BENJAMIN

An interesting letter from one great of the nineteenth-century stage to another. See the entries on Macready, Webster and Forster in the Oxford DNB. Curtis is a noted Federalist historian. 4pp, 16mo. Bifolium with mourning border. (His eldest daughter Nina had died at the age of twenty on 24 February 1850.) In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of tape from mount adhering to the second leaf. Two postage folds. Forty lines of text, addressed to ‘Benj. Webster Esq.’ and signed ‘W. C.

See the entries on Tierney (Physician-in-Ordinary to George IV and William IV) and Freeling (also a noted bibliophile) in the Oxford DNB. The letter is 3pp, 12mo, with underlinings in red pencil (probably by Freeling), and the reverse of the second leaf carrying the address and annotations by Freeling and Critchett. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with folds for postage and strip of tape from mount adhering to reverse of second leaf, which also has a strip of paper with an ANS by Critchett laid down lengthwise along the outer edge.

The phrase ‘Box and Cox’ has entered the English language. See the OED, and the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, landscape 12mo. Neatly inserted in a trimmed windowpane mount. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Signed ‘John M Morton’. Begins: ‘Dear Webster. / As Mr Anson informs me that you are “on the forward course to regenerated health” I hope I need not apologise for writing again.

The phrase ‘Box and Cox’ has entered the English language. See the OED, and the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, landscape 12mo. Neatly inserted in a trimmed windowpane mount. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Signed ‘John M Morton’. Begins: ‘Dear Webster. / As Mr Anson informs me that you are “on the forward course to regenerated health” I hope I need not apologise for writing again.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both letters signed ‘B Jowett’. ONE: Autograph Letter Signed to ‘My dear Bramston’. 2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, but with discoloration (probably deliberate, since he is writing from Scotland) to letterhead. Strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded for postage. Begins by asking for his thanks, and those of ‘Lord Kerry’ (his student, see Abbott’s ‘Life and Letters’), to be sent to ‘Captain Egerton for his kind and hospitable invitation’.

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. The material is in good condition, lightly aged, except that the envelopes of the first two items are somewhat worn and grubby. ONE: TLS to Douglas C. Dorrington. 1p, 12mo. The address to ‘Dear Mr. Dorrington’ and signature ‘Peter Pears’ are in autograph; the rest is typed. Written while Britten is dying. Reads: ‘Benjamin Britten wishes me to thank you for your kind message.

See his entry, together with that of Benjamin Britten, in the Oxford DNB, the latter explaining the context of the last letter, which is an attack on Britten and Peter Pears for not returning from the United States to wartime England. From the Scott papers. Each letter 2pp, 12mo, on a single leaf (a total of 8pp, 12mo). In good condition, lightly aged. Each letter folded for postage. All four letters addressed to ‘Miss Scott’, and each signed ‘Gordon Jacob’. ONE (1 April 1929): He will be ‘most delighted’ to give her ‘any information you may require about my work’.

See his entry, together with that of Benjamin Britten, in the Oxford DNB, the latter explaining the context of the last letter, which is an attack on Britten and Peter Pears for not returning from the United States to wartime England. From the Scott papers. Each letter 2pp, 12mo, on a single leaf (a total of 8pp, 12mo). In good condition, lightly aged. Each letter folded for postage. All four letters addressed to ‘Miss Scott’, and each signed ‘Gordon Jacob’. ONE (1 April 1929): He will be ‘most delighted’ to give her ‘any information you may require about my work’.

Shrewsbury was Disraeli’s Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms from 1875 to his death. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded three times for postage. With traces of wax from mounting at corners of blank reverse. Reads: ‘Mr. Rogers be so good as to correct enclosed list & take it to Mr. Parker immediately you have corrected it / - Yours truly / Ingestre / Tell them you have corrected it.’

See Bloomfield’s entry, and that of Norton, in the Oxford DNB. The fragment of the letter bearing his signature is 5 cm x 4.5 cm. It is dated at one corner ‘1845’, and reads ‘R. Bgham / Bloomfield’. It is laid down on one side of a 4to leaf extracted from an album and paginated 58.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded twice for postage. The address is printed on a small golden label affixed at the top left corner. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Catry’ and signed ‘With all best wishes - and thank you for writing! / Sincerely, / Eric Crozier.’ He asks him to forgive a typed letter, as he is ‘convalescing from a heart-attack, and still not very good at hand-writing.

1p, 4to. On discoloured and somewhat grubby paper, folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘S. Hodgson Esq.’ and signed ‘H M. Hake’. Hodgson has sent Hake ‘a manuscript fragment’, which does not seem to indicate either of ‘the portraits in the Gallery’. He has ‘looked up the record of portraits offered in the past but there is no mention of Mrs. Cruikshank or her executors.’ He asks a related question before turning to the subject of the physician Sir Benjamin Ward Richardson (1828-1896), who was in Hake’s opinion ‘more of a professional worthy than a national one’.

See Ashbourne’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. In accepting an invitation to an engagement at the end of the month he gives Ashbourne instructions for travelling to an earlier meeting ‘from Lyme Regis to Manchester, and afterwards catch the night mail at Chester’. He will send railway details ‘and full programme in a day or two’. He continues: ‘Our invariable practice here is a vote of confidence in Her Majesty’s Government, which will be put to the meeting, and then you will be asked to respond.’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and with two creases from folding for postage. Addressed to ‘Carmichael Thomas, Esq., / Mount Cottage, / Borough Green, / Kent.’ Cyclostyled signature of ‘Ben Purser.’ Begins: ‘For some time I have been desirous of becoming a member of the Royal Society of Arts. Mentioning this matter to your daughter a few days ago, Miss Thomas thought that if I wrote you in this connection you might possibly be able to arrange this matter for me.

Each of the seven plans is on a 27 x 35.5 cm piece of paper.The source has not been established, and each carries the pencil date 1878 in a modern hand. They are uniform in layout, each with heading of the name of the theatre followed by a plan in the form of a 22 x 15 cm lithographic illustration of the respective theatre, as viewed from the stage, with the seating numbered. Beneath each plan are names of proprietors, lessees and managers, prices of admission, and in every case the details of the two ticket agents ‘Mr.

See the entries of Bentinck and FitzRoy Somerset in the Oxford DNB. On approximate 11 x 6 cm rectangle cut from cover of letter. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor traces of grey paper mount adhering to blank reverse. Addressed by Bentinck in the customary staggered way: ‘Lieut: Genl. / Lord FitzRoy Somerset G.C.B. / Horse Guards’. Bentinck’s signature ‘G. Bentinck’ is at bottom left, underlined but without the line above the signature. The merest slither of the bottom of the loop of the initial ‘G’ has been cropped. See image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Reads: ‘Dear Miss Cond, / I have pleasure in sending you my signature. As you will see, it is quite an ordinary one. / Yours very truly / William Plomer’. The signature is in fact rather stylish in an understated way, and the underlining has two small curls in it. In ink on otherwise-blank reverse, by someone who misread the signature: 'William Ploms'. See Image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. On a bifolium the blank second leaf of which is laid down on part of a leaf from an album. Folded twice for postage. The recipient is ‘Henry Spicer Esq’, presumably a relation of the artist of the same name (d.1804; see ODNB), several of whose theatrical portraits are in the Garrick Club collection.

The recipient is not named, but can be identified as the Strand bookseller John Nourse, from Notes and Queries, 3 September 1881, which has as its first article a transcription, with commentary of five long letters from Mills to John Nourse, the noted scientific bookseller in the Strand, and the present item clearly belongs to the same correspondence, predating the first, which is dated 15 May 1765.

The 1880 'Balliol Masque' indicates Jowett's standing, and the pronunciation of his name: 'First come I. My name is Jowett. | There's no knowledge but I know it. | I am Master of this College, | What I don't know isn't knowledge.' See Jowett’s entry, and those of Lucas and Russell, in the Oxford DNB, which states regarding Jowett that by the end of his life he had become ‘synonymous with Balliol, which he turned into the leading college in the first university in the United Kingdom at the height of its world power’. 1p, 12mo. In good condition. Folded twice.

William and Mary owes its survival to Ewell: he rebuilt it from ruins after the American Civil War, and every morning during several years of closure he is said to have rung the assembly bell to keep the memory of the college fresh. The present item is 1p, landscape 8vo. It is in poor condition, on brittle high-acidity paper, with significant chipping to all the edges except the bottom one, which has resulted in the loss of a few letters of text, and to the engraved illustration of the college in the letterhead. The letter reads: ‘Mr. Walter G.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. The recipient is not named. An interesting letter, indicating the relationship between two major theatrical figures in Victorian London. The main body of the letter reads: 'Dear Sir, | You really must excuse my incurring any such responsibility as that you would impose upon me. I am unable to controul Mr.

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: '?

The full title is: 'An Address to the Quarterly, Monthly and Preparative Meetings, and the Members thereof, composing the Yearly Meeting of Friends, held in Philadelphia, By the Committee appointed at the late Yearly Meeting to have charge of the Subject of Slavery.' 12pp, 12mo. Pamphlet in (original?) plain brown wraps. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Begins with two pages of extracts from the minutes, 17 May 1839, regarding the setting up of the committee on 'the deeply interesting subject of Slavery', with reference to 'Benjamin Price, Jr. Clerk' and 'Deborah F.

1p, on the reverse of an advertisement, with engraving, for his 1886 book 'Tales and Sketches of Lancashire Life', cut down to 16 x 13 cm. On aged paper, with horizontal cut repaired with archival tape. Reads: '[Sent?] me very well. | The poems I propose reading will be | "The New Shirt." | and "The Gravelgate Flood." | You can take your choice betwixt "The New Shirt," and "The Bradley's Visit to Thisle Ho." Please send me a programme as soon as printed.'

The 1880 'Balliol Masque' indicates Jowett's standing, and the pronunciation of his name: 'First come I. My name is Jowett. | There's no knowledge but I know it. | I am Master of this College, |What I don't know isn't knowledge.' 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with fold lines. Begins: 'My dear Jex Blake | I am very glad to hear of the prosperity of Rugby, in which I shall always take a great interest.

The 1880 'Balliol Masque' indicates Jowett's standing, and the pronunciation of his name: 'First come I. My name is Jowett. | There's no knowledge but I know it. | I am Master of this College, | What I don't know isn't knowledge.' 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with fold lines. Addressing his letter to 'Edward [sic] M. S Kynnersley Esq', he asks him to 'kindly read the accompanying circular? It relates to a project which I believe to be very important to the College & useful in many other ways, as well as - the [promise?] of a Cricket Ground'.

2pp, folio. On bifolium endorsed on reverse of second leaf. In fair condition, lightly creased and aged. Three folds. Embossed with five pound tax stamp at head. Printed in copperplate, with the details of the appointee 'John Amhust Philpott of Cranbrook in the County of Kent, Gentleman' filled-in in manuscript. Circular stamp of the Court of Justice at end of document with two signatures: 'Entd. | H. R. W.' and 'Entered 14th June 1876 | E W Williamson | Deputy Registrar of Solicitors'.

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium, endorsed 'Clarke' on reverse of second leaf. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded three times. The letter begins: 'My dear Webster, | Charles Kean has requested me to give him information respecting Theatres in England, in which it is probable he may form engagements on his return from America, as he wishes his plans to be arranged if possible previous to his departure from the United States, so as he may see his way clearly on his arrival in England.' He asks whether it would answer Webster's purpose 'to make any proposal to him'.

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to reverse. Begins: 'Gentlemen! | As I am on my way to Edinburgh, from the United States, I shall be obliged by your informing me, here, whether you have remitted or otherways paid the balance due to me on last years account, due on 4th. June, current, rendered to Mr. Probert Cox'. He asks for payment to be made to Messrs Coutts, 'so that it may be at my command here'. He also requests the making up in a parcel of 'a copy of my Testimonials & “the Suppressed Documents”, if you have one'.