BENNET

These two items cast interesting light on the working practices of a notable firm in a specialist field of printing. ONE: From Perkins, Bacon & Petch, 16 January 1852. 4pp., 4to. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. They have received his letter, from which they quote a passage in which Bennet states that on 'account of the inconvenience caused by the time which must elapse before we can obtain a supply of Letters of Credit from London to revert to our former practice of obtaining them from our Edinbugh Engraver.

On a piece of paper roughly 4 x 7 cm. Very good, on slightly discoloured paper. Reads '<...> 34 years of His Maies <...> | [signed] Arlington'. The second of the two versions of Arlington's signature reproduced by Rawlins ('Five Hundred Years of British Autographs', p.63, no.8). Arlington was the first 'A' in the CABAL ministry, the name made up of the initials of the five privy councillors who conducted Charles II's government after the fall of Clarendon in 1667: Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley and Lauderdale.