MANUSCRIPT

A whole section of Young's entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is devoted to Young's activities in the field of optics, a topic concerning which he gave the Royal Society Bakerian lecture for 1800, entitled ‘The mechanism of the eye’. This MS. 4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper, with slight damp staining at foot. The first page is headed '(3)', and amended to '(2)'.

Both items 1p., foolscap 8vo. Both in fair condition, on aged paper. ONE: Addressed to: 'John G. Cookman, Esqre. | Tintern, | Arthurstown | Via Waterford.' Acknowledging the receipt of Cookman's letters, with enclosures, 'offering yourself as a Candidate for the Post of [Resident Magistrate]'. TWO: Addressed to 'J. G. Cookman Esq | 112 Pembroke Road | Dublin'.

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. Consisting of a series of appalling puns, the letter reads: 'Dear Sir | Thanks for the Time Table it was a "rail" service and for your offer of a meal which will suit me to a "T" and for your selection of a bed, as I prefer Bedford to Bedlam, and for your instructions to change my train. It is easier to miss a train than to train a miss. | I feel now that I shall get to Royston with only the Hitchen that is necessary, and I am itching to get there when I feel that I am Warren-ted safe. | I remain My dear Sir | Yours truly'.

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.

The two items are both on both sides of 8.5 x 11cm grey cards (the first gilt-edged). In good condition, lightly aged, with traces of mount adhering to one edge of each. ONE: From Redlands (of Rolling Stones fame). He begins: 'My dear Seymour | I enormously enjoyed your book [presumably 'If I were your Father' (1919): I've read it thrice! It's great fun, with an immense amount of real good sense: & it sparkles, Seymour, almost as much as you do when you stand on the <?> at the Garrick & let go at us!' He thanks him for sending the book, and hopes to see him at 'the Club' the following week.

Chester Vale, a substantial estate of 1420 acres, paid taxes on 124 slaves in 1801. McLarty (d.1844) was Physician-General for Surrey (Jamaica), and several letters written by him from the island are in the National Library of Scotland, and are quoted in Alan L Karras's 'Sojourners in the Sun: Scottish Migrants in Jamaica and the Chesapeake, 1740-1800' (Cornell, 1992). In 1794 he acquired Chester Vale on his marriage to Elizabeth Susanna Breon, whose father Edmund Breon had died in 1792, leaving her the ward of the solicitor Thomas Cockburn.

172pp., 16mo (10 x 6.5 cm.). In original green leather quarter-binding, with marbled endpapers and label on front cover: 'No 1 | DECEMBER | 1837 | 1838'. Aged and worn, with the contents of the volume detached from the binding, and the signatures loose through breaking of the stitching. In pencil beneath the binder's ticket on the front pastedown: 'Hogarth | 10 Powis Place', with this address continuing at the foot of the first page: 'Gt Ormond St'.

1p., landscape 8vo. In fair condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. Headed 'Mr John White Dr. to General Oglethorpe'. Entries dated from 13 February 1777 to 25 August 1778. The accounts, with debits on the left and credits on the right, cover two and a half years' rental on Home Farm at £171 per anum, and one and a half years' rental on Broadfields at £82 2s 0d per anum. Signed note at end: '26 Sep.

Nevins was a passionate opponent of Darwinism, and the present item, composed any time after 1854 (the latest date of the various works referred to in the text), reflects the crisis of faith in the period leading up to the publication of the 'Origin of Species'. Nevins would set out his position on 'Natural Selection, Sexual Selection, Evolution' in his 1872 inaugural address as President of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool (Proceedings, No. 26, 1872, pp.1-26), attacking the 'imperfect and one-sided view' put forward by 'the advocates of man's lowly origins'.

21pp., 4to. On 21 leaves held together with a brass stud. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-worn paper. Neatly written out with a few autograph emendations. Nightingale begins: 'I have been asked to make some observations this evening on the contents of the mediaeval part of this museum. The objects are however so multifarious that it would be impossible to do more than glance at the whole. I will therefore confine myself to two or three subjects connected with the habits and customs of our forefathers, and which can be illustrated by actual examples now in the museum.

ONE: 4pp., foolscap 8vo. In fair condition, on aged and worn paper. In reply to two letters from Campbell, Garrett is giving 'definite information'. He begins: 'With regard to possible reductions in the Indian Army, the three Indian Cavalry Regts you mention have been warned for mechanization and not disbandment. They have all sent off men to undergo courses in the driving and maintenance of motor vehicles.

1p., 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, on aged paper. Addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'Mr. Danl. Flexney | Westborne Place | Bayswater | near London', with two postmarks in red ink, one round and the other oval (the second in two parts), both giving year 1818. Docketed and with the following note above the text of the letter: 'From Lieut Col George Napier | To Mr. Danl.

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.

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.

1p., 4to. On lightly aged and creased paper. Ashton has made two emendations in manuscript: 'Dear Sir' is changed to 'My dear Ernest', and 'Yours faithfully' to 'Yours ever'. The letter reads: 'I beg to offer you our sincere thanks for the gift of a design for La Bohème, Act II, by Hans Strohbach, which we have much pleasure in accepting for inclusion in the collections of the Victoria and Albert Museum.'

1p., 12mo. Bifolium. On aged and worn paper, diagonally folded with remains of red wax seal on reverse of second leaf, which is addressed to 'Richard Eales Esqre | &c &c &c | Exeter'. The letter begins: 'Sir Peter Laurie presents his compliments to Mr Eales & request his acceptance of the accompanying pamphlet'. He asks Eales 'to place (at his convenience) the other two copies in the hands of the Gentlemen to whom they are officially directed'.

1p., landscape 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly aged and worn paper, with cropped margins. He begins by explaining that O'Donnell's letter has been sent to him 'from Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on the staff of which I am and whose whose [sic] historian I am too'. He continues: 'I fear a night vigil would be of little use so far as the Ghost is concerned. He is a day time visitant. Never yet has he been seen before 9 a.m. or after six p.m. Between those hours - frequently.' He refers O'Donnell to the 'full account' in his book 'Theatre Royal'.

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. He thanks her 'for giving me the wrongly addressed envelope'. He has tried ringing her 'a dozen times' and gives her number for checking. He ends by inviting her to dinner.

1p., 4to. In fair condition, on lightly-aged and creased paper. In the signature Pemberton Billing's surname (unhyphenated) is preceded by what looks like 'Dot' or 'DA', the significance of which is unclear, but which may be an abbreviation of his RNAS rank. The letter reads: 'Dear Mrs. Ross Clyne, | As I am so very uncertain in my involvements at present - Will you ring me up on your arrival in Town? and I will then fix an appointment with you.'

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In good condition, on aged paper. Small square cut away from second leaf of bifolium, not affecting text. Docketed: 'Pay Receivable 2 Monday in Augt.' and '663. | Captn. W. Trevelyan | 25 Aug: 1844 | Recd. 26 - - | Ansd 27 -'. The letter begins: 'My dear Thomson | There appears to be some mistake; what I wished to know was, "when my Pay was due at the India House", commencing from the 20th May last - my Pay certificate was included amongst the Papers I left at your House - the sum you mention recoverable on the 29th Inst.

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. An interesting letter from a senior Conservative politician during Disraeli's second government, written on the day the British fleet set sail for Turkish waters, with war between Great Britain and Russia appearing imminent. (Tensions between the two countries had been increasing during the course of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, and the fleet would anchor off Constantinople, which the Russians threatened to occupy.) The letter begins: 'My dear George | We divided last night contrary to all Expectation.

2pp., 8vo. In good condition, on lightly aged and worn paper. The letter has been marked up in manuscript for publication, with the heading: 'Mr. Clement Scott: A Contradiction.' [last two words amended from 'An Explanation'] The letter begins: 'My Solicitors who advised me that the paragraph in your last issue connecting my name directly with a slanderous rumour to the effect that a well know dramatic critic had been bribed by a theatrical manager has handed me your letter of <?> date.

Copp's letter: 1p., 12mo. Attractive letterhead, with embossed design. Addressed to 'The Hon: Geo. E. Hill Trevor | Brynkinalt | Chirk'. In good condition, with slight creasing and discoloration at foot. He is sending a receipt for Hill-Trevor's 'entrance fee and subscription to this Society', and discusses subscription matters. Head's letter: 2pp., 12mo. Very good, on lightly-aged paper.

LETTER: 1p., 4to, with 26 lines of text. In fair condition, on aged paper, with rust marks from paperclip in one margin. The letter begins: 'Dear Sir | I send you a report - the latest we have issued. It is cut down to 1/3 of its usual size. The regulations given are prewar conditions & hardly obtain now. We now require a man to pay what he can [last three words underlined] towards his board but no good candidate would be rejected because he could not find a penny. Practically this obtained before the war but we emphasise that now.

1p., 4to. Bifolium, addressed on the reverse of the second leaf to 'Messrs. Thomson Hankey <& Co> | Merchants | 7 Mincing Lane | London'. The second leaf is also docketed, and carries two circular postmarks, one from 'WEST BROMWICH'. Williams writes that he has returned to find 'an enquiry about the nails & chains'. He gives a price below which he cannot go, adding: 'I must be paid for the Casks: but if a quantity of nails had been wanted I would have given my trouble on the other things, as I should have made a profit on the nails'.

10pp.,, 8vo. On five leaves torn from a notebook. In fair condition, on aged and lightly-worn paper. A creditable effort, showing the influence of Gray's 'Elegy' and Goldsmith's 'Deserted Village', describing the unnamed farm hand's funeral, and reflecting on the virtues and hardships of the poor. Begins: 'From yonder peaceful and secluded dell, | Snug in the bosom of th'encircling hills, | The perfumed Zephyr bears a passing knell, | And melancholy o'er the Soul distils.

Founded in 1818, the Ipswich firm of W. S. Cowell Ltd ('The Press in the Butter Market') grew into one of the leading British printers, known for its high-quality catalogue work. The firm's papers are in the Suffolk Record Office at Ipswich, whose catalogue entry provides a good summary of its history.

Two items, in good condition. ONE: Duplicated typescript (1p., 8vo) headed 'TRANSLATION | MINISTRY OF INTERIOR. | DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF UIDANCE [sic] AND BROADCASTING'. Dated from 'Baghdad (Iraq)' on 11 February 1958. A letter of introduction for 'Mr. G. Wynne-Rushton', to five government ministries from 'Staff Brigadier Muhsen Mohamed Ali, Acting Director General of Guidance & Broadcasting'. Begins: 'Mr. G. Wynne-Rushton, who is now staying in Baghdad, is the Advertising Manager of Messrs.

The collection is in fair condition, on aged and worn paper. The six items are from the Wynne-Rushton papers. The first four relate to the 1948 Moroccan film 'Kenzi', for which Wynne-Rushton was working as English distributor, produced by the Société marocaine de Production cinématographique, produced by Brandel's company Eden Film Productions, with French actress Simone Berriau (1896-1984) as art director, and featuring a young Habib Reda (1932-1974). ONE: ALS from Brandel ('Joe') to 'Dear Gerald'. 2pp., 8vo. Slight staining to second page.

9pp., foolscap 8vo. Duplicated carbon, printed in purple (except for Item 27, added in black), with the type breaking up heavily at points. Listing 92 numbered items, with columns for 'Departmental Serial No.' and 'Priority', the latter marked up in red pencil with 'A' (top priority), 'B' and 'C'. The list is divided into the following subsections: 'Hull & Miscellaneous', 'Auxiliary Machinery & Gunmountings', 'Electrical', 'First Fitting Stores'. The document was presumably produced as part of an assessment of whether the ship should be saved or scrapped.