CENTURY

One page, 12mo. Very good. Docketed in pencil at head. 'I have no knowledge of Mr Tupper [presumably the poetaster Martin Farquhar Tupper, 1810-89] or of his address. I was in hopes that the madness of collecting autographs had subsided - but I am sorry to perceive, from your letter, that this is not yet the Case.'

One page, octavo. Very good. Docketed at head 'Ordinary of Newgate', and with small fragment of printed slip laid down in top left-hand corner (not affecting text). Reads 'My dear Sir, | A friend of mine lays claim to the Arrandale Peerage & estates - do you happen to possess any documents of any kind which can throw light upon the subject & assist him in the prosecution of his claims - He claims I believe from Lord John Johnstone who was in Newgate for Treason about the year 1700, but was never convicted - Yrs. very truly | H S Cotton'. Addressed to 'William Upcott Esq.

One page, octavo. Good, though a little smoked at head and foot. 'Here, after a delay I am ashamed of, are the autographs: I shall indeed be glad if they give any pleasure to the recipient. | I trust that you and the Vicar were not overtired on the day of the Confirmation: and that you know what a happiness both the Service and the welcome were to me.' Sends 'Mr. Green's kindest remembrances'.

One page, on piece of lightly aged paper, roughly six and a half inches by seven. Strip neatly torn away at head (not affecting text, but perhaps bearing recipient's address). Good, with a little damage from breaking of wafer and slight evidence of previous mounting on revese. Thirteen lines. He is sending the selected autographs, and will 'be happy to receive, at your leisure, those of Currie, Daubeny, Mc.Culloch, Flowers, Woodville & Phillips & Jones - or such 5 of them as you can best spare'.

Four pages, 12mo. Aged and stained. Asks if he will favour him 'by signing in a collection of autographs in which the Queen and every member of the Royal family, Tsar & Tsaritsa, Kinngs & Queens of Denmark, Spain, & the Belgians, the Pope, all the ambassadors, Judges, Royal Academicians, leading Statesmen &c. &c. &c. have signed.' It has been shown to Lord and Lady Aberdeen 'who were very interested'. 'I may add I am a cousin of late B[isho]p of <?> (Burn).' States time when it would be convenient for his correspondent to sign. 'I live @ 26 Wolverton Gardens W.

Four pages, 12mo. Very good on lightly aged paper. Docketed by Gaskell at head of first page 'This letter is written to myself in reply to my offer of the loan of 91 Shirley Brooks' letters. | J. B. Gaskell'. Acknowledges the receipt of the letters which Gaskell has 'so generously' placed at his disposal, and assures him that they will be 'treated with the greatest care' and returned as soon as possible, together with the photograph of 'Epicurus Rotundus' (Brooks's pen name), 'which is new to me'. Asks for 'any reminiscences, hearsay or otherwise of S. B.

On wove paper, with watermark '179< >'. Dimensions roughly 22.5 x 39 cm. Very good on lightly aged paper. One small unobtrusive spot of foxing. The illustration is within an oval roughly 21.5 cm wide, enclosed in a decorative box of dimensions 18 x 27.5 cm. A couple of bishops with croziers and a mass of nobles in ermine look on in a vaulted castle hall while Henry II presents what looks like a pie to his bemused offspring, who is seated beneath a canopy.

Printed Post Card, dimensions three and a half inches by five and a half. Good, on aged paper, but with the reverse (showing the remains of a photograph of Brighton) damaged by its removal from an autograph album. Unobtrusive vertical crease. Reads (apparently in Egerton Castle's hand) 'Dear Miss Gray | Your letter has been forwarded to us here. We have much pleasure in sending you the autographs you desire'.

8vo, 1 p. Good, on aged paper, with staple holes to top left-hand corner. Docketed in blue ink. He thanks the Secretary for his 'invitation for me to take the Chair on Wednesday, 23 April, which I am most happy to accept'.

One page, 12mo, on mourning paper. Aged and cropped at foot. Dusty, and with minor paperclip stains to edges, and traces of previous mount on reverse. Reads 'Dear Sir, | I have much pleasure in sending you my Autograph. | Yours truly | "Allen Raine" '. Four-line cutting giving printed biography neatly laid down in bottom right-hand corner.

Two pages, 12mo. Very good. A formal letter written in the third person. 'Lord Liverpool presents his compliments to Mr. Barker and in answer to your [sic] letter regrets that his father has been dead two years and therefore he cannot comply with Mr. Barker's request for his signature.'

One page, 12mo. Very good. 'I have much pleasure in sending you my signature, as I am told you wd. care to have it.

The collection is in good condition. Three of the communications bear the stamp of the Royal Society of Arts, of which the recipient Wood was the Secretary.

One page. On piece of paper four inches by three and a half wide. Good, on lightly creased and aged paper. Docketed in pencil at head. 'Dear Sir | I have pleasure in enclosing my autograph. | Yrs. truly | M. E. Kennard'. Scarce autograph of the woman described as 'Harborough's forgotten novelist' (J. D. Bennett, in 'The Harborough Historian', 2001).

One page, octavo. Very good. Neatly written, as one might expect. 'My usual charge for comparing writings is 2 Gnas and for deciphering MSS. according to the time occupied therein'. He will be 'in Town week after next but as I have to attend at the Courts at Westminster it is uncertain at what hour you would find me here unless you made an appointment beforehand.' Chabot was the author of 'The handwriting of Junius professionally investigated by Charles Chabot, expert | With preface and collateral evidence by the Hon. Edward Twisleton' (1871).

Two pages, 12mo. Good, on spotted paper. Folded twice.He is obliged to his correspondent for 'sending me a copy of the Disraeli letter in your possession'. He will not trouble his correspondent for a loan of the original 'as the contents are rather of private than of public interest'.

One page, 12mo. Very good, laid down on piece of larger, thicker, blue-backed paper. Amusing response to a request for an autograph. 'I do not know why you should bother about collecting consul's autographs. Consuls are generally a useless lot of fellows who do nothing and think a great deal about themselves. Instead of being intermediaries of trade they assume diplomatic attitudes; dress well, smoke well and so on. They should be diplomats. | I am not a Consul General, neither am I in London, but if my autograph is needed to add to your collection I give it here below.'

12mo: 4 pp. On grey paper. Very good, with a small strip of discolouration over the Royal Artillery crest. Bearing the Society's stamp. He is glad that his 'article on the Red Cross' interested Wood: 'in other circumstances it would have given me much pleasure to follow up the article with an address to your Society on the subject', but 'the work of the Cadet school, which I entered a couple of months ago, takes up my entire time'.

All three items very good, and the first bearing the Society's stamp. Item One (15 June 1928, foolscap, 1 p, 12 lines): He has received a notice of a meeting by 'the Dominions and Colonies Section Committee' and asks Perry to 'please explain the position to me'. 'I am not quite clear why I am being asked as I cannot remember ever having been put on this Committee. True, Sir Humphrey Leggett suggested over a year ago that I should join the Society again as he thought I might be of some use to your Committee.

All items good. Two bearing the Society's stamp. Item One (typed note, 15 October 1931, 4to, 1 p): He is sending 'short summaries of the two lectures, in a form which I prefer to mere headings'. Item Two (autograph letter, 17 January 1932, 8vo, 1 p): He is sending 'summaries of the two lectures'. 'As you seemed in a hurry I have not waited to have them typed. I think that they are legible, but I will look at a proof if you like.' He has left it to Menzies 'to add any preliminaries or conclusions that may be necessary'.

All items very good. The typed letters are both 4to, 1 p, and the autograph letters both 12mo, 1 p. Three items bear the Society's stamp. Letter One (typed, 24 September 1915, 10 lines): He will have 'great pleasure in addressing the Society of Arts', but there is 'one point which must be settled carefully beforehand'.

12mo: 2 pp. Eleven lines of text. Very good. Having just received it from London, Rodd is sending Crawford the book he could not get in Rome which he wanted to send him as a birthday present. 'It is written by a great friend of mine who knows better than any one the history of the first voyages to America and the discovery of the Great Southern Sea. I think you will like it.' In an envelope, on aged paper, with postmarks and Italian postage stamp. Addressed to 'Harold Crawford, Villa Crawford, St Agnello di Sorrento'.

12mo: 3 pp. 26 lines of text. Good, on lightly creased and aged paper. Chatty, apologetic letter. She thanks her for her invitation for the following day but she is already engaged. Unclear reference to 'Sir Boyle Roche's bird'. She would like to see her again, but 'I dare not make any engagements now, The weather is now my jailer'. She has to go to Malvern one day the following week. Suggests other possibilities. She may have to 'take my chance of finding you at home'. She was 'sorry to miss you when you were away & I called'.

12mo: 2 pp. Very good on lightly aged paper. 29 lines of text. He will not fail to make use of his correspondent's comments in a new edition. Discusses the section he is working on at present and proposes to send his correspondent an off print. He has ordered other off prints to be sent, in return for his correspondent's useful remarks. For a couple of months he will be at Blainville, 'sur le bord de la mer, ou je puis mieux travailler qu'a Paris, tout en prenant un peu de repos'. Docketed at foot of reverse, 'Theologian, Sulpicien'.

The Card is good, apart from two rust stains at the head from a paperclip. Stamped and postmarked, and addressed to Fowler at 16 Conynge Square, Clifton, Bristol. Six lines. Concerns Lee's sister Elizabeth, a writer of textbooks, translator and contributor to the Dictionary of National Biography, whose death on 10 July 1920 was, according to the New DNB, 'a source of much sorrow' to Lee. He thanks Fowler for his letter of sympathy, adding that his sister 'greatly valued her association' with you Fowler and his 'approval of her work'.

12mo: 2 pp. On first leaf of bifolium. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper, with dogeared corners. Nine lines of text. The 'man for your purpose' is 'Mr G. Gray, the Diocesan Registry Peterboro''. 'He is intelligent & will do the work well I doubt not on receiving your instructions.' Loosely inserted is a leaf carrying biographical information in a contemporary hand.

On a leaf of cream paper, 8.5 x 12 cm, part of a bifolium taken from an autograph album. Very good. All three signatures are bold and clear. The signatures of Lawrence and St Helier are on one side of the leaf, and that of Carey is on the other. Lawrence's signature is in ink, and the other two in pencil. Three signatures,

On piece of cream paper, roughly 8.5 x 12 cm, removed from an autograph album. Good, on paper with a few light marks. Bold, firm signatures in pencil, one on each side of the leaf. Two signatures,

On leaf of light blue paper, 8.5 x 12 cm, removed from an autograph album. Very good.

On piece of paper roughly 2.5 x 5 cm. Laid down on leaf of cream paper, 8.5 x 12 cm, from an autograph album. In slightly faded blue ink, and with a crease to the bottom left-hand corner, affecting the lower loop of the 'J'.