BIBLIOMANIA

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[ William Roscoe of Liverpool. ] Autograph Letter Signed ('W: Roscoe') to Dr William Henry of the Manchester Infirmary, discussing the death and career of Dr John Ferriar, author of 'The Bibliomania'.

Author: 
William Roscoe (1753-1831) of Liverpool, historian, connoisseur, abolitionist [ William Henry (1774-1836); John Ferriar (1761-1815), author of 'The Bibliomania' ; Manchester Infirmary ]
Publication details: 
Allerton [ Liverpool, Lancashire ]. 6 February 1815.
£180.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, on aged and worn paper, with the seal neatly cut away resulting in damage to a couple of words of text. Roscoe has felt 'sincere sorrow' on receiving Henry's letter conveying the news of the death of Ferriar (a colleague of Henry's at the Manchester Infirmary). 'I had flattered myself that after all apprehensions from the alarming attack which he some time since experienced had been entirely removed, in which opinion I had been confirmed by his Letters on the subject of Mrs.

[Rev. Charles Henry Hartshorne, antiquary.] Autograph Letter lacking signature, regarding the repayment of a debt, his forthcoming marriage and his requirement for engraved portraits.

Author: 
Rev. Charles Henry Hartshorne (1802-1865), antiquary, linked by scandal to the bibliomaniac Richard Heber
Publication details: 
Stand near Manchester. 10 November 1826.
£135.00

2pp., 4to. 51 lines of text. On brittle, discoloured paper, with closed tears and slight loss at foot, including the signature. In September 1826 Hartshorne had returned to England from a tour of the continent with the Earl of Guildford, to find that rumours were circulating that he had been engaged in a homosexual liaison with Richard Heber. In December 1828 he married Frances Margaretta Kerrich.

[Thomas Frognall Dibdin, bibliographer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('T. F. Dibdin') to Thomas Amyot, regarding a planned visit, with the bibliomaniac Richard Heber, to Blickling Hall in Norfolk.

Author: 
Thomas Frognall Dibdin (1776-1847), bibliographer and cleric [Thomas Amyot (1775-1850); Joseph Dixie Churchill (1762-1836), rector of Blickling, Norfolk; Richard Heber (1773-1833), bibliomaniac]
Publication details: 
[Kensington postmark.] 24 July [1823].
£480.00

2pp., 8vo. On bifolium. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'Thos. Amyot Esq | 13. James St. | Pimlico', with two postmarks and a good impression of Dibdin's red wax monogram seal. He is 'solicitious' to know Amyot's movements. 'My request is, "Fly not yet." The later you go, the better for me.' He gives the dates on which he means to be in Norwich, 'to spend a day at Blickling - having written word to Churchill to that effect - to get instituted, inducted, & read myself in by the following Sunday - ye 17th.

[Philip Augustus Hanrott, book collector.] Autograph Note Signed ('P. A. Hanrott.') to an unnamed recipient, subscribing to 'the work mentioned in the Prospectus'.

Author: 
Philip Augustus Hanrott (1776-1856), English book collector
Publication details: 
Great Ormond Street [London]. 29 August 1829.
£75.00

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly aged and worn. Hanrott writes that he has received the recipient's letter on his 'return to Town', and that he will be pleased to subscribe 'to the work mentioned in the Prospectus you inclosed to me, & should wish to have a large Paper Copy'. He hopes that 'it may meet with that liberal encouragement, which it's [sic] importance & usefullness [sic] deserves'. He concludes in the hope that 'it is to be conducted under your auspices'.

[Sir Thomas Phillipps, collector of manuscripts.] The manuscripts section of the printed auction catalogue of Craven Ord's library, priced and named in one hand, and annotated by Phillipps with a running total of his substantial purchases.

Author: 
Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872) of Middle Hill, Welsh collector of manuscripts; Robert Harding Evans (1778-1857), auctioneer, of 93 Pall Mall, London [Craven Ord (1756-1832)]
Publication details: 
[Robert Harding Evans, 93 Pall Mall, London.] 'London: Printed by W. Nicol, Cleveland-row, St. James's.' 25 to 27 June 1829.
£850.00

The last eight leaves only of a printed catalogue (no. 260 in M. V. de Chantilly's 'Robert Harding Evans of Pall Mall | auction catalogues 1812-1846 | a provisional list' (2002)). Stitched and unbound. On aged and worn paper, with slight damp staining to margins. Paginated 23-37 + [1], with the final page (i.e. the verso of the last leaf) carrying the advertisement: 'Preparing for Sale by MR. EVANS. | THE VALUABLE LIBRARY of an | EMINENT COLLECTOR.' (in manuscript: 'Mr Rennie'). Slug at foot of p.37: 'London: Printed by W. Nicol, | Cleveland-row, St.

[Frank Marcham.] Two typewritten drafts of an annotated list of nearly 500 'Auction Sales made by Robert Harding Evans'; with autograph notes on Evans and on his own collection, with typescript titled 'Literary History and local topography'.

Author: 
Frank Marcham (c.1887-1944), English bookseller [Robert Harding Evans (1778-1857), auctioneer and bookseller]
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated. [London. Begun in the 1920s?]
£1,800.00

Robert Harding Evans has been described as 'the greatest of all auctioneers of literary property'. In a career spanning three decades he oversaw the dispersal of many of the finest libraries ever assembled, from the great Roxburghe sale of 1812 to that of the Duke of Sussex in 1845, as well as those of the books of Lord Byron and the manuscripts and copyrights of Sir Walter Scott. In an undated letter to Bodley's Librarian (copy in Item Four below) Marcham states that he is 'working on Evans the auctioneer and the list will be published.

Autograph Letter Signed ('F. Douce') from the antiquary Francis Douce to 'S. Turner Esq', regarding a matter of business, involving the sending of deeds 'to Walker'.

Author: 
Francis Douce (1757-1834), English antiquary, Keeper of Manuscripts in the British Museum, 1799-1811 [Bodleian Library Oxford]
Publication details: 
Without place or date.
£100.00

1p., 12mo. On bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper with spike hole, and parts of the second leaf (addressed by Douce to 'S. Turner Esq') torn away. The letter begins: 'My dear Sir | I hope that you will have the goodness to write to Walker, unless otherwised arranged with Derby, on the subject of dispensing with his attendance, so as to prevent the business from going on till after Xmas as his letter indicated in case Thursday were not

Autograph Letter Signed ('S. E Brydges') to the London bookseller Robert Triphook.

Author: 
Sir Egerton Brydges [Sir Samuel Egerton Brydges] (1762-1837), first baronet, styled thirteenth Baron Chandos, writer and genealogist, proprietor of the Lee Priory Press [Robert Triphook (1782-1868)]
Publication details: 
Place not stated; 19 November 1812.
£125.00

1 p, 4to. Trimmed at top, causing slight loss to first word ('Sir'), otherwise good, on lightly-aged paper, with one short closed tear. Regarding a series of publications he was purchasing, begins 'Sir | I am very sorry indeed to find that No's 11 & 12 are wanting - No 13. is among the lot. | The rest are | No 1, 2, 12, Old Series - | [...]'. There follows a column listing volumes in the 'New Series'.

An Unmatched Private Historical Collection of Sixty Original Drawings and [1300] Autograph Letters and Manuscripts. English. Foreign. Arranged alphabetically and illustrated with [1500] Portraits [of John A. Sainsbury, primarily Napoleonic] &c &c.

Author: 
[John A. Sainsbury, collector; Napoleon Bonaparte; the French Revolution; J. Duplessis Berteaux;]
Publication details: 
Without date or place. [London, circa 1840.]
£325.00
[John A. Sainsbury, collector

12mo, 40 pp. In original brown wraps, printed in green ink on the front with the British royal crest, and on the back with that of Napoleon. Yellow endpapers. Text clear and complete. A fair, tight copy, on aged paper, in worn wraps. Illustrated title-page in red and black. In manuscript on reverse Sainsbury has written: 'J. S. | 13 Upper Ranelagh St | Eaton Square | This Collection is offered at One Half it's Cos - | Viz 1200 Guins.' The text begins with a two-page description of 'Drawings and Proof Engravings. Important scenes in the French Revolution' by J.

Autograph Letter Signed from Joseph Neeld to Thomas Frognall Dibdin, subscribing to a 'Splendid Work'..

Author: 
Joseph Neeld (1789-1856), Member of Parliament for Chippenham, art collector and bibliophile [Thomas Frognall Dibdin (1776-1847); bibliomania]
Publication details: 
Grittleton House; 6 November 1829.
£75.00
Autograph Letter Signed from Joseph Neeld to Thomas Frognall Dibdin

4to, 2 pp. Twenty lines. Text clear and complete. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of mount adhering at head of reverse. He has been on an 'interesting and agreeable' tour. 'If my name is worthy of standing amongst the Patrons of the Splendid Work forthcoming under your auspices I shall be proud to enroll myself with them; and shall be ready to obey the call of your publisher whenever you direct him to me.' He praises Dibdin's 'Tour in France and Germany' (1821), and thanks him for selecting 'so fine a copy'.

Autograph Note, in the third person, from the surgeon and antiquary Thomas Joseph Pettigrew to the London bookseller Thomas Rodd.

Author: 
Thomas Joseph Pettigrew (1791-1865), surgeon, antiquary, and Librarian to the Duke of Sussex [Thomas Rodd the Younger (1796-1849), London bookseller]
Publication details: 
'Spring Garden | Dec. 22'.
£56.00
Thomas Joseph Pettigrew (1791-1865), surgeon, antiquary, and Librarian

16mo, 1 p. Bifolium, addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'Mr Rodd | Little Newport St.' Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of mount adhering at head of reverse of second leaf. He is returning the books as he already possesses two of them, '& the other he is not anxious to have'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J H Markland), to the printers 'Messrs Nichols & Son | 25 Parliament Sq.'' by the antiquary and book collector James Heywood Markland

Author: 
James Heywood Markland (1788-1864), antiquary and book collector [John Bowyer Nichols]
Publication details: 
Whitehall Place; 10 July 1834.
£56.00
James Heywood Markland (1788-1864), antiquary and book collector

12mo, 2 pp. Bifolium, addressed on reverse of second leaf. Fair, on aged paper. He does not think he received 'Part II of Collectanea Topog. & Geneal.' 'As I believe that receipts are taken on delivery of that Work be so good as to send me any memorandum of the fact - if you do not possess it perhaps the Part may not have been left at my House'. Docketed, with details of the receipt, at head of first page.

Autograph Note Signed ('J Raine') by the antiquary John Raine.

Author: 
John Raine, Vicar of Blyth, Nottinghamshire, antiquary and book collector.
Publication details: 
'Sunday' [no date, but c.1879].
£45.00
John Raine, Vicar of Blyth, Nottinghamshire, antiquary and book collector

12mo, 1 p. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of mount on blank reverse. He only has 'time for a single line before Post'. He is adopting the recipient's 'suggestion of putting my name among the Vicars | "47. John Raine. Presented November 1834', and is sending copy. The note concerns an entry on Raine in the following: 'Reports and Papers Read at the Meetings of the Architectural Societies of the Counties of Lincoln and Nottingham, County of York, Archdeaconries of Northampton and Oakham, County of Bedford, Diocese of Worcester, and County of Leicester', Vol. 15 (1879).

Typed Letter Signed ('Holbrook Jackson') to G. S. Tomkinson of Whitville, Kidderminster.

Author: 
George Holbrook Jackson (1874-1948) [Sir Geoffrey Stewart Tomkinson (1881-1963); Lovat Fraser; Flying Fame; Fleuron; New Age Press; fine printing; bibliography]
Publication details: 
26 February 1925; Regent House, Kingsway, London, W.C.2.
£100.00

8vo: 2 pp. 32 lines of text. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He is willing to help Tomkinson with his book 'Modern Presses', but would not 'have time to be responsible for the writing of any chapters'. Offers to answer 'a questionnaire' regarding 'Flying Fame', and directs Jackson to his 'articles on the work of Lovat Fraser in the "Bookman", the "Fleuron", and "To-day".' Paragraph discusses the 'New Age Press', which 'was not a Press at all, but a publishing business'. In the last paragraph changes his mind, and offers to write a brief chapter.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. P. Greswell') to an unnamed bookseller [Thomas Thorpe?].

Author: 
William Parr Greswell (1765-1854), Anglican clergyman and bibliographer [Thomas Thorpe, London bookseller]
Publication details: 
4 October 1821; Denton near Manchester.
£75.00

4to, 2 pp. Thirty lines of text. Clear and complete. On aged and grubby paper. One closed tear and minor traces of mount to extremities. An interesting letter, casting light on the relationship between bookseller and knowledgeable client in Georgian England. He gives the conditions under which he would be interested in buying a few items from the booksellers monthly catalogue.

"Bibliomania." (Reprinted from the North British Review, with Additions.)

Author: 
[Dr John Brown (1811-1901), i.e. John Taylor Brown] [Bibliomania; bibiography; typography]
Publication details: 
('Odds and Ends. No. 19.') Edinburgh: Edmonston and Douglas, 1867. [Edinbrugh: Printed by Thomas Constable.]
£175.00

16mo, 39 pp. Stitched. In original pink printed wraps. Text clear and complete. On aged, foxed paper with slightly dogeared corners. Minor chipping to extremities of wraps. Detailed engraving (7.5 x 7 cm) by J. Adam on title-page and front wrap, showing bearded man at lectern in room crammed with books. Advertisements for works by Brown (best known for 'Rab and his Friends') on inside of wraps, with list of works in the 'Odds and Ends' series on back wrap. A charming and scholarly disquisition on the subject, from a firmly British standpoint. Uncommon in wraps.

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.

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 unnamed male clerical correspondent [the Rev. Dr Thomas Frognall Dibdin].

Author: 
William Douglas of Edinburgh [ Thomas Frognall Dibdin ]
Publication details: 
5 S. College St. [Edinburgh] | August 5 / 37' [1837].
£300.00

Two pages, 8vo. In good condition despite paper discoloration and smudging of text by author. Traces of stub adhering to one edge. An interesting letter from one of the engraver's to Dibdin's Northern Tour (1838), and important for the light it sheds on the book's production. Douglas greets Dibdin as 'Rev Sir'. He is sending his draft and has 'revised all the plates and sent them to Mr Johnstone to be proved'. Johnstone will send them on with the drawings. He has seen 'Mr.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Holbrook Jackson') to 'Mr. Bennett'.

Author: 
George Holbrook Jackson (1874-1948), author, wroter on books, etc
Publication details: 
10 August 1912; on letterhead of the Crossways, Langley Park, Mill Hill, N.W.
£45.00

8vo: 1 p. Good on lightly-aged paper. Small closed tear at head, and traces of glue and grey paper from previous mounting on reverse. He is sorry to say that he will be 'away at the seaside' when Bennett is in London. If he is 'in town again shortly' Jackson will be glad to meet him. 'I am to be found most days at 29 Henrietta St, Covent Garden [the offices of 'T.P.'s Weekly', on which Jackson held an editorial position] - but it is safer to make an appointment.'

Portrait (stipple engraving) of 'Thomas Miller, Bookseller, Bungay, Suffolk. Died June 24th. 1804 - Aged 73. | Engraved by E. Scriven from a Miniature by H. Edridge Esqr.'

Author: 
Thomas Miller (1731-1804), bookseller of Bungay, Suffolk [Edward Scriven; Henry Edridge]
Publication details: 
[London, circa 1805?]
£35.00

Paper dimensions 25.5 x 19 cm. Plate dimensions 22 x 16 cm. The head-and-shoulders portrait itself is oval, 7 cm high and 5.5 cm wide, contained in a square 11 x 9.5 cm, and with the caption beneath it. Printed on aged paper, with the image itself and the caption are clean and crisp, but the paper carries a crease to the margin, and there is light staining intruding into the surrounding square. Dibdin gives an account of Miller, whose son was the noted bookseller William Miller of Albemarle Street, in his 'Bibliomania' (1811 ed., pp.630-31).

Prospectus, with extensive list of subscribers annotated in manuscript, for the second part of Lipscomb's 'History and Antiquities of the County of Buckingham'.

Author: 
George Lipscomb [John Bowyer Nichol; The Gentleman's Magazine]
Publication details: 
J. B. Nichols and Son, 25, Parliament-street.' [London.]
£65.00

Four paginated pages of small type in a quarto (25 x 20 cm) bifolium. Attractively printed on paper watermarked 'T EDMONDS | 1834'. Unbound. Good: lightly aged and creased. On the first page the author announces the publication of the second part, 'with great regret for the delay which has unavoidably intervened in the publication, from causes impossible for him to have forseen'. The succeeding three pages consist of the double-column list of subscribers, headed by 'Patron.

Autograph Letter Signed ('C Crapelet'), in French, to 'Monsieur Deterville'

Author: 
Charles Crapelet (1762-1809), French printer, based in Paris
Publication details: 
27 October 1807. [Paris.]
£75.00

12mo: 1 p. Eight lines of text. On a piece of grey laid watermarked paper. Complete and clear. Lightly aged and creased. Unusually frank business communication. He is angry at having to tell Deterville that he cannot have 'd'exemplaire des Rudimens'. He will do his best to let him have them soon. However weak the excuse, it is nevertheless true that the 'ouvriers ne m'ont pas tenu parole'.

Autograph Signature.

Author: 
Joseph Gulston (1744/5-1786), British book collector and connoisseur
Publication details: 
Date and place not stated.
£20.00

On a piece of paper cut from a letter, roughly 3.5 x 9.5 cm. On lightly aged and slightly grubby paper. Good firm signature, beneath which, in a contemporary hand, 'I knew his daughter Stepny'. Gulston's wife Bridgetta (1749/50–1780) was the second daughter of Sir Thomas Stepney.

Autograph Letter Signed to unnamed bishop.

Author: 
Henry Wright, Victorian autograph hunter
Publication details: 
23 October 1895; on letterhead of the National Liberal Club, Whitehall Place, S.W.
£30.00

Four pages, 12mo. Aged and stained. Asks if he will favour him 'by signing in a collection of autographs in which the Queen and every member of the Royal family, Tsar & Tsaritsa, Kinngs & Queens of Denmark, Spain, & the Belgians, the Pope, all the ambassadors, Judges, Royal Academicians, leading Statesmen &c. &c. &c. have signed.' It has been shown to Lord and Lady Aberdeen 'who were very interested'. 'I may add I am a cousin of late B[isho]p of <?> (Burn).' States time when it would be convenient for his correspondent to sign. 'I live @ 26 Wolverton Gardens W.

Autograph Letter Signed to Dawson Turner from his daughter Elizabeth ('E. Palgrave').

Author: 
Elizabeth Palgrave (nee Turner, 1799-1852), wife of Sir Francis Palgrave (1788-1861) [Dawson Turner]
Publication details: 
[Docketed by Turner 'Hampstead 21st June 1848.']
£80.00

One page, octavo. Good, on aged paper with some loss to extremities repaired with archival tape. Fifteen lines of text clear and complete. On learning of Dawson Turner's celebrated collection of autographs from her son, Elizabeth Palgrave's 'kind old neighbour' Lady Bentham asked her 'some questions which led to the enclosed note & the letters I send' (none present).

Autograph Letter Signed ('Wm. Upcott') to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
William Upcott (1779-1845), antiquary and autograph collector
Publication details: 
2 December 1840; Islington.
£150.00

Two pages, 12mo. Good, on aged paper. The bottom of the letter neatly torn away, perhaps to remove the recipient's name. He is returning the 'Lists - and with them - the 35 Franks I have been able to find - together with the five which you sent by post - being duplicates which my friend already possesses. -'. He is grateful for the 'very friendly invitation'.

Autograph Letter Signed to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
William Upcott (1779-1845), antiquary and autograph collector
Publication details: 
22 January 1844; 'Autograph Cottage | Islington'.
£100.00

One page, 12mo. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper. 'I thank you sincerely, and I thank you heartily for the Signature of the late eccentric and wealthy Lord Chedworth. - Had I stood at the elbow of the person who placed it on the File - I should have requested him to pierce it nearer the edge of the paper - more befitting a Collector of Autographs - and more acceptable to dear Sir, Your very obliged St'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Tho. Roffen.') to Thomas Adams of Alnwick, Northumberland; with the Bishop of Rochester's episcopal seal, in red wax.

Author: 
Thomas Dampier (c.1749-1812), Bishop of Ely and book collector [Bishop of Rochester from 1802 to 1808]
Publication details: 
Harley Street, Septr. 14. 1802.'
£150.00

4to: 1 p. Very good on the first leaf of a bifolium. A third quarto leaf carries the address, in Dampier's hand, with his franking signature 'free | T. Rochester.' Also the oval seal, c.3 cm high, a clear impression in red wax. 24 lines of text. Interesting letter. Dampier begins by thanking Adams for 'your Congratulations to me on my Promotion to the See of Rochester.

Engraving of bearded man walking while reading a book.

Author: 
John Thomas Smith (1766-1833), artist and antiquary
Publication details: 
London Published as the Act directs December 31st 1815 by John Thomas Smith No 4 Chandos Street Covent Garden.'
£80.00

On wove paper roughly eleven inches by seven and three-quarters; dimensions of print roughly seven inches by four and a half. Image clear and unaffected, on paper aged and creased, with some staining to extremities. Smith's monogram in bottom left-hand corner. The figure is formally dressed, in frock-coat and stockings, with his hat tucked under his left arm. Clearly a portrait, but of whom is uncertain: it is not among the six works by Smith catalogued by the National Portrait Gallery. A charming evocation of print culture in the early part of the nineteenth century.

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