VICTORIAN

Casting an interesting sidelight on the purchasing practices of the British Museum Manuscripts Department. All three items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Totalling 6pp., 12mo. On three bifoliums. ONE: ALS. 4 December 1912. 3pp., 12mo. As it is 'difficult to advise without further information as to the nature of the old papers' he invites her to 'send them up' so that he can 'report whether there is any probability of their purchase by the Trustees of the British Museum'. If they are 'bulky' he suggests sending 'specimens'.

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. A long and detailed letter, beginning: 'The situation is not quite as we thought it. Yesterday I saw Mr. Higgs at Downing Street and he explained to me all the circumstances concerning the consideration of Mrs. Latey's petitions. | The suggestion emanating from him, with the Prime Minister's concurrence, is as follows.' The plan outlined, as Mrs Latey is not eligible for the pension, is for a fund to be established for her, to which 'the Prime Minister would add [...] a sum from Royal Bounty - the whole to be sunk in an annuity for her.

Small (7.5 x 10.5 cm) card. Aged and creased, and with remains of labels from mount on address side. Addressed to 'Rev P. L. Underhill | 5 George's Vicarage | Wolverhampton'. Reads: 'The Park and House are open to visitors on every day except Sundays. | Devonshire | 16/5/93'.

1p., 4to. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed by hand to 'My dear Watson'. He thanks him for his 'charming letter', adding that the 'generous encouragement of all our friends is a great help to my wife and myself in undertaking this great duty and service to the Empire'. Concluding in autograph, he writes: 'I see you are still on yr. march, so come & pay us a visit in India | Yrs. sincerely | Willingdon'.

All four items in good condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. Totalling 6pp., 4to, on six leaves, written lengthwise in red-ruled columns. The first two sets of accounts each 2pp., on a bifolium; the last two each 1p., on a single leaf. Each of the four sets of accounts is on the same printed form, with a full-page printed text, dated from 'Paternoster Row, London, | January 1843.', headed 'Messrs.

1p., 12mo. In very good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Headed: 're Laing's Sea Kings of Norway'. In an attractive and distinctive hand, he writes: 'Dear Sir / I am quit of my Examn. work at Oxford and propose to call on you with reference to final settlement of terms on Friday morning next. I shall bring with me complete program of work etc | I am yours faithfully | Frck York Powell'.

16pp., 8vo. Vignette and eight full-page illustrations, all hand-coloured, depicting Sly Boots the fox, Farmer Brown, Joe the shepherd boy, and Trusty the dog. Disbound and stapled. On aged and worn paper. Scarce: the only two copies on COPAC and OCLC WorldCat at the British Library and University of California, with dating to the first entry.

5pp., 8vo, with five plates. Stitched. In brown printed wraps headed 'Compliments of the Author', with 'Reprint from Popular Astronomy' at foot. Heavily aged, in worn and stained wraps repaired with tape. At the head of the cover Lowell has written 'iss Mary E. Proctor'. Manuscript note in another hand (presumably Procter's) on cover: 'Contains a note in Lowell's own handwriting on page 2'. Lowell's autograph note on p.2, with slight loss due to trimming of the edges of the pamphlet, reads: 'For further story by me see Jan. '97 pular stronomy'.

4pp., 12mo. Paginated to 4. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. On laid paper watermarked 'A PIRIE & SONS | 1883'. Tastefully printed.

[2] + 25pp., 12mo. Stitched pamphlet in brown printed wraps. In fair condition, aged and worn. Uncommon: five copies on COPAC.

2pp., folio. Bifolium. In small type. Containing two copies of a printed circular by McIlquham, on Cheltenham Rural District Council letterhead, dated 14 September 1906. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. The memorandum is divided into five sections, and begins by putting the Council's position that 'Motor Cars travelling at high speed in dry weather along the unwatered roads of country districts occasion an intolerable dust nuisance to other users of the highway, and seriously prejudice the comfort and even the health of the inhabitants of road-side dwellings'.

4pp., 8vo. Bifolium. On laid paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and spotted. Printed in black with title in red. The first page headed: 'Now Ready | Small Colombier 8vo. With 7 Photogravure Plates, and 84 Illustrations in Half-Tone, £2, 2s.

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. He has been 'asked by a gentleman who called here to advise you of publications after Albert Moore &c', and lists five engravings, with prices, the last being, for five guineas, 'a very fine work after <?> etching "A Christmas Carol" | Artist proof on vellum'. He also draws the recipient's attention to 'Phoebe Sir Fredk Leighton cut of which I enclosed'.

Attractively printed on one side of a piece of 37 x 41 cm wove paper, with decorative rules and borders. 'Núm. 2.' in top right-hand corner. Four tables, on 'Artilleria' (600 men and 280 horses), 'Infanteria' (1860 men), 'Caballeria' (comprising 'Rejimiento Húzares de Junin', 'Idem Lanceros de Torata' and 'Idem Escolta del Gobierno') and 'Resumon por clases de todas armas' (3000 men and 1040 horses). Five lines of text in small type at foot.

60 + 1pp., 8vo. The last page carries an 'Appendix'. In brown printed wraps, with cover headed 'Luxury and the Fine Arts, - In some of their Moral and Historical Relations.' Inscribed at head of cover to 'B. Moran Esqe | with the Author's kind regards'. In fair condition, with signs of age and wear. Disbound, and with library stitching at spine. Front cover with stamp of the Free Public Library, Wigan, and shelfmarks. Note by the librarian Henry Tennyson Folkard on inside front cover: 'Cat. Bought May 1916. | H. T.

1p., landscape 12mo (16 x 20.5 cm). Addressed on reverse 'To | John Bowring Esqre | 6 Freeman's Court | Cornhill'. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded into a packet for hand-delivery. Written in a crabbed, difficult hand. Begins: 'Tomorrow I will send you a copy of my Character [clearly 'The Life and Character of the Duke of Wellington', which is however generally ascribed to his namesake the Earl of Ellesmere], which you will see

Blaquiere

is just now in demand. Also a work which i can only lend him.

409 + [6]pp., 8vo. In blue cloth, with ornate design printed in silver on front cover, around a laid down photographic portrait of 'The late Alderman J. Rhodes, J.P. Founder of the Firm in 1824.' Spine reads: '1824. J. RHODES & SONS, LTD., 1901.' Text embossed on back cover. In fair condition, on aged paper, in lightly-worn and aged binding. Two leaves of addenda tipped-in, the first, with text printed in red, headed 'Notice. - American Competition!'; the second carrying text and illustration of the '"Rhodes" "Excelsior" Treadle Guillotine Shear'.

[36]pp., 12mo. In olive wraps printed in green. Printed on art paper with 17 photographic illustrations (14 of them of the house), and the last four pages carrying advertisements. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Disbound from a collection of pamphlets ('13' in manuscript at head of front cover), and with library stitching at spine. Uncommon: five copies on COPAC and WorldCat, but none at the British Library or in North America.

[16] + 74 + [4]pp., 4to. Erratum slip. Printed on art paper, with numerous black and white photographic illustrations. In brown buckram quarter-binding, with paper boards printed in red and blue. Internally in fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with a leaf of advertisements lacking at the rear; in aged and worn binding.

1p., 12mo. On aged and worn paper, with two punch holes at head. The letter is written to enclose particulars (not present) 'relating to the Chelsea Hospital for Women', in which Cadogan takes 'a deep interest'. He hopes Tuck 'may be induced to become one of its supporters, as it is urgently in need of increased assistance'. The Hospital's secretary will acknowledge all contributions on Cadogan's behalf.

The inscription is on the half-title leaf of Warren's anonymous 'A Letter to the Queen on a Late Court Martial' (1850). In fair condition on aged paper, with traces of previous mount adhering to the reverse. It reads: 'Rev. Dr. Warren | With his Son's love. | Samuel Warren. | 12th. Jany 1850.'

On 8.5 x 9.5 cm piece of paper. In good condition, with light signs of age. Reads: '"Littera scripta manet" | Valentine Chirol'.

2pp., 12mo. On aged paper, with creasing and short closed tear at foot of leaf (affecting first letter of signature). The letter reads: 'My dear Sir | So many thanks for your most beautiful lines. I should be grateful if you would dedicate them to me | Yrs Truly | Henry A. Lytton'. Lytton gives his Chiswick home address on the reverse.

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Reads: 'My dear Young | Jack Calthorpe-Clayton is in the country: and I don't know when he will be home. He will be much grieved, I know, not to be here to welcome you back to our dingy old capital, when he knows of your apparition here | Yours very truly | J Palgrave Simpson'. The identity of 'Jack Calthorpe-Clayton' is uncertain. The name is certainly spelt thus, but may be a mistake for 'Colthorpe-Clayton'.

On one side of the lower part of a leaf, measuring 10 x 12.5 cm. In fair condition, on lightly aged paper. Reads: '[...] have much pleasure in seeing you on Thursday Evening | Yours Very Truly | Isa Craig'.

On one vellum skin. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Docketed 'No. 1 | Order left 22 May 1872. | Meml. regd. 23d. May 1872. | Order reld. 27th. May 1872' and 'Ashurst Morris & Co | 6 Old Jewry | E.C.' Arranged in the customary fashion, with tax stamps, and the signatures ('G: Ridley' and 'James Caird') on either side of the seal, on folded up strip at foot. The seal, in red wax on a green ribbon is 4.5 cm in diameter and in fair condition, with a few small fragments chipped away.

13pp., 8vo. Stapled pamphlet on green-grey paper. In fair condition, aged and worn. In the introduction ('To my readers') Harvey explains that it is 'a keen sense of my duty to my fellow-countrymen in general, and to potential fellow-sufferers in particular', that has induced him 'to re-open a great and recent sorrow ['the untimely death of my beloved son'] by placing the details of my tragic and terrible experiences of a Nursing Home before the public'.

Clifford was introduced to the laying of Atlantic telegraph cables by Sir Charles Bright, whose wife was his cousin. He served as an engineer on all the Atlantic cable expeditions from 1857 to 1866, designing the paying-out machinery used on the Great Eastern in 1865 and 1866. He worked at Greenwich as chief engineer for the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company until his retirement in 1894. ONE: From Blackheath; 6 April 1892. 4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Signed 'H. Clifford.' In good condition, on lightly-aged paper.

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged paper, but with loss at foot and traces of mount on reverse. The letter is addressed to 'Mrs Ashurst Morris | Victoria Hotel | ' (the last word damaged at the foot of the page). It reads: 'Dear Madam, | Thanks for your letter. Pardon my delay in answering, but our plans have been a little uncertain. We shall not be staying in London after the date mentioned, otherwise, we should have been very glad to continue our present sojourn at your comfortable flat.

Totalling 16pp., 12mo. In very good condition, on lightly-aged paper. With two envelopes (both initaled 'G. L. C.') with Penny Red postage stamps and Belfast postmarks (13 and 25 January 1862), both addressed by Craik to 'John Hunter, Esq: | Craigcrook | by Edinburgh', also a similar envelope, with Belfast postmark dated 27 August 1861, addressed to Hunter at 'Robertson's Lodgings | 24 St. Stephen's Green North | Dublin'. Chatty, friendly letters in a crabbed, difficult hand. On 13 January 1862 Craik writes: 'I am very glad you have spoken to Dr. John Brown.