SCIENCE

Autograph Letter Signed "D Brewster" to "Dr Bostock", Liverpool, medical writer, etc.

Author: 
Sir David Brewster.
Publication details: 
Edr 13 Hope Street, 25 May 1815.
£150.00

Natural scientist (see DNB). Two pages, 4to, some damage and marking but text clear and complete. "You will have probably seen from the progres of the Encyclopaedia, that we are now approaching very rapidly to the article Galvinism [underlined] which you were so kind as to undertake. We are printing at present the article Fortification . . . & I think we shall require it for press on the Ist of |September." He asks for an estimate of the number of sheets the article will occupy, how many plates or separate figures to illustrate.

Autograph Letter Signed to Richard Wilson

Author: 
Henry Cline [J.H. Shorthouse and John Porter].
Publication details: 
Lincolns Inn Fields, 22 Nov. 1821.
£150.00

Surgeon, Astley Cooper's mentor (DNB), author of medical works. Three pages, 8vo, crude repairs to tears on folds, laid down, text clear and complete. He writes, "That disorder in a horse which constitutes a Roarer, is caused by a membranous projection in a part of the wind pipe (technically called the larynx). It is a consequence . . . [he continues ] . . . "A Roarer is not therefore a diseased horse . . . When a horse is in strong action, his breathing becomes proportionatley quickened . . . and thus the roaring noise is produced.

Two Typed Letters Signed, the first to G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, the second to S. Digby, R.S.A.

Author: 
Sebastian Ziani de Ferranti
Publication details: 
12 January 1918, on letterhead 'HOLLINWOOD, | LANCASHIRE'; 23 August 1918, on letterhead 'FERRANTI LIMITED, | ELECTRICAL & GENERAL ENGINEERS, | HOLLINWOOD, | LANCASHIRE.'
£95.00

British scientist (1864-1930); patented the Ferranti alternator, 1882; chief electrician to the London Electric Supply Corporation. Both items one page, quarto. Both very good, though dusty; one with small pinholes in one corner. Both bearing the R.S.A. stamp, and one docketed. ITEM ONE: He has received Menzies letter of 11 January, 'from which I note that you are sending me one dozen copies of Mr.

Six Typed Letters Signed and two Autograph Letters Signed to G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Margaret Fishenden (nee White)
Publication details: 
1925-6; all items on embossed government letterheads, from various locations including the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and the Fuel Research Bord.
£160.00

English scientist (1889-1977), who worked with Rutherford in Manchester. All eight items quarto and very good. Most carrying the Society's stamp and some docketed. All signed 'Margaret Fishenden'. Mostly concerning the delivery and publication of a lecture on 'Domestic Heating'. Letter of 11 January 1926 suggests a number of people who should be invited.

The Lettsomian Lectures, delivered at the Medical Society of London, 1879, on bronchial asthma: its causes, pathology, and treatment.

Author: 
John C[harles]. Thorowgood
Publication details: 
London: Baillière, Tindall, and Cox, King William Street, Strand. 1879.
£56.00

Small 8vo. Pages i-vi, 3-86 (nothing apparently lacking). Original publishers' catalogue for 1879 at rear. Good tight copy, in worn original brown cloth, gilt. PRESENTATION COPY 'For The Library of the Medical Society of London with The Authors Compts'. With stamps, labels, and other evidence of library provenance. From the collection of the Society's librarian Nehemiah Asherson, and carrying a note by him, over the Society's stamp on the half-title 'DISCARDED FROM THE LIBRARY | RESCUED FROM Pulping | 1971/2'.

Autograph Letter 'To the Editor', entitled 'Phrenology', and signed 'Apollonius'.

Author: 
PHRENOLOGY [Wiveliscombe; Somerset Country Gazette]
Publication details: 
Wiveliscombe Decr 18th, 1840'.
£65.00

Two pages, quarto. On a discoloured piece of brittle, thin wove paper, with some fraying, several closed tears and a little loss (affecting three words). A long, able and closely-written defence of the discipline. '[...] | X appears decidedly opposed to an alarmed at the science, and feels himself awfully degraded with the comparisons drawn by Phrenologists between the human species and the lower animals - that they should exist, breathe, and partake of, in a limited degree, corresponding qualities with the human race.

A collection of 10 offprints, etc. of Douglas McKie's publications

Author: 
Douglas McKie.
Publication details: 
1944-1951.
£45.00

Historian of Science (see Dictionary of National Biography). 1. "Wohler's 'Synthetic' Urea and the Rejection of Vitalism: A Chemical Legend" (Reprinted from "Nature", 20 May 1944, 8pp.; 2. "The Scientific Periodical from 1665 to 1798" (From the Philosophical Magazine Commemoration Number, , July 1948, pp.122-132); 3.

Autograph Letter Signed to Sir H[enry]. T[rueman]. Wood, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
John Allen Harker
Publication details: 
9 February 1916; The National Physical Laboratory, Teddington (on deleted letterhead of the National Liberal Club).
£28.00

Inventor and engineer (1870-1923), whose papers are held by the Royal Society. During the war Harker was in the Inventions Department of the Ministry of Munitions. One page, 12mo. Good, if slightly grubby. Docketed in pencil and bearing the Society's stamp. Reads 'I send herewith a short contribution to the discussion of Dr Flemings paper at which I was present but in which on account of lack of time I did not feel it desirable to take part verbally.' Signed 'J. A. Harker'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Thomas Archer. [Humphry Davy].

Author: 
William Thomas Brande
Publication details: 
6 January 1843; Royal Mint.
£150.00

English chemist (1788-1866) who succeeded Sir Humphrey Davy as Professor of Chemistry at the Royal Institution (1813). Two pages, octavo. Very good, though lightly creased and with remains of previous mount adhering to one edge. Begins 'I have no doubt that much fraud is committed by the substitution of spiritious liquors of different strengths, for what is called woodspirit and wood naphtha'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Don Wauchope.

Author: 
General Sir George Keith Buller Elphinstone
Publication details: 
10 January 1891; on letterhead '86, CANONBURY ROAD'.
£36.00

Engineer (1865-1941) whose inventions include the speedometer for motor-cars. Two pages, 12mo. Good, though slightly grubby. Docketed on reverse. Small ink smudge beneath letterhead. Reads 'Dear Don Wanchope | Thanks for your letter. My full name is/ | George Keith Buller Elphinstone and by profession I am an Electrical Engineer & Maker of Electrical Instruments | So I hope that will be full enough information for you'. Signed 'G K B Elphinstone'.

Three Autograph Letters Signed to Mark [Bonham-Carter].

Author: 
George Malcolm Young
G.M. Young
Publication details: 
14 July 1945, 1 December 1946, 8 May 1947; all on letterhead 'THE OLD OXYARD, | OARE, | MARLBOROUGH, | WILTS.'
£120.00
G.M. Young

English historian (1882-1959). All three items, two pages, quarto. All good, though grubby and lightly creased. Three intimate and revealing letters. ITEM ONE apparently sent to Bonham-Carter in America. 'You will soon be back, I think. Are you now occupied in assembling and correlating your observations? [...] I should guess it was quite impossible to think when a Presidential election is going on. | I have been spending a fortnight in Oxford and I asked some of the early-middle-aged dons what the undergraduates were thinking.

Four Autograph Letters Signed and one Typed Letter Signed to G[eorge]. K[enneth]. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
William Arthur Bone [THE COAL INDUSTRY]
Publication details: 
31 Oct. 1913 and 6 Feb., 2 March, and 5 and 12 Oct. 1919.; the first three on Imperial College of Science and Technology letterhead, the fourth from St Albans and the fifth from Stockton on Tees.
£80.00

English scientist (1871-1938), Professor of Chemical Technology at the Imperial College of Science and Technology. All items quarto and very good, though lightly grubby, creased and stained in places. All five docketed and bearing the Society's stamp. LETTER ONE (one page): He will be happy to give 'a course of Cantor lectures [...] on the subject of "Surface Construction" provided that you will put in the requisite gas & air services at your cost for the practical Demonstration'.

Two Autograph Letters Signed to G[eorge]. K[enneth]. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Sir John Benton
Publication details: 
Both letters 14 January 1918; Westeroft, Liverdale Road, Eastbourne.
£40.00

Scottish hydraulic engineer (1950-1927), of the India Public Works Department; Chief Engineer and Secretary to Government, Punjab Irrigation Branch. Both letters 12mo. Both very good, docketed and bearing the Society's stamp. LETTER ONE (two pages): Benton and a friend will make use of the two cards of invitation to A. Newland's paper on 'Water Power in Great Britain'.

Twelve Typed Letters Signed to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Percy Dunsheath
Publication details: 
Between 28 October 1925 and 30 June 1926; all on letterhead 'W. T. HENLEY'S TELEGRAPH WORKS COMPANY, LIMITED. | RESEARCH DEPARTMENT. | Gravesend, | Kent.'
£120.00

English electrical engineer and research scientist and writer (1886-1979), Member of the Senate, University of London. All items one page, quarto. All but one very good; one item discoloured and creased at head, and with several closed tears. All signed 'P Dunsheath' and most docketed or bearing the Society's stamp. The letters concern a lecture at the Society Dunsheath agreed to give following a conversation with Sir George Sutton entitled 'Science in the Cable Industry'. Dunsheath suggests that L. B.

Tables astronomiques publiées par le Bureau des Longitudes de France. Tables de la lune, par M. Burckhardt.

Author: 
Johann Karl Burckhardt [Bureau des Longitudes, Paris]
Publication details: 
Paris: Mme Ve Courcier, Imprimeur-Libraire pour les Mathématiques, Quai des Augustins, No. 57. Décembre 1812.
£200.00

Burckhardt (1773-1825) was a German astronomer, who first computed the orbits of a number of comets. First and only edition. Quarto. Pages: viii + 88. A rare survival, but in very poor condition: grubby, creased, stained and frayed at edges. In remains of makeshift wraps. Text perfectly legible throughout. Some scholarly annotations in pencil and pen.

Typed Note and Typed Letter Signed, one to the Editor and the other to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Charles Crowther
Publication details: 
20 February and 14 March 1940; both on crested letterhead of the Harper Adams Agricultural College, Newport, Hampshire.
£36.00

Agricultural chemist (1876-1964). Both one page, quarto, and very good, though lightly creased. The letter carries a few light carbon-paper stains. The note informs the editor of the R.S.A. journal that Crowther is returning the 'corrected copy of my remarks in the discussion on my paper. | I presume that you will be sending me a supply of reprints when the Journal comes out'. The letter thanks the secretary for the copies of the journal.

Eleven Typed Letters Signed and one Autograph Letter Signed, variously to W. Perry and G. F. Menzies, Royal Society of Arts; and three-page typed 'brief statement of Dr. [Charles] Carpenter's qualifications', headed 'CONFIDENTIAL'.

Author: 
Edward Frankland Armstrong
Publication details: 
1927 to 1934; on letterheads including 'BUSH HOUSE, | ALDWYCH', 'BALDWIN HOUSE, | 67, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET', and that of the British Dyestuffs Corporation Ltd.
£120.00

British chemist (1878-1945), Vice-President of the Royal Society, 1942-3. All items in very good condition. All letters, one page, quarto. Subjects include an R.S.A. lecture by Armstrong on 'Hydrogen and its uses', the proof of another lecture, Armstrong's chairmanship of various R.S.A. meetings, his appointment as R.S.A. Vice-President, and the possibility of a 'paper on the hydrogenation of bituminous coal ('even though a good many people may be a little tired of the subject'): 'I suppose the man you ought to ask in the first place is K.

Typed Letter Signed to W. Perry, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Cecil Henry Desch
Publication details: 
2 February 1937; on letterhead (including map of environs) of the National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex.
£45.00

Eminent British metallurgist (1874-1958). One page, quarto. Very good. 'I should have been pleased to take the chair at Professor Bragg's Lecture, but I have already undertaken to preside at a similar lecture by Professor Bragg [...] and to have the same Chairman on both occasions, the lectures dealing with the same subjects, would suggest that Metallurgy is very poorly represented in London. Would it be possible to get Sir Harold Carpenter to take the chair? I am sure that you will have a good Meeting, as Professor Bragg's lectures are always exceedingly interesting.' Signed 'C. H.

Two Autograph Letters Signed and one Typed Letter Signed to [K. W. Luckhurst,] Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Sir Gilbert Thomas Morgan
Publication details: 
Typed letter: 11 Oct 1938, on letterhead of the Institute of Brewing; autograph letters: 11 Nov 1938 and 19 March 1939, both on letterhead '12, CATHCART ROAD, | REDCLIFFE GARDENS, | LONDON, S. W. 10.'
£100.00

British research chemist (1872-1940), Mason Professor of Chemistry, University of Birmingham, and author of numerous works. All three items very good; all three docketed and two bearing the Society's stamp. All three signed 'G. T. Morgan'. ITEM ONE (typed letter, one page, quarto, slightly creased, with one pin hole): His 'change of address and the recent crisis have both hindered my reply to your letter'. Would be honoured to be one of the Society's Cantor Lecturers, and suggests as title 'Achievements of British Chemical Industry in the last Twenty-five Years'.

Typed Letter Signed to the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, together with unsigned carbon copy of the secretary's reply.

Author: 
Captain Basil Rupert Willett [MARCONI; RADAR]
Publication details: 
Letter: 9 July 1947, on letterhead of 'MARCONI'S WIRELESS TELEGRAPH COMPANY LIMITED'; carbon copy: 10 July 1947, no place.
£65.00

Willett (died 1966) and C. E. Horton were the two Royal Navy representatives to whom, in the autumn of 1940, it was demonstrated that the 10cm ground-based, experimental radar equipment could track ships. LETTER (one page, octavo, creased and grubby, with staple holes to one corner, stamped and docketed): Acknowledges a letter of 4 July, and is 'honoured to accept the invitation of the Council of the Royal Society of Arts to seek election as a Fellow of the Society'. Encloses a 'Form of Proposal' and a cheque (neither present) and suggests the setting up of a banker's order.

Two Typed Letters Signed to J. Samson, Assistant Secretary, Royal Society of Arts, together with unsigned carbon copies of three letters from Samson to Morgan.

Author: 
Walter Thomas James Morgan
Publication details: 
Morgan's letters: 31 July 1964 and 20 November 1967, both on Lister Institute letterheads; Samson's carbon copies: 22 July and 5 August 1964 and 31 October 1967, none with place.
£175.00

British biochemist (1900-2003), Director of the Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, London, 1972-5. All five items one page, quarto, and all five very good and stapled together by year. Correspondence for 1964 begins with Samson inviting Morgan to deliver a lecture in the Society's forthcoming session 'on the science and practice of immunology', and giving details of the requirements. Morgan declines, 'as my special studies and experiences have been almost entirely concerned with the more chemical aspects of the subject'.

Typed Note Signed to G. K. Menzies, Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
William Henry Patchell
Publication details: 
12 August 1922; on letterhead '64, Victoria Street, | Westminster, | London, S.W.1.'
£28.00

British engineer (1862-1932), President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, and for thirteen years 'Engineer-in-Chief, Charing Cross, West End, and City Electric Supply Corporation, Ltd'. One page, quarto. Very good. Thanks Menzies for a copy of the Society's journal, 'including Dr. Crowley's Paper with my contribution'. Signed 'W. H. Patchell'.

Typed Letter Signed to G. K. Menzies, [Secretary,] Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Olaf Frederick Bloch [INFRARED PHOTOGRAPHY; ILFORD LIMITED]
Publication details: 
30 June 1933; on letterhead of 'ILFORD LIMITED | Manufacturers of Sensitised | Photographic Materials'.
£75.00

Anglo-Danish research chemist (died 1944), a pioneer of infrared photography. One page, quarto. Very good, though a bit grubby and with a few small staple holes. 'Will you kindly thank the Council of the Royal Society of Arts for the honour conferred upon me in awarding to me a silver medal for my paper on Infra-Red Photography.' He will be present at the 'opening meeting of the next session'. Signed 'Olaf Bloch'.

The Importance of Accessory Factors in the Food.

Author: 
Harriette Chick and others.
Publication details: 
HMSO, [1919].
£45.00

Pamphlet, 7pp., cr. 8vo. Sub-title: Some facts concerning nutrition for the guidance of those engaged in administration of food relief to Famine-stricken districts. This pamphlet spreads word of the "new" knowledge about vitamins to a world in recovery from World War 1. One of the authors, Harriette Chick, helped spread the word to Vienna and Eastern Europe between 1919 and 1922. See #1988 for a collection of Harriette Chick publications.

Two Typed Letters Signed to [K. W. Luckhurst,] the Secretary, Royal Society of Arts.

Author: 
Sir Edward Charles Dodds
Publication details: 
24 October 1938; 30 December 1947; both on letterhead of the Courtauld Institute of Biochemistry, the Middlesex Hospital.
£45.00

English scientist (1899-1973), Professor of Biochemistry at the University of London, and President of the Royal College of Physicians, 1962. Both items one page, 4to, and both good, though creased and with a few small staple holes. First item addressed to 'The Secretary' and second to Luckhurst. Both signed 'E. C. Dodds'. ITEM ONE: He has signed the form and is 'very glad to have an opportunity of being considered for Fellowship by your Council'. Asks whether his subscription is required with the application. ITEM TWO: Requests that 'the necessary forms' be sent to 'Mr.

Printed facsimile of Christmas message on headed paper.

Author: 
Sir Joseph Burn [Prudential Assurance Company Ltd]
Publication details: 
Christmas 1921.
£18.00

Burn (died 1950) was President of the Institute of Actuaries, and a leading figure in twentieth-century British insurance. Dimensions five inches by eight inches. Folded once. In good condition on good thick wove paper. Headed by company crest with motto, between 'HOLBORN | BARS' and 'CHRISTMAS | 1921'. Reads 'With heartiest Christmas & New Year Greetings to all members of the Prudential Staff. | from | Joseph Burn | General Manager | & Actuary'.

Autograph Letter Signed to [Anne,] Lady Brodie.

Author: 
Sir Robert Harry Inglis
Publication details: 
7 Bedford Square | Jan. 30. 1854'.
£28.00

British Tory politician (1786-1855). The recipient was the wife of the noted surgeon Sir Benjamin Brodie the elder (1783-1862). He thanks her for 'the valuable present which you have conveyed to me through Lady Inglis. The subject is one of the deepest interest; and your honoured father ['Serjeant Sellon, a lawyer of repute', according to the DNB] will have treated it with corresponding devotion as well as learning'. He sends his regards to her husband, and signs 'Robert H. Inglis'.

Autograph Note Signed to Mrs Christie Miller.

Author: 
Sir Christopher Heath
Publication details: 
25 January 1891; on letterhead 36 Cavendish Square, W.
£50.00

President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (DNB). 1 page, 8vo, in good condition with remains of stub adhering to blank verso. Doctor's handwriting. 'I am quite sure theh bleeding is of no consequence. Please let Geoffrey batter two fingers with the old <?> lotion & put a little bit of cotton wool <?> in the lotion in the end of the finger- - | Yours truly | C. Heath'.

Two Autograph Letters Signed to [F. J.] Epps[, F.G.S.]

Author: 
Sir Philip Manson-Bahr
Publication details: 
The first, 24 May 1951, on letterhead 'THE OLD COTTAGE, | POOTINGS, | NR. EDENBRIDGE, | KENT.'; the second, 3 January 1952, on letterhead '149, HARLEY STREET, W.1. | (MARYLEBONE ROAD END)'.
£80.00

English physician specialising in tropical medicine (1881-1966). Both 1 page, 16mo. Both dusty but in good condition. The first on blue paper the second on light green. In the first letter he says he is 'glad to be able to report that my paper has been written & is now being typed out. It has taken me many hours to do so in order to make it interesting & attractive to the non-medical reader. Whether I have succeeded in doing so I must leave to you to decide.' He says the paper 'should be in your hands by Monday next.

On the observations made with a rigid specteoscope, by Captain Mayne and Mr. Connor, on a voyage to the Straits of Magellan.

Author: 
J. P. Gassiot, F.R.S.
Publication details: 
London: presentation copy to John Tyndall of the Royal Institution of offprint from the 'Proceedings of the Royal Society', No. 94, 1867.
£45.00

8 leaves, 8vo, paginated [5-6] 7-19 [1]. Stitched: in contemporary brown plain wraps. In good condition, though folded in half lengthwise and with wraps rather grubby. Inscription reads 'Dr Tyndall FRS &c &c | from J P G'.

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