Search results

Author, Title, Summary Subject Price
James Payn (1830-1898), Victorian novelist and journalist, editor of Chambers's Journal in Edinburgh and the Cornhill Magazine in London

[James Payn, Victorian novelist, journalist and magazine editor.] Autograph Letter Signed, providing an autograph whilst pointing out that his name 'is not generally spelt with an e'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with postage folds. In trimmed windowpane mount. Reads: 'Madam. / My name is not generally spelt with an e, but I [confide?] it is ['really' deleted here] my [last word underlined] autograph which you desire. / Truly /...

£30.00
Mary Anne CLARKE, (1776?-1852). Royal mistress.

[Royal Mistress] Engraving, head and shoulders (slightly decolletage) SIGNED Mary Anne Clarke

Circa 14 x 22cm, faintly stained, laid down on larger card, good condition. A bold signature. Note: Mrs Clarke, as she was known, had been the mistress of Frederick, Duke of York, and had used her influence with him to obtain preferment and promotion for those in her large circle for a...

£100.00
Mary Anne Keeley [née Goward] (1805-1899), English actress, wife of the actor Robert Keeley (1793-1869), with whom she managed London’s Lyceum Theatre

[Mary Anne Keeley, actress and theatre manager.] Autograph Letter Signed, responding to a request for an autograph with ‘a Specimen of my calligraphy’ and date of birth.

See her entry, and that of her husband, in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, in trimmed windowpane mount. Although a short letter, her expansive and elegant hand fills the whole page. Reads: ‘Dear sir / With great pleasure I comply with your request and send a Specimen...

£35.00
Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (1855-1934), late-Victorian and Edwardian playwright [A. M. Broadley [Alexander Meyrick Broadley] (1847-1916)]

[Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, English playwright.] Autograph Letter Signed, inviting the journalist A. M. Broadley to a ‘plain breakfast’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient (‘Broadley Pasha’), at the time de facto editor of Edmund Yates’s magazine ‘The World’, was a scandalous figure, who richly deserves his own entry in the same work. 2pp, 16mo. Bifolium. Text on the outer pages, the inner pages carrying the remains...

£35.00
Sir Henry Rowley Bishop (1786-1855), composer [William Watts (d.1850), Secretary of the Philharmonic Society of London]

[Sir Henry Rowley Bishop, composer.] Autograph Note Signed to W. Watts, enquiring with regard to ‘the Principal Instrumental Solo performers for the Philharmonic Concert of Monday next’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. To ‘W Watts Esqre / &c &c &c’. With good firm signature, with flourish. Reads: ‘Dr Sir / Pray let me know who are the Principal Instrumental Solo performers for the Philharmonic Concert of...

£35.00
Sir William Wilson Hunter (1840-1900), Scottish historian and statistician in the Indian Civil Service, author of the monumental 'Imperial Gazetteer of India’ [Alexander Meyrick Broadley (1847-1916)]

[Sir William Wilson Hunter, author of the monumental ‘Imperial Gazetteer of India’.] Autograph Letter Signed to A. M. Broadley, with signed portrait photograph, giving his reason for ‘resigning the Committee’ of the Welcome Club.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient (‘Broadley Pasha’), who does not have the entry he deserves in the same work, had been involved in homosexual scandals in India, in 1872, and in England (‘The Cleveland Street Affair’), in 1889. LETTER: 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition,...

£50.00
Albert Wolff [Albert Abraham Wolff] (1825-1891), French writer, dramatist, journalist and art critic, of German Jewish extraction

[Albert Abraham Wolff, French author.] Autograph Letter Signed, in French, regarding a promise made by the recipient over dinner to assist the son of his friends.

Eleven lines of closely-written text. 1p, 16mo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, the verso of the second addressed in another hand to ‘F Chapuy / 6 Bis. Rue Rodier’. In good condition, lightly aged, with strip of tape from mount adhering to the second leaf. Folded once. Attractive vignette...

£45.00
Alfred Austin (1835-1913), Poet Laureate

[Alfred Austin, Poet Laureate.] Autograph Signature with Autograph Note disavowing poems. On printed acknowledgement of ‘Kind Congratulations’ (at his appointment).

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Wilfred Scawen Blunt’s assessment was brutal: ‘It is strange his poetry should be such poor stuff, and stranger still that he should imagine it immortal.’ And it is ironic that Austin may not have even written the lines for which he is now principally remembered...

£50.00
Angela Burdett-Coutts [Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, Baroness Burdett-Coutts] (1814-1906), the richest woman in Victorian England [A. M. Broadley [Alexander Meyrick Broadley] (1847-1916)]

[The richest woman in Victorian England: Angela Burdett-Coutts, philanthropist.] Autograph Letter Signed to A. M. Broadley, regarding a concert by the pianist Linda Dutton Cook.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB, from which the scandalous recipient, a high-society fixer, is unaccountably absent. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Fifty-seven lines of text, sloping upwards. Addressed to ‘Mr Broadley’ and signed ‘Burdett Coutts’. The...

£50.00
Cardinal Antonelli [Giacomo Antonelli, ‘The Italian Richelieu’ and ‘Red Pope’] (1806-1876) Roman Catholic prelate, Cardinal Secretary of State for the Holy See, central to the unification of Italy

[Cardinal Antonelli, ‘The Italian Richelieu’, who played a leading role in the unification of Italy.] Secretarial Letter in Italian, Signed by him, to the Brazilian ambassador to the Holy See.

See his entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of discoloration at edge, and traces of glue from mount on blank reverse. Two folds. Addressed to ‘Sigr. Ministro del Brasile presso la S. Sede’ and signed ‘G Card Antonelli’. The signature is in...

£80.00