INVENTOR

[Lady Jane Davy, widow of the chemist and inventor Sir Humphry Davy.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mr. Stirling’, regarding her ‘project for Spain’ and the suitability of Stirling’s former courier Jose Medina.

Author: 
Lady Jane Davy [née Kerr, previously Apreece] (1780-1855), wife of the chemist and inventor Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829)
Publication details: 
‘Abbotsford / Melrose / Augst. 11 [no year]’. [Abbotsford, then or formerly the home of Walter Scott], died 1832]
£65.00

See her husband’s entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount on blank reverse of second leaf. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Stirling’ and signed ‘Jane Davy’. She begins by asking him if he considers Jose Medina, the courier he had in Spain, ‘intelligent, active, & willing’. She adds: ‘I should now & then like my own way; will he allow me such an indulgence?’ She also wants to know if Medina is ‘fairly honest’, by which she means ‘that he will not allow others to cheat me.

[Sir Oliver Lodge, physicist, inventor and Christian spiritualist.] Autograph Signature, together with caricature on John Player & Sons cigarette card.

Author: 
Sir Oliver Lodge [Oliver Joseph Lodge] (1851-1940), physicist, inventor and Christian Spiritualist [Alick P. F. Ritchie; John Player and Sons cigarette cards]
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£25.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Signed 'Oliver Lodge' in pencil at foot of 10 x 11 cm piece of paper, in which slits have been made for loose insertion of the cigarette card. The signature is clear and clean, but the paperr and card are spotted, and the paper is worn with border of discoloration made by tape. The caricature is in colour, by Alick P. F. Ritchie. No 38 out of 50 in a series titled 'Straight Line Caricatures', issued by John Player & Sons. Scan on application

[William Walker Stephens, Edinburgh merchant and inventor.] Autograph Letter Signed to Frederic Harrison, presenting a copy of his book ‘Higher Life for Working People’, intended to counter ‘revolutionary “Socialism”’ and ‘Social mal-adjustments’.

Author: 
William Walker Stephens of Leith and Einburgh, Scottish merchant, mechanic and inventor
Publication details: 
22 May 1899; on letterhead of Rosehall Lodge, Dalkeith Road, Edinburgh.
£60.00

See Harrison's entry in the Oxford DNB. Previous to the appearance in 1899 of ‘Higher Life for Working People’ Stephens had published a life of Turgot in 1895. Both appeared with the long-established London publishers Longmans. He was sole trustee of the soap manufacturers William Taylor & Co when it failed in 1883. He was also an inventor: in 1853 the Journal of the Royal Society of Arts noticed his patent relating to ‘retorts in gas-ovens’. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Twenty-five lines of text. In fair condition, lightly aged.

[Royal Navy, 1804: Board of Admiralty, Whitehall.] Contemporary Manuscript Translation of 'Project' by 'Hy: Ernst: Seiffert, senior' of Hamburgh, who offers to arrange for the inventor of a naval weapon to come to England with 'four proper workmen'.

Author: 
[Royal Navy, 1804: Board of Admiralty, Whitehall] Heinrich Ernst Seiffert senior, Hamburgh, Germany
Publication details: 
'Hamburgh. 6 Nov 1804'. Postscript dated from same place, 9 November 1804. On paper with Britannia watermark, dated 1803.
£220.00

There is a record of one 'Heinrich Ernst Seiffert aus Altona bei Hamburg' in 1787. The letter is clearly addressed to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty, whom, we may be sure, were not taken in by what was either the production of a madman or a clumsy confidence trickster. 3pp, foolscap 8vo. On bifolium of gilt-edged paper. In fair condition, on lightly aged paper with slight wear and short closed tears to extremities. Folded twice.

[Beauchamp Tower, inventor and railway engineer.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Dick’ [Sir Richard Harington], describing the contest for North Sea Trophy, and the presentation by the German emperor, written from the winning yacht ‘Dianthus’.

Author: 
Beauchamp Tower (1845-1904), English inventor and railway engineer [Sir Richard Harington (1861-1931), Puisne Judge in High Court of Justice, Fort William, Bengal]
Publication details: 
‘Yacht “Dianthus” / Copenhagen / June 29th / 1899’.
£180.00

In this letter Tower describes his personal experience of the winning of the North Sea trophy by C. L. Salaman’s 35-ton yacht Dianthus. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged paper chipped at head. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘My dear Dick’ and signed ‘Beauchamp Tower’. A long letter with 105 lines of text. He begins by congratulating Harington ‘on getting an Indian judge ship which will enable you to marry, though I and all your other friends will be very sorry to lose you’.

[Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of radio: family correspondence.] 40 items to governess Millicent Goodsir ('Miss Unger') from Marconi's second wife Cristina [née Bezzi Scali], her mother and daughter: letters and cards in English, inscribed photographs.

Author: 
[Guglielmo Marconi [Marquis of Marconi] (1874-1937), inventor of radio, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics; his second wife Maria Cristina Bezzi-Scali, their daughter Elettra Giovanelli
Publication details: 
Most from 11 Via Condotti, Rome. 1914-1968.
£250.00

Forty items, in good condition, lightly aged and worn, with some of the photographs with evidence on reverse of having been mounted. Millicent Goodsir [née Unger] (1885-1983) was governess to Christina Bezzi Scali (1900-1994), daughter of Francesco, Count Bezzi Scali and his wife Anna (1879-1968). In 1927 Cristina became Marconi's second wife. Their only child was Maria Elettra Elena Anna Marconi (b.1930), who would marry Prince Carlo Giovannelli (1942-2016).

[Sir Oliver Lodge, physicist, inventor and Christian spiritualist.] Typed Letter Signed to Rev. A. H. Sayers, declining to speal to the Monmouth Town League of Nations Union.

Author: 
Sir Oliver Lodge [Oliver Joseph Lodge] (1851-1940), physicist, inventor and Christian Spiritualist [Rev. A. H. Sayers of the Monmouth Town League of Nations Union]
Publication details: 
18 April 1928; on letterhead of Normanton House, Lake, Salisbury.
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed ‘To the Rev. A. H. Vayers’, but with the ‘V’ corrected in manuscript to ‘S’. Signed ‘Oliver Lodge’. Reads: ‘My dear Sir, / I am exceedingly busy, and a visit to Monmouth is quite out of the question. There are many others better qualified to speak for The League of Nations Union; and I trust you will have a successfull meeting.’

[Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of radio: family correspondence.] 40 items to governess Millicent Goodsir ('Miss Unger') from Marconi's second wife Cristina [née Bezzi Scali], her mother and daughter: letters and cards in English, inscribed photographs.

Author: 
[Guglielmo Marconi [Marquis of Marconi] (1874-1937), inventor of radio, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics; his second wife Maria Cristina Bezzi-Scali, their daughter Elettra Giovanelli
Publication details: 
Most from 11 Via Condotti, Rome. 1914-1968.
£850.00

Forty items, in good condition, lightly aged and worn, with some of the photographs with evidence on reverse of having been mounted. Millicent Goodsir [née Unger] (1885-1983) was governess to Christina Bezzi Scali (1900-1994), daughter of Francesco, Count Bezzi Scali and his wife Anna (1879-1968). In 1927 Cristina became Marconi's second wife. Their only child was Maria Elettra Elena Anna Marconi (b.1930), who would marry Prince Carlo Giovannelli (1942-2016).

[Sir Oliver Lodge, physicist, inventor and spiritualist.] Autograph Signature ('Oliver Lodge') for autograph collector.

Author: 
Sir Oliver Lodge [Oliver Joseph Lodge] (1851-1940), physicist and inventor in the field of radio, and Christian Spiritualist
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£23.00

The signature 'Oliver Lodge' is firmly written in the bottom of three rectangular panels printed in red, with no other writing on the page, on one side of a 12mo leaf removed from 'The Meredith Birthday Book', the other side featuring quotations from the novelist for 13 to 15 June. In good condition, lightly aged.

[Imperial College Literary and Debating Society, London.] Printed poster for 'A Lecture on "The Interaction of Life and Matter" by Sir Oliver Lodge, D.Sc., F.R.S.

Author: 
Sir Oliver Lodge [Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge] (1851-1940), physicist, inventor and Christian Spiritualist; W. G. Wren, Hon. Sec., Imperial College Literary and Debating Society, London
Publication details: 
Imperial College Literary and Debating Society, London. 'In the Main Chemistry Lecture Theatre Royal College of Science (Imperial Institute Road, S.W.7) on Monday, 16th March, 1931 At 5-15 p.m.'
£120.00

Printed in black on one side of a 51 x 39 cm piece of light-green paper. Heavily inked, in the variety of types and point sizes typical of the period. Printed on high-acidity paper, and perhaps a unique survival. Aged and worn, with chipping and short closed tears to extremities. Reads: 'Imperial College | Literary and Debating Society | [thick-thin rule] | A LECTURE | ON | “The Interaction of Life | and Matter” | BY | SIR OLIVER LODGE, | D.Sc., F.R.S.

[James Nasmyth, Scottish engineer, inventor and artist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('James Nasmyth', with fingerprint jokingly appended to signature as 'Hys marke', inviting the artist John Callcott Horsley to dinner with 'Col Colville' and others.

Author: 
James Nasmyth [James Hall Nasmyth] (1808-1890), Scottish engineer, inventor and artist [John Callcott Horsley (1817-1903), artist]
Publication details: 
[Baileze?] Hotel. 14 January 1880.
£180.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Signed 'James Nasmyth', with a fingerprint beneath the signature, flanked by the words 'Hys' and 'marke', and with 'impression before Letters' jokingly added beneath. Written in a shaky hand, the letter invites Horsley to a dinner 'to meet Col Colville Mrs. [Maclins?] and Dr. [Savile?]'.

[Beauchamp Tower, inventor, describes his 'yachting cruises during the past season' in the Gwynfa to Sir Richard Harington.] Nineteen-page Autograph Letter Signed to 'Dick', comprising extracts from his diary, including a pair of hand-drawn diagrams.

Author: 
Beauchamp Tower (1845-1904), English inventor and railway engineer, discoverer of full-film or hydrodynamic lubrication [Sir Richard Harington, 12th Baronet (1861-1931)]
Publication details: 
Warley Mount, Brentwood, 30 October 1901.
£200.00

19pp, foolscap 8vo. On five bifoliums. Neatly and closely written. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Tower's letter begins: 'My dear Dick | I enclose a chart [not present] which will show you at a glance my yachting cruises during the past season'.

[ Baron Henry de Bode, inventor. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('de Bode'), accepting a dinner invitation, for himself and his nephew 'C. Cazalet'.

Author: 
Baron Henry de Bode [ William Henry Charles Othon Baron de Bode ] (1778-1855), Major General in the Russian service, inventor in England
Publication details: 
39 Berners Street, Oxford Street [ London ]. 2 February 1848.
£120.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'My dear Sir, | I shall feel much pleasure in joining Your party tomorrow evening, with my nephew C. Cazalet, who conveyed to me the wish you had expressed to see us at your lodgings, before your not came. | I am Your's sincerely | de Bode'. See John H. Harland, 'Baron de Bode and his Capstan', in The Mariner's Mirror, vol.99, 2013.

[ John Joseph Mechi, Alderman of the City of London, silversmith, inventor, agriculturalist. ] Autograph Note Signed to 'P. Miles Esq', regarding a meeting.

Author: 
John Joseph Mechi (1802-1880) of Tiptree Hall, Essex, silversmith, banker, inventor and Alderman of the City of London, agriculturalist at his estate
Publication details: 
Leadenhall Street [ London ]. 7 Derember 1857.
£56.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with central vertical fold. Reads: 'Dear Sir | Would it suit you to meet me here tomorrow from 10 to 1/2 past? | I should be happy to see you.' In pencil at head in a contemporary hand: 'Alderman Mechi - | Great Agriculturalist'.

[ Shelford Bidwell, physicist and inventor whose 'telephotography' was a precursor to the modern fax. ] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. Henslow', requesting a 'distant room' for a demonstration of 'an experimental telephone'.

Author: 
Shelford Bidwell (1848-1909, English physicist and inventor whose 'telephotography' was a precursor to the modern fax
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Riverside Lodge, Wandsworth. 27 November 1883.
£220.00

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. He thanks him for his note, adding: 'I think perhaps it will be better to clear the platform as the apparatus will then be more easily seen. I should be glad if possible to have the use of a distant room in the building to which I could run an experimental telephone wire. The room may of course be a very small one.'

[ James Sinclair, 14th Earl of Caithness. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Caithness') to <James Kennard?> of Bedford, regarding his 'Plan of a plough'.

Author: 
James Sinclair, 14th Earl of Caithness [ styled Lord Berriedale, 1823-1855 ] (1821-1881), Scottish Liberal politician, scientist and inventor.
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Weston House, Shipston-on-Stour. 1 January 1864.
£80.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. He letter begins: 'The last time I had the pleasure of being at your Works, was with The Duke of Sutherland, & Mr. Maconnell then of the L. & N. W. Rail. I am now anxious to see you on a matter of business, & if you are at home, I propose to go to Bedford on Thursday next, the 7th. Jany.' He gives details of how he proposes to travel, before explaining his object as to 'show you the Plan of a plough. I have tried it in a rough way, & it seems to save much <?>, & to do good work.

[ H.M. Patent Office, London. ] Manuscript document containing 'Searches' into the 'Novelty' and 'Validity' of around 150 patent applications, with diagrams and index.

Author: 
H.M. Patent Office, London (now the Intellectual Property Office) [ Sir Henry Bessemer; Sir John Coode; Gusttav Overbeck; Crosse & Blackwell; Wedgwood; Bryant & May ]
Publication details: 
H.M. Patent Office, 25 Southampton Buildings, London, WC. 13 March 1878 to 19 December 1882.
£450.00

The Patent Office - now the Intellectual Property Office - was established by the Patent Law Amendment Act of 1852, which simplified the procedure for obtaining patents of invention and reduced costs. In 1883 another Act of Parliament brought into being the office of Comptroller General of Patents, with, according to the National Archives, 'a staff of patent examiners to carry out a limited form of examination; mainly to ensure that the specification described the invention properly, but without any investigation into novelty'.

[ R. E. B. Crompton, inventor and electrical engineer. ] Autograph Card in the third person, paying his subscription to the Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
R. E. B. Crompton [ Rookes Evelyn Bell Crompton ] (1845-1940), British inventor, electrical engineer and industrialist [ Crompton & Co. ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Thriplands, Kensington Court, W. [ London ] 31 January 1901.
£38.00

On both sides of a 9 x 11 cm. grey card with embossed letterhead. In good condition, lightly aged. Docketted and with Royal Academy of Arts stamp. 'Lt. Colonel Crompton begs to enclose a cheque in payment of his subscription and will be greatly obliged to the Secretary if he will send him a form to enable his Bankers - Messrs. Barclay & Co. to pay the subscription in future.' Crompton's firm Crompton & Co. was one of the world's first large-scale manufacturers of electrical equipment.

[ Major-General Sir Benjamin Charles Stephenson, Surveyor-General of the Board of Works. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('B C Stephenson') to 'Lieutt: Lawrence R:N:' about an invention.

Author: 
Major-General Sir Benjamin Charles Stephenson (c.1766-1839), G.C.H., Surveyor-General of the Office of Works
Publication details: 
Office of Works [London]. 19 March 1823.
£56.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, on lightly aged and worn paper, with a short closed tear along a crease and slight loss to one corner. He regrets that 'it is not in my power to afford any Official Assistance, in promoting the use of your very Ingenious, & Valuable Invention; as the Business of this Department is exclusively confined to the Building, & <?>, belonging either to His Majesty, or the Public, such as Palaces, Public Offices &c.' He suggests a number of organisations to which Lawrence should apply., 'as the Departments most likely to encourage your useful Undertaking'.

[ Pierre-Louis Caron de Vernon, French art collector and inventor. ] Address, in French, signed 'Caron de Vernon', 'A Son Altesse Royale Monseigneur le Duc D'Orléans', presenting him with two marble statues.

Author: 
Pierre-Louis Caron de Vernon, French art collector and inventor [ King Louis Philippe I of France (1773-1850), who was Duc D'Orléans between 1793 and 1830
Publication details: 
Paris. 18 November 1828.
£120.00

2pp., folio. On bifolium. In a contemporary hand in margin of first page: 'Mr. Leblond' and a reference number. The document begins: 'Pre. Louis Caron de Vernon a eu l'honneur de servir sous les ordres de V: Altesse Royale en 1793 dans le 73 Bataillon de Paris, et au camp de Ste. Margueritte celui d'offrir son pain a V: Altesse, qu'Elle volut bien daigner accepter, en recommandant de lui rappeller cette circonstance dans l'occasion.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm. M Eldridge Jr') from the Philadelphia inventor William M. Eldridge to Valentine Mott of New York, responding to 'slanders', and claiming that police searches have revealed 'the authors of the cards and all the mischief'.

Author: 
William M. Eldridge of Philadelphia, inventor [Valentine Mott (1785-1865), American surgeon]
Publication details: 
Paris. 23 May 1836.
£180.00

3pp., 4to. 60 lines of text. Bifolium. Good, on aged paper. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Valentine Mott M.D. | 25 Park Place | New-York'; with three postmarks, one from Havre and another 'Forwarded by Lewis Rogers & Co.' (Mott was in Europe at the time of writing.) An tantalising letter, regarding an intriguing affair about which nothing else appears discoverable. Eldridge is sending 'a hand bill, 5000 of which have been circulated thro Paris and the towns in its vicinity'.

Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'A Henry Savage Landor') from the traveller Arthur Henry Savage Landor to 'Mr Roper' of Boston [the inventor Sylvester H. Roper?].

Author: 
Arnold Henry Savage Landor (1865-1924), English painter, explorer and writer, born in Florence, discoverer in Tibet of sources of Indus and Brahmaputra rivers [Sylvester H. Roper (1823-96) of Boston]
Publication details: 
First Letter: 'Saturday' [1 December 1888]; on lettherhead of the Somerset Club, Boston. Second Letter: 'Sunday' [6 January 1889]; 2 Walnut Street [Boston].
£165.00

Both items in very good condition, on lightly-aged paper, each with slight trace of paper label at spine. Letter One: 3 pp, 12mo. Docketed at head of first page '1 Dec/88.' and 'The Explorer of Thibet [sic]'. He thanks him 'for the Card of the St Botolph Club' and will try to go there the following day. He has 'so many things to do' that he is not sure he will be able to stay there long. Letter Two: 4 pp, 12mo. Docketed beneath address '6 January 89.', and beneath signature 'The traveller in Thibet [sic]'. Thanking him for the 'note and cheque', and hoping that the sketch arrived safely.

Two Autograph Letters Signed and one Typed Letter Signed (all three 'A. W. Pimm') on 'loco matters' to King.

Author: 
Arthur Watson Pimm [A. W. Pimm] (b.1881), locomotive engineer and inventor [H. G. King of the Institution of Locomotive Engineers; Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd; Vickers; LNER; LMS Railways]
Publication details: 
Autograph Letters: 14 October and 18 December 1942. Typed Letter: 4 November 1942. All three from 5 Oakhill Road, Orpington, Kent.
£450.00

Text of all three letters clear and entire. A well-written and well-informed correspondence relating to 'locomotive matters'. Letter One (14 October 1942): Manuscript. Foolscap, 4 pp. Good, on aged high-acidity paper. 'Knowing, and to some extent, at least, sharing' King's 'interest in loco matters', Pimm informs him that the Ministry of Supply 'have ordered 360 L.M.S. mixed traffics generally like the 227 that AW's [Armstrong Whitworth] bill as their last order'.

Four Autograph Letters Signed ('W. Marshall') to Messrs Bradley & Son Ltd[, The Crown Press, Printers, Caxton Road, Reading], giving formula for 'Spacine' ('for the prevention of rising spaces in Monotype') and instructions for its application.

Author: 
W. Marshall, East Dulwich printer and inventor [Bradley & Son, Reading printers; Monotype; Spacine]
Publication details: 
30 Jan. [1929], 8 and 13 May 1929 and undated; the first three from 92 Upland Rd, East Dulwich, London, S.E.22.
£180.00

The four items, all on aged and lightly spotted paper, are attached by four rusty staples. One (five pages, octavo): In reply to the firm's inquiry regarding 'the prevention of rising spaces in Monotype', Marshall states that, instead of giving information, he 'would rather send you the method and you try it out and prove for yourself its value, then pay me afterwards'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Sir H[enry]. T[rueman]. Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
John Allen Harker
Publication details: 
9 February 1916; The National Physical Laboratory, Teddington (on deleted letterhead of the National Liberal Club).
£28.00

Inventor and engineer (1870-1923), whose papers are held by the Royal Society. During the war Harker was in the Inventions Department of the Ministry of Munitions. One page, 12mo. Good, if slightly grubby. Docketed in pencil and bearing the Society's stamp. Reads 'I send herewith a short contribution to the discussion of Dr Flemings paper at which I was present but in which on account of lack of time I did not feel it desirable to take part verbally.' Signed 'J. A. Harker'.

Syndicate content