HISTORY

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['H. E. H.'] A melodramatic murder story, written for Blackwood's Magazine but unpublished, entitled 'Recollections of a Governess | My first Friend', and purporting to be the work of 'Emma', daughter of 'Henry Darrel [...] an Officer in Dragoons'.

Author: 
'H. E. H.', soi-disant daughter of 'Henry Darrel [...] Officer in Dragoons' [Blackwood's Magazine, Edinburgh]
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated. [England; 1840s.]
£450.00

56pp., 4to. On wove paper watermarked 'E & S | 1840'. In ruled notebook, in contemporary brown calf half-binding, with marbled boards. In very good condition, lightly-aged and worn. Neatly written out, with a few emendations in pencil. Signed at the end 'H. E. H.' (either the initials of the author or of the narrator 'Emma').

[Printed item, inscribed by the author Victor Paliard to Frantz Glénard.] Recherches Thérapeutiques sur la Cinchonine.

Author: 
Victor Paliard, Docteur en médecine de la Faculté de Paris, Ex-Interne des Hôpitaux de Lyon [Frantz Glénard (1848-1920), French physician]
Publication details: 
Saint-Étienne: Imprimerie de Ve Théolier & Cie, Rue Gerentet, 12. 1875.
£56.00

64pp., 8vo. Disbound. In fair condition, with damp staining and slight nicking to the fore-edges of a few leaves. Inscribed at head of half-title: 'A mon excellent collegue et ami | Frantz Glénard | Souvenirs affectueux. | V. Paliard'. Eight copies on COPAC, but none in the Wellcome Library.

[Printed British parliamentary paper.] Women in the Civil Service. Copy of Regulations for Competitions governing the Appointment of Women to Situations in the New (Reorganisation) Classes in the Home Civil Service, [...].

Author: 
[Women in the Civil Service, Houses of Parliament, Great Britain, 1921; parliamentary paper]
Publication details: 
Presented to Parliament by Command of His Majesty. London: Published by His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1921.
£80.00

Full title: 'Women in the Civil Service. Copy of Regulations for Competitions governing the Appointment of Women to Situations in the New (Reorganisation) Classes in the Home Civil Service,and with regard to the Appointment and Employment of Married Women in Established Situations.' 2pp, foolscap 8vo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged paper, with wear to extremities and a couple of small rust stains. Shelfmark, stamp and label of the Board of Education Reference Library, London. Four copies lsited on WorldCat, one on COPAC (LSE).

[Cards; advertisements] Five cards in various formats giving information about Stallions available to service Mares

Author: 
[Service of Stallions; horse-racing]
Publication details: 
[York and environs]. [1869-1889], two undated.
£120.00

Sizes vary from c.11 x 8cm to 19 x 15. The names of the stallions are given: Wildfire the Second, Cromwell, King Walter, 'Nag Stallion "Sedan", and Subduer; prices; the names and addresses of the owners; the achievements of the horse; directions; other information (eg. "Any mare missing to GOGGLES last season, will be served at Half-Price"). Of some interest typographically, the cards were printed by the following: Forth, Printer, Pocklington; Edmondson and Co., Skipton; C.L. Burdekin, Printer, York; F.T. Leckonby, 15 Coppergate, York; one omits printer's name.

Three albums filled with English and German manuscript memoranda, newspaper cuttings and mimeographed reports, relating to the Great War and 1898-1909 periods, assembled by an Anglo-German stockbroker in the City of London.

Author: 
[an Anglo-German stockbroker in the City of London during the Great War and 1898-1909 periods]
Publication details: 
Manuscript album, in German, 1898 to 1909, with label of a Hamburg stationer. Two other albums from 1917, with labels of London stationers.
£800.00

The three items come from the papers of an Anglo-German City of London stockbroker, with Item One, below, indicating that he was based in Germany between 1898 and 1909, and that he had moved to England by 1917. A major point of interest is the fact that the material has been assembled by an educated, intelligent and well-informed individual with good knowledge of both German and English economic realities, at a time of high conflict between the two nations. ONE: 94pp., folio. In black cloth quarter-binding with brown marbled boards, and label of W. Harneit, Hamburg. Consisting of 88pp.

[Dr John M. Crawford, Charles Dury, Professor Herbert S. Osborn, American entomologists.] Thirteen Autograph Cards Signed (ten from Dury, two from Crawford and one from Osborn) to the Coleoptera expert Charles G. Siewers of Newport, Kentucky.

Author: 
Charles Dury of Cincinnati; John Martin Crawford of the Chickering Institute, Ohio; Professor Herbert S. Osborn [Charles G. Siewers of Newport, Kentucky; American entomologists; natural history]
Publication details: 
All sent from Cincinnati, Ohio. Six of the thirteen dated between 1880 and 1882 (the year of Siewers's death). The others undated.
£500.00

The thirteen cards are all 13 x 7.5cm. All with 'POSTAL CARD' printed on front, and all with Cincinnati postmarks, nine also carrying Newport postmarks. All thirteen addressed to Siewers at Newport. For information on Charles Dury (1847-1901) see his obituary by Annette F. Braun in the Ohio Journal of Science, November 1931, pp.512-514. Braun stresses Dury's wide correspondence, and association with individuals including Alfred Russell Wallace, E. D. Cope, Spencer F. Baird, George Horn, John L. LeConte, Robert Ridgway, Elliott Coues, and his 'companion of many field trips' Professor J. S.

[University of London Tutorial Classes for Working People.] Two printed items, including 'Report of the University of London Joint Committee for the Promotion of the Higher Education of Working People on the Work of the Four Years 1909-1913'.

Author: 
[University of London Tutorial Classes for Working People]
Publication details: 
[University of London.] July 1911 and February 1914.
£80.00

Both items with shelfmarks, stamps and labels of the Board of Education Reference Library, London. ONE: 'University of London Tutorial Classes for Working People | Report of the University of London Joint Committee for the Promotion of the Higher Education of Working People on the Work of the Four Years 1909-1913'. February 1914. 23 + [1]pp., 4to. Stitched. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. The only copies on COPAC and OCLC WorldCat at the British Library and King's College London. TWO: 'University of London.

A List of the Flag-Officers of His Majesty's Fleet.

Author: 
[Royal Navy List, 1779; naval and maritime]
Publication details: 
January 1, 1779.
£300.00

12mo (dimensions of leaf 18 x 8 cm): [iii] + 16 + 34 pp. No title leaf and publisher not stated. Printed on the versos only of 53 leaves. Unbound. In contemporary marbled-paper and cloth-spine wraps. Text clear and entire, on aged and lightly stained paper. Loss and staining to rear wrap. A few annotations in pen and pencil in contemporary hands (for example 'Horatio Nelson' is marked out as 'Lord Nelson'). Ownership inscription of Jane Hume. From the papers of her relative, Charles William Paterson, Admiral of the White.

[Printed parliamentary paper.] Employment of Children Act Committee. Report of the Departmental Committee on the Employment of Children Act, 1903, appointed by His Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Home Department [H. J. Gladstone].

Author: 
[Employment of Children Act; British parliamentary report, 1903; House of Commons; child labour; street trading]
Publication details: 
Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of His Majesty. London: Printed for His Majesty's Stationery Office, by Eyre and Spottiswoode, Ltd., Printers to the King's Most Excellent Majesty. [10 September 1910.]
£50.00

23pp., foolscap 8vo. Stitched. On aged and worn paper, with short closed tear to first leaf at foot of spine. Shelfmarks, stamp and label of the Board of Education Reference Library, London. Purple stamp on reverse of first leaf: '10 SEP 1910'. Divided into three sections: Warrants of Appointment; Majority Report; Minority Report. The 'Majority Report' section under the following main headings: Origin and Course of Inquiry; General Results of the Investigation; Remedies and Recommendations; Summary of Recommendations and Conclusions. A large part of the document discusses 'Street Trading'.

[Printed parliamentary report.] Departmental Committee on Reformatory and Industrial Schools. Evidence taken by the Departmental Committee on Reformatory and Industrial Schools.

Author: 
[Departmental Committee on Reformatory and Industrial Schools; British parliamentary report, 1913; Board of Education Inspectors' Circulating Library, Whitehall, London]
Publication details: 
Presented to both Houses of Parliament by Command of His Majesty. London: Printed under the Authority of His Majesty's Stationery Office by Eyre and Spottiswoode, Ltd., East Harding Street, E.C., Printers to the King's Most Excellent Majesty. 1913.
£100.00

v + 542pp., foolscap 8vo. In blue printed wraps. On aged and worn paper, with some loss to front wrap. Stamps, shelfmarks and label of the Board of Education Inspectors' Circulating Library, London; and printed label of the 'Board of Education Library. H.M. Inspectors' Circulating Library, Board of Education, Whitehall, S.W.', with 'Rules' and space for stamping date of withdrawal.

[Collection of letters and related material] Thank you letters from 'the confraternity' of the Phillipps MSS after Phillipps Centenary Dinner, with related material (seating plan etc). AND Photostat of the Robinson Brothers' Deed of Settlement

Author: 
[Thomas Phillipps; the Phillipps Manuscripts; Robinson Brothers]
Publication details: 
[4 July 1972]
£1,800.00

Forty-Four (44) Autograph and Typed Letters Signed (and a telegram) from (partially) distinguished people who attended the Phillipps Centenary Dinner at Stationers' Hall in 1972, usually saying more than a bald thank you. They are addressed, except in one instance - Wolfenden, mentioned below) to one or both of the Robinson Brothers (Lionel and Philip) who had made the significant and bold purchase, and presumably organised the celebration.

[Privy Council Medical Research Council] Printed Item: 'The Application of the Air Force Physical Efficiency Tests to Men and Women.'

Author: 
Lucy D. Cripps, M.B., D.P.H. [Privy Council Medical Research Council; Royal Air Force]
Publication details: 
Special Report Series, No. 84. London: Published by His Majesty's Stationery Office. 1924.
£130.00

48 + [4]pp., 8vo. Stapled. In green printed wraps. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Divided into ten chapters, including 'Royal Air Force Tests used in the Present Investigation' and 'Types of Respiration, and the Respiratory Apparatus in Men and Women'. An interesting document: the Royal Air Force only having been in existence for six years. With stamp, shelfmark and label of the Board of Education Reference Library. Four copies on COPAC, and uncommon.

[Brigadier Hector Campbell, Indian Army.] Collection of papers, including correspondence, original photographs, printed pamphlets and ephemera, relating to his career in Queen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides.

Author: 
Brigadier Hector Campbell (1877-1972), Colonel Queen Victoria’s Own Corps of Guides (Cavalry and Infantry) [Frontier Force, British Army, India; William Birdwood]
Publication details: 
Much of the material from Mardan, India [now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan]. Also London and other locations. Dating from between 1903 and 1957.
£1,350.00

On Campbell's death in 1972 The Times reported that 'a link with the Indian Army from its inception to the current day has been broken' (19 April 1972). The present collection of Campbell's papers provides an insight into that vanished world. Hector Campbell was educated at Haileybury College and Sandhurst.

[Estelle Roberts, spiritualist medium.] Typescript titled 'The Aeolian Wall. Trance Address by Red Cloud', apparently written on the eve of the Second World War.

Author: 
Estelle Roberts (1889-1970), British spiritualist medum who claimed to materialize a Native American spirit guide called 'Red Cloud' [Spiritualist Association of Great Britain]
Publication details: 
'Copyright of Estelle Roberts'. (London, 1930s?]
£200.00

10pp., 4to. Original top-copy typescript. On ten leaves held together by a brass stud. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. Typed at end: 'Copyright of Estelle Roberts.' Begins: 'I am very happy to come here to-night to talk to you. While waiting to entrance the meduim I heard these words.

[Book] Des Hydropisies, et de leur Cure.

Author: 
V. Mondat [Docteur Vincent Marie Mondat]
Publication details: 
Avril [April] 1817. A Paris, Chez L. Colas, Imprimeur-Libraire de la Société pour l'Instruction Élémentaire, Rue du Petit-Bourbon-St. Suplice, No. 14. [IMPRIMERIE DE FAIN; PLACE DE L'ODÉON.]
£56.00

8vo: 49 pp. The last page is mispaginated '54', but there is no gap in the text, and the catalogue of the Bibliotheque Nationale confirms that the number of pages of text is 49. Good, in modern marble wraps. A presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the title-page 'A Monsieur Maison Secretaire général de l'administration des hospices hommage respectueux | [signed] P. Mondat'.

[Samuel Smiles, railway administrator and author of 'Self-Help'.] Autograph notebook, containing information relating to his work as Secretary of the South Eastern Railway, including memorandums, tables and transcripts of letters.

Author: 
Samuel Smiles (1812-1904), railway administrator, biographer and author of the influential book 'Self-Help' (1859) [South Eastern Railway; Victorian steam engines; nineteenth-century locomotives]
Publication details: 
Smiles's ownership inscription on fly-leaf: 'S Smiles, South Eastern Railway | 1854.' Entries dating from between 1854 and 1886.
£2,800.00

According to Smiles's entry in the Oxford DNB, he was 'prominent in the negotiations for the amalgamation of the Leeds and Thirsk Railway [by which he was employed] with the North Eastern, which was effected in 1854 and abolished his own office. Thereupon he left Leeds for London on being appointed secretary to the South Eastern Railway (11 November). He held the post for twelve years, in the course of which he successfully arranged for the extension of the line from Charing Cross to Cannon Street (1858–9).

[HMS Arethusa, ship's log, 1837.] Manuscript log of HMS Arethusa, while stationed in 'Passa D'Arcos Bay' [Paço d'Arcos, Portugal] and travelling from Cadiz to Lisbon. With 'Remarks' including a death and burial at sea, and punishment by lashing.

Author: 
[HMS Arethusa, 46 gun fifth-rate Royal Navy ship, launched in 1817]
Publication details: 
Passo de Arcos First entry while 'At Single Anchor in Passo D'Arcos Bay' [Paço d'Arcos, Portugal], dated 24 July 1837; last entry from 'Fort St. Julian' [on the mouth of the Tagus river], dated 30 September [1837]
£500.00

HMS Arethusa, the fourth of nine Royal Navy ships to bear the name, was a 46-gun fifth rate launched in 1817. (Fifth-rate ships served as fast scouts or independent cruisers. Owing to their combination of manoeuvrability and firepower, they were often assigned to interdict enemy shipping.) She was was renamed HMS Bacchus in 1844 on conversion into a hulk, and was broken up in 1883. The present item is 21pp., 8vo. Stitched. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn grey paper. With loose heavily worn remains of brown marbled wraps (front and back cover detached from one another).

[Sir George Otto Trevelyan, Liberal politician and author.] Autograph Letter Signed ('G O Trevelyan') to 'Dear George' [George Harvey], declining to contribute a piece to the North American Review, as he must concentrate on 'writing a history'.

Author: 
Sir George Otto Trevelyan (1838-1928), Liberal politician and historian, nephew of Thomas Babington Macaulay [George Harvey (1864-1928), proprietor and editor of the North American Review]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Wallington, Cambo, Northumberland. 15 December 1899.
£56.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The letter begins: 'Dear George, | The idea contained in your letter is very interesting, and I am honoured to be thought of in connection with it. I am now reading Stevenson's letters, (admirable they are,) and I know from his dealings with American magazines and publishers that the terms offered by the Review are extremely handsome. But I am very late in the day, - in my day, - to be a writing a history; [i.e.

[Sir John William Kaye, military historian and civil servant.] Autograph Note Signed ('J. W. Kaye') to an unnamed recipient, inviting him to 'have some talk'.

Author: 
Sir John William Kaye (1814-1876), British soldier, military historian and civil servant
Publication details: 
On India Office letterhead. 22 March 1870.
£25.00

1p., 12mo. In poor condition, aged and worn, with rust marks to margin and corners. 'My dear Sir | If you could conveniently look in upon me tomorrow (Wednesday) about 2 OC'K I should be glad to have some talk with you'.

[Matilda Anne Mackarness, children's writer.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Matilda Planché') to 'Mr Helmore' [the choirmaster Thomas Helmore?], regarding the reluctance of W. N. Wright to publish her 'A Trap to catch a Sunbeam' in cheap form.

Author: 
Matilda Anne Mackarness [née Planché] (1825-1881), children's writer ['Susie Sunbeam'] [Thomas Helmore (1811-1890), choirmaster; W. N. Wright, 60 Pall Mall, bookseller to the Queen]
Publication details: 
The Lodge. 23 January [no year, but between the publication of the book in 1849, and her marriage in 1852].
£56.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with traces of mount adhering to the blank reverse of the second leaf. In reply to his letter, she refers Helmore to 'Mr Wright', who has 'frequently since the Publication of the "Sunbeam" [in 1849] been appealed to to bring it out in a cheap form - but he has no speculating propensities - and as he is perfectly satisfied with the sale of twenty thousand at a shilling - he is not inclined to try it in a cheaper form'. She has 'nothing to do with it - further than receiving a certain sum as each edition is sold out'.

[First World War postcard poem by the 'Bath Railway Poet', Henry Chappell.] The Day. ['You boasted the Day, and you toasted the Day, | And now the Day has come.']

Author: 
Henry Chappell (1874-1937), the 'Bath Railway Poet' [Daily Express, London; First World War poetry]
Publication details: 
London: "Daily Express". Undated [1914]. 'Reprinted from the London "Daily Express" (Copyright).'
£160.00

Chappell gained a degree of fame with the publication of this poem in the Daily Express of 22 August 1914. The poem is addressed to the German people, and concerns the supposed toast among German army officers in the lead-up to the First World War, 'Der Tag' (i.e. 'the day' on which the war with England would commence). The poem is printed in portrait alignment on one side of a 14 x 8.5 cm postcard, within red and blue ink borders, giving a 'red white and blue' effect. Beneath the title in square brackets is the following: 'The author of this magnificent poem is Mr.

[Victorian bicycling ephemera.] 'Year Card of Rules, etc., Season, 1890' of the West Roads Cycling Club. [Printed by Cheney

Author: 
[West Roads Cycling Club, London Headquarters, "Baron's Court" Hotel, West Kensington, W.; Cheney & Sons, General, Commercial & Artistic Printers, Banbury]
Publication details: 
West Roads Cycling Club, London Headquarters, "Baron's Court" Hotel, West Kensington, W. 1890. [Cheney & Sons, printers, Banbury, Oxfordshire.]
£45.00

[8]pp., 16mo (10.5 x 8 cm). Stitched into card wraps. In very good condition. An attractive production, wtih the light-blue card covers printed in dark blue ink, with the club's device, featuring a lion on top of a wheel, embossed and printed in red. A list of names of the 'Executive' is inside the front cover. With the sixteen 'Rules' on the first two pages, and the other headings: 'Racing Fixtures', 'Executive Meetings', 'General Meetings'; the fourth page carries general notes.

[Printed pamphlet.] Fourth Report of the Managing Committee, and of Proceedings at the General Half-Yearly Meeting Of General Council and Friends, held at the Guildhall, Plymouth, 5th December 1871.

Author: 
[Plymouth Mendicity Society, 5, Frankfort Street, Plymouth; Western Daily Mercury; Devon]
Publication details: 
'Reprinted from the Western Daily Mercury, 6th December 1871.' Plymouth: Western Daily Mercury Offices, Frankfort Street.
£120.00

10pp., 12mo. Stitched and unbound. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. In small type. Scarce: no copy traced. (The Bodleian holds seven of the Society's reports, from the sixteenth (1884) to the twenty-second (1892), but none so early as this one.)

[Hampden Gurney Schools, Marylebone, London.] Printed programme of the 'Christmas Concert and Distribution of Prizes, On Thursday, December 19th, 1889.'

Author: 
[Hampden Gurney Schools, Marylebone, London, 1889; Rev. W. Hammersley, headmaster]
Publication details: 
[Hampden Gurney Schools, Marylebone, London.] Printed by J. Martin & Son, Portman Printing Works, 18 Lisson Grove, NW. 1889.
£35.00

18pp., 12mo. Unbound stapled pamphlet on grey paper. The cover carries the names of officers. The pamphlet also features lists of 'Prize Medallists' (boys, 1867-1889; girls, 1869-1889), 'Prize Children', and pupils commended for 'Attendance', together with the programme for the concert, including the words of numerous hymns and songs sung, with names of participants. No copy of this or of any other of the school's Christmas Programmes has been traced on either COPAC or OCLC WorldCat.

[Hampden Gurney Schools, Marylebone, London.] 'Sunday School Award of Merit' medal, manuscript 'Prize Essay written for Mr. Blair's Prize', two printed Christmas Concert progammes, and printed label signed by Rev. W. Hammersley and Rev. E. B. Ottley

Author: 
[Hampden Gurney Schools, Marylebone, London, 1889 and 1890; Rev. W. Hammersley, headmaster; Rev. E. B. Ottley, Chairman of Committee]
Publication details: 
[Hampden Gurney Schools, Marylebone, London.] The Christmas Concert programmes both printed by J. Martin & Son, Portman Printing Works, 18 Lisson Grove, NW; 1889 and 1890. The prize essay dated December 1890. The other two items undated.
£120.00

The five items, which would make for an attractive display on the theme of Victorian education, relate to the Hampden Gurney Schools, which were founded in 1863, in the newly-named Hampden Gurney Streeet, as a memorial to the recently-deceased Rev. John Hampden Gurney (1802-1862), Rector of St Mary’s, Bryanston Square. The school is now the Hampden Gurney Church of England Primary School, and is located in Nutford Place. ONE: Metal circular medal, 3.75 cm in diameter. In very good condition.

[Thomas Coutts & Co., London bankers.] Manuscript Letter from the firm (signed 'Thomas Coutts & Co.') to John Hankey of the London banking family, expressing 'much surprize' at his firm's treatment of a bill from Lord St John.

Author: 
Thomas Coutts & Co., London bankers [John Hankey, member of the London banking family of Hankey & Co.; Lord St John]
Publication details: 
Strand [London]. 17 July 1790.
£280.00

2pp., 4to. Bifolium. Addressed on reverse of second leaf 'To | John Hankey Esqr'. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper.

[Winston Churchill, as First World War Minister of Munitions.] Typed minute 'From. Minister of Munitions, Mr. Winston Churchill. | To. The War Cabinet.', regarding 'the Munitions Programme for 1918'.

Author: 
Winston Churchill, as Minister of Munitions during the First World War [The War Cabinet; War Office, Whitehall]
Publication details: 
[War Office, Whitehall, London.] 21 October 1917.
£450.00

19pp., foolscap 8vo. Found in a tatty file marked 'War Office' (discarded!). Not duplicated, rather a carbon copy in purple ink of a typescript, with the indentation of the type apparent on the reverse. Minor correction on p.14: 'practises' to 'practised'. In very good condition, on lightly-aged paper, with each of the nineteen leaves carrying punch-holes for a ring binder. An important document, written in characteristic style, quoted in the fourth volume of Churchill's 'World Crisis'. Divided into 31 numbered parts, beginning: '1.

[Messrs Thomson Hankey & Co., London bankers.] Signed Manuscript Document giving a barrister's opinion (Paterson?) on a disputed right of way between property owned by the firm in Grenville, Grenada, 'and a lot in the occupation of Mrs. V. Morrison'.

Author: 
[Messrs Thomson Hankey & Co., London bankers; Grenville, Grenada; Mrs. V. Morrison; Paterson]
Publication details: 
'Chambers | St. Georges [Grenada] | 9th. May 1906'.
£140.00

3pp., foolscap 8vo. 90 lines of text. Bifolium. In very good condition, on lightly-aged paper. The signature, in a different hand from the rest of the document, is difficult to decipher: '<?> | Barrister at Law'. (The Paterson family were prominent on the island.) The document begins: 'The question submitted to me for an opinion is whether Messrs Thomson Hankey & Co. are entitled to a right of way for carts drawn by cattle &c along a passage lying between a lot of land in the Town of Grenville the property of the firm, and a lot in the occupation of Mrs. V. Morrison.?>

[William Beckford.] Manuscript copy by Fownes & White of 'Points stipulated for & agreed to with Messrs. Thompson Hankey & Co. on their taking the Consignments of the West India Estates of Wm. Beckford Esq: in succession to Messrs. Plummer & Wilson.

Author: 
[William Beckford (1760-1844), author and 'England's wealthiest son'; his London solicitors James Fownes and Richard Samuel White; Messrs Thompson Hankey & Co. and Messrs. Plummer & Wilson, bankers]
Publication details: 
[Messrs. Thompson Hankey & Co., 'at a meeting held at their Counting House in Fenchurch St. on the 24th Decr. 1830.' 27 January 1831.
£600.00

The connection between the two firms of London bankers Thompson Hankey & Co., and Plummer & Wilson & Co. is unclear, but after the bankruptcy of John Plummer and William Wilson of Fenchurch Street 1831, a new firm named Hankey, Plummer & Wilson was formed, Plummer & Wilson bringing to it a number of clients including Beckford. The source of Beckford's vast wealth was of course the family's sugar plantations in the West Indies, and this document dates from before the abolition of slavery. 3pp., foolscap 8vo. Bifolium. Very good, on laid paper with Britannia watermark of 'E SMITH | 1828'.

[Duplicated typescript of humorous poem, marked 'SECRET | Official Use only!'] The Air Ministry Who's Who.

Author: 
[The Air Ministry, Whitehall, London, government department dealing with the Royal Air Force between 1918 and 1964]
Publication details: 
Without place or date. [The Air Ministry, Whitehall, London. 1940s?]
£80.00

2pp., 8vo. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with small ink stains to two corners and short closed tears at the ends of a central vertical crease line. On paper with 'Ellams 22' watermark. Beneath the title: 'Note: All names guaranteed genuine, from the "London" section of the October telephone directory.' The poem consists of seven four-line verses and six different choruses.

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