AUTOGRAPH

Autograph Letter Signed ('E B Pusey') from Pusey to the Rev. William Hale Hale of Charterhouse, discussing the controversy over the new Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford, Renn Dickson Hampden.

Author: 
Edward Bouverie Pusey (1800-1882), Regius Professor of Hebrew at Christ Church, Oxford, and a leader of the Oxford Movement [Rev. William Hale Hale (1795-1870); Renn Dickson Hampden (1793-1868)]
Publication details: 
Postmarked 29 April 1836.
£140.00

1p., 4to. 18 lines of text. Fair, on aged paper, with a few closed tears. Addressed on the reverse, with three postmarks and Pusey's seal in black wax broken in two, to 'Rev. Wm. H. Hale | Charter-house'. Writing in a tight, difficult hand, Pusey begins with a reference to an 'intended present' from Hale (from the context clearly a copy of Hale's edition of Jeremy Taylor's 'Doctrine and Practice of Repentence'). Pusey praises 'the earnest, energetic truth-speaking language of Bp. Taylor', which he considers 'a voice as from another world'.

Autograph Letter Signed from the American cook Juliet Corson to 'Miss Booth' [Mary Louise Booth, editor of Harper's Bazaar], discussing the arrangements for the writing of a book ['Every-Day Cookery, Table Talk, and Hints for the Laundry', 1884].

Author: 
Juliet Corson (1841-1897), American writer of cookery books, Superintendent of the New York Cooking School (founded by her in 1874) [Mary Louise Booth (1831-1889), first editor of Harper's Bazaar]
Publication details: 
Continental Hotel, New York; 6 September 1883.
£280.00

2pp., 12mo. Good, on aged paper, neatly placed in a thin windowpane mount. After acknowledging receipt of $90, Corson announces that the previous week she 'had a letter from the House accepting my book.' She has received no answer to her letter asking for 'some information', and asks Booth to 'be my mediator again'.

Autograph Letter Signed from the American statistician Lemuel Shattuck to 'Dr. Jarvis' [Edward Jarvis of Concord], 'relative to the Report about which we have conferred'.

Author: 
Lemuel Shattuck (1793-1859), American statistician and public health pioneer [Edward Jarvis (1803-1884) of Concord, Massachusetts, psychiatrist and statistician]
Publication details: 
Boston; 2 April 1847.
£130.00

1p., 4to. Good. He has received no reply to the letter he wrote 'in relation to the Report about which we have conferred', and was 'in hopes to have been able to see you at Dorchester before this time', but has had 'another ill time', being 'confined again to my room'. He has received a letter from 'Dr <?> of New York in relation to the , and an answer is required forthwith'. He asks Jarvis to call as soon as possible. It was under the influence of Shattuck that Jarvis first became interested in statistics.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. T. Headley') from Joel Tyler Headley, Secretary of State of New York, [to his father], expressing his desire to return to the Auburn Theological Seminary in New York following a bout of ill health.

Author: 
Joel Tyler Headley (1813-1897), Secretary of State of New York, clergyman, author and newspaper editor [Auburn Theological Seminary, New York]
Publication details: 
Spencer; 8 August 1837.
£80.00

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged lined paper. Headley's father - a Presbyterian clergyman - is not named, but the letter is addressed to 'Rev and dear Sir', with the valediction reading 'Respectfully & affectionately', and the context makes it quite clear that he is the recipient.

Autograph Letter Signed ('E Lord') from the theologian Eleazar Lord to the Rev. Dr James Richards of Newark, discussing the endowment of 'another Professorship' and other matters apparently relating to the New York Sunday School Union Society.

Author: 
Eleazar Lord (1788-1871), DD, American financier, railway president, theologian and philanthropist [Rev. James Richards, DD, Pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Newark]
Publication details: 
[2 September 1823.]
£165.00

1p., 4to. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed on the reverse of the second leaf to 'Revd Doct Richards | Newark'. Undated, but docketed by Richards 'E Lord DD | Sepr 2d | 1823 | author of the Biog. Dictionary'. Lord writes that he was glad to receive Richards' letter. 'I have as yet only the offer of a mann to be one of 4 to endow another Professorship. - He is however deliberating of a larger grant. The man on whom I hd placed some dependence, will I fear disappoint me.' He asks if 'any thing in this way' could be done on Richards' 'side of the river'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Jn B Buckstone') from the actor John Baldwin Buckstone [to the playwright Thomas John Dibdin] regarding a meeting 'of all the dramatic authors' to make arrangements following 'the new act' [Bulwer Lytton's copyright reforms.

Author: 
John Baldwin Buckstone (1802-1879), actor, playwright, and manager of the Haymarket Theatre [Thomas John Dibdin (1771-1841), playwright and actor]
Publication details: 
29 Walcot Place, Kennington; 14 June 1833.
£220.00

1p., 4to. 15 lines. On aged and worn paper. The letter reads 'Dear Sir/ | A general meeting of all the Dramatic Authors will take place at the Garricks head in Bow Street on Monday nexxt at One o'Clock.

Autograph Letter Signed ('E. Lynn Linton') from the author Eliza Lynn Linton to an unnamed editor or publisher, calling for 'a brilliant critical notice of Massinger's works', and suggesting that W. E. Henley write it.

Author: 
Eliza Lynn Linton [Elizabeth Lynn Linton] (1822-1898), author [W. E. Henley [William Ernest Henley] (1849-1903)]
Publication details: 
Rodney House, Littleston [Littlestone] on Sea, Kent, on letterhead of Queen Anne's Mansions, St. James's Park; 27 March [no year].
£65.00

2pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. She hopes that she may, 'without being needlessly intrusive', suggest that 'someone, well up on the Elizabethan dramatists, should write a brilliant critical notice of Massinger's works'. She thinks that it would be 'a means of advertisement of great value' if the recipient could 'find the writer & the vehicle'. She suggests 'W. G. Henley of the New Review', who 'has all the literature of that time, & before, at his fingers ends.

Manuscript reminder from the Lord Chamberlain [Marquess of Breadalbane] to the Manager of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden [Frederick Gye the younger], that 15 November 1849 is a Public Day of Thanksgiving, to be 'reverently and devoutly observed'.

Author: 
John Campbell (1796-1862), 2nd Marquess of Breadalbane, Lord Chamberlain from 1848 to 1852) [Frederick Gye (1810-1878), manager of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden [now the Royal Opera House]
Publication details: 
Lord Chambelain's Office [London]; 10 November 1849.
£180.00

1p., folio. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with slight staining to blank reverse. Fairly written out on a piece of Britannia laid paper. 'Lord Chamberlain's Office | 10th. November 1849. | The Lord Chamberlain thinks it right to draw the attention of the Manager of the Theatre Royal Covent Garden to The Queen's Proclamation of the 6th. Instant, in which Her Majesty, for the Reasons therein stated, earnestly exhorts that the Public Day of Thanksgiving, the 15th. Instant be reverently and devoutly observed'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Mary H. Catherwood') from the novelist Mary Hartwell Catherwood to her publisher Charles F. Chichester of the Century Company, requesting correction of statement 'according to "White Islander" contract'. With two portraits.

Author: 
Mary Hartwell Catherwood (1847-1902), American author of historical romances, mostly set in set in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois [Charles F. Chichester, Treasurer of the Century Company, New York]
Publication details: 
Without date or place, but answered by Chichester on 1 January [1883].
£120.00

1p., 12mo. Very good, within thin paper windowpane mount. She writes 'Dear Mr. Chichester:- | I return statement. Please have it corrected according to "White Islander" contract, and send me the check early in February. And I shall be obliged.' Docketed by Chichester 'Ansd. 1. 30' and 'Corrected State. sent | Sent Ck $186.66'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('E. Lynn Linton') from the author Eliza Lynn Linton to her young friend 'Dearest little Alice'

Author: 
Eliza Lynn Linton [Elizabeth Lynn Linton] (1822-1898), author and opponent of women's suffrage.
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Whittington Hall, Carnforth, 'c/o the Countess Ossalinsky | Musgrave Hall | Penrith'; 7 September [1882].
£56.00

4pp., 12mo. Fair, on lightly-aged paper with slight discoloration to inner margins from previous mounting. She thanks Alice for her 'sweet letter', and declares that she has had 'a very very pleasant visit here. I like my friends here extremely. They are my sort for all that they are strong conservatives, and they are so simple, so homely, so gentle, & I get on with them as well as - what shall I say? . as well as with you!

Autograph Letter Signed ('John H. Sheppard') from the Boston lawyer and author John Hannibal Sheppard to General Henry Dearborn, proposing George Kent for the post of messenger to Washington.

Author: 
John H. Sheppard [John Hannibal Sheppard] (1789-1873), British-born Harvard-educated Boston lawyer, author and prominent freemason [Henry Alexander Scammell Dearborn (1783-1851),]
Publication details: 
Boston; 5 December 1848.
£80.00

1p., 4to. 25 lines.Very good, on lightly-aged paper. Sheppard writes that he called on Dearborn the previous day, but found him confined to his room by indisposition. He proposes his friend 'George Kent Esq of this city, a Counsellor at Law', for the appointment of 'Messenger to carry on the electoral votes to Washington'. He describes Kent as 'a man of talents, a brother of Ex-Gov Kent of Maine', who has 'been very active with his able pen in helping in this section of the country to promote the election of Gen Taylor'. Kent is a prolific writer and 'a decided Whig'.

Autograph ('M. Halstead') of the noted American war correspondent Murat Halstead, at foot of letter to him from autograph-hunter John N. Cobb, with another signature on his calling card. With engraved portrait of Halstead by Arthur Jule Goodman.

Author: 
Murat Halstead (1829-1908), American newspaper editor and author, war correspondent in the American Civil War, the Franco-Prussian War and the Spanish-American War [Arthur Jule Goodman]
Publication details: 
Cobb's letter dated from Philadelphia, 7 June 1893.
£75.00

Cobb's letter is 1p., 4to, typed in green. He states that he is 'collecting the autographs of prominent American editors' and that he would like to add Halstead's, as 'it will not be complete without yours'. At the foot of the letter Halstead has written, in a sprawling hand, with smudged signature, 'Perhaps the will serve. | M. Halstead'. Pinned to the letter is the calling card of 'Mr. Murat Halstead.', with his signature 'M. Halstead' (again slightly smudged) beneath the name. Both items are lightly-aged, but good.

Autograph Letter Signed from the poet and patron of the arts John Kenyon to 'Mr. Curtis' [George William Curtis of the New York Tribune], inviting him and his brother to dine with 'our genial friend Felton'. With portrait.

Author: 
John Kenyon (1784-1856), poet and patron [George William Curtis (1824-1892), American traveller; James Burrill Curtis (1822-1898); Cornelius Conway Felton (1807-1862), President of Harvard College]
Publication details: 
39 Devonshire Place [London]; 19 May [1847?].
£80.00

2pp., 12mo. Very good. Neatly presented, With the blank second leaf of the bifolium tipped in onto a large leaf of cream paper, with the engraved portrait of Kenyon (7 x 8 cm), extracted from a contemporary magazine, laid down above it, both items surrounded by a ruled border. Kenyon begins the letter: 'I have a male party to dine with me on Saturday next - consisting of persons whom you would I think like to meet - our genial friend Felton among them.

Autograph Letter Signed ('N. Hale jr.') from the newspaper editor Nathan Hale junior to the Springfield attorney Henry Vose.

Author: 
Nathan Hale junior (1784-1863), American journalist and editor, associated with the Weekly Messenger, the Boston Daily Advertiser, the North American Review and the Christian Examiner [Henry Vose]
Publication details: 
23 Court Street, Boston; 7 September 1841.
£80.00

1p., 4to, on recto of first leaf of bifolium, with verso of the second addressed by Hale to 'Henry Vose jr. Esq | Counsellor at Law | Springfield | Mass', and carrying Hale's red wax seal, broken into two parts, and a red postmark. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Hale writes that he is enclosing 'the sum with which you were so kind as to accommodate me last week - I don't know how I should have "got along" without it'. 'I have no news for you to-day, as our steamer has not yet arrived, and I dare not venture uponn the vast perturbed sea of our politics'.

Autograph Letter Signed from Epaphras Hoyt to 'the Commissioners of Canals, in Massachusetts', giving the results of his 'surveys and levels, in the valley of Deerfield River', and discussing the possibility of a tunnel through the Hoosac Mountain.

Author: 
Epaphras Hoyt (1765-1850) of Deerfield, Massachusetts, Major-General of the Massachusetts Militia and writer on military matters [Hoosac Tunnel]
Publication details: 
Deerfield, Massachusetts; 20 September 1825.
£450.00

4pp., 4to. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. An important document, not least for the fact that its author discusses the building of a 'tunnel 4 or 5 miles through the [Hoosac] mountain', anticipating the commencement of the construction of the Hoosac Tunnel by 23 years. The letter is closely and neatly written, with the first page headed 'The following Results of my surveys and levels, in the valley of Deerfield River, are respectfully submitted to the Commissioners of Canals, in Massachusetts. | Viz.

Corrected Autograph Manuscript of part of the poem 'A Day at Tivoli', by the Victorian writer John Kenyon.

Author: 
John Kenyon (1784-1856), poet and patron, who encouraged his cousin Elizabeth Barrett's marriage to Robert Browning
Publication details: 
Without date or place [the poem published in 1849].
£450.00

2pp., 4to. 35 lines of verse. On a leaf of laid paper with watermark 'J WHATMAN | TURKEY MILL'. Paginated 13-14. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. The first page begins with the line 'The shrouding soil, and give it back to air,' and the second page ends with the line 'Won it's [sic] dark truth, and Gaspar fed on such.' The verses in this manuscript are published on pp.19-21 of 'A Day at Tivoli: with other Verses' (London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster-row, 1849).

Autograph Letter Signed ('Nathl.. Greene') from the American newspaper editor Nathaniel Greene to W. Chamberlain junior, with reference to the Swedish Consul Claudius Edward Habicht. With engraved portrait.

Author: 
Nathaniel Greene (1797-1877), journalist and editor associated with Concord Gazette, New Hampshire Gazette, Haverhill Gazette, Essex Patriot, and Statesman [W. Chamberlain; Claudius Edward Habicht]
Publication details: 
Boston; 17 November 1840.
£90.00

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Greene writes that he is returning Chamberlain's 'Copenhagen letter, together with a translation from the pen of C. E. Hablicht Esq. Swedish Consul at this port', to whom he 'applied for the purpose'. He has 'every disposition to be useful on all similar occasions'. The engraving of Greene, beneath which is a facsimile of his signature, and the words 'Postmaster Boston Mass.', is in good condition, lightly and neatly attached onto a paper mount. Greene was himself also a translator, from German, Italian and French.

Autograph Letter Signed ('F. R. Hassler') from the surveyor Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler, head of the United States Coast Survey, to Hon. John C. Spencer, Secretary of the US Treasury, regarding 'the plan of Operation for the Coast Survey'.

Author: 
Ferdinand Rudolph Hassler (1770-1843), Swiss-born American surveyor, head of the United States Coast Survey and the Bureau of Weights and Measures [John Canfield Spencer (1788-1855), politician]
Publication details: 
Washington City; 28 May 1843.
£145.00

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Hassler begins: 'The peculiar position in which I am, will plead my excuse for addressing you the enclosed papers, and the cold which I have, for not coming personally in the present bad weather, as I intended, and shall do soon as admissible.' He asks Spencer to visit 'this Office before Your ultimate decision upon the plan of Operation for the Coast Survey'.

Autograph Letter Signed from the Scottish author Anne Grant to 'Mrs. Drysdale', boasting of her behaviour to 'People of the Highest Rank', and making 'perhaps the last' joke.

Author: 
Anne Grant [n
Publication details: 
'Coats Crescent [Edinburgh] | Friday' [no date].
£220.00

2pp., 12mo. 33 lines of text, written in a close, neat hand. Good, on lightly-aged paper. She begins with a five-line 'encomium', before assuring Mrs Drysdale that she is 'pretty safe': 'I have been considered By People of the Highest Rank to whom I was known merely as a private teacher &c &c of moral virtues To possess of <?> for the highest talents & the purest Virtues I have been familiar I need not say why. None of these I ever flattered.

Two Autograph drafts of a long poem by Arthur Benoni Evans (later Professor of Classics and History at Sandhurst), titled 'Lines [Verses] on the Death of the Princess Charlotte'. Both with corrections and emendations, and one signed 'A. B. Evans'.

Author: 
Arthur Benoni Evans (1781-1854), Professor of Classics and History in the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, and headmaster of the free grammar school at Market Bosworth, Leicestershire
Publication details: 
Neither with date and place [one draft on paper watermarked 1816, and the other on paper watermarked 1818].
£200.00

Princess Charlotte of Wales, the only child of the Prince Regent, died in 1817 at the age of 21. Many poems of mourning were published, but whether Evans's was among them is uncertain. Both drafts are in good condition, on aged paper; the first with short closed tears to the spine. DRAFT ONE (the earlier?): Title: 'Verse on the Death of the Princess Charlotte', altered from 'Threnodia Augustalis, Odes on the Death of the Princess Charlotte'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('C. S. Henry') from Caleb Sprague Henry. editor of the New York Review, to William Whitwell Greenough, accepting an article, but complaining of Greenough's handwriting, and of 'a difficulty in getting Saxon type'.

Author: 
Caleb Sprague Henry (1804-1884), Episcopal clergyman and author, editor of the New York Review, Professor of History and Philosophy in New York University [William Whitwell Greenough (1818-1899]
Publication details: 
New York; 26 April 1838.
£150.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. 57 lines. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'William W. Greenough | Andover | Massachusetts', with circular postmark in red ink and remains of red wax seal. Regarding 'the article on Bosworth's Anglo-Sax. Dict.', Henry writes: 'From the few first pages that I have read & the glance that I have given at the rest, I am satisfied that I shall be glad to print your article.

Typed Letter Signed from the American historian Albert J. Beveridge to Charles Gallup. With a transcript, in another hand, of a passage from Beveridge's article 'Pitfalls of a "League of Nations" (North American Review, 1882), signed by Beveridge.

Author: 
Albert J. Beveridge [Albert Jeremiah Beveridge] (1862-1927), American historian and United States Senator from Indiana [Charles Gallup; Chief Justice John Marshall; the League of Nations]
Publication details: 
Letter on letterhead of Beverly Farms, Massachusetts; 10 October 1919. Transcript made around the same time.
£350.00

Both items neatly tipped-in onto a leaf from an album. Both in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The letter is 1p., 8vo. Beveridge begins by explaining that he is late answering Gallup's letter because he has been 'working so hard for many months to finish the last two volumes of my "Life of John Marshall" that I have been forced to neglect all correspondence'. He is enclosing 'the quotation, autographed as requested'. He is glad Gallup liked the article, and 'flattered by your too partial words'.

Autograph Letter Signed from Catharine Cecil, daughter of the evangelical clergyman Rev. Richard Cecil, offering the copyright of a book ['Memoirs of Mrs Hawkes, late of Islington' (1838)] to an American publisher [Joseph Whetham of Philadelphia?].

Author: 
Catharine Cecil, writer, daughter of Rev. Richard Cecil (1748-1810), member with William Wilberforce of the Clapham Sect and founding member of the Eclectic Society [Joseph Whetham of Philadelphia]
Publication details: 
5 Little James Street, Bedford Row, Holborn; March 1837.
£200.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of previous mounting on reverse of second leaf. She writes 'as a stranger' to the recipient: 'the person who now addresses you is a Daughter of the late Revd. Richd. Cecil, whose works you are probably well acquainted with'. She is about to publish a book which she is 'induced to think would have a very good sale in America' and has been recommended to apply to the recipient 'as a Person likely to be willing to enter into negociation with me on the subject'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Chs G. Greene') from the American newspaper editor Charles Gordon Greene to W. F. Allston, regarding the involvement of 'Capt. Sturgis' [William F. Sturgis?] with a newspaper article.

Author: 
Charles Gordon Greene (1804-1886), newspaper editor, associated with Boston Statesman, Taunton Free Press, Boston Spectator, National Palladium, United States Telegraph [Captain William F. Sturgis]
Publication details: 
Boston; 17 November 1841.
£150.00

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged paper. In reply to Allston's letter Greene assures him that 'Capt. Sturgis did not write the paragraph' Allston alludes to, 'nor did he contemplate the publication of his decision in a newspaper at the time he made it known to the gentleman who furnished me with the information'.

The autograph signatures of the English actor Charles Kean and his wife Ellen Kean [nee Tree].

Author: 
Charles Kean [Charles John Kean] (1811-1868), Irish-born actor and manager of the Princess's Theatre, Oxford Street, London; his wife Ellen Kean [born Eleanora Tree] (1805-1880)
Publication details: 
Place not stated; 25 June 1852.
£80.00

On one side of a piece of laid paper, approximately 11.5 cm square. Minor traces of glue to corners on the reverse. Good, firm signatures, provided for an autograph hunter. The husband signs first: 'Charles Kean | Friday | 25 June 1852'. Beneath this is the wife's signature: 'Ellen Kean'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Alexr Chalmers') from the biographer Alexander Chalmers to James Perry, commenting humorously on an attack of gout.

Author: 
Alexander Chalmers (1759-1834), Scottish biographer and editor [James Perry (1756-1821), proprietor and editor of the 'Morning Chronicle']
Publication details: 
Throgmorton Street, London; 26 March 1821.
£80.00

1p., 12mo. Bifolium. Seventeen lines, closely written. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with thin strip of stub adhering to margin. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'J. Perry Esqre | Tavistock Square'. He will dine with Perry with pleasure, 'after a five weeks confinement with the Gout, a disorder of which I never before had any personal acquaintance, but which, I suppose, I must, in some unguarded moment, have treated with contempt.

Autograph Letter Signed from the actor Charles Kean, informing an unnamed correspondent that it is not his intention 'to close the Princess's Theatre during any portion of Lent'.

Author: 
Charles Kean [Charles John Kean] (1811-1868), Irish-born actor-manager, best remembered for his Shakespeare revivals at the Princess's Theatre, Oxford Street, London, son of Edmund Kean (1789-1833)
Publication details: 
Place not stated; 1 February 1852.
£90.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with negligible glue from previous mounting to the corners of the blank reverse. The letter reads: 'Sir, In reply to your note, I write to say that as it is not my intention to close the Princess's Theatre during any portion of Lent, it will not be in my power to avail myself of your offer.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('Chas Mackay') from the author Charles Mackay to Stephen Massett, discussing his work, and praising the American suffragist Victoria Woodhull Martin and Marie Corelli.

Author: 
Charles Mackay (1812-1889), Scottish poet, author and editor [Stephen C. Massett (1820-1898) English-born American musician; Victoria Woodhull Martin (1838-1927), American suffragist; Marie Corelli]
Publication details: 
47 Longridge Road, South Kensington; 17 December 1888.
£350.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with stub from previous mounting neatly adhering to margins. Mackay hastens to reply to Moffatt's letter, but fears that 'the "pesky" gout in my right hand will render my cacography illegible'. After dealing with his 'Selected Poems' and the Reform Club, Mackay discusses his poem 'Eternal Justice', which was printed with his 'knowledge & permission' by 'Miss Victoria Woodhull Martin [...] I have since received a visit from her, and highly esteem the honour of her acquaintance.

Autograph Letter Signed ('C: M: Young') from the actor Charles Mayne Young to his rival William Charles Macready, recommending an actor named Simpson for a position at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and wishing Macready success as manager there.

Author: 
Charles Mayne Young (1777-1856), actor [William Charles Macready (1793-1873); Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]
Publication details: 
Ashbourne Hall, Ashbourne, Derbyshire; 16 November 1841.
£220.00

3pp., 12mo. 37 lines. Fair, on worn and discoloured paper. An interesting letter, casting light on the relationship between two great actors who, according to the Oxford DNB, 'disliked but respected each other'. Macready is not named, but Young ends by sending his 'Kind Comts to Mrs Macready'. Macready had taken over at Drury Lane on 4 October 1841, but the season would not begin until 27 December. The letter begins 'My dear Sir!

Autograph Letter Signed from the poet and engraver Charles Swain to a lady (name obliterated), complaining of the problems that prevent him from paying a visit, and referring to William Jerdan.

Author: 
Charles Swain (1801-1874), poet and engraver [William Jerdan (1782-1869), editor of the Literary Gazette]
Publication details: 
Prestwich Park, Prestwich, near Manchester; [c.1853].
£80.00

4pp., 12mo. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed to 'My dear friend', and with the name of the recipient obliterated from the valediction: 'Will you give my sincere and grateful remembrances to your noble hearted husband? and believe me | dear <...> | Every affectionately, | [signed] Charles Swain'. He can put off 'the evil day' no longer, and must now 'give in to circumstances' and reluctantly inform her that he cannot come and visit.

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