HISTORY

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.

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.

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.

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.'

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).

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 "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.

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.

142pp., 4to. In a ruled notebook, bound in black cloth, with marbled endpapers. In fair condition, on aged paper, in worn binding with loss to a corner of a board. Starting at one end of the notebook is the diary of autograph entries, each dated and initialled by Mrs Driberg. In 1932 Mrs Driberg, a formidable Scottish widow in the last years of her life, has five hives (numbered 1 to 4, with a fifth observation hive), with a sixth hive (No. 5) added by 1934.

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!

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.

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.'

The three items come from the papers of an Anglo-German City of London stockbroker, with Item One, below, indicating that he was based in Germany between 1898 and 1909, and that he had moved to England by 1917. A major point of interest is the fact that the material has been assembled by an educated, intelligent and well-informed individual with good knowledge of both German and English economic realities, at a time of high conflict between the two nations. ONE: 94pp., folio. In black cloth quarter-binding with brown marbled boards, and label of W. Harneit, Hamburg. Consisting of 88pp.

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.'

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'.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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'.

23pp., 8vo. Stapled pamphlet. Text complete, but a frail survival: on aged paper, with first leaf loose, and with chipped and frayed remains of printed front wrap attached with gummed paper to last leaf, and lacking rear wrap. With stamp and shelfmarks of the Board of Education Library. Excessively scarce: no copy in the British Library, and the only copy on COPAC or Worldcat at the London School of Economics. A pamphlet on 'Industry and Pauperism' followed in 1916.

54pp., 12mo. Neatly written out on pages of a book of leaves of paper for correspondence, comprising numbered letterheads with blank underleaves for carbon copies. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with the cover and first few leaves of the volume missing. Terse, pithy entries, noting down facts concerning work, meetings, lunches, family matters, school activities, holidays. During the course of the diary Brett-James switches work from the publishers Harrap to their rivals Chatto & Windus, and the entries reflect his activities in both the military and cultural world.

The nine items in this collection provide valuable information regarding the management of the estate of a Georgian colonial British army office. Coane's battalion had served in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land between 1812 and 1814, and had been in Ceylon (under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Giels) since 1814 by the time Coane died on 5 January 1819, his demise much regretted by his superiors. The nine items are on aged and worn paper with chipping to extremities. ONE: Autograph Letter Signed from 'G[eorge]. Minter' to unnamed recipient. Kandy; 29 December 1818. 4pp., 12mo. Bifolium.

A fine plan, so neatly and delicately drawn that it could easily pass for an engraving. The title concludes: '[...] its Defence under the Command of SIR SIDNEY SMITH. Kt. &ca. &ca. &ca. - on the 2nd: day of May 1799.' In landscape on one side of a piece of laid paper, 29 x 42cm, with the plan itself within a 19.5 x 32.5cm border. The drawing and the precise and detailed lettering are in ink, the whole coloured in grey, brown, pink and blue watercolour. On aged and lightly-creased paper, with a couple of small unobtrusive holes. On a scale of one and a half inches to half a mile.

2pp., 12mo. On bifolium. Fair, on aged paper. The letter begins: 'Maitland, Secretary of the Civil Service Commission, tells me that Mr Robertson was examined only in European subjects; or, to use his own expression, "as to his capacity for learning Japanese".' Maitland cannot help them 'in finding a Japanese scholar'. As Spottiswoode is 'always so glad to find any one interested in oriental subjects', he asks for 'an opportunity of becoming acquainted' with Washington's son.

8vo volume, bound up and interleaved for official use. Internally sound and tight, on aged paper; in worn black leather quarter-binding with repair to loose boards. In gilt on spine is the title 'P. P. L.', with 'T. K. S.' at the foot, and these abbreviations are also present in pencil on the title page. The printed guide has a total of 282pp: title leaf + pp.7-24, 43-44, 47-258, 261-280, 357-374. It is interleaved from p.48 to the end with 128 leaves (256pp).

A significant collection of documents relating to the secret effort, at the end of the Second World War, to prepare officers of the British and allied armed forces for the coming occupation of Germany. Excessively scarce: the only other holdings appear to be in the British National Archives, and the Maurice M. Goodner papers (OAC), the latter relating to a later Parisian branch of the school.

Three pages, 12mo, bifolium, some marking but mainly good condition. "Many thanks for your letter - I thought the Indian Book was off long ago - anyhow I am sorry I could not undertake it now as I am bought up by Vickers Ltd [engineering company,inc. aircraft] for experimental work at a big premium - am awfully sory. Cheerio - hope to come across you sometime." Note: Bull served in the Royal Air Force during the Great War. Perhaps he joinned the Aircraft section of Vickers in 1919.