TRANSATLANTIC

TSS Transylvania (the prefix stands for ‘Twin Screw Steamship’) was built in Glasgow for the Anchor Line and launched in 1925. She had three funnels, but two were redundant, only serving to render the ship more attractive to prospective passengers. In 1940 she requisitioned by the Royal Navy, and the following year she was torpedoed by the Germans, sinking with the loss of 36 lives. The letter is 13pp, 12mo; with neat single-space typing, on thirteen leaves.

Four items from the papers of Joseph Charles Parkinson (1833-1908), journalist, civil servant and social reformer, contributor to the Daily News, All the Year Round, Temple Bar, and associate of Dickens and Wilkie Collins. The material relates to Parkinson's book 'The Ocean Telegraph to India: A Narrative and a Diary' (1870). The four items are laid down on a leaf removed from an album, with typed explanatory notes at the head of both pages. ONE: ALS (signed 'James Anderson') from Anderson to Parkinson, 24 August 1865. 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium.

59pp., 12mo. Stitched. Front wrap present, with the title printed within an ornate border on yellow paper, and the price given as sixpence. In fair condition, on aged paper, with dog-eared corner and slight loss at foot of the worn front wrap. Two ownership inscriptions: 'David Davies his Book' on the inside wrap, and 'David Davies his Book | 1852 | Tynyfawnay Llanfair | Montgomeryshire'.

Three striking unfamiliar photographs (the last two in particular excellent compositions) of a significant historical event. The three slides are bound in 8 cm glass squares, with none of the glass shattered, and the images themselves in good condition, clear and unfaded. Each mount carries the stamp of the photographers Gibson & Sons. With numbered labels carrying a shelfmark. Each mount titled in manuscript. ONE: ' Schiller" wreck. Lifeboat in which Survivors came ashore'.