CROSSLEY

The Rochdale Canal was conceived in 1776, and despite opposition from mill owners fearing a disruption to their water supply, began construction following the passing of an act of parliament in 1794. On completion (it was officially opened in 1804), and until the railway age, it constituted the main commercial route between Yorkshire and Lancashire. The present small collection provides an interesting sidelight into the legal and financial difficulties involved in the project, with several reference reflecting badly on Shuttleworth's professional capabilities.

40pp., 8vo. Stapled. In yellow printed wraps, with photograph of the imposing school on the front cover. With stamp, shelfmark and label of the Board of Education Library, otherwise in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. No copy in the British Library or on COPAC.

1p., 12mo. On aged paper, with traces of grey paper mount adhering to the reverse. He thanks the unnamed male recipient for the 'very kind favor of the 23rd. Instant': 'my Parliamentary duties & business engagements demand so much of my time that I am obliged to decline, with but very rare exceptions indeed, all invitations of the character named'. He asks the recipient 'to have me excused complying with your wishes'.

Foolscap bifolium (leaf dimensions roughly 32 x 20 cm): 3 pp. The letter itself is of fifteen lines, on the recto of the first leaf, with five signatures beneath it and the other eighteen on the following two pages. On aged and lightly-creased paper, with chipping to extremities and traces of glue from previous mounting on the blank reverse of the second leaf. A central vertical crease has been strengthened with a thin strip of archival tape. Founded in 1908 by Stephen Paget to defend the use of animals in scientific experimentation, the Research Defence Society is still in existence.

8vo: 16 pp. Unbound and stitched. On brittle, discoloured paper chipping at extremities and with the first and last leaves detached from one another. All but the first four pages consisting of a 'list of Original Papers, published by resident members of the University during the years 1886 and 1887', compiled to indicate the 'extent to which the country is indebted to the endowments of the University'. Including works by J.J. Thomson, Francis Darwin, George Darwin. Scarce: no copy in the British Library and the only copy on COPAC at Cambridge University Library.