OF

Autograph Signature on fragment of military document.

Author: 
Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Cambridge
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£30.00

Maternal grandfather of Queen Mary (1774-1850). In very good condition. Paper dimensions approximately 1 1/2 inches by 4 inches. Reads 'Adolphus Frederick. | Lt: Genl: & Col. in Chief.'

Autograph Signature on fragment of military document.

Author: 
Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£30.00

Uncle (1773-1843) of Queen Victoria, notable book collector. Paper dimensions approximately 1 1/2 inches by 2 1/2 inches. In good condition. Florid signature 'Augustus Frederick' above printed word '(Rank)' beside 'Lieutt. Coll. Com.' in manuscript, which in turn is above printed word '(Corps)' beside 'Loyal North Britons' in manuscript.

Autograph Letter Signed to the Provost of Eton [Edward Craven Hawtrey (1789-1862)].

Author: 
Samuel Wilberforce, successively Bishop of Oxford and of Winchester
Publication details: 
30 May 1854; 26 Pall Mall.
£30.00

Darwin and Huxley's 'soapy Sam' (1805-73). 2 pages, 16mo. In poor condition: damp, creased and with some decay at head, though none of this affecting text. 'I hope youo do not think that I have been remiss in not replying to your last kind letter otherwise than by telling Mr Davenport to attend to you. The truth is I have been intolerably occupied. I believe I shall have Randall with me. I hope you may have asked Dr Phillimore - & I hope that the surrounding Clergy have been invited to attend on Thursday.' Signed 'S Oxon:'.

Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Sir Robert Peel
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£30.00

English Tory prime minister (1750-1830). On creased and grubby slip of paper, dimensions approximately 1 1/2 inches by 4 1/2, with three small glue stains from mounting on reverse. Reads 'Very faithfully yours | Robert Peel'.

Typed Letter with cyclostyle signature to A. D. Snow of St Leonards-on-Sea.

Author: 
George Cadbury
Publication details: 
19 December 1911; letterhead 'BOURNVILLE. | BIRMINGHAM.'
£45.00

Quaker confectioner, social reformer and philanthropist (1839-1922). 1 page, 8vo. A little grubby and creased but in good condition overall, with the blank reverse attached to remains of another piece of paper. He thanks his correspondent for his letter and states that 'The Friends' Meeting House at Stirchley has been used for very many years by the Friendly Societies instead of the liquor shop. I believe that one society of 700 members [manuscript addition: 'the largest branch in the Midlands'] and another of 400 members have payments made in one of the rooms connected with it.

Autograph Note Signed to <Buley?>.

Author: 
Samuel Wilberforce, successively Bishop of Oxford and of Winchester
Publication details: 
Without date; on blindstamped Athenaeum letterhead.
£20.00

Darwin and Huxley's 'soapy Sam' (1805-73). 1 page, 16mo. Dusty and discoloured, with remains of stub adhering to one edge. A hurried note, almost illegible. | My dear | Can <?> to <?> & <?> from 26 Pall at 25 to 11 | Yours affly | S Oxon'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Alfred Hill.

Author: 
John Somerset Pakington, 1st Baron Hampton
Publication details: 
19 June 1857; Eaton Square.
£25.00

English Conservative politician (1799-1880). 4 pages, 16mo. Creased and somewhat grubby, with minor damage at head of one leaf caused by previous mounting, but in good condition overall. He has received his correspondent's note and will 'be glad to aid the objects of the conference in any manner in my power'. He cannot however 'comply with the request of the Committee that I will preside over Section B. on Tuesday next'. He has to 'present the prizes at the Society of Arts on that morning'. There is also 'important evidence in a Committee of the H. of Coms.

1 Typed Letter Signed and 3 Autograph Notes Signed to journalist and author [Myer Jack] Landa.

Author: 
Isaac Leslie Hore-Belisha, Baron Hore-Belisha
Publication details: 
Letter, 1 May 1939, on Secretary of State for War letterhead; note 1 undated [docketed 'Nov 1931?'], on blind-stamped Commons letterhead; note 2, 4 June 1935; note 3, 6 November 1936; notes 2 and 3 on blindstamped Ministry of Transport letterheads.
£80.00

British politician (1893-1957), who gave his name to the 'Belisha Beacon'. All four items signed 'Leslie Hore-Belisha'. In the letter (1 page, 4to, in good condition) he thanks Landa for his note and says he 'should be most happy to do anything I could for you in the matter of the Tribunals. These, however, will come under the Ministry of Labour and not under the War Office. I think, therefore, it would be well if you get into touch with Ernest Brown.' All three notes 1 page, 16mo, and all three in good condition.

Frank and letter.

Author: 
George Canning and Stratford Canning, 1st Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe
Publication details: 
The frank without date or place; the letter 30 June [no year], Grosvenor Street.
£85.00

George Canning (1770-1827), English Tory politician. The frank consists of only the central part of the front of the envelope, without stamp or postmarks, dimensions approximately 2 1/2 inches by 4 inches. Reads 'To D. O'Brien Esqre | 21 Craven Street | Geo: Canning'. Affixed at the foot of the recto of a letter written by his cousin Stratford Canning (1786-1880) in the third person (2 pages, 16mo, in good condition), reading 'Lord Canning begs that in the Votes distributed tomorrow morning the 2d. Reading of the Oxford University Bill may be fixed for Thursday the 6th. July.

Typed Letter Signed and Typed Note Signed to F. J. Epps, Convenor, South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies, 78 Dunwich Road, Bexleyheath, Kent, England.

Author: 
[NATIONAL PARK SERVICE] Ned J. Burns
Publication details: 
1 November 1943 and 28 November 1944; both on letterhead 'UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR | NATIONAL PARK SERVICE | Chicago, 54, Ill.'
£35.00

The letter of 2 pages, 4to. Discoloured, dusty and frayed. Dr Carl P. Russell has asked him to reply to Epps's letter regarding 'the preservation of outdoor Geological Sections'. Discusses this matter over two paragraphs. Says he is sending a copy of his 'Field Manual for Museums' and refers Epps to two illustrations. 'I am personally as well as professionally interested in all problems related to the preservation of natural and historical objects and will be pleased to learn of any methods you have found to be satisfactory.' The note of 1 page, 16mo.

Typed Note Signed to author and journalist M[yer]. J[ack]. Landa.

Author: 
Sir Donald Maclean
Publication details: 
10 February 1932; on Board of Education letterhead.
£25.00

British Liberal politician (1864-1932; DNB). 1 page, 4to. In good condition though dusty. 'My dear Landa, | Thank you very much for your kind note, which I greatly appreciate. [manuscript interpolation: '^ It was a difficult Parliamentary job.'] I also appreciate the [kind] note about the speech in your papers.' The reference may be to what the DNB calls Maclean's success in soothing the teachers, 'at that time furious at the cuts in their salaries'. He died of a heart attack brought on by overwork a few months later.

Typed Letter Signed to the journalist and author M[yer]. J[ack]. Landa.

Author: 
Sir Lewis Gluckstein
Publication details: 
1 February 1937; 39 Elm Tree Rd, N.W.8, but on blindstamped House of Commons letterhead.
£50.00

Soldier and Tory politician (1893-1996), at 6 ft 7 inches the tallest ever Member of Parliament. 1 page, 16mo. Dusty but in good condition. He asks Landa to forgive him for not having thanked him earlier for assisting him with his lecture 'The Jew in Parliament'. He is grateful for 'the extremely valuable notes which you allowed Mrs. Knollys to take, and I feel that I can face my audience with equanimity and confidence.' Pencil notes on reverse giving addresses of W. A. Rutkowski, Samuel Lipman and Aaron Samuels.

2 Autograph Letters Signed to Sir Martin [Archer Shee, President of the Royal Academy].

Author: 
Edward Hodges Baily
Publication details: 
Letter 1: 24 January 1840, no place; letter 2: 25 January 1842, no place.
£45.00

English sculptor (1788-1867)(DNB), responsible for the Nelson on Nelson's Column. Both letters are discoloured by age, but otherwise in good condition. The first letter is 1 page, 16mo, cropped and mounted on a larger piece of paper. 'My Dear Sir Martin | Absence from Town will I hope be a sufficient apology for my not sooner acknowledging the receipt of your card of invitation for Wednesday next - and to state that I shall have great pleasure dining with you that day.' The second letter is 2 pages, 16mo, heavily discoloured and with remains of four wax mounts in corners and elsewhere.

Autograph Signature on fragment of letter.

Author: 
Sir Roderick Impey Murchison
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£25.00

British geologist (1792-1871). Paper dimensions approximately 1 1/4 inches by 4 inches, somewhat discoloured by glue from mounting. Reads ' | Rod I Muchison'. Docketed on reverse.

Autograph Signature on Frank.

Author: 
Sir William Bolland
Publication details: 
18 December 1836; Bakewell.
£25.00

Lawyer and bibliophile (1772-1840), Baron of the Court of Exchequer. Front part of envelope, dimensions approximately 3 1/2 inches by 5 inches. In good condition. With red postmark. Reads 'Bakewell December Eighteen | 1836 | C. A. Thiselton Esq | 4 Cambridge Place | Camberwell New Road | London | Bolland'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Reginald [?].

Author: 
George Granville Bradley.
Publication details: 
11 March 1893; on letterhead 'DEANERY, | WESTMINSTER, | S.W.'
£25.00

English divine, scholar and schoolmaster (1821-1903), Dean of Westminster. 2 pages, 16mo. In good condition except for rust stains from a paper clip. 'I am quite right am I not in <?> that I had better not trouble the Speaker about a <?> for the young Hasted Taylor? I think I gathered from you that I had better not. One word will be ample - so very much obliged to you for all the trouble which you took in writing so fully.'

Autograph Letter Signed to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
John Charles Spencer, Viscount Althorp and 3rd Earl Spencer
Publication details: 
12 December 1833; Downing Street.
£45.00

Whig politician (1782-1845). 2 pages, 16mo. Dusty but in good condition. 'Dear Sir, | I have stated to Mr. Grant your desire for a for your son. But I could not express myself to him so as to make the appointment a favour to myself because I had before applied to him to give such an appointment to a friend of mine for his son, & I could not in justice withdraw this application. I stated however to him that I considered that the service you did in the Boundary Commission gave you a claim upon the Government, which my friend had not.' Signed 'Althorp'.

Black and white photograph.

Author: 
King Edward VIII as Prince of Wales.
Publication details: 
Without date or place, but in or before 1936.
£45.00

King Edward VIII (1894-1972), crowned and abdicated in 1936, thereafter Duke of Windsor. Approximately 5 1/2 inches by 8 inches. Shows the Prince in bowler hat mounting a stone jetty with four associates, with three sailors in RNLI boat at bottom left. In the background two sailing boats and two empty row boats. Stamped on reverse 'SPORT & GENERAL | PRESS AGENCY LTD. | LONDON. | COPYRIGHT.' In manuscript on reverse: 'Left to R. | Sailors from C. B. | The Prince's private detective | General Seeley. | My father (bare-head) | Sir Godfrey Baring | H. R. H.'

STATEMENT BY The Educational Endowments Committee of the Free Presbytery of Edinburgh of their objections to the Draft Scheme for the administration of the Fettes Endowment [...]

Author: 
[FETTES SCHOOL] James Stuart Macdonald, Moderator, on behalf of the Educational Endowments Committee of the Free Church Presbytery of Edinburgh
Publication details: 
Without date or place, but circa 1870.
£25.00

4to bifoliate pamphlet; four paginated pages. Creasing to corners and with recto of first leaf grubby and with some wear not affecting text, otherwise in good condition. Sir William Fettes died in 1836, and the school endowed by him opened in 1870. 'The Committee are decidedly of opinion that the Trustees have disregarded "the spirit of the Founder's intention" to an extent which has perhaps no parallel in the educational history of Scotland, and that the funds entrusted to their care have been misapplied, by the erection of buildings so costly.'

ALS, 2pp, 16mo, to unnamed correspondent

Author: 
Laurence Parsons, 4th Earl of Rosse (DNB), astronomer
Publication details: 
12 June 1890, on House of Lords paper, with blind stamp scored through and address given as 23 Hans Place, S.W.
£25.00

Gives details of where he is to be found in the coming week ("from 4 to 5 on each of those days at the Athenaeum club, I think at any rate by appointment, or I could call on you at the Temple at 4-15 on one of those days"). With marks and remains of gummed paper on reverse of otherwise-blank second leaf.

Autograph Letter Signed by O'Conor to Mrs [J. M.] Patterson, Secretary to The Royal Society of Literature, regarding a reading of John Masefield's poems.

Author: 
Joseph O'Conor [John Masefield, Royals Society of Literature]
Publication details: 
No date (but post 1963?); 18 Melville Road, Barnes, S.W.13.
£65.00

Irish actor (1916-2001). 2 pages, 8vo. In good condition though creased along one edge. Accompanying this item are a typescript (1 page, 8vo, in good condition, annotated in ink) headed 'MASEFIELD READINGS', listing 13 items alternatively allocated to 'O'Conor' and 'Day Lewis', and two typewritten slips of paper listing some of the officers of the Royal Society of Literature, one of which has corrected details of the Don Carlos Coloma Memorial Lecture on the reverse. In the letter O'Conor complains that [Masefield's Collected Poems 'seem riddled with misprints'.

2 Typed Letters Signed and one Typed Letter Unsigned to Mary Delane, and a collection related material.

Author: 
Robert Maxwell
Publication details: 
1962 to 1964; Oxford and London.
£200.00

Politician, publisher and one of the greatest crooks of the twentieth century (1923-91). The recipient, Mary Delane, is described as 'sometime woman's editor for The Times'. A collection of drafts and letters mainly relating to negotiations for the publication by Maxwell's Pergamon Press of a series of cookery books. A fine example of his Maxwell's questionable business practices. Mainly consisting of typed correspondence and draft replies, mostly in 8vo, some creased and torn but generally in good condition.

Disclaimers at the heralds' visitations. A list of persons who were disclaimed as gentlemen of coat-armour by the heralds at the visitations of the various counties of England; with an introduction.

Author: 
John Paul Rylands, F.S.A.
Publication details: 
Guildford: Printed by Billing and Sons. 1888.
£125.00

8vo. Pages: xi + 87. One of only a hundred copies, according to the British Library catalogue. In original red cloth binding with short title in gilt on front board (somewhat grubby and stained with stained manuscript title on spine). Tight copy but with front hinge cracked. Bookplate of Howard H. Cotterell of Walsall, and with his ownership inscription on title-page, which is neatly blindstamped with his address in top right-hand corner.

[TRAVELLER'S DUMMY] The history of freemasonry its antiquities, symbols, constitutions, customs, etc.

Author: 
Robert Freke Gould
Publication details: 
London: The Caxton Publishing Company, 84, 85, 86 Chancery Lane, W.C.; no date [circa 1900?].
£80.00

4to. 36 leaves and 18 engravings. Bound in plain and worn black cloth, with remains of two ribbon strips on back board. Some of the plates are heavily foxed, but otherwise the volume is in very good condition. Examples of the two attractive alternative decorated bindings are attached to the front and rear endpapers. Over the front pastedown is laid an example of the front board of the dark blue cloth binding of the six-volume edition, heavily decorated in gilt with masonic insignia (all-seeing eye, chain of office, dividers, etc.) inside a decorative gilt border containing other insignia.

2 Autograph Letters Signed.

Author: 
[THE BRITISH MUSEUM] T. House of the Department of Egyptian and Assyrian Antiquities, The British Museum, to Mrs [Frances?] Epps
Publication details: 
6 June 1951 and 2 April 1952; both on departmental letterheads.
£20.00

Both 1 page, 12mo. Both in good condition, although the first creased in two corners. It is unlikely that House held a senior position in his department as neither letter bears testimony to a good education. In the first letter he says he will be away from the Museum on a certain date, and suggests another day when, if convenient, he will 'bring the two ushabti figures from home and perhaps may be able to find others'. He saw Mr Epps on the previous day but 'we were too busy to talk'.

Autograph Letter Signed to A. E. Lidgett.

Author: 
Harry {Henry] Snell, Baron Snell
Publication details: 
9 September 1942; on letterhead of the Athenaeum, Pall Mall, S.W.1.
£30.00

British Labour politician (1865-1944), leader of the Labour Party in the House of Lords, 1935-40. 1 page, 16mo. In good condition, although creased and a little worn at head. 'I am sorry that you found it difficult to reach me. I leave here fairly early on the days that the House is in session & I must be there practically all the time.

Autograph Letter Signed, in Spanish, to George Erving

Author: 
Francisco Giron, Duke of Osuna
Publication details: 
Madrid, 9 August 1814.
£125.00

The recipient, George William Erving (1769-1850), was U.S. Minister to Spain, 1814-19. 2 pages. 16 lines of Spanish text. In good condition despite slight discoloration. Neatly attached down one edge to blank sheet of paper. Docketed (by Erving?) 'From the Duke of Osuna (his family name Francisco Giron)'. One of the subjects is "La Guerra a los Ingleses".

Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Sir George Frampton R.A.
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£15.00

English sculptor (1860-1928). Florid signature 'Geo. Frampton' on slip of paper, 1 inch by 3 1/2. Slightly smudged but in good condition. Attached to piece of blue paper docketed with biographical information about the 'Great Sculptor'.

Typed Letter Signed to F. R. McQuown.

Author: 
Ian William Beresford Nye
Publication details: 
15 September 1964, on letterhead of the British Museum (Natural History), Department of Entomology.
£35.00

Entomologist (1924-), author of the monumental 'Generic names of moths of the world' (6 vols, 1975-91). The recipient is the author of several works on gardening. 1 page, 8vo. In good condition, but creased and with one closed tear and with sellotape stains at head and foot. He thanks his correspondent for the letter of 10 September enclosing a caterpillar, and compliments him on its preservation. '[I]t is in perfect condition for determination. It is very difficult to preserve the green coloration, as in life.' He identifies the specimen as a cabbage moth.

Autograph Signature.

Author: 
General James Harold Doolittle
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£25.00

Distinguished and much-decorated American general (1896-1993), who during World War II led a squadron of army bombers in a series of intrepid raids on the Japanese mainland. In good condition. On a piece of paper 3 inches by 5 inches.

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