BRITISH

1p, 4to. In fair condition, creased and lightly aged. Folded twice. Letterhead printed in red, with illustration of quill pen, inkstand and lighted candle. Written in purple ink. The recipient is not named and the letter begins: 'My dear, | I am horrified to find I have made some awful mistake in my diary & am at the Foyle lunch on Wednesday to stand in for someone else who may not turn up, so I can't break with it. I could cry, for I feel that I have let you down & so wanted to see you to hear how you really are'. She is 'worried to death' about the recipient's sight.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. The letter begins: 'My dear Hope, I have told Canadian Club you are coming. If I left my spectacles in the Chancery, in their case as I think I did this forenoon, will you please put them into an envelope for me?' He will go over the following morning, 'at Manchester if not'.

The present early eighteenth-century document lists the heads of British Army regiments from the period of the Glorious Revolution to the accession of George I. Internal evidence suggests that it was compiled around 1715, and that it was amended until the mid-1720s. The care with which it was compiled, over a decade and in a number of hands, would appear to suggest some sort of official standing. It is on nineteen 18 x 7.5 cm leaves of laid paper, formed in ten bifoliums, now loose but originally bound together, and with traces of thread still present.

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of tape from mount adhering along one edge. Endorsed 'Genl. Wm. Napier'. On wove paper with watermark 'CANSELL | 1830'. The letter - written with energy and some resentment - refers to Admiral Sir William Parker (1781-1866), who was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1815.

1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. From the celebrated manuscript collection of Richard Monckton Milnes (Lord Houghton). The recipient is not named. Reads: 'My dear Sir/ | I have no doubt but that any statement which you may make to the Speaker will be in strict accordance with the facts; and I shall be always ready to bear testimony to your services during your connection with me - but for that very reason, I should not wish to impute [last word underlined three times] any document which you may have to present to him. Yrs ever faithfully | Francis Palgrave'.

The four items in good condition, lightly aged. None of the four found on OCLC WorldCat. The three items loosely inserted in the prospectus each neatly folded once. ONE: Prospectus. [8]pp, 4to. With nine photographs on seven plates on four leaves of shiny art paper. Stapled into brown wraps with title and device of school printed in red ink on cover.

2pp, 12mo. On grey paper with letterhead of his name. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight staining tape staining to two corners from mount. Addressed to 'Mrs Richard Eyre, | Bullsmead, | Maiden Newton, | Dorset.' The subject of the letter is the preparation for the 1948 British film 'Scott of the Antarctic', in which Mills starred in the title role. The recipient is the mother of the noted English director Sir Richard Eyre (b. 1943), whose father Charles Royds was Scott’s First Lieutenant.

21pp, 12mo. In unpaginated stapled booklet of twelve leaves, in light-blue wraps. Printed on front cover: 'London Gliding Club | PROGRESS LOG BOOK', with space for the trainee's name and no. In fair condition, aged and worn, in worn covers, with one central horizontal fold. The trainee has written his name on the front cover, but this has been worn away, and it appears to read 'L Sennett' or 'L Bennett'. Printed on the first page is a list of twenty-four 'Flying Training Exercises'.

No information regarding 'Pam Chelsea' (female impersonator?) has been discovered, but the appearance of the document, and its presence in a batch of material relating to 1920s entertainment and broadcasting, date it to that period. 5pp, folio. 'No. of words. 1,063.' Written in a bold hand. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. The article was clearly accepted for publication, as '£1 11. 6 paid' is written at the top of the first page, and '5 line drop cap' at the start of the article.

For John George Jackson (c.1798-c.1851), architect of Leamington Priors, pupil of P. F. Robinson, see Lyndon F. Cave's 'Royal Leamington Spa' (1988). He erected Newbold Lodge on the site of Strawberry Cottage in the early 1830s. See the entry for the recipient William Hookham Carpenter (1792-1866), later Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, in the Oxford DNB. At the time of the present letter Carpenter was working for his father the Old Bond Street bookseller James Carpenter (c.1768-1852). 2pp, 8vo. Bifolium.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. Folded twice. From the Cullum papers, Simpson being a neighbour of the family. Having 'just come in from a longish walk', he is sorry to have missed Lady Cullum.

See Nares' entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded three times. Clearly and boldly written, reading: 'Please give the bearer my delicate instrument for Alert or Discovery | G. S. Nares.' (Wikipedia) "Because of his previous experience in the Arctic, he was summoned from this assignment to take charge of another Arctic voyage in search of the North Pole in Discovery and Alert in 1875, the British Arctic Expedition."

An interesting correspondence, casting light on the practicalities of early twentieth-century English portrait-painting. The recipient is Colonel Frederick Hugh Langston Oldham, D.S.O., D.L., of Overley Hall, near Wellington, Shropshire, eldest son of the Archdeacon of Ludlow, and the letter concerns Brock's portrait of Oldham's wife Christabel Josephine Oldham. The five letters in good condition, lightly aged. The four dated letters are dated between 25 February and 13 July 1920. The total 9pp (seven in 8vo and two in 12mo).

See the Oxford DNB entry on Burnaby ('He was commemorated in verse, song, and Staffordshire pottery').

Biographical details regarding Humphreys are hard to come by. He features in two Times reports of the indisposition of the pianist Cyril Smith in Moscow in 1956 (8 May and 9 June). On his award of the OBE in the 1958 New Years Honours List he was described as 'lately First Secretary and Medical Officer at Her Majesty's Embassy in Moscow'. On his retirement in 1987 he was described as 'Col. T. V. Humphreys, O.B.E., M.B., B.Ch., B.A.O.

On 12mo leaf, intended to be inserted in a book. In good condition lightly aged and worn. Centred on the page the inscription reads: 'With the author's kind remembrances. | W W Hunter. | Oaken Holt. | 1895.' The reverse is blank.

5.5 x 10 cm piece of paper, cut from the front of an envelope. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Immediate | The | Lord Archbishop of Canterbury | W Gladstone'. The signature is in the customary place, in the bottom left-hand corner.

An interesting item in the field of Victorian Egyptology. The subject is what Owen describes here as 'one of the oldest Statues of an Egyptian Notable in the British Museum'. Its current Museum Number is EA103, and it has been in the Museum since 1835, but the details of its acquisition are unclear. In his translation Birch calls the sitter 'the Royal Scribe, Amenhelp', but the current BM description begins: 'Scribal statue of Amenhotep son of Hapu: of black grano-diorite. Hieroglyphic texts are inscribed on the papyrus unrolled on his lap and on the statue plinth.

Without date or place. Rectangle of thin paper, cut from the end of a letter, clearly in response to a request for an autograph. In fair condition, aged and creased. Reads: 'I am | Your friend, | Khama | Chief of Bamangwato'.

On 8 x 11 cm piece of card. In fair condition, lightly aged, with traces of glue from mount on reverse. A good bold signature, clearly in response to a request for an autograph. Reads: 'Yours Truly | Willie Smith | 1 – 2 – 24'. Smith has made a short line under the date, but the signature is not underlined.

14 + [1]pp, 8vo. Stapled eight-leaf pamphlet. Publishers' slug on reverse of final leaf. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Scarce: no copy at the British Library, and the only copy located on OCLC WorldCat at Princeton. A pleasing memento of a grand affair, attended by a host of dignitaries, including Princess Margaret, the Prince of Wales (who read the first lesson) and Betjeman's publisher John Murray (who read the second lesson).

See E. A. H. Webb, 'History of the 12th (The Suffolk) Regiment, 1685-1913' (1914). Picton was the uncle of 'the illustrious Picton', Lt-Gen. Sir Thomas Picton (1758-1815), who was his sole executor and residuary legatee. The year of Picton's birth is variously reported, but the Monthly Magazine, December 1811, is among several sources reporting his death in Bond Street at the age of 87. 4pp, folio. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and with closed tears along the three fold lines. Endorsed on reverse of second leaf: '12th.

See Moxon's entry in the Oxford DNB, which describes his association with William Wordsworth as 'arguably his most important publishing relationship'. The present poem was published as 'The Two Streams' in the 'Literary Souvenir' of Alaric Watts in 1830, a year before Moxon published his first volume of Wordsworth's verse. The present item is 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, and laid down on a leaf removed from an album. Folded three times. Entirely in Moxon's autograph, titled 'Sonnet', and signed at the end 'Edward Moxon | London Jan. 5th | 1847'.

2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. He is 'very much obliged' to Frewen for the offer 'of duplicates to help in the restoration of destroyed libraries', and notes that 'it is impossible to forecast the needs that will exist at the end of the war'. In the meantime he has 'marked with the initials F. [L. S.?] a number of volumes in your list which I think are sure to be useful for our purpose.

1p, 16mo. In fair condition, folded once, with two punch holes at margin, one affecting a word of text. She states that it is kind of him to ask her again, and she feels 'very churlish in having to say NO a second time', but her 'autumn-winter plans are complicated by a big concert tour & a lot of other [pro]bable dates', so she must reluctantly refuse his invitation.

For information on Russell see the Oxford DNB entry on his wife from 1957, the social worker Kit Russell [Katherine Frances Russell, née Stewart] (1909-1998). Both letters are in fair condition, lightly aged and creased. ONE: Signed 'Joyce Grenfell'. 2pp, 12mo. She begins the letter with a question: 'Dear Sheridan Russell. | What is Time and Talents?

2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Addressed to 'E Gambart Esq' and endorsed by the recipient. Two years earlier Gambart had published 'Passages from the Poems of Thomas Hood', illustrated with 34 plates by the Junior Etching Club (of which Whistler was a member between 1857 and 1862). The book had been well-received, but the letter makes clear that it had not covered its costs.

The letter must have been written in 1855, as Fox Maule (later Earl of Dalhousie) was appointed Secretary of State for War on 8 February of that year, and Napier died on 16 September. 4pp, 16mo. Bifolium with black border. Loss to part of second leaf caused by removal from mount, resulting in loss of a few words of text, otherwise in good condition. Begins: 'In consequence of a letter from my Son William of your regt. [i.e. the King's Own Scottish Borderers] stating your wish to be appointed a Paymaster to the Out Pensioners, I wrote to my friend Mr Fox Maule the Secy.

Twelve 8vo sheets of duplicated typescript, eleven of which are printed on both sides, making a total of 23pp. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with wear to extremities and slight damage to corners from tearing of staple. The first five sheets are stapled together. ONE: 'Local Hotels (within 4 miles radius)'. Map on reverse, captioned: 'How to reach Heathrow Airport – London'. TWO: 'British Airports Authority | Heathrow Airport – London'. 'Issued by: Press and Public Relations Office | British Airports Authority | Heathrow Airport – London'. Printed on 4pp over two leaves.

2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to 'B. Nicholson, Esq., | Brooks's, | St. James's Street, S.W.1.' (Nicholson was the son of Harold Nicholson and Vita Sackville-West.) She begins by thanking him for his 'kind letter and charming gift of your drawings of St. Nectaire', adding: 'as an author my vanity is flattered by your appreciation of “Romanesque France”'. She is glad she has helped 'a certain number of people in getting to know some of the beauties of France', but feels 'something of a fraud about the book as without the help of my friend Mr.