ROSCOE

3pp., 4to. Bifolium. In good condition, on aged and worn paper, with the seal neatly cut away resulting in damage to a couple of words of text. Roscoe has felt 'sincere sorrow' on receiving Henry's letter conveying the news of the death of Ferriar (a colleague of Henry's at the Manchester Infirmary). 'I had flattered myself that after all apprehensions from the alarming attack which he some time since experienced had been entirely removed, in which opinion I had been confirmed by his Letters on the subject of Mrs.

Both items in poor condition, with burn marks and damp damage [fire damaged much of the Society's archive]. Some of the text of the autograph letter has faded, and it may be that the signature to the typed note has washed away. Autograph Letter Signed: 2pp., 4to. He begins by offering to 'oppose anybody' in a debate that Mrs Roscoe is organising (at the Society of Women Journalists).

4to, 1 p. Dimensions 20.5 x 25 cm. 42 lines of text, in a variety of point sizes. Text clear and complete. Fair, on lightly-aged and creased paper. A varied bill, more entertainment than instruction, beginning 'The Museum will be thrown open at six o'clock', with references to 'the electric light', 'the large Bird-room [...] Mr. State, the Patentee', 'Mr Hobbs [...] his celebrated lock', 'a Welsh Harper', 'Mr. J. Hallett Sheppard [...] on the Grand Piano-forte', 'Mr. Henry Haydn Rogers, Pupil of Chopin', 'Miss Glyn [...] will read Macbeth.', 'Mr. Waldie, F.C.S.', 'Mr.

The subscription Liverpool Library within the Lyceum, founded in 1757, is believed to have been the first circulating or lending library in Europe, and the first two of these items provide a valuable insight into its status at the time when the advent of the public library system was undermining its position.

Four pages, 8vo, good condition. Price one farthing. It includes an obituary of William Roscoe, a facsimile of the playbill "in which the late Mrs Siddons was announced to sing!", notes on "The Arts", "Metropolitan Weekly Return" (including "Seduced females 1000"), and "Stocks" ("Impudence, open . . . Merit, shut").. With the Prospectus , c. 8 x 7ins., headed "The Cheapest Periodical in the World" and listing contents as above and printing information as above, anticipating its eight columns and price.

The collection as a whole is in good condition, although lightly creased in places and somewhat dusty and aged. All items have unobtrusive pinholes, and Item Seven has fraying and closed tears to extremities. An interesting correspondence casting light on publishing practices at the turn of the nineteenth century. ITEMS ONE TO FIVE: 12mo letters from Lucas's solicitors Field, Roscoe & Co., each on the firm's letterhead, to the 'Receiver and Manager appointed to carry on [Richards'] business', H. C. K. Stileman, dated 9, 11, 18 and 21 March, and 1 April 1905.

Dimensions roughly four and a quarter inches by eight wide. Good on lightly aged paper, and with traces of previous grey-paper mount adhering to reverse, which is docketed, in a nineteenth-century hand, 'Handwriting of the Author of Lorenzo de Medici'. Also docketed in left-hand margin of recto. Begins 'One of the most fatal enemies to the tranquility & happiness of human life is that jealous & timid apprehension which foresees evils at too great a distance, & often imagines them when they do not exist'. Initialled in top left-hand corner.