NATURALIST

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On a 17.5 x 12 cm piece of ruled paper, laid down on a piece of card. The high-acidity paper is browned, otherwise in good condition, with small nick to one edge. The signature ‘W. H. Hudson / June 27. ’20’ is beneath two lines written in a foreign language, a tentative reading of which is ‘Te semiron mulei moy / To dariau tis viden’. See Image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In his expansive hand, with a good bold signature. On worn and aged leaf of laid paper, with two small punch holes to inner edge, affecting one word of text. Reads: ‘Dear Sirs / I feel quite at a loss to express my sense of this mark of your attention. I can only assure you that my best exertions shall not be wanting to promote your views & interests. / Meantime / I am Dear Sirs / Yours faithfully / John Graham Dalyell’.

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. Addressed to ‘R. Rost Esq Ph.D’ and ‘Dear Dr Rost’, and signed ‘Walter Elliot’. He thanks him for taking the trouble to ‘hunt out the books. I gave a large number in 1866 & some in subsequent years but it is difficult to recal [sic] to mind the details of transactions of so distant a date’.

2pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged (blank second leaf slightly damaged). Folded twice. Recipient not named, but is from the Piffard papers. Good bold signature ‘W. Carruthers’. Reads: ‘Dear Sir / The enclosed specimens are all certainly fish coprolites. / I would have returned them sooner but I was anxious to see Mr Etteridge who I understood from Mr Brody said they were cones. / I have only to-day been able to see him, and hee says that he has no doubt about the these [sic] specimens being Coprolites.’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the Piffard papers. A total of 10pp, 12mo. Aged and worn, with the first letter on creased grey paper, the second with one leading edge rolling inwards, and the last with a 2cm closed tear; but with text clear and entire. The recipient named as ‘B. Piffard Esq’. All signed ‘Henry Doubleday’. ONE: 14 July 1860. 2pp, 12mo. With reference to an excursion by Piffard to Maldon, and also stating that he ‘took a very fine female Deilephila Galei in our garden on Wednesday - it was at rest on a strawberry plant’. TWO: 7 March 1890. 1p, 12mo.

See his entry in the Encylopaedia Britannica. The signature ‘Mirbel’ is written on a clear area of a circular printed device of 4.5 cm diameter, in grey tone, within decorative border. The text reads: ‘MUSEUM / D’HISTOIRE NATURELLE / AU JARDIN DU ROI / Entrée aux Jours et Heures / consacrés à l’Etude. / Prof. Admin.’ Laid down on a 7 x 7.5 cm piece of paper, on which is written, in a neat early nineteenth-century hand, ‘Mirbel the naturalist’. See image.

Anne Williamson, author of two books on Henry Williamson and of his entry in the Oxford DNB, was married to his youngest son Richard (1935-2022). The present typewritten material (88pp, 8vo) consists of several drafts and duplicates of material intended for circulation to production companies she hoped to interest in a television documentary on Williamson. It is in good condition, with each page printed on a separate leaf of A4 cartridge paper.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 11 x 7.5 cm piece of paper, cut from a printed document. The signature is large, bold and undamaged, on heavily-worn paper with several instances of damage, laid down on a piece of card. The printed text reads: ‘[...] / I [have] the honour to be, / Sir, / Your most obedient / and very humble Servant, / [Autograph Signature ‘Wm. Yarrell’] / Treasurer.’

Asee image of[339]See Williamson’s entry by his daughter-in-law Anne Williamson in the Oxford DNB, together with her 1995 biography of him. The present tranche of material gives a marvellous insight into the working processes of a fine - perhaps even a great - English writer, in addition to showing the gestation of one of the finest novels of the First World War.

From the Williamson family papers. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The material is in fair condition, lightly aged and creased. In a card folder on which is written by Williamson’s son Richard ‘PLANS for House for Ox’s Cross - DENNIS (builder) 1973 / Plans of Cottage. / See Schwabe’s original plans.’ ONE: Typed Letter Signed from A. J. Dennis to Williamson at 4 Capstone Place, Ilfracombe. 2pp, 4to. Headed in brown felt-tip ‘Copy’, but certainly with Dennis’s genuine signature. Much of the text underlined in red felt-tip.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 10.5 x 8 cm piece of ruled paper, laid down on 21 x 10.5 piece of light blue-green paper cut from album. In good condition, lightly discoloured. Reads: ‘With all kindly salutations to you & yours - believe me / Yours very truly / F. Edward Hulme’ See image.

Forel’s work on ants was praised by Charles Darwin. Such is his standing that his image appeared on the 1000 Swiss franc banknote between 1878 and 2000. 4pp, 12mo; bifolium. Lightly aged, worn at foot (with slight affect on signature); folded twice. 73 lines of text, in an untidy hand. Entirely in French, apart from the following towards the end, suggesting an English-speaking recipient: ‘Merry Christmas and New Year!’ Excellent content. The recipient appears to be a British naturalist to whom he promised a magazine piece on a recent visit.

Dunn was a teacher (presumably at Dulwich College), Sussex naturalist and poet. Around 1984 he published his own poem 'Death of a Scarecrow' at his Poet and Printer press, Hatch End. The present collection, from the Christopher Fry papers, is in good condition, lightly aged. ONE: Autograph Letter Signed ('Ruby Dunn') to Christopher Fry. 1p, 12mo. She begins by asking him to accept a 'small token' of her thanks 'for a memorable occasion', presumably a memorial reading of Dunn's poems in which Fry was involved. She continues: 'I can think of no greater pleasure for me, Peter's widow.

Printed in black ink on both sides of a 26 x 30 cm piece of thick shiny art paper. Worn and folded twice. One side carries a priced list of eleven 'Natural History Works by R. KEARTON, F.Z.S.

According to Duncan's entry in the Oxford DNB, 'In 1809 he founded the Caledonian Horticultural Society, and in later years he was actively occupied in promoting the establishment of a public experimental garden.' 2pp, 4to. In good condition, on aged paper, creased. The recipient is not named, and the letter begins: 'Although I have already often interrupted important business of State, yet I trust you will once more, forgive an Octogenarian, when he can plead, that his principal temptation, to transgression, is an earnest desire to promote the publick good -'.

Three excellent and characteristic long letters, neatly and closely written, in the first of which he describes 'the little tide of misfortune' which has befallen him, including shipwreck and indisposition; in the second he gives a vivid account of a visit to Wakefield by the temperance campaigner Father Mathew; and in the last he explains is reluctance to dissect the body of a bird she has sent him, exclaiming: 'I never do things by halves in Natural History'. Along the way there are references to 'my little roman owls' and 'my lions and my lion cubs'.

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. Endorsed by the unnamed recipient on the reverse of the second leaf. The subject of the letter, 'Mr Maule', was presumably a relation of Jardine's, whose mother's maiden name was Maule. Begins: 'Dear Sir, I received your parcel this morning & was prepared to start Tomorrow (Friday) when the Evening Mail brought me the intelligence of the Dangerous illness of Mr.

2pp., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Addressed to 'Dear Mr Green-Armytage', corrected from 'Armitage'. The letter begins: 'You may have heard that a Committee, of which Walter De la Mare is chairman, is considering the question of putting up some sort of memorial to Edward Thomas. At the same time I am beginning work on a Life and Letters of Edward Thomas, which has Mrs Thomas' approval, and is intended to be something in the nature of a memorial edition.' He will 'shortly be issuing an appeal in the press for the loan of letters etc in the possession of E.

1p., 4to. Bifolium. Addressed, with two postmarks, on reverse of second leaf, to 'Mr Shepherd, Sollictor [sic] | Boswell court | near Lincolns inn | London.' In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. The letter reads: 'Sir | I am obliged to Mr Middleton for recommending a Gentleman of yr worth & abilities; but yesterday the matter respecting Major Hughes is transferred to other hands for which I am thankful as it will be equally well pursued. I am Sir | Yr obedt Servt | Tho. Pennant. | Downing Decr 9th 1781 | I shall pay chearfully [sic] all past Charges'.

2pp., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. With oval date stamp of the Royal Society of Arts. He wonders whether 'some Fellows' might be interested to 'hear an account of "Methods of Controlling mussels & other Marine growths in Sea-Pipes"'. He explains: 'The blocking of pipes by mussel growth has occurred at many parts of the coast, but the problem of devising a means of keeping the mussels in check had not been seriously tackled until I investigated the matter in connection with the new Electric Power Station of Edinburgh Corporation on the Firth of Forth at Portobello'.

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn. Forty lines of text. He has been 'looking out for the review in the D[aily]. T[elegraph]. but never a review at all I seen. [sic] I suppose that these politics &c, squeeze out any matter which can bide its time'. He recalls their previous meeting: 'last time was on a Sunday morning, when Theodore & I trotted from Belvedere to Sidcup [...] he, like you, has been following his father's footsteps, & has made somewhat of a name in economic edntomology'.

The 14 letters total 72pp. The collection is in good condition, lightly aged. Most items docketed and with the Society's stamp. The correspondence relates to Society business, from a strongly Anglo-Indian viewpoint. Letters of 26 May and 2 June 1913 are each 12pp. Long, and concern the relative merits of Indian colonial official Sir William Lee-Warner (1846-1914) and the geographer Sir Thomas Holdich (1843-1929), to be chairman of the Society.

Both items in good condition, on grey-paper bifoliums, the first with the Society's stamp and both docketed. ONE: 25 January 1901. 1p., 12mo. Concerning the binding up of his copies of the Society's journal, and the supply of missing parts. TWO: 12 June 1901. 3pp., 12mo. Concerning his 'promised letter' for 'Friday's Journal': 'I cannot hope to have a proof sent me, but if you accept the letter & should be correcting a proof yourself & would, when ordering a proof, order a spare copy for me to see at your office, I shd. be greatly obliged & wd. call in tomorrow afternoon to look through it'.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. He thanks him for a notice of his lecture which is 'sympathetic and in every way adequate and helpful'. He is accustomed to reviews 'which however kindly and appreciative have nevertheless so woefully manipulated my facts'. He gives as an example his 'good friend Baker of the Union', who 'in the kindliest & most cordial spirit put words in my mouth, statements of scientific fact [...] But it is as you have so often told me. The only way to establish a truth is to pound away at it, iteration and reiteration.'

On one side of piece of 13.5 x 8.5 cm piece of paper. Aged and worn. Reads: 'know when I shall have an evening to myself, for in the last fifteen days or so, I have only dined at home twice, and as far as I see, that much of vagrant life seems rather on the increase than otherwise. But the first evening that I have, I will dedicate to you, & give you notice thereof | Best remembrances to your family - | Yours very sincerely | J. G. Wood'. On reverse, in another hand: 'J. G. Wood | the great naturalist'.

Two pages, 12mo, good condition. Her letter was passed on from his old address but "persons are still thgere falsely carrying on business in my name or that of my late father. | Balls dredge being comparatively light will probably answer your purpose. I can supply it at £1.0.0. | A hand-net with telescopic handle at 9/6 | A lowing net of fine muslin for small floating objects 8/6 with a geological hammer for shore collecting 5/- will complete your apparatus.

86pp., 4to. With each of the three acts bound into separate grey wraps, with typed labels on covers. Internally in good condition, on aged paper, in worn and aged wraps. This unpublished anonymous translation predates the one by Sara Tracy Barrows, with an introduction by Ludwig Lewisohn, published in New York by Doubleday in 1916. There is no record of an English production.

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, with slight damage to second leaf caused by removal from mount. The letter is in a secretarial hand, with Tegetmeier writing the valediction: 'Very sincerely Yours | W B Tegetmeier | C Collette Esq'. He thanks him for his 'exceedingly kind and friendly reception of me at the Club last night', and encloses 'a slip of what I wrote in the Queen, as it may interest you'. He asks to be sent a post card to confirm receipt, 'as I am not quite certain whether you have any letters sent to the Club'.

The calling card is 5.5 x 9.5 cm, with 'Alfred Grandidier, | Membre de l'Institut.' in copperplate in the centre and his address '6, Rond-Point des Champs Elysées' in the bottom right-hand corner. In good condition, lightly-aged, with remains of stub adhering to the reverse. Grandidier has written across the bottom of the card: 'Very grateful to Dr. Forsyth Major for having sent him two so interesting pamphlets, sends him his best thanks and renews his heartfelt compliments for his important discoveries at Malay.'

One page, 12mo, small closed tear on fold, ow good. "Monsieur Alfred Grandidier présente ses compliments au Secrétaire de Savage Club et accepte avec plaisir l'invitation qui lui a été faite pour demain samedi à 9h1.2 [9.30]."