1851

[?The Shakespeare feeling is wider than we any of us thought?: William Hepworth Dixon, editor of the Athenaeum.] Autograph Letter Signed, as member of the National Shakespeare Committee, discussing the ?fitting form of memorial?.

Author: 
William Hepworth Dixon (1821-1879), journalist, editor of the Athenaeum, a Deputy Commissioner of the Great Exhibition of 1851 [National Shakespeare Committee]
Publication details: 
25 February 1864. On letterhead of the National Shakespeare Committee, 120 Pall Mall, S.W. [London]
£35.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with small nick at foot of gutter, and glue from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf showing through very slightly. Folded for postage. The recipient is not named. Signed ?W. H. Dixon?. Begins: ?Dear Sir / Many thanks for your note.

[Theatre Royal, Drury Lane: James Robertson Anderson, Scottish actor and playwright, lessee and manager.] Autograph Letter Signed, thanking Peter Whelan for his sympathy, and assuring him that he will adopt his advice.

Author: 
James Anderson [James Robertson Anderson] (1811-1895), Scottish actor and playwright, lessee and manager of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane [Peter Whelan]
Publication details: 
9 February 1850; on letterhead of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane [London].
£30.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. He had taken on the management of Drury Lane in 1849, and had hoped to profit from the Great Exhibition, but retired from it in 1851, having incurred substantial losses. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, on the first leaf of a bifolium, with the reverse of the second leaf bearing minor traces of mount, as well as the following annotation in a contemporary hand: ?Jas: Anderson Esqre / Lessee Drury Lane / Theatre / T Bateman Esqre. / a P. Whelan?. Anderson addresses to ?Peter Whelan Esqr.? and gives an untidy signature ?James Anderson?.

[Sir Wentworth Dilke [Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 1st Baronet], Whig politician.] Autograph Letter Signed asking the recipient to resend references to Lord Campbell and the ‘Carlton Pamphlets’.

Author: 
Sir Wentworth Dilke [Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 1st Baronet] (1810-1869), Whig politician, Leading Commissioner of the Great Exhibition of 1851
Publication details: 
‘Sloane St. [London] 3 Jany [no year]’.
£35.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. Signed ‘W Dilke’. Embossed armorial letterhead of a falcon. The recipient is not named. In good condition, lightly aged, neatly inserted in trimmed windowpane mount. Twice folded for postage. Thirteen lines of text in his distinctive close backwards-leaning hand. The hand is not entirely straightforward, and what follows is a tentative reading.

[Sir Wentworth Dilke [Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 1st Baronet], Leading Commissioner of the Great Exhibition.]

Author: 
Sir Wentworth Dilke [Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 1st Baronet] (1810-1869), Leading Commissioner of the Great Exhibition of 1851,
Publication details: 
'76 Sloane Street [London] / 3. October 1856.'
£45.00

See his entry, with those of his father and son (all three named Charles Wentworth Dilke) in the Oxford DNB. With regard to the present item the ODNB states: 'His deep involvement in the project [i.e. the 1851 Great Exhibition] is demonstrated by his massive bequest of exhibition material now held at the Victoria and Albert Museum.' 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with a crease to one corner. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to 'Henry Maudsley Esq' and signed 'C Wentworth Dilke'.

[[Act of Parliament; establishment of the Science Museum, etc.] [Printed] An Act for releasing the Lands of the Commissions for the Exhibition of 1851, upon Repayment of Monies granted in aid of their Funds. [12th July 1858]

Author: 
[Act of Parliament; establishment of the Science Museum, etc.]
Publication details: 
Eyre and Spottiswoode, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, 1858.
£250.00

Four pages, sm. fol., bifolium. damaged at join not affecting text, removed from bound volume. Whereas the Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 have purchased Lands at Kensington Gore with a view to secure adequate space in the Metropolis for Institutions connected with Science and Art [...].

[[Act of Parliament; establishment of the Science Museum, etc.] [Printed] An Act for releasing the Lands of the Commissions for the Exhibition of 1851, upon Repayment of Monies granted in aid of their Funds. [12th July 1858]

Author: 
[Act of Parliament; establishment of the Science Museum, etc.]
Publication details: 
Eyre and Spottiswoode, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, 1858.
£250.00

Four pages, sm. fol., bifolium. damaged at join not affecting text, removed from bound volume. Whereas the Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 have purchased Lands at Kensington Gore with a view to secure adequate space in the Metropolis for Institutions connected with Science and Art [...].

[The first census of the British Empire.] Two documents printed for Earl Grey at the Colonial Office: Major Graham's 'Memorandum' of 'suggestions' on how to take a colonial census; and a letter from Grey instructing colonial governors to prepare one.

Author: 
Major George Graham (1801-1888), Registrar General of England and Wales, 1842-1879; Earl Grey [Henry George Grey, 3rd Earl Grey (1802-1894)] [Sir Frederick Peel (1823-1906), Liberal MP]
Publication details: 
[HMSO, London.] The Major Graham document, dated from the General Register Office [Somerset House, London], 7 December 1848. The Grey circular dated from Downing Street, 20 January 1849.
£320.00

Two printed documents: the first carrying Major Graham's 'Memorandum' of 'suggestions respecting the mode of taking a Census in each of our Colonial Posssessions', together with his observations on the making up of 'Statistical Abstracts', a specimen 'Form of Return' and a covering letter; the second a circular letter from Earl Grey, instructing colonial governors 'to cause a Return of the Population of the Colony under your Government to be prepared'. For the background to these two documents, see A. J.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Granville') from Liberal Foreign Secretary Granville George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville, to a 'Baron', stating his position on whether Louis Napoleon's 'mischievous motions' will bring about war in Europe.

Author: 
Granville George Leveson-Gower (1815-1891), 2nd Earl Granville, Liberal Home Secretary, 1851-1852 [Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (1808-1873), Napoleon III, Emperor of the French; France]
Publication details: 
Bruton St [Mayfair, London]. 20 February 1852.
£90.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Of great interest, as giving the informal position of the British Home Secretary on what was at the time the most important problem facing him. Granville would only last as Foreign Secretary for a week after writing this letter, as Russell's Liberal Government would fall on 27 February. Ironically, his elevation to the post of Foreign Secretary the previous Boxing Day had been due to Russell forcing Palmerston's resignation over his unauthorized recognition of Louis Napoléon's coup d'état. The letter is addressed to 'My dear Baron'.

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