SCOTTISH

Steel-engraving by Finden, from a painting by Pickersgill, of 'Mr. Murray, Publisher of Lord Byron's Works.'

Author: 
John Murray (1778-1843), British publisher; Henry William Pickersgill (1782-1875), English portrait painter; Edward Francis Finden (1791-1857), English engraver; Charles Tilt, English publisher
Publication details: 
Painted by H. W. Pickersgill, R.A. Engraved by E. Finden. [...] London, Published 1833, by C. Tilt, 86, Fleet Street.'
£56.00

India paper engraving (dimensions c. 22 x 16 cms) neatly laid down on piece of wove paper c. 29 x 22 cms. Very good, with the slightest spotting, and with minor creasing and staining to the extremities of the mount. A pensive Murray sits in an armchair, reading a manuscript.

Autograph Signature ('W Gordon-Stables | MD - RN').

Author: 
William Gordon Stables (1840-1910), Scottish Royal Navy physician and writer of adventure stories
Publication details: 
Date and place not stated.
£20.00

On a piece of paper roughly 7 x 10 cm. Laid down on a piece of card. Fair, rucked and grubby, with traces of previous mount adhering to the reverse. Presmuably in response to a request for an autograph. Reads: 'I wish thee well | [signed] W Gordon-Stables | MD - RN'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Alexr Peddie MD. F.RCP.'). A letter of recommendation [reference] for Speer.

Author: 
Alexander Peddie (1810-1907), of the Minto House Hospital and Dispensary, Edinburgh [Dr Stanhope Templeman Speer]
Publication details: 
1 August 1848; Edinburgh.
£56.00

12mo, 2 pp. 28 lines of text. Clear and complete. Folded into a packet 5 x 6.5 cm. With envelope addressed by Peddie as 'from | the Minto House Hospital | Edinburgh.' Fair, on aged paper with some short closed tears to the folds. Speer has been an assistant at Minto House since the previous 1 May, 'during which period he has witnessed a great amount of medical and surgical practice, has had under his own care a very considerable number of patients [...]'.

List of the Partners of the Banking Company in Aberdeen, Instituted 1797. Alexander Bannerman, Esq. M.P. Governor.

Author: 
The Aberdeen Banking Company (1767-1849) [Sir Alexander Bannerman (1788-1864)]
Publication details: 
Aberdeen, 30th March, 1838.' 'D. CHALMERS AND CO. PRINTERS, ABERDEEN.'
£195.00

Finely printed on one side of a piece of good wove paper, 52.5 x 41.5 cm. Very good. Around two hundred names arranged in two columns, beginning with 'Dr. John Abercrombie, First Physician to the Queen for Scotland, in Edinburgh', and ending with 'John Young, Merchant in Aberdeen - His Representatives'. Directors and Extraordinary Directors are distinguished by marks prefixed to their names. According to one authority the Bank's demise was occasioned by the 'Large advances [which] were being made to firms in which the directors of the bank also had an interest.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm. Gourlie Jr.') to 'Mr. Ward'.

Author: 
William Gourlie (1815-1856), Glasgow calico printer and botanist [Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward (1791-1868); William Keddie (1809-1877), Editor of the 'Scottish Guardian'; Scotland; Scottish textiles]
Publication details: 
18 June 1849; on letterhead of South Frederick Street, Glasgow.
£45.00

4to, 1 p. Sixteen lines of text. Clear and complete. Neatly written in copperplate. On lightly-aged and creased paper, with one 4 cm vertical closed tear (through one word) along fold. He will be 'in town [i.e. London] for a few days next week and will be accompanied by Mr. Keddie, Editor of the "Scottish Guardian", an ardent lover of Botany & Botanists'. Asks if Ward can 'chalk out an excursion' for them, '& perhaps accompany us, to some place like Cobham [regularly visited by Ward], where we would see English Scenery, and gather good English plants'.

Part of Autograph Letter, with signature ('James Wilson').

Author: 
James Wilson (1805-1860), Scottish economist and politician
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated.
£23.00

On one side of a piece of wove paper, roughly 5 x 18.5 cm, cut from letter by an autograph collector. Aged, and with staining from the glue used in mounting. Reads '<...> upon it. | I hope you are quite recovered. | Yours trly | James Wilson'.

Autograph Signature on part of document

Author: 
Sir Charles Yorke (1790-1880), General in the British Army
Publication details: 
Date and place not stated.
£28.00

A piece of laid paper, roughly 8 x 20 cm, cut from a document by an autograph collector. Yorke's signature, large (4.5 x 7 cm) and bold, is in the bottom right-hand corner. The surviving text is in a secretary's hand, and reads: '<...> of Our Reign. | By His Majesty's Command. | C Yorke | Our Trusty and Wellbeloved William Gordon Esqr General in Our Army & Col of Our 71st (Highland) Regiment of Foot or to the Officer appointed by him to raise Men for Our said Regiment'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W Edmondstoun de Aytoun') to James Simpson.

Author: 
William Edmonstoune Aytoun [William Edmondstoun de Aytoun] (1813-1865), Scottish poet
Publication details: 
26 January 1865; 16 Great Stuart Street, Edinburgh.
£280.00

12mo, 3 pp. Bifolium. Twenty-eight lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with evidence of previous mount on reverse of second leaf. Certainly genuine, and of interest as bearing a variant spelling of Aytoun's name in a signature written from his home a few months before his death. (The spelling 'Edmondstoun de Aytoun' is not noted in Aytoun's entry in the Oxford DNB.) In the latter part of the letter Aytoun comments on his poetic practice. He is 'much flattered' by Simpson's 'selection of my poem for a public reading', and is 'glad to hear that it was appreciated'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('A Lang') to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Andrew Lang (1844-1912), Scottish man of letters
Publication details: 
15 December [no year, but after 1906]; on letterhead of Alleyne House, St. Andrews, Scotland.
£45.00

12mo: 3 pp. Bifolium. 27 lines, written in a shaky hand. On creased, discoloured paper, and with some damage to the second leaf caused by careless removal from mount. Two irregularly-shaped closed tears on the second leaf, one to the left of the signature, have been neatly repaired on the reverse with archival tape. He is glad that his correspondent likes 'our Odyssey: the Iliad is less attractive. [...] I dare not remember all my books, but will ask Messrs Longman to send a list of what they possess. All are very unpopular.' He doesn't write in 'T.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W Beattie') to R. Hepburn.

Author: 
William Beattie (1793-1875), M.D., poet and biographer
Publication details: 
Friday mg.' [date not stated]; Upper Berkeley Street.
£35.00

One page, 12mo. Black bordered. Very good and with the verso of the blank second leaf of the bifolium laid down on a leaf detached from an autograph album. Nine lines. He thanks him for 'a brace of splendid grouse - which are now so rare as not to be had for money. It was therefore doubly generous [...] Endulging [sic] the pleasing hope of "Revenge" - & with kind regards to your House circle'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W Beattie. MD.') to the editor of the 'Naval and Military Gazette'.

Author: 
William Beattie (1793-1875), Scottish physician and poet
Publication details: 
13 August [1858]; St James's Street, London, on embossed letterhead of the Conservative Club.
£56.00

16mo (11 x 9 cm) bifolium, 3 pp, 16 lines of text. Mourning border. Good, with slight discoloration to the external pages. He is sending a manuscript 'At the suggestion of the Author, an officer residing in Paris'. If 'on examination' the recipient considers it 'unsuitable for the pages' of the Gazette, he asks for it to be returned to him at 13 Upper Berkeley Street 'when your messenger happens to pass that way'. The author 'is a man of high character and well acquainted with Paris & the Parisians'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Geo. Combe') to Messrs Bell & Bain, Printers, Exchange Court [Glasgow].

Author: 
George Combe (1788-1858), Scottish phrenologist
Publication details: 
20 April 1836; 81 Bath Street [Glasgow].
£95.00

8vo, 1 p. Addressed by Combe on the reverse, to which his monogram seal in red wax (with his motto 'RES NON VERBA QUAESO') still adheres. In poor condition, on discoloured paper, with damage to a few words of text above the signature caused by clumsy removal from the mount, a part of which still adheres to the reverse. Repaired with archival tape. The letter presumably concerns 'Additional testimonials on behalf of George Combe, as a candidate for the chair of logic in the University of Edinburgh' (1836). It reads 'Gentlemen | Be so good as correct these proofs, make them up in 8vo.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Balcarres') to 'Everard'.

Author: 
David Lindsay (1871-1940), politician and future 27th Earl of Crawford [Lindsay Library; Bibliotheca Lindesiana]
Publication details: 
16 October 1895; Haigh [Lancashire].
£65.00

12mo: 3 pp. Bifoilum. Thirty-six lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with several pin holes, light spotting, and a 1 cm closed tear along a fold. A lighthearted epistle, beginning 'Dear Everard, Dear Everard | The Cistercians make an awful mistake in giving free meals. My Charity-organisation Society temperament rises in wrath: if they wd only apply the labour test for an hour or less - but free meals! I have watched the moral ravages of free meals and feel more strongly abt that kind of thing than about Home rule or Mediaeval Brases.

Typed Note Signed ('O. H. Mavor. | James Briddie') to Rev. E. J. F. Davies.

Author: 
James Bridie' (Osborne Henry Mavor,1888-1951), Scottish playwright, screenwriter and surgeon
Publication details: 
20 February [no year]; on letterhead 6 Woodlands Terrace, Glasgow, C.3.
£30.00

One page, 12mo. Very good. 'Do forgive my delay. I had lost your letter!'

Typed Letter Signed ('Aberdeen') to 'Peter Cavanagh, Esq., At/ The Empire Theatre, Edinburgh.'

Author: 
George Gordon, 2nd Marquess of Aberdeen and Temair (1879-1965) [Peter Cavanagh (1914-1981), impressionist billed as 'The voice of them all']
Publication details: 
22 February 1952; on deleted letterhead of 16 Westbourne Street, London W.2, with embossed address Braehead, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen.
£35.00

4to, 1 p, 17 lines. He 'deeply appreciate[s] the spirit undlying the contents' of Cavangh's letter, which he found waiting for him on his return the day before 'after attending our beloved late King's Funeral'. 'As you say, the sword and scabbard must have belonged to my great Grandfather, the 4th Earl of Aberdeen, who was Prime Minister during theh Crimea War by the express command of Queen Victoria. He accepted the Premiership on the condition that he should be allowed to resign at the conclusion of the war.' Suggests a meeting in Aberdeen.

Autograph Letter Signed to unknown male correspondent; Autograph Signed endorsement of 'Dr. Dick of Dundee'; and facsimile of letter of thanks to his 'Birth-day Benefactors'.

Author: 
James Montgomery (1771-1854), Scottish hymnwriter and poet
Publication details: 
The letter dated 29 May 1835, 10 New Palace Yard, Westminster; the endorsement dated 'The Mount, September 19. 1850'; the facsimile dated 'The Mount nr Sheffield, Nov. 4. 1851.'
£220.00

The letter (8vo, 1 p) is foxed, but otherwise very good. Had he not been 'engaged for ten days past to dine three or four miles off with an old acquaintance', whom it is too late to disappoint, he would have been happy to avail himself of the kind invitation. Sends best wishes and prayers to the recipient's family, 'from the elder to the youngest'.

Autograph Letter Signed to his publisher and friend Alexander Macmillan.

Author: 
William Black (1841-1898), Scottish journalist and novelist [Alexander Macmillan (1818-1896), publisher; Colin Hunter (1841-1904), Scottish painter]
Publication details: 
1 February [no year]; on letterhead of Paston House, Paston Place, Brighton.
£28.00

12mo, 1 p. Six lines of text. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper. Inviting Macmillan to join him and 'some of the lads' in a dinner at the Reform Club, 'on the occasion of Colin Hunter's being made an Associate'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Dr Thompson, Edinburgh.

Author: 
James Thomson (1768-1855), editor of Encyclopaedia Britannica (1795-6); from 1805 parish minister in Eccles, Berwickshire [Rev. Thomas Lewis (d.1852) of the Union Chapel, Islington]
Publication details: 
Date not given (before 1852). 17 Stamford Street, Blackfriars.
£56.00

12mo, 2 pp. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with thin strip of black mount adhering at head on reverse (not affecting text). He has received Thompson's note 'intimating to me the necessity under which the Revd Mr Lewis and the Committee of Union Chapel find themselves reluctantly placed, to refuse our deputation an opportunity of pleading the Cause of our Society on the present occasion'. Refers to the 'great liberality of the Members of the Union Chapel' and 'their attachment to the good Cause'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. S. Clouston') to 'A. Atkinson'.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Smith Clouston (1840-1915), physician-superintendant of the Royal Edinburgh Asylum, and editor of the 'Journal of Mental Science'
Publication details: 
17 October 1904; on letterhead of Tipperlinn House, Morningside Place, Edinburgh [Scotland].
£65.00

12mo: 1 p. On lightly spotted and creased paper. Quintessential doctor's handwriting. He is sorry he cannot be present 'to hear Dr 's paper', and that he cannot find time to write a paper himself. 'The subject is an interesting & important one, & is part of a still larger one <...?> physiologically considered'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('A Francis Steuart') to 'Miss Graham'.

Author: 
Archibald Francis Steuart (1872-1942), Scottish advocate, genealogist and historian [AUTOGRAPH COLLECTING]
Publication details: 
Hotel Grande Bretagne, Florence; 11 March 1923.
£75.00

Two pages, octavo. Good, with traces of stub adhering to one uneven edge. He feels there is 'surely telepathy in the world' as, 'only last night tired of the dull inaction after a bout of 'flu', he was assembling autographs for his correspondent. '[T]hey all explain themselves except perhaps Boardman Robinson the American cartoonist and Rose Bradley the writer on teh 19th. Century. I send one too from Lord Seaforth who only died last week.

Autograph Letter Signed to Lockyer.

Author: 
William Black (1841-1898), Scottish journalist and novelist [Sir Joseph Norman Lockyer (1836-1920), Alexander Macmillan (1818-1896); astronomer; Altnaharra Hotel; angling; fishing]
Publication details: 
29 March [no year]; Altnaharra, Lairg, N.B. [Scotland]
£38.00

16mo bifolium (leaf dimensions 11 x 9 cm): 2 pp. 17 lines of text. Very good on lightly aged paper. Wonders whether Lockyer would like to spend his Easter holidays at Altnaharra, for a fortnight from 14 April. (The Altnaharra Hotel was used by anglers visiting the nearby lochs.) 'It is an expensive journey; but the sport is good - at least it has been good this last fortnight, but now we are sadly in want of rain. The weather is like June, only more so.' Forty salmon have been killed 'in these two weeks, averaging 11 lbs each'. Black's publisher was Alexander Macmillan.

Autorgaph Letter Signed ('W Fairburn') to 'Mrs Sumner' [daughter-in-law of Bishop Charles Sumner?].

Author: 
Sir William Fairburn (1789-1874), Scottish engineer
Publication details: 
21 June 1866; Manchester.
£120.00

Three pages. On aged, ruckled paper, with traces of mount adhering to damaged second leaf of bifolium. Text entirely legible. He has 'selected autograph letters from some of my scientific friends, and from a distinguished philosopher and mathematician General Poncelet, and the other from an eminent Military Engineer Genl Morin at the head of the "Conservation des Art et Metiers".' He also sends 'notes from Lord Stanley, Sir D. Brewster, Dr. Robinson the Astronomer of Armagh, and my excellent friend Mr Hopkins the Geologist and Mathematician of Cambridge'.

Autograph Letter Signed to Mrs Wedderburn; and Autograph Note to Mr and Mrs G. Wedderburn.

Author: 
Catherine Sinclair (1800-1864), Scottish novelist
Publication details: 
Letter, 13 February [no year or place]; Note, 23 March [no year], 133 George Street [Edinburgh].
£28.00

LETTER: One page, 12mo. Good, on aged, creased paper, with trace of stub on blank verso. Crest at head. 'It will give my brother & me much pleasure to accept your kind invitation for Tuesday evening the 16th. - I dine that day with Lady Sempill which will make me later than I should wish, but I hope to reach your house soon after 10'. NOTE: One page, 12mo, good, with fraying at head and traces of mount adhering to blank verso. A formal note written in the third person. 'Miss Catherine Sinclair will be happy to have the honor of accepting Mrs. Wedderburns & Mr.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Geo: D. Ballingall') from Ballingall to Shorter, as editor of 'The Sphere' newspaper, regarding a legal action involving Crooke, Scots Pictorial Publishing Co. Ltd. and Hodge & Co.

Author: 
William Crooke (c. 1849-1928), Scottish photographer [Scots Pictorial Publishing Co. Ltd., Edinburgh publishers; George D. Ballingall, solicitor; Hodge & Co., printers; Clement King Shorter, author]
Publication details: 
26 August 1905; on letterhead 'Edinburgh, 16 Castle Street.'
£23.00

Two pages, 12mo. Very good. In a case involving ['The Sphere'?] newspaper, Crooke has accepted the judgement in the case of the printers Hodge & Co., but he has appealed 'to the Inner House of the Court of Session' against the judgement in the case against the publishers. 'If the appeal is proceeded with it is not likely to be heard sooner than about December.'

Autograph Letter to the Editor of Debrett's.

Author: 
Sir Evan MacKenzie, 2nd Baronet of Kilcoy [DEBRETT'S; BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA]
Sir Evan MacKenzie
Publication details: 
Exmouth | 23d. Decr. 1871' on letterhead 'Belmaduthy | Munlochy | N. B.'
£66.00
Sir Evan MacKenzie

Mackenzie (1816-83) was the founder of the Australian city of Brisbane. One page, 12mo. Good, but with two-inch glue stain, and with traces of mount adhering to verso of blank second leaf of bifolium. Unsigned formal letter in the third person. 'Sir Evan MacKenzie would feel obliged by the Editor of Debrett's restoring the two Highlanders /the supporters to Sir Evan's shield/ which are suppressed in all the editions of Debrett that have hitherto appeared. They appear in "Burke" & the Scutcheon looks bold without them.'

Autograph Letter Signed to Dawson [William] Turner (1815-85), philanthropist and educational writer.

Author: 
Sir William Turner (1832-1916), anatomist and Principal of Edinburgh University
Publication details: 
Thursday' [no date]; on letterhead of the University of Edinburgh.
£56.00

Two pages, 12mo. Aged, grubby and creased, with closed tear repaired with archival tape. 'The second plate arrived too late unfortunately for the April number of the Journal as we had to print off at the end of the week.' He is busy with examinations and does not finish till the Monday, but 'would like much to see your work'. Signed 'W Turner'.

Letter 'by the hand of an amanuensis' to the poet and biblical scholar the Rev. Henry Alford (1810-1871).

Author: 
Charles Mackay (1814-1889), Scottish poet and journalist
Publication details: 
7 March 1853; 21 Brecknock Crescent, Camden Road Villas, [London].
£45.00

Three pages, 12mo. Very good: lightly aged and with the merest glue spot to blank verso of second leaf of bifolium. Mackay's 'signature' appears to be in the same hand as the rest of the letter. He has had a 'severe attack of inflammation of the eye', and this has prevented him from reading or writing during the previous week. For the same reason he is replying to Alford's letter of 1 March through an amanuensis. Three weeks previously Mackay 'received a packet from Mr.

Autograph Letter Signed to unnamed male correspondent [Mr Blunt of Crewe].

Author: 
John Brown
Publication details: 
29 May 1859; 'Edinburgh 23 Rutland St'.
£35.00

Scottish essayist (1810-82). Two pages, 12mo. With mourning border. Good, but on discoloured paper, and with some glue staining to blank second leaf of bifoliate. Concerns the work for which Brown is remembered, 'Rab and his friends' (1859). If he is ever at Crewe he will 'certainly avail myself of Mrs. Blunt's & your very gratifying invitation. His wife is 'more delighted, I think, with your letter about "Rab" than by any other - & she has kept it - being like all good wives greedy of her husband's praise.' Signed 'J. Brown'.

Recent Earthquakes and their Investigation. [Offprint from the 'Proceedings' of the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow.]

Author: 
Alexander D[avid]. Ross (1883-1966).
Publication details: 
Glasgow: Printed for the Royal Philosophical Society of Glasgow by Carter & Pratt, Ltd., Canal Street. 1909.
£45.00

8vo: 14 pp. One plate and two diagrams in text. Stapled and unbound. In original grey printed wraps. Dogeared and grubby, with central vertical crease. Presentation copy. Ross is described as 'Assistant to the Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of Glasgow.' He was Lecturer in Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow 1908-12, before moving to the University of Western Australia, where he was Professor of Physics and Mathematics,1912-29, and Professor of Physics, 1929-52.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Caird') to James MacLehose.

Author: 
John Caird (1820-1898), Church of Scotland minister, theologian and Principal of Glasgow University [James MacLehose (1811-1885), Glasgow publisher and bookseller; Rev. Dr James Paterson]
Publication details: 
July 6 [no year, but accompanied by an envelope postmarked 29 July 1881]; Venlaw Bank, Peebles, on cancelled letterhead of The University, Glasgow.
£56.00

12mo, 2 pp. Good, on lightly aged paper with slight creasing at head. He is enclosing a letter (not present) apologising 'for absence from Dr. Patersons funeral'. Asks if MacLehose can help him find the address of 'A. Craig Paterson'. 'I know that one of the sons is an English clergyman, but am not sure whether this is he.' The envelope, addressed by Caird to 'Jas. MacLehose Esq. | St. Vincent St. | Glasgow', bears a purple penny stamp, postmarked '159' beside a circular postmark in black ink, containing '4 H | GLASGOW | JU 29 | 81'

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