VICTORIAN

[ George Julian Harney, Chartist and journalist. ] Two Autograph Letters Signed ('G. J. Harney' and 'G. Julian Harney') to the bookseller Bertram Dobell, assessing the character of George Augustus Sala, and bemoaning the state of his health.

Author: 
G. J. Harney [ George Julian Harney ] (1817-1897), Chartist and journalist [ Bertram Dobell (1842-1914), London bookseller and literary scholar; George Augustus Sala (1828-1895), journalist ]
Publication details: 
The first from 27 St Mary's Grove, Richmond-on-Thames, Surrey.,21 August 1895. The second with placve not stated, 12 September 1895.
£500.00

Dobell is not named, but the second letter contains a reference to the recipient's wife 'Mrs. Dobell'. Both letters 2pp., 12mo, and both in good condition, on lightly aged paper. ONE: 21 August 1895. Signed 'G. J. Harney.' He makes an order of books from the library of George Augustus Sala, of whom he 'cannot profess to be an admirer': 'clever, versatile, a typical journalist; but not of the stuff of Cobbett, Wooler, Hone (before he became a melancholy mad religious crank) or Hetherington – or Hunt (John).

[ Lord Glasgow. ] Autograph Note Signed ('Glasgow'), to the Hon. Sec. of the Naval and Military Relief Exhibition, Edinburgh, sending his best wishes but declining to take part in its fund.

Author: 
George Frederick Boyle, 6th Earl of Glasgow [ Lord Glasgow ] (1825-1890), Scottish peer and Member of Parliament
Publication details: 
21 Chapel Street, Belgrave Square, London S.W. 20 April 1889.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. 'While wishing all good success to the proposed Naval & Military Relief Exhibition', he is sorry that he does not feel able to 'take part in the <?> fund'.

[ Arthur Chenevix Trench, publisher in firm of Kegan Paul, Trench & Co. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('A Chenevix Trench') to Rev. A. P. <Brown?>, regarding misprints in his father's works, and making 'young Bliss' into a 'good business man'.

Author: 
Alfred Chenevix Trench (1849-1938), London publisher, with Charles Kegan Paul (1828-1902), in the firm of Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., son of Richard Chenevix Trench (1807-1886), Archbishop of Dublin
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., Publishers, 1 Paternoster Square, London. 17 October 1889.
£40.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He is obliged for Brown's letter, 'pointing out misprints in my father's works. | Such communications are always valuable.' He is happy to say that 'young Bliss is working very well, & we shall make a good business man of him'.

[ Charlotte Helen Sainton, contralto. ] Autograph Note Signed ('Charlotte H Sainton') to an unnamed recipient, stating her terms and agreeing to 'introduce Miss Gabriel's songs'.

Author: 
Charlotte Helen Sainton [ Charlotte Helen Sainton-Dolby; nee Dolby ] (1821-1885), contralto, singing teacher and composer
Publication details: 
Belvedere Mansion, Brighton. 5 November [ no year, on paper watermarked 1862 ].
£120.00

1p., 12mo. On bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly aged paper. She thanks him for his note and states that her 'terms will be ten guineas, and I shall be very happy to introduce Miss Gabriel's songs &c &c'.

[ Agnes Giberne, author and astronomer. ] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mrs Ranks'

Author: 
Agnes Giberne (1845-1939), prolific British author and astronomer, who helped set up the British Astronomical Association
Publication details: 
Abergeldie, Eastbourne. 1 September 1880.
£50.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Abergeldie, Eastbourne, 'is at present my permanent address. We are not likely to return to Clifton, but shall probably settle down in Eastbourne, - though not in this house.' She thanks her for her invitation to Dalston: 'If I find it possible, when in London, to get there, I will write to let you know.'

[ William Sowerby, artist and botanist. ] Autograph Signature ('Wm. Sowerby | Secty') as Secretary, Royal Botanic Society of London, on communication to 'The Proprietors of "Scientific Roll"'.

Author: 
William Sowerby (1827-1906), Secretary, Royal Botanic Society of London, artist and botanist [ [ Alexander Ramsay, editor of the 'Scientific Roll' ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Royal Botanic Society of London, Gardens, Regent's Park, London. 24 January 1883.
£120.00

1p., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. A somewhat grand and expansive printed form, completed in manuscript by Sowerby. He thanks the 'Gentlemen' who are 'The Proprietors of "Scientific Roll"' for 'the continuation, as published, of The "Scientific Roll"'. From the papers of Alexander Ramsay, editor of the 'Scientific Roll'.

[ Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ] Autograph Note Signed ('W. T. Thiselton Dyer') informing an unnamed party where to get information regarding 'the Establishment' from.

Author: 
Sir William Turner Thiselton-Dyer [ Sir W. T. Thiselton-Dyer ] (1843-1928), British botanist, third director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Publication details: 
Kew, on embossed letterhead of 'Royal Gardens Kew'). 2 January 1886.
£80.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He refers him to 'the Post Office Directory' for a 'list of our scientific staff', and to 'the Official Guide which is on sale at all the Gates' for 'the principal facts as to the objects etc. of the Establishment', and concludes: 'The other information you ask for is embodied in our annual report which is not at present issued'.

[ The Wesleyan Conference, Sheffield, 1875. ] Autograph Letter Signed from Stephen P. Harvard to 'Mr. Walker', reporting on doings at the Conference.

Author: 
Stephen P. Harvard (d.1905), Wesleyan Methodist minister and author [ The Wesleyan Conference, Sheffield, 1875; Rev. Walker of Liverpool ]
Publication details: 
Carver Street, Sheffield. 12 August 1875.
£180.00

Regarding the Sheffield Wesleyan Conference of 1875 see the article in the Spectator, 14 August 1875, 'The Wesleyan Ultramontanes', and the long review of the conference minutes in the London Quarterly, no.45, vol.89. The present item is 2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. An interesting gossipy letter from a committee member at the conference, satirising two of the others present as 'Mr. Pepys in Conference' and 'Those who approve'. 2pp., 12mo.

[ Thomas George Bonney, geologist after whom Lake Bonney in Antarctica is named. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('T. G. Bonney') to an unnamed lady, contesting that domestic service is a 'state of slavery'.

Author: 
T. G. Bonney [ Thomas George Bonney ] (1833-1923), geologist after whom Lake Bonney in Antarctica is named, President of the Geological Society of London
Publication details: 
23 Denning Road, N. W. [ London ]. On letterhead of the Athenaeum club, Pall Mall. 13 October 1904.
£220.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. A tantalizing extract from a correspondence. He begins: 'I doubt whether domestic service, as a rule, is quite the state of slavery you depict, but, as I said before, the question which you ask me is less simple than you appear to think and I can only say that every employer is bound to remember that those he (or she) employs has wants, bodily and spiritual, very similar to his own.' He concludes the letter, and the correspondence, by apologising that he 'cannot continue to write on the subject'.

[ Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Charles W. Dilke'), complimenting 'Bennett' on a speech, and alluding sarcastically to the Marquess of Lansdowne.

Author: 
Sir Charles Wentworth Dilke, 2nd Baronet (1843-1911), Radical and Liberal politician, whose career ended in disgrace [ Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice (1845-1927), 5th Marquess of Lansdowne ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 76 Sloane Street, S.W. [ London ]. 6 July 1906.
£65.00

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged paper. An amusingly sardonic missive, addressed to 'Dear Bennett'. He was not able to compliment him the previous night on his 'excellent speech', but is 'anxious to know what was the cryptic allusion to the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs who had experience of arming savages? I do not believe that Fitzmaurice ever did so, unless you intended the German use of the word “savages” for below-the-gangway Radicals?'

[ Richard Slate of Preston, Congregational minister. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('R. Slate') to Samuel Walker Alliot, regarding collecting and exchanging of nonconformist letters, with printed notice listing wanted 'Wesleyan Presidents'.

Author: 
Richard Slate (1787-1867) of Preston, Congregational minister, biographical writer and temperance campaigner
Publication details: 
Autograph Letter: Preston [ Lancashire ], 25 November 1863. Printed text undated.
£120.00

For information on Slate, see his entry in the Oxford DNB. The present item is a 12mo bifolium, with the two-page autograph letter to Alliot on the first leaf, and the printed notice on the recto of the second. In good condition, lightly aged. He thanks Alliot and names the authors of three letters he would like, adding: 'I take it for granted they are letters similar to Dr. Buntings, which I have enclosed and not mere autographs. Walter Griffith's letter (which I will send when I hear from you) is quite equal to Dr. Bunting's but longer.

[ The Lancashire Cotton Famine, 1861-1865. ] Autograph Letter from 'John Whittaker | "A Lancashire Lad."' to J. B. Langley

Author: 
John Whittaker of Wigan, journalist [ pseudonym 'A Lancashire Lad' ] [ The Lancashire Cotton Famine, 1861-1865; Wigan Standard newspaper ]
Publication details: 
'"Standard" Office | Wigan | May 27th. 1862.'
£150.00

For the background to this letter see William Otto Henderson, 'The Lancashire Cotton Famine 1861-65' (1934) and Angela V. John, 'By the Sweat of their Brow' (2013). Between 14 April and 16 October 1862 Whittaker published a dozen letters on the 'Lancashire Distress' in the London Times, under the pseudonym of 'A Lancashire Lad'. Edwin Waugh, in his 'Home Life of the Lancashire Factory Folk During the Cotton Famine' (1867), describes Whittaker as 'one of the first writers whose appeals through the press drew serious attention to the great distress in Lancashire during the Cotton Famine.

[ John Winter Jones, Principal Librarian of the British Museum. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Winter Jones.') to 'Mr. Jefferies', regarding his 'New Testament of 1538'.

Author: 
John Winter Jones (1805-1881), Principal Librarian of the British Museum, 1866–1873, and first President of the Library Association
Publication details: 
British Museum [ London ]. 11 March 1864.
£56.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. In fair condition, lightly aged, but with central spike hole through both leaves, from which a horizontal closed tear has been made through the fore-edges (not affecting signature or its immediate surrounds). The note is hurried, and reads: 'I find that we have the New Testament of 1538. I will therefore return your copies at once if you will be so good as to say by what mode they shall be forwarded to you.'

['I am alive': Edmund Haviland-Burke corrects an 'unpleasant' error in Walford's 'County Families'. ] Autograph Letter Signed from 'E. Haviland-Burke' to Robert Hardwicke, publisher of Edward Walford's 'County Families of the United Kingdom'.

Author: 
Edmund Haviland-Burke (1836-1886), MP for Christchurch, great-grandnephew of Edmund Burke [ Robert Hardwicke (1822-1875) ]
Publication details: 
Union Club [ London ]. 6 April 1864.
£50.00

The letter is addressed to Hardwicke, as publisher of the second edition of Edward Walford's 'County Families of the United Kingdom' (1864), a footnote to whose entry on 'HAVILAND-BURKE, Edmund, Esq.' states that he 'Died whilst these sheets were at press.' 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn, with small square torn from a corner of the first leaf, causing loss to one word of text. Annotated: 'Burke | Answered'. Haviland-Burke writes with impressive self-control: 'Sir | My attention has been drawn towards the mention of my name in a Book called the “County Families” by Mr.

[ Ernest Hawkins, Canon of Westminster. ] Autograph Letter Signed, writing in affectionate terms ('My dear') to an unnamed recipient, about 'your little manual'.

Author: 
Ernest Hawkins (1802-1868), Canon of Westminster, missionary society administrator and ecclesiastical author
Publication details: 
'79 Pallmall [sic] [ Pall Mall, London ] | July 3. 1851'.
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Begins: 'My dear | Our Jubilee bustle - & subsequently four days spent at Oxford on a College Election have prevented my attending to your little manual - The last corrections which you made - are now sent to the Printer - & a revise shall be sent in a day or two.' He ends by expressing relief at the 'improving accounts of your poor brothers family'.

[ Augustine Birrell, author and politician. ] Autograph Letter Signed to Sir Frank T. Marzials, giving an assessment of the character of Victor Hugo on reading Marzials's biography.

Author: 
Augustine Birrell (1850-1933), author and Liberal Party politician, Chief Secretary for Ireland, 1907-1916 [ Sir Frank Thomas Marzials (1840-1912); Victor Hugo ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 3 New Square, Lincoln's Inn. 12 September [1888].
£45.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium on grey paper. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. He writes that Marzials is 'some days too late' with his 'kind offer', as both Birrell and his wife have read 'with great pleasure' Marzials's book on Victor Hugo. 'It was a difficult task. (I mean the Life, not the reading of it) I am no judge on such a subject – being a very stay at home sort of fellow, but anyhow you succeeded in pleasing me. What a sensible, <?>, shrewd sort of fellow he was in what way may be called ordinary things.

[ Oldham Street Methodist Chapel, Manchester. ] Forms of application for permission to 'erect a chapel' and 'sell trust property', signed by the trustees, with Autograph Letter Signed from John Bedford and copies of letters from Edwin H. Tindall.

Author: 
[ Oldham Street Methodist Chapel, Manchester; Edwin H. Tindall; John Bedford (1810-1879) of Charlton, President of the Methodist Conference, 1867]
Publication details: 
[ Oldham Street Methodist Chapel, Manchester, Lancashire. ] 1875 (letters) and 1879 (forms of application). Tindall's second letter from 18 Acomb Street, Manchester. Bedford's letter from 2 George Street, Carlisle.
£250.00

See S. Taylor and J. Holder, 'Manchester's Northern Quarter' (English Heritage, 2008), which refers to 'the construction in 1781 of a Methodist Chapel, in a grand Georgian-Gothic style on Oldham Street, which replaced the earlier chapel on Birchin Lane'. This is said by Taylor and Holder to have been replaced, 1855-1856, by the Methodist Central Hall, which still stands. The dramatic changes being proposed in the present collection would appear to have been contemplated in the face of a new and large working class congregation.

[ Lord Sidney Godolphin Osborne philanthropist. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('S. G Osborne') to an unnamed archdeacon

Author: 
Lord Sydney Godolphin Osborne (1808-1889), English cleric, philanthropist and writer, supporter of Florence Nightingale in the Crimean War
Publication details: 
Durweston [ Dorset ]. 19 May [ no year ].
£80.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with the reverse of the blank reverse of the second leaf tipped-in onto a card mount. Written in a not altogether straightforward hand. He begins: 'I sleep at Birmingham Monday – hope to be in Halifax in the course of the afternoon. | Dont for one moment think of sending your carriage – as Mr Stansfield wishes to meet me and carry me off on my way to you, to some school gathering. | I believe it is certainly not a church one'.

[ The New Society of Painters in Water Colours, London. ] Engraved invitation to the 'Evening View of their 14th. Annual Exhibition', made out and signed by the Society's secretary, the watercolour painter James Fahey.

Author: 
James Fahey (1804-1885), watercolour painter, Secretary (1838-1874) of the New Society of Painters in Water Colours, London
Publication details: 
[ The New Society of Painters in Water Colours, 53 Pall Mall [ London ]. For an 'Evening View' on 17 May 1848.
£80.00

Printed in black on one side of a 10 x 13 cm piece of grey-blue paper. In good condition, lightly aged, laid down on part of a leaf from an album. A tastefully-presented piece of London artistic ephemera, reading (with manuscript text in square brackets): 'THE NEW SOCIETY OF PAINTERS IN WATER COLOURS. | The Committee solicit the honor of | [The Editor of the Gentleman's Magazine and friend] Company at their Gallery 53, Pall Mall, on Wednesday the 17th. of May, to an Evening View of their 14th. Annual Exhibition. | from 8 o'Clock to 11. | 1848 | [James Fahey] Secy. | NOT TRANSERABLE'.

[ 'Lewis Melville' [ pen name of Lewis Saul Benjamin ], author and actor. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Lewis Melville'), enquiring whether his book 'In the World of Mimes' has been accepted for publication.

Author: 
'Lewis Melville' [ pen name of Lewis Saul Benjamin (1874-1932) ], literary biographer, novelist and actor
Publication details: 
On letterhead of The Playgoer's Club, Strand, W.C. [ London ]. 28 July 1900.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. On grey paper. In fair condition, lightly aged. He writes to enquire whether the recipient 'can undertake the publication of the novel I submitted to you – In the World of Mimes – as I am leaving town at the end of the week', and he hopes to 'settle the matter one way or the other (preferably one way & not the other)' before he leaves. 'In the World of Mimes' was published in London by Greening & Co. in 1902.

[ The Greenway Bank Fraud and Victorian 'Prison Rules'. ] Copy of Manuscript 'Statement by Mr Campbell on Greenway', headed 'In the matter of G. a prisoner', regarding an incident at Chatham Gaol resulting in the suspension of privileges.

Author: 
The Greenway Bank Fraud and Victorian 'Prison Rules', 1890 [ Sir Richard Harington (1861-1931) of Ridlington, 12th Baronet; Kelynge Greenway ]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. Docketed 'Rec[eive]d 26 Nov 1890'.
£56.00

3pp., 8vo. In good condition, on two leaves of lightly-aged paper, folded into a packet and docketed (by Harington?) on the outside 'Recd 26 Nov 1890 | Copy | Statement by Mr Campbell on Greenway'. Headed 'In the matter of G. a prisoner'. The document begins with an interpretation of the current arrangements: 'In accordance with the Prison Rules a prisoner under sentence of Penal servitude whilst he continues in the 3rd.

[ E. C. Mountfort, illustrator and caricaturist. ] Offprint from 'The Birmingham Pictorial and Dart' of a page of portraits of seven legal figures from the Midland Circuit

Author: 
E. C. Mountfort, illustrator and cartoonist [ The Birmingham Pictorial and Dart; Sir Richard Harington (1861-1931) of Ridlington, 12th Baronet; the Midland Circuit; Assize Courts ]
Publication details: 
Offprint from 'The Birmingham Pictorial and Dart': lithographed illustrations by E. C. Osborne & Son, New Street, Birmingham; theh page dated 19 March 1897. Facing page dated 16 March 1897.
£56.00

2pp., 4to. Printed in black on the inner two pages of a bifolium. The left-hand page (i.e. verso of the first leaf) carries text, in two columns of small print, of a prospectus for a share flotation for 'Hanman's Cycle and Needle Co.', dated 16 March 1897. The facing right-hand page (i.e. the recto of the second leaf) is headed 'Twenty-first Year | No. 1,065.] The Birmingham Pictorial and Dart. [Friday, March 19th, 1897'. It carries Mountfort's lithographed illustrations, with a facsimile of his signature at bottom right, printed by 'E. C. OSBORNE & SON. LITHO. NEW ST.

[ Sir Henry Morgan Vane, Secretary of the Charity Commission, Whiteghall. ] Autograph Signature ('Hen. M. Vane') on manuscript Letter to Sir Richard Harington, regarding 'capitation payments' in relation to 'The School' at Whitbourne.

Author: 
Sir Henry Morgan Vane (1808-1886), Secretary of the Charity Commission, Whitehall
Publication details: 
On printed '"Charitable Acts"' letterhead of the Charity Commission, Whitehall, S.W.
£90.00

4pp., foolscap 8vo. On bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Neatly written in another hand.

[ Oxford Tutors' Association and Oxford University Commission. ] Two printed pamphlets: 'Recommendations respecting the Extension of the University of Oxford' and 'Recommendations respecting the Constitution of the University of Oxford'.

Author: 
[ S.W. Wayte] Samuel William Wayte (1819-1898), President of Trinity College, Oxford [ Oxford Tutors' Association; Oxford University Commission, 1850-1852 ]
Publication details: 
[ Oxford Tutors' Association. ] First item without date or publishing details, but dating from 1852 or 1853. Second item: Oxford: John Henry Parker; and 377, Strand, London. 1853.
£200.00

Both items in good condition, with light signs of age and wear. Both side stitched, and without wraps. ONE: 'Recommendations respecting the Extension of the University of Oxford'. 32pp., 8vo. On reverse of title: 'The following Paper was drawn up at the request of the Tutors' Association by a Committee appointed on Nov. 19, 1852. It was read and considered at meetings of the Association held in Merton and Jesus College Common Rooms on Dec. 10 and 13: and its adoption will be proposed at the first meeting of the Association next Term.' TWO: 'Reports of the Oxford Tutors' Association. No. II.

[ Christ's Hospital, London. ] Endowed Schools' Act, 1869. Scheme For Christ's Hospital, prepared by the Governing Body of the Hospital, to be submitted to the Commissioners under the above Act.

Author: 
Christ's Hospital, London (the Bluecoat School) [ Endowed Schools' Act, 1869 ]
Publication details: 
'Reprinted and circulated amongst the Governors, by Order of the General Court, 21st July, 1870.' Printed by Winter & Bailey, 24, Chancery Lane, London.
£500.00

[7] + 69pp., 4to. In grey printed paper wraps, with brown faux-leather spine. Aged and worn. In six parts: 'Preliminary'; 'Governing Body'; 'Endowments'; 'Application of Endowments'; 'Regulations relating to Schools'; and 'Final', with pp.47-69 carrying twelve 'Schedules', ranging from 'I. - Metropolitan Parishes, Districts and Precincts affected by the abrogation of Trusts for the admission of Children therefrom' to 'XII.- Endowments for Special Prizes'. No other copy traced, either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC.

[ William Sweetland Dallas, zoologist, 'collaborateur to Darwin'. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('W. S. Dallas') to 'G. Masters', agreeing under duress to allow a visit to the Geological Society collection, the scope of which he discusses.

Author: 
W. S. Dallas [ William Sweetland Dallas ] (1824-1890) of the Geological Society, zoologist, friend and 'collaborateur' to Charles Darwin, as also Huxley, Owen and Lyell
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Geological Society, Burlington House, W. [ London ] 19 May 1882.
£300.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. He begins by conveying his irritation that Masters had arranged 'a visit to the Society's Museum' without consulting 'the authorities'. However, as the notices have been distributed, and 'the party will be a very small one, we must do the best we can'. He asks to be informed, 'by return of post, what you think will interest your friends, in order that the drawers may be got out & prepared for their inspection'.

[ Sidney Herbert, Lord Herbert of Lea. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Sidney Herbert') to 'Canning' [ i.e. the diplomat Stratford Canning ], regarding matters relating to a 'perfect gentleman' and a 'rat dog'.

Author: 
Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea [ Lord Herbert of Lea ] (1810-1861), Conservative politician, close associate of Florence Nightingale [ Stratford Canning, Viscount Stratford de Redcliffe ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Wilton House, Salisbury. 8 April 1855.
£65.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn, with minor marking to first and last pages. A high-spirited missive, headed 'Private' and difficult to decipher. He begins by asking him to 'read the enclosed, a perfect gentleman is certainly cheap at 12s. a week. | My interest in the matter is revealed by the closing sentence in the letter.' An indecipherable sentence follows, after which: 'At any rate will you send me an answer wh I can forward to Mr Kitto.' He asks Canning to inform his wife 'that Elcho took charge of the rat dog.

[ John Disney, archaeologist. ] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Mr. P. Duncan of New Coll:',

Author: 
John Disney (1779-1857), archaeologist [ Philip Bury Duncan (1772-1863) of New College, Oxford, Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum ]
Publication details: 
The Hyde. 27 March 1828.
£220.00

2pp., 4to. He begins by reminding Duncan that he recently wrote to him, 'in reply to your letter on the subject of your book respecting Portugal'. That letter was directed to Oxford, but as Disney has not heard from Duncan since, he wonders whether it might have miscarried. He is now writing to remind Duncan of his 'kind expressions in my behalf as a candidate on the list at the Athenaeum'.

[ John Edmund Reade, poet and author. ] Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed party, describing how his 'audience hitherto have been fit tho few'.

Author: 
John Edmund Reade (1800-1870), Victorian poet and author who met 'the contempt of the literary world'
Publication details: 
40 Upper Baker Street [ London ]. No date.
£220.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, tipped in onto leaf removed from album. After apologising for the late reply to the recipient's note he acknowledges 'the Compliment you make me'. He continues in his customary vainglorious style, appropriating Milton's words to himself: 'I am so deeply occupied in writing works I have been writing the last 20 years, that I have scarce a moment: my audience hitherto have been fit tho few'.

[ Mabel Dearmer, author and pacifist. ] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Dearest Molly'

Author: 
Mabel Dearmer [ Jessie Mabel Prichard Dearmer, née White ] (1872-1915), English illustrator, writer, nursing orderly and pacifist
Publication details: 
On letterhead of St. Mary's Vicarage, Primrose Hill, N.W. [ London ] 23 April [ 1909 ].
£180.00

2pp., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. A warm and characteristically solicitous letter. She has heard 'such a sad account' of the recipient, and hopes she is 'quite well & fit again now'. The Dearmers 'couldn't manage Paris but we should have loved it - There has been so much - boys' holidays & my book & now another new play! I am sending you "Gervase" - I always think of correcting the proofs at Alnmouth and the sunshine there - & your little red cap with the tassel!' She asks if 'Mrs.

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