AUCTION

A nice collection of ephemera, relating not only to one of England’s best-loved poets, but also to Sotheby’s auction practice during the Great War. The provenance of the Gray letters put up for auction by Mrs Turpin is given in a New York Times article of 27 June 1915 (‘To sell relics of Thomas Gray; many letters by the poet will also be put up at auction at Sotheby's’), which stated in a report on the forthcoming sale that the letters ‘were transmitted to the present owner, Mrs.

As the Great Depression hit Gibbons found himself over-extended, and was forced into bankruptcy. The present item is scarce. The only copy on JISC is at the Paul Mellon Centre Library. 68pp, 8vo. In grey printed wraps, and with purchase slip tipped in. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. At head of title-page: ‘By Direction of Lieut.-Col. SIR WALTER GIBBONS, K.B.E., D.L. Following the Sale of the Freehold, and the proposed conversion of the Property into high-class Residential Flats.’ ‘Conditions of Sale’ on reverse of title. 974 lots.

One page, 12mo, laid down on l. larger stiff paper, some staining but text clear and complete. I would willingly be of service to Mrs Evans & attend the sale; but I wish not to buy books in quires - I am besides so very deaf that it is a pain to me to be in company - | Mrs Evans & you may depend upon my doing what little service is in my power when y[ou]r bound stock is sold [...] | P.S. I am delighted greatly with y[ou]r Travels ['Voyages' excised] of Mr. Coxe - He is a most accomplished Gentleman & I am sure has a most excellent heart..

An evocative artefact of a bygone age of well-read men with substantial libraries. See Coleridge’s entry in the Oxford DNB (in addition to his achievements he was the great-nephew of the poet). 3pp, 12mo. On a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Signed ‘Coleridge’ and addressed to ‘My dear Dickenson’. Coleridge’s hand is not an easy one, and the following rendition is in parts tentative. He begins by stating that he is touched ‘not a little’ by Dickenson’s letter, not having forgotten ‘old days in Harley Street & [St George’s?] Square’. He grieves at ‘the necessity you mention [i.e.

Eight Pages, sm. fol., two bifoliums, fold marks, good condition. Stock and Cobblers' Equipment listed with quantities and sums achieved. Headings: Pair Prunella Shoes; Prunella Boots, Cloth Boots [...] Leather Shoes, Boots, Gents Boots, Wellington Boots, Blucher Boots, Slippers [...], Grindstone (x 9), Cutting Board (x18), Logs, Lasts, Boothooks, etc. etc. See Images

Five-page list of items, fold marks, some dusting, fair condition. Lots, Buyers and Prices (see image). From Scythe and rake to horses and potatoes.

11pp, folio. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice into the conventional packet. Ten-page inventory, followed by full page valuation, neatly written out on six leaves, which are stitched together, with the reverse of the last leaf carrying the title written lengthwise in conventional style for the outside of the packet: 'Inventory & Valuation of the several effects of the late Thos. Harward Gardiner Esq deceased at No. 14 Brock Street Bath | Amount £574. 8. 6', along with the word 'Copy' in red. Also on this page, in pencil in an early twentieth century hand: '?

14pp, 4to. Stitched into grey printed wraps. In good condition, lightly aged, with one corner slightly dog-eared. 143 lots, divided into two sections: 'Miniatures and Enamels' and 'Objects of Vertu'. The snuff-boxes feature in the latter, and include: '112 A Louis XVI. plain oblong gold snuff-box, with rounded ends and reeded borders - bearing the mark of Henri Clavel, Paris 1778 - the rim engraved "DU PETIT DUNKERQUE"' and '122 A LOUIS XV.

The full title reads: 'Harmsworth Trust Library | The Tenth Portion | Catalogue of the Collection of the Writings of the Revd. C. L. Dodgson ("Lewis Carroll") Forming part of the renowned Library of the late Sir R. Leicester Harmsworth, Bt., LL.D. (and now Sold by Order of the Trustees)'. 21pp, 8vo. With frontispiece, and plate with illustrations on both sides, as well as several facsimiles in text. (Front cover states: 'Illustrated Catalogue (2 Plates and 6 Line Reproductions)'. In yellow printed and stapled wraps, with last page of text printed on inside back cover.

See Sams's entry in the Oxford DNB. Two letters providing an interesting glimpse of the practicalities of Victorian antiquarian bookselling. Both letters 3pp, 12mo, and bifoliums addressed on reverse of second leaf, with broken seals and postmarks, to 'Godfrey Meynell Esqre | at Mr Stamp's, | Surgeon, | Seaton Carew, | nr Hartlepool.' Both addressed to 'Respected Frd.' In fair condition, aged and worn. ONE: 15 August 1847. He begins by explaining that he was 'from home in the city of Durham' when Meynell's letter came.

Full title: 'By Direction of Dominion Student's [sic] Hall Trust. | Particulars, Plans and Conditions of Sale of | The Freehold Foundling Estate Bloomsbury, W.C.1 | producing a Gross Income of about £112,000 per ann. increasing in the near future to about £118000 per ann. and comprising Ground Rents, Rack Rents and Tenancies secured on Shops, offices, private hotels, flats, institutional hostels and other residential properties. Cleared building sites. Vacant possession of Lot 118, viz.

1p., foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, aged and lightly creased, with some wear to extremities. Healy begins by thanking Duff for his letter, and 'for your generosity in sending me copies of the two letters of Daniel Defoe'. He explains that he has 'searched for their whereabouts for about ten years', and had finally become convinced 'that unless they were in your family they were lost'.

12 pp., 8vo. Modern marbled bds. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. This interesting item is of significance to Ruskin scholars, containing a whole page describing 24 drawings and engravings by him, as well as a number of interesting books from the library of a close associate. The item was previously bound by Rossetti in a volume with two, unrelated, others. It then passed into the collection of the art historian Rose Sketchley, whose sister C. J. Sketchley presented it to Fulham Public Libraries in 1949. It is scarce: no copy has been traced on either OCLC WorldCat or COPAC.

15pp., folio. Stapled. In light-green printed wraps. With black and white photographic frontispiece illustration of 'West Dereham Abbey'; and coloured 50 x 76 cm. fold-out 'Plan of Estates at West Dereham, Norfolk, for Sale by Auction by Salter, Simpson & Sons in comnjunction with Messrs. Bidwell 1894', by 'Alger & Son, Litho. Diss'. Aged, worn and creased, with rusted staples, and map with closed tear and fraying to its outer edge. Containing descriptions of the twenty-five lots into which the estate is divided for the purposes of the sale ('The Estate, containing 1170a. 2r.

Rev. Charles Harington [sic] was grandson of Sir John Edward Harington (1760-1831) of Ridlington, 8th Baronet, and the item is from the Harington papers. The full title reads: 'The Rectory, Stoke Lacy | Catalogue of the Valuable and Modern Furniture | Including Iron Bedsteads, Blankets and Quilts, Chests of Drawers, Mahogany and Painted Wardrobes, Dairy & Kitchen Requisites, Bacon, Whitechapel Trap, Saddles, Casks, Hurdles, & numerous Effects,| To be sold by Auction, by Oakley & Son | On Thursday, 24th.

Victoria County History, Cambridgeshire, Volume 10, describes how, on the death in 1812 of Admiral Sir Charles Cotton, Landwade Manor 'passed to his son Sir St. Vincent Cotton who came of age in 1822. In 1850 he sold Landwade to Alexander Cotton, probably his younger brother (b. 1804).

4pp., 12mo. Two pages on bifolium with two-page postscript on loose leaf. In good condition, lightly aged. He thanks him for his 'kind note and opinion respecting my "Many Thoughts" [ anthology of 1857 ] of which nearly 267 - tons have been sold, an odd way of putting it you will say, but such is the fact.' He is working on a 'curious and suggestive book now on Aphoristic Wisdom'. He thinks he may 'gather something' from Girdlestone's 'Collection', which he undertakes will be 'most carefully and thankfully returned'.

v + [65] pp., 4to, paginated 67-131. With 49 collotype plates. Internally in good condition, lightly aged and worn, in worn binding. National Book League Library bookplate on reverse of title-leaf, and traces of the NBLL bookplate. A careful catalogue of the second portion of the sale of Thompson's sumptuous collection of manuscripts (the first portion having been sold by Sotheby's on 3 June 1920), with a two-page introductory note ('Preliminary') by him. The collection had previously been catalogued in four volumes by M. R. James and others.

7 + [1]pp., 12mo. Stitched. On aged and grubby paper. Second page reads: 'NOTE. | Clients wishing to make use of the volumes in this list, are requested to apply to the Sale-Room Clerk, to whom all books should be returned when finished with. | HODGSON & CO. | 115, Chancery Lane. | August, 1908.' The works are all in English and date from the late nineteenth century onwards. They range from 'Abbott (T. K.) Catalogue of Fifteenth-Century Books in the Library of Trinity College, Dublin 1905' to 'Wright (C. T. Hagberg) Catalogue of the London Library, St. James's Square 1903'.

27pp., small 4to. In vellum-paper wraps with decorative cover printed in red and brown. With six plates: two collotypes (portraits of Edmund Hodgson and Henry Hill Hodgson) and four black and white photographs: 'Exterior of Premises, 115, Chancery Lane', 'The Auction Room', 'Compiling a Catalogue (First Floor Room)' and 'Unpacking a Library (Basement)'. Title-page in red and black. In fair condition, internally good, on aged and worn paper, lacking free endpapers. A characteristically-tasteful production by the Chiswick Press. Now scarce.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged paper, laid down on part of a leaf from an album. He writes that he has 'carefully looked over the Copy of "Turner's England and Wales," that will be offered for Sale at Christies rooms on Tuesday next', and that while he finds it 'in all respects good of its kind, and applicable to the Library of a gentleman', it is 'not so well applicable to the Studio of an Artist, whose aim is to acquire from it, all the knowledge that a more refined class of impressions of places might impart to him'.

Full title: 'Catalogue of a Miscellaneous Collection of Modern Useful Books, many in choice bindings, the greater portion the Property of a Gentleman leaving England, also some interesting Archaeological Manuscripts, by William Bromet, Esq., M.D., F.S.A.' 15pp., 12mo. Unbound and side-stitched pamphlet. Aged, worn and grubby. 308 lots. Lot 181 is 'Caumont (M. de) Histoire del' Architecture au Moyen Age, some manuscript memorandums and illustrations added by the late Dr. Bromet | Caen, 1838'.

32pp., 12mo. Stapled. In blue wraps with '"The Belt." | Aylsham.' printed on front cover. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, with central vertical fold. In manuscript on front cover: 'Items marked X the property of Mrs. Wickes Exors'. Some ink emendations, and a large number of lots priced in pencil. Full title reads: 'Catalogue of the Superior Furniture for Entertaining & Sleeping Rooms, Pianoforte, Plate & Plated Ware, Old China, Books, Engravings, 100 Dozens of Wine, Table Services, Glass, Linen, Garden and other Effects, In and About the Late Residence of Mrs.

Medium-length unpaginated volume, 16mo. With ten fold-out plates (Perugino, Raphael, Giulio Clovio, Paolo Veronese, Rubens, Nicolas Poussin, Jean Marc Nattier, Thomas Gainsborough, Raeburn, Francois Millet). In printed wraps. On aged and worn paper, in heavily worn wraps. 118 items, well described, with prices.

vi + 229 + [1]pp., 8vo. Frontispiece facsimile letter from Benjamin Franklin. In original printed wraps. In blue cloth binding with title in gilt on front cover and spine. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, in worn binding. Full title: 'Stevens' Historical Collections.

14 + 1 pp., 12mo. Stapled. In fair condition, aged and worn, with rusted staples and loss to last leaf (not affecting text). A few pencil notes to the margins. 170 lots. The titles listed on the cover give an indication of the nature of the library: 'Ruskin's Modern Painters, 5 vols. | "Punch," 113 vols. | Encyclopaedia Britannica, 22 vols. | Blackie's Imperial Dictionary, 4 vols. | Royal Academy Pictures, 1891-1894. | Hogarth's Works, large folio. | Berwick's History of British Birds. | Whitaker & Thoresby's History of Leeds. | Gent's History of Ripon, 1733. | Notes and Queries, 60 vols.

J. F. Austen was the son of John Austen VII. For his relation to the novelist see 'Jane Austen's Letters', ed. Le Faye (OUP, 2011). The present item is excessively scarce, with no copies traced on either COPAC or OCLC WorldCat. 4to, 18pp. on ten leaves, paginated [1-2], 17-24, 57-63, 79. In original brown printed wraps. Aged and worn, with rusted staples.

The two letters each 1p., 4to. Both on aged paper, with wear to left hand margin causing loss to text. In the first letter Lent gives details of 8 of his 17 purchases on that day, adding that 'The Lots sold quite well, a good many co are here, also Bowes, Blackwell, Mc Leis Taylor (Scheurer). Edwards, Pickering & E. Mathews, have marks.' In the second letter he gives details of 5 of his 10 purchases, one of them for 'Mr Butterwick'. He gives details of three commissions which Butterwick left with him, only one of which was successful. Catalogue: 31 + [1]pp., 4to.

33pp., 8vo. In brown printed wraps. Disbound from a collection of pamphlets, and with library stitching on spine. Aged and worn, with stamp of the Free Public Library, Wigan, to damaged front cover. Covers and last leaf loose. 82 lots with unusually detailed descriptions. Mostly devoted to British artists, the collection included a Constable, couple of Turners, three Gainsboroughs and four by Sir Joshua Reynolds. Scarce: the only copy on COPAC or WorldCat at Oxford.

Both letter and catalogue have suffered damp damage, resulting in some loss of text. Letter: Addressed to Mrs Freeman at Trottescliffe Rectory. 1p., 4to.