CONSERVATIVE

Hailing from Gateshead, County Durham, Elliot was a self-made man: he began life as a colliery labourer and ended it as one of the richest men in England, his wealth at death being given as £575,000. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. His residence in Whitby containing an Egyptian mummy was visited by Bram Stoker and appears to have inspired his 'Tale of the Seven Stars' (1903). 3pp, two of them 12mo and one 8vo. Bifolium, with one page of text written across the central opening at right angles. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with a little glue from mount along outer gutter.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient was a barrister and legal reformer. 2pp, 12mo. Signed ‘Stafford H. Northcote’ and addressed to ‘H. Bellenden Ker Esq’. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin neat strip from windowpane mount adhering to edges. Folded twice for postage. A few tiny calculations in another hand (Northcote’s?) at foot of second page. Twenty lines of neatly written text.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both letters 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, but with the first bearing two tape stains. Both folded for postage. Each signed ‘R. E. Prothero’ and addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Speaker’. ONE (1 July 1918): He explains that ‘Agricultural labourers are specially excluded from the category of men to whom the War Office appeal to the V.T.C is addressed’, but that it was ‘only to be expected, as I had pointed out, that the appeal would still be made to them and that they would go in the middle of the harvest season. / The scheme is opposed by the Min.

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with negligible remnants of windowpane mount adhering at edges of reverse (which has the catalogue entry for the item laid down on the reverse). Folded for postage. Reads: ‘Sir / In reply to the letter which I have had the honor of receiving from you I beg leave to communicate to you my wish to be enrolled among the Members of the Club for promoting the Authors of Science Literature & the Arts / I have the honor to be / Sir / Your obedient / humble Servant / J C Herries’.

On 11.5 x 7.5 cm calling card. In good condition, lightly aged. The calling card is printed in copperplate font, with the name ‘Mrs. Neville Chamberlain.’ centred, and the address ‘10, Downing Street, / S.W.1.’ at bottom left. Two lines of the inscription are written above the name and the rest beneath. Reads: ‘Thank you so [sic] & Major Cripps so much for those more lovely carnations which I appreciated so much. / Anne Chamberlain’. See image.

See his long entry in the Oxford DNB, which sums up his achievements as ‘very substantial’ and ‘a source of enduring inspiration to others’. 1p, 16mo. On bifolium with thin mourning border. In good condition, folded twice. Written in his characteristically-inky hand, and signed ‘Shaftesbury’. Reads: ‘Dear Mr Rowley / I did not forget your request. I trust that, by the blessing of God, your [fears?] are [removed?]. / Yours tr[ul]y / Shaftesbury’. Seee image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 11pp, 12mo, with three of the pages written lengthwise. On three bifoliums. In good condition, folded once. The hurried loose handwriting of this long letter presents a considerable challenge: even the signature (‘Geo Birdwood.’? ‘Gen Birdwood.’?) and the name of the recipient (‘Fagan’?) are doubtful. The letter begins with a reference to the ‘extract from Lady Dorothy Nevills - Reminiscences - given in the cutting from the Globe of yesterday enclosed in your kind note of today’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Fifteen lines. In good condition. Folded once. Address to ‘Mr. de Winton’ and signed ‘Cross’. He finds that de Winton’s ‘last letter certainly makes a very considerable difference’, but ‘the obvious answer’ to his mind is, as de Winton only proposes ‘to reduce the York House from 112 to 110, it is hardly worth stirring up the waters at all. And especially so, as the population is increasing so rapidly that the next Census will probably alter the whole state of things.’

A scarce piece of political ephemera, from the turbulent days of 1970s Britain. The only other copy traced at the British Library, where it is tentatively dated to 1977.

See Fisher’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Earlier in 1915 he had joined the Asquith government as Parliamentary Secretary to the Local Government Board, and he would retain this post until June of 1917, when Lloyd George would promote him to the cabinet as President of the Local Government Board. The recipient Willoughby Hyett Dickinson (1859-1943), later an influential proponent of the League of Nations, began his career as a Liberal MP. He was knighted in 1918, and elevated to the peerage as Baron Dickinson of Painswick in 1930, the same year in which he joined the Labour Party.

From the first Smith has been considered as the model of the ‘Sir Joseph Porter’ of Gilbert and Sullivan’s ‘HMS Pinafore’, and Disraeli himself is said to have referred to him as ‘Pinafore Smith’. See Smith’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is signed ‘W. H. Smith’, addressed to ‘Mr Townsend Warner’, and headed ‘Private’. The recipient is the historian and Harrow housemaster George Townsend Warner (1865-1916), father of the novelist Sylvia Townsend Warner. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Mill had died on 8 May, and in his 2018 biography, Timothy Larsen gives an account of the controversy over the efforts to have buried in Westminister Abbey. (In any event by his own desire Helen Taylor had her husband buried at Avignon.) 2pp, 12mo. With thin mourning border. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded three times.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, aged and worn, with slight damage to one corner from removal from mount. Folded four times. Signed ‘Carnarvon’ and addressed to ‘E. Lovell Esr.’ If he possibly can he will ‘attend on the Wednesday’, but he doubts whether his ‘other business’ will allow this. ‘Wednesday is a less convenient day than Tuesday to me, but I sd. be very glad to attend if possible.’

A neat item, providing an insight into the great statesman’s mercantile roots. See his entry in the Oxford DNB, together with those of his father the first baronet (Lancashire calico printer and politician) and the recipient Scott. 2pp, 4to. On watermarked laid paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded three times. The recipient is named as ‘David Scott Esqr’.

Lithograph. Landscape, 51 x 76 cm. In fair though fragile condition and worthy of framing, although aged and with a few small holes repaired. Weakened folds mainly repaired on reverse.. A determined Redmond marches to the right of the picture, large green flag of 'IRISH INDEPENDENCE' over his right shoulder, in his left hand three chains, linked to the noses of Asquith (with 'HOME RULE' paper under his arm), Lloyd George (holding a 'BUDGET BILL') and Winston Churchill (carrying a 'HOME DEPARTMENT' paper), who follow submissively.

On both sides of 16 x 12.5 cm leaf, with rounded edges, torn from an autograph album. In good condition, lightly aged and creased. Firmly and elegantly written on one side, just over the centre: 'Lovat Fraser.' Towards the head of the other side, in a large somewhat untidy hand, with intermittent underlining: 'Curzon of Kedleston'. Beneath this: 'Milner'. No other writing on either side.

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'.

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.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded twice. The letter, which deals with domestic matters, but has some interest considering the writer's father's views on land reform, is written a year after Chamberlain's return from his studies in Germany, where he had been alarmed by the rise in Prussian militarism, and with him on the verge of his entry into politics in the footsteps of his father Joseph Chamberlain. (He was also the older half-brother of the future Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain.) It begins: 'Dear Mr.

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'.

Anderson served as Home Secretary, Lord President of the Council and Chancellor of the Exchequer. Marchant headed the National Vigilance Association and the National Council of Public Morals. 2pp, 4to. On two leaves stapled together. In fair condition, lightly aged, with some staining from rusted staples. Folded three times. A good letter, giving an indication of civil defence preparations on the eve of the Second World War.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Conventionally-presented printed notice, in copperplate with mourning border, with address and date at foot. Reads: 'Mrs. Neville Chamberlain is deeply grateful for the wonderful messages and letters which she has received and she sends you her heartfelt thanks for your sympathy.' At the head of the notice is the ANS: 'Thank you Sir Egerton so much. I [?] you are right in what you say about my husband's efforts & work. & I like to have your sympathy. | Anne Chamberlain'.

On 10 x 6 cm slip of laid paper cut from an album, with partial ruled border in pink and blue. In good condition, lightly aged. A good firm signature, reading 'Randolph S. Churchill.' No other writing on the same side; with signature of 'Geoffrey H. Crump' on the reverse.

On one side of a 7.5 x 11 cm piece of paper, cut from the top of a letter. In good condition, lightly aged, and laid down on part of a leaf removed from an album. Reads 'Whitehall | June 22. 1844 | Sir Robert Peel requests Mess. Hanbury Taylor & Co [...]'. Written during his second ministry, 1841-1846, and after the Tamworth Manifesto of 1834, which brought into being the modern Conservative Party.

On 7.5 x 12 cm piece of paper, cut from the front of an envelope. With frank postmark in faint red ink. Laid out in the customary fashioin, with the date and address reading 'London June Twenty Four 1833. | Captn. Wood | 10th Hussars | Kilkenny', with 'Castlereagh' at bottom left.

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, aged and worn. He writes to inform him that 'Mr Bertie Williams Wynn's political views are strictly Conservative & in accordance with those entertained by the great body of the Carlton Club'. Wnn is 'still anxious to become a Member of the Club', and Combermere gives his Shropshire address.

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, with small paint stain to first page. He will be 'most happy' to see Basing, '& to talk over this serious question'. He suggests arrangements and concludes: 'But anyhow there shall be ample time for convocation: for the matter ought not to be hurried.' At the time of writing the Marquis of Salisbury, a Conservative, was Prime Minister. The 'serious matter' may be the Naval Defence Bill, enacted on 31 May of the same year.

15pp., 8vo. Stitched and unbound. In good condition, lightly aged, with central vertical fold. In small print. In the conclusion of the speech - 'greeted with repeated rounds of applause' - he states that he 'cannot be a party to severing that Church and State under which it is the glory and the privilege of the state to uphold the light of the Reformation in the midst of Ireland'. Scarce: only two copies on OCLC WorldCat, at the British Library and Illinois, and no copy at the National Library of Ireland.

The full title reads: 'The Speech of the Lord Chancellor delivered in the House of Lords, June 29th, 1868, on the Motion for the Second Reading of a Bill, intituled An Act to prevent, for a limited Time, new Appointments in the Church of Ireland, and to restrain, for the same Period, in certain respects, the Proceedings of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for Ireland.' 47 + [1]pp., 8vo. Stitched and unbound. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, with central vertical fold. The final page carries a list of 'Publications issued by the National Protestant Union'.

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Headed 'Private'. Reads: 'I shd. be glad to see you on the Surrey Bench before I leave office, if you still wish it, & if I can accomplish it. The first of these ifs you can answer. Please let me have a line.' The recipient was presumably the lawyer William Rowcliffe (1840-1922).