Latest additions

Author, Title, Summary Price
William Hutton (1723-1815), Birmingham bookseller and local historian; his daughter Catherine Hutton

[William Hutton, Birmingham bookseller and local historian.] Leaf of 'unpublished poems, composed by, and in the Autograph of, William Hutton', with note by 'WB'; and fragment of his daughter Catherine Hutton's handwriting, 'when 87 years of age'.

Both items are laid down on a 12mo leaf extracted from an album. All in good condition, on lightly-aged paper. Laid down on the reverse of the leaf is an early eighteenth-century engraving of a man (William Hutton?) holding a book. The explanatory note, on one side of the leaf from the album,...

£280.00
Richard Curlys, lawyer or Chancery official

[Lawyer's letter] Autograph Letter Signed "Richard Curelys", lawyer or Chancery official, to "the worshipful John Sothwell [Southwell], esquyr".

One page, sm. Folio, bifolium, staining but text clear and complete. It is a letter from a lawyer or Chancery official by the name of Richard Curelys, addressed to 'the worshipful John Sothwell, esquyr'. Richard informs John that he has sought writs of Supersedeas and Dedimus potestatem from...

£150.00
Joseph Prestwich of Broseley, Shropshire, wine merchant, and father of the geologist Sir Joseph Prestwich (1812-1896)

[Joseph Prestwich, wine merchant of Broseley, Shropshire.] Autograph Letter Signed to the family firm of Talver, Milburn & Prestwich, London, regarding three bills (one for his father Elias Prestwich), 'Russel''s contract, an order for brandy.

1p., 4to. Bifolium. On aged paper worn at extremities. Addressed on reverse (which also carries docketing and calculations) to 'Messrs. Talver Milburn & Prestwich | 24 High St. Boro' | London'. The letter begins: 'Gentn. | The enclosed bill value £186. 13. 4 - you will place to my Fathers...

£140.00
Henry Clifford (1821-1905), telegraph engineer on Atlantic cable expeditions, who designed machinery used on the Great Eastern [Sir Charles Tilston Bright (1832-1888), telegraph engineer]

[Henry Clifford, telegraph engineer.] Two Autograph Letters Signed (one 'H. C.' and the other 'H. Clifford'), written in a playful style to his daughter 'Elsie'. One of the letters partly in verse form, with caricatures.

Clifford was introduced to the laying of Atlantic telegraph cables by Sir Charles Bright, whose wife was his cousin. He served as an engineer on all the Atlantic cable expeditions from 1857 to 1866, designing the paying-out machinery used on the Great Eastern in 1865 and 1866. He worked at...

£90.00
Ethel Boileau [Lady Ethel Mary Boileau, née Young] (c.1881-1942), English novelist [Ayn Rand]

[Ethel Boileau, novelist.] Corrected Autograph Manuscripts of two of her best-selling novels: 'Clansmen' and 'Turnip-Tops'.

Boileau was extremely popular throughout her career, her novels propounding her philosophy (as expounded in 'Turnip Tops') that 'Courage is the foundation of all character and achievement.' In 1936 'John o'London's' magazine described her as the author of books 'whose editions have run into tens...

£1,750.00
Catherine Hutton (1756-1846), English novelist and letter-writer, daughter of the Birmingham bookseller and local historian William Hutton (1723-1815) [James Belcher, junior, Birmingham bookseller]

[Catherine Hutton, novelist.] Three Autograph Letters Signed to Birmingham bookseller James Belcher, discussing in moving terms her nursing of her elderly parents, her plans for a future book ('my incipient Queens') and 'Dr. Hutton's bust'.

All three items in good condition, on lightly aged paper. ONE: 4 December 1821. 3pp., 12mo. Bifolium. The letter, which concerns her plans for a book, begins: 'My dear Sir | In consequence of your opinion, I send a prospectus for Mr. Dawes [the critic Manassah Dawes (d.1829)?], which you will...

£1,350.00
"[F]or thethe May[o]r of Bristol"

[Autograph Letter; Thomas White, founder of Sion College, etc]] Letter, prob. draft, "for the May[o]r of Bristol to the Mayor [of London prob. ,"Right Wor[shipfu]ll].

One page, cr. 8vo, stained but text clear and complete. With excisions and corrections (hence draft). The first (with the narrower width) is a letter drafted 8-9 February 1647 (new style date) on behalf of the mayor of Bristol and addressed to the mayor of another city, which further details and...

£220.00
William Wilson, merchant banker, of the London firm of Hankeys, Plummer and Wilson [Thomson Hankey; John Plummer; Mannings and Anderdon; William Manning; Frederick Walton Mallalieu; James Royer Smith]

[London banking and West Indian sugar market.] Manuscript copies of two letters by William Wilson of London bankers Hankeys, Plummer & Wilson, regarding 'West India Distress' and the 'unfortunate failure' of the mercantile house Mannings & Anderdon.

The present two items are of the highest interest for the information they provide regarding the financial connections between the West Indian market and the London banking interest. Wilson presses the claims of the new banking house of which he is a partner - Hankeys, Plummer & Wilson - in...

£220.00
William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse (1800-1867), Anglo-Irish astronomer whose telescope on his Birr Castle estate was nicknamed 'the Leviathan of Parsonstown' [Nassau William Senior, economist]

[William Parsons, 3rd Earl of Rosse.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Rosse') to 'Senior' [the economist Nassau Senior], making arrangements for a visit, with reference to the railways and comment on the 'improved' state of Irish employment.

3pp., 12mo. Bifolium with mourning border. On aged paper, with short closed tear at head of first leaf and traces of mount on blank reverse of second leaf. Written in a hurried and difficult hand. The letter begins: 'Dear Senior | We are most happy to hear that we are to have the pleasure of...

£120.00
Wang Ling (1917-1994), Chinese historian who collaborated with Joseph Needham [Eighth International Congress of the History of Science, Florence and Milan, 1956; Yolanda Sonnabend]

[Inscribed by the Chinese historian Wang Ling to Yolanda Sonnabend.] Printed volume, with text in Italian, French and English, of the proceedings of the 'VIII Congresso Internazionale di Storia della Scienza | Firenze-MIlano 3-9 September 1956'.

111pp., folio. Unpaginated, and printed on the rectos only. A duplicated and stapled production, in grey printed wraps. In poor condition: on brittle and aged high-acidity paper, with chipping to wraps and front cover loosening. Inscribed inside the front cover. No. 44 of 72 contributions is 'J...

£220.00
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