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[Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton, Governor-General of South Africa.] Autograph Signature cut from letter.

Author: 
Sydney Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton [Sydney Charles Buxton], British Liberal politician, the second Governor-General of South Africa
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£20.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Slip of grey paper, 11 x 4 cm, cut from letter. In good condition, lightly aged, with central vertical fold and spotting on reverse (a few dots of which show through) from glue. Bold signature ‘Sydney Buxton’. Text on reverse: ‘[…] paper you thought [?] […] / or if too late for […]’.

[Earl of Shaftesbury [Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury], Conservative politician, philanthropist and reformer.] Autograph Letter Signed to R. G. Laker, on the subject of 'penny banks', praising the management of the one at St Austell.

Author: 
Earl of Shaftesbury [Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury] (1801-1885), Conservative politician, philanthropist and reformer [R. G. Laker of Trevarrick, St Austell, Cornwall]
Publication details: 
14 January 1863; on letterhead of St Giles's House, Cranbourne, Salisbury.
£65.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. With regard to the subject of the letter, the 'penny banks' that were established in mid-Victorian England to encourage thrift among the working classes, see J. W. Dirring's thesis 'The Organization and Practice of Banking in Cornwall, 1771-1922', which states that ' the Penryn Penny Bank (founded in 1861), [...] was forced to stop payment in February [1879] with its funds inaccessible in the failed Cornish Bank'. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and creased, with postage folds, one of which has as short closed tear at edge.

Irish troubles; Col. Albert Brassey, British Army Officer, rower, and Conservative Member of Parliament.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘B. Hobbie Esq’, regarding ‘the agricultural distress’, with reference to ‘the Irish troubles’.

Author: 
Col. Albert Brassey (1844-1918), British Army officer, rower, and Conservative Member of Parliament for Banbury 1895-1906, brother of Earl Brassey and Lord Apethorpe
Publication details: 
17 May 1887; on letterhead of Heythrop [Hall], Chipping Norton.
£65.00

See his brothers’ entries in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Folded once. In good condition, lightly aged, with slight rust spotting at head of last page. Erroneous attribution to Earl Brassey in small type at the head of the first page. Addressed to ‘B. Hobbie Esq’ and signed ‘Albert Brassey’. He doubts whether you will be able to attend the public meeting at Oxford on 28 May.

[Lord Balfour [A. J. Balfour; Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl Balfour], Conservative Prime Minister.] Autograph Signature ‘Arthur James Balfour’ for collector.

Author: 
Lord Balfour [A. J. Balfour; Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl Balfour] (1848-1930), Conservative politician, Prime Minister 1902-1905; Foreign Secretary who issued the 1917 Balfour Declaration
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£25.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On piece of paper, roughly 12 x 7.5 cm, laid down on 14 x 9 cm plain postcard, with contemporary printed heading on reverse (‘A half penny stamp to be placed here.’, and so on). In good condition, lightly aged. Good firm signature at head of paper, with ‘Autograph’ in a contemporary hand at the foot, with wide space between.

[Admiral Beatty [Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty], First Sea Lord.] Autograph Signature from album.

Author: 
Admiral Beatty [Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (1871-1936)], First Sea Lord, 1919-1927, commander of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron at the Battle of Jutland in 1916
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£25.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, in which ‘deep professional commitment and mental toughness’ are said to be qualities whose possession he demonstrated ‘heroically’. On 8 x 5 cm piece of light blue-grey paper. Good large firm signature 'Beatty'. No other writing on page. In good condition, lightly aged.

[Lord Brassey [Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey], Liberal party politician and Governor of Victoria.] Autograph Letter Signed quoting three ‘maxims’ that he uses.

Author: 
Lord Brassey [Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey] (1836-1918), Liberal party politician, Governor of Victoria in Australia and yachtsman
Publication details: 
18 December 1911. On two letterheads of Sand Hill, Winslow, Bucks.
£45.00

See his entry, and that of his father the civil engineer, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On separate letterheads. The recipient is not named and there is no salutation (though the letter is complete). Signed ‘Brassey’. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Begins: ‘I have two maxims for [hourly?] use. / I do the little I can do and leave the rest to thee / What thou livest live well. The rest commit to Heaven / Nor should the last message of the greatest sailor since the world began ever be forgotten / England expects that every man this day will do his duty’.

[Lord Canning [Charles John Canning, Earl Canning], Governor-General and first Viceroy of India.] Autograph Letter Signed to Lord Fitzgerald, as Under-Secretary to Lord Aberdeen at the Foreign Office, concerning Baron Brunow.

Author: 
Lord Canning [Charles John Canning, Earl Canning (1812-1862)], Governor-General and first Viceroy of India [Lord Fitzgerald [William Vesey Fitzgerald (1783-1843)], Anglo-Irish politician]
Publication details: 
'F. O. [Foreign Office, Whitehall] Nov 11. 41 [1841]'.
£120.00

Showing signs of the early stirrings of the Great Game. See Canning's entry, and that of Fitzgerald, in the Oxford DNB. At the time of the letter Canning was serving in his first governmental appointment, as Under-Secretary to Lord Aberdeen in the Foreign Office, in Peel’s administration, while Fitzgerald was President of the Board of Control. The ‘Baron Brunow’ referred to in the letter is Russian Ambassador in London, Philipp Graf von Brunnow (1797-1895). 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of a bifolium. Docketed on second leaf, ‘Lord Canning / respecting Baron Brunow Novr 11/41’.

[Lady Catharine Long, novelist and religious writer.] Latter part of Autograph Letter Signed [to Mr. Harris], discussing her view of the state of the soul after death, and Mrs Jervoise’s ‘troubled married life’.

Author: 
Lady Catharine Long (1797-1867), novelist and religious writer, daughter of Horatio Walpole, 2nd Earl of Orford
Publication details: 
No date or plafe.
£90.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. Twenty-three lines of text. In fair condition, lightly aged, but with slight creasing at head of leaf. Folded twice. Financial calculations written lengthwise underneath signature, with light smudging.

[Earl Grey [Henry George Grey, 3rd Earl Grey], Liberal politician.] Autograph Letter Signed to Tom Taylor, editor of Punch, praising a performance of his play ‘The Ticket-of-Leave Man’.

Author: 
Earl Grey [Henry George Grey, 3rd Earl Grey], Secretary of State for War in two Liberal administrations [Tom Taylor (1817-1880), playwright and editor of Punch]
Publication details: 
2 June [no year, but 1863, and on paper watermarked with that date]; on letterhead of 13 Carlton House Terrace.
£65.00

See the entry for Grey and Taylor in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Begins: ‘Dear Mr Taylor - / I am just come home from seeing “the ticket of leave man,” & before I go to bed I must thank you for an evening of very great enjoyment.’ It pleased him ‘to see so good a play, not taken from the French, but really English, [the play was in fact adapted from the French] & teaching the public what is true instead of encouraging a popular delusion of the day’.

[Lord Carnarvon: Henry Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon.] Autograph Letter in the Third Person, thanking Mrs Page for papers on the boundaries of Highclere, and commiserating with her on the death of Colonel Page.

Author: 
Lord Carnarvon [Henry John George Herbert, 3rd Earl of Carnarvon (1800-1849)], English nobleman, Tory politician and traveller, owner of Highclere Castle, Hampshire [Colonel Page]
Publication details: 
‘43. Grosvenor Sq / July 2. 1835.’ [London]
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 4to. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Folded four times. Begins: ‘Lord Carnarvon presents his Compliments to Mrs. Page and is extremely obliged by her polite attention in sending him the Papers relating to the boundaries of Highclere - Burghclere, and Woodhay Parishes, which he has no doubt will prove extremely useful to him’. He has ‘many apologies to make for not sooner acknowledging the receipt of the Papers, but he has been for some time past incessantly occupied in attending the Committee on the Gt.

[Pyramids of Egypt.] Substantial Conclusion of Autograph Letter Signed from ‘William Lydiard - / Master’s Mate of HM Prison Ship San Ysidro’ to the Earl of Leicester, suggesting, after the fall of Alexandria, that ‘these mysterious piles’ be opened.

Author: 
[Pyramids of Egypt: William Lydiard, Master’s Mate of HM Prison Ship San Ysidro, Plymouth Dock [Earl of Leicester, President of the Society of Antiquaries; Egyptology; fall of Alexandria]
Publication details: 
Undated, but on Britannia paper watermarked 1805; and the San Ysidro was a prison ship at Plymouth between May 1805 and September 1814.
£380.00

Napoleon’s Egyptian Campaign, 1798-1801, inspired a period of ‘Egyptomania’ culminating in Champollion’s decipherment of the Rossetta Stone. The contribution of the author of this letter to this outpouring of scholarly activity is an offer to the President of the Society of Antiquaries of London to blow up one of the pyramids, in order to extract their contents. See the recipient’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 8vo. Bifolium of laid Britannia paper, watermarked 1805. Fifty-five lines, well laid out and written in a neat and stylish hand.

[Frederick, Duke of York, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army and George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, First Lord of the Admiralty.] Autograph Letter Signed requesting a Royal Navy post for a 'young man', with autograph draft of Spencer's reply.

Author: 
Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (1763-1827), second son of George III, Commander-in-Chief of British Army during Napoleonic Wars; George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758-1834)]
Publication details: 
ONE (Frederick's ALS): 'York House [London] February 6th 1798'. TWO (Spencer's Signed Autograph Draft of his Reply): 'Adm[iralt]y. [London] 6 Feb: 1798.'
£180.00

See the two men's entries in the Oxford DNB. Each of the two letters is 1p, 4to, with the Prince’s letter on the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium, and the Earl’s signed autograph copy of his reply on the recto of the second leaf of the same bifolium. Both leaves are discoloured and damaged, with wear and loss from infestation, but the two signatures and the area around them are good and clear. The document has been folded twice for postage. Strip of white tape along gutter of blank reverse of second leaf from mount. ONE (Frederick’s ALS): Fifteen lines.

[Lord Longford [General William Lygon Pakenham, 4th Earl of Longford]. Autograph Signature, as Under-Secretary of State for War, to document in secretarial hand, regarding the Army Chaplains' Bill.

Author: 
Lord Longford [General William Lygon Pakenham (1819-1887), 4th Earl of Longford], Anglo-Irish soldier and Conservative politician, Under-Secretary of State for War [Army Chaplain's Bill]
Lord Longford
Publication details: 
'War Office [Whitehall] 29 June 1868'. On embossed letterhead of the War Office [Whitehall].
£80.00
Lord Longford

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, foolscap 8vo, on recto of first leaf of bifolium. Docketted in customary style, lengthwise on reverse of second leaf: ‘Earl of Longford / War Office 29 June 68 / Army Chaplain’s Bill’. Addressed to ‘John Graham Esq / &c &c / 3 Westminster Chambers’. Small tight signature 'Longford', good and uncrowded, on creased and worn paper. Folded into packet. The rest of the document is written hurriedly in the under-secretary’s hand.

[Lord Halifax, as Lord Irwin [Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax], Conservative politician, Viceroy of India.] Typed Letter Signed, thanking ‘Mr. Wilson’ for the offer of the help of the Indian Church Aid Association.

Author: 
Lord Halifax, as Lord Irwin [Edward Frederick Lindley Wood (1881-1959), 1st Earl of Halifax, Conservative politician, Viceroy of India, appeaser of Nazi Germany
Publication details: 
1 November 1933; on letterhead of 88 Eaton Square, S.W.1 [London].
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. On aged paper, creased at the edges. Signed ‘Irwin’. He thanks him for his letter and states that it is good of him ‘to offer the help of the Indian Church Aid Association for the receipt of the money. I should think we might be very glad indeed to take advantage of your suggestion.’ He is sending Wilson’s letter ‘to Sir John Thompson, who is really the active partner in the business!’ Halifax was Viceroy of India between 1926 and 1931.

[The Earl of Shrewsbury [Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 19th Earl of Shrewsbury, as Viscount Ingestre], Conservative politician.] Autograph Note Signed to ‘Mr Rogers’, regarding the sending of a corrected list ‘to Mr. Parkers’.

Author: 
The Earl of Shrewsbury [Charles Chetwynd-Talbot (1830-1877), 19th Earl of Shrewsbury] (Viscount Ingestre, 1849-1868), Conservative politician
Publication details: 
‘June 15th / Wednesday’; ‘Direct Vist. Ingestre / 1st. Life Guards / Military Camp / Chobham Common’.
£40.00

Shrewsbury was Disraeli’s Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms from 1875 to his death. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded three times for postage. With traces of wax from mounting at corners of blank reverse. Reads: ‘Mr. Rogers be so good as to correct enclosed list & take it to Mr. Parker immediately you have corrected it / - Yours truly / Ingestre / Tell them you have corrected it.’

[Lord Mansfield, Scottish jurist whose judgments reformed English law on slavery.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Mansfield') [to the Earl of Liverpool] regarding his recovery from ill health and recuperation at Mount Ephraim.

Author: 
Lord Mansfield [William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield (1705-1793)], distinguished Scottish jurist whose judgments reformed English law on slavery [Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool (1729-1808)]
Publication details: 
'Mount Ephraim [near Tunbridge Wells, Kent] 2d Septr. 1784'.
£220.00

1p, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse. Folded once.. A neatly-written letter of fourteen lines. The recipient is not named, but is Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool (1729-1808), whose country seat was Addiscombe Park in Surrey. Mansfield served in the First Pitt Ministry with Liverpool (then Lord Hawkesbury), the former as Lord President of the Council, and the latter as President of the Board of Trade.

[Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex, son of George III.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Augustus Frederick') [to Earl St Vincent], attacking the Prime Minister Lord Liverpool while discussing his election as President of the Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex (1773-1843), sixth son of George III, bibliophile [John Jervis, 1st Earl of St Vincent (1735-1823), naval hero; Ellis Cornelia Knight (1757-1837); Lord Liverpool]
Publication details: 
Kensington Palace; 3 February 1816.
£350.00

An interesting letter, attacking the serving Tory Prime Minister Robert Banks Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool (1770-1828), who had stood against the Duke of Sussex (noted for his liberal sympathies) in the election for President of the Royal Society of Arts. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded three times. The recipient is not named, but is identified in an endorsement on the reverse of the second leaf as 'Earl St Vincent'. Written in a hurried, untidy hand.

[Baron von Bunsen [Christian Karl Josias von Bunsen], Prussian Ambassador to the Court of St James’s.] Autograph Letter Signed and Autograph Note Signed to Lady Theresa Villiers, the letter with reference to a young child's party.

Author: 
Baron von Bunsen [Christian Karl Josias von Bunsen] (1791-1860), Prussian Ambassador to Court of St James’s [Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), author]
Publication details: 
ANS: ‘4 Carlton Terrace [London] / Tuesday 24.’ ALS: ‘C. T. Thursday / 25’. Neither item has the full date.
£56.00

Written while Bunsen was Ambassador in London, 1841-1854. The recipient Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865) was the sister of the Liberal Foreign Secretary the 4th Earl of Clarendon, and successively the wife of the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842) and the Liberal politician Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), all of whom also have entries in the Oxford DNB. Both items in good condition, lightly aged, on pieces of gilt-edged paper, folded for postage. Bunsen is writing from part of what was known as ‘Prussia House’. ANS (‘Tuesday 24.’): 1p, 32mo.

[J. T. Delane [John Thadeus Delane, distinguished editor of The Times.] Autograph Letter Signed to the Earl of Clarendon, introducing Wimpore Cooke, who is going out to China as Times special correspondent, and asks what 'course' should be 'pursued'.

Author: 
J. T. Delane [John Thadeus Delane (1817-1879)], editor of The Times, 1841-1877 [Lord Clarendon [George William Frederick Villiers (1800-1870), 4th Earl of Clarendon, Liberal Foreign Secretary]
Publication details: 
6 April [1859]. No place.
£75.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of a bifolium, the second docketed ‘Mr. Delane / April 6/59 / Introd. Mr Wimpore Cooke - Times Correspt in China -’. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Addressed to ‘The Earl of Clarendon’ and signed ‘John T. Delane’. Reads: ‘My dear Lord, / I should be much obliged if you would receive the bearer, Mr.

[Violet Bonham Carter, daughter of Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith, step-daughter of Margot Asquith, and wife of Maurice Bonham Carter.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. Seyers', declining 'offers of hospitality' from Monmouth Town.

Author: 
Violet Bonham Carter (1887-1969), daughter of Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith [Herbert Henry Asquith], step-daughter of Margot Asquith, and wife of Maurice Bonham Carter
Publication details: 
22 June 1932. On letterhead of Stockton House, Codford St. Mary, Wilts.
£120.00

An opponent of appeasement and Winston Churchill's closest female friend. See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘Mr. Seyers’ and signed ‘Violet Bonham Carter’. She regrets that she is unable to accept his invitation to ‘come to Monmouth in November - as my plans are very uncertain - it is just possible I might be abroad then. / It is so good of the Monmouth Town [bench?] to invite me’. She ends by asking him to thank them for ‘their kind offers of hospitality’.

[Lord Buxton, Governor-General of South Africa [Sydney Charles Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton), Liberal politician].] Autograph Letter Signed, thanking Bernard Piffard for copies of the ‘West Herts Radical’, which he hopes will prove effective.

Author: 
Lord Buxton, Governor-General of South Africa during the Great War [Sydney Charles Buxton, 1st Earl Buxton (1853-1934), Liberal politician] [Bernard Piffard (1833-1916), microscopist and entomologist]
Publication details: 
1 April 1890; on embossed letterhead of 14 Eaton Place, S.W. [London]
£65.00

Buxton was a popular Governor-General who formed an effective partnership with Botha. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed to ‘B Piffard Esq’ and signed ‘Sydney Buxton’. He is obliged for the ‘copies of the “West Herts Radical”’, and is glad to hear that Piffard is ‘able to circulate such a large number in your Division’. He hopes it will have ‘a satisfactory effect on the next Election’.

[H. H. Asquith, Liberal Prime Minister.] Autograph Signature to Printed Circular regarding 'the University Settlements' [in London's East End and elsewhere] as a solution for 'social problems'.

Author: 
H. H. Asquith [Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith] (1852-1928), Liberal Prime Minister [University Settlements; Toynbee Hall, Whitechapel; Oxford House, Bethnal Green]
H. H. Asquith
Publication details: 
Printed Circular dated 'October, 1911.' No place.
£65.00
H. H. Asquith

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The ‘settlement’ movement was the result of growing unease among the educated classes regarding the condition of the poor. The two most celebrated settlements, both still active, are Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel and Oxford House in Bethnal Green. From the papers of Sir William David Ross (1877-1971), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford. The present printed circular is 1p, 12mo. Printed on wove watermarked paper. In good condition, lightly aged and folded once. Asquith’s signature is genuine. Reads: ‘October, 1911.

[Three Tory Statesmen, 1793.] Autograph Signatures of ‘Mornington’ [Marquis Wellesley, Wellington’s brother], ‘Bayham’ [Marquis Camden, Ireland connection] and ‘J. Th. Townshend’ [Viscount Sydney of St Leonards], on part of parliamentary document.

Author: 
Richard Colley Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley [as Earl of Mornington]; John Jeffreys Pratt, 1st Marquess Camden [as Viscount Bayham]; John Thomas Townshend, 2nd Viscount Sydney of St Leonards
Three Tory Statesmen, 1793.
Publication details: 
Dated at foot 'July 1793'.
£180.00
Three Tory Statesmen, 1793.

Richard Colley Wellesley (1760-1842), 1st Marquess Wellesley [as Earl of Mornington]; John Jeffreys Pratt (1759-1840), 1st Marquess Camden [as Viscount Bayham]; John Thomas Townshend (1764-1831), 2nd Viscount Sydney of St Leonards. See their entries in the Oxford DNB. On 5.5 x 15.5 cm strip extracted from a document, and laid down on 8 x 21.5 cm part of gilt-edged leaf from an album. In good condition, lightly aged on aged and creased mount. The signatures are written above one another: 'Mornington / Bayham / J. Th. Townshend'.

[Major John Lodington, Royal Marine, future Naval Officer at Dominica.] Two Autograph Letters Signed by him, and one by his wife, to Messrs Cox & Son, Royal Marine Agency Office, regarding a creditor's 'unpleasant letter', 'Monte Video Prize Money'.

Author: 
Major John Lodington, Royal Marines, Aide-de-Camp to the Governor of Dominica, the Earl of Huntingdon [HMS Ardent; Messrs Cox & Son, Royal Marine Agency Office, London]
Publication details: 
Lodington’s two letters: first, 25 May 1808, Royal Marine Barracks; second, 8 June 1808, ‘H.M.S. Ardent, Sheerness’. Mrs Lodington’s letter, 29 May 1808; Norwich.
£100.00

Lodington would be ‘appointed naval officer at Dominica’ in 1814, and the last heard of him is in a letter of 1824 from the same place (offered separately), where ‘Lieut. Col. Lodington’ is awaiting trial, having been abandoned by the Governor, the Earl of Huntingdon. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged, and each is docketed on the reverse, with the usual folds for postage. ONE: Lodington to ‘Charles E. Cox Esqr | For Cox & Son’, 25 May 1808, ‘Royal Marine Barracks’. 1p, 4to. Signed ‘John Lodington / Major Royal Mars’.

[Lord Roberts of Kandahar, distinguished British soldier, Commander-in-Chief during the Second Boer War.] Autograph Letter Signed, telling the Duke of Buccleugh why he is unable to ?take the chair at a dinner in aid of the Westminster Hospital Funds'

Author: 
Lord Roberts [Frederick Sleigh Roberts; Field Marshal Earl Roberts of Kandahar, V.C.] (1832-1914), soldier, British Army commander during Second Boer War [William Scott, 6th Duke of Buccleuch]
Publication details: 
13 March 1901; 17 Dover Street, W. [London]
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On his letterhead of coronet and letter R. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. He is sorry to refuse the Duke, ?but I could not really take the chair at a dinner in aid of the Westminster Hospital Funds?, as he has ?promised Lord Cadogan to to [sic] act in that capacity in aid of [same?] Chelsea Hospital. Under these circumstances, I am sure you will excuse me.?

[A. J. Balfour [Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl Balfour], Conservative Prime Minister.] Lithographed Circular in facsimile of Autograph Letter Signed, urging Parliamentary attendance (of MPs) for ‘the discussion of important questions'.

Author: 
A. J. Balfour [Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl Balfour] (1848-1930), Conservative Prime Minister who as Foreign Secretary issued the 1917 Balfour Declaration
A. J. Balfour
Publication details: 
24 January 1896; on letterhead of First Lord of the Treasury, 10 Downing Street, Whitehall, S.W. [London]
£60.00
A. J. Balfour

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. A lithographed document, in facsimile of an Autograph Letter Signed, on a genuine letterhead with embossed motif of First Lord of the Treasury, with mourning border. On aged paper, with the blank reverse carrying unobtrusive glue stains from previous mounting. Folded three times for postage.

[Viscount Sydney [John Robert Townshend, 1st Earl Sydney], Liberal politician, twice Lord Chamberlain of the Household and twice Lord Steward.] Part of Autograph Letter, with Signature, regarding the killing of rabbits.

Author: 
Viscount Sydney [John Robert Townshend, 1st Earl Sydney] (1805-1890), Liberal politician, twice Lord Chamberlain of the Household and twice Lord Steward
Sydney
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£50.00
Sydney

On 11 x 6 cm piece of aged paper, with patches of discoloration and traces of mount on reverse. Good clear firm and undamaged signature on front: ‘[...] I am Sir / Yr Obt. Sert. / Sydney’. The reverse reads: ‘[...] ristricted from killing rabbits on the land lately taken on lease from me and also from ploughing up any part of it but I hereby give you leave to kill rabbits or any [...]’. See Image.

[The Earl of Rosebery, Liberal Prime Minister.] Letter in a Secretarial Hand, signed by him, regarding appointment to a post at the Treasury, with a dinner invitation to Sturgis and his wife (George Meredith’s daughter).

Author: 
The Earl of Rosebery, Liberal Prime Minister [Archibald Philip Primrose (1847-1929), 5th Earl of Rosebery; Henry Parkman Sturgis (1847-1929), American-born banker and Liberal politician]
Publication details: 
27 April 1895; on letterhead of The Durdans, Epsom.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. With mourning border. On first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, folded once for postage. All in a secretarial hand, except the signature ‘Rosebery’. Addressed to ‘My dear Sturgis’ - the item is from the autograph album of Sturgis’s wife, George Meredith’s daughter Marie Eveleen (‘Mariette’; 1871-1933). He regrets that he has ‘disposed of the vacancy of the secretaryship at the Treasury’. Had he not, he ‘would gladly have considered the claims of your candidate’. Ends: ‘I wonder if you and Mrs Sturgis would come and dine here some evening.’

[Duke of Newcastle (Henry, 2nd Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne).] Autograph Signature, with that of Henry Saxby, to extracted manuscript document with debenture entry.

Author: 
Duke of Newcastle [Henry Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, 9th Earl of Lincoln and 2nd Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, KG, PC] (1720-1794); Henry Saxby
Publication details: 
Circa 11 October 1773. [London.]
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. While shunning the limelight, Newcastle was an influential figure in British politics; it was through his lobbying that his cousin Sir Henry Clinton was appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces in America during the American Revolution. According to Timothy Mowl's 1996 biography of Horace Walpole, Newcastle was 'famed for an unusually large penis', which he deployed on both sexes. On one side of a 12 x 19 piece of laid paper, with large triangle cut at top right (not near signature).

[‘A very nice little collection’: the 2nd Marquis of Hastings boasts about his picture collection.] Autograph Letter Signed regarding ‘the entry in the Leicester registry’ and a picture sent to him by the recipient.

Author: 
Marquis of Hastings [George Rawdon Hastings (1808-1844), 2nd Marquess of Hastings, 3rd Earl of Moira, 3rd Baron Rawdon], British peer and courtier [Donnington Park, Leicestershire]
Publication details: 
‘Donnington Park / Novr. 5th / 1836.’
£56.00

See the entry in the Oxford DNB for his father the 1st Marquis. 2pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and discoloured, with thin strip of glue from previous mount on reverse of second leaf. The recipient is not named, and he signs ‘Hastings’. The letter begins: ‘Dear Sir, / I made the necessary enquiries as to the entry in the Leicester registry (through a friend of our clergyman) & enclose his reply [not present] - I fear it is not what you wished for.’ He might get ‘more satisfactory information’ if the recipient can give a ‘better clue to go by’.

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