BRODIE

See his entry, and that of his brother, in the Oxford DNB. 11 x 6 cm rectangle of paper, cut from the end of a letter, laid down on 13.5 x 7 cm piece of thicker paper. Reads: ‘[...] will see to them for you. / Kind regards to all / Thine / W. Brodie’.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to the blank reverse of the second leaf. Tipped-in below the signature is the letter's envelope, addressed, with postmarks, to 'Mrs Hewitt | Wrenbury Hall | Nantwich', amended to 'Chislehurst | Kent'. He begins by explaining that he has 'been for the last few weeks on the continent, & in consequence of the gross neglect of the Geneva post office' her letter has only just reached him. He is sorry that he should have been 'made to appear so negligent'.

1p, 4to. On grey paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to reverse. Folded three times. A typical prescription, in Latin, beneath the heading 'Miss Smedley. April [last word deleted] May 1 1845'. The prescription begins with the usual 'Rx'; the last of the fourteen lines that follow ending with Brodie's signature ('B C Brodie').

2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to reverse. The recipient is not identified. Reads: 'My Dear Sir | I hope that I shall not put you to inconvenience by making my visit to your patient today as late as half past five o clock. A particular circumstance has occurred which will prevent my being in your part of the town at the time originally proposed.'

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium on grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse of second leaf. The year has been noted in another hand. The recipient is not identified. The letter begins: 'My dear sir, | I have made arrangements with my excellent friend Mr. Jowett of Baliol Coll. that he should offer to you rooms in Balliol. You will be there with our common friend Brodie, and will I am quite sure find nothing that will not add to your comfort and enjoyment in the Meeting'.

6pp., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly aged paper. Brodie's hand is not easy to decipher, but the letter is fulsome in its praise of Brougham and his latest work. Brodie begins by acknowledging the receipt of 'the last volume of Lord Brougham's Works published by you', a copy of which he had 'previously got as a subscriber'. He continues: 'In my poor apprehension it is even, if possible, superior to its predecessor, & more than justifies the character I formerly ventured to sketch of that illustrious individual', He continues in his praise, with reference to 'Dean Swift', 'Captn.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. The recipient presumably held a living near Leigh's Warwickshire mansion Stoneleigh Abbey (said to be the model for Sotherton Court in his cousin Jane Austen's 'Mansfield Park'). Leigh apologises troubling Brodie 'with the enclosed rather singular letter which I have received from one of your Parishioners'.

4pp., 12mo. Thirty lines. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with traces of mount at head of second page. Steell is enclosing 'a catalogue of the most recent works of the kind you desire', and points out that 'the short biographical sketches of deceased Scottish artists, in connection with our catalogue, was only printed [last word underlined] by Messrs. Constable'. He ends by offering his 'warmest wishes for the married couple' - in 1881 Christie's seventeen-year-old daughter Alice married Robert King Stewart, KBE, of Murdostoun Castle, Lanarkshire.

English lawyer (1802-74) and Master of the Rolls, 1851-73. The recipient (1817-80) was a noted chemist. Two pages, 16mo. Very good, but sumwhat dusty and grubby. Reads 'My dear Sir Benjamin | I am much oblig'd to you for your kind. [sic] I am not aware of the circumstance, or rather the rule you mention or I should not have committed thte 'indiscretion' of asking you to sign my sons recommendation'. Signed 'John Romilly'.

British Tory politician (1786-1855). The recipient was the wife of the noted surgeon Sir Benjamin Brodie the elder (1783-1862). He thanks her for 'the valuable present which you have conveyed to me through Lady Inglis. The subject is one of the deepest interest; and your honoured father ['Serjeant Sellon, a lawyer of repute', according to the DNB] will have treated it with corresponding devotion as well as learning'. He sends his regards to her husband, and signs 'Robert H. Inglis'.