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Manuscript itemised bill for books from 'Mr. John Nourse to Thomas Longman', with signed receipt by Longman at foot.

Author: 
Thomas Longman (1730–1797), London bookseller and publisher, nephew of the founder of the business Thomas Longman (1699-1755); John Nourse (1705-1780) bookseller at 138 Strand, London
Publication details: 
Nourse's bill is dated from London, for items purchased between 13 February and 5 October 1770. Longman's receipt is dated 4 April 1771.
£120.00

1p., landscape 8vo. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with small spike-hole (not affecting text), and minor traces of previous mount on reverse, which is docketed 'J. Nourse to T. Longman, 1770.' The bill lists five items, from 'Johnsons Dicty 2 V. folio' to 'Sherwin's Tables', with the date of purchase and price, coming to a total of £14 8s 4d. The receipt at the foot of the page reads 'April 4. 1771 Received the Contents - | [signed] Thos Longman'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('T: Cooke') from the Irish actor Thomas Simpson Cooke to the English actor Thomas Potter Cooke, complaining that 'Mr. Chilvers music copyist to the Coburg Theatre' has 'seriously injured' him professionally. With portrait.

Author: 
Thomas Simpson Cooke (1782–1848), Irish singer and composer [Thomas Potter Cooke (1786–1864), English actor]
Publication details: 
2 Leicester Place, Leicester Square; 17 November 1819.
£120.00

4pp., 4to. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed on the reverse of the second leaf to 'T: P: Cooke Esqre | Royal Coburg Theatre', with two postmarks. The two men do not appear to have been related. TSC requests TPC's 'friendly interference to endeavour at getting from Mr.

Autograph synopsis and notes by the dramatist and editor of 'Punch' Tom Taylor of part of Act III of his 1866 play 'A Sister's Penance', written with Augustus W. Dubourg.

Author: 
Tom Taylor (1817-1880), playwright and comic writer, author of 'The Ticket of Leave Man' (1863) and editor of 'Punch [Augustus W. Dubourg]
Publication details: 
On government letterhead; undated [c.1866].
£250.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The first page headed 'Act III', and the whole tightly-written and filled with deletions, interpolations and marginal notes, providing a valuable insight into the creative process of one of Victorian England's most successful dramatists. The last page breaks off: 'Handeside confesses his own desperate attachment. Markham <...>'. 'A Sister's Penance' was a great success, with 83 performances at the Adelphi between 26 November 1866 and 2 March 1867.

Autograph Letter Signed from the dramatist and editor of 'Punch' Tom Taylor, to the actor 'Charles Neville' [Charles Sugden], praising his performance as King WIlliam III in Taylor's play 'Clancarty' and giving advice on 'modulation of the voice'.

Author: 
Tom Taylor (1817-1880), playwright and comic writer, author of 'The Ticket of Leave Man' (1863) and editor of 'Punch' [Charles Sugden ['Charles Neville'] (1850-1921), actor]
Publication details: 
Lavender Sweep, Wandsworth; 18 March 1874.
£150.00

4pp., 12mo. On aged paper, with minor traces of gum from mount. Taylor begins: 'My dear Charles Neville | I was glad to receive your letter, for it showed that the seed I had taken pains to sow had not fallen, as most seed so sown in the theatre does fall, upon an ungrateful soil.

Autograph Letter Signed from the dramatist and editor of 'Punch' Tom Taylor to Francis Mewburn of Darlington, announcing his retirement from the Northern Circuit, and describing his appointment as Assistant Secretary of the Board of Health.

Author: 
Tom Taylor (1817-1880), playwright and comic writer, author of 'The Ticket of Leave Man' (1863) and editor of 'Punch' [Francis Mewburn (c.1785-1867) of Larch Field, Darlington, 'railway solicitor']
Publication details: 
near Thirsk; 23 March [1850].
£80.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on aged paper, with remains of stub along one edge. Written in a difficult hand. Taylor begins: 'Dear Mr Mewburn, I shall not be at Sessions [as a barrister on the northern circuit] any more. I have just accepted an appointment as legal Assistant Secretary to the Board of Health, and I enter on the duties of the place on Monday. The salary is £500 per: an: to begin with, with the prospect of increase.

Autograph Letter Signed from the American cook Juliet Corson to 'Miss Booth' [Mary Louise Booth, editor of Harper's Bazaar], discussing the arrangements for the writing of a book ['Every-Day Cookery, Table Talk, and Hints for the Laundry', 1884].

Author: 
Juliet Corson (1841-1897), American writer of cookery books, Superintendent of the New York Cooking School (founded by her in 1874) [Mary Louise Booth (1831-1889), first editor of Harper's Bazaar]
Publication details: 
Continental Hotel, New York; 6 September 1883.
£280.00

2pp., 12mo. Good, on aged paper, neatly placed in a thin windowpane mount. After acknowledging receipt of $90, Corson announces that the previous week she 'had a letter from the House accepting my book.' She has received no answer to her letter asking for 'some information', and asks Booth to 'be my mediator again'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Mary H. Catherwood') from the novelist Mary Hartwell Catherwood to her publisher Charles F. Chichester of the Century Company, requesting correction of statement 'according to "White Islander" contract'. With two portraits.

Author: 
Mary Hartwell Catherwood (1847-1902), American author of historical romances, mostly set in set in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois [Charles F. Chichester, Treasurer of the Century Company, New York]
Publication details: 
Without date or place, but answered by Chichester on 1 January [1883].
£120.00

1p., 12mo. Very good, within thin paper windowpane mount. She writes 'Dear Mr. Chichester:- | I return statement. Please have it corrected according to "White Islander" contract, and send me the check early in February. And I shall be obliged.' Docketed by Chichester 'Ansd. 1. 30' and 'Corrected State. sent | Sent Ck $186.66'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('D Green') from Duff Green, editor of the 'United States Telegraph', to the Hon. David Henshaw of Boston.

Author: 
Duff Green (1791-1875), American soldier, author and journalist, editor of the United States Telegraph [David Henshaw (1791-1852), United States Secretary of the Navy]
Publication details: 
Washington; 29 April 1829.
£150.00

1p., folio. Nineteen lines of text. Text of letter on the recto of first leaf of bifolium, with address on verso of second, with red postmark. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Green writes that Roberts is in Washington, but that although 'great exertions have been made for him' he does not believe he will be appointed. He refers to 'late developements [sic] in the 4th Auditors Office'. He asks if he can get his 'note renewed'; he finds himself 'hard pressed to make the arrangements for the next winter - buildg &c is expensive & I have much to bring up'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('E. L. Blanchard') from the dramatist Edward Litt Laman Blanchard to Frederick Burgess.

Author: 
E. L. Blanchard [Edward Litt Laman Blanchard] (1820-1889), English dramatist [Drury Lane; pantomime]
Publication details: 
6 Adelphi Terrace, Strand, WC [London]; 26 July 1878.
£80.00

3pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Blanchard and his wife 'very seldom go out of a Sunday but should the weather be at all favourable' they will 'make a vigorous effort to avail ourselves of the strong temptation you have so kindly thrown in our way'. They will be 'quite content with an afternoon ramble in your beautiful garden and a chat with dear Mrs. Keeley'. He is sending 'impromptu lines written by my father nearly a Century ago' (not present) that he believes ought to be in Burgess's possession 'as a double ancestral inheritance'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('F. R. Hassler') from the surveyor Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, head of the United States Coast Survey, to Hon. John C. Spencer, Secretary of the US Treasury, regarding 'the plan of Operation for the Coast Survey'.

Author: 
Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler (1770-1843), Swiss-born American surveyor, head of the United States Coast Survey and the Bureau of Weights and Measures [John Canfield Spencer (1788-1855), politician]
Publication details: 
Washington City; 28 May 1843.
£145.00

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Hassler begins: 'The peculiar position in which I am, will plead my excuse for addressing you the enclosed papers, and the cold which I have, for not coming personally in the present bad weather, as I intended, and shall do soon as admissible.' He asks Spencer to visit 'this Office before Your ultimate decision upon the plan of Operation for the Coast Survey'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('G R Gleig') from George Robert Gleig, Chaplain of Chelsea Hospital, to the editor of the Literary Gazette William Jerdan'. With portrait.

Author: 
George Robert Gleig (1796-1888), Scottish soldier and author, Chaplain to the Chelsea Hospital, Chaplain-General of the Forces, Inspector-General of Military Schools [William Jerdan (1782-1869)]
Publication details: 
Place not stated; 'Tuesday evng' [postmarked 21 February 1827]
£56.00

3pp., 12mo. A bifolium, with the reverse of the second leaf addressed by Gleig to Jerdan at Grove House, Brompton, and carrying a red postmark and Gleig's seal in black wax. Gleig cannot accept Jerdan's offer of 'admissions for the opera' himself, 'but some most particular friends' of his have 'just come to town', and if he were to 'transfer' his 'kindness' to them, Gleig would be obliged. He gives alternative dates, and an address for the tickets to be sent to.

Autograph Letter Signed from the abolitionist Hinton Rowan Helper to John Cook Rives, editor of the Congressional Globe.

Author: 
Hinton Rowan Helper (1829-1909), racist and abolitionist, United States Consul at Buenos Aires, 1861-1866, author of 'The Impending Crisis of the South' (1857) [John Cook Rives (1795-1864), editor]
Publication details: 
43 Pine Street, New York; 22 February 1860.
£120.00

1p., landscape 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Helper asks Rives to send, with 'back numbers, from the commencement of the present Session [...] the Congressional Globe (and Appendix) for the thirty-sixth Congress'. He discusses payment and method of delivery.

Typed Letter Signed ('James Bryce') from the historian and Liberal politician James Bryce, Viscount Bryce, to E. Byrne Hackett of Yale University Press, discussing the American Booksellers Association banquet.

Author: 
James Bryce (1838-1922), Viscount Bryce, jurist, historian and Liberal politician [Edmond Byrne Hackett (1879-1953), Director of Yale University Press; American Booksellers Association]
Publication details: 
The British Embassy, Washington; 14 April 1911.
£90.00

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Bryce writes that he has not forgotten Hackett's 'invitation to the American Booksellers Association's banquet' in New York, but that it is unlikely that he will be able to attend 'seems to be extremely small, so that I must ask you not to announce me as being present.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Jn B Buckstone') from the actor John Baldwin Buckstone [to the playwright Thomas John Dibdin] regarding a meeting 'of all the dramatic authors' to make arrangements following 'the new act' [Bulwer Lytton's copyright reforms.

Author: 
John Baldwin Buckstone (1802-1879), actor, playwright, and manager of the Haymarket Theatre [Thomas John Dibdin (1771-1841), playwright and actor]
Publication details: 
29 Walcot Place, Kennington; 14 June 1833.
£220.00

1p., 4to. 15 lines. On aged and worn paper. The letter reads 'Dear Sir/ | A general meeting of all the Dramatic Authors will take place at the Garricks head in Bow Street on Monday nexxt at One o'Clock.

Manuscript reminder from the Lord Chamberlain [Marquess of Breadalbane] to the Manager of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden [Frederick Gye the younger], that 15 November 1849 is a Public Day of Thanksgiving, to be 'reverently and devoutly observed'.

Author: 
John Campbell (1796-1862), 2nd Marquess of Breadalbane, Lord Chamberlain from 1848 to 1852) [Frederick Gye (1810-1878), manager of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden [now the Royal Opera House]
Publication details: 
Lord Chambelain's Office [London]; 10 November 1849.
£180.00

1p., folio. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with slight staining to blank reverse. Fairly written out on a piece of Britannia laid paper. 'Lord Chamberlain's Office | 10th. November 1849. | The Lord Chamberlain thinks it right to draw the attention of the Manager of the Theatre Royal Covent Garden to The Queen's Proclamation of the 6th. Instant, in which Her Majesty, for the Reasons therein stated, earnestly exhorts that the Public Day of Thanksgiving, the 15th. Instant be reverently and devoutly observed'.

Typed Letter Signed from the American historian Albert J. Beveridge to Charles Gallup. With a transcript, in another hand, of a passage from Beveridge's article 'Pitfalls of a "League of Nations" (North American Review, 1882), signed by Beveridge.

Author: 
Albert J. Beveridge [Albert Jeremiah Beveridge] (1862-1927), American historian and United States Senator from Indiana [Charles Gallup; Chief Justice John Marshall; the League of Nations]
Publication details: 
Letter on letterhead of Beverly Farms, Massachusetts; 10 October 1919. Transcript made around the same time.
£350.00

Both items neatly tipped-in onto a leaf from an album. Both in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The letter is 1p., 8vo. Beveridge begins by explaining that he is late answering Gallup's letter because he has been 'working so hard for many months to finish the last two volumes of my "Life of John Marshall" that I have been forced to neglect all correspondence'. He is enclosing 'the quotation, autographed as requested'. He is glad Gallup liked the article, and 'flattered by your too partial words'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Alexr Chalmers') from the biographer Alexander Chalmers to James Perry, commenting humorously on an attack of gout.

Author: 
Alexander Chalmers (1759-1834), Scottish biographer and editor [James Perry (1756-1821), proprietor and editor of the 'Morning Chronicle']
Publication details: 
Throgmorton Street, London; 26 March 1821.
£80.00

1p., 12mo. Bifolium. Seventeen lines, closely written. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with thin strip of stub adhering to margin. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'J. Perry Esqre | Tavistock Square'. He will dine with Perry with pleasure, 'after a five weeks confinement with the Gout, a disorder of which I never before had any personal acquaintance, but which, I suppose, I must, in some unguarded moment, have treated with contempt.

Two Autograph drafts of a long poem by Arthur Benoni Evans (later Professor of Classics and History at Sandhurst), titled 'Lines [Verses] on the Death of the Princess Charlotte'. Both with corrections and emendations, and one signed 'A. B. Evans'.

Author: 
Arthur Benoni Evans (1781-1854), Professor of Classics and History in the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and headmaster of the free grammar school at Market Bosworth, Leicestershire
Publication details: 
Neither with date and place [one draft on paper watermarked 1816, and the other on paper watermarked 1818].
£200.00

Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of the Prince Regent, died in 1817 at the age of 21. Many poems of mourning were published, but whether Evans's was among them is uncertain. Both drafts are in good condition, on aged paper; the first with short closed tears to the spine. DRAFT ONE (the earlier?): Title: 'Verse on the Death of the Princess Charlotte', altered from 'Threnodia Augustalis, Odes on the Death of the Princess Charlotte'.

The autograph signatures of the English actor Charles Kean and his wife Ellen Kean [nee Tree].

Author: 
Charles Kean [Charles John Kean] (1811-1868), Irish-born actor and manager of the Princess's Theatre, Oxford Street, London; his wife Ellen Kean [born Eleanora Tree] (1805-1880)
Publication details: 
Place not stated; 25 June 1852.
£80.00

On one side of a piece of laid paper, approximately 11.5 cm square. Minor traces of glue to corners on the reverse. Good, firm signatures, provided for an autograph hunter. The husband signs first: 'Charles Kean | Friday | 25 June 1852'. Beneath this is the wife's signature: 'Ellen Kean'.

Autograph Letter Signed from the actor Charles Kean, informing an unnamed correspondent that it is not his intention 'to close the Princess's Theatre during any portion of Lent'.

Author: 
Charles Kean [Charles John Kean] (1811-1868), Irish-born actor-manager, best remembered for his Shakespeare revivals at the Princess's Theatre, Oxford Street, London, son of Edmund Kean (1789-1833)
Publication details: 
Place not stated; 1 February 1852.
£90.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with negligible glue from previous mounting to the corners of the blank reverse. The letter reads: 'Sir, In reply to your note, I write to say that as it is not my intention to close the Princess's Theatre during any portion of Lent, it will not be in my power to avail myself of your offer.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('C: M: Young') from the actor Charles Mayne Young to his rival William Charles Macready, recommending an actor named Simpson for a position at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and wishing Macready success as manager there.

Author: 
Charles Mayne Young (1777-1856), actor [William Charles Macready (1793-1873); Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]
Publication details: 
Ashbourne Hall, Ashbourne, Derbyshire; 16 November 1841.
£220.00

3pp., 12mo. 37 lines. Fair, on worn and discoloured paper. An interesting letter, casting light on the relationship between two great actors who, according to the Oxford DNB, 'disliked but respected each other'. Macready is not named, but Young ends by sending his 'Kind Comts to Mrs Macready'. Macready had taken over at Drury Lane on 4 October 1841, but the season would not begin until 27 December. The letter begins 'My dear Sir!

Autograph Letter Signed ('Cs. Redding') by Cyrus Redding, expressing regret at not being able to assist William Shoberl, son of the journalist Frederic Shoberl, and bewailing the state of English publishing, and of his own affairs.

Author: 
Cyrus Redding (1785-1870), journalist and author, editor, Galignani's Messenger, and working editor, New Monthly Magazine [William Shoberl, son of Frederic Shoberl [Schoberl] (1775-1853), journalist]
Publication details: 
"Hill Road, | Thursday'. [No date, but on paper watermarked 1855.]
£80.00

3pp., 12mo. 55 lines, neatly and closely written. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed to 'Mr W. Shoberl.' An excellent letter, giving an experienced and knowledgable view of the state of the mid-Victorian British booktrade. Redding begins by stating that he is 'indeed concerned to hear the statement' Shoberl has communicated to him. He wishes it was in his power to forward Shoberl's wishes.

Part of the corrected autograph draft manuscript of Timothy Pitkin's 'Statistical View of the Commerce of the United States of America' (1816), relating to the renewal of the charter of the Bank of North America at Washington.

Author: 
Timothy Pitkin (1766-1847), American Yale-educated lawyer, politician, historian and statistician [Bank of North America, Washington (now merged with Wells Fargo)]
Timothy Pitkin
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated, but written before the book's publication in 1816.
£550.00
Timothy Pitkin

2pp., on one side each of two 4to leaves headed '14' and '15'. 53 lines of text (25 lines to the first leaf and 28 lines to the second), with deletions and emendations. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with negligible cut to margin of second leaf (not affecting text). Neatly tipped-in to nineteenth-century grey paper wallet.

French nineteenth-century handbill poem by 'L. N.' on the game of whist, titled 'Le Whist.'

Author: 
'L. N.' [French nineteenth-century handbill poem on the game of whist]
Handbill poem by 'L. N.' on the game of whist
Publication details: 
Date of publication and name of printer not stated [1840s Paris?].
£350.00
Handbill poem by 'L. N.' on the game of whist

2 pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium of wove paper. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. Signed 'L. N.' in type at end. A 114-line poem, in rhyming alexandrine couplets, beginning 'Messieurs, au jeu du whist adoptez constamment | L'air grave britannique et le flegme allemand.

Anonymous French nineteenth-century handbill poem, containing precepts on the game of chess, entitled 'Le Jeu d'Échecs.'

Author: 
'Le Jeu d'Échecs' [anonymous French nineteenth-century handbill poem on the game of chess]
Handbill poem, containing precepts on the game of chess
Publication details: 
Date of publication and name of printer not stated [1840s Paris?].
£650.00
Handbill poem, containing precepts on the game of chess

4 pp, 16mo. Paginated [1] to 4. On a bifolium of wove paper. Fair, on lightly-aged and creased paper, with thin strip of previous mount adhering to inner margin of first page.

Autograph Letter Signed ('F Greville') from the diarist Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville to an unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville (1794–1865), Clerk to the Privy Council, and political diarist
Publication details: 
'Grosv[eno]r Place | Saturday [no date]'.
£56.00

1 p, 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, and still tipped-in onto leaf removed from album. Arranging a time at which to call on him. According to the Oxford DNB Greville moved from Grosvenor Place to Lord Granville's house in Bruton Street in 1849.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm. Melmoth') from the writer William Melmoth the Younger to the attorney Joseph Sharpe

Author: 
William Melmoth the Younger (c.1710-1799), translator of Pliny and Cicero, and author of 'Fitzosborne's Letters' (1748, 1749)
Publication details: 
Bath; 15 January 1767.
£180.00

1 p, 4to. Nine lines, in a neat and close hand. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, and still tipped-in onto a leaf from an autograph album. Addressed, with two postmarks, on reverse of second leaf of bifolium, to 'Mr. Jos. Sharpe, | at his chambers in | Lincolns Inn | London'. He wrote to Sharpe five weeks previously, sending a lease for his perusal, 'and likewise to authorise you to deliver up my sister's plate upon Mr. Argile paying you ye. <?> I agreed to take.' If the latter matter is still unsettled, he instructs Sharpe to apply to Argile's attorney 'to settle it forthwith'.

Autograph Manuscript of the American actor and poet John Howard Payne, either an original poem or a translation, entitled 'Ode the Sixteenth. | The Herb Rue'.

Author: 
John Howard Payne (1791-1852), American actor and playwright, best-known for his song 'Home, Sweet Home'
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£165.00

2 pp, 4to. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with slight wear to extremities. On one leaf, with both sides ruled with red borders. In Payne's neat and distinctive hand, and attributed to him in pencil at head.

Autograph Signature of John Hunter, LLD, Professor of Humanity at the University of St Andrews, with accompanying note by Rev. Thomas Dick.

Author: 
John Hunter (1745-1837), Professor of Humanity, University of St Andrews, Fife, and classical scholar [Rev. Thomas Dick (1774-1857), writer on science]
Publication details: 
[February 1834]; St Andrews, Fife.
£56.00

On one side of piece of paper approximately 18 x 8.5 cm. Neatly placed in a windowpane mount of laid paper, 25 x 20 cm. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Written in a clear, firm hand: 'John Hunter LL.D. | Profr. of Humanity | St. Andrews. | Fife.' Beneath this, along the foot of the page, in a small hand (identified in note on mount as 'The writing of Dr Dick, author of "The Christian Philosopher &c'): 'Dr Hunter is about 90 years of age, and still retains his bodily & mental vigour | This Autograph was written in Feby. 1834. T. D.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('Josh: Green, Junr:') from the Boston poet Joseph Green, giving instructions regarding an 'Adventure' to his agents in Bermuda 'Mr: John Stevens & Mr: John Phillips Junr.'

Author: 
Joseph Green (1706-1780), Harvard-educated Boston merchant, poet and British Tory loyalist, friend of Mather Byles, and owner of one of the largest libraries in the city
Publication details: 
10 February 1759; Boston.
£280.00

2 pp, folio. Bifolium. A frail survival, on brittle, aged paper: a horizontal closed tear across the head and other damage has been obtrusively repaired with archival tape.

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