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Bell (James). A New and Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales, 8 vols., Glasgow, 1838, folding coloured map of England and Wales, 44 folding engraved county maps, many with topographical vignettes, manuscript list at front of first volume, some light spotting and offsetting, small previous owner inkstamps to front pastedowns, original cloth, brown labels to spines, a little rubbed and faded, 8vo (1)

*Hughes (Ted, 1930-1998). Sea Monster, 1998, pen, brown ink and wash on handmade paper, by Reg Lloyd, signed and dated lower right, 130 x 100 mm (5.1 x 4 ins), together with the autograph manuscript poem Sea Monster by Ted Hughes, handwritten in ink on similar handmade paper, signed at foot, 230 x 106 mm (9 x 4.2 ins), mounted together, framed and glazed The original preliminary drawing by Reg Lloyd (1946-) together with the holograph poem by Ted Hughes for page 11 of The Mermaid's Purse, published by the Sunstone Press in May 1993, in an edition of 100 copies. With printed label for the R. J. Lloyd and Ted Hughes exhibition at Shellhouse Gallery, Ledbury Poetry Festival, 1997 to verso. (1)

*Williamson (Henry, 1895-1977 ). The Fight with Orca Gladiator, unpublished typescript short story, circa 1930s, 18 leaves of single-sided cyclostyled typewritten text, tear with some text loss to left margin of page 4, final leaf chipped and frayed without loss of text but with some toning and lightening of two lines of text, two small manuscript corrections (? by Williamson) to last page, 4to, together with On Foot in Devon or Guidance and Gossip, Being a Monologue in Two Reels, 1st edition, 1933, 8 photographic plates, map endpapers, author's signed presentation inscription to front free endpaper, inscribed for Betty Radford and dated at Lydford, 18 September 1933, written on cloth in dust jacket, spine browned and split at foot of upper joint, 8vo The climax of this short story concerns a dramatic sea battle between a killer whale and four sea lions named Princess, Berserk, Daggoo and Ra. (2)

Abbot (Charles). Flora Bedfordiensis, Comprehending such Plants as Grow Wild in the County of Bedford, According to the System of Linnaeus with Occasional Remarks..., published Bedford by W.Smith, 1798, title page with author's manuscript presentation inscription, six uncoloured engraved plates, indexes bound at rear, ownership signature to front endpaper, 19th-century half calf gilt, a little bumped, 8vo, together with Druce (George Claridge), The Flora of Berkshire... , Oxford, 1897, later inscription to front endpaper, The Flora of Buckinghamshire... , 1926, black and white frontispiece, both original cloth, boards slightly marked, spines lightly rubbed to head and foot, 8vo, (2 volumes in total), plus Mansel-Pleydell (John Clavell), The Flora of Dorsetshire..., 2nd edition, 1895, 1 colour folding map frontispiece, 1 colour folding map to p. 1, 1 extra colour folding map disbound to rear, some light spotting, contemporary inscription to front endpaper, original gilt-decorated red cloth, boards and spine slightly marked, 8vo, and Jones (J.P. & Kingston, J.F.), Flora Devoniensis..., 1829, contemporary inscription to half-title, worming to top right corners from front pastedown to p. 16 of 'Part II. Arrangement of The Plants According to the Natural Method', some light spotting, contemporary half calf boards and spine rubbed, hinges cracked, 8vo, plus other county flora reference, generally in good condition, 8vo/4to (approx. 70)

Lovell (Robert). Pambotanologia sive, Enchiridion Botanicum. Or, a Compleat Herball... , 2nd edition, Oxford, 1665, title within typographic border, errata leaf and 3 leaves advertisements at end, lacks final 2 leaves index supplied in contemporary manuscript in a neat hand, oval ink library stamps to title, following leaf and endpapers at front and rear, some spotting throughout, contemporary calf, old reback, rubbed and some corner wear, upper joint cracked, small 8vo Henrey 235; Wing L3244. (1)

Battle plans. Beeck (Anna), a la Glorie Immortelle des Illustres Princes et Heros S.A.S. Le Prince Eugene de Savoye &c. S.A Le Duc de Marlborough &c. S.E. Le Comte de Tilly &c. Ce Plan de L'Importante et Glorieuse Battaille de Blangies don‚e leu Septembre 1709 est Humblement offert et dedi‚, published La Haye, [1710], large uncoloured engraved battle plan, two columns of text (in French and Dutch) conjoined on to the vertical margins, some creasing, old folds, contemporary manuscript inscription to verso, overall size, 770 x 910 mm The engraving celebrates the battle of Malplaquet fought during the War of Spanish Succession. A somewhat Pyrrhic victory for the allies of Great Britain, Holland and Prussia - led by the Duke of Marlborough - against the French and Bavarians, in which 21,000 allied troops were killed or wounded, nearly twice the causualties suffered by the French. The British Library holds a copy of this engraving but with no mention of the columns of text. (1)

Battle plans. Smith (Malcolm), The Action of Vimiero, circa 1808, pen and watercolour manuscript battle plan of the battle of Vimeiro, occasional marginal closed tears, 540 x 510 mm The battle of Vimeiro was a resounding victory for General Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) against the French during the Peninsular war; fought in Portugal near Lisbon. Its significance was that it effectively ended the first French invasion of Portugal. Captain Malcolm Smith of the 83rd (County of Dublin) regiment whose signature appears lower right, appears to be the author of the map but it is an historical observation as his regiment did not arrive in Portugal until April 1809, some seven months after the battle. (1)

John Stevens (1793-1868) - Portrait of an Italian peasant girl Oil on canvas Bears manuscript label on reverse, inscribed with title, partial signature, and London address 76 x 64 cm. (29 7/8 x 25 1/4 in) John Stevens (1793-1868) was a Scottish genre and portrait painter. Born at Ayr, he went on to study at the RA Schools, where he obtained two silver medals in 1818. After practicising portraiture for a time he went to Italy,[1] where he spent the chief part of his artistic career, and where the present portrait would presumably have been painted. He exhibited in London between 1815 and 1864, and at the RA between 1815 and 1857. [1] Wood, Christopher, Dictionary of British Art Volume IV, Victorian Painters, vol.I, p.501

Essays by Belfast Naturalist Robert Patterson Manuscript: Patterson (Robert) Essays on Logic and Belles Lettres, 1820. A thick 4to volume containing approx. 750pp of manuscript in a clear hand. The essays were written in 1818-19 when Patterson was a student at the Belfast Academical Institution and the volume begins with a testimonial from his professor William Cairns. There are some 25 essays on varying topics such as syntax, philosophy, memory, the senses, poetry and figures of speech. As a m/ss w.a.f. Ex. Rare. * Robert Patterson (1802 - 1872) was a distinguished Belfast naturalist and businessman. At the age of nineteen he was one of the founders of the Belfast Natural History Society and he played a leading role in its affairs for the rest of his life including the establishment of Ireland's first museum to be built by public subscription. He published many learned articles and several books and was also a successful businessman, and a leader of the movement for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Among his descendants were several prominent naturalists, including the siblings Rosamond and Robert Lloyd Praeger. The present manuscript is an important insight into the studies of a prominent Irishman at a formative stage in his career.

With Original Photographs etc added Co. Kilkenny: R.I.A.: Butler (Constance Mary)transcribed, The Charters of the Cistercian Abbey of Duiske in the County Kilkenny, Ed. by J.H. Bernard, D.D. Folio D. c. 1918, with illus. Also with 16pp. of additional manuscript notes, some newspaper cuttings & 14 extra original photographs, postcards etc. related to above, tipped in, orig. cloth. (1)

Dublin House Inventory: Montgomery & Son (Wm.) Valuers, Inventory and Valuation of Household Goods, Personal Effects, Live Stock and Outdoor Effects, the Property of J. Koenigs Esq. at Castletown House, Castleknock, Co. Dublin,... 31st May, 1900, An extensive manuscript account of contents, hf. mor., with items loosely inserted; also another 4to manuscript volume, with lists of Koenigs stocks, shares & other investments. As m/ss, w.a.f. (2)

"A Scribbler's Diary" Collins (William Herbert) A Scribbler's Diary, Extracts from the Common-Place Book of a Common-Place Fellow. Compiler's Copy. Compiled in Collaboration with Arthur Dennis 1907. Manuscript, large quarto, circa 370 numbered pages in a large clear hand, handsomely bound in full green Morocco gilt, fitted with a heavy brass lock (key not present), spine with raised bands, doublures elaborately gilt, a.e.g., marble endpapers. With daily entries recording the writer's views on life, with verses, stories and anecdotes. 'Some seventeen years ago I had made for my use a book with a lock ... In it from time to time I have jotted down odds and ends that have appealed to me... Some months ago .. for the amusement of my friends, I extracted a few hundred entries and arranged them as head-lines to the pages of this Diary..' The 'diary' runs from 1 January to December 31. The subject-matter is mainly humorous and whimsical. The compiler gives his address as 9 Fell Road, Croydon; we have no further information about him. (1)

Butlers of Ballintemple Co. Carlow: Manuscript writ dated 19th Jan. 1780, of Henrietta Lady Butler and William Paul Butler of Ballintemple, Co. Carlow to John Byrne and Stephen Byrne, attorneys in Exchequer, to act for them in a suit brought by Nicholas Gordon of Carlow for payment of a bond of £400. One signed sheet, signed and sealed. As a m/ss. (1)

Plans for a Canal, 1813 Manuscript: An A.L.s. from Lord Cahir (Richard Butler, Baron Cahir) to "Harris Esq.," Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, Waterford. Urges him to persuade his colleagues to take strong action in presenting petitions to parliament requesting funding for the extension of a canal southwards. Informative letter, 3pp in a clear hand. As a m/ss, w.a.f. (1) * Lord Cahir is better known as the first Earl of Glengall, a title he received three years later.

Co. Monaghan: Leslie (Chas. Powell) M.P. 1820: A manuscript letter from Leslie, a member of the Glaslough family to a John Mayne, Dublin, promising him he will urge a Ms. Slacke to persuade her husband to resign his post of assistant Barrister, as his health is so poor, Leslie will then recommend William Mayne to succeed him. As a m/ss., w.a.f. (1)

Oppressive Landlords - Galmoy fights back! Co. Kilkenny Tenants Right: An original manuscript page mounted on board. A proclamation announcing the formation of a Tenant Protection Society in Galmoy (a parish in north-western Kilkenny). Unsigned and undated, but probably c. 1850 when many such societies sprang up throughout southern Ireland in the wake of the foundation of the Callan Tenant Protection Society. As a m/ss, w.a.f. (1) * A significant insight into the early stages of the struggle of tenant farmers to secure justice from oppressive landlords. (1)

18th Century Cyphering Book Manuscript: Malone (Margrett) A folio volume bound in full vellum, containing mathematical tables and calculations and accounts, all written in a clear, firm hand with many attractive flourishes and doodles Love poems and proverbs are interspersed throughout. A later note on front cover reads, "When my mother Margery Malone was an unmarried girl at 16 years old she wrote the sums in this book in the Year 1740," Some of the comments bear dates in the 1750's and there are several names, including that of Thomas Heydon which recurs throughout. Interesting item. A m/ss, w.a.f. (1)

Co. Clare: MASTER'S JOURNAL, manuscript, of the Corofin Board of Guardians, 1909-23, circa 130 numbered pages in a stoutly bound album, recording submissions to the Board, mostly from the Medical Officer, initially Geo. Macnamara, later (his son) Donough Macnamara, mostly concerning medical and allied matters including treatment recommended for patients, with annotations in other hands, some inserted documents. (1)

A Rare Broadside 'Wanted' Poster Co. Monaghan: 'MURDER, and £851 Reward'. A broadside poster, printed by Courtney, Whitefriar-Street, Dublin, circa 19 x 13 ins, issued by Edward Mayne of Lisnalong, Co. Monaghan, January 1819, offering this reward for the arrest of Thom as Simpson of Drumsheil, Co., Cavan, stated to have killed Mayne's father Thomas , having 'without any provocation and in a most treacherous manner .. fired a blunderbuss at, and lodged the contents thereof in the Head of the said Thomas Mayne, and in that of his Mare on which he was mounted, of which Wound he has since died', with a list of neighbours and others who have promised contributions to the reward, to a total of £851.Small portion torn from upper corner, no loss of text. With the original manuscript text of the poster, and two manuscript pages containing signed pledges of contributions, headed by (Lord) Cremorne, £22.15.0. The assailant, Thomas Simpson, is described in the poster as 'one of the Society of Quakers, about Fifty or Fifty-five years of Age .. speaks in the manner of people of that Sect .. served some years in the Cavan Militia, and is of rather Genteel Appearance.' A most interesting collection, and an unusual citizens' initiative. As a collection, w.a.f. (1)

Unique Early Report of Early Irish Bloodstock Sale, 1832 Co. Kilkenny, Ireland: Tattersall (Messrs) Auctioneers. To be Sold by Auction by Messrs Tattersall, on Tuesday, the 13th November, [1832], & Following Days at Mount Loftus, near Gore's Bridge, Ireland. The Entire Stud of the late Sir Nicholas Loftus, Bard., decd, Consisting of Brood Mares, Young Stock, Hunters, etc. both Thorough-Bred and Half-Bred, of the Best Irish Blood, 4pp folio [L. 1832]. Printed with condition of sale, and with prices of all lots added in manuscript. As ephemera, w.a.f. V. good. * Extremely rare. A unique record of a famous early Irish Stud, with its unique bloodlines, long since gone. The sale consisted of approx. 90 lots, most of which found buyers, & which realised the then incredible total figure of approx £ 3,000. (1)

Co. Waterford Postal interest: A single foolscap page Manuscript Document, signed by six members of the Chamber of Commerce, requesting a meeting to discuss establishing 'an efficient line of Steam Packets between Bristol and Waterford - for the transmission of the Mails from London & South of England and Wales to the South of Ireland.' Dated Waterford 18th Dec. 1841. As a m/ss, w.a.f. (1)

Unique Chart of Ballycastle Coalmines, 1817 Co. Antrim: A unique, attractive and important watercolour Chart of the Ballycastle Coalmines & Environs, approx 7 ft x 2 ft, on paper, backed by linen, by William Ayre, 1817, titled 'A CHART OF THE COLLIERIES NEAR BALLYCASTLE, Describing Dykes, State of the Works in Aug. 1817, by Will. Ayres', with detailed manuscript key, distinguishing fourteen sectors, with colour-coded indications of geological strata. There are later manuscript notes (up to 1845) at other end of chart, showing this was a working document used over a substantial period. With minor repairs to back, but in remarkably good condition considering its age and size. As an original watercolour, w.a.f. This would have been a vital safety document for the operation of the mines, particularly in relation to the dykes, since the mine shafts are dug into a cliff-face bordering on the sea. The Ballycastle colleries were developed by Col. Hugh Boyd in the 18th Century; they finally closed as recently as 1967. It is not clear if the draughtsman is the same as William Ayre, born in Ireland 1782-3, who later worked as a teacher in Nova Scotia (Canada). An important document, relating to what was once a major Irish industry and important source of employment. (1)

The Playwrights gives his view of the State of Irish Theatre & Outlines the Case for a New Departure FRIEL, Brian, dramatist [1929-2015]. An important typescript signed letter, 5 pp, with a manuscript postscript, December 1974, from his home near Lifford, Co. Donegal, to the Abbey actor Pat Laffan (a member of the Actors Equity council) and the theatre designer Bronwyn Cassin, giving a frank view of the state of Irish theatre, and outlining the case for a new departure. The letter arises from discussions in an Equity subcommittee of which Friel and Laffan were members. 'My first concern, probably my only concern', Friel says, 'is the state of theatre in Ireland today. I think we are on the verge of a new direction .. Do we think automatically in terms of how best the Abbey can be reformed and made the vehicle for these new concepts, or do we attempt the new excursion without the inhibition of an existing place ..? The decision I have come to is that the Abbey, even a reformed Abbey, cannot [be] the incubator. It has evolved into an institution of such magnitude that necessarily most of its energy is consumed with keeping alive and keeping open. Before it even begins to think of what kind of plays it ought to do .. it is concerned .. with its capital, its publicity, its expenditure, its intake, its public, its cleaners, its caterers .. These are not the problems that are exercising me. Nor were they the problems of Yeats-Gregory-Fay .. 'Our concern .. is to forge a new Irish drama .. The new voice I think I detect and the new direction I know to be necessary are the things that engage me now, and these could not find accommodation in Abbey Street. Even if the Abbey could be restructured .. the whole Abbey enterprise would be too lavish and too expensive to nurture a new and delicate and uncertain idea ... 'When I come to a writing-down of what form the new Irish drama will take, of course I falter. I have no precise answers .. He says it will not be a Gaelic-speaking or a poetic drama, because both of these are elitist in practice and theatre is by definition vulgar, of the vulgus. It has nothing at all to do with politics because they are trivial, of no importance whatever. 'What I envisage is a small group of actors, writers, designers who are drawn together out of mutual concern and interest; a vague but very real awareness that what is taking place on Irish stages bears very little relationship to either the imaginative or the day-to-day life we inhabit; a recognition that what it is to be Irish must be shaped and presented; a knowledge that the old seam of realism-naturalism is exhausted; a conviction that we cannot grab a theory from England or Germany or the U.S. or wherever .. a belief that these new definitions .. will evoke a response at first from tiny audiences but later from greater numbers .. and that we must find new eyes and ears and tongues to see and hear and express the Ireland that hasn't been expressed dramatically for 30 years.' Although Friel remained with the Abbey for some years more, notably with his great play Faith Healer [1979], it is clear that the line of thinking outlined here was what led him in 1980 to become co-founder of the Field Day Theatre -- precisely the kind of loose creative collaboration he suggests in this remarkable letter. Throughout the 1980s his work was produced by Field Day, beginning with Translations [1980], but in 1990 he finally returned to the Abbey with Dancing at Lughnasa. With an earlier manuscript signed letter to Laffan, May 1974, 2 pp, outlining similar ideas, and a note dated 27 Oct. (no year) about casting for a film. An important collection of letters from one of the great masters of Irish Theatre, outlining ideas and dilemmas which are still relevant today. Friel rarely gave interviews, and this is a very valuable exposition of his ideas as he approached a turning point in his career. A Saoi of Aos Dána, with a string of Broadway successes to his name, Friel was undoubtedly the leading Irish playwright of the latter half of the 20th century. (3)

Republican Poem on O'Donovan Rossa Manuscript: O'Higgins (Brian) [Brian na Banban] An original m/ss poem of six eight-line stanzas entitled Diarmuid O'Donnabhain Rosa,' of Skibbereen, Co. Cork, 2pp (single foolscap sheet) signed Brian na Banban, 1915. The poem commences 'Diarmaid O'Donnabhain Rosa / Honour and love to the name / There is nought in it mean or ignoble / It speaks not of serfdom or shame...' Some wear, as a m/ss, w.a.f. * Brian O'Higgins, 'Brian na Banban,' fought in the G.P.O. in 1916 and was later elected T.D. for Clare. An undeviating Republican, he opposed the Treaty, and remained with Sinn Fein after the founding of Fianna Fail. He was a prolific poet and publisher of magazines, booklets, and illustrated cards. (1)

Interesting File of Letters O'Nolan Brian (Flann O'Brien) An interesting collection of letters from him or relating to his work, including: An original manuscript note signed 'Brian O'Nolan', undated, to an Editor (of the Irish Times, presumably), apologising for 'another lapse in the supply of material' because 'I have been pulled into hospital again.' An original typescript letter signed 'Brian' (O'Nolan), 7 December 1964, to 'Maeve' [Sister M. Petronilla], at a convent in Portstewart, one page, neatly typed, sending her a copy of the new [Dolmen] edition of [his novel in Irish]An Beal Bocht, etc. 'That leg of mine is all right so far as the broken bone is concerned but I'm still having trouble with the muscles, and tire easily when walking. I'll be happy to say goodbye to 1964, for it was a rotten year for me ..', with related envelope. Hilton Edwards. An original signed typescript letter to Brian O'Nolan, 7 Nov. 1959, 1pp, enquiring about television use of his sketch 'Thirst', with a carbon copy of a reply from O'Nolan, 22 November, with O'Nolan's ms. correction; a second TLS from Edwards to O'Nolan, 20 February 1962, about his script 'The Man with Four Legs,' and the difficulties in producing it for television; A carbon copy of a reply from O'Nolan to 'Dear Denis', expressing his unhappiness about a performance of his (unnamed) play, 1pp, with a manuscript correction by O'Nolan; A TLS from Peter Barry TD, Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Micheal O Nuallain (brother of Brian), 19 April 1984, on official paper, about O Nuallain's suggestions for President Reagan's visit, expressing interest in his proposal to give the President a facsimile of the American Declaration of Independence as printed by [Ulsterman] John Dunlap; and a collection of various letters and copy replies,mostly to do with copyright enquires to Evelyn O'Nolan about the use of her late husband's work, & including one letter from Mervyn Wall to 'Flann's brother Michael. As a collection, w.a.f. (1)

To a Favourite Niece from a doting Uncle BODKIN, Thomas. A delightful illustrated manuscript letter to his young niece, Norah Robinson, undated [but 1919], 2 pp (single sheet), on his embossed notepaper (Wilton Terrace, Dublin), with a drawing of two elephants coloured purple and yellow, which he says 'went strolling gaily down the street past my office'. On the other side is a drawing of an owl, a pussy-cat, a donkey, a cock and a dog all leaning over his garden wall. 'When I was done dinner the other night I went out into the garden. It wasn't dark yet. This is what I saw on the wall. Did you ever see such a thing in all your born life ..' - signed 'Your loving old Uncle Tom'. With the original envelope (worn), with a drawing showing a postman struggling to carry a pile of parcels addressed to 'Miss Robinson, Newberry Hall, Carbury, Co. Kildare', with two (British) postage stamps, postmarked May [19]19. Tom Bodkin [1887-1961], a close friend of Jack Yeats, practised as a barrister until 1916, when he became Secretary to the Commissioners for Charitable Donations. He was Director of the National Gallery of Ireland 1927-35, and later professor of fine arts in Birmingham, and first Director of the Barber Institute there. His Report on the Arts in Ireland (1951) led to the establishment of the Arts Council. On this evidence, he could have made a good living as an author of books for children. (1)

The King offers Comfort to The 'Jersey Lily' DE BATHE, Lillie [nee Le Breton, better known as Lillie Langtry]. An original manuscript signed letter, 4 pp (single folded sheet), on mourning paper, from her home in Monaco, dated July 18 (no year), to Mrs Rumley, responding to condolences about the death of her husband, Gerald de Bathe, the letter signed Lillie de Bathe. 'Indeed the loss to me is very great - We were always such pals & as you say he was a really good & fine man. He did not suffer thank God & had never any idea that he was so ill .. Everyone was very kind. The King sent for me to Buckingham Palace & had a long talk privately with me ..' Lillie Langtry, the 'Jersey Lily', made her entrance to high society through the painter Frank Miles and his friends including Oscar Wilde. At a society dinner, she caught the eye of the Prince of Wales, with whom she had a long affair. A spectacular beauty in her youth, she was painted by many artists including Millet. Hugo de Bathe, a well-to-do baronet, was her second husband, though in later years she lived mainly on her own. (1)

With Fine Hand-Coloured Maps Atlas: Le Francois (A.) Methode Abregee et Facile pour Apprendre La Geographie,... Avec un Abrege de la Sphere, & une Table des Longitudes & Latitudes des principles Villes du Monde, conforme aux dermieres Observations de Messieurs de l'Accdemie des Sciences, des R.R.P.P. Jesuites, autres Astronomes. 12mo Paris (Denis Hortemels) 1734. New Edn. 18 fold. hd. cold. maps, with section at end titled, 'Suplement a la Geographie de Melle Crozat,' of 46pp. in manuscript, cont. full calf, spine profusely gilt, mor. label. Fine Condition. As an Atlas, w.a.f. (1)

Scrap Album: Two Victorian Scrap Albums containing original photographs, coloured and other illustrated cards, news cuttings, original pencil and watercolour sketches, attractive hand coloured engravings and caricatures, manuscript verse, some relating to the Plunkett Family and also to Louth Hall; also a larger similar ditto, with some later materials. As Albums, w.a.f. (2)

A selection of leather-bound volumes: Smollett, T. 'The History of England' (5 vols) New Edition 1822, to/w The Woman at Home (bound magazine) vol.1 1894, Williams, the Rev. John, Ancient Welsh Grammar, pub, Llandovery 1861 and Deschanel, A. Privat 'National Philosophy' 9th edition 1887 (school prize), to/w Peers and Peereses (sic) of Scotland who are not Peers of England (circa 1800), Black's Guide to Scotland 1889 and a later (c.1900) edition, Watson's Almanack 1832, The Royal Blue Book Court Guide 1904 (164th edition), Black's Guide to Surrey 1893, a passenger list and guide book for 1931 Mediterranean cruise on RMSP 'Atlantis' and a 1936 manuscript hostess book record of menus at lunch and dinner, Egypt (16)

HEANEY, SEAMUS.Night Drive, LIMITED EDITION, 52/100, Richard Gilbertson Bow, Devon, in wrappers of simulated pony skin, in green with one poem ‘Victorian Guitar’ and authors manuscript written out in full, 10 July 1970. Signed by Seamus Heaney 1970.

HEANEY, SEAMUS.Wintering Out, FIRST USA EDITION, Oxford University Press New York 1973, in mint d/w (unclipped), inscribed and dedicated to Bill Ewart (Heaney’s publisher friend who publishes broadsheets and limited editions in USA), with a manuscript poem ‘Anathorish’ written out in the author’s hand and signed and dated Seamus Heaney March 12th 1994.

HEANEY, SEAMUS.Fieldwork, FIRST USA EDITION, Farrar Strauss & Giroux New York 1979, hardback with unclipped dust jacket. This copy is signed by Seamus Heaney and dedicated to Bill Ewart (his USA publisher of limited editions and broadsides) with a manuscript poem of ‘Song’ written out in full in authors hand. Signed and dated March 12th 1994; together with a postcard of Seamus Heaney and poem song postcard Dublin No 1.

HEANEY, SEAMUS.Columcille The Scribe, a version of an early 11th century Irish poem handwritten on vellum by Tim O’Neill (in ancient Irish lettering) and signed by Seamus Heaney, LIMITED EDITION, 39/150, The Royal Irish Academy Dublin 2004, mounted and issued in linen folder, simply lettered in black 'Seamus Heaney ‘Colmcille the Scribe’' and on reverse 'Royal Irish Academy Dublin 2004'. This version was sold and issued to enable the Academy to establish a fund for special monograph and manuscript acquisitions. This is a copy of the vellum hand lettered poem Seamus Heaney presented to the Academy on his enrolment on 9th June 1997.

KINSELLA, THOMAS.A Technical Supplement, SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION, 14/25, Peppercanister 6 1976, printed at Dolmen on handmade paper fully bound in basil leather, in slipcase, and signed by the author with an additional poem in manuscript.

KINSELLA, THOMAS.The Messenger, LIMITED EDITION, 12/50 (40 for sale), Pepper Canister 8 June 1978, printed at the Dolmen Press on hand made paper fully bound in vellum, in red and black slipcase with lettering and design, signed by the author with an additional poem in manuscript.

KINSELLA, THOMAS.Song of the Night, LIMITED EDITION, 39/50 (40 for sale), Peppercanister 7 1978, printed at the Dolmen Press, in full Morocco leather, with an additional poem in manuscript and signed by Thomas Kinsella ‘We left the land light behind…’ on handmade paper and in slipcase with symbol in gold on front.

*France, Jean Baptiste Duval, Royal Interpreter of oriental languages (died 1632), uniface lead medal, dated 1630, draped and cuirassed bust right; io baptista dv val ling orient interpres reg, 55mm, very fine early cast Duval’s manuscript Arabic-Latin dictionary compiled in Venice in 1610 is in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, and was published as the Dictionarium Latino Arabicum Davidis Regis by Antoine Vitray, the king’s official printer of oriental languages.

REDGRAVE and BOTESDALE (Suffolk) Enclosure Act 1815 Surveyor's Book, tall 4to half calf includes the act and neat manuscript details of road and footpath changes, commons, field measurements and valuations, state of claims and design for new bridge (1)

An important typewritten manuscript Great War diary memoir, that of 16674 Private V O Leach, 8th (Service) Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, BEF, covering the period 4th August 1914 to 16th February 1919, comprising two bound volumes, the first running to 323 pages of text plus notes, the second entitled Illustrations and including original photographs, postcards, trench maps and other documents including an Armistice notifgication telegram, 26 cm x 20 cm

A Second World War SAS group pertaining to 7952596 Trooper Pringle Gibb of Special Raiding Squadron, 1st SAS, including Pay Book, photographs, airgraphs, 1st SAS service certificate dated 16 11 45 and signed by 'Paddy' Mayne, Liberation of Norway certificate, Regimental Association membership card, 1st SAS cloth shoulder titles and beret badge, facsimile service records and other documents, post-War issued campaign medals, a small collection of Pringle's own post-War books on the SAS and related subjects, together with an unpublished manuscript biography prepared by his daughter

Spalding Gentlemen's Society.-Banks (Joseph, Sir) Manuscript copy 1803 Inclosure award for Moulton, hand-written in legal hand, watermarked 1872, contemporary vellum, oblong 4to, n.d. [c.1872]. Sir Joseph Banks was one of the founding members of the Spalding Gentlemen's Society and President of the Royal Society 1778-1820. His family were major landowners in Lincolnshire.

Plan of Searby and part of Owmby in the county of Lincoln, a manuscript map in ink and pencil, on linen backed paper, showing the Searby Estate, some lose to edges, repaired with linen, crudely folded with some slight damage to centre fold, 240cm x 78cm.

Map of the parish of Whaplode, in the county of Lincoln, 1843, a large rolled paper map, hand coloured in outline, showing all field boundaries in parish, some creasing to either end, 108cm x 500cm, with Whaplode Tithe Commutation Reference to the Plan, manuscript document with reference to all land owners in parish, contemporary half calf over boards, morocco label on top beard, worn, folio; reference to the Tithe Plan of Moulton in the county of Lincoln, manuscript document referring to a plan (not present), ornate title, wrappers; A History of the Moulton and Endowed Schools ..., wrappers, Spalding, 1890. (4)

Great Reform Act.- Stamford.- A manuscript document by the electors of Stamford, praising Parliament for adopting the Great Reform Act of 1832 and petitioning for a relief from Scot and Lot, 3 pp. on 1 bifolium, folded, 20cm x 33cm.

Bibliography.- Thompson (Rodney M.), catalogue of the manuscripts of Lincoln Cathedral Chapter Library, 1989; Hirst (Clive), catalogue of The Wren Library of Lincoln Cathedral, books printed before 1801, 1982; Glen (John) and Walsh (David), catalogue of The Francis Trigge Chained Library St Wulframs Church Grantham, 1988; Birch (Walter De Gray), catalogue of The Royal Charters and other document City of Lincoln, 1906; Corns (A.R.), Biblotheca Lincolniensis, a catalogue of the books, pamphlets, etc, relating to The City and County of Lincoln..., Lincoln 1904; Bridgman (C.G.O)., ed.),,Historical Manuscript Commission, supplementary report on the manuscripts of the late Montego Berty 12th Earl of Lindsay, preserved at Uffington House, Stamford, AD 1660-1702, 1942; Birch (Walter De Gray), City of Lincoln, catalogue of The Royal Charters and other documents and list of books belonging to the corporation of Lincoln..., Lincoln, 1911; Kynaston (W.H.), catalogue of foreign books in The Chapter Library of Lincoln Cathedral, 1972; and another, similar, various bindings, folio and 4to . (9)

Athalaric, king of the Ostrogoths in Italy, - quarter siliqua, silver coin with Latin inscription [Italy quarter siliqua, silver coin with Latin inscription [Italy (probably Ravenna), 526-34] Hammered silver coin, obverse with bust of emperor wearing a diadem facing right, reverse with inscription DN/ATHAL/ARICVS/REX in 4 lines of Roman capitals all enclosed within a wreath, diameter 10mm., 0.53g., very fine condition Athalaric was a tragic figure from the juncture between the fall of Rome and the birth of medieval Europe. He was a grandson of the mighty Theoderic the Great, through his mother Amalasuntha, and he succeeded his grandfather as king of the Ostrogothic forces demobilised throughout the Italian countryside in 526. His mother had attempted to have him educated in the Roman tradition, but had to bow to pressure from Gothic nobles to raise him in a traditional manner fitting for a barbarian leader. As a result, he seems to have felt torn between two worlds, overindulged in the customary drinking bouts of the Gothic leadership, and died of alcoholism. Manuscripts from the dawn of the Middle Ages are of legendary rarity now, and even small scraps fetch substantial prices (see our sale on 8 July 2015, lot 8, a small fragment of a manuscript of Augustine on John from at least a century after this coin, which made £19,840). However, fine coins from the period are still pleasingly affordable, and have the advantage of being complete items.

Jerome, - Epistola Ad Dardanum , his ‘Tract on the Jews’ Epistola Ad Dardanum , his Tract on the Jews , leaf from a fine Romanesque manuscript, in Latin on parchment [France, mid-twelfth century] Single leaf, double column, 38 lines of a tall and elegant Romanesque hand, written without biting curves, above top line and with a vestigial penstroke marking the ct-ligature, recovered from a binding and with stains, a few small holes (with loss of only parts of a few characters) and trimmed at top (but without loss to text), reverse discoloured but legible, with 2 large red initials (1 enclosing the contemporary number xlii , and later outlined in black ink), 276 by 205mm. This contains parts of chapters V-VII of the Epistola Ad Dardanum of Jerome ( c . 347-420). The text here discusses Jerusalem which today is called Elia and the construction of the temple there by 150,000 men. He then goes on to narrate the enslavement of the Jews under the Moabites, the Philistines, the Ammonites, and eventually the Babylonians, until the rule of Cyrus, king of the Persians. After this, he passes on the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Emperors Titus and Vespasian. The reverse has further parts of the same letter, the whole of the Ad Desiderium , and the opening of Ad Lucinium .

Niccolò da Poggibonsi, - a Pisan merchant, writing to Ottaviano de’ Medici a Pisan merchant, writing to Ottaviano de Medici, about a Baroque painter Tiberio Titi (1573-1627) and his painting, manuscript letter in Italian on paper, with red wax seal [Pisa, dated 20 April 1611] Bifolium, with approximately 28 lines in a scrolling Italian Baroque hand, 2 and a half pages of writing, address and wax seal (beneath a paper cover) on verso of last leaf, evidently written by a scribe and with Poggibonsi s scrawling signature in different ink at foot, small amount of discolouration and some folds, but overall in excellent condition, each leaf 287 by 210mm. Records of the commission and production of art have their own fascination, and this letter discusses in detail a portrait with a complex history. Poggobonsi had commissioned it from Tiberio Titi, an artist who otherwise worked for the Medici family (see I.M. Paulussen, Tiberio Titi, rittrattista dei Medici , 1980). He praises the artist s skill and efficient speed, and describes the actual sitting, noting the setting up of the brushes and equipment and the fact that the artist spent about an hour pressing the subject s face and turning their head to different angles. The painting was begun, but then set aside and allegedly abandoned as the artist spent several months in bed due to an illness. Poggobonsi then had it completed by another painter, and Titi became upset, leading to the situation in which Poggiobonsi now found himself in, necessitating his appeal to Ottaviano de Medici. Tiberio Titi was originally from Florence, and was a son and pupil of the late-Mannerist painter, Santi di Tito. He worked mostly as a portrait painter, and chiefly for the Medici family, notably Cardinal Leopoldo de Medici, whose Venetian collections passed to the Uffizi. He is remembered as having died early from pleuritic fever (Gould, Biographical Dictionary , 1837, II: 545-6), and the serious illness alluded to here may have been its first appearance.

Fragments from an Egyptian Book of the Dead, - in hieroglyphic script, manuscript on papyrus [Egypt in hieroglyphic script, manuscript on papyrus [Egypt, most probably Third Intermediate Period (1069-664 BC.)] Pieces of 4 columns of text, the largest 3 approximately 85 by 30mm., the smallest made up from 3 smaller fragments, edges damaged and glued down to cards laid down on a printed paper sheet in German, overall fair condition From an old German collection, and acquired in the early 1980s. These texts were produced as religious and magical guides to aid the deceased in the trials of the journey to the afterlife, and copies of them were included amongst the tomb assemblies of members of the Egyptian social elites. Originally they were reserved only for royal use, but became increasingly popular as larger numbers of elites began to expect to enter the next world, and by the period of the present fragments, they were widely used in the tombs of scribes, priests and officials.

Fragment of a Sefer Torah - , in Hebrew, manuscript scroll on parchment [Sephard (Genesis 28:7-47:3), in Hebrew, manuscript scroll on parchment [Sephard (most probably Spain, perhaps Toledo), late thirteenth or fourteenth century (perhaps c.1300)] 6 membranes from a scroll, with 23 columns (last membrane complete but with 3, not 4 columns as others) of 50 lines of a fine Sephardic Hebrew square script, text complete from Genesis/Bereshit 28:7-43, not written according to vavei ha amudim, with 63% of the standard number of canonical unusual letters and Tagim (special characters) and a large number of non-Canonical unusual letters and Tagim (here agreeing with the late thirteenth-century scroll sold in Sotheby s New York, 24 November 2009), C14 tested by University of Arizona, Tucson (95% probability in range 1280-1390), some brittleness to edges of leaves, small scuffs in places, a small section cut from the foot of the last membrane and a tiny number of modern repairs, else in excellent and clean condition, 630 by 3348mm. Despite being a fragment of Genesis only, this scroll stands among the earliest witnesses to the original form of the Old Testament. The Torah (or Pentateuch) is the bedrock of the written culture of the Jews and Christians alike. It is, most probably, the oldest section of the Hebrew Bible, and is a text quite apart from all others to survive in manuscript, because of the extreme care and attention of countless generations of scribes to keep it in as close a form as possible as that known in the ancient world. While accepting that the earliest copies of their holiest texts would eventually moulder away, early Jewish populations attempted to replicate those scrolls in as close a format as possible in subsequent copies. They are written on scrolls, the oldest surviving format for written (rather than inscribed) texts, and on material prescribed by Talmudic law: gevil (that which Moses reportedly used for the scroll which he placed inside the Ark of the Covenant, and that which the majority of the Dead Sea Scrolls are written on). The text s 304,805 letters and the spaces between them must be copied in accordance with strict laws from a correct exemplar and by a professional scribe. In our modern world, with digital images and facsimiles at our fingertips, the monumental effort of such a task can easily be overlooked. What is produced is a monument to countless generations of exacting toil, as well as a text stripped bare of any illustration or illumination in which the raw beauty of the script stands alone. The strict laws regarding the production of Torah scrolls have ensured that few early examples survive, as those with any damage to their text or wear are almost always placed with great ceremony in a Genizah (a hiding- or storage-place ) in the synagogue and left to decay naturally. The oldest substantial manuscripts of the Old Testament in Hebrew are late ninth and tenth century in date. The Aleppo Codex (tenth century) is, perhaps rightly, regarded as the most accurate early witness to the Masoretic tradition of the text (the sections of that book relevant for this scroll were destroyed during the riots in Aleppo in 1947, but have been reconstructed by Professor Jordan Penkower). Only a handful of scrolls and fragments survive for each following century throughout the Middle Ages. Thus, all medieval Torah scrolls are exceedingly rare, and this scroll is among the oldest known to survive from southern Europe. Only two definitively older than this have come to the open market: (i) the scroll dated to the late twelfth or early thirteenth century, sold in Sotheby s London, 4 December 2007, lot 38, for £276,500; (ii) another dated to the early thirteenth century (c.1222-41), in Sotheby s London, 6 July 2010, lot 32; and to these should be added that dated to the late thirteenth century, sold in Sotheby s New York, 24 November 2009, which may be the contemporary of this fragment. In addition, the present fragment is most probably a witness to a crucial time in the history of the Hebrew Bible: Spain in the thirteenth century. Just as Christian scholars drew together in fourth-century Constantinople to debate the form of the Christian Bible, so Jewish theologians did in Spain in the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries, most importantly in Toledo. Christian Spain in the Early Middle Ages was a remarkably tolerant society, and under King Alfonso VI (1040-1109) and his heirs, wealthy Jews there held equal rights to Christians. Large communities grew, and by 1300 there were half a million Jews living in Christian Spain. Academic studies flourished, and the careers of some of the greatest commentators on the Hebrew Bible blossomed, such as R. Moses Maimonides, 1137/8-1204, who grew up and was educated in Cordoba; and R. Meir ben Todros HaLevi Abulafia, c .1170-1244, who was born in Burgos, lived in Toledo and was the head of a yeshiva there.

Two leaves with full-page miniatures - cut from an Eastern Christian illuminated manuscript cut from an Eastern Christian illuminated manuscript, on paper [probably Coptic, perhaps sixteenth century] Two leaves with: (a) large miniature composed as an architectural columned building, enclosing two dark-skinned bearded figures, who point at each other (the one on the left also dipping his fingers into a container), both supported by human heads, and the columns supported by white oxen and other heads (one human, and 3 gold maned lions), four birds atop the structure along with lappetted architectural pieces (2 with crosses at their apex), all arranged around a central roundel with a quadruped composite animal inside (a cat-like head but long arching neck, a camel-like hump, a large lappet rising above its shoulder and a tail ending in a long beaked bird s head), some flaking and trimmed to edges of miniature with slight losses, overall good, 213 by 130mm; (b) large miniature with a figure of an Apostle seated cross legged in pink robes and with a large halo between two yellow pillars with human heads at their tops, 2 birds at his feet, and 8 others above him, many of which dip their beaks into pots or peck at human heads, another Apostle figure at the top of the structure, paint flaked from much of faces and some of birds, but with full borders, 235 by 155mm; accompanied by handwritten nineteenth- or early twentieth-century labels in Norwegian and typed labels with Nr 15 and Nr 12 adhered to blank reverses

Don Manuel de Quiròs y Campo Sagrado, - Triunfo de la religion , an anti-Napoleonic tract in defence of Spain Triunfo de la religion , an anti-Napoleonic tract in defence of Spain, partly in verse, in Spanish, illustrated manuscript on paper [Mexico, 1809] 40 leaves (including 2 blank endleaves at front and back), first few leaves unnumbered, otherwise paginated 1-67 (followed here), complete, single column, 18 lines in a round calligraphic hand in alternate black and red, initials in same colours and usually accompanied by drawings (an angel, people including a man in a plumed hat with a banner reading Viva la religion , semi-nudes, a monk and the Pope, snakes, birds and a cockerel, a dog, a lion poking out his tongue, a large dome-topped building, trees and a basket of fruit, the sun with a human face, a crown, an ornamental fountain), 2 full-page drawings touched in coloured wash (unnumbered first leaves: the angel of justice on a large marble plinth; the Eye of Providence within a pyramid in the heavens within an oval frame with trees and reeds), colour wash architectural frontispiece and a full-page painting (p. 68, a 3-masted ship at sail in a bay with a castle gateway in the background), some small contemporary corrections made with pasted on sections of paper, a few small smudges and bumped edges, else excellent condition, contemporary pasteboards painted to form coloured frames on front and back boards, containing what is meant to be marble, and endleaves coloured with swashes of blue wash to resemble marbling, book and binding same size: 200 by 150mm. From the library of a Michigan family, and in their possession for several decades. Manuscripts from the New World are rare to the international market. Spain continued its calligraphic tradition down to modern times, and the colony of Nueva España (the region north of the isthmus of Panama, which was under Spain s control from the sixteenth century onwards) followed this, continuing to produce finely handmade books centuries after the introduction of printing there. The author here, Manuel de Quiròs y Campo Sagrado, was a Mexican author, who is recorded as also producing a collection of poems in honour of Carlos III of Spain. No other copy of the present work is known to us. It opens Señor Dios de los Exercitos … (p.1), and ends … Aaèsta ygnorante ydea daràèl (p. 67).

Bible, - with prologues and Interpretations of Hebrew Names with prologues and Interpretations of Hebrew Names, decorated manuscript in Latin on parchment [England (probably Oxford), mid-thirteenth century] 437 leaves (plus 2 modern endleaves at each end), wanting a few single leaves (including a leaf from Job, which ends imperfectly in 41:21, and two from the Psalms which start imperfectly in 8:6 and are wanting Psalm 49:8-57:5, a leaf or two after Deuteronomy, with 12:15-18:22, and the same from I Kings, with 5:1-7:15, and a single leaf with the end of St Paul s epistle to the Hebrews and the opening of the Acts of the Apostles ), bound too tightly to collate, double column, 50 lines in a tiny early gothic bookhand, capitals touched in red, one-line initials in red or blue, running titles alternate in same, larger initials in same with penwork tracery, over 70 large initials in variegated blue and red (the colours separated by sweeping strokes or crenelated lines, and the 2 opening initials full-page in height with small clover shapes and dots picked out in blank parchment within their coloured panels), with offshoots of mirrored coloured leaf-shapes or elaborate penwork tracery in contrasting colours filling the borders, some terminating in small animal heads, the interpretations of Hebrew Names in 3 columns of 50 lines, numerous additions of thirteenth to sixteenth century in pen or drypoint in apparently English hands, tiny contemporary repair to a leaf at the end of Zachariah now with patch fallen away removing a small square 3 lines deep, and another leaf in the Minor Prophets with small patch covering the edge of a few lines of text, some spots and discolouration to endleaves and areas of ink loss to leaves in centre of volume due to poor ink (notably in Ezekiel), slightly trimmed at edges with small losses to edges of penwork and running titles, but overall in good and solid condition with wide and clean margins, 175 x 120mm., bound in nineteenth-century English morocco, profusely gilt in frames of arabesque designs (both inside and outside of boards), watered silk doublures, edges gilt and gauffered Provenance: (1) Most probably written and decorated for an Oxford student in the mid-thirteenth century, who seems to have added for his own reference the near-contemporary 5 page concordance of the Gospels at the end of the volume, listing subjects and chapter numbers in a series of long tables. Thereafter passing to a number of later English owners, with sixteenth-century and post-medieval names Wollocu[m]b in the upper border of a leaf from Colossians, John Templer, Thomas Pyme and William Cuttler amongst others below the beginning of Daniel (partially erased), and John By[ ] at the foot of the opening of Micah. (2) Samuel Whyle: his seventeenth- or eighteenth-century ex libris at foot of the Prologue to Genesis and the opening of Genesis. (3) Henry Yates Thompson (1838-1928), newspaper owner and grand bibliophile, whose personal collections were either sold by Sotheby s in the early 1920s or given to the British Library in two batches (one on his death and another on the death of his wife in 1941, with other gifts going to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and the Bibliothéque Nationale de France. (4) The present volume was a gift to his descendant, Allan Heywood Bright (1862-1941), Liberal politician: an inscription and inserted letter from Yates Thompson recording his gift of the book at New Year 1894, as one sometimes sees more beautiful examples of these Bibles, but they are very rare, & every collection of M.S.S. should have one of these ; by descent to Christies, 16 July 2014, lot 1. Text: The evolution of the thirteenth-century Bible marked the initial jump from the medieval production of books to the earliest form of cottage industry, with scribes working on copying quires at the same time as each other, all under the direction of a single libraire (see Shailor, The Medieval Book , 1988, p. 98 and Sotheby s, The History of Western Script: 60 Important Leaves from the Schoyen Collection , 10 July 2012, lot 60, and references there). They were produced in vast numbers primarily to supply the growing university market, and their survival beyond the lives of their original owners appears to have substantially inhibited the copying of the text for the next century or so. They are most probably the form in which the majority of medieval people knew the Bible. However, in the last century they have become fewer and fewer to the market, with examples now regularly making record prices. This is an English manuscript of the text, which was not copied from the more common Parisian exemplar. It has Tobias, Judith and Esther in an invented order, is substantially different in its use of the prologues, and includes a version of the Interpretations of Hebrew Names in the uncommon version beginning Aad testificans … . It has elements that suggest it was a highly individual commission (English Bibles often omit the Psalms, but here strangely, the text is abbreviated after Psalm 77:31 to only what will fit on a single line from each Psalm). The Acts of the Apostles appears, unconventionally, after St Paul s Letter to the Hebrews. An early corrector has worked through the text renumbering chapters which have been erroneously numbered, with larger numbers in red ink and has been adapted by its earliest owner (with the concordance added at the end [see above], and 5 conventional editorial symbols and notes on their uses added to the endleaf at the front: Obelus est virgule iacens, apponitur in verbis vel sentenciis, superflue iteratis , Obelus desuper punctatus; limniscus; antigraphus; and asteriscus ). A marginal note in a near-contemporary hand at the opening of John, inserts part of Bede s commentary on the Catholic Epistles.

Notes on rhetoric, - manuscript in Latin with a few notes in Tudor English manuscript in Latin with a few notes in Tudor English, on parchment recovered from the margins of a thirteenth-century decorated copy of Gratian s Decretals [England, thirteenth and second half of the sixteenth century] 73 leaves, cut from the upper and lower margins of a medieval manuscript, the leaves of the original turned on their sides, with remnants at the innermost edges of the present leaves of 3 or 4 lines in tiny university script and numerous small coloured initials with contrasting penwork, held together with contemporary string tie, all bar 8 leaves filled with notes in a series of secretarial hands, 2 pages with notes in Tudor English, some stains to first and last leaves and those quite faded, some leaves cockled and a few corners turned in, overall fair and solid condition, 125 by 90mm. This is evidently a series of notes on rhetoric made by a university scholar, divided into three parts and including a long series of exercises . What is most interesting is that the creator of this book approached the matter of recovering parchment from another manuscript for reuse in an apparently novel way. Rather than erase the underlying text, an action which causes problems with the loss of the smooth writing surface in the centre of the page and can leave residual shapes of letters which draw the subsequent readers eye away from the overlying text, he sought out a book with very large margins (it was perhaps a long and thin codex, in the so-called university format , which had large margins to accommodate a legal commentary which was never added) and cut these away margins for their blank parchment.

Hugh of Saint-Cher, - Speculum Ecclesiae , manuscript in Latin on paper [northern Europe Speculum Ecclesiae , manuscript in Latin on paper [northern Europe (probably Brunswick, Troyes or Holland), late fourteenth century (probably c. 1380)] 12 leaves (single quire), main text complete (but with a number of leaves wanting from the second text which begins here on the verso of the last leaf), double column, 30 lines in a small secretarial hand with title in larger script written with a thick nib (combination of scripts similar to that of contemporary texts from the Low Countries: cf. the gathering written near Aachen and dated 1371 which was sold in Sotheby s, 2 December 2014, lot 43), paragraph marks and initials in iridescent red, one large initial I opening Incipit on first leaf, eighteenth-century No 174 at head of first leaf and foliation at foot of leaves, spots, stains, and damage to initial of frontispiece, binding now coming apart, with first and last leaves loose in volume and others becoming so, overall fair, 216 by 142mm., modern card binding with parchment spine, separated from text at front and back Provenance: (1) Most probably written in either Brunswick, Troyes or Holland, c . 1380: the watermark is a letter P surmounted by a cross, which while recorded in general form by Briquet from the last decades of the fourteenth century through the first decades of the fifteenth, the size and simplicity of the cross here is a near match to Briquet 8462 (Brunswick, 1379), 8465 (Troyes, 1385) and 8470 (Holland, 1388). If this is correct, then this is an important witness to the earliest production of paper in northern Europe. By 1276, there were paper mills in Fabriano and Treviso, most probably introduced to the former by Arab prisoners who settled there. By 1340, paper production had proliferated in northern Italian towns, and the process then spread north of the Alps with an early mill functioning at Mainz, and others at Troyes in 1348, Holland in the 1340s or 1350s, and Nuremberg in 1390. No paper mill would be recorded in England until 1490. By the early decades of the fifteenth century, paper became a relatively common material for small collections of sermons and tracts, but remained the poor cousin to parchment until the invention of printing. Thus, these leaves here are witness to a period in which paper was in its first few decades of production outside of Italy, and was still far from common. (2) Harold Marshall of Harlesden: his early twentieth-century printed bookplate pasted inside front board, above a contemporary cutting from a catalogue with this as item 33 . Text The main text here is that of the Speculum Ecclesiae or Tractatus supra missam by Hugh of Saint-Cher ( c . 1200-63), a French Dominican friar who became a cardinal and was the author of numerous Biblical commentaries and related works, including his Correctorium , a collection of variant readings of the Bible, the first concordance of the Bible, and a commentary on the Book of Sentences.

Bernard of Botone, - Glossa ordinaria on the Decretals of Gregory IX Glossa ordinaria on the Decretals of Gregory IX, large decorated manuscript in Latin on parchment [Italy, late thirteenth century or c. 1300] 133 leaves (plus 1 original endleaf at front, and another 2 at back), wanting a gathering after 4th quire and a few leaves at end of codex (but in this state since the fourteenth or early fifteenth century), else complete, collation: i-vii12, viii8, ix9 (last a blank cancel), x-xi12, xii8 (wanting viii and ix), double column, 53 lines in a small and fine university bookhand, paragraph marks and running titles in red and blue, small initials in same with contrasting penwork, one large variegated initial R on frontispiece with elaborate penwork infill and text border of red and blue leaf-shapes in French style, one or 2 leaves with sections of blank borders cut away, some cockling and discolouration to edges of leaves (notably top and bottom of volume), with losses to blank edges of some leaves and parchment brittle in places, else good condition with wide and clean margins, 320 by 225mm., fourteenth- or just perhaps early fifteenth-century binding of blind-tooled pigskin with panels formed of triple fillets enclosing small flower heads, with horn nameplate nailed to upper board (discoloured through age, but with …sus Bernardi …decretales in apparent fourteenth-century script visible on parchment slip underneath), binding fragments of a bifolium and a long strip cut from German manuscripts of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and one medieval metal boss on front board, the 4 on back board wanting and their mounting places now marked by small holes, remains of 2 clasps, back board much lighter than front due to centuries of storage in medieval style (see below), some slight cracking along spine and small scuffs to boards, but solid in binding Provenance: (1) Most probably written and decorated in a university centre in Italy or southern France (perhaps Bologna or Montpellier) by scribes and artists familiar with both Italian script and French methods of decoration, in the thirteenth century or perhaps the first few years of the fourteenth century. (2) Within a century the book appears to have been in a German monastic or Cathedral chapter library, and had lost a gathering and a few leaves from its end. It was given an index on its last endleaves and bound up into its current binding. It presumably entered private hands during the secularisation of the early years of the nineteenth century. Text: This is a handsome and clean medieval codex in almost the same state as it was in fourteenth century. Its front board preserves a rare survival of medieval bindings, a horn covered nameplate, and the slight discolouration of that board in comparison to the lower shows that the book was stored in the medieval monastic fashion for many centuries (lying flat on its back on a shallow shelf leaving just its top and nameplate visible, and kept away from the potentially damp shelf surface by the bosses on its back). It contains the Glossa ordinaria on the Decretals of Gregory IX of Bernard of Botone (also of Parma, his birthplace), who studied law and subsequently taught in Bologna University. He stands in a line of great medieval legal authorities, having studied under Tancred of Germany (d.1230/36) and had William Durand (d. 1296) as his pupil. In later life, he served as chancellor of the university and as chaplain to Pope Innocent IV. This work was his magnum opus , completed just before his death in 1263/66.

Bernard of Clairvaux, - Meditationes and excerpts from De dignitate prelatorum Meditationes and excerpts from De dignitate prelatorum , and Petrus de Aspelt, Constitutiones , as well as Canon law and monastic texts, manuscript in Latin, on paper [probably central Germany (perhaps Mainz or Würzburg), fifteenth century] 207 leaves, complete, i-xx10, xxi7 (probably wanting a last leaf as a cancelled blank), red penwork initials and rubrics (the larger with penwork embellishments), double column, capitals touched in red, 27-30 lines of an angular late gothic German bookhand, opening words of chapters in second half of the work in larger script, two metal fore-edge tabs, watermark obscured by gutter and tight binding, area of blank page on verso of last leaf repaired with modern paper (but no text underneath), some spots and small stains, edges of leaves slightly woolly, else in good and solid condition, 203 by 145mm., contemporary binding structures and thick wooden boards, with remnants of metal clasp, early printed paper leaves as endleaves (and marks from others on boards, now removed) and large piece of a fifteenth-century document in German used inside back board to support sewing stations, spine with tooled pigskin laid on, rebacked and restored, some worm and scuffs, else good condition Provenance: (1) Most probably written in Mainz in the fifteenth century for a monastic library there: the third text here is a markedly local one, and was the compilation of the archbishop of that city about a provincial council held there in 1320. (2) By the second decade of the sixteenth century, the book appears to have passed into a library in the vicinity of nearby Würzberg, where it was checked by the Catholic censor, [G]erhard Lufft: his inscription on back board, Iste liber conparatus est a me fre erardo lufft anno 1521 , similar to an incunable he also inspected and inscribed in 1531, and now in the University Library there (I. Hubay, Incunabula der Universitätsbiblithek Würzburg , 1966, no. 1095). Despite the rapid spread of Luther s teachings in Germany, Würzberg remained a Catholic stronghold throughout the sixteenth century, and as late as 1588 drove its Lutheran inhabitants out into exile in nearby Ansbach. 3. Like many other monastic volumes it was probably released to the market during the secularisation at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and acquired the erased pencil marks N11238 and £5 - at this time. Text: This handsome late medieval monastic book includes one of the fundamental contemplative texts of the Middle Ages, the Meditationes of the extreme aesthetic theologian Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153; fols. 1r-22v), followed by excerpts from his De diginitate prelatorum (fol. 22v-63v). Next is a text which calls itself the Constitutio[n]es magistri petri archiep[iscop]i maguntinensis (fols. 63v-123r), and is in fact a compilation on the Provincial Council of Mainz in 1320, put together by Petrus de Aspelt, bishop of Basel in 1294-1306, archbishop of Mainz in 1306-20, protector of the Knights Templar and a leading statesman of his period. Excerpts from Gratian s Decretum follow under the title Liber decretorum de consecracione and Liber decretorum de penitencia (fol. 123r-165v). The last 3 leaves of the volume contain brief extracts from the Lateran Council, primarily of interest to monks, under the title Nota ex libro iii decretalium (fols. 205v-207v).

Pietro Paolo Vergerio the elder, - De diruta statua Virgilii epistola, and Poggio Bracciolini De diruta statua Virgilii epistola, and Poggio Bracciolini, Oratio in funere Iuliani de Caesarinis, in Latin, manuscript on paper [central Italy (probably Milan or vicinity), third quarter of fifteenth century] 30 leaves (plus modern paper endleaf at each end), wanting approximately 2 leaves of text from the centre of the volume, which had the end of the first text and the opening words of the second (approximately 20 lines of each), else complete, collation: i-iii10 (last 4 leaves blank), single column, 17 lines in a fine humanist hand (but written at different times with different pens) with a low descending fish-hook-like tail to the g and frequent use of et-ligature within words, 3 lines of faded red capitals at opening of first text, some capitals set in margin and occasional marginal corrections, small spots and tiny hole in fol.10 (with no affect to text), eighteenth-century sums on one endleaf at back and modern pencil 29 and 523 , overall in good condition, 192 by 142mm., bound within contemporary blind-stamped leather boards with s shapes and fleur-de-lys within chevrons, these panels now laid over modern brown leather over pasteboards during modern restoration Provenance: (1) Most probably written in Milan or its vicinity in the third quarter of the fifteenth century: the watermarks of an 8-petalled flower are notably close to Briquet nos. 6597 (Chiavenna, 1465 and Milan, 1472) and 6599 (Milan, 1475 and Pavia, 1481). (2) Hieronymus Maria Giacin[tus]: his seventeenth-century ex libris inside front endleaf, naming him as a prior. Text: This volume contains works by two of the founders of Italian Renaissance humanism. Pietro Paolo Vergerio was born c . 1369 in Capodistria, Istri (now Koper, Slovenia), and alongside Guarinus, was the first modern author to write about the studia humanitatis . He studied at Padua, Florence and Bologna, and lectured as a professor of logic at Padua before serving Pope Innocent VII and Gregory XII as papal secretary, thereafter entering the service of Emperor Sigismund, for whom he translated Arrian s biography of Alexander the Great into Latin. He remained in the imperial court, and in 1420, was the chief Catholic orator there arguing against the Hussite disputation. He died at Prague still in imperial service in 1444. This text is an invective against Carlo Malatesta, who in 1397 had ordered a statue of Virgil in Mantua to be destroyed. Poggio Braccolini (1380-1459) was a Tuscan by birth and studied Latin in Florence under Giovanni Malpaghino, the friend and student of Petrarch. He himself befriended and worked for the grand humanists Coluccio Salutati and Niccolo de Niccoli, and became the most well-known and celebrated scholar of early humanism, principally through his rediscovery of significant parts of our Ancient Latin heritage mouldering in German, Swiss and French monastic libraries. He wrote this Oratio to honour the memory of Cardinal Giuliano Cesarini (1398-1445), and the efforts he made ad liberandum Europam ab oppresione barbarorum nefaria crudelique . Leonardo Bruni dedicated his edition of the Gothic War to Cesarini. The two tracts also appear together in other humanist manuscripts: Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana, Ashburnham 272; Padova, Biblioteca Civica, B.P. 1223 and 1287; and Ravenna, Biblioteca Comunale Classense 117.

The Astronomical Compendium of San Cristoforo, - Turin, including Regiomontanus, Calendarium Turin, including Regiomontanus,  Calendarium  , as well as other related texts, in Latin, decorated manuscript on paper and parchment [northern Italy (probably Turin), last decades of the fifteenth century (perhaps c. 1474)] 61 leaves (including 3 endleaves at front and 2 at back, plus last 4 leaves of text blank), complete, collation: i6, ii6, iii6, iv10 (first leaf a parchment insert, that pasted to a singleton which forms last leaf of bifolium), v3 (last leaf a parchment singleton), vi10, vii14, catchwords present, single column, c. 35 lines in a small but fine and legible hand which shows the influence of humanist script, rubrics in red, astronomical symbols in faded purple, 2-line initials in simple blue or red and blue with contrasting penwork, spaces left for other initials, 10 pages of diagrams illustrating the phase  of lunar and solar eclipses for the years 1475-1530 (3 pages left in trick), 2 parchment leaves with 4 full-page diagrams, one a volvelle (middle ring wanting), others an  Instrumentum horar[i]um inequalium  with a list of planetary bodies, a  Quadrans horologii horizontalis  and a  Quadratum horarium generale   with designations for latitude and longitude, 2 pages of calculatory diagrams with text in red and purple ink and 2 further volvelle diagrams on either side of a paper leaf, a series of near-contemporary calculation numbers added down side of one diagram, some small stains and smudges, splits to edges of a few endleaves, small amount of wormholes, overall good condition, 206 by 147mm., in contemporary light coloured leather over pasteboards, circular marks scored into boards showing places of lost metal bosses, some scuffs, worm and losses at corners, spine skilfully rebacked Provenance:  (1) Most probably written and illustrated for Brother Antonius  de lanteo  (doubtless a member of the medieval Turin  de Lanceo  family), an inmate of the Augustinian monastery of San Cristoforo, Turin: his inscription at head of recto of first leaf of Calendar  S[an]c[t]i Cristofori Taurini Ad usu[m] fr[atr]is Anto[ni]i de lanteo . The Calendar of Regiomontanus  work has been adapted during copying to include Augustinian saints and exclude the German and Bohemian ones usually found there. (2) Joseff Greg[o]ri[o] da Bologna: his seventeenth-century inscription on back cover. (3) Guglielmo Libri (1803-69), Italian polymath and grand bibliophile, who held offices as professor of Mathematical Physics at Pisa and of Calculus at the Sorbonne, and then Chief Inspector of French Libraries from 1841. This last role eventually brought him notoriety as a book thief, and he fled to England. Before and after this he had acted as a legitimate dealer in books and manuscripts, and doubtless he acquired the present volume in Italy. It was lot 92 in his sale at Sotheby s, 28 March 1859. (4) Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), the greatest book collector to have ever lived, who assembled a vast collection numbering several tens of thousands of items, accumulating in a single lifetime more manuscripts than Oxford and Cambridge together; his MS. 16242 (his pencil  Ph  number and pen  Phillipps Ms 16242  inside front board; his sale at Sotheby s, 5 June 1899 ( Bibliotheca Phillippica   XI), lot 75 (sale catalogue cutting glued to front endleaf). (5) Samuel Verplank Hoffman (1866-1942), who studied astronomy and taught it at John Hopkins University before taking over his family s business empire, and was a member of the New York Historical Society from 1901 until his death, serving as its president from 1903 (they have a portrait of him from 1907) and a member of the Grolier Club: his armorial bookplate inside front board. It was probably sold soon after his death, on  July 28, 1944  (pencil date inside front board). The Smithsonian acquired his collection of astrolabes in 1959. Text: This is an important witness to the study of astronomy in Turin in the fifteenth century, which is contemporary or near-contemporary with the life of the celebrated astronomer Regiomontanus. It is among a tiny handful of early copies of his crucial  Calendarium   (here fols.1v-32v, and giving information on lunar and solar eclipses for 1475-1530, as well as the length of days and signs of the zodiac and planets), and is the earliest known Italian manuscript of the text. It is now the only recorded copy left in private hands. Regiomontanus  virtuoso career straddled the transition from manuscript to early print, and thus his works are of the greatest rarity in handwritten copies. He was born Johannes Müller in 1436 in the Franconian market town of Königsberg (the name Regiomontanus was first coined by Philipp Melanchthon in 1534). His first known accomplishment, as  a 13-year-old student in Leipzig, was the production of a set of planetary tables vastly more accurate and impressive than Gutenberg s own  Astronomical Calendar of 1448 . He became a pupil of Georg von Peuerbach (1423-61) in Vienna, and continued that scholar s work in astronomy, mathematics and instrument making. On Peuerbach s insistence, Regiomontanus followed his mentor into the service of the  humanist papal legate and book collector Basilios Bessarion and spent much of the 1460s splitting his time between Bessarion s household there and the courts of Archbishop Janos Vitez and King Matthius Corvinus in Hungary. It was in these years that he honed his notion that what astrology lacked was precision, and began his prolific writing career, moving in 1471 to Nuremberg, an imperial cultural centre, and founding his own printing press, the first dedicated to astronomy and mathematics. He died soon after, while on a trip to Rome in 1475-76. It is most probably his foundation of a printing press that ensured so few of his works were transmitted in manuscript, as his work moved in many cases seamlessly from his own rough copy to incunable. The only two manuscript copies to come to the market in living memory are this one and that sold by Kraus to Irene and Peter Ludwig, and thence to the Getty, later sold to the late Laurence Schoenberg, and now in Princeton University ( Transformations of Knowledge  , 2006, LJS. 300, p. 74, deposited in Princeton since 2011). The Schoenberg manuscript has been dated variously from  c  .1470 to  c  .1500, and was most probably in the library of Lambach Abbey, Austria. Both it and  the present copy are prestigious  de luxe   copies, rather than hastily copied scholar s working copies. Neither can be definitively dated to either before or after the emergence of the printed edition of 1474, and both agree closely with that witness (the present manuscript differs only in the alterations to the Calendar and in the placement of the diagram of the  Quadrans Horologii horizontalis   and the  Quadratum horarium generale   later in the sequence). Both might be copies of Regiomontanus  lost exemplar (which as it was produced for direct printing is likely to have been near-identical in layout to the incunable). That may have been circulated among associates and fellow astronomers immediately before the printing, and Antonio de Lanteo was plausibly a friend of the author perhaps met during his long travels in northern Italy. Or they could be copies made for monastic libraries soon after 1474,  but then we must believe that these libraries could afford to source a copy of the incunable and produce  de luxe   copies of it, but apparently could not afford to purchase a printed copy. The study on the relationship of these early manuscript witnesses to the printed text has yet to be written, but it is clear that no such study can afford to ignore the present manuscript. The other short texts at the end here are no less interesting or intriguing, and include a large number not apparently recorded elsewhere.