MANUSCRIPT

1p., 12mo. Fair, on aged paper, with short vertical closed tear at foot through the first name of Pyne's signature, unobtrusively repaired on reverse with archival tape. The letter reads: 'Dear Sir | I left a message for you this morning asking for a Box which I am very much surprised at not receiving | Will you kindly send me one by bearer | It is for my Father | In haste | Yours Obediently | [signed] Louisa Pyne'.

3pp., 12mo. 62 lines of text. On bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper; neatly written in a close hand. An affectionate letter, addressed to 'Dearest Stephen'. He begins: 'It seems a long while since I heard anything of or from you - the last news was in a letter from Alice [Stephen's wife], which Horatia [Stephen's sister] allowed me to see.' He complains jokingly that his son 'cannot be in a more trying climate than ours is this May - for it is as cold as Xmas, and the bitter cold of a settled N. E.

4pp., 4to. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. An extraordinarily callous letter, which would furnish a text for a paper on religious hypocrisy and the evils of capitalism. The context is explained in Samuel Lewis's 'Topgraphical Dictionary of England', published twenty-two years after this letter, in which the entry on 'Milton-next-Sittingborne (Holy Trinity)' contains the following: 'The commercial business consists chiefly in shipping for the London market the agricultural produce of the neighbourhood, and in bringing goods in return.

1p., 4to. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed to 'Mrs. G. R. Alden, 425 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, Calif.' Badger confirms that he has received 'the manuscript of "Nell Jenkins" and "Her Own Way"', and his firm has been 'considering the publication of the book very carefully'.

2pp., 12mo. 31 lines. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Begins abruptly: '<...> rather wait a little & get it without its having made a great favour.' He declares that he is 'perfectly ready however to go to sea tomorrow & have no wish to remain on shore, the reverse in fact, I would rather be afloat if I could choose - Shore is a stupid place I think - perhaps as soon as I leave it I shall commence to think otherwise'. References to 'sharpish weather' and dinner 'with the Chads' follow. He has been 'living rather a la Hermit'.

8pp., 12mo. On two bifoliums. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. With envelope, with Penny Red stamp and circular postmark in black ink ('B | LERWICK | 5 NO | 80'), addressed to 'The Revd. | C. W. Shepherd | Trosley Rectory | N Maidstone | Kent | England'. Balston and his companion on the trip Edward Bartlett would go on to collaborate with Shepherd on the 1907 publication 'Notes on the Birds of Kent'. The letter begins: 'Dear Shepherd | Here we are in the Arctic Regions, & it being Sunday & snowing fast, are not able to get out, so I sit down to spin you a yarn.

One: 3pp., 16mo. 42 lines. Fair, on aged paper.

Both letter and pamphlet in very good condition. Letter: 8pp., 4to. Written a few days before Russell's death on 12 March 1956. On the first page he describes how the London esoteric bookseller J. M.

6pp., 12mo. Earlier in 1864, as Captain John Corbett, he had married Georgina Grace, eldest daughter of G. J. Holmes of Brooke Hall, Norfolk. He begins by explaining that he could not answer her note, as he received it 'at Spithead just before sailing for Sheerness': 'As I explained to your Husband I took the note & consequently the address so that when I wanted to send my wedding cards I could only send them to Alexander at the R. L. College.' He continues: 'I am not very long out of harness and am going to try my hand at being a Flag Captain'.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. It is not 'from inattention or indifference' that Kelly has left Barry's letter unanswered. 'I think it would be inconsistent with my duty in the office which I now hold to become a member of your very excellent association'.

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. On the first leaf of a bifolium, with the second blank leaf carrying traces of glue from mount. The note reads: 'May /85 | Lord Tennyson begs to thank the Lord Chamberlain for the honour of the invitation on June 6th. He regrets that he is unable to avail himself of it.'

On 7 x 11 cm rectangle cut from front of envelope. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with glue from mount adhering to reverse, which is docketed in pencil: 'Serjt Talfourd | Readng | Berks'. The frank reads, with the words in square brackets not in Talfourd's hand, unlike the rest: '[Shrewsbury March] Twenty three | [The Very Revd.] The Dean | Hereford | [signed] T N Talfourd'.

2pp., 12mo. 15 lines. In very good condition. He begins by apologising for not being able to assist Williams. 'I do not know of any book on the subject of the Teachers of the Apostolical age - of course very little indeed can be known about them. The ecclesiastical historians such as and of course a hundred others would I suppose give you all the references that would be of use to you.'?>?>

1p., 12mo. 22 lines. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Burlend begins his letter: 'Many thanks for your paper on Periodicity in Classification: it is very interesting but in many respects beyond me. | I don't understand why the Polyzoa should be included in the group "True limbs present" as they have nothing suggesting limbs'. | Otherwise the classification for the Animal Kingdom seems more balanced than it is in most text-books.' The second part of the letter discusses specific examples: platypus, aves and mammals.

2pp., 4to. 41 lines. In fair condition, on aged paper. He begins by stating that 'Yellow Sands' 'only touches social questions by the accident of the plot. Socialism is a word the definition of which no two people appear to agree about. Ask a dozen Socialists what they understand by their faith & they will each tell you something different.' The opinions depicted in the play are both 'clear' and 'foggy', 'but it is [in] no sense propagandist - I hate propaganda in art.' He goes on to discuss his own views: 'I am not a socialist.

2pp., 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper, with a couple of small spots of glue from mount. Numbered in another hand at the foot of the second page. He writes: 'The Chalcographic Soicety meet at my house on Friday evening next 21st inst | If you can favor me with your company on that evening it will give me great pleasure.' For information about the Chalcographic Society, founded in 1807, see Dennis M. Read's biography of 'R. H. Cromek' (2011).

1p., 12mo. 10 lines. On bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. She explains that her only publications up to that point are 'Stormbeaten and Weary' and 'Spectre Stricken' ('a Christmas Story'). 'I wish to remain unknown until I can write a book I consider sufficiently good to have my own name - for this reason I have called myself "Evelyn Burne".'

3pp., foolscap 8vo, with the fourth page carrying the description of the document when folded into the usual packet. Bifolium. In fair condition, on aged paper. With embossed tax stamp and circular stamp in black ink dating the document to London, 24 September 1849. The agreement, on the first two pages, is 'Between George Hibbert of Albany Piccadilly in the County of Middlesex Esquire of the one part and George Krehmer of Albanyaforesaid Esquire of the other part.' It is signed 'George Hibbert', with 'Witness Charles Sprigges'.

1p., landscape 12mo. With circular purple stamp of the Magistrate of the District, Belgaum. The magistrates name is faded and difficult to decipher (''). Completed in manuscript (in square brackets in the following transcription): '[Lieut. Peacock, Officer in charge Disinfection and Central Segregation Camps,] Supervisor of Circle No. [last four words crossed through] is hereby appointed a plague authority under the Moffussil Plague Rules in the town and suburbs of Belgaum.'
With related newspaper article.

2pp., 12mo. On aged paper. He only received Goodrich's note on his return from London on the previous day, 'too late to attend the meeting which I certainly should have done to vote for Mr Sturge had I been able'. However he sees from the newspapers that 'his election took place all right | In haste | Yours very truly | [signed] Jesse Collings'.

The three items give a hint of a certain aspect of Anglo-India relations at the high point of the Raj. Letter One (23 May 1912): 2pp., 12mo. On aged and ruckled paper, with closed tears on second leaf along crease lines. Adressed to 'My Lord'.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with minor traces of glue from mount. It would give her 'very much pleasure' to accept the invitation 'to join you & other dear workers in the Temperance Work you are planning for April, but I am sorry to say at present I am quite liad aside from all work'. She describes how she has been ill since the previous October.

2pp., 4to. Bifolium. Heavily-aged and worn. Addressed 'Dear Sir', and with facsimile of signature 'For the London Steam Omnibus Co. Ltd. | A. Flemg Nisbett | Secretary.' The circular begins with the reason for sending an advance copy of the prospectus. 'My object in giving you this early intimation is that you may, if you desire, secure beforehand a Founder's Share in the profits of the coming Steam Traffic upon the Roads - which Traffic appears likely to become one day as popular as Steam on Railways'.

Both essay and letter on aged and brittle paper, with some chipping to extremities (not affecting text). Both are written in a tight, close hand. The letter: 2pp., 12mo.

2pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The letter is written in pencil, and begins: 'Sir, | I am awfully sorry to say that I have just been ordered to report tomorrow to G. H. Q. where I shall very probably receive the order to go to the Yankee Army. | I am really very sorry to leave you without having even been able to present to you my respects and my thanks for the kindness you have always shown to me during the time I have been attached to this brigade which is now exactly a year ago.

The three items are stapled to one another, in good condition on lightly-aged paper. The first item is the typescript, which is 1p., 4to. It is addressed to 'Dear Brother Artist,' and begins: 'You will possibly be rather surprised to receive a letter from me, but after having spent most of my life in the Provinces, I now find myself landed in London. I am surprised at the amount of discussion and activity that takes place here regarding the "politics" of the theatre - and realise how you in the Provinces are apt to get left out.

The Campaign of Actors for Sunday Theatres appears to have been active from January 1943 until at least 1944, with the actor Alec Clunes as Honorary Treasurer. The fourteen items in this collection are in good condition, on aged paper, in a beige card folder carrying the title 'LIST OF 213 CELEBRITIES'. [NB. While the first item described below is likely to be, as its title states, the work of Noel Coward, one other item at least in this collection (present in two versions as nos.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Dunlop begins by informing Hodge that his cousin William Hamilton Dunlop of Downside, Ayrshire, 'has purchased as one of the Burns Monument Trustees the "Veitch" of Paisley copy of the Kilmarnock Burns for £1000'. He describes the book as 'the most perfect copy known uncut & with both blue paper covers much better than the Lamb copy.' Dunlop is 'glad it has been secured for the Burns Cottage Museum at Alloway & is not going across the fish pond [i.e.

2pp., 12mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, on lightly-aged paper. Signed 'A R. Dryhurst'. The document begins: 'I am desired by the Committee to inform you that they have resolved to print the speeches revised by himself, which Mr. Gladstone delivered at the beginning and end of the debate on the Eastern Question.' The terms are then given, 'With the view of securing for them, the widest possible circulation'.

1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on aged paper, with minor traces of glue from mount still adhering. Numbered at head in manuscript. The message reads: 'Mr. Charles C. Babington presents his compliments to Miss Barnard and begs to thank her for the very full list of plants found near Royston which she has so kindly sent to him through the hands of Mr. Fordham.'