COMPANY

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Dear Miss Randall | I am pleased to sign myself | Yrs. sincerely | Henry A. Lytton'

13pp., 8vo. Stapled. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight rust to staples. Consisting of a title leaf and 9pp. of text in small print, paginated [2] 3-11. The author is not named, and no other copy of the title has been traced, either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC, but the item comes from a collection of papers by Stanley - and Africa is his specailist subject.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In fair condition, lightly aged, with closed tear at head of first leaf. He thanks him for 'transmitting two copies of your “Epitaphs [sic] from the Greek Anthology” - one for myself, the other for our College Library'.

1p., 4to. On aged and worn paper, with chipping along one edge. He begins: 'Word of the loss of your dear husband reached us some time ago, but I was not able to write you until just now when I received your address from Ralph Hawkes.' He offers his condolences 'on behalf of our whole organisation'. According to Hawkes 'the funeral service was a most impressive one' and 'Mr. Finck was a great figure in the musical world and that he shall be missed a great deal.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The recipient is unnamed. The letter begins: 'Sir | The President of the Board of Control has been pleased to present me with a Seminary Cadetship for Mr Robt. Campbell a youth of 16, son of John Campbell Esq of Kilberry in the County of Argyle.

Written one above the other on one side of a pink 12mo leaf of paper removed from an album. In fair condition, aged and worn, with small square of tape staining at head, and some light offsetting of ink over Nicholls' signature. Reads: 'Yours sincerely | Ben Davies.' and 'In remembrance of | Agnes Nicholls'.

2pp., 12mo. With postmarked frank (again signed 'Hardinge') addressed to 'Colonel Abbott C. B. | Addiscombe'. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. He is pleased that Abbott is 'to receive a mark of distinction from the Queen, which combines the satisfaction which your Services have given at Addiscombe [Abbott had become lieutenant-governor of Addiscombe Seminary in 1851] with those which you so efficiently & ably performed in the field in India'. He hopes to shake him at the hand 'at the Levée'.

3pp., 16mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, worn and creased. See both men's entries in the Oxford DNB.

First proposed by Thomas Horner in 1802, the Regent's Canal was incorporated by John Nash in 1811 in his plans for the development of Regent's Park. Hugely-successful in the nineteenth century despite the rise of the railways, it fell into decline in the early twentieth, but is now firmly established as an amenity of London. The seven items in the present collection are in good condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Items ONE to FOUR are printed circulars from Snee, transmitting copies 'of the Resolutions this day passed at the General Assembly of Proprietors of the Regent's Canal'.

The company opened canals from Newport to Pontypool and to Crumlin in 1796. It was taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1875, and a passenger service from Ebbw Vale to Cardiff still runs. Three items with covering paper on which Sir J. E. Harington has written in ink: 'Sir J E Harington | Monmouthshire Ry & Canal Papers', with the following added in pencil: 'May 21 1849. | Asking my consent to take new shares - | No.' All items in good condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: Autograph Letter Signed from Grevile to Harington. Bristol; 13 June 1849. 2pp., 4to.

The seven items in fair condition, on lightly aged paper. An interesting correspondence, casting light on the company's practices. Both the recipient, Sir Richard Harington of Ridlington (1835-1911), 11th Baronet, and his son 'The Judge' - Richard Harington (1861-1931), the future 12th Baronet - came from a legal background, adding an edge to the correspondence. The six letters total 9pp., 4to. The firm appears to have had a policy of retaining the original and sending out a carbon copy, as each of the letters consists of a carbon copy of manuscript.

The three items in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with light damp staining to the Prospectus. ONE: Prospectus. 4pp., tall 8vo. Bifolium. First page headed 'Contractors to the French Government, Naval, Military, and State Authorities. | The New Asbestos Company, Limited. | Incorporated under the Companies Act, 1862 to 1886, whereby the liability of each Shareholder is limited to his Shares. | Capital - - £120,000, | Divided into 30,000 Shares of £4 each.

Twenty-one items, in fair condition, aged and worn. The eleven reports of the proceedings at the ordinary general meetings are stapled 12mo booklets of around 8pp. each, giving a verbatim account of the varioius contributions to the meetings, all but the last of which are chaired by Balfour. The nine reports of the directors are of 6pp. each, with the report on the first two pages and the accounts on another two, and the reverse of the last leaf carrying a 'Notice of Meeting'.

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Name in block capitals in red pencil and stamped date at head, with holes to one corner from stapling. The 'matter' of the invitation to Perry to join the Society has 'been delayed because I have been the victim of very distressing domestic illness'. He is sending the completed application, but explains that he has been 'ordered to winter abroad', and is 'leaving for the Bahamas within the month, and will not 'be back in England until the Spring of next year'.

2pp., 4to. Bifolium. Two matching panels have been removed, one each from the foot of each leaf, removing the signature and some text from the first leaf. On aged paper, with closed tears along crease lines. Addressed by Le Bas on the reverse of the second leaf, with his seal in red wax and a postmark, to 'S. S. Ward Esqre. | Accountant General's office | London'. Le Bas writes to express 'the relief & gratitude which I have derived from the assurance of your satisfaction with my humble efforts to do justice to the memory of Bishop Middleton.

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Docketed at head 'Answered'. Reads: 'Dear Mrs Finck - | We were very grieved to hear of the passing of your dear husband & our old friend - will you please accept our deepest sympathy in your great sorrow - & our prayers that you & your daughters may be greatly comforted - | Very sincerely Yrs. | Ben Davies'. From the Finck papers.

The author Bruce Dudley Ryder was a second-cousin of the present Queen of England – his father Peter Hugh Dudley Ryder (1913-1993; see Who Was Who) having married the Queen's cousin Sarah Susannah Bowes-Lyon – and a great-grandson of the Earl of Harrowby. Ryder had family experience in the fields of business and transport, his father having been for many years head of the transport conglomerate Thomas Tilling Ltd.

The company, founded in 1887, operated a broad gauge railway network in the Argentine provinces of San Luis, San Juan and Mendoza, and was taken over on a lease by the Buenos Aires and Pacific Railway in 1907. It features in three studies: Colin M. Lewis, 'British Railways in Argentina 1857-1914: A Case Study of Foreign Investment' (1983); H. R. Stones, 'British Railways in Argentina 1860-1948' (1993); and Winthrop R. Wright, 'British-Owned Railways in Argentina – Their Effect on Economic Nationalism, 1854-1948' (1974).

1p., 8vo. On aged and worn paper. Laid out in the customary fashion, with printed text completed in manuscript. Records a payment of £56 on an annuity by 'Sr. Denis Dutry assigne per Margent of Sr. John Lethieuller', with a reference to Lethieuller's annuity in the margin. Witnessed at foot by 'John '. Lethieuller has an entry in the Oxford DNB.

Three items, folded into the customary packet. In very good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Prospectus. 4pp., 8vo. Includes the memorandum of association, in small print. The prospectus, dated 12 May 1896, begins: 'The Company was constituted in 1883. It possesses two Mills, one at Northfleet (freehold) with a complete plant for the manufacture of sulphite wood-pulp and four paper machines, and the other at Ilford (leasehold) with one paper machine. The out-put of these five machines is now 150 tons of paper per week.' Docketed at head of first leaf by Sir Richard Harington.

[28]pp., 4to. Stapled into grey printed wraps. Illustrated with photographs; centrepage spread of matching tables giving 'Weekly Potato Shipments' from Tasmania to Sydney, in 1937 and 1956. On glossy art paper. Both prospectus and inserts in fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Stamp of the Van Diemen's Land Company on front cover, with ownership inscription 'C. C. Carter'.

96 black and white photographic prints, each cloth-backed and with the landscape dimensions 20 x 25 cm. In black leather loose leaf album by Wilson Jones Co., Kansas City. Stamped in gilt in bottom right-hand corner of first leaf, 'HAROLD C. HARVEY'. The prints are in good condition, curling a little at the fore-edge, and with slight creasing at right-hand margin of the first two. The binding is somewhat worn, but still tight, with the three original metal screws holding the album together.

293pp., 4to. In brown leather half-binding, with black cloth boards and marbled endpapers. Three-page form relating to the firm's dealings with National Provincial Bank of England, filled-in and signed on behalf of the company by the secretary Henry A Burnell, dated July 1904. The minutes are in a number of different hands (beginning with Burnell's) and signed by a number of different chairmen.

The image is 8.7 x 6.2 cm, on part of printed London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company mount. In good condition, lightly-aged. The lower part of the mount has been cut away, and laid down over the lower part of the photograph is a 1 x 6.5 cm strip of paper, carrying Cruikshank's autograph signature ('Geoe Cruikshank'). The National Portrait Gallery copy of this image is NPG Ax17862.

One page, sm. fol., damage repaired and substantial loss expertly backed with laid paper. Surviving text as follows:One page, sm. fol., damage repaired and substantial loss expertly backed with laid paper.

LETTER: 2pp., 12mo. On lightly aged and worn paper. He summons him to a meeting, telling him to read a memo beforehand, before writing: 'I am not disposed to waive any Crown rights for money advanced | Lenders may have notice, but if P. W L C advance public money, the public must be protected against persons who are trading for profit'. CARTE DE VISITE: In fair condition, lightly aged, with 'W. H. SMITH, ESQ., M.P.' printed beneath the image, and the details of the London Stereoscopic & Photographic Company on the reverse.

1p., 8vo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Reads: 'Westminster Feb. 18. 1711/12. | Sr | I desire you will buy and accept five Hundred Pounds Stock in the Capitall Stock of the Company of Merchants of Great Britain trading to the South Seas for my Account and in my name; which will oblige | Sr | Yor. Affect. Brother & Servt | Ofsp. Exon'. Annotated in a nineteenth-century hand at bottom-left: 'Dr Ofspring Blackall.' At the time of writing the South Sea Company had only just been created. It would collapse spectacularly in 1720.

On 6.5 x 11.5 cm piece of card, laid down on a slightly larger piece of paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Neatly written out and apparently sent in response to a request for an autograph. Reads: 'Yours Sincerely | Cyrus Townsend Brady | Brooklyn N.Y., | October 23rd., 1902'.

Albumen print photograph, dimensions 15 x 10 cm. Mounted on 16.5 x 10.5 cm card. Printed in red ink on the reverse of the card are the firm's illustrated details ('Photoraphers to the Queen the Prince of Wales and other members of the Royal Family' and 'Prize Medal For Portraiture Vienna Exibitiion 1873.' In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The National Portrait Gallery lists four versions of this image, but not within an oval, as here.

12mo bifolium, with the printed notice on the recto of the first leaf and Paterson's autograph receipt on the reverse of the first leaf. In good condition, lightly aged. The notice states that as liquidator Paterson has 'sold the Goodwill and Stock-in-trade to Mr. C. H. Aylwin' The notice is completed in manuscript, asking 'G. Johnston, Esqre.' to remit the ten shillings owing by him to the company. On the reverse Paterson acknowledges receipt 'from James Johnston, Banker, 61 Irish Sreet, Dumfries, Ten Shillings Stg.