Manuscripts

One page, c.18 x 11cm, trimmed, some foxing, but text clear and complete. As Commander of he Sapphire, he's certifying that H. A. Norman served as College Volunteer on the Sapphire from 10 Oct. 1832 to [15 Jan. 1833] with diligence, sobriety, etc.

One page, 20 x 16cm, some staining, but text clear and complete. As Commander of he Orestes he's certifying that Henry A. Norman served as midshipman on the Sloop Orestes from 7 Dec. 1835 to the date hereof and conducted himself with diligence, sobriety & attention, and was always obedient to command.

C.32 x 41cm, part Latin, mainly English, closed tear and minor loss on fold marks. Presumably one of the copies ordered to be delivered to the High Constable and other JPs. The first few Latin lines give occasion (Quarter Sessions), place, date, and names of officers of the Court (Justices of the Peace presumably), including John Wedgwood, of the Pottery Family, Francis Elde (Stafford M.P.), and Joseph Girdler, MP in the First British Parliament.

Striking vellum document, 60 x 75 cm. Docketed on reverse. 32 lines of text, ruled with red lines, with ornate engraved decorative border along three sides, headed in large letters 'Victoria by the Grace of God', and depicting the young Queen, the royal crest, a crown held by a cherub, blind justice, and other images. Tax stamp in margin and frayed ribbon at foot. On 9 September [V Geo.

One page, c.19.5 x 24cm, laid down on larger page, spotted and dulled but attractive, with text and illustration (Glasgow coat-of-arms augmented). Text: (MS in square brackets] No. [9] Glasgow [17th Feby] 17[69] | [William Shortrige (sic) Merchant in Glasgow] is this day admitted a Member pf the GLASGOW RENFREWSHIRE Society, having paid dues accordingly. [John Hamilton] Preses. | [James Shaw] Collector.

"Nature Note Book", 24pp. used, card covers slightly damaged, 4to, from the formation on 17 Nov. 1919, later meetings on: 26 July 1920, 19 Nov. 1920, January 1921, 10 & 19 Jan. 1921 (Rules Committee), 27 Jan. 1921, 3 Feb. 1921, 22 Feb. 1921,information about members, committee members, aims publicity etc. ENCLOSED: 1. Membership Card of the Stourbridge and District Citizens' League, being the Stourbridge Branch of the British Empire Union, not filled in. 2.

Landscape 8vo, 1 p. Text clear and complete. Fair on aged vellum. Engraving of royal crest in top left-hand corner. Printed in small type and completed in manuscript. Three witnesses, including 'Rich. Robinson' and 'Walt: Robins'. Red wax seal of head, and government stamp on blue. Brief modern notes accompanying the item state that the elder Shaw was born in 1685, the son of the headmaster of Lichfield Grammar School (Johnson's old school), who died in 1704. There is no record of anything published by the Shaws, who do not feature in BBTI.

8vo, 6 pp. Two bifoliums sewn together. On laid paper with Britannia watermark. Text clear and complete. Neatly written out at approximately 38 lines to the page. On aged paper, with slight damage to the first bifolium, the leaves of which are detaching at the spine. Some of the items have been lightly scored through in pencil, but are still legible. The inclusion of such items as '149 Blank Silk Paper for copying Maps' would appear to indicate that the document is an inventory (for probate?) of a cartographer's stock. Last two entries read '165 Blank Sheets of Paper for copying Maps.

4to, 3 pp. Bifolium. Neatly and closely written. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Evaluations of the conduct of more than thirty families, from a staunchly Bourbon point of view. First entry: 'Lorraine. Des sentiments trés pur. Ils quitterent ce Pais et furent trouver l'Empereur, qui les Emploie dans ses Armées.' Some families come in for criticism: 'Bethune. Cette maison si illustre s'est couverte d'ignomenie, un seul Bethune d'Artois a Emigrée.' Longest entry (twenty lines) on the Durfort Boissier family.

Folio, 3 pp. Bifolium. Printed on laid, watermarked paper. Around thirty-four lines to the page. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with loss to one corner (not affecting text). Reverse of second leaf docketed, and with thin strip from mount adhering at fold. Written in a neat seventeenth-century hand, with a number of emendations (including a deletion of three lines) suggesting that this copy was made by the anonymous author himself.

12mo, 8 pp. Fair, on aged laid paper. On four leaves removed from a pocket book, with two leaves numbered in manuscript '41' and '42'. Apparently a first-person draft of information for an appeal by the oldest surviving member (from the inception of the group) for a stipend. Begins 'Depuis le commencement de l'an 1760 que j'ai ete recu a la Musique du Roi, j'ai été en exercice jusqu'en 1792, avec 222. sujets qui s'y sous dont 40 vivant encore au 18 Janvier 1815. [...]'.

On eight pieces of 8vo paper, one of which has ha d a 3 cm horizontal strip cut away at the foot (not affecting the image). On a variety of different paper types, all wove. Good, on aged paper. Attractive images, ranging in height from 7 to 9 cm, of four women and four men, all clearly belonging to the eighteenth-century middle-classes. Executed in black ink using both pen and brush. Not full silhouettes: in some cases the hair is picked out in white. One of the images, of a young woman with curls and a bow, treated twice in slightly different styles.

4to album of 33 leaves, with the 112 illustrations each on a separate piece of paper, and all laid down on 59 of the album's 66 leaves (the blank leaves of the album bearing traces of other illustrations having been removed). The illustrations range in size from 19 x 15.5 cm to 6 x 3 cm, with the average around 15 x 11 cm. The album's brown cloth covers are faded and worn, but internally the album is sound, with the illustrations themselves in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Around twenty are signed, half with the spelling 'Duchene' and the other half 'Du Chene'.

One page, 4to, tipped onto larger card, good condition. Forty-five lines excluding signature at base ("Walter Savage Landor"), text, worked over by Landor, as follows: The Public is informed that our gracious queen [sic], among her many acts of judicious beneficence, has granted a pension of 100£ a year to the lineal descendents, in the fourth degree, of Daniel De Foe. These are two aged women reduced to poverty and decrepitude.

12mo, 1 p. Neatly written with six items, beginning with '2 weeks pay for Serjt: Deans and Dr. Marton', and ending with 'Expences Contracted on account of Mc.Dougall'. Includes 'A Cockade for Joseph Harriegat & one for Dr. Harris'. Deans acknowledges receipt of £2 11s. The last item, of 5s is not included in the payment, and the bill is docketed on the reverse '1778 | Serj. Deans Bill a 5s Mist[ak]e.' The identity of the relevant regiment is unclear.

In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Dimensions are approximate. The three illustrations (1815-6), each 8.5 x 4 cm, form three panels on a 10 x 13.5 cm piece of paper.

Folio, 1 p. Bifolium. Text on recto of first leaf; docketed on reverse of second leaf. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged and worn paper. Headed 'Longhoughton | Northumberland'. Signed at foot by the Earl and Countess. Begins 'Licence is hereby Granted to Elizabeth Adams to Lett Lett or Assign over to Robert Adams All That Messuage or Tenement and the Lands thereto belonging with the Appurtenances Lying and being in Longhoughton held of us by Lease for Twenty One yeares from Ladyday One thousand Seven hundred forty and Nine'.

Elliot's illustrations, attractively executed in great detail, recall the style of those in the volumes produced by the publisher B. T. Batsford during the same period. All in excellent condition, the majority with tissue guards; album in good good condition. Fifty-eight of the illustrations, all of Swiss knockers, on paper ranging in size from 21 x 5 cm to 23.5 x 16 cm (the latter the majority), are laid down on the rectos of the first 45 leaves of a 47-leaf landscape folio album (leaf dimensions 36 x 16 cm). All have tissue guards.

12mo, 3 pp, on separate loose leaves. Forty lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on browned paper. Laid out for printing, and with the page numbering 21 to 23 (from 12 to 14). Loosely inserted in a folder with 'Original Manuscript of Elbert Hubbard' printed on the front, which also carries two accession marks.

An short account of Cator's career is to be found in the Gentleman's Magazine for June 1866. This collection of nine items is of particular importance, considering the fact that - remarkably for such a distinguished figure - he was not accorded a Times obituary, and has no entry in the Dictionary of National Biography. The absence of biographical material may be due to the contemporary criticism of Cator's department for its handling of the provision of supplies during the Crimean War. All items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with texts clear and complete.

Text on 87 pp of a 8vo 1944 'Surrey Desk Diary' (Mitcham: Surrey Manufacturing Co.). Text clear and complete. Volume in good condition on aged paper. While the author's ownership signature at the front of the volume ('', ', '') is not decipherable, there are clues to his identity: his birthday is on 24 June, he states on 5 October that he is in the 23rd Armoured Brigade, and on 19 August he gives his Identity Card No. as 116941. He begins as a sergeant, and by 13 January is 'H.Q. Troop commander, which, out of action, no schemes, no censoring, doesn't amount to much'.

This small archive casts invaluable light on British labour relations at a local level during a turbulent economic period in postwar British history, with specific day-to-day information about persons and events. The two minute books, 1943-1980, are both 4to, with the first of around 200 pp and the second of around 150 pp. Both texts clear and complete, and some matter loosely inserted (including a letter from an individual pursuing a complaint against the branch). In worn bindings, with the boards of the second volume detached.

Each drawing 22 x 16 cm, and each neatly mounted on card 31.5 x 22 cm. In good condition, in slightly discoloured mounts and folder. The mounts numbered in pencil in top left-hand corner. In cream folder, with blue cloth spine. Title in blue pencil on front of folder, together with image of hand holding glasses. Illustration of hand painting with brush, surrounded by ink pots, on back of folder. First illustration signed 'GZ | 5.3.66' and last 'GZ 7.4.66' Folder dated 'GZ. | 20.7.66'. Pleasant compositions, with something of an Edward Ardizzone feel about them.

4to, 194 pp. (paginated by Cooper). In original calf half-binding, with marbled boards and endpapers. All texts clear and complete. On aged paper chipped at extremities, and coming away from binding, which has been covered in plastic. With Durrant's armorial bookplate, and signed 'Wm Durrant Cooper' on first page.

Small 4to, 140 pp. Paginated by Whelen. Notebook of good laid paper, in boards covered in patterned paper, with the word 'BIOGRAPHICAL' in faded red manuscript at head of front cover. Text neatly written and clear and complete. Good: internally sound and tight on lightly-aged paper; in worn and chipped boards. The flyleaf is dated 1939, with Whelen's addresses given as the Royal Societies Club, St James's St, and 5 Place de la Taconnerie, Geneva.

121 signed bills and receipts from the accounts of the Trustees of the Northumberland Coast Committee (also described as 'Trustees for Guarding the Coast', 'The Honourable Coast Committee Alnwick', 'The Honnble. Coasting Committe [sic]'). Very little is to be discovered about this organisation, with no contemporary references in The Times.

Small 4to, 61 pp, with the first four pages unpaginated and the last ones paginated 1-57. In notebook of good laid paper, in decorative boards. Text clear and complete. Very good, on lightly-aged paper; in worn and chipped wraps, with 'U.S.S.R.' on spine and front board. Various addresses by Whelan inside the front cover, with the date 1936 amended to 1945 and 1950. Pages of slogans and abbreviations are followed by the notebook itself. The volume intersperses notes on the visit (ending at p.31) with extracts of quotations, statistics and other matter about the Soviet Union.

12mo, 31 pp. Ruled cashbook. Bound in vellum, marbled edges and endpapers, remains of clasps. Text clear and complete, internally sound and tight, on lightly-aged paper. In Stained vellum binding. 'Registration Cash Book' in large manuscript on front cover, and 'Godolphin School Collection | Commencing Xmas 1856.' on back. The first twenty-eight pages of the volume are headed 'Cash Receipts for Fees for Registration'.

Landscape 8vo, 85 pp. Sixty small photographs of boats and crews laid down with other matter (see below). Text clear. Apparently complete, but with two loose leaves at rear. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with slight wear to photographs and wear to the two loose leaves. Efficiently records dates and times of voyages, together with other relevant details. First six pages consist of the 'LOG OF THE MIGGO II', an 'Outdoor Cabin Cruiser | Built by Dauntless Coy Feb-Apl Leigh-on-Sea 1930. Launched April. Engine - Elto Quad 1929 model'.

Folio, 1 p. Docketed on reverse: '15 Oct 1897 | Mass Meeting Berwick | Tickets disposed of'. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. In double-column, in at least two hands. Additions in pencil and blue pencil. The Times, 16 October 1897, carried a report of the event, described as the 'greatest political gathering ever held in Northumberland outside Newcastle-upon-Tyne'. Apparently a document produced in the run up to the meeting.