PORTSMOUTH

[W. L. Wyllie [William Lionel Wyllie], distinguished English maritime painter.] Autograph Card Signed to 'Miss Swan' (daughter of artist John Macallan Swan) regarding 'the copy of Cape St Vincent' and a roll that is unsuitable for a panorama.

Author: 
W. L. Wyllie [William Lionel Wyllie] (1851-1931), distinguished English maritime painter [John Macallan Swan (1847-1910), RA, painter and sculptor]
Publication details: 
24 March 1931. Letterhead: 'From / W. L. Wyllie, / Tower House, Portsmouth / Tel. 2598.'
£45.00

See his entry, and that of Swan, in the Oxford DNB. From the Swan papers. On both sides of an 11.5 x 9 cm card. In good condition, lightly aged, and with faint ink line at foot. Signed 'W L Wyllie'. Begins: 'Dear Miss Swan / Very many thanks for sending me the copy of Cape St Vincent. It is quite fine I will try if I cannot steal a bit for my big picture.' He turns to a 'roll' which is 'not long enough to make a panorama', but which he hopes to be able to 'drive round and look at' when the weather is warmer.

[Admiral Sir Thomas Sabine Pasley, Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard and Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth.] Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed ‘Major’, rescheduling an engagement cancelled for 'the best possible reason'.

Author: 
Admiral Sir Thomas Sabine Pasley, 2nd Bart (1804-1884), senior Royal Navy officer, Superintendent of Devonport Dockyard and Commander-in-Chief at Portsmouth
Publication details: 
2 December 1872. On letterhead of Moorhill, Shedfield, Fareham, Hants.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. With thin mourning border. Extraction from an album has resulted in some wear to the border at the right of the page: otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ‘My dear Major’ and signed ‘Thos Sabine Pasley’. He is sorry the recipient ‘can’t come on Wednesday’, but he has ‘the best possible reason for not doing so’. He asks to be remembered ‘very kindly to your father on that day’. He asks if he can ‘come on Wednesday week’, as he has engaged a family (illegible) to meet him that day.

[Admiral John Markham, Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and First Naval Lord.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J Markham') to John Atkins, regarding the 'general drunken habits' of 'Mr [Miles] Burn', and the impossibility of reinstating him 'to his rank'

Author: 
Admiral John Markham (1761-1827), Royal Navy officer who served in the American and French Revolutionary Wars, Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and First Naval Lord, MP for Portsmouth [Miles Burn]
Publication details: 
Admiralty [London]. 21 August 1806.
£100.00

The letter is 1p, 12mo, and is accompanied by the covering 8vo leaf, addressed to 'John Atkins Esqre | Duke Street | Westminster', with a second signature for franking. The covering leaf is endorsed: 'Admiralty August 21 1806 | Adml. Markham concerning Miles Burn that it would be impossible to get him reinstated'. Both letter and covering leaf in good condition, lightly aged and worn, with fold lines. Markham could hardly be more decisive.

[Sir Edmund Fremantle, Royal Navy officer and naval tactician.] Autograph Card Signed ('E R Fremantle') to 'Dr. B. Guisburg', suggesting a meeting.

Author: 
Sir Edmund Fremantle [Admiral Sir Edmund Robert Fremantle] (1836-1929), Royal Navy officer and influential naval tactician; Commander-in-Chief in China, and at Devonport [Plymouth]
Publication details: 
Card with letterhead of 44 Lower Sloane Street, S.W. [London]; 'Thursday Evg' [postmark date 11 May 1917].
£35.00

Card with printed stamp. In fair condition, lightly aged. Central vertical fold line and two punch holes at head. Addressed to 'Dr. B. Guisburg | 18 King's Bench Walk | EC 4', with address corrected in another rhand to 3 Downside Crescent | Haverstock Hill | London | N.W.' Begins: 'Dear Dr. Guisburg, | I wrote you a letter – no a PC this morning, sending it to the Controller of Shipping Office St James' Park'. That being the wrong address, he now attempts to arrange a meeting for lunch.

[Sir Edmund Fremantle, Royal Navy officer and naval tactician.][Sir Edmund Fremantle, Royal Navy officer and naval tactician.] Autograph Note Signed ('E R Fremantle'), inviting 'Henderson' and family to a Christmas dinner.

Author: 
Sir Edmund Fremantle [Admiral Sir Edmund Robert Fremantle] (1836-1929), Royal Navy officer and influential naval tactician; Commander-in-Chief in China, and at Devonport [Plymouth
Publication details: 
On embossed letterhead of the Commander-in-Chief's Office, Devonport; 16 December [between 1896 and 1899].
£35.00

1p, 12mo. In fair condition, aged and lightly creased, with typed biographical details at head. Reads: 'My dear Henderson, | If you have not made other arrangements we hope you Mrs H & Judy will join our Christmas party for dinner. We shall be a small party, | Yours sincerely, | E R Fremantle'.

[Sir William Gifford, Governor of Greenwich Hospital.] Conclusion of Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm: Gifford'), regarding a petition to the Queen from 'the Commissrs: and Directors of the Royal Hospital', and raising of funds for the 'House and Park'

Author: 
Sir William Gifford (c.1649-1724), Royal Navy officer, Member of Parliament, and Governor of Greenwich Hospital, 1708-1714
Gifford
Gifford2
Publication details: 
Without place or date [prior to 1708].
£750.00
Gifford
Gifford2

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.

[ Jefferson Miles, Proof Master General of Ordnance. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Jeaffreson Miles') to Robert Eddowes, Ordnance Storekeeper at Portsmouth, directing him to have all his receipts signed.

Author: 
Jeaffreson MIles [ Jefferson Miles ] (d.1763), Proof Master General of Ordnance [ Robert Eddowes, Ordnance Storekeeper at Portsmouth; Royal Navy ]
Publication details: 
Office of Ordnance [ London ]. 17 July 1753.
£250.00

1p., folio. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Addressed on reverse of second leaf, with postmark, 'To | Robert Eddowes Esqr | Ordnance Storekeeper | at | Portsmouth'. 24 lines of neatly-written text. An unusually emphatic communication, the possibility of fraud clearly being in the air.

[ King William IV as Lord High Admiral. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('William') to Sir James Cockburn, Inspector General of the Royal Marines, on Lt-Col. Robert Moncrieff acting 'foolishly' over his commission. With ALS from Moncrieff on the subject.

Author: 
King William IV (1765-1837) of the United Kingdom, King of Hanover [ Sir James Cockburn (1771-1852), 9th Baronet, Inspector General of the Royal Marines; Lt Col. Robert Moncrieff ]
Publication details: 
Admiralty [ London ]. 22 November 1827. [ Moncrieff's letter to Cockburn from Portsmouth, 22 November 1827. ]
£200.00

2pp., 4to. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with slight tear to one edge. Cockburn is not named as the recipient, but the item comes from his papers. William (at the time the Duke of Clarence) writes that he is enclosing Moncrieff's letter, 'by which you will perceive he is acting foolishly not to use a harsher term. My determination therefore is when I arrive tomorrow afternoon at Portsmouth to be informed by you whether he sells or goes on the Half pay of a Colonel which is Fourteen Shillings and Six Pence pr: diem.

[ Francis Elgar, naval architect. ] Autograph Letter Signed [ to W. J. Fisher ], regarding the fund set up at the death of Harold Frederic.

Author: 
Francis Elgar (1845-1909), English naval architect [ Harold Frederic (1856-1898), London correspondent of the New York Times ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 18 York Terrace, Regent's Park, London. 3 January 1899.
£56.00

1p., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, with light signs of age. He is enclosing a cheque for two guineas towards 'The Frederic Fund', and writes that he had 'the pleasure of often meeting Mr Harold Frederic at the Savage Club some years ago'. He was 'deeply grieved to hear of his sad & untimely end'. He hopes enough money will be collected to be an 'appreciable help to his widow & children'. The letter relates to a celebrated Victorian scandal. In 1884 Frederic had come to England with his wife and five children as the London correspondent of the New York TImes.

[ Oliver Hall, RA, English artist and engraver. ] Drypoint etching titled 'Hayling Island' (in Hampshire). One of an edition of 40, signed by Hall and inscribed by him to Robin Wallace.

Author: 
Oliver Hall (1869-1957), RA, English landscape artist and engraver [ Robin Wallace (1897-1952), English artist from Kendal, Westmoreland ]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. The subject is Hayling Island in Hampshire.
£65.00

On watermarked laid paper. Dimensions of paper: 23 x 32cm. Dimensions of plate: 14 x 20cm. In fair condition, aged and lightly stained, with creasing and short closed tear to right-hand margin, but with the engraving good and clear. A windy scene, with a turbulent cloudy sky weighing heavily over a disheveled windswept landscape, in which two small figures can be made out on a bridge. Inscribed in pencil beneath the plate: 'Oliver Hall | To R. Wallace | Ed: 40.' The title 'Hayling Island' is in pencil in the bottom right-hand corner.

Printed map, titled 'Indian and Eastern Engineer. | Key Plan, showing the disposition of the Ships of H.M. Fleet, assembled at Spithead on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee Review, 26th June, 1897.' With 'Tabular Statement' on reverse.

Author: 
[Royal Navy Diamond Jubilee Review, Spithead, 1897; The Indian and Eastern Engineer, monthly magazine]
Publication details: 
'Indian and Eastern Engineer', Calcutta. 1897.
£180.00

Printed in black on both sides of a 36 x 53 cm piece of wove paper with watermark of 'W F & Co'. In very good condition, lightly-aged and folded three times. The 'Key Plan' is on one side, showing the disposition of the fleet on a map of the Portsmouth area, with a note of 'Foreign Men of War', 'British Battle Ships and Cruisers', '3rd Class Cruisers Gun Vessels and Torpedo Gunboats', 'Special Merchant Vessels', 'Destoryers & Gunboats' and 'Torpedo Boats'.

[Samuel Read of Chatham Dockyard and the School of Naval Architecture.] Autograph Letter Signed ('S: Read') to Viscount Ingestrie, attacking in detail Sir Charles Adam's conduct regarding the construction of the wooden steam paddle frigate HMS Gorgon

Author: 
[Sail to Steam] Samuel Read (1796-1863) of Chatham Dockyard and School of Naval Architecture [Admiral Henry John Chetwynd-Talbot, Viscount Ingestrie (1803-1868); Admiral Sir Charles Adam (1780-1853)]
Publication details: 
Chatham. 12 March 1839.
£420.00

A substantial letter, 3pp., foolscap 8vo. 100 lines of text. Bifolium. In very good condition, on aged paper, with one closed along crease line neatly repaired with archival tape. Addressed on reverse of second leaf, with Chatham postmark, frank, and black wax seal, to 'Viscount Ingestrie M:P. | 2 Wilton Crescent | Belgrave Square | London'. An interesting document, in which a distinguished Victorian naval architect makes detailed criticisms of an innovation in his field. (HMS Gorgon was designed by Sir William Symonds and launched in 1837.

[Henry James Mitchell, naval tailor of Portsmouth.] Autograph Letter to him, in the third person, by 'Mr Cust', giving instructions for 'Master Custs best uniform' and other requirements as midshipman.

Author: 
[Henry James Mitchell, Tailor and Woollen Draper, 32 High Street, Portsmouth; Midshipman Cust; Royal Navy]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. Postmark dated 24 April 1837.
£65.00

1p., 4to. Bifolium. Reverse of second leaf with wax seal, postmark and address to 'Mr. Mitchell | High Street | Portsmouth'. The letter begins: 'Mr Cust wishes Mr Mitchell to send up Master Custs best uniform coat & waistcoat, & if any difference from those he has got the Trowsers; as soon as possible.' He complains that the shirts 'do not sit quite neat about the collar', before listing more requirements: '1 Pewter hand Bason, & cup. | 2 Bars common soap. | 1 Packet Windsor Do. | 2 Pair of Braces | 2 Log Books size for 3 yrs | 1 Watch Bill Book | 2 Bottles of Ink.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. Terlizzick') from William Morris Terlizzick, Devonport hairdresser and fishing tackle maker, inviting 'Captn. Devon' to try out his 'good made peal [sic] Flys and firm Tied ones'. With one of the flies, on a gut line.

Author: 
William Morris Terlizzick (b.1817), hairdresser and fishing tackle maker, Devonport and Plymouth [Victorian angling; fly fishing]
William Morris Terlizzick (b.1817), hairdresser and fishing tackle maker
Publication details: 
9 July 1862; 'Golden Perch | Devonport'.
£125.00
William Morris Terlizzick (b.1817), hairdresser and fishing tackle maker

12mo, 1 p. On bifolium. Thirteen lines of text. Clear and complete. Fair, on aged and creased paper, with slight rust marking from hooks. Semi-literate, and redolent of the area and period. He asks Devon (not Captain Thomas Barker Devon, RN, who had died in 1846) to 'pardon the Liberty I have taken in writen [sic]' to him. He knows 'the Great difficulty that Gentlemen have in Getting good made peal [sic] Flys and firm Tied ones', and is enclosing 'a few of my Own Making & you will Greatly Oblidge me by your Trying of them'.

Printed form headed 'Royal Naval College,' not filled in, which when completed is intended to give 'an account' of the 'progress' made by an individual 'in his studies at this establishment'.

Author: 
[Royal Naval College, Portsmouth; Royal Navy; naval and maritime; the Admiralty]
Publication details: 
Without date or place [early nineteenth century].
£150.00

Folio bifolium (dimensions of leaf roughly 32 x 20 cm): one page, with the reverse of the leaf and the whole of the second leaf of the bifolium blank. Unbound. Good, on lightly aged and creased laid paper with a Britannia watermark. Eighteen lines of text, mostly taken up with comments on the teaching at the College of Latin and Greek, followed by an 'Extract from the General Report transmitted to the Admiralty Office' with room for the Student's name, his date of admission, and progress in mathematics, English, Latin and Greek, History and Geography, French and Drawing.

List of the Officers of the Foreign Men of War invited to the Naval Review, Spithead.

Author: 
Naval Review, Spithead, 1937 [Royal Portsmouth Corinthian Yacht Club; Royal Navy; Admiralty; Maritime]
Publication details: 
Admiralty. 20 May 1937. [Printed by 'H & S, Ltd.']
£45.00

8vo; 33 pp. In original blue printed wraps. On lightly-aged paper, with occasional foxing, in creased wraps. With the stamp of the Royal Portsmouth Corinthian Yacht Club. The entries for the eighteen nations listed on the second page have been ticked off in blue pencil, and the ships of two other nations (Canada and India) added beneath the list in manuscript. Listing the crews of the various ships, with seniority. Represented are both the U.S.S.R., with the 'Marat' ('Flagman 2nd Rank (Rear Admiral) - V. I. Ivanov (Commanding Officer)...

Autograph Letter Signed to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Lieutenant J. Longshaw, of His Majesty's Brig Tyrian [Ireland; Irish; textile; textiles; weaving]
Publication details: 
Tyrian July 3d. 1813 Spithead.'
£56.00

8vo: 1 p. Sixteen lines of text. The Tyrian arrived in Spithead the previous night 'with a Convoy', and the postal delay prevented him 'from fulfilling Mrs. P's Commission'. They 'remained three days in Ireland' and 'had a good passage there and Back': 'but as we may frequently have the trip, I shall keep it in Memory, I have bought over Two pieces. Enclosed are Patterns of Eight Yards each We call them Poplins, but these are Manufactured only at Dublin and by the Natives called '. States what he paid and sends respects. Docketed on reverse in a contemporary hand.

Autograph Signatures, with others, on fragment of document authorizing repairs.

Author: 
Vice Admiral Sir George Francis Seymour (1787-1870); Admiral Richard James Meade, Lord Gilford (1832-1907, ltr 4th Earl of Clanwilliam); Admiral Sir William Fanshawe Martin (1801-95) [THE ROYAL NAVY]
Publication details: 
Circa 1856; no place.
£76.00

On both sides of a piece of aged paper watermarked 1855, dimensions three inches by eight and a quarter wide. Good, though a tad grubby, with traces of previous brown paper mount adhering to reverse. Recto reads '[tick] H.C.L. | [in another hand] App? | [signature] . Captain | in Comd of Division. | [in another hand] [signature] C M Collins | 1st Class Asst. Engineer | [in another hand] [signature] Gilford | Lieut in Comd. | [in another hand] Approved for necessary Defects | to be made good. | [signature] G F Seymour | Vice Adml. and Commr. in Chief'.

Manuscript document signed by Henry Greenhill "To the respective Officers of his Majs yard near Portsmouth".

Author: 
Henry Greenhill (Commander St Lo)
Publication details: 
near Portsmouth, 4 November 1699
£450.00

Title: "Whereas the Honble Navy Board in their [Letter?] of the 31 Ult: have been pleased to Communicate to me the Severall Articles following which have been laid before my Lords of the Admlty by Cap Geo. S. Lo Comr of his Majs Yard at Plymouth [later known as Devonport] , being such as have Occurred to his Observation Since his residence there, and wherein he conceived his Majs Service hath much suffered" Three pages, small folio, some marking but text clear and complete. Text: Namely: Ist.

Telegram to [Charles?] Tarleton.

Author: 
Charles William de la Poer Beresford, Baron Beresford
Publication details: 
Handed in at Portsmouth B', and bearing stamp from Uxbridge, Harefield, 26 November 1909.
£35.00

Naval officer and Conservative politician (1846-1919), nicknamed 'the member for the navy'. Dimensions roughly 5 1/2 inches by 9 inches. In poor condition: browning and with several closed tears. Reads: 'From the older Charlie to the younger Charlie may all good luck attend you fighting for tariff reform national defence and relief of the unemployed Beresford'.

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