R.M.

[For Private Circulation only] Unpublished poem, four pages, 8vo, not bound, sl. water affected ow good condition, fourteen verses on three pages. First verse; You may boast of your spins over Aylesbury Vale; | You may brag of your gallops from Ranksboro' gorse; | Of your Greatwood or Waterloo tell a fine tale; | Of your deeds in the shires you may talk yourselves hoars: | They are well in their way: but we all of us say | There is nothing can equal our Darrigle Day.

Both items 1p., foolscap 8vo. Both in fair condition, on aged paper. ONE: Addressed to: 'John G. Cookman, Esqre. | Tintern, | Arthurstown | Via Waterford.' Acknowledging the receipt of Cookman's letters, with enclosures, 'offering yourself as a Candidate for the Post of [Resident Magistrate]'. TWO: Addressed to 'J. G. Cookman Esq | 112 Pembroke Road | Dublin'.

The black and white photograph is 24 x 19 cm, and is laid down on a 36.5 x 28 cm mount. The photograph is in good condition, on lightly-aged matte paper; the mount is brittle, chipped and discoloured, with closed tears and a detached corner reattached on reverse with archival tape. Facsimile signature in bottom right-hand corner of mount: 'Yours sincerely | R. M. Ballantyne'. On reverse, in contemporary hand: 'R. M. B. about 1893' (although the photograph does not look as if it dates from the year before Ballantyne's death), and at head of reverse, in the same hand: 'R. M.