SIR

1p., 4to. In fair condition, aged and worn. The breaking open of the wafer has resulted in slight loss at the beginning of Maturin's signature. Addressed on reverse to 'William Spooner Esqre | at Mr Millikin's | Grafton Street'. (His not writing of 'Dublin' implies that he is writing from the same place.) Maturin was the great-uncle of Oscar Wilde, who adopted the name 'Sebastian Melmoth' during his self-exile on the continent.

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. He is 'deeply grieved' at the news of Howard's grandfather: 'I could wish, as you all do, his life spared a few years longer but when you tell me of his serious state and suffering, I feel we must be prepared for the worst and not desire a lingering death.' He asks for his 'sympathy and regret' to be conveyed to the whole family.

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged, with unobtrusive traces of stub. The letter begins: 'Vixere fortes antes Agamemnona, all the Earls of Derby have of late been Edwards, in 1828 the Earl of Derby was the grandfather of the present one – I have known him – the great cockfighter – and husband of Miss Farren.' He asks him not to forget to send 'the book of diplomatic sports': he is leaving for the continent the following Saturday, but will not fail to return it.

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition. The recipient is not identified. The letter begins: 'Dear Madam | It always gives me pleasure when I can in any way assist a student of Geology, and the pleasure is not lessened when the student is a young lady.' He proceeds to explain how the two specimens about which she has written to him ('Frigonia incurva' and 'Pleuromya Voltzi') have been wrongly identified, concluding: 'Your specimens appear from your drawings to be only casts and may therefore be difficult to determine satisfactorily.'

3pp., 16mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, lightly aged, worn and creased. See both men's entries in the Oxford DNB.

4pp., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. Folded twice. An excellent letter, concerning a banking bill in the House of Commons, written while Hankey was briefly outside the House of Commons, and Northcote was in opposition (he would be appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer following the election the following year. Northcote has read and is returning Hankey's 'papers', and finds his argument 'sound and right, but I own to a little uneasiness as to the view the House may take of the bill, - whatever that may turn out to be, for as yet we have not been favoured with a sight of it.

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair conditoin, aged and with central horizontal and vertical folds.The letter begins: 'What queer things people do write to you about.' On an unspecified question, Lawson doubts that Farrar 'can do anything in the matter', and thinks that 'the “Mrs. referred to in the plan is the Lady who gave £500 to the Alliance last October [...] she is worth conciliating if it can be done'. He thinks 'the Reform Bill ought to help an alliance crusade and feel – Hardly any publicans will be enfranchised by it, but numbers of their victims & their opponents'.

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged. He asks to be informed if the recipient has 'commenced any of your articles in C', as he 'may be able to restore some of the articles to you which have gone astray'. Clearly referring to an entry in the Dictionary, he offers to 'take Canticles off your hands'.

2pp., 12mo, and 1p., 8vo. On a 12mo bifolium, with the opening written lengthwise as one page. In good condition, lightly aged, with the Society's oval date stamp. He regrets 'exceedingly' that he was not able to meet Wood on the previous day 'when I was at the Hall'. He thanks him for 'recalling to me the Whitefoord Correspondence which I had forgotten altho I used it in writing my monograph on the Unique Portrait of Franklin at the Royal Society that was presented by Caleb Whitefoord and which the Royal Society did not know by whom it was painted until I discovered it & wrote my paper'.

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair conditoin, aged and with central horizontal and vertical folds.The letter begins: 'What queer things people do write to you about.' On an unspecified question, Lawson doubts that Farrar 'can do anything in the matter', and thinks that 'the “Mrs. referred to in the plan is the Lady who gave £500 to the Alliance last October [...] she is worth conciliating if it can be done'. He thinks 'the Reform Bill ought to help an alliance crusade and feel – Hardly any publicans will be enfranchised by it, but numbers of their victims & their opponents'.

32pp., 8vo. Stitched pamphlet. In fair condition, aged and spotted. In small print, with footnotes. One minor manuscript emendation.

Printed on both sides of a 21.5 x 28.5 cm piece of thick paper, folded into a 21.5 x 9.5 cm packet, with three panels on the outside and a single page of text within. A nice piece of Savoy Theatre ephemera. Text in purple, with gilt borders, except on the front cover, and with 'The Ancient Arms of the Savoy' in gilt, black, green and orange. In fair condition, lightly aged and ruckled. Two panels of advertisements on the outside, with the programme on the inside also flanked by advertisements.

Five items in good condition, lightly aged. All items with the Society's stamp. ONE: TLS. 20 September 1921. 1p., 4to. Agreeing to the Society's request for 'an authoritative paper on the subject of trade with the Netherlands East Indies', and asking for the proposed date ('approximately'), as he will be 'in Holland in the latter part of October, when I shall be in a position to get all the latest and most reliable information obtainable upon this interesting and very important subject'. TWO: TLS. 30 September 1921. 1p., 4to.

2pp., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. With the Society's oval date stamp. He is sending as promised 'a note of the arrangements agreed upon between us at our interview to-day'. Undertaking to provide space at the Museum 'for the purpose of receiving, arranging for judgment, and re-despatching the designs submitted for the Owen Jones prizes for industrial design. The judging will be done by your nominees, and all correspondence in connection with the matter will be in your hands'.

Both items in fair condition, aged and worn. ONE: ALS. 28 September 1872. 4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. He is 'taking somewhat of a liberty', but having heard 'that you are parting with one of your Clerks', says 'a word in favour of a person in whom for many reasons I take a great interest, & of whom you & your Brothers may know something. | I mean Mr. Prothero for many years an Inmate of my House, & an Assistant Master in the School'. Prothero was 'for some years a Clerk in the County Court', but 'is obliged from paucity of business to leave it, & is now out of employment'.

1p., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged, stapled to the carbon of the letter from Samson to which it is replying. On his return from holiday he states: 'I shall be very happy to take the chair for Sir Rex Cohen, Chairman of Selfridges, when he reads a paper on modern retail trading to the Society on Wednesday, January 13th.'

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. Folded in customary fashion, with 'Brief | for the opinion of Mr Harington' on the outside of the packet, beneath which, in another hand: 'Feby 14th. 1890 | Richard Harington Esq'. The author's hand is clearly disguised, as is usual with valentines, the writing being markedly ornate. There are various crude drawings in the margins, ranging from images of a barrister and a woman, faces of two women (one smoking a pipe), to small representations of cigar boxes, briefs and books.

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. He has learnt with 'the deepest regret' of his 'old friend's passing'., and sends his condolences. He will be unable to attend the funeral service, as he had 'a bad fall & fractured two ribs'. He concludes: 'Herman was a great fellow, & nobody will ever replace him -'. Finck's 'In the Shadows' was one of the last songs played as RMS Titanic went down.

2pp., 4to. In good condition, lightly aged. He knew that Finck was ill, but 'the news of his death broadcast on Friday night came as a shock to me. | He & I had known each other for many years, & specially during the last five or six years we had much to say to each other at the Savage, my admiration for him deepening the more I knew him.' Another member of the Savage Club, Philip Page, referred to Finck as 'the most genial man he ever knew', and this was 'endorsed by all his fellow Savages'.

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. Offering him, following the unanimous decision of a committee meeting and on his recommendation, an honorary 'Diploma of Fellowship [...] limited to 100 members, of past-students and Professors'. Finck's song 'In the Shadows' was one of the last to be played as RMS Titanic went down.

1p., 8vo. On aged and worn paper. Reads: 'One of the extraordinary things in this world is heredity. I occasionally met on the golf links at Thurlestone, a very delightful well-favoured young lady, of whom I saw too little. She told me she was your daughter. Is it possible? and such charming manners too. Well! its a wonderful world.' Finck's song 'In the Shadows' was one of the last to be played as RMS Titanic went down.

All three items in good condition, lightly aged and worn, and all in envelopes addressed by him to her at 48 Hogarth Road, South Kensington (the third 'Earls Court'). ONE: 10 June 1916. 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. He begins by expressing a desire to visit the family, and then gives directions for the use of field glasses which he is sending his father. 'They are German I am sorry to say, but the best.' TWO: 28 December 1917. 2pp., 12mo. He found her 'beautiful drawing' on his return home, and 'Auntie Gertrude will see it today. - I was thirteen days at sea, the ship having to go up to Halifax.

[12]pp., 4to. Aged and worn pamphlet, with rusted staples. The title-page states that the cases are heard 'Before John William Willis Bund, Esq., Chairman, and Richard Holmden Amphlett, Esq., Vice-Chairman.' The calendar consists of a table of fifteen prisioners, over four double-pages, with entries divided into fifteen columns, giving name of prisoner, age, trade, 'Degree of Instruction', details of committing magistrate, date of warrant, date of receipt into custody, details of 'Offence as charged in the Commitment'.

First proposed by Thomas Horner in 1802, the Regent's Canal was incorporated by John Nash in 1811 in his plans for the development of Regent's Park. Hugely-successful in the nineteenth century despite the rise of the railways, it fell into decline in the early twentieth, but is now firmly established as an amenity of London. The seven items in the present collection are in good condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. Items ONE to FOUR are printed circulars from Snee, transmitting copies 'of the Resolutions this day passed at the General Assembly of Proprietors of the Regent's Canal'.

The collection of ten items (six ALsS, two TLsS, one secretarial letter signed, and one letter from Dryhurst) is in good overall condition, with light signs of age and wear. Digby's two typed letters, both 1897, are both formal letters on behalf of the Home Secretary, regarding the Radnorshire Police Enquiry, the first being the 'official thanks' (see below). The content would appear to largely concern the Radnorshire Police Enquiry.

The company opened canals from Newport to Pontypool and to Crumlin in 1796. It was taken over by the Great Western Railway in 1875, and a passenger service from Ebbw Vale to Cardiff still runs. Three items with covering paper on which Sir J. E. Harington has written in ink: 'Sir J E Harington | Monmouthshire Ry & Canal Papers', with the following added in pencil: 'May 21 1849. | Asking my consent to take new shares - | No.' All items in good condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: Autograph Letter Signed from Grevile to Harington. Bristol; 13 June 1849. 2pp., 4to.

11pp., folio. On eleven leaves of wove paper. In good condition, lightly aged and worn, the leaves attched with a rusty pin. An unsigned draft, with deletions and emendations throughout, and the date left incomplete at the end. The document begins: 'To all to whom these presents may come I Richard Harington of Lincoln's Inn in the County of Middlesex Esq. Barrister at law send greeting'.

Six of the eight items in good condition, lightly aged and worn; the other two showing heavier signs of age and wear. The six sets of accounts from the 'Steward's Office' - for various terms between Christmas 1879 and Christmas 1882 - are each described by Harington on the reverse as 'Battels'. All six are printed forms, over a single 8vo page, headed 'Christ Church' and laid out in the same style, and completed in manuscript with the details of the expenditure of 'Mr Richard Harington' (the last being the greatest, at £49 12s 7d).

The seven items in fair condition, on lightly aged paper. An interesting correspondence, casting light on the company's practices. Both the recipient, Sir Richard Harington of Ridlington (1835-1911), 11th Baronet, and his son 'The Judge' - Richard Harington (1861-1931), the future 12th Baronet - came from a legal background, adding an edge to the correspondence. The six letters total 9pp., 4to. The firm appears to have had a policy of retaining the original and sending out a carbon copy, as each of the letters consists of a carbon copy of manuscript.

The five items in good condition, lightly aged and worn. ONE: Muir Mackenzie to Harington, 7 January 1897. 3pp., 12mo. Begins: 'Dear Sir Richard | The Lord Chancellor and his predecessors for many years have declined to sanction the appointment of joint registrars except in places where the amount of business requires two registrars; that is to say, if the business at Stourbridge is such as to require two Colles, it would still require a colleague for Colles Junr.