MANUSCRIPTS

12mo, 134 pp each on one side of a ring-punched loose leaf, with the leaves attached by green thread within an original worn buckram binder with discoloured endpapers. The leaves themselves in good condition on lightly-aged paper; with those of the draft story ruled in red, and sometimes utilizing scrap paper (for example the blank reverses of prospectuses for Wright's books and scrap pages from Blake Society material).

105 pp, in contemporary 4to notebook; started at both ends, with 53 pp at one, and 52 pp at the other. Quarter-bound in brown calf, marbled boards. Aged, in worn binding with a few loose leaves, but fair, and with text clear and complete. Ticket of 'Gotelee, Bookseller Printer and Stationer, Oakingham' on front pastedown. In two hands, the first considerably neater than the other, writing 18 pp of patrons (23 to a page), beginning with 'His Grace the Duke of Manchester Kimbolton Castle Hants', and featuring Sir E. Page Turner Bart Battleden House Woburn'.

Photographs: All black and white prints. The first (21 x 15 cm) a portrait of Waller (reproduced in Baxendale, p. 26, below). The second (23 x 17 cm) a family photograph of six Edwardian individuals, three younger ones (including a woman and with Waller at centre) standing, and three older men seated. The other six (all 14 x 8.5 cm and taken at the same time) showing Waller and family outdoors: one of him rowing, and one with a smiling woman (presumably his wife). Overall condition of the photographs is fair. They are lightly-aged, with a little creasing here and there.

12mo, 3 pp. 30 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged and creased paper. He sends a 'list of pieces' which he considers 'suitable for a Short Company'. The first piece named is 'The Silver Lining (the St James's Comedy)', in which he says there are 'only 4 Men & 3 women exclusive of Helen Maltravers'.

Both good, on aged paper. Both docketed and with the Society's stamp. ONE: 14 October 1915. Folio, 1 p. Regarding a 'special examination in English, for Belgian refugees'. TWO: 21 October 1915. 4to, 1 p. Headed 'Examination for Belgians in the English Language'.

4to, 1 p. Thirteen lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on aged and lightly-creased paper. The letterhead features an engraving of Chaucer with a lion and eagle. Stating that 'the Pilgrims Society has no funds available' to pay for the sending of 'a representative to the Conference that you are holding with the object of preserving the Old Cottages of England', although 'individual Pilgrims might be willing to subscribe' and the Society is 'in full sympathy with your object'.

12mo, 3 pp. In bifolium. Forty lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He cannot get her 'a good berth in the middle of he ship', but he recommends that she take a 'good side one near the Ladies Saloon which is aft'. He draws a diagram of the position of this berth, which is 'under offer' to her. He gives the number and price to Colon, Panama, and on to Valparaiso, Chile. He has written her letters of introduction, and offers his further services.

Texts of both items clear and complete. Both on grey paper, each leaf headed with an embossed governmental crest. The 'Memorandum' proper is of ten numbered folio pages, on ten leaves held together with a brass stud. The first page headed 'Confidential' and the last dated 'H. B. | 19th. August 1883' Begins: 'The separation of the N. C.

Folio, 1 p. 35 lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on aged paper. Docketed 'Copy of Letter wch. proved the antedate of Major'. He apologises for troubling Torrens again with his 'unfortunate case'. he is 'still on crutches and a very great sufferer in consequence of the numerous & severe Wounds I received in the Battle of Waterloo'. He is 'induced to implore His Rl. Highness The Commander in Chief [i.e. the Prince of Wales] to allow my commission as Brevet Major'.

Folio, 4 pp. Both on the same bifolium. All texts clear. On aged and worn paper, with chipping and fraying to extremities. Presumably part of a series of ongoing receipts, as the the first begins in the middle of the preamble '<...> commandement de Monsieur le Marquis de Roye Lieutenant general, | De la somme de deux cent cinquante neuf livres onze sols huit deniers [...]'. The receipts are neatly written out, with two long authorisations in the margins, each bearing the same illegible signature.

4to, 2 pp. 23 lines. Text clear and complete. Very good on lightly-aged paper. Reporting the 'record character' of the 'financial result of the recent Anniversary Festival', and thanking Harmsworth for his 'great personal interest in the Festival which has led to the Funds of the Institution being so considerably increased' and 'splendid service', and requesting permission for his 'name to be thus permanently connected wtih the Charitable Work which your kind efforts have so very materially advanced'.

Portrait: 34.5 x 20 cm. Laid down on a piece of paper of the same size. Good: a little dusty and with unobtrusive 1.5 cm closed tear to left margin, and minor traces of previous mounting on reverse. Very good reproduction, on photographic paper of a complex, ghostly scene in a moonlit graveyard, with a number of supernatural figures among the graves. Decorative border with elongated skeletons.

Both items good, on lightly-aged paper. Palmer's letter: 4to, 6 pp. Text clear and complete. He begins by apologising if his letter to her 'sounded very ungracious': 'I was unaware at the time that you had made any acknowledgement to me, and as I have had my brains picked so frequently without acknowledgment (including, of course, plagiarisms from my poems) I was again feeling rather depressed & exasperated'. While describing her book as 'really [...] very good' and 'reliable', he suggests a number of changes, giving examples of 'where we clash'.

12mo, 4 pp. Bifolium. 32 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. In answer to a request for autographs, she has 'some duplicates somewhere, but tonight I send you only three cards', as she has 'no letters of Miss Yonge that I should like to part with'. She names the authors of the 'three signed postcards' (not present) as: James Payne ('Editor of Cornhill, author of many novels'), Charlotte Yonge and Richard Monckton Milnes, Lord Houghton.

For more information about Stephen Manton Bradbury, or Stephen Manton as he was known professionally, see his obituary in The Times, 8 September 1970. The collection is in good condition, on aged paper. The correspondence from various figures in various BBC music departments, both London and regional, and in a variety of formats from 4to down to 12mo, breaks down to the following number of items per year: 1944, 8; 1945, 5; 1946, 30; 1947, 34; 1948, 32; 1949, 22; 1950, 11; 1951, 15; 1952, 1.

Folio, 3 pp. Bifolium. On paper with 1818 watermark of Joseph Colles. Docketed, lengthwise on reverse of second leaf, 'Copy | Specification of Catch Pier at Cullen Harbour by John Gibb | 1819.' 46 lines of text. Clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with two punch holes for a ring binder in margin of each leaf. The full heading reads 'Specification of the proposed Catch Pier for Cullen Harbour, agreeably to the Plan and Section which accompanies this [not present].' Begins 'The Pier is to be of the dimensions marked on the Plan and Sections, and to join the outer end of the rock.

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'.

Both certificates landscape 8vo, 1 p. Each on paper, backed with contemporary cloth. The two texts are in the same secretarial hand, variously signed by Bourmaster and Bastard (both lieutenants at the time). Clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Both documents with Paterson's name given as 'Patterson'. The first certifcate concerns Paterson's service on the St Antonio (Captain George Anthony Tonyn) as Able Seaman, from 28 November to 2 December 1767, and from 3 December to 31 October 1768. It is signed 'Jo Bastard s Lt'.

Folio, 38 pp; and 4to, 22 pp. Trade source stated that this material was found in a file marked War Office, suggesting official file copies. All documents clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. All foreign documents translated into English. The main documents are Sir John French's Despatch on the Retreat from Mons, 7 September 1914 (folio, 10 pp); French's Despatch on the Battle of the Marne, 17 September 1914 (folio, 5 pp); French's Despatch on the Battle of the Aisne, 8 October 1914 (folio, 12 pp); Joffre's General Instruction No. 1, 8 August [1914] (folio, 4 pp).

Landscape folio leaf (32.5 x 40.5 cm), 1 p. On paper watermarked 'JOHN HALL | 1810'. Neatly ruled to make a complex, detailed table, in three columns of 31 rows each. The table has a central vertical fold, with the left hand side of the reverse mounted on a leaf removed from an autograph album. In poor condition, with around an eighth of the total area of the paper and text lacking, mostly from the bottom right-hand corner. Despite the loss the table (presumably prepared for the British War Office) contains a mass of valuable information.

4to, 4 pp. Bifolium. 87 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper, with wear to extremities and a spike hole to one corner. Written in ink in a Victorian hand, and with three changes in pencil. Docketed at head 'The art of Vocalization'. Towards beginning writes that the subject is one which he has 'studied many years in close connexion with the most eminent Masters of Italy, most of whom I may rank among my personal friends, and the pith of whose conversations, added to my own experience I propose embodying in a few short essays upon the Formation of the Voice'.

A fascinating archive, reflecting Houdini's immense iconic status. The collection is in good condition, with only a few items showing signs of aging, such as a handful of magazines with loose covers or other pages. Apart from two items (described first below) the collection is divided into two parts, A and B: Part A comprises general Houdini ephemera, and Part B magazines featuring Houdini, 1909-1997.

Folio, 4 pp. Bifolium. Text clear and complete. On aged and creased paper, with some wear and chipping to extremities. Previously folded into a packet docketed in a contemporary hand 'Answers to Queries'. The first page begins with 'Ansr. 1.', a list of ten ministers, from '1. The Duke of Richelieu President of the Council of Ministers & of the Privy Council & Min: Sec: of State having the Dept. of Foreign Affairs.' and ending with '10. Director general Count Pradel'. P. 1 also features 'Question 2 | Answer A', beginning 'The Members of the Govt.

4to, 6 pp, with a seventh leaf carrying the title 'The Ludlow Hunt Alphabet. An Adaptation.' (The title at the head of the poem itself is 'The Ludlow Alphabet. An Adaptation.') A genuine typescript, and not a reproduction. A poem of 128 lines, divided into 32 4-line stanzas. Fair, on aged paper, with the last leaf laid down on a leaf of an autograph album, with traces of a newspaper cutting on the reverse. Consisting of playful references to members of the Hunt, arranged alphabetically. First stanza: 'A's for Allcroft, on chestnut | With frontlet of blue.

Landscape 12mo. 17 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged and lightly-creased paper. For a graphologist Miss Baughan's handwriting is curiously angular and crabbed. Explaining that 'these together with some 2 dozen others were overlooked in the July packet - at least this was how it was - each week a packet is sent & I do the packets in rotation of their dates'. She is 'really now doing the September studies'. Continues in same vein. Baughan published a number of works on what would now be called 'new age' subjects in the 1880s.

4to, 1 p. Fourteen lines, in pencil. Text clear and complete. Good, on aged paper. In envelope addressed by Holloway to Inglis. He apologises for his 'rudeness' in not answering earlier: 'I plead rush of work'. He would be delighted to sit for her, but 'the trouble is that I may have to leave town on Monday to produce a play in the country and then on to S[tratford]-on-A[von] for the 7 weeks Festival'. Suggests a later meeting.

12mo, 4 pp. Bifolium. 51 lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on aged paper. Chatty and spirited letter. 'I propose myself the honour and pleasure (seldom indeed, save in common parlance!) of paying you a visit, - to present you with a copy of "Westminster Abbey"', which has 'emerged from the press in the orthodox three volumes'. Does not want to give him 'an excuse for not flashing your eye through it'.

4to, 2 pp. Fourteen lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper neatly repaired with archival tape. Addressed to Barker as 'Collector &c'. Recommending the appointment of 'Colonel Freeman' as 'an Inspector of the Customs for the City of Philadelphia'. Freeman is 'a very active Democrat' and 'a very estimable man'. Should Barker appoint him, he will be 'gratifying the Democrats of the City of Philadelphia & will also oblige - | Yours truly | [signed] J B Sutherland'. In 1844 Sutherland himself received a similar letter from Edgar Allan Poe, recommending Robert Travers.

All in good condition on lightly-aged paper, and all but one (Letter Five) bearing the Society's stamp. Letters One, Two and Six docketed. Letter One (18 November): 12mo, 2 pp. Hoping that Wood, 'as an Ex President of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain', will 'help the Hurter and Driffield Memorial Fund [of which he is Honorary Treasurer] which is being got up [by the Royal Photographic Society] [...] to do honour to the memory of those famous workers in the Chemistry & Physics of Photography'. Letter Two (26 November): 4to, 2 pp.

Folio, circa 360 pp. Label of the stationers E. B. Horwood & Co. Ltd. In sturdy half-calf binding, with red leather label stamped 'MINUTE BOOK' on spine. Text clear and complete. Internally tight, on lightly-aged paper with slight damp staining at foot. Binding worn and with damp damage to back board. Titled 'Society of Chemical Industry | Chemical Industry Club', and with manuscript note on flyleaf by 'G. S.