REFORM

[Horne Tooke [John Horne Tooke], radical and philologist, tried for treason in 1794.] Autograph Signature on receipt for ‘the third volume of EPEA PTEROENTA, or, The Diversions of Purley’.

Author: 
Horne Tooke [John Horne Tooke, born John Horne] (1736-1812), radical clergyman and philologist, Member of Parliament and supporter of John Wilkes, tried for treason in 1794
Publication details: 
31 January 1794. ‘No. 370.’
£120.00

See his long entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of a 12.5 x 6.5 cm piece of laid paper, embossed with a tax stamp. In fair condition, lightly aged and discoloured. Very neatly written and set out: ‘Jan 31 . 1794 / No. 370. / Received of Wm. Phillips / fourteen shillings for the third volume of / EPEA PTEROENTA, or, The Diversions / of Purley. John Horne Tooke / £2. 2. 0’. See Image,

[Jesse Collings, Liberal politician, advocate of free education and land reform.] Five Autograph Letters Signed to Bernard Piffard, regarding opposition to Lords of the Manor over enclosures, and 'Allotments and Small Holdings Associations'.

Author: 
Jesse Collings (1831-1920) of Birmingham, Liberal and Liberal Unionist politician, advocate of free education and land reform [Bernard Piffard (1833-1916), entomologist]
Publication details: 
Between 27 July 1885 and 22 March 1886. All from Edgbaston, Birmingham (the second a letterhead).
£150.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the Piffard papers. A total of 9pp, 12mo. The recipient is 'B. Piffard Esq.' and the letters are all signed 'Jesse Collings'. ONE: 27 July 1885. 2pp, 12mo. He apologises for the delay in replying: 'I have been so over-pressed with Parliamentary and other work.' He will go into the matter of Piffard's letter at the 'Committee meeting of our Allotments & Small Holdings Association' that very day.

[John Venn, Anglican cleric, abolitionist and central figure in the Clapham Sect of social reformers.] Autograph Signature to the conclusion of a letter.

Author: 
John Venn (1759-1813), Church of England clergyman and abolitionist, a central figure in the Clapham Sect of social reformers
Venn
Publication details: 
‘Clapham 10 Sepr. 1810’.
£56.00
Venn

Venn features in the Oxford DNB article on his father Henry Venn (1725-1797). In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Two rectangles cut from a letter, laid down on one side of a 14 x 5.5 cm piece of thicker paper. The first rectangle, 12.5 x 2.5 cm, carries the conclusion of the letter: ‘[...]ain are truly I am my dear / your ever faithful & affect Friend / J Venn’. At the foot of the slip, in pencil in a Victorian hand: ‘X (Son of “Complete duty of Man”). Beneath this slip is the second one, 9 x 1.5 cm, which gives the date: ‘Clapham 10 Sepr. 1810’.

[National Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, London.] Printed pamphlet by NCADP Secretary Frank Dawtry: ‘Bulletin No. 26 / Public Opinion and the Death Penalty’.

Author: 
National Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, London; Frank Dawtry [Frank Dalmeny Dawtry] (1902-1968), General Secretary of the National Association of Probation Officers
Publication details: 
March 1948. National Council for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, 14 Victoria Street, London, SW1. ‘Printed for Edgar G. Dunstan & Co., Draycot House, Gordon Street, W.C.1, by The Hereford Times Ltd., London and Hereford.
£80.00

See Dawtry’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is scarce: no copies traced on JISC or WorldCat. 4pp, 4to. Bifolium printed in small type. In fair condition, lightly aged, with creasing and nicking to both leaves at bottom outer edge.

[Joseph Adshead, Manchester merchant and reformer.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to George Cruikshank, writing in the year he dedicated his temperance pamphlet ‘The Bottle’ to Adshead, concerning the sending of illustrations.

Author: 
Joseph Adshead (1800-1861), Manchester merchant, reformer and pamphleteer, temperance campaigner, friend of George Cruikshank and Florence Nightingale
Publication details: 
30 March and 15 July 1847; both from 35 George Street, Manchester.
£180.00

Both items in good condition, lightly aged. Each signed ‘Josh. Adshead’. Written in a difficult hand. Both letters are addressed to the same recpient, who is named in the first as ‘Geo Cruikshank’. Written in the year in which Cruikshank dedicated his pamphlet ‘The Bottle’ to Adshead. ONE: ALS, 30 March 1847. 1p, 12mo. On grey paper. Cruikshank’s ‘draft value £50 is duly to hand’, and he may be assured of Adshead’s ‘best services in my endeavour to promote our Views’. He will be ‘much pleased to receive a proof of one of the series of Temperance drawings’. TWO: ALS, 15 July 1847. 3pp, 12mo.

[Charles Gilpin, Quaker politician, Liberal Member of Parliament for Northampton, friend of Kossuth and Garibaldi]. Autograph Note Signed, explaining to ‘Mr J Holden’ that he has mistaken his identity.

Author: 
Charles Gilpin (1815-1874), Quaker politician, Liberal Member of Parliament for Northampton, abolitionist, prison reformer, friend of Kossuth and Garibaldi, who both stayed at his London home
Publication details: 
29 April [no year]. On embossed letterhead of 10 Bedford Square [London].
£45.00

The address from which this letter is sent is said to have been 'the English home of Louis Kossuth and Garibaldi'. 1p, 12mo. On aged paper, and with strip of discoloration from glue along the inner edge, the detaching of the item from its mount having caused a little wear to a couple of words of text. Reads: ‘Dear Sir, / Northampton is the only Constituency I have represented in Parliament - I am not [last word underlined] the author of the work you allude to / Yours truly / C Gilpin’.

[Society for the Reform of Colonial Government, London.] First edition: 'Charters of the Old English Colonies in America. With an Introduction and Notes, by Samuel Lucas, Esq., M.A. Late of Queen’s College, Oxford; Barrister at Law.'

Author: 
Samuel Lucas, Esq., M.A. Late of Queen’s College, Oxford; Barrister at Law [The Society for the Reform of Colonial Government, London]
Publication details: 
Published for the Society for the Reform of Colonial Government. London: John W. Parker, West Strand. 1850.
£250.00

Scarce. xx + 123pp, 8vo. With erratum slip following prelims. Internally good and tight, on slightly-discoloured brittle paper, with one leaf among the prelims with small grease stain in margin; in heavily worn half-calf binding, with loosening boards. The introduction begins, p.ix: ‘The present volume comprises ten of the Charters which were granted to our early American Colonies.

[Lord Carrington, Tory politician who sorted out Pitt the Younger’s personal finances.] Autograph Letter Signed to Robert Sparrow regarding a parliamentary bill on the subject of waste land and enclosures.

Author: 
Lord Carrington [Robert Smith, 1st Baron Carrington of Bulcote Lodge, Ireland, and Upton, Nottingham] (1752-1838), Tory politician and banker [Robert Sparrow]
Publication details: 
‘Board of Agriculture / Feb 26. 1801’.
£150.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 4to. In good condition, with thin neat strip from windowpane mount adhering at edges. Folded for postage. Signed ‘Carrington’ and addressed to ‘Robert Sparrow Esq.’ He has received Sparrow’s letter, and informs him that ‘the Bill is yet [to be] brought into the House of Lords for the improvement of waste land’.

[Sir Samuel Romilly, abolitionist and legal reformer.] Autograph Letter in the third person to ‘Mr. Williams’, explaining that he will be finishing ‘the Bill in this Cause’ while out of town.

Author: 
Sir Samuel Romilly (1757-1818), abolitionist and legal reformer of Huguenot descent
Publication details: 
15 September 1794. Lincoln’s Inn [London].
£50.00

See his long entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, with negligible remnants of windowpane mount adhering at edges of blank reverse. Reads: ‘Mr. Romilly presents his compliments to Mr. Williams and informs him that he is obliged to go out of Town tomorrow & that he has not been able to finish the Bill in this Cause but he will take it with him into the Country & send it to Mr. W. in two or three days’.

[Mary Carpenter, educationist, penal and social reformer in Bristol and India, abolitionist.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Miss Thompson’, following a meeting at the Bristol Social Science Congress.

Author: 
Mary Carpenter (1807-1877), educationist, penal and social reformer in Bristol and India, abolitionist [Bristol Social Science Congress, 1869]
Publication details: 
9 October 1869; Bristol.
£45.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. The ‘Congress’ she is referring to in the letter is the 1869 Bristol Social Science Congress. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: ‘Dear Miss Thompson / It gave me pleasure to see you at the Congress I feel sure you will have heard much here which will stimulate you to further work. / I enclose you my carte as a remembrance. / Yours truly / Mary Carpenter. -’

[Lilian Mary Faithfull, Principal of Cheltenham Ladies’ College, social reformer and advocate of women’s rights.] Autograph Card Signed inviting Miss Muriel Lewis of Carshalton to lunch the following day.

Author: 
Lilian Mary Faithfull (1865-1952), Principal of Cheltenham Ladies’ College, social reformer and advocate of women’s rights, one of the ‘Steamboat ladies’ who pushed for the admission of women to the u
Publication details: 
No date, but with Kensington postmark of 6 November [1914?]; 1 Campden Grove, Kensington [London].
£45.00

An attractive artefact of a pioneer of women’s rights. See her entry in the Oxford DNB. On 14 x 9 cm post card. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed by Faithfull, with two stamps and postmarks, to ‘Miss Muriel Lewis / Greyhound Hotel / Carshalton / Surrey’. In neat hand and with good firm signature: ‘1 Campden Grove Kensington / I hope to see you to lunch to-morrow Monday at 1. pm. / Yrs. / L. M. Faithfull’.

[‘It was a monstrous thing to make poverty a crime’: Jesse Collings, Liberal politician.] Autograph Letter Signed, attacking the government over a bill which was meant to be ‘of no use to the people whom it affected’.

Author: 
Jesse Collings (1831-1920), Liberal and Liberal Unionist politician, advocate of free education and land reform
Publication details: 
5 August 1888. Edgbaston, Birmingham.
£38.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. Lightly aged and worn. Folded four times. Signed ‘Jesse Collings’. Addressed to ‘Messrs Smith & Kitching / Hon. Secs. Political Committee / Chelsea / London’. Minuted in pencil on reverse of second leaf: ‘Acknowledgment of Copy of our Resolution’. He has been ‘so much over-pressed with correspondence and other work’, hence the delay in replying. He asks them to ‘convey my best thanks to your Committee for the Resolution they have passed, and copy of which you enclosed’.

[Thomas Mann, trade unionist and communist.] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both ‘Tom Mann’), as Secretary of London Reform Union, one endorsing a ‘scheme’ which will reduce the death rate; the other about ‘Douglas’ and a meeting of the Stepney Branch

Author: 
Tom Mann [Thomas Mann] (1856-1941), trade unionist, socialist and communist [A. G. L. Rogers]
Publication details: 
12 and 30 May 1993; both on letterhead of London Reform Union, Granville House, 3 Arundel Street, W.C. [London].
£90.00

See the entry for Thomas Mann in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son and editor of the economist Thorold Rogers [James Edwin Thorold Rogers] (1823-1890), for information regarding whom see his entry in the Oxford DNB. The second letter in good condition, lightly aged and folded once; the first in fair condition, folded three times with a number of short closed tears along creases. Mann is writing in his capacity as Secretary of the London Reform Union (for whose ‘Object’ see the end of this entry). ONE: 12 May 1893. 2pp, 4to.

[‘the Leap in the Dark’: Sir Frederick Pollock on the Second Reform Act.] Autograph Letter Signed (‘Fred Pollock’) to Sir Thomas Baring on General Jonathan Peel’s resignation over the Second Reform Act, which he calls‘this downward movement’.

Author: 
Sir Frederick Pollock [Sir Jonathan Frederick Pollock] (1783-1870), 1st Baronet, Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer and Tory Attorney General [Sir Thomas Baring (1799-1873); General Jonathan Peel]
Publication details: 
20 July 1868; on letterhead of Hatton, Hounslow.
£45.00

See the entries for Pollock, Peel and Baring in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. Addressed to ‘My dear Baring’. He begins by thanking him for his ‘introductions - & the kindness of your letter that enclosed them’.

[The man who set the French Revolution in motion.] Countersignature of Charles-Alexandre de Calonne to quittance on parchment of Charles-Pierre Lavalette, regarding the ‘feu Fauveau de Frenilly Receveur général des Domains des bois de Poitier’.

Author: 
Charles-Alexandre de Calonne (1734-1802), French statesman whose efforts at financial reform precipitated the crisis that led to the French Revolution [Charles-Pierre Lavalete]
Publication details: 
20 June 1784. Paris.
£100.00

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, it was de Calonne’s efforts at reform, which precipitated the crisis which let to the French Revolution. The present item is on a 31 x 22 cm piece of parchment. In good condition, lightly aged, with a couple of closed tears.

Two Autograph Letters Signed J. Chamberlain to Sir Robert Giffen, eminent Scottish statistician and economist, encapsulating his views on tariff reform and related issues at a critical time.

Author: 
Joseph Chamberlain (DNB), politician and statesman
Publication details: 
[Printed headings] 40 Prince's Gardens, SW [London], 11 Aug. 1902 AND Highbury, Moor Green, Birmingham, 11 Dec. 1903.
£450.00

3 & 4pp., 12mo, very good condition. With original addressed envelope for Letter 1 (Sir Robert Giffen KCB | etc etc etc. [Chamberlains' joke?], 40 Brunswick Road ...) , with franked signature of Chamberlain. Letter One (1902): Many thanks for your notes. I agree with you in thinking that preference is chiefly valuable as promoting the Imperial sentiment of unity. | It has, however, other advantages - (1) it is a movement as far as it goes, towards free trade within the Empire. Every reduction of duty helps towards the end.

[Ebenezer Elliott, 'the Corn Law Rhymer', poet and reformer.] Autograph Letter Signed, offering his poem 'Win-Hill' to the editor of the Monthly Magazine, stating that his 'children like it', and apologising for not having 'kept the politics out'.

Author: 
Ebenezer Elliott (1781-1849), 'the Corn Law Rhymer', poet and reformer who founded the Sheffield Mechanics Anti-Bread Tax Society [Monthly Magazine, London]
Publication details: 
No date [1833]. Sheffield.
£100.00

1p, landscape 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, but with thin strip torn away from head, including date. Laid down on piece of card. Large firm signature ('Ebenezer Elliott'). Begins: 'D Sirs - | I send you for the Monthly Magazine, Win-hill, or The Curse, a poem. My children like it, so I conclude it is not without merit. I wish I could have kept the politics out, but they would be in. If it should not suit you, you would very much oblige me by endeavouring to return it to me by the 15th of June next. I am, D Sirs, Yours very truly | Ebenezer Elliott'. 'Win-Hill; or, The Curse of God.

[Frances Power Cobbe, social reformer, anti-vivisectionist and women's suffrage campaigner. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Francis P Cobbe') to 'Miss Cole', discussing 'Mr Raj' of the 'Church of One God - India', who is studying at London University.

Author: 
Frances Power Cobbe (1822-1904), Irish writer, social reformer, anti-vivisection activist, and women's suffrage campaigner
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£56.00

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged paper with traces of glue from mount on reverse of second leaf. The letter begins: 'Dear Miss Cole - | It is kind of you to invite Mr Raj - I have forwarded yr message to him, & told him to answer it himself. He is a very good young man studying just now for his degree in London University - a friend of [Kesemb Amrinder Senj?] & a member of the [Brahur Somcij?] (Church of the One God - of India)'. She knows nothing else about him, but 'the [Brahures?] all come to him by right'.

[Ebenezer Elliott, 'the Corn Law Rhymer', poet and reformer.] Autograph Letter Signed, offering his poem 'Win-Hill' to the editor of the Monthly Magazine, stating that his 'children like it', and apologising for not having 'kept the politics out'.

Author: 
Ebenezer Elliott (1781-1849), 'the Corn Law Rhymer', poet and reformer who founded the Sheffield Mechanics Anti-Bread Tax Society [Monthly Magazine, London]
Publication details: 
No date [1833]. Sheffield.
£100.00

1p, landscape 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, but with thin strip torn away from head, including date. Laid down on piece of card. Large firm signature ('Ebenezer Elliott'). Begins: 'D Sirs - | I send you for the Monthly Magazine, Win-hill, or The Curse, a poem. My children like it, so I conclude it is not without merit. I wish I could have kept the politics out, but they would be in. If it should not suit you, you would very much oblige me by endeavouring to return it to me by the 15th of June next. I am, D Sirs, Yours very truly | Ebenezer Elliott'. 'Win-Hill; or, The Curse of God.

[Oxford University Act, 1854.] Autograph Draft Memorandum by Rev. Dr Richard Harington, Principal of Brasenose College, stating his opposition to 'Oxford University Commission. | Proposals for remodelling the Constitution of the University'.

Author: 
Rev. Dr Richard Harington (1800-1853), Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford [Oxford University Act 1854; Report of Royal Commission, 1852; Hebdomadal Council]
Publication details: 
[Brasenose College, University of Oxford] Undated, but written in response to the Royal Commission Report of 1852.
£850.00

A significant document by an Oxford college head, responding negatively to the 1852 Report of the Royal Commission appointed in 1850 by Lord John Russell to enquire 'Into the State, Discipline, Studies, and Revenues of the University and Colleges of Oxford'.

[Oxford University Act, 1854.] Autograph Draft Memorandum on 'Oxford University Commission' by Rev. Dr Richard Harington , Principal of Brasenose College, stating his opposition to 'those who propose to strip the favoured classes of the privileges'.

Author: 
Rev. Dr Richard Harington (1800-1853), Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford [Oxford University Act 1854; Report of Royal Commission, 1852; Hebdomadal Council]
Publication details: 
[Brasenose College, University of Oxford] 8 April 1852.
£850.00

A highly-interesting document, written by a college head on the verge of the reforms resulting from the passing of the Oxford University Act of 1854 and setting up of the Hebdomadal Council, in which Harington states - in detail, at length and with great emphasis - his opposition to 'those who propose to strip the favoured classes of the privileges which Founders of Colleges have thought proper to confer on them', arguing that this will not 'necessarily ensure the election of the most distinguished candidates'.

[Edinburgh, 1832: 'The first voting which took place on the Reform Bill'.] Manuscript 'Copy of Entry in the Register of Qualified Voters for the City of Edinburgh', signed by Carlyle Bell, Conjunct-Clerk, on George Berry of Antigua Street.

Author: 
Carlyle Bell (c.1779-1850), Conjunct-Clerk [joint town clerk] of the the City of Edinburgh [Great Reform Act, 1832]
Publication details: 
Entry dated 13 September 1832.
£250.00

A nice piece of Edinburgh historical ephemera. See the entry on George Berry (1795-c.1874), the first man to register to vote there following the passing the Great Reform Act, in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, 1874-1875, where he is described as 'an enthusiastic "Free Trader"'. 40 x 10 cm slip of laid paper, with printed form on one side, headed 'COPY of ENTRY in the REGISTER of QUALIFIED VOTERS for the CITY of EDINBURGH.' In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with clean vertical cut unobtrusively repaired with archival tape.

[Mary Stocks (Lady Stocks), author and supporter of women's suffrage and social reform.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Mary Stocks') to J. Samson of the Royal Society of Arts, regretting that she is 'too senile' to chair a meeting.

Author: 
Mary Stocks [born Mary Danvers Brinton; Lady Stocks] (1891-1975), writer and worker in fields of women's suffrage, welfare state and social work; linked to Strachey, Wedgwood and Ricardo families
Publication details: 
31 August 1973. On letterhead of 'The Lady Stocks', Aubrey Lodge, Aubrey Road, W8 [London].
£60.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with pin hole to one corner. Folded twice. The surname in Stock's signature underlined in green. She is 'greatly honoured' by Samson's invitation, '& it is a thing I should have loved to do. But the sad fact is, I am getting too senile to be sure of being able to keep a discussion in hand as a competant [sic] chairman should'. The letter concludes: 'I fear I am a bad example of an 82 year-old in view of what Sybil Thorndike does at 90!'

[Frances Power Cobbe, Irish social reformer, anti-vivisectionist and campaigner for women's suffrage.] Autograph Signature ('Frances P Cobbe') to part of letter.

Author: 
Frances Cobbe [Frances Power Cobbe] (1822-1904), Irish author, social reformer, anti-vivisectionist, and campaigner for women's suffrage
Publication details: 
Date and place not stated.
£23.00

On 4 x 11 cm slip of paper. Reads: '[...] them. | With many thanks for yr kindness believe me | very truly yrs | Frances P Cobbe'. On reverse: '[...] information. | Have you ever seen a very curious French book [...]'.

[Thomas Hughes, author of 'Tom Brown's School Days'.] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'Tho. Hughes') to 'Mr. Kynnersley', discussing: meeting Rugby schoolfellow 'Blandford', educating an abandoned boy, his co-operative beliefs, Joseph Chamberlain.

Author: 
Thomas Hughes (1822-1896), politician and judge, author of 'Tom Brown's School Days'
Publication details: 
ONE: 3 March 1884; 52 Promenade, Southport, Lancashire, on letterhead of the County Courts, Circuit No. 9, Chester. TWO: 30 November 1885. On letterhead of Uffington House, Chester.
£250.00

Both items in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: 3 March 1884. 1p, 12mo. Addressed to 'Dear Mr. Kynnersley'. Having received Kynnersley's undated letter he writes: 'I shall meet Blandford as you propose on the 11th. with very great pleasure. He was one of the heroes on whom I used to look with awe as a 3rd. form boy in 1834 in which year I joined & he I think left Rugby.' He is sitting at Congleton on the day of the meeting, and 'there is just a chance that some perverse suitor may be in full blast at my train time in which case (as I never leave a cause part heard) I may be late'.

[Violet Markham, author and social reformer, to art historian Benedict Nicholson.] Typed Letter Signed ('Violet Markham'), thanking him for 'drawings of St. Nectaire', discussing France and French 'betrayal of the Allied cause'.

Author: 
Violet Markham [Violet Rosa Markham], author, social reformer and campaigner against women's suffrage [Benedict Nicholson (1914-1978), art historian]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 8 Gower Street, Bloomsbury [London]. 3 December 1942.
£65.00

2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to 'B. Nicholson, Esq., | Brooks's, | St. James's Street, S.W.1.' (Nicholson was the son of Harold Nicholson and Vita Sackville-West.) She begins by thanking him for his 'kind letter and charming gift of your drawings of St. Nectaire', adding: 'as an author my vanity is flattered by your appreciation of “Romanesque France”'. She is glad she has helped 'a certain number of people in getting to know some of the beauties of France', but feels 'something of a fraud about the book as without the help of my friend Mr.

[John Haygarth, Chester physician.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J Haygarth.') to William Rathbone IV, discussing the possible establishment of a 'Lazaret' for Liverpool on 'Helbry [i.e. Hilbre] Island', with reference to penal reformer John Howard.

Author: 
John Haygarth (1740-1827), Chester physician and pioneer in the prevention of smallpox [William Rathbone IV (1757-1809), Liverpool merchant and abolitionist; John Howard (1726-1790), prison reformer]
Publication details: 
Chester; 30 June 1789.
£950.00

For the background to this letter see the section on 'Lazarettos and the Plague' in C. C. Booth's 'John Haygarth, FRS (1740-1827): A Physician of the Enlightenment' (2005). The penal reformer John Howard published his 'Account of the Principal Lazarettos in Europe' in 1789, and the letter to Howard referred to by Haygarth in the present item was one in which Haygarth set forth his view on the subject, dated 30 May 1789.

[General Election of 1835: the Duke of Wellington's brother Lord Charles Wellesley defeated at Rochester by one vote.] Manuscript documents from legal team of victorious candidate T. T. Hodges, at House of Commons 'Controverted Election' committee.

Author: 
Lord Charles Wellesley; Thomas Twisden Hodges; General Election, 1835; Rochester Kent; Controverted Elections; House of Commons Committee of Privileges and Elections; Duke of Wellington
Publication details: 
House of Commons, Houses of Parliament, Westminster (London). [Rochester, Kent.] 1836 and 1837.
£500.00

Between 1604 and 1868 the House of Commons exercised jurisdiction over controverted (disputed) elections, which were usually referred to its Committee of Privileges and Elections. The Parliamentary Archives hold the Controverted Elections Court Evidence minute books for the period between 1829 and 1906. The minute books contain transcripts of the evidence laid before the committee.

[Sir Henry Taylor's 'peculiarly severe' poem on Caroline Norton.] Autograph Manuscript of untitled poem beginning 'Soft be the voice & friendly that rebukes | The error of thy way'.

Author: 
Sir Henry Taylor (1800-1886), poet and dramatist, civil servant at the Colonial Office [Caroline Norton (1808-1877), social reformer and fighter for women's rights]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [Circa 1847.]
£200.00

2pp, 12mo. On a bifolium of grey laid paper, with fleur-de-lys 'J M & Co' watermark. In good condition, lightly aged, with creases from having been neatly folded three times, and stub adhering to edge of blank second leaf of bifolium. The item derives from the collection of a notable nineteenth-century autograph collector, Lord Houghton, a friend of both Taylor and Norton.

[Caroline Norton, social reformer, George Meredith's 'Diana of the Crossways'.] Autograph Letter Signed, requesting permission to attend 'some curious experiments of animal magnetism'.

Author: 
Caroline Norton [Caroline Elizabeth Sarah Norton] (1808-1877), author and social reformer, heroine of the novel 'Diana of hte Crossways' by her friend George Gissing
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£500.00

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'.

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