VICTORIAN

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The four items in good condition, lightly aged and worn, and all folded for postage. The last item with pin hole to one corner. The first three addressed to 'Dear Sir' and the last to 'Dear Fisher'. All four signed 'A C Lyall', both with and without periods after the initials. ONE (9 October 1888): 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium.

See the entries on Collier and Dilke in the Oxford DNB. The eight volumes of Collier?s edition of Shakespeare?s works were first published between 1842 and 1844, with the sonnets and other poems in the last volume. The Athenaeum carried a long review of vols.2 and 3 of Collier?s edition on 9 July 1842, and another dealing with the biographical element of the entire work on 2 March 1844. From this letter it is clear that Chasles intended to review the eighth and last volume containing the sonnets (and may well have done so). The present item is 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium with thin mourning border. In poor condition, aged, worn and discoloured, with chipping and closed tears, but text clear and complete. The recipient (‘My dear Friend’) is not named. The letter’s valediction reads: ‘Your’s my dear Brother / most affy. / Hugh McNeile’. (Whether or not McNeile’s actual brother is unclear.) He explains that the bearer of the letter, ‘Monsr. Rossellot’, is ‘the Pastor of a Protestant Church in Orleans’, and that there is ‘at Orleans a female Orphan Asylum, on behalf of which he is going to England’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with thin strip of mount adhering to one edge. Folded for postage.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Recipient not named (addressed to 'Dear Sir'). Signed 'Joseph Knight' and neatly written. He is sending the 'cheque as promised', and asks whether a book was 'a very nice copy', since he was 'disposed to order it'. One of his purchases is 'a disappointing work. Its title presumes what is not found. If you can get any thing extra for it out of your customers you can have it back.'

See the two men's entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘Edw Walford Esq M.A’ and signed ‘George Smith’. The handwriting is somewhat opaque, rendering the following transcription tentative. He begins by thanking him for sending a cutting ‘from the “Gossip of the Clubs” ’, before continuing: ‘In consequence of the opposition there is still against me in the Brick & tile trade, the amount of time & Correspondence [it takes?] is [?] with the [?] of the act, I find it anything but [?] to get along.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Addressed to 'Alfred Miles Esqre.' and with good bold signature 'Gerald Massey'. Begins: 'Dear Sir / You are quite at liberty to quote from my poems - but I shd. like to have a hand in the selection. / In a collection so large as you contemplate there ought to be nothing but one's best.' If he were to edit such a work he would 'make all living authors so choose their own poems. Sir Richard Grenville is the only one of those you mention that I shd.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. The recipient (‘Dear Sir’) is not named, but is presumably Alexander Macmillan (see Oxford DNB), the publisher of the two books referred to in the letter, which he seems to have sent for review. The letter is signed ‘H Reeve’. Folded for postage. He begins by thanking him for sending copies of ‘Lady Duff Gordon’s Letters [from Egypt]’ and ‘Ecce Homo’ [‘a survey of the life and work of Jesus Christ’ by J. R. Seeley], which he has ‘already read with great interest’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Twenty-two lines of text. In good condition, lightly discoloured and worn. Folded for postatge. The addressee’s name is unclear. Signed ‘Clement Scott’.

Mason was, according to E. V. Lucas, ‘famous in both hemispheres’. His entry in the Oxford DNB ends with this assessment: ‘His books were best-sellers for fifty years, and the films made from them, notably The Drum (1938), for which he wrote his own scenario, and The Four Feathers (1939), were among the most popular in their time.’ 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. The valediction is in Mason's autograph: 'Yours sincerely / A. E. W. Mason'.

See Harrison's entry in the Oxford DNB. Previous to the appearance in 1899 of ‘Higher Life for Working People’ Stephens had published a life of Turgot in 1895. Both appeared with the long-established London publishers Longmans. He was sole trustee of the soap manufacturers William Taylor & Co when it failed in 1883. He was also an inventor: in 1853 the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts noticed his patent relating to ‘retorts in gas-ovens’. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Twenty-five lines of text. In fair condition, lightly aged.

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. Addressed to ‘R. Rost Esq Ph.D’ and ‘Dear Dr Rost’, and signed ‘Walter Elliot’. He thanks him for taking the trouble to ‘hunt out the books. I gave a large number in 1866 & some in subsequent years but it is difficult to recal [sic] to mind the details of transactions of so distant a date’.

See the two men's entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Reads: ‘Jany 30. / My Dear old Boy / Ill come on Thursday with great pleasure to the free masons / Yrs faithfully / Robt Liston / W. Jerdan Esq’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. Thirty-lines of text in his distinctive close hand. Addressed to 'Dear Miss Hall' and signed 'S. B. Gould'. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight loss to the upper corners of the second leaf from removal from mount. Folded twice for postage. He begins by stating that he will be writing to 'the Chaplain & also to some cousins of mine who are at Freiburg, & who are nice cheerful people - the Snows'. He informs her of the death of 'Herr v.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with strip of mount adhering to inner margin. Folded once for postage. Reads 'My dear Miss Stuart / I don't think Mr. Bridges brings us much forrider with Keats. Many thanks for the article but I am a little disappointed that his criticism seems so flat. I return your paper with many thanks - / Every yours very truly / Robert H Hutton'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, on aged paper, with strip of sunning, and evidence of mounting on reverse, which also bears contemporary pencil annotation: ‘Honble Roden Noel / Son of Earl of Gainsborough / A considerable writer & Poet / Author of “A little Child’s Monument” & other Poetry’. Folded twice. The signature is large and firm, but rest of his handwriting is appalling. The page carries the letter’s valediction, with date and address, and a seven-line postscript: ‘[...] Kind regards [...] How sad is the [...] London!

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 4to. On first leaf of bifolium. Forty-three lines of neat text. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with a few small closed tears. The author ('Sir') is unnamed, but is presumably the 'Editor' referred to in the text. Signed 'Wm Ballantine'. By recipient, at head of first page: 'Letter from Mr Sergeant [sic] Ballantine / United Club -'.

This forgotten case of identity fraud predates the celebrated Titchborne case by more than a decade.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 9 x 6 cm calling card, with 'Mlle. Emma Albani' printed in copperplate in the centre. Above this, at the head of the card, she has written 'J. Bennett Esq.' And around the printed signature she has written the unsigned inscription: 'With [Mlle. Emma Albani]'s compliments & heartfelt thanks -'. Date by her at bottom left: '1876'. See IMage.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, landscape 12mo. On bifolium of grey paper. The letter is complete, on what appears to be the upper half of a 4to bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with stamp, postmark and remains of autograph address on reverse of second leaf, with traces of mount. Signed ‘J A Fuller Maitland’. Begins: ‘Dear Sir / Very many thanks for your book, the second copy of which has just come. I shall hope to be able to come & hear your lecture on a subject which is especially dear to me.

In a letter to ‘John O’London’s’ in 1921, Fletcher boasted of having ‘written (and published) seventy-three novels, twelve volumes of collected short stories, and fifteen historical and topographical works, the last-named mostly of considerable length’. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Annotated by recipient with date of response. Addressed to ‘Mr D. Webster.’ and signed ‘J. S. Fletcher.’ He thanks him for ‘the two Chichester pamphlets duly to hand’, noting that one was ‘The Accompt Cleared’ by Roger L’Estrange.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. On creased and worn paper with postage folds. The recipient is not named. Large firm signature: ‘G. W. Foote’. He will be in Plymouth on 8 April, but is in London on 1 April. ‘Mr. Burrows is down for that date on your list, but as he is nearly always in London I dare say he could easily make an exchange.’ Should Burrows do so, Foote will be glad to comply with the recipient’s request.

2pp, 16mo. Twenty-eight lines of text, in purple ink. With contemporary English translation on both sides of a separate 16mo leaf. Both items in fair condition, on aged paper, with slight damage to corners from mounts. Trust the translation, the letter is addressed to a 'Dear friend', and begins: 'My friend Graf [i.e. the antiquities dealer Theodor von Graf] arrived yesterday from Venice and brought many most interesting antiquities - His visit prevented my writing to you - but then I hope to show you some of his treasures, next time we meet. He came early and stayed late.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with small strip of discoloration at head of first page and traces of previous mount on discoloured blank reverse of second leaf. He thanks Lanyon for his ‘renewed kindness’ durimg his ‘recent visit to Belfast’, and extends an invitation to ‘a party of a few friends we are about to have on the 5th of May’. With respect to Lanyon’s visit, ‘and to the earlier call I hope you will make on my wife (who is generally not in from her drive till 5.0)’, he makes him a street plan (on lower part of second page).

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, and with slight discoloration to corners of second leaf from previous mounting. Folded once for postage. With large firm signature. Begins: ‘My dear Annie, / Please accept my best thanks for your kind present of a pair of slippers on the anniversary fo my birthday, & especially for your kindness of thinking of me.’ He comments on his improved health since the previous year, the long time since their last meeting, and his anticipation of their next.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. Fourteen lines. The recipient is not named. Written in a large loose hand, rendering the following reading tentative. In fair condition, lighty aged and worn, with minor traces of grey paper mount on reverse. Reads: ‘Dear Sir.

See the entry for the recipient Dawson Turner in the Oxford DNB. Farr’s entry in ‘Alumni Cantabrigienses’ reads as follows: ‘FARR, THOMAS. Adm. pens. (age 18) at TRINITY, Apr. 8, 1814. S. [and h.] of Thomas. B. at Beccles, Suffolk. School, Bury St Edmunds (Mr Malkin). Matric. Michs. 1814; B.A. 1818. Ord. deacon (Norwich) June 17, 1821; priest, Mar. 3, 1822 ('T. Farr, the younger'). Travelled in Spain during the Carlist War, 1S35-7. In 1S38 published A Traveller's Rambling Reminiscences of the Spanish War, in which he defends De Lacy and the British Legion. Died Feb. 8, 1855.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both letters closely written. Both folded for postage. The letters concern the following statement in the Spectator, 6 February 1875: ‘Rumour says that Sir William Harcourt has ascertained from his friend, Mr. Disraeli, that while he will treat the Marquis of Hartington with all the respect due to the leader of a great party, he could not have accorded that deference to Mr. Forster. If rumour does not speak falsely, we could wish that the meeting of the Reform Club had received that very significant message.’ ONE (9 March 1875): 4pp, 12mo. Fifty-seven lines.

1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘The Right Rev. Eyre Chatterton, D.D., / President, Indian Church Aid Association, / Westminster Chambers, / 5, Victoria Street, S.W.1.’ (‘My dear Bishop Chatterton’) and signed ‘Burdwan’. He is ‘indeed very interested to know’ that Chatterton is holding a meeting, 'at the Lord Mayor's invitation', at the Mansion House in London, ‘on behalf of the Anglo-Indian Schools in India, which are controlled by the Indian Church Aid Association’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of mount on blank reverse. Folded once. Addressed to ‘My dear Spielmann’ and signed ‘Harry Furniss’. He asks if Spielmann is ‘at home on Sundays’, as he will be in town between Saturday and might be able to ‘look in for a minute sometime but I’ll not say exactly when’. ‘I’ll have so much to do, but probably it will be sometime in the morning before noon. / Leave all till then. / You don’t say how you are’. Postscript: ‘Lectures going very well’ (last two words underlined four times).