ITALY

1p., 4to. 25 lines of text. A frail survival. In good condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. Signed with facsimile of signature of 'B. L. Montgomery.' Divided into six points, the text begins: '1. The time has now come to carry the war into Italy, and into the Continent of Europe. The Italian Overseas Empire has been exterminated; we will now deal with the home country.' The last point reads: '6. To each one of you, whatever may be your rank or employment, I would say: | GOOD LUCK AND GOOD HUNTING IN THE HOME COUNTRY OF ITALY'.

The item consists of a 25.5 x 20.5 cm bifolium, with the text of Landor's letter on the recto of the first leaf, from which a central rectangle (roughly 10 x 20.5 cm) carrying the amended copy has been cut away for transmission to the printer. Otherwise the item is in fair condition, on ligthly-aged paper. The verso of the second leaf is addressed to 'Mr. Taylor | 13 Waterloo Place | London', and carries three postmarks. The letter reads: 'Sir, | There is a passage in page 47 which Mr Hare [Julius Hare, who had] inserted from a letter I wrote hastily to his brother [Augustus Hare].

31pp., 12mo. Stitched and unbound. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Comprising a series of transcriptions in a contemporary hand - from the annotations and emendations clearly that of the original author, an anonymous middleclass Englishman with Radical and Communist sympathies. Neatly and closely written at around 34 lines to a page - from thirteen letters, dated (with interrogation marks as given in the text): '? May, 1869', 'Paris, June 1869', 'Monastery of La Grande Chartreuse, Alps Dauphiny, Feast of S.

2pp., folio. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Castellani, who had accompanied the Italian royal family into exile in Portugal in 1946, is responding to two letters from Bilainkin, loyally attempting to conceal the unhappy state of relations between the royal couple ('We were never happy', the Queen declared after her husband's death; and there were rumours of homosexual affairs on the King's part).

2pp., 4to. 35 lines of verse. On a leaf of laid paper with watermark 'J WHATMAN | TURKEY MILL'. Paginated 13-14. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. The first page begins with the line 'The shrouding soil, and give it back to air,' and the second page ends with the line 'Won it's [sic] dark truth, and Gaspar fed on such.' The verses in this manuscript are published on pp.19-21 of 'A Day at Tivoli: with other Verses' (London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, Paternoster-row, 1849).

2pp., 12mo. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. Two years before Gellibrand (whose name Levi misspells 'Jellibrand') made a financial contribution 'towards the Missionary work to the Italians in London'. Levi has not troubled him since, 'but before we close the account of 1868 the treasurer tells me that we must collect some more in order not to be in debt'. He asks if Gellibrand will 'kindly renew' his gift 'to the object'. He is sorry not to have met 'your & our friends at the Bible Society', whose work he values highly, but whose committee meet 'at an inconvenient hour in the day'.

'The Story of San Michele' is one of the most popular works of the twentieth century, and this delightful correspondence bears ample testimony to the extraordinary allure of its author. The eight letters are entirely legible, in fair condition on aged paper. They total 3 pp in folio, and 8 pp in 4to. The sequence is tentative, none of the letters giving the year. The numerous errors, in large part due to Munthe's growing blindness, are largely unnoticed in the following transcripts. Letter One (2 pp, 4to). 'Rome Villa Svezia Via Aldrovandi 27 Feb 8 [1930]'.

8vo, 1 p. On graph paper. Fair, on aged paper, with traces of mount on reverse. Headed 'Saluto ai combattenti', the eight-line poem (which does not appear to have been published) begins 'O figli' and ends 'l'ora della vittoria'.

4to, 1 p. Twenty-lines. Text clear and complete. He has found 'il Barone' and is going to see 'Der Freishutz'. Monico is 'una gran bella citta', where he has seen 'molte belle cose'. He finds the Madonna of Rafael 'Divina'. A postscript concerns the print-seller Ackermann, as well as the art dealer Woodburn, and 'Cockerill'. The reverse carries a closely-written 30-line manuscript, in another hand, apparently in German, and followed by an indecipherable signature. It contains at least two references to 'Campball' [sic].

Both letters 8vo, 1 p; the first on pink paper. Both texts clear and complete. Both fair, on lightly-aged and creased paper. Letter One: She was surprised to learn that Lawrence had 'Miss Babbington with you because I did not even know that she was on the stage. I thought she was with a publishing house.' After the 'long and wonderful run' she is sorry that Lawrence's leading lady is leaving. 'Although I never intend to go back to the stage again, I shall always have the same keen interest in matters theatrical [...] the variety profession is my first love'.

Letter: 12mo, 1 p. On bifolium. Text clear and complete. On aged and ruckled paper. Slight damage to second leaf caused by breaking open of wafer. Addressed to 'Illustrissimo Signore'. Having 'un affare di qualche importanza alle nove', he would like to give Twining his lesson (presumably in Italian) the following morning at 8 o'clock. He hopes that coming half an hour early does not cause any inconvence. Receipt: on one side of a slip of paper, 7 x 19.5 cm. Headed 'Memorandum del Signor Twining'. For '18 Lezioni la prima delle quali fa data li 15 Novembee', and signed 'Galignani'.

12mo, 2 pp. Bifolium. Fair, on aged paper with a little light staining. The recto carries the seventeen-line letter to a 'Gentilissima Dama', in response to a request for an autograph. On the reverse of the second leaf is a four-line poem, signed and dated by Negri, beginning 'Come un Nume che si adora'. In the letter Negri writes that he does not have 'la presunzione di credere che il mio autografo meriti di essere conservato'.

The author is obscure, but the letter is addressed to 'Sir Rennell' [Sir James Rennell Rodd (1858-1941), diplomat and author]. 2 pages, 16mo, creased but in good condition. A florid missive beginning 'In this tempest of egotism and hate which has plunged us all into Teutonic darkness, you will not have forgotten, my dear Sir Rennell, the lines of Coleridge: | [...]'.

Dimensions of paper roughly twelve and a half inches by fifteen and a half. Dimensions of plate roughly eleven inches by six and a half. On top of a stone plinth two eagles support a crowned crest with shell motif, showing a crowned eagle over a castle. The inscription on the base reads 'DIANAE FABVLAS | OLIM | A DOMINICO ZAMPERIO | PICTORE | VVLGO DOMENICHINO | IN PALATIO BASSANI | PRINCIPIS IVSTINIANI | DE PICTAS'. Apparently the frontispiece or engraved title to an oblong folio volume published in 1713.

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.

Text of all three items clear and complete. All three on lightly aged paper, creased and with some wear to extremities. Letter One (8vo, 1 p; 20 lines of text): She thanks Bonham Carter for her 'kind and appreciative letter' and 'will see that through the English Embassy' she receives 'a copy of my short story: "I due prigionieri", of which your son is the protagonist'. (An officer in the Grenadier Guards, during the war Mark Bonham Carter had escaped from a prison camp in northern Italy.) Describes material she is sending relating to her 'literary career'.

4to: viii + 257 pp. In original grey printed wraps. Internally tight, on lightly-aged and foxed paper. Wraps spotted and worn, with chipping to extremities. The preface describes the work as 'una bibliografia descrittiva degli studi di Indianistica fatti in Italia nel periodo che va dal 1911 al 1937.' A descriptive bibliography of Indian studies in Italy, 1911 to 1937. Scarce in Britain: COPAC lists copies at the British Library, Oxford and SOAS.

4to: 1 p. Printed on the recto of the first leaf of a bifolium of paper watermarked 'R BARNARD | 1828'. Fifteen lines of text. Text clear and complete on aged, creased paper with chipping to extremities, and the two leaves of the bifolium nearly detached. Docketed in contemporary hands '819' at the head of the printed page, and 'No. 72' on the reverse of the second leaf 'No. 72'.

On one side of a piece of laid paper, 11 x 18 cm. Laid down on a slightly larger piece of paper. Good: lightly aged with three neat vertical folds. Reads 'Oh! land of beauty - sun-lit Italy! How often do I fondly think of thee, | And of the days gone by . . . . . ! | [signature] A. Maffei | April 14th | 1866.'

Printed on one side of a piece of wove paper, dimensions roughly 30.5 x 11.5 cm. Good, on aged, and lightly spotted and creased paper. Clear impression above title of engraving (5.5 x 6.5 cm) showing a knight, dismounted from his horse, vizor down and shield on arm, combating with a dragon somewhat akin to a huge wild boar. At the foot of the item, beneath the last line of the poem, another engraving, 2.5 x 8.5 cm, showing two cherubs blowing trumpets into an arrangement of hour-glass and two sickles. Heavily worn type.

Crudely printed on one side of a piece of wove paper, roughly 27 x 8 cm. Spotted and creased, but with no loss to text. Sixty lines of verse, beginning: 'Rejoice you sons of Erin's Isle, | Attention pay now for a while, | Those lines we'll surely make you smile, | Our brave brigade isvictorious. [sic] | The enemy they did subdue, | And fought them nine one its true, | There [sic] attitude was grand to view, | At the battle of Perugia.' Recounts how, 'Commanded by O'Reilly sure', the Brigade 'did floor, 1,500 of the Sardinian corps'.

Printed on piece of thick paper 31.5 x 22.5 cm. Dimensions of image 24 x 18 cm. Removed from mount, and with glue adhering to reverse and in thin strip at head (not affecting image). Small closed tear in border at foot, just beneath Mascagni's dating of his note. Soft-focus black and white head and shoulders shot, showing a firm-jawed jowlly bow-tied Mascagni staring abstractedly to his right, with a medal in his buttonhole.

One page, on back of printed postcard. Very good. Photograph of the Via Appia on reverse. Reads 'Dear Sir | In reply to your request I have pleasure in sending you this'.

12mo: 2 pp. Eleven lines of text. Very good. Having just received it from London, Rodd is sending Crawford the book he could not get in Rome which he wanted to send him as a birthday present. 'It is written by a great friend of mine who knows better than any one the history of the first voyages to America and the discovery of the Great Southern Sea. I think you will like it.' In an envelope, on aged paper, with postmarks and Italian postage stamp. Addressed to 'Harold Crawford, Villa Crawford, St Agnello di Sorrento'.

12mo: 1 p. On aged and creased paper, divided into two parts by a horizontal tear, which has been repaired with three paper labels. A square of paper from previous mounting (with 'Marochetti Sculptor' in contemporary hand) adhering to reverse. Accepting an invitation with the greatest pleasure and apologising ('je vous demande mille fois pardon') for not having been to tell her so. He did not know that she was there: no one told him anything and he thought her note had been sent from her house.

Irregularly-cut piece of paper, roughly 2 x 9 cms. Good, strong signature on very good, lightly aged paper. In purple ink. Reads 'Every sympathe | =tically V. Ouida'. Minor traces of previous brown-paper mount on reverse.

On piece of aged, laid paper roughly six inches by eight and a quarter wide. Two inch closed tear at head, and three-quarters of an inch closed tear, with a little loss, to the right. Quarter-inch hole towards top right-hand corner, in sky above archway. Mounted on piece of grey paper. Negligible wear to bottom left-hand corner.

Dimensions of plate roughly four and a half inches by six and a half wide. Dimensions of paper roughly five inches by seven wide. Clear image on stained, grubby laid paper. Shows mythological figure with helmet and shield holding up a book, within a monumental border with coins, ivy, statuary, etc. This bookplate has been found in conjunction with another reading "Ex Libris Alexandri Torrigiani Med. Doct. Coll. Parmensis", and this may provide a clue to the provenance.

One page, quarto. On lightly creased, aged paper with a few closed tears. Rust marks from paperclip at head. Reads 'Il triangolo della perfezione arte scienza ad amore | [signed] F Matania'.

Dimensions of print roughly ten inches by six and a half wide. Mounted on a slightly larger piece of laid paper. Rubbed, worn and heavily aged, with small wormhole at foot. Ornate tomb with sphinxes, ivy, masks, palette, laurel wreath, etc. Central head and shoulders image of Carracci, above caption 'ANNIBALI CARRACCIO BONON. AETATIS SVAE ANN.XLIX Romae MDCXLVI'. 'A. Del.' in bottom left-hand corner. This is NOT the engraving by Pietro Aquila, after Carlo Maratta, in Aquila's 'Galeriae Farnesianae Icones' (1674).