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Autograph Letter Signed ('W C Bennett') from William Cox Bennett to J. T. Baron, boasting that his magazine 'The Lark' is a 'powerful influence'; naming Gladstone, Tennyson and other contributors; and urging the 'Newsvendors' of Blackburn to buy it.

Author: 
William Cox Bennett (1820-1895), English journalist and poet, editor of 'The Lark' [John T. Baron of Blackburn, Lancashire, autograph hunter]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Hyde Cottage, 68 Royal Hill, Greenwich, SE. 27 November 1883.
£120.00

3pp., 12mo. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. In original envelope, with stamp and postmark, addressed by Bennett to 'John T Baron Esq. | 48 Griffin Street | Blackburn | [signed] W C Bennett'. He begins by informing Baron that four numbers of 'The Lark' have already been published.

Two Autograph Letters Signed from Thomas Archer, editor of the Hornet, to the London solicitor Edward Draper, asking for contributions to the magazine; the first signed with a picture of a hornet and the second signed 'Th Archer'.

Author: 
Thomas Archer (1830-1893), author and journalist, editor of the Hornet [Edward Draper of Vincent Square, London, Honorary Solicitor of the Savage Club]
Publication details: 
Both letters on letterheads of 'The Hornets Nest, 86, Fleet Street [London]. Neither dated.
£60.00

The letterhead features an image of an hornet seated at a writing table. Letter One: 1p., 12mo. Bifolium. Fair, on aged paper. The letter reads: 'Friday | Dear Draper | Have you made up your mind to let me have a conceit or two for Ye Hornet. I can only offer 5/- a column but then Column is but a very brief affair. | Yours always | [signature in the form of a drawing of a hornet]'. Letter Two: 2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with slight traces of previous mount on reverse of second leaf. Addressed to 'My dear Draper'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Madden') from James Madden, of London publishers Madden & Malcolm, informing the unnamed recipient that his paper on 'Cycles of Civilization' will be published in firm's periodical 'The Monthly Prize Essays'.

Author: 
James Madden of Madden & Malcolm, 8 Leadenhall Street, London, publishers of the Monthly Prize Essays
Publication details: 
Addressed from Madden's home address of 23 Artillery Place, City Road, London, with the business address of Madden and Malcolm (8 Leadenhall Street) scored through. 4 June 1846.
£56.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged paper with wear to corners. The context of the letter is apparent from the following advertisement in The Times, 29 June 1846: 'On the 30th of June, will be published, in 8vo., price 2s. 6d., the first number of | THE MONTHLY PRIZE ESSAYS. Each number will contain six Essays in Prose and six in Verse. The first prize for prose will be £20; the second, £15; the third, £10; and the other three, £5 each. There will be but three prizes for poetry - £5, £3, and £2. The Essays must be delivered by the 30th of the previous month.

Autograph Letter Signed ('C D Yonge') from Rev. Charles Duke Yonge to autograph hunter J. T. Baron of Blackburn, discussing his publishers, Chapman & Hall.

Author: 
Charles Duke Yonge (1812-1891), classical scholar and historian, born at Eton College, the eldest son of Revd Charles Yonge (1781-1830), Eton schoolmaster [J. T. Baron of Blackburn; Chapman & Hall]
Publication details: 
Notting Hill, Belfast [Ireland], on letterhead of the Ulster Club. 28 January [1882].
£60.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium, with mourning border. In envelope, with stamp and postmark, addressed by Yonge to 'J. J. Bacon [sic] Esq | 18 Griffin St. | Welton | Blackburn | Lancashire'. Good, on lightly-aged paper, in worn envelope. He informs him that his edition of Plutarch's 'Parallel Lives' was published by Chapman & Hall.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. Harrison Ainsworth') from the English historical novelist William Harrison Ainsworth to the writer Stephen Watson Fullom, regarding a meeting at the London publishers Hurst & Blackett, and Fullom's 'future career'.

Author: 
W. Harrison Ainsworth [William Harrison Ainsworth] (1805-1882), English historical novelist [Stephen Watson Fullom (1818-1872), English author; Hurst & Blackett, London publishers]
Publication details: 
Kensal Manor Hourse, Harrow Road; 11 March 1846.
£80.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Ainsworth begins: 'My dear Mr. Fullom, I am happy to tell you that you are under a great mistake. Your manner, on the occasion you refer to, produced the most favourable impression upon me.' Fullom 'exhibited great delicacy and modesty', and Ainsworth 'stated as much to Mr. Hurst'. The omission was in fact on Ainsworth's own part, in neglecting to thank Fullom for his 'flattering proposal to dedicate your romance to me'.

Engraving of the poet Walter Savage Landor by H. W. Smith after a drawing by Alfred d'Orsay, with original sample of his handwriting.

Author: 
Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864), poet and author of the 'Imaginary Conversations' [Alfred d'Orsay [Count d'Orsay] (1801-1852), French dandy and artist]
Publication details: 
Neither item with date or place.
£56.00

The engraving, which is not in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery, is on a piece of 19 x 14 cm paper, with tissue guard. The image measures around 8 cm square, and shows Landor's head in profile, looking to the left, with 'A. D'Orsay' beneath to the left, and 'H. W. Smith' beneath to the right. In good condition, lightly-aged, with small stain to one edge of border. Attached to a piece of paper, along with the piece of Landor's autograph, which is on a 1 x 18.5 cm strip of grey paper cut from a letter, and is in fair condition, lightly-creased.

Autograph Manuscript Signed ('Montague Smith') by Edward Montague Smith [later Sir Edward Montague Smith], Member of Parliament for Truro, giving his legal opinion on a property dispute for Thomas B. Knight of Lime Street, London, and Cox of Honiton.

Author: 
Sir Montague Smith [Sir Montague Edward Smith, PC, QC] (1806-1891), British barrister and judge, one of the last Justices of the Court of Common Pleas, and Conservative MP for Truro, 1859-1865
Publication details: 
Temple [Inns of Court, London]. 9 December 1862.
£150.00

1p., 4to (31 x 32 cm). 26 lines, signed at end 'Montague Smith | Temple | 9 Dec 1862'. In fair condition, on lighly-aged paper, with minor damp damage to one edge. Docketed on reverse '1862 | Case for the Opinion of Mr. Montague Smith', with 'Took 3 Gu[ine]as' (Smith's fee) and initials in another hand. At foot, in a third hand: 'Thomas B. Knight | 34 Lime Street | City. E.6.', and beneath this, in a fourth 'Cox | Honiton'.

Autograph Signature ('Edward German') of the English composer Sir Edward German, on part of letter.

Author: 
Sir Edward German [formerly German Edward Jones] (1862-1936), English composer
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£25.00

On 8.5 x 11 cm piece of paper, cut from the bottom of a letter. In good condition, lightly-aged. Entirely in German's hand. The side of the letter with the signature reads: '[...] write you, & I hope we may be able to arrange a meeting. | Yours sincerely | Edward German'. The other side reads: '[...] you at Sidcup with the Georges many years ago. | I should be very pleased to meet you again, but at present I seem to be fully occupied [...]'.

'Change of Address' card of the composer and conductor Sir Eugene Goossens, addressed to the violinist Max Rostal.

Author: 
Sir Eugene Goossens [Sir Eugene Aynsley Goossens] (1893-1962), English composer and conductor [Max Rostal (1905-1991), violinist and music teacher]
Publication details: 
Postmarked from Maida Hill on 16 September 1957.
£30.00

Printed on one side of a 9 x 10.5 cm card. In good condition, lightly-aged and with a couple of corners slightly worn. The notice reads: 'Change of Address | Please note that | Sir Eugene Goossens | is now residing at | 76 Hamilton Terrace, London, N.W.8. | Telephone: CUNningham 9383'. Docketed in pencil at head (by Rostal?) 'Received 17th Sept.' Addressed on reverse, with stamp and postmark, to 'Max Rostal Esq., Highflower, 45, Brondesbury Park, London, NW6.

Manuscript Letter, written by an amanuensis for the blind poet 'P. B. Marston' [Philip Bourke Marston], to John T. Baron of Blackburn, referring to two of his books, and to a photograph taken six years before, which 'does not please' his friends.

Author: 
Philip Bourke Marston (1850-1887), blind English poet, protégé of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and friend of James Thomson ('B. V.') [John T. Baron of Blackburn autograph hunter]
Publication details: 
191 Euston Road, London. 11 October 1882.
£56.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In stamped and postmarked envelope, addressed in the same hand to 'J. Y. [sic] Baron Esq. | 48, Griffin Street, | Tritton | Blackburn'. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, in slightly discoloured envelope. It is not known who acted as Marston's amanuensis after the death of his sister Cicely in 1878: the present letter is written in a neat and somewhat childish hand. It dates from what had been an extremely trying year for Marston, with Rossetti dying the previous April, and the dying James Thomson being carried from Marston's rooms two months later.

Autograph Signature of the British novelist Margaret Kennedy [Margaret Davies, Lady Davies].

Author: 
Margaret Kennedy [Margaret Davies, Lady Davies] (1896-1967), English novelist and playwright
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£20.00

On one side of a piece of 11 x 11 cm paper, cut from the bottom of a letter. In good condition, lightly-aged. Reads, all in Kennedy's hand: 'Yours sincerely | Margaret Kennedy'.

Autograph Signature of the artist, children's book illustrator and poster designer John Hassall.

Author: 
John Hassall (1868-1948), English painter, children's book illustrator and poster designer
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£25.00

On one side of a 5.5 x 20 cm strip of laid paper, cut away from the bottom of a letter. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with traces of mount adhering to the reverse. Reads, in a firm attractive hand: 'Yours very sincerely | John Hassall.'

Four Mimeographed Typed Chapters of 'C. D. N.'s American Diary', an account by Charles D. Notley of Notley Advertising Limited, of a trip to Canada and the United States, with accounts of meetings with Moholy Nagy, John Russell Powers and others.

Author: 
Cecil Douglas Notley [Cecil D. Notley; C. D. Notley] (c.1900-1962), chairman and founder of Notley Advertising Limited [László Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946), painter; John Robert Powers (1892-1977)]
Publication details: 
Canada (Edmonton, Calgary, Banff, Vancouver, Victoria) and the United States of America (Chicago, Troy, Seattle, New York). Covering the period 26 October to 27 November 1946.
£450.00

The four items total 21pp., foolscap 8vo, on 21 leaves. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Comprising the four final chapters of Notley's account, each separately stapled and paginated: Chapter IV (26 October to 4 November), 6pp.; Chapter V (4 to 9 November), 4pp.; Chapter VI (9 to 17 November), 4pp.; Chapter VII (18 to 27 November), 7pp. For more information on Notley, see the appreciative obituary in The Times, 3 September 1962, and the letter by 'C. F. T.' in the same newspaper two days later.

Manuscript Inventory, docketed 'Account of Linen in 1732 of Bn. & Eliz Adams.' [of Northumberland, England.]

Author: 
Benjamin and Elizabeth Adams of Northumberland [Eighteenth-century inventory; Georgian fashion; Hanoverian clothes]
Publication details: 
[Northumberland, England.] 25 September 1732.
£90.00

1p., 12mo. On laid paper with 'Pro Patria' watermark. In good condition, lightly-aged and dusty. Headed 'September 25th 1732' and docketed on reverse 'Account of Linen in 1732 of Bn. & Eliz. Adams.' Thirteen items, beginning with 'There is eleven pair of Linneng [sic] sheets' and ending with 'There is 1/2 a dozen of Dypers naptkin for night Caps'. The Northumberland origins of the Adamses is not referred to in the document, but is clear from one which accompanied it. The document derives from the papers of Benjamin Adams's descendant, the Alnwick solicitor Thomas Adams.

Autograph Signature ('Bernard Partridge') of the 'Punch' cartoonist Sir John Bernard Partridge.

Author: 
Bernard Partridge [Sir John Bernard Partridge] (1861-1945), cartoonist and illustrator, best-known for his work with 'Punch'
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£20.00

On one side of a 4.5 x 13 cm strip of paper, cut from the bottom of a letter. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. All in Partridge's hand. Reads: '[...]ment of time occupied. | With many regrets, | I am truly yours, | Bernard Partridge.'

[Printed parliamentary paper.] An Act for Inclosing Land in the Parish of South Moreton, in the County of Berks. [Royal Assent, 8 May 1818.] 58 Geo. III. Sess. 1818.

Author: 
[The South Moreton Inclosure Act 1818; John Sadgrove; Rev. William James; George Barnes of Andover; Joseph Lousley of Blewbury; Henry Dixon; the University of Oxford; English enclosure of common land]
Publication details: 
'Ley & Jones, House of Commons.' 1818.
£120.00

35 + [1] pp., 8vo. Stitched and unbound. Well printed, on good laid paper, watermarked 'IPING | 1813'. In fair condition, on aged paper and lightly-discoloured paper, and folded into a packet, showing the title on the reverse of the last leaf as quoted above. The drophead title reads: Sess. 1818 - 58 Geo. III. | An Act for Inclosing Lands in the Parish of South Moreton, in the County of Berks.

Autograph Letter Signed "Frank Rutter", art critic, to Robert Lynd, essayist.

Author: 
Frank Rutter (187-1937), art critic of the Sunday Times.
Publication details: 
Leeds, 1916.
£45.00

ALS, on letterhead of the City Art Gallery, Leeds; 10 March 1916. He offers to review 'Rebecca West's forthcoming little book on "Henry James"', being 'particularly interested in both author & subject'. Asks for contact details of a relative of Walter Riddall's: 'I lent him before his death one of my "To-Day" volumes which I can't replace & don't want to lose.'

Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'Jn Summerson') from architectural historian Sir John Summerson, Curator of Sir John Soane's Museum, to Peter Rhodes and his wife Felicity, regarding Soane's Piercefield Hall, Shotesham Hall and Hay Castle.

Author: 
Sir John Summerson [Sir John Newenham Summerson] (1904-1992), architectural historian, Curator of Sir John Soane's Museum, 1945-1984
Publication details: 
Both on letterheads of Sir John Soane's Museum, 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. 2 May 1972 and 1 August 1974.
£120.00

Both letters in very good condition, and each in a stamped, postmarked envelope, and each addressed by Summerson to Cuddesdon Manor, Oxon. Letter One (2 May 1972): To Peter Rhodes. 2pp., 12mo. He is 'rather surprised' to find that the ruins of Soane's Piercefield House are 'still there!' The best he can do is 'to warn the National Monuments Record of the approaching dissolution'. They are 'seriously overworked but they might have a photographer in the area who would improve on Miss Stroud's snap-shots'.

Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'Jn Summerson') from architectural historian Sir John Summerson, Curator of Sir John Soane's Museum, to Peter Rhodes and his wife Felicity, regarding Soane's Piercefield Hall, Shotesham Hall and Hay Castle.

Author: 
Sir John Summerson [Sir John Newenham Summerson] (1904-1992), architectural historian, Curator of Sir John Soane's Museum, 1945-1984
Publication details: 
Both on letterheads of Sir John Soane's Museum, 13 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. 2 May 1972 and 1 August 1974.
£120.00

Both letters in very good condition, and each in a stamped, postmarked envelope, and each addressed by Summerson to Cuddesdon Manor, Oxon. Letter One (2 May 1972): To Peter Rhodes. 2pp., 12mo. He is 'rather surprised' to find that the ruins of Soane's Piercefield House are 'still there!' The best he can do is 'to warn the National Monuments Record of the approaching dissolution'. They are 'seriously overworked but they might have a photographer in the area who would improve on Miss Stroud's snap-shots'.

Autograph Note in the third person from the English poet Walter Savage Landor to Lord Londesborough, declining an invitation because of the 'crowded state of London'.

Author: 
Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864), English poet and author of the 'Imaginary Conversations' [Albert Denison Denison (1805-1860), 1st Baron Londesborough [Lord Londesborough]]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [London, 1840s?]
£100.00

1p., 12mo. On bifolium. Good, on aged paper. The note reads: 'Mr Landor has to acknowledge the honor of Lord Londesborough's invitation for May 21. The crowded state of London will not permit him to make his usual visit there in Spring, and among his regrets is his inability to pay his respects to Lord Londesborough.'

[Presentation copy of printed pamphlet.] Delays in Chancery considered, with Practical Suggestions for their Prevention or Removal.

Author: 
M. D. Lowndes [Matthew Dobson Lowndes, Solicitor] [William Wynstanley Hull (1794-1873), liturgical writer]
Publication details: 
London: S. Sweet, 1, Chancery Lane, 1843. [Printed by Richard Kinder, Green Arbour Court, Old Bailey.]
£180.00

xii + 56 pp., 12mo. Disbound. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Presentation inscription on half-title: 'W. W. Hull Esq | With the Authors | Respects'. Uncommon: four copies on COPAC (not counting the 'electronic resource' ones).

Autograph Note Signed ('Jas. Martineau') from the Unitarian minister James Martineau, thanking 'Mr. Odgers' for 'correcting my correction'.

Author: 
James Martineau (1805-1900), English Unitarian minister, brother of the writer Harriet Martineau (1802-1876)
Publication details: 
35 Gordon Square, London, WC. 13 January 1894.
£28.00

1p., 16mo. In fair condition, on lightly-ruckled paper. The note reads: 'Dear Mr. Odgers, | You were quite right, and I thank you for correcting my correction. I do not know what possessed me to make it.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('A Hayward') from the essayist and translator Abraham Hayward to the editor of the Athenaeum Charles Wentworth Dilke, regarding a delayed communication, a 'd[amne]d foreigner', and payment for a female contributor.

Author: 
Abraham Hayward (1801-1884), English essayist and translator [Charles Wentworth Dilke (1789-1864), editor of the Athenaeum]
Publication details: 
Place not stated. 'Monday' [no date].
£80.00

1p., 4to. Addressed on reverse, with red wax seal, to 'C. W. Dilke Esq:'. Hayward writes that he is enclosing a note (not present), which was sent to him 'in one to me received only today though apparently written on Wednesday last. A d - d foreigner kept it in his pocket in the interim.' Clearly referring to a fee for an article, he continues: 'The lady will be quite satisfied with what you name, but I suppose it may stand over till she does something else'.

Unpublished holograph poem (signed 'J. F. Hollings') by the Leicester poet and local historian James Francis Hollings, entitled 'Edgehill', regarding the English Civil War battle, 1642.

Author: 
James Francis Hollings (1806-1862), poet and local historian, President of the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society [Leicestershire; English Civil War; Battle of Edgehill, 1642;]
Publication details: 
Without place place or place, on paper with watermarked date 1831. [Leicester, 1830s?]
£120.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. On wove paper watermarked 'R TASSELL | 1831'. 56 lines, arranged in seven eight-line stanzas. Presentable, despite wear and age, closed tears along crease lines, and traces of yellow-paper mount on blank reverse of second leaf. There is no sign that this item was ever published, which is surprising, as it is a superior effort, written with some conviction, the subject being one on which Hollings was regarded as an authority.

Eighteenth century manuscript manorial Court Leet 'Charge in the Court Baron', engrossed on vellum, giving instructions for an enquiry to be made by a land steward into matters 'that concen the Lord's Interest'.

Author: 
[Eighteenth-century Manorial Court Leet 'Charge in the Court Baron']
Publication details: 
Place and date not given. [English; mid-eighteenth century?]
£160.00

Engrossed on both sides of a long strip of vellum, 18.5 x 76 cm. Written in a neat clerk's hand. The vellum is worn, with slight damage at the head, and some passages, particularly at the start, are illegible. The heading appears to be 'Court Leet Charge', and the sub-heading 'Charge in the Court Baron' appears twice. The text is strongly reminiscent to the relevant sections in Giles Jacob's 'Complete Court-Keeper, or, Land-Steward's Assistant'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('John Linnell Sen.') from the English portrait painter John Linnell to the Glasgow picture dealer Thomas Lawrie, regarding the verification of a picture ['The Woodcutters'] and describing work he will have for sale.

Author: 
John Linnell (1792-1882), English landscape and portrait painter, an associate of William Blake, Samuel Palmer and the Ancients [Thomas Lawrie, Glasgow picture dealer]
Publication details: 
Red Hill [Redhill, Surrey]. 15 December 1870.
£250.00

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. 28 lines of text. In fair condition: aged and a little ruckled. Docketed 'The Woodcutters' (a theme around which Linnell produced several paintings). Linnell writes that he has just received Lawrie's 'half note for £5 - and will not fail to attend to your wishes about The Verification'. He explains that he usually requires, in addition to the fee, 'an assurance that I shall not be called upon personally to give evidence respecting the work said to be mine.

Autograph Letter Signed "George Halse", sculptor etc, to George Gurney, artist, with news of holiday and his new work (short stories illus. Phiz))

Author: 
George Halse, artist, sculptor and writer.
Publication details: 
[Printed] 15 Clarendon Road, Notting Hill, W. [London], 21 Oct. 1882.
£56.00

Three pages, 12mo, bifolium, sl. staining ( remnants of laying down process on album leaf), good condition. He has sent a copy of his latest book to Gurney ("A Salad of Stray Leaves" (pub. 1882), with illustrations by his friend Phiz, Hablot K. Browne, who died in the year of publication). It's "to be published on Monday. | I find so little todo with the chisel that I am fain to employ my pen." The family is holidaying in Margate, and the air is having a beneficial effect on his son's health.

Autograph Note Signed "Vicat Cole", painter, to "Mr [George] Gurney", artist.

Author: 
[George] Vicat Cole, artist
Publication details: 
The George Inn, Dorchester, Wallingford, [Oxon], 9 Nov. [no year].
£56.00

Two pages, 12mo, bifolium, ford marks, good condition. "I have at last done what you wished to the picture & hope you will like it. I have directed it to be packed & sent to you at once, & shall be glad to have a line from you to say it is all right. [...]" Note: George Gurney's art collection was auctioned in 1903. It contained two pictures by Vicat Cole, including a "View of the Thames".

Autograph Letter Signed ('T. Mitchell') from the classical scholar Thomas Mitchell to an unnamed editor ('My dear friend'), discussing his work translating Demosthenes.

Author: 
Thomas Mitchell (1783-1845), English classical scholar, who produced a number of editions of Greek authors for the Clarendon Press, Oxford University
Publication details: 
Ramsdon [sic]. 24 January 1822.
£150.00

2pp., 12mo. In a windowpane mount on a leaf removed from an album. The letter itself very good, on aged paper; the mount worn at extremities. He begins by informing the recipient that his 'last Letter has made ample atonement for the provocation of the preceding', and he has 'ever been the foremost, both in word & deed, to keep my wings in motion. I speak this seriously: my former note was only a temporary petulance'. The second paragraph begins: 'I must positively have another Paper for my Orators'. He has 'run to a fearful length, & yet have cramped myself all the way.

Autograph Letter Signed ('M. Hewlett') from the novelist and poet Maurice Hewlett, complaining that he has been underpaid for two pieces of writing.

Author: 
Maurice Hewlett [Maurice Henry Hewlett] (1861-1923), novelist and poet
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Broad Chalke, Salisbury. 5 December 1922.
£45.00

1p., 16mo. Fair, on aged paper, laid down on piece of card. '1349' in blue pencil at head of page. The letter reads: 'Thank you for the cheque. He ought to have paid for two, as both appeared in November. | - | Yes, I have another copy of . | - | [signed] M. Hewlett'.

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