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Author, Title, Summary	Subject	Price
Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars; Captain Sir Peter Parker and the Menelaus] Lieutenant Robert Kennedy Thomson (fl. 1849) of Dalgarrock, Ayrshire, Scotland [' there are 5 french frigates at sea escaped from Toulon': Captain Sir Peter Parker and HMS Menelaus (Royal Navy in the Napoleonic Wars).] Autograph Letter Signed from midshipman Robert Kennedy Thomson, describing his exploits to his mother. Real Hornblower stuff: a breathless letter full of interesting content. The Oxford DNB entry for Sir Peter Parker the younger (1745-1814) gives the background: ‘in January 1812 he joined Sir Edward Pellew at Port Mahon, where he remained for the greater part of the year, attached to the in-shore...		£220.00
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (1855-1934), leading English late-Victorian and Edwardian playwright, after beginning as an actor in Sir Henry Irving’s company at the Lyceum Theatre, London [George Meredith] [Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, leading late-Victorian and Edwardian playwright.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Arthur W. Pinero') to the daughter of the writer George Meredith, regretting that he cannot visit her and her father at Box Hill. See his appreciative entry in the Oxford DNB, concluding with praise of his ‘undeniable’ achievements.2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition; folded once for postage, and with the blank reverse of the first leaf laid down on part of a leaf from the autograph album of the novelist George...		£56.00
Sir Robert Ker Porter [pseudonym ‘Reynhold Steinkirk’] (1777-1842), Anglo-Irish artist, diplomat and author, historical painter to Tsar Alexander I of Russia, British consul in Venezuela [Villiers] [Sir Robert Ker Porter [‘Reynhold Steinkirk’], historical painter to Tsar of Russia, British consul in Venezuela; botany] Two Autograph Letters Signed to the Hon. Mrs Villiers, regarding the procurement in Venezuela of the ‘rarest seeds’. Artist, author, diplomat and horseman, present at Sir John Moore’s death in Corunna, knighted by the king of Sweden, historical painter to Tsar Alexander, British consul in Venezuela: see the entry on this renaissance man in the Oxford DNB. Both in good condition, with folds for postage. Both...		£380.00
The Earl of Rosebery, Liberal Prime Minister [Archibald Philip Primrose (1847-1929), 5th Earl of Rosebery; Henry Parkman Sturgis (1847-1929), American-born banker and Liberal politician] [The Earl of Rosebery, Liberal Prime Minister.] Letter in a Secretarial Hand, signed by him, regarding appointment to a post at the Treasury, with a dinner invitation to Sturgis and his wife (George Meredith’s daughter). See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. With mourning border. On first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, folded once for postage. All in a secretarial hand, except the signature ‘Rosebery’. Addressed to ‘My dear Sturgis’ - the item is from the autograph album of Sturgis’s wife, George...		£56.00
Thomas Gray (1716-1771), poet, author of 'Elegy written in a Country Churchyard' [Mary Antrobus; Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London auctioneers; Sarah Turpin, wife of organist Edmund Hart Turpin] [‘Gray’s Desk on which he wrote the Elegy’: Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London auctioneers.] Letters and accounts from Sotheby’s to Mrs Sarah Turpin, relating to the 1915 sale of ‘Letters and Relics’ by Thomas Gray, including priced catalogue entries A nice collection of ephemera, relating not only to one of England’s best-loved poets, but also to Sotheby’s auction practice during the Great War. The provenance of the Gray letters put up for auction by Mrs Turpin is given in a New York Times article of 27 June 1915 (‘To sell relics of Thomas...		£450.00
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 1796 [signed by Sir Philip Stephens, James Gambier, Sir William Young, and by Evan Nepean, Secretary to the Board of Admiralty; John McKenzie of the Morwelham] [Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 1796.] Appointment of John McKenzie ‘to Command His Majesty’s Gun Boat the Morwelham’, signed by Sir Philip Stephens, James Gambier, Sir William Young, and Secretary to the Board Evan Nepean. 1p, foolscap 8vo. On piece of wove paper with Britannia watermark. Lightly aged and in fair condition, but with some creasing and nicking at the head. Folded three times into a packet. A printed document, completed in manuscript. Printed at the head: ‘By the Commissioners for executing the...		£280.00
Napoleonic Wars: the arming of six British merchant ships, c.1807 [Brittania, Stephen Brown; Sloop Neptune, John Hurry; Syren, William Jackson; Fox, Thomas Lundie; Rover, Robert Jackson] [Napoleonic Wars: the arming of six British merchant ships, c.1807.] Manuscript ‘Account of Sundry Stores received from the Pilot Boates [sic]’, ‘Respecting Arming Pilot Boates / Account of Stores’. None of the boats and captains named in the present item are present in contemporary Navy Lists, so they would appear to be merchant ships. 2pp, foolscap 8vo. Aged and worn, with slight loss along edges and faded to a small portion of text. Folded four times into a packet, named (on the reverse...		£280.00
Prince Matila Ghyka [Matila Costiescu Ghyka] (1881-1965), Romanian aristocrat, mathematician and polymath; Karl Häuptli (b.1894), Swiss architect associated with Theodor Fischer; A. Andre] [Prince Matila Ghyka, Romanian mathematician.] Correspondence to him in French from Karl Häuptli, Swiss architect (TLS and three Autograph Studies, with diagrams, on ‘le nombre d’or’) and A. Andre of Marseilles (TLS and enclosures on the I Ching). Ghyka, who was grew up and was educated in France, settled in London after the Second World War, and is considered one of the most significant members of the Romanian diaspora. His main preoccupation was with geometry and mathematical aesthetics, and his publications on the subject were...		£850.00
Regency London: maritime history; Richard Gardner, ship owner; the Maria of Deptford; John Ladd, merchant; Gabriel Ford, mariner [Regency London: maritime history.] Bill of Sale of the ship Maria (Deptford) by Richard Gardner for £830 to merchant John Ladd and mariner Gabriel Ford, printed on parchment paper, and completed in manuscript with signatures. An interesting artefact of maritime London in the Regency period. The bill is printed on one side of 34 x 47 cm piece of mock-parchment paper, and has been completed in manuscript, with signatures. Folded three times into a packet, with ‘Bill of Sale / Gardner to Ladd & Ford’ written on the...		£180.00
Royal Navy, 1838 [HMS Dublin (Captain Robert Tait), flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Graham Hamond, Commander-in-Chief of the South American station; Ralph Barton, Senior Lieutenant] [Royal Navy, 1838.] Manuscript ‘Return of Treasure conveyed’ by HMS Dublin (Captain Robert Tait), flagship of Vice-Admiral Sir Graham Hamond, Commander-in-Chief of the South American station. Signed by Ralph Barton, Senior Lieutenant. The 1812 HMS Dublin was the third Royal Navy ship of that name. At the time of this document she was a 40-gunner, and the flagship of the Commander-in-Chief of the South American station Vice-Admiral Sir Graham Hamond (1779-1862). See the entries on Barton, Hamond and Tait in O’Byrne’s ‘Naval...		£180.00