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Author, Title, Summary Price
Edward Moxon (c.1801-1858), publisher and poet, son-in-law of Charles Lamb, associated with Wordsworth, Tennyson and the printers Bradbury and Evans

[Edward Moxon, publisher and poet, son-in-law of Charles Lamb.] Holograph 'Sonnet' on William Wordsworth and his sister Dorothy, beginning 'There is in Rydal's vale a river sweet', signed 'Edward Moxon'.

See Moxon's entry in the Oxford DNB, which describes his association with William Wordsworth as 'arguably his most important publishing relationship'. The present poem was published as 'The Two Streams' in the 'Literary Souvenir' of Alaric Watts in 1830, a year before Moxon published his first...

£450.00
Admiral John Markham (1761-1827), Royal Navy officer who served in the American and French Revolutionary Wars, Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and First Naval Lord, MP for Portsmouth [Miles Burn]

[Admiral John Markham, Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty and First Naval Lord.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J Markham') to John Atkins, regarding the 'general drunken habits' of 'Mr [Miles] Burn', and the impossibility of reinstating him 'to his rank'

The letter is 1p, 12mo, and is accompanied by the covering 8vo leaf, addressed to 'John Atkins Esqre | Duke Street | Westminster', with a second signature for franking. The covering leaf is endorsed: 'Admiralty August 21 1806 | Adml. Markham concerning Miles Burn that it would be impossible to...

£100.00
Sir William Birdwood [William Riddell Birdwood] (1865-1951), Field Marshal in the British Army and Commander in Chief, India]

[Sir William Birdwood, Field Marshal and Commander in Chief, India.] Autograph Letter Signed ('W. R. Birdwood.'), thanking a 'dear Old Colonel' and 'old Sandhurst Instructor' for congratulations, discussing his career, praising 'real good comrades'.

2pp, 4to. Aged and worn. Possibly relating to Birdwood's elevation, in January 1923, to Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. The letter begins: 'My dear Old Colonel, | I have only today received your kind congratulations – via India!' He thanks him, adding that he appreciates his best...

£75.00
Sir John Charles Robinson [J. C. Robinson] (1824-1913), painter, etcher, art collector, curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum, first President of the Burlington Fine Arts Club, London [James Beck]

[Sir John Charles Robinson, as Hon. Sec. of the Fine Arts Club, London.] Letter, in a secretarial hand, signed by Robinson ('J C Robinson'), informing Rev. James Beck that he has been elected a member.

2pp, folio. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Begins: 'Sir, | I have the honour to inform you that the Committee of the Fine Arts Club have, on the nomination of His Excellency The Marquis d'Azeglio, elected you a member of their Society.' (The reference is to the Italian diplomat...

£35.00
Martin Shaw, composer (1875–1958)

[ Martin Shaw, composer ] Typed Letter Signed "Martin Shaw | for Shaw | Rothenstein | Konody | Strang" to Professor Gilbert Murray, about his joining an "Advisory Committee" of distinguished artists, novelists, poets, etc

One page, cr. 8vo, small closed tear, fold mark, good condition. Shaw asks Murray to reconsider joining the "Advisory Committee" [not found out which yet] giving an impressive list of the names of people already on the Committee - "without exception, every Member has given his consent in the...

£220.00
Jan Christoffel Greyling Kemp (10 June 1872 – 31 December 1946) was a South African Boer officer, rebel general, and politician [Second Boer War; South Africa; General Kitchener]

[Jan Kemp, Boer War general.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Kemp'), in Afrikaans, to the British officer commanding at Olifants Nek, regarding Lord Kitchener's permission to General Botha to obtain medicines.

1p, 4to. Written in pencil on a piece of tissue paper, stamped in one corner with leaf number 675. Aged and wrinkled, with fraying to edges, but text clear and complete. Folded twice. A scarce survival, such thin paper, used for security reasons, not faring well in the passage of time. The...

£450.00
J. W. Whymper [Josiah Wood Whymper, also Whimper] (1813-1903), Suffolk artist, wood-engraver, book illustrator and watercolourist in natural history and landscape [Sir John Gilbert (1817-1897), artist

[Josiah Wood Whymper, Suffolk artist and wood-engraver.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. W. Whimper'), giving detailed instructions to a book illustrator, with reference to Sir John Gilbert and 'Hardings book'.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with traces of glue from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded three times. The recipient is not named, but is clearly a book illustrator, and the letter provides an interesting view of the practices of book illustrators and...

£80.00
Gilbert White (1720-1793), naturalist and ornithologist, author of the celebrated 'Natural History of Selborne' (1789) [Thomas Bell (1792-1880), zoologist]

[Gilbert White, naturalist.] Original Manuscript, said to have been dictated by White himself, of 'Gilbert White's statement' on the venomous properties of the toad, with eleven authorial emendations. Together with a series of thermometer readings.

A very nice artefact of one of the best-loved books in the England language, Gilbert White's 'Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne', which at one point was claimed to be the fourth most-printed book after the Bible, Shakespeare, and Bunyan's 'Pilgrim's Progress'. White's entry in the...

£3,500.00 Selborne
Charlotte Frances Shaw, nee Payne-Townsend, wife of Bernard Shaw, suffragist, Irish political activist

[ Charlotte Frances Shaw, wife of Bernard ] A series of three postcards sent separately to Gilbert Murray, classicist, with a text in instalments (I, II, III) eventually signed "C.F. Shaw"

Three postcards, good condition with postal marks. Text: "I must thank you with all my heart of the splendid review in The New Statesman including the delightful little allusion to my Selected Passages [ Selected passages from the works of Bernard Shaw ; Chosen by Charlotte F. Shaw. ......

£280.00
Cavour [Camillo Paolo Filippo Giulio Benso, Count of Cavour, Isolabella and Leri] (1810-1861), Italian statesman, leading figure in the Risorgimento [Massimo Taparelli, Marquess of Azeglio (1798-1866)

[Cavour, Italian statesman and leading figure in the Risorgimento.] Autograph Letter Signed ('C Cavour'), in Italian, enclosing a letter for the Marquess of Azeglio, and inviting the recipient to contribute writing in a powerful 'organ of publicity'.

1p, 12mo. On the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium, the rest being blank. In good condition, lightly aged, with a hole on a blank part of the paper at the foot of the first leaf. Neatly written and signed 'C. Cavour'. Cavour begins by taking up an offer by the unnamed recipient, by asking...

£650.00
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