CENTURY

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.'

Fifteen items of correspondence, including eleven autograph letters from Stonor himself, eight signed 'Edmund Stonor', the other three '+ Edmund Stonor | Abp of Trebizond'. The collection aged and worn, with fraying to edges. The items attached with a brass stud. Regarding the two recipients, prominent solicitors serving the Irish and Roman Catholic interests in London, Philip Witham (1843-1921) - whose firm was Roskell, Witham, Munster and Weld - appears to have succeed F. R. Ward at 1 Gray's Inn Square. The main topic of the correspondence is the drafting in 1888 of Stonor's will.

[47]pp, 8vo, paginated [165]-211. Disbound and without covers. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with overstitching to spine. Blind stamp to the title of the Free Public Library, Wigan. In manuscript at head of title-page: 'Cat. Bought Feb. 1914. H. T. F.' Nicely printed. Extracted from a Regency collection reprinting English tracts. Now uncommon.

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Addressed: 'To W. J. P. Monckton Esq. | Publisher | "Black & White," | London'. He has just received Monckton's letter, and is enclosing a 'little pamphlet', which will give him 'a full account of the incident depicted in "Saving the Colours"'. If all is well Gibb hopes to be in London on the Monday or Tuesday of the following week, and will 'have the pleasure of calling upon you as promised'. His address will be the Thackeray Hotel, Great Russell Street.

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.

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with traces of glue from tipping-in affecting the lower part and underlining of Wyatt's expansive signature. Folded twice. 71 lines of text. Note in pencil at head of first page states that the letter was 'sent to Saml. Sharpe of Northampton author of The Moabite Stone', but the writer of the note has confused the Egyptologist Samuel Sharpe (1799-1881) with the real recipient, the geologist and antiquary Samuel Sharp (1814-1882), for both of whom see the Oxford DNB.

5pp, 8vo. On bifolium and single leaf of thin ruled paper. In fair condition, on lightly aged and discoloured paper. Closely written, in a not-entirely legible hand, with the first page having the underlined heading: 'to the Editor of the Tonbridgian'. (The Tonbridgian was the magazine of Tonbridge School, where Wilson was educated, and the letter was presumably published as intended.) The letter begins: 'Dear Sir, | I promised when in England last year that I would send a letter sometimes about our work in Melanesia.

2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, aged and lightly stained. Folded once. Headed by Salisbury 'Private'. The letter begins: 'Lord Salisbury presents his compliments to Mr. Macirone, & is much obliged to him for his letter, & for the very apposite quotations to which he calls Lord Salisbury's attention.' Salisbury does not consider 'Canon Fremantle's letter' worth answering, 'especially as the Bishop of London appears to entertain a similar opinion'.

1p, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. From the celebrated manuscript collection of Richard Monckton Milnes (Baron Houghton). Addressed by Girodet on reverse 'préssée | A Monsieur | Monsieur Gros peintre d'histoire rue des champs Elissés la 1ere or 2e porte cochere a droite'.

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'.

For information on Tait, see her entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. Aged, worn and lightly stained. The fact that Tait was able to produce a lithographed circular for such a minor purpose indicates her resources. The only words in the document in Tait's genuine autograph are the interpolated 'now & in Jan'. The circular reads: 'My dear Sir | I am very anxious to secure the election of Harriet Amelia Johnson to St Ann's School Brixton. Her father who was well known to us died this year leaving a widow and three children unprovided for.

For the context see Gardiner's entry in the Oxford DNB. Gardiner's disastrous last mission to Patagonia ended with his death on 6 September 1851, as the last of the seven missionaries to starve to death on Picton Island. No other copy of the present item has been traced, either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC. 4pp, 16mo. Bifolium. Well printed. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, and folded several times.

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 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.

On one side of a 12 x 13 cm piece of paper with the corners cut away to make a irregular octagon shape. In fair condition, lightly aged. Laid down on part of leaf from album. Reads: 'Madame | Voici un billet pour la Séance Royale de demain. Je suis charmé d'avoir pu me le procurer puisque vous le desiriez. | Agréez, je vous prie, Madame, l'hommage de mon respect | Guizot | Dime. Juin 16.' At bottom left, in a contemporary hand: '184'.

St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics was founded in 1750 by City of London philanthropists to treat mental illness among the poor of London. In 1786 it moved from Moorfields to Old Street, where it remained until 1916. Simmons was appointed physician to the hospital in 1781. 6pp, 16mo. A piece of laid watermarked paper has been neatly torn into three 16 x 10 cm leaves: a bifolium, with the single leaf loosely inserted. In good condition, lightly aged. A poignant artefact. Simple, brief notes, giving age, name, date [of admission], address, some with follow-up notes. The six women are 'Eliz.

In folding box, dark blue, gt. 79pp, 8vo. In plain white card wraps, in blue dustwrapper printed in black, with red border to cover. Ownership inscription in blue ink on front free endpaper: 'Christopher Fry | 1930'. Hardly the best of copies, but a good association between two of the three giants of the twentieth-century English verse play (Eliot being the other). Internally tight, on lightly-aged paper, in aged and worn wraps. The dustwrapper is in poor condition, stained, chipped, and separated into several loose parts along the folds, with spine and back cover tipped-in onto the wraps.

An attractive and unusual item, tastefully printed in green and red on both sides of a 30.5 x 60 cm strip, entirely covered in cream satin, and edged in silk ribbon, folding into a triptych each panel of which is 30.5 x 20 cm. In extremely good condition, all the more remarkable considering the ephemeral nature of the item. As folded into itself, the item has a front cover carrying the title in green ink, with a photograph of Kipling printed in red; and the back cover carries the royal crest of the Queen's printers Eyre and Spottiswoode.

3pp, 4to. Bifolium. On wove paper with Whatman watermark dated 1820. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight loss of paper at one corner of second leaf, resulting in loss of one word of text. Folded twice. From the papers of William Jerdan, editor of the Literary Gazette, who published the poem with one other ('In the Ivy'), in the edition of 23 June 1821, giving the identity of the author given in a footnote: 'We have to thank the elegant pen of MRS. HEMANS, for these two exquisite poems. Ed.' Heman's manuscript is endorsed by Jerdan: 'Poetry origl | 231 | W J | Mrs. Hemans'.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with stub from mount adhering to reverse of blank second leaf of bifolium. The subject is an item acquired by Milnes for his celebrated collection of manuscripts, which Milnes considered the present letter worthy of joining. The letter begins: 'My dear Milnes | Of the paper you have sent me, the first paragraph about Queen Caroline & the last about Sir Robert Walpole have already appeared, & you will find them in my Edition.

The three leaves are worn, aged and stained. Two of the leaves carry the four pages of 'The Epistle to the Reader', by the editor Daniel Burgess, and at the head of the first of these pages is the ownership inscription: 'Ex dono Tho. Hollis'. The third leaf is the title, and the title-page has two ownership signatures at the head, neither of them legible. Sotheby sold the united library of Hollis, Thomas Brand Hollis and John Disney in 1817.

Weyman is largely forgotten now, but he was admired by Robert Louis Stevenson and Oscar Wilde, and Graham Greene singled him out for regular re-reading among the authors of 'the key books in my life'. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged, with pin holes to one corner. Folded twice. He is 'relieved' that Balfour thinks 'it will do. Yes, if you will kindly send it me I will look it over again & get it typed.' He has 'not seen the Church for some years', and will be grateful if Balfour will note any inaccuracy. He supposes that if the work is received within a fortnight 'it will do'.

2pp, 12mo. On grey paper with mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged. The indentity of the recipient is unclear. The letter begins: 'Dear Ly Virginia | The other day I bought your novel, & the first comfortable leisure moment I had, I began to read it.

1p, 8vo. In fair condition, creased and aged. The only piece of Waithman's autograph is his signature at the foot: 'R Waithman'. The rest of the document, apparently in Holste's hand, reads: 'Henry Holste of 22 Bush Lane Merchant, maketh Oath and saith, that he has been resident in London above Fourteen years, and that from the first day of January 1812 to the first day of September 1823. he has not been out of England for a single day | Henry Holste. | Sworn at the Mansion house this Twenty fifth day of August. One thousand eight hundred and Twenty five | R Waithman | Mayor'.

1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. The only piece of Waithman's autograph is his signature at the foot: 'R Waithman'. The rest of the document, apparently in Schmidt's hand, reads: 'John Schmidt Native of Hamburg residing at No 77 Westmoreland place City Road, Merchant maketh Oath & saith that he first arrived in London in the Year 1795. and has continued to reside here up to the present time with the exception of a few Months, but that he has not left England for a single day since the Year One thousand eight hundred and eight. - | J. Schmidt.

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 three letters total 7pp, 12mo. All three in good condition, on lightly aged paper. From the papers of Sir Richard Harington (1835-1911), 11th Baronet, whose father Rev. Dr Richard Harington (1800-1853), had been Principal from 1842 to his death. All three endorsed by Harington with date of receipt. The subject is the replacement of a stained glass window in the college, with Harington receiving the old window, which he put up at his Worcestershire country house, Whitbourne Court.

Two etchings in black ink, printed side by side on a 23.5 x 18 cm piece of wove paper, with a thin printed line dividing them. Possibly proofs of two plates on conjoined leaves in a book. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with a tiny nick at foot and dog-eared corners. Each of the sketches is full-length, and has a caption at foot, in a facsimile of D'Orsay's hand.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with white paper stub from mount still adhering. From the distinguished autograph collection of Richard Monckton Milnes (Lord Houghton). The letter begins: 'Mon cher Ministre, | J'ai lu avec un vif interêt l'écrit que vous avez eu la bonté de me communiquer'. He had told him, the other day, that it was 'une belle question à traiter', and he was certain that the recipient would deal with it 'supérieurement'.

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'.