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Author, Title, Summary Price
Henry Perlee Parker (1785-1873) of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, genre and portrait painter [E. A. Johnson of the Zoological Gardens, Regents Park, entomologist; John [Johann Christian] Zeitter (1798-1862)]

[Henry Perlee Parker of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, artist.] Autograph Letter Signed ('H. P. Parker') to 'Mr Johnson' [E. A. Johnson], regarding his departure for Newcastle, the artist J. C. Zeitter, Emmerson, the Newcastle Exhibition.

3pp, 4to. Bifolium, addressed, with postmarks, on reverse of second leaf, 'to | Mr Johnson | Zoological Gardens | Regents Park | or Wellington Cottage | Wellington Place | Camden Town'. In good condition, lightly aged, with paper repairs last leaf. Folded several times. The letter begins: 'Dear...

£120.00
John Baldwin Buckstone (1802-1879), dramatist and actor-manager of Haymarket Theatre, London [Mercer Hampson Simpson (1801-1877), actor-manager, Theatre Royal, Birmingham; Mrs Fitzwilliam (1801-1854)]

[John Baldwin Buckstone, comedic actor and playwright.] Five Autograph Letters Signed (all 'Jno B Buckstone') to M. H. Simpson, lessee of the Theatre Royal, Birmingham, regarding arrangements, benefits, and Mrs Fitzwilliam.

See the appreciative entry on Buckstone by Donald Roy in the Dictionary of National Biography. Interesting and informative letters, shedding vivid light on the day-to-day workings of early-Victorian theatre, written by a leading London actor-manager and dramatist and sent to a provincial actor-...

£320.00
Joseph Sams (1784-1860) of Darlington, bookseller, dealer in antiquities, traveller in Egypt and Palestine [Godfrey Meynell]

[Joseph Sams of Darlington, bookseller and traveller.] Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'J. Sams'), to prospective customer Godfrey Meynell, describing the merits and deficiencies of 'a rare edition of Chaucer', and another book, in his catalogue.

See Sams's entry in the Oxford DNB. Two letters providing an interesting glimpse of the practicalities of Victorian antiquarian bookselling. Both letters 3pp, 12mo, and bifoliums addressed on reverse of second leaf, with broken seals and postmarks, to 'Godfrey Meynell Esqre | at Mr Stamp's, |...

£280.00
Ernest H. Taylor; J. B. Black [Isambard Owen, W. H. Hadow, H. F. Wilson, Angus Watson, T. J. Lennard, A. K. Wright] ['The Empire's War Memorial'; First World War commemoration]

[First World War commemoration.] Printed pamphlet with fold-out plan: 'The Empire's War Memorial and a Project for a British Imperial University of Commerce by Ernest H. Taylor and J. B. Black, M.A., B.A.'

56pp, 8vo. With fold-out 'Chart indicating the suggested arrangement of buildings etc:' at rear, 29.5 x 53.5 cm. In grey printed wraps. Internally in good condition, lightly aged, in worn and torn wraps which are becoming detached. With label, stamp and shelfmarks of the Board of Education...

£56.00
Edward Harley, 5th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer (1773-1848), nobleman and connoisseur.

[Edward Harley, 5th Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Oxford') [to his steward], regarding the sending of his coach from England to Naples ('now open for the English'), and 'the Sadler [sic] in North Audley Street'.

The Earl's wife was a mistress of Lord Byron. Her infidelities let to her children being jokingly referred to as 'The Harleian Miscellany'. 1p, 4to. Heavily aged and worn, with spike hole at centre. Folded several times. 'Sir | As Naples is now open for the English I beg you will send the...

£120.00
Charles Manners-Sutton (1780-1845), 1st Viscount Canterbury, Tory politician, Speaker of the House of Commons, 1817-1835, son of Archbishop of Canterbury [Trinity College; University of Cambridge]

[Charles Manners-Sutton [latterly 1st Viscount Canterbury], Speaker of the House of Commons.] Printed Circular, signed 'C. Manners Sutton', offering himself 'upon re-consideration' as a candidate to represent the University of Cambridge in Parliament

1p, 4to. In good condition, lightly aged, with negligible traces from mount adhering to corners on blank reverse. A nice piece of Cambridge University ephemera. A crisply-printed circular, addressed to 'SIR', evidently sent to the electors for the University of Cambridge. Seventeen lines of text...

£35.00
David Davies (c.1812-1874), Welsh poet known as Dai'r Cantwr (David the Singer), transported to Van Diemen's Land after the Rebecca Riots [nineteenth-century Welsh street ballad]

[David Davies ('Dai'r Cantwr'), the Rebecca Riots and Transportation to Australia: Victorian Welsh street ballad.] Printed poem, titled: 'Can Hiraethlon David Davies (Dai'r Cantwr,) Pan yn Garcharor yng Nghaerfyrddin, am y Terfysg yn amser Becca'.

The full title reads: 'Can Hiraethlon | David Davies (Dai'r Cantwr,) | Pan yn Garcharor yng Nghaerfyrddin, am y Terfysg yn amser Becca. | Cenir ar y dôn “Roslin Castle.'” The title may be translated as 'A nostalgic song, written when a prisoner in Carmarthen, for the riot in Becca's time. | Sung...

£280.00
[Nineteenth-century Welsh street ballads; tobacco; smoking]

[Two Victorian Welsh street ballads, one with engraved advertisement for 'FINE TEAS AND TOBACCO'.] Two poems printed together: 'Cerdd y Tobacco' and 'Can y Bachgen Main'.

4pp, 16mo (15.5 x 9 cm). Paginated [1]-4. Bifolium. Disbound. A frail survival, aged and worn. The first leaf (pp.1-2) carries the poem 'Cerdd y Tobacco' ('The Tobacco Poem'), in five eight-line stanzas, with the title followed by a half-page stock woodcut (evidently from a tobacconist's...

£100.00
[Bedwellty Colliery Explosion, 1865; Welsh street ballad; coal mining]

[Bedwellty Colliery Explosion, 1865: street ballad in Welsh, with list of names of deceased.] Printed item titled: 'Hanes alarus am 26 o golliers a gollasant eu bywydau yn pwll glo Bedwellty, gerllaw Tredegar, Dydd Gwener, Mehefin 16, 1865.'

The title is 'Hanes alarus am 26 o golliers a gollasant eu bywydau yn pwll glo Bedwellty, gerllaw Tredegar, Dydd Gwener, Mehefin 16, 1865.' This may be translated as 'The woeful tale of 26 colliers who lost their lives in the Bedwellty coal mine, near Tredegar, Friday, 16 June 1865. 4pp 16mo (...

£65.00
John Lee [born John Fiott] (1783-1866), astronomer and philanthropist [George Ransome (1811-1876), Secretary of the Ipswich Museum; Hartwell Festival of Peace and Temperance]

[John Lee, astronomer and mathematician.] Autograph Letter Signed ('J. Lee.') to George Ransome of Ipswich, urging him or 'some delegate' to attend 'our peaceful congress', 'the Hartwell Peace Festival'.

1p, 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged. Lee and his wife held regular festivals of 'Peace and Temperance' in the grounds at Hartwell, and he writes that he hopes Ransome has received the prospectus of the festival which he sent him. He and his wife would be pleased were Ransome to attend, and...

£56.00
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