{"title":"Documents and Letters","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"shelley-percy-bysshe-autograph-cheque-signed-february-1818","title":"SHELLEY Percy Bysshe - Autograph Cheque Signed, February 1818","description":"\u003ch4\u003ePercy Bysshe SHELLEY (1792-1822)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Cheque Signed (\"Percy Bysshe Shelley\"), drawn on Messrs. Brookes \u0026amp; Co of 25 Chancery Lane, directing them to pay £38.12s.9d. to \"I.S. Wright Esqr. or bearer.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page narrow oblong 8vo, London 28 February 1818.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Shelley family, including Claire Clairmont, had spent 1817 at Albion House, Marlow, where Shelley wrote his long revolutionary poem Laon and Cythna, later retitled The Revolt of Islam. By the begining of 1818 financial and health problems decided him to leave Engand for Italy, and after giving up Albion House at the end of January Shelley moved into rooms at 119 Great Russell Street, his last address in England. He, Mary and Claire spent a few cheerful weeks with their children in London visiting the opera, theatres and museums, before leaving for Italy on 11 March. In his last weeks in England Shelley gave instructions to his bankers Brookes for the settling of some of his unpaid bills, and this cheque appears to be an example. Before his departure he displayed considerable ingenuity in his attempts to avoid his father-in-law William Godwin, who was, as usual, asking him for money.Cancellation marks on Shelley's signature, not affecting its clarity. Slightly browned at the left edge, and mounting traces on the verso, but overall a pleasing little manuscript.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":6947976515,"sku":"1009","price":2950.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/shelley-percy-bysshe-cheque-signed-1818.jpeg?v=1446932638"},{"product_id":"de-corbeil-peter-document-in-his-name-august-1213","title":"de CORBEIL Peter - Document in his name, August 1213","description":"\u003ch4\u003ePeter de CORBEIL (d. 1222)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDocument in his name as Archbishop of Sens, confirming an agreement to settle a dispute over tithes between the church of 'Roseto' and Girardus, priest of 'Maravilla'. The text written in an accomplished secretarial hand, n.p. [most probably Sens, Burgundy], August 1213.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page in Latin on vellum , c. 10½ x 14½ cms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn attractive charter.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePlace names can be difficult to identify, but 'Roseto' is most probably Rozoy, and 'Maravilla' , Merinville.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTithes, in effect a land tax, theoretically voluntary, were raised to support religious institutions and were often the subject of disputes. The tithes were usually paid in kind, and in this case 'Roseto' and 'Maravilla' have agreed to divide the wheat, grain and oats in question. All religious taxes we abolished in France after the Revolution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePeter de Corbeil was a canon of Notre Dame de Paris, a scholastic philosopher and master of theology at the University of Paris. In 1198 his former pupil, Pope Innocent III, appointed him archdeacon and prebendary of York. In 1200 he became Archbishop of Sens, an important ecclesiastical centre with a fine Gothic cathedral. A theological conservative, he forbade the teaching of several of Aristotle's works and ordered the burning of works by the pantheistic philosopher David of Dinant. A manuscript of Peter of Corbeil's commentary on the Psalms is in the Bodleian Library, Oxford.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":6948583363,"sku":"1012","price":875.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/de-corbeil-peter-document-1213.jpeg?v=1446915616"},{"product_id":"berthier-louis-alexandre-prince-of-wagram-and-neuchatel-1753-1815-letter-signed-1811-sending-paulines-lover-to-spain","title":"BERTHIER Louis Alexandre - LS 1811 sending Pauline's lover to Spain","description":"\u003ch4\u003e Louis Alexandre BERTHIER, Prince of Wagram and Neuchatel (1753-1815)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLetter Signed (“alexandre”) an order to M. de Septeuil to remain on the staff of the duc d’Istrie [Marshal Bessières].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page 4to with integral blank leaf, Paris, 26 March 1811.                                                                 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “\u003cem\u003eMonsieur de Septeuil is ordered to remain with the military staff of the Marshal Duc d’Istrie until he receives orders to the contrary. M. de Septeuil will make himself as useful as possible to the Duc d’Istrie . . . he will send me details twice weekly of what he is doing.\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eM. de Septeuil, who had been on Berthier’s staff, was sent to Spain as a result of a direct order from Napoleon. Septeuil, a rather dashing young officer, was the lover of one of Pauline Bonaparte’s ladies in waiting and later, it is suspected, of Pauline herself. Napoleon ordered that he be sent away from Paris “where he was losing the good habits” formed while on campaign. Once on Bessière’s staff, Septeuil went with him to Fuentes de Onoro, where his horse was shot from under him and Septeuil himself lost a leg.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt was not unlike Napoleon to take a keen interest in the morals of those around him; Pauline proved particularly difficult in this respect. Septeuil’s fate was tied up with that of another of Pauline’s lovers, M. de Canouville, who had incurred the Emperor’s displeasure when seen wearing furs which Napoleon had given to his sister. Canouville suffered a harsher fate than Septeuil. He was sent east, and died during the disastrous Russian campaign.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe document is somewhat crumpled and slightly browned at the edges, with remains of mounting to the verso of the blank leaf, but remains in perfectly clear and legible condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9391970627,"sku":"1257","price":395.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/berthier-marshal-letter-signed-1811.jpeg?v=1446898808"},{"product_id":"epstein-sir-jacob-1880-1959-two-autograph-letters-signed-about-his-work-and-asking-for-payment","title":"EPSTEIN Sir Jacob - Two ALSs about his work","description":"\u003ch4\u003eSir Jacob EPSTEIN (1880-1959)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo Autograph Letters Signed (“Jacob Epstein”) to “Dear Mr. Samuels”, giving details about the progress of some of his work and asking for a cheque “as large as you can on account”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page 4to, 18 Hyde Park Gate, 9 March n.y. and 1 page 4to, 18 Hyde Park Gate, 13 July n.y.    \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003e“I’m awfully pleased about the Bernard Shaw \u0026amp; I will put it in hand at once: but you must expect some delay as my bronze founders have lots to do \u0026amp; they are only a couple of men \u0026amp; the only ones functioning in London just now. I am trying hard to get my things together for the show but things seem to move slow slow; my time is partly spent in getting the moulding done. Nothing absolutely official is fixed about the Myra Hess but I expect it to come off next week.\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eI had hoped to see you in London this week. I was looking forward to relieving Mrs E’s anxieties naturally. If you can will you send me a cheque as large as you can on account? Sculptures. Everything is going well \u0026amp; I hope to have the Einstein soon. The Oriel will follow.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eI took the liberty of sending Mrs Samuels a little gift in the shape of “Leda” Peggy Jean’s child in bronze \u0026amp; I hope she likes it. . . Could you possibly make the cheque £100\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe “Mr. Samuels” in question was a collector of Epstein’s work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEpstein produced busts of a great many distinguished sitters in the inter-war years and immediately after, including those mentioned here – Shaw (1934), Einstein (1933), Oriel Ross (1931, etc. – Epstein produced several busts of the actress) and pianist Myra Hess (1945).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Leda”, born in 1939 was the daughter of Epstein’s illegitimate daughter Peggy Jean. Epstein was particularly interested in infants and small children, and produced a series of busts of Leda, capturing her different expressions.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9393589315,"sku":"1171","price":295.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/epstein-jacob-autograph-letters-signed-a.jpeg?v=1446916451"},{"product_id":"george-ii-document-signed-1741-deducting-payments-for-the-royal-hospital","title":"GEORGE II - Document Signed 1741 - payments for the Royal Hospital","description":"\u003ch4\u003eGEORGE II (1683-1760)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDocument Signed (“George R” twice), 2 pages of accounts written on either side of a large folio sheet, signed by the King at the head of each page.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2 pages folio, St James’s, 22 April 1741 and undated.                      \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe recto is a warrant directing that the customary annual one day’s pay should be deducted “\u003cem\u003eout of the Payments made to our Guards Garrisons and Land Forces in Great Britain . . . for the use of Our Royal Hospital near Chelsea [founded by Charles II]. . . towards the better maintenance of such Super annuated and Disabled Officers \u0026amp; Men as shall be provided for therein . . .”\u003c\/em\u003e Countersigned at the foot by the Lords of the Treasury Lord Sundon, Thomas Clutterbuck, and Giles Earle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe verso, an undated list of military allowances in the Horse Guards and Grenadier Guards for subsistence per day, gives the “\u003cem\u003eRegulation of Subsistence to be paid to every Officer and Soldier on the Foregoing Establishement\u003c\/em\u003e”, from £1.7s. “\u003cem\u003eTo a Captain \u0026amp; Col[onel] in lieu of his Servants\u003c\/em\u003e”, to 5 shillings for a chaplain, 6 shillings for a surgeon and 4 shillings for a drummer.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Royal Hospital, Chelsea, home of the Chelsea Pensioners, founded by Charles II in 1682 and designed by Christopher Wren, was intended “for the sucour and relief of veterans broken by age and war.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSplits at the edges of the centre horizontal fold have been professionally repaired.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9400425347,"sku":"1217","price":750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/george-ii-document-signed-1741.jpeg?v=1447329103"},{"product_id":"gerard-baron-autograph-letter-signed-1828-recommending-a-german-painter","title":"GERARD Baron - ALS 1828 recommending a German painter","description":"\u003ch4\u003eFrancois, Baron GERARD (1770-1837)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“F. Gérard”) to an unidentified Baron, recommending Mr. Richter, a young German painter, admired by Alexandre von Humboldt.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1½ pages 4to with integral blank leaf, in French, n.p., 8 November 1828.                               \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGérard asks his correspondent to look with favour on [trans:] “\u003cem\u003e. . . Mr. Richter, a young German painter who has already shown remarkable talent in his Art. He is leaving for Munich and would greatly value a few words of recommendation from Your Excellency. I have the pleasure of knowing for some years this worthy young man, whom Mr. A[lexan]dre de Humboldt told me recently he found worthy of note, and I assure you he is in every respect worthy of your protection. . .\u003c\/em\u003e” Gérard signs himself as “P[ein]tre du Roi”, a position granted to him by the restored Louis XVIII.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGérard was a protégé of David, who became one of the pre-eminent painters of the Napoleonic period. His portraits range from Napoleon himself, to Madame Mère, Caroline, Murat, Ney, Mme. Récammier, Mme. Tallien. After Waterloo, his sitters included not only the restored Bourbon monarchs, but also Wellington and Canning. Gérard’s immense historical painting of the Battle of Austerlitz was particularly appreciated by Napoleon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe great naturalist and explorer, Alexander von Humboldt lived in Paris until 1827. It is possible that the recipient of this letter might have been his elder brother, the philosopher and diplomat Baron Wilhelm von Humboldt.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9400615299,"sku":"1206","price":325.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/gerard-baron-autograph-letter-signed-1828-a.jpeg?v=1447329108"},{"product_id":"huskisson-william-autograph-letter-signed-1829-objecting-to-american-trade-policies","title":"HUSKISSON William - ALS 1829 fiercely objecting to American government policies","description":"\u003ch4\u003eWilliam HUSKISSON (1770-1830)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“W. Huskisson”), marked ‘Confidential’ to an unnamed correspondent, discussing trade relations with the United States, vehemently critical of U.S. President John Quincy Adams’ policies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4 pages 4to marked ‘Confidential’, Eartham [West Sussex]. 5 January 1829.      \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the wake of the Napoleonic Wars, Britain, Europe and America all struggled to find greater economic stability and restore healthy trading conditions. As a staunch exponent of the free market, and president of the Board of Trade until 1827, Huskisson was at the centre of negotiations. Over a fifteen year period, negotiations proceeded with mixed, often fruitless, results between Britain and America over the question of trade with the West Indies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTreaties with France and other European nations led to improved trading conditions; however, Huskisson did not hesitate to retaliate against countries which imposed what he considered discriminatory duties on British goods, including the United States. In response to the perceived American discrimination against British trade, Britain closed off the West Indies to American trade. Adams soon closed all American ports to ships from the British West Indies. Unpleasantness between the two trading nations festered until the election of Andrew Jackson in November 1828.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this remarkably splenetic letter, Huskisson makes his frustration and irritation with the Adams administration abundantly clear.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eI had no leisure till this morning for the perusal of the Letters which exhibit so clearly, and at the same time so temperately, the whole course and progress of the questions which have arisen and been discussed between this Country and the United States respecting their claim to commercial intercourse with our Colonies, from the commencement of American Independence up to the present time. . . Neither must I undervalue the importance of the testimony . . . to the sincerity and singleness of our conduct, contrasted with the refined trickery and mean evasions of the American Govt., especially under the guidance of the present President \u003c\/em\u003e[John Quincy Adams].\u003cem\u003e The character of this latter Personage becomes the more striking, in all its odious colours of cant and spleen intermixed, from the calm and placid manner in which these leading features of the Man are drawn out . . . I shall begin to think rather better of the Americans if they prefer Jackson \u003c\/em\u003e[Andrew Jackson, who took office in March of that year]\u003cem\u003e to Him, bad as the former may be. But if they should, their preference . . . will be more determined by that which . . . is the spring of all their actions – the love of money making – than by any deep felt disgust at the crooked and shuffling policy of his Predecessor.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eI am greatly obliged to you for affording me a perusal of Capt Hall’s very interesting Letter . . . It has given me the more satisfaction as the view which I have for some time taken of the American nation . . . very much accords with his. . . The business of a wise Administration in this Country . . . to treat with them always in the spirit of the strictest good faith, and carefully to cloth our communications in all those forms of courtesy and good will to which as a Nation they are particularly alive. This I hope and believe will be the general policy of our Govt.\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9400981763,"sku":"1015","price":495.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/huskisson-william-autograph-letter-signed-1829.jpeg?v=1446919018"},{"product_id":"lawrence-arnold-walter-autograph-letter-signed-1938-from-te-lawrences-younger-brother","title":"LAWRENCE Arnold - ALS 1938 from TE Lawrence's younger brother","description":"\u003ch4\u003eArnold Walter LAWRENCE (1900-1991)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“Arnold W. Lawrence”) to “Dear Mrs. Doubleday” [probably Ellen, wife of the publisher Nelson Doubleday], thanking her for a book and wryly alluding to the problems which might arise in the Middle East for those with the name Lawrence.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2 pages large 8vo, 11 Woburn Square, 29 January 1938.                 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eI did not go to Cambridge till the other day, when term began again [A.W. Lawrence was a lecturer on classical archaeology] \u0026amp; then I found your book. Last night, my first free evening, I read it straight through with great interest \u0026amp; enjoyment . . . I have been trying to organise an excavation in Persia \u0026amp; have at last got it fixed up at this end but we’re yet to see what the Persian Government will say. The Foreign Office tells me that people with even the Christian name of “Lawrence” used to be arrested at the frontier, \u0026amp; once a German journalist who looked rather like T.E. was kept in prison for a fortnight, so the outlook is not too good. It seems an extreme measure to change my name at short notice \u0026amp; if the change came to the knowledge of the Persians I’d probably stay there for life. However if all goes well I hope to do a prospecting trip this summer . .\u003c\/em\u003e .”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA.W. Lawrence, a leading authority on classical sculpture and architecture, had been very close to T.E., but came to find his brother’s enduring fame something of a burden. He performed his duties as literary executor faithfully and well, but his natual shyness was increased by his embarrassment at being regarded as someone else’s brother, rather than as a scholar of distinction in his own right.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9401119491,"sku":"1033","price":850.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/lawrence-arnold-walter-autograph-letter-signed-1938.jpeg?v=1446919378"},{"product_id":"william-iii-letter-signed-to-the-elector-of-cologne-1701","title":"WILLIAM III - LS to the Elector of Cologne, 1701","description":"\u003ch4\u003eWILLIAM III (1650-1702)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLetter Signed and Subscribed (“Mon frere \/ Votre tres affectione frere William R”) to “Mon Frere” [Joseph Clemens of Bavaria, Elector of Cologne], telling him that he is sending the Earl of Galway to explain his intentions and discover his correspondent’s sentiments on the subject [of a proposed anti-French alliance].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page 4to in French, Loo, 29 August 1701.                          \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA letter written at a crucial moment in the prelude to the War of the Spanish Succession.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “\u003cem\u003eAs I have just arrived in this country, I thought it necessary for the common cause to explain to you my intentions and to know your feelings on this subject. I found it suitable to send you the Earl of Galway, Lieutenant General in my armies, to discuss with you on my behalf, whom you will listen to with favour and can have complete trust in what he tells you in my name, most especially when he assures you of my kind thoughts and sincere friendship . .\u003c\/em\u003e .”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter a lengthy and difficult period of treaties, secret treaties, alliances, and changed alliances, matters came to a head in November 1701 with the death of the sickly Spanish king, Charles II. France, Austria, England and the United Provinces had proposed a seemingly endless stream of proposals over the years, each trying to protect and enlarge their own territorial interests. Charles himself had named Joseph Frederick of Bavaria, a candidate acceptable to the British and the Dutch, as his successor; however, Joseph Frederick’s death from smallpox two years before Charles threw everything once again into disarray.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe death of James II, deposed king of England, just weeks after this letter, prompted Louis XIV to recognise James’ son, James Edward Stuart, as the rightful king of England, adding to the tension, and when Austrian forces invaded the Duchy of Milan, part of Spain’s Italian territory, France retaliated and the war which was to last for over a dozen years had started.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWilliam III, never on cordial terms with Louis XIV, had spent the years before the outbreak of the war trying to cement an alliance with other European powers to oppose Louis’ expansionist ambitions. In this case, the mission to the Elector of Cologne, at the time an ally of France, failed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Earl of Galway, Henri de Ruvigny, was born into a French Huguenot family and had served in the French army. However, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, the family emigrated to England. His younger brother served alongside William III in Ireland, and was killed at the Battle of the Boyne.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe letter has been inlaid, and has a minuscule hole at the fold, but is otherwise in very good condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9466498051,"sku":"1118","price":1750.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/william-iii-letter-signed-1701.jpeg?v=1446933632"},{"product_id":"williams-wynn-henry-autograph-letter-signed-1808-09","title":"WILLIAMS WYNN Henry - ALS to a French Royalist","description":"\u003ch4\u003eHenry WILLIAMS WYNN (1783-1856)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“H Williams Wynn”) to the Count d’Antraigues, expressing the hope that they will soon meet.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page 4to in French with integral address leaf, n.p. [but London], “lundi”, n.d. [1808-09].               \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “\u003cem\u003eI am back from the country and currently propose to remain in town for some time. I hope that I will be more fortunate than I was during my last stay when we missed each other four times. Let me know at what time you are at home, as for me I never go out before 2 o’clock.\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSir Henry Williams Wynn sat as an MP for Midhurst, but soon joined the Foreign Office. He was eventually to be appointed ambassador to Switzerland and later to Denmark. As a grandson of the late Prime Minister George Grenville and younger brother of Charles Williams Wynn, who had served at the Home Office, Sir Henry was very well connected politically.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis correspondent, the Comte d’Antraigues, is particularly interesting. An arch-intriguer, he was a Royalist and indeed a very conservative Royalist. In 1790 he emigrated to Switzerland. This was followed by a series of emigrations to Venice, Trieste, Vienna, Dresden and finally, in 1806 to that last refuge of French Royalists, England. He served Louis XVIII in exile, but was repudiated by him when suspected of having revealed secret plans to Napoleon in order to secure his release when d’Antraigues was captured in Trieste. He was later in the pay of the Russians, although as a spy he was notoriously unreliable, embellishing his information and ready to betray all sides. He was living in Devonshire Street, where this letter is addressed, in 1808 but soon moved to Barnes in southwest London, where he and his wife were killed in 1812 by a servant who had been dismissed. Opinion remains divided as to whether the servant was taking personal revenge or whether he had been paid by one of d’Antraigues’ many enemies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe address leaf has been torn and repaired, not affecting the text.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the Crawford collection.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9467065155,"sku":"1299","price":295.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/williams-wynn-henry-autograph-letter-signed-1808.jpeg?v=1446933816"},{"product_id":"talleyrand-charles-maurice-prince-de-benevent-letter-signed-1803-interceding-for-an-englishman","title":"TALLEYRAND Charles Maurice - LS 1803 interceding for an Englishman","description":"\u003ch4\u003eCharles Maurice TALLEYRAND, Prince de Benevent (1754-1838)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLetter Signed (“ch. mau. Talleyrand”) to the Minister of Finance [Francois Barbe-Marbois], interceding in favour of an Englishman, Col. Scott, who wished to bring various belongings into France where he intends to remain for a year with his family.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page 4to in French with integral address leaf, on letterhead with the vignette of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris, 5 pluviose an 11 [25 January 1803].                   \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTalleyrand was in large part responsible for the success of the negotiations which led to the Treaty of Amiens, and it is unsurprising that he would welcome an Englishman who wished to remain in France for a reasonable time after the treaty was signed. It is not known whether Colonel Scott remained in Versailles for a year, as planned, but it seems unlikely that would have been the case after the peace collapsed and England and France were again at war in May of that year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “\u003cem\u003eMr. W. Scott, Colonel in the British army, who is currently in Versailles, has written to me to say that he intends to rent a house and remain there for a year with his family. He has asked my permission to have sent, via Dieppe, various items listed here, which are essential to him. The government is very happy to see this stranger here, and wishes that he be treated with the regard which he deserves in many regards. I beg you, Citizen Minister, to grant him this permission if possible and to send it to me. . .\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe items required by Colonel Scott, listed on the verso of the address leaf, seem, for the most part, quite modest for a year-long stay. They include two carriages, harnesses for one, two or three saddles, tablecloths and napkins, a little silverware, blankets for one or two beds, curtains and “perhaps a few other small articles”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTalleyrand, the most skilful diplomat of his age, as well as a great intriguer, has been much criticized for his deviousness. His admirers have reason to consider the criticism unfair, as it was precisely this skill which was essential in his negotiations, which were, so often, beneficial to France. He was a key figure in the coup d’état which brought Napoleon to power in 1799, and participated in the key diplomatic events of the first half of Napoleon’s reign.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9468903491,"sku":"1050","price":625.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/talleyrand-charles-maurice-letter-signed-1803.jpeg?v=1446933302"},{"product_id":"switzerland-attractive-document-signed-1788","title":"SWITZERLAND - Attractive Document Signed 1788","description":"\u003ch4\u003e[SWITZERLAND]\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDocument recognising Isaac Jeanneret “dit le gris du Locle”, who had given satisfactory proof of his ancestry, a Bourgeois of Valengin, with its attendant rights and privileges, signed “T.T. Challandes” as “Boursier [treasurer] de la Bourgeoisie”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page large folio on vellum in French, c. 12 x 15½ ins with red wax seal encased in wood, with four red and blue pendant ribbons, which have been threaded through the lower part of the document, Valengin, 4 November 1788.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIsaac Jeanneret, “dit le gris du Locle” had given proof of being a bourgeois of Valengin, showing his descendance from four generations of Bourgeois of Valengin, and therefore requested official ‘letters’ declaring his right of being named as such.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe ‘bourgeois’ of Valangin (as it is now commonly spelled), near Neuchatel, date back to the fourteenth century, and in the early sixteenth century a few families from le Locle were named bourgeois of Valangin. The concept of the bourgeois carried with it important privileges, not the least of which was an exemption from certain taxes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen Frederick I of Prussia became sovereign of Neuchatel in 1707, he vowed to respect the customs of Neuchatel, including those of Valangin and le Locle. Nearly a century later, the king of Prussia granted the right of free trade to the bourgeois of Valangin.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe privileges of a bourgeois of Valangin were transmitted from the father to the eldest son, but descendants of the younger sons could eventually be admitted as bourgeois on condition of providing sufficient proof that their ancestor had enjoyed the status of bourgeois himself. This was evidently the case for Isaac Jeanneret.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLe Locle, near Valangin, is an important centre for Swiss watchmaking, and, together with La-Chaux-de-Fonds, has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe document has some damp-staining, with a central darkened mark. It is neverthless clearly legible, and the ribbons and seal make this an attractive and unusual item.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9469040451,"sku":"1121","price":850.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/switzerland-document-signed-1788_52d64c1f-4318-48c2-8dec-c254de078cb5.jpeg?v=1447329155"},{"product_id":"spring-howard-autograph-letter-signed-1958","title":"SPRING Howard - ALS 1958","description":"\u003ch4\u003eHoward SPRING (1889-1965)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“Howard Spring”) to “Dear Miss Condi”, promising to inscribe her bookplate.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page large 8vo, Falmouth, 15 January 1958.                     \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“. .\u003cem\u003e . I have mislaid your letter and your Christian name has escaped me. If you will be kind enough to let me know it I’ll gladly inscribe it on the book-plate\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the height of his fame in the 1930s and 40s, Howard Spring was a hugely popular writer. His best-known novels \u003cem\u003eO Absalom! \u003c\/em\u003e(also known as \u003cem\u003eMy Son, My Son\u003c\/em\u003e) and \u003cem\u003eFame is the Spur \u003c\/em\u003ewere later filmed for television.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9469285059,"sku":"1211","price":35.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/spring-howard-autograph-letter-signed-1958.jpeg?v=1446933161"},{"product_id":"sherbrooke-john-coape-autograph-letter-signed-1808","title":"SHERBROOKE John Coape - ALS 1808 giving news of the situation in the Mediterranean","description":"\u003ch4\u003eJohn Coape SHERBROOKE (1764-1830)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“J.C. Sherbrooke”) to Lt. Gen. Sir John Stuart, giving news of a meeting with Lord Collingwood, an exchange of prisoners, the situation in Naples and Rome, and many further details relating to the situation in the Mediterranean.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4 pages folio, Cheltenham, 1 August 1808.                          \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eI hope you received a letter which I did myself the Honor of addressing to you from Gibraltar per Packet. . . on the 20\u003csup\u003eth\u003c\/sup\u003e Ulto. . . . we were kept in quarantine for upwards of eight and forty hours . . . I was on board the Ocean \u003c\/em\u003e[Collingwood’s flagship]\u003cem\u003e for near three Hours at Anchor off Cadiz. Lord Collingwood received me very kindly . . . His Lordship expressed himself much pleased at the exertions I had made to get the Ships Company of the Delight and the other seamen who had been prisoners with the French in Calabria exchanged. . . he had got favourable answers . . . to have pensions granted to those seamen . . . wounded in bringing away the troops from Scylla . . . Lord Castlereagh was not in town when I arrived there. Your letters to His Lordship . . . I left . . . at the Office in Downing Street. . . . Lord Castlereagh among other questions asked whether in my opinion the people in Italy were likely to follow the example of the Spaniards. I told him that I thought the people ripe for revolt against the French both in the Kingdom of Naples and in the Roman States, but that I could not help entertaining some doubts whether the inhabitants of the former would if they did rise declare in favor of King Ferdinand. . . \u003c\/em\u003e[I told him]\u003cem\u003e how necessary I thought it that a larger proportion of Transports should be kept up in the Mediterranean.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Commander in Chief \u003c\/em\u003e[the Duke of York]\u003cem\u003e was also out of Town but I have since been honoured with an Audience of H.R.H. . . I also gave . . . for H.R. Highness’s perusal Major Williams’s report of the capture of the French Privateer off Scylla . . .\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSir John Coape Sherbrooke served in the Peninsula under Wellington until his appointment as Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia in 1811. The information he conveyed from his correspondent, Sir John Stuart, commander of the land forces in the Mediterranean, was particularly important.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the summer of 1808, Joachim Murat became King of Naples. One of his first acts was an attempt to re-take the island of Capri, which had fallen to British forces under Admiral Sidney Smith two years earlier. Two months after this letter, in October 1808, Stuart received an urgent call for assistance from Sir Hudson Lowe, the commandant at Capri. Although he immediately sent a convoy, it arrived too late. Lowe had surrendered.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe exiled King Ferdinand had taken refuge in Sicily, protected by British troops. Stuart remained wary of Murat’s intentions towards Sicily, with good reason, after the capitulation of Capri. In 1810, Stuart resigned from what he saw as an impossible position given the forces available.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe following year was to see the arrival in Sicily of Lord William Bentinck as British representative, who would impose a more liberal, or British-based, constitution on the island, to the great benefit of Sicily. His reforms were unfortunately reversed when the British left and Ferdinand was restored in 1815.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9524345155,"sku":"1287","price":725.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/sherbrooke-john-autograph-letter-signed-1808.jpeg?v=1446932678"},{"product_id":"sardou-victorien-autograph-letter-signed-producing-a-play-with-bernhardt","title":"SARDOU Victorien - ALS producing a play with Bernhardt","description":"\u003ch4\u003eVictorien SARDOU (1831-1908)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“V Sardou”) to an unidentified correspondent, possibly the director of a theatre, suggesting that they should produce \u003cem\u003eFedora \u003c\/em\u003ewith Sarah Bernhardt.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page 8vo in French with integral blank leaf, n.p., n.d.                  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “.\u003cem\u003e . . You are right about Fedora that would be better than a new play. . . Do you want Sarah to play Fedora if Garnier does not have a part? It is Sarah, that is to say Garnier, who runs everything today in this madhouse . . .\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSardou’s 1882 play \u003cem\u003eFedora \u003c\/em\u003eproved a great success for Sarah Bernhardt. Like his later play, \u003cem\u003eLa Tosca\u003c\/em\u003e, it was the basis for an opera, though sadly without quite the same success as \u003cem\u003eTosca\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe hand is difficult to read at times, and the name Garnier in the text is open to question. However, there is a record of an actor named Garnier who had worked with Bernhardt, for whom she later developed a deep aversion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe letter is very slightly dusty, and there is a stain near the signature, but the letter is otherwise in good condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9524981187,"sku":"1110","price":110.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/sardou-victorien-autograph-letter-signed.jpeg?v=1446932336"},{"product_id":"roberts-frederick-lord-roberts-of-kandahar-autograph-letter-signed-1905","title":"ROBERTS Lord Roberts of Kandahar - ALS 1905","description":"\u003ch4\u003eFrederick Sleigh ROBERTS, Lord Roberts of Kandahar (1832-1914)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“Roberts”) to Sir Alfred Milner, discussing the “announcement of my taking over the office of President of the N[ational] S[ervice] League”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e2 pages 8vo with integral blank leaf, 47 Portland Place, 15 December 1905.           \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003e. . . your idea about delaying the announcement of my taking over the office of President of the N.S. League quite falls in with the views I hold. The members at various places are clamouring for some announcement being made . . . but I will do nothing until you feel yourself in a position to help me. I feel the importance of the matter, and of no mistake being made\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe National Service League was founded in 1902, arguing for compulsory military service in order to boost Britain’s military inadequacy in the face of possible invasion. Sinister threats to Britain’s security were sensationally depicted in the following year’s popular novel, \u003cem\u003eThe Riddle of the Sands\u003c\/em\u003e, but the League remained a minor pressure group until later in the decade, under Lord Roberts’ leadership.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9525139523,"sku":"1311","price":100.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/roberts-lord-autograph-letter-signed-1905-a.jpeg?v=1446932202"},{"product_id":"puvis-de-chavannes-pierre-autograph-letter-signed-1879","title":"PUVIS DE CHAVANNES Pierre - ALS 1879","description":"\u003ch4\u003ePierre PUVIS DE CHAVANNES (1824-1898)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“P. Puvis de Chavannes”) to an unidentified colleague (“Monsieur et cher confrère”), explaining why he had resigned from a jury.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3 pages 8vo in French, Paris, 26 March 1879.               \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePuvis de Chavannes, much admired by Zola, is best remembered as a muralist, responsible for murals at the Sorbonne, the Hotel de Ville in Paris and Boston Public Library.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “\u003cem\u003eIn response to the letter in which you do me the honour of asking me if I would accept to be on the list respresenting Monsieur Bardoux’s project, I must reply that I could not do so without changing my position on the programme. In fact, I resigned from the jury in 1872 in protest against the article or regulation of that year which recognised no secured rights.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eIt seems to me that if extreme indulgence in admission [policy] has some inconveniences, they are more than compensated for in the feeling of security and freedom which it gives to militant artists, whose worth may be unconsciously impeded or diminished through a constant threat of exclusion. . \u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn excellent condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9525306243,"sku":"1115","price":110.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/puvis-de-chavannes-pierre-autograph-letter-signed-1879-a.jpeg?v=1446932099"},{"product_id":"ardizzone-edward-autograph-letter-signed-1959-regarding-a-drawing","title":"ARDIZZONE Edward - ALS 1959 regarding a drawing","description":"\u003ch4\u003eEdward ARDIZZONE (1900-1979)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“Edward Ardizzone”) to “Dear Mr. Woodhouse”, regarding a drawing he had supplied.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page 4to, 130 Elgin Avenue, W9, 29 October 1959.                        \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eThank you for your letter. I am delighted that you like the drawings \u0026amp; hope the clients will approve too. They will be mug wumps if they don’t. I enclose my invoice for the job.\u003c\/em\u003e [not present]”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eArdizzone’s elegant illustrations, particularly for children’s stories, remain amongst the most admired of their genre. The term “mug wumps” appears obscure today, but referred to either fence-sitters or petty bureaucrats.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9532018243,"sku":"1097","price":150.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/Ardizzone.jpg?v=1659029996"},{"product_id":"beresford-sir-john-autograph-letter-signed-1811-regarding-a-skirmish","title":"BERESFORD Sir John - ALS 1811 regarding a skirmish","description":"\u003ch4\u003eSir John Poo BERESFORD (1766-1844)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“JP Beresford”) to “My dear Croker!” [John Wilson Croker, Secretary to the Admiralty], commenting on news of a skirmish near Badajoz and adding that “the noble Lord Cochrane . . . took 15,000£ . . . at Cadiz . . .”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3 pages 4to with integral address leaf with an almost intact red wax seal, Lisbon, 18 February 1811.    \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eYou will add to yr. former kindness if you will send the order which you have obtained from their Lordships to pay me as commander in chief which I was in America to my agent Mr. John Atkins, No. 2 Austen Friars in the City. . . we are all impatient for the arrival of Sir Joseph York. This is the mom[en]t for the reinforcem[en]ts to come, I do believe your f[riend]d Lord Wellington c[oul]d do a great deal if they were now on the spot. Accounts have come from near Badajos of a partial skirmish; we may hourly expect to hear from thence of some attack between the French \u0026amp; Spaniards without the Place . . . My Brother still continues at Chamousca with an excellent division . . . Nothing can excel Lord Wellington’s conduct. He is a surprisingly fine officer. \u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eI hope the House know that the noble Lord Cochrane . . . took 15,000£ (or an order for it at Cadiz) for the purpose of speculating in Barbary on corn where him \u0026amp; his Brother the other Captn. RN now are – This may make up for extra changes in Prize causes.\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSir John Poo Beresford spent the winter of 1810-11 stationed in Lisbon, supporting the army, hence his close observation of Wellington’s command. The following year, he was posted to the coast of America, where he served for two years in the war against the States.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHis brother, Sir William Beresford, who had achieved remarkable results with the Portuguese troops under his command, was soon to march towards Badajoz, where he laid siege to the city. Reports of the approach of French reinforcements caused him to lift the siege, and soon thereafter he achieved a notable victory against the French at Albuera.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe reference to Lord Cochrane in the postscript of the letter to Croker is interesting. There was a great antipathy between the sober Croker and the more turbulent Cochrane. The question of prize money was, of course, of great importance to all sailors at the time, but perhaps even more so to Cochrane, always aware of his own father’s financial difficulties.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe last page of the letter has been somewhat torn at the folds, probably when the letter was opened, but it remains in clear and legible condition throughout.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9532372163,"sku":"1038","price":350.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/beresford-john-autograph-letter-signed-1811-a.jpeg?v=1446898783"},{"product_id":"calder-sir-robert-autograph-letter-signed-1812","title":"CALDER Sir Robert - ALS 1812","description":"\u003ch4\u003eSir Robert CALDER (1745-1818)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“Robt Calder”) to “My dear Bickerton” [Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton], asking him to allow Captain Smith of the Orestes to visit Southampton for three days.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page 4to with integral address leaf, Plymouth, 30 May 1812.    \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eThis will be delivered to you by Captain Smith of the Orestes, one of my Couriers, whose Father lives at Southampton and I will thank you to let him go there for three days when he will return to Plymouth – he is a very steady young man . . .\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAdmiral Sir Robert Calder had been present at the battle of Cape St. Vincent, and was well thought of by his colleagues. This changed after his failure to pursue the French Admiral Villeneuve at the indecisive battle of Cape Finisterre in July 1805, and Calder returned to England to face a court martial. He was reprimanded for not pursuing the action, but cleared of cowardice. Calder did not see active service again; in 1810 he was appointed Commander-in-Chief at Plymouth.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn fact, it was the engagement at Cape Finisterre which caused Villeneuve to sail not to Brest, as he should have done had Napoleon’s plan for the invasion of England been put into action, but towards Cadiz. Three months after the battle of Cape Finisterre, Villeneuve confronted Nelson at Trafalgar and French plans for the invasion of England were abandoned. Nelson is reputed to have said, as the battle of Trafalgar commenced, “What would poor Calder give to be with us now.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9533154947,"sku":"1260","price":195.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/calder-sir-robert-autograph-letter-signed-1812.jpeg?v=1446913137"},{"product_id":"edward-viii-autograph-letter-signed-1917","title":"EDWARD VIII - ALS 1917 while in France with the B.E.F.","description":"\u003ch4\u003eEDWARD VIII (1894-1972)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“Edward”) to Wilson Taylor at the Bath Club in Dover Street, written as a Staff Officer attached to the XIV Army Corps commanded by General Lord Cavan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1¾ pages 8vo in pencil, together with the original official ‘On His Majesty’s Service’ envelope addressed by Edward in ink on which he written “By Messenger”. H.Q., 14th Corps B.[ritish] E.[xpeditionary] F.[orce], 1 July 1917.   \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe young Prince Edward was genuinely anxious to take an active part in the First World War; the authorities however who feared his capture by the enemy eve more than his death prevented him from running into any real danger, and he spent much of the war visiting troops and acting as a general morale-raiser. In this letter to a friend he seems resigned and weary.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eMany thanks for your kind letter of good wishes for my birthday [Edward had celebrated his twenty-third birthday on 23 June] \u0026amp; all the nice things you said not that I deserved them in the least!! Old Hansell \u003c\/em\u003e[Henry Hansell, Prince Edward’s former tutor]\u003cem\u003e came up and lunched with me here about 10 days ago looking very fit \u0026amp; he likes his job tho its a case of 12 hrs office work a day!! It is splendid of him having come out \u0026amp; taken on the job of DADl \u003c\/em\u003e[Deputy Adjutant General]\u003cem\u003e Heaven only knows when I shall get home again \u0026amp; I can only hope for the best; I fear this year is’nt going to see the end of it all!! We had it very hot a fortnight ago over 90 F in our huts in this camp tho I love the heat!! Since then we’ve had it wet \u0026amp; cold tho it wont last I dont thing\u003c\/em\u003e [sic]. . . .”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9535185091,"sku":"1204","price":825.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/edward-viii-autograph-letter-signed-1917_cb9dafb8-3e74-4db4-8ce6-be5bd33f976c.jpeg?v=1447329101"},{"product_id":"fouche-joseph-letter-signed-september-1809","title":"Joseph FOUCHE, Duke of Otranto - LS September 1809 objecting to customs duties","description":"\u003ch4\u003eFOUCHE, Joseph, Duke of Otranto (1759-1820)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLetter Signed (“Fouché”) to M. Eschasseriaux, French Minister Plenipotentiary to the court at Lucca, an irate letter regarding export duties unexpectedly imposed on a shipment of Carrara marble.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3 pages folio in French, Paris, 10 September 1809.             \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sumptuous Empire style had an obvious need for marble, be it for statues or for building. The famous quarries at Carrara came under the jurisdiction of the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Napoleon’s sister Elisa.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eElisa appears to have been an energetic and capable administrator of the territory, and maintained close and cordial relations with the Emperor. It is therefore likely that the problem was provoked by a difficult official.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “\u003cem\u003e. . . I have just been informed that M. Henraux, Government agent for the acquisition of marbles in Italy, has encountered many problems and irritations from M. Gonolet, Director of the Elisiane Bank in Carrara, regarding the export of the marbles which this agent is buying on behalf of the French government. M. Gonolet is trying to force him to pay enormous duties which the Court at Lucca established on 7 February last . . . he had impounded eighteen blocks belonging to the Government; he even dared rub out the initial letters of the French Empire, and substitute the mark of his bank. . . I would hasten to put together a report on this affair for H.M. the Emperor, if I were not certain, Sir, that your intervention before H[er] R[oyal] H[ighness] the Grand Duchess of Tuscany will suffice. . . I have given orders to M. Henraux to purchase . . . all the marble which it is to acquire for the Government, but this will only happen on condition 1. that the expropriation of the blocks belonging to France will be lifted without delay; 2. that the verdicts delivered against the French regarding the right to export will be regarded as void; 3. that no charges will be payable with regard to these verdicts; 4. that all the marbles which the bank will purchase for the Government, and those already purchased, will not be subject to export duty; 5. finally, that the Bank will supply the marble at the same price and of the same quality as those which it has purchased heretofore from the owner of the quarries. . \u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9536170755,"sku":"1266","price":360.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/fouche-joseph-letter-signed-september-1809-a.jpeg?v=1446916973"},{"product_id":"george-iii-document-signed-1806","title":"GEORGE III - Document Signed 1806","description":"\u003ch4\u003eGEORGE III (1738-1820)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDocument Signed (“George R” – blind signature), a licence permitting “Messrs. Gordon and Murphy, Messrs. Reid, Irving and Co. and other British Merchants . . . on board the Portuguese Ship “Indiano” . . . to Export and Convey from the port of Cadiz notwithstanding the present Blockade . . . to Vera Cruz in South America . . .”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3 pages folio with paper seal, countersigned by Lord Spencer, St. James’s, 6 June 1806.     \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe merchants in question were to transport British manufactured goods, as well as “\u003cem\u003equicksilver, paper and Cards of spanish Manufacture, Wines, Brandies, and all other innocent articles . . . not being military or Naval Stores nor otherwise prohibited to be exported\u003c\/em\u003e”. The present licence grants their vessels safe-conduct “\u003cem\u003ewithout molestation by any of Our Ships of War or privateers, either on account of the existing War or of any other Hostilities . .\u003c\/em\u003e .”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn May 1806, Britain blockaded the ports of Europe from the Elbe to Brest. Known as Fox’s Blockade, after the great Whig politician Charles James Fox, this increased the pressure on France’s already precarious financial position. Later that year, when military success was followed by the subjugation of Prussia, Napoleon proclaimed the Berlin Decree, banning British imports to any countries under French control. Harsh as they appeared, these blockades and bans were in fact circumvented by smuggling and laxity bordering on corruption.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9571042051,"sku":"1269","price":550.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/george-iii-document-signed-1806.jpeg?v=1446917388"},{"product_id":"lesseps-ferdinand-de-autograph-letter-signed-1869-from-suez","title":"LESSEPS Ferdinand de - ALS 1869 from Suez","description":"\u003ch4\u003eFerdinand de LESSEPS (1805-1894)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“Ferd. de Lesseps”) asking the Commandant of the Benares to bring the chief mechanic of the ship to dinner with him, adding in a postscript “the passage through the locks of the Suez canal of a Mediterranean convoy will take place at a quarter to four”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page large 8vo in French, Suez, 29 August 1869.                           \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “\u003cem\u003eM. le Commandant of the Benares is requested to be kind enough to bring with him and the two officers who have been invited, the head mechanic of the steamer for dinner tomorrow at 7 o’clock at the Hotel Peninsula.\u003c\/em\u003e” In a postscript he adds that “\u003cem\u003ethe passage through the locks of the Suez canal of a Mediterranean convoy will take place at a quarter to four”.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Suez Canal was not officially opened until 17 November of this year, the French vessel, \u003cem\u003eL’Aigle\u003c\/em\u003e, with Empress Eugenie and de Lesseps on board, making the inaugural journey. The \u003cem\u003eBenares \u003c\/em\u003emay well have been present at an early test of the working of the locks, after the waters of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea had joined. In October 1869, an Australian newspaper reported that the \u003cem\u003eBenares \u003c\/em\u003ehad arrived, with passengers bound for Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, after having stopped at Suez on 28 August, followed by Aden, Mauritius, and onwards to Australia.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe paper is somewhat browned at the original folds and the edges, but it is otherwise in good condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9572065027,"sku":"1099","price":825.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/lesseps-ferdinand-autograph-letter-signed-1869.jpeg?v=1446920045"},{"product_id":"marchena-jose-autograph-letter-signed-1812","title":"MARCHENA Jose - ALS 1812 sending news of conditions in Spain","description":"\u003ch4\u003eJose MARCHENA (1768-1821)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“J. Marchena”) to M. Dennie(?), giving news of matters in Spain, and announcing his appointment at the Ministry of the Interior.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e3¼ pages 8vo in French, Madrid, 16 May 1812.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “\u003cem\u003eI hear every day that the Emperor gives you further marks of his esteem, and I am angry because these well-deserved rewards rob me daily of the hope of seeing you again. . . When I dream . . . I do not fail to call you into my kingdom with General Dessolle . . . If you are curious to know news of this country, I will tell you that there is none; everything is as it was. Theologians say that the greatest miracle . . . is the sacrament of the Eucharist, which is no less\u003c\/em\u003e [a miracle] \u003cem\u003ethan the presence of a few Spaniards in the cities. It is true that people there die of hunger by their tens and by their thousands, but we are not yet reduced to savages . . . In these circumstances, they have named me head of the section of agriculture, manufacturing and commerce at the ministry of the interior, and all I can relate is about these three things, a tale which can be impartial, as none of these is a living person. . . Know, sir, that there is no one in Spain who . . . loves you as well as I. . .\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMarchena, a firm supporter of the French Revolution, had fled to France in 1792. He did not return to Spain until 1808, as secretary to Murat, and remained to serve in Joseph Bonaparte’s administration. As well as working at the Ministry of the Interior, Marchena was also chief archivist. Earlier in his career, he had been exposed as the forger of some erotic verses allegedly by Catullus, but the episode appears to have taught him a lesson and by the time of this appointment he was a thoroughly reformed character.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAs an \u003cem\u003eafrancesado\u003c\/em\u003e, who saw French rule as a liberating influence, dragging Spain from the suffocating influence of the conservative monarchy and church, he was forced into exile in France once again at the end of the Peninsular War. He is noted as the translator of two of the great figures of the Enlightenment, Voltaire and Rousseau, into Spanish.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGeneral Dessolle, mentioned here, had served in Spain from 1809, where he presumably met Marchena. He returned to Paris in 1811, and later served on the Russian campaign.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRemains of guard to the verso of the final leaf. From the Crawford collection.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9593832643,"sku":"1273","price":350.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/marchena-jose-autograph-letter-signed-1812-a.jpeg?v=1446923578"},{"product_id":"maret-hugues-bernard-autograph-letter-signed-1805-after-victory-at-austerlitz","title":"MARET Hugues-Bernard - ALS 1805 after victory at Austerlitz","description":"\u003ch4\u003eHugues-Bernard MARET, Duc de Bassano (1763-1839)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“HB Maret”) to an unidentified correspondent, announcing that “we are leaving in triumph and in peace”, weeks after the French victory at Austerlitz.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHalf page 4to in French, with integral blank leaf, Schonbrunn, 6 nivose an 14 [27 December 1805].    \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNapoleon’s minister, and one of his closest confidants, accompanied him on many of his travels and campaigns, and participated in the negotiations at Tilsit in 1807.  But here, Maret writes to someone who is obviously a very close friend (he uses the familiar “tu” in this letter), the day after the signing of the Treaty of Pressburg.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “\u003cem\u003eMy dear friend, we are leaving in triumph and in complete peace. I will have no further bulletins to send you. It is now up to you to send us news of Naples. My first letter will be from Paris\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Treaty of Pressburg did indeed herald peace between France and Austria, but it was not to last. Although Austria lost considerable territory, it was the Prussians who felt most threatened by the outcome, which saw French gains in Germany. Continued friction with France would result in a Prussian-Russian alliance; war would commence again in the autumn of 1806, only to end in Prussia’s final humiliation at Tilsit a year later.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9593944003,"sku":"1274","price":325.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/maret-hugues-autograph-letter-signed-1805.jpeg?v=1446923673"},{"product_id":"massena-andre-document-signed-1796-ordering-compensation","title":"MASSENA André - Document Signed 1796 ordering compensation","description":"\u003ch4\u003eAndré MASSENA, Duc de Rivoli and Prince d’Essling (1758-1817)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDocument Signed (“Massena”) as division general, ordering compensation to the commissariat officer Pelizzone for a horse taken during the expedition at Ronco.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page large 4to in French with integral blank leaf, countersigned by Pelizzone, Ronco, 25 Brumaire an 5 [15 November 1796].        \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA document signed on the day Napoleon seized the flag and attempted to lead his men across the bridge at Arcola, an event commemorated, in rather romanticised fashion, in Antoine-Jean Gros’ famous painting.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe previous day, Massena had left Verona, using a roundabout route. Napoleon positioned Massena at Ronco, on the west bank of the Adige. Massena crossed the Adige, and headed for Belfiore, where he successfully attacked the Austrians. He returned to Ronco, but two days later crossed the river again, this time to attack the bridge at Arcola. Finally, late on 17 November, it was Massena, together with Augereau, who finally entered Arcola, securing French victory over the Austrians.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe horse in question was a mare, aged seven years and of “taille dragon” [i.e., a horse between 1.502 and 1.543 metres, suitable for dragoons], for which its owner was to be paid 450 livres, in accordance with the amount determined by law.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9594134083,"sku":"1275","price":725.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/massena-andre-document-signed-1796.jpeg?v=1446924057"},{"product_id":"lambert-constant-two-autograph-letters-signed-regarding-the-ellington-society","title":"LAMBERT Constant - Two ALSs regarding the Ellington Society","description":"\u003ch4\u003eConstant LAMBERT (1905-1951)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo Autograph Letters Signed (\"Constant Lambert\") to \"Dear Mr. Saunders\", in one letter accepting to become \"Honorary Vice President of the Ellington Society\" and in the other declining an invitation to give a talk at \"the Centre\" as he is \"far too busy with rehearsing and arranging a new ballet\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page 4to, 15 Percy St, W1, 23 May n.y. and 1 page 4to, Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 13 November, n.y.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first letter is a gracious acceptance: \"\u003cem\u003eI shall be delighted to become Honorary Vice President of the Ellington Society\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn the second, longer, letter, Lambert replies to an invitation, pleading work commitments: \".\u003cem\u003e . . Your account of the Centre is very interesting but I'm afraid that at the moment I am frankly far too busy with rehearsing \u0026amp; arranging a new ballet to be able to give a talk. I am sure you will understand. However, I very much hope to be able to look in \u0026amp; see the paintings by Crosbie\u003c\/em\u003e [possibly the Scottish artist William Crosbie]\u003cem\u003e which I hope are still on\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLambert, whose work with the young Vic-Wells Ballet was an important part of its ultimate success, arranged the music for several ballets, including Ashton's \u003cem\u003eLes Patineurs\u003c\/em\u003e and wrote the score for others, including \u003cem\u003eHoroscope\u003c\/em\u003e. He was a great admirer of jazz, and a devotee of Duke Ellington in particular.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 13 November letter has very light stains at the four corners, possibly from offsetting when it was folded in four.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9599064067,"sku":"1127","price":195.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/lambert-constant-autograph-letter-signed-a.jpeg?v=1446919289"},{"product_id":"allenby-viscount-typed-letter-signed-to-the-ymca-in-cairo","title":"ALLENBY Viscount - TLS to the YMCA in Cairo","description":"\u003ch4\u003eField Marshal Edmund ALLENBY, 1st Viscount Allenby (1861-1936)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTyped Letter Signed (\"Allenby F.M.\"), congratulating the Anglo-American Branch of the YMCA in Cairo on their membership campaign.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page 4to on letterhead of The Residency, Cairo, n.d. [1920s].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eI take this opportunity of congratulating the Anglo-American Branch of the Y.M.C.A. in Cairo on the success of their membership campaign, which should strengthen the whole work during the remainder of the winter session  . . . I hope the work of the organisation will continue to make progress and I wish all the members a happy Xmas and a prosperous New Year\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe letter was signed after 1919 when Allenby was made a Field-Marshal. He remained in Cairo after the end of the First World War, serving as High Commissioner for Egypt and the Sudan until 1925.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9676417219,"sku":"1307","price":160.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/allenby-viscount-typed-letter-signed-cairo.jpeg?v=1446898745"},{"product_id":"roberts-lord-roberts-of-kandahar-typed-letter-signed-1914","title":"ROBERTS Lord Roberts of Kandahar - TLS 1914","description":"\u003ch4\u003eFrederick Sleigh ROBERTS, Lord Roberts of Kandahar (1832-1914)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTyped Letter Signed (“Roberts F.M.”) to R.B. Winch in Edenbridge, thanking him for his “kind response to my appeal for field glasses”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page 4to, Ascot, 13 October 1914.                  \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eI write a line to thank you warmly for your kind response to my appeal for field glasses. Your glasses will be of the greatest possible service to our Non-Commissioned Officers in the field. I am asked by the Commanding Officers of Units which are shortly expected to go to the front to convey their gratitude to the owners of the glasses which will be distributed amongst their men\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the outbreak of the war, Lord Roberts was appointed commander in chief of the overseas forces serving in France. The contribution he might have made to averting the blunders of the military hierarchy during that conflict will remain one of history’s might-have-beens; he died of pneumonia in November 1914.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9677700419,"sku":"1309","price":125.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/roberts-lord-typed-letter-signed-1914.jpeg?v=1446932265"},{"product_id":"berthier-louis-alexandre-letter-signed-1806-regarding-bonuses-after-austerlitz","title":"BERTHIER Louis Alexandre - LS 1806 regarding bonuses after Austerlitz","description":"\u003ch4\u003eLouis Alexandre BERTHIER, Prince of Wagram and Neuchatel (1753-1815)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLetter Signed (“Ml Berthier”) to the Inspector in Chief of Revenues for the Grande Armée, informing him which servicemen will or will not be eligible for bonuses paid at the end of the Austerlitz campaign.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page folio in French, Munich, 14 March 1806.       \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “.\u003cem\u003e . . regarding the payments of campaign bonuses. 1. All officers who rejoined the army since the 1st of January, that is to say after the ratification of the peace treaty, should not receive any bonuses for the campaign; this decision is based on the fact that an officer only has a right to his appointment and his campaign bonus from the time he joins his corps, he only acquires his equipment after he has joined . . . 2. All the officers who were promoted in the army after the Battle of Austerlitz equally have no right to the campaign bonus, nor to the supplement, because they were aware of the preliminaries to the peace, and will certainly not have incurred any costs to increase their equipment for the campaign.\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe bonuses in question were paid to help defer the costs of the various items officers would have had to purchase before rejoining their regiments. The Treaty of Pressburg, signed at the end of 1805 after the French victory at Austerlitz, marked the zenith of the French Empire.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery slightly frayed at the top, and a little browned at the edges, but otherwise in sound condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9678617155,"sku":"1256","price":375.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/berthier-marshal-letter-signed-1806.jpeg?v=1446898806"},{"product_id":"clarke-henri-duc-de-feltre-letter-signed-1812","title":"CLARKE Henri Duc de Feltre - LS 1812 ordering General Seroux to Magdeburg","description":"\u003ch4\u003eHenri Jacques Guillaume CLARKE, Duc de Feltre (1765-1818)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLetter Signed (“Duc de Feltre”) as Minister of War, ordering General Seroux to go to Magdeburg to take command of the artillery.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page folio in French with integral blank leaf, Paris, 22 August 1812.                     \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “\u003cem\u003eGeneral, you will depart upon receipt of this order, and go to Magdeburg. There you will take command of the artillery and you will adhere to the instructions which had been given to General Bourgeat whom you will replace and who has received a new posting.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eYou will inform me of your arrival at Magdeburg and of the hand-over of the command which has been entrusted to you\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA note below, in another hand, rather confusingly states that payment for the expenses was made in 1813.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe appointment of the 70-year-old General Seroux de Fay to this post is a reminder of the very over-stretched resources of the Grande Armée at the time. Napoleon himself was in Smolensk, together with many of his most experienced generals and marshals, including Ney and Murat as well as Eugene de Beauharnais, also embarked on the Russian campaign. Meanwhile, Soult, Jourdan and Marmont were occupied in Spain, Lannes was dead and Massena had been relegated to a command in Marseille. The situation with the officers and the troops was not dissimilar, and we therefore find an experienced, but ageing, commander placed in charge of an important site.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9678871811,"sku":"1262","price":425.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/clarke-henri-letter-signed-1812_9bbff67f-2af3-4cf0-a07b-877ab0d24bbd.jpeg?v=1447329095"},{"product_id":"beerbohm-max-autograph-letter-signed-about-an-article","title":"BEERBOHM Max - ALS about an article","description":"\u003ch4\u003eMax BEERBOHM (1872-1956)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (\"Max Beerbohm\") to \"My dear Christian\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1¾ pages small 8vo on separate leaves, 48 Upper Berkeley Street, Tuesday, n.d. [?1914].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSaying \"\u003cem\u003eProbably I can let you have the article tomorrow evening (Wednesday) - If not then, Thursday morning, at latest - And of course James Douglas' book will be referred to. Indeed, it will be the starting point, and basis throughout\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eJames Douglas, journalist, critic and editor of the Star and Sunday Express, had written a study of the poet and critic Theodore Watts-Dunton, Swinburne's minder and house-mate, in 1904. Watts-Dunton died in 1914, and it is very possible that Beerbohm, who had known both him and Swinburne well, had been asked to write an article of appreciation and intended to refer to Douglas' book.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTwo small filing holes at the head of both pages, not affecting the text.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9804521859,"sku":"1027","price":230.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/beerbohm-max-autograph-letter-signed-a.jpeg?v=1446898779"},{"product_id":"betjeman-john-typed-letter-signed-1975","title":"BETJEMAN John - TLS 1975","description":"\u003ch4\u003eJohn BETJEMAN (1906-1984)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTyped Letter Signed (a rather scrawled \"John Betjeman\") to \"Dear Mr. Mills\", regretting that he cannot read his manuscript on mediaeval stained glass, and making suggestions for the printing of the illustrations in his book.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page 4to, 29 Radnor Walk, SW3, 20 March 1975.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn interesting letter, particularly for Betjeman's kind suggestion as to the best way to reproduce the pictures of stained glass.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"\u003cem\u003eI cannot undertake to read . . . Stained Glass in England 1150-1550 because I am not a medieval scholar. . . all books on stained glass stop short at the seventeenth century except one by Herbert Read, which would be worth reprinting . . . Might I suggest that when you come to reproducing the glorious transparences\u003c\/em\u003e [sic] \u003cem\u003eof which you have sent me a copy, you do so on transparent paper. There is much transparent paper that will take half-tone. And with white paper behind the effect of stained glass is obtained. I tried this myself successfully years ago in the Architectural Review\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is unsurprising that Mills would have approached Betjeman, the author of \u003cem\u003eIn Praise of Churches\u003c\/em\u003e, and a great lover of the architecture found throughout the country, for an opinion, or perhaps an introduction to his book.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9804947203,"sku":"1151","price":275.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/betjeman-john-typed-letter-signed-1975_2b9a1b79-626a-455f-a3e8-6b564e82f63b.jpeg?v=1447329083"},{"product_id":"annunzio-gabriele-d-autograph-letter-signed-to-his-mistress","title":"D'ANNUNZIO Gabriele - ALS to his mistress","description":"\u003ch4\u003eGabriele D'ANNUNZIO (1863-1938)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (\"Gabri\") to his mistress Natalia Goloubev, asking her to taste some wines.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHalf page 4to in Italian with autograph envelope [the envelope in pencil], n.p., n.d. [but 1908-09].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: \"\u003cem\u003eDear little one, taste the wine in these three bottles, and then tell me which you like the best\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eD'Annunzio met Countess Natalia Goloubev, wife of a Russian diplomat, in 1908. It was during their relatively brief relationship that d'Annunzio wrote his tragedy\u003cem\u003e Fedra\u003c\/em\u003e (Phèdre), which met with a mixed reception.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":9820515843,"sku":"1037","price":425.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/annunzio-gabriele-autograph-letter-signed-a_aa6440f4-f349-4d06-977f-acea86e74c71.jpeg?v=1448537257"},{"product_id":"martineau-harriet-autograph-letter-signed","title":"MARTINEAU Harriet - ALS borrowing a book on China and commenting on Nina Sforza","description":"\u003ch4\u003eHarriet MARTINEAU (1802-1876)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“H. Martineau”) to “Dear Lady Walsham”, thanking her for some grapes and discussing various personal matters.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e4 pages 12mo on pink paper, n.p., n.d.        \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eMrs. Bell’s grapes are almost too pretty to be eaten. I had some thoughts of exhibiting them to the Tynemouth folk, at 1d. a head, for the benefit of the drainage, before eating them. But it is too late now. I was tempted, like Eve, \u0026amp; ate. . . . Mr. Headlam Greenhow\u003c\/em\u003e [Martineau’s doctor and brother-in-law] \u003cem\u003esays I may have a sight of Mr. Scott’s book on China when you have done with it. Perhaps you will be so kind as to let it be left at my door . . . For the chance of your not having seen the very beautiful Nina Sforza, I send it . . . Are not your thoughts in St. Stephen’s today? I long to know whether Sir Robert will be, in the end, helped or damaged by the secession of the Plantagenet. It seems to me, he must grant every thing. By all the reliable accounts that reach me, it is too late now for any Minister to have any choice.\u003c\/em\u003e . .”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eNina Sforza\u003c\/em\u003e, a tragedy by Richard Zouch Troughton, was first performed at the Haymarket Theatre in 1841. “Sir Robert” is possibly a reference to the Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel, but the meaning of the phrase “the secession of the Plantagenet” eludes us.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHarriet Martineau suffered from ill-health for most of her life. In her early forties, she moved to Tynemouth in the north-east, and retired to her rooms as an invalid, but one still capable of writing and receiving her many friends. It seems entirely possible that her debility was of psychosomatic origin, for when she attempted a cure by mesmerism – then new and fashionable – she found remarkable results.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":10262050371,"sku":"1315","price":495.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/martineau-harriet-autograph-letter-signed-a.jpeg?v=1446923791"},{"product_id":"masefield-john-autograph-letter-signed-1917","title":"MASEFIELD John - ALS 1917 before his trip to America","description":"\u003ch4\u003eJohn MASEFIELD (1878-1967)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“John Masefield”) to A.G. Gardiner, editor of \u003cem\u003eThe Daily News\u003c\/em\u003e, informing him that he is unable to write anything for him as “I am about to start for America”.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page 4to, Boar’s Hill, Oxford, 15 December 1917.        \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“. . \u003cem\u003e. it is not possible for me to write anything, as I am about to start for America. Perhaps some months hence it may be easier . . . Meanwhile I wish you all possible success. May I say how much I have admired your articles lately? They have been splendid, calm, just \u0026amp; wise, \u0026amp; have given the greatest help \u0026amp; encouragement to people here\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSeveral months after the United States’ entry into the First World War, Masefield, who had already published a graphic account of the Gallipoli campaign, travelled to the United States to aid the war effort. His correspondent, A.G. Gardiner, was a prominent supporter of the Liberal Party. Although initially supportive of Britain’s entry into the conflict, his relationship with Lloyd George was, by this date, rather more difficult.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":10262198147,"sku":"1316","price":125.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/masefield-john-autograph-letter-signed-1917.jpeg?v=1446924002"},{"product_id":"masefield-john-autograph-letter-signed-1910-regarding-some-proofs","title":"MASEFIELD John - ALS 1910 regarding some proofs","description":"\u003ch4\u003eJohn MASEFIELD (1878-1967)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“J. Masefield”) to a Mrs. Jacks, 1 page 8vo, Hill Crest, Boar’s Hill, Oxford, n.d. [after 1917, when Masefield moved to Boar’s Hill].                 \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMasefield asks “\u003cem\u003eWould you let me see the Riquet play some day? We cannot do many plays here in the year, but I would to see Riquet, if you have a copy\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe poet is probably referring to F.R. Planché’s \u003cem\u003eRiquet with the tuft\u003c\/em\u003e, a play based on a fairy tale by Perrault and first performed in 1836. Masefield was deeply involved with the drama and had his own theatre at Boar’s Hill.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":10262401219,"sku":"1317","price":70.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/masefield-john-autograph-letter-signed-1910.jpeg?v=1446923944"},{"product_id":"o-casey-sean-autograph-letter-signed-1941-regarding-anglo-soviet-medical-aid","title":"O'CASEY Sean - ALS 1941 regarding Anglo-Soviet Medical Aid","description":"\u003ch4\u003eSean O’CASEY (1880-1964)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“Sean O’Casey”) to Beatrice King of the Anglo-Soviet Medical Aid Fund, agreeing to her using his name, and adding that “my wife is busy with an Exhibition of Photos of Soviet Life . . .”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1 page 4to, Tingritte, Totnes, 4 January 1941 [but probably 1942].   \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eAllright; if you want to use my name, \u0026amp; think it\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003e may be of some use to you (God help you), use it.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eSpluttering about in the throes of Influenza, I have but the energy to wish God speed to the gathering of the Allied Clans to send greetings, as well as tanks \u0026amp; guns, to the glorious Peoples of the Soviet Union. . . P.S. My wife is busy with an Exhibition of Photos of Soviet Life here, to be opened tomorrow, to help concentrate thought on medical aid for the U.S.S.R.\u003c\/em\u003e . .”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eO’Casey was a life-long supporter of the Soviet Union and referred to himself as a Communist. In this instance, however, his support was very much part of the mainstream. In the wake of Winston Churchill’s stated intention of providing support for the Soviet Union, Britain’s allies in the war against Fascist Germany, various societies were set up during the course of 1941, including Beatrice King’s Women’s Anglo-Soviet Committee, Sybil Thorndike’s Five Arts Fund, and the British Red Cross Aid for Russia Fund, headed by Clementine Churchill. These organizations did not come into existence until 1941, after the collapse of the Nazi-Soviet pact, so it would seem that O’Casey made an error in dating his letter 1941, a common mistake for many at the beginning of each year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is a slight hole at the top left of the letter where a staple has been removed, but it is otherwise in very good condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":10263049475,"sku":"1106","price":345.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/ocasey-sean-autograph-letter-signed-1941.jpeg?v=1446931279"},{"product_id":"comite-de-salut-public-1794","title":"COMITE DE SALUT PUBLIC 1794 - exporting to Switzerland","description":"\u003ch4\u003eCOMITE DE SALUT PUBLIC\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDocument Signed (\"Carnot\" \"Charles Cochon\" \"Prieur d[e] l[a] m[arne]\" \"Lo[ui]s Guyton\" \"J[ean]. F[rancois]. B[ertrand] Delmas\" \"Merlin. d[e] d[ouai]\" and one other), as members of the Comite de Salut Public, authorising Citizen Florin Delaoutre to export cloth to Switzerland and to import cotton.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e 1½ pages folio in French with integral blank leaf, [Paris], 11 frimaire an 3 [1 December 1794].\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn interesting document, allowing trade between the French Republic and Switzerland less than six months after the fall of Robespierre.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBased on a report from the commission on commerce and provisions, the members of the Committee authorize Citizen Florin Delaoutre, manufacturer from Roubaix near Lille to export up to 60,000 livres worth of cloth from his factory to Switzerland and to send a salesman with the goods. He is further obliged to import cotton or other raw materials to the same value. Finally, customs officials are ordered to allow free passage to Delaoutre or his agent with said goods.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTextile manufacture had suffered badly during the Revolution. Collapse in demand, and pricing restrictions which meant that some manufacturers were forced to sell cloth at less than the cost of the raw materials, bought before the law had come into force, led to much hardship. The fall of Robespierre led to some easing of the restrictions, but it was only after the rise of Napoleon, who did much to encourage French manufacturing, that things significantly improved.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":10269255683,"sku":"1077","price":350.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/comite-salut-public-document-1795-a.jpeg?v=1446915099"},{"product_id":"d-orsay-alfred-count-autograph-letter-signed-1848-mentioning-lady-blessington","title":"D ORSAY Alfred Count - ALS 1848 mentioning Lady Blessington","description":"\u003ch4\u003eAlfred, Count D’ORSAY (1801-1852)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“A d’Orsay”) to an unnamed correspondent, probably an art publisher, 1 page 8vo on gilt-edged paper with integral blank leaf, Gore House [Kensington], 30 August 1848.      \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eI think that you will find that I have much improved the likeness. Lady Blessington and the Misses Power \u003c\/em\u003e[evidently relatives of Lady Blessington, whose maiden name was Power]\u003cem\u003e are of this opinion – I hope that you will let me have a few copies of it, when printed. Lord Chesterfield gave me an engraving from Mr. Clive’s picture which I find admirable\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCount D’Orsay, the son of one of Napoleon’s generals, made his home in England in the early 1820’s. Very good-looking and an artist of minor but genuine talent, he was a friend of Dickens, Disraeli, Thackeray, and the the exiled Louis Napoleon. His \u003cem\u003eménage a trois \u003c\/em\u003ewith the beautiful Margaret, Lady Blessington and her husband gave rise to great scandal, a scandal only intensified by his unconsummated marriage to Margaret’s stepdaughter Harriet. In 1849, a year after the date of this letter, his extravagance and debts forced him to flee to France. His friend Disraeli based the character of Count Alcibiades de Mirabel in his novel \u003cem\u003eHenrietta Temple \u003c\/em\u003eon D’Orsay.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Maggs Bros","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":10269889027,"sku":"1023","price":275.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/dorsay-count-autograph-letter-signed-1848.jpeg?v=1446915523"},{"product_id":"helleu-paul-cesar-autograph-letter-signed-to-his-art-dealer","title":"HELLEU Paul-Cesar - ALS to his art dealer","description":"\u003ch4\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePaul-César HELLEU\u003c\/strong\u003e (1859-1927)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“P.C. Helleu”) to “Mon cher Manzi” [Michel Manzi of the firm of art publishers and dealers Manzi-Joyant], making an appointment.\u003cbr\u003e1 page 8vo in French with integral blank leaf, 45 rue Emile Menier, n.d. [but c. 1900].Together with an Autograph Letter Signed from his wife, Alice, on her monogrammed writing paper, also to Manzi, arranging an article and discussing the sale of pictures.2½ pages 8vo in French, n.p., n.d. [but c. 1900].                               \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “\u003cem\u003eI will expect you Sunday morning around 10 o’clock if you would be so kind\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003cbr\u003eAlice Helleu’s letter gives us more detailed information.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “\u003cem\u003eBoussod\u003c\/em\u003e [Jean Boussod, a founding member of the publishing firm, together with Manzi and Joyant; Boussod died in 1907] \u003cem\u003etook only one painting, the wrong one of course. Would you like to do a Figaro illustré\u003c\/em\u003e [the colour magazine associated with the newspaper Le Figaro] \u003cem\u003eon family life on a yacht. How much will you give me for the 25 drawings and sketches and paintings which are ready. We would make another one next year and you could combine the two into one album for new year’s day on which you would give me a commission on sales. When could you come if this suits you?\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHelleu was known as a keen sailor and owned several yachts, so the invitation to do a feature on family life on a yacht is unsurprising, although today it may carry echoes of a century-old version of \u003cem\u003eHello\u003c\/em\u003e magazine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHelleu had met his wife, Alice, when he was commissioned to paint the portrait of the 14-year-old. They were married two years later in what proved to be a very happy union.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA friend of John Singer Sargent, and well acquainted with Boldini, Tissot and Whistler, Helleu was immensely influential in creating the image of the idealised, elegant women who graced the three decades preceding the First World War.\u003cbr\u003eHelleu’s letter is slightly dusty at the edges, not affecting the text.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":13539544899,"sku":"1360","price":340.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/helleu-paul-cesar-autograph-letter-signed-a.jpeg?v=1452451337"},{"product_id":"lambert-constant-autograph-letter-signed-asking-for-news-of-varda","title":"LAMBERT Constant - ALS asking for news of Varda","description":"\u003ch4\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eConstant LAMBERT\u003c\/strong\u003e (1905-1951)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“Constant Lambert”) to “Dear Michel”, sending regrets that he is “engaged for Christmas”.\u003cbr\u003e1 page 4to, 42 Peel Street, W8, 16 December n.y.                              \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eSo sorry not to have answered your letter before but I have been away in Manchester.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eI am engaged for Christmas I’m afraid but I should love to come down the week-end after if that is convenient. Any news of Varda?\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003cbr\u003eIn a postscript, he adds “\u003cem\u003ePlease tell Susan that I have been thinking about her music but that I have lost the pieces I think might do\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003cbr\u003eIt is impossible to be certain about the identity of those mentioned. Michel may be Michel Fokine, with whom Lambert was well acquainted; Varda is perhaps the artist Jean Varda, who had a brief career as a ballet dancer and who lived in London for a period during the inter-war years, or possibly his first wife, Dorothy Varda, always known simply as \"Varda\". She was acquainted with Lambert, who in turn introduced her to the writer Anthony Powell with whom she formed a close friendship. The identity of Susan is a mystery, and any suggestions from readers will be welcome.\u003cbr\u003eLambert’s remarkable qualities as a composer and conductor did much to further the success of the Vic-Wells Ballet, later the Royal Ballet, in its formative years. He was hailed as a musical genius, but died an early death, largely brought on by his alcoholism.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":13539744515,"sku":"1361","price":245.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/lambert-constant-autograph-letter-signed.jpeg?v=1452450845"},{"product_id":"queen-caroline-amalie-autograph-letter-signed-welcoming-elizabeth-fry-to-denmark","title":"CAROLINE AMALIE of Denmark - ALS welcoming Elizabeth Fry to Denmark","description":"\u003ch4\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCAROLINE AMALIE\u003c\/strong\u003e, Queen Consort of Denmark (1796-1881)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“Caroline Amelie”), to “Chère Madame Fry!”, welcoming the prison reformer Elizabeth Fry to Denmark.\u003cbr\u003e1 page 8vo in French, n.p., n.d. [annotated in another hand “1842”, but more likely 1841].   \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTrans: “\u003cem\u003eThe bearer of these lines, Mr. Pauli, is a young pastor of the parish of the castle, who concerns himself with the improvement of prisons and the spiritual care of the prisoners. All this is in a deplorable condition here, may God bless your coming\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003cbr\u003eThe date of the letter is most likely 1841, when Elizabeth Fry travelled to the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark to advise on prison reform in those countries, having already done much to ameliorate conditions in British prisons.\u003cbr\u003eCaroline Amalie, wife and consort of Christian VIII of Denmark, was famed for her work on behalf of the poor and disadvantaged in the kingdom, and it is entirely in character for her to greet the Quaker reformer with such warmth.\u003cbr\u003eCaroline Amalie was herself born into the Danish royal house, as the daughter of Princess Louise Auguste, daughter of Christian VII of Denmark (or, quite possibly, Johann Friedrich Struensee) and Caroline Matilda, sister of George III of Great Britain.\u003cbr\u003eThe letter is directed at the bottom as being sent “by Mrs. WH Leatham”, wife of the Liberal politician William Henry Leatham, and a relation of Elizabeth Fry.\u003cbr\u003eAnother hand has annotated, below Caroline Amalie’s signature “Queen of Denmark”.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":16006598659,"sku":"1374","price":550.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/caroline-amalie-autograph-letter-signed-a.jpg?v=1454848104"},{"product_id":"chamberlain-austen-autograph-letter-signed-1931-to-ramsay-macdonald","title":"CHAMBERLAIN Austen - ALS 1931 to Ramsay MacDonald","description":"\u003ch4\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAusten CHAMBERLAIN\u003c\/strong\u003e (1863-1937)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“Austen Chamberlain”) to “My dear Prime Minister” [Ramsay MacDonald], marked “Personal”, expressing concern about the Prime Minister’s health and wellbeing, weeks after the General Election.\u003cbr\u003e2½ pages large 4to, 58 Rutland Gate SW7, 16 November 1931.                    \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA letter dating from one of the most troubled periods in British politics.\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cem\u003eI am horrified that you should have been at the pains of writing me a personal letter. All I had expected was a polite refusal from your secretary. I ought to have said as much in writing, for write I had to.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eAs to yourself, may I say that as one who earnestly desires to see you remain head of the Govt. to carry through the great work for which you asked a free hand, I cannot help being anxious about your health. There will never be a convenient moment for you to leave, even temporarily, the helm to another, but don’t, I beg, continue the strain too long before taking some rest. Is it now possible for you settle in two or three Cabinets the lines of policy to be followed \u0026amp; then go away till after Xmas. I am sure you cannot do yourself justice till you have rested a little the frame \u0026amp; brain which have been so sorely tried.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eAs I read what I have written, I fear you may think it almost an impertinence for anyone who is not an intimate friend to address you in this way, but I beg you to believe that I am moved to do so by a genuine concern for your success\u003c\/em\u003e.” In a postscript, he firmly adds: “\u003cem\u003eNo further reply, please\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003cbr\u003eFaced with irreconcilable differences in his government, MacDonald resigned the premiership in August of that year, but was persuaded to form a National Government, effectively a coalition with the Conservatives and the Liberals. Further splits forced him to call a General Election in October 1931. Although disastrous for Labour, the result saw MacDonald still at the head of the National Government. A massive increase in unemployment, unpopular cuts in public spending and disputes over protectionist trade policies continued to haunt the government.\u003cbr\u003eAusten Chamberlain had himself resigned as First Lord of the Admiralty ten days before writing this, in the wake of the Invergordon Mutiny, itself a result of drastic pay cuts for naval officers and ratings.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":16038793539,"sku":"1375","price":240.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/chamberlain-austen-autograph-letter-signed-1931-a.jpg?v=1454930891"},{"product_id":"gambier-admiral-james-autograph-letter-signed-1799","title":"GAMBIER Admiral James - ALS 1799","description":"\u003ch4\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eAdmiral James GAMBIER, 1\u003csup\u003est\u003c\/sup\u003e Baron Gambier\u003c\/strong\u003e (1756-1833)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“J Gambier”) to Mrs. Stott in Brighthelmstone, Sussex, regarding a request that Lieut Gilson be appointed to a Prison Ship.\u003cbr\u003e1 page 4to with integral address leaf, Admiralty, 9 September 1799.                       \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eI have received your Letter of the 6\u003csup\u003eth\u003c\/sup\u003e Inst. reminding me of the request made by my sister Mrs. Pitt for Lieut Gilson to be appointed to a Prison Ship. When an opportunity offers I shall be glad to assist Lieut Gilson in the attainment of his object, but as it rests intirely with Lord Spencer who has many applications for appointments of the same kind I cannot say when it is probably he may succeed\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003cbr\u003eGambier was at the time a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty under Earl Spencer, having served with some distinction during the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars. He left the Admiralty in 1801, when he resumed active service with the Channel Fleet.\u003cbr\u003eThe sister mentioned here, Mrs. Pitt, was the wife of William Morton Pitt, MP for Dorset.\u003cbr\u003eThe address leaf has been franked by Evan Nepean, secretary to the Board of Admiralty, and later governor of Bombay.\u003cbr\u003eThe address leaf, with remains of the red wax seal, is very dusty and bears the remains of mounting. The letter itself shows traces of damp at the bottom, but remains in entirely legible condition. A previous collector has annotated the letter “Admiral Lord Gambier” in pencil at the top.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":16040324355,"sku":"1377","price":275.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/gambier-admiral-autograph-letter-signed-1799.jpg?v=1454935495"},{"product_id":"hoare-sir-samuel-typed-letter-signed-1935-to-ronald-storrs-regarding-his-speech-on-te-lawrence","title":"HOARE Sir Samuel - TLS 1935 to Ronald Storrs regarding his speech on TE Lawrence","description":"\u003ch4\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eSir Samuel HOARE \u003c\/strong\u003e(1880-1959)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTyped Letter Signed (“Samuel Hoare”) with autograph postscript to Sir Ronald Storrs, complimenting him on the text of a speech on T.E. Lawrence which Storrs had sent him.\u003cbr\u003e1 page 4to, Foreign Office SW1, 16 July 1935.                                                            \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWriting two months after the death of T.E. Lawrence, Hoare compliments Storrs, who had known Lawrence well and worked with him, on his article: “\u003cem\u003eThank you very much for your kind congratulations and the change that you have given me of reading your speech. I look forward with great pleasure to seeing what you say about Lawrence\u003c\/em\u003e.” In a postscript, he adds that “\u003cem\u003eI have since read your speech. If I may say so, it is in style and sentiment worthy of its subject\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003cbr\u003eSir Samuel Hoare served as Foreign Secretary for six month in 1935 (Storrs’ congratulations were undoubtedly for his appointment to the post), but left in a storm of controversy at the proposed Hoare-Laval Pact which would have sanctioned the seizure of a large part of Ethiopia by Mussolini – who proceeded to seize all of Ethiopia after the failure of the bill.\u003cbr\u003eStorrs, who was a member of the Arab Bureau at the time of the negotiations with Sharif Husayn and later Military Governor of Jerusalem, was similarly no stranger to difficult diplomatic situations. A year before this letter he had retired from his position as Governor of Northern Rhodesia, citing ill health.  He was, however, strong enough to serve as one of the pallbearers at Lawrence’s funeral.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":16040690755,"sku":"1379","price":250.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/hoare-sir-samuel-typed-letter-signed-1935.jpg?v=1454936967"},{"product_id":"lehmann-rosamond-autograph-letter-signed-1928-about-dusty-answer","title":"LEHMANN Rosamond - ALS 1928 about Dusty Answer","description":"\u003ch4\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eRosamond LEHMANN \u003c\/strong\u003e(1901-1990)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter Signed (“Rosamond Lehmann”) to “Dear Mr. Hutchinson”, thanking him for writing an admiring letter about her book.\u003cbr\u003e3 pages 8vo, Mill House, Pangbourne, 7 August 1928.                                             \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe book in question can only be Lehmann’s first novel, \u003cem\u003eDusty Answer\u003c\/em\u003e, published the previous year. The novel proved both popular and scandalous, with its then-shocking depiction of a lesbian romantic attachment.\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cem\u003eIt was very nice of you to take the trouble to write to me about my book, and it gives me great pleasure to think that you enjoyed it. Thank you especially for saying you think I will write something better. I do want to so badly! – and I’m trying to now, but it is being horribly slow \u0026amp; difficult.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eOf course I will sign your copy. I am very bad at doing up parcels, but I will undertake to do so quickly for once, in gratitude for your letter\u003c\/em\u003e. . .”\u003cbr\u003eThe letter is slightly browned at the edge, but otherwise in good condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":16041240963,"sku":"1381","price":295.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/lehmann-rosamond-autograph-letter-signed-1928-a.jpg?v=1454938187"},{"product_id":"mahon-charles-autograph-letter-canvassing-support-for-william-pitt","title":"MAHON Charles - AL canvassing support for William Pitt","description":"\u003ch4\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eCharles MAHON, 3\u003csup\u003erd\u003c\/sup\u003e Earl Stanhope \u003c\/strong\u003e(1753-1816)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAutograph Letter in the third person to Sir Robert Smith, canvassing support for his brother-in-law William Pitt.\u003cbr\u003e1 page 4to with integral address leaf, bearing the near-intact black wax seal, Harley Street, “Monday”, n.d. [but most likely 1780 or 1784].                                              \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eLord Mahon presents his best Compl[imen]ts to Sir Robert Smith, and should he propose to go towards Cambridge on Saturday next the 9\u003csup\u003eth\u003c\/sup\u003e Instant he should take it as a great obligation, if Sir Robert would have the goodness to favour Mr. William Pitt with his support, and any interest he might be able to make, as Mr. Pitt[‘s] principles he believes must be highly approved of by a person of Sir Robert Smith public way of thinking\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cem\u003eShould Sir Robt. have promised one vote, his second vote possibly is not engaged\u003c\/em\u003e.”\u003cbr\u003eEighteenth century British politics were largely dominated by a few interconnected aristocratic families, and this letter exemplifies the manner in which such connections were put to use.\u003cbr\u003eLord Mahon was married to William Pitt’s sister, Hester, and Pitt is known to have stayed with them at their house on Harley Street. Catherine, the eldest daughter of Sir Robert Smith, later Baron Carrington, was eventually to marry Lord Mahon’s son by his second marriage, Philip, later 4\u003csup\u003eth\u003c\/sup\u003e Earl Stanhope.\u003cbr\u003ePerhaps the most remarkable progeny of any of these marriages was Lord Mahon’s eldest daughter, Lady Hester Stanhope.\u003cbr\u003ePitt had hoped to be elected to represent the University of Cambridge in 1780, but failed to win the seat. He contested the seat again in 1784, won it, and retained it until his death in 1806.\u003cbr\u003eThe address leaf has tears where it was opened, but the letter is otherwise in good, clear condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":16041516995,"sku":"1383","price":425.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/mahon-charles-earl-stanhope-autograph-letter.jpg?v=1454939199"},{"product_id":"cromwell-henry-document-signed-by-oliver-cromwells-grandfather-in-1600","title":"CROMWELL Henry - DS by Oliver Cromwell's grandfather in 1600","description":"\u003ch4\u003eHenry CROMWELL (d. 1604)\u003c\/h4\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDocument Signed (“Harry Cromwell”), an acquittance for three thousand eight hundred pounds for the purchase of the “messuages, lands . . .and hereditaments . . .” in St. Neots, also signed by the witnesses. The original seal, which would have been under Cromwell’s signature, has been neatly cut away.\u003cbr\u003e1 page folio, sympathetically framed in a simple black and gold frame, n.p., 20 June 1600.\u003cbr\u003e“\u003cem\u003eReceaved by me Henrie Williams al[ia]s Cromwell . . . in the Countie of Huntinton Esquire of S[ir] Edmund Anderson Knight Lord She[r]ife Ofice of her Ma[jes]ties Co[u]rt of Comon Pleas the Some of Three Thousand and eighte hundred pounndes of Currannt Englishe money . . . in full payment \u0026amp; satisfaccon . . . w[hi]ch the saide S[ir] Edmund Anderson . . . was to paie unto me the saide Henrie for the purchase of all those manors, messuages, lands . . . and hereditaments conteyned in the paire of Indentures made between the saide S[ir] Edmund Anderson . . . and me the saide Henrie Williams al[ia]s Cromwell . .\u003c\/em\u003e .”\u003cbr\u003eA note on the verso of the frame informs us that the document is docketed “. . . for ye purchase of St Neots”.\u003cbr\u003eThe use of the term “Henrie Williams alias Cromwell” is interesting. Henry’s grandfather, Morgan Williams, had left Wales to settle in Putney, where he met and married Thomas Cromwell’s elder sister Katherine. Thomas Cromwell’s subsequent rise to power brought many benefits to Morgan Williams, and to his son Richard, who took an active part in the Dissolution of the Monasteries and acquired several wealthy properties in Huntingdonshire. The change in the family name from Williams to Cromwell was in part due to the link with the now-powerful Thomas, but also in part due to laws enacted under Henry VIII which changed Welsh surnames from the patronymic, i.e., ap Owen, etc., to fixed surnames. It would therefore have made sense for the family to adopt the name of Henry’s grandmother, Cromwell.\u003cbr\u003eHenry Cromwell was well thought of by Elizabeth I (during whose reign this document was issued), who knighted him, and also by the people of Huntingdonshire, by whom he was said to be “universally esteemed”. He appears to have been a generous man, as well as a wealthy one.\u003cbr\u003eAs well as being the great-nephew of Thomas Cromwell, Henry was also grandfather to Oliver Cromwell, through his second son, Robert.\u003cbr\u003eAn attractive document, with remarkable associations.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Richmond Autographs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":19158995011,"sku":"1186","price":1400.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0979\/3392\/products\/cromwell-henry-document-signed-1600.jpg?v=1461073285"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.richmondautographs.co.uk\/collections\/documents-letters.oembed?page=6","provider":"Richmond Autographs","version":"1.0","type":"link"}