ROYAL

Beechey (1753-1839) was a member of the Royal Academy, and portrait painter to Queen Charlotte. Young (1755-1825) was a mezzotint engraver. Paper dimensions roughly four inches square. Folded twice. In good condition on paper somewhat grubby at edges. Good clear signatures: 'W. Beechey R. A. - | Jno. Young.' Beechey was knighted and elected to the Royal Academy in 1798.

Behnes (died 1864) was a sculptor of high renown. Ross (1794-1860) was a miniature painter whose work includes portraits of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. Paper dimensions roughly 4 1/2 inches by 2 inches. In good condition. Reads 'William Behnes | W. C. Ross'. On verso 'my Apartments, should <...> | to the utmost of my hop <...> | be inadequate to extricat <...>'.

Commissioner (Office of the Master General of the Ordnance). Duncombe is instructing a Mr Sherborne of the Tower of London to go to Chatham, Gravesend and Woolwich to see "how many gunnes are mounted & of w[ha]t nature". He expects a report the following morning. The barbarian who cut the signature off also cut off the date, but this letter could well predate the Dutch raid up the Thames Estuary in June 1667 which particularly affected the fleet at Chatham, and indicate preparations.

English sculptor (1791-1864). Dimensions of paper roughly 4 inches by 1 inch. In very good condition. Large, slightly smudged signature on one side in blue ink. Reverse, in different ink and apparently in another hand, reads '<...> may I presume to solicit your favour fo<...> | as increasing Age naturally brings on in<...>'.

English sculptor (1775-1856). Dimensions of paper roughly 4 1/2 inches by 1 1/2 inches. In good condition. Reads '<...> I am Gentlemen | Your obt. & humble St. | Richd Westmacott'.

English sculptor (1775-1856). Dimensions of paper roughly 5 inches by 1 inch. In good condition. Reads '<...> | Recommended /on unexceptionable testimonials/ by | Richd Westmacott: | Nov 26/1844.'

President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (DNB). 1 page, 8vo, in good condition with remains of stub adhering to blank verso. Doctor's handwriting. 'I am quite sure theh bleeding is of no consequence. Please let Geoffrey batter two fingers with the old <?> lotion & put a little bit of cotton wool <?> in the lotion in the end of the finger- - | Yours truly | C. Heath'.

Dimensions roughly 5 1/2 inches by 4 inches. Must predate 1887, when the prefix 'Royal' was added. Amusing modern-looking cartoon-style illustration by 'F C' of furious pipe-smoking pianist jumping up to hammer the keys, with his hair forming into the 'S' of 'Society', with moustachioed cigar-smoking tweedy individual in front of piano being hit in face by whisky tumbler.

8 leaves, 8vo, paginated [5-6] 7-19 [1]. Stitched: in contemporary brown plain wraps. In good condition, though folded in half lengthwise and with wraps rather grubby. Inscription reads 'Dr Tyndall FRS &c &c | from J P G'.

8vo. 42 pages, in original grey printed wraps. Grubby, and with staining to front wrap and first leaf. On verso of front wrap: '(With the Author's Compliments).

8vo. 4 pages, in original pink printed wraps, discoloured to light blue on the outside. In very good condition, one vertical crease from catalogue being folded on itself, and with negligible rust staining from staple. The sale comprised 'Lady's and Gentleman's Single, Tandem, Roadster and Road Racer Safeties, Including Osmonds, Humbers, Simpsons, Acatenes, Royal Psychos, Popular Starleys, Premiers, Cameos, Raglans, Olympic, &c., &c.', sold on behalf of 'Mr. PERCY L. YOUNG'. Front wrap headed 'Priced Catalogue' in manuscript 'CONDITIONS OF SALE' on verso of front wrap.

English artist (1842-1921). 2 pages, 16mo, on the rectos of the two leaves of a bifoliate, the first leaf bearing a mourning border. In good condition, but with remains of mount adhering to blank verso of second leaf. 'Re candlesticks. | The dean does not want candlesticks for the Altar. | But, in the place of those hideous bronze things in fornt of the Altar I have designend, and Pegram the sculptor has modelled a sketch, a really fine thing.

Admiral (see DNB). 4 pages, 8vo, small piece of tape masks the month and another word, ow good and clear. His correspondent's letter to him has depressed him because it underates the "immense appriacation we as Seamen have for the patriotic line you have lately taken up." He is "delighted" with Maurice's book [prob. "Military History of the Campaign of 1882 in Egypt" published this year, 1888]. "I quite agree with you in all you say & consider your views the real statesmanlike Views of that immensely important point.

1 page, 8vo. Grubby but in good condition. 'In case you have not already seen it, I beg to enclose you a leaflet relating to my new book. | I shall be grateful for any help that you can give it.' Signed 'G. E. Manwaring'. The book was 'My Friend the Admiral. The life, letters, and journals of Rear-Admiral James Burney' (Routledge, 1931).

Author and positivist (1831-1923). 1 page, 16mo. In poor condition: grubby, creased and worn. Having returned to London 'after an absence of many months' he has found at the Athenaeum Club his correspondent's two letters. He is sorry for the delay: 'The Club has been closed for repairs & the letters were mislaid. It is quite out of my power to visit Bristol durinng the ensuing session.'

English actor and playwright (1780?-1829). 1 page, 16mo, on bifoliate with address ('J. Winston Esqr | 3 Church Street | Cov Garden') on reverse of second leaf. Paper discoloured, otherwise in good condition. 'Dear Winston | Will you be kind enough to give the bearer an order for Two to the H Mkt [Haymarket] for the Evening. I am Dr Sir | Yrs very truly | Danl Terry'. Wrapped in 4to piece of paper on which are transcribed in a neat contemporary hand two quotations regarding Terry from the European Magazine.

English sculptor (1788-1867)(DNB), responsible for the Nelson on Nelson's Column. Both letters are discoloured by age, but otherwise in good condition. The first letter is 1 page, 16mo, cropped and mounted on a larger piece of paper. 'My Dear Sir Martin | Absence from Town will I hope be a sufficient apology for my not sooner acknowledging the receipt of your card of invitation for Wednesday next - and to state that I shall have great pleasure dining with you that day.' The second letter is 2 pages, 16mo, heavily discoloured and with remains of four wax mounts in corners and elsewhere.

Irish actor (1916-2001). 2 pages, 8vo. In good condition though creased along one edge. Accompanying this item are a typescript (1 page, 8vo, in good condition, annotated in ink) headed 'MASEFIELD READINGS', listing 13 items alternatively allocated to 'O'Conor' and 'Day Lewis', and two typewritten slips of paper listing some of the officers of the Royal Society of Literature, one of which has corrected details of the Don Carlos Coloma Memorial Lecture on the reverse. In the letter O'Conor complains that [Masefield's Collected Poems 'seem riddled with misprints'.

8vo. Pages: xi + 87. One of only a hundred copies, according to the British Library catalogue. In original red cloth binding with short title in gilt on front board (somewhat grubby and stained with stained manuscript title on spine). Tight copy but with front hinge cracked. Bookplate of Howard H. Cotterell of Walsall, and with his ownership inscription on title-page, which is neatly blindstamped with his address in top right-hand corner.

British naval officer and inventor (1853-1924; DNB). 1 page, 16mo. In good condition. Attached to larger piece of card, docketed with a brief biography. 'I shall be delighted to come tomorrow at 4. pm. | Yours sincerely | Percy Scott'.

English sculptor (1860-1928). Florid signature 'Geo. Frampton' on slip of paper, 1 inch by 3 1/2. Slightly smudged but in good condition. Attached to piece of blue paper docketed with biographical information about the 'Great Sculptor'.

English soldier, father of Frank Abney Hastings (1794-1828; DNB). The condition of these items is not good: the paper being discoloured, brittle and flaking. A series of intemperate communications. Letter 1 is one page, 8vo, of a bifoliate addressed and docketed on the reverse of the second leaf. It reads: 'I have taken a copy of the enclosed, which I send you, that you may get it written fairly, and signed. I shall be easier when it is done'. Letter 2 is 1 page, 8vo, with the remains of the second leaf of the bifoliate docketed.

1 page, 16mo. Creased and discoloured, with holes and loss caused by pin, and with strip at foot loose and neatly reattached with archival tape. Stamped in blue 'HYDROGRAPHIC DEPARTMENT | 28 SEP. 1903'. Reads 'Dear Frederick | I see by the paper on Labuan sent over here that you have had a chart showing where Tanjong Batu &c is situated - Can you let me have this | Yours sincerely | '. Docketed in red at foot 'Chart Herewith Decr. 26/9'. Docketed on rerverse in blue pencil.

English portrait painter (1782-1875). In good condition. Dimensions approximately 4 1/2 inches square, cropped and with some loss of text after signature. Attached to larger piece of grey paper. Reads 'My dear Sir Martin | I accept with great pleasure your kind invitation for Wednesday the 29 Inst. | Ever yours faithfully | H. W. Pickersgill'.

Historian and essayist (1838-1903). 1 page, 16mo. In good condition, although grubby and glued to fragment of vellum 'Honorary Testimonial' to urice B. Blake, from internal evidence clearly from the Royal Humane Society, and signed by the President, the Duke of Argyll ('Argyll') and the Treasurer and Chairman, A. B. Hawes, 'for having on the 6th., <...> risk gallantly attempted to rescue <...> was unfortunately drowned in the River'. Letter reads: 'Dear Bagnal | I return inclosed with much pleasure.

Captain Charles Dickson Inglis, R.N. (born c.1835; fl. 1898), is best known for his offer in 1887 to buy South Georgia in the Falkland Islands for the purposes of sheep-farming. This collection of his correspondence is neatly bound in a crude octavo volume, and is preceded by a manuscript index by him. Items in good condition overall, with minor discoloration and spotting, mainly caused by the glue used in mounting the photographs. All the letters are 8vo and smaller, several of them being cropped at the head, but with the cropped strips loosely inserted.

For Keppel (1809-1904) see the DNB. On a slip of paper, 1 inch by 2¾, probably cut from a letter. Grubby and creased, and docketed in ink 'Admiral Keppel'. Mounted on a long slip, together with the signature of his brother 'Edwd. S[outhwell]: Keppel' (b. c. 1801), Rector Of Quidenham, Norfolk, on a piece cut from another letter, 1¼ inches by 3. This second signature is in better condition and is preceded by "Dear Sir | Yours very truly'. Two items,

2 pages, 8vo, both with Royal Air Force letterhead bearing the motto 'PER ARDUA AD ASTRA'. Not in good condition - creased, frayed, torn and discoloured - but a marvellous and immediate piece of history, regarding what one authority describes as the 'strategic bombing [...] principally against the Ruhr, on which No.149 concentrated during the winter of 1940-1'. The letter begins 'Dear Mum, | Just a line to thank you for the photographs, I think that one of you is very good.

Naturalist, Fellow of the Royal Society and Scientific Director, the Zoological Society. The fragment is approximately two inches by five, good condition. It reads 'Yours sincerely, | Edw Hindle | (Edward Hindle) | Scientific Director.'

Naturalist, Fellow of the Royal Society and Scientific Director, the Zoological Society. The fragment is approximately two and a half inches by five: paper slightly discoloured. It is mounted on a piece of paper and reads 'With kind regards, | Yours sincerely, | Edw Hindle | (Edward Hindle) | Scientific Director.'