MARITIME

Autograph Letter Signed to Joshua Sharpe.

Author: 
Edward Blakeney
Publication details: 
Mahon the 8th. November 1753', Mahon, Minorca.
£125.00

The recipient Joshua Sharpe (c.1716-86) was a solicitor of Lincoln's Inn, and counsel for various American colonies before the Board of Trade and Privy Council. His brother Horatio was Lieutenant Governor of Maryland. Two pages, folio. Grubby, frayed and worn, with some closed tears and minor fraying and loss to extremities, and minor loss to text. Appears to concern the investigation into a case brought against an English ship by the owners of the Spanish vessel Sancta Barbara ('Patron Joseph de la Torre').

Autograph Letter Signed to William <Wantjl?>.

Author: 
Sir Edward Baines
Publication details: 
12 September 1859; on letterhead 'Headingley Lodge, Leeds'.
£50.00

Journalist, economist and politician (1800-90), M.P. for Leeds. Two pages, 12mo. In poor condition: grubby, folded three times and with two spike holes at foot. 'I am not aware that I have any power to obtain a Midshipman's Commission for any one: but if I had, I should not think it right to use it except in the application of the parents or guardians of the young man wishing for it. I must therefore request you to make your wishes known to your parents; & if they desire it I might forward to the Board of Admiralty a written application from them.

Telegram to [Charles?] Tarleton.

Author: 
Charles William de la Poer Beresford, Baron Beresford
Publication details: 
Handed in at Portsmouth B', and bearing stamp from Uxbridge, Harefield, 26 November 1909.
£35.00

Naval officer and Conservative politician (1846-1919), nicknamed 'the member for the navy'. Dimensions roughly 5 1/2 inches by 9 inches. In poor condition: browning and with several closed tears. Reads: 'From the older Charlie to the younger Charlie may all good luck attend you fighting for tariff reform national defence and relief of the unemployed Beresford'.

Printed petition 'To the Right Honourable the Lords of His Majesty's Privy Council for Trade and Plantations', calling for the repeal of all duties on goods arriving in the Port of London, and for an extension of 'the Warehousing System'.[

Author: 
M. L. F. Merac [ANGLO-AMERICAN WAR OF 1812]
Publication details: 
Cooke, Printer, Dunstan's Hill,'; dated '76, Cornhill, | 9 March 1814.'
£150.00

2 pages, 4to, on the rectos of both leaves of a bifoliate. Folded for self-mailing, and addressed on the verso of the second leaf to 'Mr: F Huth | 1 South Street | Finsbury Square'. This page, which has 'URGENT; - | On Warehousing System' printed on it, also carries two oval postmarks, one of which, in black ink, reads 'TwoPyPost. | Unpaid | Lombard St'. Docketed '1814 | M. L. P. Merac | London 9 March'.

Letter in secretary's hand, signed in autograph.

Author: 
Sir Francis Thornhill Baring, 1st Baron Northbrook, as Paymaster General
Publication details: 
7 March 1837; Treasury Chambers.
£100.00

1 page. 4to. In good condition. Concerning three accounts forwarded to the Board of the Treasury from the Accountant General of the Navy ('Two for Subsistence of Seamen belonging to Revenue Cruizers in the Naval Hospitals in Christmas Quarter last, and the other for their maintainence in Sick Quarters'), the Treasury Commissioners 'have authorized the Board of Customs to ay the Sum of £405. 10. 5. in discharge thereof to your account at the Bank of England, or at the Pay Office Whitehall, and I am to desire you will carry the amount to the Credit of Navy Services'. Signed 'F T Baring'.

Autograph Note Signed to Mrs <Swanthwaite?>.

Author: 
Vice-Admiral Sir Percy Scott
Publication details: 
Monday' [no date]; on letterhead of the United Service Club, Pall Mall, S.W.
£25.00

British naval officer and inventor (1853-1924; DNB). 1 page, 16mo. In good condition. Attached to larger piece of card, docketed with a brief biography. 'I shall be delighted to come tomorrow at 4. pm. | Yours sincerely | Percy Scott'.

Autograph Letter with illegible signature, to 'Frederick'

Author: 
HYDROGRAPHIC DEPARTMENT, ADMIRALTY, 1903
Publication details: 
25 September 1903; on letterhead, 'Hydrographic Department, Admiralty, London, S.W.', with oval Admiralty blind stamp of anchor at head.
£25.00

1 page, 16mo. Creased and discoloured, with holes and loss caused by pin, and with strip at foot loose and neatly reattached with archival tape. Stamped in blue 'HYDROGRAPHIC DEPARTMENT | 28 SEP. 1903'. Reads 'Dear Frederick | I see by the paper on Labuan sent over here that you have had a chart showing where Tanjong Batu &c is situated - Can you let me have this | Yours sincerely | '. Docketed in red at foot 'Chart Herewith Decr. 26/9'. Docketed on rerverse in blue pencil.

40 Autograph Letters Signed to him from various "old shipmates", mostly senior naval figures; with 9 portrait photographs, a photograph of the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert and the seal in red wax of the Royal Hospital at Greenwich.

Author: 
Captain Charles Dickson Inglis, R.N.
Publication details: 
between 1858 and 1898; from various locations.
£450.00

Captain Charles Dickson Inglis, R.N. (born c.1835; fl. 1898), is best known for his offer in 1887 to buy South Georgia in the Falkland Islands for the purposes of sheep-farming. This collection of his correspondence is neatly bound in a crude octavo volume, and is preceded by a manuscript index by him. Items in good condition overall, with minor discoloration and spotting, mainly caused by the glue used in mounting the photographs. All the letters are 8vo and smaller, several of them being cropped at the head, but with the cropped strips loosely inserted.

Autograph Signature on fragment of letter.

Author: 
Sir Henry Keppel, Admiral of the Fleet.
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£35.00

For Keppel (1809-1904) see the DNB. On a slip of paper, 1 inch by 2¾, probably cut from a letter. Grubby and creased, and docketed in ink 'Admiral Keppel'. Mounted on a long slip, together with the signature of his brother 'Edwd. S[outhwell]: Keppel' (b. c. 1801), Rector Of Quidenham, Norfolk, on a piece cut from another letter, 1¼ inches by 3. This second signature is in better condition and is preceded by "Dear Sir | Yours very truly'. Two items,

Sailing ships on the Hudson River, New York, viewed from Hoboken Docks.

Author: 
Photograph
Publication details: 
Undated but certainly nineteenth century.
£100.00

Evocative picture with docks to the right viewed through tree branches, and a number of boats and ships clearly visible, with three three-masted ones in the foreground, one sideways on and the two beside it viewed from the bows. Dimensions: 2¼ inches by 3¾ inches. Mounted on a piece of pink board which is docketed on reverse in nineteenth century hand: 'Hudson River. N.Y. from Hoboken Docks.' The picture is a little creased in the bottom left-hand corner and there is minor discolouration due to ink stains and grime.

Fragment, signed by an amanuensis,

Author: 
John Jervis, Earl of St Vincent
Publication details: 
18 February 1807, Mortimer Street.
£50.00

English Admiral of the Fleet (1735-1823). The upper part of a letter on one 4to leaf. Recto: "Mortimer Street / the 18th of February 1807 / Sir / I have the honor to acknowledge the Receipt of your Letter of the 10th Instant reporting the account communicated by Lieutenant Batt, of <...>". Verso: "I have the honor to be / Sir / Your most obedient / humble Servant / St. Vincent". Grubby and with loss to one corner.

one formal autograph letter in the third person to Mr [?] Handley,

Author: 
John Jervis, Earl of St Vincent
Publication details: 
13 June 1817, Rochetts
£50.00

English Admiral of the Fleet (1735-1823). One page, 12mo. "Lord St. Vincent will thank Mr Handley to convey the inclosed, to Mr. Willan, as soon as possible / Rochetts / 13th. June 1817".

Typed letter signed,

Author: 
Frank Carr, Director of the National Maritime Museum, to Admiral Sir Sydney Freemantle, regarding the clipper ship the Cutty Sark
Publication details: 
9 July 1957, with letterhead of the National Maritime Museum.
£150.00

4 pp, 8vo. A long letter discussing the restoration of the ship. "[...] I have always appreciated (and envied) your personal experience of sail in days when seamanship in the old sense really meant something. [...] No one is better qualified to speak with authority on the restoration of a historic sailing vessel than you are". Five points are discussed: "The position of the upper topsail yards. [...] royal yards [...] fitting sails [...] ropes [...] Maintenance."

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