System

A scarce and fragile item: the only copy traced on WorldCat and Jisc is held by the Society Friends (Quakers). Lancaster’s entry in the Oxford DNB, which sums up his achievements: ‘his name was to survive in English educational history as one of the foremost pioneers of mass schooling and effective teacher training in the early industrial era’. The handbill is printed on one side of a 15 x 19.5 cm leaf of thin wove paper. A fragile survival: lightly aged and worn, with a small hole and closed tear, but text clear and entire.

4to, 1 p. Fourteen lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. He has been 'extremely unwell', and is sending '3 bills for the account of Thomsons Chemistry £1100'. 'I trust that you will not be dis-satisfied with this as I can assure you conscientiously that I could not afford to give them shorter.' Reference to Longmans, and to his anxiety, 'as you left the settlement to my own conscience'.

Two pages, 12mo, fold marks, minor defects, good condition. Allow me, My Dear Miss Harriet, to take leave for the present, of My Lord & Lady, & the Bairns, with lowly & grateful Acknowledgments of all their goodness. | If the letter for the Dean be ready, the Bearer will bring it. If not, I can call in the morning early, being unwilling to break in upon you tonight. I go at 9 o'Clock. [...]

2pp, foolscap 8vo. On the rectos of the leaves of a bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. On laid paper with indistinct watermark. The context of the document, with the capitalisation and spelling ('mechanick', 'shou'd', 'Publick', 'tyed down', 'lookt', 'Profitt'), points to a late eighteenth-century origin (certainly before the Speenhamland System and Michael Nolan's 1805 'Treatise of the Laws for the Relief and Settlement of the Poor'). No title or heading. A forthright document, whose rhetorical tone suggests that it was intended for public delivery.

9pp., 4to. On grey laid paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, on nine leaves held together with a pin. He begins by discussing Harington's 'first motion, viz, "that all persons who are in custody for the purpose of detention merely and not in execution of a penal Sentence for an Offence should be subjected to one uniform discipline"'. Other topics discussed include: 'the proposal "That power be given to the Courts to place any person convicted of felony and not sentenced to Hard labor on rules for 1st.

The background to this document is ably explained in an article in the Spectator, 27 December 1834, 'The Spy System: Richmond versus Marshall and Miles', which begins: 'The Court of Exchequer was occupied the whole of Saturday and Monday last with the trial of an action of libel, brought by Alexander Baillie Richmond, the individual for many years known in Scotland by the title of "Richmond the Spy," against Messrs. Simpkin and Marshall, the London publishers of Tait's Edinburgh Magazine.

16pp., 12mo. Disbound without covers. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with reverse of last leaf browned. Separate title-page, with only the following on it: 'SENSATIONAL REVELATIONS! | Life in | ENGLISH | PRISONS. | ONE PENNY.' Drophead title on p.3 with details of 'The Anarchist'. Duncan's article runs from p.4 to p.8, and is titled: 'Life in English Prisons. | The First Night in the Cells.

23pp., 12mo. Stapled. Number 65 in a series. With stamp, shelfmarks and label of the Board of Education Reference Library, otherwise in fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Scarce: no copy at the British Library, or on COPAC.

xii + 56 pp., 12mo. Disbound. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Presentation inscription on half-title: 'W. W. Hull Esq | With the Authors | Respects'. Uncommon: four copies on COPAC (not counting the 'electronic resource' ones).

Both letter and description on the same bifolium. Letter: 1p., 12mo. On recto of first leaf. Description (headed 'Johnian System of Marking'): lengthwise across the verso of the first leaf and recto of the second, and thus making 1p., 8vo. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. Calverley begins by wondering whether he has 'made the Johnian System [...] intelligible' in his description.

12mo, 1 p. 10 lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The recipient 'had better be in Town for the Choral Meeting on the 4th. June'. Gives details of when the recipient will 'generally find' Hullah there.

Printed, in a variety of sans serif point sizes, in red ink on one side of a piece of light-blue paper 26.5 x 21 cm. In fair condition on lightly aged and creased paper; folded twice and a little dog-eared. Evidently previously pinned up: there is slight loss at head and tail where torn away (at the foot this has caused loss to the word 'ANDREW'S' in the printer's slug).

8vo: 4 pp (paginated 3-6). In original light-green printed wraps. Text in English, clear and complete. Good, on aged paper, with slight discoloration to wraps. Blind accession stamp of the British crime writer Jonathan Goodman (1931-2008). The following sentence is deleted in pencil: 'The above instructions have been observed at executions interessed [sic] by one.' A 'plan of the authorized scaffold' is said to be 'attached', but is not present. No copy recorded on COPAC or WorldCat.

Octavo: 28 pp (paginated 203-230). Unbound and stitched. In original orange printed wraps. Fold-out lithographic plate (c.21 x 45 cms, containing figs. 2 to 6) by C. F. Kell of Castle Street, Holborn, and three illustrations in text: fig.1, a 'useful portable silo [...] made by Messrs. Reynolds', fig.7, 'a simple form of silo with Reynolds' pressure', and fig.8, 'a suggested design for a silo'. The aim of the paper is to 'bring before The Surveyors' Institution some recent phases of the sewage question'. Very good, if a tad dusty at head.

4to: 6 pp. Unbound. Leaf dimensions 26 x 19.5 cm. A bifolium, with a third leaf attached. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper. With a few manuscript emendations by Paterson. One page is taken up with a copy of a letter, originally dated from Brockhurst House, Gosport, Hants, 1st May, 1860.', but with a manuscript label reading 'Victoria Lodge | Osborn Road, Fareham | Hants | April 15th. 1868' laid down over the printed text. In the original printed text Paterson offers himself as 'a Candidate for the Appointment as GOVERNOR of H.M.

Anglo-German engineer (1842-1927), who administered 'a portion of the conquered territory for the German Government' following the Franco-Prussian War, and who, following his naturalisation as a British citizen in 1876, 'invented practically the mono-rail, now known as the High Speed Mono-Rail System, and obtained two acts of Parliament for the construction of the Manchester and Liverpool Electric Express Railway in 1901 and 1902' ('Who was Who'). No items by this important figure are present in the British Library Department of Manuscripts.

The Examiners' Office in early C19th England. Winburne has made suggestions for improving the Examiners' Office. Dancer replies with a review of the nature and problems of the Office, the nature of witnesses (unclean, diseased), the place of interview (a prison room, etc.). Dancer describes the onerous nature of the examiner's job, the need for experience, and finally refers to the "most eligible plan" which is in minutes supplied to Winburne.

2 pages, 4to, on the rectos of both leaves of a bifoliate. Folded for self-mailing, and addressed on the verso of the second leaf to 'Mr: F Huth | 1 South Street | Finsbury Square'. This page, which has 'URGENT; - | On Warehousing System' printed on it, also carries two oval postmarks, one of which, in black ink, reads 'TwoPyPost. | Unpaid | Lombard St'. Docketed '1814 | M. L. P. Merac | London 9 March'.