THE

[Offprint.] The Wilde Lecture. V. The Mechanical Principles of Flight. By the Rt. Hon. Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S. Delivered February 13th, 1900.

Author: 
Rt. Hon. Lord Rayleigh [John William Strutt (1842-1919), 3rd Baron Rayleigh, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics] [The Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society]
Publication details: 
Manchester: 36, George Street. 26 April 1900. [Manchester Memoirs, Vol. lxiv. (1899), No. 5; Memoirs and Proceedings of The Manchester Literary & Philosophical Society 1899-1900.]
£95.00

26pp., 12mo. Stitched. In remains of original printed wraps. On aged paper, in chipped wraps, with several leaves loose. An important work in the history of eronautics by one of the great experimental physicists of the nineteenth century. Excessively scarce: no copy of this offprint in the British Library or on COPAC. 'In this lecture Rayleigh discusses the method of calculating the mechanical forces on a plane presented obliquely to a current of air, so far as this can be done. At best, the calculation is very incomplete.

Printed programme of a performance by the First World War British Army 33rd Division Concert Party 'The Shrapnels', titled 'The First attempt at Pantomime in France | To avoid confusion we name it | The Babes in the W (censored)'.

Author: 
'Corporal James Flint, Glasgow Highlanders' ['The Shrapnels' Concert Party of the 33rd Division of the British Army in the First World War]
Publication details: 
Slug: 'Béthune. - Imprimerie H. DAVID.' 'Initial Performance Wednesday 22nd Dec. 1915 and every evening until further notice'.
£80.00

4pp., 4to. Bifolium. Fair, on aged and lightly-creased paper. An excessively scarce piece of First World War ephemera, with the only copy traced at the Imperial War Museum.

Printed circular, in the form of a facsimile letter from A. Fleming Nisbett, Secretary, The London Steam Omnibus Company LImited, designed to accompany 'an advanced copy' of the Company's prospectus, and offering 'a Founder's Share'.

Author: 
[A. Fleming Nisbett, Secretary, The London Steam Omnibus Company Limited [later the Motor Traction Company], 133 Finsbury Pavement, London, EC.]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of The London Steam Omnibus Company Limited, 133 Finsbury Pavement, London, EC. July 1898.
£80.00

2pp., 4to. Bifolium. Heavily-aged and worn. Addressed 'Dear Sir', and with facsimile of signature 'For the London Steam Omnibus Co. Ltd. | A. Flemg Nisbett | Secretary.' The circular begins with the reason for sending an advance copy of the prospectus. 'My object in giving you this early intimation is that you may, if you desire, secure beforehand a Founder's Share in the profits of the coming Steam Traffic upon the Roads - which Traffic appears likely to become one day as popular as Steam on Railways'.

Autograph Letter Signed, in English, from a French interpreter ('M. Daller'?), informing Brig.-General Herbert Cecil Potter of the King's Regiment (Liverpool) that he has been ordered to join 'the Yankee Army'. With two initialled notes by Potter.

Author: 
[Brigadier-General Herbert Cecil Potter (1875-1964), CB, CMG, DSO, of the King's Regiment (Liverpool)]
Publication details: 
No place. 25 September 1917.
£65.00

2pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The letter is written in pencil, and begins: 'Sir, | I am awfully sorry to say that I have just been ordered to report tomorrow to G. H. Q. where I shall very probably receive the order to go to the Yankee Army. | I am really very sorry to leave you without having even been able to present to you my respects and my thanks for the kindness you have always shown to me during the time I have been attached to this brigade which is now exactly a year ago.

Folder, titled 'List Of 213 Celebrities', containing material including a list of names and addresses of supporters of C.A.S.T., the Campaign of Actors for Sunday Theatres, drafts of typed addresses 'by' Noel Coward, original designs for slogans.

Author: 
[Noel Coward; Alec Clunes, Honorary Treasurer, Campaign of Actors for Sunday Theatres (C.A.S.T.); Vivien Leigh]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [London. Circa 1942-1943.]
£320.00

The Campaign of Actors for Sunday Theatres appears to have been active from January 1943 until at least 1944, with the actor Alec Clunes as Honorary Treasurer. The fourteen items in this collection are in good condition, on aged paper, in a beige card folder carrying the title 'LIST OF 213 CELEBRITIES'. [NB. While the first item described below is likely to be, as its title states, the work of Noel Coward, one other item at least in this collection (present in two versions as nos.

Circular letter, in a secretarial hand, on behalf of the Committee of the Eastern Question Association, London, signed and completed by A. R. Dryhurst, and addressed by him to Thomas Redfern, regarding the publication of speeches by W. E. Gladstone.

Author: 
Alfred Robert ('Roy') Dryhurst (1859-1949), Secretary, The Eastern Question Association, King Street, Westminster [Thomas Redfern; William Ewart Gladstone, Liberal Prime Minister]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of The Eastern Question Association (Appointed by the National Conference), Committee Rooms, 27 and 28, Canada Building, King Street, Westminster. 26 May 1877.
£65.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Signed 'A R. Dryhurst'. The document begins: 'I am desired by the Committee to inform you that they have resolved to print the speeches revised by himself, which Mr. Gladstone delivered at the beginning and end of the debate on the Eastern Question.' The terms are then given, 'With the view of securing for them, the widest possible circulation'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Helen F. Martin') from the English actress Helen Faucit Martin, Lady Martin, to Mrs Paget, arranging a visit.

Author: 
Helen Faucit Martin [born Helena Faucit Saville] (1817-1898), Lady Martin, English actress, wife of Sir Theodore Martin (1816-1909)
Publication details: 
31 Onslow Square. 27 May [no year].
£35.00

2pp., 16mo. Bifolium. On monogrammed letterhead. In fair condition, with traces of glue from mount still adhering. She proposes a date for a meeting, adding: 'Will Miss Paget come in the evening & bring a young friend with her if she pleases?'

Autograph Letter Signed ('M. Combe') from Martha Combe, wife of the 'Printer to the University' Thomas Combe of the Oxford University Press, discussing the terms of lodgings with 'Mrs. Capel', with a reference to 'Mr. Hunt' [William Holman Hunt'].

Author: 
Martha Combe (1806-1893), wife of Thomas Combe (1796-1872), 'Printer to the University' at the Oxford University Press [William Holman Hunt (1827-1910), Pre-Raphaelite painter]
Publication details: 
'The University Press' [Oxford]. 19 April 1862.
£95.00

2pp., 12mo. 14 lines. With the address and date on the second leaf of the bifolium, the top part of which is lacking. Fair, on aged paper. Writing to an unnamed male correspondent, Mrs Combe states that if he should arrive during her absence, he will find his lodgings 'at Mrs. Capel 7. St. Giles's, Pastry Cook'. She describes the terms as '£1 a week including attendance, plate, cooking linen, with a gratuity to the servant at the end of the term'. She concludes: 'I hope Mr.

Autograph Letter Signed from the poet Stephen Phillips to 'Mr Greenwood' [the journalist James Greenwood?]

Author: 
Stephen Phillips (1864-1915), English poet, playwright and actor [James Greenwood (c.1835-1927)]
Publication details: 
Woodthorpe Road, Ashford, Middlesex. Undated.
£120.00

2pp., 12mo. Fair, on aged grey paper, with slight chipping at one corner. The letter accompanies a copy of an unnamed play, which Phillips hopes will interest Greenwood. 'I will stand or fall by it. I have learnt so much from your criticism (more indeed than from any one) that I should hope that you might continue possibly that line of such sane and helpful criticism which I have learned to look for from "the onlooker".' He concludes by declaring that there is no one to whom he is sending the book 'with greater pleasure'.

Typed Letter Signed from the Anglo-Jewish novelist Emanuel Litvinoff, thanking Derek Stanford for a review, and discussing the novelist Angus Wilson ('one of the few writers to whom I've written a fan letter') and short story writing.

Author: 
Emanuel Litvinoff (19150-2011), Anglo-Jewish novelist [Derek Stanford (1918-2008), Anglo-Jewish author and critic; Angus Wilson (1913-1991), English novelist]
Publication details: 
36 Byron Court, Mecklenburgh Square, London. 2 July 1973.
£165.00

1p., 4to. He thanks Stanford for sending 'the carbon' of his 'warm review' of Litvinoff's novel ('A Death out of Season'). He missed the article and the note Stanford wrote 'about my autobiographical sequence' in the Scotsman, but is now iinterested to see from the review that Stanford is 'nursing the idea of a 'Forties memoir. Amazingly, few of us have written about the decade. I shall be getting around to it one day also, I hope.

Printed satirical circular 'To the Ratepayers of this Borough', from 'Wm. Buster, Junr.', concerning his supposed election as a Poor Law Guardian.

Author: 
'Wm. Buster, Junr.', pseudonym [English Poor Law Guardians]
Publication details: 
'Dated, May 1, 1851, Castle Villian.'
£95.00

1p., 12mo. In small type. On aged and creased paper. Signed in type: 'Beggar and Flames! | Gentlemen, | If I am not your Bum Bailiffe, [sic] | For any dirty work, | WM. BUSTER, JUNR.' The circumstances surrounding this spoof are unclear. It begins: 'In fact, I feel it a duty devolving upon me, to return you my sincere thanks for the honour you have done me, in electing me one of your Guardians.' The next paragraph concerns 'the slanderous assertion, which certain persons have industriously circulated, detractive of this honour, in fact, that I am the nominee of my own workman'.

Printed programme of of 'A talk by A. W. Brooks Esq. | Assistant General Manager', Westminster Bank Limited, titled 'The Computer - and You', with photographs and fold-out diagram of 'Current a/c Book-Keeping - Computer System'.

Author: 
A. W. Brooks, Assistant General Manager, Westminster Bank Limited [Electronic Methods and Research Department, 41 Lothbury, London, EC2; Lothbury Computer Centre; computers; computing]
Publication details: 
Westminster Bank Limited, Electronic Methods and Research Department, 41 Lothbury, London, EC2. Talk at Central Hall, Westminster; 9 April 1963.
£180.00

An attractive item, printed in black, blue and red on both sides of a piece of 40 x 56cm. paper, folded twice to make a 20 x 28cm. packet. In good condition, lightly-aged with a short tape stain on one edge. Four black and white photographs: two showing a smiling Reginald Maudling, with before/after captions 'At the inauguration of the City Computer Centre, the Chancellor of the Exchequer presses the button and starts the Reader/Sorter . . .' and '. . .

[Printed booklet for children, with illustrations.] The Bunch of Violets.

Author: 
Anonymous [James Burns, 17 Portman Street, Portman Square, London; Levey, Robson, and Franklyn, 46 St Martin's Lane, London]
Publication details: 
London: James Burns, 17 Portman Street, Portman Square. 1840. [Printed by Levey, Robson, and Franklyn, 46 St Martin's Lane, London.]
£250.00

19pp., 32mo. Stitched. In pink printed wraps. Lightly-aged, in worn wraps. The front cover duplicates the only different element being the central vignette. On the rear wrap is a list of twelve children's books, 'Just published, uniform in size with the present', 'The Series to be continued.' Stock engraving at head of first page, showing old man with stick at cottage door, admonishing three children, one of them crying. Final engraving shows man with hat and stick on tired horse, with accompanying dog in foreground and foliage in background.

Manuscript receipt, signed ('Arch Forbes') by the war correspondent Archibald Forbes, for £50 from the London publishers Henry S. King & Co., for the right to publish an edition of 1000 copies of his 'Soldiering and Scribbling'.

Author: 
Archibald Forbes (1838-1900), British war correspondent, born in Scotland [Henry S. King & Co., 65 Cornhill, London publishers]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. 27 June 1872.
£56.00

1p., landscape 12mo. In good condition, on aged paper. Signed by Forbes over a purple one penny Inland Revenue stamp. Reads: '£50 : 0 : 0 | 27th. June 1872. | Received of Messrs: Henry S. King & Co. of 65 Cornhill London, the sum of Fifty Pounds in payment for the right to publish an edition of 1000 copies of "Soldiering and Scribbling" | [signed] Arch Forbes'. The book was published by the firm in the same year as the receipt.

Typescript titled 'The Last Month', signed 'Ernie Wilmott', describing the author's experiences during the last days of World War Two at Gaschwitz POW camp near Leipzig. With covering ALS from J. L. H. Batt ('Jack') and TLS to Batt from Charles

Author: 
Ernie Wilmott [J. L. H. Batt [Jack Lynden Batt] (b.1922), of 155th Battery, 172nd Field Regiment, Royal Artillery]
Publication details: 
Without place and date (1960s?). The account describes events in April and May 1945.
£300.00

13pp., foolscap 8vo. Paginated 1 to 13 and signed at the end 'Ernie Wilmott'. On seven leaves stapled into grey covers, with the title 'The Last Month' typed on the front cover. In good condition, in worn wraps. The account commences: 'There had been gun fire from the west and the south for the last three days. Friday the 13th April 1945 the usual officials did not come to fetch the men, but a little later than usual the Gaschwyz [sic] column was called, so we assembled and left for work, about 20 of us.

Autograph Album of Agnes Rothsay, daughter of Frank Rothsay, Actor-Manager of the Borough Theatre, Stratford, containing signatures, messages and drawings mostly by individuals connected to the stage, many in the company of 'The Prince of Pilser.

Author: 
Frank Rothsay, Actor-Manager of the Borough Theatre, Stratford, and his daughter Agnes Rothsay
Publication details: 
Compiled while the Rothsays lived in West Ham, between 1906 and 1909.
£300.00

Landscape 8vo album with 82pp. on 73 leaves of different coloured paper in original cloth. Aged and loose, in worn binding. The autographs are mainly theatrical, and although lacking any first-rate actors, provide a tantalising glimpse into a lost world. Laid down are signed postcards from.Stella Gastelle, Ethel Ward and Ben Albert ('To Miss Rothsay | Best Wishes from her Dad's Pal Ben').

Autograph Letter Signed from the Scottish genealogist John Stuart to 'Miss Yonge' [the novelist Charlotte M. Yonge], concerning 'a Letter of the Great Marquis [of Montrose] recently brought to light, with reference to the historian Mark Napier.

Author: 
John Stuart (1813-1877), Scottish genealogist [Charlotte M. Yonge (1823-1901), novelist; Mark Napier (1798-1879), Scottish antiquary]
Publication details: 
General Register House, Edinburgh; on embossed letterhyead of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. 31 December 1872.
£56.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Very good.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Louisa Parr') from the Victorian novelist Mrs Louisa Sarah Ann Parr (pseudonym 'Mrs. Olinthus Lobb'), regarding the translation into French by the neice of the unnamed female recipient of her novel 'Dorothy Fox'.

Author: 
Louisa Sarah Ann Parr [née Taylor] (c.1848-1903), Victorian novelist under the pseudonym 'Mrs. Olinthus Lobb'
Publication details: 
18 Upper Phillimore Place, Kensington. 27 July 1872.
£40.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium, with leaf dimensions 18 x 11cm. The letter appears complete, in good condition on lightly-aged paper, but a rectangle of about 5.5 x 11cm. (perhaps carrying the recipient's name) has been torn from the bottom of the second leaf.

Autograph Letter Signed from the London publisher John Murray the sixth ('John Grey Murray') to the diplomat Ernest Frederick Gye ['Dear Ernest Gye'], congratulating him on his posting to Tangier.

Author: 
John Murray the sixth [John Grey Murray; Jock Murray; John Arnaud Robin Grey Murray] (1909-1993), London publisher [Ernest Frederick Gye (1879-1955), diplomat, son of Ernest Gye and Dame Emma Albani]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of John Murray, 50 Albemarle Street, London. 9 January 1933.
£22.00

1p., 4to. Fair, on aged paper. He offers Gye his 'very best wishes' on his 'new appointment', adding: 'of course do not trouble to answer for this deserves none'.

Printed 'Prospectus' for 'a Poetical illustration of the Career of Field Marshall the Duke of Wellington, and his Illustrious Companions', with the autograph signature of 'George Webb De Renzy, Major and Barrack-Master'

Author: 
Major George Webb De Renzy, of the 82nd Regiment, and Barrack-Master, Dundee [The Duke of Wellington]
Publication details: 
Castletown, Isle of Man. 1 January 1847.
£135.00

1p., 4to. Thirteen lines of text, daintily printed in small type. On lightly-aged and creased paper, with a number of short closed tears. Dated in print at the foot 'Castletown, Isle of Man, | 1847.' Beneath this De Renzy has written, in manuscript, '1st January, | [signed] George Webb De Renzy, Major | and Barrack-Master'.

Printed handbill anti-Catholic poem by Mary Frances Tupper of Albury, titled 'The Ritualists, Beware! They are Fooling Thee.'

Author: 
Mary Frances Tupper, daughter of the poet Martin Farquhar Tupper (1810-1889) [the Middle Hill Press of Sir Thomas Phillipps]
Tupper
Publication details: 
Without date or place. [Cheltenham: Middle Hill Press, 1870.]
£50.00
Tupper

On one side of a piece of wove paper, 15.5 x 9.5 cm. In fair condition, on aged paper, with one creased corner and a small nick at the head. The drop-head title is in capitals, with the second line having only the opening quotation marks (before the initial word 'BEWARE'). The poem is 29 lines long, with three seven-line stanzas followed by an eight-line one. At the foot of the poem: 'Albury. Mary Frances Tupper.' The first stanza reads 'The stamp of Rome is on their heart, | Take care! take care! | They play the Jesuits' crafty part, | Beware! beware!

Autograph draft by Thomas George Baring, 1st Earl Northbrook, of a speech delivered by him, as First Lord of the Admiralty at the Lord Mayor's Banquet, Guildhall, 1883.

Author: 
Thomas George Baring (1826-1904), 1st Earl of Northbrook, Liberal politician; Viceroy of India, 1872-1876; First Lord of the Admiralty, 1880-1885
Publication details: 
On embossed Admiralty letterhead. [1883.]
£90.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In pencil. Lightly-aged and worn. In pencil, with deletions and emendations. Docketed in another hand on reverse of second leaf: 'MS. speech delivered at Guildhall Banquet by Lord Northbrook, First Lord of Admiralty - 9th Novr. 1883.' And with the following in the second hand at the head of the first page: 'Lord Northbrook's Speech - Nov. 9. 1883 at Guildhall'. A very short speech, well reported in The Times of 10 November 1883.

Part of corrected autograph draft by Horace Dobell, Consulting Physician, Royal Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, of a preface to a planned abridgment of his book 'On the Mont Dore Cure'.

Author: 
Horace Dobell [Horace Benge Dobell] (c.1827-1917), Consulting Physician, Royal Hospital for Diseases of the Chest, and at the Mont Dore Sanitorium, Bournemouth
Publication details: 
Without date or place, but after the first publication of the book in 1881.
£250.00

4pp., landscape 8vo. On four leaves pinned together. On aged and worn paper. With numerous deletions and emendations. COPAC only lists the first edition of this book, so it may be that the second edition was not published.

Manuscript 'Blue Paper' certificate addressed to George, Earl of Leicester, proposing Edward Wedlake Brayley for election to the Society of Antiquaries of London, signed by Maxwell Garthshore, J. P. Malcolm, Rev. Mark Noble and Samuel Foart Simmon.

Author: 
Maxwell Garthshore; James Peller Malcolm; Rev. Mark Noble; Samuel Foart Simmons, all four Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London [Edward Wedlake Brayley, English topographer]
Publication details: 
[Undated, watermark 1806]
£65.00

1p., foolscap 8vo. On wove paper watermarked 'G R | 1806'. Aged, and with fraying to extremities, with closed tears through three of the signatures, unobtrusively repaired on the reverse with archival tape. Presumably a draft or second copy, as the original must be among the papers of the Society of Antiquaries. The document reads: 'To the Right Hon. George Earl of Leicester, | President of the Society of Antiquaries. | My Lord, | We whose names are hereunto subscribed request leave to signify to your lordship that Edward-Wedlake [sic] Brayley, Esq.

[British anti-German Second World War propaganda pamphlet, printing the transcript of a BBC broadcast.] The Woman from Poland.

Author: 
W. J. Brown [Second World War; occupation of Poland; Polish; Nazi war attrocities; fascism; BBC]
Publication details: 
'10/41 [i.e. printed October 1941] A., P. & S., Ltd.' 'Broadcast in the Home Service of the B.B.C. on Tuesday, 23rd September, 1941.'
£220.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly-aged and creased. Beneath the cover on the front page are four quotations: 'I don't know what astonishes me most about you British - your kindness and your courage, or your blindness.'; 'Not one in ten of you knows what a German victory would mean to you.'; 'Wake up.

[Printed handbill.] Works or Editions of William Carew Hazlitt of the Inner Temple chronologically arranged 1858-1882.

Author: 
William Carew Hazlitt (1834-1913), lawyer, author and book collector, grandson of the essayist William Hazlitt (1778-1830)
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [London, c. 1882.]
£120.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Nicely printed on good paper. A little worn and lightly-aged; folded counts. 42 numbered entries, from '1. British Columbia and Vancouver's Island. Map. 12mo. 1858.' to '43. Bibliographical Collections and Notes. SECOND SERIES. 1876-82. Medium 8vo. 1882. | Uniform with First Series.

Manuscript 'expert's Report of the Malacate Mines' in Mexico by metallurgist Edward Halse, ARSM, MIMM, prepared for Messrs Bourke, Sandys & Co, London, with three Typed Letters Signed from the firm, to R. Hanrott (2), and Hon. M. E. M. Sandys.

Author: 
Edward Halse (d.1935), ARSM, MIMM, metallurgist [The Malacate Syndicate Limited; Malacate Mines, Mexico]
Publication details: 
The three letters all from 7 Austin Friars, London, and all dating from August 1895. Halse's report undated, but slightly earlier.
£280.00

Halse's report, to Messrs Bourke, Sandys & Co., London, is headed 'Malacate'. 16pp., 8vo. Neatly written out, with marginal chapter headings, beginning: 'Situation of Mines', 'Roads', 'Freight Rates', 'Mining Claims', 'Timber and Water', 'History of the Property and Titles'.

Nine manuscript documents relating to the death and estate of Major Anthony Coane, 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot, who died in Kandy, Ceylon [Sri Lanka], in 1819, including an inventory and account, and a covering letter from Lieut. Minter.

Author: 
Major Anthony Coane (d.1819), 73rd (Perthshire) Regiment of Foot [Kandy, Ceylon [Sri Lanka]]
Publication details: 
The nine items all from Kandy, Ceylon [Sri Lanka], and dating from October 1817 to January 1819.
£180.00

The nine items in this collection provide valuable information regarding the management of the estate of a Georgian colonial British army office. Coane's battalion had served in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land between 1812 and 1814, and had been in Ceylon (under Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Giels) since 1814 by the time Coane died on 5 January 1819, his demise much regretted by his superiors. The nine items are on aged and worn paper with chipping to extremities. ONE: Autograph Letter Signed from 'G[eorge]. Minter' to unnamed recipient. Kandy; 29 December 1818. 4pp., 12mo. Bifolium.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Richd. Morris') from the philologist Rev. Richard Morris, Headmaster of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys, to J. T. Baron of Blackburn, giving publication details of two of his works.

Author: 
Rev. Richard Morris (1833-1894), English philologist, Headmaster of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys, 1875-1888
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Royal Masonic Institution for Boys, Wood Green, London. 10 June 1882.
£60.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Very good on lightly-aged paper. In original envelope, with stamp and postmarks, addressed by Morris to Baron at 18 Griffin Street, Witton, Blackburn. Morris begins by giving details of the availability of his 'Etymology of Local Names' and 'Historical Outlines', before informing Baron (a brazen autograph hunter) that he does not know 'Wm. Morris' Address, but a letter addressed to him & sent to his publisher would be forwarded'.

Autograph Letter Signed from 'William Kay', on board 'H.M.S. Tauranga at Sea', to someone (male) to whom he is very affectionate, Louie ("son"??), describing a journey to Australia, with 'a lot of young Blue Jacket Boys on board'.

Author: 
William Kay [HMS Tauranga, Auxiliary Squadron of the Australia Station; Lou Blane; bluejackets]
Publication details: 
'H.M.S. Tauranga at Sea' [undated, but presumably on HMS Tauranga's maiden voyage to Australia, 1890].
£220.00

13pp., 12mo. On three bifoliums and a last single leaf. On aged and worn paper. A semi-literate, but spirited epistle. Little is to be discovered concerning the identity of the writer. Addressed to 'My Darling Son' and signed 'good bye, be good, ever yours and yours alone William Kay', but with a few hints that the letter may not in fact be from a father to his son. Kay begins by stating that he is going to fulfil his promise and write 'a long letter'.

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