PHILOSOPHER

[Sir William Hamilton, Scottish philosopher.] Autograph Letter Signed, inviting the recipient to dinner.

Author: 
Sir William Hamilton (1788-1856), 9th Baronet [Sir William Stirling Hamilton of Preston], Scottish philosopher [Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842), novelist]
Publication details: 
'11 Manor Place [Edinburgh] / 26 Dec. 1835.'
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is not named, but the item is from the papers of the author Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), and it may well be her first husband Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842), who had Scottish connections. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘My dear Sir’ and signed ‘W. Hamilton’. Atrocious handwriting. ‘My dear Sir / I have been much occupied of late in [?] requested the honour of your company. If you are disengaged on the 7th. January (Thursday) it will give great pleasure to see you at 6 oclock.’ See Image.

[C. E. M. Joad, popular philospher and member of the BBC ‘Brains Trust’.] Autograph Letter Signed, in pencil to V. H. Collins, complimenting him on his book [‘The Choice of Words’].

Author: 
C. E. M. Joad [Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad] (1891-1952), popular philosopher and radio personality on the BBC programme ‘The Brains Trust’ [Vere Henry Collins, author]
Publication details: 
[25 July 1952.] On cropped letterhead ‘The Hills and Bridgefoot Farm / From C. E. M. Joad, The Hills, Stedham, Midhurst / Manager: / John Hill / Bridgefoot’.
£65.00

A poignant letter, written during Joad's final illness (he died on 9 April 1953). Joad’s entry in the Oxford DNB ends with this assessment: ‘Cyril Joad was an outstanding educator, a tireless proponent of ‘progressive’ causes, and one of the best-known broadcasters of the 1940s.’ The recipient Vere Henry Collins (1872-1966), was an author and grammatical stickler, and the letter concerns his 1952 book 'The Choice of Words'. 2pp, 4to. Aged and discoloured, and cropped at the head with loss of a line of text. Folded once for postage. Date given in ink at head, presumably by Collins.

[Lord Haldane [Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane], Lord Chancellor.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr Hurd' (i.e. the future Sir Archibald Hurd), regarding his essay on defence against German invasion, and Sir Arthur Wilson.

Author: 
Lord Haldane [Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane] (1856-1928), Scottish Liberal and Labour politician, philosopher, and Lord Chancellor [Sir Archibald Hurd (1869-1959), naval strategist]
Publication details: 
9 January 1911. On letterhead of Cloan, Auchterarder, N. B. [North Brition, i.e. Scotland]
£80.00

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’.

[Francis William Newman, classical scholar and moral philosopher.] Autograph Letter Signed to the sub-editor of ‘Fraser’s Magazine’ William Allingham, asking whether he will take an article on ‘ Mussulman riots against the Parsees’ and other matters.

Author: 
Francis William Newman (1805-1897), classical scholar and moral philosopher and vegetarian, brother of John Henry Newman [William Allingham (1824-1889), poet and editor of 'Fraser's Magazine']
Publication details: 
4 May 1874; on letterhead of Cumberland Terrace, Regents Park [London].
£45.00

See the entries on Newman and Allingham in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 16mo. A neatly and closely written letter of twenty-three lines. Addressed ‘To W Allingham Esq’ and signed ‘Francis W Newman’. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with unobtrusive circular mark from mount at top left-hand corner of first page. Folded for postage. At the time of writing Allingham was sub-editor of Fraser’s Magazine under the historian James Anthony Froude (1818-1894), whose wife Henrietta had just died. Allingham would take over the editorship in the following month of June, holding it until 1879.

[A. J. Ayer [Sir Alfred Jules ‘Freddie’ Ayer], logical positivist philosopher, Wykeham Professorship in Logic at Oxford.] Three Typed Letters Signed to Philip Dosse of Hansom Books, regarding review work for ‘Books and Bookmen’.

Author: 
A. J. Ayer [Sir Alfred Jules ‘Freddie’ Ayer] (1910-1989), logical positivist philosopher, Wykeham Professorship in Logic at Oxford [Philip Dosse (c.1924-1980), proprietor of ‘Books and Bookmen']
Ayer
Publication details: 
4 February, 18 April and 18 October 1974. All three on letterhead of 10 Regents Park Terrace, London NW1.
£250.00
Ayer

See Richard Wollheim’s appreciative entry on Ayer in the Oxford DNB. From the archives of Philip Dosse, proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of the ‘Seven Arts’ group of magazines, including ‘Books and Bookmen’ and ‘Plays and Players’. See ‘Death of a Bookman’ by the novelist Sally Emerson (editor of ‘Books and Bookmen’ at the time of Dosse’s suicide), in Standpoint magazine, October 2018. The three items are each 1p, small 4to. All three in good condition, each folded twice. All three signed ‘A. J. Ayer’, with typed name beneath, ‘Sir Alfred Ayer’.

[‘Nothing but death or the gout’: Lord Haldane [Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane], Lord Chancellor.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to ‘Mrs Sturgis’ [George Meredith’s daughter], about plans for visits, one preceding dinner with the king.

Author: 
Lord Haldane [Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane] (1856-1928), Scottish Liberal and Labour politician, philosopher, and Lord Chancellor
Publication details: 
ONE: 27 January [1901?]; 3 Whitehall Court [London]. TWO: 16 February [1904?]; on letterhead of 10 Old Square, Lincolns Inn, W.C. [London]
£50.00

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’.

[A. C. Fraser [Alexander Campbell Fraser], Scottish philosopher and theologian.] Autograph Letter Signed, referring to his forthcoming edition of Bishop Berkeley, and two recent reviews by him.

Author: 
Alexander Campbell Fraser (1819-1914), Scottish philosopher and theologian, editor and biographer of George Berkeley
Publication details: 
23 October 1865; University of Edinburgh.
£65.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. With mourning border. In good condition, lightly aged, folded for postage. Recipient (‘Sir’) not named. Signed ‘A. C. Fraser’. He is ‘pleased to think that anything [he has] written has given pleasure’ to the recipient. ‘As yet my productions have been occasional & fragmentary, but I am now engaged in a larger work - an edition of Berkeley’s writings, for the Oxford Press.’ Postscript: ‘I have an article in the last (September) North British Review on Mill & Hamilton, & in the October Macmillans Magazine on the “Literary Life of Isaac Taylor”’.

[‘No British Government could afford the economic cost’: Stuart Hampshire, philosopher and Warden of Wadham College, Oxford.] Typed Letter Signed to Philip Dosse, publisher of ‘Books and Bookmen’, regarding boycotting South Africa over apartheid.

Author: 
Stuart Hampshire [Sir Stuart Newton Hampshire] (1914-2004), English philosopher and Warden of Wadham College, Oxford [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), publisher ‘Books and Bookmen’; apartheid in South Afri
Publication details: 
9 April 1974; on his letterhead as Warden of Wadham College, Oxford.
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Philip Dosse was proprietor of Hansom Books, publisher of a stable of seven arts magazines including Books and Bookmen and Plays and Players. See ‘Death of a Bookman’ by the novelist Sally Emerson (editor of ‘Books and Bookmen’ at the time of Dosse’s suicide), in Standpoint magazine, October 2018. This item is 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and creased and folded twice for postage. Signed ‘Stuart Hampshire’.

['How does a wise person like yourself explain that?': Sir James Black Baillie, moral philosopher and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Mrs Stopford’, waxing contemplative on her sending him a cutting.

Author: 
Sir James Black Baillie (1872-1940), moral philosopher and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds
Publication details: 
17 October 1836; on letterhead of Bardon Hill, Weetwood [Leeds, Yorkshire].
£90.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage, and in envelope with stamp and Leeds postmark addressed in autograph to ‘Mrs. Stopford / Sussex Lodge / Horsham / Sussex’. Addressed to ‘Dear Mrs. Stopford’ and signed ‘J B. Baillie’. He begins in almost philosophical terms: ‘Dear Mrs. Stopford, / How very kind of you to remember this little request. It was such a pleasure to receive the cutting.

[‘The time is not one that favours such an enterprise’: Lord Haldane, Lord Chancellor and philosopher.] Autograph Letter Signed to ‘Miss Black’, giving his considered opinion of the prospects for ‘a new weekly paper’.

Author: 
Lord Haldane [Richard Burdon Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane] (1856-1928), Scottish Liberal and Labour politician, philosopher, and Lord Chancellor
Publication details: 
9 March 1920; on letterhead of 28 Queen Anne’s Gate, Westminster.
£65.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged with a crease. Folded once. Signed ‘Haldane’. He begins ‘With all good wishes for any cause you are engaged in’, but ‘no hope of success for a new weekly paper’.

[Pierre Hyacinthe Azaïs, French philosopher.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Azaïs.'), in French, to 'Monsieur le Ministre' [François Guizot], discussing his work and health, and the 'Peuple Francais', and asking to be nominated to the Academy of Sciences

Author: 
Pierre Hyacinthe Azaïs (1766-1845), French philosopher promoted by Napoleon Bonaparte [François Guizot [François Pierre Guillaume Guizot], French historian and statesman, Prime Minister of France]
Publication details: 
14 November 1843. Paris.
£350.00

7pp, 4to. On two bifoliums. In good condition, lightly aged, with the two bifoliums attached to one another and to a stub from mount. From the celebrated manuscript collection of Richard Monckton Milnes (Lord Houghton). The government minister addressed in the letter is not named, but is clearly the historian François Guizot, who was Prime Minister of France, 1847-1848. A carefully composed and neatly and closely written letter.

[Antoine Destutt de Tracy, French philosopher.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Dustutt-Tracy') to the French printer Firmin Didot, discussing the various editions of du Val's Aristotle with a view to obtaining a copy of one.

Author: 
Antoine Louis Claude, Comte Destutt de Tracy (1754-1836), French philosopher, politician, soldier, who coined the term 'ideology', admired by Jefferson [Firmin Didot (1764-1836), French printer]
Publication details: 
'A Anteuil ce 25 floreal an 11'. [i.e. 15 May 1803]
£450.00

An interesting letter, casting light on bibliographic and book trade practices in Consulate Paris. 2pp, 12mo. Forty-two lines of closely-written text on the first leaf of a bifolium, the recto of the second leaf being addressed 'Au Citoyen Firmin Didot | Rue du Regard | A Paris'. In good condition, lightly aged, with white paper stub of mount adhering to second leaf.

[John Stuart Mill, philospher and economist.] Autograph Signature ('J. S. Mill') with valediction to letter.

Author: 
John Stuart Mill [J. S. Mill] (1806-1873), philosopher, political economist, and civil servant, a leading figure in the history of classical liberalism
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£125.00

On 2 x 11 cm slip of paper cut from the end of a letter. In fair condition, lightly aged, with small tape stain from mount at the edge to the left of the signature. Reads: 'very truly yours | J. S. Mill'. On the reverse, in Mill's autograph, are the words: 'the Government for a pecuniary'. Mill is considered one of the most influential figures in the history of classical liberalism, and one of the leading English-speaking philosophers of the nineteenth century.

[C. E. M. Joad, philosopher on 'The Brains Trust'.] Typed Letter Signed ('C E M Joad') to BBC producer Hugh Burnett, suggesting changes to the next in a series of talks he is giving.

Author: 
C. E. M. Joad [Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad] (1891-1953), philosopher on the BBC radio programme 'The Brains Trust' [Hugh Burnett (1924-2011), BBC producer]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 4 East Heath Road, Hampstead, N.W.3. 14 August 1951.
£35.00

Joad's rise and fall are admirably described in Jason Tomes' entry on him in the Oxford DNB. The present letter was written after the disgrace which followed his 1948 conviction for fare-dodging. Not only was Joad dropped from the programme which had made him a nationwide celebrity, 'The Brains Trust', as a result, but his well-founded hopes of a peerage were dashed. It is interesting to note from the present letter that Joad continued to work for the BBC after his disgrace. The letter is 2pp, landscape 12mo. In fair condition, aged and creased, with two punch-holes at head.

[Alexander Campbell Fraser, Scottish philosopher.] Autograph Letter Signed ('A. Campbell Fraser') to 'Miss Alice', expressing pleasure at her request for his autograph, 'inartistic & illegible as it is'.

Author: 
Alexander Campbell Fraser (1819-1914), Scottish philosopher
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Gorton, Hawthornden, Midlothian, N.B. [Scotland] 6 October 1893.
£56.00

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with central vertical fold. The letter reads: 'Dear Miss Alice, | I am flattered to learn that you desire to have a Specimen of my Writing, - inartistic & illegible as it is, and I am truly glad to learn that you do not contemplate going from your native country next winter.'

[C. E. M. Joad, philosopher, member of 'The Brains Trust' BBC radio panel, and convicted railway fare dodger.] Typed Letter Signed to Collin Brooks, editor of the Sunday Dispatch, outlining a proposed article on 'Nazi rule in Germany'.

Author: 
C. E. M. Joad [Cyril Edwin Mitchinson Joad] (1891-1953), English philosopher and radio broadcaster, whose career ended in disgrace [Collin Brooks (1893-1959), ournalist and Fleet Street editor]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 4 Easrt Heath Road, Hampstead, N.W.3. [London] 25 September 1939.
£50.00

1p., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Signed 'Cyril Joad'. Written in the same month as Britain and France had declared war, the letter begins: 'I don't know whether you are still running the Sunday Dispatch, but if you are, how about an article on the philosophy which underlies the Nazi rule in Germany?

[ Sir Isaiah Berlin, philosopher. ] Typed Letter Signed ('Isaiah Berlin') to 'Stewart' [ William McCausland Stewart ], discussing his poem 'Alcaics' and criticising the 'experts' on E. M. Forster for 'misdirected scholarship'.

Author: 
Sir Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997), Russian-British philosopher and historian of ideas [ William McCausland Stewart (1909-1989); E. M. Forster ]
berlin
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Headington House, Old High Street, Headington, Oxford. 21 September 1978.
£320.00
berlin

1p., 4to. Lightly aged and creased.

[ John Abercrombie, Scottish physician and philosopher. ] Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed recipient, regarding rental of 'Trinity Grove', and the neglected grass at 'Denham Green' [ Edinburgh, Scotland ].

Author: 
John Abercrombie (1780-1844), Scottish physician and philosopher [ Trinity Grove and Denham Green, Edinburgh, Scotland ]
Publication details: 
[ Edinburgh, Scotland? ] 'Monday afternoon'. [ 12 June 1843. ]
£220.00

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, aged and worn. On a bifolium, docketed with the date on the second leaf. He writes that he has 'taken Trinity Grove', and that he has 'looked at your grass at Denham Green - and found it has been so neglected that it is scarcely good for any thing - We will see how it looks by the time we go down'. His daughter 'thinks she will try to keep the cow, on the lawn of Trinity Grove, assisted by cabbage leaves &ct from the Garden'.

[ Richard McKeon, American philosopher. ] Typed Letter Signed ('Richard P. McKeon') to Mark Bonham Carter, teasing him egarding his trip to Chicago.

Author: 
Richard McKeon [ Richard Peter McKeon ] (1900-1985), American philosopher whose work for UNESCO led to Universal Declaration of Human Rights [ Mark Bonham Carter (1922-1994), Baron Bonham-Carter]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Department of Philosophy, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois. 21 July 1948.
£100.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, creased and lightly aged. Addressed to 'Mr. Mark R. Bonham Carter | c/o The Commonwealth Fund | 41 East 57th Street | New York 22, New York'. He writes having just returned 'from another trip to Paris', and has seen Bonham-Carter's 'note of farewell - with the conspicuous marks of the Wegener influence'. He is glad Bonham-Carter enjoyed his visit to Chicago, and looks forward to a visit to England by 'one or more of the McKeons', which will give him 'an opportunity to retaliate for some of the ragging that constitutes the American conception of hospitality'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Sylvia Lynd, poet and novelist.

Author: 
Thomas Lionel Hodgkin (1910-1982), Marxist historian, son of last.
Publication details: 
20 Bradmore Road, Oxford; 'Easter Sunday 1931'
£45.00

ALS, on letterhead of 20 Bradmore Road, Oxford; 'Easter Sunday 1931', 2pp., 8vo. Mainly personal long letter thanking her for 'a splendid present - Thank Heavens someone has had the wisdom to give me books, and the bounty to give me a lot of books'. With typed copy (1 p, 4to) of text headed 'Love and the Revolutionaries'. Inscribed at head 'For Sigle [Sheila Lynd], With love from Thomas Hodgkin | Christmas, 1970'.

Keywords:

[R. Latta, philosopher] Autograph Note Signed "R. Latta", philosopher, to unnamed correspondent [Maurice Bonham-Carter, Liberal politician etc.]

Author: 
R. Latta, philosopher [Robert Latta] (1865-1932), philosopher
Publication details: 
[Stamp] The College, Glasgow, 30 Sept. 1904.
£56.00

One page, 12mo, bifolium, good condition. "Edinburgh University Free Trade Union | I am much obliged to you and your Committee for your kind invitation to the platform on the occasion of Lord Hugh Cecil's address. I greatly regret that I am unable to be present, as I have promised to address one of the Edinburgh University Societies on the evening of October 21st. | With best wishes for the success of the meeting [...]"

Autograph Letter Signed to Sylvia Lynd, poet and novelist.

Author: 
Thomas Lionel Hodgkin (1910-1982), Marxist historian, son of last.
Publication details: 
20 Bradmore Road, Oxford; 'Easter Sunday 1931'
£45.00

ALS, on letterhead of 20 Bradmore Road, Oxford; 'Easter Sunday 1931', 2pp., 8vo. Mainly personal long letter thanking her for 'a splendid present - Thank Heavens someone has had the wisdom to give me books, and the bounty to give me a lot of books'. With typed copy (1 p, 4to) of text headed 'Love and the Revolutionaries'. Inscribed at head 'For Sigle, With love from Thomas Hodgkin | Christmas, 1970'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Alfred Fouillée, Membre de l'Institut'), in French, to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Alfred Fouillée [Alfred Jules Emile Fouillée] (1838-1912), French sociologist and philosopher [solidarism; solidarist; André Beaumier]
Publication details: 
13 March 1902; 'Menton, villa Fouillée'.
£85.00

12mo, 2 pp, 13 lines. Good, on lightly aged paper. He is sending his reply (not present) to an article by André Beaumier 'qui me concerne (Figaro du 11 mars)'. The question of university reform is important and 'à l'ordre du jour', consequently he asks his correspondent to make use of his reply. Fouillee was, according to J. A. Scott, 'the founder of French solidarist philosophy'. Loosely inserted in blue paper folder with catalogue entry for the previous sale of the item laid down on front.

Autograph Note Signed to S. C. J. Freeman-Matthews, [autograph hunter of] Cape Town, South Africa.

Author: 
John Fiske (1842-1901), American philosopher and historian
Publication details: 
31 May 1900; Cambridge, Massachusetts.
£40.00

One page, 12mo. Very good on lightly aged paper. 'It gives me much pleasure to add my autograph to your collection.' With a 38-line biographical cutting on Fiske.

Scenes from an unfinished drama, entitled Phrontisterion, or, Oxford in the 19th century.

Author: 
[Henry Longueville Mansel, Dean of St Pauls; University of Oxford; J. Vincent, publisher]
Publication details: 
Oxford: Printed and published by J. Vincent, and G. Bell, Fleet Street, London. Fourth edition, 1852.
£100.00

English philosopher (1820-71). 24 pages, 12mo. Very good, neatly bound in brown cloth binding. Bound in are the original grey printed wraps, affected with foxing, and with very slight damage from glue to front wrap. The rear wrap carries an advertisement of 'BOOKS LATELY PUBLISHED | BY J. VINCENT OXFORD.', including 'NINEVEH: the Best Newdigate for Years; therefore not recited in the Theatre, Oxford, July 3, 1851. 12mo. 1s.' A brilliant satire on academic reformers and German philosphers. Copac only lists copies of the third, fourth and fifth editions.

Ten Typed Letters to Mark Bonham-Carter (one signed 'Charles', one signed 'C. W.', seven initialed in type, one signed Charles in type).

Author: 
Charles Wegener [UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO]
Publication details: 
Four without year, the others between 1948 and 1950; only two addressed, one from Oak Park and the other from 5336 University Ave, Chicago.
£400.00

American educator and philosopher (1921-2002), one of the key figures during the reorganization of the University of Chicago’s undergraduate college in the 1960s and 70s. All ten items quarto: five items one page in length and five two pages in length. Text legible throughout, but all items creased and some on paper discoloured with age. With occasional fraying to edges and a few closed tears. Several with pencil notes by Bonham-Carter on reverse.

Fragment of Autograph Letter Signed to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
George Combe
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£23.00

Victorian phrenologist (1788-1858) and natural philosopher. Paper dimensions roughly seven and a half inches by three inches. Folded four times. Good, but worn and with some loss to bottom corners from previous mounting. Reads 'I am | My dear Sir | Yours most truly | Geo: Combe | If you see Mr. <?> at the meeting put this letter into his hands, lest I should not see him before it. | [signed] G C'.

Autograph Signature on fragment of letter.

Author: 
George Combe
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£25.00

Victorian phrenologist (1788-1858) and natural philosopher. Paper dimensions roughly four and a half inches by two and a quarter. Very good. From autograph album. Mounted on larger piece of lilac paper. Crease line affecting first line of text. Reads 'I am | My dear Major Mair | Very truly yours | Geo. Combe'. Docketed in pencil at foot by Dame Sarah Elizabeth Siddons Mair (died 1941) '(Phrenologist) | Written to my Father - S. E. S. M.'

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