E.J.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. All four items are signed ‘Edward J. Poynter’. The first is somewhat discoloured, with cut corners (not affecting text), the others are in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: ALS to ‘My dear Robin’, 11 July 1874. 1p, 12mo. He has received ‘the four £10 notes’ and reports ‘the most tremendous thunderstorms’. TWO: ACS to ‘Mr. Gilkes’, 30 July 1890. He apologises for being unable to ‘attend the distributions of the School prizes’ that day. THREE: ALS to ‘Waterlow’, 5 November 1905. 1p, 12mo. ‘Your letter gives me the key to the memorial.

The six illustrations and seven pages of text totalling 13pp., 4to (22.5 x 18cm), on seven leaves of laid paper removed from an album. On aged brittle paper, with chipping and slight loss to the edges. The illustrations are simple sketches, indicating the layout of the page, with titles and occasional words of text by Sullivan. Five of the six designs are for the Pall Mall Budget: 'The Thumbmark by H. G. Wells' (28 June 1894), thumbmarks around title and a newspaper seller with headline reading 'Anarchist Outrage'; 'The Stolen Bacillus by H. G.

The three items indicate a brashness approaching hucksterism on the part of a Victorian professional, in addition to marketing techniques advanced for the period. Letter: 12mo, 2 pp. Stamped at head: 'Edw. Broughton Rouse, M.A., LL.D. | 436, GLOSSOP ROAD, | SHEFFIELD.' Twenty-five lines of text. Clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. Many hundreds of this letter must have been copied out and sent to clergymen throughout England.

12mo, 3 pp. Bifolium. Thirty-two lines. Very good, on lightly-aged paper, apart from the tearing away of the single-word answer to 'a very old riddle' in ancient Greek from Sir Thomas Browne, resulting in the loss of a few words of text from the reverse. Begins by thanking Shepherd for the unnecessary return of 'the Harper', followed by congratulations on his birthday. Hopes to amuse him with the riddle.

8vo: [iv] + [70] + [i] pp. The body of the text is paginated 75-144, with the six letters numbered seven to twelve. At the end of the volume are an index to the whole work, and a title-page for Maitland's 'Twelve Letters on Fox's Acts and Monument' (Rivingtons, 1841). In original buff wraps, with white printed label on front cover. Text clear and complete, but in poor condition: worn, dogeared and lightly-stained, with loss to margins.

8vo, 4 pp. Neatly printed on watermarked laid paper. Fair, though slightly grubby and creased. The words 'First Issue' are in the top left-hand corner of the first page. The heading reads 'Trinity College, Cambridge. | June 21 and 22, 1899. | The following Members of the College have accepted the invitation of the Master and Fellows to dinner on June 21. The date placed opposite to each name is that of the year in which the first degree was taken, and the order is that in which the names stand on the College Boards'. The earliest graduates date from 1858 and the latest from 1865.

4to, 2 pp. On a bifolium. Neatly printed on watermarked laid paper. Clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The first paragraph reads 'I BEG to inform you that you will be [last two world replaced by 'are'] of standing to take the degree of M.A.