TAX

On both sides of a 37 x 24 cm piece of paper (i.e. half a 'pinched post' folio leaf), with 1806 fleur-de-lys watermark. Folded twice, to make eight 24 x 9 cm panels (four on each side), in seven of which Perceval has written his notes in a close and neat hand. The eighth panel forms the outside of the folded paper, and on this Perceval has written 'Parliamentary | Miscellaneous'. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn.

Ainsworth's 'Thesaurus' (1752) neatly defines 'The Royal Aid, or subsidy money' as 'tributum quod regi ex plebiscito in sumptus belli, &c. praestatur'. It was a one-off household tax, set by assessors and collected locally. (For further information see M. J. Braddick's 2013 paper 'Resistance to the Royal Aid and Further Supply in Chester, 1664–1672'.) The present two documents are each laid out in identical fashion, the two carrying different assessments for 'Land' and 'Goods' for the same 58 individuals.

The four volumes in this collection, spanning almost sixty years, are filled with a mass of information relating to the day-to-day business of tax assessment and collection in one of the home counties during Queen Victoria's reign. An unusual survival, they are of interest in the fields of economics and local history.All four items complete and clearly legible, on aged and lightly-discoloured paper, in heavily worn bindings (Item One in vellum and Item Two in calf), with two of the four lacking their spines.

On one side of a 22 x 33 cm piece of vellum. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with some pin-holes to margin. Stamp in black ink at head of the 'REV. CAS DU ROY [...] GEN. DE PARIS'. Signed at end: 'Collationné aux originaux par moi Ecer. Coner. Secretaire du Roy maison Couronne de france et de Ses finances/. | Sainson'. Each transcript is eight lines long, the first having been signed by 'Orry' and the second by 'Carreler' (both signatures also transcriptions). The recorded payments were made by Dorel in connection with his office as 'Coner.

2pp., 8vo. In good condition, on a leaf of lightly-aged paper. With circular red stamp of the autograph collector P. Jul. Fontaine. Begins: 'Claude Dejoux sculpteur de L'académie demeure actuellement a paris rue de L'université, palais de Bourbon.' The document, which carries the signature of a witness, consists of an extract, presumably for the tax authorities, beginning 'Certificate de La Section Des Invalides en date du 19. 8bre. 1792 L'an 1er. de La Republique'.

x.135pp., light green paper wraps, chipped and stained, hinges sl. loose,top right corner sl. curled, last gathering just holding, edges uncut, text mainly good. No copy listed on COPAC. WorldCat lists only the eBook (apparently), but Googlebooks uses a copy at the Univeristy of Michigan.

3pp., folio. Bifolium. On aged and worn paper. Docketed on reverse of second leaf and addressed to 'Mr. Robert Park | Writer in | Glasgow', with postmark in red ink. The first page is headed 'Edinburgh within John's Coffee House the fifteenth day of December One thousand Seven hundred and Eighty six Years. | Siderunt of the committee respecting the Attorney Tax Law.' The minutes end at the top half of the third page, and a followed on the lower part of the same page by Sprott's covering note, written by a secretary and signed by him with short autograph postscript.

Neatly written out in a contemporary hand on the verso of a foolscap 8vo leaf of laid paper, with 'T TAYLOR' watermark, torn from the letter book of a financial institution. In very good condition, lightly-aged. The names of the four signatories to the original document are given at the foot. The recto of the leaf carries the transcription, in the same hand, of a letter by 'W: Stiles | Secry', with a list of twelve 'Writs dated 6th: Decr: 1787'.

4pp., foolscap 8vo. Bifolium. The document consists of a long printed text, with blank sections completed in manuscript. It is docketted 'M.5 | Copy for Mr. Falconer | to appear 19/26 June 1810.' In good condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Signed 'Alex Davidson' and dated 28 May 1810, before the witnesses 'John Anderson and John Robertson both Indwellers in Glasgow'. The document begins: 'GEORGE, &c.

2pp., foolscap 8vo. On aged and worn paper, with slight loss to one edge from disbinding. On mourning paper (for King William IV).

Card, c.11 x 7cm, [RECTO] date "Ist Novr 1807" in manuscript as are the figures in acolumn after categorisation as follows: "Redeemed by Annual Million &c [£] 66.968.173 | Do.[corrected in ms. to] on acct of Loans 61.622.815 | Do. by Land Tax 22.942.813 | Do. by £1. pr. Ct. pr. Ann . on Imp. Loan 814.723 | Total £ 152.340.529 | The sum to be expended in the ensuing Quarter is £2.529.224.155. [VERSO] [Manuscript] The Rt Honble Lord Melville". It appears that Melville and, presumably, others, received monthly notice of the size of the National Debt and other figures.

[title continued] ...For Recommending Non-payment of theAssessed Taxes; upon an Ex-officio Information, filed by His Majesty's Attorney-General. Before M.Justice Patteson and a Special Jury. 14pp., 8vo, disbound, foxed, final leaf detached, better than poor and worse than fair. Note: Charles Dickens wrote Parliamentary Reports for the True Sun in his early days. Scarce. COPAC lists copies at the V & A and London, WordCat lists five US copies and one European.

4to, 194 pp. (paginated by Cooper). In original calf half-binding, with marbled boards and endpapers. All texts clear and complete. On aged paper chipped at extremities, and coming away from binding, which has been covered in plastic. With Durrant's armorial bookplate, and signed 'Wm Durrant Cooper' on first page.

On the recto of the first leaf of a folio bifolium (leaf dimensions 42.5 x 27.5 cm). On grey watermarked laid paper. Good, with slight offsetting from the ten red wafers placed beside the signatures. Headed 'LONDON. To the ALDERMEN, DEPUTY, and COMMON-COUNCIL of the Ward of [Queenhithe]'. Fifty-two lines of text, with manuscript additions, including the name of the ward ('Queenhithe') and the sum assessed (£89 15s 6d). At the foot of the page are large, bold signatures of the ten members of the Commission of Lieutenancy, including that of the Lord Mayor, Stuart Knill.

Statesman (see DNB). One page, chipped, small tear, trimmed but text clear and complete. The document, part printed (a form), records that Henry Fox on the 23 Aug.

Manuscript, one page, folio, chipped and other minor defects, text clear and complete. "That on the Eight day of April on ye Seenth . . . . . .