CENTURY

1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, margins cropped, laid down on leaf removed from album. Annotated in ink with year. Reads 'Lord Palmerston presente ses Complimens a Monsr de Harivel et se fera l'honneur de le recevoir au “Foreign Office” Vendredi prochain a trois heures'.

1p, 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged, with slight nick at gutter of bifolium. Addressed 'To | Revd G Bainton.' Reads: 'Dear Sir | You are quite at liberty to publish my letter. - If it finds its way into the papers, I should be obliged if you would kindly forward me a copy. | Ever yours truly | Chas Mackay'.

The letter announces the transfer to Berlin of 'Monsieur de Wagner', London Chargé d'Affaires of the the Kingdom of Württemberg, resident at 42 Alpha Place, Regent's Park. The recipient Sir John Coxe Hippisley, whom George III had described as a 'busy man' and 'grand intriguer', had retired from public life two years previously, but was clearly still involved in diplomatic affairs. 2pp, 4to. Bifolium. Forty-one lines of neatly-written text, addressed to 'Sir J C Hippisley Bart. | Lower Grosvenor Street.' On aged and worn paper, with short closed tears at edges of folds.

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Aged and grubby; folded several times. Reads: 'I am sorry to say I do not know Mr Alexander or would have been very pleased to give your friend an introduction to him. | Hoping you are well – with kind regards. | Yours sincerely | Decima Moore'.

A total of 12pp, 12mo. On bifoliums. All addressed to 'Dear Shuttleworth'. In good condition, lightly aged. A curious feature of the four letters is that the handwriting of each differs from the others. ONE: 7 April 1880. Trevelyan condoles with Shuttleworth, who has lost his Hastings seat in the General Election. He states that he is 'so heartily disgusted' with Shuttleworth's constituents, adding 'The loss, most temporary I feel sure, to the House will be very sensible, and I shall sorely miss you as a friend.

14 + [1]pp, 8vo. Stapled eight-leaf pamphlet. Publishers' slug on reverse of final leaf. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Scarce: no copy at the British Library, and the only copy located on OCLC WorldCat at Princeton. A pleasing memento of a grand affair, attended by a host of dignitaries, including Princess Margaret, the Prince of Wales (who read the first lesson) and Betjeman's publisher John Murray (who read the second lesson).

See Sams's entry in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. On a bifolium, the second leaf of which has had a rectangle, almost amounting to half, cut away from the bottom. The text of the letter is complete, but the priced list of the prints and drawings on the last page, lacks the lower half. A long letter, closely written. Signed 'J. Sams.' Aged, worn and lightly stained, but nevertheless in passable condition. The recipient, saluted as 'Esteemed Friend', is not named.

On one side of 4.5 x 10.5 cm piece of paper, cut from end of letter for autograph hunter. In good condition, lightly aged. Reads: 'Believe me, dear Mr Browne | Yours very sincerely | Katharine Tynan Hinkson | Robert Browne Esq.'

Despite the four years (1840-1844) Howitt spent in the colony with his brother the entomologist Godfrey Howitt (1800-1873), the present letter has nothing to do with Australia. The letter is addressed to the editors of 'The Aurora Borealis: A Literary Annual edited by Members of the Society of Friends'. This periodical was the work of a group of Quakers in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, with George Atley Brumell (1800-1877) one of the founding editors. Another of those involved was Joseph Watson (1807-1874), named in the letter's address.

3pp, 4to. Bifolium, addressed, with postmarks, on reverse of second leaf, 'to | Mr Johnson | Zoological Gardens | Regents Park | or Wellington Cottage | Wellington Place | Camden Town'. In good condition, lightly aged, with paper repairs last leaf. Folded several times.

See Sams's entry in the Oxford DNB. Two letters providing an interesting glimpse of the practicalities of Victorian antiquarian bookselling. Both letters 3pp, 12mo, and bifoliums addressed on reverse of second leaf, with broken seals and postmarks, to 'Godfrey Meynell Esqre | at Mr Stamp's, | Surgeon, | Seaton Carew, | nr Hartlepool.' Both addressed to 'Respected Frd.' In fair condition, aged and worn. ONE: 15 August 1847. He begins by explaining that he was 'from home in the city of Durham' when Meynell's letter came.

The full title reads: 'Can Hiraethlon | David Davies (Dai'r Cantwr,) | Pan yn Garcharor yng Nghaerfyrddin, am y Terfysg yn amser Becca. | Cenir ar y dôn “Roslin Castle.'” The title may be translated as 'A nostalgic song, written when a prisoner in Carmarthen, for the riot in Becca's time. | Sung to the tune of 'Roslin Castle'. 4pp, 12mo (15.5 x 9 cm). Paginated [1]-4. Disbound. A frail survival: aged and worn, with damp-stain along one edge. Beneath the title is a small vignette of a sailing ship, and at the end of the final page is another of a crown. Poem in four sixteen-line stanzas.

4pp, 16mo (15.5 x 9 cm). Paginated [1]-4. Bifolium. Disbound. A frail survival, aged and worn. The first leaf (pp.1-2) carries the poem 'Cerdd y Tobacco' ('The Tobacco Poem'), in five eight-line stanzas, with the title followed by a half-page stock woodcut (evidently from a tobacconist's advertisement) of an oriental figure seated on crates on the dockside, with sailing ship in the background. At the foot is engraved: 'FINE TEAS AND TOBACCO'. The second leaf (pp.3-4) carries the poem 'Can y Bachgen Main' ('Song of the Slender Boy'), in six eight-line stanzas.

The title is 'Hanes alarus am 26 o golliers a gollasant eu bywydau yn pwll glo Bedwellty, gerllaw Tredegar, Dydd Gwener, Mehefin 16, 1865.' This may be translated as 'The woeful tale of 26 colliers who lost their lives in the Bedwellty coal mine, near Tredegar, Friday, 16 June 1865. 4pp 16mo (15.5 x 9 cm). Paginated [1]-4. Bifolium. Printer's slug at foot of last page. Disbound. A frail survival: aged and worn.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Lee and his wife held regular festivals of 'Peace and Temperance' in the grounds at Hartwell, and he writes that he hopes Ransome has received the prospectus of the festival which he sent him. He and his wife would be pleased were Ransome to attend, and he offers him 'a Bed in our house, or to secure one for you in Aylesbury'. In a postscript he states: 'If you cannot come or your Brother; I hope that you will send some delegate, or MP. to represent Ipswich at our peaceful Congress'.

3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Neatly and closely written. At the end of the letter Lee names the recipient as 'Miss May | Carr Street | Ipswich'. (She was the daughter of Quaker astronomer Charles May, a partner in the firm of civil engineers Ransomes and May.) Lee begins by stating that he and his wife 'are anxious to come to Ipswich on tuesday the first of July in order to attend the meeting of the British Association of Science'.

For Brodrick's distinguished and eventful career, see his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, folio. In fair condition, aged and worn, with chipping to one edge carrying traces of grey paper mount, and closed tear at foot repaired on reverse with archival tape. Addressed at bottom left 'To the Honle: Board of Ordnance'. Reads: 'Gentlemen | I wrote you the 7th Inst: to desire that you would please to appoint an Armorer for his Majestys Ship the Phoenix under my Command and now that I am going to Longreach and my Smallarms Coming on Board I beg you Will appoint for me'. Endorsed: 'answer'd 26 August'.

On one side of an 8 x 10 cm piece of paper. Aged and worn, with light offsetting from another document. The two signatures (both 'A. E. Cockburn') are at the right hand corners. The verdict and sentence ('Guilty | 6 Mo. Imprisonment') are written between two lines centred at the left-hand margin. The purport of the document is unclear: it may be that the judge was required to record the verdict and sentence in this way for the clerk of the court.

1p, 16mo. On 14 x 11 cm piece of paper, with margins apparently cut down. Aged, and with slight damage to two words of text caused by removal from mount.At the time of writing Faucit's successful career had been interrupted by the recurrence of a lung condition, necessitating recuperation at a seaside resort. She has evidently asked Talfourd to contribute to an autograph album, soliciting the following response: 'Mr.

2pp, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with remains of stub adhering to edge on reverse. Folded twice. He begins by apologising that his 'occupations during the winter' have prevented him from seeing the unnamed recipient. If he is 'disengaged next Friday', Napier will be happy to see him 'at dinner at six o'clock, to meet a small party'. Laid down at the foot of the last page is a newspaper cutting of an article titled 'Death of Professor Napier'.

2pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. She writes that she will be 'happy to sing the following songs on the 16th inst', and lists pieces by Meyerbeer, Linley and Mendelsohn, as well as 'Scotch song “Bonnie Dundee”'. In a postscript she writes: 'After tomorrow may I trouble you to address me at Dilstone [i.e. Dilston, Northumberland]'. Endorsed on second leaf: 'Sans date | Miss Charlotte H. Dolby | Will be happy to sing the within mentioned songs &c'.

See E. A. H. Webb, 'History of the 12th (The Suffolk) Regiment, 1685-1913' (1914). Picton was the uncle of 'the illustrious Picton', Lt-Gen. Sir Thomas Picton (1758-1815), who was his sole executor and residuary legatee. The year of Picton's birth is variously reported, but the Monthly Magazine, December 1811, is among several sources reporting his death in Bond Street at the age of 87. 4pp, folio. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and with closed tears along the three fold lines. Endorsed on reverse of second leaf: '12th.

1p, 12mo. Bifolium, addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'Miss C. Fox'. In fair condition, on aged paper. Folded twice. From the context it would seem that Buckler was acting as the recipient's painting master. Begins: 'Madam | The little Girl which I intended as a Model for you this afternoon has not arrived (on account of the weather no doubt).' As a consequence he asks her to 'excuse my attendance today'. He will 'call and fix another day as soon as I have seen her'.

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. For information regarding this renowned firm of silversmiths, which possessed the royal warrant and mounted a sumptuous display at the Great Exhibition, see Norman Mosley Penzer, 'Paul Storr, 1771-1844, Silversmith and Goldsmith' (1954), and John Culme, 'Directory of Gold and Silversmiths' (2000). The nature of the '”Australian” implement' which is the subject of the letter is unclear, but information on Hunt's partner's connection with Australia is to be found in L. W.

1p, 12mo. Bifolium. Addressed on reverse of the second leaf, with broken seal in red wax, 'To / | S. C. Hall Esqre | 59 Sloane Street'. In fair condition, on aged paper. Folded by Blessington into a diamond-shaped packet. Reads: 'Saturday Evening. | Lady Blessingtons Compts. To Mr Hall, and requests that he will call on her, as soon as may suit his convenience, as she wishes to consult him, about having an Enquiry executed.'

20pp., 4to. Stapled into card wraps printed in blue and red. In fair condition, aged and worn, with vertical crease and rusted staples. The front inside wrap carries an 'Introductory Note' (including the claim: 'Half-an-hour's daily practice will produce material results in a very short time.') Labels and stamp of the Board of Education Library. The cover is illustrated with an engraving of two hands emerging from mountains and icebergs and shaking across the waters, above which are the Union Flag and two ensigns (Australia and Canada?), captioned 'Semper Fidelis'.

LETTER: ALS 'To Dr Alexander Miles F.R.C.S.E.' 13 July 1897. 1p, 4to. Signed 'James Lumsden (late of Nether Hailes) | now – 34 Royal Park Terrace | Edinburgh', with postscript signed in initials. Written on the blank reverse of the second leaf of a bifolium advertisement for Lumsden's 'The Battles of Dunbar and Prestonpans, and other selected poems' (1896), on which Lumsden's address is given as 34 Royal Park Terrace, Edinburgh. Aged and worn, with closed tears along fold line. A long letter, one of many similar which Lumsden wrote in his distress.

Printed on one side of a 21 x 9 cm slip of watermarked laid paper. Aged and creased. Headed: 'Dedicated | to | Samuel Mucklebackit, Esq., | (Otherwise James Lumsden, of 34 Royal Park Terrace, Edinburgh), | by | Sir Robert Thorburn, K.C.M.G., | Ex-Premier of Newfoundland, | From | “Somewhere far abroad, where sailors gang to fish for cod.”' Place and date at bottom left.

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged, with labels from mount adhering. Folded twice. The last four lines of the letter, and the name of the recipient (a fellow-practioner), have been deleted, and a newspaper notice of Prout's death has been laid down over this. An interesting letter, casting light on medical consultation and co-operation in Early Victorian London. The letter begins: 'Sir, | Your patient Mr Brown, in the absence of Dr Hodgkin, [the celebrated pathologist Thomas Hodgkin] authorised me to open your letter to Dr. H. containing some particulars of Mr B's case.

4pp, 12mo. On four loose leaves. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn, with minor traces of grey paper mount along edges on blank reverses. The poem is titled 'The Dream of Fine Editors | (after the dinner to J. N. Dunn. April 23rd. 1897)'. (At the time of the dinner the Scottish journalist James Nicol Dunn (1856-1919) was on the verge of being appointed editor of the Morning Post, a position he would hold from May 1897 to January 1905.) There is no record of the poem having been published, and it is likely to have been written for after-dinner recitation only.