ARTHUR

12mo, 2 pp. 9 lines of text. With mourning border. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He is glad that Macmillan and 'Mr Doulton' are coming to dine with him, but sorry that they 'will be obliged to leave so soon; but it cannot be helped'.

A celebrated and scarce piece of Second World War ephemera. Printed on one side of a piece of paper 33.5 x 21.5 cm. Text and illustrations clear and complete. In good overall condition, on lightly-aged and creased paper with small damp stain to top left-hand corner and repair on reverse to small closed tear. The text consists of a supposed 'Extract from a letter written by The Duke of Wellington from Spain, about 1810.

12mo (leaf dimensions 22.5 x 14 cm): 12 pp paginated [3] to 14. Lacking (presumed) title-leaf. Unstitched, and consisting of one sheet of paper, 45 x 28 cm, folded twice to make four leaves; and one half sheet, 22.5 x 28 cm, folded to make two leaves. Text clear and entire, on heavily aged and spotted paper chipped at extremities. In an attempt to defend a perceived attack on his honour, W. D. B. prints, with commentary, three letters written by him to the editor of the Naval and Military Gazette, only the first of which was published (6 August 1839).

12mo, 15 pp. Stitched as issued. Text clear and complete on aged, worn and foxed paper. Can be dated from references in text, and from quotation on title from 'Arthur Arnold, M.P.' (Arnold's career in the House of Commons ending in 1885). Carries a few contemporary marks in light pencil, and a column in shorthand on the blank reverse of the last leaf. Excessively scarce: no copy in the British Library, on COPAC or on WorldCat.

4to: 1 p. Good, on lightly aged and spotted paper. Regarding 'certain verses concerning this street', Walpole will 'find an explanation of the whole circumstance in this week's Notes & Queries'.

Dimensions: 17.5 x 13.5 cm. 64 pp. In original coloured paper covers. Priced at 10d, and thus the British edition and not one produced for the foreign market. Good and tight, on browned paper. Attractive image on front cover showing a bemused Holmes puffing on his pipe as he wanders down a country-house corridor whose walls are covered in paintings, while the spectral figure of the hound's head looms above him.Covers lightly worn and slightly damaged by the rusting of the staples. Both stories are told in comic strip form.

Text of all three letters clear and entire. A well-written and well-informed correspondence relating to 'locomotive matters'. Letter One (14 October 1942): Manuscript. Foolscap, 4 pp. Good, on aged high-acidity paper. 'Knowing, and to some extent, at least, sharing' King's 'interest in loco matters', Pimm informs him that the Ministry of Supply 'have ordered 360 L.M.S. mixed traffics generally like the 227 that AW's [Armstrong Whitworth] bill as their last order'.

Six pages, 8vo, some edges dusty but mainly good condition. (1892) He can't leave the House of Commons at 5 o'clock. (March 1905) Thanks Hutton for a copy of the Proceedings at the Banquet of the British Cotton Growing Association, and for references in it to Balfour's contributions to the "movement". (Nov. 1905) Thanks for a copy of the Second Annual Report of the British Cotton Growing Association, and is pleased with the movement's progress. With: A memo (a pencilled note explains), on 13 Jan. 1903, "drawn up by McNiel & corrected by Mr Balfour".

12mo: 4 pp. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper. 65 lines of text. Discusses, among other matter, the recipient's 'Exposition de Dentelles', a 'voyage à Bruxelles', a 'très agréable reunion à Abbeville', and a trip by 67 members to Kent. Accompanied by a ten-line manuscript biography of de Marsy, in French in a contemporary hand, tipped in onto another slip of paper cut away from the letter's envelope, and bearing the address in de Marsy's hand.

8vo: 211 pp. In original brown cloth binding, with title in gilt on front board. A good tight copy, on aged paper with occasional spotting, in worn binding with fraying at head and tail of spine. Four-page list of subscribers at rear. Fifteen chapters, with subjects including Wat Tyler, John Cade, Wingham College; the Oxenden and Palmer families, and the manor house of the Archbishops of Canterbury.

12mo, 3 pp. Good. Folded twice and with the blank verso of the second leaf of the bifolium a little grubby. A formal letter in the third person, declining to present a petition to the House of Lords, on the grounds that 'The Duke has no relation whatever with [Honiton]'. The date, and the words 'Mr Aberdein', 'Honiton', ', which he retains' and 'Robert Aberdein Esq' are in Wellington's hand.

Two pages, 12mo. Very good. A formal letter written in the third person. 'Lord Liverpool presents his compliments to Mr. Barker and in answer to your [sic] letter regrets that his father has been dead two years and therefore he cannot comply with Mr. Barker's request for his signature.'

Quarto, one page. Good, on lightly aged paper spotted by paperclip, with some creasing to extremities. 'If you will let your list down to this level, here you are'. The letterhead carries the names of the Pageant's officers with a Welsh dragon in red in the top left-hand corner. From the collection of Rev. E. J. F. Davies.

All eight items are 4to, 1 p, and good on lightly aged paper. Seven items bearing the Society's stamp and four docketed. The correspondence concerns a talk given by Pearson to the Society, 'on the subject of the training of the soldiers blinded in the War'. On 19 October 1916 Pearson writes: 'I am a little afraid that I cannot properly carry out the suggestion you so kindly make. I am quite blind, and therefore am unable to read a paper.' The 'preparation of a formal paper' would 'demand more time than I am able to spare at present.

12mo: 2 pp. Thick mourning border. Good. The recipient has provided a partial interlinear transcription of what the New DNB describes as 'Stanley's execrable handwriting'. Stanley is 'much obliged for having [his] attention called to anything in the Abbey Services which requires rectification', and will 'make inquiry into the cause of [his correspondent's] complaint'. The 'inattention [...] will be remedied, so far as the nature of the case admits'.

12mo: 1 p. Good, with four fold lines. Helps held the post of Clerk of the Privy Council from 1860 until his death. In large letters beneath the oval blue Privy Council crest reads 'Life of | Las Casas | 2 copies for | [signature] A Helps'. The handwriting is bold and the signature is underlined with a flourish.

12mo: 1 p. Good. Purple receipt stamp in top left-hand corner. 'Lord Salisbury requests Messrs. Williams & Norgate to send him Harnack's "Die Chronologie der Altchristlichen Literatur bis Eusebius". Also another volume he published 3 or 4 years ago on the same subject - the "Geschichte".' One presumes that the present British Prime Minister is equally cultured.

4to: 4 pp. Unbound bifolium. On lightly discoloured and spotted paper, lightly worn at extremities. Central horizontal fold. Gives details of eight lectures, by, successively, H. Finer ('Impressions of America'), Montague Fordham ('The Rural Problem'), R. B. Forrester ('Co-operative Marketing'), Professor R. Peers ('Can we educate the Community?'), Arthur Greenwood, M.P. ('The Present Position and Future Policy in regard to Housing'), C. S. Orwin ('Land Tenure'), Rt. Hon. [sic] Sidney Webb, M.P. ('Poor-Law Reform'), and (with the 'syllabus' covering an entire page) H. St. J. B.

One page, octavo. On aged paper, with slight chipping to corners, but text clear and entire. He is afraid that he 'did not answer your second letter in regard to a book on Sex.' 'After careful consideration', Thomas and 'Prof. Geddes' [Sir Patrick Geddes, 1854-1932] have come to the conclusion that 'if we wrote another book on that subject it should be published either by "Walter Scott" (who has 'The Evolution of Sex') or by Williams and Norgate (who have 'Sex')' [both books, 1889 and 1914 respectively, also by Geddes and Thomson].

One page, 12mo. Black border. Good, on aged and ruckled paper, with small glue stain at head (not affecting text). Asks to be released from 'coming to Oldham Road' on 4 July, as 'Saturday is an evening wich I usually make a rule of keeping to myself for the purposes of preparation for the Sunday'. Docketed at head in contemporary hand, 'Revd Arthur Mursell, Manchester'. Mursell's most interesting work would appear to be 'Bright Beads on a Dark Thread; or visits to the haunts of vice, etc.' (London, 1873).

Leaflet. Two pages, 12mo. Tasteful bifolium on cream wove paper. Unbound. Good, though a tad grubby. Gill woodcut (roughly two inches by one and a half) on front: two hands around the front of a large 'V' with rest of word 'Veritas' on stem and cross at head. Apparently numbered in pencil bottom-right of woodcut 579.

LETTER ONE (manuscript): Two pages, 12mo. Good on aged paper with a little light foxing. Is 'glad of the opportunity' to tell Clayton 'how highly appreciated on the Committee was the assistance you gave it, your assiduity & attention, your fairness, & your practical wisdom. Besides your kindliness & unvarying good temper were an invaluable element. For myself personally I feel I have made a new friend; wh. in old age is not so easy, & therefore is all the more agreeable.' Signed 'Arthur L Smith'. LETTER TWO (typed): three pages, octavo. Good, though slightly dogeared.

French authority on English literature, and in particular on the poet Algernon Charles Swinburne. The recipient (1878-1959) was editor of the 'London Mercury' at the time of writing. One page, quarto. In poor condition, with fraying and closed tears to edges. 'I herewith return revised proofs of my French Novelists. | May I remind you that I should be glad to have some galley proofs if it can be easily arranged?' Signed 'Georges Lafourcade'.

Journalist (1802-79). Three pages, 12mo. Good, but on slightly discoloured grey paper, with some staining from previous mounting to one edge. 'Dear Sirs, | You will see some of your publications noticed in the Morning Advertiser of to-day. As we mean to make literary notices a feature in our paper, any publications you may send us will meet with every attention. Mrs Hall's "Pilgrimages" [published by Arthur Hall, Virtue & Co] has not reached me, otherwise, being a Christmas book it would have met with an immediate notice.' Asks to be sent 'all the advertisements you can.

British civil servant (1836-1909) and organiser of many international exhibitions. Two pages, quarto. Good, though a touch grubby, and with pin holes in top left-hand corners of both leaves. Ornate letterhead with lettering in front of clouds with sun rays behind and American eagle and flag to the left.

English civil servant (1864-1939). The recipient was an educationalist and authority on Edmund Burke. One page, quarto. Very good on slightly discoloured paper. Docketed and bearing the Society's stamp. 'On behalf of Sir Alfred Mond [Committee Chairman], I hasten to assure you and the Committee at the Royal Society of Arts that there is at present no intention on the part of H.M.

British geographer and Labour politician (1911-94), son of the antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton. One page, quarto. Very good. Folded three times. Docketed in red ink. He must decline the invitation to become a Fellow of the Society. 'It is certainly an honour and I would have liked to accept this invitation, but I have lately had to cut down on the membership of various societies since, as you can imagine, the subscriptions do mount up. This is frankly the reason, for I have become very well aware of the importance of the work of the Royal Society of Arts.'

English scientist (1871-1938), Professor of Chemical Technology at the Imperial College of Science and Technology. All items quarto and very good, though lightly grubby, creased and stained in places. All five docketed and bearing the Society's stamp. LETTER ONE (one page): He will be happy to give 'a course of Cantor lectures [...] on the subject of "Surface Construction" provided that you will put in the requisite gas & air services at your cost for the practical Demonstration'.

English architect (1878-1951) whose firm's commissions include the Ritz Hotel in London, the country houses Luton Hoo, Coombe Court and Polesden Lacey, and the ocean liners Aquitania and Queen Mary. One page, folio. Very good. Docketed and carrying the Society's stamp. He has 'called on Sir Charles Allom with regard to the judgment of the designs which you showed me yesterday', and they agree that 'only two of the selected schemes should be rewarded.

Evangelical churchman and preacher (1869-1936), National Secretary of the Young Men's Christian Association. First letter one page, quarto; second letter one page, octavo. Both very good though dusty. Both signed 'A. K. Yapp'. One letter docketed, and both bearing R.S.A. stamp. LETTER ONE: '[I]t is most probable that we can render the assistance indicated in your letter, and I should be very glad to meet you at some time mutually convenient.