1890), United States Secretary of War, Iowa Republican Congressman and judge [William Maxwell Evarts (1818-1901), US Secretary of State]
Publication details: 
16 December 1878. On letterhead of the War Department, Washington.
£48.00

12mo, 1 p. Good, on ruled paper. A note of introduction for the bearer, Miss Ward [Genevieve Ward, actress]..

Autograph Letter, in the third person, to Ridgway.

Author: 
Edward Law (1790-1871), 1st Earl of Ellenborough [James Ridgway (1755-1838), London bookseller]
Publication details: 
16/07/35
£35.00

12mo, 1 p. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with remains of stub adhering to blank second leaf of bifolium. Ask for the Morning Post to be sent to Euston Square, and 'the Standard discontinued'. He will require the Morning Post the following day.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J A Lowell') to Rainford, concerning a consignment of botanical books from England.

Author: 
John Amory Lowell (1798-1881), American businessman and philanthropist [Edward Rainford, London bookseller]
Publication details: 
19 June 1843; Boston.
£195.00

4to, 1 p. Twenty-one lines of text. Clear and complete. On aged, stained and worn paper, with a couple of small spike holes. Revealing, in the attention to detail which it exhibits. He begins by reporting that 'the Rosabella arrived safe & the books appear to be correct with the following exceptions'. Two paragraphs follow, carefully describing duplicate plates and other faults in the books received (including "Genus Plantarum"). The replacements may be sent 'through Wilmer & Smith, booksellers, Liverpool - or by Harden's express - or through Messrs. John D.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. H. Barnes'), to the leaseholder of the Prince of Wales Theatre, concerning his desire to become a tenant.

Author: 
J. H. Barnes [John H. Barnes] (1850-1925), English actor [The Prince of Wales Theatre, London]
Publication details: 
24 November 1899; on letterhead of 25 Finchley Road, London, N.W.
£56.00

4to, 2 pp. Text clear and complete. On aged and lightly-creased paper. 'The nature of my business is a desire to become a tenant of the Prince of Wales Theatre, for a long or short time, and entirely subject to existing arrangements in order to produce a play which good judges (as well as myself) regard as one (if not the) play of the present generation'. The name of the play is not given. Barnes states that 'if Mr Harvey is your permanent tenant it would quite suit me to do the play at any time <?> another provincial Town'. He offers 'a short or long lease [...] with unimpeachable security'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Eustace G Cecil') to 'Mr. Chittenden'.

Author: 
Lord Eustace Cecil [Lord Eustace Brownlow Henry Gascoyne-Cecil] (1834-1921), British Conservative politician
Publication details: 
10 October [no year]; on letterhead of Knowsley, Prescot.
£28.00

12mo, 3 pp. Good, on lightly-aged and creased paper. Recomending shares in three companies of which he is chairman, before discussing personal matters. 'Evelyn is prospering as much as an expectant & comparatively briefless barrister can [...] Arthur Balfour is doing very well - & is holding his own - & more than his own - spite of misrepresentation - downright falsehood - & the tricks which politicians in these days seem so proud'. Laments the 'standard of morality', and apologises for the 'long sermon'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('E. Ratmirova') to 'Mr. Bass' of Manchester, regarding the play 'The Fold'.

Author: 
Eugenia Ratmirova, actress [Queen's Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue]
Publication details: 
5 April 1920; on letterhead of the Queen's Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue.
£35.00

4to, 2 pp. Fair, on aged and lightly-creased paper. The play 'is a great success in London and is likely to have a long run there, yet at the same time we are all looking forward to coming back to Manchester, where the play started and everybody was so kind to us'. She concludes with some graceful compliments to Bass, and encloses her portrait (not present).

Autograph Letter Signed ('J A Stuart Wortley') to Ridgway, bookseller..

Author: 
James Stuart-Wortley [James Archibald Stuart-Wortley-Mackenzie] (1776-1845), 1st Baron Wharncliffe [James Ridgway (1755-1838), London bookseller]
Publication details: 
26 September 1812; Wortley Hall, Sheffield.
£38.00

4to, 1 p. Fair, on aged paper, with the remains of a stub adhering to the blank reverse. Concerning the insertion of an advertisement in a number of newspapers.

Autograph Letter Signed ('S. Lane Poole') to Mrs. Hollingworth.

Author: 
Stanley Lane-Poole (1854-1931), British orientalist and archaeologist
Publication details: 
10 June 1896; on letterhead of 3 Newham Road, Bedford.
£38.00

12mo, 4 pp. In bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. He has forgotten which letters he has sent her for her autograph collection, 'but I daresay some of the list written at the back of this are new to you'. He will send any she wants. Asks for any duplicates she may have to spare. The list covers the last two pages, and consists of 39 names, from 'Sir John Burgoyne, R.E.' to 'Count Zamorgski'.

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