MANUSCRIPT

See her entry and his in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and slightly creased at extremities. Addressed to ‘My Dear Mr. MacQueen Pope’ and signed (in block capitals) ‘BERTA RUCK’.

Abercorn was characterized by Walpole as ‘his taciturnity, the Earl’. His entry in the Oxford DNB describes him as ‘a patron of the arts, a builder, and the consolidator of the family's property and influence’. 1p, 4to. On recto of first leaf of bifolium, with verso of second leaf docketed and with 1884 date stamp. In good condition, lightly aged. An excellent example of Abercorn’s bold hand and signature. Reads: ‘London March 10. 1768.

Shand is great-grandfather of Queen Camilla. His best-known work is 'The Foundations of Character' (1914). ONE: 18 November 1907. 4pp, 16mo. Bifolium. Thirty-five lines. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Shand - who is weakened by ‘fever & cough’, and ‘too tired to think consecutively’ - thanks Burdett for his ‘very kind letter which was a real consolation to me in my bed’. His ‘argument about avarice was most interesting, & I think I quite agree with it.

1p, 4to. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-creased paper, with two small punch holes to one margin. Pencil notes at foot of page, with more notes in ink and pencil on the reverse. He begins: ‘I too a looking forward to my visit to Cheltenham on April 4th. I shall, as you say, be bringing my records with me which include both 78 r.p.m. and 33 1/3 r.p.m. As you say it will be necessary for me to have overnight accommodation and I should be grateful if you could make the booking.’ He gives details of the train he will be travelling on from Paddington, and asks where to go.

1p, landscape 12mo. Aged, worn and lightly discoloured. Laid down on larger leaf removed from an album. The text, all in Randolph’s hand, reads: ‘Pay to Jaqueline [sic] P. Taylor or bearer Fifty four Dollars 84 Cents / John Randolph of Roanoke / Decr. 22d. 1829. / To the Cashier of the Bank of Virginia’. Despite the name Jacqueline P. Taylor of Richmond City, Virginia, was male. See image.

See the entry on her second husband George Wyndham in the Oxford DNB. Wyndham had been appointed Chief Secretary for Ireland a few months previously (October 1900). His plans were ambitious, but after some success they would flounder, leading to a nervous breakdown: within four years of the present letter the Prime Minister Arthur Balfour would write to Lady Wyndham that was ‘utterly ruined’ and ‘really hardly sane’. See also the ODNB entry on the recipient. 4pp, 12mo, with text concluding crossways at top of first three pages. Bifolium with mourning border. In fair condition, lightly aged.

An interesting item, providing a sidelight into the process of Victorian scholarly editing and publication. Fitchew’s letter is 2pp, 4to, on the outer pages of a bifolium; the inner pages being filled with notes (citations?) in a minuscule hand, possibly the recipient’s. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, and folded for postage. Addressed to ‘H. W. Wilson’ and signed ‘E. H. Fitchew’. The letter begins: ‘Dear Mr. Wilson / I think it is possible we may want a little more letterpress, but probably not much. Up to end of pt. 7 we have used 82 slips.

Jenkins’s Bond book ‘Per Fine Ounce’, which he claimed was based on a diamond-smuggling storyline he had developed with Fleming in 1957, was rejected by Fleming’s production company Glidrose in 1966. The recipient Eileen Margaret Cond (1911-1984) of Honiton was an enthusiastic collector of autographs, with the ability of drawing a more than perfunctory response from her targets. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded for postage. Signed 'Geoffrey Jenkins'.

For such a prolific author, it is odd that so little is to be gleaned about Dorothy Jarman (1902-1978; Fellow of the Institute of Arts and Letters, widow of Roy H. Jarman), who claims in this letter, written as ‘Dorothy Desana’, that ‘Ann Trent’ is her pseudonym, while in the 1971 edition of ‘The Author’s and Writer’s Who’s Who’, ‘Ann Trent’ is given as her real name, while ‘Dorothy Desana’ is one of four pseudonyms. Whatever the case, twenty-six books were published under the name ‘Davide Sernicoli’ between 1936 and 1953, with twenty more books published by her under other names.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged; folded for postage. Addressed ‘To / A. Williams Esqre.’ from ‘Edmund Yates.’ Written in purple ink. Reads ‘Dear Sir / I am much obliged to you for your politeness in forwarding me the extract from the Liverpool Mercury. / Faithfully your’s, [sic] / Edmund Yates.’

The address from which this letter is sent is said to have been 'the English home of Louis Kossuth and Garibaldi'. 1p, 12mo. On aged paper, and with strip of discoloration from glue along the inner edge, the detaching of the item from its mount having caused a little wear to a couple of words of text. Reads: ‘Dear Sir, / Northampton is the only Constituency I have represented in Parliament - I am not [last word underlined] the author of the work you allude to / Yours truly / C Gilpin’.

In this letter Tower describes his personal experience of the winning of the North Sea trophy by C. L. Salaman’s 35-ton yacht Dianthus. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged paper chipped at head. Folded for postage. Addressed to ‘My dear Dick’ and signed ‘Beauchamp Tower’. A long letter with 105 lines of text. He begins by congratulating Harington ‘on getting an Indian judge ship which will enable you to marry, though I and all your other friends will be very sorry to lose you’.

Part of leaf from autograph album, cut into an irregular shape. In fair condition, on lightly aged and discoloured paper, with film of dried glue from mount on blank reverse. The passage, which curiously enough does not correspondend with the printed text, reads (with three mistakes scored through): ‘Life of Napoleon III - Vol 2. / The Government, it is true, endeavoured to prevail upon Queen Hortense to request him to give his word that he would remain in America for ten years; but she replied that Prince Louis was master of his own actions & she would not endeavour to influence them.

See her entry in the Oxford DNB. She published around two hundred books under seven pseudonyms, and these are said to have sold a hundred million copies and been translated into twenty languages. The recipient Eileen Cond was an enthusiastic collector of autographs, and had the ability to draw a more than perfunctory response from her targets. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased. Folded for postage. Good bold signature: ‘Victoria Holt.’ Addressed to ‘Miss Cond, / Stream Cottage, / Sidbury, / Sidmouth, Devon.’ She has signed Cond’s bookplate and is sending it back.

An interesting letter linking two similar individuals (like Baines, Buckingham had also served as a Yorkshire Member of Parliament, in his case for Sheffield as a radical between and 1835; and both men were newspaper proprietors). See the entries for Baines, with those for Buckingham and his son, in the Oxford DNB. 4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Addressed to ‘J. S. Buckingham, Esq’ and signed ‘Edw Baines’. He begins by saying that he will try and promote Buckingham’s ‘son’s introduction to this part of the country, as a Lecturer’. (According to L.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. The two items are in good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Both addressed to ‘Dear Kempe’. ONE (7 September 1876): 1p, 12mo. Signed ‘St N’. He asks Kempe to get him ‘Mr Gladstone’s pamphlet’, and would also ‘like to have Mr. Evans’ recent work about Bosnia and Herzegovina, published I think by Longman.’ He ends with news of his plans, and asks in a postscript: ‘What do you say to the Revenue returns?’ TWO (8 September 1876): 3pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Signed ‘Stafford H. Northcote’. He will be travelling from Balmoral ‘to Sir J.

Lyttelton was Gladstone’s private secretary during three of his terms as prime minister. The recipient Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944, son of the editor of the economist Thorold Rogers) is not named, but the item is from his papers, and was written while he was Secretary of the Liberal Publication Department, a position to which he was appointed in November 1891. 2pp, 12mo. Signed ‘Spencer Lyttleton.’ In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Under Gladstone Burt served as Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, 1892-1895. From the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son of the editor of the economist Thorold Rogers, and written while Rogers was Secretary of the Liberal Publication Department (a sort of public relations department), a position to which he was appointed in November 1891. The four items, all addressed to ‘Dear Mr Rogers’ and signed ‘Thos Burt’, are all bifoliums in good condition, folded for postage. ONE (2 June 1892): 2pp, 12mo.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB, which quotes Gordon Cox as stating that Hullah was ‘the fountain head of music education in the nineteenth century’. 1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Handwriting and signature in a bold attractive hand. Reads: ‘Dear Mrs. Tail / I have the pleasure to send you a few lines fm Mr. Otto Goldschmidt, about the Bach Choir. / I am, dear Madam / Always Your’s [sic] Truly / John Hullah’.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded for postage. Reads: ‘Dear Mr Keary, / Enclosed is for 1000th Number of Pearson’s Weekly. It is not what I wanted to do for you, but illness and other interruptions have spoiled my work for the last two months. So please reject if necessary. / Faithfully yours / J. J. Bell’.

For information about the Lady Hosie and her husband see his entry in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. Folded twice for postage, and with a minor closed tear to edge of fold at head of leaf. Addressed to ‘Dear Mr. Burdett’ and signed ‘Dorothy [sic] Hosie’. Forty-one lines of closely-written text. The letter concerns a review she has written for a periodical whose title is difficult to decipher (‘The L[?]’). She was ‘going to type out a fair copy’, but thinks Burdett ‘may like it at once’. If he feels ‘portions of it unsuitable’, he ‘can then delete’. ‘Mr.

In 1883 Queen Victoria appointed Davidson Dean of Windsor and her domestic chaplain. See his entry in the Oxford DNB. Both items in good condition, lightly aged; the letter folded for postage. Both addressed to ‘My dear Jacob’ and both signed ‘Randall T Davidson’. ONE: Autograph Card Signed. Marked ‘Private’. Eighteen lines of text, covering both sides. Begins: ‘I talked the whole matter over so fully last night with Sir H.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. At his death in 1917, H. T. Beresford-Hope was Third Secretary at the British Legation at Athens; and he left the enormous sum of £67,167. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Folded twice for postage. Addressed to ‘My dear Beresford-Hope’ and signed ‘H. Fisher’. Twenty-eight lines of text. He begins a gently teasing letter by stating that he is delighted to hear of Beresford-Hope’s ‘triumph in the Diplomatic Service examination’, his wife joining him in sending congratulations.

See his entry in the Oxford DNB. In good condition, lightly aged and folded for postage. Addressed to ‘Dear Burdett’ and signed ‘J Bone’. He will let him know if he hears of anything with regard to Burdett’s ‘young friend’, ‘but one hears so rarely now of newspaper openings, as everyone is holding on tight, and there are so many experienced men on the street’. He is sending Burdett’s note ‘on to Manchester in case there should ever be an opportunity there’.

See the two men’s entries in the Oxford DNB. 2pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium, the second leaf being blank, apart from the end of the signature ‘Jas Sant’, which has extended across from the bottom right corner of the reverse of the first leaf. In good condition, lightly aged, with the reverse of the second leaf laid down on a rectangle of grey paper cut from a leaf of an album. Addressed to ‘G. Lance Esqr.’ The letter begins: ‘My Dear Sir / My best thanks for your note. Depend upon it I will look to myself and in doing so look to yr.

While his entry in the Oxford DNB notes that Birrell was a loyal supporter of Gladstone in the early part of his parliamentary career, it does not allude to his intimate involvement during that period in what would now be called the public relations of his party, as evidenced by this correspondence, which comes from the papers of Arthur George Liddon Rogers (1864-1944), son of the editor of the economist Thorold Rogers, and written while Rogers was Secretary of the Liberal Publication Department, a position to which he was appointed in November 1891.

See her entry and that of Kegan Paul in the Oxford DNB. 1p, 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. The recipient is not named. Reads: ‘Dear Sir. / Mr. Kegan Paul was a great friend of mine, & when it came out he gave me a book called “Rabbi Jeshua” 1881. published by the firm. I should be so much obliged if you might tell me the name of the writer if I am asking what is never done please forgive me. / Yrs truly / Maria Theresa Earle’. At top right, in her hand: ‘Mrs C. W. Earle’.

A good firm signature, and not a common one. While hugely popular (see his entry in the Oxford DNB), Sims was an intensely private man, who refused to give autographs. 1p, landscape 12mo. In fair condition lightly aged and with slight rust spotting from paperclip; folded for postage. Reads: ‘Dear Adza Vincent, / My wife and I both thank you for sending Christopher’s Bedford talk. I have taken the liberty of typing a copy for own archives, and can now return the one you sent. / With renewed thanks, / Yours sincerely, / Alastair Sim’.

See her entry and that of her husband Neville Braybrooke in the Oxford DNB. ‘Peggy Stanford’ is Derek Stanford’s first wife Margaret (née Holdsworth), who wrote under the pen name ‘Margaret Philips’ (see his Guardian obituary, 26 March 2009). Two long letters, written in a neat close hand. Both in good condition and folded for postage. ONE (22 September 1973): To ‘Dear Derek and Peggie’ and signed ‘June’. 4pp, 12mo. With envelope addressed to the Stanfords at Seaford in Sussex. Having enjoyed their meeting the previous week she ‘kept saying to Neville: how I wished that you lived in Cowes'.

See the entries in the Oxford DNB for his brother-in-law Sir Samuel Romilly and his son Peter Mark Roget, as well as Joshua Kendall’s 2008 biography of the latter, ‘The Man Who Made Lists’. From the Roget family papers, and certainly of later date than the two schoolboy commonplace books by Jean Roget offered separately. Roget is not named as the author, but the handwriting is his, and the spine bears the remains of a blue paper label with the words ‘MSS of the Rev. J. Ro[get]’ on it the same nineteenth-century hand (P. M. Roget's?) as the two commonplace books.