Military and Naval History

Indian Army Corps. Narrative of Events from 20th-30th November 1914.

Author: 
Indian Regiments in the First World War.
Publication details: 
[1914]
£95.00

Printed handbill, 2pp., 8vo, edge attached to card, bottom edge curled but text complete. At the top the words "N.B. This narrative of events is not to be taken into the trenches". Obviously an account of a German atttack dealt with and returned by Indian regiments, issued in this form for morale-boosting. Laid down on reverse printed Christmas greetings from Sir John French, Xmas Day, 1914 (a "Special Order of the Day"). Two items,

2 Autograph Letters Signed by Close (both 'C. F. Close') to Dawkins; and one Typed Letter Signed ('H. R. Douglas') from Douglas to Close.

Author: 
Sir Charles Close [Sir Charles Frederick Arden-Close] (1865-1952), surveyor and geographer; Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Percy Douglas (1876-1939) [Sir Wiliam Boyd Dawkins (1837-1929), geologist]
Publication details: 
Close's letters: 17 and 24 April 1926, both on letterhead of Coytbury, St. Giles's Hill, Winchester; Douglas's letter: 23 April 1926, on letterhead of the Hydrographic Department, Admiralty, Whitehall, London, S.W.1.
£100.00

All three letters good, on lightly aged paper. Close's first letter (12mo, 2 pp): He is pleased to hear 'that Professor O. T. Jones is convalescent and back at work'. Close will write to him to ask if he will take part in the 'Commission' on the 'Terrasses littorales'. Having none 'handy', he is writing to the Admiralty Hydrographer for a 'list of Admiralty Charts'. The Closes have 'settled to take a house in Jersey for the children's holidays', so there is 'little chance of our being at Oxford for the British Association meeting'.

Autograph Letter to Lord Radstock.

Author: 
Alan Gardner, 1st Baron Gardner of Uttoxeter (1742-1808), English admiral and Member of Parliament for Plymouth [William Waldegrave (1753-1825), 1st Baron Radstock]
Publication details: 
19 April 1808; Lupton House.
£120.00

8vo (23.5 x 18.5), 2 pp. Signature cut away, resulting in loss of 3.5 x 10 cm rectangle from corner at bottom and affecting four lines of text on recto. Otherwise good, on lightly aged paper with thin strip from brown paper mount adhering to inner margin on reverse. 37 lines of text (four with loss). An interesting letter written during his final illness. He begins by confirming the report which has reached the recipient of Gardner's 'having been very seriously indisposed'.

At Private Sale, November, 1859. Catalogue of the Entire Private Collection of Autograph Letters, &c. gathered during several years, with much care and expense, by Mr. T. H. Morrell. [..] nearly every Prominent Character in the Revolutionary War [..]

Author: 
T. H. Morrell [Bangs, Merwin & Co, auctioneers; autograph collecting; auction catalogues; Declaration of Independence; American Presidents]
Publication details: 
New York: Bangs, Merwin & Co., At the Trade Sale Rooms, 13 Park Row. 1 November 1859.
£150.00

Octavo: 28 pp. Stabbed. In original blue printed wraps. Advertisements on back. On browning high-acidity paper, in chipped and worn wraps with damp staining to edges at rear. 298 items. Items 95-141: 'Signers of the Declaration of Independence and Presidents of the United States.' Scarce: no copy on COPAC, which does record one copy of a catalogue of a sale of Morrell's books by the same firm in 1866, and two copies of a catalogue of a further sale in 1869.

Autograph Letter Signed ('H. Rayson Venables') to Viscount Montgomery of Alamein.

Author: 
Horace Rayson Venables (b. c.1898) [AUTOGRAPHS; Montgomery of Alamein]
Publication details: 
3 June 1943; 28 Chalcot Square, Regent's Park, N.W.1, on cancelled letterhead of 44 Oakfield Court, N.8.
£40.00

Four pages, 12mo. Good, on aged paper with one half-inch closed tear. Claims to be 'compiling an historic book [...] which has been left to the nation', and asks for his contribution. Provides a full-page list from the 'over 500 Autographs'. The collection 'could not be complete without' Montgomery's 'honoured name'. Asks for 'a few words (as many others have done) on the blank side so as to keep this for Gen Alexander & others who took part in your campaign'. Congratulates him on his 'brilliant Victory'.

Typed Letter Signed ('Walter Runciman') to L. P. Jacks.

Author: 
Walter Runciman, 1st Viscount Runciman of Doxford (1870-1949), English Liberal politician [paper making; the book trade; publishing]
Publication details: 
21 February 1916; on letterhead of the Board of Trade, Whitehall Gardens, London, S.W.
£56.00

12mo, 3 pp, 35 lines. Good, on lightly aged paper, and with a thin strip from mount adhering at head of blank verso of second leaf of bifolium. Discusses 'the restriction on the importation of paper and paper making materials', imposed 'with the object of securing more tonnage space in incoming vessels'.

Autograph Letter Signed to autograph collector 'Miss <Lull?>'.

Author: 
General Sir Francis Thomas Lloyd (1838-1912), British soldier
Publication details: 
9 October 1907; on letterhead of The Lawn, Walmer.
£40.00

Two pages, 12mo. Very good, on lightly creased paper. He is sending five autographs to add to her collection and is 'sorry not to have those of distinguished men of later dates but I am quite out of the service now'. Wonders if she knows his 'very dear friend General Nicholson who is living now at St. Andrews. He and his wife are among our dearest friends.' He 'saw the Godfreys last week - both well.'

Eight Typed Letters, with cyclostyled signatures ('Arthur Pearson'), to Sir Henry Trueman Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Sir Cyril Arthur Pearson [Sir Arthur Pearson] (1866-1921), founder of 'The Daily Express', President of the National Institute for the Blind and Fresh Air Fund
Publication details: 
October 1916 to June 1917; all on letterhead of the Blinded Soldiers' and Sailors' Hostel, St. Dunstan's, Regent's Park, N.W. [London].
£150.00

All eight items are 4to, 1 p, and good on lightly aged paper. Seven items bearing the Society's stamp and four docketed. The correspondence concerns a talk given by Pearson to the Society, 'on the subject of the training of the soldiers blinded in the War'. On 19 October 1916 Pearson writes: 'I am a little afraid that I cannot properly carry out the suggestion you so kindly make. I am quite blind, and therefore am unable to read a paper.' The 'preparation of a formal paper' would 'demand more time than I am able to spare at present.

Signed Letter ('Php Stephens'), in a secretarial hand, to the Duke of Clarence.

Author: 
Sir Philip Stephens (1723-1809), Admiralty official [William IV (1765-1837), King of England (as Duke of Clarence); Royal Navy; Valiant; Andromeda]
Publication details: 
Admiralty Office 22d. June 1790.'
£150.00

Foolscap bifolium: 1 p. Worn, and on discoloured paper, but with text clear and entire. Thirteen lines of text.

Autograph Signature ('Napier of Magdala').

Author: 
Robert Cornelis Napier (1810-1890), 1st Baron Napier of Magdala, British army officer, Commander-in-Chief in India, 1870-1876.
Publication details: 
March 1884; place not stated.
£18.00

On piece of laid paper, dimensions 6 x 11 cm. Good. Clearly complying with a request for an autograph. Reads 'With much pleasure | [signed] Napier of Magdala | March 1884'.

Autograph Signature ('H Legge') on fragment of document.

Author: 
Hon. Henry Bilson-Legge (1708-1764), Treasurer of the Navy, 1749-1754
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£25.00

Dimensions of paper roughly 4 x 6.5 cm. Good, although with slight wear at left and small part of loop at beginning of signature crossing over a printed vertical line. Docketed in pencil 'Lord Treasurer'.

Autograph Signature ('Admiral Lord Ams. Beauclerk').

Author: 
Admiral Lord Amelius Beauclerk, G.C.B. (1771-1846), 3rd son of the 5th Duke of St Albans
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£23.00

On piece of card roughly 3.5 x 7 cm. Good, though slightly discoloured. Reads '[signed] Admiral | Lord Ams. Beauclerk', beneath which, in a contemporary hand, 'Port Admiral | of Plymouth'.

Printed 'Regulations for the Admission of Gentlemen Cadets into the Royal Military College, near Bagshot. January 1st, 1852.' With one other printed item and four manuscript items relating to John Miller Dickson's attempt to join the British army.

Author: 
William Dickson; John Miller Dickson; General Henry Shadforth [Royal Military College, Bagshot; British army; military history]
Publication details: 
The printed 'Regulations' 1852; the other printed item is dated 1851; the four manuscript items between 1852 and 1854.
£125.00

The collection is in good condition, with occasional light creasing. The 'Regulations' ('ON HER MAJESTY'S SERVICE') consist of four pages printed on a folio bifolium. The other printed item, in facsimile handwriting, dated '15.11.51' (and dated in manuscript 'Horse Guards 1st.

Two Autograph Letters Signed ('Charles Spence') to the printers John Bowyer Nichols and his son John Gough Nichols.

Author: 
Charles Spence of the Admiralty, Devonport [John Bowyer Nichols (1779-1863); John Gough Nichols (1806-1873)]
Publication details: 
Both dated 11 November 1852.
£75.00

Letter One (12mo: 4 pp, to 'My dear Mr Nichols', good, on discoloured paper): Explains that he has given 'a note of introduction to a most particular friend of mine Mr Lawrence of Ipplepen near Totnes and Launceston Cornwall'. Lawrence 'was a great friend of the late Mr Arundel of Landulph' and is 'a great friend of Mr Bray of Tavistock'. He is 'a man of ancient Cornish descent & from its first families'. Spence thinks Nichol will find Lawrence 'a valuable West Country Correspondent, well up in County history and nothing loth in the pursuit of antiquarian lore[.

Catalogue of Fourteen Thousand Portraits of Authors, Actors, Legislators, Ministers and Celebrated Men and Women of All Countries. The Largest Sale that has ever taken place in the United States. [...] by Edelinck, Lemperour, Bause, Schidt, Doo [...]

Author: 
Banks, Merwin & Co., Auctioneers, Broadway, New York [Auction Catalogue]
Publication details: 
New York: To be Sold at Auction [...] 8th, 9th and 10th of March, 1864, By Banks, Merwin & Co., At the Irving Buildings, Nos. 594 and 596 Broadway].
£150.00

Octavo: 18 pp. Unbound: stabbed and unstitched. First leaf and leaves with pp. 15/16 and 17/18 loose. Leaves with pp.3/4 and 15/16 half-separated. Paper discoloured and chipping at edges. Extends to 918 lots. The odd number of leaves implies the loss of a final leaf, possibly bearing text. Stamp of the Public Library Ford Collection. Docketing in pencil notes a duplicate at the New York Public Library. No other copy traced.

Printed Receipt Signed, with Manuscript Additions in another hand, for Royal Navy [annual?] budget.

Author: 
Pattee Byng, 2nd Viscount Torrington
Publication details: 
22 February 1728; [London].
£500.00

(1699-1747). One leaf, dimensions roughly eight inches by ten. Printed text with manuscript additions on recto; docketed on verso 'Right Hon Pattee Byng afterwards Earl of Torrington Treasurer of the Navy 1729- Brother of the unfortunate Admiral John Byng'. Good, but grubby, and with slight loss at head and in centre (affecting five words of text). 'Received then of [Lord Parker one of the Four Tellers of his Majesty's Exchequer] the Sum of [One hundred Twenty one thousand four hundred and sixteen pounds seven shillings and Eleven pence] in further Part of an Order, Dated the [10th.

Autograph Letter Signed to William Smith.

Author: 
Robert Saunders Dundas, 2nd Viscount Melville
Publication details: 
2 July 1820; Wimbledon.
£135.00

Statesman (1771-1851); First Lord of the Admiralty, 1812-27, after whom Melville Sound was named. Three pages, quarto. Very good if a tad grubby.

Autograph Letter Signed "W. Sidney Smith" to the Prime Minister, the Earl of Liverpool.

Author: 
Admiral Sir [William] Sidney Smith, hero of Acre.
Publication details: 
Paris, 6 Aug. 1818.
£180.00

Four pages, 4to, fair condition. Smith has put a cross through the first page, suggesting a draft - with no loss or obscuring. He believes he has had proof of Liverpool's goodwill towards him and is emboldened to ask that a protege "be included in the next list of Post Captains".

Autograph Letter Signed to "Lord Duke of Buckingham", presumably Grenville, Richard Temple Nugent Brydges Chandos, first Duke of Buckingham and Chandos

Author: 
Admiral Sir [William] Sidney Smith, hero of Acre.
Publication details: 
No 5 Regent Street ([Powells?]), London, 25 July [1830].
£100.00

Four pages, 4to, fair condition. Smith has crossed out page one, suggesting this was a draft. He regrets missing the Duke on whom he waited. He makes strenuous representations on behalf of Dr George Roddam, hoping that Buckingham will support Roddam with the new King (William). He discusses Roddam's experience as Royal Physician to "the late King" (GeorgeIV) and Charlotte, and his services to Smith himself on the "Antelope" and "Pompee", and in Rio de Janeiro.

Fragment of Autograph Letter Signed.

Author: 
General Reibell [French soldier]
Publication details: 
12/09/56
£38.00

On piece of grey paper roughly 10.5 x 13.5 cms. Creased and with some evidence of previous mounting on reverse. Docketed 'From general Reibell commanding in the Haut Rhein - who cut his way into the Tuilleries, & saved Louis Philippe & his Queen; commanded the Cavalry in Paris afterwards, on the jour des revoltees [sic] Etc. -.' Reads 'Je ne regarde pas la partie comme perdue, tout faut, nous causerons de ce qu'ils faudras faire | Tout a vous | G[ener]ale Reibell'.

Loss of The Centaur Man-of-War, In the year 1782. (Written by Capt. Inglefield.)

Author: 
[John Nicholson Inglefield] [Shipwrecks; The Centaur; Naval; Maritime; The Royal Navy]
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated [c.1818?].
£100.00

Eight 16mo leaves ['A4' at foot of recto of first leaf]. Sixteen unpaginated pages. Unbound, in contemporary marble wraps. Aged and slightly stained, but good overall. Dramatic fold-out handcoloured engraving of distressed men in rowboat in turbulent sea, roughly four and a half inches by five wide, captioned 'CENTAU. | Situation of part of the Crew who are leaveing [sic] the Wreck in a Boat.' Closed tear in engraving unobtrusively repaired on reverse with archival tape. Small stamp of the Webster Collection, with manuscript date 1924, on reverse of print.

Autograph Letter Signed to William Symonds, R.N., with presentation copy of 'Some Remarks on the Rules to be observed in forming a Code of International Signals; with a comparative review of the systems proposed [...] by Captain Levin Joergen Rohde'.

Author: 
Henry Cranmer Phillipps [Henry Cranmer March Phillipps], R.N.; Captain Levin Joergen Rohde, of the Royal Danish Navy, Knight of the Dannebrog; Sir William Symonds
Publication details: 
LETTER: [Avebury, B[uckinghamshire]?], 3 November 1835; PAMPHLET: London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green & Longman, Paternoster-row. 1835. [Printed by Manning and Smithson, Ivy Lane, Paternoster Row.]
£120.00

Full subtitle: 'With a comparative review of the systems proposed by H. Cranmer Phillipps, R.N. and by Captain Levin Joergen Rohde, of the Royal Danish Navy, Knight of the Dannebrog, &c. &c.' The letter was previously attached by four small pieces of red sealing wax on the verso of its blank second leaf to the title-page of the pamphlet. Letter and pamphlet are now detached, with traces of wax adhering to both, but not affecting the text of either. LETTER: 12mo, one page. Good on aged paper.

Document Signed. In French.

Author: 
Bide de la Grandville, French military commander
Publication details: 
Lille, 8 Dec. 1733
£100.00

One page 8vo, some defects, but text clear and complete, body of letter in secretarial hand. De la Grandville asks the magistrates of the town o Lille to provide 140 "fournitures des lits, et de les faire places a la Citadelle pour cazerner les miliciens engage pour l'armee d'Italie, etant necessaire de separer des bataillons qui sont en garrison dans la ville . . ."

On the Drawing Office. Received 13th March, 1895; Read 26th March, 1895.

Author: 
Sir Archibald Denny (1860-1936), Scottish shipbuilder who chaired a 1912 British committee to investigate the Titanic sinking [Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland (Incorporated)]
Publication details: 
Offprint 'Reprinted from the Transactions of the Institution.'; Glasgow: Wm. Asher, Central Printing Works, 80 Gordon St. 1895.
£85.00

Thirteen pages, octavo, and fold-out 'PLATE XXI' (eight and a half inches by twenty-two and a half wide), with nine illustrations, headed 'THE DRAWING OFFICE BY MR. ARCHIBALD DENNY.', by Robert Gardner & Co., Engineering Lithographers, Glasgow. Unbound and stapled. Good, on aged and lightly foxed paper. Original pink printed wraps detached, chipped and with minor loss. PRESENTATION COPY, with front wrap (which has minor offsetting in ink) headed in pencil 'With the Authors Compts'. Ownership inscription of 'H. J. Young | Nov: '95' at head of first page.

Autograph letter signed to [?] Young,

Author: 
Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey of Bulkeley,
Publication details: 
13 September 1905, with letterhead "SUNBEAM RYS".
£45.00

Politician and maritime administrator (1836-1918). 3pp,12mo. "If you could postpone the date for a week, it would afford me the greatest pleasure to present the testimonial to Canon Simpson. Kindly send me list of a few leading subscriptions as a guide, addressed to Chapel Wood / Nutley / Uckfield. / I am at Milan International Maritime Conferrence last week Septr / Yours faithfully / Brassey"..

Autograph Signatures, with others, on fragment of document authorizing repairs.

Author: 
Vice Admiral Sir George Francis Seymour (1787-1870); Admiral Richard James Meade, Lord Gilford (1832-1907, ltr 4th Earl of Clanwilliam); Admiral Sir William Fanshawe Martin (1801-95) [THE ROYAL NAVY]
Publication details: 
Circa 1856; no place.
£76.00

On both sides of a piece of aged paper watermarked 1855, dimensions three inches by eight and a quarter wide. Good, though a tad grubby, with traces of previous brown paper mount adhering to reverse. Recto reads '[tick] H.C.L. | [in another hand] App? | [signature] . Captain | in Comd of Division. | [in another hand] [signature] C M Collins | 1st Class Asst. Engineer | [in another hand] [signature] Gilford | Lieut in Comd. | [in another hand] Approved for necessary Defects | to be made good. | [signature] G F Seymour | Vice Adml. and Commr. in Chief'.

Substantial Autograph Letter Signed to his sister.

Author: 
"Tom" [surname unknown], sailor (possibly Captain).
Publication details: 
Ship Donna Amelia, Valparaiso, 24 Sept. 1865.
£240.00

Four pages, 4to, minor defects, text complete and clear. Something of a stylist, he first describes the effects of a severe storm on his ship (out of Montevideo). They eventually arrived at Valparaiso, planning to load a "coasting cargo for Callao from there to go to the [Chinea?] Islands to load a cargo of guano". He hoped for a rest but the Spanish Admiral arrived on the 17th "in a splendid steal friggat[sic]". He ordered the Chilean authorities to salute his flag and then he would talk to them. They refused as the 18th was the anniversary of thier independence.

Autograph Letter Signed to James Finn.

Author: 
Stratford Canning
Publication details: 
25 September 1867; Westbrook.
£85.00

Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe, British diplomat (1786-1880; DNB), for many years Ambassador to the Sublime Porte. The recipient, James Finn (died 1872), was British consul at Jerusalem from 1849–1858. 2 pages, 16mo. In good condition. He has sent his correspondent's 'memorandum respecting Abyssinia' to Lord Stanley, 'who is a better judge than I can presume to be of any advantage which might result from putting into practice the suggestions it contains'. He has 'a due sense of the confidence you have shewn me'. Signed 'Stratford de R.'

Archive of papers relating to his employment.

Author: 
George Hazlehurst (1867-1941); Millwall Dock Company; Manchester Ship Canal Company
Publication details: 
1867-1932.
£450.00

20 items. Various formats (see below). Showing signs of age, and with some foxing, fraying and creasing, but in very good condition overall. Collection indicates that Hazlehurst, who was born in Grappenhall, Lancashire, to an illiterate mother, was a capable individual entrusted with responsible positions. ITEMS 1 TO 5: Certified Copies of Hazlewood's birth and marriage certificates (birth certificate in poor condition, but with text entirely legible), his wife's birth and death certificates, and his parents' marriage certificate.

Manuscript (part prob.)signed by Williams as Captain and by the gunner [Jack?] Mathers.

Author: 
Admiral Thomas Williams (then Captain of the "Vanguard).
Publication details: 
01/08/01
£450.00

Two pages, c.8" x 8" (probably lacking half a folio leaf), pages, entitled "An Account of Gunner's Stores returned into Store &c from His Majesty's Ship Vanguard, Sir Thomas Williams, Kt. Captain between the 27th February 1801 and the 30th November 1801, pages columnised under headings: Time return (all 12 August); Place where (all Portsmouth); To whom ([S.L. Spencer?] Storekeeper); Quality (see list below); and Quantity.

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