NINETEENTH

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Autograph Letter Signed ('E Cobham Brewer') from Rev. Ebenezer Cobham Brewer, author of 'Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable', to 'My dear Ethel', concerning a coincidence regarding a paper knife, and his liking for 'promptness'.

Author: 
Rev. Ebenezer Cobham Brewer (1810-1897), lexicographer, best-known for the reference work 'Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable' (from 1870 onwards)
Publication details: 
Edwinstowe, Newark, Nottinghamshire. 15 April 1890.
£56.00

2pp., 12mo. 24 lines. On the rectos of two leaves of a bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with neat thin strips of paper from mount adhering at head and tail of second page. He begins by acknowledging the safe receipt of the paper knife, and thanking her 'for the kindness & promptness of carrying out my wish. I certainly thought the article could not be entirely strange that it could not be discovered in six weeks'.

Autograph Note Signed ('R Grosvenor') from Lord Robert Grosvenor (later 1st Baron Ebury) to Miss Elizabeth M. Lloyd, sending a donation in aid of the Ladies' Negro Education Society.

Author: 
Robert Grosvenor (1801-1893), 1st Baron Ebury, styled Lord Robert Grosvenor, 1831-57; Comptroller of the Household, 1830-34; Treasurer of the Household, 1846-47 [Ladies' Negro Education Society]
Publication details: 
107 Park St, Mayfair, London. 11 September 1844.
£90.00

1p., 12mo. Fair, on aged paper, with traces of glue from mount adhering to blank reverse. He acknowledges receipt of her letter 'enclosing me a report of the Ladies Negro Education Society', and is sending a 'small donation in aid of its funds'.

Autograph Note Signed ('W M') from the Irish journalist William Maginn to his friend and fellow-native of Cork Thomas Crofton Croker ('Dear Croft').

Author: 
William Maginn (1794-1842), Irish journalist and friend of Charles Dickens, contributor Blackwood's Magazine and Fraser's Magazine [Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854), Irish antiquary; James Hardiman]
Publication details: 
Without place or date [post 1831].
£32.00

1p., 12mo. On bifolium. Good, on aged paper. Addressed on reverse of second leaf to 'T. C. Croker Esq'. Reads: 'Dear Croft | I return Hardiman with many thanks. | Yrs. &c. | [signed] W M'. The signature is underlined twice. The reference is to James Hardiman's 'Irish Minstrelsy', published in 1831.

Holograph Poem, in the form of an Autograph Letter Signed from the temperance campaigner Sir William Lawson to James Grahame, written from the point of view of a 'Blue bottle Fly', and described by its author as 'weak doggrell'.

Author: 
Sir Wilfrid Lawson (1829-1906), 2nd Baronet, of Brayton, temperance campaigner and Liberal politician
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Brayton, Cumberland. 27 August 1901.
£85.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. Good, on lightly-aged paper. The poem is of eighteen lines, and begins: 'I agree, my dear friend that whatever we feel | We are really no more than the "flies on the wheel." | And that there's little more which each one of [us] does | Than fluster & flurry & worry & buzz | But each has his place if he only could know it | But I doubt very much if my place is a poet!

Autograph Letter Signed ('Syd Smirke') from the architect Sydney Smirke, advising 'Mr. Lloyd' [William Watkiss Lloyd?] not 'to be made instrumental in dunning', in a case involving Saunders & Co. and 'Sir Robert' [his brother Sir Robert Smirke?].

Author: 
Sydney Smirke (1798-1877), English architect, younger brother of Sir Robert Smirke (1780-1867) [William Watkiss Lloyd (1813-1893), antiquary]
Publication details: 
Grosenor St [London]. 5 March [1859].
£45.00

2pp., 12mo. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with minor water staining and a couple of spike holes. An intriguing communication, beginning: 'I would not, if I were you, allow myself to be so worried.' Smirke feels that, as 'Mess: Saunders & Co have not been backward in representing themselves as Principals in the matter', and as they 'are as largely as - or more largely, interested' than Lloyd himself 'in obtaining a payment, they had better themselves address Sir Robert'.

Autograph Letter Signed from the Scottish painter Thomas Faed inviting a fellow-painter to his studio, and expressing concern that his paintings may get 'massacred [...] in the hanging'.

Author: 
Thomas Faed (1826-1900), RSA, Scottish painter
Publication details: 
24a Cavendish Rd, St John's Wood [London]. 3 April [post 1876].
£80.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Watermarked 'JOYNSON | 1876'. Fair, on lightly-aged paper, with minor staining from mount at foot of second leaf. Written in a hasty, untidy hand. The recipient appears to be 'My dear Hornby', 'Horley' or 'Howley'. Faed writes that he is 'slaving away chopping and changing sometimes worse and sometimes better (I hope) on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. 7th.

Eight Autograph Letters Signed from Captain John M. Preston to his brother Hinckley attorney Samuel Preston, describing a voyage from Newcastle to Callao, Peru, on which his ship is in a gale off Yarmouth and left 'a complete wreck' off Cape Horn.

Author: 
Captain John M. Preston, Master of the 'Alice Walton' [Newcastle; Yarmouth; Stanley Harbour, Falkland Islands; Callao, Lima, Peru]
Publication details: 
Nevill Hotel, Newcastle; Yarmouth Roads; Ship Alice Walton; Stanley Harbour, Falkland Islands; Callao, Lima, Peru. Dating from between November 1864 and October 1865.
£400.00

Eight items totalling 3pp., 4to; 19pp., 12mo. All are all addressed to 'Dear Sam'. All in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. 'I never had such weather or suffered so much as I have this voyage from one thing and another' declares the author, and this series of eight letters provides a vivid account by the captain of a Victorian cargo ship of a voyage packed with misfortune. As mishap is heaped upon mishap the author's spelling deteriorates. ONE. Neville Hotel, Newcastle. Undated [late 1864].

Printed handbill address by James Haughton Langston to the 'Freemen of the City of Oxford.'

Author: 
James Haughton Langston (1796-1863) of Sarsden House, Chipping Norton, Whig MP for New Woodstock, 1820-1826, and for Oxford, 1826-1834 and 1841-1863
Publication details: 
[Oxford, 1832?]
£60.00

1p., 4to. Worn and aged. The item has been laid down and cropped to 23 x 19.5cm, with only the top part of Langston's surname is present at the bottom of the leaf. In heavily-inked type. The item reads: 'FREEMEN | OF THE | City of Oxford. | Gentlemen, | I want words to express my acknowledgements to you for your generous conduct towards me this day; and I am proud to find, that the longer the Contest continues the better I stand on the Poll.

The Popular Family Tales of Mrs. Craik

Author: 
[Mrs Craik]
Publication details: 
London: Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent & Co (earliest published work in BL 1890).; Glasgow: Thomas D. Morison[after 1887, her year of death]
£350.00

430pp., 8vo, “Biographical Sketch,” unsigned, p. 5–6,bookplate (Presentation), bokseller's label (both inside front cover), very dark red smooth cloth, spine blocked in gold., sl. worn, corners bumped wear to edges of spine, eps foxed, pages stained (mainly sides), ow good. Copy in Parish Collection, Princeton; none listed on COPAC, WorldCat. or Woolf.

Two Victorian stained glass windows, each with a central panel relief in white glass paste and grisaille, each with an image from Steuben depicting Esmeralda, from Victor Hugo's 'Hunchback of Notre Dame', dancing with, and nursing, her goat.

Author: 
[Victorian stained glass window; Charles de Steuben (1788-1856); Victor Hugo (1802-1885), author of 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame' (1831)]
Publication details: 
[British, c.1850?]
£300.00

Each wIndow is 22 x 20 cm, with a central 16 x 14 cm panel of white glass, surrounded by a border made up of eight pieces (2 x 2cm corner squares with stars in orange glass, connected by 2 x 14cm rectangular purple panels). Each window has a set of two metal loops at head, for hanging. Metal frame rusted on both, and two border panels cracked on one, otherwise in good condition, with both white glass reliefs undamaged. The two housed in a contemporary silk-lined black leather box with brass clasps.

Typed Letter Signed from the artist and critic Adrian Bury to Miss Joyce Havell, discussing the landscape painter William Havell and his family.

Author: 
Adrian Bury (1891-1991), artist and critic [Joyce Havell; William Havell (1782-1857), landscape painter]
Publication details: 
24 August 1947. Leatherwagon, Waites Lane, Fairlight.
£90.00

2pp., 4to. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. He thanks her for her 'kind letter and transcription letters', and will be 'grateful to receive prints of your drawings by William Havell. Truly, those at the V. & A. are not very good, and I feel sure that there are much finer ones in existence.' He was 'amused by Auntie Jane's letter to her nephew', and will 'try and come down to Reading to see your Havells later on'. He would also like to see those of 'Mrs. Wilson'. He considers 'Luke Havell's children - a very gifted family'.

Manuscript Accounts Day Book of Perks & Llewellyn, Dispensing & Family Chemist, High Street, Hitchin [interior now housed in Hitchin Museum], giving names and addresses of purchasers, with products and prices.

Author: 
Perks & Llewellyn, Dispensing & Family Chemist, High Street, Hitchin [interior now in Hitchin Museum]
Publication details: 
17 September 1904 to 22 November 1905.
£280.00

366pp., narrow folio (16 x 40 cm). 43 lines to the page. In original vellum binding, with covers ruled in blue. On front cover printed label of 'PERKS & LLEWELLYN, | Dispensing & Family Chemist, | HIGH STREET, HITCHIN.' Marbled edges and endpapers. First leaf with 5 cm closed tear. Written out in black ink, in two or three different hands, with the granting of credit recorded in red. Containing a mass of information about local history, product and price. Early entries are stamped with date, later entries have date written out.

Interleaved 'P.P.L.' copy, annotated for official use by 'T.K.S.', of the Royal Mail 'Post Office Guide', with two years' corrections (1900-1902), abbreviations for various Post Offices, table of 'Post Towns' between 1900 and 1902, and other matter.

Author: 
[Royal Mail Post Office Guide, 1899, with official annotations by 'T.K.S.'; philately; post marks; wireless telegraphy]
Publication details: 
'To be obtained at all Post Offices in the United Kingdom. Price Sixpence.' No. 174. 1 October 1899. [Annotations dating from between 1900 and 1902.]
£280.00

8vo volume, bound up and interleaved for official use. Internally sound and tight, on aged paper; in worn black leather quarter-binding with repair to loose boards. In gilt on spine is the title 'P. P. L.', with 'T. K. S.' at the foot, and these abbreviations are also present in pencil on the title page. The printed guide has a total of 282pp: title leaf + pp.7-24, 43-44, 47-258, 261-280, 357-374. It is interleaved from p.48 to the end with 128 leaves (256pp).

Autograph Letter signed from Ernest Hawkins, secretary to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, to the Bishop of Oxford, reporting on a board meeting, and the efforts of the committee to 'avoid all the evils of a contest'.

Author: 
Ernest Hawkins (1802-1868), Prebendary of St Paul's Cathedral, and Secretary to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts [Samuel Wilberforce (1805-1873), Bishop of Oxford]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, 79 Pall Mall, London. 21 January 1865.
£75.00

4pp, 12mo. Bifolium. Fair, on lightly-aged light-blue paper. He begins: 'My dear Lord, | You may be glad to know what took place at our Board yesterday'. He begins by describing the 'not a little dissatisfaction expressed at the non-fulfillment of their order to name the fitted Candidate. We pleaded however that it would have been altogether unbecoming to proceed - against the declared wish of the President as well as of yourself & of the Bishop of Llandaff for some delay'. An adjournment has been agreed upon 'to receive the name of "one or more Candidates" from the Cee.

Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'Westland Marston') from the dramatist and critic John Westland Marston to John T. Baron of Blackburn, discussing his only novel, and his correspondence with Charles Dickens and Dante Gabriel Rossetti.

Author: 
John Westland Marston (1819-1890), English dramatist and critic, associated with the Pre-Raphaelites [John T. Baron of Blackburn; Charles Dickens; Dante Gabriel Rossetti; Ward and Lock]
Publication details: 
Both from 191 Euston Road, London. 19 August 1882 and 7 July 1883.
£180.00

Both items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Both of them bifoliums with mourning borders; and both in their original envelopes, addressed by Marston, with stamp and postmarks. ONE: 4pp., 12mo. He begins by stating that he is gratified to find that his poems please Baron. 'The only novel I wrote, (it is more than 20 years ago) has I believe been long out of print. A comparatively short tale entitled "Family Credit" together with other sketches and essays (chiefly contributed to "Household Worlds' [sic] was published many years gone by Messr. Ward and Lock as the 1st.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Phil. R. Morris') from the marine artist Philip R. Morris [to S. C. Hall], discussing his difficulty in finding someone to propose him for the Royal Academy.

Author: 
Philip R. Morris [Philip Richard Morris] (1836-1902), English genre and marine artist [S. C. Hall [Samuel Carter Hall] (1800-1889), Anglo-Irish editor of the Art Journal; Royal Academy of Arts]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Junior Athenaeum Club, Piccadilly. 30 January 1874.
£60.00

4pp., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper. He gives his 'best thanks' for his correspondent's 'watchful kindness'. As his 'acquaintance with Academicians is very limited', he has 'not yet solicited any one to propose me at the R.A.', and he 'would gladly accept Mr. E. M. Ward's obliging offer - and think Mr. G. D. Leslie or Mr Dobson would second me'. He made 'such a mistake' the previous evening, by going to the Vestry Hall, Chelsea. He found, 'on reading the circular again how I had erred'.

Autograph Letter in the third person from Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, sending money for 'Mr. Mauld' to give to a 'young lady'.

Author: 
Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (1793-1865), English artist and President of the Royal Academy
Publication details: 
7 Fitzroy Square, London. 28 October 1850.
£56.00

1p., 12mo. In good condition, with slight discolouration from glue. Reads: 'Mr Eastlake presents his compliments to Mr. Mauld & begs to enclose a half sovereign for the young lady on whose behalf Mr. Mauld has applied to him. | 7. Fitzroy Square | Octr. 28. 1850.'

Autograph Note in the third person from Sir Charles Lock Eastlake, painter and President of the Royal Academy, to 'Mr Whitaker', giving ''Mr Millais' address'.

Author: 
Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (1793-1865), English artist and President of the Royal Academy [Sir John Everett Millais]
Publication details: 
7 Fitzroy Square, London. 5 February 1863.
£65.00

1p., 12mo. Good, with the blank second leaf of the bifolium having slight staining from mount, and having laid down on it a newspaper cutting headed 'DEATH OF SIR C. EASTLAKE', docketd 'E & T Dec 26/65'. The note reads: 'Sir Chas Eastlake presents his compts. to Mr Whitaker & begs to inform him that Mr Millais' address is No. 7. Cromwell Place | Kensington. S.W. | 7. Fitzroy Sqr. (London) | Feby 5 1863.'

The Making and Working of a Channel Tunnel. Lecture delivered at the Royal Institution on Friday Evening, May 19, 1882. By Sir Frederick Bramwell, F.R.S. M.R.I.

Author: 
Sir Frederick Bramwell, FRS MRI [Royal Institution lecture on the Channel Tunnel]
Publication details: 
London: Printed by Wm. Clowes and Sons, Limited, Stamford Street and Charing Cross. 1882.
£45.00

This excessively-scarce work is little noticed: Bramwell's interest in the subject is not even noted in his entry in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. 28pp., 12mo. In original brown wraps. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with slight marking at head of wraps. The drop-head title reads: 'Royal Institution of Great Britain. | WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, | Friday, May 19, 1882. | WILLIAM BOWMAN, Esq. LL.D. F.R.S. Honorary Secretary and Vice-President, in the Chair. | SIR FREDERICK BRAMWELL, F.R.S. M.R.I. | The Making and Working of a Channel Tunnel.

Collection of early nineteenth-century red and black wax seals, mostly displayed on leaves of vellum paper, and presented in a wooden box, said to have been collected by Mary Ann Levin Smith, mother of Sir Archibald Levin Smith, Master of the Rolls.

Author: 
[Mary Ann Lee, daughter of Zadik Levin, wife of Francis Smith (1806-1872) of Salt Hill, JP, and mother of Sir Archibald Levin Smith (1836-1901), judge, Master of the Rolls, 1900-1901; sigillography]
Publication details: 
Apparently dating from the first half of the nineteenth century.
£450.00

The collection of 307 seals is in fair condition, with only a handful showing signs of loss. As with bookplates, the designs range from armorial to classical. Among the few carrying English texts, are the seal of the 'ADJUTANT GENERALS OFFICE ROYAL ARTILLERY D', the great seal of the Borough of Marlborough ('SIGILLUM MAJORIS BURGI DE MARLEBERG'), the seal of the 'ROYAL MILITARY COLLEGE', the 'OFFICE FOR TAXES', the 'YEOMANRY OFFICE', and 'THE PATRON OF EDUCATION AND THE FRIEND OF THE POOR'. In original boxwood box, approximately 26 x 18 x 6 cm, worn and aged with lock but no key.

Autograph Letter Signed from Charles Gilpin, Liberal MP for Northampton, to James Wyld, MP for Bodmin, putting the position of the Poor Board in the case of 'Mr Mayall', Relieving Officer.

Author: 
Charles Gilpin (1815-1874), Liberal MP for Northampton and Quaker [James Wyld (1812-1887), MP for Bodmin and cartographer; Poor Board, Whitehall]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of the Poor Board, Whitehall. 31 October 1860.
£56.00

2pp., 12mo. 25 lines. Fair, on aged paper, with a few ink spots caused by clumsy blotting. He has 'gone through the papers referring to the case' in which Wyld is 'kindly interested', and finds 'that the decision of the Board is in accordance with its uniform rule in similiar cases. | Mr. Mayall received his appointment as Relieving Officer on the express stipulation that he should reside in Bodmin'. Mayall's 'removal would have been objected to by this Board without any adverse representation from Guardians of the District'.

Autograph Letter in the third person from Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby, to the Secretary of the Royal Zoological Society [Philip Lutley Sclater], enquiring as to 'which steps are necessary to be taken' to become a member.

Author: 
Edward Henry Stanley, 15th Earl of Derby, British Conservative politician [Philip Lutley Sclater (1829-1913), Secretary, Zoological Society of London]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of Knowlsey, Prescot. 10 November 1869.
£30.00

1p., 12mo. With mourning border. (On his father' sdeath in October Derby had acceded to the title.) The letter reads: 'Lord Derby presents his compliments to the secretary of the Royal Zoological Society, and beign desirous of becoming a member of that body, would be much obliged to the secretary if he would inform him which steps are necessary to be taken for that object.'

Autograph Letter Signed ' Mabel Morrison', wife of Alfred Gatty, of Fonthill House to Sir Stephen Herbert Gatty, offering commiserations on the break up of Gatty's marriage.

Author: 
Mabel Morrison [Alfred Morrison (1821-1897) of Fonthill House, Tisbury, Wiltshire; Sir Stephen Herbert Gatty (1849-1922), Chief Justice of Gibraltar; William Beckford]
Publication details: 
17 September [no year]. On letterhead of Fonthill House, Tisbury, Wiltshire.
£28.00

12mo, 8 pp. On two bifoliums. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged and spotted paper. She writes with compassion but without tact: 'how great your loneliness must be - Dear Alice was so wrapt up in you, so devoted to you that the withdrawal of her love & sympathy must be very hard to bear - Till people lose one whose devotion to you & whose satisfaction in you made the whole world different, till they lose such a one, they can never realise the <?> the emptiness - the bitter years <?> one has to bear - it makes one feel such hopeless solitude Ah!

Autograph Letter Signed ' Mabel Morrison', wife of Alfred Gatty, of Fonthill House to Sir Stephen Herbert Gatty, offering commiserations on the break up of Gatty's marriage.

Author: 
[Alfred Morrison (1821-1897) of Fonthill House, Tisbury, Wiltshire; Sir Stephen Herbert Gatty (1849-1922), Chief Justice of Gibraltar; William Beckford]
Publication details: 
17 September [no year]. On letterhead of Fonthill House, Tisbury, Wiltshire.
£28.00

12mo, 8 pp. On two bifoliums. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged and spotted paper. She writes with compassion but without tact: 'how great your loneliness must be - Dear Alice was so wrapt up in you, so devoted to you that the withdrawal of her love & sympathy must be very hard to bear - Till people lose one whose devotion to you & whose satisfaction in you made the whole world different, till they lose such a one, they can never realise the <?> the emptiness - the bitter years <?> one has to bear - it makes one feel such hopeless solitude Ah!

Autograph Note Signed ('W Carus Wilson') by Rev. William Carus Wilson, the 'Mr. Brocklehurst' of Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre'.

Author: 
William Carus Wilson (1792-1859), author of 'The Children's Friend', the 'Mr. Brocklehurst' of Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre
Publication details: 
Carterton Hall, Kirkby Lonsdale. 26 August [no year].
£60.00

1p., 12mo. Laid down on a leaf removed from an album. Fair, on aged and dusty paper, with slight creasing to one corner. Reads: 'I shall probably look in at your homes on Monday | Yrs trly | [signed] W Carus Wilson | Aug 26 | Carterton Hall | Kirby Lonsdale'. Wilson ran Clergy Daughters' school which the Bronte sisters attended (fictionalised as ''Lowood' in 'Jane Eyre'). Charlotte Bronte blamed the harsh conditions at the school for the early deaths of her two elders sisters, and for the ill-health of her younger sisters, Anne and Emily.

Autograph Letter, in the third person, from 'Baroness Burdett-Coutts' [Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts] to 'Mr. Johnson', regarding 'the seal of the late Bishop' and the memorial to 'her old friend Dr. Hill'.

Author: 
Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts [Baroness Burdett-Coutts] (1814-1906), philanthropist
Publication details: 
Stratton Street, London. 4 November 1885.
£65.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. She has delayed writing 'till she could send the seal of the late Bishop (which she would like returned at Mr. Johnson's convenience)'. As it is 'the original, and therefore recorded', she thinks 'it would be as well to adhere to it'. She does not have ' a coloured sketch, so cannot answer the questions but doubtless all information would be given by the College of Heralds'. She concludes by stating that she is 'very pleased that a memorial will be raised to her old friend Dr. Hill, in the Parish where he worked so long and so well.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('Luke Fildes') from the English artist Sir Samuel Luke Fildes, to unnamed 'Gentlemen' [including Lawrence Alma Tadema?], declining an invitation to a lecture by the 'Punch' cartoonist and novelist George du Maurier.

Author: 
Luke Fildes [Sir Samuel Luke Fildes] (1843-1927), English artist [George du Maurier (1834-1896), 'Punch' cartoonist and author of 'Trilby]
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 11 Melbury Road, Kensington, W. 24 May 1892.
£65.00

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged grey paper. Fildes explains that he has just returned from Paris to find his correspondents' letter of 19 May, inviting him 'to hear Mr Du Maurier's discourse to-morrow night'. He cannot avail himself of the 'great pleasure', and of their' 'courtesy', as he has 'an engagement which cannot possibly be put off'. He ends by apologising for not answering sooner. On 25 May 1892 The Times reports a lecture that day at 'Prince's Hall: Mr. Du Maurier on "Social Pictorial Satire," Mr. Alma-Tadema, R.A., in the chair, 9.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('G. H. Seymour.'), written from St Petersburg by the English diplomat Sir George Hamilton Seymour in 1853, the year of his celebrated 'Seymour conversations' with Tsar Nicholas I, asking for three maps to be sent to him.

Author: 
Sir George Hamilton Seymour (1797-1880), British diplomat, best known for the 'Seymour conversations' in 1853 with the Russian Tsar Nicholas I
Publication details: 
St Petersburg, Russia. 14 May 1853.
£80.00

2pp., 12mo. Aged and creased, on Seymour's monogrammed letterhead. The letter, on the recto of the first leaf, is addressed to 'Gentlemen' (possibly Stamfords, the London firm of map-sellers). It reads: 'I shall be much obliged to you to send me the three Maps marked overleaf, mounted on <?> in a small parcel to be left at the Foreign Office to the care of F. B. Alston Th Esqre who will have the kindness to pay for the same. / The parcel to be directed to Sir Hamilton Seymour G.C.B. H.M. Minster, St Petersburg'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Ada Ellen Bayly / "Edna Lyall."') by the novelist Edna Lyall (real name Ada Ellen Bayly), on the part played by illustrations in novels.

Author: 
'Edna Lyall', pseudonym of the novelist Ada Ellen Bayly (1857-1903)
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 6 College Road, Eastbourne. 11 January 1893.
£90.00

2pp., 12mo. Fifteen lines. On bifolium. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. The male recipient is not named. She apologies that 'the crowd of Christmas engagements' has meant that his letter has gone unanswered until now. 'With regard to the question you ask, my feeling is that where an artist and an author can contrive to work well together illustrations are a decided improvement to novels. But it is most trying to an author to see his characters presented to the public in a way utterly unlike his own conception of them.' In her view it is 'clear gain' if a book can be 'well illustrated'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('A. Ritchie') from Anne Thackeray Ritchie (Lady Ritchie), daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray, to Miss Grae of St Andrews, thanking her for her sisters' book of sonnets.

Author: 
Anne Isabella Ritchie [Anne Thackeray Ritchie] (1837-1919), Lady Ritchie, born Anne Isabella Thackeray, letterwriter, daughter of William Makepeace Thackeray
Publication details: 
On letterhead of 109 St George's Square, SW. 5 November [no year, but before her husband's death in 1912].
£60.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. As she 'cut the string' of the parcel, she 'wondered what could possibly come to me from St Andrews', '& lo! these beautiful thoughts in their lovely garb appeared to my delight'. It was wonderful of Miss Grae to 'think of it', and of 'the little girls to make such a beautiful book', the binding of which her husband finds 'admirable & excellent'. She will 'read the charming pages on foggy days such as these'. She wishes that 'these last 3 blacknesses had been spent at St Andrews by all of us'.

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