Latest additions

Author, Title, Summary Price
Osman Ricardo (1795-1881), Member of Parliament for Worcester (1847-1865), son of the economist David Ricardo (1772-1823)

[Osman Ricardo, MP, son of the economist David Ricardo.] Autograph Letter Signed to an unnamed recipient, cancelling his subscription to a Circulating Library, while complaining of lack of attention.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. On paper with the 1842 watermark of R. Turner of Chafford Mills.In fair condition, aged, and with a central spike hole. He has received the ten books, and is returning them 'by the night mail', and will return 'the box of books' later, 'as unfortunately a courier only...

£120.00
Messrs. J. & S. Ricardo & Co., London bankers [Colombian Mining Association; David Ricardo (1772-1823), economist]

[Messrs. J. & S. Ricardo & Co., London bankers.] Manuscript Letter, signed 'J & S Ricardo', accepting 'Fifty Shares in the Colombian mining Association'.

1p., 12mo. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Reads: 'Gentlemen/ | We are very much obliged to you for your offer of Fifty Shares in the Colombian mining Association which we have great pleasure in accepting. We did not make any application as we had hoped to have heard first from you on...

£120.00
John Nicholson (1790-1843), known as 'The Airedale Poet' and 'The Yorkshire Poet' [Thomas Goff Lupton (1791-1873), engraver?] [John Rhodes, engraver; John Lucas, artist]

[John Nicholson, 'The Airedale Poet'.] Original unpublished holograph poem, signed 'John Nicholson', and titled 'An acrostic Written for Mr Lupton Esqre'. With engraved portrait by John Rhodes from John Lucas.

For more on Nicholson, see his entry by James Ogden in the Oxford DNB. LETTER: 1p., 12mo. In fair condition, on lightly aged and creased paper. At foot of page: 'An acrostic Written for Mr Lupton Esqre | Septr 20th 1828 | John Nicholson'. The poem, the first letter of whose lines spell out '...

£120.00
J. G. Wilson [John Gideon Wilson] (1876-1963), 'the most famous English bookseller of his time' and proprietor of the prestigious London firm of J. & E. Bumpus Ltd., 477 Oxford Street

[J. G. Wilson, proprietor of London booksellers J. & E. Bumpus Ltd.] Autograph notebook containing draft of talk to trainee booksellers on 'Modern Fine & First Editions', proposals for 'Anecdotal History of Bookselling' and for trade 'social club'.

It is Sir Basil Blackwell, in his DNB entry on Wilson, who described him as 'the most famous English [sic] bookseller of his time'. The freshness and enthusiasm conveyed by this small volume supports Blackwell's view that Wilson viewed 'bookselling not so much as a matter of retail trade as a...

£1,350.00
Henrietta Maria Bowdler [Mrs. Harriet Bowdler] (1750-1830), author and literary editor, main 'Bowdleriser' of 'The Family Shakspeare' (1807)

[Henrietta Maria Bowdler [Mrs. Harriet Bowdler], religious author and 'Bowdleriser' of Shakespeare.] Autograph Letter Signed ('H M Bowdler'), thanking 'Miss Walters' for her 'beautiful' works.

1p., 16mo. Bifolium. In fair condition, aged and worn, with slight damage to second leaf, which is addressed to 'Miss Walters' and carries a small seal in red wax. The letter reads: 'My dear Miss Walters | I am so much obliged that I know not how to thank you as I wish. Your works are beautiful...

£150.00
Felicia Hemans [Hemans Felicia Dorothea, née Browne (1793-1835)], English poet [Henry Fothergill Chorley (1808-1872), author]

[Felicia Hemans, poet.] Autograph inscription to 'Miss Chorley' [daughter of her biographer Henry Fothergill Chorley?].

On the reverse of the half-title leaf (only) of her book 'Records of Woman: with other Poems'. In fair condition, lightly aged and worn. Reads: 'Miss Chorley. With | Felicia Heman's kindest regards.' A nice association: Henry Fothergill Chorley edited the 'Memorials of Mrs Hemans' (1836).

 £75.00
Colnaghi, Son & Co. Printsellers, Pall Mall, East, London [Charles Turner (1773-1857), mezzotint engraver; George Gordon Noel (1788-1824), 6th Baron Byron [Lord Byron]]

[Printed advertisement.] Proposals for Publishing, by Subscription, A Portrait of the late Lord Byron, Painted in Italy, by Mr. West, and to be engraved on steel, by C. Turner, Mezzotint Engraver in Ordinary to His Majesty.

1p., 4to. In fair condition, lightly aged and creased, with damage to two corners from removal from mount. Attractively printed in a restrained style, it gives the prices of proofs and prints, and boasts that 'The Picture, from which it is intended to take the present Engraving, has the...

£56.00
[The Coronation, 1953.] [Joseph Wilson (b.c.1888), Glasgow architect; J. & E. Bumpus Ltd., 477 Oxford Street, prestigious London bookshop owned by J. G. Wilson [John Gideon Wilson] (1876-1963)]

[The Coronation, 1953.] Plans, sections and elevations, with letters and memoranda, by the Scottish architect Joseph Wilson, ARIBA, for the 'Proposed Coronation Stand' and 'Accommodation' at London booksellers J. & E. Bumpus Ltd., 477 Oxford Street.

For more about Joseph Wilson, ARIBA, FRIAS, see his entry in the Dictionary of Scottish Architects. From the familiar tone of his letters (Items Seven, Ten and Eleven below), there is every indication that he was closely related to his client, J. G. Wilson, proprietor of the prestigious firm of...

£450.00
Sir Egerton Brydges [Samuel Egerton Brydges] (1762-1837), writer and genealogist [Lee Priory Press; Mrs Chapone; Francis Grose; Joseph Ritson; Isaac D'Israeli; Dr Charles Symmons; Horace Walpole]

[Sir Egerton Brydges.] Part of the Autograph Manuscript of his 'Clavering's Auto-Biography', containing portraits of Mrs Chapone, Captain Francis Grose, Joseph Ritson, Isaac D'Israeli, the Miss Burys; Dr Charles Symmons and Caroline Symmons.]

On both sides of a 33 x 12.5 cm strip of paper. In fair condition, lightly-aged, with tiny part of mount adhering to one corner, and the merest loss to another. 'Egerton Bry' is written in another small hand in light pencil at the head. The Osborn Collection at Yale possesses what its catalogue...

£450.00
Horatio Bottomley (1860-1933), Liberal MP, fraudster and proprietor of the London newspapers The Sun, John Bull and Sunday Illustrated [Charles Fox, receiver; Harry Weber]

[Horatio Bottomley, MP and fraudster.] Ten legal documents (three signed by Bottomley) relating to his purchase, from the receiver Charles Fox, of the assets of his 'Sol Syndicate', set up for the acquisition of The Sun newspaper.

From the papers of The Sun's receiver, Charles Fox of 11 Old Jewry, London. The ten items in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. According to Bottomley's entry in the Oxford DNB, ' In 1902 he bought a moribund evening newspaper, The Sun. Despite the ingenious changes he made, a series of...

£250.00
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