Showing 1601 results

Letter from Sir Joseph Banks of Overton to Sir Stephen [?], 14 Sep 1804. Relating to the Royal Mint and coinage.

Letter from Francis Place to William Carpenter, 12 Jun 1838. 'You as well as any man know how one is led on in an enquiry - I must I find know everything to be able clearly to state the case and draw the correct inferences'.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Charles Pritchard of 17 Westcliff Terrace, Ramsgate, [Kent] to [Augustus De Morgan], 21 Jul 1860. Referring to Pritchard's Calculations of the three Conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn in B.C. 7 B.C. 66 and A.D. 54, in which he showed the inadmissibility of Ideler's identification of one of them with the star of the Magi.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Victor de Riqueti, Marquis de Mirabeau to 'mon cher Monsieur duchesne', 25 Jun 1775. Asking him for his good offices on behalf of 'un pauvre provençal', who was in Paris 'pour une affaire à la terray qui ruineroit tout le commerce'.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Edward John Routh of 19 Dorset Square, London to [Augustus De Morgan], [1854]. Thanking him for a testimonial sent to accompany Routh's [unsuccessful] application for the professorship of mathematics at the [Royal Military] Academy, Woolwich. [The post was given to Matthew O'Brien, previously astronomy lecturer at Woolwich.]

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from John Russell to [William] Wyon, Esq, Her Majesty's Mint, 2 Dec 1847. 'Sir, I quite approve of the sketch for the 'florin' - Sir Charles Wood may as well see it before it is finally decided. Yr. Obed. Servt. J. Russell'.

Autograph, with signature. With the original envelope and seal.

Letter from Sir John Sinclair of Whitehall to Messrs Cadell and Davies, booksellers, Strand, 15 Jun 1795. Asking whether the octavo or quarto size would be the more convenient for reprinting the Agricultural reports of 1794.

Written in another hand with Sir John Sinclair's own signature. With a black seal bearing Sinclair's coat of arms.

A draft reply (dated [16] Jun 1795) is written on the second leaf.

Letter from Sir John Sinclair of Charlotte Square, [Edinburgh] to the [11th] Earl of Buchan, 7 Jul 1798. Asking his advice upon Sinclair's statistical work on Scotland. 'If the arrangement were finally settled I should consider the Works as having made considerable progress. It is like laying the foundation of a new house: or getting over the first stage of a Journey'.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Samuel Smiles of 6 Granvill Park Terrace, Blackheath, London to R Harrison, Esq, 22 Jun 1860. Answering enquiries on 'the actual condition of the working classes'. 'The bulk of the writers who write for the working classes are, though very decent penny a liners, for the most part people who know nothing about them, and merely get up what will sell for the day.'

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Adam Smith, 4 Apr 1760. Address: Glasgow. To his publisher, [William] Strahan. Refers to the 2nd edition of Smith's 'The Theory of Moral Sentiments' (1759), to the Act of Union (1707), and to [Nathaniel] Hooke's 'Secret History of Colonel Hooke's Negotiations in Scotland, in favour of the Pretender, in 1707, etc' (1760).

Autograph, with signature. A facsimile, printed for James Bonar's 'Catalogue of Adam Smith's Library' is filed with the original letter.

Letter from Adam Smith to William Strahan, Esq, MP, 20 Dec 1777, address: Edinburgh, New Street, Shoe Lane, London. Asks for information on the delay in his appointment as a Commissioner of Customs for Scotland. A postscript states: 'Neither you nor Mr [Thomas] Cadell have wrote me anything concerning the new Edition of My Book, is it Published? does it sell well? does it sell ill? does it sell at all?'

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Adam Smith, 5 Feb 1778. Address: Edinburgh. Acknowledging the receipt of his commission as Commissioner of Customs for Scotland. 'I received the Commission on Monday the 2d ist: four days after my name had appeared in the Gazette: I am assured there is scarce an example of any such commissions coming to Edinburgh in less than four weeks after that publication'.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Herbert Spencer of the Bristol Hotel, Brighton to Mr Williams, 25 Jan 1878. 'I did not ask for the Second Edition of [Henry] Sidgwick's Ethics. I asked for the additions and alterations ... printed separately ... As for the book itself I do not want it. I do not regard it worth the paper it is printed upon.'

Autograph, with signature. Annotated in a different hand [?by an assistant of Williams] on the dorse of the first leaf.

Letter from Joseph Rayner Stephens of Stalybridge, Lancashire to an unspecified recipient, 6 Aug 1853. 'I am afraid it will not be in my power to comply with your request [to sell or give away some of his father's letters]. Continuing that he will try to obtain an autograph of his father's [John Stephens].

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Magnús Stephensen of Copenhagen to His Excellency the Rt Hon Sir Joseph Banks, 17 Oct 1807. Referring to Banks's visit to Iceland and complaining of the severe effects of war [i.e the Napoleonic Wars] on the trade of that country. 'For it is altogether unavoidable for this Island to escape hunger if it is only to hold out one single winter without being supplied with provisions.'

Written in another hand and signed by Stephensen.

Letter from Sir Benjamin Thompson of Munich to Lord Sheffield [John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield], 3 Oct 1796. Describing how he took control of Munich on the approach of the contending Austrian and French armies: 'No foreign Troops have entered the Town and we have received no insult of any kind from either of the Armies by which we have been surrounded. And though we have seen several very sharp actions within musquet shot of our Walls yet not a shot has been levelled at us, nor have we lost a man.'

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Sir Benjamin Thompson of Munich to Lord Sheffield [John Baker Holroyd, 1st Earl of Sheffield], 18 Nov 1791. Describing the condition and people of Bavaria. Speaking of the Elector's troops: '... I know of no Troops that are so well and so comfortably clothed as ours, both for Summer and Winter ...'. Giving details of the crops, minerals and commerce of Bavaria. 'It would be difficult,'he writes, 'to convey to your Lordship an adequate idea of the Ignorance, Superstition and corruption which pervade and darken every part of this neglected Country.' Says that the clergy and nobility hold a monopoly of the beer in Bavaria: '... which is the great source of their riches, and on that account Drunkenness must be encouraged.'

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Silvanus Phillips Thompson of Morland, Chislett Road, West Hampstead, London to R A Rye [University of London Library], 29 Aug [1908]. Accompanying a book borrowed from the University Library about ten years previously, preserved by Professor Thompson because he knew it to be 'safer in his keeping during the interregnum'.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Thomas Perronet Thompson of Blackheath, [Kent] to George Pryme, Esq of Wiston, near Huntingdon, 19 Mar 1848. 'For the first time I appear to have got under the fallacy about a paper circulation based on all the land in the country. I just now perceive this included in the latest manifesto of Robert Owen.'

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Gilbert Wakefield of Dorchester Gaol to George Dyer of Clifford's Inn, Fleet Street, 2 Jul 1799. Thanking him for his 'fraternal solicitude'.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Sir Charles Wood, Chancellor of the Exchequer, of Hickleton, [near Doncaster] to an unspecified recipient, 19 Oct 1849. 'Dear Sir, It is unlucky that the D.G. [i.e. Dei Gratia (by the grace of God)] was left out [from the inscription on the new florin (2 shilling) coin] - people attach more importance to such matters now a days. Yours truly C. Wood'.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Richard Brash of 4 Printers Place, Spa Road, Bermondsey, London to Mr Joseph Hume MP of 6 Bryanston Square, Oxford Street, London, 13 Sep 1826. Accompanying 2 copies of Brash's books. 'The first was intended to arouse the minds of the people in favour of the Greeks, and the second to overturn Cobbett's misleading principles.' On the dorse is written: 'his books are mere nonsense', and (in another hand) 'Recd and ansd 13 Sept. 1826. thanks for his pamphlets and that I cannot assist him'.

Autograph, with signature. Bears a seal marked: R B.

Letter from Arthur Young of Suffolk Street, Charing Cross to J B Holroyd [afterwards 1st Earl of Sheffield], Sheffield Place, East Grinstead, Sussex, 4 Feb 1777. Asks for information relating to the management of Holroyd's estates in Ireland.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Arthur Young to the Rt Hon Lord Sheffield [1st Earl of Sheffield], Sheffield Place, East Grinstead, Sussex, [Aug 1790]. Refers to Young's last journey to France and Italy in 1789. The Duc de Liancourt entertained him in Paris for three weeks; he wishes to buy "some capital Sussex oxen" for Liancourt and enquires whether Lord Sheffield has any "of the first rate". States that France is absolutely ruined in point of trade and manufactures. Mentions a conversation with Lord Hawkesbury [Charles Jenkinson] 'on ye new corn bill wch appar. will be a governt. one - & so not too good for ye L Int. [landed interest]".

Autograph, with signature. Written on the blank pages of a printed questionnaire asking for information from corn growers in relation to the Corn Laws, for use in Young's 'Annal of Agriculture'; answers to the questions are filled in in MS.

Letter from William Ernest Henley of St George's Lodge, Worthing, [Sussex] to Matthew Cripps, Esq, 17 Dec 1899. 'I fear I cannot help you, as I remember nothing about either of the matters with which you are concerned.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Louis XIV to M Le Bret, President of the Court of Parliament at Aix[-en-Provence], 3 Sep 1704. Address: Versailles, [France]. Informs him that letters patent are being sent to the Court of which he is president, directing that effect be given to certain Articles of Agreement concerning the furtherance of trade and the reform of certain abuses in the Levant.

Written in another hand and signed by the King. Countersigned by Louis Phélypeaux, Marquis de la Vrillière, Secretary of State.

Letter from Thomas Campbell to [? Henry Thomas, Lord] Cockburn, 22 Apr 1809. 'I have put to press my farrago [Gertrude of Wyoming (1809)] and if Bensley can print it fast enough I shall be out in a few weeks but they compose almost as slowly as myself - You will think it odd ... that I have not seen Marmion [published 1808] but in a random glance at some pages - When you come to town we shall settle every thing about its merits'. The 3 remaining lines of the letter have been scored out.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Thomas Campbell of 10 Upper Seymour Street West, [London] to Longmans and Co, Paternoster Row, 4 Apr 1823. Asking for copies of his works Pleasures of Hope and Gertrude of Wyoming.

Autograph, no signature. With seal.

Letter from Thomas Campbel of Lincoln's Inn Fields, [London] to S Shoberle, Esq [for the publishing firm of Henry Colburn], 12 Marlborough Street, 10 Apr 1838. Acknowledging receipt of Coxe's manuscript Life of Petrarch; asking for other books on Petrarch and 'also a small copy (and a common one) of Petrarch's works'.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Thomas Campbell of 61 Lincoln's Inn Fields, [London] to [Mr Fonblanque], 14 Aug 1838. Apologising for breaking a dinner engagement without warning: he was called suddenly to Edinburgh to the bedside of his eldest sister. Complaining of feeling 'wretchedly feeble' himself.

Autograph, with signature.

Fragments of 5 letters from Thomas Campbell, of which 3 were written to Cyrus Redding, [1830-1844]. Including one wrapper with a seal.

Letter from Robert Southey of Keswick, [Cumberland] to the Chairman of the Committee on the Record Commission, 14 Jul 1836. Replying to a series of questions put forward by the Committee. Including a list of the publications of the Record Commission in Southey's possession. Autograph, with signature.

Letter from John Bright of One Ash, Rochdale, Lancashire to Professor Blackie of Edinburgh, 13 Apr 1885. 'I found your volume [Scottish Highlanders and the Land Laws (c1885)] when I went to London ... The whole story of the past and present of the Crofter class is not a little one of as melancholy character and their future is not easily perceived.'

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Sir Robert Peel of Whitehall to Andrew Rankin, Esq of Glasgow, 10 May 1843. Acknowledging receipt of a letter regarding the removal of import duties on cotton wool.

Written in another hand and signed by Peel. With the original sealed envelope bearing Peel's coat of arms.

Letter from Jean Ingelow of 15 Holland Park, [London] to Mr Strahan [publisher], [c1860-1897]. 'I hope ... that none of the chapters [of one of her books] copied by hand will be printed at all till after my return when I hope to correct them myself. I leave the whole matter of the American payment to you ...'.

Autograph with signature.

Letter from Richard Doddridge Blackmore to B C Pugh, Esq, 11 Jan 1892. 'I cannot pretend to say what will be the effect of the new Copyright Act and I have thought very little about it'. Autograph with signature.

Letter from Charles George Gordon of Khartoum, [Sudan] to the Mudir [Governor] of Dongola, 22 Jun 1884. Indicating the state of affairs at Khartoum and asking for news of the relieving force. The letter appears to be more a record of a few spoken sentences than a connected message. A transcription of the Arabic into Latin script and two different translations into English are filed with the original.

(1) Letter from Samuel Plimsoll, of Royal Hotel, Sheffield, to [J E] Davis, Esq [?of the Home Office], 29 Nov 1879. 'I would gladly come to you but I am so well known in Sheffield that there is great danger of frustration of my object if I do. Could you come here for a little while? ...'.

(2) Letter from Godfrey Lushington, [Under-Secretary], Home Office, to J E Davis, Esq, 25 Oct 1878.

Both letters are autograph, with signatures.

Letter from Samuel Plimsoll of 28 Park Lane, London to [?a newspaper editor], 26 Feb 1890. Complaining of frequent allegations that: 'I seek to subject English ship-owners to restrictions and regulations from which foreigners are exempted.' He has obtained evidence from the Board of Trade to show that foreign ships are not thus privileged.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Philip James Bailey of 59 Netherwood Road, West Kensington Park, London to an unknown recipient, 21 Sep 1877. 'The publishers of my new edition [10th edition] of Festus are Longmans and Compy. I have nothing now in the hands of Mr Bell. You are quite welcome to extract the songs named.' Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Matthew Arnold of Cobham, Surrey to John Churton Collins, 24 Oct 1886. Relating to the teaching of modern literature and modern languages at the universities. Autograph, with signature.

4 letters from Henry Peter Brougham to Augustus De Morgan, 1836-1853. Chiefly relating to [Count Guglielmo] Libri the book thief and [Francois] Arago. Autographs, with signature.

Letter from Charles Babbage of Dorset Street, Manchester Square, [London] to M Sylvain van de Weyer [Belgian ambassador in London], 29 May 1837. Presenting a copy of his book 'The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise'. Autograph, with signature.

(1) Letter from James Bridgnell to H W I Wood, 28 Apr 1857. Relating to the introduction of a gold currency into India. (2) Reply from H W I Wood to James Bridgnell, 4 Jun 1857. Both letters with signatures.

Letter from Octavia Hill of 190 Marylebone Road, London to Miss Brinton, 13 May 1908. Accompanying the gift of a book.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Étienne François Turgot. No address. To an unknown recipient. Presenting a copy of the 'Mémoires sur la vie et les ouvrages de M. Turgot' [Anne-Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de l'Aune], 18 Jul 1783.

Letter from John Russell of Hamilton Place to [the Earl of Sheffield], 21 May 1813. Accompanying a copy of [George Sinclair's] Account of experiments on the produce and nutritive qualities of different grasses and other plants, instituted by the Duke and conducted with the assistance of Humphrey Davy.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Charles Taylor of Manchester to the Rt Hon Lord Sheffield, MP, of Sheffield Place, Sussex, 25 Sep 1793. On the use of chemistry in determining types of soils.

Autograph, with signature.

Letter from Robert Owen of Sevenoaks Park, Sevenoaks, [Kent] to an unknown recipient, 30 Apr 1858. Covering note accompanying number 15 of Robert Owen's Millennial Gazette.

Written in another hand and signed by Owen.

Forged letter pertaining to be from William Makepeace Thackery to an unknown recipient, [1850]. 'When I said that I could do no more for you for the present I meant it literally: I never once said it as a simple excuse... When I find that your views on hard work are different I may perhaps have something to say to you. Believe me a lazy life is a curse to any man.

Written and signed in an unknown hand, as if by Thackeray.