CENTURY

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Manuscript Pay Warrant and Receipt, with Autograph Signature.

Author: 
John Murray, 2nd Earl of Dunmore (1685-1752); [Horatio?] Walpole.
Publication details: 
28 March 1740; Whitehall.
£56.00

Two pages. Dimensions of paper fourteen and a half inches by nine inches. Aged and stained, with fraying to extremities and some loss to one corner (not affecting text). Order to 'deliver and pay of such his Majesty's Treasure as remains in your Charge unto John Earl of Dunmore or his Assigns the Sum of Two hundred and Fifty Pounds', on Dunmore's 'Annuity or yearly Pension of One Thousand Pounds as one of the Gentlemen of his Majesty's Bedchamber'. With signatures of 'Winnington', 'G Earle' and <?>. Docketed 'Mr. Yorke I pray pay this Order out of Addl.

The Art of Swimming rendered easy; with Directions to Learners. To which is prefixed, Advice to bathers, by Dr. B. Franklin.

Author: 
Benjamin Franklin [Scottish Chapbook]
Publication details: 
Glasgow: Printed for the Booksellers. 81. [sic] [1840-50?]
£850.00

Unbound, on six loose leaves folded to make bifoliums. Good, though grubby and with rough edges (particularly the head). Text clear and entire. 12mo, 24 pages. Cover features woodcut of eighteenth-century gentleman (Franklin?) leaning on stick. Sections on 'Swimming like a dog', 'To beat the water', 'To show both feet out of the water', 'To suspend yourself by the chin', etc. Scarce: Copac only lists copies at Glasgow and in the National Library of Scotland. Dated 1840-50 by the NLS 'from examination of text and style [of] Illustration on title page'.

Typed Letter Signed ('Walter Besant') to Mrs [Alice] Westlake.

Author: 
Sir Walter Besant (1836-1901), novelist and historian of London [Alice Westlake (nee Hare); Adam and Charles Black, publishers; The Survey of London; Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; Frognal]
Publication details: 
13 February 1897; on Adam and Charles Black 'Survey of London' letterhead.
£45.00

12mo, 2 pp. Seventeen lines of text. On lightly aged and creased paper. Attractive arts and crafts letterhead. Sending his 'mosts profound sympathy in the danger which threatens Chelsea'. He will sign 'the paper [...] with the greatest of pleasure', although he anticipates 'very little good as a possible result'. Suggests a time at which the paper can be sent to him.

An archive representing his bookselling activities (first year of business) in 1951.

Author: 
[MID-CENTURY BOOKSELLING] Lt-Col. W.N. Pettigrew, bookseller,
Publication details: 
193 Kimbolton Road, Bedford, 1951.
£450.00

The archive comprises c. 150 items, the vast majority letters but also postcards, and manuscript and typewritten lists, some substantial, usually of Kiplingiana. [One in Pettigrew's hand, returned by Rota, has individual suggestions of prices attached and the final price offered by Pettigrew.] The letters are either manuscript or typewritten, in various formats, and mainly 1 or 2 pages. The archive breaks down into three sections: letters from booksellers (two from auctioneers); letters from collectors/bookbuyers; and personal/business papers.

Her Royal Highness; A Romance of the Chancelleries of Europe.

Author: 
William Le Queux
Publication details: 
London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1914.
£56.00

Octavo: 190 pp. In original red cloth binding. First edition. Lacks rear free endpaper. On aged paper and in heavily worn binding. INSCRIBED by author on creased front free endpaper 'Much that is contained in this book is founded on fact | [signed] William Le Queux | Oct 1916'.

Catalogue of a Valuable and Interesting Collection of Books formed by a Prominent American Playwright, [i.e. Daly] [...] relating to the Drama [...] Original Drawings. Including [...] A Very Valuable Series by W. Blake, Etc., Etc.

Author: 
[John Augustin Daly (1838-99), American playwright] [J. W. Bouton; Geo. A. Leavitt & Co., Auctioneers; William Blake; John Camden Hotten]
Publication details: 
No date [1878]; 'GEO. A. LEAVITT & CO., Auctioneers, Clinton Hall, New York.'
£75.00

Octavo: viii + 201 pages. Good and tight, on aged high-acidity paper, with some chipping and a little light staining at foot. A few pencil marks. In original printed grubby and chipped wraps cloth-taped to spine. Front wrap annotated in pencil. Four-page introduction entitled 'A PLAYWRIGHT'S WORKING LIBRARY.' Even considering the importance and interest of the theatrical collection, the high point is undoubtedly item 102: 'BLAKE, WILLIAM. ORIGINAL DRAWINGS IN WATER COLOURS and INDIA INK by the celebrated WILLIAM BLAKE (Pictor Ignotus).

Catalogue of the well-known and very valuable library formed at the Durdans, Epsom, by the late Rt. Honble. the Earl of Rosebery, K.G., K.T. Sold by order of his daughter Lady Sybil Grant. The first and second portions.

Author: 
Archibald Philip Primrose (1847-1929) , 5th Earl of Rosebery, British Prime Minister [Lady Sybil Grant; the Durdans, Epsom; Sotheby & Co.]
Publication details: 
Sotheby & Co., 34 & 35, New Bond Street, W.(1). On Monday, the 26th day of June, 1933, and four following days.
£100.00

TWO COPIES, both octavo: iv + 158 pages. Several collotype plates, several in red and gold. In original green printed Sotheby wraps. Both items sound internally, with some wear to the wraps. One item has extensive pencil annotations to the front wraps, and the other has a few ink marks to the reverse, with minor wear to the last couple of leaves. Both catalogues partially priced with some names by the London booksellers Myers & Co. of New Bond Street, one on the second day of the sale and the other on the fifth.

The Splendid Library of the Late Edwin B. Holden, at one time President of the Grolier Club, New York City. To be sold at unrestricted public sale by order of Mrs. Holden.

Author: 
Edwin Babcock Holden (1861-1906) [AUCTION CATALOGUE; THOMAS E. KIRBY, AUCTIONEER; GROLIER CLUB]
Publication details: 
28, 29 and 30 April, and 1 May 1920; At the American Art Galleries [Lent & Graff Co, New York].
£150.00

Quarto. Unpaginated (circa 240 pages?). 1789 lots. Numerous plates. Good, in worn contemporary olive cloth binding, with black label. Front wrap, printed in black and red, bound in at rear. Most lots priced in manuscript. Many fine bindings, privately printed, association and Kelmscott Press items. Preceded by four-page Prefatory Note giving a resume of the collection.

18-line handbill advertisement, beginning 'W. Viney, Angel Hill, Tiverton, Begs leave to inform the Families and Inhabitants of this Town and its Neighbourhood, that he has just received a supply of the Bridgwater Red Ware, [...]'

Author: 
W. Viney, Angel Hill, Tiverton; James Pope; William Bragg, printer, of Cheapside, Taunton [nineteenth-century ceramics; Bridgwater Red Ware]
Publication details: 
Dated 23rd. April 1827. | W. BRAGG, PRINTER, &c. CHEAPSIDE, TAUNTON.'
£85.00

On one side of a piece of wove paper, watermarked 'BRIDGE MILL | 1826', roughly 24 x 19 cm. In a variety of types and point sizes. Good, with text clear and entire, on slightly grubby and lightly discoloured paper . Two spike holes at centre, puncturing one large letter (the 'W' of 'WARE'). Serving as a proof, with printer's manuscript corrections in pencil. The first three lines ('W. VINEY, | ANGEL HILL, | TIVERTON," have been cancelled, with the text that is intended to replace them ('James Pope Street ') at head of page.

Three Autograph Letters Signed (all 'Terrick Williams'): two to John Littlejohns and one to Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons Ltd.

Author: 
Terrick Williams [Terrick John Williams] (1860-1936), English landscape painter [John Littlejohns]
Publication details: 
First Letter (to Littlejohns): 15 June 1929. Second Letter (to [Littlejohns]): 20 December 1930. Third Letter (to Sir Isaac Pitman & Sons): 14 February 1931. All three on letterhead of 89, Gunterstone Road, W. Kensington, W14 [London].
£150.00

All three items concern Littlejohns' 'British Watercolour Painting and Painters of Today' (London: Pitman, 1931)'. First Letter: 12mo, 3 pp. 43 lines. Text clear and entire. On two leaves attached to one another in a corner by a pin. Good, on lightly-creased paper. Interesting and informative letter concerning 'two watercolours' which Williams would 'like to be 'reproduced in [Littlejohn's] work on water colours'. Gives details of the titles of the works and the name and address of the owner, 'who has consented to send them'.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Felicity Hill'). Together with autograph signature (also 'Felcity Hill').

Author: 
Air Commodore Dame Felicity Hill [Felicity Barbara Hill] (1915-?), Director, Women's Royal Air Force, 1966-1969
Publication details: 
Undated; from Worcester Cottage, Mews Lane, Winchester, Hants.
£35.00

The six-line letter, which is laid down on a slightly larger piece of lilac paper, was originally on one side of an octavo leaf, but it has had a strip (presumably carrying the name and address of the recipient) beneath the address cut away. It is now in two pieces: 5 x 15.5 and 12 x 15.5 cm. Otherwise very good. Laid down on the top piece is a slip of paper in Hill's hand, reading 'From: Air Commodore Dame Felicity Hill D.B.E. WRAF (retd)'. In the bottom right-hand corner of the second piece of paper is a strip carrying Hill's autograph.

Handbill, amended in manuscript for reprinting, beginning 'Taunton Branch Missionary Society, In aid of the London Missionary Society, instituted 1795.'

Author: 
William Bragg, Printer, Cheapside, Taunton, Devon [London Missionary Society; Taunton Branch Missionary Society; Wivelscombe]
Publication details: 
Dated October 29th. 1826. | W. Bragg, Printer, Cheapside, Taunton.'
£95.00

On both sides of a piece of wove paper, roughly 23 x 18 cm. On lightly discoloured and creased paper, with central spike hole affecting two words. Two manuscript changes in ink on the recto: 'TAUNTON' amended to 'Wivelscombe' and the twenty-one names of the Society's officers cancelled. A handful of changes, in ink and pencil, on reverse. Mainly taken up with ten 'Principles and Regulations'. Seven-line footnote in small print on recto, concerning a 'FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLE'. BBTI lists William Bragg as active in Taunton before 1830.

Autograph Signature ('Isabel Somerset') on piece of paper.

Author: 
Lady Isabel Somerset [Lady Isabella Caroline Somerset; Lady Henry Somerset] (née Somers-Cocks) (1851-1921), Temperance activist and campaigner for women's rights
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£23.00

On irregularly shaped piece of paper, roughly 3 x 7 cm, cut around the signature and its double underlining. Good signature, with slight smudging to a couple of letters.

Autograph Signature ('John Wilkes') on piece of paper.

Author: 
John Wilkes (1725–1797), English whig politician, rake and author; Lord Mayor of London, 1774; supposed member of Dashwood's Hell Fire Club
Publication details: 
Without date or place.
£75.00

Good clear signature on aged and creased paper, 5.5 x 8 cm, with one rough edge and a small triangle torn away from one corner. Glue staining from previous mounting on reverse.

Fairburn's Genuine Edition of the Death-Bed Confessions of the late Countess of Guernsey, to Lady Anne H*******; developing a series of mysterious Transactions connected with the most illustrious Personages in the Kingdom: to which are added, [...].

Author: 
Francis Villiers, Countess of Jersey [spurious, attributed to] [Queen Caroline; King George IV; Lady Anne Hamilton]
Publication details: 
London: Printed and Published by John Fairburn, Broadway, Ludgate-hill.
£45.00

8vo: iv + 48 + [ii] pp. Last leaf carries advertisements for works by Fairburn. In marbled wraps. Text clear and entire. On aged paper with slight wear and fraying, small holes and light stains to first four leaves. Title continues '[...] to which are added, The Q-'s last letter to the K-, Written a few Days before Her M-'s Death, and other Authentic Documents, never before published. | [quotation] I am the Viper that has been secretly wounding you both.

Autograph Letter Signed ('Marsy'), in French, to 'Monsieur le Président et Cher Confrère' [Monsieur Théodore Hippert].

Author: 
Arthur, Comte de Marsy (1843-1900), archaeologist, director of the Société française d'Archéologie pour la Conservation des monuments historiques
Publication details: 
15 January 1894; on letterhead of the Société.
£75.00

12mo: 4 pp. Good, on lightly aged and creased paper. 65 lines of text. Discusses, among other matter, the recipient's 'Exposition de Dentelles', a 'voyage à Bruxelles', a 'très agréable reunion à Abbeville', and a trip by 67 members to Kent. Accompanied by a ten-line manuscript biography of de Marsy, in French in a contemporary hand, tipped in onto another slip of paper cut away from the letter's envelope, and bearing the address in de Marsy's hand.

Papers on Literature and Art.

Author: 
S. Margaret Fuller [Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli]
Publication details: 
Two volumes. London: Wiley & Putnam, 6, Waterloo Place. 1846.
£250.00

8vo: [viii] + 164 pp; [iv] + 183 pp. Bound together in contemporary half calf binding, gilt, marbled boards and endpapers. A tight copy, printed on aged, spotted paper, with occasional light damp-spotting, in worn binding. Bookplate of Aemiliani Reich, on spotted, aged paper, by Gordon Browne, on front pastedown. The first volume has a four-page preface by 'S.M.F.', dated 'New York, July, 1846.' Both volumes contain eight essays.

Autograph Letter Signed, in French, to unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Jacques Herz (1794-1880), French pianist and composer [Sir Charles Lock Eastlake (1793-1865), President of the Royal Academy and first Keeper of the National Gallery]
Publication details: 
Vendredi 11 Mars' [no year]; 23 Bentinck Street, Manchester Square, London.
£56.00

12mo, 2 pp. 12 lines of text. Creased and ruckled, with a little smudging. Difficult hand. Asking the recipient 'd'aller passer une soirée avec nous'. Laid down on a piece of paper which is attached to the blank reverse of the second leaf of the bifolium is a slip of paper (roughly 2 x 9 cm) carrying Eastlake's signature ('always truly yours | [signed] C. L. Eastlake').

Secretarial Letter Signed ('Victor Meunier') to an unnamed male correspondent.

Author: 
Victor Meunier (1817-1903), French author and journalist; editor of 'Cosmos', the 'Revue Synthétique', and 'L’Ami des Sciences'
Publication details: 
Undated; on letterhead of the Revue Synthetique, Paris.
£25.00

12mo, 1 p. Five lines of text. Very good on lightly aged paper. Good firm signature. He is sending the first issue of the 'Revue Synthétique' and proposes an exchange of that magazine for the one that the recipient edits.

Discourse, On the Objects and Importance of the National Institution for the Promotion of Science, Established at Washington, 1840, Delivered at the First Anniversary.

Author: 
Joel R. Poinsett, Secretary of War and Senior Director of the National Institution for the Promotion of Science [Smithsonian Institution]
Publication details: 
Washington: P. Force, Printer. 1841.
£35.00

8vo: 52 pp. Stitched pamphlet in marbled paper wraps. On aged, damp-stained paper, with foxing to last leaf. The Institution was later renamed the National Institute and eventually became a part of the Smithsonian Institute.

Verses on the Monumental Effigy of Alice-Evelyn, The Infant-Daughter of Martin Farquhar Tupper, Esq. Sculptured as a Sleeping Child, by J. Durham, Esq. Written by R. T. for W. H. [...]'.

Author: 
R. T. [Martin Farquhar Tupper (1810-1889); Joseph Durham (1814-1877); Thomas De La Rue & Co.]
Publication details: 
London: Imprinted by Thomas De La Rue & Co. Dwelling in Bunhill Row. For Presentation to Private Friends. 1854. Not Published.'
£100.00

Printed on all four pages of a bifolium, with each leaf roughly 17.5 x 13.5 cm. Lightly creased, and with the outer pages a little grubby, but good overall. A self-consciously well-printed production, with each page encased in a black ruled border, and with an engraving of the sculpture on the front page, beneath which, 'A. C. CHISHOLM. DEL. J. DURHAM. NV.' Possibly complete in itself, but in view of the elaborate title probably a taster for a volume which, considering the fact that there is no record of this item on COPAC, was probably never printed.

Anno Tertio & Quarto Victoriae Reginae. Cap. LXXXV. An Act for the Regulation of Chimney Sweepers and Chimneys. [7th August 1840.]'

Author: 
[Chimney Sweeps; Chimney Sweepers; Victorian child labour; Act of Parliament]
Publication details: 
London: Printed by George E. Eyre and Andrew Spottiswoode, Printers to the Queen's most Excellent Majesty. 1840.
£25.00

8vo, 4 pp, paginated [605] to 608. Disbound bifolium. Two stab holes. Good, on lightly aged paper, with slight loss along crease line. A piece of landmark legislation in the field of employment rights. 'And be it enacted, That [...] any Person who shall compel or knowingly allow any Child or young Person under the Age of Twenty-one Years to ascend or descend a Chimney, or enter a Flue, for the Purpose of sweeping, cleaning, or coring the same, or for extinguishing Fire therein, shall be liable to a Penalty not more than Ten Pounds or less than Five Pounds.'

Rules of the Mathematical Association.

Author: 
The Mathematical Association [founded in England in 1871 as founded in 1871 as the Association for the Improvement of Geometrical Teaching]
Publication details: 
January 1939. Printer and place of publication [England] not stated.
£56.00

8vo, 12 pp. Stapled and in original blue printed wraps. Good, with minor staining to wraps at top of spine. Eight 'Rules' and three 'Regulations', with a separate entry on 'Regulations for the Use of the Library'. Not listed on COPAC.

Signed Manuscript Catalogue of the 'Sale by Auction of the Stock in Trade of Ironmongers materials, Casting Apparatus, Steam Engine & other Effects of Mr. J. Sagar Sold under Bill of Sale to Mr. Stubbs, Botchergate, Carlisle.'

Author: 
William Browne, Auctioneer; John Sagar, Ironmonger, Botchergate, Carlisle, Cumberland [Stubbs; Nineteenth Century Sale Catalogue]
Publication details: 
23 January 1856. [Hudson Scott, Stationer and Account Book Manufacturer, Carlisle.]
£250.00

Landscape 8vo: 10 pp. On the first six leaves of a twenty leaf stitched account book, on blue ruled blue paper, in original buff wraps. Printed label on front cover reading 'SALE BOOK. | Sold by HUDSON SCOTT, | Stationer and Account Book Manufacturer, Carlisle.' Manuscript title on front cover reads 'Sale a/c of J. Sagar under Bill of Sale to Mr. Stubbs 1856.' and 'Effects of John Sagar, Ironmonger Botchergate under Bill of Sale to Mr. Stubbs. - Jany. 23. 1856.-' Internally clean, in grubby wraps. Description of sale, on first page, signed 'William Browne | Auctioneer'.

Prospectus and 'Form of Application' for shares in the Metropolitan Electric Tramways, Limited.

Author: 
The Metropolitan Electric Tramways, Limited. [London Transport]
Publication details: 
March 1904. William Brown & Co. Limited, Printers, &c., London, E.C.
£56.00

The prospectus is a four-page bifolium. Dimensions of leaf roughly 38.5 x 24 cm. Aged, creased and worn, and with slight loss to spine and with a panel in the second leaf worn through, resulting in loss of some of text. The prospectus is addressed by hand to 'Eton College Wilds Estate'. The 'form of application' is printed in green on one side of a leaf roughly 34 x 20.5 cm. It is in better condition than the prospectus, lightly creased and aged, and complete with a perforated 'Banker's Receipt'. Note: The Wilds Estate provided the land for Hampstead Garden Suburb and the Heath.

Manuscript, in French, entitled 'Notice Sur l'Etablissement industriel fondé par M. Cornillac à Châtillon-sur-Seine (Côte-d'Or), Pour la fabrication des Livres de Piété.

Author: 
Charles Cornillac, French publisher of Châtillon-sur-Seine, Côte-d'Or (active between 1834-1872)
Publication details: 
Without date or place [but between 1847 and 1859].
£500.00

12mo: 4 pp. On the first leaves of each of two bifoliums, which are neatly attached the one within the other to make a four-leaf pamphlet the last two leaves of which are blank. Around 150 lines of closely- and neatly-written French text with a few corrections and additions. Presumably intended for publication. Divided into three parts. Begins 'Sauf les Forges, situes a Sainte-Colombe (2 Kilom.

Printed handbill, with facsimile signature, of statement by Churchill beginning 'On what may be the eve of an attempted invasion or battle for our native land'. Addressed to Surgeon Commander Paterson, H.M.S. Victory.

Author: 
Winston Churchill [Winston Spencer Churchill; Surgeon Commander A. C. Paterson, H.M.S. Victory]
Publication details: 
Headed '10, DOWNING STREET, | WHITEHALL', and dated in print '4th July, 1940.'
£100.00

Printed on one side of a piece of unwatermarked cream wove paper. Dimensions roughly 24 x 19 cm. Folded and lightly creased, and with some staining (not affecting the text, which is entirely legible) to left-hand margin and top left-hand corner. 24 lines of text. According to Churchill's memoirs, this 'admonition' was 'circulated throught the inner circles of the governing machine' and then read to the House of Commons the following day.

The conference. Instructions given to Sir Robert Ladbroke, Knt. William Beckford, Esq; the Right Hon. Thomas Harley, Esq; and Barlow Trecothick, Esq; representatives of the City of London: by their constituents.

Author: 
The City of London [Alderman William Beckford; Sir Robert Ladbroke; Thomas Harley; Barlow Trecothick; Charles Clavey]
Publication details: 
(Signed) CHARLES CLAVEY, Chairman of the Common Hall. Guildhall, Feb. 10, 1769.'
£280.00

Printed on one side only of a piece of watermarked laid paper, dimensions 32.5 x 19.5 cm. Folded twice for insertion in the magazine. Good, apart from strip of approximately 0.5 x 5.5 cm loss along top fold, affecting one word of text, and neatly repaired with archival tape. At head of page clean impression of satirical engraving (roughly 8.5 x 13 cm), showing Beckford (father of the connoisseur), in Lord Mayor's robes, telling Harley to 'Receive Instructions & not Silver'. Harley, holding a jacket, tailor's iron and shears, replies 'Teach us our Lesson! Are we then School Boys?

Victorian panoramic sepia photograph of the bay at Simon's Town.

Author: 
Simon's Town [Simonstown; Simonstad], Cape Town, South Africa [photograph; panorama].
Publication details: 
Taken on Saturday July 10th. Simons Town'. [mid-nineteenth century]
£400.00

Made up of four sepia photographs, each roughly 7 cm square, laid down overlapping each other to make a strip of 7 x 27 cm. Somewhat faded (especially to the right of the image) and with one small stain, and a one cm closed tear to the left. The paper on which the panorama is laid down, which is captioned in a contemporary hand, is somewhat grubby and chipped.

Samuell's Guide: How to know Sydney. Illustrated. Maps of Sydney, the harbour, the suburbs. Fishing resorts, masonic, shooting information, carriage drives, telegraphic code, &c. &c.

Author: 
H. J. Samuell's Guide to Sydney, 1897.
Publication details: 
Printed by McCarron, Stewart & Co., for the Samuell Publishing Company, Sydney, N.S.W. [New South Wales], 1897.
£225.00

16mo (13.5 x 10.5 cm), 288 pp. In original black and red printed wraps, illustrated on front with illustrations relating to the city. Fold-out 'Map of Sydney' (26 x 38 cm) in black and grey, with advertisements on reverse. Lacking the fold-out map which should be present on a stub between pp 124 and 125. Good, a little aged with slight staining at foot of first leaf. In worn and stained wraps, becoming detached from book at front. Ownership inscription of 'U Reynell 1895' in pencil on front wrap. Advertisements throughout. Numerous photographic illustrations.

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