FRENCH

[Lord Bryce (James Bryce), Liberal politician, jurist and British Ambassador to United States.] Autograph Letter Signed to William Sheowring declining to address tye South Place Ethical Society.

Author: 
Lord Bryce [James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce] (1838-1922), Ulster-born Liberal politician, jurist, British Ambassador to United States [The South Place Ethical Society, London; Conway Hall]
Publication details: 
9 August 1898. On embossed letterhead of the House of Commons.
£40.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Signed ‘James Bryce’. Addressed to ‘W. S[?]ing Esq.’, presumably the secretary of the South Place Ethical Society. His ‘time is already so fully occupied with public & private work & engagements of many kinds’ that he ‘cannot hope to comply’ with the recipient’s request that he ‘should give an address for the South Place Ethical Society’.

[George Ticknor, Professor of French and Spanish at Harvard.] Autograph Letter Signed [to the novelist Thomas Henry Lister?], presenting a copy of Prescott’s ‘Ferdinand and Isabella’, ‘written by a friend in America’ and liked by Hallam and Southey.

Author: 
George Ticknor (1791-1871), Professor of French and Spanish at Harvard [William Hickling Prescott (1796-1859), American historian; Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842), English novelist]
Publication details: 
‘Brunswick Hotel [Jermyn Street, London] / May 26. 1838.’
£380.00

Signed ‘Geo. Ticknor’. The male recipient is not named, but the item is from the papers of the author Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), successively wife of the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842) and the Liberal politician Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), all of whom have entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of a bifolium, with a trace of glue from mount to the second leaf. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage.

[François Guizot, Prime Minister of France, historian and statesman.] Autograph Letter in the third person, in French, to ‘Mesdemoiselles Berry’ [i.e. Horace Walpole’s friends Agnes and Mary Berry]

Author: 
François Guizot [François Pierre Guillaume Guizot] (1787-1874), Prime Minister of France, historian and statesman [Agnes and Mary Berry]
Publication details: 
‘Vendredi 10 Avril’ [no year and no place].
£80.00

See Mary Berry’s entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. 1p, 16mo. Neatly written in his distinctive close hand: ‘M. Guizot regrette beaucoup qu’un engagement antérieur ne lui permette pas d’accepter, pour le 11 avril, l’aimable invitation de Mesdemoiselles Berry. Il a l’honneur de leur envoyer deux volumes qui les amuserons peut-être quelques momens, et de leur offrir ses hommages respectueux’. The item is from the papers of Lady Maria Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), to whom Mary Berry left her papers for publication.

[George Ticknor, Professor of French and Spanish at Harvard.] Autograph Signature and address of letter to Lady Theresa Villiers from cover of envelope.

Author: 
George Ticknor (1791-1871), Professor of French and Spanish at Harvard [Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), author]
George Ticknor
Publication details: 
With partial Boston postmark. No year [but between 1844 and ]
£80.00
George Ticknor

The recipient Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865) was successively wife of the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842) and the Liberal politician Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), all of whom have entries in the Oxford DNB. The present item is an 11.5 x 8 cm panel of light-brown paper from the front cover of an envelope. Part of a large Boston postmark is at the left, with a manuscript ‘2’ written over a few letters of the address. All in Ticknor’s hand, it reads: ‘Lady Teresa Lewis / South Place, / Knightsbridge / London, SW.’, with the signature ‘Geo: Ticknor’ at bottom left.

[Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 1800.] Printed Privy Council Order in Council, in the name of ‘W. Fawkener’, regarding ‘modes of Payment by Allotments, and other new Regulations respecting Tickets’.

Author: 
Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, 1800 [William Augustus Henry Fawkener (c.1750-1811), Clerk to the Privy Council; the Royal Navy; King George III]
Publication details: 
‘At the Court at St. James’s, The 28th of May, 1800.’ Slug: ‘Printed by G. Roberts, Admiralty Office.’
£50.00

1p, folio. On recto of the first leaf of a bifolium of watermarked laid paper. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight wear and spotting to the extremities. With ‘(L.S.)’ at top right and at the foot the slug ‘Printed by G. Roberts, Admiralty Office.’ Headed: ‘At the Court at St. James’s, / The 28th of May, 1800. / PRESENT, / The King’s Most Excellent Majesty / in Council.’ Thirty-four lines of text, including a twenty-three line transcription of an Admiralty memorandum, in smaller type.

[Marshal Petain [Marechal Philippe Petain], French general, 'the lion of Verdun' in WW1 and head of the collaborationist Vichy regime in WW2.] Calling card of 'LE MARECHAL PETAIN / Ministre de la Guerre', with autograph inscription by him.

Author: 
Marshal Petain [Marechal Philippe Petain; Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Petain; Petain] (1856-1951), French general, 'the lion of Verdun' in WW1 and head of the collaborationist Vichy regime in WW2
Petain
Publication details: 
No date or place (but in 1934, while Petain was Minister of War).
£85.00
Petain

There can be few greater falls from grace than Petain's in the whole of human history. A 10 x 6.25 calling card. In good condition, lightly aged and ruckled, with glue and traces of paper mount on the blank reverse. The engraved text ('LE MARECHAL PETAIN / Ministre de la Guerre') is centred, with the top line in shaded block capitals and the bottom in copperplate. Beneath this Petain writes: 'avec ses remer'. See Image.

[Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvray, French novelist, playwright and journalist and Girondin during the French Revolution.] Autograph Manuscript of seven political memoranda, titled ‘un mot sur notre situation.’

Author: 
Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvray (1760-1797), French novelist, playwright and journalist and Girondin during the French Revolution
Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvray,
Publication details: 
No date or place. [During the French Revoultion: 1780s or 1790s.]
£450.00
Jean-Baptiste Louvet de Couvray,

See his entry in the Encyclopaedia Britannica. 1p, 16mo. Twenty-two lines. On watermarked laid paper. Seven numbered memoranda, possibly an aide-mémoire for a speech. Begins: ‘1o. la loi égale pour tous.’ Later on: ‘1o Ce n’est point un droit que la loi accorde; c’est un devoir qu’elle impose. et pour imposer ce devoir, elle n’a vue que son interêt. / une fonction publique n’est pas le droit de tous; elle est le devoir de quelques uns.’ And later: ‘5o. Quoi le Pere est b[?] . . . . les Dieux de l’oncle sont confisqués.’ The seventh and last memorandum concerns ‘Les malheureux!

[Léon Gozlan, French novelist and playwright.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Monsieur le President des Ministres’ [Soult or Thiers??]

Author: 
Léon Gozlan (1803-1866), French novelist and playwright
Publication details: 
‘rue Meslay - 46 / ce 7. juin 1840.’
£180.00

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and creased, with thin stub from previous mounting neatly adhering to inner edge. He explains that his request for an audience is ‘exclusivement littéraire’, and that it is as a ‘titre d’honneur de lettres’ that he hopes to obtain ‘la haute faveur’ of consideration of various factors ‘soumis à ces attributions’. From the celebrated collection of Baron Houghton (in Lot acquired at Chiswick Auctions)

[Marie Descorches, French revolutionary diplomat, formerly Marquis d`Escorches de Sainte Croix.] Two communications as ‘Préfet du Département de la Drome’: a Secretarial Letter Signed by him to Mayor of ‘Commune de Propiac’, and printed decree.

Author: 
Marie Descorches [Marie Louis Henri Descorches] (1749-1830; Marquis d`Escorches de Sainte Croix), French soldier and revolutionary diplomat, Ambassador to Poland and Ottoman Empire, Prefect of Drôme
DESCORCHES
Publication details: 
Both on revolutionary letterheads. Secretarial letter: ‘Valence, le 20 frimaire, an 12 de la République française. [i.e. 12 December 1803]’ Printed decree: ‘Valence, le 7 brumaire, an 12 de la République française. [i.e. 30 October 1803]’
£180.00
DESCORCHES

The two items are on variations of the revolutionary letterhead of the Prefect of the Drôme Department, with oval medallion illustration of a seated liberty with a phrygian cap on a stick, forearm leaning on the fasces and the words ‘Libérté’ and ‘Égalité’. The printed decree is in good condition, lightly aged, with slight foxing and discoloration. The secretarial letter is in fair condition, with darker patches of discoloration.

[Yves Delage, Professor at the Sorbonne, French zoologist who believed in the authenticity of the Turin Shroud; critic of Darwinism] Printed publishers? catalogue, headed by Delage's ?La Structure du Protoplasma et les Th?ories sur l?H?r?dite?.

Author: 
Yves Delage (1854-1920), French zoologist who discovered the function of the canals in the inner ear and believed in the authenticity of the Turin Shroud [Librairie C. Reinwald & Cie, Paris.]
Publication details: 
Librairie C. Reinwald & Cie, 15, rue des Saints-P?res, Paris.
£180.00

A scarce piece of scientific publishing ephemera. No other copy traced. 8pp, 8vo. Aged, worn and spotted, with staples rotted away. The cover is headed 'Librairie C. Reinwald & Cie, 15, rue des Saints-P?res, Paris / Derni?res publications / relative aux sciences m?dicales et naturelles.' Delage's work ('Vient de para?tre') is noticed on the cover, with an 'Extrait de la table des mati?res' extending to the end of the second page. Other many other publications noticed are 'L'Embryologie compar?e par Le Dr Louis Roule'. and 'Trait? d'anatomie compar?e pratique par Carl Vogt et ?mile Yung'.

[André Siegfried of l’Académie Française, French geographer and political writer, Petainist collaborator as member of Vichy National Council.] Autograph Letter Signed in English to the wife of W. D. Ross [Sir David Ross].

Author: 
André Siegfried (1875-1959) of l'Académie Française, French geographer and political writer, Petainist collaborator as member of Vichy National Council [W. D. Ross [Sir David Ross]]
Publication details: 
'Paris. 82. de Courty / la 9 Dec. 31' [1931].
£45.00

2pp, 12mo. On the rectos of the two leaves of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Begins: ‘Dear Mrs Ross. / We had the pleasure of having your daughter for tea yesterday & I hasten to tell you our pleasure in making her acquaintance. She is indeed charming & intelligent & bright; I am sure she will make the most of her stay here.

[Louis Peisse [Jean Louis Hippolyte Peisse] of the Ecole Impériale des Beaux-arts in Paris, French author.] Autograph Letter Signed, putting detailed questions regarding a proposal that he translate the lectures of Sir William Hamilton into French.

Author: 
Louis Peisse [Jean Louis Hippolyte Peisse] (1803-1880), of the Ecole Impériale des Beaux-arts in Paris, medical author, translator of Sir William Hamilton (1788-1856), Scottish metaphysician
Publication details: 
‘Paris. 20 avril 1858’. [‘Louis Peisse, conservateur de l’ecole impériale des Beaux-arts. 2. Rue Boursault.’]
£220.00

Peisse had already published his translation of ‘Fragments de Philosophie de M. William Hamilton’ (Paris, 1840), and had followed this with one from Dugald Stewart (1842-5). 2pp, 12mo. Forty-one lines of closely-written text. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with chipping and closed tears to edges. Folded once. Signed ‘L. Peisse / Louis Peisse, conservateur de l’ecole impériale des Beaux-arts. 2. Rue Boursault.’ The British recipient (one of Hamilton’s executors?) is not named (in a postscript Peisse apologises for being unable to decipher his details, or those of his co-editors).

[Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian, French poet, author and fabulist.] Autograph Text of his poem ‘Le charlatan | fable’.

Author: 
Jean-Pierre Claris de Florian (1755-1794), French poet, author and fabulist
Florian
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£220.00
Florian

A nice original item, unsigned but certainly in Florian’s distinctive hand. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with neat white-paper mount adhering to one edge on the blank reverse. Foliated 93. Sixteen-line poem, beginning ‘Sur le pont-neuf, entouré de badauds, / un charlatan criait a pleine tete, / venez, messieurs, accourez faire emplette / du grand remede a tous les maux.’ In the last line the remedy is revealed as ‘un peu de poudre d’or’.

[Poisoned on the orders of the French government? François-Antoine Chevrier, satirist.] Autograph Letter Signed to Dom Ambroise Pelletier, praising his recent work, and attacking the powerful and the church.

Author: 
François-Antoine Chevrier [François-Antoine de Chevrier] (1721-1762), satirical French author, who fled to Holland [Dom Ambroise Pelletier (1703-1757), curate of Senones, genealogist and illustrator]
Chevrier
Publication details: 
‘Pais le 7. Xbre. [October] 1756.’
£500.00
Chevrier

An excellent letter, exhibiting precisely the sort of indignation one would wish for from such a renowned satirist. As a result of the furore caused by the publication in 1762 of his best-known work, ‘Le Colporteur’, Chevrier fled to Holland. The French government attempted to have him extradited, and his death that same year was rumoured to have been caused by poisoning. 3pp, 4to. On bifolium. Thirty-nine lines of text. In good condtion, lightly aged. The item has been expertly mounted, and the thin white-paper mount still adheres to reverse of the final leaf.

[Charles de Gaulle, army officer and statesman] Flamboyant Autograph Signature C. de Gaulle on an Oxford College headed notepaper, with the signatures of William Walton and Malcolm Sergant on reverse. WITH; Programme of former's Memorial Servic.

Author: 
Charles de Gaulle, army officer and statesman [William Walton, composer; Malcolm Sargent, conductor].
Publication details: 
[Headed notepaper] The Provost's Lodgings | Oriel Collegeg | Oxford. No date
£400.00

One page of letterheard, 12mo, minor foxing not affecting text. WITH: Printed Programme for the Memorial Service for Charles de Gaulle former President of the French Republic 1890 1970, in St Paul's Cathedral, pamphlet, 10 pp.4to, fold mark down middle. See Images.

[Victor de Cottens, French dramatist and director, associated with the Folies Bergère in Paris.] Two Autograph Letters Signed and an Autograph Note Signed, in French, one from London to ‘Monsieur Clarkson’, and the other two to the same recipient.

Author: 
Victor de Cottens (1862-1956), French dramatist, librettist and director, associated with the Folies Bergère, Olympia music hall and Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris
Publication details: 
ONE (ANS to 'Monsieur Clarkson): 14 May [no year]. On illustrated letterhead of the Queen's Hotel, Leicester Square, London. TWO: ALS, 26 [March? 1910?]; on letterhead of the Olympia, 8 Rue Caumartin, Paris. THREE: ALS, 22 Mai [no year or place].
£50.00

The material is in fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Items Two and Three are addressed to ‘Cher ami’. De Cottens’ handwriting is somewhat opaque. ONE: ANS, 14 May [no year]. The letterhead includes an engraved illustration of the Queen’s Hotel in Leicester Square. 1p, 12mo. ‘Cher Monsieur Clarkson / tous mes bien vifs remerciements pour votre aimable envoi de tickets. / Bien votre / Victor de Cottens.’ TWO: ALS, 26 [March? 1910?]. 1p, 12mo. He wonders whether the recipient might put his ‘experience à la disposition’ of a named colleague from Brussels. THREE: ALS, 1p, 16mo.

[Napoleonic Wars: the arming of six British merchant ships, c.1807.] Manuscript ‘Account of Sundry Stores received from the Pilot Boates [sic]’, ‘Respecting Arming Pilot Boates / Account of Stores’.

Author: 
Napoleonic Wars: the arming of six British merchant ships, c.1807 [Brittania, Stephen Brown; Sloop Neptune, John Hurry; Syren, William Jackson; Fox, Thomas Lundie; Rover, Robert Jackson]
Publication details: 
Entries dated between May 1805 and June 1809. On paper watermarked ‘J WHATMAN / 1807’.
£280.00

None of the boats and captains named in the present item are present in contemporary Navy Lists, so they would appear to be merchant ships. 2pp, foolscap 8vo. Aged and worn, with slight loss along edges and faded to a small portion of text. Folded four times into a packet, named (on the reverse): ‘Respecting Arming Pilot Boates / Account of Stores’. The whole of the recto is filled with text, divided into six rectangles in two columns of three rectangles each, under the heading ‘Account of Sundry Stores received from the Pilot Boates’.

[‘Mirbel the naturalist’: Charles-François Brisseau de Mirbel, French botanist.] Autograph Signature (‘Mirbel’) over printed device of the Museum d’Histoire Naturelle au Jardin du Roi.

Author: 
Charles-François Brisseau de Mirbel (1776-1854), French botanist, a founder of cytology, plant histology and plant physiology in France, on the staff of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris
Mirbel
Publication details: 
No date. [Museum d’Histoire Naturelle au Jardin du Roi.]
£90.00
Mirbel

See his entry in the Encylopaedia Britannica. The signature ‘Mirbel’ is written on a clear area of a circular printed device of 4.5 cm diameter, in grey tone, within decorative border. The text reads: ‘MUSEUM / D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE / AU JARDIN DU ROI / Entrée aux Jours et Heures / consacrés à l’Etude. / Prof. Admin.’ Laid down on a 7 x 7.5 cm piece of paper, on which is written, in a neat early nineteenth-century hand, ‘Mirbel the naturalist’. See image.

[Baron de Barante [Amable Guillaume Prosper Brugière], French liberal politician and historian.] Autograph Letter Signed, in French, asking for assistance in getting a letter to the daughter of Madame Bouvier, who is with Princess Sapieha’.

Author: 
Baron de Barante [Amable Guillaume Prosper Brugière] (1782-1866), French liberal politician and historian
Publication details: 
18 July 1847. No place.
£50.00

1p, 16mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with three creased from folding into envelope. Neatly written out in Barante’s distinctive neat and tiny hand. Addressed to ‘Monsieur’ and signed ‘Barante’. He is writing on behalf of Madame Bouvier, who wishes to find out where the Princess Sapieha is residing at present, as her daughter is ‘attachée à la princesse’, and she would like the enclosed letter (not present) to reach her. He would be most obliged if the recpient could help Madame Bouvier’s letter reach its destination.

[Alphonse Daudet, distinguished French author.] Affectionate Autograph Letter Signed (‘Alph Daudet’), in French, to ‘notre cher Mérédith’ [George Meredith], ‘grand romancier Anglais’, after visiting him at Box Hill.

Author: 
Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897), distinguished French author, noted for ‘Le Petit Chose’ and ‘Lettres de mon Moulin’ [Georges Meredith, Victorian novelist and poet]
Publication details: 
[1896.] ‘31 Rue de Bellechasse à Paris’.
£220.00

An excellent letter, linking leading nineteenth-century writers of the French and English nations. See Daudet's entry in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and Meredith’s in the Oxford DNB. Daudet’s association with Meredith during his ‘first and only visit to England’ is described on pp.122-124 of the 1911 edition of J. A. Hammerton’s ‘George Meredith, his Life and Art’, which also quotes extensively from Madame Daudet’s account of the Englishman, referred to in the letter. 2pp, 16mo. Twenty-one lines of closely- and neatly-written text. On the rectos of the leaves of a bifolium.

[Paul Bourget, French novelist and poet.] Autograph Letter Signed [to Scottish author William Sharp?], sending new year greetings and expressing thanks for a translation of one of his poems.

Author: 
Paul Bourget [Paul Charles Joseph Bourget] (1852-1935), French novelist and poet, five-time Nobel Prize nominee [William Sharp (1855-1905), Scottish writer under the pseudonym 'Fiona Macleod']
Bourget
Publication details: 
1 January 1886; no place.
£450.00
Bourget

This item is from the autograph album of the author George Meredith's daughter Marie Eveleen (Mariette; 1871-1933), wife of Henry Parkman Sturgis (1847-1929), American-born banker and Liberal politician. It does not however appear to be addressed to Meredith, but rather to the author William Sharp (‘Fiona Macleod’). See the several references to Bourget in the first volume of W. F. Halloran’s edition of Sharp’s letters. 1p, 16mo. Laid down on part of gilt-edged leaf from Mrs Sturgis’s album. In good condition, folded once for postage.

[Prince Philippe d’Orléans, Comte de Paris, Orléanist claimant to the French throne as King Louis Philippe II or Philippe VII.] Autograph Note in English, in the third person, to the novelist George Meredith.

Author: 
Prince Philippe d’Orléans, Comte de Paris (Louis Philippe Albert (1838-1894), Count of Paris], Orléanist pretender to the throne of France from 1848 as King Louis Philippe II or Philippe VII
d'Orleans
Publication details: 
‘Claremont 31/5/63’. 31 May 1863; Claremont House, Esher, Surrey.
£100.00
d'Orleans

From the autograph album of the novelist George Meredith's daughter Marie Eveleen (Mariette; 1871-1933), later the wife of Henry Parkman Sturgis (1847-1929), American-born banker and Liberal politician. Queen Victoria lent Claremont House to the Count of Paris’s father Louis-Phillipe, after his abdication and flight from France. On one side of an 11 x 7.5 cm piece of grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Written in a neat hand, it reads: ‘With the compliments of the Count de Paris and his thanks for the books send [sic] by Mr. Meredith. / Claremont 31/5/63’.

[‘Général Revanche’: Georges Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger, French army officer and Minister of War.] Autograph Signature (‘Gnl: Boulanger’) on back of calling card.

Author: 
General Boulanger [Georges Ernest Jean-Marie Boulanger (1837-1891)], French Minister of War, nicknamed Général Revanche because of his calls for the Franco-Prussian War to be avenged
Boulanger
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£50.00
Boulanger

A nice item relating to a significant figure in French nineteenth-century history. Such was Boulanger’s popularity with the French working classes in the late 1880s that it was believed that he could make himself dictator. Stylish and dynamic signature ('Genl: Boulanger'), on back of 9.5 x 6.5 cm calling card. In good condition, lightly aged. The words ‘Général Boulanger’ are printed in large letters on the front of the card, and nothing else.

[Conquest of Cayenne, 1809.] Manuscript Petition to King George III, signed by Thomas Sevestre, surgeon of HMS Confiance, asking permission to 'enjoy the Privileges' of a Portuguese order. With seal of Portuguese ambassador Sousa Coutinho.

Author: 
Conquest of Cayenne, 1809 [French Guiana conquered by the Portuguese under British leadership]; Sir Thomas Sevestre (1784-1842) [Sir James Lucas Yeo (1782-1818)]
Publication details: 
Certified correct in London on 31 March 1810.
£250.00

The Conquest of Cayenne - part of Britain’s strategy of using its naval power to attack French colonial interests in the Napoleonic Wars - is described in the fifth volume of William James’s ‘Naval History of Great Britain’ (1827). Britain was only able to contribute HMS Confiance, but its captain James Lucas Yeo was put in charge of the whole expedition, and he and his crew performed with distinction (see Yeo’s entry in the Oxford DNB).

[French science in the early nineteenth-century.] Substantial collection of manuscripts, in French, with illustrations, describing aspects of science: chemistry (from Fourcroy), botany, physics, hydrostatics, mechanics, pneumatics, optics.

Author: 
French science of the early nineteenth century [Antoine François de Fourcroy; Jean-Antoine Nollet; Pierre Bulliard; Jean-Paul Marat; Hyacinthe Bonnet]
French Sciences
French Sciences2
Publication details: 
Undated, but circa the 1820s. [Paris, France.]
£3,500.00
French Sciences
French Sciences2

The anonymous author of this material is evidently a well-educated individual, and well-versed in the sciences. He has taken great care over the material, and it can be presumed that his intention was either to try for publication, or use it while lecturing.

[Medieval religious illustration: ‘MISSAL RHEIMS’.] Two detailed miniature illuminated illustrations of the the temptation of Christ by the Devil, on vellum, in medieval religious style, each docketed ‘MISSAL RHEIMS’.

Author: 
[Medieval religious illustration: ‘MISSAL RHEIMS’ (illuminated manuscript from Reims, France?)]
Reims
Publication details: 
Both said to be from a Rheims (Reims, France) missal. Either dating from the thirteenth or fourteenth century, or copies of such illustrations.
£250.00
Reims

Two sprightly illustrations - bright, fresh and detailed - in vibrant colours (cobalt blue, light blue, pink, red purple, black, green), each with the background painted in gilt. The illustrations would appear to be genuine, but may be copies. Each is on a rectangle of vellum, and both are remarkably clean if indeed seven or eight centuries old. Each has traces of glue from previous mounting on the reverse. No text or other design on either side of the pieces. Both have ‘MISSAL RHEIMS’ in pencil above the illustration, and ‘1ST VELLUM’ at foot. ONE: On 7.5 x 12 cm piece of vellum.

[Sir Charles Stewart Scott, diplomat, British Ambassador to Russia.] 'Private & most Confidential' Autograph journal of ‘Charles: S: Scott’, largely written while an attaché in Paris (Franco-Austrian War, 1859), also in Dresden and Copenhage.

Author: 
Sir Charles Stewart Scott (1838-1924), diplomat, British Ambassador to Russia, 1898-1904 [Franco-Austrian War (Second Italian War of Independence), 1859; American Civil War; Princess Alexandra]
Publication details: 
The first three-quarters from Paris, 18 June to 16 November 1859. The last quarter from Dresden and Copenhagen, 1860 to 1863.
£2,500.00

The papers of Sir Charles Stewart Scott (an Ulsterman: see his entry in the Ulster Dictionary of Biography) are held by the British Library. The present journal, described by its writer as ‘Private & most Confidential’, covers the very start of his career, from Paris in 1859 to Copenhagen in 1863.

[‘Nor will I lose a farthing for all the Generals in the Kings dominions’.] Autograph Letter Signed from future Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Dashwood, concerning prize money for the Danish ship the Venus, captured by him at the Battle of Copenhagen, 1807

Author: 
Sir Charles Dashwood (1765-1847), Royal Navy Vice-Admiral who served during the American War of Independence, French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and War of 1812 [Battle of Copenhagen, 1807]
Publication details: 
‘Franchise [HMS Franchise], Spithead / 16th Feby. 1808.’
£250.00

See his long obituary in the Gentleman’s Magazine, December 1847. This letter, which concerns the prize money for the capture of the 36-gun Danish fifth-rater the Venus, captured by Dashwood at the Battle of Copenhagen, 1807. 2pp, 4to, on the first leaf of a bifolium, the reverse of the second leaf is addressed, with two postmarks, to ‘James Sykes Esqe / Arundle St / London’, and docketed ‘C. Dashwood / 16 Feb 1808 / Recd 17 do’. In good condition, lightly aged, with slight damage to second leaf from breaking open of the wafer. Folded for postage.

[Admiral Sir Richard Rodney Bligh, Royal Navy officer in American War of Independence.] Autograph Letter Signed to the Admiralty, regarding ‘Her Majesty’s Sloop the Wasp under my Command’.

Author: 
Admiral Sir Richard Rodney Bligh (1737-1821), GCB, Royal Navy officer who saw service in the American War of Independence and French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars [HMS Wasp]
Publication details: 
‘Wasp, Portsmouth 1st. Decr. 1775.’
£180.00

Bligh’s entry in the Oxford DNB does not note his service on HMS Wasp, to which he was appointed in October 1774. According to one authority the ship ‘saw service out of Passage, County Cork, Ireland from [November 1774]. In October 1775 [Bligh] brought sixty volunteers from Ireland into Plymouth, and in June 1776 sailed from Portsmouth to Plymouth with money for the dockyard artificers.

[Roget family tree.] Autograph pedigree of Jean Roget, father of Peter Mark Roget, creator of the Thesaurus.

Author: 
John Roget [Jean Roget] (1751-1783), Geneva-born pastor of two French protestant churches in London, father of Thesaurus compiler Peter Mark Roget and brother-in-law of Sir Samuel Romilly (1757-1818)
Publication details: 
Note by Roget dating the item to ‘le mois May 1761’.
£350.00

See the entries in the Oxford DNB for his brother-in-law Sir Samuel Romilly and his son Peter Mark Roget, as well as Joshua Kendall’s 2008 biography of the latter, ‘The Man Who Made Lists’. From the Roget family papers. On one side of a 33 x 23 cm piece of laid paper.

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