OFFICER

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, folio. Text clear and entire, on worn and grubby paper, with chipping to edges and slight loss to one corner, with one closed tear repaired with archival tape. Embossed tax stamps at head. Good firm signature at bottom right ‘David Dundas.’, beside small seal in red wax, with crumbling impression. At bottom left: ‘Signed Sealed and Delivered (being first duly stampt) in the Presence of us / John Landon / M King’. Downwards in left-hand margin: 'Entered in the Office for Auditing the Public Accounts the 9th of February 1797 / Thos Gibbes’.

Burnaby is the beau idéal of the Victorian military adventurer. 2pp, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded twice. A hurried letter, with a couple of deletions. Written a few months before Burnaby's death. He explains that a 'mutual friend' has asked him 'to submit to you the enclosed article – on mountaineering – She does not wish her name to be mentioned – hence I must not divulge it.' Should the article not be wanted he asks for it to be returned to him at Somerby Hall, Oakham, 'in the course of the next two or three days'.

Tritton was educated at Winchester College, and in later life held the office of High Sheriff of Essex. He served as War Office Publicity Officer between 1940 and 1945 (the first civilian to hold the post). The present items exhibit the candour and evocative immediacy for which his wartime diaries were praised on their publication in 2012. Two long letters to 'Darling', both 2pp, 4to. Both in good condition, lightly aged, and folded twice. ONE (signed 'R.'): Thirty-eight lines of text. He is writing her a second letter of the day, prompted by boredom and the want of something else to do'.

Biographical details regarding Humphreys are hard to come by. He features in two Times reports of the indisposition of the pianist Cyril Smith in Moscow in 1956 (8 May and 9 June). On his award of the OBE in the 1958 New Years Honours List he was described as 'lately First Secretary and Medical Officer at Her Majesty's Embassy in Moscow'. On his retirement in 1987 he was described as 'Col. T. V. Humphreys, O.B.E., M.B., B.Ch., B.A.O.

1p, 4to. Written in pencil on a piece of tissue paper, stamped in one corner with leaf number 675. Aged and wrinkled, with fraying to edges, but text clear and complete. Folded twice. A scarce survival, such thin paper, used for security reasons, not faring well in the passage of time. The signature is Kemp's, the rest of the document being in a secretarial hand. An interesting document – which would seem to indicate that the British were employing a more conciliatory approach following Emily Hobhouse's revelations in her June 1901 report on British concentration camps.

1p., 4to. In fair condition, aged and worn, with fraying to edges, and loss at one corner from the opening of the seal. There is a faint pencil note on three lines in another hand at the foot of the letter. The letter reads: 'Having considerd Lt Hawkins situation, and the effect the Climate of Jamaica has had upon him – I am of opinion that He is totally unable to join his Regiment, and there is great reason to fear, his health will never be such as to enable him to do duty with it, in that Island | John Manners | Parliament St. | Augst. 23d. 1770'.

29pp., 8vo. On white and pink paper. Followed by three fold-out plates and two diagrams, all in colour ('Battle of Fondouk', 'Battles of Goubellat Plain & Tunis', 'Later Phase of Battle of Tunis', 'Wireless Communications | H.Q. 9 Corps - Apr/May 1943 | Standard Layout', 'Wireless Communications | Corps H.Q. | Suggested requirements'). Stapled, with grey front cover bearing title. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with the last few plates detached.

16pp., foolscap 8vo. With four plates, each carrying a map of the County of London (two of them preceding the title) and 2pp of tables on a fold-out leaf. In poor condition, on aged and worn paper, with closed tears, and lacking orange wraps (which presumably carry the full title-page), traces of which are still present. Stamp and shelfmark of the Board of Education Library, London. No copy traced on COPAC or OCLC WorldCat.

40pp., foolscap 8vo. In orange printed wraps. Stamps, shelfmark and label of the Board of Education Reference Library, London. Stitched. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Includes 26pp. of tables. Preface (p.2) by Gater and 'Appendix II' (pp.19-20) by Sir Cyril Burt ('Memorandum by Dr. Cyril Burt, Psychologist in the Education Officer's Department of the London County Council.') The only copy on COPAC at the Guildhall Library, City of London, and the only two copies on OCLC WorldCat both in the United States.

6pp., foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, on aged paper, with slight damp damage to one corner. The section on Taylor covers the first two pages, with the first page is headed 'Works of John Taylor not yet issued by the Spenser Society | The numbers on the left hand are those in Hazlitts Handbook under the head of Taylor. The numbers on the right hand are those of the number of leaves in each work to which the left hand number refers.' No titles are given, only the number in Hazlitt. The rest of the document is devoted to Wither, this time with titles given.

5pp., foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, on aged paper, with wear to corner (not affecting text). With deletions and emendations. The letter begins: 'Dr. Reed in his letter dated July 30th has truly stated that both in my Reports and in private conversation I have borne testimony to the great usefulness of the Fever Hospital or "House of Recovery" at Monsall.

ONE (catalogue): 19pp., foolscap 8vo. On ten leaves of 'A Pirie & Sons' laid paper stitched together. On aged paper, with damp damage causing loss to text of first two pages. Title reads: '<...> tish plants <...> Herbarium of gh, Sandiway House Whalley Range Manchester'. The entries arranged in alphabetical order under letter headings, beginning with 'Anemone nemorosa' and ending with 'Verbena officinalis'. TWO ('Desiderata | November 8th 1873'): 10pp., foolscap 8vo. In pencil. 262 entries numbered by Leigh, at around thirty entries per page.

4pp., foolscap 8vo. Bifolium. The copy of the letter closely and neatly written over three of the pages, and the note on 'Peroxide of Iron' on the other. In fair condition, on aged paper, with slight damp damage at head (not affecting text). The letter contains a number of deletions and emendations, and begins: 'I am in receipt of your letter of March 19th. Since I wrote you last I have had a letter from Mr Chubb enquiring about the process and our use of it in Manchester.

4pp., foolscap 8vo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly-aged and worn paper. In two hands, suggesting collaboration.

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged paper, with slight discoloration and wear to extremities. In English on one side and Burmese on the other. Both sides headed by the royal crest, with a banner beneath, reading in English 'BRITISH MILITARY ADMINISTRATION'. The English version of the document is signed in type: 'Sd: C. F. B. PEARCE | Maj. General | Chief Civil Affairs Officer (Burma)'. It is headed 'TO ALL BURMA GOVERNMENT SERVANTS', and begins: 'The Allies are now about to drive the Japanese from Burma.

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.

On a leaf of pink paper (roughly 16 x 20 cm) removed from an autograph album. Firm signature, 6 cm long, with the initial 'R' blotted by Keyes. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The page bearing the signature is headed, in another hand, 'Famous Men Military and Naval'.

4to: 1 p. Good, on lightly aged and spotted paper. Regarding 'certain verses concerning this street', Walpole will 'find an explanation of the whole circumstance in this week's Notes & Queries'.

Peel (1829-1912) was a Liberal politician and Speaker of the House of Commons. Primrose (1846-1923) was a Privy Councillor, Secretary to Gladstone and Speaker of the House of Commons. Both items are 3 pages, on 16mo bifoliates. Both are creased and discoloured. Between 1873 and 1874 Peel was Patronage Secretary to the Treasury. The exchange apparently concerns an election or by-election in Exeter.