MANUSCRIPT

Two Air Mail letters, both in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Both letters are addressed to Beloe (author of the 1960 Beloe Report - education at The Hill House, Queen's Road, Richmond, Surrey. The subject of the two letters is a letter from George Washington to Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie, Belvoir, 7 March 1754, beginning ''Honble. Sir | If the Vessel you Honour hir'd of Colo. Eyre has not left York'. The letter is now at Mount Vernon. ONE: Hotson's letter, signed 'Leslie Hotson'. 29 January 1955. 1p., 12mo.

2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed to 'My dear Cope'. After thanking him for his letter Lavery writes: 'Our “friend” [Braynard?] when he called to ask for my signature told me many things, amongst others that the A. G. B. I. had already given him a grant some time back and that [Charleton?], Brangwyn and I were his sponsors | I had a hazy recollection of him and made up my mind that I would sign his paper and let the Secretary of the A. G. B. I. know the circumstance, which I did do that same day.

1p., foolscap 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged. On bifolium, folded twice into the customary packet, which is endorsed on the reverse of the second leaf: 'Dated 14th. June 1869. | The Right Honorable Lord Penrhyn | to | David Glynne Griffith Gentn | Commission as Lieutenant in the Royal Carnarvon Militia'. Added in another hand at foot: 'Gazetted 18th. June 1869.' . The twenty-three line commission of 'David Glynne Grifffith Gentleman (late Lieutenant 3rd. Regiment' is in a secretarial hand, signed at the foot by Penrhyn as 'Her Majesty's Lieutenant of the County of Carnarvon'.

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, and folded twice. Small blot affecting two words on second page. Unpublished. According to Pinney, Coates had started work as Kipling's secretary in June 1909. Written in a hurried hand, in parts difficult to decipher. The letter begins 'Dear Miss Coates | I enclose herewith a note for Moore [the Kipling's chaffeur] which will you please forward to his address.' Kipling suggests that if Moore should 'care to come down & vote at Burwash' he will 'pay his travelling expenses'.

On one side of 7 x 11 cm slip of paper, possibly cut down. In good condition, lightly aged, with stub from mount adhering. Reads: 'Have you any engagement on Tuesday 9th. (7/30) and will you come to a masculine dinner with | Yours always | W M Thackeray'. Addressed at bottom left to 'One Two Three Park Street Esqr.' The celebrated travel writer Richard Ford, best-known for his 'Handbook for Travellers in Spain' (1845), lived at 123 Park Street, Grosvenor Square, from 1849 to his death in 1858.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, with one central vertical fold, and patch of small holes at head of second leaf. Interesting letterhead, with image of Egyptian hieroglyphics. Someone (probably Mrs Kipling) has written 'orchid' on the first page. The letter begins: 'Mr dear Mrs. Kipling, | I sent you a few flowers today by post, also (by rail to Etchingham) a Cypripedium Insigne, a Blush Rambler & a Lady Gay rose. The Cyp: Insig: is very fairly hardy but I should not stand it in too violent a draught.

1p., 16mo. With mourning border. Aged and worn, with tear to one corner and glue stains on reverse. Signed 'Caroline Norton'. The recipient is not identified. The letter begins: 'Dear Sir | The Prince Schomberg having told me of some curious experiments in animal magnetism which you would make this evg. I called to ask permission to witness them -'. She will 'retract' her 'petition' if he has 'no other ladies present – or if the persons on whom the experiments are made, only speak German', as she 'will not be able to understand enough of what passes'.

1p, 4to. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, the verso of the last leaf of which is addressed by Daru 'à monsieur | F. Didot père & fils | rue jacob No 24 | Paris'. In good condition, lightly aged, with stub from mount adhering. Sixteen lines of text. The text is in French, and concerns 'la Copie des vers que j'ai lus à l'institut pour imprimés avec les autres pièces lues a cette place', which he discussed with 'M Raynouard' (François Just Marie Raynouard) the night before.

1p, 8vo. On bifolium addressed on verso of second leaf to 'Mr. Erskine'. In good condition, lightly aged. Autograph jeu d'esprit, signed at foot 'J. Jekyll. | June 30th. 1800'. A short poem reading: 'Tell Mrs. Crewe | I envy You. | But sit on Lu- | nacy. || Yet Mrs. Crewe | will think I'm stu | pid in my lu | -cid Intervals.' Jekyll's entry in the Oxford DNB concludes, perhaps unkindly: 'If he is remembered by later generations, it is chiefly as a wit. It has to be said, however, that his wit, which consisted in large measure of excruciating puns, has not lasted well.'

1p, 8vo. On laid paper with watermarked date 1811. In good condition, lightly aged, with stub from mount adhering. In a contemporary hand at head: '0 15', and at foot '5 Mar 14' and 'Margravin Anspach'.

On one side of 14 x 2 cm slip of paper, cut from the flyleaf of a book. Aged and with contemporary blotting to one corner. The slip is neatly placed in a paper windowpane mount. Reads: 'Catalogo Evelyni inscriptus. | Meliora Retinete' Two shelfmarks deleted: 'N. 16' and 'J: 231'. A good brief description of Evelyn's book collecting is given in his entry in the Oxford DNB. As there are four catalogues of his books, identifying the work to which the two present shelfmarks are assigned should not present any difficulty.

1p, 12mo. Folded twice. In good condition. Presumably in response to a request for an autograph, the central third of the page carries Patmore's signature ('Coventry Patmore.') beneath a four-line quotation from Patmore's best-remembered poem, 'The Angel in the House': 'Spirit of Knowledge, grant me this: | A simple heart and subtle wit | To praise the thing whose praise it is | That all which can be praised is it!'

On one side of a piece of laid paper, top half torn off and missing, leaving the conclusion of the letter. Roughly 11 x 17.5 cm. Thirteen full lines of text, with two partial lines along the tear at the top edge. A frail item, in fair condition, aged and worn. See Gifford's entry in the History of Parliament. The letter, apparently addressed to an individual at the Admiralty or the Treasury, concerns a part of the tortuous process of raising finances for the conversion of the Queen's House into the hospital.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. He thanks him for 'kindly sending the new Life and Habit' (i.e. Streatfeild's edition of the book by Samuel Butler), and he is 'delighted to have that extraordinary book in its fullest form'. The book has been carried off by a 'young man who works with me here', so Bateson has 'not yet seen the additions'. He is glad Streatfeild 'should have thought my reference to Butler worth quoting and I can't see any need for asking leave to quote'.

Two printed documents: the first carrying Major Graham's 'Memorandum' of 'suggestions respecting the mode of taking a Census in each of our Colonial Posssessions', together with his observations on the making up of 'Statistical Abstracts', a specimen 'Form of Return' and a covering letter; the second a circular letter from Earl Grey, instructing colonial governors 'to cause a Return of the Population of the Colony under your Government to be prepared'. For the background to these two documents, see A. J.

An apparently-unique Manuscript – signed by Lord Stanley as Secretary of State for War and the Colonies, and dated from 'Downing Street, | 30: July 1842' – of what W. P. Morrell describes in his 'British Colonial Policy in the Age of Peel and Russell' (1966) as a 'Circular Dispatch to Governors of West Indian Colonies', regarding the 'Act to amend the laws for the regulation of the Trade of the British Possessions abroad' (5 & 6 Vic. c. 49). The document discusses the act with regard to 'the West Indian Colonists' and 'the British Possessions in South America and the West Indies'.

On 6 x 7.5 cm slip of paper, laid down on a piece of card. In good condition, lightly aged. A good firm and large signature, reading 'I. Maisky'.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with central vertical fold. The letter reads: 'Dear Miss Alice, | I am flattered to learn that you desire to have a Specimen of my Writing, - inartistic & illegible as it is, and I am truly glad to learn that you do not contemplate going from your native country next winter.'

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight damp staining. Addressed to 'Mr Brooks'. She is sending 'the script for you. It can, of course, be knocked about how you like. It is just a peg on which to hang things.' She reports that 'Collie' (i.e. Collie Knox) was pleased with Brooks's message, 'and sent most cordial ones back to you'. She concludes: 'We had an extremely pleasant lunch, and I shall look forward very much to meeting you again'.

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, aged and spotted. Reads: 'Dear Mrs. Epps, | I shall be very glad to see you and your party this afternoon; or, if I am not able to be with you, an assistant shall meet you in the hall at 3.'

On both sides of a 17.5 x 20.5 cm piece of wove paper cut from the first leaf of a letter, with 14 lines of text on the recto, and 20 lines of text on the verso. In fair condition, lightly aged, with two small labels used as mounts still adhering. Annotated at the head of the first page, in a small light hand, dating the letter by reference to Arnold's 'Memoirs', and explaining that the letter is written 'To Mrs. Arnold who gave me this | [?] from Her dear hand | Autumn 1860'. For the context of the letter see the Memoirs, 'Appendix C. | VIII. Tour in the South of France'.

1p., 4to. The salutation 'My dear Rowe,' and the valediction 'Yours sincerely | Hugh Gaitskell' are in Gaitskell's autograph, written in red ink; the rest of the letter is typed. Aged and worn, with discoloration and a small insect crushed onto a blank part. Reads: 'Many thanks for your kind Christmas note and good wishes.

3pp., foolscap 8vo. On a bifolium of laid paper. In fair condition, aged and worn. The first poem, 'Balooning [sic]', covers both sides of the first leaf. No evidence has been discovered that this poem was ever published, but it is inspired by the exploits of 'Mr. Green' in a humorous essay titled 'Ballooning', which appeared in Charles Dickens's 'Household Words' on 25 October 1851. The choice of two phrases ('pipes & backy' and 'Mounted Meershaums') is given in the present manuscript, these variants perhaps suggesting that this item is authorial rather than a transcription.

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. With Cruikshank's splendid sprawling signature. Addressed to 'C. Le Motte Esq' and beginning: 'Sir, | Professor Wheatstone did not lay the wire across the Thames as he proposed to do, on account of the “Trawling” in that River and also finding some trouble in obtaining permission from the Lord Mayor – as “Conservator of the Thames” - In 1840 he had all the plans and apparatus ready – and in 1844 he in company with the Member for Swansea [i.e.

In very good condition, on 12mo leaf, with light horizontal folds above and below the signature. Clearly written in response to a request for an autograph. Excellent underlined signature, firm and bold, centred on the page, and reading: 'Matthew Arnold. | February 1st, 1868.' Arnold is one of the great Victorian poets, author of 'Dover Beach' and 'The Scholar Gypsy'.

Volney's 'Ruines' (1791) was extremely influential, particularly in the United States. In 1796 Volney met Thomas Jefferson at Monticello to discuss Jefferson's plan to translate the book into English. Jefferson had completed the greater part of his translation by the time he mounted his 1800 bid for the presidency, at which point he handed over the project to Joel Barlow, who translated the last four chapters and, at Jefferson's request, put his name to the whole translation, which was published in 1801.

1p., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. On bifolium with stub from mount adhering to blank second leaf. Neatly written and reading: 'Le Senateur Volney a l'honneur d'offrir au Ministre du tresor public, comme a l'un des juges les plus competens et les plus Eclairés l'examplaire ci-joint de Son Nouveau livre Tableau du climat et du Sol des Etats-unis D'Amerique | et leprie d'agreer des tres humbles civilités.' At the head of the page the recipient has written: 'Rep. 2o Br[umair]e. 12. [i.e.

Autograph Note in the third person. On one of 11 x 20 cm slip of paper. In good condition, lightly aged, with stub from mount adhering to reverse. Reads: 'Mrs. Piozzi's Coms. And if Dr. Perney is disengaged this Eveng & would like to hear Mr. Yaniewitsh play on the Violin She should be happy in his Company to Tea - - - and it would be very obliging in him to bring the Viol D'Amore with him. | Streatham Park | Friday 24.' Perney was domestic chaplain to the Earl of Coventry.

Three slips of paper cut from letters. All in good condition, lightly aged, and each with minor evidence of previous mounting. ONE: Hannah More. On both sides of 4 x 15.5 cm slip. On one side: '[…] I am this moment come from Charlotte she is vastly well only her eyes have some remaining weknesses | Adieu my dear Madam believe me with all possible regard your ever obliged and affectionate | Servant | H More'. Other side: '[…] the good People here enough to be all concerned any of their judgment or their Actions where Taste has any thing to do.

4pp., 4to. Bifolium with mourning border. In fair condition, lightly aged, with short closed tears at edges of some folds. An excellent letter, indignantly countering what must be the most serious accusation one historian can level against another, that of making 'false quotations'. The recipient is not named, but from the context is undoubtedly the Headmaster of Rugby School, Thomas Arnold, who since the previous year had held the Regius Professorship of History at Oxford, and would die four months later, on 12 June 1842.