HISTORY

Twenty-two typed and manuscript accounts, receipts and notes assembled by the military historian and Sandhurst lecturer Eliot Antony Brett-James, while a student at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

Author: 
[Major Eliot Antony Brett-James (1920-84), 5th Indian Division Royal Signals, lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst; Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge]
Publication details: 
Sidney Sussex College, University of Cambridge. 1945 and 1947.
£320.00

An interesting collection of Cambridge ephemera, dating from a period of considerable economic and social turbulence. The twenty-two items are in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. They include six term accounts, with Brett-James's details typewritten on printed forms, signed by tutors D. Thomson and B. T. D. Smith. These accounts are itemised, with details of domestic charges. Affixed to all but one of these accounts are official College receipts signed by tutors. Also present is an Autograph Note to Brett-James from the College clerk R. S.

Typed Letter Signed ('Alistair') from the historian of France Alistair Horne to the Sandhurst lecturer Antony Brett-James, regarding the trouble he has put him to over 'the Macmillan speech'.

Author: 
Sir Alistair Horne [Sir Alistair Allan Horne] (b.1925), British historian of modern France [Major Antony Brett-James (1920-1984), lecturer at Sandhurst]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 24 Lansdowne Road, London W11. 21 September 1979.
£40.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightl-aged paper. A short letter, in which he thanks Brett-James for writing to him 'about the Macmillan speech': 'I really feel badly at having put you obviously to so much trouble'. He suggests that Brett-James sends him 'the tape' and lets him 'have it transcribed here, by my secretary'.

Typed Letter Signed ('Ballantrae') from Lord Ballantrae [Brigadier Bernard Edward Fergusson, Baron Ballantrae] to Antony Brett-James of Sandhurst, on topics including his editing of 'The Oxford Book of Military Anecdotes' and his wife's death.

Author: 
Brigadier Bernard Edward Fergusson (1911-1980), Baron Ballantrae [Lord Ballantrae], military historian and Governor-General of New Zealand [Antony Brett-James (1920-1984), lecturer at Sandhurst]
Publication details: 
On his letterhead, Auchairne, Ballantrae, Ayrshire. 29 March 1980.
£120.00

1p., 4to. 30 typed lines, with the last two lines in autograph. In good condition, on lightly-aged and creased paper. Brett-James is addressed as 'Head of Department, War Studies & International Affairs, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst'.

[Manuscript] Address panel only, signed "John A. Murray", addressed to "David Laing Esq.| Bookseller | S. Bridge | Edinburgh

Author: 
[David Laing, bookseller, Edinburgh] John A. Murray [Sir John Archibald Murray, Lord Murray, (1779-1859), Scottish judge.]
Publication details: 
[Printed] Bannatyne Club Meeting | Monday, May 29 1837 [Dated] London May [excision] 1837 Thirteen [initialled] JAM" i.e 13 May 1837..
£120.00

Address panel, c. 13 x 8cm, edges sl. ragged, mainlky good condition.The reverse is blank apart from remnants of glue for prior laying down, and the identification of John A. Murray as "Lord Advocate | M.P. Leith". The Bannatyne Club, founded by Sir Walter Scott, in 1823, disbanded 1861. David Laing "had an antiquarian turn, and was the first Secretary of the Bannantyne Club on its foundation on 27 February 1823. In 1826 he was elected a Fellow of The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. He became Librarian of the Signet Library in 1837, gave up the bookshop and sold the stock.

Unpublished holograph poem (signed 'J. F. Hollings') by the Leicester poet and local historian James Francis Hollings, entitled 'Edgehill', regarding the English Civil War battle, 1642.

Author: 
James Francis Hollings (1806-1862), poet and local historian, President of the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society [Leicestershire; English Civil War; Battle of Edgehill, 1642;]
Publication details: 
Without place place or place, on paper with watermarked date 1831. [Leicester, 1830s?]
£120.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. On wove paper watermarked 'R TASSELL | 1831'. 56 lines, arranged in seven eight-line stanzas. Presentable, despite wear and age, closed tears along crease lines, and traces of yellow-paper mount on blank reverse of second leaf. There is no sign that this item was ever published, which is surprising, as it is a superior effort, written with some conviction, the subject being one on which Hollings was regarded as an authority.

[Offprint; Inscribed by Author] The Bentley Papers [Describing the purchase of a substantial part of the archive of Richard Bentley & Son, Publishers]

Author: 
Gordon N. Ray
Publication details: 
Reprinted from the Transactions of the Bibliographical Society The Library, London. The Bibliographical Society, 1952.
£125.00

Pamphlet/Offprint, paginated [175]-200, inc title. original green printed paper wraps, faded, corners sl. turned and chipped, good condition. Inscribed on title by author: "For Mrs Richard Bentley | Gordon N. Ray | New York City, 11 March 1953".Pencil note on front cover, "Please retrun boo or pamphlet. Lucy [=Mrs Richard Bentley].

[Manuscript] Chapters IV (continued) to VIII of the "Memoir of the Revd. Richard Harris Barham

Author: 
[R.H. Barham, author of "The Ingoldsby Legends"] R.H.D. Barham, son of R.H. Barham
Publication details: 
[1870?]
£500.00

Notebook, 9 x 7", black leather covers, worn, sl. hinge strain, some foxing, pages numbered 88-223, legible, scattering of pencil notes usually about placement of notes. It appears to be a fair copy, in R.H.D. Barham's hand, possibly a copy retained by the author or a family copy of the first Memoir of R.H. Barham which appeared in the first edition of the Third Series of the Ingoldsby Legends (1847). According to the Preface to "The LIfe and Letters of the Rev. Richard Harris Barham" (2 vols, 1870), written by R.H.D.

[Book; Limited Edition; Senhouse copy; HEAVILY ANNOTATED LIST] Bentley's Standard Novel Series

Author: 
Michael Sadleir
Michael Sadleir and Richard Bentley
Publication details: 
"Printed in Edinburgh, Scotland, for the Colophon, April 1932"
£500.00
Michael Sadleir and Richard Bentley

Cloth-backed boards, [16]pp. + frontis., 4to, edges and corners rubbed, sl hinge strain, Title on upper cover, frontis (illustration of Bentley bindings), pages within red borders. This is an offprint (no. 44 of 50 copies only) of Sadleir's essay in "The Colophon" in 1932, which later appeared in a slightly revised form in "Nineteenth-Century Fiction", vol.II, revisions of "style rather than content". This copy was apparently acquired by Roger Senhouse, co-owner of Secker & Warburg, in 1936 (according to a note by Alex Fothergill, bookseller, former owner).

Appointments |Diary { T.J. & J. Smith's - Datada Diary 1949)

Author: 
Mark Bonham-Carter, tiro publisher (House of Collins)(DNB).
Publication details: 
1949.
£450.00

Printed beige boards, hinge strain at front cover, condition mainly good., 3 or 4 days to the pages, additional space for notes not used. Mainly a record of times, dates, people involved in a busy life of professional and social engagements, and expenditure, at the beginning of Bonham-Carter's years with The House of Collins. He records the occasional "Edit. Meting" (3 Jan. possibly his first?). Information also includes phone numbers and addresses. His background obviously gave him access to many circles.

[Printed pamphlet.] The Training of the Anti-Aircraft Searchlight Spotter. By Major L. E. C. M. Perowne, R.E. (Revised Edition.)

Author: 
Major L. E. C. M. Perowne, R.E. [Major-General Lancelot Edgar Connop Mervyn Perowne (1902-1982), Royal Engineers, Commander, 17th Gurkha Division]
Publication details: 
Date and place not stated. [A revised reprint from The Royal Engineers Journal, September 1938.]
£120.00

24pp., 8vo, with one extra plate on art paper, and five full pages of diagrams in text. Stapled, in blue printed wraps. With two ownership inscriptions on the wraps, both of Royal Artillery personnel: the first of S. M. Dawes, and the second of '483 S/L Batt RA', i.e. Jack Lynden Batt (b.1922), of 155th Battery, 172nd Field Regiment, Royal Artillery. This offprint is excessively scare, with no copies listed on COPAC or WorldCat.

Autograph Letter Signed "George Bentley", publisher to a "Mr. Welford", about autographs he will send.

Author: 
George Bentley, publisher (Richard Bentley & Son).
Publication details: 
G B [Printed], Upton, Slough, 13 Nov. 1882.
£56.00

Two pages, 12mo, bifolium, slightly grubby, but mainly good, legible and complete. " I send a first instalment. The one of Miss Mitford is very characteristic of her, since she wrote more of her letters on little scraps of paper. The other two are from Fanny Kemble and Anthony Trollope." These three had works published by Richard Bentley & Son, and the letters he was sending were presumably from the Publishing Archive, now housed in the BL, Bodleian, Berg Collection, UCLA, Illinois, and elsewhere.

Contemporary manuscript document describing in detail the 'Weights and Measures, &c. in use in Eskdale' [Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland], docketed 'Local weghts & measures &c 1855.'

Author: 
Eskdale, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland; Weights and Measures, 1855 and 1874]
Publication details: 
[Eskdale, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.] 1855 and 1874.
£90.00

2pp., folio. In fair condition, on aged and lightly creased and chipped paper. The whole of the first page is filled in the same hand in two columns, with the first column beginning '4 Cops, 1 Peck, or "Sleek"; i.e. a sleekit peck - not a heaped one, as with potatoes or apples. | 4 pecks make 3 Imperial or Winchester bushels. | 1 Carlisle Bushel is 4. pks. 1 or 3 imp. Bushels.' The right-hand column begins: '1. Imp. Bush. of Barley weighs 56 lbs. The common sized cart will hold 24 pks. (or sleeks): or 18 Imp.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Dungannon') from Arthur Hill-Trevor, 2nd Viscount Dungannon, to an unnamed individual [his agent?], directing him to arrange for the forwarding of letters from Oxford to London.

Author: 
Arthur Hill-Trevor, 2nd Viscount Dungannon (1763-1837) [Post Office; postal history]
Publication details: 
7 Hertford Street, London. 4 December 1827.
£40.00

On one side of piece of paper trimmed down to roughly 15 x 18 cm. On aged paper, with wear and loss to corners and extremities caused by removal from a mount. He writes: 'Sir, | I should feel extremely obliged if you cou'd take out of the Post Office two Letters, directed to me at Oxford, as I unexpectedly arrived today in town - | I remain | Sir | Sincly. Yrs. | [signed] Dungannon | 7. Hertford St | 4th. Decbr. 1827'. The signature is complete, but being placed in a corner, is close to an area of wear. Docketed on the reverse in an unknown hand: 'recd.

Autograph Letter Signed ('A W Kinglake.') from the historian and travel writer Alexander William Kinglake [A. W. Kinglake] to an unnamed recipient.

Author: 
Alexander William Kinglake (1809-1891), historian and travel writer, author of 'Eothen' and 'The Invasion of the Crimea', Liberal Member of Parliament for Bridgwater.
Publication details: 
On House of Commons letterhead. 16 March 1864.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. 8 lines. On aged paper with a small hole (not affecting text) and pin marks. He thanks him for his 'kind thought' in sending 'the Danish Images', adding: 'I assure you the present was a very welcome one to me.'

[Handbill/Prospectus] Bentley's London News. A New Weekly Paper

Author: 
[Richard Bentley & Son, Publishers]
Publication details: 
[Printed by] F. Bentley & Cpo., 4a Shoe Lane, Fleet STreet, London, [1869]
£75.00

One page, 8vo, goods condition. No. 1 to be published on 22 May [1869], promising "Original Information", leading articles bearing on "social happiness and political freedom, non-partisan, opposed to "every dangerous measure introduced in the name of Liberalism". This was presumably "Bentley's London News of commerce, agriculture, manufactures, etc." of which a copy of vol.1, no.1 is listed in the BL Catalogue. No other copy listed on COPAC or WorldCat. This prospectus is listed on neither (nor In Lake).

[Handbill] A circular letter inviting recipients to donate money for the benefit of Mr E. Rivenhall, of Bentley & Son.

Author: 
[Richard Bentley & Son, Publishers]
Publication details: 
October 1897.
£65.00

Two pages, 12mo, bifolium, some marking but text clear and complete. The letter explains the plight of 81 year old, E. Rivenhall in retirement (investment of his pension went wrong), naming the Committee which has been formed for the purpose of raising money for him. The Committee includes representatives from major publishing houses and others (OUP, Longmans, Cassell, Chatto & Windus, Macmillans, etc, and Zaehnsdorff). The removeable donation slip is still present and blank, requiring the name and addres of the donor, and a date.

[Offprint] Autumn Leaves. A Dinner with Mr. Bentley at Stationers' Hall.

Author: 
[Richard Bentley & Son, publishers] Anon.
Publication details: 
[Richard Bentley & Son, 1890]
£65.00

Offprint "From the 'Pall Mall Gazette' of October 22, 1890." Four pages, 8vo, bifolium, unbound, slight staining not affecting text, mainly good condition. An evocative account of a visit to a Trade Dinner held by the House of Bentley. No copy listed on COPAC or WorldCat.

[Presentation copy of offprint.] Sergeant Surgeons to their Majesties. Thomas Vicary Lecture delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England on 29th October 1959.

Author: 
Henry R. Thompson, F.R.C.S., Surgeon, St. Mark's Hospital; Master of the Worshipful Company of Barbers [Royal College of Surgeons of England]
Publication details: 
Printed by Jackson, Ruston and Keeson Limited, Pear Tree Court, London, E.C.1. 'Reprinted from Annals of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. Volume 26 - January, 1960. Pages 1-23.'
£145.00

25pp., 8vo. Eleven photographic figures in text. Stapled and unbound. Printed on art paper. Creasing and wear to title-leaf, otherwise in fair condition, with corners slightly dog-eared. Signature 'Henry' at head of title, with purple stamp: 'With the author's compliments.'' This offprint is scarce: no copy in the British Library, and the only copy on COPAC in the Guildhall.

[First World War printed Balkans concert party programme.] Lieut-Colonel P. W. Williams-Till and the Officers of the Durham Light Infantry Present their Christmas Pantomime Aladdin. ['Cast of incompetent comics, perpetrators of the frightfulness.']

Author: 
Lieut.-Col. P. W. Williams-Till and the Officers of the Durham Light Infantry
Publication details: 
'Proprietors The Dud Empires Ltd.' [Salonika and the Balkans, c.1916.]
£120.00

Printed on both sides of a piece of paper, roughly 25.5 x 37.5 cm, folded three times to make a packet of 6pp., 25.5 x 12.5 cm. The title advertises 'All the old favourites, and new book by Pte. E. G. S. Staples. New Lyrics and parodies by 2 Lt. C. M. Hale. Additional music by Pte G. M. Rutt. Produced by Pte E. G. S. Staples.' Also 'Full Beauty Chorus of Macedonian Houris from the EASTERN THEATRE (of War) by kind permission of the Balkan News.' Other spoof advertisements include: 'Soap! Soap! Soap!

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. H. Rose') from the English historian John Holland Rose, writing, while on active service in France with the British Expeditionary Force, to Alfred Tresidder Sheppard to commend his latest novel.

Author: 
J. H. Rose [John Holland Rose] (1855-1942), English historian best-known for his biography of Napoleon Bonaparte, Reader in Modern History, Cambridge University [Alfred Tresidder Sheppard (1871-1947)]
Publication details: 
On Y.M.C.A. letterhead, 'On Active Service | With the British Expeditionary Force', 15 September 1917.
£65.00

2pp., 4to. 53 lines. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of previous mounting at head, and a light and unobtrusive water stain. The letter is headed by Rose 'Y.M.C.A. B.A.P.O.2 B.E.F. France'. Regarding Sheppard's recently-published 'Quest of Ledgar Dunstan', Rose writes: 'You have a wonderfully keen mental eye which sees everything with extraordinary sharpness, & you have a literary hand which etches with just & delicate touch. The book is also one of singular intensity of feeling which carries the reader along fascinated & thrilled.

Part of Autograph Letter Signed ('E. Lytton Bulwer.') from the politician and author Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Lord Lytton [as Edward Lytton Bulwer] on inside of cover of frank by the Norfolk MP N. W. Peach of Ketteringham Hall.

Author: 
Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873), Lord Lytton [Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton; Edward Lytton Bulwer], politician and author [Nathaniel William Peach (1785-1835)[
Publication details: 
London, 28 February 1830.
£45.00

On piece of paper 19 x 12 cm. Addressed by Pech on one side, with franks and black wax seal: 'London February twenty eight 1830 | J Richardson Esq | Heydon | Aylsham | N W Peach Norfolk'. The reverse carries the conclusion of Lytton's letter, in his handwriting: '<...> remember. - | Begging again to thank you my dear Sir, for your attention & to assure you of my Consideration & Esteem | I am, very sincerely yours | [signed] E. Lytton Bulwer.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('C Merivale') from the historian Charles Merivale, Dean of Ely Cathedral, to Rev. A. Williams.

Author: 
Charles Merivale (1808-1893), Dean of Ely Cathedral, author of 'A History of the Romans under the Empire' (1850-1862)
Publication details: 
Dawlish. 15 July 1885.
£35.00

2pp., 12mo. 15 lines. In very good condition. He begins by apologising for not being able to assist Williams. 'I do not know of any book on the subject of the Teachers of the Apostolical age - of course very little indeed can be known about them. The ecclesiastical historians such as and of course a hundred others would I suppose give you all the references that would be of use to you.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('H: B: Fielding') from Henry Borron Fielding, inviting the recipient to join the Earl of Burlington, Earl Stanhope and Professor Owen as trustees on presentation of his herbarium and library to London Royal Botanical Society.

Author: 
Henry Borron Fielding (1805-1851), botanist [Fielding Herbarium, University of Oxford; London Royal Botanical Society; Earl of Burlington; Earl Stanhope; Sir Richard Owen; James De Carl Sowerby]
Publication details: 
Bolton Lodge, Lancaster. 6 January 1842.
£180.00

2pp., 12mo. 29 lines. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of previous mounting, and the annotation '13/19' in a contemporary hand. A significant letter relating to an important collection. Fielding bequeathed his herbarium and botanical library to the University of Oxford where, as the Oxford DNB explains, they formed for many years 'one of the key resources for the study of botany'.

Autograph Letter Signed, in English, from a French interpreter ('M. Daller'?), informing Brig.-General Herbert Cecil Potter of the King's Regiment (Liverpool) that he has been ordered to join 'the Yankee Army'. With two initialled notes by Potter.

Author: 
[Brigadier-General Herbert Cecil Potter (1875-1964), CB, CMG, DSO, of the King's Regiment (Liverpool)]
Publication details: 
No place. 25 September 1917.
£65.00

2pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The letter is written in pencil, and begins: 'Sir, | I am awfully sorry to say that I have just been ordered to report tomorrow to G. H. Q. where I shall very probably receive the order to go to the Yankee Army. | I am really very sorry to leave you without having even been able to present to you my respects and my thanks for the kindness you have always shown to me during the time I have been attached to this brigade which is now exactly a year ago.

Material mainly relating to the Second World War and the Battle of Britain, from the papers of Flying Office Robert French Helm, Royal Air Force, including autograph material, photographs, tables.

Author: 
Flying Officer Robert French Helm (1913-1995), Royal Air Force [The Battle of Britain]
Publication details: 
The photographs date from the 1940s; the rest of the material circa 1960.
£400.00

Helm's promotion on 3 September 1940 to the rank of Flying Officer (41020) is recorded in the London Gazette, 15 October 1940. After the war he joined the International Civil Aviation Authority, working in Iran and Zambia, and was elected to the Membership of the Institute of Navigation, Royal Geological Society, in 1971. A total of 59pp., 8vo, of pencil notes and tables by Helm, relating to the RAF in the Second World War, with 6 original photographs.

Manuscript receipt, signed ('Arch Forbes') by the war correspondent Archibald Forbes, for £50 from the London publishers Henry S. King & Co., for the right to publish an edition of 1000 copies of his 'Soldiering and Scribbling'.

Author: 
Archibald Forbes (1838-1900), British war correspondent, born in Scotland [Henry S. King & Co., 65 Cornhill, London publishers]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. 27 June 1872.
£56.00

1p., landscape 12mo. In good condition, on aged paper. Signed by Forbes over a purple one penny Inland Revenue stamp. Reads: '£50 : 0 : 0 | 27th. June 1872. | Received of Messrs: Henry S. King & Co. of 65 Cornhill London, the sum of Fifty Pounds in payment for the right to publish an edition of 1000 copies of "Soldiering and Scribbling" | [signed] Arch Forbes'. The book was published by the firm in the same year as the receipt.

[Printed pamphlet.] Information & News Sheet published by British Prisoners of War Funds (British Prisoners of War Books & Games Fund and Forget-Me-Not League Registered under the War Charities Act, 1940) No. 18 - Far East.

Author: 
[British Prisoners of War Funds (Miss Christine Knowles, 'Founder and Hon. Director'); Japanese Prisoners of War; the Far East]
Publication details: 
Carrington House, Hertford Street, London W1.
£180.00

11pp., 12mo. Fair, on aged and creased paper. 'Please return' in manuscript at head of first page. Newspaper cutting titled 'Prisoners in Japanese Hands' loosely inserted. Begins with a section of 'Parliamentary News concerning Prisoners of War in the Far East.'; then 'Report from U.S.A.'; and a final 'Extract from copy of broadcast by Major Gourlay from Thailand', with a couple of manuscript interpolations. Scarce: no copies on COPAC or WorldCat.

[Printed Leaflet P.2327B.] Communication with Prisoners of War and Civilians in Japan and Japanese-occupied Territories, and other Service personnel and Civilians believed to be in Japanese hands.

Author: 
[British prisoners of war in Japan and Japanese-occupied territories; the Far East]
Publication details: 
General Post Office, July 1942. 'H. & S. Ltd.' '7/42', i.e. July 1942.
£120.00

2pp., 12mo. Printed on both sides of a single leaf. Fair, on aged and creased paper. Giving a list of addresses to which letters and postcards 'may be sent post free to Service personnel and Civilians known or believed to be in Japanese hands'. '[...] To avoid delay in Japanese censorship, no one should write more than once a week'. With an example of the way in which to 'address you letter', if 'the internment camp address is known'. Scarce: no copy on COPAC or WorldCat, although the Imperial War Museum does have a similar Leaflet P.2280E (1943), relating to prisoners of war in Europe.

[Printed HMSO pamphlet.] A Handbook for the information of Relatives and Friends of Prisoners of War and Civilians in Japanese or Japanese-Occupied Territory. [With stamped printed slip from the War Office.]

Author: 
[British Prisoners of War in Japan or Japanese-Occupied Territory]
Publication details: 
Published for The War Office by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1944. [Printed slip dated May 1944, and stamped 9 June 1944.]
£150.00

16pp., 12mo. Stapled. In printed pink wraps, with map on inside back cover showing 'The Prisoner of War (Far East) Enquiry Centre' at Curzon St House in Mayfair. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper in worn wraps with creasing to one corner.

Printed 'Prospectus' for 'a Poetical illustration of the Career of Field Marshall the Duke of Wellington, and his Illustrious Companions', with the autograph signature of 'George Webb De Renzy, Major and Barrack-Master'

Author: 
Major George Webb De Renzy, of the 82nd Regiment, and Barrack-Master, Dundee [The Duke of Wellington]
Publication details: 
Castletown, Isle of Man. 1 January 1847.
£135.00

1p., 4to. Thirteen lines of text, daintily printed in small type. On lightly-aged and creased paper, with a number of short closed tears. Dated in print at the foot 'Castletown, Isle of Man, | 1847.' Beneath this De Renzy has written, in manuscript, '1st January, | [signed] George Webb De Renzy, Major | and Barrack-Master'.

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