[‘The Tichborne Claimant’: the soi-disant Sir Roger Charles Doughty-Tichborne, held to be an imposter named Arthur Orton.] Signed Autograph inscription as ‘R. C. D. Tichborne’, with Signed Autograph inscription by Major-General Arthur Phelps.

The Tichborne Case was very possibly the greatest scandal of Victorian England. See the entry for ‘Tichborne claimant’, with subheading for ‘Arthur Orton’ in the Oxford DNB. Trained as a civil engineer, Major-General Arthur Phelps (1837-1920), civil engineer, was a prominent homeopath, anti-vaccinationist, and anti-vivisectionist, who promoted his views as proprietor and editor of the Citizen newspaper. Each inscription is on one side of a single 11.5 x 18.5 cm piece of gilt-edged wove paper, presumably extracted from an autograph album. In good condition, lightly aged, with small patch of minor discoloration at the foot. In the claimant’s distinctive hand, at the head of the verso: ‘Norwich. / March 6th/93 / Yours truly / R. C. D. Tichborne’. And on the recto: ‘Inoculating one disease in a child in order to prevent his taking another, is like sowing dandelion seeds on the lawn to prevent weeds from growing on it. / A. Phelps / 9th. December 1890.’ Between the signature and date, in a contemporary hand: ‘(Major-General of the Indian Army)’. See Image.