History

[ Alfred Emmott, 1st Baron Emmott. ] Autograph Card Signed ('Alfred Emmott') to 'Holdsworth', undertaking to present a petition to the House of Commons.

Author: 
Alfred Emmott (1858-1926), 1st Baron Emmott, Oldham cotton magnate and Liberal politician
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Horton, Chipping Sodbury. 9 April 1904.
£28.00

In good condition, with slight crease to one corner. Informing him that he will be 'very glad to present your petition when the House re-opens'.

Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti, 1921. ] Printed 'Report to the Governor [ of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Michael S. Dukakis ] in the Matter of Sacco and Vanzetti', with letter from the Governor's Press Office and photostat of pardon.

Author: 
[ Daniel A. Taylor, Chief Legal Counsel, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; the 1921 Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti; Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian-American anarchists ]
Publication details: 
Introduction by Daniel A. Taylor, Chief Legal Counsel, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Executive Department, State House, Boston, dated 13 July 1977.
£135.00

[1] + 38pp., 4to. Stapled in brown printed wraps. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. In his introduction Taylor explains: 'The accompanying Report has been prepared under the auspices of the Office of the Governor's Legal Counsel in response to your questions: first, as to whether there are substantial grounds for believing - at least in light of the criminal justice standards of today - that Sacco and Vanzetti were unfairly convicted and executed, and, second, if so, what action can now appropriately be taken.

[ Steamship in Greek War of Independence. ] Autograph Letter Signed by Nicholas Robilliard, and Autograph Note Signed by Thomas Whitmore, concerning the Karteria: 'the Man of War Steam-ship (supposed to be built & fitting for the Greek Committee)'.

Author: 
Nicholas Robilliard; Thomas Whitmore [ London Greek Committee; Greek War of Independence ]
Publication details: 
Both Letters dated 8 December 1825. Robilliard's letter without place; Whitmore's note from the Custom House [ London ].
£220.00

The subject is clearly the Karteria, the first steam-powered warship to see active service. The Karteria was built in 1825 for the Greek insurgentsd by Daniel Brent Shipwrights in the Greenland South Dockyard, Rotherhithe, London. It was financed mainly from the proceeds of the 2nd Greek Loan raised by the London Philhellenic Committee, but also from the private funds of Captain Frank Abney Hastings. Both items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. ONE: Robilliard to 'Thos Whitmore Esq | Secretary &c &c &c'. 1p., 4to. Headed 'Confidential'. Signed 'Nis Robilliard'.

[ The British Empire Union, Incorporating the Anti-German Union. ] Printed handbill advertising a 'Competition for Poster Design.', and including a transcript of a letter on war memorials by sculptor Sir George Frampton.

Author: 
The British Empire Union, Incorporating the Anti-German Union, London [ Sir George Frampton (1860-1928), English sculptor; Henry Wood Promenade Concerts (The Proms) ]
Publication details: 
The British Empire Union, 346 Strand, London, WC2. [ 1917. ]
£60.00

1p., folio. On aged and worn paper. A jingoistic wartime outfit, with the letterhead proclaiming 'THE BRITISH EMPIRE FOR BRITISH SUBJECTS' and 'NO GERMAN INFLUENCE. | NO GERMAN LABOUR. | NO GERMAN GOODS | That compete with British.' The organisations chairman is named as Lord Leith of Fyvie, and the chairman Lieut-Col. Sir Mervyn Manningham-Buller. The long text begins: 'The British Empire Union offers a Prize of £2 2s.

[ Sir John Jeremie, Governor of Sierra Leone. ] Autograph Note in the third person, inviting '- Payne Esqr.' to dinner.

Author: 
Sir John Jeremie (1795-1841), British judge and diplomat, Chief Justice of Saint Lucia and Governor of Sierra Leone, whose writings contributed to the abolition of slavery.
Publication details: 
Government House, Freetown [ Sierra Leone ]. 10 January 1841.
£25.00

1p., 12mo. On a bifolium, part of the second leaf of which has been torn away, but with address by Jeremie to 'Payne Esqr. | Commanding the G

'. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Reads: 'Sir John Jeremie presents his compliments to Mr. Payne & begs he will do him the favor of dining with him on Tuesday at half past six o'clock.'

[ Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart, Liberal politican and husband of Princess Christine Bonaparte. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Dudley Coutts Stuart'), undertaking to visit the pianist Charles Salaman.

Author: 
Lord Dudley Coutts Stuart (1803-1854), Liberal politician, husband of Lucien Bonaparte's daughter Princess Christine Bonaparte, supporter of Polish independence [ Charles Salaman (1814-1901), pianist]
Publication details: 
34 St James's Place [ London ]. 17 July 1848.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. On aged and lightly-worn paper. It will give him great pleasure to wait upon Salaman and his sister, and he will certainly do so 'unless absolutely prevented' by the House of Commons, which he hopes will not be the case. The word 'Lord' has been added in a contemporary hand before Stuart's signature.

[ General Sir Dighton Probyn. ] Autograph Letter in the third person, as 'Comptroller & Treasurer of the Prince of Wales' Household', inviting Sir Robert Herbert to visit the Prince and his wife at Sandringham, and giving transport details.

Author: 
General Sir Dighton Probyn [ General Sir Dighton Macnaghten Probyn ] (1833-1924), British army officer and recipient of the Victoria Cross [Sir Robert Herbert; King Edward VIII; Sandringham, Norfolk ]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Sandringham, Norfolk. 15 November 1884.
£75.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and a little smudged. He 'writes by direction of The Prince and Princess of Wales to invite him to pay their Royal Highnesses a visit at Sandringham from Saturday next the 22nd. Inst. to remain till Monday the 24th. He gives details of the best train to catch to 'Wolferton (the Station for Sandringham)', where there will be 'conveyances to take Sir Robert and the other Guests travelling by the same Train, from the Station to the House'.

[ William Burdett-Coutts, MP and philanthropist. ] Autograph Signature ('W Burdett-Coutts') on part of letter.

Author: 
William Burdett-Coutts [ William Lehman Ashmead Bartlett Burdett-Coutts ] (1851-1921), MP and philanthropist, husband of Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, 1st Baroness Burdett-Coutts (1814-1906)
Publication details: 
'Holly Lodge | Aug 10. 94 [1894]'.
£20.00

On 5 x 11 cm piece of paper, cut from the head of a letter addressed to 'Dear Moon'. In good condition, lightly aged. Written crosswise above the salutation is: 'I cant get them in time | Yrs very truly | W Burdett-Coutts'.

[ Sylvain Van de Weyer, Belgian diplomat and book collector. ] Autograph Signature ('S. Van De Weyer').

Author: 
Sylvain Van de Weyer [Jean-Sylvain Van de Weyer ] (1802-1874), Belgian minister and ambassador to London, a noted book collector
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£25.00

On 1.5 x 4.5 cm piece of paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Cut from letter with mourning border.

[ Sir Albert Spicer, Liberal Party politician. ] Typed Letter Signed ('Albert Spicer') to A. D. Snow, responding to congratulations on his receiving his baronetcy.

Author: 
Sir Albert Spicer (1847-1934), industrialist and Liberal Party politician, successively Member of Parliament for Monmouth Boroughs and Hackney Central
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 10 Lancaster Gate, W. [ London ] 9 July 1906.
£35.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. He thanks him for his congratulations on 'the honour His Majesty has conferred upon me', adding 'The kind and generous way in which the announcement has been received by our friends has been most gratifying to my Wife and myself.'

[ Mehmed Fuad Pacha, statesman in the Ottoman Empire. ] Autograph Signature ('Mehmed Pacha').

Author: 
Mehmed Pacha [ Mehmed Fuad Pacha (Pasha) ] (1814-1869), statesman in the Ottoman Empire
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£100.00

On irregular strip of paper, roughly 1.5 x 4 cm. in dimensions. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. The son of a noted poet, Pacha began his career as a translator, before serving as a diplomat. He was instrumental in reforming the Tanzimat, and was an ardent Anglophile.

[ Fabrizio Ruffo, Prince of Castelcicala, Neapolitan ambassador to London. ] Autograph Signature ('Castelcicala').

Author: 
Fabrizio Ruffo, Prince of Castelcicala [ Fabrizio Ruffo di Bagnara, principe di Castelcicala ] (1763-1832), Neapolitan ambassador to London
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£20.00

On 2 x 12 cm. strip of paper. In good condition, lightly aged. Cut from the end of a letter.

[ Baron August von Cetto, Bavarian diplomat. ] Autograph Signature ('Cetto').

Author: 
Baron August von Cetto [ August Freiherr von Cetto ] Bavarian diplomat
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£20.00

On 1.5 x 5 cm strip of paper. In fair condition, lightly aged. Cut from letter.

[ Abbott Laurence, American ambassador to London. ] Autograph Signature ('Abbott Laurence').

Author: 
Abbott Laurence (1792-1855), American politician and philanthropist, congressman and ambassador to London, 1849-1852
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£22.00

On 1 x 5 cm. piece of paper. In fair condition, lightly aged. Cut from a letter.

[ Émilie Broisat, actress with the Comédie-Française. ] Autograph Letter Signed to 'Monsieur Laval', declining an invitation.

Author: 
Émilie Broisat (1846-1929), French actress with the Comédie-Française
Publication details: 
'Dimanche soir' [ no place or date ].
£30.00

2pp., 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Gracefully declining an invitation.

[ Prince Constantin Czartoryski, Polish patriot. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('Pce. Constantin Czartoryski'), in French, requesting that a letter be forwarded to his brother who is en route to Italy.

Author: 
Prince Constantin Czartoryski [ Konstanty Adam Czartoryski ] (1777-1866), Polish patriot who served under Napoleon, raising a regiment at his own expence
Publication details: 
Paris, 26 September 1819.
£250.00

For more information on Czartoryski, see his entry in the Annual Register for 1860, p.407. 1p., 12mo. On bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The recipient is not named, but is an Italian-speaker, as the letter is docketted 'Parigi 1819 | 26 Sett. | Princp. Cost. Czartoryski'. Fifteen lines of text, requesting, in florid tones, that a letter be forwarded to his brother, 'qui doit être dans ce moment ci à Livourne pour y faire prendre des bains'.

[ Sir Hamilton Seymour, diplomat. ] Calling Card, carrying an Autograph Note to 'Baron Ward' on seating arrangements.

Author: 
Sir Hamilton Seymour [ Sir George Hamilton Seymour ] (1797-1880), British diplomat
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£30.00

For more on Seymour, who held diplomatic posts in Italy, Portugal, Belgium and Russia, see his entry in the Oxford DNB. The 4.5 x 7.5 cm card carries the words 'Sir Hamilton Seymour | Ministre d'Angleterre' in copperplate. Above this Seymour has written, in a difficult hand, what appears to be: 'My dear Baron Ward | I want you to shew your finess [sic] in your placing Machen & Mr Caird. | Yrs.'

[ William Ewart Gladstone, British Prime Minister. ] Autograph Signature ('W E Gladstone') from franked letter.

Author: 
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), British Liberal Party politician, four-time Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Gladstone
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated. [ 1859? ]
£25.00
Gladstone

On 2.5 x 11.5 cm. piece of paper, cut from front panel of envelope. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Lower part of address present, reading 'Gt Grimsby | Grantham'. Circular frank in red ink over this, reading 'FREE | 8 JY 8 | 18<5?>9'. Good firm signature underlined at bottom left: 'W E Gladstone'.

[ 'The Bath Contest' for the Office of Master of Ceremonies, 1769. ] Printed handbill by 'A Neutral Observer', addressed 'To the Ladies and Gentlemen, who are yet uninfluenced by Party or Faction in the Present Election.'

Author: 
'A Neutral Observer' [ 'The Bath Contest' for the Office of Master of Ceremonies, 1769, followinng the death of Samuel Derrick ]
Publication details: 
[ Bath, Somerset. ] [4] April 1769.
£180.00

1p., 8vo. (roughly 27.5 x 18.5 cm). On a piece of watermarked laid paper. The present item is the original handbill reproduced on pp.41-44 of 'The Bath Contest: Being a Collection of all the Papers, Advertisements, &c. Published Before and Since The Death of Mr. Derrick, By the Candidates For the Office of Master of Ceremonies, And their Friends, Digested in Regular Order' (Bath: Archer and Cruttwell, 1769). It is scarce: no other copy being traced, either on OCLC WorldCat or on COPAC. A frail survival, on aged, worn and creased paper, with loss at head and to left-hand margin.

[ The Potato Blight in Scotland, 1854. ] Anonymous manuscript paper: 'The Cause and Cure of the Potato disease &c.', including 'Memorandum of Facts relative to Pestilence and the Potato disease in the Parish of Campbeltown'.

Author: 
[ The Kintyre Agricultural Society; Cambeltown, Argyll and Bute; the Potato Blight in Scotland, 1854 ]
Publication details: 
'To The Members of The Kintyre Agricultural Society'. Section headed: 'Campbeltown 2nd Oct 1854'.
£800.00

121pp., folio, with each page on a separate leaf. The author's own pagination skips p.20, but the text is complete. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn watermarked laid paper. Manuscript emendations (corrections, deletions and additions) throughout, and also occasional directions to a printer in the margin (for example, p.18: 'Indent an M piece') suggesting contemporary publication. (The Otago Witness in 1891 reproduced under the same title a few short extracts from the present item - starting at p.24 of it.

[ Linley Sambourne. ] Large printed 'Memorial Card', carrying engraving of 'the Liberal Monument to Mr. Gladstone erected within the Palace of Westminster'.

Author: 
Linley Sambourne [ Edward Linley Sambourne ] (1844-1910), English cartoonist and illustrator who worked with Punch [ William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), Liberal Prime Minister ]
Sambourne
Publication details: 
Without date or place. 'Linley Sambourne invt et delt V & C'.
£85.00
Sambourne

Printed in black on one side of a 19 x 29 cm piece of stiff card, with rounded corners. In fair condition, lightly-aged, with 4cm vertical closed tear at head. The memorial to a stern-faced Gladstone is depicted - a setting sun blazing behind it - between two mythical seated women, Justice on the right, and a hooded woman with a hand mirror on the left. In the background are the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. The card is made out in manuscript to 'Edward C Young' (with '186357' at foot), and the caption at the foot reads: 'This Memorial Card was issued to [ Edward C Young.

[ William Ewart Gladstone, English Liberal prime minister. ] Portrait photograph of Gladstone in middle-age, with conclusion of Autograph Letter Signed ('W E Gladstone') addressed to W. H. Pennington.

Author: 
William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), English Liberal prime minister
Gladstone
Publication details: 
Neither item with place or date.
£65.00
Gladstone

Both items are laid down on a leaf removed from an autograph album. Both in good condition, with light signs of age. The photographic print of Gladstone measures 9 x 5.5, with the head and shoulders image in an oval 7.5 cm high by 5 cm wide, and showing a middle-aged Gladstone with dark bow tie and frock coat, staring to the right. Beneath the photograph is a 9.5 x 9 cm piece of paper, cut from the conclusion of a letter, reading: '[...] difficult however to follow circumstances with which we are imperfectly acquainted | We are now on the eve of going abroad for a

[ John Stuart, 1st Marquess of Bute. ] Manuscript indenture, signed by 'Cardiff' (with his seal), Dutens and Jacmar: 'Escoffment of a Cottage at Collierly in the County of Durham | The Right Honourable John Lord Cardiff to Mr. John Smith.'

Author: 
John Stuart (1744-1814), 1st Marquess of Bute (as John, Lord Cardiff) [ Louis Dutens (1730-1812), French author; David George Jacmar (d.1896) of the Auditor's Office; Thomas Shafto of Witton Gilbert ]
Publication details: 
[ Regarding Collierley, County Durham. ] 1 July 1780.
£80.00

3pp., folio. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Laid out in the customary fashion, with two tax stamps, one embossed and the other in black ink. Signed 'Cardiff' beside a good impression of his seal in red wax. Witnessed by 'L. Dutens' and 'D G Jacmar'. The indenture is 'Between The Right Honourable John Lord Cardiff of Cardiff Castle in the County of Glamorgan of the first Part John Smith of Wilton Gilbert in the County of Durham Gentleman of the second Part and Thomas Shafto of Dunston in the said County of Durham Esquire off the third Part'.

[Edward Mason Wrench] Manuscript describing events in 1855-6, during his service in the Crimean War with the 34th Regiment of Foot. With duplicated (hectograph) letter by him and handbill advertisement for talk by him, both on the Siege of Sebastopol

Author: 
Edward Mason Wrench (1833-1912) of the 34th Regiment of Foot [The Crimean War; Siege of Sebastopol; Crimea]
Publication details: 
The account of 'Events in 1855 [and 1856]' dated by Wrench from Park Lodge, Baslow [Derbyshire], 1902. The duplicated letter dated 12 December 1880. The printed advertisement for talk at the School, Baslow, and dated 14 January 1881.
£450.00

Wrench was the son of a clergyman, and well connected, being presented to the Prince of Wales and staying at Chatsworth in his old age. His obituary in the British Medical Journal (27 April 1812), describes how he went out to the Crimea in 1854. 'He had been gazetted Assistant Surgeon to the 34th Regiment in November, and joined it on its arrival in the Crimea. He served during the terrible winter of that year, and was present at the capture of the quarries, the successful assault on the Redan of June 18th, and the final capture of Sebastopol on September 8th, 1855.

[Embargo Act of 1807?;] Substantial copy letter, John Holmes, lawyer & politician in Maine/Massachusetts, to William Sabatier, merchant, about land in Maine/MA. Annotated & Copied by Sabatier,and forwarded to Thomas Hutchinson, Jr (see notes below)

Author: 
William Sabatier, "office holder, merchant, jp, and lobbyist (Canadian DNB) [John Holmes, US Senator, etc. (Wikipedia)]
Publication details: 
[Holmes letter] Alfred, Mass., 24 March 1809; [Wm Sabatier note], 5 May 1809.
£280.00

Four-pages bifolium, fold marks, good condition. Holmes letter copied by Sabatier to Hutchinson, and with substantial added material also by Sabatier, 2pp., folio; Sabatier added the note to Hutchinson, p.3, "A cross grained business has happened in the appointment which will occasion a temporary delay; Hutchinson's address appears on page four with a note (presumably in Hutchinson's hand), "Willm Sabatier Esq.

[ The Siberian 'Katorga' in Imperial Russia. ] English translation (by Peter Kropotkin?) from the French, of Émile Andreoli's account of his captivity following the January Uprising, titled ''Siberian Convicts' Life'. Containing unpublished material.

Author: 
Émile Andreoli (1835-1900), Franco-Italian writer and inventor, sent to Siberia following his participant in the Polish 'January Uprising', 1863-1864 [ Peter Kropotkin, Russia; Russian Katorga ]
Publication details: 
Without details or date. [London, 1880s? Certainly after 1869.]
£4,000.00

99pp., 8vo. Each page typed on a separate piece of paper ruled with red marginal borders. The manuscript housed in a contemporary thumb-indexed ledger, with each leaf tipped-in onto the recto of a leaf of the ledger. The manuscript in good condition, lightly-aged and worn; the ledger heavily worn and shaken, and lacking covers. Andreoli's name is not given anwhere in this item. Title-page with typed title 'Siberian Convicts' Life'. Above the title, in manuscript is '? Convict-Life', and typed beneath the title is a six-line epigram from Goethe.

[Archive; unpublished history] Papers and correspondence relating to an intended history of the early years of the Daily Express

Author: 
John Gordon, editor of the Sunday Express [Lord Beaverbrook]:
Publication details: 
No particular place or date.
£2,000.00

For more about John Rutherford Gordon (1890-1974), editor of the Sunday Express between 1928 and 1952, see his entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.Although the volume for which the present material was amassed did not materialise, there is no doubting the seriousness of the project. Working with Beaverbrook's approval and encouragement (the nine memoranda by him present in the collection indicate his interest), Gordon employed Sunday Express news editor Jack Garbutt (John Lambert Garbutt, 1907-1973), John ('Jock') Selby Bradford and 'T. N. Shane' (i.e. H. A. H.

[F. G. Gordon and the Oxford University Press.] Correspondence with John Johnson, Humphrey Milford, Sir John Forsdyke, S. R. K. Glanville, Sir G. F. Hill, and others, about his book 'Through Basque to Minoan'. With corrected manuscripts, proofs, etc.

Author: 
Frank Gordon Gordon [né Straube] (1874-1968), classical scholar with theory on Minoan Linear A [John Johnson; Humphrey Milford; Oxford University Press; Sir John Forsdyke; S. R. K. Glanville]
Publication details: 
Letters from various locations (including the British Museum), between 1930 and 1932. [The book published by Oxford University Press, 1931.]
£950.00

The collection is in good overall condition, with light signs of age and wear. As the following description indicates, much care was taken by OUP with the production of the book, the Press even going so far as to produce new type for it (examples of which are accompany a letter by the printer John Johnson). Unfortunately the book was not well received - a savage review [by Sir P. J.

[Violet Attlee, wife of the Prime Minister Clement Attlee.] Autograph Note Signed ('V H A') at head of Autograph Letter from Downing Street secretary E. J. Sayer, apologising for a mistake.

Author: 
Violet Helen Attlee [née Millar] (1896-1964), Countess Attlee, wife of Clement Attlee (1883-1967), 1st Earl Attlee, Labour Prime Minister; Elizabeth Sayer, later Cooper, Downing Street secretar
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Prime Minister. Sayer's apology: 30 March 1950. Violet Attlee's reply on the same day.
£65.00

1p., on 20.5 x 8.5 cm slip, headed by the Prime Minister's official letterhead. Sayer's apology is headed 'Mrs Attlee', and she writes that she feels she 'must apologise in writing for the mistake I made over the arrangements for giving your two seats to the Misses Trevor', hoping that it did not cause inconvenience and promising not to do the like again. Violet Attlee's reply, headed 'Miss Sayer', is at the head of the letter: 'Please don't worry. It is quite a relief to me to find that somebody besides myself makes mistakes! | W H A 30/3'.

Seventeenth-century Vellum Manuscript Indenture, a Terrier of John Head's lease lands in West Hendred, Berkshire.

Author: 
[John Head of Langley, Hampstead Norreys, High Sheriff of Berkshire, 1698-1699; terrier his lease lands in West Hendred]
Publication details: 
[West Hendred, Berkshire.] Late seventeenth-century.
£220.00

On one side of a strip of vellum (circa 40 x 18 cm). In fair condition, aged and worn. In English. Scan of part on application

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