REFORM

1p., 16mo. With mourning border. Aged and worn, with tear to one corner and glue stains on reverse. Signed 'Caroline Norton'. The recipient is not identified. The letter begins: 'Dear Sir | The Prince Schomberg having told me of some curious experiments in animal magnetism which you would make this evg. I called to ask permission to witness them -'. She will 'retract' her 'petition' if he has 'no other ladies present – or if the persons on whom the experiments are made, only speak German', as she 'will not be able to understand enough of what passes'.

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. The male recipient is not named. The year has been added in another hand at the head of the first page. She will be 'pleased to speak at your proposed meeting if possible'. She a question regarding the timing of the meeting, which would have to be in 'the week beginning Jan. 29 to suit me'. She gives a number of dates and times when she has 'engagements in London', concluding: 'If you can fix the meeting so as to make it possible for me to keep these engagements I will come'.

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. He declares his belief that he will 'act well in accordance with what I stated on the nomination day in 1857, by pursuing the course followed by me since I have been in parliament, & abstaining from voting either way on the ballot'. The subject is one concerning which he feels 'great difficulty': 'I fully appreciate the evils of intimidation & bribery which the ballot is intended to cure, although I hope that they are gradually diminishing & will be still further diminished when we have fewer small constituencies'.

1p., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged, with traces of stub adhering to reverse. Addressed on reverse, with broken seal in red wax and postmarks, to 'Miss Beavan | Brynry Hydd [ i.e. Bryn yr Hydd] | Glasbury | Hay | South Wales'. An expansively-written note, above a similar signature, reading: 'May I request you to read the accompanying Circular, and to give it your favourable consideration?'

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He asks to be sent 'the proof of my speech on Capital Punishment for correction'. In a postscript he writes: 'Possibly one copy may have been sent already to my house in London. In that case, can you send another here, as I cannot easily make the Servant in London understand about the Paper.' On the reverse an initialled autograph note is written in red ink: 'Mr Ewart has sent us another letter since; will you have the kindness to send this in advance immediate | '.

The Law Magazine, in its issue of August-November 1852, praised the report as 'most valuable' and 'meritorious', noting among the obstacles to its completion 'the resolute and dogged refusal of information on the part of many, intimately connected with the University', including Harington's college Brasenose. The Spectator discussed the report on 29 May 1852, and reproduced all 47 recommendations on 5 June 1852.

Both items in good condition, with light signs of age and wear. Both side stitched, and without wraps. ONE: 'Recommendations respecting the Extension of the University of Oxford'. 32pp., 8vo. On reverse of title: 'The following Paper was drawn up at the request of the Tutors' Association by a Committee appointed on Nov. 19, 1852. It was read and considered at meetings of the Association held in Merton and Jesus College Common Rooms on Dec. 10 and 13: and its adoption will be proposed at the first meeting of the Association next Term.' TWO: 'Reports of the Oxford Tutors' Association. No. II.

14pp., 12mo. Stapled pamphlet. In good condition, lightly aged and with a little rust spotting. At head of title, in unobtrusive contemporary hand: '29 Read 8 March 1904'. The author is not named, but is Gillett, who had authored the first of his pamphlets under the name 'W. G.' Introduction, dated 16 December 1903, states that the author's two previous pamphlets were 'well received, over two hundred and fifty thousand copies of the latter having been printed.

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with minor tape stain at head. Reads: 'Dear Sir - | I have had an attack of gout - within the last few days, which I am sorry will prevent me from accepting your kind Invitation on Wednesday next.' According to his entry in the Oxford DNB, 'Denison spent his business career in his father's bank, Denison, Heywood, and Kennard of Lombard Street, becoming senior partner upon his father's death.

2pp., 12mo. On lightly-aged paper with a number of vertical fold lines. The reference to Sir John Bowring dates the letter to before his death in 1872. With reference to Julia Ward Howe (author of the 'Battle Hymn of the Republic') and her husband Samuel Gridley Howe she writes: 'Dr. & Mrs.

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair conditoin, aged and with central horizontal and vertical folds.The letter begins: 'What queer things people do write to you about.' On an unspecified question, Lawson doubts that Farrar 'can do anything in the matter', and thinks that 'the “Mrs. referred to in the plan is the Lady who gave £500 to the Alliance last October [...] she is worth conciliating if it can be done'. He thinks 'the Reform Bill ought to help an alliance crusade and feel – Hardly any publicans will be enfranchised by it, but numbers of their victims & their opponents'.

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair conditoin, aged and with central horizontal and vertical folds.The letter begins: 'What queer things people do write to you about.' On an unspecified question, Lawson doubts that Farrar 'can do anything in the matter', and thinks that 'the “Mrs. referred to in the plan is the Lady who gave £500 to the Alliance last October [...] she is worth conciliating if it can be done'. He thinks 'the Reform Bill ought to help an alliance crusade and feel – Hardly any publicans will be enfranchised by it, but numbers of their victims & their opponents'.

1p., landscape 12mo. On aged and worn paper, with strip of discoloration affecting Richardson's signature. The text concerns 'the numbers of the Madras Journal [which] have not yet turned up'. Accompanied by an unattrtibuted newspaper cutting of Richardson's obituary, laid down on a leaf removed from a notebook.

On 5.5 x 11.5 cm piece of paper, cut from the end of a letter. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, laid down on part of leaf from album. Reads: 'Yours faithfully | Isa Craig | R. A. Arnold Esq'.

The passing, in June 1830, of a parliamentary 'Act for taking an Account of the Population of Great Britain, and of the Increase or Diminution thereof'(see Item 14) directed that the overseers of the poor should 'take an Account of the Number of Persons found within each Parish and Place'. This measure was seen by the Whig government (and in particular by Lord John Russell) as providing vital information preparatory to the passing of the Parliamentary Reform Bill.

Lord Hennessy has characterised the subject of these items, the Northcote-Trevelyan Report of 1854, as 'the greatest single governing gift of the nineteenth to the twentieth century: a politically disinterested and permanent Civil Service with core values of integrity, propriety, objectivity and appointment on merit, able to transfer its loyalty and expertise from one elected government to the next'.

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, with slight damage to corners caused by removal from album. For the context of the letter, see Oastler's entry in the Oxford DNB, which explains that he was nearing the end of a three and a half year sentence at the Fleet Prison, for 'debts accumulated during his stewardship at Fixby', the charge being a 'Pretext', his 'campaign against the new poor law' having proved 'incendiary'. The letter begins: 'Maria! | This comes from thy own Papa, to wish thee a Happy new Year.

The three items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The first two, both on black-bordered paper, are each 1p., 4to; the third is 1p., folio. In the three letters Teulon's address is given as Dean Street, Southwark. The first two appear to be in Phillipps's hand, but the matter is uncertain. Phillipps writes on behalf of the Home Secretary Lord John Russell, to whom he acted as private secretary.

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, and slightly creased at foot. He apologises for being unable to attend a meeting, 'which I had given up, hearing that Sir C. Trevelyan had, already, promised to undertake the duty'. As president, he must attend 'an important Lecture' at the Victoria Institute, 'the Committee having fixed the day, supposing me to be free'.

The three items in good condition, with light signs of age and wear. Booklet: [2] + iv + 29 + [2]pp., 8vo. With fold-out table at front. Nicely printed in green paper wraps with white label printed in red and black. According to the colophon 'The type is 14 point Monotype Bembo 270 augmented by 7 newly designd characters engraved by Ludlow Ltd Hertford | About 100 copies impressed on Archive Text paper in September 1989'.

The nine items are all 12mo, and bound together without wraps, with the whole disbound from a volume. In fair condition, with minor signs of age and wear. All titles are drophead. ONE: 'Account of the Formation, Principles, and Objects of the Liverpool Financial Reform Association, [...]'. 12pp. TWO: 'Financial Reform Tracts. No. 1.' 16pp. THREE: 'Financial Reform Tracts. No. 2. Pension List. (Second Edition).' 8pp. FOUR: 'Financial Reform Tracts. No. 3. Taxation. - Part I.' 15 + [1]pp. FIVE: 'Financial Reform Tracts. No. 4. The Army, Ordnance, Commissariat, Navy, Colonies.' 15 + [1]pp.

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. He assures de Boinville that he 'much regrets his want of leisure to peruse the MS. that M de Boinville has been so good as to send him'. He concludes with the complaint that he is 'really so occupied that heh has not time for the discharge of the several duties that are imposed upon him'.

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly-aged, and laid down on a piece of card. Reads: 'July 26 | My dear Faed, | Would you mind seconding me at the Athenaeum? I believe Tom Hughes has put down my name. | Yours faithfully | William Black.' According to Black's entry in the Oxford DNB, he 'studied landscape painting for a short time in the Glasgow School of Art, but, becoming connected with the Glasgow Citizen, gradually exchanged art for journalism'.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with short closed tear at head of gutter. He states that 'Ld B. [ i.e. the Lord Chancellor, Lord Brougham] was the first member of Ld Grey's Cabinet who objected to the cabinet to which the Reform Bill was carried', adding of Brougham that 'his opinion of one year, or of one week, are not those of another'. He does not believe that there is any 'reason to expect a dissolution at present but the Tories are very anxious, & its difficult to say what their may be'.

Two pages in his sprawling hand, cr. 8vo, bifolium, good condition, fold marks. He apologises for not being able to attend a Dinner of the "London Conservation Society" because of "personal circumstances". Note: no information found about this Society (or the London Conversation Society of that's what he wrote.

15pp., 8vo. In good condition, lightly-aged, no wraps, disbound. No copy on COPAC or on OCLC WorldCat.

The Simplified Spelling Board was founded in 1906, funded by Andrew Carnegie, and counted Mark Twain and President Theodore Roosevelt, and the English lexicographers James A. H. Murray, Walter W. Skeat and Joseph Wright among its members. The present collection of the Board's Circulars consists of 25 uniform items, all unbound and stapled. The collection is in fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with occasional wear. Stamps, shelfmarks and labels of the Board of Education Reference Library, London.

2pp., foolscap 8vo. On two leaves, with the second attached at the head of the blank reverse to a piece of grey card. In fair condition, on aged paper. He writes that he will be 'very glad to sign the memorandum enclosed with your letter of the 14th instant in support of Professor Gilbert Murray'. He proceeds to remark at length on a 'statement in the last paragraph of the memorandum as to the working of Proportional Representation'.

8pp., 12mo. Stapled and unbound. In good condition, on aged high-acidity paper, with slight wear to extremities. Blind stamps and shelfmark of the Hartford Theological Seminary. The text begins: 'The House having under consideration the bill (S. 5876) to establish postal savings depositories for depositing savings at interest with the security of the Government for the repayment thereof, and for other purposes - | Mr SULZER said: [...]'.

The piece of vellum an irregular rectangle of about 4 x 17 cm. Smudged signature, with crumbling red wax seal to its right, beneath fragment of Latin text ending with date 1841. The engraving, with facsimile of signature, 'From a picture in his Lordship's possession | This plate, 28 x 19 cm on 4to leaf, is by express permission dedicated most respectfully to the Members of the Reform Club by their faithful Servant Thomas Collins'. It is in fair condition, aged and with strip of discoloration in margin at head.