RUSSELL

One page, 12mo, tipped on to part of an album page, name of writer written below letter presumably by Miss Meredith. See Image. Text: My dear Miss Meredtith, | You will never succeed in making a complete collection of the signatures of your father's debtors, but one of them, at least, takes great pleasure in thus acknowledging what he can never discharge. | Faithfully yours | J.R. Lowell || Miss Marie Eveleen Meredith. Item detached from Meredith family album containing letters from distinguished contemporaries such as Henry James, Thomas Hardy, Clemenceau, etc etc.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. 31 lines of text. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Signed ?Mary Adelaide?. She has seen Russell's ?envoy??, who had ?planned a road, which he assures me cannot be objected to, and can easily be intro-duced [sic] into and carried out with your proposed alterations?.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 11.5 x 9 cm plain post card with printed half penny stamp. In fair condition, lightly aged, with dog eared corner and spike hole (through part of address on one side and blank space at bottom left on message side). Addressed by Russell to ‘The Secretary / Society of Arts / John St / Adelphi / London / W.C.’ Reads: ‘Dunrozel, Haslemere. / In reply I beg to say I shd like the Journal “supplied in a bound volume at the conclusion of the Vol. in Nov.” / J. A. R. Russell’.

238pp, 8vo, with frontispiece and illustrations. In green cloth binding, gilt. Internally good and tight, on lightly-browned paper, in good binding with slight discolouration at head and foot of spine, caused by loss to the creased and damaged dustwrapper. The three signatures are one on top of the other in the centre of the recto of the front free endpaper: ‘Leslie Piddington. / Sydney Piddington / Russell Braddon’.

See the two men's entries in the Oxford DNB. Russell's papers are in the Harry Ransom Center at Texas. 1p, 4to. Aged and worn, with creasing and closed tear along left edge. Folded one. Carrying a neat and controlled signature, ‘Leonard Russell.’ He has ‘just come across’ the books Wilson lent him, ‘buried under a mass of books and papers’, and apologises. He ends by asking how Wilson’s ‘Notes from a Bookshop’ are going. ‘Copy as soon as you like.’ Wilson has ticked across the two paragraphs to signify action taken.

Despite the fact that Reynolds and Crookes’s X-ray apparatus is now in the Science Museum at South Kensington, Reynolds has no entry in the Oxford DNB, although Crookes’s entry can be consulted. The two items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn. Both folded several times. Both 1p, 4to, and both signed ‘Russell J. Reynolds’. ONE: Addressed to G. K. Menzies of the Royal Society of Arts. With recipient's red pencil tick.

The two volumes contain a total of 239pp., 12mo, in ink and pencil, with entries dating from between 29 November 1912 and 28 March 1950. In fair overall condition, with light signs of age and wear. In two Keuffel & Esser notebooks, each in remains of brown calf binding, the first with 'MINING | TRANSIT BOOK | 363' stamped on front cover, and the second with 'Cross Section Book | 375 S'. In manuscript on cover of first volume: '19<...> Dec. | The Psilomelane D | of the Francis <....> | by | Don <...> | Under Prof. A. C. L <...>'.

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin neat strip from windowpane mount adhering to the outer edges. Folded twice for postage. Writing during the Siege of Paris, he begins by thanking him ‘for the specimen of the present Paris printing. Alas how different is this blurred & blotted mass of types from the beautiful pages of typography which that brilliant city afforded!

An interesting letter, indicating the piety underlining Shaftesbury’s philanthropy. See his long entry in the Oxford DNB, which sums up his achievements as ‘very substantial’ and ‘a source of enduring inspiration to others’, together with those of Russell and Skinner, the last of which contains, regarding the part of the ‘Drummondite controversy’ relating to the Rev.

According to Russell’s entry in the Oxford DNB, while reporting on the Civil War, he was described by one American newspaper as ‘the most famous newspaper correspondent the world has ever seen'. The inscription on his memorial in St Paul’s Cathedral calls him ‘'the first and greatest of War Correspondents'. He coined the phrase ‘thin red line’, was instrumental in the sending of Florence Nightingale to the Crimea, and is said to have written the report that inspired Tennyson to write ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade’.

See the entries for Baines and Reynolds in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed to ‘The Rev. H. R. Reynolds, D.D.’, and signed ‘Edw. Baines.’ The letter dates from between 1861, when Lord John Russell was created Earl Russell, and his death in 1878. Begins: ‘My very dear Friend, / I have just been shaking hands with Earl Russell. I was standing with the mob of M.

The 1880 'Balliol Masque' indicates Jowett's standing, and the pronunciation of his name: 'First come I. My name is Jowett. | There's no knowledge but I know it. | I am Master of this College, | What I don't know isn't knowledge.' See Jowett’s entry, and those of Lucas and Russell, in the Oxford DNB, which states regarding Jowett that by the end of his life he had become ‘synonymous with Balliol, which he turned into the leading college in the first university in the United Kingdom at the height of its world power’. 1p, 12mo. In good condition. Folded twice.

The printed item is excessively scarce: no copy on OCLC WorldCat or JISC. Transcriptions of both items are to be found in The Journal of the Legislative Council of the Province of New Brunswick, 20 January to 26 March, pp.26-28. The two items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. ONE: Manuscript ‘Circular’ headed ‘Banking Companies’ and dated from Downing Street, 4 May 1840. 1p, 8vo. Paginated in manuscript 15. On W. Horsington paper with watermark date 1839.

Both items scarce: no other copy of either traced. Disbound from a volume and paginated in manuscript. In good condition, lightly aged. ONE: ‘Copy’ of letter to ‘The Right Honorable Lord John Russell’, signed in type ‘J. CAMPBELL, / T. WILDE.’ 2pp, 8vo. Paginated in manuscript 27-28. Printed in copperplate font. Begins: ‘My Lord, / We have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Mr. Vernon Smith’s letter of the 3d inst.

2pp, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. The content is remarkably sprightly and the handwriting firm. The letter begins: 'My dear Russell, | Telephone: no good. So I guess that you are holiday-making. | Lord Drogheda is my close friend & collaborator. His wife Joan is a pianist[.] I have heard her only when she gave her services. But she appears to practice daily, like a professional trooper.' He has advised her to 'play chamber music.

2pp, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. The content is remarkably sprightly and the handwriting firm. The letter begins: 'My dear Russell, | Telephone: no good. So I guess that you are holiday-making. | Lord Drogheda is my close friend & collaborator. His wife Joan is a pianist[.] I have heard her only when she gave her services. But she appears to practice daily, like a professional trooper.' He has advised her to 'play chamber music.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Begins: 'Dear Princess Charlotte. | May I venture to ask Your Royal Highness's acceptance of a small wedding present from my husband and myself with our most sincere and heartfelt good wishes for Your Royal Highness's future happiness and prosperity.' The present is 'the newest style of Minton's china and this is the first specimen of the kind'. She concludes in conventional style.

On one side of 8 x 13 cm piece of wove paper, cut from front of envelope. In fair condition, lightly aged, with minor offsetting from another document on the reverse. Reads: 'Private | Right Hon | W. E. Gladstone | J Russell'. Before 1861, when Russell was elevated to the peerage.

1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. The letter reads: 'Dear Wilson. | I have just returned from U.S.A. & am going next Monday or Tuesday to Donegal for a much needed holiday. I expect to be away a month. If your friend is in Dublin when I come back I will be glad to see him But in a month I will be out of the world. | Yours ever | AE'

For information on the recipient William Frederick Cleveland, see his obituary, BMJ, 3 December 1898. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium on grey paper. In fair condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. He explains that he is enclosing a letter to which he replied late as he was out of town, giving a time that day which 'would suit me, if it would be convenient to you'. He 'begged' the writers of the letter to let Cleveland know.

She thanks him for sending his 'most interesting & valuable little pamphlet', which she will give to her friends to read, hoping that it will 'really help at this most difficult time'. She is struck by his 'footnote about “The Freedom of the Seas”', and wishes she 'could really understand that subject'. She ends by asking (disingenuously?) if anything has been written which 'puts your point of view at more length & simply enough for an ordinary mortal to take it in'. The pamphlet referred to is presumably Armstrong's 'Peace with Security' (1917).

On a single 8vo half-title leaf removed from the William Clarke Russell's 'Nelson's Words and Deeds: A Selection from the Dispatches and Correspondence of Horatio Nelson' (London: Sampson Low, 1890). In fair condition, lightly aged and with a central horizontal crease. Printed at the centre of the page are the words 'NELSON'S WORDS AND DEEDS', and at the head Swinburne writes: 'Isabel Swinburne | from her affectionate brother | Algernon Charles Swinburne | November 1890'.

A marvellous slice of Victorian social history. The entry for 'Matrimonial News' in 'Frederick May's London Press Dictionary and Advertiser's Handbook, 1871' runs as follows: 'MATRIMONIAL NEWS AND SPECIAL ADVERTISER – 2d. F. Farrah, 282, Strand, W.C.

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Written in a shaky hand. The letter begins: 'Dear Sir | I was much obliged to you for the extra copy of The Inquirer which I was glad to have, containing very good letters supporting Free Trade. It is a subject on which I feel strongly – perhaps inherited from my father!

Three interesting letters, intelligent, well-informed and affectionate, by a member of a leading Liberal family.

Both items in good condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: Headed: 'Rite Welcome be ye alle. | Lockinge Mannor | Wantage | Ye Order of ye Revells. | To be holden by grace of mye Lord & Ladye Wantage of Lockynge on ye XXVI 8 XXVII daies of August | MDCCCLXXXV.' Printed on one side of a 47.5 x 20.5 cm. piece of laid paper. Printer's slug at bottom left: 'C. R. ILES, CHELT.' With coat of arms and initial at head.

See Cockerell's entry in the Oxford DNB, and Smedley's obituary in the Gentleman's Magazine, April 1832. The two letters are in good condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Each letter is of 1p., 12mo. On bifoliums addressed to Smedley at Broad Sanctuary on reverse of second leaf. ONE: 'Monday'. 1p., 12mo. Indistinct seal of head in red wax. Begins: 'My Dear Smedley. | You will hear with pleasure that I read my MS: on Saturday; no dissent cast but G. B. who has started a doubt as to this being the works of Phidéas.' He is going out of own for a week and hopes to see Smedley on his return.

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with traces of glue from mount at head of first page. He is sorry to say 'that my Presentation to Christ's Hospital has long been given away to the Orphan son of an old Harrow Pupil who died early & left his family ill provided for'. He ends by describing his family's whereabouts.

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Offering him, following the unanimous decision of a committee meeting and on his recommendation, an honorary 'Diploma of Fellowship [...] limited to 100 members, of past-students and Professors'. Finck's song 'In the Shadows' was one of the last to be played as RMS Titanic went down.

7pp., 12mo. On two bifoliums. In good condition, on aged paper. First page headed 'Private'. Docketed by Elliot 'My Father's death'. An excellent letter casting interesting light on the machinations of the Liberal government. Erskine is attempting something requiring all of his diplomatic tact: sending appropriate condolences to Elliot on his father's death before turning to his 'own concerns': the putting of his case to Elliot as the brother-in-law of the Foreign Secretary Lord John Russell, on the question of his 'grievance' against Russell and the Foreign Office.