VICTORIAN

[The Cambridge Apostles, 1871.] Autograph Letter Signed from Frederic Ferrar, proprietor of the Star and Garter, Richmond, to Tom Taylor regarding arrangements for a dinner of the ‘Cambridge Conversazione Soc[iet]y’ [Apostles].

Author: 
The Cambridge Apostles, 1871; the Cambridge Conversazione Society; Frederic Ferrar, proprietor of the Star and Garter, Richmond; Tom Taylor (1817-1880), playwright and comic writer
Publication details: 
11 June 1871. On letterhead of the Star and Garter, Richmond Hill.
£200.00

A nice item relating to a famously secretive and influential society. See Taylor’s entry in the Oxford DNB (Ferrar is not to be confused with the Dean of Canterbury Frederic Farrar, who was an Apostle). 2pp, 12mo. On bifolium. Sixteen lines, very neatly written. On aged and creased paper, with part of the leaf torn away at top left (not affecting text). Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘Tom Taylor Esqre. / 8 Richmond Terrace / Whitehall / S.W.’ and signed ‘Fredc: Ferrar. / Genl.

[Lord Bryce (James Bryce), Liberal politician, jurist and British Ambassador to United States.] Autograph Letter Signed to William Sheowring declining to address tye South Place Ethical Society.

Author: 
Lord Bryce [James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce] (1838-1922), Ulster-born Liberal politician, jurist, British Ambassador to United States [The South Place Ethical Society, London; Conway Hall]
Publication details: 
9 August 1898. On embossed letterhead of the House of Commons.
£40.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Signed ‘James Bryce’. Addressed to ‘W. S[?]ing Esq.’, presumably the secretary of the South Place Ethical Society. His ‘time is already so fully occupied with public & private work & engagements of many kinds’ that he ‘cannot hope to comply’ with the recipient’s request that he ‘should give an address for the South Place Ethical Society’.

[John Morley, Viscount Morley of Blackburn, Liberal politician and writer.] Two Autograph Letters Signed and an Autograph Note Signed to Lady Ilbert, wife of Sir Courtney Ilbert, Clerk of the Commons, regarding dinner arrangements.

Author: 
John Morley (1838-1923), Viscount Morley of Blackburn, Liberal politician and writer [Lady Jessie Ilbert [née Bradley] (1850-1924), wife of Sir Courtenay Ilbert (1841-1924), Clerk of the Commons
Publication details: 
ALS ONE: 19 December 1910; on embossed letterhead of United Service Club, Pall Mall. ALS TWO: 2 July 1911; on letterhead of Flowermead, Wimbledon Park, S.W. ANS: 5 July 1911; on letterhead of the Privy Council Office, Whitehall, S.W.
£60.00

See his entry, and that of Lady Ilbert’s husband, in the Oxford DNB. The three items in good condition, lightly aged, and folded for postage. ALS ONE (19 December 1910): 1p, 12mo. ‘I am sorry you have had domestic anxieties. They are the most poignant.’ He continues: ‘It would delight me to have a peaceful hour with you and Ilbert, without prejudice to Fisher and his wife.’ Signed ‘M.’ ALS TWO (2 July 1911): 2pp, 12mo.

[Ebenezer Prout, composer, musicologist, music critic of the Athenaeum.] Autograph Letter Signed explaining his inability to get the piece 'Christophorus' performed.

Author: 
Ebenezer Prout (1835-1909), composer, musicologist, music critic of the Athenaeum, London
Publication details: 
‘12 Greenwood Road, / Dalston. E. [London] / 4 Sept. 1885.’
£100.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Forty-nine lines. Bifolium. On aged and worn paper, with the reverse of the second leaf laid down on cut-down remains of leaf of autograph album, with a number of autographs on slips laid down on the reverse, including that of Charles Hallé, cut from a letter. Prout’s letter is signed ‘Ebenezer Prout’, but the recipient is not named.

[Charlotte M. Yonge, Victorian novelist.] Autograph Letter Signed discussing arrangements regarding proofs over Christmas.

Author: 
Charlotte M. Yonge [ Charlotte Mary Yonge; C. M. Yonge ] (1823-1901), English novelist associated with the Oxford Movement
Publication details: 
9 December 1893. 'M. U | Elderfield' [Otterbourne, Hampshire].
£56.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On grey paper. In fair condition, with blocks of discoloration. Addressed to 'Dear Madam' and signed ' M Yonge'. She cannot tell her 'how late the final proof must be, as it depends on the printers, and the Christmas week so disturbs arrangements that they generally wish to have all finished earlier than usual'. She suggests sending he a card 'when the proofs come in to me', as there will be a few days to spare, 'while the other ladies are correcting them'.

[‘Hesba Stretton’ (Sarah Smith), evangelical novelist and writer of children’s books.] Autograph Letter Signed [to the Secretary of the Religious Truth Society] regarding a manuscript she has titled ‘From Bethlehem to Olivet’.

Author: 
‘Hesba Stretton’, pseudonym of Sarah Smith (1832-1911), evangelical novelist and writer of children’s books [Religious Truth Society, London]
Publication details: 
‘70 Lansdowne Road. W. [London] / Jan 30. 1884’.
£45.00

See her entry in the Oxford DNB, and Elaine Lomax’s 2016 book, ‘The Writings of Hesba Stretton: Reclaiming the Outcast’. 1p, 16mo. Cut down to 11.5 x 12 cm. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded once for postage. The recipient is not named, but is clearly the secretary of the Religious Truth Society (who appear to have published the MS referred to in the letter as ‘The Sweet Story of Old’ (see Lomax). Signed ‘Hesba Stretton’. ‘Dear Sir, / I forward by this post my promised M.

[A. J. Balfour [Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl Balfour], Conservative Prime Minister.] Autograph Signature on part of typed letter.

Author: 
A. J. Balfour [Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl Balfour] (1848-1930), Conservative Prime Minister who as Foreign Secretary issued the 1917 Balfour Declaration
Balfour
Publication details: 
No date or place.
£30.00
Balfour

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 11.5 x 5 cm slip of paper cut from a letter. In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of previous mount adhering to the blank reverse. Good firm large signature reading 'Arthur James Balfour'. Above this the typed words 'Yours faithfully,'. No other writing. See Image.

[Algernon Ashton, composer, Professor of Piano at the Royal College of Music.] Autograph Letter Signed, asking W. H. Cummings to consider him if a vacancy for a professorship should occur at the Guildhall School of Music.

Author: 
Algernon Ashton [Algernon Bennet Langton Ashton] (1859-1937), English composer, Professor of Piano, Royal College of Music [William Hayman Cummings (1831-1915), Principal, Guildhall School of Music]
Publication details: 
‘London, September 22nd., 1896. / 44, Hamilton Gardens. / St. John’s Wood. / N. W. [London]’
£50.00

1p, 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly-aged and worn paper. Folded once for postage. Addressed to ‘Mr. Cummings’ and with large bold signature ‘Algernon Ashton.’ He writes: ‘I venture to express a hope that whenever there should be a vacancy for a Pianoforte Professorship at the Guildhall School of Music, of which you are now the honoured Principal, that you may kindly think of me.’

[Michael McCartan, Irish nationalist MP in the British Parliament.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Miss Burgess', looking forward to the freedom of Ireland, and attacking 'Toryism' in Norwich.

Author: 
Michael McCartan (1851-1902), Irish nationalist, MP with the Irish Parliamentary Party in the British Parliament, anti-Parnellite
Publication details: 
23 August 1889. 5 Hopefield Terrace, Belfast [Ulster].
£120.00

3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Forty-eight lines of text. Addressed to 'Miss Burgess[,] Norwich' and with smudged signature 'Michael McCartan'.

[Fanny Parnell [Frances Isabel Parnell], sister of the Irish nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell.] Contemporary manuscript copy of her poem ?Post Mortem? (?Shall mine eyes behold thy glory, O my country??).

Author: 
Fanny Parnell [Frances Isabel Parnell] (1848-1882), sister of the Irish nationalist leader Charles Stewart Parnell
Publication details: 
Undated, but on paper with watermark ?J Dollard / IRISH MANUFACTURE?, hence late Victorian or Edwardian, as Dollard was a printer and stationer in Dublin during that period. (Dating supported by provenance.)
Upon request

See her entry and her brother?s in the Oxford DNB. The item is from the collection of Irish nationalist autographs assembled by Miss Burgess of Norfolk in the 1890s, who has endorsed one leaf in her distinctive hand ? ?Post Mortem? / By Fanny Parnell?. Undated. 3pp, 4to. On two leaves of paper with Dollard watermark. Poem of twenty-eight lines, in seven stanzas, titled ?Post Mortem?. From a comparison with a letter in the National Library of Ireland certainly not in Fanny Parnell?s hand. A fair copy, with one mistake (corrected) confirming transcription: ?loveliness? for ?loneliness?.

[Parnell's 'bodyguard and aide-de-camp': Henry Harrison MP MC, member of the Irish Parliamentary Party.] Autograph Letter Signed, written within months of the death of Charles Stewart Parnell, on behalf of his widow Katharine ('Kitty O'Shea').

Author: 
Henry Harrison (1867-1954), close confidant of Charles Stewart Parnell and his wife Katharine (?Kitty O?Shea?), Irish Parliamentary Party MP in British House of Commons, decorated British Army captain
Publication details: 
19 December 1891; 10 Walsingham Terrace, West Brighton.
£100.00

Parnell had died around ten weeks before, on 6 October 1891. See Harrison's entry in the Oxford DNB: 'After the party broke in two in December 1890, Harrison campaigned with his chief in Ireland, constituting himself a bodyguard and aide-de-camp. After Parnell's death in October 1891 Harrison, young though he was, hastened to Brighton to put his services at the disposal of Parnell's widow. It was then that he heard from her a very different account of the circumstances surrounding her divorce from that given in court.

[?One in name, one in fame / Are the Sea-divided Gaels.?: Alexander Martin Sullivan, Irish nationalist politician and author.] Autograph Signature with poetic quotation.

Author: 
Alexander Martin Sullivan (1829-1884), Irish nationalist politician and author, member of the British parliament, younger brother of Timothy Daniel Sullivan
Publication details: 
?St Patricks Day / 1884?.
£100.00

See his entry, and that of his elder brother, in the Oxford DNB. From the collection of Irish nationalist autographs of Miss Burgess of Norwich. On 16.5 x 7.5 cm piece of paper, cut down from a larger document. In fair condition, lightly aged and spotted. Folded three times. Written in a large bold hand: ? ?One in name, one in fame / Are the Sea-divided Gaels.? / A. M. Sullivan / St Patricks Day / 1884?. See Image.

[Alfred Webb [Alfred John Webb], Anglo-Irish Quaker nationalist, Irish Parliamentary Party MP in the British Parliament.] Autograph Letter signed to 'Miss Burgess' [of Norwich], listing and discussing Irish autographs he has procured.

Author: 
Alfred Webb [Alfred John Webb] (1834-1908), Anglo-Irish Quaker nationalist, anti-imperialist and anti-racist, Irish Parliamentary Party MP in the British parliament and Dublin printer
Publication details: 
18 January 1890. Lisnabin, Dartry-park, Rathmines, Dublin [Ireland].
£80.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is from a collection of Irish nationalist autographs assembled by Miss Burgess of Norwich. 1p, 8vo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded for postage. Addressed 'To Miss Burgess' and signed 'Alfred Webb'. Date and location in another hand, the rest in Webb's autograph. Begins: 'Dear Madam, / Those autos. you have of our MP's are some of which I have most. Unfortunately others you want I have only of a private character, & I do not like cutting off the signatures.' He is sending those of J. E.

[Samuel Cooper, surgeon and medical author.] Autograph Letter in the third person to 'the Board of Curators', asking for a library ticket for Michael Foster of Holywell.

Author: 
Samuel Cooper (1780-1848), surgeon and medical author whose ?Surgical Dictionary? was a standard textbook [Michael Foster (1810-1880), surgeon]
Publication details: 
?June 14 1833. / 7, Woburn Place? [London].
£45.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: ?Mr S Cooper?s compts to the Board of Curators and will be obliged if they will favour him with a ticket for the Library for his friend Mr M. Foster for 6 months / For Mr Michael Foster / of Holywell Bedfordshire / June 14 1833. / 7, Woburn Place?. A pencil note in a contemporary hand at the head of the page gives a list of works by ?Prof. Samuel Cooper F.R.S.?

[John Tricker Conquest, physician-accoucheur (man-midwife) and author of the standard textbook ?Outlines of Midwifery?.] Autograph Note in the third person to ?Mr. Bullock? regarding the procurement of his ?Letters to a Mother?.

Author: 
John Tricker Conquest (1789-1866), physician-accoucheur (man-midwife) whose ?Outlines of Midwifery? (1820) was a standard textbook in the first half of the nineteenth century
Publication details: 
?Finsbury Square [London] / Monday?. (In pencil in another hand ?Septr 1848?, and on paper with 1847 watermark.)
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. On recto of first leaf of bifolium of grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. The subject is Conquest?s ?Letters to a Mother on the Management of Herself and her Children in Health and Disease?, published in 1848, which had reached a fourth edition by 1852. ?Dr. Conquest presents his compliments to Mr. Bullock & begs to say that the ?Letters? may be obtained at the publisher Longman & Co. Paternoster Row, & of Gladding Booksellers opposite Bunhill Fields City Road, & through any other bookseller.?

[Andrew White Tuer, proprietor of the Leadenhall Press, London.] Autograph Card to Percy Fitzgerald, Anglo-Irish author and critic, painter and sculptor, regarding his 'London City Suburbs' which he has just published.

Author: 
Andrew White Tuer (1838-1900), proprietor of the Leadenhall Press, London [ 'Ye Leadenhalle Presse'] [Percy Fitzgerald (1830-1925)]
Tuer
Publication details: 
29 May 1893; on letterhead of 'The Leadenhall Press, Ltd: / 50, LEADENHALL STREET, LONDON, E.C.'
£56.00
Tuer

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of a 12 x 7.5 cm post card. On brittle, discoloured card, with chipping to corners and some repair with archival tape. Self-printed with stamp, addressed, with postmark, to 'Percy Fitzgerald, Esq. / 37 St. George's Road / SW.' On other side, with letterhead in fancy type, regarding Fitzgerald's book 'London City Suburbs', which he has just published, reads: 'See todays & last Saturdays Daily Telegraph new no. (June) of Art Journal for notices L. C. Suburbs. Stamped at bottom right: 'The Leadenhall Press, Ltd:' See Image.

[The Earl of Shrewsbury [Charles Chetwynd-Talbot, 19th Earl of Shrewsbury, as Viscount Ingestre], Conservative politician.] Autograph Note Signed to ‘Mr Rogers’, regarding the sending of a corrected list ‘to Mr. Parkers’.

Author: 
The Earl of Shrewsbury [Charles Chetwynd-Talbot (1830-1877), 19th Earl of Shrewsbury] (Viscount Ingestre, 1849-1868), Conservative politician
Publication details: 
‘June 15th / Wednesday’; ‘Direct Vist. Ingestre / 1st. Life Guards / Military Camp / Chobham Common’.
£40.00

Shrewsbury was Disraeli’s Captain of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen-at-Arms from 1875 to his death. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded three times for postage. With traces of wax from mounting at corners of blank reverse. Reads: ‘Mr. Rogers be so good as to correct enclosed list & take it to Mr. Parker immediately you have corrected it / - Yours truly / Ingestre / Tell them you have corrected it.’

[Walter Bache, English pianist and conductor who championed Liszt and the New German School.] Autograph Card Signed to ‘Mrs. Lewis’, gracefully declining a invitation.

Author: 
Walter Bache (1842-1888), English pianist and conductor who championed Liszt and the New German School
Publication details: 
11 June [no year]. With letterhead of 17 Eastbourne Terrace, Hyde Park, W. [London]
£50.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged, but with unobtrusive part of paper mount still adhering to one corner. Good bold signature ‘Walter Bache’. Reads: ‘Dear Mrs. Lewis / It is most kind of you to keep me still in your remembrance! I am teaching every day & all day - alas! & Friday is just my afternoon at the Academy. So I cannot possibly accept your most welcome invitation, for which please accept my best thanks.’

[Stuart Poole [Reginald Stuart Poole], numismatist and Egyptologist.] Signed Secretarial Note, on behalf of the British Museum, declining to purchase ‘the coin of Egbert’.

Author: 
Stuart Poole [Reginald Stuart Poole] (1832-1895), numismatist and Egyptologist, Keeper of the Department of Coins and Medals at the British Museum
Publication details: 
7 March 1885; on embossed British Museum letterhead.
£45.00

1p, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, with slight wear at foot of gutter. Folded once for postage. The signature ‘Reginald Stuart Poole’ is large and expansive. The text, in another hand, reads: ‘Sir, / I regret to say that I cannot entertain the purchase of the coin of Egbert which you showed me the other day’.

[Henry Festing Jones, author and musical composer, literary executor of Samuel Butler.] Autograph Letter Signed to the Secretary of the Royal Literary Fund, asking that Lord Tennyson does not nominate him 'as Steward of the Royal Literary Fund'.

Author: 
Henry Festing Jones (1851-1928), author and musical composer, friend and literary executor of Samuel Butler (1835-1902)
Publication details: 
3 June 1921. On letterhead of 120 Maida Vale, W9, London.
£50.00

See the Oxford DNB entry for Samuel Butler, which describes his close friendship with Jones (‘It has been said that for twenty years they shared the favours (for a consideration) of the same woman, on different days of the week.’) and musical collaborations. Signed ‘Henry Festing Jones’. 1p, 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and lightly creased paper. As he is ‘intending to be out of England by 1 July’, he asks him to ‘ask Lord Tennyson not to nominate me as Steward of the Royal Literary Fund & assure him that at the same time I am sensible of the honour he proposed’.

[John Baseley Tooke of Thompson, Norfolk.] Manuscript ‘Inventory and Valuation [by Samuel Elcock] of [...] the property [...] at his late Residence Southampton Row Bloomsbury Square London and at his late Chambers Mitre Court Buildings Temple.'

Author: 
John Baseley Tooke (1779-1841), solicitor of the Inner Temple, Lord of the Manor of Thompson, Norfolk [Samuel Elcock, London appraiser]
Publication details: 
'taken December 3rd. 1841’
£120.00

Biographical information relating to the deceased is to be found in Rev. George Crabbe, ‘Some Materials for a History of the Parish of Thompson in the County of Norfolk’ (Norwich, 1892): ‘John Baseley Tooke of Thompson, Esq., only son [of John Greene Basely [sic], sometime Mayor of Norwich’], an acting magistrate for Norf., assumed the additional surname of Tooke by royal lic. in Oct. 1802, pursuant to the will of Wm. Tooke, Esq., his great-uncle; b. 15th Mar. 1779; d. unmar. 12th Nov. 1841; bur.

[Alfred Parsons, landscape painter and garden designer.] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Miss Lewis'

Author: 
Alfred Parsons [Alfred William Parsons] (1847-1920), landscape painter, illustrator, and garden designer
Publication details: 
24 January [no year]. On letterhead of 54 Bedford Gardens, Kensington, W. [London]
£35.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once.Addressed to 'Dear Miss Lewis' and with good firm signature 'Alfred Parsons'. He will be very pleased to dine with her the following Friday, '& dance one set of Lancers after; I feel much complimented at being asked with the young people'.

[Abram Smythe Palmer, D.D., author and lexicographer.] Autograph Letter Signed to J. T. Barron, regarding the sale of one of his titles, and ‘ A.K.HB’s address’.

Author: 
Abram Smythe Palmer (1844-1917), D.D., lecturer at Trinity College, Dublin, lexicographer, supporter of Max Müller’s ‘solar myth’ hypothesis
Publication details: 
15 March 1882; ‘Leacroft / Staines’.
£45.00

For most of his life Palmer was Vicar of Holy Trinity Church, South Woodford. He was the father of the composer Geoffrey Molyneaux Palmer. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once for postage. Signed ‘A. Smyth Palmer’. He offers to supply a copy of his ‘Word-hunter’s Note-book’ at a cheaper price than it can be got from the publisher Trübner. ‘I am sorry I cannot help you to A.K.HB’s address - He is a clergyman (I think) of the Church of Scotland - probably “N. B.” [i.e. addressing the letter with this abbreviation for ‘North Britain’] would find him.’

[Female suffrage; printed pamphlet.] On the Forfeiture of Property by Married Women. [Reprinted, by kind permission, from the FORTNIGHTLY REVIEW, for the Committee in support of MR. RUSSELL GURNEY'S MARRIED WOMEN'S PROPERTY BILL.] With an Appendix.

Author: 
Arthur Hobhouse, Q.C. [Alexander Ireland, Manchester printer; Rt Hon. Russell Gurney, QC, MP] [women's suffrage; Victorian feminism]
Publication details: 
Manchester: A. Ireland & Co., Printers, Pall Mall. 1870.
£80.00

16pp., 8vo. In good condition, lightly-aged, no wraps, disbound. Several copies on COPAC, none of this edition on market currently.

[Wife of George Cruikshank] Autograph Letter Signed from 'E. Cruikshank' to Wright with autograph initials of George.

Author: 
Eliza Cruikshank (wife of the English caricaturist George Cruikshank, 1792-1878); William Henry Kearley Wright (1844-1915), Plymouth antiquary and librarian and editor of the Ex Libris Society journal
Publication details: 
26 July 1877; 263 Hampstead Road.
£40.00

One page, on paper roughly four and a half inches by seven wide. Very good on lightly aged paper. She is enclosing her husband's signature. '[H]e desires me to thank you for your clever and truthful verses of An appeal to the Protestants of England [Plymouth, 1873]; which he has seen before; and which we both most highly approve of.' The Cruikshanks are glad to hear that the Wrights have 'arrived Home safely'. George Cruikshank has written G.C. | born | Sep 27th 79. See Image

['Scotland's greatest nineteenth-century churchman': Thomas Chalmers, Professor of Theology, economist, leader of both the Church and Free Church of Scotland.] Autograph Memorandum on church extension, for Thomas Henry Lister.

Author: 
Thomas Chalmers (1780-1847), 'Scotland's greatest nineteenth-century churchman', Professor of Theology, economist, leader of the Church of Scotland and Free Church of Scotland [Thomas Henry Lister]
Publication details: 
[24 February 1836.]
£80.00

A document of some historical significance.

[William Harrison Ainsworth, Victorian historical novelist and close friend of Charles Dickens.] Autograph Signature to valediction to letter.

Author: 
W. Harrison Ainsworth [William Harrison Ainsworth] (1805-1882), Victorian historical novelist and close friend of Charles Dickens
William Harrison Ainsworth
Publication details: 
'Kensal Manor House, / Harrow Road. / March Four. 1843.'
£30.00
William Harrison Ainsworth

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On one side of 9 x 6 cm piece section from a letter and laid down on slightly larger and thicker piece of paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: '[...] / to subscribe myself / Your faithful Servant / W. Harrison Ainsworth. / Kensal Manor House, / Harrow Road. / March Four. 1843.' See IMage

[William Harrison Ainsworth, Victorian historical novelist and close friend of Charles Dickens.] Autograph Letter Signed, as editor of the New Monthly Magazine [to Alexander William Kinglake], discussing a manuscript article on a 'Russian Tour'.

Author: 
W. Harrison Ainsworth [William Harrison Ainsworth] (1805-1882), Victorian historical novelist and close friend of Charles Dickens [Alexander William Kinglake (1809-1891), author of 'Eothen']
William Harrison Ainsworth
Publication details: 
'Kensal Manor House / Harrow Road. / May 19th. 1846.'
£180.00
William Harrison Ainsworth

The subject of this article is discussed by William M. Johnston, in his article ‘William Kinglake’s “A Summer in Russia”: A Neglected Memoir of Saint Petersburgh in 1845’ (TSLL, Spring 1967). The memoir was published anonymously by Ainsworth in the New Monthly Magazine, of which he was editor and proprietor, in three parts, but a German translation in the same year revealed Kinglake’s identity. See the entries for Ainsworth and Kinglake in the Oxford DNB. An interesting letter, casting light on Victorian journalistic practices. 4pp, 12mo. Forty lines of text. On a bifolium.

[Sir Roderick Murchison [ Sir Roderick Impey Murchison ], Scottish geologist, discoverer of the Silurian system.] Two Autograph Letters Signed to Lady Theresa Lewis, one describing her son's 'frolic' at Burnham Beeches, the other a court action.

Author: 
Sir Roderick Murchison [Sir Roderick Impey Murchison] (1792-1871), Scottish geologist who discovered the Silurian system [Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), author]
Publication details: 
ONE: '16 Belgrave Sq [London] / Monday Mng' [no date]. TWO: 'Friday Evng' [no date or place]
£165.00

See his entry and hers in the Oxford DNB. Both items in good condition, lightly aged, and both on bifoliums folded for postage. Both signed ‘Robert Murchison’ and addressed to ‘Dear Lady Theresa’. The subject of the first letter is Sir Thomas Villiers Lister (1832-1902), son of Lady Theresa Lewis by her first husband the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842). ONE (‘Monday Mng’): 3pp, 12mo. On his arrival at Burnham Beeches the previous afternoon he ‘found all the party sported with young Ladies in riding habits & your boy looking very well & in high spirits, but without a voice’.

[Sir William Hamilton, Scottish philosopher.] Autograph Letter Signed, inviting the recipient to dinner.

Author: 
Sir William Hamilton (1788-1856), 9th Baronet [Sir William Stirling Hamilton of Preston], Scottish philosopher [Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842), novelist]
Publication details: 
'11 Manor Place [Edinburgh] / 26 Dec. 1835.'
£56.00

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is not named, but the item is from the papers of the author Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), and it may well be her first husband Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842), who had Scottish connections. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘My dear Sir’ and signed ‘W. Hamilton’. Atrocious handwriting. ‘My dear Sir / I have been much occupied of late in [?] requested the honour of your company. If you are disengaged on the 7th. January (Thursday) it will give great pleasure to see you at 6 oclock.’ See Image.

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