CURZON

[Lord Curzon [George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquis Curzon of Kedleston], Conservative statesman and Viceroy of India.] Autograph Letter Signed [to Mr Campbell], declining an invitation as he will not be taking 'any part in public affairs' that summer

Author: 
Lord Curzon [George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquis Curzon of Kedleston] (1859-1925), Conservative statesman, Viceroy of India
Publication details: 
Undated, but after 1895, and probably written early in 1922. On letterhead of The Priory, Reigate.
£65.00

See his long and sympathetic entry by David Gilmour in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Curzon acquired the Priory at Reigate after his marriage in 1895, and the letter probably dates from around March to July 1922, when, according to the Oxford DNB, ‘he was laid low by a combination of phlebitis, thrombosis, and lymphangitis which kept him out of action for five months’. 4pp, 12mo. On bifolium. Written in pencil. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with slight spotting at foot of first page. One central fold for postage.

[‘I may yet be a burden to the Royal Literary Fund’: Sir John Fortescue, military historian and Royal Librarian at Windsor.] Autograph Letter Signed, joking about his lack of success as an author while sending £5 to the Fund’s chairman Lord Curzon.

Author: 
Sir John Fortescue [Sir John William Fortescue] (1859-1933), military historian, Royal Librarian at Windsor Castle [Lord Curzon [George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston]; Royal Literary Fund]
Publication details: 
28 March 1913; on Windsor Castle letterhead.
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Begins: ‘Dear Curzon, / I have sent, with great pleasure, a fiver to the Literary Fund in honour of your chairmanship; but not [last word underlined] as a successful man of letters.’ He explains that had he been dependant on his books for a livelihood, he would ‘long ago have starved, and, by the Grace of the present Government, I may yet be a burden to the Royal Literary Fund.’ Curzon has minuted the letter at the head of the first page: ‘Hon J Fortescue £5’.

[Lord Curzon [George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquis Curzon of Kedleston]; Lord Milner [Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner]; Claud Lovat Fraser.] Leaf from an autograph album, carrying signatures of 'Curzon of Kedleston', 'Milner' and 'Lovat Fraser.'

Author: 
Lord Curzon [George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquis Curzon of Kedleston], Conservative statesman, Viceroy of India; Alfred Milner, 1st Viscount Milner; Claude Lovat Fraser, artist
Publication details: 
No place or date. [Before Lovat Fraser's death in 1921.]
£65.00

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.

[ Ernest Hawkins, Canon of Westminster. ] Autograph Letter Signed, writing in affectionate terms ('My dear') to an unnamed recipient, about 'your little manual'.

Author: 
Ernest Hawkins (1802-1868), Canon of Westminster, missionary society administrator and ecclesiastical author
Publication details: 
'79 Pallmall [sic] [ Pall Mall, London ] | July 3. 1851'.
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Begins: 'My dear | Our Jubilee bustle - & subsequently four days spent at Oxford on a College Election have prevented my attending to your little manual - The last corrections which you made - are now sent to the Printer - & a revise shall be sent in a day or two.' He ends by expressing relief at the 'improving accounts of your poor brothers family'.

[Sir Valentine Chirol, Times foreign correspondent and diplomat.] Autograph Signature and Latin motto.

Author: 
Sir Valentine Chirol [Mary Valentine Ignatius Chirol] (1852-1929), director of the foreign department of The Times, author, diplomat and imperialist
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 34, Carlyle Square, Chelsea, S.W. [London]'. Undated.
£20.00

On 8.5 x 9.5 cm piece of paper. In good condition, with light signs of age. Reads: '"Littera scripta manet" | Valentine Chirol'.

[Printed item.] A Better Way. An Appeal to Ulster not to desert Ireland by Sir Horace Plunkett.

Author: 
Sir Horace Plunkett [Ulster; Irish independence]
Publication details: 
Dublin: Hodges, Figgis & Co., Ltd. London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co., Limited. [Preface dated 'Kilteragh, Foxrock, Co. Dublin. | July 20, 1914.' [Rapid Printing Co., Ltd., 60 Middle Abbey Street, Dublin.]
£35.00

38pp., 12mo. Stapled pamphlet. In grey printed wraps. Errata slip at rear. Aged, and with wraps detached as result of rusting of staples. Uncommon.

[Frank Curzon, The Yorkshire Union of Mechanics Institutes.] Autograph Letter, with a caricature of himself acting as the signature, to John Warren of Royston, thanking him in playful and punning style for arranging a rail trip.

Author: 
Frank Curzon (1819-1907), poet of Exeter, Devon [The Yorkshire Union of Mechanics Institutes; John Warren, Royston, Hertfordshire]
Publication details: 
The Yorkshire Union of Mechanics Institutes, Victoria Chambers, Leeds. 9 November 1878.
£80.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. Consisting of a series of appalling puns, the letter reads: 'Dear Sir | Thanks for the Time Table it was a "rail" service and for your offer of a meal which will suit me to a "T" and for your selection of a bed, as I prefer Bedford to Bedlam, and for your instructions to change my train. It is easier to miss a train than to train a miss. | I feel now that I shall get to Royston with only the Hitchen that is necessary, and I am itching to get there when I feel that I am Warren-ted safe. | I remain My dear Sir | Yours truly'.

[Offprint from the Derbyshire Advertiser.] The Bemrose Library of Derbyshire Books. | Important Letter from Lord Curzon. | The Scheme adopted.

Author: 
Sir Henry Howe Bemrose (1827-1911), printer and Conservative politician [The Bemrose Library of Derbyshire Books; Derby Public Library; George Nathaniel Curzon, Marquess Curzon of Kedleston]
Publication details: 
'Reprinted from the Derbyshire Advertiser, October 3rd, 1913.'
£95.00

4pp., 8vo. Bifolium. Good, on aged paper. Printed in small type. Curzon's letter, dated from Kedleston, 30 September 1913, is a long report, covering the first two pages of the document, describing his efforts to 'remove from the town and country the great reproach of losing a library devoted to Derbyshire persons and subjects' by securing it for the Borough of Derby. The third page of the document carries 'an appeal made by Lord Curzon of Kedleston to residents in the County and Borough of Derby', headed 'Lord Curzon and the Derby Free Library.

Autograph Letter Signed ('A Berry') from Agnes Berry, sister of the poet Mary Berry and friend of Horace Walpole, to the Berry sisters' landlady the Hon. Mrs George Lamb of Richmond, describing Mary Berry's ill health.

Author: 
Agnes Berry (1764-1852), sister and companion of the poet Mary Berry (1763-1852), and friend of Horace Walpole [Hon. Mrs George Lamb [Caroline 'Caro George' Lamb'] of Devonshire Cottage, Richmond]
Publication details: 
Curzon Street, London. 7 December [1840s?].
£90.00

2pp., 12mo. 30 lines. Good, on lightly-aged paper. She begins by explaining that it was 'by an entire mistake' that Mrs Lamb's money (presumably the rent for Devonshire Lodge, owned by Mrs Lamb) was not paid, and that the mistake is 'now cleared up, & the money is to be paid this very morning by Coutt's into your Banker's'. Her sister Mary is not able to pass on this information herself, as 'she has been for above a fortnight so very unwell as not to be able to write, or occupy herself in any way - a severe fit of & Influenza has confined her, & kept me in great agony about her'.

Form, signed by Lord Curzon ('Curzon of Kedleston'), appointing Commander E. B. C. Dicken as 'Naval Attaché to His Majesty's Embassies at Paris, Madrid and Brussels and to his Majesty's Legation at Lisbon'.

Author: 
Lord Curzon [George Nathaniel Curzon (1859-1925), 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston] [Rear-Admiral Edward Bernard Cornish Dicken]
Lord Curzon
Publication details: 
28 August 1922; Foreign Office, London.
£65.00
Lord Curzon

Folio, 3 pp. Fair, on lightly-creased and aged paper. The lengthy form is printed, and completed with typewritten additions and its own 'Registry No.'

Draft Autograph Letter, probably incomplete (lacking signature page), to "St John". WITH related material.

Author: 
George Wyndham
Publication details: 
"Private / Draft / 25 Oct. 1904".
£500.00

(Wyndham) Statesman and man of letters, at the time of this letter Chief Secretary fo Ireland (see DNB). Three pages, 4to, good condition, draft with much working over. He appreciates being given detailed grounds for a proposal that Sir Anthony Macdonnell [MacDonnell, Antony Patrick, Baron MacDonnell, statesman, of Irish origin] , currently working with Wyndham in Ireland might be made available in the Indian Council, a matter of urgency. He explains at length his high opinion of Macdonnell (energy, ability, distinction, etc.) and his reluctance to part with him.

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