LIBERAL

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On both sides of 10.5 x 8 cm piece of paper, cut from a letter for an autograph hunter. On one side, in a larger than usual hand: ‘Your Obed Servt / J Russell’. Beneath the signature, in a tiny contemporary hand: 'Prime Minister'. At the foot is the name of the recipient: ‘Rr. Admiral / Sir Henry Dillon Kt.’ A fragment of the letter is on the reverse: ‘[...] Albert have any [wish?] on the subject of your being in the Queen’s Household, I shall no doubt hear from His Royal Highnesss. But untill [sic] I do so, I [...]'. See Image.

Buxton was a popular Governor-General who formed an effective partnership with Botha. 2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed to ‘B Piffard Esq’ and signed ‘Sydney Buxton’. He is obliged for the ‘copies of the “West Herts Radical”’, and is glad to hear that Piffard is ‘able to circulate such a large number in your Division’. He hopes it will have ‘a satisfactory effect on the next Election’.

See Sir William Beveridge’s entry in the Oxford DNB: 'An overbearing and temperamental Scotswoman, Mrs Mair had come to the school [the LSE] with Beveridge in 1919 (having been his secretary and aide during the war) and was highly unpopular with many of the school's professors. Throughout the 1930s there were complaints about the ‘Beveridge–Mair dictatorship’ and a general sense of relief when Beveridge decided to leave the school to accept the mastership of University College, Oxford, in 1937.' 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with one dog-eared corner. Folded twice for postage.

Interesting items, casting light on the nitty-gritty of Victorian constituency politics. Both are signed 'W. S. Robson' and addressed to 'B. Piffard Esq'. Both in good condition, lightly aged, with the second a little spotted. Each on a bifolium. ONE (26 May 1885): 3pp, 12mo. He has been informed 'that it is now the wish of the Watford (or Divisional) Association that I should visit the Division & address meetings there.

See the entries on Simon and Ross in the Oxford DNB. At the time of writing Ross was a Fellow of Oriel College. Barnett House in Oxford was established in 1914 as a result of an appeal to academic and political figures, mainly through the actions of another Oriel fellow, Sidney Ball (1857-1918). It was named after Canon Barnett, founder of the university settlement Toynbee Hall. Barnett House was intended as a ‘citizens’ house’ - a centre for economic and social enquiry, and between 1957 and 2004, as a department of the university, was a centre for the training of social workers. See G.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The ‘settlement’ movement was the result of growing unease among the educated classes regarding the condition of the poor. The two most celebrated settlements, both still active, are Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel and Oxford House in Bethnal Green. From the papers of Sir William David Ross (1877-1971), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford. The present printed circular is 1p, 12mo. Printed on wove watermarked paper. In good condition, lightly aged and folded once. Asquith’s signature is genuine. Reads: ‘October, 1911.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin band of discoloration beneath the last line. Addressed to ‘J M Swan Esq R.A’. Reads: ‘My dear Mr Swan / Will you dine with me on Thursday June 1st. to meet Mr Leslie and some few artists? / I should be glad if you will. / Yours faithfully / Wm. Agnew’.

See the two men's entries in the Oxford DNB. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn; the second is lightly spotted. Each is folded once. All three signed 'Bryce'. ONE: 13 February 1914. No place. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. Begins: 'My dear Ross / I should like [to] help in so good a cause, but cannot possibly venture to make any promise for a date so distant as Nov. next. It would be a tempting of Providence as we say in Scotland.' He is not even certain whether he will be in England then, 'and there is nothing one has more to avoid than the breaking of promises'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with the blank second leaf carrying some traces of pink paper mount. Written a couple of months before Haldane’s acceptance of a peerage, so that he could become leader of the Liberals in the House of Lords, and in response to Hurd’s essay ‘The New Policy of Imperial and Home Defence’, published in the January 1911 number of ‘The Nineteenth Century and After’.

See the entries for Milner and Ross in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed to 'Dear Mr Ross' and with good bold signature 'Milner'. The subject of the letter is the philanthropic ‘settlement’ Toynbee Hall in Whitechapel, founded in 1884 by Canon Barnett and Henrietta (DBE), his wife.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the Piffard papers. A total of 9pp, 12mo. The recipient is 'B. Piffard Esq.' and the letters are all signed 'Jesse Collings'. ONE: 27 July 1885. 2pp, 12mo. He apologises for the delay in replying: 'I have been so over-pressed with Parliamentary and other work.' He will go into the matter of Piffard's letter at the 'Committee meeting of our Allotments & Small Holdings Association' that very day.

See the entries for Grey and Ross in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Reads: ?My dear Provost / Probably you will not think that the enclosed requires any answer or that it is a matter for the head of a College but as it concerns a member of Oriel I send it on to you / Yours very truly / Grey of Fallodon.?

On 11 x 6 cm piece of aged paper, with patches of discoloration and traces of mount on reverse. Good clear firm and undamaged signature on front: ‘[...] I am Sir / Yr Obt. Sert. / Sydney’. The reverse reads: ‘[...] ristricted from killing rabbits on the land lately taken on lease from me and also from ploughing up any part of it but I hereby give you leave to kill rabbits or any [...]’. See Image.

According to A. J. P. Taylor, Chamberlain was ‘the greatest force in British politics between the decline of Gladstone and the rise of Lloyd George. See his lengthy entry, and that of Maxse, in the Oxford DNB’. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged. With one central vertical fold from postage. Reads: ‘My dear Maxse / I have been away but will try & get a seat for Thursday & write to you again / Yours sincerely / J. Chamberlain’. Postscript at head of page: ‘Can you dine with me here on Friday at 8 p.m?’

See Currie’s entry in the Oxford DNB. Both he and the recipient Hutton had South African interests. Both items in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, and each with pinholes at head from being attached, and folded for postage. Each is signed ‘Donald Currie’. ONE: 17 March 1879. 1p, 12mo. Addressed to ‘James E [sic] Hutton Esqr.’ He received Hutton’s ‘kind message’ and ‘called on the King. To-day I met the Duke of Sutherland.’ He will write to him again ‘in a day or two’. ‘Are you to be in town soon?’ TWO: 29 March 1879. 2pp, 12mo. Headed ‘Private’, and addressed to ‘J. F. Hutton Esqre.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. With mourning border. On first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, folded once for postage. All in a secretarial hand, except the signature ‘Rosebery’. Addressed to ‘My dear Sturgis’ - the item is from the autograph album of Sturgis’s wife, George Meredith’s daughter Marie Eveleen (‘Mariette’; 1871-1933). He regrets that he has ‘disposed of the vacancy of the secretaryship at the Treasury’. Had he not, he ‘would gladly have considered the claims of your candidate’. Ends: ‘I wonder if you and Mrs Sturgis would come and dine here some evening.’

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.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both letters are in good condition, lightly aged, and both folded once. Both addressed to ‘Mrs Sturgis’, and both signed ‘R B Haldane’. The year in both cases is in the first decade of the twentieth century, but the last digit is hard to decipher. ONE: 27 January [1901?]. 2pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. He fears that he will not reach Leatherhead (where the Sturgis had a country house) before ‘the late train after dinner on Sat. the 21st.’ He plans to ‘send down a servant ahead’, and himself ‘come at bedtime’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Outer sides somewhat grubby, otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed ‘Dear Sir’ and signed ‘Devonshire’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Under Gladstone Burt served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, 1892-1895. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son of the editor of the economist Thorold Rogers, and written while Rogers was Secretary of the Liberal Publication Department (a sort of public relations department), a position to which he was appointed in November 1891. 2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. Signed 'Thos Burt'. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage.

W. H. Gladstone was the eldest of W. E. Gladstone’s eight children. See his father’s entry in the Oxford DNB, along with those of his brothers Henry Neville Gladstone and Herbert John Gladstone. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium of grey paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with spike hole through one corner of each leaf. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘W H Gladstone’ and addressed to ‘W. Farish Esq / Chester’. He apologizes for having to decline Farish’s request, and is returning the card Farish has sent him.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which states that after his resignation from government in protest against the impending war, ‘Around him he rallied those few brave, independent spirits who shared his views. Together they helped to found the Union of Democratic Control, in A. J. P. Taylor's judgement 'the most formidable Radical body ever to influence British foreign policy' (A. J. P. Taylor, Politicians, Socialism and Historians, 1982, 103). Trevelyan became the union's principal advocate in the Commons.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of Philip Dosse (1925-1980), proprietor of Hansom Books, publishers of several arts magazines. Presumably acknowledging payment for a review in ‘Books and Bookmen’. On plain ‘House of Commons’ postcard. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with crease to one corner going through the final flourish of Grimond’s signature. Reads: ‘4 Aug / Many thanks for cheque for £20 already acknowledged / J Grimond’.

See her entry, and those of her husband and their two daughters, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Although Sayers? name and address are given as recipient at the beginning, the letter is clearly a circular, and the signature is cylcostyled.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The full lecture, fifty-four pages in length, was published for Playfair in Edinburgh by Edmonston & Douglas in 1865, with the subtitle ‘Lecture delivered at the Royal Society, Edinburgh, 3d April 1865, and Royal Institution, London, 28th April 1865.’ Although reset, the text of the present three-page synopsis does not appear to differ from the version printed on pp.431-433 of the ‘Notices of the Proceedings’, vol.4 (1862-1866). No other copy of this offprint has been traced. In very good condition, lightly aged.

The address from which this letter is sent is said to have been 'the English home of Louis Kossuth and Garibaldi'. 1p, 12mo. On aged paper, and with strip of discoloration from glue along the inner edge, the detaching of the item from its mount having caused a little wear to a couple of words of text. Reads: ‘Dear Sir, / Northampton is the only Constituency I have represented in Parliament - I am not [last word underlined] the author of the work you allude to / Yours truly / C Gilpin’.

Lyttelton was Gladstone’s private secretary during three of his terms as prime minister. The recipient Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944, son of the editor of the economist Thorold Rogers) is not named, but the item is from his papers, and was written while he was Secretary of the Liberal Publication Department, a position to which he was appointed in November 1891. 2pp, 12mo. Signed ‘Spencer Lyttleton.’ In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Under Gladstone Burt served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, 1892-1895. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son of the editor of the economist Thorold Rogers, and written while Rogers was Secretary of the Liberal Publication Department (a sort of public relations department), a position to which he was appointed in November 1891. The four items, all addressed to ‘Dear Mr Rogers’ and signed ‘Thos Burt’, are all bifoliums in good condition, folded for postage. ONE (2 June 1892): 2pp, 12mo.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. At his death in 1917, H. T. Beresford-Hope was Third Secretary at the British Legation at Athens; and he left the enormous sum of £67,167. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘My dear Beresford-Hope’ and signed ‘H. Fisher’. Twenty-eight lines of text. He begins a gently teasing letter by stating that he is delighted to hear of Beresford-Hope’s ‘triumph in the Diplomatic Service examination’, his wife joining him in sending congratulations.

While his entry in the Oxford DNB notes that Birrell was a loyal supporter of Gladstone in the early part of his parliamentary career, it does not allude to his intimate involvement during that period in what would now be called the public relations of his party, as evidenced by this correspondence, which comes from the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son of the editor of the economist Thorold Rogers, and written while Rogers was Secretary of the Liberal Publication Department, a position to which he was appointed in November 1891.