VICTORIAN

Written on both sides of an 11.5 x 9 cm card, which has her armorial crest printed in black and gold at the top right of the first page. In a large flowing hand reads: ‘For my dear little Godchild Fredericà Taylor with affte. xmas Greetings / from her loving God-mother / Fredericà / Xmas 1909.’ See Image of verso (signature).

See the two men's entries in the Oxford DNB. Webb’s book contained four engravings from drawings by Birket Foster, the last (‘The Tomb of Thomas Lawson’) of which is absent. The first has ‘E. EVANS Sc.’ engraved into the plate; the other two, evidently the work of the same hand, are unattributed. Three proof engravings, on wove paper roughly 20.5 x 13.5. All in good condition, very lightly spotted and worn, and certainly suitable for display. ONE (the frontispiece): Captioned, ‘SWARTHMOOR HALL.

An attractive and highly-finished production, in black ink, on 17.5 x 20.5 cm piece of wove paper, glued on the reverse at the four corners to a leaf extracted from the autograph album of the novelist George Meredith and his daughter Marie Eveleen (Mariette; 1871-1933), wife of Henry Parkman Sturgis (1847-1929), American-born banker and Liberal politician. Parsons' monogram signature 'AP. in its two-bordered square is at the bottom left of the drawing, and there is an additional autograph signature with date to the right of the drawing on the leaf of the Meredith album: 'Alfred Parsons.

Morrison’s entry in the Oxford DNB describes him as ‘the most famous astrologer of Victorian times’. The present nonce-collection contains ten yearly issues of ‘Zadkiel’s Almanac’, in workmanlike black-cloth binding. Some of the outer leaves heavily discoloured, and the whole somewhat worn, otherwise in fair condition. All in 12mo, and with much the same lay-out of the title-page. Occasional illustrations. Title-pages state print-runs between ‘Twentieth Thousand’ (1851) and ‘Forty-second Thousand’ (1855 and 1856).

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the Piffard papers. Signed ‘W Sharpey’ on ticket engraved in copperplate on one side of 15 x 10.5 cm card. In fair condition, a little worn and somewhat discoloured with age, and with short vertical crease to the left of the signature. Blind-stamped with ‘Treasury Seal’. The signature is at bottom right, with number of ticket (59) and the initials of the secretary ‘’ at bottom left. Attractively laid out, with text reading ‘University College, London. / Anatomy and Physiology. / William Sharpey, MD. / Professor. / Admit Mr.

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. From the Piffard papers. 1p, 4o. On recto of the first leaf of a bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with short closed tears to both leaves on fold. Folded four times.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the Piffard papers. 1p, 12mo. On first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. Reads: 'Lord Justice Fry would be obliged if Mr Piffard would send him a Micro-slide of Conidia bearing Hyphae of Eurotium repens, isolated & stained by a new application of Iodine Vapour. He encloses 2/- in stamps.'

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin band of discoloration beneath the last line. Addressed to ‘J M Swan Esq R.A’. Reads: ‘My dear Mr Swan / Will you dine with me on Thursday June 1st. to meet Mr Leslie and some few artists? / I should be glad if you will. / Yours faithfully / Wm. Agnew’.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, but with traces of grey paper and glue from mount adhering to the blank reverse. Folded once. In her neat controlled hand, with good firm signature, the letter reads: 'Dear Mr. Courtney / I shall be so grateful if you will put this in to the Telegraph, to morrow: / Yours sincerely / Mary A. Ward'.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. With mourning border. In fair condition, aged and worn, with remains of white 'star' wafer mounts adhering to the four corners. Beneath the underlined heading 'Note for Secretary' reads: 'The relative positions of Iris & Phoebe do not appear to agree in papers marked (2) and (4) in my letter. Please let me know which is right. / LB.' Presumably Iris and Phoebe were ships.

See the two men's entries in the Oxford DNB. The three items are in good condition, lightly aged and worn; the second is lightly spotted. Each is folded once. All three signed 'Bryce'. ONE: 13 February 1914. No place. 3pp, 12mo. On bifolium. Begins: 'My dear Ross / I should like [to] help in so good a cause, but cannot possibly venture to make any promise for a date so distant as Nov. next. It would be a tempting of Providence as we say in Scotland.' He is not even certain whether he will be in England then, 'and there is nothing one has more to avoid than the breaking of promises'.

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. The present item, is on one side of an 11 x 6.5 cm slip of paper, cut from a letter and laid down on a 12.5 x 8 cm piece of card. In good condition, lightly aged. Very slightly smudged by Leech. Reads: ‘[...] very low. until I see / you Believe me / Yours Ever Faithfully / John Leech. / Martin . F. Tupper Esq / &c. &c. &c.’ See Image. Leech illustrated at least one book by Tupper (The Crock of Gold).

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the Piffard papers. Marshall’s handwriting is hurried and in places difficult to decipher. 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded once. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Piffard’ and signed ‘John Marshall’. Piffard’s gift of ‘the Box of flowers, with [?]’ leads him to opine: ‘The Daffodils are lovely. - Why is Nature so beautiful? Can it be merely to please the Eye of Man?

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the Piffard papers. A total of 9pp, 12mo. The recipient is 'B. Piffard Esq.' and the letters are all signed 'Jesse Collings'. ONE: 27 July 1885. 2pp, 12mo. He apologises for the delay in replying: 'I have been so over-pressed with Parliamentary and other work.' He will go into the matter of Piffard's letter at the 'Committee meeting of our Allotments & Small Holdings Association' that very day.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the Piffard papers. A total of 10pp, 12mo. Aged and worn, with the first letter on creased grey paper, the second with one leading edge rolling inwards, and the last with a 2cm closed tear; but with text clear and entire. The recipient named as ‘B. Piffard Esq’. All signed ‘Henry Doubleday’. ONE: 14 July 1860. 2pp, 12mo. With reference to an excursion by Piffard to Maldon, and also stating that he ‘took a very fine female Deilephila Galei in our garden on Wednesday - it was at rest on a strawberry plant’. TWO: 7 March 1890. 1p, 12mo.

An interesting letter, dealings with the practicalities of the artist’s profession in late Victorian/Edwardian England. Hemy was regarded as the leading English marine artist of his generation, with his paintings often selling for in excess of a thousand pounds. With the proceeds he built a grand house which he named Churchfield in Falmouth. 2pp, 16mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice. The recipient - presumably his agent - is not named and there is no salutation. Signed ‘C. Napier Hemy.’ Begins: ‘Thanks for cheque enclosed. for which I send over page formal receipt.

Williamson is notable for his work on the formation of ether, and for furthering Anglo-Japanese relations by welcoming the 'Choshu Five' and later members of the Satsuma han into his home. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. From the Piffard papers. Signed ‘Alexr W. Williamson’ on ticket engraved in copperplate on one side of 15.5 x 10.5 cm card. In fair condition, a little worn and somewhat discoloured with age. Central horizontal fold. Blind-stamped with ‘Treasury Seal’. The signature is at bottom right, with number of ticket (40) and the initials of the secretary ‘’ at bottom left.

At the time of writing Gordon-Cumming’s trophies were being exhibited at this Piccadilly address, having previously formed part of the Great Exhibition. The recipient Henry Charles Angelo (1806-1866) was a member of the celebrated family of fencing masters, and was at this time teaching the art at the Cavalry College, Richmond. 2pp, 12mo. On the rectos of the two leaves of a bifolium, with the recipient’s name written lengthwise on the verso of the first leaf: ‘H. C. Angelo Esqr’. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice.

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged and creased, with thin stub from previous mounting neatly adhering to inner edge. He explains that his request for an audience is ‘exclusivement littéraire’, and that it is as a ‘titre d’honneur de lettres’ that he hopes to obtain ‘la haute faveur’ of consideration of various factors ‘soumis à ces attributions’. From the celebrated collection of Baron Houghton (in Lot acquired at Chiswick Auctions)

For more than a century the firm of John Brumfit Ltd of the City of London was one of Britain's leading cigar and tobacco merchants, its reputation international. The firm was founded in 1864 by John B. Brumfit, son of Charles Brumfit of No. 1 Pall Mall West. The items offered here are the journal and cash book written out by the founder at the firm's inception, together with two related items (Items Three and Four below).

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, with that of his namesake. (It is the the present Sir William Cubitt who owned ‘the famous Gray's Inn Road works ’.) 2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged with two pin holes at one corner, and traces of mounts. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘Dear Sir’ and signed ‘William Cubitt’. Begins: ‘In working out the details of the roof, we find certain modification of the construction desirable which with your permission, the bearer Mr.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The ALS, whose recipient is not identified, is appended on the last page of the printed notice, which is 4pp, foolscap 8vo, on a bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. The notice is headed 'University of Oxford. / Directions for Candidates for Degrees in Music.' and signed in type at the end 'Frederick Arthur Gore Ouseley, / Professor of Music. / Oxford, / March, 1878.' Divided into sections concerning a bachelor's and doctor's degree. The ALS, on the last page, reads: 'Dear Sir / You will see by this paper that your Dublin B.A.

An interesting glimpse into the late-Victorian world of English art. Corbet and Swan were close friends - one of Corbet’s paintings remained in Swan’s family until the 1990s. See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. The three letters are addressed to ‘Dear Swan’ and signed ‘M. R. Corbet’. All three on grey paper, lightly aged and worn, with creasing to Letter One.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On 13 x 6.5 cm piece of thin paper, apparently cut from the end of a letter for an autograph hunter. In good condition, lightly aged and creased, folded twice. Reads: ‘Francis Grenfell / Maj Genl / April 16 / 1892.’ See image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. With thin mourning border. Extraction from an album has resulted in some wear to the border at the right of the page: otherwise in good condition, lightly aged. Addressed to ‘My dear Major’ and signed ‘Thos Sabine Pasley’. He is sorry the recipient ‘can’t come on Wednesday’, but he has ‘the best possible reason for not doing so’. He asks to be remembered ‘very kindly to your father on that day’. He asks if he can ‘come on Wednesday week’, as he has engaged a family (illegible) to meet him that day.

On the yellow-paper pastedown of the detached front cover of an 8vo book. Reads: ‘Basil Lubbock. / 1906.’ with underlining. The cover is blue cloth, with an illustration of a sailing ship in a storm embossed in gilt at the centre. The signature and surrounding area are in good condition. The lower part of the board is damp stained, with wear and discoloration to the blue cover.

Lightly-inked signature 'Basil Lubbock' on recto of 8vo leaf of cream paper, clearly the ownership inscription, beneath signature of 'J Bailey', on a front free endpaper extracted from a volume. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased.

Henley?s poem ?Invictus?, with its conclusion ?I am the master of my fate, / I am the captain of my soul?, is one of the most popular in the English language, and has inspired individuals as diverse as Nelson Mandela and Ron Kray. See Henley?s entry in the Oxford DNB. He was a friend of both Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and J. M. Barrie, and his daughter Margaret inspired the ?Peter Pan? character ?Wendy?. 1p, 8vo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded three times for postage. The letterhead has a thin black mourning border. Henley?s poem featured as the ?Envoy?

See the entries on Thornycroft and Allingham in the Oxford DNB. The letterhead is also of interest: 'One-Oak' is a notable example of the work of the Arts and Crafts architect A. H. Mackmurdo. 1p, 12mo. On grey paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with traces of mount adhering to blank reverse. Folded twice. Initial ?H? of signature slightly smidged. Reads: ?Dear Mrs Allingham / I have only [?] got your note. / I enclose two cards for RA. Hoping to see you there / Yours very sincerely / Hamo Thornycroft?. See Image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The National Portrait Gallery possesses a carte-de-visite another portrait of Manns by Negretti & Zambra, which it dates to 1898, but does not hold the present item, which is a head and shoulders shot showing a white-haired Manns, bald on top, with bushy eyebrows and walrus moustache looking to one side in dark jacket and white shirt and tie. A 10 x 14.5 cm albumen print, presented in the customary style on a grey cabinet card, with the firm?s details embossed in white at foot, and the usual photographers? details printed on the reverse.