SCIENCE

[ William Carruthers, Scottish botanist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm Carruthers') to 'Dr Miller', regarding paying a visit with 'our stones'.

Author: 
William Carruthers (1830-1922), Scottish botanist, Keeper of the Botanical Department at the Natural History Museum, London
Publication details: 
British Museum [ London ]. 5 July 1870.
£80.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. He will have 'much pleasure in breaking our stones o'er again on Thursday', and will 'try & bring some sections with me - several specimens are in the lapidary's hands'. He ends by asking for confirmation of the hour at which he should call on him.

[ Davies Gilbert, President of the Royal Society. ] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Joseph Banks, praising him fulsomely, while explaining why he cannot attend a meeting on 'the forgery of Bank Notes'.

Author: 
Davies Gilbert [ born Davies Giddy ] (1767-1839), mathematician, President of the Royal Society [ Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820), naturalist ]
Publication details: 
'East Bourn' [ Eastbourne ]. 19 July 1818.
£220.00

2pp., 4to. In fair condition, on lightly aged paper, with slight damage to a few words along one edge due to removal from album. On his return to Eastbourne he has 'found a note announcing the Commission under the Great Seal for appointing Commissioners to inquire into the best mode of preventing the forgery of Bank Notes', and requiring his attendance the following day.

[ Abbott Laurence ] Autograph Note Signed "Abbott Lawrence" to "John Barlow" about a parcel of books he's sending him.

Author: 
Abbott Laurence (1792– 1855), American businessman, politician, and philanthropist
Publication details: 
138 Piccadilly, 24 April 1850.
£100.00

One page, 4to, bifolium, discreetly repaired along folds, shiny paper, good condition. "I send to you a parcel containing a work of Mr Agassiz and Mr Cobot [Cabot], with a Report of the American Scientific Meeting last year, and sundry pamphlets - for the Royal Institution." Note: Laurence was US minster to Greta Britain till 1852.

[ Jane Wardle, psychologist. ] Three Autograph Letters Signed (all 'Jane') to her father the painter Peter Wardle, together with a small collection of childhood writings and drawings.

Author: 
Jane Wardle [ Frances Jane Wardle ] (1950-2015), Professor of Clinical Psychology, University College, London [ Peter Wardle (b.1929), English artist ]
Publication details: 
Two of the letters from 48 Abingdon Road, Oxford, and one on letterhead of the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford. One of the childhood items from Lidstone, Enstone, Oxfordshire. All items undated (adult letters pre-1991).
£180.00

Wardle's achievements as a leading behavioural scientist in the field of cancer prevention are described in her obituary in the Guardian, 24 November 2015. The three adult letters addressed to 'Daddy'. One four-page letter on yellow paper with loss from damp damage, the other items in fair condition, with light signs of age. One of the other two letters also of four pages, and the last of one page. The letters are intimate and positive, filled with loving encouragement and advice and giving family news.

[ Edward Forbes, Manx naturalist. ] Autograph Note in the third person to 'Mr Bowerbank'.

Author: 
Edward Forbes (1815-1854), Manx naturalist, Professor of Botany at King's College, London
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£40.00

On 3 x 17 cm. slip of paper, cut from longer document. In fair condition, lightly aged and folded. Reads: 'Prof Forbes' compliments to Mr Bowerbank and he cannot they are not ready he will forward them to Mr Ransom himself'.

[ Sir George Biddell Airy, Astronomer Royal. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('G B Airy') to Robert C. Ransome, of the Ipswich manufacturers of agricultural machinery, regarding a planned visit.

Author: 
Sir George Biddell Airy (1801-1892), mathematician and astronomer, Astronomer Royal
Publication details: 
Playford [ Suffolk ]. 6 January 1874.
£45.00

1p., 16mo. In fair condition, on lightly aged and stained paper. In the light of an invitation from Ransome's wife, he proposes to 'drive to Stoke' in the early afternoon of the following day with his daughter Annet ('who has now relieved Hilda'), hoping that it 'will suit Mrs. Ransome's and your convenience'.

[ Professor William Thomas Gordon of Kings College London, Scottish geologist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('W. T. Gordon') to 'Mr. Joy', expressing condolences on the loss of a daughter, and grief at the recent death of an uncle.

Author: 
W. T. Gordon [ William Thomas Gordon ] (1884-1950), Scottish geologist, Professor of Geology at Kings College London
Publication details: 
On leterhead of the University of London, Kings College. 5 May 1930.
£35.00

2pp., 12mo. 29 lines of closely-written text. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. 'Such a calamity must be a terrible blow for you all but more especially to Mrs. Joy and yourself. To lose a daugher just blossoming out into womanhood is tragic indeed, the more so, if that were possible, in that she was such a bright girl.' He continues 'By the same post I have word that one of my uncles has just died, and that another has been given up by the doctors. They have both lived full lives, and, in their way, interesting lives, so that, there, one can hardly talk of a tragic end.

[ John George Wood, naturalist and author. ] Autograph Signature ('J. G. Woods') on conclusion of Autograph Letter

Author: 
Rev. J. G. Wood [ John George Wood ] (1827-1889), English naturalist and author
Publication details: 
Date and place not stated.
£30.00

On one side of piece of 13.5 x 8.5 cm piece of paper. Aged and worn. Reads: 'know when I shall have an evening to myself, for in the last fifteen days or so, I have only dined at home twice, and as far as I see, that much of vagrant life seems rather on the increase than otherwise. But the first evening that I have, I will dedicate to you, & give you notice thereof | Best remembrances to your family - | Yours very sincerely | J. G. Wood'. On reverse, in another hand: 'J. G. Wood | the great naturalist'.

[ Thomas William Webb, astronomer. ] Long Autograph Letter Signed ('T. W. Webb.') to Rev. Dr Thomas Dick, on William West's Clifton Observatory, the rings of saturn, and other scientific matters.

Author: 
Thomas William Webb (1806-1885), English astronomer and clergyman [ Rev. Dr Thomas Dick (1774-1857), Scottish science writer; William West (1801-1861), artist and builder of the Clifton Observatory ]
Publication details: 
Tretire [ Herefordshire ]. 5 March 1840.
£400.00

For more information on Webb see his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp., 4to. On bifolium. In good condition, with light signs of age. Around ninety lines of closely and neatly written text. Addressed (with postmark and red wax seal of smith at forge) on reverse of second leaf to 'Thomas Dick, Esq. L.L.D., | Broughty Ferry | near Dundee, | Scotland.' A highly interesting and informative letter.

[ Thomas Simpson, English mathematician. ] Autograph Note Signed ('T. Simpson') to the London bookseller John Nourse

Author: 
Thomas Simpson (1710-1761), English mathematician, eponym of Simpson's Rule [ John Nourse of the Strand, London bookseller ]
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£180.00

1p., landscape 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with central spike hole. Addressed on reverse to 'Mr Nourse | Bookseller | in the Strand.' He is sending '10 Copies of Geometry', and asks him to send 'the Book of Algebra and Mr. Walmsley's Book by the Bearers'.

[ Robert Simson, Scottish mathematician. ] Autograph Letter, with incomplete signature, to unnamed printer, regarding the paying of a bill for paper.

Author: 
Robert Simson (1687-1768), Scottish mathematician, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Glasgow
Publication details: 
Glasgow, 3 May 1736.
£280.00

1p., 8vo. In poor condition, on aged paper, with wear to extremities causing loss to text, including most of the signature, and with spike hole. Describing arrangements, with reference to 'my good friend Mr Clow', to pay the recipient 'the 49£ 7s for the paper', via 'Mr William Drummond who is to be found at Messrs Bayne and Adams York Street St James's'.

[ Robert Simson, Scottish mathematician. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Rob: Simson') to unnamed recipient, regarding the shipping of 'Fifty four English Euclids Small paper', and the transit of Venus.

Author: 
Robert Simson (1687-1768), Scottish mathematician, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Glasgow [ John Bevis (1695-1771); James Short (1710-1798); James Bradley (1693-1762), Astronomer Royal]
Publication details: 
Glasgow, 1 July 1761.
£180.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, on aged paper discoloured at the corners, neatly placed in a paper windowpane mount. He asked 'Mr Foulis to pack up Fifty four English Euclids Small paper, for as they had been put up in three bundles of 18 books in each, he thought it should be left to pack up these bundles as they were rather than break one of them to take out four books'. The books have been sent to 'Borroustonness', i.e. Bo'ness (Burrowstounness), Falkirk, and Foulis has given him a receipt from 'Richard G the Master of the Neptune aboard which Ship they are <?> directed to you'.

[ Jérôme De la Lande, French astronomer and freemason. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('De la Lande | de l'accad. des Sciences'), in French, with engraved portrait.

Author: 
Jérôme De la Lande [ Joseph Jérôme Lefrançois de Lalande ] (1732-1807), French astronomer and freemason
Publication details: 
'Au College royal le 13 dec. 1783'.
£200.00

Both items in good condition, with light signs of age, and both tipped in to a paper folder, on the front of which is written the entry from the1833 bookseller's catalogue from which they were purchased: 'La Lande Member of the Academy of Sciences at Paris, a very interesting Letter to some Magistrate soliciting relief for the purpose of his labouring usefully, having expended much money on his pursuits, without reserving any indemnity. It exhibits his delicacy in soliciting this assistance, and expresses a hope that his asseverations will obtain credit.

[ John Hellins, astronomer. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Hellins') to unnamed rercipient, regarding 'the silver medal for me from Mr. Glendinning, in Hatton Gardens', and the sending of books.

Author: 
John Hellins (d.1827), English mathematician and astronomer
Publication details: 
'Potter's-Pury' [ Potterspury, Northamptonshire ], 23 June 1803.
£180.00

1p., 4to. On aged paper, with some discoloration and chipping to extremities. He has been hindered by an 'unexpected interruption' from sending, via 'Richd. Scrivener', 'Stewarts Quadrature of Curves', but Scrivener will bring it 'the next time he goes to London'. The middle paragraph concerns 'Langhorne's sermons', which he asks to be sent 'by Coach'. He ends by asking the recipient - if he has received 'the silver medal for me from Mr. Glendinning, in Hatton Garden', to 'wrap it up, & put it into one of the Books'.

[ César-François Cassini de Thury, French astronomer. ] Signed ('Cassini de Thury') Autograph Copy of Letter, in French, sent to 'M. Bayeux', regarding the Sieur du Tremblay.

Author: 
César-François Cassini de Thury (1714-1784), French astronomer and cartographer [ Daniel-Charles Trudaine (1703-1769), civil engineer ]
Publication details: 
Paris. 3 June 1751.
£450.00

1p., 4to. In very good condition, on lightly aged paper. Tipped into a paper wallet, on the front of which is written in a contemporary hand the entry from the1833 bookseller's catalogue from which it was purchased, indicating that the item was considered uncommon even at that time: 'Cassini, the Astronomer, relative to a Memoir of the Sieur du Tremblay. | A choice specimen of a scarce Autograph. | No 176 Thorpe's Catalogue 1833'. Cassini's copy letter, with nine lines of text, is written over the unsigned letter to which it is the reply..

[ Jean Hyacinthe de Magellan, natural philosopher. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Magellan'), in English, to the Earl of Buchan, on topics including Adair Crawford's 'new theory of heat in general'.

Author: 
Jean Hyacinthe de Magellan [João Jacinto de Magalhães] (1722-1790), Portuguese natural philosopher, latterly based in London [ David Steuart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan; Adair Crawford (1748-1795) ]
Publication details: 
London. 21 September 1780.
£250.00

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.

[ Francis Maseres, lawyer. ] Autograph Letter in the third person, from 'Mr: Baron Maseres' to the printer Robert Wilks, regarding the disposal of copies of his 'Scriptores Logarithmici'.

Author: 
'Baron Maseres' [ Francis Maseres ] (1741-1824), English lawyer, Attorney-General of the Province of Quebec
Publication details: 
[ London. ] 5 March 1807.
£250.00

1p., landscape 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with central spike hole. Addressed on reverse 'For Mr: Wilks, printer, in Chancery Lane'. Having received a letter from 'Dr: Mackay' he gives instructions regarding copies of the fifth volume of the book, 'which he proposes to be sent to Newcastle and Inverness, and other places in Scotland'. If Wilks has not received copies from the bindery, he should 'take the said six copies back from Mr: Maseres's chambers'. He also asks for a copy to be sent to Dr Aikin.

[ Dr Edward Loftus Geall, phrenologist. ] Three Autograph Letters Signed (all 'E. L. Geall'), one written on back of his pamphlet 'Some Objections to Phrenology Answered'. With a handbill advertisement for his Leicester Institute of Mental Science.

Author: 
Dr. Edward Loftus Geall, phrenologist, Principal of the Leicester Institute of Mental Science
Publication details: 
[ Leicester Institute of Mental Health. ] 53 Cromer Street, Leicester. Two of the letters from 1954 and one from 1955. The pamphlet by the Cobden Press, Leicester. [ 1953 ].
£200.00

The collection is in fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Geall's pamphlet is 12pp., 12mo, and stapled. The only copies on OCLC WorldCat at Harvard Medical School and Cape Town. The back page carries a letter by Geall to an unnamed individual [ Marcus Adams ], dated 17 January 1954. The handbill advertisement for the Leicester Institute of Mental Science is 4pp., 12mo., on a bifolium. The other two letters, each on Geall's letterhead, are both 1p., 4to.

[ Francis Robert Japp; Printed ] Questionnaire from the Birmingham Philosophical Society, printed., with Japp's responses in holograph to two only of the four questions and with signature "F.R. Japp" with date.

Author: 
Francis Robert Japp, chemist [ H.W.Crosskey, geologist ]
Publication details: 
July 15th, 1886.
£600.00

[ Francis Robert Japp; Printed ] Questionnaire from the Birmingham Philosophical Society, printed., with Japp's responses in holograph to two only of the four questions and with signature "F.R. Japp" with date. Questionnaire, answers filled in by Japp, from, 'Translation of Scientific Memoirs' Committee', Birmingham Philosophical Society, 2pp, 4to, minor sunning, creases, good condition. NOT including the Printed Letter, p.[1], from H.W.

[ Cosmo Gordon Lennox, Scottish playwright. ] Corrected Typescript of the start of his '8. B.C. - 1903 A.D. or The March of Time | A One-Act Play freely adapted from the French of Francis de Croisset by Cosmo Gordon Lennox'.

Author: 
Cosmo Gordon-Lennox (1869-1921), actor (under name 'Cosmo Stuart'), playwright and translator, husband of Marie Tempest [ Francis de Croisset (1877-1937), Belgian playwright ]
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated. [ London, circa 1903? ]
£180.00

[2] + 29pp., 4to. On rectos only. Heavily-aged and worn, with some damp staining, stapled, with remains of grey front cover and last leaf loose. With numerous emendations to almost every page. Ends abruptly on p.29. A fast-paced comedy, with a seance connecting past and present. Two exchanges: 'Bobbie. I suppose you're going to wear tights again? | Maud. Well, I've a ripping good reason for doing so - two, in fact.' and (during the seance): 'Nerea. Dance for me, I pray you, Oh embodiment of lissom grace. | Bobbie.

[ Pamphlet. ] Socialism: Past, Present, Future.

Author: 
William M. Thompson of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law
Publication details: 
'London: Published by William Reeves, 185, Fleet Street, E.C. Where may be had Books and Pamphlets on Social and Political Questions.' Undated [ circa 1890 ].
£120.00

31 + [1]pp., 12mo. Disbound without covers. In fair condition, on aged paper, with some leaves separating. The fourth and last chapter is a piece of futurology, titled 'The Battle of London; Or, The Last Great Struggle Between the Classes and the Masses.' It begins: 'It was in the year 2000 that the masses took possession of London. For twenty years before they had been preparing.

[ Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Edm Beckett'), inviting 'Dr Griffith' to dinner.

Author: 
Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe [ previously Sir Edmund Beckett, 5th Baronet and Edmund Beckett Denison ] (1816-1905), lawyer, horologist and architect
Publication details: 
No place. 1 September 1879.
£90.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. On aged paper, with minor damp staining. If the recipient has 'come home' he invites him to dine. 'We have already such a preponderance of the female sex, from ladies staying here, that I am sorry we cannot ask any more.' If his son is 'still at Sandridge instead of you we shall be glad to have him as your locum tenertem here also'. He is directing the letter 'accordingly', 'but out of the multitude of your name in Crockford [the clerical directory] I dare not make a shot at his Christian name'.

[John Herschel ] Autograph Letter Signed "J F W Herschel" to an unnamed correspondent (Editor of "Good Words", Norman Macleod?).

Author: 
J.F. W. Herschel [ Sir John Frederick William Herschel, 1st Baronet KH FRS (1792–1871), mathematician, astronomer, chemist, inventor, and experimental photographer ]
Publication details: 
Collingwood, 14 Feb. 1860.
£300.00

One page, 12mo, good condition. A difficult hand. "I send by book post some more Copy for Part 1 of 'Light' in Good Words & to morrow or next day you shall have the rest - which [will make?] somewhere about 12 or 13 more Columns more of letterpress. | The figures are [?][open?] so that they may be put into the wood-engravers hand without the MS. | Be so good reduce the MS & let me have proofs in duplicate." Note: These articles on "Light" did not appear in "Good Words" until 1865. This leeter is presumably to the Editor, Norman Macleod.

[ Sir Frederick Augustus Abel, chemist. ] Manuscript note, signed by Abel ('F. A. Abel') to Sir Walter Buller.

Author: 
Sir Frederick Augustus Abel (1827-1902), British chemist, Lecturer in Chemistry at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich [ Sir Walter Lawry Buller (1838-1906), New Zealand ornithologist ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Imperial Institute of the United Kingdom, the Colonies and India, London. 19 December 1893.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, laid down on leaf removed from album. The note reads: 'The form of receipt is in the printers' hands. Addressed to Buller at the South Kensington Hotel.

[ Society for the Study of Social Ethics, Oxford. ] Six items, including 'The Idea of a Modern Ethical Society' by W. K. Firminger and W. Gibson, pamphlets on religion, over-population and immigration, and offprint of lecture on 'the poor'.

Author: 
Society for the Study of Social Ethics, Oxford [ renamed the Social Science Club in 1897 ]; Walter K. Firminger [ Walter Kelly Firminger ] (1870-1940) of Merton College
Publication details: 
Society for the Study of Social Ethics, Oxford. 1891 and 1892.
£600.00

The six items are all disbound and in fair condition, with light signs of age and wear. Items One and Five are not productions of the Society, but are closely connected with it. The first five items are scarce: the only copies of One on COPAC at Oxford and the British Library; no copy on COPAC of Two; the only copies of Three and Four at Oxford; Five is a galley proof; and Six only to be found at Oxford, the British Library, the LSE and University College, London. ONE: 'The Idea of an Oxford Modern Ethical Society.

[ Joakim Frederik Schouw, Danish botanist and politician. ] Autograph Signature, with biographical note in French and crude portrait.

Author: 
Joakim Frederik Schouw (1789-1852), Danish lawyer, botanist and politician
Publication details: 
Without place or date [ early nineteenth-century ].
£56.00

On an irregular slip of paper, laid down on a landscape 12mo leaf. In very good condition, with light signs of age and wear. Beneath Schouw's signature, in an early nineteenth-century hand: 'Joachim Frédéric Schouw, célèbre botaniste, président de la chambre des députés, né 1789.' To the right of the signature and inscription is a simple line portrait of Schouw's head and shoulders, in the same hand as the French inscription.

Three Autograph Letters Signed "J.A. Fleming" (electronic engineer ) to Sir Henry Truman Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Sir John Ambrose Fleming
Publication details: 
November 1915 to February 1916; London.
£250.00

English electronic engineer (1849-1945), inventor of thermionic valve. Widely considered to be 'the founder of electronics'. All three items good though grubby and on slightly discoloured paper. Item three dog-eared and grubby in top left-hand corner. All signed 'J. A. Fleming' and bearing the Society's stamp. ITEM ONE (two pages, quarto, 15 November 1915, University College, Gower St, to Wood, docketed): On the subject of a paper he proposes to give to the Society entitled 'The Organisation of Scientific Research'.

[ Parker Gillmore ('Ubique'), Scottish author. ] Autograph Signature on card.

Author: 
Parker Gillmore (1835-1900), Scottish soldier, hunter and writer under the pseudonym 'Ubique', author of the science-fiction novel 'The Amphibion's Voyage' (1885)
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£20.00

Good firm signature, written diagonally across a 9 x 12 cm piece of grey card, the reverse of a printed advertisement for the American & Colonial Exchange, 8, The Haymarket, London, S.W. In good condition, lightly-aged, with minor traces of glue from mount on the printed side of the card.

[ Terry Jeeves, science-fiction artist and fanzine editor. ] Typed Letter Signed ('Terry') to Don Malcolm, on a number of topics including his lifelong interest in aeronautics and space travel.

Author: 
Terry Jeeves [ Byron Terry Jeeves; B. T. Jeeves ] (1922-2011), Science-Fiction artist, writer and fanzine editor [ Don Malcolm, Scottish science fiction expert; Glasgow, Scotland; British sci-fi ]
Publication details: 
On his illustrated letterhead, 230 Bannerdale Rd, Sheffield. 8 July [no year, but circa 1970 ].
£90.00

2pp., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. On two leaves stapled together. The letterhead, printed in red, is a cartoon portrait of the artist with palette and brush, pointing to the address on a blackboard. A long chatty letter, listing the titles and prices of an order Malcolm has made, describing his activities at a time when he is 'pushed like mad', arranging an 'interview for ERG', discribing the contents of the four albums of his stamp collecting ('I wouldn't call myself a philatelist . . . .

[ Charles Partington, Manchester sci-fi author, magazine editor and bookshop owner. ] Two Typed Letters (one signed 'Charles') to Don Malcolm, one reviewing Malcolm's story 'Between the Tides', the other on a short story of his Savoy Books are taking

Author: 
Charles Partington, Manchester science-fiction [ Michael Butterworth, Dave B and Savoy Books; Don Malcolm ]
Publication details: 
ONE: 56 Staffin Court, Darn Hill, Heywood, near Manchester. 12 January 1975. TWO: On his letterhead, 274 Longridge, Knutsford, Cheshire. 7 April 1978.
£125.00

ONE (12 January 1975): 1p., 4to. In good condition. First page of letter only, and lacking signature. A generally positive review ('When I write, I suffer from excess, a disease which you and your contemporaries, Aldis, Brunner, Bulmer, etc long since cured yourselves of. [...] The story was, as I am sure you know, good.'), but with some caveats ('I also don't think that a female covered with body hairs would also have hair reaching down to her waist.'). TWO: 1p., 8vo. Signed in green ink. In fair condition, on aged paper with wear at head.

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