PORTUGUESE

[Lord Beresford [William Carr Beresford, 1st Viscount Beresford, 1st Marquis of Campo Maior], Commander in Chief of Portuguese army in Peninsular War.] Two copy letters to Duke of Wellington; apparent autograph draft of letter, 1809; one other item.

Author: 
Lord Beresford [William Carr Beresford (1768-1854), 1st Viscount Beresford, 1st Marquis of Campo Maior], Commander in Chief of the Portuguese army during the Peninsular War [Duke of Wellington]
Publication details: 
Copy Letters dated 16 March (Elvas) and 25 May 1812 (Fuente Guinaldo). Probable draft letter: 'Abranles July 4. 1809'. Other item 6 May 1809..
£250.00

Four interesting Peninsular War items, from a collection of Beresford material. In 1813 the Duke of Wellington described Beresford as ‘the ablest man I have yet seen in the army’. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The four items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn (but see descriptions of Items One and Three), and folded for postage. ONE: Apparent Autograph Draft of Letter. ‘Abranles July 4. 1809’. 2pp, 4to. On laid Whatman paper. Reverse somewhat grubby with glue stains (from display in an album?) at foot of reverse of leaf.

[‘Lord Wellington is in full pursuit of the French’: Col. Thomas Abernethie of the Royal Marines, 1811.] Autograph Letter Signed from Major Thomas Abernethie, Royal Marines, to Cox and Son, regarding a cask of madeira and news of the Peninsular War.

Author: 
Col. Thomas Abernethie (c.1759-1840) of the Royal Marines [Duke of Wellington; Peninsular War; Madeira Wine, Portugal]
Publication details: 
‘Lisbon 16 March 1811’.
£150.00

He receives the briefest of obituaries in the Gentleman's Magazine, July 1840: 'May 10. At Exeter, aged 81, Col. Thomas Abernethie, K.H. on the retired list of the Royal Marines.' 3pp, 4to. Bifolium. On aged and discoloured paper, with the usual damage to the second leaf from the breaking of the seal. Addressed on reverse of second leaf, with postmark, to ‘Messrs Cox & Son / 20 Bartletts Buildings / Holborn / London’. Signed ‘Thos. Abernethie’ and docketed ‘Maj: Abernethie / 16 March 1811’. Begins: ‘Gentlemen / I have requested a Cap.

[Lieut.-Gen. Sir Manley Power, British Army officer in the Peninsular War and then Lieutenant Governor of Malta.] Autograph Signature (‘M. Power / M Genl. Comm[andin]g’).

Author: 
Lieut.-Gen. Sir Manley Power (1773-1826), British Army officer who lead a Portuguese brigade in the Peninsular War, later appointed Lieutenant Governor of Malta
Power
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£50.00
Power

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On piece of 8.5 x 4.5 cm laid paper cut. In fair condition, on aged paper with reverse bearing traces of glue from mount. Reads: ‘M. Power / M Genl. Comm[andin]g’. Endorsed on reverse: ‘M General / Sir Manley Power / K.C.B’. See Image.

[Conquest of Cayenne, 1809.] Manuscript Petition to King George III, signed by Thomas Sevestre, surgeon of HMS Confiance, asking permission to 'enjoy the Privileges' of a Portuguese order. With seal of Portuguese ambassador Sousa Coutinho.

Author: 
Conquest of Cayenne, 1809 [French Guiana conquered by the Portuguese under British leadership]; Sir Thomas Sevestre (1784-1842) [Sir James Lucas Yeo (1782-1818)]
Publication details: 
Certified correct in London on 31 March 1810.
£250.00

The Conquest of Cayenne - part of Britain’s strategy of using its naval power to attack French colonial interests in the Napoleonic Wars - is described in the fifth volume of William James’s ‘Naval History of Great Britain’ (1827). Britain was only able to contribute HMS Confiance, but its captain James Lucas Yeo was put in charge of the whole expedition, and he and his crew performed with distinction (see Yeo’s entry in the Oxford DNB).

[‘I make no doubt will succeed in a very extensive degree’: Sir Robert Mends, distinguished Royal Navy officer.] Long Autograph Letter Signed to the British Envoy at Lisbon Charles Stuart, describing his Portuguese situation during the Peninsular War

Author: 
Sir Robert Mends (1767?-1823), distinguished Royal Navy officer in American War of Independence and Peninsular War [Charles Stuart (1779-1845), Baron Stuart de Rothesay, diplomat]
Publication details: 
‘His Majesty’s Ship Arethusa / Corunna 18th. August 1810’.
£450.00

See his entry and that of Stuart in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 4to. On bifolium. Sixty-six lines of neatly-written text, signed ‘R Mends’ and addressed ‘To / The Honble Chas. Stuart / His Majestys Envoy / Lisbon’. A vivid and substantial historical document.

[ The British Army in the Peninsular War. ] Autograph Letter Signed (twice 'J. Barker') from Deputy Storekeeper General John Barker to British Minister at Lisbon [ Charles Stuart ], giving details of 'Stores shipped by this Department' to Portugal.

Author: 
John Barker, Deputy Storekeeper General, Storekeeper General's Office, London [ Charles Stuart (1779-1845), 1st Baron Stuart de Rothesay; Peninsular War ]
Publication details: 
Storekeeper General's Office [ 23 Great George Street ], London. 28 January 1812.
£180.00

2pp., folio. In fair condition, with light signs of age and wear. On first leaf of bifolium, the second leaf docketted in pencil. In fair condition, with light signs of age and wear. Detailed letter, filling two whole folio pages, beginning: 'Sir. | In the absence of the Storekeeper General I have the honour to refer you to his letters of the 12th. Novr. 19th. & 31st. Decr.

[ Jean Hyacinthe de Magellan, natural philosopher. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Magellan'), in English, to the Earl of Buchan, on topics including Adair Crawford's 'new theory of heat in general'.

Author: 
Jean Hyacinthe de Magellan [João Jacinto de Magalhães] (1722-1790), Portuguese natural philosopher, latterly based in London [ David Steuart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan; Adair Crawford (1748-1795) ]
Publication details: 
London. 21 September 1780.
£250.00

3pp., 4to. Addressed, with black wax seal, on reverse of second leaf to 'The Earl of Buchan at Kerkhill | by Edinburgh'. In fair condition, lightly aged. He is 'hardly relieved' from 'a very distressing ophthalmy withh great head-ackes [sic]', but thanks the Earl for 'sending the pamphlet of Dr. Homes on the Croup, for my friend Monsr. Le Roy, one of ye. Members of ye. Royal Acady. at Paris'. He is sending him the Philosophical Transactions, 'as regularly as they come out, by the indicated way of Mr. Donalson'. The 'Medal of ye late Captn. Cook [...] has not yet been distributed to ye.

[Victorian British wine trade from Porto, Portugal.] Manuscript accounts, in English, detailing a substantial trade from Porto, with a large number of English wine merchants, headed 'Porto em 31st. December 1844', with table of 'Wines Shipt in 1844'.

Author: 
[British wine trade with Porto, Portugal]
Publication details: 
Porto [Portugal]. 1844.
£220.00

3pp. folio. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged and worn wove paper watermarked 'RUSE & TURNERS | 1834', with a few short closed tears to crease lines.. The first page is headed 'Porto em 31st. December 1844', and the other two 'Porto the 31st. December 1844'. The account shows substantial sums paid in by various English wine merchants, and a final balance of 428,504 Reis 355 Dinheiro. Begins with 'Profit & Loss Dn. to Sundries' of 3887R 467D. Entries include: Brandy Account; Wines on Consignment; Casks Account; Bills Payable; Warehouse Utensils.

[Printed translation into Portuguese of the first Gothic novel, Horace Walpole's 'The Castle of Otranto'.] Livraria Amena | O Castello de Otranto. Conto Gothico por W. Marshall. Esq. Vertido do Inglez.

Author: 
'W. Marshall. Esq.' [Horace Walpole] [J. J. A. Silva, Lisbon publisher]
Publication details: 
Lisboa [Lisbon]: Typographia de J. J. A. Silva, 1854.
£350.00

[1] + 111pp., 16mo. Unbound or lacking wraps (?). Aged and worn, with slight ink staining to title-page. The text is preceded by a full-page 'Prologo' from the publishers. No other copy traced on either Worldcat, COPAC, or PORBASE, and does not feature in the list of 'Later Editions' of the novel on pp.66-67 of A. T. Hazen's 1948 Walpole bibliography.

[HMS Arethusa, ship's log, 1837.] Manuscript log of HMS Arethusa, while stationed in 'Passa D'Arcos Bay' [Paço d'Arcos, Portugal] and travelling from Cadiz to Lisbon. With 'Remarks' including a death and burial at sea, and punishment by lashing.

Author: 
[HMS Arethusa, 46 gun fifth-rate Royal Navy ship, launched in 1817]
Publication details: 
Passo de Arcos First entry while 'At Single Anchor in Passo D'Arcos Bay' [Paço d'Arcos, Portugal], dated 24 July 1837; last entry from 'Fort St. Julian' [on the mouth of the Tagus river], dated 30 September [1837]
£500.00

HMS Arethusa, the fourth of nine Royal Navy ships to bear the name, was a 46-gun fifth rate launched in 1817. (Fifth-rate ships served as fast scouts or independent cruisers. Owing to their combination of manoeuvrability and firepower, they were often assigned to interdict enemy shipping.) She was was renamed HMS Bacchus in 1844 on conversion into a hulk, and was broken up in 1883. The present item is 21pp., 8vo. Stitched. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn grey paper. With loose heavily worn remains of brown marbled wraps (front and back cover detached from one another).

[Chatto & Windus, London publishers.] Manuscript letter, signed on behalf of 'Chatto & Windus', to fellow London bookseller Philip Stephen King, declining the offer of a translation of Portuguese novelist Alexandre Herculano's 'O Monge de Cister'.

Author: 
Chatto & Windus [P. S. King [Philip Stephen King] (1819-1908), London Parliamentary Bookseller of 12 Bridge St, Westminster and other addresses; Alexandre Herculano (1810-1877), Portuguese writer]
Publication details: 
On the firm's letterhead at the 'Office of Belgravia of the Gentleman's Magazine & of "Academy Notes", 74 & 75 Piccadilly, London. 4 January 1878.
£120.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Tasteful letterhead including the firm's device within an oval, printed in sepia. In good condition: on aged and lightly-worn paper. King was the leading London parliamentary bookseller, and it is interesting to see him apparently offering a work of his own to other publishers. The letter reads: 'Dear Sir | We beg to acknowledge with thanks your offer of a translation of Herculano's "O Monge de Cister," which we much regret our inability to accept - our hands being very full just now, & all our arrangements for some time to come made.

[Printed pamphlet of Portuguese poems.] 'Biographia instantanea e cinematographica do illustre Cidadão. Ah! Ah! de Barros (Moça de recados dos Snrs. de Tres LLL) por Chicote (A. Vieira Mendes) No. 1'.

Author: 
'Chicote', pseudonym of A. Vieira Mendes [José da Fonseca Lage]
Publication details: 
'Composto e impresso na Typ. da Agencia de Publicidade, Rua de Passos Manuel, 198 - PORTO | Proprietario e editor - A. Vieira Mendes'. 1909.
£180.00

37+ [iii] pp., 8vo. Stapled, in red printed wraps. Fair, on aged high-acidity paper, in worn and chipped wraps. Containing nine poems, preceded by an introduction (pp.5-7) from José da Fonseca Lage, dated from Lisbon, May 1909, beginning 'A presente publicação parece mais uma phantasia d'um genio irrequieto, que a realidade d'um desforço de quem se vê roubado, escarnecido e ultrajado!, and followed by 'Esclarecimento imprescindivel' (pp.33-37). The 37pp. of text are followed by a page of 'Erratas', by another listing thirty 'Obras do mesmo auctor' and by a last headed 'No Prélo'.

[Printed pamphlet.] [Carta de Junius Lusitanus] A. S. Excellencia Lord Palmerston, Ministro e Secretario d'Estado dos Negocios Estrangeiros da Grã-Bretanha.

Author: 
'Junius Lusitanus' [P. Midosi?] [Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston; Septembrist Revolt in Portugal, 1846]
[Printed pamphlet.] [Carta de Junius Lusitanus] A. S. Excellencia Lord Palmersto
Publication details: 
Date and publisher not stated. [Lisboa [Lisbon], Na Imprensa Nevesiana, 1847.]
£135.00
[Printed pamphlet.] [Carta de Junius Lusitanus] A. S. Excellencia Lord Palmersto

4to, 24 pp, paginated 3-27. Lacking title-leaf; otherwise with text clear and complete under drop-head title (lacking the initial 'Carta de Junius Lusitanus' which would have been part of the missing title leaf) with Latin motto ('Palmam qui mecuit ferat.'). Disbound. On aged paper with slight wear to extremities. Addressing British Foreign Secretary Palmerston with regard to the United Kingdom's position on the Septembrist Revolt in Portugal in 1846. COPAC and WorldCat only lists three copies: at the British Library, Harvard and King's College London.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Robt. Walpole'), in French, to 'J. Fr. Ostervald Esq'.

Author: 
Robert Walpole (1736-1810), Clerk of the Privy Council and British Ambassador to Portugal (nephew of the Prime Minister) [J. F. Ostervald; the French Revolution]
Publication details: 
30 October 1792; Clifford Street [London].
£180.00

4to, 3 pp. Bifolium. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper with damp staining causing the fading of ink in some parts, and a little chipping to bottom edge. Since writing there has been no packet from Falmouth, and the news from the continent are reported with sufficient detail in the gazettes, so 'il est inutile de vous en parler. Les procedes du Duc de Brunswick [he led an invading German army into France], et le systeme du Roi de Prusse sont egalement mysterieux [...] Les Emigrants [...] sont reduits a la derniere necessite'.

Secretarial Letter Signed ('Conde de Funchal'), in French, to 'Mr. Falconet, Avocat Celebre a Paris'.

Author: 
Domingo Antonio de Souza-Coutinho, Conde de Funchal (fl 1803-1833), Portuguese diplomat, Ambassador to England, and botanist [Ambroise Falconet? Jacques Récamier?]
Publication details: 
1 March 1816; Florence, Italy. Carrying postmarks and seal in red wax with impression of family crest.
£85.00

8vo, 2 pp. Twenty-two lines of text. Bifolium. Address, postmark and seal on reverse of otherwise-blank second leaf of bifolium. On aged and lightly creased paper, chipped and foxed. Text clear and entire. Acting on Falconet's advice, the Count has sent 'une Procure en regle à Mr Recamier [husband of the celebrated Madame Récamier?] à fin qu'il puisse retirer l'argenterie des mains de Mr Delamarre à l'expiration des trois mois'. He is grateful for Falconet's assistance in terminating 'cette facheuse affaire'.

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