OF

[Eponym of the 'Spoonerism': William Archibald Spooner, Warden of New College, Oxford.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Dear old Lee'

Author: 
William Archibald Spooner (1844-1930), Warden of New College, Oxford, who gave his name to the 'spoonerism'
Publication details: 
'New College / Dec 1922', on letterhead of New College, Oxford.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Addressed to 'Dear old Lee' and signed 'W A Spooner -'. He explains that he and his colleagues thought Lee's 'testimonials & references very good, as you may gather from our having put you on our list of selected candidates, but you did not quite reach the very highest place in our judgment'.

['four thousand Years of amusement': Sydney Smith, ‘The Smith of Smiths’, cleric, author and celebrated wit.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mrs. William Smith', itemising the pleasures that some persons might be punished with hereafter for their sins.

Author: 
Sydney Smith (1771-1845), ‘The Smith of Smiths’, English cleric, author and celebrated wit
Publication details: 
No date. Postmark of 28 May [1817]. On wove paper with watermark 'RUSE & TURNERS / 1814'.
£85.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, the verso of the second leaf addressed, with two postmarks, to 'Mrs. William Smith / Park Street / Westminster'. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Annotations in pencil in a modern hand. He begins by apologising for not being able to 'come to your party on Monday', as he was 'forced to go to Bed[.] I always knock up the 2d or 3d Week of London - There is nothing in this World so fatiguing, and horrible as pleasure -'.

[Sydney Smith, ‘The Smith of Smiths’, cleric, author and celebrated wit.] Autograph Note Signed, conveying thanks.

Author: 
Sydney Smith (1771-1845), ‘The Smith of Smiths’, English cleric, author and celebrated wit
Publication details: 
11 May 1844. No place.
£35.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 9 x 11 cm piece of Whatman wove paper. Somewhat worn and creased, with a small nick to one edge, and slight damage from erasure of note on reverse. Folded. Reads ‘Dear Sr / many thanks / yours truly / Sydney Smith / May 11 1844.’

[Thomas Gambier Parry, artist, art collector and benefactor of the Courtauld Institute of Art.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘A. [?]. King’, regarding ‘the Pamphlet on Spirit Fresco’ and ‘Complete printing’.

Author: 
Thomas Gambier Parry (1816-1888), artist and art collector whose Italian works went to the Courtauld Institute of Art, father of the composer Hubert Parry
Publication details: 
14 May [no year]. On letterhead of Highnam Court, Gloucester.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Addressed to ‘A. [?]. King Esqr.’ and signed ‘Gambier Parry’. After thanking him for his note he assures him that he ‘had no thought one way or other about the immediate pub[licatio]n: or delay of the Pamphlet or Spirit Fresco.’ He thinks ‘it might be well to give one last look at it before it is actually published -’ (last two words both underlined twice).

[Sir Edward John Poynter, English painter and President of the Royal Academy.] Two Autograph Letters Signed and Two Autograph Cards Signed, to different recipients including the painter Sir E. A. Waterlow.

Author: 
Sir Edward John Poynter (1836-1919), English painter and President of the Royal Academy [Sir Ernest Albert Waterlow (1850-1919), RA, English artist]
Publication details: 
ONE: 11 July 1874; Hotel de Lille et d’Albion [Paris]. TWO: 30 July 1890; letterhead of 28 Albert Gate, S.W. [London] THREE: 5 November 1905; letterhead of Alnwick Castle. FOUR:13 August 1913; letterhead of 70 Addison Road, Kensington, W. [London]
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. All four items are signed ‘Edward J. Poynter’. The first is somewhat discoloured, with cut corners (not affecting text), the others are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: ALS to ‘My dear Robin’, 11 July 1874. 1p, 12mo. He has received ‘the four £10 notes’ and reports ‘the most tremendous thunderstorms’. TWO: ACS to ‘Mr. Gilkes’, 30 July 1890. He apologises for being unable to ‘attend the distributions of the School prizes’ that day. THREE: ALS to ‘Waterlow’, 5 November 1905. 1p, 12mo. ‘Your letter gives me the key to the memorial.

[Sir William Rothenstein, artist and writer on art.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mrs Morel’ [Mary Florence Yonge Morel], regarding his painting of her ‘noble husband’ [the campaigning journalist E. D. Morel].

Author: 
Sir William Rothenstein (1872-1945), artist and writer on art, Principal of Royal College of Art [Mary Florence Yonge Morel [née Richardson], wife of Edmund Dene Morel (1873-1924), journalist]
Publication details: 
31 May 1911; on letterhead of 11 Oak Hill Park, Frognal, Hampstead.
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, along with that of E. D. Morel, a campaigner like Roger Casement against abuses in the Belgian Congo. (Morel had been given a 'testimonial luncheon' two days before the writing of this letter.) 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, creased and worn. Folded for postage. Ten lines of stylishly-written text. Signed ‘W. Rothenstein’. After thanking her for writing he states: ‘Nothing could please me more than to feel that you care for something I have put into the painting of your noble husband.

[‘The most distinguished marine artist of his day’: W. L. Wyllie [William Lionel Wyllie].] Autograph Letter Signed to S. W. Luard, declining a dinner invitation from the Salters’ Company, as he is starting for Norway at the end of the month.

Author: 
W. L. Wyllie [William Lionel Wyllie] (1851-1931), ‘the most distinguished marine artist of his day’ [S. W. Luard; the Salters' Company, City of London]
Publication details: 
1 June 1910; on embossed letterhead of Tower House, Tower Street, Portsmouth.
£60.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘W. L. Wyllie.’ He is sorry that he will be unable to avail himself of ‘the kind invitation to dinner sent me by the Master of the Salters Company’. He is starting for Norway on the last day of the month, and will not return until the end of July.

[The man Brunel called the largest railway contractor in the world: Sir Samuel Morton Peto, civil engineer, railway contractor and MP.] Autograph Letter Signed

Author: 
Sir Samuel Morton Peto (1809-1889), civil engineer, railway contractor and Radical Liberal Member of Parliament, George Borrow’s ‘Mr Flamson’
Publication details: 
3 January 1851; 47 Russell Square [London].
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Strip of glue from mount adhering to one edge of the blank reverse. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘J M Hare Esqr’. Reads: ‘Dear Sir / I have to acknowledge the receipt of the Patent you have kindly sent me, pray accept my thanks for your attention / I am dear Sir / Yrs faithfully / S. Morton Peto’. In Victorian hand at foot: ‘M P. Norwich 1851’.

[Sir David Wilkie, Scottish genre painter.] Autograph Letter in the third person to 'the Director Waagen' [Gustav Friedrich Waagen], arranging a visit to 'the house of the Duke of Wellington.

Author: 
Sir David Wilkie (1785-1841), Scottish painter noted for genre pieces such as 'The Chelsea Pensioners' [Gustav Friedrich Waagen (1797-1868), Director of the Berlin Gemäldegalerie; Duke of Wellington]
Publication details: 
'7 Terrace Kensington / July 19th 1835'.
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Wilkie was in a good position to assist Waagen, who was touring England making notes on significant art collections, for use in his ‘Kunstwerke und Künstler in England und Paris’ (3 vols, Berlin, 1837–39), which formed the basis for his influential ‘The Treasures of Art in Great Britain’ (translated by Lady Eastlake, 4 vols, London, 1854 and 1857). Wilkie had strong connections with Wellington. His 1822 painting ‘The Chelsea Pensioners reading the Waterloo Dispatch’ had been commissioned by the Duke, and was sold to him for the unheard-of sum of 1,200 guineas.

[Sir Aston Webb, RA, Buckingham Palace, the Victoria and Albert Museum and Admiralty Arch.] Autograph Letter Signed Aston Webb .

Author: 
Sir Aston Webb (1849-1930), President of the Royal Academy and Royal Institute of British Architects, who worked on Buckingham Palace, the Victoria and Albert Museum and Admiralty Arch
Publication details: 
8 October 1922. On letterhead of 1 Hanover Terrace, Ladbroke Square, W. [London]
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with small and slightly rusted staple holes to one corner. Folded once. Addressed to ‘My dear [Gern?] King / A. G. B. I’ (i.e. the Artists’ General Benevolent Institution) and signed ‘Aston Webb / Presd. A G B I -’. He is writing at the request of ‘the Council’, ‘to express to you on their behalf & my own our sincere regret at your resignation from our Council’.

[Norman Mailer [Nachem Malech Mailer], American novelist and journalist.] Typed Letter Signed to Rosalyn Sacks of the Mishkan Israel-Linas Hazedek, Jamaica, New York, with unsigned black and white publicity photograph by Molly Malone Cook.

Author: 
Norman Mailer [Norman Kingsley Mailer, pen-name of Nachem Malech Mailer (1923-2007)], American novelist and journalist [Molly Malone Cook, Provincetown photographer]
Publication details: 
Letter dated 29 July 1975; no place. Photograph by Molly Malone Cook, Provincetown, copyrighted 1973.
£150.00

See his entry in Encyclopaedia Britannica. Both items are in good condition, lightly aged. TLS: 1p, 4to. Addressed to 'Rosalyn Sacks / YMHA - YWHA / Congregation of Mishkan Israel-Linas Hazedek of Jamaica, Inc. / 153-14 90th Avenue / Jamaica, New York 11432'. Signed 'Norman Mailer'. Reads: 'Dear Rosalyn Sacks, / I don't have any pictures at the moment, but I'll try to get ahold of one and autograph it and send it to you and the members of the Congregation of Mishkan Israel-Linas Hazedek in Jamaica.

[Lord Macaulay [Thomas Babington Macaulay] (1800-1859), great Victorian historian, poet, Whig Member of Parliament.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Miss Richardson', declining a dinner engagement.

Author: 
Lord Macaulay [Thomas Babington Macaulay] (1800-1859), great Victorian historian, proponent of the ‘Whig interpretation of history’, poet, Member of Parliament, a great influence on Winston Churchill
Publication details: 
'Albany [London] June 17. 1851'.
£45.00

With Thomas Carlyle recognised by the Victorians as one of their two greatest historians. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On grey wove watermarked paper. In good condition, lightly creased and aged. Folded twice. Reads ‘Dear Miss Richardson, / I am extremely sorry that I have an engagement which will make it impossible for me to have the pleasure of dining with you on Wednesday fortnight / Very truly yours, / T B Macaulay’.

[Iris Murdoch [Dame Jean Iris Murdoch], Anglo-Irish novelist and philospher.] Autograph Inscription Signed (‘Iris !’), to ‘Hardy’ (the couturier Sir Hardy Amies).

Author: 
Iris Murdoch [Dame Jean Iris Murdoch] (1919-1999), Anglo-Irish novelist and philosopher [Sir Hardy Amies (1909-2003), English couturier]
Publication details: 
No place or date [1992?].
£50.00

See her entry, and his, in the Oxford DNB. On the reverse of a colour postcard of the Radcliffe Camera in Oxford from the Old Bodleian. In fair condition, lightly aged and with slight creasing to one corner and at the head (not affecting text). To the right, in the section reserved for the address, she writes: ‘Hardy / with all very / best wishes & love / from / Iris !’. Beneath this is a pencil note identifying Amies as the recipient. At top left, in another hand (her husband John Bayley’s?) is written ‘Born before all time: / a dispute over Christ’s origin / Karl Joseph Kuschel’.

[Frederick Sandys [Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys], English painter, associated with the Pre-Raphaelites and the Norwich School.] Autograph Signature to printed voucher for Old Welcome Club, Earl’s Court.

Author: 
Frederick Sandys [Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys] (1829-1904), English painter, associated with the Pre-Raphaelites and the Norwich School [Old Welcome Club, Earl’s Court; Imre Kiralfy]
Publication details: 
Voucher with printed date 27 August 1897. Old Welcome Club, Earl's Court [London].
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The ‘Old Empire Club’, presided over by Field-Marshal Lord Roberts of Kandahar, was part of Imre Kiralfy’s ‘Empire of India’ exhibition. The voucher, printed in red, is an attractive item, 13 x 7.5 cm, with perforated edge. In good condition, laid down on leaf carrying typed biographical details. Signed ‘Fredk. Sandys.’ with stamped number 732. Reads: ‘Name and Address of the Holder must be filled in / OLD WELCOME CLUB, / EARL’S COURT. / FRIDAY, 27th AUGUST, 1897. / Gentlemen’s Voucher, No. [732] / Admit ... / of ... / Signed [Fredk.

[G. A. Storey, RA, painter and illustrator.] Two Autograph Letters Signed. ONE: to 'My dear Wolfestan', on artists, scientists and colour theory. TWO: to 'Mrs A'Beckett' on writing a memoir of his brother-in-law.

Author: 
G. A. Storey [George Adolphus Storey] (1834-1919), RA, English painter and illustrator
Publication details: 
LETTER ONE (to Wolfestan): 2 June 1884; 19 St John's Wood Road. LETTER TWO (to Mrs A'Beckett): 5 May 1898; on letterhead of Hougoumont, [39] Broadhurst Gardens, South Hampstead, N.W. [London]
£60.00

LETTER ONE (to Wolfestan): 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Damage to text (including signature 'E. A. Storey') along inner edge of last page by clumsy removal from mount, repaired with archival tape. Otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. Folded. Wolfestan's letter is 'capital' and he hopes he will send it 'as it exactly backs up my own statement'.

E. B. Pusey [Edward Bouverie Pusey], Oxford Professor of Hebrew and leading figure in the Oxford Movement. ANS

Author: 
E. B. Pusey [Edward Bouverie Pusey] (1800-1882), Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford and leading figure in the Oxford Movement
Publication details: 
No date. On cancelled embossed letterhead of Christ Church, Oxford.
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, on both sides of a 9 x 10.5 cm piece of paper. Aged and worn, with a corner cut away, but the text complete.Nineteen lines in a close and difficult hand. Addressed to 'My dear Mgnr [i.e. Monsignor]' and signed 'E B Pusey'. Interpretation of Pusey's execrable handwriting is challenging. He appears to be ‘lecturing on the Psalms’, and may be requesting ‘combined lectures’.

[Florence Nightingale and her charity the Nightingale Fund, established in 1855.] Printed Circular of facsimile of an ALS by Samuel Carter Hall, on the proposed dissolution of the Fund, with manuscript letter announcing a meeting of the trustees.

Author: 
[Florence Nightingale and her charity the Nightingale Fund, established in 1855.] S. C. Hall [Samuel Carter Hall] (1800-1889), editor of Art Journal; Lord Herbert of Lea [Sidney Herbert] (1810-1861)]
Publication details: 
Facsimile letter as a circular from 'Office of the Nightingale Fund. / 5 Parliament Street / May 19. 1857.' Actual manuscript letter: 22 March 1858; on letterhead of Lord Herbert's town house, 49 Belgrave Square [London].
£120.00

See the entries on Nightingale, Hall and Herbert in the Oxford DNB. The Nightingale Fund was established in the Crimea on 29 November 1855, to raise money for the training of nurses. As a result of discussions held at the time of this circular the money from the Fund was used to set up the first nursing school, the Nightingale Training School, at St Thomas’s Hospital in 1860. ONE: Printed circular in form of a facsimile ALS from ‘S. C. Hall / Hon. Sec.’ 1p, 8vo. On first leaf of a bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Twenty-four lines of text.

[Cecil Day-Lewis, poet laureate; Nicholas Blake.] Autograph Card Signed to D. Kilham Roberts, casting his vote for Osbert Sitwell as the next chairman of the Society of Authors.

Author: 
Cecil Day-Lewis [C. Day-Lewis] (1904-1972), Anglo-Irish poet and British Poet Laureate who wrote crime fiction under the pseudonym of Nicholas Blake [D. Kilham Roberts, Society of Authors, London]
Publication details: 
9 August 1944. Letterhead of ORION, 26 Manchester Square, London, W.1. (with address cancelled)
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. An unillustrated post card, apart from the letterhead. Addressed, with stamp and Paddington postmark, to ‘Dr William Roberts / Briarlea / Mortimer / Berks.’ The message reads: ‘I vote for Osbert S. [i.e. Osbert Sitwell] as next chairman Soc. Authors [etc?] / Yrs / C. Day Lewis’. Image on request.

[Richard Cobden, Radical Liberal politician and Anti-Corn Law League leader.] Autograph List of petitions to the House of Commons, headed ‘Pet[itio]ns Mr Cobden’ [for James Johnstone or Robert Knox?].

Author: 
Richard Cobden (1804-1865), Radical Liberal politician and leading figure in the Anti-Corn Law League [James Johnstone (1815-1878), newspaper proprietor; Robert Knox, editor of the Morning Herald]
Publication details: 
No date, but with newspaper cutting from the Morning Herald, London, 18 February 1854.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item was enclosed in a letter from Serjeant Shee (the future Sir William Shee), offered separately, sent from the House of Commons on 17 February 1854, in which he writes: ‘I enclose Mr. Cobdens own handwriting to send to the Papers -’. Attached to a corner at the head of the first page of the present item is a cutting from the Morning Herald newspaper, 18 February 1854, reproducing the details in the manuscript.

[USA President; Ireland: Conscription Crisis of 1918.] Two printed items by O’Neill, Lord Mayor of Dublin, as Chairman of the Mansion House Conference, protesting British actions, one to the American President, the other to the American Ambassador.

Author: 
Laurence O’Neill (1864-1943), Lord Mayor of Dublin, Chairman of the Mansion House Conference, 1918; Irish Independent, Dublin; J. R. N. MacPhail [James Robert Nicolson MacPhail] (1858-1933)
Publication details: 
Both items dated from the Mansion House, Dublin, the first (to the president) on 11 June 1918, and the second (to the US ambassador) on 18 June 1918. [Irish Independent, Dublin.]
£450.00

Although large numbers of Irishmen had willingly signed up to fight for the British cause in the First World War, by April 1918 a shortage of troops moved the British government to propose conscription in Ireland. This was violently opposed by republicans, and O’Neill convened an Irish Anti-Conscription Committee which met at the Mansion House in Dublin. Strikes and protests followed, and although a law was passed, conscription was never implemented in Ireland. These two items are now extremely scarce.

[Gaelic League of London [London Branch of the Gaelic League].] Printed periodical: number of ‘Inis Fa´il’ [Inisfa´il; Inis Fail], ‘A Magazine for the Irish in London’.

Author: 
Gaelic League of London [London Branch of the Gaelic League]: Inis Fa´il [Inisfa´il; Inis Fail], ‘A Magazine for the Irish in London’ [Michael Davitt]
Publication details: 
Iúl [July] 1906 number. Gaelic League of London [no address].
£120.00

From the papers of Sylvia and Robert Lynd. Scarce: this number is lacking from the run in the National Library of Ireland. The title as one word ‘INISFÁIL’ on cover, but as the two words ‘INIS FÁIL’ on first page. 12 pp, 4to. Stapled in light-green printed wraps. In good condition, lightly aged, on high-acidity paper, in lightly-worn wraps carrying advertisements.

[Irish Land Question, 1854.] Autograph Letter Signed from Serjeant Shee [later Sir William Shee] [to James Johnstone or Robert Knox?], regarding the parliamentary response to his speech bringing in the ‘amended Tenants’ Compensation (Ireland) Bill’.

Author: 
[Irish Land Question, 1854.] Sir William Shee [Serjeant Shee] (1804-1868), English-born Irish Liberal politician and judge [Richard Cobden (1804-1865), Radical politician; James Johnstone (1815-1878)]
Publication details: 
'House of Commons / Feby 17 1854'.
£150.00

According to his entry in the Oxford DNB, Shee entered the House of Commons as Member for County Kilkenny in 1852, and promptly took charge of the Irish Tenant Right Bill. ‘On 16 February 1854 Shee brought in a bill which, with the exception of three clauses, was the exact counterpart of Sharman Crawford's bill of the previous session, but it met with little encouragement.’ Shee’s speech is reproduced in his ‘Papers, Letters, and Speeches in the House of Commons, on the Irish Land Question’ (London, 1863).

[Irish governance, 1921.] Printed pamphlet: ‘The Government of Ireland. By Mrs J. R. Green. Foreword by George Russell (Æ)’.

Author: 
‘Mrs J. R. Green’ [Alice Stopford Green], author; foreword by George Russell (Æ)
Publication details: 
‘Labour Booklets No. 5’. 1921. The Labour Publishing Co. Ltd., 6 Tavistock Square, London. Printed by The Riverside Press Limited, Edinburgh.
£40.00

From the papers of Sylvia and Robert Lynd. Eight copies on JISC, but now scarce. 16pp, 12mo. Stapled. In fair condition, on aged high-acidity paper. With heavily-worn remains of front cover, of brittle green paper, carrying the title and publication details. Drophead title ‘THE / GOVERNMENT OF IRELAND’ on p.1. The first part titled ‘Historical’, with subtitle ‘The Rule of a Nation by a Nation’. The second part titled ‘Four Suggested Plans’, with subsections ‘The Home Rule Act of 1914’, ‘The Government of Ireland Act of 1920’, ‘Dominion Status’ and ‘The Republic’.

[The man Brunel called the largest railway contractor in the world: Sir Samuel Morton Peto, civil engineer, railway contractor and MP.] Autograph Letter in the third person to Lady Hooker, regarding ‘the next Election of the Idiot Asylum'.

Author: 
Sir Samuel Morton Peto (1809-1889), civil engineer, railway contractor and Radical Liberal Member of Parliament, George Borrow’s ‘Mr Flamson’
Publication details: 
22 November 1861. On letterhead of 9 Great George Street, Westminster S.W. [London]
£75.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB: ‘In the 1840s Peto had thirty-three railway contracts worth £20 million, the largest number held in the kingdom; according to Brunel he was the largest contractor in the world.’ 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded three times. Begins: ‘Sir Morton Peto presents his Compliments to Lady Hooker and begs to acknowledge the receipt of her not of the 9th. Inst. on his return from the Continent’. He regrets that ‘it will not be in his power to assist the Case of Dr.

[China exploration; Sir Clement Markham, geographer and explorer, President of the Royal Geographical Society.] Autograph Letter Signed re author of an account of a journey in Chih-l (china)..

Author: 
Sir Clements Markham [Sir Clements Robert Markham] (1830-1916), English geographer, explorer and writer, President of the Royal Geographical Society who organised Scott’s Antarctic expedition
Publication details: 
18 April 1905; 21 Eccleston Square S.W. [London]
£150.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded twice, with spots of discoloration around the creases and slight nick at head of leaf. On monogram (Order of the Bath?) letterhead with motto ‘Tria juncta in uno’. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Townshend’ and signed ‘Clements R Markham’. Acknowledging receipt ‘of a paper by your brother-in-law Mr.

[Charles Reade, popular Victorian novelist and playwright.] Autograph Letter in the third person to 'Alderman Spiers', regretting that he 'cannot dine out of College', but stating that he will 'look in'.

Author: 
Charles Reade (1814-1884), popular Victorian novelist and playwright [Magdalen College, Oxford]
Publication details: 
'Magd Coll [Magdalen College, Oxford] / Sunday. Feb 14 [1862].'
£50.00

Reade was a fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford, from 1836 to his death. According to his entry in the Oxford DNB: ‘in the years of his fame, and particularly in the early 1860s, he did much of his writing in his rooms at Magdalen, using them as a retreat. His tenure of the fellowship was contingent on his remaining unmarried, a stipulation he complained of bitterly but continued to put up with, even when he was earning thousands a year as a writer’. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly discoloured, on thin wove paper. Folded once.

[Sydney Smirke, RA, architect of the British Museum Reading Room.] Autograph Letter Signed to fellow Royal Academician Edward William Cooke, regarding a photograph by Vernon Heath.

Author: 
Sydney Smirke (1797-1877), RA, architect of the British Museum Reading Room [E. W. Cooke [Edward William Cooke] (1811-80), RA, marine painter; Vernon Heath (c.1819-95), photographer]
Publication details: 
'The Hollies / Tunbridge Wells / Aug: 7 [no year]'.
£50.00

See Smirke’s entry, and those of Cooke and Heath, in the Oxford DNB. His most celebrated design is the Reading Room of the British Museum. 2pp, 12mo. With monogram and mourning border. On first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Begins: ‘My dear Sir, / Vernon Heath, of Piccadilly, has made me a photograph of our new front, which is I think fairly satisfactory.’ He has told Heath to deliver a copy ‘addressed to you at the R. Academy’. As it is ‘rather large’, he did not like to send it ‘by post or Parcel’, as it ‘might get crushed on its way to you.

[The Great Duke of Wellington, conqueror of Napoleon at Waterloo, and two-time Tory Prime Minister.] Manuscript Letter in the third person, apparently written by a secretary.

Author: 
The Duke of Wellington [Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington] (1769-1852), conqueror of the French in the Peninsular War, and of Napoleon Bonaparte at Waterloo; two-time Tory Prime Minister
Publication details: 
'London March 7 1842.'
£80.00

One of the great figures in world history. See his entries in Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Oxford DNB. On one side of piece of laid paper rougly 11 cm squarer, with partial watermark ‘J G’. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with traces of mount on blank reverse. Folded twice. Reads: ‘London March 7 1842 / F M The Duke of Wellington presents his Compliments to Miss Busby / Not being resident at Oxford he has no Controul [sic] over any matter relating to the Bodleian Library. / Miss Busby should apply to the Vice Chancellor.

[China exploration; Sir Clement Markham, geographer and explorer, President of the Royal Geographical Society.] Autograph Letter Signed re author of an account of a journey in Chih-l (china)..

Author: 
Sir Clements Markham [Sir Clements Robert Markham] (1830-1916), English geographer, explorer and writer, President of the Royal Geographical Society who organised Scott’s Antarctic expedition
Publication details: 
18 April 1905; 21 Eccleston Square S.W. [London]
£150.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded twice, with spots of discoloration around the creases and slight nick at head of leaf. On monogram (Order of the Bath?) letterhead with motto ‘Tria juncta in uno’. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Townshend’ and signed ‘Clements R Markham’. Acknowledging receipt ‘of a paper by your brother-in-law Mr.

[The man Brunel called the largest railway contractor in the world: Sir Samuel Morton Peto, civil engineer, railway contractor and MP.] Autograph Letter in the third person to Lady Hooker, regarding ‘the next Election of the Idiot Asylum'.

Author: 
Sir Samuel Morton Peto (1809-1889), civil engineer, railway contractor and Radical Liberal Member of Parliament, George Borrow’s ‘Mr Flamson’
Publication details: 
22 November 1861. On letterhead of 9 Great George Street, Westminster S.W. [London]
£75.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB: ‘In the 1840s Peto had thirty-three railway contracts worth £20 million, the largest number held in the kingdom; according to Brunel he was the largest contractor in the world.’ 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded three times. Begins: ‘Sir Morton Peto presents his Compliments to Lady Hooker and begs to acknowledge the receipt of her not of the 9th. Inst. on his return from the Continent’. He regrets that ‘it will not be in his power to assist the Case of Dr.

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