WILLIAM

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘Mr. J. G. Gillman / 50 High Street / Chislehurst, Kent / England’. Good firm signature, ‘W R Anderson’, with ‘Commander, U.S. Navy / Written following the Nautilus’s arctic transit, 3 August 1958: ‘Thank you for your letter and kind appreciation. The people of England have given us a truly wonderful welcome and we are all deeply appreciative.’ He asks him to accept the signature that he is attaching, for his autograph collection. See Image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Laid down on an 8vo leaf of grey paper removed from an album. The autograph is on a strip of paper at the foot, and reads: 'Gul. Cullen Med. Pract. P.' Above this is the stipple engraving, in good condition, showing 'DR. WILLIAM CULLEN' in profile. The artist is named as 'Ridley' and the portrait, in an oval border, is topped by the words 'European Magazine'. Another thin strip of paper, above the engraving, reads: 'From Lot 293 of the collection of Mr. J Naylor: sold by Sotheby Wilkinson and Hodge on 23/7/85'. See Image

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'.

1p, 8vo. In good condition, lightly aged, with thin strip of paper from mount adhering to blank reverse. Folded once.. A neatly-written letter of fourteen lines. The recipient is not named, but is Charles Jenkinson, 1st Earl of Liverpool (1729-1808), whose country seat was Addiscombe Park in Surrey. Mansfield served in the First Pitt Ministry with Liverpool (then Lord Hawkesbury), the former as Lord President of the Council, and the latter as President of the Board of Trade.

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

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

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.

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.

The interesting context of the present item is explained in a quotation from Antony Chessell’s 2009 biography of Hayward (subtitled ‘one of the Two Best Read Men in England’ - the other was Macaulay) subjoined to this entry. See also the entries for Hayward and Lewis in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Sixty lines of text. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘My dear Lewis’ and signed ‘A. Hayward’. He begins by expressing regret that ‘any misapprehension has arisen from the introduction of Sir J Graham’s name in the Memorandum.

Written during Prescott’s 1850 visit to England, where he was greatly feted and lionized. Both items in good condition, lightly aged and worn. Both folded for postage. Both to ‘Dear Lady Theresa’ and signed ‘Wm. H. Prescott’. See the Oxford DNB entry for the recipient Lady (Maria) Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), whose family home was the Grove, Watford, but who lived in Kent House in Knightsbridge with her second husband Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bart, her first husband having been the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842). ONE ‘Trentham / Sep. 2d.’ 1p, 12mo.

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Signed ‘W F Williams’ and docketed by the recipient ‘Sir Fenwick Williams of Kars’. Written while Lewis was Chancellor of the Exchequer in Palmerston's government. Begins: ‘Dear Sir Cornewall, / I take the liberty of asking you for your influence for Dr. Nolan as Secretary & Librarian of the London Library’.

The claim that Benjamin Jowett reported Senior as saying that ‘the famine of 1848 in Ireland would not kill more than a million people, and that would scarcely be enough to do much good’ appears to have been made up by Cecil Woodham-Smith. It is certainly not mentioned in Senior’s entry in the Oxford DNB, along with the entry for the recipient Lady (Maria) Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), who lived in Kent House in Knightsbridge with her second husband Sir George Cornewall Lewis, Bart, her first husband having been the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842).

Signed ‘Geo. Ticknor’. The male recipient is not named, but the item is from the papers of the author Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865), successively wife of the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842) and the Liberal politician Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), all of whom have entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On first leaf of a bifolium, with a trace of glue from mount to the second leaf. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage.

The recipient Lady Theresa Lewis (1803-1865) was successively wife of the novelist Thomas Henry Lister (1800-1842) and the Liberal politician Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-1863), all of whom have entries in the Oxford DNB. The present item is an 11.5 x 8 cm panel of light-brown paper from the front cover of an envelope. Part of a large Boston postmark is at the left, with a manuscript ‘2’ written over a few letters of the address. All in Ticknor’s hand, it reads: ‘Lady Teresa Lewis / South Place, / Knightsbridge / London, SW.’, with the signature ‘Geo: Ticknor’ at bottom left.

1p, folio. On recto of the first leaf of a bifolium of watermarked laid paper. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight wear and spotting to the extremities. With ‘(L.S.)’ at top right and at the foot the slug ‘Printed by G. Roberts, Admiralty Office.’ Headed: ‘At the Court at St. James’s, / The 28th of May, 1800. / PRESENT, / The King’s Most Excellent Majesty / in Council.’ Thirty-four lines of text, including a twenty-three line transcription of an Admiralty memorandum, in smaller type.

See his entry, and that of Ross, in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. On blue paper. Folded twice for postage. Ross is not named, the letter being addressed to him as ‘The Provost, / Oriel College, / Oxford.’ Bold signature: ‘Nuffield’.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. On both sides of 10.5 x 8 cm piece of paper, cut from a letter for an autograph hunter. On one side, in a larger than usual hand: ‘Your Obed Servt / J Russell’. Beneath the signature, in a tiny contemporary hand: 'Prime Minister'. At the foot is the name of the recipient: ‘Rr. Admiral / Sir Henry Dillon Kt.’ A fragment of the letter is on the reverse: ‘[...] Albert have any [wish?] on the subject of your being in the Queen’s Household, I shall no doubt hear from His Royal Highnesss. But untill [sic] I do so, I [...]'. See Image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient is presumably the Captain Charles Napier (d.1849) of the Royal Artillery who ‘received eight wounds from the bursting of a shrapnel shell’ at Waterloo (see Dalton’s ‘Waterloo Roll Call’, p.194). 8pp, 4to. Closely and neatly written on two bifoliums. In good condition, lightly aged, but folded three times into a packet, and with some closed tears to the creases. Addressed ‘To Colonel Napier / Royal Artillery’ and with the valediction ‘I will now bid you adieu & subscribe myself / Yr very faithful Kinsman / Napier’.

The third letter gives an excellent indication of Birkett’s pride in his use of language. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The recipient Vere Henry Collins (1872-1966), was an author and grammatical stickler. All three signed ‘Norman Birkett’. In fair condition, lightly aged and little grubby. The first letter with a small hole to one corner, and the two leaves of the last letter held together with a pin. ONE: ALS, 9 July 1953. 1pp, 4to. He is adding Collins’s book to his ‘select library on “words”’.

See Sir William Beveridge’s entry in the Oxford DNB: 'An overbearing and temperamental Scotswoman, Mrs Mair had come to the school [the LSE] with Beveridge in 1919 (having been his secretary and aide during the war) and was highly unpopular with many of the school's professors. Throughout the 1930s there were complaints about the ‘Beveridge–Mair dictatorship’ and a general sense of relief when Beveridge decided to leave the school to accept the mastership of University College, Oxford, in 1937.' 1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with one dog-eared corner. Folded twice for postage.

The two signatures are on the same side of a 9 x 8.5 cm piece of pink paper, evidently cut from an autograph album. In good condition, lightly aged. At the head of the side is 'Aman ullah', boldly written with a flourish. At the foot of the side, underlined and rising upwards, is 'Leverhulme.' The two signatures could be easily separated as there is space between them. There is no other writing on the slip. See Image.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 16mo, on the first leaf of a bifolium. In good condition. Folded once for postage. Addressed to 'Douglas A. Wenslow Esq'. Reads: 'Dear Sir / Many thanks for your kind letter. / Here is the Autograph / yours truly / W L Wyllie'.

See his entry, and that of Swan, in the Oxford DNB. From the Swan papers. On both sides of an 11.5 x 9 cm card. In good condition, lightly aged, and with faint ink line at foot. Signed 'W L Wyllie'. Begins: 'Dear Miss Swan / Very many thanks for sending me the copy of Cape St Vincent. It is quite fine I will try if I cannot steal a bit for my big picture.' He turns to a 'roll' which is 'not long enough to make a panorama', but which he hopes to be able to 'drive round and look at' when the weather is warmer.

See Hill's entry in the Oxford DNB. Signed 'Jimmy Hill' across Hill's chest on a 10 x 14 cm black and white photograph of him in football shirt with stands behind. Captioned: 'Jimmy HIll / Fulham F.C. - Inside Right / With the Compliments of W. H. Smith & Son / Booksellers Newsagents Stationers'. On a 12.5 x 19 cm piece of shiny paper. In fair condition, lightly aged and ruckled, with traces of pink paper mount and glue adhering to the blank reverse. The signature of 'Graham Leggat' is written up the right margin. See Image.

Interesting items, casting light on the nitty-gritty of Victorian constituency politics. Both are signed 'W. S. Robson' and addressed to 'B. Piffard Esq'. Both in good condition, lightly aged, with the second a little spotted. Each on a bifolium. ONE (26 May 1885): 3pp, 12mo. He has been informed 'that it is now the wish of the Watford (or Divisional) Association that I should visit the Division & address meetings there.

An interesting item, providing valuable biographical information. The Gills were a prominent family of English painters, all puzzingly absent from the Oxford DNB. Edmund Gill’s father was the portrait painter Edmund Ward Gill (1794–1854) and among his brothers were the painters William Ward Gill (1823–1894) and George Reynolds Gill (1827–1904). After studying at the Royal Academy he fell under the influence of David Cox. The present item relates to Gill’s entry in the 1884 eleventh edition of the Routledge reference work by Thompson Cooper, ‘Men of the Time: A Dictionary of Contemporaries’.

See the entries on Simon and Ross in the Oxford DNB. At the time of writing Ross was a Fellow of Oriel College. Barnett House in Oxford was established in 1914 as a result of an appeal to academic and political figures, mainly through the actions of another Oriel fellow, Sidney Ball (1857-1918). It was named after Canon Barnett, founder of the university settlement Toynbee Hall. Barnett House was intended as a ‘citizens’ house’ - a centre for economic and social enquiry, and between 1957 and 2004, as a department of the university, was a centre for the training of social workers. See G.

Four scarce pieces of ephemera: no other copies of them traced on either JISC or WorldCat. See Ross’s entry in the Oxford DNB. The three reports give lists of college persons, with general and particular news. Items Two to Four in good condition, lightly aged and creased; Item One as described below. ONE: ‘ORIEL COLLEGE, OXFORD / 1917-1918’. Signed in type by ‘L. L. P.’ [i.e. Langford Lovell Price, retiring treasurer] and dated 31 July 1918. 7pp, 12mo. On two bifoliums of thin war-economy paper, glued together.

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.

2pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged (blank second leaf slightly damaged). Folded twice. Recipient not named, but is from the Piffard papers. Good bold signature ‘W. Carruthers’. Reads: ‘Dear Sir / The enclosed specimens are all certainly fish coprolites. / I would have returned them sooner but I was anxious to see Mr Etteridge who I understood from Mr Brody said they were cones. / I have only to-day been able to see him, and hee says that he has no doubt about the these [sic] specimens being Coprolites.’