RICHARD

[The funeral of Robert Stephenson, locomotive engineer.] Autograph Letter Signed from Richard Chenevix Trench, Dean of Westminster Abbey (later Archbishop of Dublin) to Stephenson?s cousin G. R. Stephenson, agreeing to officiate.

Author: 
Richard Chenevix Trench (1807-1886), Anglican Archbishop of Dublin, Primate of All Ireland [Robert Stephenson (1803-1859) and his cousin George Robert Stephenson (1819-1905), locomotive engineers]
Publication details: 
'Westminster / Oct 15/59 [1859]'.
£56.00

See his entry, and those of the Stephenson?s, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with the blank second leaf carrying traces of mount. Folded for postage. Addressed to ?George Robt. Stephenson Esqr.? and signed ?R. C. Trench?. Reads: ?Dear Sir / May I express to you, as the first of those who have signed a communication which I have just received, the pleasure that it will give me to comply with the request therein contained; and I shall look forward to performing the part which you have desired in the funeral of the late Mr.

Sir Richard Cross [Richard Assheton Cross, 1st Viscount Cross], Conservative politician, Secretary of State for India and then Home Secretary.] Autograph Note Signed to George Cubitt [later Lord Ashcombe].

Author: 
Sir Richard Cross [Richard Assheton Cross, 1st Viscount Cross] (1823-1914), Conservative politician, Secretary of State for India and then Home Secretary [George Cubitt, 1st Baron Ashcombe (1828-1917)
Publication details: 
5 December 1877; on letterhead Home Office, Whitehall, S.W. [London]
£35.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium, with the reverse of the second leaf docketed ‘Sir Richard Cross / Home Secretary’. In good condition, lightly aged, with strip of tape from mount adhering to second leaf, and lightly folded. Headed ‘Private’. Addressed to ‘Geo: Cubitt Esq M.P.’ and signed ‘Rrd: Assheton Cross.’ Reads: ‘Many thanks for your letter. I am glad that all is settled. / The Correspondence has been returned.’

Richard Acland [Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet], Liberal and Labour politician and a founder of CND.] Typed Letter Signed to Philip Dosse of Books and Bookmen, explaining in detail why he cannot write a review for him.

Author: 
Richard Acland [Sir Richard Thomas Dyke Acland, 15th Baronet] (1906-1990), politician with Liberal, British Common Wealth and Labour parties, a founder of CND [Philip Dosse (1925-1980)]
Publication details: 
14 February 1974. Sprydon, Broadclyst, Exeter.14 February 1974. Sprydon, Broadclyst, Exeter.
£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’. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice for postage. In autograph: ‘Dear Philip Dossé [sic]’ and ‘Yours sincerely / Richard Acland’. He begins by thanking Dosse for his ‘most generous letter’ with regard to his autobiography ‘Four Years Hard Labour’, and for the offer of a free advertisement in ‘Books and Bookmen’, continuing: ‘But how sad.

[Richard Hoggart, author and cultural critic.] Typed Letter Signed from Paris, to Philip Dosse, explaining why, as ‘an international civil servant’, he cannot review for ‘Books and Bookmen’.

Author: 
Richard Hoggart (1918-2014), author and cultural critic [Philip Dosse (1925-1980), proprietor of Hansom Books]
Publication details: 
5 July 1972; on UNESCO letterhead of the ‘united nations educational, scientific and cultural organization’, Paris.
£35.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Philip Dosse (Hoggart addresses him as Dosse) was the proprietor of Hansom Books, which operated a stable of seven London arts magazines, including ‘Books and Bookmen’ and ‘Plays and Players’. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, slightly aged, worn and creased. Folded twice. Signed ‘Richard Hoggart’ (‘Assistant Director-General (Social Sciences, Human Sciences and Culture)’. He presumes that the letter with the copies of ‘Books and Bookmen’ was delayed by the French customs.

[Richard Ingrams, journalist, editor of ‘Private Eye’ and ‘The Oldie’.] Autograph Letter Signed to Philip Dosse of ‘Books and Bookmen’, on subjects including a ‘rather rude’ review by him of a book by Clive James and a book about James Thurber.

Author: 
Richard Ingrams [Richard Reid Ingrams] (b.1937), editor of ‘Private Eye’ and founding editor of ‘The Oldie’ [Philip Dosse (1925-1980)]
Publication details: 
16 April 1977. On letterhead of Forge House, Aldworth, Reading, Berks.
£35.00

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’. 2pp, small 4to. Addressed to ‘Dear Philip Dossé’ [sic] and signed ‘Richard Ingrams’. He is enclosing ‘a rather rude review of the Clive James book for the June B & B’, and sends renewed apologies for missing the May issue. He will ‘do Thurber next’ and reminds Dosse that he still has ‘the biography of Thurber which you sent me many moons ago’: ‘Would it be too late to embrace that as well?’ He thanks him for ‘continuing to print the P.

[Humphrey Lyttelton, jazz musician, author and broadcaster, presenter of the BBC radio panel show ‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue’.] Autograph Signature written on flap of envelope.

Author: 
Humphrey Lyttelton [Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton, nicknamed ‘Humph’] (1921-2008), jazz musician, author and broadcaster, presenter of the BBC radio panel show ‘I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue'
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£20.00

See the biography of this much-beloved figure in the Oxford DNB. Stylish signature ‘Humphrey Lyttelton’, on irregularly-shaped piece of paper, roughly 7.5 x 4.5 cm, torn from an envelope flap. Somewhat worn and a little creased.

[Richard Cobden, Radical Liberal politician and Anti-Corn Law League leader.] Autograph List of petitions to the House of Commons, headed ‘Pet[itio]ns Mr Cobden’ [for James Johnstone or Robert Knox?].

Author: 
Richard Cobden (1804-1865), Radical Liberal politician and leading figure in the Anti-Corn Law League [James Johnstone (1815-1878), newspaper proprietor; Robert Knox, editor of the Morning Herald]
Publication details: 
No date, but with newspaper cutting from the Morning Herald, London, 18 February 1854.
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item was enclosed in a letter from Serjeant Shee (the future Sir William Shee), offered separately, sent from the House of Commons on 17 February 1854, in which he writes: ‘I enclose Mr. Cobdens own handwriting to send to the Papers -’. Attached to a corner at the head of the first page of the present item is a cutting from the Morning Herald newspaper, 18 February 1854, reproducing the details in the manuscript.

[Irish Public Finance, 1912: ‘The present position is indefensible’.] Printed pamphlet: ‘The Public Finances of Ireland / By Professor C. H. Oldham, B.A., B.L., University College, Dublin’.

Author: 
Professor C. H. Oldham [Charles Hubert Oldham (1859-1926)], B.A., B.L., University College, Dublin; Richard Clay and Sons, printers [Irish Public Finance, 1912]
Publication details: 
1912. Printed by Richard Clay and Sons, Limited, Brunswick St., Stamford St., S.E. [London], and Bungay, Suffolk.
£90.00

From the Sylvia and Robert Lynd papers. Scarce: no copy on JISC, but in NLI. 16pp, 12mo. Stitched. No wraps. The outer covers spotted, and the back cover grubby, otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. One vertical fold. The author’s position, supported with statistical analysis, is that ‘The present position is indefensible as it stands; and it is becoming worse.

[Irish Land Question, 1854.] Autograph Letter Signed from Serjeant Shee [later Sir William Shee] [to James Johnstone or Robert Knox?], regarding the parliamentary response to his speech bringing in the ‘amended Tenants’ Compensation (Ireland) Bill’.

Author: 
[Irish Land Question, 1854.] Sir William Shee [Serjeant Shee] (1804-1868), English-born Irish Liberal politician and judge [Richard Cobden (1804-1865), Radical politician; James Johnstone (1815-1878)]
Publication details: 
'House of Commons / Feby 17 1854'.
£150.00

According to his entry in the Oxford DNB, Shee entered the House of Commons as Member for County Kilkenny in 1852, and promptly took charge of the Irish Tenant Right Bill. ‘On 16 February 1854 Shee brought in a bill which, with the exception of three clauses, was the exact counterpart of Sharman Crawford's bill of the previous session, but it met with little encouragement.’ Shee’s speech is reproduced in his ‘Papers, Letters, and Speeches in the House of Commons, on the Irish Land Question’ (London, 1863).

[Richard Cobden, Radical Liberal politician who led the fight to abolish the Corn Laws.] Autograph Note Signed to 'Jas Thomson Esq', with biographical note about the recipient in a contemporary hand.

Author: 
Richard Cobden (1804-1865), English Radical Liberal politician and author, a leading figure in the fight to abolish the Corn Laws
Publication details: 
8 February 1848; London.
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In fair condition, aged and worn, with slight loss to two of the corners, and a trace of paper from the mount adhering on the reverse. Addressed to 'Jas Thomson Esq'. Reads: 'Dear Sir / I have forwarded your list of names to the Land Tax Office / & remain Dear Sir / faithfully Yours / Richd Cobden'. Pencil note, in a contemporary hand, at the foot of the letter: 'The Great Anti Corn Law man. / Mr. Thompson [sic] to whom it was written was proposed by Cobden & seconded by Bright, of the Free Trade Club. A Club in St. James Square, London, of 400 or 500 members.

[Lyme Regis, Dorset.] Autograph Letter Signed from ‘Wm Curtis’ [William Curtis] to ‘Mr Wh[encon?] / Town Clerk / Lym’, regarding legal action with ‘Mr Preston’ (‘Mr Recorder’) who ‘Threatens to play the very Devil’ with him.

Author: 
Lyme Regis, Dorset: William Curtis of Lym [Richard Preston ('Mr Recorder') of Marino; Lowton of the Temple]
Publication details: 
‘Lym July 1 / 1795’. [Lyme Regis, Dorset.]
£50.00

Neither Curtis nor the 'Mr Recorder' named Preston mentioned in the letter feature in G. Roberts’s ‘History of Lyme Regis’ (Sherborne, 1823). Preston may be ‘Richard Preston Esq.’ of ‘Marino’ named as living near Barnstaple in Cary’s New Itinerary, 6th ed, 1815. The recipient’s name is not decipherable. Six years previously a parliamentary committee had examined ‘Mr. Follett, the town clerk of Lyme. He said, he had held that office fifty years.’ (Luders, Reports, 1789) 2pp, 4to. On first leaf of bifolium, the reverse of the second leaf being addressed to ‘Mr Wh[encon?] / Town Clerk / Lym’.

[Printed satirical political novel, in original cloth.] Pantalas and what they did with him.

Author: 
Edward Jenkins [John Edward Jenkins (1838-1910), Liberal Member of Parliament; Richard Bentley and Son, London publishers]
Publication details: 
London: Richard Bentley and Son, Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen. 1897. [Billing and Sons, Printers, Guildford. | G., C. & Co.]
£220.00

[7] + 243pp., 8vo. On aged paper, with slight damage at top edge of first few leaves; in heavily-worn binding with blind-stamped decoration; corner torn away from front free endpaper, and glue spots to front pastedown. Described in an advertisement by the publisher in The Times, 16 July 1897, as 'A SOCIAL SATIRE.' Six copies on COPAC, but now a scarce item. Note: In Pantalas Mr. Jenkins is at his best.

[Richard Tauber, Austrian tenor singer and film actor.] Autograph Signature to publicity photograph of ‘Richad Tauber / als Schubert / im “Dreimädlhaus”’.

Author: 
Richard Tauber (1891-1948), Austrian tenor singer and film actor [Atelier Schneider, Berlin photographers]
Publication details: 
Inscribed by Tauber ‘1931 / London’. Printed at foot: ‘Atelier Schneider, Berlin phot.’
£25.00

8 x 11 cm collotype print on 9 x 14 cm postcard, with caption (‘Richard Tauber / als Schubert / im “Dreimädlhaus”’) and publication details in blank space at foot. Tauber has signed emphatically, between two lines, at the foot of the card: ‘Richard Tauber / 1931 / London’. In good condition, lightly aged, but with dink to bottom-left corner, affecting neither image nor signature. Depicts Tauber, in the character of a bespectacled Franz Schubert, seated before a dark background. Scan on application.

[Admiral Beatty [Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty], First Sea Lord.] Autograph Signature from album.

Author: 
Admiral Beatty [Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (1871-1936)], First Sea Lord, 1919-1927, commander of the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron at the Battle of Jutland in 1916
Publication details: 
No place or date.
£25.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, in which ‘deep professional commitment and mental toughness’ are said to be qualities whose possession he demonstrated ‘heroically’. On 8 x 5 cm piece of light blue-grey paper. Good large firm signature 'Beatty'. No other writing on page. In good condition, lightly aged.

[G.F. Watts, painter and sculptor; Rothschild] Autograph Note Signed G.F. Watts to Dear Baroness [Juliana, wife of Baron Mayer de Rothschild] co9ncerning his portrait of Miss [Hannah] de Rothschild later married to the Earl of Rosebery

Author: 
G.F. Watts [George Frederic Watts (1817 – 1904) painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement.]
Publication details: 
Little Holland House, 5 Feb. 1873.
£250.00

One page, 12mo, fold marks, good condition. Dear Baroness | I will send the picture as you dsire & shall be ready to finish Miss de Rothschild when convenient to her to sit.Note: a. A particularly significant portrait was of the 23 year old Hannah de Rothschild painted in 1874, four years before her marriage to Lord Rosebery. The small portrait (it was only 10×12) gave Lord Rosebery such pleasure that, after Hannah’s early death in 1890, he told Watts that he carried it wherever he moved as he could not bear to be parted from it; b.

[Richard Cobden, Radical Liberal politician who led the fight to abolish the Corn Laws.] Three Autograph Items, including part of draft manuscript of account of his 1837 meeting in Egypt with Mehmet Ali.

Author: 
Richard Cobden (1804-1865), English Radical Liberal politician and author, a leading figure in the fight to abolish the Corn Laws [Mehmet Ali [Muhammad Ali] (1769-1849), Ottoman governor of Egypt]
Publication details: 
The draft of the meeting with Mehmet Ali after his return from his travels in April 1837, and published in November of that year. One of the other items dated 18 April 1841, from 103 Westbourne Terrace [London]. Another from Midhurst, 20 June 1856.
£280.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. ONE: Autograph draft of conclusion of description of his meeting with Mehmet Ali (‘Mehemet Ali’). The ODNB states that in July 1836 Cobden produced a pamphlet ‘which analysed the Russo-Turkish dispute [...] attempting to play down the Turcophilia that was rife in Britain in the 1830s.

[Sir Richard Runciman Terry, musicologist and choirmaster at Westminster Cathedral.] Autograph Letter Signed to Dr. W. J. Phillips, with ‘Copy of Testimonial’ in favour of Phillips' application as organist and choirmaster at Salisbury Cathedral.

Author: 
Sir Richard Runciman Terry (1864-1938), organist, choir master and musicologist, Master of Music at Westminster Cathedral [Dr William James Phillips (1873-1963)]
Publication details: 
ALS from Terry to Phillips, 'at Cronkley / Horley Bridge / Aug 31. 1916'. Testimonial: 'Westminster Cathedral / August 31. 1916'.
£120.00

See Terry’s entry in the Oxford DNB. At the time of writing Dr. W. J. Phillips was the organist at St Barnabas, Pimlico; he was unsuccessful in the present application, but was subsequently organist of the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court. See his entry in Humphreys and Evans, ‘Dictionary of Composers for the Church in Great Britain and Ireland’ (1997). These two items are uniform on a total of three leaves of light paper. Both discoloured and worn, and folded three times. ONE: ALS from Terry to Phillips. 1p, 4to. He is ‘most pleased to have opportunity of supporting’ Phillips’s application.

[Percy Bysshe Shelley: supposed portrait by George Romney.] Five Autograph Letters Signed from William Salt Brassington, Librarian of the Shakespeare Memorial, to the donor of the picture Evan Marlett Boddy.

Author: 
[Percy Bysshe Shelley; George Romney] William Salt Brassington, archaeologist and librarian of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon; Evan Marlett Boddy; Richard Garnett
Publication details: 
Three of the five from 1900 (28 and 31 August, and 4 September); and two from 1901 (5 and 13 December). All on letterheads of the Shakespeare Memorial, Stratford-upon-Avon.
£450.00

These five items are part of a collection of correspondence (the rest is offered separately) relating to a supposed portrait of a young Percy Bysshe Shelley by George Romney, which was in a group of paintings donated to the Shakespeare Memorial Association by the appropriately-named anatomist Evan Marlett Boddy. (The Shelley portrait is reproduced in ‘The Magazine of Art’, 1901, with the caption ‘Reputed portrait of Shelley as a boy, by Romney. In the Shakespeare memorial, Stratford-on-Avon.’, in an article on ‘Portraits of Shelley at the National Portrait Gallery’, p.

[Countess of Blessington] Autograph Letter Signed M. Blessington to [F. Mansell Reynolds, novelist and editor of The Keepsake(?)]. See description below.

Author: 
Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (n?e Power; 1789?1849), Irish novelist, journalist, and literary hostess
Publication details: 
Monday Ev[enin]g [4 March 1833]. See description below.
£350.00

Three pages, 12mo, bifolium, good condition, in her sprawling hand, 1/4in. strip of glue from previous laying down on blank page 4. My dear Sir | Pray do not think me forgetful towards you in not answering your note received many days ago, but I am so occupied and fatigued with writing that I have not a [moment?] to myself, and after all I fear it will be impossible for me to fulfill [sic] my engagement with [publisher] Mr Bentley - | Excuse the brevity of this, I thank you for the [?], and I expect your book is universally read and as universally praised - | Always sincerely yours | M.

[Lady Eastlake [Elizabeth, Lady Eastlake], author, wife of Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, President of the Royal Academy.] Autograph Letter Signed to the widow of the travel writer Richard Ford, offering a gift of 'early strawberries & grapes'.

Author: 
Lady Eastlake [Elizabeth, Lady Eastlake, née Rigby] (1809-1893), author, wife of painter Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, President of Royal Academy and first Director of the National Gallery [Richard Ford]
Publication details: 
'7 Fitzroy Sqr [London] / May 4. 1864.'
£45.00

A jaunty missive. Lady Eastlake and her husband have separate entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo. Eighteen lines. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed to 'Dear Mrs Ford' and signed 'Eliz Eastlake'. A 'kind friend in the country' is insisting on sending her 'early strawberries & grapes' and she asks Mrs Ford not to 'commit the extravagance of orderg any yourself, but trust to me to have the offering transferred to 123 Park Street'. She will be sending for the fruit at Euston Station around 2 o'clock on the Saturday, '& they shall be shortly after that with you'.

[Admiral Sir Richard Fortescue Phillimore, Royal Navy officer, Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth.] Autograph Signature (‘Richard F. Phillimore’) on a fly leaf removed from a book.

Author: 
Admiral Sir Richard Fortescue Phillimore (1864-1940), Royal Navy officer who served with distinction in the First World War, Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth
Publication details: 
1920. No place.
£25.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 8vo. Large bold signature - ‘Richard F. Phillimore / 1920.’, a third of the way down the page on what is clearly the fly leaf of a book. The rest of the leaf is blank. The side of the leaf with the signature is somewhat discoloured, the reverse not so much. In good condition otherwise.

[Richard Westmacott, sculptor, Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy.] Autograph Letter Signed to the gardener Edward William Cooke, insisting on paying for flowers, and reporting that his 'poor mangy-looking wall is now pretty well covered'.

Author: 
Richard Westmacott (1799-1872), sculptor and Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy, son of Sir Richard Westmacott (1799-1872) [Edward William Cooke (1811-1880), marine artist and gardener]
Publication details: 
'W. / 1 K[ensington]. G[ate]. [Hyde Park, London] / Thursday'. No date.
£45.00

See his entry, and those of his father and Cooke, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 16mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with dab or red wax to one corner, and part of another corner torn away, presumably in breaking open the seal. Folded diagonally for postage. Addressed to 'My dear Mr Cooke' (the recipient's identity is beyond doubt) and signed 'Richd Westmacott'.

[Richard Westmacott, sculptor, Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy.] Autograph Letter Signed to the wife of ‘Mr B.’, congratulating the couple on their wedding anniversary, and looking forward to his own marriage.

Author: 
Richard Westmacott (1799-1872), sculptor and Professor of Sculpture at the Royal Academy, son of Sir Richard Westmacott (1799-1872)
Publication details: 
‘Wednesday / Aug. 8. 1838’. No place.
£45.00

See his entry, and that of his father, in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with neatly-trimmed remnants of a windowpane mount adhering to the edges of the leaf. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘My dear Madam’ and signed ‘R. W:’, followed by odd flourish.

[Richard Herne Shepherd, Victorian bibliographer.] Autograph Letter Signed to C. Oscar Gridley, arranging for ?a stroll on the heath?, and enclosing a cutting relating to Froude?s life of Carlyle.

Author: 
Richard Herne Shepherd (1840-1895), Victorian bibliographer [Charles Oscar Gridley (1853-1941), Secretary of the Carlyle Society]
Publication details: 
?5 Bramerton-street, Kings road, / Chelsea, S. W. Oct. 11. 1884?.
£165.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Gridley was the Secretary of the Carlyle Society. He had visited Walt Whitman in America earlier in the year. 2pp, 16mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Addressed to ?C. Oscar Gridley, Esq.? and signed ?R H Shepherd?. ?Weather permitting (which is likely)?, he proposes to call on Gridley on the following day, ?for a stroll on the heath, &c.? He is ?quite well and on my legs again, since last Wednesday?. He ends by stating that he is enclosing a cutting which will interest him.

[Richard Holt Hutton, journalist and theologian.] Two Autograph Letters Signed, from the Spectator office, to Rev. F. Daustini Cremer, justifying a statement made by him about a rumour regarding Sir William Harcourt.

Author: 
Richard Holt Hutton (1826-1897), journalist and theologian, joint-editor of the Spectator and National Review [Rev. Frederic Daustini Cremer (1848-1927) of Hirstpierpoint, Sussex]
Publication details: 
9 and 16 March 1875; both on letterheads of ‘ “The Spectator” Office’, 1 Wellington Street, Strand, London, W.C.
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both letters closely written. Both folded for postage. The letters concern the following statement in the Spectator, 6 February 1875: ‘Rumour says that Sir William Harcourt has ascertained from his friend, Mr. Disraeli, that while he will treat the Marquis of Hartington with all the respect due to the leader of a great party, he could not have accorded that deference to Mr. Forster. If rumour does not speak falsely, we could wish that the meeting of the Reform Club had received that very significant message.’ ONE (9 March 1875): 4pp, 12mo. Fifty-seven lines.

[Richard Wellesley, Marquis Wellesley, Governor-General of Bengal and elder brother of the Duke of Wellington; Ireland.] Autograph Copy of Signed Letter to the Home Secretary Henry Goulburn, recommending 'Mr. Duffy' to the Court of the King's Bench.

Author: 
Richard Wellesley (1760-1842), Marquis Wellesley, Governor-General of Bengal and elder brother of Duke of Wellington [Henry Goulburn (1784-1856), Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary]
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£150.00

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. On gilt-edged wove paper. Aged and discoloured, with some nicking and creasing along edges and traces of previous mount on blank reverse. A copy by Wellesley himself. Addressed at bottom left to ‘Right Honble / Henry Goulburn / &c’. Reads: ‘My Dear Sir / Some time before I left Ireland I transmitted to Lord Duncannon, then holding the Seals of the Home Department, an official recommendation of the appointment of Mr. Duffy to the Office of F[?] of the Court of Kings Bench.

[Richard Cumberland, dramatist.] Autograph Letter Signed to George IV’s mistress the Countess of Jersey, expressing pleasure that she is pleased with his composition, and thanking her for her regret at his loss.

Author: 
Richard Cumberland (1732-1811), dramatist [Frances Villiers [née Twysden], Countess of Jersey (1753-1821), mistress of King George IV]
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£320.00

See his entry, and hers, in the Oxford DNB. From the papers of her relation Lady Theresa Lewis. 2pp, 8vo. On the first leaf of a bifolium, the recto of the second leaf being addressed by him to ‘Countess of Jersey / &c &c &c’. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded for postage. Written in high eighteenth-century style.

[‘you are much too young & handsome to be convenient’: Edward Jerningham, high-society poet and playwright, protégé of Horace Walpole.] Unsigned Autograph Letter, flirting with unnamed male recipient, and giving details of his relation Lady Stafford.

Author: 
Edward Jerningham (1737-1812), high-society poet and playwright, protégé of Horace Walpole on whom Sheridan is said to have based the character of Sir Benjamin Backbite in ‘The School for Scandal’
Publication details: 
1798. No other details.
£280.00

Jerningham’s entry in the Oxford DNB, states that he died unmarried, ‘despite habitual flirtations with young actresses’; the present letter indicates that the members of the other sex were not exempted from his attentions. 2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, on a leaf of laid watermarked paper, folded for postage. Twenty-six lines of text. Dated ‘1798’ at top right, with ‘From Edward Jerningham the Poet’ above it. Unsigned, but in Jerningham's distinctive hand.

[Lord Nuffield [William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield], motor manufacturer and philanthropist.] Typed Letter Signed, thanking the Provost of Oriel College, Oxford [Sir David Ross], for his co-operation with regard to Nuffield's trusts.

Author: 
Lord Nuffield [William Richard Morris, 1st Viscount Nuffield] (1877-1963), motor manufacturer and philanthropist, proprietor of Morris Motors [Sir David Ross [W. D. Ross], Vice-Chancellor of Oxford]
Publication details: 
16 October 1944. On letterhead of Cowley, Oxford.
£60.00

See his entry, and that of Ross, in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. On blue paper. Folded twice for postage. Ross is not named, the letter being addressed to him as ‘The Provost, / Oriel College, / Oxford.’ Bold signature: ‘Nuffield’.

[Lord Hugh Cecil [Hugh Richard Heathcote Gascoyne-Cecil, 1st Baron Quickswood], British Conservative politician.] Typed Letter Signed to ‘Mr. Provost’ [W. D. Ross, Provost of Oriel], sending a memorandum on ‘the recent crisis in Foreign Affairs’.

Author: 
Lord Hugh Cecil [Hugh Richard Heathcote Gascoyne-Cecil (1869-1956), 1st Baron Quickswood], Conservative politician, Provost of Eton [Sir David Ross, Provost of Oriel, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford]
Publication details: 
21 December 1935. On letterhead of Hatfield House, Hatfield, Herts.
£45.00

Cecil, who was the best man at Churchill’s wedding, was regarded as the finest orator of his generation. See his entry, and that of Ross, in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr Provost’ and signed ‘Hugh Cecil’. He apologises for the late reply, but has ‘been ill and until yesterday was strictly confined to my room here’. He has received too many letters to be able to reply to each. ‘I therefore venture to enclose to you a brief Memorandum which I have drawn up dealing with the recent crisis in Foreign Affairs’.

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