LIBRARIAN

[ Sir Henry Ellis, Principal Librarian of the British Museum. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Henry Ellis') to Edward Magrath, thanking him for his good offices.

Author: 
Sir Henry Ellis (1777-1869), Principal Librarian of the British Museum [ Edward Magrath, founder member and secretary of the Athenaeum club, London ]
Publication details: 
No place. [ 3 December 1834. ]
£38.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. He thanks him for 'the promptness with which you placed my request on behalf of Mr. Tennent before the Library Committee'. Tennent will himself thank Magrath 'for the obliging offer of the use of your private Room'. In another hand at bottom right: 'Librarian British Museum'.

[ Printed volume. ] The Spirit of the Doctor; comprising Many Interesting Poems; selected from the original manuscript of the Late Mr. James Watson, Formerly Librarian of the Portico, in Manchester; and commonly called Doctor Watson.

Author: 
'The Late Mr. James Watson, Formerly Librarian of the Portico, in Manchester' [ The Theatre Royal, Manchester ]
Publication details: 
1st part ('The Spirit of the Doctor'): Manchester: Printed for the Editors, by George Cave. 1820. 2nd part ('The Humors of Trim').Printed by J. Phenix, Manchester, in the Year 1820, and First Year of the Reign of His Majesty, King George the Fourth.
£220.00

The full title reads: 'The Spirit of the Doctor; comprising Many Interesting Poems; selected from the original manuscript of the Late Mr. James Watson, Formerly Librarian of the Portico, in Manchester; and commonly called Doctor Watson. [Four-line quotation in Latin from Terence.] To which is prefixed A Lithographic Portrait of the Doctor; with a short memoir of his life: And various Anecdotes relative to Him - After, and to which are subjoined The Humors of Trim, [Two-line quotation from Sterne].;151pp [xxxvi + 51 + 64]., 8vo. Lithographic portrait of author as frontispiece.

[ Ethel G. Hayler, Children's Librarian, Croydon Public Libraries. ] Printed pamphlet: 'American Children's Libraries. A Report to the Croydon Public Libraries Committee on a Personal Visit to America August and September, 1927.'

Author: 
Ethel G. Hayler, Children's Librarian, Croydon Public Libraries [ John Ollis Pelton, Chairman of the Libraries Committee ]
Publication details: 
Central Library, Town Hall, Croydon. 1928.
£80.00

12pp., 8vo. Stapled. In green printed wraps. In good condition, on aged paper, with slight wear to one corner and a few light marks to cover.

[John Belfield Gadd, librarian, The John Rylands Library, Manchester.] Bound collection (by his family?) of 18 original compositions, titled 'Some Of His Published and Unpublished Articles', including 14 Typescripts and 2 Autograph Manuscripts.

Author: 
John Belfield Gadd (1895-1918), librarian, The John Rylands Library, Manchester [The Manchester Guardian]
Publication details: 
[Several from 'Edale', 115 Atwood Rd, Didsbury, Manchester.] Items dated from between 1913 and 1916.
£500.00

Folio volume of 127pp. (paginated in red pencil) of typescripts and manuscripts, with three printed items extracted from magazines, bound in black cloth, with the front cover stamped in gilt with the title 'John Belfield Gadd | 1895-1918. | Some Of His Published and Unpublished Articles'. A good-natured and entertaining collection of seventeen essays and two plays, strongly hinting at unfulfilled promise.

[Printed catalogue.] One Thousand English Books all in handsome Bindings recommended by B. F. Stevens for the Foundation of the English Portion of an American Home Library.

Author: 
B. F. Stevens [Benjamin Franklin Stevens] of Vermont, London-based American bookseller, 17 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden [The Chiswick Press, Whittingham and Willkins, Tooks Court, Chancery Lane]
Publication details: 
B. F. Stevens, 17 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London, England. [1874.] [Chiswick Press: Printed by Whittingham and Wilkins, Tooks Court, Chancery Lane, London, England.]
£280.00

Not paginated. [107]pp., 16mo. Internally good and tight, elegantly printed in red and black. In original heavily-worn green leather binding. Small leaf, printed on both sides, advertising the book, loosely inserted. In the twenty-two lines on the reverse Stevens states that 'The price of all these books in substantial andn ornamental bindings of great variety, with leather, calf, morocco or russia backs and corners, and muslin on paper sides, is Four Hundred Guineas (420l.) If with full leather backs and sides, very handsome, the price is Four Hundred and Fifty Guineas (472l. 10s.)'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Ge: H: Moore') from George H. Moore, LLD, Librarian of the New York Historical Society to the Boston merchant W. W. Greenough.

Author: 
George H. Moore [George Henry Moore] (1823-1892), LLD, Librarian of the New York Historical Society [William Whitwell Greenough (1818-1899), Boston merchant]
Publication details: 
Lenox Library, New York. 23 December 1882.
£90.00

2pp., 12mo. 29 lines. On dry high-acidity paper, with a little chipping to extremities and a couple of closed tears, but the only damage to text to the two initials of the name of the recipient 'W. W. Greenough Esqe.', caused by slight loss to the bottom outer corner of the second leaf. He is 'anxious to know' if the copy of 'Part VI. of our "Contributions"' was received by Greenough, and how those sent to 'several other directions' fared.

Autograph Letter Signed ('R. Garnett') from Richard Garnett, Keeper of Printed Books in the British Museum, to 'Mr. Colles', regarding a 'disagreeable' letter from the Italian librarian Guido Biagi concerning the writer Helen Zimmern.

Author: 
Richard Garnett (1835-1906), Keeper of Printed Books in the British Museum [Helen Zimmern (1846-1934), Anglo-German translator and author; Guido Biagi (1855-1925), Italian librarian]
Publication details: 
27 Tanza Road, Hampstead; 30 October 1900.
£56.00

2pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, stamped as received 31 October 1900, with a '6' in blue pencil. Garnett considers 'Signor Biagi's letter [...] indeed most disagreeable', but cannot see how it can be 'kept from Miss Zimmern's knowledge', as 'she has a right to know what he says of her'. 'Fortunately, however, I have by the same post a letter from her saying that she is coming to London to deliver lectures, and will [be] at 45 Porchester Terrace on Nov. 10'.

Signed Autograph Memorandum ('Ro Greenhow') from the historian Robert Greenhow, produced as part of his duties as librarian at the Department of State in Washington, concerning a correspondence between Madison and Monroe on 'natural improvements'.

Author: 
Robert Greenhow (1800-1854), translator and librarian at the Department of State in Washington, and author of works including 'The History of Oregon and California' (1844)
Publication details: 
24 June [no year].
£60.00

1p., 4to. Ten lines. Fair, on aged paper, with one unobtrusive closed tear. Greenhow describes the surviving correspondence concerning 'natural improvements' between Madison and Monroe, and speculates regarding a discrepancy.

Printed 'Proof of a Report - never issued' regarding 'the right of the Liverpool Library to the occupation of a certain part of the Lyceum', with a long manuscript memorandum and an Autograph Letter Signed from attorney John Robinson to John Abraham.

Author: 
John Abraham (1813-1881) of Clay & Abraham, pharmaceutical chemists [The Lyceum, Bold Street, Liverpool; Liverpool Library]
 Liverpool Library
Publication details: 
Robinson's letter: 20 February 1867; Coburg Terrace, West Derby Road, Liverpool. Other items undated [c. 1850?].
£750.00
 Liverpool Library

The subscription Liverpool Library within the Lyceum, founded in 1757, is believed to have been the first circulating or lending library in Europe, and the first two of these items provide a valuable insight into its status at the time when the advent of the public library system was undermining its position.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. M. Bucknall') to MacLehose

Author: 
W. M. Bucknall [William Miles Bucknall], Librarian to the Board of Trade [James MacLehose (1811-1885), Glasgow bookseller and publisher]
Publication details: 
10 January 1861; on Board of Trade letterhead.
£35.00

12mo, 4 pp. Bifolium. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Discussing 'Mr Sterling's Pamphlet on Banks', which MacLehose has sent him ('a work so difficult to obtain elsewhere'). While not recognising 'the existence of any really national Banking System', he considers Sterling's 'remarks most judicious'. Mentions the Banking Act of 1844, before concluding with a reflection on credit. Bucknall published his 'Catalogue of the Library of the Board of Trade' in 1866.

Autograph Letter Signed ('H. O. Coxe') to <Innes?>.

Author: 
Henry Octavious Coxe [H. O. Coxe] (1811-1881), Bodley's Librarian, 1860-1881 [The Bodleian Library, Oxford]
Publication details: 
16 January 1879; Bodleian Library.
£65.00

16mo, 3 pp. Bifolium. Thirteen lines of text. Clear and complete. On aged paper with heavy staining to outer pages. Clarifying the position regarding 'new editions with additions'. The Bodleian is entitled to copies of these, 'unless the additions are separate - then we can only claim the new matter'. Explains that the Library's 'agent in London', Eccles of Great Russell Street, 'receives for us, or collects, as it may be the of the Publishers'. Docketed in pencil in a contemporary hand on the blank reverse of the second leaf.

Autograph Letter Signed ('B. B. Woodward') to 'Dr Reynolds'.

Author: 
Bernard Bolingbroke Woodward (1816-1869), Librarian in Ordinary to the Queen, Windsor Castle
Publication details: 
2 June 1869; on embossed Buckingham Palace letterhead.
£38.00

12mo, 3 pp. Bifolium. Thirty-three lines of text. Good, on aged paper, with slight traces of glue from mount on blank reverse of second leaf. Apologising for not being able to join Reynolds' party, because of the visit of 'a gentleman' who 'is coming from the country to me on business of importance to me'. This is also disappointing to his daughter, who would have accompanied him. He hopes his 'excellent friends', Reynold's 'colleagues', will not suppose him 'indffierent to their invitation! Especially now that my renewed health has permitted me to accept <?>'.

Catalogue of Sale by Auction of Valuable Printed Books, Manuscripts, Modern Books including duplicate books from Trinity College Library, Dublin, Maynooth College Library, Maynooth, and other properties.

Author: 
Town & Country Estates (Ireland) Limited [Trinity College, Dublin; Maynooth College Library; duplicates; auction catalogue]
Publication details: 
[1955?] Dublin: Town & Country Estates (Ireland) Limited M.I.A.A. [Printed by Cahill & Co. Ltd. Parkgate Printing Works, Dublin.]
£85.00

8vo: [ii] + 30 pp. Stapled pamphlet on art paper. Text clear and complete. In fair condition, with covers slightly grubby and a little rust staining from staples. 1241 lots. Provenance of individual lots not given. Basic descriptions beginning with '1 Hallam's Mid. Ages, 3 vols.; and Maitland's Dark Ages, 2 vols. (5).' Lot 1168 is 'A most interesting collection of mementoes of the War of Independence. Letters, etc., to and from members of the Ceannt. A post card written by Pearse to Ronan Ceannt. Letter from T. M. Healy to Mrs. Ceannt at the time of the execution. School accounts from St.

Autograph Letter Signed ('T. M. Stone') to Mrs Metcalfe, on an 'eulogium' to her father Frederic Carpenter Skey, delivered by the President of the Royal College of Surgeons, Henry Hancock.

Author: 
Thomas Madden Stone (d.1894), Librarian to the Royal College of Surgeons of England, London [Henry Hancock (1809-1880); Frederic Carpenter Skey (1798-1872), surgeon to St Bartholomew's Hospital]
Publication details: 
28 February 1873; on the letterhead of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, London.
£56.00

12mo: 2 pp. 18 lines of text. Good. Reporting that 'Mr. Hancock our President' has 'paid such a well deserved eulogium to your honoured sire in his Hunterian Oration published fully in "the Medical Times & Gazette" of last Saturday'. Stone was 'much moved by it', and said to himself 'how pleased I should have been, had his children been present to hear and see how well it was rec[eive]d.' Makes a Latin quotation that has been 'truly [...] said of your noble father'. Skey is not mentioned by name, but the item is from the Skey family archives.

Autograph Letter Signed to unnamed male correspondent [probably William Upcott].

Author: 
John Gough Nichols (1806-1873), printer and antiquary [William Upcott (1779-1845), antiquary and autograph collector]
Publication details: 
30/05/29
£85.00

12mo, 3 pp. Very good. Nichols regrets not seeing the recipient 'again before I left the Institution on Tuesday, to thank you for your kind attention' [Upcott was sub-librarian at the London Institution]. He is sending him a proof (presumably of an article in the Gentleman's Magazine), 'that you may see what I have said about your Album, and also what about modern collectors, and make any emendation you think fit in either place'. Discussion of 'the earliest Album in the Museum', about the date of which the recipient has been misled by a misprint.

Le Gout des Manuscripts. Discours inaugural prononce a Bale le 28 juin 1956 [...] devant la Societe suisse d'amateurs d'autographes.

Author: 
Theodore Besterman
Publication details: 
Geneva: Societas Bibliographica, 8 rue Verdaine [1956.]
£75.00

12mo: 45 pp. In original light-green printed wraps. Very good on lightly aged paper, with some sunning to wraps. Inscribed by the author "For Mary | with love & all good wishes for Christmas and the New Year, especially the show' | Th." Besterman attempts to demonstrate that the taste for autographs, 'tres loin d'etre malsaine, est au contraire pure et bienfaisante'.

Autograph Letter Signed to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Thomas James Mathias
Publication details: 
74 Monte | d'Iddio | Pizzofalcone | 10 May 1831.'
£45.00

Mathias (c.1754-1835), F.R.S., F.S.A., was librarian at Buckingham House and editor of Thomas Gray, &c. One page, 12mo. In good condition, although attached to sheet of larger paper by four wafers, all of which show through the paper. He asks his correspondent to accept 'a copy of a new edition of a little volume lately printed in Naples, entitled "Poesie Liriche, con l'Aggiunta di Saffo, Dramma lirico [...]'. Signed 'T. J. Mathias'. The work, by Mathias himself, went through various editions between 1810 and 1825.

three autograph letters signed to the artist Shirley Slocombe

Author: 
Sir Edward Maunde Thompson
Publication details: 
all three 16mo: first in pencil, 3pp, on British Museum letterhead, Mayfield, 1 November 1908; second, 2pp, Mayfield, Sussex, Xmas 1910; third, 1p, Mayfield, Sx. 29 December 1912
£45.00

Director and Principal Librarian of the British Museum (DNB). The first on dusty discoloured paper with closed tears to edges. Thanks Slocombe for having 'thought of me' and apologises for writing in pencil. Has been 'knocked over by a rather severe attack from which I am only slowly recovering'. The second and third letters are both replies to the Slocombes for seasonal expressions of goodwill and both are docketed in pencil by Slocombe. Three items,

Autograph Note, third person, to the Lord Mayor of London and wife.

Author: 
Anthony Panizzi.
Publication details: 
British Museum, 3 June (no year).
£45.00

Chief Librarian, British Museum (1797-1879). One page, 8vo, bifoliate, sl. marked, fold marks, text clear and complete. "Mr Panizzi presents his compliments to the Lord Mayor . . . and regrets very much that a previous engagement will prevent him from having the honour . . ."

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