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Autograph Letter Signed ('Alexr Chalmers') from the biographer Alexander Chalmers to James Perry, commenting humorously on an attack of gout.

Author: 
Alexander Chalmers (1759-1834), Scottish biographer and editor [James Perry (1756-1821), proprietor and editor of the 'Morning Chronicle']
Publication details: 
Throgmorton Street, London; 26 March 1821.
£80.00

1p., 12mo. Bifolium. Seventeen lines, closely written. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with thin strip of stub adhering to margin. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'J. Perry Esqre | Tavistock Square'. He will dine with Perry with pleasure, 'after a five weeks confinement with the Gout, a disorder of which I never before had any personal acquaintance, but which, I suppose, I must, in some unguarded moment, have treated with contempt.

Autograph Letter Signed ('C. S. Henry') from Caleb Sprague Henry. editor of the New York Review, to William Whitwell Greenough, accepting an article, but complaining of Greenough's handwriting, and of 'a difficulty in getting Saxon type'.

Author: 
Caleb Sprague Henry (1804-1884), Episcopal clergyman and author, editor of the New York Review, Professor of History and Philosophy in New York University [William Whitwell Greenough (1818-1899]
Publication details: 
New York; 26 April 1838.
£350.00

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. 57 lines. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed, on reverse of second leaf, to 'William W. Greenough | Andover | Massachusetts', with circular postmark in red ink and remains of red wax seal. Regarding 'the article on Bosworth's Anglo-Sax. Dict.', Henry writes: 'From the few first pages that I have read & the glance that I have given at the rest, I am satisfied that I shall be glad to print your article.

The autograph signatures of the English actor Charles Kean and his wife Ellen Kean [nee Tree].

Author: 
Charles Kean [Charles John Kean] (1811-1868), Irish-born actor and manager of the Princess's Theatre, Oxford Street, London; his wife Ellen Kean [born Eleanora Tree] (1805-1880)
Publication details: 
Place not stated; 25 June 1852.
£80.00

On one side of a piece of laid paper, approximately 11.5 cm square. Minor traces of glue to corners on the reverse. Good, firm signatures, provided for an autograph hunter. The husband signs first: 'Charles Kean | Friday | 25 June 1852'. Beneath this is the wife's signature: 'Ellen Kean'.

Autograph Letter Signed from the actor Charles Kean, informing an unnamed correspondent that it is not his intention 'to close the Princess's Theatre during any portion of Lent'.

Author: 
Charles Kean [Charles John Kean] (1811-1868), Irish-born actor-manager, best remembered for his Shakespeare revivals at the Princess's Theatre, Oxford Street, London, son of Edmund Kean (1789-1833)
Publication details: 
Place not stated; 1 February 1852.
£90.00

1p., 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with negligible glue from previous mounting to the corners of the blank reverse. The letter reads: 'Sir, In reply to your note, I write to say that as it is not my intention to close the Princess's Theatre during any portion of Lent, it will not be in my power to avail myself of your offer.'

Autograph Letter Signed ('Chas Mackay') from the author Charles Mackay to Stephen Massett, discussing his work, and praising the American suffragist Victoria Woodhull Martin and Marie Corelli.

Author: 
Charles Mackay (1812-1889), Scottish poet, author and editor [Stephen C. Massett (1820-1898) English-born American musician; Victoria Woodhull Martin (1838-1927), American suffragist; Marie Corelli]
Publication details: 
47 Longridge Road, South Kensington; 17 December 1888.
£350.00

4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with stub from previous mounting neatly adhering to margins. Mackay hastens to reply to Moffatt's letter, but fears that 'the "pesky" gout in my right hand will render my cacography illegible'. After dealing with his 'Selected Poems' and the Reform Club, Mackay discusses his poem 'Eternal Justice', which was printed with his 'knowledge & permission' by 'Miss Victoria Woodhull Martin [...] I have since received a visit from her, and highly esteem the honour of her acquaintance.

Autograph Letter Signed ('C: M: Young') from the actor Charles Mayne Young to his rival William Charles Macready, recommending an actor named Simpson for a position at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and wishing Macready success as manager there.

Author: 
Charles Mayne Young (1777-1856), actor [William Charles Macready (1793-1873); Theatre Royal, Drury Lane]
Publication details: 
Ashbourne Hall, Ashbourne, Derbyshire; 16 November 1841.
£220.00

3pp., 12mo. 37 lines. Fair, on worn and discoloured paper. An interesting letter, casting light on the relationship between two great actors who, according to the Oxford DNB, 'disliked but respected each other'. Macready is not named, but Young ends by sending his 'Kind Comts to Mrs Macready'. Macready had taken over at Drury Lane on 4 October 1841, but the season would not begin until 27 December. The letter begins 'My dear Sir!

Autograph Letter Signed from the poet and engraver Charles Swain to a lady (name obliterated), complaining of the problems that prevent him from paying a visit, and referring to William Jerdan.

Author: 
Charles Swain (1801-1874), poet and engraver [William Jerdan (1782-1869), editor of the Literary Gazette]
Publication details: 
Prestwich Park, Prestwich, near Manchester; [c.1853].
£80.00

4pp., 12mo. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed to 'My dear friend', and with the name of the recipient obliterated from the valediction: 'Will you give my sincere and grateful remembrances to your noble hearted husband? and believe me | dear <...> | Every affectionately, | [signed] Charles Swain'. He can put off 'the evil day' no longer, and must now 'give in to circumstances' and reluctantly inform her that he cannot come and visit.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Cs. Redding') by Cyrus Redding, expressing regret at not being able to assist William Shoberl, son of the journalist Frederic Shoberl, and bewailing the state of English publishing, and of his own affairs.

Author: 
Cyrus Redding (1785-1870), journalist and author, editor, Galignani's Messenger, and working editor, New Monthly Magazine [William Shoberl, son of Frederic Shoberl [Schoberl] (1775-1853), journalist]
Publication details: 
"Hill Road, | Thursday'. [No date, but on paper watermarked 1855.]
£220.00

3pp., 12mo. 55 lines, neatly and closely written. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Addressed to 'Mr W. Shoberl.' An excellent letter, giving an experienced and knowledgable view of the state of the mid-Victorian British booktrade. Redding begins by stating that he is 'indeed concerned to hear the statement' Shoberl has communicated to him. He wishes it was in his power to forward Shoberl's wishes.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. C. Loudon') from the Scottish botanist John Claudius Loudon to the bookseller 'Mr. Jones', of the firm Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, Finsbury Square, London.

Author: 
J. C. Loudon [John Claudius Loudon] (1783-1843), Scottish botanist, garden designer and editor [Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, booksellers, Finsbury Square, London]
Publication details: 
Bayswater House; 28 May 1818.
£350.00

2pp., 4to. On a bifolium, with the main text on the recto of the first page, and the postscript with the address on the verso of the second. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Tipped-in onto leaf removed from an autograph album. The book he enquired after on the previous day was 'any spanish work translated into french or English Interlineally for a beginner in that language'. He has seen German and Italian books 'so translated', and will be grateful if Jones can suggest a Spanish one.

Part of the corrected autograph draft manuscript of Timothy Pitkin's 'Statistical View of the Commerce of the United States of America' (1816), relating to the renewal of the charter of the Bank of North America at Washington.

Author: 
Timothy Pitkin (1766-1847), American Yale-educated lawyer, politician, historian and statistician [Bank of North America, Washington (now merged with Wells Fargo)]
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated, but written before the book's publication in 1816.
£850.00
Timothy Pitkin

2pp., on one side each of two 4to leaves headed '14' and '15'. 53 lines of text (25 lines to the first leaf and 28 lines to the second), with deletions and emendations. Good, on lightly-aged paper, with negligible cut to margin of second leaf (not affecting text). Neatly tipped-in to nineteenth-century grey paper wallet.

French nineteenth-century handbill poem by 'L. N.' on the game of whist, titled 'Le Whist.'

Author: 
'L. N.' [French nineteenth-century handbill poem on the game of whist]
Publication details: 
Date of publication and name of printer not stated [1840s Paris?].
£350.00
Handbill poem by 'L. N.' on the game of whist

2 pp, 12mo. On the first leaf of a bifolium of wove paper. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. Signed 'L. N.' in type at end. A 114-line poem, in rhyming alexandrine couplets, beginning 'Messieurs, au jeu du whist adoptez constamment | L'air grave britannique et le flegme allemand.

Anonymous French nineteenth-century handbill poem, containing precepts on the game of chess, entitled 'Le Jeu d'Échecs.'

Author: 
'Le Jeu d'Échecs' [anonymous French nineteenth-century handbill poem on the game of chess]
Publication details: 
Date of publication and name of printer not stated [1840s Paris?].
£650.00
Handbill poem, containing precepts on the game of chess

4 pp, 16mo. Paginated [1] to 4. On a bifolium of wove paper. Fair, on lightly-aged and creased paper, with thin strip of previous mount adhering to inner margin of first page.

[Printed handbill.] Sonnet on the late Dutchess of Gordon. [By Sir Brooke Boothby.]

Author: 
[Sir Brooke Boothby (1744-1824)] [Jane Gordon, Duchess of Gordon (1748-1812), Scottish Tory political hostess]
Publication details: 
[Circa 1810.]
£280.00

Printed on one side of a 4to leaf, to which a black mourning border has been given by hand. Well printed on wove paper. Fair, on lightly-aged and ruckled paper. The author's name is not given, and the title reads 'SONNET | ON THE LATE | DUTCHESS [sic] OF GORDON.' The poem begins: 'IS then the bright expansive spirit flown, | That wont to animate the admiring throng? | Does the fair theme of many a poet's Song | Exist in pleasing memory alone?' The poem was also printed in 'The Poetical Register, and Repository of Fugitive Poetry, for 1810-1811' (London: F. C. and J.

Autograph Letter Signed ('F Greville') from the diarist Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville to an unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Charles Cavendish Fulke Greville (1794–1865), Clerk to the Privy Council, and political diarist
Publication details: 
'Grosv[eno]r Place | Saturday [no date]'.
£56.00

1 p, 12mo. Good, on lightly-aged paper, and still tipped-in onto leaf removed from album. Arranging a time at which to call on him. According to the Oxford DNB Greville moved from Grosvenor Place to Lord Granville's house in Bruton Street in 1849.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J. S. Knowles') from the Irish dramatist James Sheridan Knowles to 'My Dear Kenneth'.

Author: 
James Sheridan Knowles (1784-1862), Irish dramatist [his wife, nee Emma Marian Maria Elphinstone (1807-1888)]
Publication details: 
Belfast; 15 December 1835.
£56.00

1 p, 4to. Good, on lightly-aged paper, and still attached to a leaf removed from an autograph album. His troupe 'play in Manchester on the 11th. Jany. for one week. Now, observe! Can you effect an engagement for a week previous to or subsequent to that period - or both subsequent and previous.' Knowles will be in London, 'please God, next week', and the recipient's 'attention deserves and has' Knowles's gratitude. A postscript reads: 'Miss Elphinstone achieved a complete triumph in Edinburgh, the reception was great indeed. You know our terms'.

[Printed handbill poem by 'B. B.'] On a favourite Dog, interred in the Grounds of Dryburgh Abbey, MDCCCXIV. [With Victorian photograph of a dog.]

Author: 
'B. B.' [Sir Brooke Boothby (1744-1824)?] [Dryburgh Abbey, property of David Steuart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan]
Publication details: 
Date and publisher not stated. [Scotland, circa 1814?]
£400.00

Poem: On one side of a piece of 12mo paper. Fair, lightly-aged and a little ruckled, with traces of gum from previous mounting on the blank reverse. The 12-line poem is written in heroic couplets, and begins 'POOR, faithful animal, adieu! - | To Nature's kind affection true, | For fourteen years, thy grateful heart, | Devoted, play'd its humble part.' At the end a contemporary hand has ascribed the poem to 'B. B.', and the same hand gives the date as 'September 3d'.

Two Autograph Letters Signed (both 'A Henry Savage Landor') from the traveller Arthur Henry Savage Landor to 'Mr Roper' of Boston [the inventor Sylvester H. Roper?].

Author: 
Arnold Henry Savage Landor (1865-1924), English painter, explorer and writer, born in Florence, discoverer in Tibet of sources of Indus and Brahmaputra rivers [Sylvester H. Roper (1823-96) of Boston]
Publication details: 
First Letter: 'Saturday' [1 December 1888]; on lettherhead of the Somerset Club, Boston. Second Letter: 'Sunday' [6 January 1889]; 2 Walnut Street [Boston].
£165.00

Both items in very good condition, on lightly-aged paper, each with slight trace of paper label at spine. Letter One: 3 pp, 12mo. Docketed at head of first page '1 Dec/88.' and 'The Explorer of Thibet [sic]'. He thanks him 'for the Card of the St Botolph Club' and will try to go there the following day. He has 'so many things to do' that he is not sure he will be able to stay there long. Letter Two: 4 pp, 12mo. Docketed beneath address '6 January 89.', and beneath signature 'The traveller in Thibet [sic]'. Thanking him for the 'note and cheque', and hoping that the sketch arrived safely.

Autograph Manuscript of Captain Basil Hall, RN, FRS, cut from letter, and with his signature, giving his plans while in America.

Author: 
Captain Basil Hall (1788-1844), RN, FRS, naval officer, traveller and author, friend of Sir Walter Scott
Publication details: 
Note in contemporary hand reads 'From Washington - 13 Jan: 1828.'
£280.00

On one side of a piece of paper approximately 18.5 x 6.5 cm, neatly cut from a letter. Laid down on a piece of 22.5 x 28 cm paper, and with a border drawn around it. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Reads: 'We have been most kindly & hospitably received by every body & I find such a variety of character & even of incident (of a political kind) that I rejoice exceedingly at having come here in the first instance. We still propose leaving this on the 1st. of Feby., Charleston on the 1st. of March, & New Orleans on the 1st.

Corrected Autograph Manuscript of part of Captain Thomas Mayne Reid's 1866 novel 'Afloat in the Forest'.

Author: 
Captain Thomas Mayne Reid (1818-1883), Irish-American novelist
Publication details: 
Place and date not stated [circa 1866].
£450.00

1 p, folio. On grey paper. Fair, on aged paper, with slight spotting and chipping to extremities affecting a few words of text. A whole page of the manuscript, numbered '9' and written entirely in Reid's hand, with a few minor emendations by him, from Chapter XXVI, 'Treed by an Alligator'. Begins with the reported speech: '"That would be anything but pleasant - perhaps more so [last word emended from 'unpleasant'] to those who are waiting for us, than to ourselves.

Autograph Letter Signed ('H. Taine'), in French, from the critic Hippolyte Taine to an unnamed firm of English-language publishers, thanking them for payment for a translation of his 'Histoire de la Littérature Anglaise', and discussing other works.

Author: 
Hippolyte Taine (1828-1893), French critic and historian [Henri Van Laun (1820-1896); Edmonston & Douglas, Edinburgh publishers]
Publication details: 
30 March 1872; Chatenay par Antony, Seine.
£180.00

3 pp, 16mo. 47 lines. Text clear and complete. In small tight and difficult hand. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. He begins by thanking them for the cheque for a thousand francs for the translation of the book by Henri Van Laun, before going on, in response to an enquiry from the recipients, to discuss other translations of his work into English, with reference to the London publishers Sampson Low & Co, and Reeves & Co.

Autograph Letter Signed from Jane Hood, wife of the poet Thomas Hood, to 'Mrs Elliot', wife of the family doctor, Robert Elliot of Camberwell, containing news of the poet and his work, money troubles and family affairs, at the end of their lives.

Author: 
Jane Hood [née Jane Reynolds], (1791-1846), wife of the poet and humorist Thomas Hood (1799-1845)
Publication details: 
'Wednesday' [1844 or 1845); 'Devonshire Lodge | New Finchley Road | St Johns Wood'.
£450.00

4 pp, 12mo. Bifolium. 73 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Hood returned to England from Ostend in 1840, moving into Devonshire Lodge after trying other lodgings. A fine letter, informative, energetic and moving. Jane begins by thanking Mrs Elliot for the 'kind present to my Tom [the couple's son Thomas Hood the younger (1835-1874)]': 'I only wish you could have seen the happy boy - how proud he was - and indeed is, of his new appearance - he sends his love & best thanks. I am sorry to say he does not yet write a readable letter'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('D Forbes') from the orientalist Duncan Forbes to J. D. R. Robinson of the Asiatic Society, concerning his translation of the 'Bagh-o-Bahar', and the mental state of 'Anderson'.

Author: 
Duncan Forbes (1798-1868), Scottish orientalist and linguist, translator of Mir Amman's Urdu 'Bagh-o-Bahar, or Tales of the Four Darweshes'
Publication details: 
No place; 'Wednesday' [no date].
£120.00

3 pp, 12mo. 41 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged paper with a couple of closed tears. He is sending 'the trans. of the Baghobahan together with the Original', and trusts that Robinson will keep his promise 'and not detain it long'. Considers it fair that Robinson's friend 'should pay the carriage thereof from & to London'. 'The younger Stewart is to send me up a book of mine in about a week - the best way will be to send the Bagh along with it as it will be the same expence'. Suggest sending another book with 'the Bagh to Haileybury', rather than to Portman Square.

[Printed pamphlet.] Observations on the Use and Abuse of Red Tape for the Juniors in the Eastern, Western, and American Departments. [Inscribed by the author Sir Thomas Henry Sanderson, and with two marginal notes by Sir V. Wellesley.]

Author: 
'T. H. S.' [Sir Thomas Henry Sanderson (1841-1923) of the Foreign Office] [Sir Victor Wellesley (1876-1954), diplomat]
Publication details: 
Dated 'October 1891.'
£120.00
Observations on the Use and Abuse of Red Tape for the Juniors

8vo, 14 pp (followed by blank leaf). Unbound and stitched. Text clear and complete. Fair, on aged paper. Drophead title. With 'PRIVATE' in print in the top left-hand corner of the first page, and '[285]' in the bottom left-hand corner. Dated in type at end 'T. H. S. | October 1891.' Sanderson's inscription, at the head of the first page, reads 'From the Author | [signed] S | Sept. 1918'. From the collection of Sir Victor Wellesley, and with two marginal notes by him.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Walter Besant M.A. | Secretary') from Sir Walter Besant, as Secretary of the Palestine Exploration Fund, to an unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Sir Walter Besant (1836-1901), Secretary, Palestine Exploration Fund, 1868-1885
Publication details: 
1 August 1870; 9 Pall Mall East, on letterhead of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
£130.00
Sir Walter Besant (1836-1901), Secretary, Palestine Exploration Fund, 1868-1885

4 pp, 12mo. Bifolium. 51 lines. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged paper. The General Committe have asked Besant to thank the recipient for his 'kind assistance during the last year, and to express their hopes that your sympathy with the objects which they have at heart will still continue'.

54 of John Carter's original engravings, from his own drawings, for his 'Views of Ancient Buildings in England' (1786-1793).

Author: 
John Carter (1748-1817), English architect and draughtsman
Publication details: 
All 54 captioned as 'Engrav'd & Pub'd' by John Carter between January 1786 and January 1791, successively at Wood Street and College Street, Westminster; and Hamilton Street, Hyde Park Corner; from drawings made by him between 1766 and 1785.
£450.00
John Carter (1748-1817), English architect and draughtsman

All 54 are printed on paper 12 x 9 cm. Each is captioned and numbered in roman numerals, with the first as III and the last as XCVII. Carter published his 'Views of Ancient Buildings in England' between 1786 and 1793, and the six volumes contained a total of 120 views. Those LACKING from this collection, in arabic numerals, are 1, 2, 6-10, 15, 16, 18, 19, 21, 26, 36-38, 43, 48, 53, 57-59, 63-66, 69-71, 73, 75, 76, 78, 81-84, 90-94, 96, and 97-120.

Autograph Letter Signed ('J Morley') from the politician John Morley to the National Liberal Federation secretary Francis Schnadhorst, rearranging meetings in the build-up to the 1885 General Election.

Author: 
John Morley (1838-1923), 1st Viscount Morley of Blackburn, Liberal politician, writer and newspaper editor [Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914); Francis Schnadhorst (1840-1900), Birmingham Liberal]
Publication details: 
Putney, on cancelled letterhead of Joseph Chamberlain's mansion Highbury, Moor Green, Birmingham; 2 September 1885.
£65.00
Autograph Letter Signed ('J Morley') from the politician John Morley

2 pp, 12mo. He is only in Putney for a day, and does not expect to be able to see Schnadhorst. Sir Charles Dilke 'says that Oct. 13 is fixed for Halifax, and that he is not sure that he may not be able to go there after all'. If this is so, 'it would be best to change my day at Newport from the 13th. October'. He will tell '', and would be grateful to Schnadhorst for arranging another day.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Blanche Lindsay') from Lady Blanche Lindsay, poet and artist, wife of Sir Coutts Lindsay, founder of the Grosvenor Gallery, to 'Mr. Evans'.

Author: 
Lady Blanche Lindsay [Lady Caroline Blanche Elizabeth Fitzroy Lindsay] (1844-1912), wife of Sir Coutts Lindsay, founder of the Grosvenor Gallery
Publication details: 
4 April 1888; 4 Stratton Street, Piccadilly, London.
£230.00
Lady Blanche Lindsay

12mo, 3 pp. On bifolium. Clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. She has 'finished the brown drawing of elves, & birds singing', and, as she is going into the country for a few days, will leave it, 'in a portfolio', at Stratton St. She asks him to 'kindly take care of it', as he has been 'good enough to do with the others. It is, as you know, a very careful & highly-finished drawing'. She asks him to have 'the delicacy of the lines reproduced, & the drawing of the limbs of the little elves, etc. very carefully & exactly rendered, otherwise the drawing wd.

Autograph Letter Signed ('M Berry') from Horace Walpole's friend Miss Mary Berry to the politician and wit Richard 'Conversation' Sharp, commenting on his volume of 'Epistles in Verse'.

Author: 
Mary Berry ['Miss Berry'] (1763-1852), author and diarist; sister and companion of Agnes Berry (1764-1852), friend of Horace Walpole [Richard 'Conversation' Sharp (1759-1835), politician and wit]
Publication details: 
7 April 1828; Petersham.
£230.00
Mary Berry ['Miss Berry']

12mo, 4 pp. Bifolium. Good, on lightly-aged paper. Her 'constant practice' has always been to return her thanks for the gift of a poetry volume 'before I could possibly have had time to read it', but in this case 'this caution was impossible for I received your little Vol: in all the hurry of leaving town, & I may say England, for I shall not return to London before our departure'. She is glad she was not able to write before reading the poems 'with the attention they merit & with all the pleasure they have given me'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('John Foster Fraser') from the English travel writer Sir John Foster Fraser to H. W. Massingham of the Daily Chronicle, describing his career and qualifications while applying for journalistic work.

Author: 
Sir John Foster Fraser (1868-1936), English travel writer [Henry William Massingham (1860-1924), editor of 'The Nation', 1907-1923]
Publication details: 
3 January 1896; The Author's Club, 3 Whitehall Court, SW, London.
£280.00
Sir John Foster Fraser

12mo, 4 pp. 61 lines. Text clear and complete. Good, on lightly-aged paper. An impressive letter applying for work. He does not expect Massingham (addressed as 'W. H. Massingham') to remember their meeting 'in the Lobby' when he was 'chief reporter on The Sun', while at the same time holding 'a Parliamentary engagement on the staff of the C. N.' Gives details of his subsequent employment, including joining the editorial staff of the 'Manchester Guardian' ('principally to look after their weekly paper which was in a sad way.

Autograph Letter Signed ('W. Fairbairn') from the Scottish civil engineer Sir William Fairbairn to 'Mr. <Wittine?>', expressing gratitude at his good fortune after 'a long and laborious life'.

Author: 
Sir William Fairbairn (1789-1874) of Ardwick, Scottish civil engineer and shipbuilder
Publication details: 
1869 [rest of date lacking]; Manchester.
£240.00
Sir William Fairbairn

12mo, 2 pp. Bifolium. 37 lines. Text of letter clear and complete, but with damage to head of letter, causing loss to date, with traces of the album leaf to which the letter was attached on reverses. Otherwise good, on lightly-aged paper. He thanks him for his 'friendly congratulation', and has now entered his '81st. year under the most favourable conditions'. He is 'truly thankful that my affectionate Partner and Myself have through a long life been so mercifully dealt with'.

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