VERNEY

2pp., 12mo. In good condition, lightly-aged, with minor traces of glue along one edge. He thanks him for 'so kindly procuring permission to send me the Rules of the Order of Victoria & Albert for transmission to the King of Siam'. He asks 'what Foreign Orders are given to women', and would like to know how to 'get at the rules which give these'.

Twenty-three pages (23pp.), 12mo., on six bifoliums. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. Written in snatches, with the last four pages dated 'May 23. 1917'. A well-written and entertaining letter, highly characteristic of its author in its mixture of wit and strong emotion. The subject is a 1917 privately-printed memoir of Dunsany's cousin John Hawksley by Lady Margaret Maria Verney, titled 'Lieut.-Colonel John P. V. Hawksley, D.S.O., R.F.A., 1877-1916: A Memoir compiled from his Journals and Letters'.

The four letters totalling 16pp., 12mo. Each on a bifolium. All four good, on lightly-aged paper. Chatty and informative letters, in the bored tone of the English upper classes, and exhibiting a shocking casual racism. One: From Dâk Bungalow, Rawal Pindi, 20 July 1899, and Rowberry's [sic] Hotel, Murree, 23 July 1899. 4pp., 12mo. He apologises for a hurried letter of the previous day. 'I began my journey very badly by calling a high caste mahomedan who was snoring in my carriage a Scor - (pig) he got very irate.

Text of both letters clear and complete, on aged, grubby paper. The 'Diehards' were a group of right-wing Conservative peers who attempted unsuccessfully to thwart Liberal legislation to limit the right of veto of the House of Lords over Commons legislation. (See G. D. Phillips, 'The Diehards: Aristocratic Society and Politics in Edwardian England', Cambridge, Mass., 1979.) TYPED LETTER: 17 December 1913. 4to, 1 p. He is going to try to write the history of the affair '[b]efore things fade altogether from my memory', and asks if OG has 'any papers, or letters, or diaries'.

8vo: 1 p. 7 lines of text. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper, with the address on the reverse of the second leaf of the bifolium, to which Verney's red wax seal adheres. A graceful letter of thanks. 'It gives me no small satisfaction to think that my general Conduct has hitherto merited your approbation.' Informs Tonyn of the date of the general election. Verney would lose his seat, and with it his immunity from prosecution for debt, forcing him to flee to France.

Sarah, late heiress of Sir Thomas Cave, Bart., of Stanford Hall, Leicestershire, and then wife of Henry Otway, became Baroness Braye in her own right in 1839. She died in 1862, aged ninety. 3 pages, 8vo, the first page with a mourning border. In good condition with the reverse of the second leaf attached to a docketted piece of paper.