THE

One of the great figures in world history. See his entries in Encyclopaedia Britannica and the Oxford DNB. On one side of piece of laid paper rougly 11 cm squarer, with partial watermark ‘J G’. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with traces of mount on blank reverse. Folded twice. Reads: ‘London March 7 1842 / F M The Duke of Wellington presents his Compliments to Miss Busby / Not being resident at Oxford he has no Controul [sic] over any matter relating to the Bodleian Library. / Miss Busby should apply to the Vice Chancellor.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded twice, with spots of discoloration around the creases and slight nick at head of leaf. On monogram (Order of the Bath?) letterhead with motto ‘Tria juncta in uno’. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Townshend’ and signed ‘Clements R Markham’. Acknowledging receipt ‘of a paper by your brother-in-law Mr.

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.

See her entry in Grove. The letter can be dated by the reference to Sir William Mitchell (see Oxford DNB) and the operetta 'The Rival Beauties', which he produced in London and then Plymouth. The letter is on one side of the paper, has been cut down to 11 x 9 cm, and laid down on a piece of card. Aged and worn, with slight loss at top right, affecting one word of text. Thirteen lines of close and neatly-written text, addressed to ‘Dearest Mrs. Sprague’ and signed ‘Yours affectionately, / Erminia Rudersdorff’, with a little of the flourish beneath the signature cut away.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Sixty-one lines of text in Pusey’s distinctive minuscule (and not always easily decipherable) hand. Aged and worn. The item has been repaired after damp damage, with the second leaf laid down on a piece of thick paper. Loss of a few words of text. Pusey begins by stating that his pamphlet ‘God’s Prohibition of the Marriage with a Deceased Wife’s Sister’ (1860), which he believes is out of print, is ‘more readable than the longer book’ (‘Marriage with a Deceased Wife’s Sister’, 1849), of whose ‘very heavy form’ he gives a description.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. The letterhead is both printed and embossed. Addressed to ‘Miss M. G. Hocken, / Meadow Way House Studio, / St. Ives, / Cornwall.’ Signed ‘Ninette de Valois’. Reads: ‘May I suggest you write to the Director of Productions at The Royal Opera House. I do not know what our theatre does with regard to the many requests for such exhibitions - so I would be grateful if you would forward your request to this particular department.’

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, with slight wear at top left-hand corner of second leaf (not affecting text). Biographical details added in small type at head of first page. Addressed to ‘The Honbl Spencer Ponsonby’ and signed ‘Alaric A. Watts.’ Begins: ‘Dear Sir / May I trespass so far upon your kindness as to ask you to place the enclosed letter [not present] to Lord Clarendon. It is on the subject of the London Library of which his Lordship is the President’.

A scarce item. See Somerville's entry in the Oxford DNB, for the controversy, involving Churchill. 8pp, 8vo. With two plates of maps, the first a fold-out extending to the width of three pages. Stapled. In fair condition, on lightly worn and discoloured paper. In the customary double column. Begins, despite the date of the number, 'Wednesday, 5 May 1948 / Action between British and Italian Forces off Cape Spartivento on 27th November 1940. / The following Despatch was submitted to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty on the 18th December, 1940, by Vice-Admiral Sir James F.

Sepia studio portrait on 8.5 x 13.5 cm postcard, stamped on reverse 'MANNELL LONDON'. In good condition, lightly aged. She signs 'Winifred Shotter' at foot. A soft-toned head and shoulders portrait of a wistful Shotter, with Marcel wave, staring at the camera in a fashionable frock. Scan on application.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 10 x 7 cm piece of paper, cut down from letterhead. In good condition, lightly aged, with pin holes at top left. Clearly sent in response to a request for an autograph. Reads: 'Yours very truly / W. W. Jacobs'. See scan

See W. Moister, ‘A History of Wesleyan Missions in all Parts of the World’ (1871). Each item 4pp, 12mo bifolium. All three with engraved illustration on first page, which has a drophead title. The three are worn and discoloured, with loss of text in caption in Item One (see below), and the first two items with cover illustrations crudely hand-coloured. ONE: No. LXXII, June 1838. Mostly consisting of ‘An appeal to the sympathy of the Christian public, on behalf of the cannibal Fejeeans’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Now viewed in a favourable light, Panizzi was a controversial figure in his own time, being dubbed a ‘fat pedant’ by Thomas Carlyle, who was moved to press for the creation of the London Library as a result of the Italian’s high-handed behaviour. On 7 x 4 cm piece of grey paper, presumably cut from an album. No othe writing on the slip other than Panizzi's compact and disciplined signature 'A Panizzi.' In good condition, lightly aged, Strips of sunning at top and right edge, but nowhere near the signature. See scan.

The War of Jenkin’s Ear had ended a few months before, and Daniel A. Baugh, ‘British Naval Administration in the Age of Walpole’ (Princeton, 1965) describes the sorry state into which the Navy Board had fallen at this point. 1p, foolscap 8vo. On recto of the first leaf of a bifolium, the verso of the second leaf being addressed ‘To / Mr Turnpenny / Navy Office’ and docketted ‘Com[missione]rs of Navy to Mr Turnpenny’. In poor condition and urgent need of archival repair. The laid and watermarked paper is flaking away, and part of text, including a couple of the signatures, is lacking.

A black and white publicity photograph on an 11 x 15 cm collotype print. Signed at bottom right: ‘Yours sincere / Mary Ellis / Feb. 1844’. A head and shoulders portrait of a dreamy-looking Ellis in front of netting, staring downwards to her right, with her head cradled in her right hand, which is clasped by her left. In good condition, lightly aged. Scan on application

9 x 14.5 cm glossy publicity photograph. On reverse: “A Gaumont-British Star / Raphael Tuck and Sons’ “Real Photograph” Postcard No. 66”. In fair condition, lightly aged, with a couple of indentations. Inscribed at bottom right: ‘Best Wishes / Jessie Matthews’. A black and white head-and-shoulders shot of a wide-eyed Matthews staring at the viewer over her left shoulder, with short hair, in a white feather hat and white fur coat, against a black background. Scan on application.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 11 x 7 cm panel cut from the cover of the envelope. In good condition, lightly aged, laid down on brown paper cut from album. The intial ‘C’ of the Duke’s name curls under the rest of the signature with a loop, and with end of flourish possibly trimmed in cutting the panel. (Comparison with other examples of the future king’s signature as Duke of Clarence indicate that whatever loss there may be would be minimal.) Laid out in the customary fashion. Reads: ‘Bushy. December twenty third 1827 / Mrs: Skelton / Sandridge Lodge / St: Alban’s / Street’.

Glossy black and white publicity photograph on 8.5 x 13 cm postcard, embossed with studio details at bottom right. ‘MISS DOROTHY WARD’ in white print at foot. Autograph inscription across foot: ‘Best wishes / Dorothy Ward / 1926’. In good condition, lightly aged. A head-and-shoulders image of Ward with right shoulder slightly forwards, looking upwards, with a laurel wreath around her head and frizzy short hair, in pearls and a white sleeveless gown. With stamp and Liverpool postmark on reverse, which is addressed to ‘F. J. Clare / 5 Delamere Grove / Leacombe / Wallasey’. Scan on application

7.5 x 11.5 cm black and white publicity photograph by ‘ “Philco” London W.C.1.’ Expansive genuine signature ‘Gladys Cooper’ across bottom part of image, in addition to facsimile signature in white at bottom right. In good condition, on postcard with border trimmed. Dark sepia-toned image. A head-and-shoulders portrait, with Cooper staring to her right, with short frizzy hair, in fashionable gown. Scan on application

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. Good bold signature ‘Gracie Fields’, underlined and rising upwards. On 11.5 x 9 cm piece of thin light-grey card. In good condition, lightly aged, but with border of discoloration created by tape, a tiny part of which has encroached on the initial ‘G’ of the signature.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 8 x 13 cm collotype print, with 8 x 2 cm space at bottom in which she signs ‘Wendy Hiller.’ In good condition, lightly aged. Black and white, with Hiller’s face in left profile, her body at three-quarters, squinting to her right while wearing what looks like a buttoned-up sou’-wester. Scan on application.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 10 x 12 cm leaf removed from an autograph album. He signs and dates floridly at the foot of the page: 'Austen Chamberlain / 4. 3. 27'. Slits have been cut into the leaf to loosely insert the cigarette card. In poor condition, worn and spotted, with border of discoloration (extending over the end of the signature) caused by tape. The caricature, in colour, by Alick P. F. Ritchie is No. 11 of 50 in the 'Straight Line Caricatures' series of cigarette cards by John Player & Sons.

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.

8.5 x 14 cm glossy publicity photograph on post card. In good condition, lightly aged. Inscribed across the bottom of the image: ‘Souvenirs / Alice Delysia’. A soft-toned head and shoulders image in black and white, of a smiling Delysia, eyebrows plucked, lips made up, and short hair Marcell-waved. See Image.

On 14 x 9 cm plain printed postcard, addressed (by the recipient) to ‘Norman Wetton / 7 Claremont Road / Forest Gate / Essex’. On the plain side of the card she writes: ‘With pleasure here is the sign-manual of your’s [sic] faithfully / John Strange Winter. / (Henrietta. E. V. Stannard.) / Aug 24. 1905 -’.

A scarce item: no copies on WorldCat or JISC, nor at the Caird Library, National Martime Museum (though the latter does have a signed print of one of the illustrations). Twenty-six broadsheet pages, on news stock paper, in shiny paper covers printed in red, blue and brown. Filled with illustrations and topical advertisements for everything from corsetry to bicycles, from a full-page one on the inside front cover for ‘Brickwoods Jubilee Brew / 4d. per Small Bottle in Public Bars’, to one on the back cover reading ‘On Review / United Ales & Stout Are Supreme’.

Four interesting Peninsular War items, from a collection of Beresford material. In 1813 the Duke of Wellington described Beresford as ‘the ablest man I have yet seen in the army’. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The four items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn (but see descriptions of Items One and Three), and folded for postage. ONE: Apparent Autograph Draft of Letter. ‘Abranles July 4. 1809’. 2pp, 4to. On laid Whatman paper. Reverse somewhat grubby with glue stains (from display in an album?) at foot of reverse of leaf.

Two nice ephemeral items. Both now quite scarce: the first (four copies on COPAC) more than the second. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Disbound and stabbed as issued. ONE: ‘No. 592. / The Blind Schoolmistress of Devonshire. / A True and Interesting Story.’ 8pp, 12mo. Slug at foot of p.8 (beneath the RTS’s dove-and-olive-branch device): ‘London: Printed by W. Clowes, Stamford-street, for The Religious Tract Society; and sold at their Depository, 56, Paternoster-row; also by J. and C.

See his entry in the Dictionary of Irish Biography. On 7 x 4 cm piece of paper. In good condition, with slight discoloration. In O’Connell’s distinctive fine-nibbed hand reads: ‘Ever yours, / most sincerely / Daniel O’Connell’. The ‘C’ of ‘O’Connell’ extends downwards, and this flourish is very slightly cropped beneath the usual a loop.

Manby’s entry in the Oxford DNB states that ‘His interests ranged beyond the engineering world, and for many years he was involved in the management of the Adelphi and Haymarket theatres.’ Manuscript copy letter. 2pp, 4to. Thirty-three lines of neat text. Addressed to ‘Frederick Hodgson Esqre. M.P.’ Ends: ‘I am Dear Sir / Your very faithfully / Charles Manby’.On first leaf of bifolium. Reverse of second leaf docketted: ‘Copy C Manby to F Hodgson Esqr / Scarbro - Novr 8. 1841’ (the letter does not contain any reference to Scarborough). In fair condition, creased and lightly aged. Folded once.

A contemporary manuscript note to the present item reveals for the first time the identity of ‘Niger’, one of the two correspondents of whose letters it consists. (And minor manuscript corrections to the last of the four letters would seem to suggest the involvement of the author.) This is Sir James Robert Carmichael (1817-1883), 2nd Bart, who was intimately connected with British Guiana through his father Sir James Carmichael-Smyth (1779-1838).