OF

[Richard Westmacott, sculptor, Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy.] Autograph Letter Signed to the wife of ‘Mr B.’, congratulating the couple on their wedding anniversary, and looking forward to his own marriage.

Author: 
Richard Westmacott (1799-1872), sculptor and Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy, son of Sir Richard Westmacott (1799-1872)
Publication details: 
‘Wednesday / Aug. 8. 1838’. No place.
£45.00

See his entry, and that of his father, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with neatly-trimmed remnants of a windowpane mount adhering to the edges of the leaf. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘My dear Madam’ and signed ‘R. W:’, followed by odd flourish.

[Stewart Macpherson, musicologist and Dean of the Faculty of Music, University of London.] Autograph Letter Signed, requesting the revise of his 'biography for Modern Makers of Music' from publishers T. Seely, Clarke & Co.

Author: 
Stewart Macpherson [Charles Stewart Macpherson] (1865-1941), Anglo-Scottish musicologist, Dean of the Faculty of Music in the University of London
Publication details: 
12 September 1908. On letterhead of 23 Chepstow Villas, Bayswater, W. [London]
£50.00

See his entry in Grove’s, and Percy A. Scholes’s obituary in the Musical Times, June 1941. 2pp, 12mo. Addressed to ‘Messrs. T. Seeley Clark & Co:’ and signed ‘Stewart Macpherson’. On bifolium of grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. They have led him to understand that he would have a revised proof of his ‘biography for Modern Makers of Music’ in time for the publication of the work in the autumn would be published that autumn, and is writing to remind them that he has ‘not yet received the revise’.

[Sir Thomas Myddleton Biddulph, Keeper of the Privy Purse under Queen Victoria.] Autograph Letter Signed to the painter Joseph Lionel Williams, regarding permission to copy royal paintings in Windsor Castle.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Myddleton Biddulph (1809-1878) British Army officer and courtier of Queen Victoria, Master of the Household and Keeper of the Privy Purse [Joseph Lionel Williams (c.1832-1877), artist]
Publication details: 
‘Windsor Castle / April 16. 1872.’
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, together with that of the Williams family. (The recipient Joseph Lionel Williams (c.1832-1877) was son of the wood-engraver Samuel Williams (1788-1853).) 2pp, 12mo. On paper with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice.

[Sir Frederick Lugard, Governor of Hong Kong, Governor-General of Nigeria.] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Edwin Arnold, having promoted the interests of Arnold’s recommendation, and with generous references to him.

Author: 
Sir Frederick Lugard [Frederick John Dealtry Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard; Lord Lugard] (1858-1945), Governor of Hong Kong, first Governor-General of Nigeria [Sir Edwin Arnold, author of 'Light of Asia']
Publication details: 
1 August 1903. On letterhead of the Junior Army & Navy Club, St James’s Street, S.W. [London]
£120.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo, with last page written crosswise. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Addressed to ‘Dear Sir Edwin’ and signed ‘F D Lugard’. He regrets to inform him that there is ‘no present vacancy in Northern Nigeria’, but that he has ‘written to the c.o. on behalf of Mr Trayler whom you recommend, & I hope he may obtain an appointment in another Colony if no vacancy occurs in N. Nigeria’.

[Mary Berry, diarist, close friend, with her sister Agnes, of Horace Walpole.] Autograph Letter Signed to Lady Georgiana Agar-Ellis, explaining confusion over accepting an invitation.

Author: 
Mary Berry (1763-1852), diarist and close friend, with her sister Agnes, of Horace Walpole, whose papers her family inherited [Lady Georgiana Agar-Ellis, latterly Countess of Carlisle (1783-1858)]
Publication details: 
‘tuesy / 8 May’. No place.
£90.00

See 2pp, 16mo. On first leaf of a bifolium, with the reverse of second leaf addressed ‘To the / Lady Georgiana Ellis / Spring Garden [sic]’, and with torn corner of second leaf beneath red wax seal. Folded twice for postage. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. ‘I have a thousand apologies to make for not having already said that my sister & I should have much pleasure in dining with you on the 19th. The truth is, that she thought I had done it & I thought she had - We are ashamed of ourselves’. The second part of the letter is difficult to decipher.

[Lord Halifax [Charles Lindley Wood, 2nd Viscount Halifax], ecumenist.] Autograph Letter Signed to the editor of the Church Review, regarding a new chapel for Edward King, Bishop of Lincoln, paid for by Halifax’s English Church Union.

Author: 
Lord Halifax [Charles Lindley Wood (1839-1934), 2nd Viscount Halifax], Anglo-Catholic ecumenist, for fifty years President of the English Church Union [Edward King (1829-1910), Bishop of Lincoln]
Publication details: 
‘88 Eaton Sqr [London] / Jany 3 / 1888.’
£56.00

See his entry, and that of Bishop King, in the Oxford DNB. For the context of the present item - a chapel ‘built by an ingenious use of a portion of the Old Palace ruins’ - see Randolph and Townroe, ‘The Mind and Work of Bishop King’ (1918), chapter 6: ‘The entire furnishing and decoration of the chapel was undertaken by members of the English Church Union, in response to an appeal made by the President of the Society. The consecration took place in 1888.’ (The Bishop’s letter of thanks to Lord Halifax is quoted.) 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice.

[Lord Halifax [Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax], Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer.] Autograph Note Signed, requesting a book of the secretary of the London Library.

Author: 
Lord Halifax [Charles Wood, 1st Viscount Halifax (1800-1885)], Liberal politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord John Russell
Publication details: 
8 November 1877. ‘Hickleton’ [Hickleton Hall, Yorkshire] On letterhead of Howick, Lesbury, Northumberland.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged, with one dog-eared corner. Reads: ‘To the / Secretary of the London Library. / St James’s Sq / Sir / Be good enough to let me have the book of which I enclose the title / Yours / Halifax’.

[Lord Ullswater [James William Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater], Speaker of the House of Commons during the First World War.] Autograph Card Signed to ‘Walter', regarding a misdirected item of correspondence, with reference to Lady Ilbert.

Author: 
Lord Ullswater [James William Lowther, 1st Viscount Ullswater (1855-1949), British Conservative politician, Speaker of the House of Commons between 1905 and 1921
Publication details: 
26 May 1915. On letterhead of the Speaker’s House, S.W. [Westminster]. Embossed with government crest of the Speaker of the House of Commons.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The identity of the recipient is unclear. Written on one side of a small (12 x 9.5 cm) plain card. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with one vertical crease. Reads: ‘Dear Walter / Enclosed is, as you may see, addressed to Speaker Court. I opened it & think it may be for Miss Erskine. If not, will you send it on to Lady Ilbert. Nothing is known of it here. / Yours sincerely / James W Lowther’. Lady Ilbert was wife of the Clerk of the Commons, Sir Courtenay Ilbert, from whose papers the item derives.

[John Walter the younger, proprietor of The Times.] Autograph Letter Signed to Tom Taylor, editor of Punch, regarding the Arundel Society, and a ‘wonderful’ chromolithograph of a Van Eyck.

Author: 
John Walter (1818-1894) the younger, proprietor of The Times [Tom Taylor (1817-1880), playwright, editor of Punch]
Publication details: 
20 February 1873. On letterhead of 40 Upper Grosvenor Street [London].
£56.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded once. From Taylor’s papers. Addressed to ‘Tom Taylor Esq’. Begins: ‘Dear Mr Taylor / I have profited by your kind instructions, & enrolled myself on the List of the Arundel Society.’ He finds the collection ‘well worth seeing’, and ‘the Van Eyck in particular strikes me as being the most wonderful example of successful reproduction in Chromo Lithography that I have yet seen’. Signed ‘J Walter’. From Taylor’s papers.

[Lord Carnarvon: Henry Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon.] Autograph Letter in the Third Person, thanking Mrs Page for papers on the boundaries of Highclere, and commiserating with her on the death of Colonel Page.

Author: 
Lord Carnarvon [Henry John George Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon (1800-1849)], English nobleman, Tory politician and traveller, owner of Highclere Castle, Hampshire [Colonel Page]
Publication details: 
‘43. Grosvenor Sq / July 2. 1835.’ [London]
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 4to. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Folded four times. Begins: ‘Lord Carnarvon presents his Compliments to Mrs. Page and is extremely obliged by her polite attention in sending him the Papers relating to the boundaries of Highclere - Burghclere, and Woodhay Parishes, which he has no doubt will prove extremely useful to him’. He has ‘many apologies to make for not sooner acknowledging the receipt of the Papers, but he has been for some time past incessantly occupied in attending the Committee on the Gt.

[The Duke of Devonshire: Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke.] Typed Letter Signed, inviting Sir Courtenay Ilbert to join a 'group of gentlemen' meeting 'to consider the future of the Law School at the Universities of Leeds and Sheffield'.

Author: 
Duke of Devonshire: Victor Cavendish (1868-1938), 9th Duke of Devonshire, Governor-General of Canada [Sir Courtenay Ilbert (1841-1924), Clerk of the House of Commons who drafted Indian ‘Ilbert Bill’]
Publication details: 
25 July 1916. On lightly-embossed letterhead of Devonshire House, Piccadilly, W. [London]
£65.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged and discoloured. Folded twice. The salutation ‘Dear Sir Courtenay’ and valediction ‘Yours v. truly / Devonshire’ in his autograph, the rest type. Addressed to ‘Sir Courtenay Ilbert, G.C.B.’ He is ‘hoping to arrange a small and informal gathering to consider the future of the Law School at the Universities of Leeds and Sheffield’, and asks Ilbert to join ‘a certain number of gentlemen’ who will be lunching with him at Devonshire House on a named date, ‘With that object in view’.

[General Sir J.G. Maxwell, Commander-in-Chief in Ireland during the 1916 Easter Rising.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. Peverley Dodd', with regard to the etiquette for an engagement in Malta by the Duke of Connaught.

Author: 
General Sir John Grenfell Maxwell (1859-1929) British Army officer, Commander-in-Chief in Ireland during 1916 Easter Rising and its aftermath [Rev. Henry Peverley Dodd (1875-1938), army chaplain]
Publication details: 
‘The Palace / Malta / March 24.’ [1908] On letterhead of the High Commissioner, Mediterranean.
£220.00

The context of the letter is explained in Maxwell’s entry in the Oxford DNB: ‘In the autumn of 1902 Maxwell was chosen by the duke of Connaught, then acting commander-in-chief in Ireland, as his chief staff officer at Dublin. There he remained until May 1904, when Connaught became inspector-general of the forces, and Maxwell followed him to London.

[Alfred Perceval Graves, Anglo-Irish poet, father of Robert Graves.] Autograph Letter Signed to Tom Taylor, with news of parliament, an Irish humorous story, a 'treble anagram' and in hopes of meeting with Shirley Brooks, editor of Punch.

Author: 
Alfred Perceval Graves (1846-1931), Anglo-Irish poet, songwriter and folklorist, father of poet and critic Robert Graves [Tom Taylor (1817-1880), playwright, editor of Punch; Shirley Brooks]
Graves
Publication details: 
10 July [1872?]. Home Office, Whitehall. On letterhead of the Secretary of State, Home Department.
£180.00
Graves

See his entry, those of his sons Philip and Robert, and that of Taylor, in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on discoloured and lightly-worn paper. Addressed to ‘My Dear Mr Taylor’ and signed ‘Alfred P. Graves’. He begins by enquiring after the state of the recipient’s health, before giving details of when Parliament ‘will probably be up’: ‘Otherwise I have no political news to interest you.

[Tom Taylor and Sadler’s Wells.] Autograph Letter Signed to Taylor from Kate Crowe ('Miss Kate Bateman'), regarding the address he has written for her to recite at the reopening of Sadler's Wells, with pencil notes on Lord Burleigh by Taylor.

Author: 
Tom Taylor (1817-1880), playwright, editor of Punch, Times art critic; Kate Josephine Crowe (1842-1917), actress, daughter of American-born actress Sidney Bateman (1823-1881), lessee of Sadler's Wells
Publication details: 
Addressed by Kate Crowe: ‘7 Taviton St. Gordon Sqr. [London] W.1 / Oct. 1st. [1879]’ Taylor's notes without date or place.
£180.00

The present item is on a 12mo bifolium of light gray paper, with Kate Crowe’s letter on the two outer pages, and Tom Taylor’s unrelated pencil notes on the two inner pages. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. There is an engraved portrait of ‘Miss Kate Bateman’, with a long biographical footnote, on pp.160-161 of ‘The Reminiscences of J. L. Toole’, ed. Hatton (1889). That footnote states, with regard to the subject of this letter: ‘Miss Bateman appeared on the first night of the reopening of Sadler’s Wells under the management of [her mother] Mrs.

[Sir Edward Grey [Viscount Grey of Fallodon, First World War Foreign Secretary.] Autograph Note Signed to Lady Ilbert, wife of the Clerk of the Commons.

£35.00

See the entries on Grey and Lady Ilbert's husband (who was Clerk of the Commons) in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. In an elegant hand. Reads: '15. 2. 15 / Dear Lady Ilbert / Many thanks: I shall be very glad to dine on Wednesday / Yours sincerely / E Grey.'

[Lord Londonderry [Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquis of Londonderry], Anglo-Irish soldier and politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to cabinet minister Lord Fitzgerald, discussing Lord Brougham, General Cass, Afghanistan and other topics.

Author: 
Lord Londonderry [Charles William Vane, 3rd Marquis of Londonderry (1778-1854)], Anglo-Irish soldier and politician [Lord Fitzgerald [William Vesey-FitzGerald] (1783-1843), Tory politician]
Publication details: 
‘Hotel Beaune / Paris April 11 / 1843’.
£80.00

An unusually forthright communication for the period. See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. At the time of writing, Fitzgerald was President of the Board of Control under Sir Robert Peel. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and ruckled. Signed ‘Vane Londonderry’. Begins: ‘My Dear Ftizgerald / I had not an opportunity to thank you as I would in the H of Lords for all your kind attention to my wishes.

[Lowell Thomas, American author and broadcaster associated with Lawrence of Arabia.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mr. McCormick’ regarding a publication he has forgotten.

Author: 
Lowell Thomas [Lowell Jackson Thomas] (1892-1981), American author and broadcaster associated with T. E. Lawrence [Lawrence of Arabia] and television executive
Publication details: 
18 October 1977; on his letterhead, Hammersley Hill, Pawling, New York.
£60.00

Thomas broadcast many of his programmes from the Hammersley Hill estate, overlooking the Catskills. 1p, foolscap 8vo. On cream paper with letterhead in green. In good condition, folded twice for postage. Thomas’s bold signature, also in green, rises at an angle. Reads: ‘Dear Mr. McCormick, / I’ve entirely forgotten. / If you know of an extra copy I would like to add it to my collection. / With best wishes. / Sincerely, / Lowell Thomas’.

[Ernest Pauer, Austrian pianist who settled in London and became principal piano professor at the Royal College of Music.] Autograph Note in the third person to ‘Mrs Paget’, regarding an ‘Austrian Piano maker’.

Author: 
Ernst Pauer (1826-1905), Austrian pianist who settled in London in 1851, principal piano professor at the Royal College of Music
Publication details: 
6 October 1867. On embossed letterhead of 3 Cranley Place, Onslow Square [London].
£45.00

In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, laid down on part of page from album. Folded for postage. Neatly written. Reads: ‘6 Oct 1867 / Mr Pauer begs to inform Mrs Paget that the Austrian Piano maker will attend to her Piano tomorrow or Wednesday / In haste.’

[Battle of Britain, 1940; printed.] Offprint from The Times of ‘An airman to his mother / The fight with evil / “My earthly mission is fulfilled”’.

Author: 
Battle of Britain, 1940 [Royal Air Force; Second World War; The Times]
Publication details: 
Printing House Square, London: ‘Reprinted from The Times, June 18, 1940’.
£80.00

A nice piece of WW2 RAF ephemera, written on the eve of the Battle of Britain. Scarce: the only copies on JISC at the National Library of Scotland and Bishopsgate Institute in London. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The ‘Text of the Letter’ is printed across the centrefold, with an introduction on the first page, reading: ‘Among the personal belongings of a young R.A.F. pilot in a Bomber Squadron who was recently reported “Missing, believed killed,” was a letter to his mother - to be sent to her if he were killed.

[Alexander Balmain Bruce [Prof. A. B. Bruce, D.D.], Scottish theologian and minister of the Free Church of Scotland.] Autograph Letter Signed to Rev. Frederic Damstini Cremer, regarding a passage in his 'The Kingdom of God' and Edwin Pinder Barrow.

Author: 
Alexander Balmain Bruce [Prof. A. B. Bruce, D.D.] (1831-1899), Scottish theologian and minister of the Free Church of Scotland [Rev. Frederic Damstini Cremer, Rector of Keighley]
Publication details: 
‘32 Hamilton Park Terrace / Glasgow / 21 May 1892’.
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Addressed ‘Revd. F. Damstini Cremer / The Rectory / Keighley / England’. Signed ‘A. B. Bruce’. He begins by confirming that Cremer has has not mistaken his meaning ‘on p. 32 “The Kingdom of God”’, reaffirming over a paragraph what it is he was saying regarding the temptation of Christ. ‘It seems a considerable liberty, but then the Scripture writers do take liberties in their quotations & use of Holy Writ’.

[The 'Apostle of Liberalism': Sir James Mackintosh, Scottish historian and Whig politician.] Three Autograph Letters Signed to Rev. Thomas Maurice of the British Museum, on topics including Anglican ordination and a visit to Christie's auction house.

Author: 
Sir James Mackintosh (1765–1832) of Kyllachy, Scottish historian, jurist and Whig politician [Thomas Maurice (1754-1824), Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts at the British Museum, orientalist
Publication details: 
ONE: ‘Serle Street Lincolns Inn August 13th. [no year]’. TWO: ‘‘Charlotte Street / Monday Eight OClock P.M.’ [No date.] THREE: ‘Wednesday’. [No date or place.]
£180.00

Although he later repudiated his position, Mackintosh is notable for having defended the French Revolution from Edmund Burke's strictures. See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. With regard to Maurice's oriental studies, it is worth noting that Mackintosh was Recorder of Bombay, 1804-1811. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn and folded for postage. The last two show slight evidence of the breaking of the wafer, and the last has minor traces of brown paper mount. All three are bifoliums, and all are signed ‘James Mackintosh’.

[Battle of Jutland, 1916.] Eye-witness article titled ‘H.M.S. “Ardent” and the Jutland Action. / By A. M.’, i.e. Arthur Marsden, ship’s commander and one of two survivors of her sinking, in ‘The Britannia Magazine’ (Royal Naval College, Dartmouth).

Author: 
Battle of Jutland (1916): Arthur Marsden (1883-1960), Royal Navy officer commanding HMS Ardent; Royal Naval College, Dartmouth: The Britannia Magazine [Royal Navy]
Publication details: 
Christmas 1916. Underhill & Co., Printers & Publishers, Plymouth.
£280.00

This is an extremely scarce item, not held by the Imperial War Museum, and significant for the five-page eye-witness account it contains (pp.29-33): ‘‘H.M.S. “Ardent” and the Jutland Action. / By A. M.’, i.e. Lieutenant-Commander Arthur Marsden, who was in command of the Ardent and one of only two survivors of its sinking. It is remarkable that he was allowed to disseminate such a candid account (for the perusal of naval cadets!) within months of the engagement. On cover: ‘The Britannia Magazine / Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. / Christmas, 1916.’ and printers’ slug.

[Pyramids of Egypt.] Substantial Conclusion of Autograph Letter Signed from ‘William Lydiard - / Master’s Mate of HM Prison Ship San Ysidro’ to the Earl of Leicester, suggesting, after the fall of Alexandria, that ‘these mysterious piles’ be opened.

Author: 
[Pyramids of Egypt: William Lydiard, Master’s Mate of HM Prison Ship San Ysidro, Plymouth Dock [Earl of Leicester, President of the Society of Antiquaries; Egyptology; fall of Alexandria]
Publication details: 
Undated, but on Britannia paper watermarked 1805; and the San Ysidro was a prison ship at Plymouth between May 1805 and September 1814.
£380.00

Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaign, 1798-1801, inspired a period of ‘Egyptomania’ culminating in Champollion’s decipherment of the Rossetta Stone. The contribution of the author of this letter to this outpouring of scholarly activity is an offer to the President of the Society of Antiquaries of London to blow up one of the pyramids, in order to extract their contents. See the recipient’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 8vo. Bifolium of laid Britannia paper, watermarked 1805. Fifty-five lines, well laid out and written in a neat and stylish hand.

[Mary Anne Clarke; Duke of York] Handbill satire on the Duke of York, entitled 'Love a-la-mode, or, My Darling; A Duett, As Sung by An Overseer of the United Parishes of John Bull and St. George's, and Mrs. Clarke, late of Gloucester Place Theatre.'

Author: 
[Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany; Mary Anne Clarke (1776-1852)]
Mary Anne Clarke
Publication details: 
[circa 1809] 'Printed and Published by J. Lowe, No 27, Bakers Row, Whitehcapel Road.'
£120.00
Mary Anne Clarke

Printed on one side of a piece of laid paper, watermarked with date 1808, roughly 34.5 x 21 cm. Very good. Illustration at head, coloured in red and green, roughly 6.5 x 10 cm.

[William IV, King of the United Kingdom.] Autograph Signature (as Duke of Clarence) on frank addressed by him to Dr Carmichael Smith.

Author: 
William IV (1765-1837), King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1830-1837 (previously Duke of Clarence)
Publication details: 
4 December [no year]; London.
£45.00

See the entry for the ‘Sailor King’ in the Oxford DNB. On 12 x 7 cm piece of paper, cut from the cover of a frank. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight smudging and a small patch of light discoloration at centre (away from signature). Set out in customary fashion, and addressed by the future king (with the year cropped): ‘London. December fourth [...] / Dr: Carmichael Smith / M. D. / Upper [?] / Near Staines / Middlesex’. Firm signature at bottom left, with slight smudging to loops of the initial ‘C’: ‘Clarence’. See Image.

[The man who built Cardiff: John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquis of Bute.] Autograph Letter Signed, explaining restrictions he is placing on the recipient's permission to shoot on his land.

Author: 
The man who built Cardiff: John Crichton-Stuart, 2nd Marquis of Bute (1793-1848), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1794 and 1814, Scottish aristocrat and industrialist
Publication details: 
?Mountstuart [Mount Stuart House, Isle of Bute] 21st Septr 1820?.
£60.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly aged and spotted paper. Folded for postage. The recipient is not named. Signed ?Bute and Dumfries.? ?I should with pleasure have renewed to you a general permission to shoot upon my lands in Galloway, but having this year restricted other gentlemen in the neighbourhood on account of the condition of my muirs, [sic] I feel myself under the necessity of confining my permission to you within those which [match?] immediately with Mr Adair?s.?

[Sir Leslie Stephen, first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, father of Virginia Woolf.] Autograph Letter, Signed as ?The Editor of the Cornhill?, to an unnamed lady, declining the offer of an article.

Author: 
Sir Leslie Stephen (1832-1904), first editor of the Dictionary of National Biography, author and literary critic, father of Virginia Woolf
Publication details: 
24 December 1874; on letterhead of the Cornhill Magazine, Smith, Elder & Co [London].
£180.00

For information regarding Sir Leslie Stephen, consult Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, though somewhat aged and worn, with strip of brown paper stub adhering to one edge. Folded for postage. Reads: ?Madam, / I am obliged by your offer of an article, but, though I agree with you that it has some merit, I regret that my engagements make it quite impossible for me to accept it. / Your truly / The Editor of the Cornhill? (?Cornhill? little more than a series of scratches). See Image.

[Lady Dufferin [Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava], Vicereine of India; Emily Faithfull] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Miss Faithful', regarding her celebrated fund to provide medical care for the women of India.

Author: 
Lady Dufferin [(1843?1936), Marchioness of Dufferin and Ava], Vicereine of India, wife of Frederic, 1st Marquis, Viceroy of India.
Publication details: 
?Rome June 13th.? [circa 1886?]
£120.00

See her entry, and that of her husband, in the Oxford DNB. Hers states: 'most memorably used her energies to found the National Association for Supplying Female Medical Aid to the Women of India, often known as the Countess of Dufferin Fund, in 1885.' 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium on grey paper. Addressed to ?Dear Miss Faithful? and signed ?H. Dufferin & Ava?. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. She thanks her for her ?kind note? and will be grateful for any help she can ?ever give with regard to my Fund?.

[Hugh Boyd McNeile, Dean of Ripon.] Autograph Letter Signed from France to a 'Brother', in recommendation of 'Monsr. Rossellot', who is coming to England to promote the Female Orphan Asylum at Orleans.

Author: 
Hugh Boyd McNeile (1795-1879), Dean of Ripon, controversial Anglican cleric, fiercely opposed to Tractarianism and Roman Catholicism [Rosselot; Orleans Orphanage]
Publication details: 
‘Paris 30 April 1842’.
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium with thin mourning border. In poor condition, aged, worn and discoloured, with chipping and closed tears, but text clear and complete. The recipient (‘My dear Friend’) is not named. The letter’s valediction reads: ‘Your’s my dear Brother / most affy. / Hugh McNeile’. (Whether or not McNeile’s actual brother is unclear.) He explains that the bearer of the letter, ‘Monsr. Rossellot’, is ‘the Pastor of a Protestant Church in Orleans’, and that there is ‘at Orleans a female Orphan Asylum, on behalf of which he is going to England’.

[Henry Reeve, editor of the Edinburgh Review for four decades.] Autograph Letter Signed [to the publisher Alexander Macmillan] regarding books he intends to review by Lady Godon Duff and J. R. Seeley.

Author: 
Henry Reeve (1813-1895), editor of the Edinburgh Review from 1855 to his death, Registrar of the Privy Council, 1843-1887 [Alexander Macmillan (1818-1896), publisher]
Publication details: 
11 May 1866. On embossed letterhead of the Privy Council Office [Whitehall].
£120.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. The recipient (‘Dear Sir’) is not named, but is presumably Alexander Macmillan (see Oxford DNB), the publisher of the two books referred to in the letter, which he seems to have sent for review. The letter is signed ‘H Reeve’. Folded for postage. He begins by thanking him for sending copies of ‘Lady Duff Gordon’s Letters [from Egypt]’ and ‘Ecce Homo’ [‘a survey of the life and work of Jesus Christ’ by J. R. Seeley], which he has ‘already read with great interest’.

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