PORTUGUESE

Four interesting Peninsular War items, from a collection of Beresford material. In 1813 the Duke of Wellington described Beresford as ‘the ablest man I have yet seen in the army’. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The four items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn (but see descriptions of Items One and Three), and folded for postage. ONE: Apparent Autograph Draft of Letter. ‘Abranles July 4. 1809’. 2pp, 4to. On laid Whatman paper. Reverse somewhat grubby with glue stains (from display in an album?) at foot of reverse of leaf.

He receives the briefest of obituaries in the Gentleman's Magazine, July 1840: 'May 10. At Exeter, aged 81, Col. Thomas Abernethie, K.H. on the retired list of the Royal Marines.' 3pp, 4to. Bifolium. On aged and discoloured paper, with the usual damage to the second leaf from the breaking of the seal. Addressed on reverse of second leaf, with postmark, to ‘Messrs Cox & Son / 20 Bartletts Buildings / Holborn / London’. Signed ‘Thos. Abernethie’ and docketed ‘Maj: Abernethie / 16 March 1811’. Begins: ‘Gentlemen / I have requested a Cap.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On piece of 8.5 x 4.5 cm laid paper cut. In fair condition, on aged paper with reverse bearing traces of glue from mount. Reads: ‘M. Power / M Genl. Comm[andin]g’. Endorsed on reverse: ‘M General / Sir Manley Power / K.C.B’. See Image.

The Conquest of Cayenne - part of Britain’s strategy of using its naval power to attack French colonial interests in the Napoleonic Wars - is described in the fifth volume of William James’s ‘Naval History of Great Britain’ (1827). Britain was only able to contribute HMS Confiance, but its captain James Lucas Yeo was put in charge of the whole expedition, and he and his crew performed with distinction (see Yeo’s entry in the Oxford DNB).

See his entry and that of Stuart in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 4to. On bifolium. Sixty-six lines of neatly-written text, signed ‘R Mends’ and addressed ‘To / The Honble Chas. Stuart / His Majestys Envoy / Lisbon’. A vivid and substantial historical document.

2pp., folio. In fair condition, with light signs of age and wear. On first leaf of bifolium, the second leaf docketted in pencil. In fair condition, with light signs of age and wear. Detailed letter, filling two whole folio pages, beginning: 'Sir. | In the absence of the Storekeeper General I have the honour to refer you to his letters of the 12th. Novr. 19th. & 31st. Decr.

3pp., 4to. Addressed, with black wax seal, on reverse of second leaf to 'The Earl of Buchan at Kerkhill | by Edinburgh'. In fair condition, lightly aged. He is 'hardly relieved' from 'a very distressing ophthalmy withh great head-ackes [sic]', but thanks the Earl for 'sending the pamphlet of Dr. Homes on the Croup, for my friend Monsr. Le Roy, one of ye. Members of ye. Royal Acady. at Paris'. He is sending him the Philosophical Transactions, 'as regularly as they come out, by the indicated way of Mr. Donalson'. The 'Medal of ye late Captn. Cook [...] has not yet been distributed to ye.

3pp. folio. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged and worn wove paper watermarked 'RUSE & TURNERS | 1834', with a few short closed tears to crease lines.. The first page is headed 'Porto em 31st. December 1844', and the other two 'Porto the 31st. December 1844'. The account shows substantial sums paid in by various English wine merchants, and a final balance of 428,504 Reis 355 Dinheiro. Begins with 'Profit & Loss Dn. to Sundries' of 3887R 467D. Entries include: Brandy Account; Wines on Consignment; Casks Account; Bills Payable; Warehouse Utensils.

[1] + 111pp., 16mo. Unbound or lacking wraps (?). Aged and worn, with slight ink staining to title-page. The text is preceded by a full-page 'Prologo' from the publishers. No other copy traced on either Worldcat, COPAC, or PORBASE, and does not feature in the list of 'Later Editions' of the novel on pp.66-67 of A. T. Hazen's 1948 Walpole bibliography.

HMS Arethusa, the fourth of nine Royal Navy ships to bear the name, was a 46-gun fifth rate launched in 1817. (Fifth-rate ships served as fast scouts or independent cruisers. Owing to their combination of manoeuvrability and firepower, they were often assigned to interdict enemy shipping.) She was was renamed HMS Bacchus in 1844 on conversion into a hulk, and was broken up in 1883. The present item is 21pp., 8vo. Stitched. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn grey paper. With loose heavily worn remains of brown marbled wraps (front and back cover detached from one another).

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Tasteful letterhead including the firm's device within an oval, printed in sepia. In good condition: on aged and lightly-worn paper. King was the leading London parliamentary bookseller, and it is interesting to see him apparently offering a work of his own to other publishers. The letter reads: 'Dear Sir | We beg to acknowledge with thanks your offer of a translation of Herculano's "O Monge de Cister," which we much regret our inability to accept - our hands being very full just now, & all our arrangements for some time to come made.

37+ [iii] pp., 8vo. Stapled, in red printed wraps. Fair, on aged high-acidity paper, in worn and chipped wraps. Containing nine poems, preceded by an introduction (pp.5-7) from José da Fonseca Lage, dated from Lisbon, May 1909, beginning 'A presente publicação parece mais uma phantasia d'um genio irrequieto, que a realidade d'um desforço de quem se vê roubado, escarnecido e ultrajado!, and followed by 'Esclarecimento imprescindivel' (pp.33-37). The 37pp. of text are followed by a page of 'Erratas', by another listing thirty 'Obras do mesmo auctor' and by a last headed 'No Prélo'.

4to, 24 pp, paginated 3-27. Lacking title-leaf; otherwise with text clear and complete under drop-head title (lacking the initial 'Carta de Junius Lusitanus' which would have been part of the missing title leaf) with Latin motto ('Palmam qui mecuit ferat.'). Disbound. On aged paper with slight wear to extremities. Addressing British Foreign Secretary Palmerston with regard to the United Kingdom's position on the Septembrist Revolt in Portugal in 1846. COPAC and WorldCat only lists three copies: at the British Library, Harvard and King's College London.

4to, 3 pp. Bifolium. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper with damp staining causing the fading of ink in some parts, and a little chipping to bottom edge. Since writing there has been no packet from Falmouth, and the news from the continent are reported with sufficient detail in the gazettes, so 'il est inutile de vous en parler. Les procedes du Duc de Brunswick [he led an invading German army into France], et le systeme du Roi de Prusse sont egalement mysterieux [...] Les Emigrants [...] sont reduits a la derniere necessite'.

8vo, 2 pp. Twenty-two lines of text. Bifolium. Address, postmark and seal on reverse of otherwise-blank second leaf of bifolium. On aged and lightly creased paper, chipped and foxed. Text clear and entire. Acting on Falconet's advice, the Count has sent 'une Procure en regle à Mr Recamier [husband of the celebrated Madame Récamier?] à fin qu'il puisse retirer l'argenterie des mains de Mr Delamarre à l'expiration des trois mois'. He is grateful for Falconet's assistance in terminating 'cette facheuse affaire'.